Carolyn Buss - Three Works and Artist Statement

Peony Surprise: Chased and Roll Printed Sterling Silver with Enameled Copper

Carolyn Buss, Peony Surprise. 2012. Sterling Silver, Enameled Copper.

Dorothy Parker Brooch

Dorothy Parker: Tribute to a Witty Demise, Carolyn Buss. 2011. NuGold, #2 Pencil, Vintage Typewriter Keys, Steel Wire

Dorothy Parker: Tribute to a Witty Demise (Back), Carolyn Buss. 2011. NuGold, #2 Pencil, Vintage Typewriter Keys, Steel Wire 

Lily Pad Dish

Lily Pad Dish. Hand Built. Stoneware. 2012.

Small details matter to me. The ant has feet and those feet have toes and those toes grip tightly to the peony flower which the ant so desperately clings to. All he wants is a little nectar. I became enamored with Japanese design and the abstraction of already beautiful forms into something similar but captured the flowing essence of it. 

Capturing the essence of the subject is part of my larger ideal in my artwork, whether that is photography, jewelry, or ceramics.

Jewelry allows the wearer to express to the viewer a different point of view, a little window into a different soul, whether that is mine, the wearer's or even the viewer's, that is up to, you guessed it, the viewer. Metal is a strange, unforgiving, yet patient material. 

Ceramics allow to the distill the physical characteristics in objects and nature that I enjoy into something I've made; something I have made that I truly enjoy using and looking at in use. One might say I am utilitarian when it comes to ceramic.

Photography is somewhat new, but I found that I absolutely love taking portraits. Portraits allow me to get to know someone in a different way, to see their beauty in another fashion, and photography allows people to take a piece of themselves with them, and to show others.