Deb McCunn – Clay
COME TO THE GALLERY TO SEE IN PERSON
Call 360-387-2759 or email: matzke@camano.net to purchase.
Deb McCunn
32”x12”x12”
High Fire Outdoor Clay
$2,100
Patricia the CEO was inspired by stories my aunt told me about her career that paralleled my own experiences three decades later. My Aunt Pat was a hard-working independent woman who was consistently asked to make and serve coffee to her male peers. She went back to college nights and earned her degree with the expectation of more respect at the office. Even after she received her degree and later was a senior software engineer at Boeing, her male peers expected her to bring coffee to meetings and other similar tasks. Similarly, I spent two decades in the baking industry up until 2003. During that time, many important decisions were made after hours when my male peers and executives gathered over a glass of scotch and cigars. To avoid being left out, I started showing up, ordering Macallan neat and smoking cigars with the men. In this sculpture, Patricia has both a carafe of coffee and a cigar, representing the experience of working in a male dominated industry.
Deb McCunn
34”x15”x12”
High Fire Outdoor Clay
Outdoor or Indoor Ceramics
$1,900
Bobbi the PostMAM was created to honor the early women who joined the US Post Office to deliver mail. My mother was a mail carrier when she was in her early twenties. She got up at the crack of dawn, delivered mail on her route and then attended college classes afternoons and evenings. But the history of females in this field in the US dates back to April 1845, when Sarah Black was assigned a postal route in Charleston, MD. Her annual pay at the time was $48. The first African American woman to deliver mail was Mary Fields in Cascade, MT. Mary was called “Stagecoach Mary” and she started her service as a Postmam at age 63. She was born a slave and was freed at the end of the Civil War. When I read about Mary’s life and her determination, I knew I would have to create a postmam rabbit.
I’ve long held a fascination with eras when women joined the workforce and broke boundaries with competence and persistence. Particularly the 40’s and 50’s, after helping the war efforts, ads encouraged women to stay home in the suburbs. At the same time, the playful Playboy Bunny image was growing in popularity. There have always been multiple competing pressures on feminine identity, to the point of making it difficult for women to express their authenticity. As I’ve pondered this, I started making rabbits dressed as housewives and in other roles (instead of a woman dressing as a bunny to please her man). It’s led to some valuable dialogue. Women can be competent, nurturing AND sexy, they don’t have to choose just one dimension. My hopes are that future generations can embrace such authenticity undaunted by outside pressure.
Deb McCunn
37×10.5×17”
High Fire Outdoor Clay w/ outside base
currently in the Matzke Sculpture Park
$2,150
Andrea the Diver I recently read Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan. I was inspired by her research into the first female diver in the US Army, Andrea Motley Crabtree. The book was set during WWII. I’ve long held a fascination with this era when many women joined the workforce and broke boundaries with competence and persistence. Moving into the 50’s, ads encouraged women to stay home in the suburbs. At the same time, the playful Playboy Bunny image was growing in popularity. There have always been multiple competing pressures on feminine identity, to the point of making it difficult for women to express their authenticity. As I’ve pondered this, I started making rabbits dressed as housewives and in other roles (instead of women dressing as a bunny to please a man). It’s led to some valuable dialogue. Women can be competent, nurturing AND sexy, they don’t have to choose just one dimension.
I recently received a call from THE Andrea Motley Crabtree, who saw this sculpture on social media. We had a delightful conversation! She loves the sculpture and the ideas behind. One of her comments that resonated with me was, “I didn’t set out to break barriers, I just really wanted to dive. I had to follow that dream.” My hopes are that future generations can embrace such authenticity undaunted by outside pressure. I hope more people can follow their dreams like Andrea.
Deb McCunn
32”x10”x10”
Outdoor or Indoor Ceramics
$1800
Eliza the Bird Activist is dedicated to Eliza Phillips and Etta Lemon. Eliza was an English conservationist who campaigned against the slaughter of rare birds to be used in women’s fashion. She was able to move within high society encouraging other women to pledge to “Wear No Feathers.” Eliza was the co-founder and vice president of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The work of the RSPB resulted in the 1921 Plumage Act just after Eliza’s death. However, most attention at that time went to the Suffragists led by Emmeline Pankhurst, who regularly dressed in elegant plumes. The rivalry between Etta Lemon (a co-founder of the RSPB) and Emmeline Pankhurst has been preserved by author Tessa Boase. Her fascinating book ETTA LEMON: The Woman Who Saved the Birds gave me a lot to ponder. In many circles, Pankhurst is a hero for her work bring the women’s vote to England. But she also encouraged women to continue to dress in feathered fashions. She believed high fashion gave women power. Between 1870 and 1920, British milliners used 20,300 tons of feather. It took up to 300 wild birds to make one usable kilogram of feathers. It’s estimated that billions of wild birds were killed during their mating season to meet fashion demands in these years. Pankhurst didn’t support the efforts to save the wild birds and most women who formed the RSPB didn’t support women’s suffrage. In my imagination, the Eliza represented in this sculpture combines the best intentions of Emmeline Pankhurst, Eliza Phillips Etta Lemon.
Betty was Molded by Magazines
31”x12”11”
Outdoor or Indoor Ceramics
$1,700 with vacuum or $1,500 without vacuum
I came across a large box of magazines from the 1950’s while I was binge watching Mad Men. Both the articles and the advertisements in the magazines made me think about all conflicting pressures on women during this period. The magazines seemed to say if you were not completely fulfilled staying home and making Jell-o salads or cleaning with your new Electrolux vacuum cleaner, that you were not feminine. I loved watching some of the female characters in Mad Men challenge these stereotypes, even though they worked within the very industry promoting these unrealistic images of femininity.
Louise, See no Dirt
31.5x12x15″
Outdoor or Indoor Ceramics
$1,800
Judith, Smell no Dirt
38x12x13″
Outdoor or Indoor Ceramics
$1,800.
Deb McCunn
15.5×6.5×7.25”
Ceramic (safe outdoors)
$650
Deb McCunn
8x6x18.5”
Ceramic (safe outdoors)
$650
Deb McCunn
10.25x5x5.25”
High Fire Outdoor Clay
$525
Deb McCunn
7x4x17”
High Fire Outdoor Clay
$530 SOLD
Deb McCunn
6.5×4.5×15.5”
Ceramic
$525 SOLD
Deb McCunn
11×6.5×7.25”
Ceramic
$525
Deb McCunn
10.5x5x6.25”
Ceramic
$450 SOLD
Deb McCunn
clay, 4.25 x 7.5 x4.5
$415 for pair
Deb McCunn
8.5X6.5×4.75”
Ceramic
$290
Deb McCunn
14.5x14x5.5”
Ceramic (safe outdoors)
$350
Deb McCunn
9x11x2.5”
Ceramic
$250
Deb McCunn
9×6.25×5”
Ceramic (safe outdoors)
$280
Deb McCunn
clay, 5.5 x10 x 5.25”
$315 SOLD
Deb McCunn
clay, 5 x 8.5 x 3.5”
ONE IS SOLD $230 each/$420 for pair
Deb McCunn
clay, 6.5 x 12 x 6”
$525 SOLD
Deb McCunn
clay, 10 x 8.5×6.75”
$260 SOLD
20″x16″x12″
$1700 SOLD
Outdoor High Fired Clay
Deb McCunn
9″x 18″x6″
High Fire Outdoor Clay
$700 SOLD
Deb McCunn
16″x 6″x7″
High Fire Outdoor Clay
$675 SOLD
Deb McCunn
18″x7″x8″
High Fire Outdoor Clay
$700 SOLD
Deb McCunn
8.5″x 9″x4″
Ceramic & Wire*
$325 SOLD
*About every 5 or 6 years, ceramic artists have to replace the elements in the kiln. I like to repurpose the old kiln elements and incorporate them into my art. The result is a few limited edition sheep with kiln elements for locks.
Deb McCunn
8.5″x 9″x4″
Ceramic & Wire*
$325
*About every 5 or 6 years, ceramic artists have to replace the elements in the kiln. I like to repurpose the old kiln elements and incorporate them into my art. The result is a few limited edition sheep with kiln elements for locks.
Deb McCunn
13”x13”x5”
Ceramic
$350 SOLD
Deb McCunn
7″x 5.5″x4″
Ceramic
$300 SOLD
Deb McCunn
8.5″x 6.5″x4″
Ceramic
$325 SOLD
Deb McCunn
7.5″x 5.5″x3.5″
Ceramic
$275
Deb McCunn
16″x7″x 7″
High Fire Outdoor Clay
$675 SOLD
Deb McCunn
8.5″x 8.5″x3.5″
High Fire Outdoor Clay
$200 SOLD
Deb McCunn, a ceramic artist, who is incredibly skilled in hand-built works of art.
contact the Matzke Gallery for purchase, 360-387-2759 or email matzke@camano.net.
(8.8% sales tax not included in listed price)
shipping is available & ship cost is determined by location. Shipping out of state, no sales tax.
clay/metal washes w/stand 40′ high
$1800 SOLD
Deb McCunn
17″x7″x9″
High Fire Outdoor Clay
$700 SOLD
Deb McCunn
28″x14.5″x 19″
High Fire Outdoor Clay
$2,000
Deb McCunn
32”x12”x12”
High Fire Outdoor Clay
$2,100
Deb McCunn
16.5″x7″x 7.5″
High Fire Outdoor Clay
$650 SOLD
Deb McCunn
15″x6″x9.5″
High Fire Outdoor Clay
$550 SOLD
by artist, Deb McCunn
Size: 34”x11”x12”
$1,800 SOLD
by artist, Deb McCunn
Size: 32”x11”x12”
Akio Outdoor Clay and Iron Washes
$1,800. SOLD