Metallic dragon by Gena Wikstrom
Peacocks by Gena Wikstrom
Ardell Roberts
In December of 2020, Gena Wikstrom and her husband, Bob, moved to PebbleCreek from Washington. They had been winter visitors to Scottsdale in previous years. When COVID hit, they stayed in Arizona for 7 months. After going back to Washington, they looked at the weather and each other, and on-the-spot made the decision to live in Arizona. They looked at several 55+ communities and found PebbleCreek to offer the best amenities for them. One important factor was the ceramics club.
Gena’s love for ceramics started with her grandmother, who took her to ceramics shops as a child. When Gena married in the ‘70s, she decided to try her hand at ceramics as an adult, which convinced her to continue growing in this art as she retired. Gena loves that each piece speaks to her, and she develops a vision of the piece. Sometimes the piece looks exactly as she envisioned it. Sometimes it turns out differently, but is still wonderful. Even on rare occasions where she doesn’t like a piece, it turns out to be something someone else just loves. Gena keeps most of the pieces she has made for her home, and shares many special pieces with friends and relatives.
Gena loves our awesome and talented ceramics teachers, Linda Galowitch and Kelli Frederickson. The teachers are eager and willing to share their knowledge and help others experiment with new techniques. Gena is currently working on a large dragon using acrylics for her grandson. She is active in the Ceramics Club of PebbleCreek (CCPC) and is working with President Pam Kostakos on planning something a little special for our quarterly meetings.