MURIEL SIBLEY

Biography

Born: Illinois, USA, 1945
Immigrated to Canada in 1971.

Studied (briefly) with Cora Pucci, Boston, MA, Warren McKenzie, Minneapolis, MN, Ruth Duckworth, Chicago, IL.

Have shown in solo and group shows in Victoria and Vancouver, BC, Toronto, Ont., and Minneapolis, MN. Have sold work through galleries in Victoria, Vancouver and Toronto.

Present Gallery: Crown Publications, Victoria, BC.

Also, gallery at studio, address below. Gallery hours: Thursdays—1 to 6PM; Fridays—10AM to 6PM; Saturdays—1 to 6PM, or by appointment. Commissions welcome.


Artist Statement

Largely self-taught, I am still learning to express myself through pottery and sculpture. Mostly I make animals; they are my totems, metaphors and brothers and sisters on the earth. I live and work in the Highlands, a forested area outside Victoria, BC. Nature and my students challenge, inspire and ground me.

Introduced to clay at an early age, I have danced with it for more than fifty years! During times of varied occupations, including child-rearing, sawmilling and truck driving, writing and social activism, clay has been a constant partner. The necessary rhythm of making, drying, firing, glazing and firing again help give structure and balance to my life.

It is a privilege to work in a craft and art which began with the beginning of human history and will last, at least as artefacts, into the far future. If I had three lifetimes I could give them all happily to clay work—the fascination of it, the demands, the frustration and finally, the downright miracle of turning mud into stone.