Amy Morgan

Patricia Allen

Susan Bolen

Mary Brewster

Jonathan Bock

Jerry Bosworth

Michael J Costa

Franka Gabler

Jeff Grandy

Charlt Hoffman

David Hoffman

Joseph Holmes

Ken Maggard

Amy Morgan

Toby Raetze

Terry Robinson

John Rogers

Norma Rogers

Duncan Spencer

Heidi Vetter

“The Orchard” - The Giraffe Series

     When ceramic artist Amy Morgan first moved to the Central Valley of California she felt misplaced, a stranger in a flat land hemmed in by distant mountains.  She missed her life of teaching and making art, interrupted by her change of environment and, with the birth of her first child, by a growing family.   

     The giraffe appeared right away in her work, reflecting her feelings of awkwardness and displacement, feelings akin to those she imagines are felt by zoo creatures, stared at by a population unable to fully understand their exotic ways. 

     Fresno felt small to her at first, but the surrounding orchards soon delighted her.  She marveled at their controlled growth and the changes that each season brought.  She began to draw parallels between the cycles of the orchards and humanity, and was startled to realize how viscerally her soul reacted to this universal metaphor.  As each year passed, she became more aware of the orchards’ moods.   

     With titles such as “Stunted”, “Budding”, “Wilted”, and “Graft”, her giraffe series reflects a whimsical, sometimes disturbing look at our own distorted moods.  Who hasn’t felt stunted, or wilted, or wished for a rejuvenating graft?  Through these pieces she hopes to remind people to appreciate their own landscapes and to see themselves as part of a cyclical dance within them.

READ MORE about the art of Amy Morgan

Copyright © Stellar Gallery