Who's Who: Mary and Ted Bayer — Artists in Ceramic, Metal and Stone

Name: Mary Bayer and Ted Bayer

Age: “50-something” and 65

Occupation: Mary is a ceramic and metal artist; Ted works with stone sculpture.

How long have you lived in El Cerrito?

Mary: I'm from Washington, D.C. I went to Virginia Commonwealth School of Art, and my freshman year I ran out of money, so I had to go to work. It was a three-year program, but in one year I spent what they told me I should need for three. I started working in different political offices in Washington, and the reason I went to California is that I was working for the Mondale/Ferraro ticket. I fell in love with San Francisco and decided I was moving here.

Ted: I grew up in Illinois and moved out here right after college. I worked in business for a while, and then decided I wanted to go into medicine. I actually went to medical school back east, but then moved back here and lived in Kensington for 10 years before Mar' and I got together. We moved out here in '88, so we've been in El Cerrito for a long time.

When did you start Bayer Sculpture Studio?

Mary: In 1991. I actually had a job as an office manager and special events planner, and we had a baby. Ted was a physician in an emergency room, and he worked a lot of nights and weekends. There became this issue when we were just crossing in the night, so he asked me if I would mind staying home to take care of the baby and do my art. I just thought, you know, I hit the jackpot! (both laugh)

Ted: We both did a little bit of painting and drawing when we met and got into the sculpture after we got married. I painted a lot when I was already practicing medicine, but as soon as I started doing sculpture, I just loved it. I still do. I can't imagine having any more fun than doing this.

Mary: It was really nice that when we met it was very clear that he liked art. I think it's difficult to be an artist with a partner who doesn't understand that, because when you're working on a project, especially a big one, it's very consuming – you're just sort of there. A lot of partners don't really get that your head is somewhere else. And we don't really compete with each other because our work is so different. My pieces are very whimsical. Ted would look at one of my pieces and say, “You know what's wrong with that elbow?” because he does pieces that are very anatomically correct, and I say, “No! It would ruin my work – that elbow bends the way I need it to bend.” So, it works.

What medium do you work in?

Mary: It started off as a driftwood art business. They were garden pieces from large pieces of driftwood with cubbies in which I would plant succulents. I wanted to start making bases for them so I went to ceramics. After that our house was like a mud slick because we were making ceramics right here on the kitchen counter. So then we built the ceramics studio, which is in the back. Eventually we added the welding studio.

When did you get into welding?

Mary: About 2002. I started taking classes at Contra Costa College. They had a really nice welding studio, which has since been eliminated. It folded into another arts facility there. I started blending ceramic work with the metal work. It started off accidentally. We have deer here in the hills, and I had some of my pieces out in the front yard. The doe are pretty good about moving around something that's in their way, but the bucks will just run right through it. I had this piece that was broken, and I welded it back together. Then it was broken again, and I just kept welding it back together.

Ted, when did you start taking sculpture classes?

Ted: I kind of fell into it because Mary alluded to wanting to do the driftwood pieces with big bases, so we went into an El Cerrito art class in ceramic and stone sculpture. I thought that I was going to learn about big stones for bases for these pieces. We went into class, and the teacher put a 25-pound bag of clay in front of us and said, “Make something.” It was the first thing I ever learned, and I loved it, just loved it. So I forgot about the stone temporarily. She loved it too.

Mary: In all of my art training I'd done virtually no sculpture. It was a new medium for me.

Ted: So we went in that direction, but it's a harder sell. People like 2D better because it's something they can put on a wall.

Mary: And they look at this stuff and say, “Well, what do I do with it?” Look what we had to do. We had to build a bunch of pedestals and create display areas. There's a danger in coming to our house and saying you like something because if it's been around too long, you might just have to take it home.

Where do you get your inspiration?

Mary: It's just imagination. I like to deal with ideas. I do a lot of series. Something pops into my head and I like to play it through.

Ted: I really love the medium in which I work. I love stone. A lot of times what I do is get inspiration from the material. I'll buy a bunch of stones and look at them and just know that there's something in them that I'm going to get out.

Mary: You have to be free to do what the material wants to be. I'll do that with a piece of clay. I'll have a hunk of clay, and I think I'm making a dog. And it will suddenly become something else as you're shaping it; your material wants to be what it wants to be. I think that dog turned into a dragon. It just didn't want to be a dog. A lot of my metal work is actually recycled metal. I'll find a piece and just see a line and it becomes something. You pick up a piece of material and it is something, so that's what you're working on.

Do you have favorite artists?

Mary: Yes, many. Giacometti is one of my all time favorites. Stephen De Staebler I was crazy about. He just recently died. He was a Berkeley artist. And you know, my husband.

Ted: (laughs) Now you're just trying to get something out of me.

Mary Bayer will be opening the doors of their home and studio at 814 Arlington Blvd. this Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. during Pro Arts' East Bay Open Studios. You can fnd all the El Cerrito and Kensington listings for this weekend .