Nina de Creeft Ward

I was born in New York City in 1933, raised mainly in Santa Barbara and Ojai, California. I have a 1956 BA degree from Scripps College, and a 1964 MFA degree from the Claremont Graduate University. After that, I took bronze casting, more ceramics, and more printmaking classes as time went by. Clay is my main medium, and most of the work in private and public collections is in clay. My parents were both sculptors. Animals, their forms and attitudes in motion or at rest, their markings and colors, and their personalities totally fascinate me. I have been drawing animals, trying to capture them, much as a primitive hunter would, but with sketchbook and pencil, for much of my life. I grew up with goats and donkeys and horses, and hoofed animals are special favorites, but we had dogs and cats and chickens and ducks and rabbits too, and mice, and pet rats and I have drawn them too, of course, and kept them myself, over the years. I have made many larger works which are in various collections, in a variety of media of one person shows, and been in many group shows. I have sold through galleries and shops, and in the studio. Larger pieces sell sometimes, but the sales from the little creatures have supported most of my other work, buying me two electric and two gas kilns, a printing press, and ongoing supplies for work in drawing, clay and printmaking. I (stone, wood, wax into bronze, cement, soft sculpture, clay, and cast paper) had a number have always found clay my most responsive material. Pencil and paper are great, too. I did use my MFA to teach as an adjunct at the University of Northern Iowa for nine years, and I have taught various animal drawing and clay workshops. I like to work by myself. In making small animal figures, I work quickly in clay. For dogs and cats, on the first day, I make a group of general, small gestural shapes, which I cover with a dry cloth and a plastic to get them to stiffen a bit, but not be too dry. The next day, I build on that little armature with fresh clay and find my animal. I am looking for the personality, or the characteristic pose. Once I begin to get that, I follow through to make it convincing, and stop short of very careful detail, They are small studies, or impressions. Drying and bisque firing are standard, and then I glaze and Raku, Paul Soldner style. I was expecting my third son when I took Paul’s class in grad school, and my doctor told me I had to stop using the kick wheel to throw pots. So I made a crèche set in Paul’s class, and he suggested I Raku the pieces, I remember. Well, I never stopped after that, though I have lived in various places since Claremont: the Philippines, Chicago, Cedar Falls, Iowa, and back now to the town I was raised in, Santa Barbara. The piles of animal sketchbooks have been my source for printmaking. I started printmaking with Paul Darrow, and have studied with various teachers since then. For drawing, I owe a debt to Phil Dike. For animal anatomy and for sculpture, I was so lucky to study with Albert Stewart and Betty Davenport Ford. I had a very useful design class from Jean Ames.