Anna Woolf
Potter and Teaching Artist in Downeast Maine
My Barnacle Philosophy:
My work sculpting barnacles on functional pottery was inspired by a display at a local restaurant, showing antique plates. The plates had been brought up from the bottom of the ocean by a scallop diver. The every-day dishes from 100 or more years ago were covered in natural barnacles. There was a mystery in those plates, a secret truth. Barnacles on plates intrigued me. Here was of evidence of a lifetime lived in One Single Spot. A typical dinner plate is called into daily use, caught up in the near constant motion of our human activity. If dropped to the bottom of the ocean, it can become home to a creature who spends its entire adult life cemented to one spot. There is a lesson in this.
When barnacles speak, they speak of knowing where you are, truly being where you are, and doing your best life in that place. My best life is a-swirl with clay and teaching; paired with my artist/inventor husband. We have 2 sprightly children, a son who sculpts and codes; and a daughter who is a budding fiber artist, singer and actor. Together we share a creative life, the best we can in this place we have attached to as home. (and take a lesson from the barnacles)
B.A. in Ceramic Sculpture / Goddard College
M.Ed. from Antioch New England
Schoodic Arts for All’s Artistic Director