KAY ELY-PIERCE

Acrylics, Pottery, Mixed Media

Website: WiWo Studio E-mail: wiwoart[at]gmail[dot]com

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I have no art degree. What I have instead are (in this order) a BS in Agriculture (double major, no less…plant science and ag education)
from the University of Delaware; a MA in Education from WV U; a JD from the University of Richmond School of Law; a BS in Nursingfrom
VCU/MCV and finally a Certificate of Clinical Bioethics from the Medical College of Wisconsin (that’s what you end up with when you do all of the classwork for a Master’s degree but find art before you finish your thesis!!).

I’d go into my “career history” but you’d never believe it.

Suffice it to say that I was born and raised on a dairy farm in eastern Maryland. I have lived in places as diverse as New York City; Box Elder, Montana; Atlanta, Georgia; and Sells, Arizona and have been a teacher, flight attendant, dental assistant, attorney, nurse, university instructor, guest lecturer and healthcare law & bioethics consultant.

Go figure…

I discovered watercolors several years ago and began painting. That gave way to acrylics on canvas and other one-dimensional substrates.
A few years ago I started working in three dimensions and in 2003 put everything together and started creating handbags.
Then came jewelry made from paper and then…back to acrylics, but this time in 2-dimensional works.  From there, I began working in
metal – both on a large scale and in jewelry.

Now, something new – I’m studying pottery with Donna Bean. My pottery shares a common theme with my other art – you’ll see…it’s all about dynamics (form, color, texture…). I haven’t stopped working in other media, though. I have taken to mixing media. Very fun.

On the Vernal Equinox of 2009, I fired my first series of Raku vessels. Talk about dynamics!  It's the most fun you can have setting fires in trashcans!!!  However, I haven’t’ stopped working in other media. I have taken to mixing media. It seems that every new experience adds a layer to my life and my work. I'm having the time of my life!.

My studio is in a  barn here on our farm. We live in a hidden valley, surrounded by 40 acres of orchard grass and hardwood trees, less than a mile from the North Fork of the Shenandoah River. I share all of this with my husband Mark, a  true saint, who married me in 1980 and still swears he's glad he did. We have two wonderful adult kids, Kacey and Michael, who come and go with the wind (and school schedules!)

All in all, it is the perfect place for a gal who grew up on a dairy farm to live, love and produce art. And that is exactly what I do!