ArtTalk – Lisa Naples

ArtTalk goes back to the clay studio with the ever-engaging Lisa Naples. Lisa is a modern-day Beatrix Potter sculptor with an edge. Her creations are often animals that draw you in with their charm. Imagine Rrabbits and owls and crows in human situations dealing with human questions. A bird looks at himself in the bathroom mirror. It’s titled, “Is That All I Am?” Two rabbits with birds on their backs touch noses getting to know each other. It’s called “Spirito Santo.” Her animals have a complex interior life. 

Lisa has studied widely, transitioning from a “potter” to a sculptor and a storyteller and to a conduit for ideas that come to her from an unseen realm. She says, “At this point, clay and I are dear, old friends. My experience in the studio is a conversation; a collaboration with something unseen but felt and understood.”

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Lisa’s work is in the permanent collection at the Michener Art Museum, which will present a solo show of her work in 2025. She has exhibited widely, including many years at the prestigious Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, where she was the recipient of the Jane and Leonard Korman Prize for Excellence in Contemporary Ceramics in 2012. Lisa was awarded a residency at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, as well as at the Australian National University in Canberra by the National Council for the Education of Ceramic Artists. She’s been a frequent exhibitor at the Juried Art Show at Phillips’ Mill, winning multiple awards over the years. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines and books. Lisa has an MFA from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and studied with several clay masters, including the esteemed William Daley. She has taught workshops throughout the country and continues to offer a range of classes in her studio in Frenchtown. She was recently featured in River Towns Magazine and on the Ceramic Arts Network. 

Read about Lisa and see some of her work on her studio website and Instagram page.