By Morgan Harvey

Intern

Carolyn Davis sculpts her way into her life's work.
“Totems,” the exhibit that won her the Best of Show prize at this year's Osceola Center for the Arts Juried Art Show, is a series of six sculptures, all brilliantly colored in shades of blue, purple, yellow and red; but the amazing thing isn't the colors — it’s how the colors are made.
To create the vibrant shades she mixes copper wire, coffee grounds, banana peels, pecan shells and some various chemical compounds that react with the clay while its being heated in a kiln at high temperatures. The rustic look of Davis’ pieces is the ultimate goal.   
“I kind of want people to remember that even though we've got all this stuff looking like they're in decay or old run-down buildings, that you need to still remember that that shows part of our history, part of our past and new isn't always better,” she said.
This year isn't the first year that Davis has been recognized in this particular art show; she won best of show five years ago for a small print.
With a 14-year background as a graphic designer, Davis went back to school in 2004 with the intention of getting a graphic design degree but instead found a niche in fine arts and graduated at 54 years of age with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Florida in 2008. With her husband for support, she began her journey as an artist in the Osceola County area. Some of her work can be found in St. Cloud near the downtown area in a cupcake and coffee shop named Sugar Magnolia. She also will have some pieces available at the Gallery One Artists in downtown Kissimmee. Davis isn't in it solely for the competition though.
“I fell in love with print making, ceramics and book arts. I won quite a few things with my prints but I hadn't won anything really with my ceramics, so I was really happy about the best of show.”
Carolyn currently works with the Osceola Center for the Arts as an instructor in ceramics, working with children and adults to create some interesting and creative pieces. This is her first year as an instructor at the center, with plans to continue this summer.