Laurie Nelson

Laurie Nelson’s ceramic creations took a 37 year hiatus, but she quickly got her grove back at Lincoln Square Pottery Studio - Learning Center!

Laurie Nelson (born in Cresskill, New Jersey) spent her childhood doodling, crocheting, quilting and assemblage crafts. Her mother had a hand in teaching her how to sew and create things out of materials in the home. These creative years formed her thoughts for the future. A weaving apprenticeship over the course of a summer helped cement the idea that an education in liberal arts was for her. The College of William and Mary (BA, Art Major, 1982) was the right spot for her. She was able to get a broad experience in assorted mediums, but she connected the most to clay. The material was so responsive and creative that she felt it reached her soul.

Laurie Nelson holding her ceramic snake with unusual scales, her giraffe “puppet” sculpture on a bracket system

Nelson continued her education at the Art Institute of Chicago (MFA, 1986), where she learned how to work in a larger scale, as well as implementing mold-making. She created two life-sized sculptures using this method. Her interest in brickscapes (observed by riding the “EL” around the city) lead to a work featuring a sizable press-mold of figures scaling a foreboding wall. Her final project depicted a lover’s quarrel. A thick clay slip applied forcefully to a wall created a storyboard. The clay dried and crumbled away, touching on issues of memory, and the non-permanence of everything!

One of Nelson’s projects at the Art Institute, left, Ikebana vases at right

Nelson took Accounting 101 in college - so she could know what to do with all her riches after she became a famous artist! As it turned out, that's how she earned the money to raise her family. An accounting job at American Eagle allowed her to fly stand-by and travel. Her last job was at a marketing research company - they liked that she had an art background- because they considered themselves a creative business. Nelson retired in 2022 as part of the pandemic retirement boom- after 28 years at the same company. The first thing Nelson did was join the Saints, the Chicago volunteer ushering organization. Now she enjoys theater two or three times a week for free. Nelson also started thinking about how to get back into the arts. A class in paper puppet making was one of her first adventures. The simple and appealing forms of her paper birds stayed with her when she took a LSPS-LC weekend workshop with Christopher Whittington (she knew about the studio after attending many of the studio’s shows over the years). The artist had prepared slabs for sushi trays, but he let Nelson use them to form parts of birds in the style of the paper puppets she had recently created. The results made her sure that she wanted to join the studio and make more!

Nelson’s lion chalice, left, and fire fly inspired candle lantern

Nelson soon became part of the LSPS-LC community and took right to the glaze wall (so many choices!), as well as the people. Back at the Art Institute, she was pushed to be edgy, and encouragement wasn’t so easy to come by. As she settled into her new studio, she began to connect with the other artists. She was pleasantly surprised that people engaged with her about her artwork, took interest in her process and future projects. Asking for advice became easy and she began to incorporate the weekly demos into her expanding ideas. A recent simple, hand-built lantern lead her to develop a complex fire-fly themed piece with decorative slots to cast shimmering candle light. A demo on gnome jars inspired her to create her own “cat” version, made in three parts to exchange for variety. The artist isn’t afraid of things not working out- she’s flexible when it comes to mistakes, and adjusts her expectations. A failed bowl (the round bottom dried and fell out!) was updated into a bread stick platter. She created a new, smaller bowl to replace the missing space- turning it into something useful and visually attractive!

Ceramic puppet sculpture on brackets. Cat stalking birds

Nelson’s constant series at the studio has been her bird puppets. A variety of experiments helped her figure out a system of supportive stands for the heavy clay pieces. Copper pipping, bolts and brackets support the work with warm metallic hues. For each new animal puppet she creates, a new support system is developed- creating both a satisfying challenge and whimsical piece. The artist hopes to expand this series (which is featured on her sale shelf at the studio), by pairing pieces of left-over slabs from other projects.

Recently Nelson experimented with some of the supplies available in the “pattern station” at the studio. A plastic pattern that hinted at scales caught her eye. The pattern was pushed into her pre-glazed slabs (underglaze), then carefully pulled off after an additional layer of glaze was applied. The result was a dynamic surface, both reptile-like and fantastical in color. This technique was utilized for a snake as well as a beautiful dragon dice tray- and the surfaces are intriguing and very satisfying to look at.

Nelson’s enthusiasm to try different techniques gives her the potential to change things up. A simple slab-pinched nativity set lead to a very stunning and meaningful piece that was featured in the studio’s Pottery of Protest Exhibition this past winter. A slab polar bear and her cubs were paired with an Arctic Circle-inspired bowl. Cloth patterns were applied to resemble icebergs, while blue molten glass emulated the water of the Arctic Ocean. Nelson visually explored Global Warming, which has lengthened ice-free springs and summers over the past thirty years. As this trend continues to worsen, polar bears face starvation, and possible extinction by 2100.

“Polar Bears in Danger” ceramic and melted glass piece for Pottery of Protest Exhibition 7

Nelson also wants to continue to experiment with underglaze decals. She’ll cut out assorted shapes from a variety of designs, piece them together like a puzzle and apply them to her work. The results are a cacophony of colors and patterns, creating an unusual visual narrative. Along with experimenting with decals, glaze layering and unusual patterns, the artist just wants to continue to absorb and create unique work. She’d love to create a bird bath, sink bowl and dragon teapot (with jointed wings). Mostly she’d like to get more skillful, try lots of cool tools and techniques. She realizes that coming up with fresh and new artwork takes time, and she hopes to be at the studio more to learn, perfect and create pieces that reflect her imagination and innovative character.

Pinched slab bowls with 4 sides