JANN SEMKOW
Alberta streams: pushing bush, fording and wading with some trepidation across the rush of waters and uneven slimy stones. Sunlit skies, the din of water, birds singing. Heavenly sounds!
I observe colorful reflections on and in the water along banks where transparent shadows add to illusion of depth and shallows. Textures, angles and the forms of fallen dead trees allude to the possibility of a hiding place for trout, grayling or.... Sadly there are few isolated spots like this now compared to thirty years ago.
As an Alberta clay artist who also fly fishes, I have been enamoured with the
intriguing architecture and essence of fish for a number of years. Notably their physical characteristics, acrobatic skills, and variety of species. Many of my inspired works are interpretations of cold water fish which do not convey realism. In other words my clay works are not exact representations in the eye of the viewer. They are expressionistic abstractions and simplifications that "I feel in the moment of creation." No two are alike. Each vary in size, colour, texture, style, personality and form working well alone or interactively in wall groupings.
Typically the fish are made with porcelain and fired to completion using a Western style of Raku firing which originated in Japan hundreds of years ago.
The totality of camping and fishing each in their own way inspire my visually creative statements and expressions.