AOTA-231027 - Rosalyn Demaree and Susan Scamihorn

This week on Out of the Air, the Executive Director of Indiana Artisans, Rosalind Emery, discusses the organization's mission and the upcoming Indiana Artisan Holiday Marketplace. Sculptor Susan Samahorn's Whimsical Miniatures are highlighted as part of the Indiana Artisan Collection. The 4th Street Theater's production of The Curious Savage is also featured. The show, Art on the Air, covers arts and arts events in Northwest Indiana and beyond. It is supported by the Indiana Arts Commission Arts Project Grant, South Shore Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. The show is available as a podcast and on multiple radio stations. The spotlight is on the upcoming production of The Curious Savage, directed by Denise Marko and starring Linda D'Andolo. The play explores the contrast between psychiatric patients and public figures and questions the definition of sanity. Mrs. Savage inherits $10 million and her stepchildren want her money. The play runs from November 3rd This week on Out of the Air, we feature the Executive Director of the Indiana Artisans, Rosalind Emery, discussing its mission, plus in November, Indiana Artisan Holiday Marketplace. Next, we have sculptor Susan Samahorn, whose Whimsical Miniatures are part of the Indiana Artisan Collection. These are our spotlights on 4th Street Theater's production of The Curious Savage. Welcome, you're listening to Art on the Air on Lakeshore Public Media, 89.1 FM, WVLP 103.1 FM, and WDSO 88.3 FM, our weekly program covering the arts and arts events throughout Northwest Indiana and beyond. I'm Larry Breckner of New Perspectives Photography, right alongside here with Esther Golden of The Nest in Michigan City. Aloha, everyone. We're your hosts for Art on the Air. Art on the Air is supported by an Indiana Arts Commission Arts Project Grant, South Shore Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Art on the Air is heard every Sunday at 7pm on Lakeshore Public Media, 89.1 FM, also streaming live at lakeshorepublicmedia.org, and is available on Lakeshore Public Media's website as a podcast. Art on the Air is also heard on Friday at 11am and Monday at 5pm on WVLP 103.1 FM, streaming live at wvlp.org, and Tuesdays at 4pm on WDSO 88.3 FM. Our spotlight interviews are also heard Wednesdays on Lakeshore Public Media. Information about Art on the Air is available at our website, breck.com slash aota. That includes a complete show archive, spotlight interviews, plus our show is available on multiple podcast platforms, including NPR One. Please like us on Facebook, Art on the Air WVLP, for information about upcoming shows and interviews. We'd like to welcome to Art on the Air Spotlight from the 4th Street Theater here in Chesterton, 125 North 4th Street, and their upcoming production, one of my actual personal favorites, called The Curious Savage, and it's going to be running in November, from November 3rd to the 19th. We have the director, Denise Marko, and she's going to talk to us about the show, but we also have the woman who's playing Mrs. Savage, the lead character, Linda D'Andolo. Welcome to Art on the Air Spotlight. Thank you. Hello, welcome. Nice to learn. So, Denise, tell us a little bit about the show, the background, and also why that was chosen by 4th Street Theater. Well, it's a very cool show, which contrasts the kindness and loyalty of psychiatric patients with the avarice and vanity of respectable, quote, public figures, and calls into question some of our definitions of sanity. It takes place in the Cloister Sanatorium in the 50s, after the war, and it has some really cool characters to it. There's Fairy, who believes that she's beautiful, Jeff, who thinks he's scarred, Lawrence, who thinks her child is still with her, and Hannibal, who thinks he can play the violin, and then Mrs. Patty, who thinks she's a painter. So, into this world comes Mrs. F.O.P. Savage, who inherited $10 million after her husband's death, and her stepchildren want her money. As she's in the sanitarium, she actually learns to care for the people. This was chosen because, well, it's one of my very favorite plays. I did this, I played Miss Willie when I was in college, and I directed it twice at South Central High School. So, I said, let's do this one, and they said yes. It's dear to your heart. It is. It is. It's a mainstay of many months of community in high school theaters. So, Linda, tell us about your role as Mrs. Savage. It's kind of unique, and we don't want to give away some of the secrets of the show, but tell us a little bit about Mrs. Savage and the character. Well, Mrs. Savage is a very, very kind and loving woman, until it comes to being around her children, because they're very selfish, they've been spoiled by money, and she was only 16 when she married her husband, and she kind of grew up with those stepkids, as far as I can tell, but she grew up differently, learning to make her husband happy, and she tried to make the kids her own, but they always resented her. She meets the residents of the Cloisters, and they're like children all over again for her to love and take care of. And one of the things she does that kind of bothers her children is that she tries to be an actor. She uses her money to actually stage a play with her as a lead, and so they put her in the sanitarium and everything, but she discovers all the unique things about that. So, tell us about some of the cast there, Denise. Well, our cast is pretty awesome. Of course, Linda's Mrs. Savage. We have Joanna Helinski, who is playing Lilybell. Joanna is new to the stage, but she has worked for years with the Dave Matthews Band, and she's doing a great job. Dexter Pritchard is in it. Roy Siebert is in it. He's been in some of the 10-minute plays at 4th Street. Jerry Galvatus is in it. Josephina Rain, this is only her second time on any stage. Jill Watterson, Kathy Kirchner, and Mary Watterson, both who were set to play in this play at the Fort Little Theater, and then COVID hit. And then we have Debbie Ann Williams and Kaivan Mathur, who also has been in the 10-minute plays. How long have you been in rehearsal for this show, because it opens on November 3rd? Yeah, we started the end of September, so we've been in rehearsal about five weeks. It's a great play for highlighting empathy. Exactly. I love the part of Mrs. Savage because she plays all the emotions that any mother could have. She gets angry at her kids, and she is loving, just loving toward the residents. And each of the residents have their own little quirky things that make you love them, and yet there's a deeper story behind each one of them. Exactly. And everything is accepted by Mrs. Savage, because she has her own little quirkiness things going on, too. And this won't give away anything, but what's one of the motivations for the stepkids, who are now all grown? One's a judge, one's a Lillie Bell's kind of a socialite, and the other's a senator. Why do they put her in the sanatorium? Because she wants to, according to them, she wants to spend their father's inheritance on foolish things. They don't care what Mrs. Savage wants, but they just don't want her to do the things that she wants to do. And it's $10 million, so it's a lot of money. Well, especially in 1950, and everything it is. Well, we're coming up to wrap up here for a moment, so I want you to have a chance to tell us the show dates, times, how they can find 4th Street Theater, and give us all that information. The show dates go from November 3rd to the 19th, and the evening shows are at 8 o'clock, and the Sunday shows are at 3 o'clock. It's at 4th Street Theater, which is on 4th Street in Chesterton, Indiana. They can get information and buy tickets online at our Facebook page, 4th Street Theater, Chesterton, Indiana, and our webpage, 4thStreetNCCA.com. The prices are $20 for all seats, and they can also call 219-926-7875 and purchase tickets of their own. Well, we appreciate you coming on Art of the Year Spotlight. Curious Savage, November 3rd through the 19th. Director Denise Marco. Mrs. Savage, Linda Ditlow. Thank you so much for coming on the show. Yeah, thank you, Larry. Thank you, Larry. Thank you. And a spotlight extra. South Bend's Art 4 Theater will present The Lightning Thief, the Percy Jackson musical running November 4th through 12th at Layton Auditorium with tickets at art4sb.org. That's art4sb.org. Art of the Year Spotlight, and the complete one-hour program on Lakeshore Public Media, is brought to you by Macaulay Real Estate in Valparaiso, Olga Patrician Senior Broker. And as a reminder, if you'd like to have your event on Art of the Year Spotlight or have a longer feature interview, email us at aotaatbrech.com. That's aotaatbrech.com. This is Memorial Opera House Executive Director Megan Stoner, and you are listening to Art on the Air on Lakeshore Public Media 89.1 FM and on WVLP 103.1 FM. We would like to welcome Roslyn Demery to Art on the Air. Ros is an inquisitive reporter and creative writer with experience in a wide range of publications, and for the last 13 years has worked with Indiana Artisan now as the Executive Director, and she's helped orchestrate and launch Indiana Artisan Marketplace, which brings together around 225 artists, fine crafters, small batch food and beverage makers from 55 counties throughout Indiana. Thank you for joining us on Art on the Air. Aloha and welcome, Ros. Nice to be here. Thanks. We appreciate you coming on and telling our audience all about the Indiana Artisans, but we actually want to know a little bit more about you and your art journey and where you grew up, your origin story, how you got from where you were to where you are now. So, Ros, tell us about yourself. I've often asked myself how I got to where I am. I grew up in Northeastern Ohio, the daughter of an artist, actually. I do not have any art skills in me, but I am the kind of person that artists love because I buy and appreciate art. I ended up going to Valparaiso University, so I have a little connection up there to your area, where I studied journalism and mass communications. I went out to Washington, D.C. after that, did a lot of communications work out there, met a man who became my husband, had a couple of kids out there, and we moved back to Indiana to be on a farm. I worked for a newspaper for a couple of years, or actually for 12 years, as a reporter and editor, a local community newspaper, and when I was downsized from that, I had the opportunity to do some work for Indiana Artisans as a freelancer, and things grew and morphed from there, and so now I'm directing it. Back to your family, the early steps that you mentioned about your family. So, what type of art did, was it your father that you said? Yeah, he was, they're now called graphic designers, but they were called commercial artists in his time. The director of sales for a family chain of department stores, and he hand drew all the ads to start out, but he also did a lot of watercolors for us. He never sold watercolors or anything like that. There were people who had no idea he was an artist. When he died, instead of doing flowers and stuff at his funeral, we did an art show for him, and people came to the funeral just to see his art. Oh, that's so sweet. It was kind of fun. So, as you were growing up, what type of art were you attracted to? Were there particular artists or mediums that you liked? Because I know at Indiana Artisans, now it encompasses everything, including food. I am a big fan of functional more than decorative, I think, although I have a lot of decorative. My very first piece that I bought on my own was a watercolor of a family, a very stout family, sort of a Russian-looking family, that I still love that piece. I am so glad. It was a big investment for me at the time, but every time I see it, I remember the joy I had of putting it in my car and walking past it every day when it was new to my apartment. It was like, I own art. It's so exciting. It is exciting. So, let's take you back to your reporting days. What type of coverage were you doing? What kind of beat were you doing, or just kind of general reporting? I was a community reporter for the four small towns of Hamilton County, Sheridan, Arcadia, Cicero, and Atlanta. I covered everything except sports. I covered that area. It was a lot of fun. I really got to know the people. It was great for somebody who had just moved here because I did get to know so many people. I got to know the schools really well. My daughter once told my son when he was starting school, when you do something wrong, tell mom about it because somebody else is going to tell her before you anyhow. That's great. So, to start your journey, you touched on it just briefly about how you got involved. So, you volunteered first. So, tell us about the volunteer process and how that evolved to program director to eventually executive director. Sure. I started out actually as a freelance writer for them. One of the benefits of being an Indiana artisan is every artisan gets a page on our website that tells their story and that has a gallery of their work and that leads people to their website and tells where they sell retail. It even has a calendar listing that they can put in there to tell what shows they're going to be doing and things like that. So, I was hired to write those profiles of the artists. And then the marketplace was starting and so they got me involved in that. I took over as my big role in that became finding the volunteers we need for it. Indiana Artisans is a very small staff. Right now, it's me and a part-time person and that's the biggest it's ever been. And putting on a big marketplace is quite an undertaking. So, we need a lot of volunteers for it. And so, my role was helping to find those volunteers, training them once they got there, orienting their jobs. And just the more I worked with the director, the more jobs I took on, the more I enjoyed it, the better it worked out. And then when he left in 2018, I had just taken over our retail program, which was fairly new at the time. We have a store in French Lick that opened in 2016 and we have another one in Carmel. And I had just taken over that, but the board decided to put me in place as interim director, which I held for about a year and then they made me executive director. So, tell us about what your day looks like for executive director for Indiana. We'll get into about the process, but what does your day look like when you're doing things? Or is there a typical day? Not sure there's a typical day. I try to spend a lot of time with artisans because I get a lot of energy from them, either talking with them or emailing them or texting them. I love it when they stop in the store and I get to see them. There were two in here this morning, which was very nice. I interact with the public a lot. I talk with prospective applicants about the organization. I love telling about the organization and what it does. I love showing the art. I spend a lot of time, my office is in our store, and when we don't have an artisan working in the store, I'm the person who works in that and I manage both stores. So, that takes up a great deal of time. We've got about 140 artists consigning work in each of the stores right now. So, at this time of the year, that gets very busy. We've also got all the publication kind of work to do, the publishing kind of work to do. I put out the newsletters. I have help with social media. I have great help with social media. Our program manager manages our Friends of Indiana Artisan Program. She's taken over the volunteer side of it. She puts together our workshop and she's forming a committee of artisans to help us. We've had a couple of short-term shows. Our most recent one was this summer in Connersville, a month-long show, and we want to do more of those for the artists. And so, she's working with the committee to do those. Tell us about, well, first of all, let's talk about the benefits of being an Indiana artisan and then we'll talk more about how you become an Indiana artisan. But, like, what's the benefits? If I'm an artist, okay, why should I become part of Indiana Artisans? Well, Indiana Artisans is an official state designation. In 2010, the legislature determined that there should be a designation for the best handcrafted work made in Indiana and that includes art, food, and beverage. And they made Indiana Artisans the organization to determine what those would be. So, the biggest benefit is being able to use our logo and saying my work is among the best in Indiana. But, beyond that, we have an annual view book that we put out. We call it the view book. It's a coffee table style book that has the work, it showcases the work of every member with a listing that includes their contact information. It's designed to drive people to their websites to help themselves. Indiana Artisans' mission is to not only find the best work in Indiana, but then the big work for us starts and that's to help those artisans develop their business skills and grow their businesses. More than 40% of our artists live in rural communities that don't have access to an art or foodie market. So, we try to provide those kind of programs for them. There's no cost to them to be in the view book. We print 32,000 of them. They go all over the state and into metro areas. I mentioned before that we, on our website, every artisan gets a page on our website that tells their story and shows their work. It's very well used. We have the two stores, one in French Lick, one in Carmel, that they can consign work to. I should add, too, that everything on the Indiana Artisan menu is a la carte. They can do as much or as little as they want to, whatever works best for them. Roz, is there a membership fee in general? There is. There's $100 dues per year for it. There's a $30 application fee and $100 dues. We have the marketplace in the spring in Indianapolis. We get about 100 of them participating in that every year. We get about 5,000 people over the weekend. We're adding a holiday marketplace in Fort Wayne this year in November. We do workshops for them. We don't teach them how to do watercolors. We teach them how to sell watercolors or how to set up an art fair booth that will sell watercolors, how to light their booth, how to use social media, how to wholesale, those kind of things. That's the boot camp you're describing, right? The boot camp is different. The boot camp is part of the application process. It's their final step in the application process. After the jury convenes and determines that their work has the quality to be considered the best in Indiana, they come to our boot camp. And that is basically an orientation program, a two-hour orientation program that walks them through the benefit. It tells them what we can do for them. It asks them what they want us to do for them, where they need us. It gets them introduced to each other. It's just an involvement, an engagement evening to get them engaged. There are two marketplaces during the year. Is there a booth fee, or do you take a commission on sales at the marketplace? There is a booth fee for it, but we do not take a commission on that. We take a commission in the stores, but no commission on the marketplace. You told us about the boot camp. Is that like a one-day thing, or is it a couple days, or how does that work? It's a two-hour thing. Is it in person, or if someone has trouble getting there, can you also Zoom it? We can Zoom it if they can't get there. That's the next step in the process, and then they become that, and they get all these other benefits. What type of artists are you looking for? I know you have a wide, broad palette. I do fine art photography. Esther does a different thing. What types of art is Indian Artists really looking to bring into the fold? We don't actually go out and seek what kind of art we have. We don't have a list of what kind of art. We don't have any kind of quotas, so if 100 people apply with pottery, and it is all considered the best in the state, it would all get added. That doesn't usually happen. We don't really define what our art categories are. We once had a man work here with what he called snake sticks. He would go out. It was his boyhood tradition to go out with his father and grandfather out into the woods, and they would always collect sticks out there, and he started seeing ones that looked like snakes to him, so he would bring them back, and he would paint them and his work made it in because it was very, very well done. It was very intriguing, very unique, very artisanal. And then we have things as traditional as pottery and jewelry and watercolor. We have an artist who does her form is what she calls cartoon taxidermy. She uses paper clay to make animal heads, realistic looking animal heads, but she makes them whimsical. She adds hats to them and glasses and jewelry and bow ties and she names them and puts them on a frame like you would a taxidermy. They're very, very cool. She even makes the eyes, and the eyes are what catch you because they just follow you. They're great. She uses the resin to make the eyes. So, Roz, the jury process, how many people are on the jury to jury in any particular artist? It varies year to year. The jury considers the entire applicant cohort, application cohort. This year, I think there were about 12. It varies anywhere from 8 to 16. It depends a little bit on who the applicants are because we try to have a working artist from that media, from every media represented in the application pool, as well as educators, museum curators, retailers, people who know art. And so, when they go through the jurying process, well, first of all, in the application process, do you have a template of what past applications looked like so an artist knows what the expectation is? I know it's probably a blank page or something, but like a template that, okay, this is kind of what we're looking for in these questions, not just the question. The application is fairly lengthy. It's not a 10-minute application by any means. There are several essay questions on it. We do try to explain that in there. We don't provide a template, but we do do three Zoom sessions that people can come in as a Q&A kind of thing to learn about the application process. And we just added those in the past couple of years, and we found those to be helpful to the applicants. Also, if their work does not succeed, if their application does not succeed, and the majority of work does not just because we're looking for the best, we send them the panelist comments. So if they want to apply again, and they can apply as many times as they want to, if they want to apply again, then they can use those comments to tweak their work if they want to. And how many members currently do you have in Indiana Artisans? 225 from 55 counties. Wow. It's only 55 counties. Not everyone's represented so far. No, we would love to have more. And in fact, your corner of Indiana is not very well represented, so we'd love to have more from up in there. And it's a very art-rich area, quite honestly. It is, I know. It's very active. My first year and a half out of college, I worked in Valpo for a little shopper newspaper, and I discovered the Chesterton Art Gallery there. Became very good friends with the manager, and when I was leaving, she said the best thing I ever did for the community was to wake up the Vidant Messenger to the art scene in the operational area. And by way of disclosure, I'm on the board of Chesterton Arts Center, so we are elevating it from what I call kind of an art club to a true organization. We have a full-time executive director now. Very nice. So we're heading in that direction. And the Chesterton art there is wonderful. You still put that on, don't you? Oh, definitely. It's always kind of impacted our numbers, and we had some people that have not come back, but this last year, we're starting to get our numbers up, and we changed some things. I come from also a theater background, and we now have a more entertainment portion, not to take away from the artists, but to draw people in. So we have a Billy Foster jazz trio and everything, and so we're expanding the attraction of that. I tell all the performers, I say, okay, you're not the focus here. The artists need the people to come in, more people in, quote, the door. Now we're actually actively looking for corporate sponsorship, which brings me to my next question. Do you get any money from the state since the state sanctions you? We're not part of the state government. We do get a grant from the Indiana Arts Commission. We get an arts organization support grant, which has been very helpful to us. We get, because of our presence in Carmel, we get a Carmel Arts grant as well. We do look for other grants, both public and private. That's a very active organization. You have some things coming up, and we want to make sure that's the reason you originally reached out to us. It's called your Holiday Market. Tell us some of the details about that and what it's going to look like. Sure. We did a Holiday Market place a few years ago in Fort Wayne. We stopped it for a while, but we're back to having it this year. It's going to be November 17th and 18th, which is a Friday and a Saturday. It's Friday evening from 4 to 9 and Saturday 10 to 6. We're very excited about it, partly because it's going to be in Electric Works, which is just a cool new development in the Fort Wayne area. We are in the GE Club, which was the recreation center built by the GE employees themselves. I believe it was 1923. Not many people have seen it. We're in the gym, which is very cool. The center of the gym has a GE logo in it. It's one of the last original logos from the campus from when it was GE. We'll have about, not about, we'll have 30 artisans there, each with their own booth, art and food, mostly art. A nice mix of artists there. They will have holiday gifts and decor. I like to say that it's going to be a festive shopping experience where every gift tells a story. Do you have the names posted of the people who will be participating ahead of time? We do. I think it's on our website right now. I have an artisan who helps to do that, and I think she posted those. I should have known that today. So that one is closed, but you also have a spring event, too, so that would still be open to people that are interested in your group to be part of? Are there plans for that going forward? Yeah, absolutely. That is going to be April 6th and 7th in Indianapolis. That's also the weekend right before the solar eclipse, so we're encouraging artists to come up with eclipse-related pieces, and we're going to feature them. Every guest who comes is going to get a ballot, and they get to choose a People's Choice Award for the best eclipse artist there, which I think will be really fun. There's some great ideas that are coming out of it, so I think that's going to be really fun. Yeah, part of our show today, we're also going to have Sue Scamahorn, who's on for the interview after yours, so she's an Indiana artisan. Wonderful Indiana artisan. Her work is so great. She can put 10 pounds of personality in 3 ounces of play. It's so true. Yeah. She's so sweet. And her work is just so whimsical and fun and free and everything like that. So, well, we're just going to wrap up here in about a minute, so tell us about how we can find information about Indiana Artisan, website, contact information, your contact information, Roz. Sure. indianaartisan.org is our website. The application information will be going live very soon for 2024. Applications won't be due until June 4th, so there's lots of time. I would encourage artists who are interested in being part of our program or food artisans to come to the Marketplace and get to meet some of the people there. They can tell you from personal experience what they've gotten out of the organization. People are also welcome to call me, Roz Demery. I'm at 317-964-9455 or Rosalyn, R-O-S-A-L-Y-N at indianaartisan.org. Well, we appreciate you coming on Art of the Air from Indiana Artisans, the Executive Director, and she will tell you all about what you need to know if you're interested in being at the Holiday Inn Experience. It's November 7th and 18th. It's the Holiday Marketplace, and that's in Fort Wayne. So, thank you so much for coming on Art of the Air and sharing your story about Indiana Artisan and your own personal journey. I love to tell the story. Thank you very much. Yeah, thank you. It's a wonderful experience. I hope everybody visits the Marketplace. I do, too. Thanks a lot. Art of the Air listeners, do you have a suggestion for a possible guest on our show? Whether it's an artist, musician, author, gallery, theater, concert, or some other artistic endeavor that you are aware of, or a topic of interest to our listeners, email us at aartisans.indianaartisan.org. Thank you. aota.brech.com That's a-o-t-a at brech, b-r-e-c-h dot com Art of the Air is supported by an Indiana Arts Commission Arts Project Grant, South Shore Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. This is Karen Maravilla with It's Just Serendipity, and you're listening to Art on the Air on Lakeshore Public Media, 89.1 FM, and on WVLP, 103.1 FM. We are pleased to welcome Susan Skemhorn to Art on the Air. Sue's work inspires smiles, and she has been told to her great delight that she has an overdeveloped sense of whimsy. After teaching for 34 years, she became a full-time ceramic artist in 2012, creating whimsical characters, whistles, miniatures, and activities. Thank you for joining us on Art on the Air. Aloha and welcome, Sue. It's fantastic to see you again. Hi. Thank you. Well, Sue, our audience wants to know a little bit about your background, your origin story, I'd like to say, how you got from where you were to where you are now. So tell us all about Sue. Alright. I was born in southwestern Kansas, and I lived on a farm for the first 17 years of my life, and I was the youngest of five daughters. I had a lot of free time. And we lived 11 miles north of a town of 75 people, so it was very remote. So creativity and reading were how we filled our time. And I can remember learning about Indiana when Mom read to us from a Jean Stratton Porter book. And it was the book Laddie, and I was sure Indiana must just be this magical, wonderful place to live. I never dreamed that I would come here and never leave. Because it is magical and wonderful. It is. As a child, I would take the soil that was just full of sand and very loamy in western Kansas, and I would try to create bowls and cups. It didn't hold together too well, obviously, because there wasn't any clay. Or very little. So a few stuck together, and I knew that intense heat was involved. I don't even know how I knew that, but I knew that. And I wanted to create permanent clay vessels, so I actually put together a hole in the ground with some wood and some fire. Don't try this at home, but obviously What age were you? I was probably about nine. Wow. Remember, I had a lot of free time. Anyway, I would try to add color, too. Watercolor was all I had, but obviously my pots never vitrified, because there wasn't nearly enough heat, and there wasn't nearly enough clay in the soil. Did you have any other early art influences? I mean, I know you're out in the remote land and kind of on your own, but... No, since I went to such a small school, there were eight in my graduating class, and art classes were not a thing. But my mom was very creative and she encouraged me a lot. And I always loved to sculpt and create from clay, and I can remember when I was little we would get a box of plasticine clay at school. This was... window wasn't a thing yet in the early sixties. Plasticine clay, but it was only one color, which was kind of, you know, limiting. And so my mom bought me a package of primary colors and I taught myself color theory. And basically by mixing those clays and discovering that I could make secondary colors and just being amazed at that. I'm just like, I'm just so overwhelmed that it really did begin so early for you, the love of clay, you know, just immediately that that's what you were drawn to. What about the rest of the family? Do they have or do they pursue the arts in any sort of way? Not nearly as much as me, no. I was probably had a lot more one-on-one time with mom and she was very creative. And I have a couple sisters that are very musical, but no, I'm the only one And when I went to college I remember thinking, you know, these people know so much more than I do because I didn't have any art classes. And I remember thinking that I just need to be quiet and listen. And I remember learning as much from other students as I did from the professors. So you go to college, where do you go and what did you study and how did that whether it's art related or not, tell us a little bit about that part of your journey. I did study art and I went to Indiana Wesleyan for my undergrad and Ball State for my masters and then 34 years of teaching art came next and two sons and I had married another art student after graduating from college who was a potter. So obviously that fed into Oh, the evolution of the clay. Right, right. My love for clay as well. We work together. He makes mugs and I make a whistle and we have a I know that nobody can see this except you guys, but we have a what's your whistle mug and you blow your whistle when you want to refill. Very cute. So you taught so tell us a little bit about your teaching journey before we go back into your art. Sure. For 34 years I taught art and I loved working with kids at Josiah White's Home for Kids who needed intervention in their lives. And it was really fun to introduce them to success in art so many of them hadn't had good experiences or had very low expectations of their own abilities and it was just fun to see the light come on in their eyes and that was just encouraging and a blessing. Students would frequently tell me that they never liked art class at home, but they liked it at Josiah White's and that was just a joy to hear. Of course there were a few non-believers who could take Well that's understandable. So you actually did that for 34 years and then what in 2012 you retired from that and became a full time artist. So tell us about that transition. Yeah, well throughout my teaching career whenever I had an opportunity I worked with clay and I became very interested in hand building and creating miniatures and ornaments and nativities and I was 55 when I retired so I was able to become a full time artist and that income kind of helped with helping our kids get through school and now I'm in 10 galleries and stores and I stay busy year round. I sell online and I'm busy. And you do have your own studio like in your home there? I do, yes. It's basically our sunroom. It was where I worked but our basement I have kilns and clay and glazes and all the stuff you need to have to be a clay artisan. I wanted to mention Indiana Artisan. It's been really big in my life. I became a member in 2010 and it's an organization of some top quality handcrafted homegrown art and our website says the work of Indiana Artisan rises above the rest to experience the extraordinary as you explore Indiana's heritage captured in painting, glass, stoneware, fiber, furniture, wood candy so there's my little plug for Indiana Artisan. I think my clay whistles helped me pass that rigorous application process but the view books, the stores and the shows that we do are really a great opportunity to connect with other artisans and find personal success. It's been really good for me. So you talked about at 9 years old starting with the bowls but when you started let's say clay in university were you doing these figures or were you doing functional work and when did the figurines then come into play and then the evolution of that whole process including going jointed and I mean you have a very distinctive style. I remember they taught how to make whistles in clay in college but I don't I think I had a handout on it but I eventually bought a book on how to make whistles out of clay and that became kind of a big deal. I learned from that and just experimented a lot and you know hundreds and hundreds of whistles later and then I kind of found that little niche marketplace where people really like handmade Christmas ornaments and nativities and so that has really gotten big. It keeps me really busy. I also have a little I don't really throw big pottery on the wheel but I have a little tiny wheel that is like 4 inches in diameter. It's very small and I make tiny mugs. I mean they're like an inch wide they're very tiny and obviously not functional but I almost always put a little critter like a mouse or whatever peeking up over the edges because I just find a lot of fun and whimsy. I love one of your husband's comments about you that you must not have had enough toys growing up because you surround yourself with a whole bunch of childlike things and everything so tell us a little bit about that some of the exploration. Was that true? You didn't have that many toys so you had to create your own things? I think we really did have plenty of toys but I've just always loved creating and finding other people that enjoy that and customers it's just really cool to you know to connect with them and to be able to bless them with something they might value. Well the animals are so charming. I mean they just are so appealing to all ages and they seem like they would be just delightful to do. So how often do you bring new designs into your process? Do you have like a yearly new ornament? Yes I do and I usually I'll post those on Facebook and I'll put them out on Etsy and take them into well we're actually going to be doing a Christmas holiday marketplace in Fort Wayne and this will be an Indiana Artisans sponsored event and the weekend before Thanksgiving and it's you know you get repeat customers that kind of expect something new not just repeats. Yeah we'll be talking to Roslyn from Indiana Artisans for an interview also Oh okay good So tell us about your experience in first of all the process of getting in you described how difficult it was but maybe for some of our budding artists that like to become part of the Indiana Artisans. Tell us about the application process and how it came to you. I know you've been a member since I think 2012 but tell us about that process and the benefits of being in it. The application process is rigorous and I always like to tell people that are interested I didn't make it the first time and so I tried again maybe a couple years later and I like to thank those whistles once again because I think that Lindsay and that unusual aspect of it was something that they saw that they didn't have anyone else that was doing anything like that. We have a lot of potters that do a great job you know functional pottery and a few of them do some sculptural work as well So what did you enter with the first time then if it wasn't with the whimsical animals I think maybe I did some some Christmas related things then and I also I had a little help with a friend who was really good at writing because there is a writing portion where you need to talk about how your art is related to Indiana and it's been so many years I don't remember much of the details to tell you the honest truth but I did have a friend that was really skilled and she looked over what I wrote and helped correct and add things that made it more polished I think. It's good to have those friends Yes, yes So tell us a little bit well two parts of this. One tell us about the benefits of being an Indiana artisan and then you served as a jury on the panel for I guess incoming so tell us in both two parts about that I haven't been on the jury but I've been on the advisory board for several years where we work with Raj to like you know discuss like new ideas or problems or whatever that's coming up potential new members whatever so that's really been that's been good to be a part of that. I've enjoyed that You're listening to Art on the Air on Lakeshore Public Media 89.1 FM on WVLP 103.1 FM and WDSO 88.3 FM So once in Indiana Artisans, besides exhibiting what are some of the benefits? Does that open doors where otherwise they wouldn't open for you? Yeah, it really does I think our view book which is like a coffee table book, it's nice it's very nice and we get to be a part of that every year a new one comes out every year and then the shows we do a spring show in April, first weekend I think in April in Indianapolis and then we haven't done our Christmas show for a while, this is kind of a return to Fort Wayne in November and so those have been really great and I think too, just the camaraderie and the inspiration of being a part of a group where you're working with other artisans has been really great. I know before COVID, we did a lot of shows where we would pack up all of our cares and woes and take them with us that was a lot of work and after COVID, we kind of realized we don't need to do that, we can be in stores and galleries and do these annual Indiana Artisan shows and then we also have two stores which have been a great source of being able to sell your work Well you brought up COVID and we've asked our artists a lot of times this how that impacted you both artistically and maybe personally, did you shut down or did you become more creative during that period? Well I think, yeah probably the biggest change was we quit doing shows and became more you know into stores and galleries We did do some education at home with our grandkids which kept us busy so my ability my time to create was less but I think we sold more online that year and yeah it wasn't a terrible thing for me really I'd like to go back to Indiana Artisan process for just a second so back in 2010 when you joined the Indiana Artisan was there the boot camp that they have now? Yes. Oh wonderful and what was that like? I think I was excited I was really excited to be a part of it I really felt honored too there's some top quality artisans in there, there really are it's great to be a part of that Was it a large group? I mean is that boot camp is it a large group because I know they teach you so much during that time period It was primarily the new artisans for that year I think there were you know usually there are like 12 to 15 new ones I'm guessing I'm just throwing that out there, don't quote me I'm guessing there's about that many so it wasn't a real large group you know other artists could come as well that were already a part of it but it wasn't a huge group Is that the first step do you do the application process and then go to boot camp or can anyone go to boot camp in preparation for an application? Oh that's a good question I think you have to be a part of the group to be I know we have done some workshops that we have opened up to other artisans and I can remember one year when the application process wasn't complete that some of the artisans who were applying got to be a part of our Christmas show So do you teach at all, do you have classes so people can take classes from you on what they do with your art I do some one on one things where I worked at there's a group of girls that have come over and done some clay work I don't have room for a large group and I volunteer so I tell people I get to decide my class size I'm real happy to work with three but yeah I have I've worked at our local hospital with a group of like staff and patients that were they were trying to bring art into the hospital to make it Are you dedicated to one clay body or do you use several different types I use several, I go from porcelain to stoneware but primarily stoneware, I'm really having a good time working with clay from Kentucky, Kentucky Mud is the name of the company Is it smooth? It is like butter and it's black it's really fun to work with because the colors and the glazes just pop they're very vibrant Sue is there any other kind of art that you do or experiment with outside of like clay and working like drawing or painting or anything like that You know I create my design by drawing my original designs I also, I love watercolor but I don't have a lot of time for that but some of the some of my ornaments I do some kind of watercolor effects using a product called Inktense and they are actually I learned this from another clay artisan they're actually pencils that are permanent supposedly I seal them to make sure they're permanent but you can get some watercolor effects right on your clay which I love that Right, and you're painting those glazes that one ornament that you have that has a sort of stained glass background is just so intricate and gorgeous Well, thank you Any project with clay that you haven't tried that you'd like to as kind of a, okay I really want to try whatever that is, is there something That's a really good question My mind is obviously going and people say, how do you think of this and it's just, you know, it's in your head once you do it, it becomes you just thunk them up as some people say As far as a new project I'm just constantly trying to broaden my scope of what I do and try to mix it up so it's not just same old, same old, but new things different things. Right now I'm working on some miniature ornaments because I think people are into those tiny trees where you, I'll sell them in groups of three and it's kind of a new thing I'm doing right now Well, I guess we're going to get to kind of the conclusion, but we want in these last couple minutes here to tell about where people can see your work and maybe websites and how to contact you, and maybe even for a commission of work I'm if you go to Indiana Artisan you'll find my work there, I have a website that's active I'm also on a personal website called Scammy Stoneware and it's just S-C-A-M-I and then the word Stoneware all one word and that's at Webstarts and it's really more of a gallery, I don't sell from there but it's just a way for people to see my work and contact me and then I have a I have a store on Etsy that's also just Sue Scammy, if you look under shops for Sue Scammy all one word, S-U-E S-C-A-M-I you would find me there and it's, this time of year it's very active because I sell a lot of Christmas things Well, as we get into the Christmas season and of course the Nativities must really be a hot item also They are, they are Sue, we appreciate you coming on Art of the Year, sharing your artistic journey She's a clay artist She finds joys with her whistles and whimsy and she didn't have enough toys as a kid, so she actually created her own world now and she's a clay artist She's an Indiana artisan and so you can find her work there. Sue, thank you so much for coming on Art of the Year and sharing your art journey Thank you so much for having me Yeah, thank you Sue, it's great seeing you Next week on Art of the Year our whole show features American roots singer-songwriter Leah Song a multi-instrumental musician, storyteller poet and artist, who along with her younger sister Chloe Smith, fronts their band Rising Appalachia Stand like an oak an aspen, an alder It's in you, don't falter and this sudden I got you make it walk taller in it, in it make your fist smaller body angels of the water push em up, push em up put away our cares fold them, fold them fold up your fears push em up, push em up put away our cares fold them, fold them fold up your fears you're second to the river We'd like to thank our guests this week on Art of the Year our weekly program covering the arts and arts events throughout northwest Indiana and beyond Art of the Year is aired Sunday at 7pm on Lakeshore Public Media Lakeshore Public Media 89.1 FM also streaming live at LakeshorePublicMedia.org and is available on Lakeshore Public Media's website as a podcast Art of the Year is also heard Friday at 11am and Monday at 5pm on WVLP 103.1 FM streaming live at WVLP.org and Tuesdays at 4pm on WDSO 88.3 FM Our spotlight interviews are heard every Wednesday on Lakeshore Public Media Thanks to Tom Maloney, Vice President of Radio Operation for Lakeshore Public Media and Greg Kovach, WVLP's Station Manager Our theme music is by Billy Foster with a vocal by Renee Foster Art on the Air is supported by an Indiana Arts Commission Arts Project Grant South Shore Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts We'd like to thank our current underwriters for Lakeshore Public Media McAuley Real Estate and Valparaiso Olga Patrician, Senior Broker and for WVLP, Walt Reininger of Paragon Investments So we may continue to bring you art on the air, we rely on you our listeners and underwriters for ongoing financial support If you're looking to support art on the air, we have information on our website at breck.com slash AOTA where you can find out how to become a supporter or underwriter of our program in whatever amount you are able and like I say every week, don't give till it hurts give till it feels good and you'll feel so good about supporting art on the air If you're interested in being a guest or send us information about your arts arts related event or exhibit email us at AOTA at breck dot com that's AOTA at breck B-R-E-C-H dot com or contact us through our Facebook page Your hosts were Larry Breckner and Esther Golden and we invite you back next week for another episode of Art on the Air Aloha everyone, have a splendid week and show the world your heart you're in the know with Esther and Larry Art on the Air today they're in the know with Larry and Esther Art on the Air our way express yourself your heart and show the world your heart express yourself your heart and show the world your heart show the world your heart