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Martha Wright, Clay Artist
Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: 2019/08 - August
As we maneuver through life, sometimes the things we are drawn to seem disparate.
Martha Wright, semi-retired CPA, had an epiphany. Here she was…a talented, left-brain math girl.
But she noted she was also a lover of animals and supporter of the Humane Society. She collected ceramic creatures. She hung bird prints everywhere. Along her CPA-way, all her treasures were making her heart happy and paving the way to a new career. Maybe CPA secretly stood for “Clay-Play Artist.” She just didn’t know it yet.
“You get so totally immersed in trying to make a living you don’t get to experience where your heart is when you are working every day,” Martha says.
An avid animal lover, she volunteered a lot of time to the Humane Society. She’s the one who brainstormed the first Old Edwards Inn/Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society event. At that affair she thought tables needed ceramic centerpieces that could be auctioned off for the cause.
Frank Vickery, head of The Bascom’s ceramics program, was kind enough to contribute the pieces for a couple of years. Her visits to The Bascom studio and talks with Frank piqued her interest in clay.
She began taking classes. . .lots of them. She even took a class at the John C. Campbell Folk School. Metaphorically, she threw some clay against the wall. It stuck. And so did her commitment.
This was four years ago. Now she is going strong, still taking classes and applying what she learns to a line of fabulous clay birdhouse creations.
She averages a couple of sales a week.
She says, “I’m having fun. Business
is tweet!”
She is available for commissioned pieces like Birdie condos. Boot birdhouses. Chubby Chickies, Bluebird roosts. Teapot teahouses. How about a privy? A castle? A church? A gypsy trailer? A hedgehog? Whatever you can imagine, she can probably design.
View and purchase her work at The Bascom’s Gift Shop. See her work on Instagram. Her email is [email protected]; and Instagram is @marthasutherlandwright.
