Jamie McKay
Whether simple crayon-glazed mud pots formed in the backyards of my childhood or the more intricate clay & glass vessels created in my home studio, my art has always been centered on the need to explore & express emotion through flowing line & melding color. Leafy fronds and sensual vines, twisting roots and ancient trees, mystic spirals and earthy goddess figures – these are the rhythmic forms and mythic images that catch my eye and send my thoughts running like ripples on a pond. The swirling beauty & rich colors of Nature never fail to draw me inward – my art strives to expose that same soulfulness, to reflect its silvery moods and unspoken thoughts.
My artistic journey has certainly followed its own winding path. As a Pre-Med major in college – and much to the dismay of my advisers – I took all the clay & glass classes I could get. After graduation I did medical research in Tulsa before moving to Dallas with my husband and starting our family. In 1988 we finally made it to Seattle with its luscious green & liquid blue environs, a wonderful place to raise our children. To expand upon the clay & painting I had been doing since college, I attended various Fine Arts Centers & a community college in the area, so that in 2000 I had come full circle and found myself captivated by glass again. For the past 7 years, I have been focused on Kiln Casting and Flameworking, which ultimately necessitated a major studio remodel in 2006 to better accommodate my desire to teach & hopefully encourage others to explore their own creative urges in glass.
Occasionally people ask if I wish I had gotten my Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts rather than Science, but when you are good at math and science, no one tells you, “Hey, go be an Artist!” Why change the past – it creates who you are today! I have enjoyed the last 25 years of being a wife, a mom, and a “professional” volunteer & organizer – while always keeping one hand busy pursuing my own artistic passions. Akin to the Alchemist, my goal now is to bring forth the essence of all that has been bubbling deep inside the crucible of my soul these many years. The need to capture those simple yet fluid moments of truth continues to intrigue & inspire me most, because so many times in life, my soul can see it but my lips simply cannot say it.