The New Glasgow, Pictou County woman holds a bachelor of commerce degree with a major in economics and spent many years in the technology sector on teams both designing and implementing corporate management software solutions.
This move offered the opportunity for Lynch to build a studio and pursue a career in the arts. Today, as a second career, Lynch operates; the business name reflects her maiden name. Here, she runs a studio where she makes sculpted functional ceramics with natural materials, traditional techniques and classic designs.
During her years in the technology sector, Lynch ensured at least one night a week was dedicated to the arts, either participating in art classes, online learning or workshops. This is also how she learned more about the art of ceramics.“Sunday afternoons life-drawing workshops, sculpting the human figure artist retreats, weekly hand building classes, and online glaze chemistry studies are a few programs that formed my education,” she says.
“Hand building provides the opportunity to collaborate with the clay’s natural movements. The pottery wheel creates clean precise forms and casting reproduces detailed sculptural elements,” says Lynch. It’s also important to understand the properties of clay. Clay has several states: dry powder, malleable material, leather hard, bone dry, bisque and vitrified. It can be manipulated differently in each phase, says Lynch. Knowledge of how clay behaves in each phase is key to allowing it to participate fully in the creation process.“My pieces are made with a story, infused with intent and designed to appreciate.
In memory of her grandmother, Lynch made castings of the scroll work and placed them around the edge of the vase. The piece was then coated with black terra sigillata, matt gold and aged with patina.