Artist’s Statement - Ruth Apter

I like to collect things from nature: bones and skulls, shells and rocks, fossils and driftwood, tree fungus and giant barnacles, feathers and mosses. You can imagine what my house looks like.

I am fascinated by the natural world and have been focusing on wild edibles from the land and the sea. I love to cook with unusual ingredients and wild harvest as much as I can from the bounty that surrounds me.

My small studio has a view of the Cascade Mountains and
the tip of Puget Sound where it meets The Strait of Juan de Fuca and Georgia Strait. Tame deer pass by and are kept out of the garden with tall fences. This is an exposed windy site so I have had to build a shelter for my raku kilns with side walls to keep the wind and rain out.

   

I am inspired by artifacts from ancient cultures and domestic and wild animals, the tiniest of plants to the giant trees. What I create is a distillation of what I see.

Playing with basic elements: clay, fire, wood and wind never disappoints me. As the artist I get to be "godlike" and create my own little universe.