Tulips

This piece will be on display from the 24th March through to the 10th of June 2012, in the Exhibition Tulipieres: The Tulip Vase Revisited at the Museum of Northwest Art. This exhibition is part of the 46th NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts) Annual Conference in Seattle, March 28 – March 31, 2012.

Tulip towers or flower pyramids were popular circa 1600 when tulips where highly prized and valuable, made from Dutch Delft ware they would be stacked over a meter high. I wanted my piece to become a temple or shrine to my love of collecting, in the tradition of the wunderkammer or Cabinets of curiosities. My tower is made from Terracotta, many of the items on the tower are of personal significance; some of the items have been collected and carried with me for much of my life. The paintings are underglaze with areas of clear glaze. Small items of porcelain are displayed in the tower, such as handmade coral, shells and found antique dolls. Each section is a vase that can be filled with water and used to display flowers; the top area is left open to display my latest prized find.