JESSICA BIBER
Currents Editor
Junior EllenAnne Harboe is one of those people you just can’t help but like. With ringlets in her hair and an easy smile on her face, Harboe is a Southern belle who is an artist in more ways than one. An art major with an emphasis in sculpture, her preferred form of design is functional, earthy pottery. When not in the art studio, however, she can be found belting out tunes at Coffeehouse, participating in Campus Ministry activities, or gaining inspiration for the outdoors – or, as she calls it, “the definition of beauty.”
You are an artist in a few different ways. First of all, tell me why you are an art major.
“I always loved art growing up, and it’s one of those things that has always come easy to me and that I’ve always really enjoyed. It is very important to study something that you love, you know. It’s not necessarily something that will be high-paying, but is something that I love. And I just enjoy it.”
What is your favorite kind of medium to work with?
“I’m a sculpture emphasis, mainly pottery. They call making pots ‘throwing pots,’ so I throw lots of pots. I do more functional design pieces. And I just started getting into more sculptural ceramic art.”
How would you describe the style of your pottery?
“It’s very earthy. My glazes are called ‘earth and sunware glazes.’ It’s very relaxed, laidback art. I like things to be visually appealing, so a lot of the colors are bright and contrasting. I use a lot of fun glazes and things like that. It’s hard because pottery is based on function, so I emphasize the shape of my pieces more than the glazes. You have to consider how the person is going to hold a mug, or when you make a dish, what will be going in the dish. You have to think of all the technical aspects.”
Is there somewhere people can view or buy your art?
“They can contact me!That’s the best way. Everything is in the sculpture room so they can stop by and I will show them around. I sell a lot of my stuff during the summer. My mom runs a retail store, so that’s been really helpful for me. I’ve also commissioned stuff for people.”
What do you plan to do in the future?
“I’ve got a few options. One is grad school for art. Maybe I’ll take the professor route and teach at a school. Or what I would really love – the dream – would be to start a non-profit that provides art classes in inner-city schools. A lot of public schools don’t have the funds to have art classes, but not every kid can be plugged into sports. Everyone has different talents and kids need opportunities and after-school programs and things like that.”
You are also a music artist. Tell me a little bit about that.
“I’ve been singing with my dad since I was a little bitty kid and playing the guitar since middle school. I played a lot in high school but kind of dropped it in college when I just got busy with other things. Then (junior) Naomi Con and I met in Heidelberg. She writes a lot of the songs, but we’ve written a few together too. It just kind of happened, but then we started playing at coffeehouse and things like that. Music is a love of mine, so it’s been natural to fall into it. But it has been different performing in front of people because I am kind of a scaredy cat. I have definitely learned a lot. And hopefully we’ll record some stuff in the next few weeks.”
How would you describe your sound?
“It’s very acoustic, mellow. I like to call it ‘back porch music.’ It’s really relaxed. I would say it is something that you want in the background, something mellow with great lyrics.”
Where can people hear your music?
“We haven’t really decided other places to play yet. Coffeehouse is definitely a place you can hear us. And since we’ll hopefully be recording in the next few weeks, we’ve been talking about putting it on the Internet. But nothing is certain yet. We are trying to find some good venues but it is hard because it is L.A.”
Do you have any plans to pursue a career with music in the future?
“We’ll see what happens. It’s just something that kind of happened. Naomi is a big part of it – really, I’m her backup. It’s really all about Naomi. We’ll see though. We’ll be doing it more next year and we’ll see what we decide.”
What influences your art – either musically or sculpturally?
Being outside is a big influence. I love being outdoors. A lot of our songs are about outside or feel like they have some outside sounds. That goes for my art as well. Outside is the definition of beauty, I guess you could say. I get a lot of my inspiration from just being outdoors.
04-10-2008
