{"id":13769,"date":"2020-03-28T14:25:02","date_gmt":"2020-03-28T21:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gailwilliamsart.com\/?page_id=13769"},"modified":"2026-05-01T18:28:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T01:28:33","slug":"world-of-rivers-gratitude","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.gailwilliamsart.com\/?page_id=13769","title":{"rendered":"world of Rivers\u2014Gratitude Ancestors"},"content":{"rendered":"

world of Rivers<\/em> \u2014 Gratitude Ancestors<\/h1>\n

Feed what feeds life<\/strong><\/em> is an ongoing series of commemorative ceramic plates that honor ancestors and the waters of their geographic origins. This practice relies on Ifa-Orisa spirituality, ancestor research, and low-fire ceramic surface decoration methods. My intention is to make beautiful and useful ceramic art works for exhibit and ritual celebrations with our ancestors, each other and our individual and collective stories.
\n__<\/span> <\/p>\n

\"\"world of Rivers<\/em> \u2014 Gratitude Africa (Plate number 17-3 in-progress)
\nStoneware decorated with underglaze colors and pastels, clear overglaze, 11.75 inches diameter, \u00a9 2021
\n__<\/span> <\/p>\n

Everyone has ancestors, everything needs water.<\/strong> <\/em><\/h3>\n

In late 2016 I began experimenting with media and methods for decorating low-fire ceramic plates intending to create a series for beauty and use in ancestor ritual.
\n__<\/span>
\nI wanted to pay homage to Africa as home of our first human ancestors, and to the ancestors and rivers of Yorubaland and West Africa, birthplace of Ifa-Orisa traditional religion. The plates are gifts of gratitude for allowing me 25 years of participation in the tradition; some are pictured here.
\n__<\/span>
\nAs I continued experimenting with materials and ways to use maps, symbols, color and text as design elements, the surface decoration imageries of rivers, geographies, words of praise took on qualities of visual narrative. I have begun to think of the plates as a visual form of “oriki<\/em>,” a Yoruba word meaning “to cite one’s origins.” Oriki<\/em> are praise poetry and invocation: performed to informs an audience about the qualities and acts of a person’s life story, ancestral lineage, character and contributions to the community.
\n__<\/span>
\nI am working on developing ways to create multiples from some of the Gratitude Africa series designs; also creating a series honoring my own blood ancestors and their rivers of origin in Europe and the United States, and looking for ways to present the work in public exhibitions and community ancestor ritual.
\n__<\/span> <\/p>\n

__<\/span> <\/h4>\n

\"plate,world of Rivers<\/em> \u2014 Gratitude Africa
\nStoneware decorated with pastels and pastel wash, clear overglaze, 6 inches diameter, \u00a9 2016, 2021<\/p>\n

__<\/span> <\/h4>\n

\"\"world of Rivers<\/em> \u2014 Gratitude Africa, Igba Iwa Bird Plate (Plate number 2017-7 in-progress)
\nStoneware decorated with underglaze colors and pastels, clear overglaze, 11.75 inches diameter, \u00a9 2017, 2021
\n__<\/span> <\/p>\n

G A L L E R Y – Large Plates for Sale<\/h1>\n

LARGE PLATES are 11.75 inches in diameter (rim dinner plates); clay body is manufactured stoneware biscuit fired, decorated with pastels, underglaze colors and washes. All plates are uniquely decorated, individually priced. Signed and labeled on plate bottom.<\/p>\n

\"2016-6\nLarge
Large Plate \u2014 Inventory Number 2017-2, \u00a9 2017, Blue pastel, pastel wash, white underglaze
\n$ 401<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n__<\/span>
\n
\"large<\/a>
Large Plate \u2014 Inventory Number 2016-6, \u00a9 2016, blue pastel and pastel wash
\n$ 501<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n__<\/span>
\n
\"2017<\/a>
Large Plate \u2014 Inventory Number 2017-8, \u00a9 2017, blue pastel, pastel wash; white, dark brown, blue underglaze
$ 801<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n__<\/span>
\n
\"Large<\/a>
Large Plate \u2014 Inventory Number 2017-3(a), \u00a9 2017, blue pastel and pastel wash; white underglaze
$ 401<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

\n__<\/span> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

world of Rivers \u2014 Gratitude Ancestors Feed what feeds life is an ongoing series of commemorative ceramic plates that honor ancestors and the waters of their geographic origins. This practice relies on Ifa-Orisa spirituality, ancestor research, and low-fire ceramic surface decoration methods. My intention is to make beautiful and useful ceramic art works for exhibit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":23,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/fullwidth.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gailwilliamsart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13769"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gailwilliamsart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gailwilliamsart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gailwilliamsart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gailwilliamsart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13769"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.gailwilliamsart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15483,"href":"https:\/\/www.gailwilliamsart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13769\/revisions\/15483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gailwilliamsart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}