our Journey


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Taking the Leap

Raised in Houston, Maria Hernandez moved to San Angelo, Texas to receive a degree from Angelo State University. Initially, Maria Hernandez intended on getting her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Studio Art with a Painting and Drawing concentration.

With the painting coursework, she gained an appreciation for color. The process of mixing and blending pigments through the watercolor and oil painting classes opened her eyes to the idea that color can be created from scratch.

With the drawing coursework, Maria was able to experiment with various drawing mediums and learn the importance of lines. With a strong attention to detail she was able to make drawings ranging from gestural to realism.

When she took her first ceramics course, she fell in love with how involved the entire process was. There is never a boring day in the studio with new things to do or shift your focus to.

When her first ceramic course was completed, she switched her concentration to Ceramics.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Working with Clay

During her time in San Angelo, Maria had a variety of experiences with which to experiment with clay.

She was accepted into various juried shows for both her mixed media and ceramic pieces. The subject matter varied from geometric abstraction to confessional, text-based art. From this she learned the importance of craftsmanship and presentation.

Maria was also able to gain insight into running a production pottery studio through her internship with the Star Keeper Gallery at the Chicken Farm Art Center. During these months she learned how to make functional pieces that were identical in size and form at a high production speed. In terms of style, Maria gained an appreciation for the juxtaposition between a highly saturated color and black.

 
 
 

Out in the World

Sunflower Ceramic Studio draws inspiration from how the image of the sunflower represents joy. Layered with an academic context, the sunflower can show how various fields of academia can bring joy to one’s life.

Through the art history context, sunflowers can be associated with Vincent Van Gogh and his paintings. In the context of mathematics, sunflowers are a naturally occurring phenomenon of the Golden Ratio. In the context of physics, the image of a sunflower can be abstracted to the point where it resembles an atom.

A sunflower can also simply represent the beauty of nature. Joy is something that is very important to our studio, and we want to be able to share it with every piece we make.