New Gallery Space for Atlanta Street Art Collective

I haven't posted in quite some time- Ive been sulking under a protective rock like many during this scary pandemic. I worked from my home studio for most of the summer and now feel ready to venture back out to my studio on Atlanta Street and work on larger pieces again. I still do not have a sense of urgency and really felt the affects of this virus on my livelihood. Two of my galleries I showed in went under during this horrible time. The building next to my studio has offered me and my studio mates a space that we can hang our work. The Atlanta Street Gallery is now open at 408 S. Atlanta Street, Roswell Ga 30075. Here is a little walk thru of the show hung this past Friday.

I have "up" days and I have "down" days. Depression has been really hard to navigate thru. With true sadness for this world I am trying to keep an optimistic outlook but there is so much grief out there right now and a real lack of humanity towards our fellow human beings. Please be kind to each other .

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Palissy Ware

Bernard Palissy (1509-1589), French potter, geologist and naturalist (Retrieved from: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/3-bernard- palissy-french-potter-sheila-terry.html ) "Palissy Ware" is a form of 19th Century ceramics invented by French potter Bernard Palissy. At the time of its inception, Palissy Ware was known as "Rustique" Ware by Palissy himself. Palissy Ware is made out of earthenware and usually depicts realistic water or pond scenes with individually painted snakes, frogs, and foliage; "Palissy's distinctive style of polychrome lead-glazed earthenware in a sombre earth-toned palette, using naturalistic scenes of plants and animals cast from life,[1] was much imitated by other potters both in his own lifetime and especially in the 19th century, when pottery in Palissy's style was produced by Charles-Jean Avisseau of Tours, who rediscovered Palissy's techniques in 1843, his relatives the Landais family of To...

My Review for the New Mexico Potters Association "Clay Speaks of Home " Show

COC 2026 Clay Speaks of Home at Santa Fe Community College -- a reflection. BY Nicole Merkens Full Review can be found here. By Nicole Merkens I slipped in early to see Celebration of Clay 2026 Clay Speaks of Home at Santa Fe Community College. The opening reception was set for March 5 from 4 to 6 pm at the Visual Arts Gallery, 6401 Richards Avenue in Santa Fe. I wanted the quiet before the crowd. I wanted to hear the work breathe. The Visual Arts Gallery at the Santa Fe Community College, with the show, Clay Speaks of Home. Photo by Nicole Merkens. This year the show was blind juried by Elizabeth Hunt, Santa Fe, Serit deLopaz Kotowski, Taos, and Mary Sharp Davis, Albuquerque. Seventy-six artists as well as the jurors stepped forward to wrestle with the notion “Clay Speaks of Home.” That topic is not simple. It is loaded. It carries dust, memory, grief, safety and longing. The gallery was full. Pieces lined the space in every shape and size. There were more ...

"Where Am I Going? Where Have I Been?

I was asked to create a piece with the focus being " HOME" for a show. After much journaling and introspect I bring you "Where Am I Going? Where Have I Been". She is 29"h x 11"wx6.5"d. I don't usually like to start work with a direction ( I like the universe to dictate where I am at the moment- and ultimately the universe did). "This work is a deep dive into “home” the ever-shifting landscape where the heart learns to root, uproot, and root again. Home is the place you carry like a reliquary: tucked in small boxes, hung in frames, pressed against the tender chambers of memory. Each one is an altar of what has nourished you… and what has undone you. When you have moved twelve times, you learn to shapeshift. Your roots grow shallow from necessity, lifted again and again before they ever reach the deep water. With every move, something is left behind; friends, lovers, versions of yourself you’ll never meet again. You start to ask: Should I st...

THE STUDIO OF NICOLE MERKENS

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