Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
This vase is among the simple, yet elegant, ceramic pieces for which Jacqueline Butts is known.
Ceramist finds beauty in simplicity
By Shari Kaplan
Simplicity, harmony and balance. Not only does this trio of aesthetic concepts hold the most attraction for ceramist Jacqueline "Jackie" Butts, it is also what she strives to bring to the attention of those who view her stoneware and porcelain artworks. Those works are on display through May 27, at Aegis Gallery in the Saratoga Village, where she is a founding member. Some of her ceramics can also be seen at Elemental Arts Gallery in downtown Los Gatos.
The Ben Lomond resident, who holds a bachelor's degree in ceramics and a master's degree in chemistry, has been a studio potter and ceramics instructor for some 30 years. Initially a biological and research chemist, she got into the arts as an enjoyable--and sometimes profitable--pursuit after marrying and having children.
Although Butts says that she never consciously tried to bring what she calls "an Oriental influence" to her work, it flavors her art as a cup of delicate green tea. She's not surprised at this.
"I like the simplicity of it [Asian art]. The lines are so clean. Traditionally, it's always been simple and subtle," says Butts, who is a student--under Cupertinian Fusako Hoyrup--of the Wafu school of ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging.
"Forms should augment what you want to put in them, but they should also be able to stand alone," she says of the vessels she creates, including teapots, urns, bowls and angular and curved vases.
"If I make something that's too ornate, I just mush it up again, because it isn't me," she adds, chuckling.
Among the trademarks for which Butts says her ceramics have become known are simple, classic lines and dark, "quiet" glazes. She also enjoys adding elements of bamboo, caning and plant fibers to her pieces--sometimes as handles or supports, other times simply as unusual decorations.
Butts grows the bamboo herself, right behind her home studio. What started as a small clump a friend gave her some 10 years ago has grown into a flourishing stand that yields 30 to 35 stalks each year. It's a special kind of bamboo that turns black or mottled after its first year, which Butts likes because it complements her dark-colored ceramics.
Just as the subtle Asian flavor she intuitively imparts to her art, Butts' reason for getting involved in ceramics in the first place also had more to do with feeling, than conscious thought.
"The day I touched clay, I just knew that was what I wanted to do," she says of the ceramics class she took several decades ago, after studying drawing and painting. "I also love form and giving things form. Every time I see anything, I see the form of it in my mind."
Aegis Gallery is at 14531 Big Basin Way. Hours are Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, call 408.867.0171, or visit www.aegisgallery.com on the Internet.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
