Bolota

Isabel Maria d’Azevedo Claro

Isabel Maria d’Azevedo Claro, better known by her “petit non” Bolota, is a multidisciplinary artist because from her hands come the most varied pieces made from the most diverse materials: creative ceramics, pottery, sculpture, modelling, contemporary tiles, jewellery and ceramic tapestries. She named her studio “Bolota Atelier de Cerâmicas”. Isabel Claro was born on 15 May 1970 in Caldas da Rainha. Her interest in ceramics was evident from an early age. In 1987/90 she took a course in “Wheel Pottery” at CENCAL. In 1988, she attended the “Pastas de Alto Fogo” course in Valença (Spain) and in the same year began her professional activity, setting up her studio. In 1989 he collaborated with Prof Fernando Caldas in the ceramics course at the Bordalo Pinheiro School. She has taken part in numerous exhibitions – both national and international – and has collaborated in social activities such as old people’s homes, physical rehabilitation centres and schools. When she accepted a proposal from the newspaper “O Jogo”, she was the author of a piece given to the National Football Team in 2004; she also made a ceramic and iron sculpture in the Torres Vedras Hospital, commissioned by Montepio Geral. He has been a regular participant in the handmade ceramics fairs held annually in S. Martinho do Porto. In 2005 – the year of Hans Christian Anderson’s bicentenary – with the sponsorship of Unesco and the Portuguese Unicef Committee, Isabel Claro created a set of ceramic pieces evoking various characters from Anderson’s tales. Bolota, a ceramicist since the age of sixteen, develops her activity in contemporary pottery with traditional influences. Her pieces are sold at exhibitions, in galleries and in her studio.