As Linda Sickmon was beginning to think about retiring from her 30 years as a hairdresser, she realized that she would have time to explore her interest in clay. She found a community class that the Buchanan Center for the Arts was sponsoring at Monmouth College and signed up. There was no looking back.
Sickmon attended the class for several years under the training of Monmouth College Professor Cheryl Meeker who was gracious enough to teach her more than the average community student, for which she is so grateful.
Sickmon shared, "I have always been a lover of learning, so for many years I tried to attend as many advanced-level workshops as I could manage." One day her husband said, “It’s time you had your own studio.”, so she moved to a very old house on a farm they owned. After a few years there they decided to re-do the house to live in and they built a studio and gas kiln across the yard. The studio is her happy place—surrounded by nature, birds, fields, and a stream. She said, "This journey of creative learning is one of my treasures of spirit. Hopefully that translates in my work." All of these things factor into her work. Textures, color, spirit. She enjoys making functional work for people to use each and every day. She studied metal-smithing for jewelry design, and also combines it with the clay in her sculptural pieces. Sickmon's artwork is available for purchase in the BCA Gift Shop.