ELIZABETH SIRCOM
Title: Puck and the Flower called “Love in Idleness”
Dimensions: 22.5 x 12 x 15cm
Medium: terracotta
Date Made: May 2019
Retail Price: $475
Artist’s Statement (meaning/inspiration, etc.): For me, the theme of “the Birds and the Bees” could only be about lovers. Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream is all about mismatched couples. Everything is made worse by the mischievous sprite, Puck, who on orders from Oberon, King of the Fairies, has gathered a magical flower, the juice of which, if spread on someone’s eyes while they are sleeping, will make them fall violently in love with the first person or creature they see upon waking. CCSS speck fired to cone 6 with acrylic finish.
Title: Alcyone and Ceyx Transforming into Kingfishers
Dimensions: 21.4 x 12 x 15.5cm
Medium: terracotta
Date Made: June 2019
Retail Price: $450
Artist’s Statement (meaning/inspiration, etc.): This is inspired by a Greek myth about a couple whose love was so great that they irritated the gods. Zeus caused Ceyx, the husband, to drown in a hurricane at sea. Alcyone rushed to join him in death and, seeing this, Zeus took pity on the and brought them back to life as kingfishers so that they could fly up from the waves and remain together forever. As if in a dream, the resuscitated Ceyx has not noticed that his face is becoming birdlike. Alcyone is portrayed in the moment of realization that something astonishing is occurring. CCSS speck fired to cone 6 with acrylic finish.
Originally from the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, Elizabeth Sircom studied French at Dalhousie University and the Université de Tours, France before deciding to pursue a career in Fine Arts. She received her art training in Paris, France, and lived in Le Havre, Normandy for 20 years, working as a professional artist and art teacher (drawing, painting and clay sculpture). Her interest in portraiture led to involvement in several community art projects on a portrait theme. She returned with her family to live in Nova Scotia in 2013 and since then has been an active member of Visual Arts Nova Scotia, CARFAC and the Nova Scotia Potters’ Guild, giving many workshops to adults and children through the PAINTS and ArtsSmarts programmes, and at the Acadia University Art Gallery in Wolfville. She has exhibited at the Corridor Gallery, the Charles MacDonald Concrete House in Centreville, the Cedar Centre in Windsor, and also in Charlottetown, where she exhibited a series of historical busts on a Confederation theme in the summer of 2017. She was included in the NSPG’s 2018 “Quaff” online exhibition.