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By Donna LaPre
Special to the Rappahannock News
Stories about life-career changes are most often very interesting. This one, about a research economist cum tile- maker is no exception. Although making the leap from one to the other might seem dramatic, the places lived throughout her life have been constant companions of inspiration for Anne Woods Richards.
Ms. Richards, who lived in Paris for twenty years during her stint as an economist for an international think-tank, also resided in Turkey and Japan as a child. Food markets, old French textiles and Turkish rugs, art, nature and antique tiles have shaped her vision as an artist, which she captures in small pieces of clay tile. Looking at her work, arranged in the particular and idiosyncratic manner of an artist, one gets the sense of a collage, a story of bright memories: visual, rhythmic, colorful and utterly charming.
Leaving the corporate world behind brought Ms. Richards to Rappahannock in ‘97, where the muses called her to become a folk artist. This was the first time in Ms. Richards’ life allowing her “to live as part of the land” and respond creatively to it. Every morning, first thing, she says she “must go outside and take a tour around the house to see what is growing, what could look better”, etc. Then she walks down the “river road”, along the Hughes, to “see how it’s doing”. She is always rewarded on these inspection tours by the sight of growing things, in new combinations of line, shape and pattern, which stimulate her creative process.
Before Ms. Richards turned to tiles as a medium, she tried her hand at furniture making. “Not successful in that department!” she laughs. Then, while house sitting in D.C. for a friend, she was attracted to a tile making class offered at the Corcoran School. The class lasted three semesters and Ms. Richards had her vocation in hand. Serious about her craft, she has immersed herself in tile history and favors Renaissance majolica and 13th century Persian tiles.
One tidbit she told me about the Renaissance was how Master artists’ paintings were often copied onto tiles, to make the Masters’ work more affordable. About the tile craft itself, Ms. Richards says, “The versatility and alchemical process is fascinating—the making of glazes and transformation of fire!” There is also the element of risk: if the clay body and glaze do not “fit” perfectly, pieces may break or form little cracks, known as “crazing”, which some potters induce deliberately. Ms. Richards prefers the seamless texture of the best Majolica and strives for that.
Sometimes, even the clay she uses is specially made from a recipe consisting of “clay, beer and yogurt”, left for at least six months, “the longer the better!” says Ms. Richards. She told me of how some Asian ceramacists save clay for generations, passing it on to their grandchildren, which sounded to me a bit like stories
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