Kim Raimer is a self-taught artist and Portland native working in clay. Her work comes from a place of curiosity and exploration which is expressed in the range of materials, textures, and firing methods she uses. From mid to high-fire clay bodies, light and dark, smooth, and silky to rough and gritty, she explores it all in unexpected ways. Her pieces are heavily influenced from the shapes and textures found in nature, and expressed as they resonate with her own internal landscape and sense of place and belonging. Working with clay, and in nature, invokes conversations within herself that haven’t always been accessible to her otherwise. Her creation process involves spontaneously letting emerge what will, without much forethought, and then learning to let go. She further releases control of the outcomes in her work by her choices for firing the pieces, often using wood, soda, and raku, which are very unpredictable compared to an electric fire. With these methods, she never really knows what will come out of it. Current themes in her work explore a sense of place and community, as seen through the smaller pieces, shapes found in nature nestled together, and textures of an internal and external world, in dying or decaying trees.

Mari Border “After retiring and finally having time to do art again I began with a simple subject…leaves. At the time I thought of them as the only thing that artistically didn’t scare me. And I found that I loved discovering the intricacies and mysteries they held. After getting my feet wet, I moved on to arial images of landscapes. As a nervous flier I’d get a window seat when possible and concentrate on what I could see out the window and taking photos. I began making paintings from what I discovered in the fascinating interplay between organic and mechanical shapes on the land. I’ve made another subject matter shift from direct landscapes but again searching out the shapes, colors and mysteries that drew me so excitedly in. I consider every work of art to be entirely experimental, an act of both play and investigation, risk and trust, never knowing until the end where it will lead.”