Self-taught ceramic artist Michael Sherrill is nourished by the natural beauty of the North Carolina mountainside that he calls home. Sherrill’s finely honed skills jump to life with this series of realistic plant sculptures – pictured here are details of ‘Beauty in a Hard Place’ and ‘Leaves in the River’. 

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[private_archives]You can see the full-sized work and others by the artist at accessCeramics, an online image resource of contemporary ceramics.

For those of us who long to see the color and texture of plant life again after a long, bleak Winter, Sherrill’s flowers offer hope. More images at the Ferrin Gallery.

In addition to being an artist, sought-after lecturer and teacher, Sherrill is also the creator of Mudtools, a line of innovative clay tools for the ceramic artist.

During my years of working in clay, making pots and art, I have often had ideas that required working outside “normal” processes. I found that the available “clay tools” did not serve my ideas well. So, out of necessity I would make a tool, or modify an existing one to suit my needs. These new tools quickly became indispensable and were always the first thing to come out of my toolbox. Naturally, I would show these off at a workshop, and as a result I found that people were interested in buying them!

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