Not to very long ago, perhaps in another galaxy, I had the pleasure of hanging with Canton artist, Annette Yoho Feltes at her home and out & about the Canton area. I'm a fan of her work and wanted to spread the word on her prolific creations. I find them fun, evoking, admirable and downright funky. Via Facebook, we started this brief interview. ~

cat ~ Annette Yoho-Feltes, you are such an organic artist. Your work seems to have evolved from the very soil Thoreau left his shoe prints upon.  What infuses your hands to create?

AYF ~ My emotions drive me. How I feel is truly the only thing that I can really know in this world, this life, and the overflowing vastness of what runs through me in a day. It's often hard to keep balanced. Clay has this drawing effect like putting mud on a bee sting, it pulls the feelings from me-- the humor, the sadness, the joy, the anger, the pain. Clay has a calming effect on my being and a calm Annette is a very good thing; all who know me will agree.

cat ~ Do you know an outcome when you first soften up the clay?

AYF ~ Quite often I do know exactly the outcome of the clay to the point of its shape (color can vary with glazing) when I run the wire through it and cut it off the block, but I would have to say so much of the time I work intuitively and I just create forms and then to these forms, and I add surface texture. Much of this work goes into bins that then become material that I can use in my assemblages. Even when I have nothing in my head that I need to get out I go to my studio and work. I try to work in the same manner that Hemingway would write.

cat ~ I’ve visited your studio, deep in the recess of your home, filled with cats and altars and music… Its womb-like atmosphere almost seems to influence the gentle curves in so much of your art. Do you think you’d have such a divine feminine influx were you to work at it in some warehouse or gallery cubicle?

AYF ~ I think that I could morph into any space that I acquired and fill it to be my own space, the womb-like...no I would call it cave-like, which is good when it comes to the clay drying slowly, but it is quite cold without a space heater. I am a human being with faulty thermogenesis, being a cold-blooded person working in a cold environment...let’s just say I can adapt to a box or cubicle, especially if they are warm.

cat ~ What would you hope your work most conveys?

AYF ~ A real rawness. Not all feelings are welcome dinner topics and those are the feelings I like to shed light on. I have been through many things but nothing at all in comparison to some people I have met, but human emotions are beautiful. I think that I want to convey emotions as I feel them so that maybe someone can look at my art and feel something. I also want to convey my humor in my art, my whimsical sense of humor and my love and respect of nature as is reflected in my organic textural surfaces.

cat ~ Does being a mother give way to the (not so) subliminal yoni’s that seem to perpetuate the crux of your sculptures?

AYF ~ Being pregnant was so hyper-real  to me, like that scene from Alien when you could see the creature moving inside of the guy, the first time I felt my son moving inside of me I found myself redefining myself. Then when a living breathing creature emerged from me....everything changed, a stillness, a sense of reality that I had never felt, nor could I if I had not gone through that. A woman's body has such a natural beauty to it that I am drawn to, but I think in answer to your question, that beauty is capable of creating a child which makes it not just beautiful but powerful...so yes.

cat ~ You fit nicely into an eco-art genre with the additions of broken bits, glinting shards, charred and rusted remnants and nature’s debris, … is there a statement being made or are you just cutting costs?

AYF ~ Cutting costs makes me laugh. The invaluable worth of a recycled object that comes with a purpose and intent for being that adds so much to any piece, it becomes a part of that I could not have done without...I would instead call myself a thrifty shopper!

cat ~ What has been your favorite creation and do you still have it? Have you tried to duplicate it?

AYF ~ My first response would be my children but that would mean that I can somehow take credit for them...so that would leave me with the two limestone pieces that are installed at my parents home "Vanis" and "Mother." I do not go back, when a piece is finished, it is finished.  I have certain shapes and subject matters that haunt me and continue to repeat in my work but duplicate, no.

cat ~ I’d like you to tell us about a few pieces of yours that I have selected, perhaps what elements are in it, why they are, and how?

cat ~ Your piece, Amoeba, is from a new series, correct? A series that delves into bodily essentials, such as blood cells and other fun goo. In a time when artists are painting entrails, you dissect them further. You push that boundary. Tell us about this piece. There seems to be a lot of hammer-time put into it. I absolutely love this piece!

AYF ~ I spent twelve years as a neuromuscular therapist working under doctor’s supervision.  The human body and its symmetry, or the lack of, was my life.  Anatomy and physiology are those ever haunting reoccurring elements in my work.  This piece evolved from the center piece of stoneware, the outer texture on the piece was made by stippling the clay with this tool that has a small round tip.  The use of nails and tacks was, to me, like stippling, but with a hammer.  I will add that the obsessive nail usage was inspired by my friend Dr. Fredlee Votaw, whose work is so beautiful.

cat ~ Assisted ReadyMade is where I see an example your love of repurposing. Where did the wheels and handlebar come from? Did the piece evolve from them or were they added as needed? This reminds me of Dr Seuss. Could you see yourself making one-of-a-kind children's toys?

AYF ~ The people at the Habitat Store here in Canton know me. It’s where I got the wheels and much of my materials.  The handle is a bent piece of ½ inch steel rod.  This was the third piece in a series of five wheeled creatures and, yes, I was very much referencing the push and pull toys I had as a child.  The long head and neck turn in a circle when you push this piece.  My children’s toys would probably make all the Wednesday Addamses in the world very happy but, yes, writing children’s books and making children’s toys is a goal.

cat ~ This lovely lady was a sentry for the Artists of Rubber City members show recently at Summit Art Space. How did she come to be? Does she have friends? Whose hair does she don?

AYF ~ I had a figurative sculpture class when I was in school.  All my work until that point had been very figurative but the teacher I had used two words repetitively: Stylized and alien.  After that class, I subconsciously went abstract in all my work, adding human references.  Recently, I realized that there is nothing wrong with stylized, nor do I find alien offensive.  I love making fingers and toes and on this piece. I included my Brother Bob’s toe.  His little toe grew up over the one beside it and the doctor that my mother took him told my mother that the only thing to be done about it was amputation.  So the butcher barbarically removed my brother’s toe.  The piece is about broken promises, “Swear to God hope to die, stick a needle in my eye…”  She has many needles shoved into her wax eyeballs.  Her sister is currently getting her clothes tailored, and these pieces are a series of self-portraits, self-portraits of feelings that is.  That would be my hair.

cat ~  At your home, in your delightful yard, there are numerous pieces of your art, hanging, sitting, hiding. You are an obvious earth-lover, protector, Druidic soul. The piece above, Chrysalis, .. did you use a model?

AYF ~ When I weed I find lots of models that I safely return to the earth but no not a specific model, just memories.  The Chrysalis is one another haunting reoccurring element.  For me,   it is a symbol of the stillness necessary for change to occur.  I did cranial sacral work for along with the other body work and in cranial sacral it is in the stillness the healing occurs.  For me, these are reminders for my high velocity brain…to stop.

cat ~  Often, when I look at your work, the pieces incorporated, I get an "Of Course!" revelation. Flower is one of them. Using a stove burner seems so natural. Again, I wonder.. which came first? 

AYF ~ Ahhh…with this one, the old gas burner acquired from the Habitat Store inspired the piece.  The underlying ceramic piece was made to fit the burner and those two were then mounted onto a wood lamp base.  I played around with the remainder of the elements until the composition pleased me.

cat ~  You title this one Mutant Fern, yet I see a squid or sand crab. Do people often need guidance when viewing your work?

AYF ~ I suppose my work is not much different from many other artists work in that you might not get the entire message without my thoughts and words, but no one really needs to.  Once a piece is created by anyone, visually the meaning belongs to the viewers and their interpretation anyway.  Plus, I am finding that my subconscious is my driving force; often I will not completely ‘get’ what I am projecting in a piece until I am finished and step back and look.  That is often when a “Holy Crap” moment occurs for me.

cat ~  This piece is just gorgeous. I truly appreciate every detail to it. The stitching, the overall womb-like shape. How did you get the coloring? I read that the inner portion is one of your daughter's skirts, do your children often contribute, perhaps unaware, to your art?

 AYF ~ Woman’s work, I have a lot of stitching or the implied look of stitching which always brings me to my grandma.  How delicately she would hold the needle and the graceful movements of her arm as she would make each stitch.  I try to use natural colors and this surface was produced by using an oxide wash during the bisque and then a crackle glaze recipe that I removed all colorants from.  My life obits around my children so there is not separation.  

 When I am working on a wall panel often it is just about composing a composition, nothing more.  The additive/subtractive process of bringing balance within a frame is relaxing but I have this piece that has not subject matter.  My children and I will play the name game; we all look at the piece and come up with a title and the best title wins.

cat ~ You're an animal lover (oh, Hell, you're just a lover, period!) There are a lot of "pet's" in your work., as with "Onward" above. Have any of yours actually become a piece of art?

AYF ~ Not in a realistic sense.  “Bad Kitty” is actually homage to all the poor little rodents that I have found in the garage and even in the studio.  In the summer I will open the studio door that leads to garage and also open the garage door as well.  Most of the cats have no interest in anything but a ray of sun. Others like my Persian, Zimba, and my short haired tabby Cleopatra are serious killing machines and all those things that have taunted them through the glass, must die.

cat ~  I hate to use the term "whimsical" when addressing your work, but I am at a loss for another descriptive for "Sexual Tenstion Between Potato and Object" - Even the title gives way to a bit of witticism. What's the premise here?

AYF ~ My intention is whimsy so you should use that word.  I was photographing “Potato” and I also had these objects that I had made that have yet another reoccurring form,  I photographed the two pieces together in several setups but this one was my favorite.  I love titles, I love naming my work, a title can tell the viewer so much about my disposition which is so often…whimsical.

cat ~   You're not exclusive to ceramic work, as evidenced with "We Seem to Be Going in Different Directions".. Is there a medium you have worked in that you would never go back to? Why?

AYF ~ To date, there is nothing that I have used that I would not go back to.  Some things I find that I have reached my technical limit with in skills and/or available tools so that is why the visions of graduate school have started dancing in my head.  I started thinking about this past Spring but I found that I still had many things to push to clearly define my limits so that I could clearly see ‘what I needed’ to get myself to ‘where I see myself.’

cat ~  "The King is a Queen" has the other burner on his head. Is this your statement to Gay Rights? I've seen this piece, up close and personal. He wears it quite well.

AYF ~ Perhaps not Gay Rights, but it is a rainbow flag to be sure.  How many times has the scandal for a public figure, often one that speaks against homosexuality been publically hung out by their own homosexual acts made public?  Who you sleep with and who you pray to is your own very personal affair and as long as you are not hurting others or trying to shove your beliefs down the throats of others, I am fine with it.  I guess, for me, this piece speaks to all the people out there that speak out about how wrong homosexuality is and curse about it with such passion and conviction, they should just shut up and deal with your own latent homosexual tendencies and leave the rest of the world to their peace.

cat ~ So, beautiful Annette, what parting words would you like to leave those that have delighted in your work here with?

AYF ~ I am so grateful to you, Cheryl. I like that you get my work.  I do not follow paths in the forest nor am I following any path in my art.  My work continues daily to morph and develop and I am enjoying every step of the path I am on.  Thank you.

Annette Yoho Feltes work can be seen (and YES, bought) throughout NE Ohio. Here are just a few locations;

Studio 2091 in Cuyahoga Falls

Cyrus Gallery & Framing in Canton

Hazel Tree Interiors in Akron

An up to date listing can be found on her Galleries and Events page on her website: Annette Yoho Feltes