This week's feature involves the community on art nights to create and mold. Creating with your bare hands at Carla Hughes studio, but also it her own space to create what she wants as well. From all the cool work I see on my feed I was able to witness it all on Harlingen Art Night when I stepped foot inside her studio. This week's feature is Carla Hughes,@carlahughesart
We start by Carla sharing what she's been enjoying most recently "Most recently, getting to spend time with people again, especially friends and family who are also vaccinated. Having people in my studio for art night was exciting, and I'm enjoying seeing folks I haven't seen in over a year as well as establishing new relationships with RGV artists and patrons." It must be nice to see new individuals who wish to try something new in one of her classes or just to see people excited involving themselves in the arts or coming out to events.
She goes on to mentioning a couple of her favorite locals "Oh man, so many. As far as businesses, the first who come to mind are Bandera Coffee and Procured Life + Home. We have similar outlooks on life, believe in slower living, handmade and vintage goods, responsibly sourced goods and ingredients. Two artists who immediately pop into my mind are Rachel Comminos and Sam Rawls. I love what both are doing with color and pattern, and their voices are so unique. Also, I'm always paying attention to what Josue Ramirez is up to. Sadly, I am undereducated about the Valley music scene, especially after the last year. I'll have to work on that."
I actually want to own a Bandera Coffee t shirt, but maybe once I go back to Harlingen when it doesn't involve work. Well actually I sort of want to collect coffee shop merch. Anyways, I actually had Sam Rawls in my first virtual exhibition and she does great work along with Josue. He also makes good work. I have not heard about Rachel, but I'll have to look into them.
Besides her recent interests and her favorite locals what can she say about her work "I've loved building things since I was little and spent a lot of time painting, drawing, & making collages while growing up. I especially loved when we had to make dioramas in school. I would collect things (like kids do) and save them up to put into dioramas or collages. Assembly and sculptural installation are still my favorite things to do. My grandmother decorated ceramic pieces she would buy at local shops and fire them in her kiln. Sitting at her kitchen table with her glazing little figurines is one of my earliest memories. I really discovered the clay studio in 2003, but was more interested in large scale sculpture so left clay to learn to weld. I figured if I was going to truly pursue a life as an artist, I should learn how to make things stand up. I returned to clay in 2010 and now go between cycles of making functional pottery and steel and ceramic sculpture." When it comes to building I enjoyed playing with legos a lot. Especially playing with friends and just using our imagination. In school my creativity wasn't what it used to be, but sometimes it would reappear with expressive writing. I didn't chase after it unlike Carla around her years of 2003 and 2010. Just reading "My grandmother decorated ceramic pieces she would buy at local shops and fire them at her kiln" sounds amazing, but also something so memorable. Something Carla is doing now and with others. Maybe they get the same feeling or sense of awe when seeing their work enter the kiln. I personally have not worked with clay in this way, but I hope to create something one day.
With her classes and her workshop does she have a mission statement? "It comes down to the community for me. I love having students in the studio because clay and the making of pottery is cross-cultural. Humans across the globe utilized clay in everyday life and as an artform for millenia. It is a joy to share that with people, some of whom have never touched raw clay in their lives. Having a space to host other artists has long been a dream of mine. There are so many unique artistic voices in the RGV, and together we make a rich community." When it comes to hosting a space for artists or individuals who have never "touched raw clay in their lives" I didn't even know "raw clay" was a thing until now. However when I was reading this it made me think of artists working with clay who do paintings/drawings/ but now they are working with clay. They are experimenting and trying something new. That's really neat to think about. Either way its introducing something new and fun along with a nice comfortable environment to create. To which brings us back to "it comes down to the community for me" when she's doing her best to bring the community together creatively in something that's been utilized for a long time. When it comes down to Carla being on her own she continues with "When I'm alone, I'm thinking about making functional work my community will enjoy, pieces that will facilitate building of relationships and the sharing of food. When I'm working on sculpture, I'm often thinking about and researching building of community in an historical context, most recently how food was gathered and shared in small tribal communities. I'm looking forward to furthering that research." Well she has her foot in the beginning steps or rather deep in what she's trying to accomplish by what she's mentioned. I do believe it is possible with some research and I look forward to it and how it will turn out.
Mentioning her recent research plans how else does she wish to grow along with her workspace? "I am so fortunate, this endeavor has grown so much in the last year. I have some new designs in the works for functional pottery, and several long term sculpture projects that I'm itching to start. I'm also very interested in working with more young artists, making the space and materials available to people who otherwise wouldn't have access. I'm currently working on a fundraiser to purchase some equipment for the studio, a bigger kiln, some more pottery wheels, and a pug mill (used to mix clay) so I can host more workshops, students, and fellow artists." Well I do hope for positive growth and with the future additions into the workshop would allow others to also participate or allow for a faster process. All in due time with these positive changes.
From the clay to the kiln to the idea of how it can help the community how does Carla's process begin before she works "Ideas come in so many ways. Typically with sculpture, a bit of conversation or a passage from a book will plant a seed of an idea. Good ones usually stick around and itch the back of my brain, and I slowly build images and forms around the idea. For pottery, I love looking at architecture and flowers and how they compliment and push against each other. When I feel stuck, I just get out some clay and start pushing it around. It doesn't always come to something, but just the act of starting the process can jumpstart things." I like the idea of "good ones usually stick around the itch the back of my brain" and that's how I feel with a couple of ideas I have and I begin to write them down in my journal. That's actually pretty interesting "I just get out some clay and start pushing it around" I feel like doing this is actually something universal in a way to kick start a process. I wouldn't know how to push around clay I would probably overthink it.
How does she feel about her work courses and involving herself with artists/individuals? "It's so rewarding. Seeing someone's face when they realize they just made an object that conveys a thought process, an emotion, or replicates something they treasure, it's just so good. I love when people see the beauty they create, even if it's not how they imagined it. There is real beauty in handmade, and I get the opportunity to share that." It's the idea of creating something by hand. With some much technology and machines that help us create. Who can say and hold something they molded together. No matter how it comes out because in the end we made it. The frustration, the happiness, the nervous feeling of it being their first time working with clay. It truly is something to treasure and put somewhere safe at home.
For those interested in signing up for a course especially if they're nervous what can you say? "Just do it! We all have to start somewhere. This is a place to explore and learn new things, there are no wrong answers here. I'm happy to give you tips and tricks to help you. Knowing how to make things is a skill set that can be learned." If I had a better schedule I would surely sign up! It sounds fun, but if you have an open schedule or a day to participate I would sign up for sure!
Carla is currently hosting Serkit, @Serkitkillz artwork in her space , but she have plans to showcase more artists? "Oh, yes! As far as the gallery space goes, I have several artists lined up for the rest of 2021 and have plans for 2022. I'm also hoping to invite artists and makers to host workshops here soon." I look forward to seeing what goes up on those walls!
With everything Carla creates does she have any favorite pieces? "I do. My final show before graduating from university is probably my favorite of all time. It was a large installation of a flock of birds hung from the ceiling of the gallery. I hope to do something similar in my studio next year. Also, I have several pieces of functional pottery that I can't let go of, like mugs and vases. They're just right, exactly what I'm looking for, so I hold onto them to inspire the next round of making. The pieces made at workshops and residencies hold a special place in my heart, too. They remind me of treasured people and places from my artist's journey." That just sounds really beautiful "They remind me of treasured people and places from my artist's journey" but here's her large installation of birds in the image below. It's quite breath taking.
When I went to Harlingen Art Night it was nice to see so many local businesses just steps away from each other and how does Carla feel about this? "I love it so much. I am incredibly fortunate that I get to be a part of this supportive community. I cannot wait to see what we all get to do together as restrictions lift." I also cannot wait to see what happens once restrictions life and we have more freedom.
Carla goes on to share her thoughts on the local scene in The Valley,
" The Valley is more diverse, talented, and resilient than people want to give us credit for. We have an incredibly dedicated group of young, hard working artists and makers pushing what it means to be a working artist these days. Every day, I'm in awe of the tenacity and boldness. We are ready to have hard conversations and show our patrons beautiful objects. I can't wait to see what happens next in our scene."
She shares her final thoughts as well,
"If folks are interested in keeping up with the goings on in my studio, they can subscribe to email updates on my website. Subscribers get all the news first!"
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