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Clay and Metaphysics My first love, as a medium, is clay. I earned my BFA in crafts, focusing on ceramics, at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1977. My second area of concentration was fibers, and I still weave, knit, crochet, and do all sorts of other textiley things. But clay led me into my main career as a sculptor. I began working in the fascinating and arcane business of architectural ornament in the early 80s, as a sculptor for the Monumental Construction and Moulding Company in Washington DC. There I became conversant in the timeless language of ornament, whose roots go back through every place and time in human history. As a long-time student of symbolism and metaphysics, I made a habit of digging up all the information I could find about such ubiquitous motifs as the egg-and-dart, the green man, the cornucopia, the capital, and the grotesque. They are all rich with more meaning and philosophy than most people would ever guess. At MCMC I got to restore and copy antique mouldings, create new ones of great complexity, and work in venerable buildings like the National Theater and the Philips Collection Museum, doing repairs and final finishing work on restoration jobs. I also learned the process of mould making the way it is done in that industry, with oil-based clay, rubber moulds, and cold-casting media. This is the technique I use most in my own studio. Now that I live in the country, I still do architectural ornament design, restoration, and consultation when the occasion arises, but for a couple of decades I have been making original sculptures that explore the same archetypal ideas as the ones from which all ornament springs: What is nature? Who are we in relation to it? How does the cycle of life work? What is physical reality, anyway? These pieces often combine faces (often actual portraits), animals (also often portraits), plant forms, and traditional ornamental elements. They often evoke stories and characters from myth, legend, and religious traditions, since all of these have explored the same basic questions. Some of these sculptures, particularly portraits, are privately commissioned, and from time to time I respond to an idea or gallery challenge that results in a sculptural piece that is one-of-a-kind. But it is also important to me to continue to create works of universal appeal which can be manufactured in unlimited numbers, and thereby be affordable to as many people as possible. Their purpose is the same as ornament has always been: to unify the natural and man-made elements of our environment, and thereby uplift and refine our spirits. On Beyond Sculpture The focus on ornament influences all my work, but I have accumulated the tools, skills, and passion for several other media besides clay and fibers. As the wife of a motion picture/video graphic artist and mother of two creative children (both grown up artists now) I've had an excuse to get loads of experience making clothes, costumes, props, greeting cards, gingerbread houses, & assorted other 2-D and 3-D goodies. And thanks to a solid art school background and the encouragement of patient, tech-savvy family members, I now even provide professional digital photography and graphic design services to a growing clientele. I particularly enjoy grooming photos with Photoshop, and designing logos for small businesses. ADZ: the D is for Douglas My logo is simply my initials as they look when I carve them into clay as my signature. Ann Douglas Zeleny is the name my parents gave me. ’ÄúThe First Ann Douglas’Äù, as I heard constantly as a kid, was some plucky ancestress who bopped around what is now Kentucky back when it was still called Virginia. Although ’ÄúDouglas’Äù is a name I truly do not recommend using as a middle name for girls (!), it was redeemed for me when I met my husband because it’Äôs his middle name too. As for my last name, I spent some time in my 20s with a different one that was easy to spell (Munson, as explained on the previous page), but I got really homesick for Zeleny, so I changed it back. It’Äôs Czech, and it means ’Äúgreen’Äù. Unfortunately, it only rhymes with one English word: felony. But it’Äôs not complicated or hard to say, so don’Äôt panic just because it begins with a Z.http://www.mcmcinc.comhttp://www.mcmcinc.comPhotography.htmlLogo%20Design.htmlshapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2shapeimage_2_link_3
more background email me at studio@ADZarts.com
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