Guest Contributor Post by Heather Smith Jones of Blue Sparrow Press.

Hello and welcome to another installment of Sharing the Process! Today we hear from Zoe Garred of Fleet Objects. Zoe moves fluidly from one media to another, working in clay, leather, and wood. In all these media she says she is inspired by the lines and colors of the ocean and developed Fleet Objects on that idea. I appreciate her sharing her lovely work here today and hope you will too. Thank you Zoe!

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I’ve always loved ceramics. The idea of turning earth into something beautiful and useful is amazing to me. I still can’t believe what I see every time I open my kiln. I started doing pottery when I was little but didn’t pick it up seriously until I was in university doing an industrial design degree. I did a slip cast piece as my final project and never turned back.

That school project was a modular vase. Pieces could stack to make a tall vase or be clustered together to hold lots of different flowers. This instigated a series of work all based on the idea of making objects that can be usable in many ways. The Pools collection is the most successful result of this endeavor. It is a collection of ceramic vessels and lids. The shapes are very simple and are modular, so can be mixed and matched for multiple purposes. For example the same couple of pieces combined differently could become a bud vase, a toothbrush holder, a jewelry box, a tea cup or an olive bowl.

The majority of what I make is ceramic but I do work with other natural materials like wood and leather too. Since making ceramics is such a drawn out process I find it refreshing to have some instant gratification from more immediate materials. On a typical day in the studio I will spend much of the day working on the ceramic pieces. This could include casting liquid clay into molds, glazing pieces or firing them in the kiln. Between the stages of making the ceramics I will work on other pieces like braiding leather or preparing wood to be laser cut.

Most of the things I make are inspired by the ocean. Both what lives in it and on it. I like fluid lines and soft colors. The Pools collection is glazed only on the inside so that the contrast between the rough stoneware and the glossy blue tones is reminiscent of tidal pools. My leather jewelry is braided like round marine ropes. The lamps are based on shapes of shells, anemones and fishing floats. The name of my company Fleet Objects is even based on the idea of a fleet of ships, both because my pieces are inspired by the ocean and because they are made in repetitive shapes like my own little fleet of objects.

Website/Shop : www.fleetobjects.com
Facebook: www.facebook/fleetobjects
Twitter: @fleetobjects

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Heather Smith Jones M.F.A., is a multi-media artist, arts instructor, and author. She lives with her husband in Lawrence, Kansas and loves painting, printing, and drawing in the studio that he built. Find out more about what Heather does here:

Website : http://www.heathersmithjones.com
Blue Sparrow Press : http://www.bluesparrowpress.com
Poppytalk Handmade : http://www.poppytalkhandmade.com/table84