Artists see beauty in all creatures great and small, even the ones most other people fear. That’s certainly the case with Sarah Ritchie, the pottery artist who’s using her unique ceramic pieces to celebrate the often-overlooked beauty of insects.
Ritchie is a pottery artist based in Mohkinstsis, Alberta who earned a degree in archeology before deciding to pursue ceramics. Her background greatly informed her art, and she started incorporating natural and historical themes into her work as time went by.
“Ceramics have been in my life long before I started creating my own. There’s something about holding a cup and being able to see the fingerprints of the maker that turns a functional item into a personal link to those that have touched that item before us,” she explains on her official website.
Nature is her main driving force, and her pieces are often the result of her life-long admiration and respect for the less appreciated animal species. That’s one of the reasons why insects often take center stage in her work, from beetles and ladybugs to bumblebees and dragonflies.
Ritchie’s Luminaries collection is the crowning jewel of her work, and it features various unglazed translucent porcelain candles featuring hand-carved insects, illuminated by a golden glow that perfectly highlights their details.
