Face to Face& the Ceramic Art of Diane Shelton Dazzles at the Flipside Café

Boise Weekly › August 05, 2009

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Summary

The grouping of four faces on the green wall proves especially compelling. [Larkin], named for the artist's daughter, gazes skyward through meditative brown eyes. [Diane Shelton] considers this one of her favorite pieces in the show and says it captures the grace she sees in her grown-up child. [Suzanne] has dramatically outlined eyes that make direct contact with the viewer, and the blue-haired diva takes her name from one of Shelton's sisters. Shelton says there is no physical resemblance to her sibling and laughs, "She's the only one of us who doesn't dye her hair!"

It is possible they are "soul traveling," an experience Shelton defines as "a kind of down-to-earth spirituality that everybody has to discover for themselves." She says she often sees color and form while soul traveling and that many of her ideas for future pieces originate during those sessions. She adds, "It's when you're in [your] right brain without any time or space, and it's a perfectly happy place to be."

Shelton's process of creation for the faces involves cutting two circular pieces of clay, with one slightly larger than the other, and stuffing the space between the layers with newspaper to give it dimension. She then models the facial features by adding clay. A series of theater-mask-like faces also on display at Flipside Café offer insight into the artist's methodology up to this point. Shelton fashions the hair and headdresses last, and fires the piece in a kiln at either a high or low temperature depending on the affect she wishes to achieve.

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Face to Face& the Ceramic Art of Diane Shelton Dazzles at the Flipside Café

There's some gorgeous women hanging out at the Flipside Café this month--and they have the kind of faces that make you want to stare. Camille and Kirsten flaunt spaghetti-like piles of sun-colored hair and a mass of dark flowing locks frame Larkin's flawless matte complexion. Suzanne's cat-shaped blue e...

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