MATTAPOISETT – As part of the Mattapoisett Free Public Library Artist Series, South Dartmouth artist Amy Thurber, who takes inspiration from nature, will be exhibiting her ceramics and illustrations at the Library from Oct. 15 to Nov. 14.

Thurbur has spent her life creating functional objects in clay and detailed illustrations reflecting the wonders of the natural world. Her ceramic work begins in the woods and gardens around her studio where she collects unusual leaves. She rolls the leaves into high-fired stoneware clay to capture their impressions, then forms them into unique functional art. After bisque firing, she paints the leaf impressions with Majolica underglazes and food-safe glazes, then fires them to 2,200° F. The finished pieces include branch handles with knots and bark, snails holding up bowls, salamanders, butterflies, beetles and caterpillars crawling across the leaves. Each piece is one of a kind.

Thurber’s illustrations have appeared alongside her husband Fred Thurbur’s nature writing for over 30 years.

When her husband wrote his first book, "In the Wake of the Willows," Thurbur spent over a year creating its graphite on paper drawings. The book is a sequel to Kenneth Graham's "The Wind in the Willows," but is set in a local New England estuary. Thurbur’s illustrations not only try to capture the scenery of the South Coast, but also encourage us to look more closely at the small wonders of our natural world.