Walkabout Jeans with Motorcycle Boots and Wallet Chains by Pamela Gross

Walkabout Jeans with Motorcycle Boots and Wallet Chains
Pamela Gross 
Glazed Ceramics on a wooden base
6.25"h x 5"w

These immaculately textured ceramic denim Walkabout Jeans are outfitted with motorcycle boots and wallet chains. 

Motorcycle Boots and Wallet Chains - Harley - I call him Harley.  In addition to the challenge of keeping one delicate belt loop intact and apart from the surface of the jeans, and making an eyelet for the wallet, Harley is the only figure with square-toed boots and boot harnesses/rings.  These all took multiple attempts to get right.  Harley likes to think of himself as tough as nails.   He is ready to ride with his gang of friends.

Get to Know the Artist:
My favorite piece of clothing is blue jeans.  I wear them until they are threadbare, because getting rid of them is like abandoning an old friend. I have occasionally noted that when I remove them in the evening, they briefly maintain my body shape, simulating a personal exoskeleton, until they collapse onto themselves. This observation, and my fondness for them, eventually became my motivation for my first ceramic endeavor - to model my jeans as individual characters that have taken on a life of their own, and gone on a “Walkabout” to explore the world.

Each figure is created one at a time.   Since clay is such a tactile art medium, my quest for realistic denim required me to develop techniques to maintain the twill weave during both building and glazing.  It took many years to refine this process and eventually allowed the figures to evolve from stiff, lifeless forms, to more realistic members of their own scale model society.  Since jeans are so ubiquitous in society, themes have also evolved from plain jeans, to cowboys, to athletes, farmers, fashion models, and beyond.  Accessories, embellishments and use of various poses highlight their individuality and identity.  Although every piece carries a bit of me, they are unique within themselves - just like all of us.  My art asks the question:  if “clothes make the man”, can they also live independent of “the man”?

My work was first represented at Art for the People Gallery in Austin in 2020, and has returned there since 2025.  I have also had my Walkabout Jeans selected to be at juried shows (“In the Garden” at Mud Flat Studio in Somerville MA, and “Muddy Madness” at Maker House/Santa Barbara Sculptor’s Guild in Goleta CA) this Fall.  In addition, I have sold work on eBay, and have sold commissioned items since 2018.