Annette Weaver

PORTRAIT

Profession: Ceramist

Company: Secret Garden Studio, Phoenix; (602) 266-5913; secretgardenpottery.com

Medium: Clay

Education/training: Primarily self-taught, Weaver has taken various ceramics classes and workshops, including those offered through Phoenix College.

Background: A sign hanging in Annette Weaver’s studio reads: “Every artist dips her brush in her own soul, and paints her own nature into her pictures.” This sentiment aptly captures Weaver’s work, which marries her love of plants and nature with her knack for art. Her white-clay pieces often are functional, and many display detailed floral motifs, from bouquets of colorful zinnias that cover vases to large sunflower-shaped platters.

Weaver says she has been passionate about both art and gardening since childhood. She took her first ceramics class during high school in Kansas City, Missouri, and throughout her life has dabbled in many types of art, including drawing, painting, sewing and woodcarving. Having a “green thumb,” she owned an interior plant-care company for more than 20 years. Also a Master Gardener, she is known in gardening circles as the “Queen of Compost.”

In 2000, the artisan decided to retire from the plant-care business and devote her energies to ceramics. After spending several decades tending plants, she says her subject matter was an obvious choice. “When you’re that familiar with plants, it comes out in the pottery.”

Her in-depth knowledge is evident in the intricate details that embellish her wares. Appliqué work gives plant leaves a 3-D quality, while a technique known as lifting utilizes small tools to cut and pull tiny pieces of clay away from the surface of a partially dried piece to create layers of petals. Richly colored glazes and stains—most of which are lead-free and food-safe—lend visual depth.

The artist makes a wide range of items, from planters and votive holders to wall plaques and tableware, and plans to offer large pots and vases in the future. Of the seemingly limitless options for her craft, she states, “Everything can be done; you just have to figure out how to do it.”

Weaver is a member of the Arizona Clay Association and a juried member of the Arizona Art Alliance. Her pieces are carried at Practical Art, and Made Art Boutique, both in Phoenix.