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Arriving at Leata
Judd’s studio in
Bayview is like
stepping off the
train at Hogwarts;
at once you
recognize that your
former reality has
bent and shaped
itself into
something else.
Something amazing.
Maybe it’s all the
friendly faces here
at the Judd’s’
20-acre place called
Old Maid’s Clearing
-- hundreds of them
created from clay or
papier-mâché -- that
are literally
everywhere. The
cedar trees next to
her brick kiln have
terra-cotta smiles.
One tree, a female,
also has small
breasts. Step into
the garden
and you nearly step
on this squat little
fellow on huge
hobbit-like feet
looking pleasantly
skyward.
Pondering what Harry
Potter would do, you
apologize and say
hello, not feeling a
bit silly. By the
back door there’s a
bird house made in
the shape of a happy
old man’s face that
makes me wonder how
the birds feel
flying in and out of
his mouth or perched
on his long,
upturned nose. |
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Beyond the small
creek, at the edge
of the deep forest,
are enormous clay
morel mushrooms that
double as friendly
woodland gnomes with
hats.
You’re welcomed by
an entire village of
beings who easily
convince you that
Leata Judd is no
ordinary artist;
and, as you enter
her studio and home,
her smiling presence
is like a
hummingbird’s,
authentic and
energetic, earning
all of your
attention, further
evidence that you
are in the presence
of a mystic, a
creator of a
much-needed new
mythology on life,
one where kindness
and generosity rule.
Leata, 77, and her
husband Tom (who
says to call him
“Mr. Leata”) have
lived in this
magical place off
Salle Creek Road
near Farragut State
Park for 26 years.
Tom, a welder and
semi-retired
heavy-equipment
operator,
does metal sculpture
during his free time
in his machine shop.
The colorful dragon
perched on the front
edge of their home’s
roof line is one of
his creative
contributions to the
community of
characters with whom
they share their
home, but this
fantastic realm has
principally been
nurtured by his
wife.
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Leata is usually in
her spacious studio
right after
breakfast, daily
creating something
entirely new or
advancing an
artistic experiment
that requires
several stages and
days of work. Some
of her more
intricate sculptures
sit on shelves
waiting for the
winter season to
complete when more
of her time is spent
indoors. Against
every wall and next
to the entryway
steps are rows and
rows of shelves to
the ceiling. The
shelves are filled
with creatures of
all kinds, and
caricatured human
faces abound.
Some sculptures you
might expect to
find, like a
unicorn; but more
often her works will
surprise and make
you ponder Leata’s
unique way of
interpreting the
world, like a
papier-mâché horse
sporting airplane
wings and a cowboy
rider hanging on for
dear life.
Inspired by her
artist father, Roger
Moore, she has
worked with clay for
over 30 years and
her early creations
were mostly pottery
(with faces of
course) that she
sold at the Cedar
Street Bridge
Market. You could
purchase a mug with
an amusing mug
smiling back at you
for your morning
coffee. And there
were toothbrush
holders and, one of
my personal
favorites,
clay-faced
doorknobs. Sneaking
a cookie out of the
cupboard is more fun
with some silly
big-nosed person
grinning at you.
Then
there were clay
statues of women
with interesting
personas and sunny
(and moon) faces and
faeries as wall
hangings. But the
challenges of firing
the kiln so often
and the possibility
of cracked or broken
artworks are now
mostly behind her
and her kiln helper,
Tom.
For the past few
years, Leata has
been working with an
easier, far less
expensive artistic
medium --
papier-mâché. She
enjoys exploring the
nearly limitless
creative
possibilities using
recycled newspaper
(or her favorite:
Brown Yoke’s grocery
sacks). The medium
is a little cleaner
than working with
clay, she says with
a laugh, and then
reconsiders; well,
maybe not a lot
cleaner. And it
takes much longer,
but for her, working
with papier-
mâché is like doing
meditation, and she
really likes the
experience. There
are sculptures, wall
hangings and even
rattles.
Her latest project
is making
papier-mâché bottles
of various sizes
adorned with
hand-painted,
anthropomorphized
frogs. Leata’s frogs
are only one of her
favorite artistic
signatures, and they
come in all sizes
and in all artistic
media from
hand-drawn greeting
cards to the giant
bullfrog that is a
joker dealing cards,
her first of many of
her trademark frog
sculptures.
A few of the
sculptures in the
studio are actually
realistic and life
size. There is the
clay bust of her
husband, still in
process on her
worktable, and
another of her
father, who worked
with clay into his
80’s. |
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Unlike the creative
gift passed along
from father to
daughter, none of
Leata and Tom’s
three sons or one
daughter, or their
many grandchildren,
have carried on the
family artistic
tradition; but their
son Jerry’s wife,
Daris, is an artist
and the couple live
just down the road.
Daris and Leata get
together and banter
about their art and
occasionally show
their works in the
same gallery, like
Art Works in
Sandpoint.
At home, Leata wiles
away the hours
creating and
listening to Spokane
Public Radio. One
can’t help but think
that the cheerful,
caricatured animal
and human faces that
she sculpts do more
than make you feel
so warm and safe
inside, or at the
very least make you
laugh; they are
clever and powerful
antidotes to the
violence and
technological
headaches of the
modern world.
But Leata’s art
isn’t what I’d call
fantasy; it’s more
mythic, with a depth
of life and strong
spirit just beneath
the surface -- like
wondering what’s
behind a mask. There
is a story in every
piece, hers and
yours. It’s why all
of her work feels so
alive and so
authentically real,
even when it might
first appear as
strange or silly.
Which is why her
work resonates with
people from across
the region. One of
her pieces, a chair
sculpted into the
shape of a very
large hand, will
appear in an October
group exhibition at
Idaho Falls’ Carr
Gallery.
There are other,
large papier-mâché
works at 1/4
life-size scale that
mesmerize. The gypsy
storyteller with the
flat-top fedora with
little people
standing or sitting
on and around him,
and “Old Grandad”, a
cheery fellow
leaning back in his
chair and smoking a
pipe with beer in
hand over a rotund
belly. Both are made
from Yoke’s sacks
and are richly
colored. They have
an Old World feel to
them that reminds
one of being a kid
again, on Grandpa’s
lap or with Santa at
Christmas. You just
know that whatever
wish you whisper in
either’s carefully
crafted paper ear is
bound to come true.
Another sculpture
 that
is mystifying is a
work called “Fall
Dreams”. A woman’s
head is tilted over
the sculpture’s
towered block
papered with fallen
leaves. Tree
branches like
antlers protrude
from her scalp and
long dreadlocks flow
down her back like
willow limbs. Her
eyes are dreamy and
pondering.
Like Leata she must
be imagining the
next artistic move,
in love with life
and the sheer joy of
creation. |
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