Artist JoAnne Bedient Puts Her Feet to the Fire

By Claudi Lynch, Artist and creator of ShoeStories™

JoAnne Bedient, one of Southwest Florida’s premier clay artists, blends realism and fantasy to create inventive raku shoes. She has always preferred hand-building pieces from clay instead of using a potter’s wheel, but discovering raku firing revolutionized her work.

What’s raku? It’s a Japanese ceramic firing technique that involves removing red-hot pieces from the kiln and placing them in combustible material like paper or straw. Smoke permeates the clay and glazes, creating luster, crackle patterns, and richly textured colors. Each firing produces unique results, and the continual experimentation of this method inspires the artist’s dramatic, whimsical and graceful works.

Bedient’s work can be found in juried shows as well as galleries around the United States. Notable exhibitions include the Really Big Shoe Show in St. Louis and a Washington DC exhibit for the 2000 presidential inauguration.

I stumbled upon JoAnne’s footwork at the Tower Gallery on Sanibel Island, FL a few weeks ago and immediately fell in love with it. I had to know more.

CL: Why a shoe? I heard a rumor about a red patent leather shoe your daughter bought in a vintage store, but what about it captured your imagination?

JB: I’ve always liked “different” shoes but had not thought of making shoes out of clay until my daughter bought a pair of red patent leather shoes from a vintage store while she was in college. I sat and admired the shoes and realized that the shine of the patent leather reminded me of my red glaze that I use in my raku. I’ve always looked at things around me and thought how to make them out of clay (even if I had no intention to do so!) So, I planned out the construction of a shoe and made my first one. Then I researched shoes down through history and made lots of realistic ones; some you really had to tap on to find out that they were ceramic. Someone asked me to do a show and I bravely asked if it could be shoes. That show was so well received! I had no idea what to think beforehand, but soon found out just how many shoe lovers there are and of course, that fed my enthusiasm for new ideas and making them. After I got the realistic ones out of my system, I let my imagination go on to the more whimsical ones. Shoes are little sculptures and can be anything, any idea, especially since you can’t really wear my creations!

CL: What sparks you to create a new shoe?

JB: Sometimes it is from a theme of a show I wish to enter, sometimes from a texture I see, but most often it is from an idea from someone who wants a special gift made. My golf shoe Dressed to a Tee (above) came from a woman who wanted a gift for her mother-in-law who loved to play golf, loved shoes, and had everything she could ever want already. My Fashion Emergency Shoe (below) is an old Cadillac ambulance. A woman wanted a shoe for her sister; their father had been in the shoe business and now her sister owned an ambulance business. My Birthday Boot is from a woman wanting a birthday shoe for her friend’s 50th birthday; because we are Wonder Woman by the time we turn fifty it just seemed appropriate. My Dance by the Light of the Moon (below) shoe came about from a client who is a quilting artist. She was divorced when her children were small and she had to do any creative work at night — by the light of the moon.

CL: You use a lot of puns in your titles. Does the pun ever spark the shoe? My favorite is your Gogh Gogh Boot; it’s like an aural intentional typo.

JB: Sometimes the pun comes first as in the Gogh Gogh Boot. Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” is one of my favorite paintings and I had used that theme in other pieces. Growing up, when I was in about the fourth grade, Go Go Boots were popular. I didn’t have any, but some friends did. Now I have my own “Gogh Goghs”! Most times the pun comes later. My husband, who is a man of few words (usually) and a very punny sense of humor, comes up with many of the titles.

CL: The raku process seems a little risky. Is it? Does a shoe ever explode in mid-process? Do you start it over again or take it as a sign and move on?

JB: Because I have been working in clay for so many years, I don’t lose too many in the process of making or the first firing, but occasionally I do during a raku glaze firing, due to my own clumsiness. In raku firings, the pieces are lifted out of the kiln while they are red hot and glowing using tongs that are about four feet long. Every once in a while I don’t have a good hold on the piece and drop it. If I’ve liked my idea, I start over…

CL: Are there limitations in terms of detail when working with raku or with clay in general? Your work has a very chunky, sturdy feel that works well with the bright colors and shapes; is that an engineering thing or an aesthetic choice?

JB: Raku is a low fire process and the clay body is somewhat more fragile than other higher fired clay bodies such as stoneware; therefore I am sometimes limited on having anything thin sticking out from the shoe or a strap that is just dangling. I have to plan so that anything more fragile is attached to the shoe to stabilize it. That has at times made me have to be more creative by using feathers, wire or some other material as an addition to carry out my idea.

CL: Are these shoes one of a kind, or do you ever remake the same shoe because it’s a good seller?

JB: All of my shoes are originals of a sort. Each is hand built but I do remake some of the more popular ones. Each will be a tiny bit different because I don’t use patterns or molds. I have galleries requesting a certain shoe that a customer saw and it was sold when they came back for it, so I remake as closely as I can for them.

CL: Do you ever combine your categories, say, a teapot shoe or a — wait for it — pear of shoes?

JB: I do sometimes combine my categories, and I DO have a Pear of Shoes!  I also just did a small Dysfunctional Teapot with a pear on it, but I have not done a teapot shoe yet…have not come up with a worthy idea…gotta be a good one if it’s going to be a shoe — Maybe you just challenged me!

CL: Carrie Bradshaw said, “This is not a good economy in which to be whipped cream.” What are your strategies for staying a working artist at this time in history?

JB: My favorite quote, which is from Picasso, answers that best: “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” People still need and want something that makes them smile.

CL: Which real shoes in your own closet are your favorites? Why?

JB: My closet does not look like Carrie Bradshaw’s! I am a 57-year-old artist living in Florida, and comfort plays a bigger part in my style than it used to. I do still love something a little different. My favorite shoes right now are a thin strappy zebra-striped sandal with a kitten heel and silver beads on the top. The other day, my husband (whom I mentioned is a man of few words) looked down at my feet and used a word I don’t remember ever hearing from him. He said, “Those are cute shoes!”. They became my favorites, partly because they make me smile at that word “cute” coming from him about a pair of shoes.

See JoAnne Bedient’s shoes at Tower Gallery, Sanibel Island, FL; Raiford Gallery, Roswell, GA; River Gallery, Chattanooga, TN; Grand Bohemian Gallery, Savannah, GA; Art@830, Key West, FL; and Armadillo, Ltd., Avalon, NJ; and online at www.jbedient.com.

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All you need to do is put a gently worn pair of shoes in a box (even the box that contained your new shoes).
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The Naya Commitment

Naya is the expression of their commitment to beauty, comfort and renewing the well-being of our natural environment. This commitment starts with all of us—and it starts now.

The creation of each Naya shoe begins with a feminine design with rich, vibrant colors and creative details. From there they infuse each style with exceptional comfort, using soft leather linings and layers of premium cushioning.

Whenever possible, the Naya collection includes:

Vegetable-tanned leathers and linings Natural or recycled content fabrics

Foot beds and outsoles containing natural cork

Water-based cements

Boxes made with 80% recycled paper pulp soy-based inks and water-based glue

Reusable shoe bags and shoe forms made with recycled PET

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