Ceramic Clay - Porcelain
Jeffrey Siegel
New to ENCORE 2024!
About The Artist
In 1972, I fell in love with clay. It was a time of paisley bedspreads, macrame pottery hangers and worn-out blue-jeans. I was entering High School with no clue as to what to take as an elective to satisfy my curriculum. I grew up as a home builder’s son, always tinkering and creating something for fun, so why not try something I could do with my hands - ceramics. From the very first day of class, watching the advanced kids on the potters wheel, I became mesmerized by their ability to create something out of nothing…a ball of clay. I thought, I can do this. From the first time I sat at the wheel, I strove for perfection and continue to this day with great enthusiasm for creating something out of nothing. The magic of clay had begun to grab me.
It became my goal to find enough time to satisfy my thirst for working in the medium. I continued to take classes and apprenticed with my ceramics instructor during summer periods to gain experience in all facets of working and firing clay. I even borrowed a wheel, ordered a half ton of clay of various types and set up a makeshift studio in my backyard and began to produce pottery and fire it in the school kiln.
Upon graduating from High School, I attended San Diego State University. Although my major was in biology and finance, I found an off campus ceramic studio where I could continue to hone my skills and learn from fellow ceramicists. Once again, I set up a wheel in my backyard and spent any free time I had satisfying my creative yearnings as an artist.
I moved back to the Los Angeles basin in 1980 at the age of 24 to continue my education in graduate school and soon began my career as a CPA. While driving home from the beach one Sunday afternoon I came across a ceramic studio called the ClayHouse. It had everything I wanted in a studio and I couldn’t wait to become a member. It is there at the Clayhouse where some very good things continued to happen for me. I would change out of my business suit into overalls and come to the studio in the evenings. It wasn’t long before I became noticed for my creativity and strong skillset in working with clay. I was asked to teach a few classes in the evenings. I was enthused, honored, and accepted the offer. The ClayHouse became my refuge, my sanctuary, my retreat to do all that my creative mind could imagine in clay – I was home. It was here that I began to work in the more challenging medium of white porcelain clay. I began to develop a unique style and found galleries in Los Angeles and Laguna Beach that took a particular liking to my work. I even had an exhibit in the Los Angeles Museum of Folk Art and Craft.
There was a young gal, named Laura, from Michigan, she signed up to take my class during the winter of 1986 and her ceramic skillset required attention and coaxing. We were married one and a half years later – the champagne flowed! We moved back to San Diego in the Spring of 1989 and now we have raised three wonderful children and have two grandchildren.
While living in San Diego, I continued to explore my work in clay and participate in workshops around the country from experts in the field. My unique style of work continues to be featured in galleries, art institutes and private collections. Over 40 years from that fateful day of finding the Clayhouse, I am honored to have won the Lorenzo il Magnifico Gold Medal for excellence in ceramic art at the Florence Italy Biennale, It is one of the greatest highlights of my artistic career and I look forward to achieving more pinnacles in the future.
My artwork is inspired through nature, be it a visit to the mountains or ocean, a walk in the park, or simply viewing a scene of nature. All of it moves me to the forefront of my creative abilities.
My porcelain art pieces have sculptural tops that include horns and porcupine quills from the plains of Africa, as well as coral, quartz crystals and alabaster. I mine for alabaster in the desert and sculpt it using hand tools. Most of my artwork is fired using a Raku process whereby the work is removed from the kiln at 1,050 degrees, and various types of hair are applied to the surface of the work, where it carbonizes, leaving a black impression. I use hair from stallions, lions, wildebeast and bulls. The thicker the hair the better the impression. Yet there are times when I use hair from the mane rather than the tail as it is a more delicate look. It all depends on the aesthetic I am looking for.
