Biography

Zola de Firmian

_________________________

REFLECTING ONES INNER SPARK

IN THE SHARED ARENA OF ART

IS A KIND OF ARCHEOLOGY OF THE SOUL.

I DIG FOR BEAUTY AND BRING IT BACK WITH JOY.

TO SHARE WHAT I UNCOVER IS AN ACT OF LOVE.

Biography

I began making pots

in the Arizona Mountains,

digging the

beautiful

red clay near my grandparents' spring. I'm

both

humbled

and at home

with its touch- the power of Earth.

M

any pivotal experiences for me

were

charged

b

y

this

b

ond

with

precious

earth

:

-Collecting shards of Native American pottery by a creek with my

grandmother, until she one day chose to stop, recognizing they were sacred.

-

Walking with my feet

immersed

deep in silken

w

arm

mud of

the same

creekbed

on

t

heir

land... a

memory

of joyful

embodiment.

-

Climbing at age

five

up a white clay bank on Whidbey

Island in the

P

uget

S

ound, alone in nature, as I often was. Quickly

r

ainfall

shifted

e

ase

to terror

.

I struggled

to climb down

,

clinging to roots of

brush, small fee

t

s

liding

over the

s

lippery-slick

white clay

.

-

Walking into

a

studio at UC Santa Cruz for the first time...

the sight of

my

husband (unknown)

forming a porcelain

bird bath bowl, a

so-

familiar beauty, as though it were

something

I'd been waiting long to see.

-

Early times of w

orking with children and clay,

witnessing

smal

l

fingers and

faces quickening with joy.

Pure alchemy, ceramics

.

My relationship with clay has always been

there... intense,

thrilling,

and

frustrating.

It's a

demanding medium,

with its overlay of tech

n

ical-chemical balanc

ing

, thrown

t

ogether

with

fire

and self.

It's my ancient love.

E

ducation and

Connections

:

(click here)

Fine Ceramics

A

passion for nature and

light

porcelain, stoneware, mixed media