About

A multidiscipline artist, Judi Tordo works with clay, creating polar bear sculptures, wall pieces, and vessels with landscapes using colored clay and sgraffito, carving through layers of colored clay to expose the colors underneath. She also works with wood carving and block printing. Many of her ceramic sculptural works include wood elements. She can easily switch mediums, depending on where the inspiration comes from. Polar bears and their conservation are extremely important to her, as is the contemplation and preservation of all our natural habitats. Her love of the landscape around her brings these two passions together—clay and block printing, where the clean lines of a block print show how less can be more: the sgraffito lines in clay echoing that simplicity. Judi’s favorite medium is clay. It is of this earth, malleable - it can be added or subtracted and does not have a predictable outcome. It is at the mercy of fire which determines the final result. Judi’s polar bears have simple, expressive lines. Her landscapes are layered with shapes and colors. When block printing, carving a 3-dimensional block to create a 2-dimensional image is something she finds magical. 

 

Judi is heavily influenced by the traditional Native American way of life and their concept of ‘Walking the Red Road’. It’s a commitment to living life with purpose and respect for oneself, others, and creation. She hopes that her art will inspire others to contemplate nature and act with conservation in mind.

 

Receiving her BFA Cum Laude from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY in 1986, she also attended Studio Art Centers International in Florence, Italy in 1985. More inspiration has been gathered from a 2-week program at the Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat in Cochrane, Ontario in 2019 and along the St. John River during an 8-day paddle through the Maine North Woods in 2024.

 

When not making art, Judi grows her own food and medicinal herbs. She can often be found dancing in her garden celebrating the seasons and the cycles of the moon…all with gratitude.