While Jane Hammoud was a kid, she remembers playing with clay in school, using little fingers to mold a tiny pot.
“I thought, ‘Well, this was fun. Why can’t I have more clay? Why can’t I do this more?” she said.
Now, after retiring from her career in nonprofit work, she decided to throw the clay around once more. So she took a class, enjoyed it — and the rest is history.
“I just really liked it and kept going,” she said. “I decided this is what I wanted to do. So that’s what I’m doing.”
For First Friday, Gallery 113 will be showcasing the work of ceramist Hammoud and painter Suzy McDowell. The exhibition, “Colorado Summer Colors,” will center on the hues of nature.
Hammoud will highlight two collections at the exhibition, including her “Peacock Bowls,” which utilize bright glazes in unique patterns.
“It’s a melding of many of the colors. I love color, and so this is a really great way to use a lot of different glazes and see how they react with each other and create all kinds of different colors in the bowl,” Hammoud said.
The ceramist also looks forward to showcasing her vases inspired by the American Arts and Crafts Movement, which emerged near the end of the Victorian era. Hammoud specifically drew from the work of Artus Van Briggle, a Colorado Springs artist practicing during the start of the 20th century who became foundational to the Art Nouveau movement.
“They moved away from their decorative Victorian art to the more subtle, highlighting beauty and simplicity, and nature,” she said. “Van Briggle was our local American art potter that most people know. So I was attracted to his work and wanting to understand better how it was how the designs worked.”
The best part about making pottery: when a piece comes out just as envisioned. And the pieces that do come out last forever, Hammoud said.
“When they come out looking good, I really enjoy that part. And there’s lots of places to fail in this art,” she said. “I have rather eclectic other pieces, because I’m not a person who can continue to make one thing and just keep making it. I just have to keep trying new stuff.”
Hammoud is thrilled to share her work at Gallery 113, and is hoping that more people take interest in the art community by breaking barriers and stereotypes of a “stuffy” gallery. “I just enjoy being down at the gallery. I think that’s it’s just a really nice place to be,” she said. “We’re trying to get people to get over that concept of a ‘stuffy’ gallery, with big, expensive art … We work down there and take special pride in it. And I think it’s really it’s a neat place.”