Lillian Abel
Perpetual Cadence II
Ceramic
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement 

“Art is a step from what is obvious and well-known toward what is arcane and concealed.”  ~ Kahlil Gibran

These compositions suggest forms that are present and forms that are absent, layers that hide and reveal. Out of disorder comes order. Out of darkness comes light, out of time to present, and from ignorance to enlightenment.

My ceramic sculptures depict turmoil and peace, a contradiction created by the dark delicate forms. The destruction (by man and weather) of nature as well as its regeneration, always managing to recover, is what inspires me. There is in my current work a sense of calm along with chaos, a sense of hope as well as despair.

These three sculptures are from a series of wall hangings.

Lillian Abel
Perpetual Cadence I
Ceramic
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

“Art is a step from what is obvious and well-known toward what is arcane and concealed.”  ~ Kahlil Gibran

These compositions suggest forms that are present and forms that are absent, layers that hide and reveal. Out of disorder comes order. Out of darkness comes light, out of time to present, and from ignorance to enlightenment.

My ceramic sculptures depict turmoil and peace, a contradiction created by the dark delicate forms. The destruction (by man and weather) of nature as well as its regeneration, always managing to recover, is what inspires me. There is in my current work a sense of calm along with chaos, a sense of hope as well as despair.

These three sculptures are from a series of wall hangings.

David Avery
Feeling a Bit Lightheaded. 
Etching.
Courtesy of the artist.

Artist Statement

The constant refrain echoing through the print world is that artists feel compelled to push back the outward boundaries of printmaking and question the archaic notions of what defines a print. Funny thing is, I like the constraints and boundaries imposed by printmaking. They provide the structure and resistance that foment ideas and create situations that can’t be duplicated by other means. Being left to my own devices and embracing a technique hundreds of years old, perhaps in this modern world I have become more interested in the exploration of inward boundaries in printmaking

Peter Baczek
Reliance Trailers 
Etching, aquatint and dry point.
Courtesy of the artist.

Peter Baczek
NX2 Lauren Etching.
Aquatint and dry point. 
Courtesy of the artist.

Peter Baczek
Vanishing 280
Etching, aquatint and dry point. 
Courtesy of the artist.

Ginny Barrett 
I’m Not Like That Anymore 
Ceramic
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

My last body of work focused on commemoration, acknowledgment, and human connection, with others and with myself. I love the idea of commemorating important events and milestones as many cultures do with cakes, trophies, and monuments, my personal take on it extending to the pivotal events that happen inside of us, such as insights that change perspective, important situations that foster change on an emotional or spiritual level. This next body of work is directly related to the internal changes I experienced through and since the illness and death of my mother earlier this year. The events and interactions surrounding what occurred have been rife with memories and insights that were unexpected, intense, and ultimately life-altering for me. I am still strongly driven to commemorate, which for me manifests as a more extreme and more formal form of acknowledgment, taking a moment to savor, devising an action or custom that is symbolic, or creating art that mindfully acknowledges important internal shifts such as a change in belief, change in choice of words used to describe, change of focus, change in behavior, making different than usual choices, or noticing patterns inside of us that color our responses. This type of awareness is personally empowering and fuels the quality of how we experience being alive.

Frank Barron
Untitled. 
Ceramic, Acrylic Paint, and Polyurethane. 
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

I recently viewed a sculpture by a Napa CA artist; Richard Carter called “Troy Simon Burdine II”. It is a full body cast of his friend Troy after Troy’s death from AIDS. This piece in and of itself is very compelling. Learning the nature of the work greatly deepened my experience of the piece.

I also have made art that is dependent on text to complete the message, however the greater portion of my work, and what I prefer, is to leave the work entirely up to interpretation. I strongly believe that to always have text, even a title; can to heavily influence the experience someone might have when seeing one of my works.

Frank Barron
Untitled. 
Ceramic, Bondo, Pigmented and Polyester Resin.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement 

I recently viewed a sculpture by a Napa CA artist; Richard Carter called “Troy Simon Burdine II”. It is a full body cast of his friend Troy after Troy’s death from AIDS. This piece in and of itself is very compelling. Learning the nature of the work greatly deepened my experience of the piece.

I also have made art that is dependent on text to complete the message, however the greater portion of my work, and what I prefer, is to leave the work entirely up to interpretation. I strongly believe that to always have text, even a title; can to heavily influence the experience someone might have when seeing one of my works.

Frederika Beesemeyer-Roeder
Night Fog and Sand.
Acrylic and india ink. 
Cortesy of the artist.

Artist Statement

As an artist, I am deeply influenced by a west coast lineage. Having revered Peter Alexander, Ed Moses and Richard Diebenkorn, I believe I work in that context. Today my paintings are a deep reflection of my west coast experience. Having been born here and lived here nearly all my life my work reflects the wide vistas, horizons, and expanses of California. The paintings are also my emotional response to the landscapes and my personal experiences in these landscapes. They are a visual synthesis of experience, emotion, and place. I am currently using mixed media: acrylic, gels, resin, molding paste, matte medium, gloss medium, to build a flat canvas. I have left off color as it is a distraction of my goals. I am essentially a colorist who loves a minimal use of color; thus, black. I have been exploring night, fog, horizon, and the shimmering luminosity of it all. I have been lucky to see the twinkling of stars, the phosphorescence and the grunion along with a full moon at low tide and high tide with surging waves and almost no waves. This series of paintings is an expression of these moments and memories.

Nate Betschart
1904, 1912, 2012 Accordions.
Porcelain. 
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

As an object travels through time, it gathers a story and soul. This can be seen in every nix, tear and worn surface. Much like the wrinkles of an old farmer’s face, objects are flawed by the trials of their life. Replacing the workable parts of the object is a necessary process in revealing each objects story. By replacing parts of the found object, I am simultaneously killing the original reason for creation, while immortalizing the life it has lived.

I believe that it’s the unknown, untold stories within each object that are important, if only to remember that they were once functional, useful and loved. My intention is to bring focus to the loss of these objects and all the stories they may carry. 

Ann Bingham-Freeman
Finklesteins Bust
Clay, paint, and steel.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

Material is integral to artists process. I have begun to address the material directly in my work. My recent work explores the visual aesthetics of removed linoleum which is collected in glass jars. I then create images based on the typically discarded material. This creates a self-perpetuating cycle in which the material being worked on becomes the subject matter for future prints. The endless nature of my work relies on the view of art as a constant process that never really stops. Time becomes a central aspect to the body of work and many of the individual pieces.

Caroline Blackburn
No. 259
High-Fire
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement 

Caroline Blackburn, based in Los Angeles creates vessels that explore her interest in abstract painting, architecture, fashion, and nature. Trained as a painter her work focuses on bringing a freshness and immediacy to each piece through color, form, surface, and texture. Every work is highly considered whether it is thrown on a wheel, hand built, or a combination of both techniques. Glazes perform at a level that engages the viewer in an abstract skin generated through the glazing process. She juxtaposes color, texture, and drawing using a variety of materials to accomplish a painterly surface including ceramic pencil, slip, oxide, or glaze creating a sublime effect, reflecting phenomenon found in nature. Color plays a significant role in the work. Caroline has developed glazes that are versatile whether used opaquely, transparently or ones that create cratering or pitting on the surface. When she glazes a work she approaches it as a canvas. She may first apply a slip, draw on the work with a ceramic pencil, and then hand-paint each piece with a variety of brushes to accomplish a painterly effect.

While investigating an interest in plasticity the work produces a continual shift between surface, texture, color, and object. Each vessel provides a contemporary sense of life that is very personal and universal at the same time.

Caroline received a MFA from Art Center College of Design and a BFA from Boston College.

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Sabrina Bommarito
Beauty Within. 
Porcelain, and Aluminum Casting. 
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

Women are Beautiful and Strong. I am depicting this through the image of the Breast, which is the symbol of fertility, beauty and womanhood.  My arrangement portrays breast of all sizes, shapes and colors, healthy and unhealthy.   I chose these to portray the beauty of women on the outside but also the destruction of breast cancer within.

I want to enthrall the viewer with a twist of beauty and disgust by portraying the images of breasts, which are cancerous as well as healthy. Woman must have the courage and the strength to overcome the emotional and physical effects of breast cancer. Whether it may disturb you or bring you a peace of mind may it captivate you.

Derek Borges
God
Ceramic
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

Catharsis through externalization of both personal and social issues is the driving force behind my work. The focus is to take whatever particular issues that are currently causing angst or vexation and dealing with them in a constructive manner, a type of venting that attempts to communicate with the audience through visual means that which I would never divulge directly to a stranger through verbal means. Traditional ceramic methods are often combined with unconventional surface treatments and mixed media. I view the clay structure as somewhat of a three-dimensional canvas, incorporating whatever other media I feel are most appropriate for each specific piece.

Pierre Bounaud
Shell #1
Porcelain Saggar
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statment

At the base of anything I create is the pursuit of a strong shape or a focal point that makes the piece unique and appealing. To that effect, I love to explore new techniques, to develop new skills, to experiment  with texture and glazes in order to achieve my vision. And while I am working towards that goal, new ideas continuously sprout from this  fertile ground I laid down, and ideas turn into objects,  gaining a life of their own. To me this is where the creative process truly starts, creation by experimentation.

In particular, I find the process of saggar firing truly fascinating. It is a low-fire technique that relies on raw chemicals, rather than formulated and tried glazes, to transfer coloration to a vessel. With this technique, the simple act of applying a mixture of chemicals to a ceramic vessel can turn the piece during firing into a fantastic display of colors that appear to grow organically with the specific form. The resulting smooth, satin finish complements the color variegations to give a distinguished look akin to a marble sculpture, yet at a much smaller and finer scale. 

Brian Cirmo
The Artist & Peter Saul Contemplate a Guston Painting. 
Micron pen on paper. 
Courtesy of the artist.

Artist Statement

I have spent the past decade traveling throughout the country visiting museums, large cities, small towns, national parks, civil war battlefields, assassination sites, graveyards, and national monuments. I am a lifelong student of the vast profundity of American music as well as a glutton for American history, literature, western painting, film, comic strips, and cartoons; all of which have consumed my nights and days. From Woody Guthrie to Woody Allen straight through to Jack Kerouac and Bob Dylan I’m fascinated by the American story and I’m committed to joining the conversation of American artists and raconteurs.

Greil Marcus, the American author, music journalist and cultural critic writes, “There is no theme richer for the American artist than the spirit and the themes of the country and the country’s history. We have never figured out what this place is about or what it is for, and the only way to even begin to answer those questions is to watch our movies, read our poets, our novelists, and listen to our music... America is the life’s work of American artists because they are doomed to be American.”

My bespectacled, bearded, and slightly balding protagonist fills his heart with the vision of Walt Whitman’s America only to get sucker punched by Philip Roth’s and Peter Saul’s America. But he continues with deepening resolve on his journey in hopes of figuring out the question of what it means to be American.

In this series of drawings my protagonist fantasies about sharing poignant and inspirational moments with his idols of American art.

Christiane Corcelle
Square 4 
Monotype and carborundum collagraph.
Courtesy of the artist.

Artist Statement 

Printmaking has become my primary means of artistic expression. I like the infinity of all the layers that can be achieved, the richness of the color and the sophistication of the lines that can be rendered through this complex medium.

In my prints, I juxtapose materials, shapes, and colors through a combination of different techniques. The elements blend, almost threatening each other, creating a prototype that is rich, edgy and commanding all at once.

The resulting image portrays a characteristic and contemporary style that invites individual responses and interpretation.

Christiane Corcelle 
Square 1. 
Monotype and carborundum collagraph. 
Courtesy of the artist.

Artist Statement 

Printmaking has become my primary means of artistic expression. I like the infinity of all the layers that can be achieved, the richness of the color and the sophistication of the lines that can be rendered through this complex medium.

In my prints, I juxtapose materials, shapes, and colors through a combination of different techniques. The elements blend, almost threatening each other, creating a prototype that is rich, edgy and commanding all at once.

The resulting image portrays a characteristic and contemporary style that invites individual responses and interpretation.

Jan Davids
Fred’s Stash
Stoneware
Courtesy of the artist

Adeola Davies-Aiyeloja
The Old Tree of Many Faces
Photo Etching
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

Multi-media artist Adeola Davies-Aiyeloja was born and raised in Lagos Nigeria and began painting at an early age. As self-taught artist, Adeola credited her consistency and endurance in her ability to create joy, love, and positive outlook in her paintings.“When you take a look at my work you instantly feel the joy and happiness the colors convey. Her work is in both private and public collections. Adeola’s work has been used in many TV and movie productions. Adeola works in various mediums: a printmaker, a painter, an  enamellist and metalsmith. To follow her creative work like her page at  https://www.facebook.com/AdeolaStudio.

Natasha Dikareva
Pilgrimage to the Unknown
Stoneware, Stains, and Glazes.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

In my work, the inner and the outer worlds converge; surfaces reveal the personal narrative of each three-dimensional form, communicating that which is usually invisible. The detailed skins of my sculptures echo the relentless pursuit of meaning through mythologies and folk tales around the world. Their fresco-like shell surfaces are modern-day versions of the ruins of Pompeii, where a language of pictures communicated to people from all walks of life and many parts of the world.

Bridges, columns and highways coexist with organic elements to reflect the constantly shifting balance between humans and our environment. My influences range from ancient Greek mythology to Eastern philosophies of spiritual transformation. I am interested in depicting the human experience using charged symbolism through which anyone can immerse themselves into a myriad of metaphorical possibilities. Through the back door of the subconscious, I find escape routes from the mundane. I tap the origin of my dreams to extract the elixir of a new understanding and a bright future.

 
Donna Faranda
Medea Contemplating
Digital Art, and Micro Pointillism
Courtesy of the artist

Doris Fischer-Colbrie
Winter Storm 
Clay
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

My work is solidly founded in functional ware.  My interest in mathematics draws me toward geometric considerations and my interest in nature draws me toward textural considerations, both of which I combine to develop objects that can render a service. I aim to bring the beauty in nature into the daily routine via functional objects. My current line of work is inspired by the movement of grasses and leaves in the wind. I first create platters by combining wheel throwing and hand building techniques. Using these platters as foundations, I vary applications of slips, oxides and glazes to capture the flow of plants in a winter snow setting.

Jon Gariepy
Dirty Deal
Clay with Underglaze
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

I have spent many magical hours exploring harbors and quiet old boatyards and am especially moved by aged and battered vessels. There’s a kind of meditative energy emanating from them. I imagine that our human energy is absorbed by the objects we love and spend a lot of time with, and then as they decay these objects release that energy into the atmosphere — the joy of a fair wind and a sunny day, the love of sailing, the love of making a living on the water. And there’s the sadness at the end of a day for the mortality of all things. I’m currently absorbed with the preciousness and beauty of our moment to moment experience, and yet, given this, the human propensity for folly. While dealing with concept and personal truth, my aim is to make something unusual and interesting, using the most elementary tools and techniques.

Jon Gariepy
Silence
Clay with Underglaze
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

I have spent many magical hours exploring harbors and quiet old boatyards and am especially moved by aged and battered vessels. There’s a kind of meditative energy emanating from them. I imagine that our human energy is absorbed by the objects we love and spend a lot of time with, and then as they decay these objects release that energy into the atmosphere — the joy of a fair wind and a sunny day, the love of sailing, the love of making a living on the water. And there’s the sadness at the end of a day for the mortality of all things. I’m currently absorbed with the preciousness and beauty of our moment to moment experience, and yet, given this, the human propensity for folly. While dealing with concept and personal truth, my aim is to make something unusual and interesting, using the most elementary tools and techniques.

David Graves 
Harkin Settlement. 
Reduction Woodcut
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement 

Most of the work I have produced the past 15 years is based upon my original studies and work as an anthropologist/archaeologist. In recent years my focus has been on creating  abstract images which borrow from biology, geography and technology combined with the concepts used by anthropologists, especially the circle (female) and triangle (male) symbols used to construct social network diagrams.

David Graves
Punkin Voodoo
Reduction Woodcut
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement 

Most of the work I have produced the past 15 years is based upon my original studies and work as an anthropologist/archaeologist.  In recent years my focus has been on creating  abstract images which borrow from biology, geography and technology  combined  with the concepts used by anthropologists , especially the circle (female) and triangle (male) symbols  used to construct social network diagrams.

David Graves
(K)Involution. 
Reduction Woodcut.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement 

Most of the work I have produced the past 15 years is based upon my original studies and work as an anthropologist/archaeologist.  In recent years my focus has been on creating  abstract images which borrow from biology, geography and technology  combined  with the concepts used by anthropologists , especially the circle (female) and triangle (male) symbols  used to construct social network diagrams.

Tammy Greenwood
The Abandoning. 
Monotype, Pronto Plate.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

The images in my work have to do with archetypal symbolism and the idea of a collective unconscious. The subjects addressed are life, death, immortality, infertility, healing and rebirth through universal imagery. A feminine connection to this universal consciousness awakens images of fertility and delves into suppressed emotional wounds or deaths, allowing the possibility of healing and rebirth. It is through the use of a natural environmental palette that I attempt to draw the viewer into an experience of unearthing a personal primordial recollection just as an archeologist may try to decipher an ancient hieroglyph.

With inspiration from folklore traditions from around the globe, I rely on myth and symbolism to connect my own personal journey, not only to women of other cultures, but also other generations. The images act like a catalyst to aid in the process of storytelling, breathing continued life into these myths. It is through the layered processes of printmaking that allows me to bring all the imagery together in one cohesive life force, awakening the subconscious to begin its process of healing and renewal.

Stephen Horn
Square Meditation Pillow
Stoneware, Lithograph Transfer.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement 

Anyone who works in clay is confronted with a multitude of possibilities. Complexity and surprise are built into the medium, the process, the technology. Take one purposeful step down an artistic path, and you’re immediately face to face with a crossroads that wasn’t on your mental GPS. Should you keep going straight—or, what the hell, wouldn’t it be more fun to turn left or right and see what you run into? Exploring the unexpected side roads has always appealed to me. It’s like going on a walkabout. As a teacher I always say to students: “Try it and see what happens.” This is my own artistic mantra.

My aesthetic wanderings have been guided by the works of the ancient Minoans, Etruscans, Greeks, and Romans; by Japanese ceramic traditions—Jomon, Haniwa, Iga, Bizen, and Oribe; by artists like Gauguin, Miró, Picasso, Motherwell, Pollock, and George Ohr; and by the ideas of minimalism and other art movements. My modes of working in clay encompass drawing, painting, and printing as well as handbuilding, moldmaking, and throwing (if only, sometimes, to smash a pot on the wheel or to engineer its collapse).

What I hope unites my work is a sense of the excitement I experienced in going off road—and there’s still so much to explore out there.

Stephen Horn
Meditation Pillow
Stoneware, Lithograph Transfer
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

Anyone who works in clay is confronted with a multitude of possibilities. Complexity and surprise are built into the medium, the process, the technology. Take one purposeful step down an artistic path, and you’re immediately face to face with a crossroads that wasn’t on your mental GPS. Should you keep going straight—or, what the hell, wouldn’t it be more fun to turn left or right and see what you run into? Exploring the unexpected side roads has always appealed to me. It’s like going on a walkabout. As a teacher I always say to students: “Try it and see what happens.” This is my own artistic mantra.

My aesthetic wanderings have been guided by the works of the ancient Minoans, Etruscans, Greeks, and Romans; by Japanese ceramic traditions—Jomon, Haniwa, Iga, Bizen, and Oribe; by artists like Gauguin, Miró, Picasso, Motherwell, Pollock, and George Ohr; and by the ideas of minimalism and other art movements. My modes of working in clay encompass drawing, painting, and printing as well as handbuilding, moldmaking, and throwing (if only, sometimes, to smash a pot on the wheel or to engineer its collapse).

What I hope unites my work is a sense of the excitement I experienced in going off road—and there’s still so much to explore out there.

Stephen Horn
Talking Heads Vessel
Stoneware, Cone 6 
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

Anyone who works in clay is confronted with a multitude of possibilities. Complexity and surprise are built into the medium, the process, the technology. Take one purposeful step down an artistic path, and you’re immediately face to face with a crossroads that wasn’t on your mental GPS. Should you keep going straight—or, what the hell, wouldn’t it be more fun to turn left or right and see what you run into? Exploring the unexpected side roads has always appealed to me. It’s like going on a walkabout. As a teacher I always say to students: “Try it and see what happens.” This is my own artistic mantra.

My aesthetic wanderings have been guided by the works of the ancient Minoans, Etruscans, Greeks, and Romans; by Japanese ceramic traditions—Jomon, Haniwa, Iga, Bizen, and Oribe; by artists like Gauguin, Miró, Picasso, Motherwell, Pollock, and George Ohr; and by the ideas of minimalism and other art movements. My modes of working in clay encompass drawing, painting, and printing as well as handbuilding, moldmaking, and throwing (if only, sometimes, to smash a pot on the wheel or to engineer its collapse).

What I hope unites my work is a sense of the excitement I experienced in going off road—and there’s still so much to explore out there.

Francisco “Pancho” Jimenez
Sentry
Ceramic
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statment

I am intrigued by the mystery of meaning that I find in ancient art, much of it in ruins, found in Mexico or other places in the world.  In my art I attempt to capture that mystery, that “eternal presence” of ancient art forms, which elicit particular emotions in me that may be universal and timeless.  My intention is to create art forms that bring the eternal presence of the past to the present, to inspire reflection on contemporary time and place.

My work is evolutionary rather than revolutionary.  Although my work takes different forms (small table top constructions, tall columns, large wall hangings or oversized heads) my intentions remain a constant.  The catalyst that propels my work to take numerous forms is my desire to explore my primary medium, clay, in varied and technically challenging formats.  My use of organic and geometric motifs is rooted in my belief that these forms are a universal language that is timeless-- linking the past and the future and cutting across cultures.

Carol Ann Klimek
Meditator
Stoneware, and Iron Chair.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

To meditate is to look outside of the self, to find within one’s head a connection to the whole, and to take a larger view of the individual’s place in the world. This piece is large, reflecting that larger view, celebrating the sense of universal “Allness” that meditation has given me over the years. The head is oversized, representing the intellectual rather than physical experience of meditation, and the hands are oversized as well, representing the individual responsibility of shaping with my own two hands a personal world of harmony, balance, and humble offering of my creative self. Inspired by large seated Buddha statues seen at monuments and shrines, I set out to express my own meditation experience embodied as a large-scale, grounded, still female figure. Each of the 23 individual ceramic sculptures that comprise the figure pushed me beyond my own limits working with clay. In creating “The Meditator” I took a personal journey for “enlightenment,” a journey on which I progress with each piece I create, each day I wake, each thought I consider. Meditation is larger than any one concept or idea, and “The Meditator” is my realization of that very concept.

Kerry Kugelman
Ohne Titel 113
Acrylic, Ink, and Charcoal.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

My paintings enable me to explore mysterious atmospheres suffused with light and color. Faded layers of textures imply time, history, and memory, a journeying back into other places we have known, and understanding them again in a different way. Landscape painting inspires much of my work, from the sublime power of Nature in 19th-century landscapes to the dappled and euphoric vistas of California Impressionism, and decidedly bleaker depictions of contemporary landscape as well. However, there is an interior landscape at work in my paintings as well, an abstracted, intuitive world. In depicting Acworld, ink is an integral part of my process because of its unique and evocative qualities, and its ability to disperse into organic textures that can be as detailed as diatoms, or as nebulous as interstellar clouds. Luminosity, atmosphere, and abstraction suffuse these paintings, as well as a brooding tonality. In the tension between light and dark, spatial illusion and the flattened surface, I explore the territory of the mysterious and the ominous, where the unknown has a sense of wonder, but possibly dread as well.

Kerry Kugelman
Ohne Titel (Sentinels}
Acrylic, Ink, and Charcoal.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

My paintings enable me to explore mysterious atmospheres suffused with light and color. Faded layers of textures imply time, history, and memory, a journeying back into other places we have known, and understanding them again in a different way. Landscape painting inspires much of my work, from the sublime power of Nature in 19th-century landscapes to the dappled and euphoric vistas of California Impressionism, and decidedly bleaker depictions of contemporary landscape as well. However, there is an interior landscape at work in my paintings as well, an abstracted, intuitive world. In depicting Acworld, ink is an integral part of my process because of its unique and evocative qualities, and its ability to disperse into organic textures that can be as detailed as diatoms, or as nebulous as interstellar clouds. Luminosity, atmosphere, and abstraction suffuse these paintings, as well as a brooding tonality. In the tension between light and dark, spatial illusion and the flattened surface, I explore the territory of the mysterious and the ominous, where the unknown has a sense of wonder, but possibly dread as well.

Mako Lanselle
Sudden Gust
Silkscreen Print
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

On a fine fall day, I saw a lot of leaves suddenly swirl in the air.

A gust of wind caused the motion.

The leaves were of many hues, displaying various fall colors.

I would not have noticed them if they did not glide down right in front of me.

The wind made the leaves dance and show off for one last time before they settled on the ground.

A simple gust of wind choreographed the leaves that entertained me with their dance.

It was memorably and strikingly beautiful.

To show the beauty of the wind and leaves, I chose to print using silkscreen technique.

Gina Lawson-Egan
Embrace
Clay, Cone 02.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

Long ago clay became my primary choice of medium because it is a material that I never tire from. I am a hand builder using the slow and steady process of coil and slab building. I work with the human head and female figure as subject matter because it best communicates the themes that I am interested in, love and companionship, growth and death, balance and the passage of time. Like a perfect cup of tea I mix these ideas together and add just a bit of humor to taste.

Through my work, I am interested in communicating age old topics that reflect many. The female figure is in a place of honor as she may represent mother, earth mother, sister or companion.  Some of the heads and figures will have small birds either at rest or at the moment before flight.  These additions give the piece a sense of time standing still. Life is full of these moments whether they are memorable or forgotten. My hope is that the viewers can reflect on their own personal journeys.

Gina Lawson-Egan
Funnel Cloud
Clay, Cone 02
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

Long ago clay became my primary choice of medium because it is a material that I never tire from. I am a hand builder using the slow and steady process of coil and slab building. I work with the human head and female figure as subject matter because it best communicates the themes that I am interested in, love and companionship, growth and death, balance and the passage of time. Like a perfect cup of tea I mix these ideas together and add just a bit of humor to taste.

Through my work, I am interested in communicating age old topics that reflect many. The female figure is in a place of honor as she may represent mother, earth mother, sister or companion.  Some of the heads and figures will have small birds either at rest or at the moment before flight.  These additions give the piece a sense of time standing still. Life is full of these moments whether they are memorable or forgotten. My hope is that the viewers can reflect on their own personal journeys.

Anthony Lazorko
Snow @ Eat-Rite
Color Woodcut
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement 

The focus of my work has always been to depict something about the American experience, no matter how ordinary, and to say it in an aesthetic manner. The enjoyment of color, composition and consideration of tactile surfaces all need to marry with the content. That being said, I sometimes will create a piece for its pictorial qualities in and of itself, sometimes for the technical challenge a visual idea may pose. Elements of the way things sound and smell are also meaningful to me. Visual images should bring about the “at onceness” experience that we all know and understand in an instance.

Anthony Lazorko
Fast Food Momma
Color Woodcut.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement 

The focus of my work has always been to depict something about the American experience, no matter how ordinary, and to say it in an aesthetic manner. The enjoyment of color, composition and consideration of tactile surfaces all need to marry with the content. That being said, I sometimes will create a piece for its pictorial qualities in and of itself, sometimes for the technical challenge a visual idea may pose. Elements of the way things sound and smell are also meaningful to me. Visual images should bring about the “at onceness” experience that we all know and understand in an instance.

Annell Livingstone
Annell Livingstone
Graphite, and Ink. 
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement 

Today, I look out on the mesa and see lines; roads, pathways, and wildlife trails. I see lines, which outline the mountains, around Taos valley.  I see lines made of wire strung on fences and telephone poles.  I look up and see vapor trails; white against a clear blue New Mexico sky. Linear symbols are scratched on rocks by early man; drawing is everywhere. Drawing is a human activity which does not have to be learned; it is a global visual language.

Drawing is a visual language.

I kneel down and plunge my finger into warm sand; I pull my finger to my heart, leaving a trace upon the ground.  I am drawing, the earliest and most immediate form of image making.  I am creating  an authentic expression, closely allied with story telling.  It is part of what it means to be human and through drawing, I never lose that sense of wonder.

Drawing holds a sense of wonder.

When I draw, I am able to see, to attract, to convey, to drag, to elicit, to evoke, to extract, to gather, to haul, to hook, to pick, to puck, to pull, to tug, to wind in, to wrench, to yank, to follow, to explore, and to find the images I see; to find the answer that is honest pure, uncontaminated, direct, anti-monumental, and one not necessarily described as “art”...an answer that expresses the imagination, creativity and perhaps skill; a personal narrative. An answer that is simple.

Drawings with nothing left to add and nothing left to take away.

Drawing has been regarded as simultaneously fundamental and peripheral, essential to artistic practice and the most basic skill an artist can possess. Drawing allows the artist to dream the endless dream making notes along the way. Drawing connects the artist to infinity and eternity; it is a map of time.

Drawings are a map of time.

My drawings could be seen as pages of a diary or personal journal, and like poetry, one idea dissolves into another and the work becomes a sequence of new images; like each new day, forever changing. Drawing and touch could be thought of as the same experience, only one leaves traces.

The drawings could be seen as pages of a diary, with touches that leave traces.

Cynthia MacCollum
Glow. 
Collagraph Monoprint.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

As a painter and printmaker, I find inspiration in fragments of nature held close for reflection. I employ a personal vocabulary of fluid marks and organic imagery to express the sensual pleasure and ephemeral quality of the natural world. Within this realm, my work varies from representational to abstract, with a decided recent tilt towards abstraction. I tend to work in series, either in regard to the materials used in creating my collagraph plates, or in the exploration of a particular image. I value printmaking processes that are apparent in the finished work-the marks and layers that accumulate on plates add depth and contribute to the story of my work, implying a life lived or a patina of age.

Enrica Marshall
Another Day at the River
Serigraph
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

As an artist and a printmaker, I believe in challenging myself in different processes and subject matter within the fields of my study. I believe in trying to grow as much one can.

Different processes inspire different approaches to subject matter.

Gale McCall
Life Saver 
Clay.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

My work is grounded in the philosophy of language, informed by literature, and aims to question and explore the formal structure and function of words. By placing text in the framework of art, words begin to function both as units of language and objects. Text then becomes an unstable, transitional, and new form, morphing from something linear into something pluralistic, and inviting speculation about the relationships between object and language and the structure of both. The precise articulation and isolation of text from deliberately chosen books encourages contemplation and allows for their complexity of content and materiality to emerge.

Image oriented and abstracted forms to delight the eyes and the mind.

Movement with a language of familiar visuals. Symbols selected to convey a universal language.

history  technology  humor   passion

My work reflects an intuitive commentary on orders and disorders in nature and the civilized world. It attempts to develop a narrative language that offers an alternative way of seeing what things are, were, or could be. These ideas are expressed through painting and sculpture with a dimensional interplay of layered materials. I work intuitively, changing, erasing and piecing together images as they emerge through ideas and materials. An activity of making; changing physical properties within a creative context.

optical - compositional - representational - decode the real

I research and work from written and visual sources that I collect for specific pieces and projects. I search for ways of integrating them in a fresh and coherent statement. Everyday imagery has always been a significant part of my work. These familiar images are powerful symbols. Symbols can be transformed and reinvigorated when used in different contexts. I remain open to new ways of making the art process a bridge between concept and finished product.

N A R R A T E    N A V I G A T E    N E G O T I A T E

Gale McCall
Untitled
Clay
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

My work is grounded in the philosophy of language, informed by literature, and aims to question and explore the formal structure and function of words. By placing text in the framework of art, words begin to function both as units of language and objects. Text then becomes an unstable, transitional, and new form, morphing from something linear into something pluralistic, and inviting speculation about the relationships between object and language and the structure of both. The precise articulation and isolation of text from deliberately chosen books encourages contemplation and allows for their complexity of content and materiality to emerge.

Image oriented and abstracted forms to delight the eyes and the mind.

Movement with a language of familiar visuals. Symbols selected to convey a universal language.

history  technology  humor   passion

My work reflects an intuitive commentary on orders and disorders in nature and the civilized world. It attempts to develop a narrative language that offers an alternative way of seeing what things are, were, or could be. These ideas are expressed through painting and sculpture with a dimensional interplay of layered materials. I work intuitively, changing, erasing and piecing together images as they emerge through ideas and materials. An activity of making; changing physical properties within a creative context.

optical - compositional - representational - decode the real

I research and work from written and visual sources that I collect for specific pieces and projects. I search for ways of integrating them in a fresh and coherent statement. Everyday imagery has always been a significant part of my work. These familiar images are powerful symbols. Symbols can be transformed and reinvigorated when used in different contexts. I remain open to new ways of making the art process a bridge between concept and finished product.

N A R R A T E    N A V I G A T E    N E G O T I A T E

Marti Mckee
Assimication II
Etching
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement 

As an artist and a printmaker, I believe in challenging myself in different processes and subject matter within the fields of my study. I believe in trying to grow as much one can.

Different processes inspire different approaches to subject matter.

Lee Middleman
Sunflower - Winter Series
High-Fire Stoneware
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

I throw classic forms and use surface textures to give them energy and vitality, resulting in art that is both pleasing and alive.  I seek to create patterns and textures that emphasize the organic interplay between order and randomness as found in Nature.

The tactile feel and visual look of surface textures are essential to my pieces.  I create textures by deeply impressing patterns into thrown cylinders.  Then, working from the inside only, I expand the cylinder to create the final form.  This technique allows the pattern to evolve as the clay twists and expands.  As the pattern adjusts to the shape and function of the vessel, it becomes reflective of Nature’s adaptation to form.

My glazing process enhances the natural aesthetic of the order and randomness.  Thinly glazed surfaces highlight the macropatterns and reveal the stoneware clay’s micro-texture created during the expansion process.  I often use multiple glazes to intensify the dynamic tension of the surface.

My goal is to pursue the interplay of shape, surface texture, ordered patterns, and random effects so that work is created that intrigues the eye and demands to be touched.  Although my work is functional, it is often prized as decorative.

Lee Middleman
Snowfall Globe
High-Fire Stoneware
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

I throw classic forms and use surface textures to give them energy and vitality, resulting in art that is both pleasing and alive.  I seek to create patterns and textures that emphasize the organic interplay between order and randomness as found in Nature.

The tactile feel and visual look of surface textures are essential to my pieces.  I create textures by deeply impressing patterns into thrown cylinders.  Then, working from the inside only, I expand the cylinder to create the final form.  This technique allows the pattern to evolve as the clay twists and expands.  As the pattern adjusts to the shape and function of the vessel, it becomes reflective of Nature’s adaptation to form.

My glazing process enhances the natural aesthetic of the order and randomness.  Thinly glazed surfaces highlight the macropatterns and reveal the stoneware clay’s micro-texture created during the expansion process.  I often use multiple glazes to intensify the dynamic tension of the surface.

My goal is to pursue the interplay of shape, surface texture, ordered patterns, and random effects so that work is created that intrigues the eye and demands to be touched.  Although my work is functional, it is often prized as decorative.

Kimiko Miyoshi
Spill I
Monotype Layered Handwork
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

I use both traditional and non-traditional printmaking processes. I am interested in scientific methodology and experimentation. I am drawn to trivial and forgotten objects.  I am attracted to phenomena that are too absurd to be taken seriously or too ordinary to be noticed. After receiving an MFA in studio art degree, I built scientific exhibitions for Explora Science Center, a children’s science museum in Albuquerque, NM. This work had a great effect on my creative practice and observational habit. Some recent focuses of my work are to transform insignificant and trivial objects into something visually striking and to invoke a renewed curiosity in the viewer, and thus providing a perpetual amusement in their life.

Things disappearing are beautiful to me. My choice of subject matter is related to my own existential perception. As I often feel rather powerless and invisible in contemporary society, these forgotten objects become ciphers for a state of being akin to mine. My passion toward printmaking stems from a similar kinship I have toward this discipline that is seemingly outdated. However, I am hopeful about the possibilities and the power of the repeatable medium as well as the beautiful marks made with this medium.

Kimiko Miyoshi
Spill II
Monotype Layered Handwork
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

I use both traditional and non-traditional printmaking processes. I am interested in scientific methodology and experimentation. I am drawn to trivial and forgotten objects.  I am attracted to phenomena that are too absurd to be taken seriously or too ordinary to be noticed. After receiving an MFA in studio art degree, I built scientific exhibitions for Explora Science Center, a children’s science museum in Albuquerque, NM. This work had a great effect on my creative practice and observational habit. Some recent focuses of my work are to transform insignificant and trivial objects into something visually striking and to invoke a renewed curiosity in the viewer, and thus providing a perpetual amusement in their life.

Things disappearing are beautiful to me. My choice of subject matter is related to my own existential perception. As I often feel rather powerless and invisible in contemporary society, these forgotten objects become ciphers for a state of being akin to mine. My passion toward printmaking stems from a similar kinship I have toward this discipline that is seemingly outdated. However, I am hopeful about the possibilities and the power of the repeatable medium as well as the beautiful marks made with this medium.

John Monsma Bradley
Mason Jars
Clay, Glaze, PBO, and Spray Paint
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

It’s true that standing before the immense “Red X” at LA Country Museum of Art I think about the weight of John Mason’s impact on ceramic art—freedom from the vessel form, insistence on abstraction, and pushing material limits. However, as a writer working in clay, I can’t resist possibilities for a visual/verbal pun, for a certain lightness. As pastiche more than parody, “Mason Jars” reanimates a conversation with the past by recalling the vessel, reducing the size, and having fun with one of the most iconic works in ceramic history. My future work in this vein may include pieces entitled “Priceless,” “Leaching,” “Rie-ified,” “Ohr-not,” “Wooden,” and “Saxe-iphone.”

Joy Nagy
Arthropod 3
Porcelain
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

My work has evolved over the last decade to focus on themes and shapes derived from the natural world. The imperfection and weathered aspects of the withered leaf and gnarled tree trunk that tenaciously push through cement and bricks, and roots of trees that grow over iron guardrails inspire me. As a native New Yorker, I am concerned when I notice brown leaves and dry roots: I scowl at construction site scaffolding that often inhibits a tree’s growth. I work in a number of mediums-ink, graphite, watercolor, cast metals, and most recently-in porcelain.

The ceramic studio provides me access to exploring a relatively  new medium and allows me to create sculptural work. I am fascinated by the fragile and translucent quality of porcelain, selecting an ostrich egg as the base of this work seemed to provide a perfect ground to incorporate and enhance motifs that relate to my observations. Once fired each piece is left to stand on it’s own balanced on a unique porcelain shard.

Daniel Oliver
Pot Belly Box Series
Raku Fired
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

I love working with my hands. When I touched clay for the first time I was hooked. Clay is a great medium to work with. It is therapeutic. The clay lets me do everything I ask of her or makes me believe it.

When I am building my shapes with a slab of clay I let my hands guide me. I want something pleasing to my eyes, something that will bring me a smile.

I use the Raku firing technique. It gives that earthy look that goes well with my work. During the firing, it is up to the kiln goddess.

I keep a playful mind in the studio and I think it gives a whimsical feel to my work

All of my pieces are one of a kind.

Daniel Oliver
Pot Belly Box Series
Raku Fired
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

I love working with my hands. When I touched clay for the first time I was hooked. Clay is a great medium to work with. It is therapeutic. The clay lets me do everything I ask of her or makes me believe it.

When I am building my shapes with a slab of clay I let my hands guide me. I want something pleasing to my eyes, something that will bring me a smile.

I use the Raku firing technique. It gives that earthy look that goes well with my work. During the firing, it is up to the kiln goddess.

I keep a playful mind in the studio and I think it gives a whimsical feel to my work

All of my pieces are one of a kind.

Monika Ozog
Konrad
Stoneware, and Photo Transfer. 
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

One’s past is constantly revisited and re-interpreted, with an ever-changing emphasis on one thing or another. There is a struggle with memory, a fight with its tendency to fade, go blurry and become unclear. I take photographs of my family members and transfer them onto ceramics to create a metaphor of the past or a moment. The transferred photographs are distorted, unclear, and sometimes barely there: the personality of memory in physical form. I create eerie, non-functional vessels that represent a struggle between control and the inability to control, between creating physically and creating metaphorically, between permanence and fragility.

Michael Paieda
Donkey Assemblage
Pen and Ink
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

I spent years trying to create my vision through painting.  Although I had successful results, I always fought the process.

Drawing however, has always been a satisfying process, something to lose myself in. Over the years I’ve found that enjoying the process allows me to explore my ideas more effectively.

Ceramics was something I learned early in college and although, I did not pursue it in graduate school, the process was always on my mind and eventually pulled me back.

Currently I am exploring through both drawing and ceramics. I look for juxtaposition; elements that should not fit together, but somehow can be made to work together. I have always been fascinated by the forms animals take, and when working in construction while in college, became intrigued by the order and logic of the plumbing and framing techniques used in large buildings. I love that these can be combined and so I do.

 
Michael Paieda
Crow Assemblage
Pen and Ink
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

I spent years trying to create my vision through painting.  Although I had successful results, I always fought the process.

Drawing however, has always been a satisfying process, something to lose myself in.   Over the years I’ve found that enjoying the process allows me to explore my ideas more effectively.

Ceramics was something I learned early in college and although, I did not pursue it in graduate school, the process was always on my mind and eventually pulled me back.

Currently I am exploring through both drawing and ceramics.  I look for juxtaposition; elements that should not fit together, but somehow can be made to work together.  I have always been fascinated by the forms animals take, and when working in construction while in college, became intrigued by the order and logic of the plumbing and framing techniques used in large buildings.  I love that these can be combined and so I do.

Vince Palacios
Alchemy Series: Preventive Measure, Pre-emptive Strike. 
Clay, Glaze, Slip, and Decals.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

In this recent work I have been exploring different ways of drawing on ceramic forms.  Instead of drawing with my own hand, I have been employing decal images of different line qualities from different time periods and different artists to compose and collage my drawings.  In a way it is like drawing with someone else’s hands or like conducting a piece of music.  In the same manner that musical artists are sampling sounds and music of other artists to reconstruct into their own compositions, I am sampling images to reconstruct into intense, layered, mythological narratives, which have a very different rhythm than flat drawings.    Some of the themes that are emerging are Biblical, Mythological and Scientific in nature.  I have been exploring the origins of our species, the moral dilemma of good and evil, the role of man in nature, and the interface of science, technology and mythology.

Vince Palacios
Heraldry Series: The Final Trumpet. 
Clay, Glaze, Slip, and Decals.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

In this recent work I have been exploring different ways of drawing on ceramic forms.  Instead of drawing with my own hand, I have been employing decal images of different line qualities from different time periods and different artists to compose and collage my drawings.  In a way it is like drawing with someone else’s hands or like conducting a piece of music.  In the same manner that musical artists are sampling sounds and music of other artists to reconstruct into their own compositions, I am sampling images to reconstruct into intense, layered, mythological narratives, which have a very different rhythm than flat drawings.    Some of the themes that are emerging are Biblical, Mythological and Scientific in nature.  I have been exploring the origins of our species, the moral dilemma of good and evil, the role of man in nature, and the interface of science, technology and mythology.

Varsha Patel
Force of Nature
Linocut Reduction.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

I was born and raised in India, where I got my B.A. in Fine Arts.

I have been drawing and painting all my life but for the last five years I have been concentrating on print making, especially linocut reduction prints in several colors. I find it very relaxing.

My inspiration comes from beauty of nature and vibrant colors from the culture I was raised in.

Varsha Patel
Serenity
Linocut Reduction
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

I was born and raised in India, where I got my B.A. in Fine Arts.

I have been drawing and painting all my life but for the last five years I have been concentrating on print making, especially linocut reduction prints in several colors. I find it very relaxing.

My inspiration comes from beauty of nature and vibrant colors from the culture I was raised in.

Margaret Realica
T with Gear
Mixed Media
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

Changing times of images, concepts and materials.

By combining the past with the present.

The traditional and contemporary. Organic with mechanical.

I have interwoven these opposing elements by playing with them through deconstruction and reconstruction.

In the process new boundaries have formed with lines crossing. Other concepts are introduced and different ideas expressed.

Recreating new scenarios.

The porcelain is wheel thrown and altered. High fired.

Acrylics used are for elevating the forms and wires for gestural imaging.

Margaret Realica

Margaret Realica
T Series
Mixed Media
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

Changing times of images, concepts and materials.

By combining the past with the present.

The traditional and contemporary. Organic with mechanical.

I have interwoven these opposing elements by playing with them through deconstruction and reconstruction.

In the process new boundaries have formed with lines crossing. Other concepts are introduced and different ideas expressed.

Recreating new scenarios.

The porcelain is wheel thrown and altered. High fired.

Acrylics used are for elevating the forms and wires for gestural imaging.

Margaret Realica
Winter Pod 3
Mixed Media
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

Changing times of images, concepts and materials.

By combining the past with the present.

The traditional and contemporary. Organic with mechanical.

I have interwoven these opposing elements by playing with them through deconstruction and reconstruction.

In the process new boundaries have formed with lines crossing. Other concepts are introduced and different ideas expressed.

Recreating new scenarios.

The porcelain is wheel thrown and altered. High fired.

Acrylics used are for elevating the forms and wires for gestural imaging.

Marilyn Richeda
Lifeboat
Clay
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

I rarely start to work with a clear visual image of what I will create.  I do, however, have an idea of what I want to explore or a feeling I want to express and keep on working until I feel it's right.

The figures I create are not found on the street but more likely in one's imagination.  They are other worldly.  Some figures are robot-like, non-speaking, noiseless and still.  Others stand confident perhaps hiding something.  I use birds a lot; sometimes portraying them as enchanting but often showing a darker side such as feelings of loss, helplessness and being marooned.  The combination of strangeness and familiarity reveal human concerns and behaviors as portrayed by the birds.

Color and surface treatment are of the utmost importance to me.  I wish I could own every painting that I fall in love with.  Color is what seduces me.  That interest in color profoundly affects how I work in clay.  Inspiration for color comes from looking at painted cars and trucks on the road, painters such as George Basselitz, Grau-Garriga and folk art.  Most exciting to me is the casualness and color which comes from the art of children.

Cheryl Rogers
MSM - 27
Intaglio-Etching, and Drypoint.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

Observations and reactions to life experiences, human relationships, and my interaction with natural phenomena fuel the images in my work. Working in various media, I create contemporary lithography, intaglio, serigraphy and archival inkjet-pigment prints and mixed media drawings/paintings. I often combine layering and juxtaposition of hand-made source material with my digital and photographic processes.  I also incorporate multiple printmaking media in larger mixed media works on paper. My lifetime body of work is part of the Artist Printmaker Research Collection housed in The Museum of Art at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas. Since 2006, I have been exhibiting professionally in galleries, museums, and national and international juried and invitational exhibitions. My work has shown in 18 states and is part of permanent and private collections in the United States, Australia, and Malaysia.  Bois d’ Arc Press, my studio, is located at 3701 Plains Blvd, Studio #65 in Amarillo, TX.

Education:  MFA, studio art; BA, English & art education; MA, English from West Texas A&M University, Canyon, TX; AAS, graphic design, Amarillo College.

Contact: www.barbarawardart.com, e-mail barbarapward@suddenlink.net, or cell: (806) 683-9215

Cheryl Rogers
MSM - Composition 3
Intaglio-Etching, and Drypoint
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

Observations and reactions to life experiences, human relationships, and my interaction with natural phenomena fuel the images in my work. Working in various media, I create contemporary lithography, intaglio, serigraphy and archival inkjet-pigment prints and mixed media drawings/paintings. I often combine layering and juxtaposition of hand-made source material with my digital and photographic processes.  I also incorporate multiple printmaking media in larger mixed media works on paper. My lifetime body of work is part of the Artist Printmaker Research Collection housed in The Museum of Art at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas. Since 2006, I have been exhibiting professionally in galleries, museums, and national and international juried and invitational exhibitions. My work has shown in 18 states and is part of permanent and private collections in the United States, Australia, and Malaysia.  Bois d’ Arc Press, my studio, is located at 3701 Plains Blvd, Studio #65 in Amarillo, TX.

Education:  MFA, studio art; BA, English & art education; MA, English from West Texas A&M University, Canyon, TX; AAS, graphic design, Amarillo College.

Contact: www.barbarawardart.com, e-mail barbarapward@suddenlink.net, or cell: (806) 683-9215.

Heather Rosenman
Neon Vision
Stoneware
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

Wonder Portals

A New York native, graduated from The Cooper Union and received a postgraduate-level degree from the Basel School of Design in Switzerland.  Designed and produced in her Los Angeles studio, this series explores the folly of scientific certainty.

Like Carroll’s ‘Rabbit Hole’, Wonder Portals entice the viewer to experience a transformative journey of wonder, unique to each person. This sculptural series uses divergent forms, textures and negative space to support Rosenman’s exploration of a Transformation theme.

Heather Rosenman
Transforma Morph
Stoneware
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

Wonder Portals

A New York native, graduated from The Cooper Union and received a postgraduate-level degree from the Basel School of Design in Switzerland.  Designed and produced in her Los Angeles studio, this series explores the folly of scientific certainty.

Like Carroll’s ‘Rabbit Hole’, Wonder Portals entice the viewer to experience a transformative journey of wonder, unique to each person. This sculptural series uses divergent forms, textures and negative space to support Rosenman’s exploration of a Transformation theme.

Heather Rosenman
Magma Morph
Stoneware
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

Wonder Portals

A New York native, graduated from The Cooper Union and received a postgraduate-level degree from the Basel School of Design in Switzerland.  Designed and produced in her Los Angeles studio, this series explores the folly of scientific certainty.

Like Carroll’s ‘Rabbit Hole’, Wonder Portals entice the viewer to experience a transformative journey of wonder, unique to each person. This sculptural series uses divergent forms, textures and negative space to support Rosenman’s exploration of a Transformation theme

Caitlin Ross
Moon Over the Water Set
Hand-Thrown & Carved
Courtesy of the artist

Brandon Sanderson
Denizens IX: The Fauna
Intaglio
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

The Denizens etchings explore human folly. The characters are absurdly constructed of mechanical and organic elements. Just like many people, they are unaware of an awkward and ill-conceived nature. The series also references similar veins within popular culture. For example, Denizens V: The Bachelor was influenced by my reaction to Beyonce’s Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) music video. These denizens belong to a collective, a neighborhood. As such, the background of each image indicates a suburban landscape. Similar to Goya’s Caprichos, these manifestations emerge while the rational mind sleeps. In the late evenings and early mornings, these creatures dance, fly and fight.

Peggy Forman & Jan Schachter
Old/New Direction
Porcelain
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

For more then 20 years Peggy Forman & Jan Schachter have been collaborating. Jan creates the forms: plates, vases, bowls or tiles out of porcelain and bisques them.

Peg takes them home and draws whatever the form inspires. Many of the drawings have evolved from a series of life drawings she has done using a live model. Her drawing techniques come from a long time love of watercolor painting started in college. However, drawing & painting on clay with slips, stains underglaze pencils and more is an exceptional challenge. Peggy occasionally uses monoprinting to create a particular effect or image. What you draw is not necessarily what you get after the piece is fired by Jan in her gas kiln to 2300 degrees F.

Gretchen Schermerhorn
Gun Play
Woodblock, and thread.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

My work is created as a response to CP Snow’s call for a “third culture” to bridge art and science. Specifically, my work focuses on biological and sociological systems: DNA coding, cell division, often in juxtaposition to imagined map-like symbols depicting interconnected relationships.  I see these symbols as diagrams of imagined space involving interaction, entanglement, memory and contemplation.

Much like my work’s conceptual basis, I find myself drifting quite a bit—largely due to my own inertia. Balancing random and calculated moves, researching the laws of science and art, my work continues to change—allowing viewers to see where I have been, what I saw, and sometimes what was lost.

Gretchen Schermerhorn
Gun Play
Woodblock, and thread
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

My work is created as a response to CP Snow’s call for a “third culture” to bridge art and science. Specifically, my work focuses on biological and sociological systems: DNA coding, cell division, often in juxtaposition to imagined map-like symbols depicting interconnected relationships.  I see these symbols as diagrams of imagined space involving interaction, entanglement, memory and contemplation.

Much like my work’s conceptual basis, I find myself drifting quite a bit—largely due to my own inertia. Balancing random and calculated moves, researching the laws of science and art, my work continues to change—allowing viewers to see where I have been, what I saw, and sometimes what was lost.

Gretchen Schermerhorn
If Enjoying
Porcelain, and handmade paper.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

My work is created as a response to CP Snow’s call for a “third culture” to bridge art and science. Specifically, my work focuses on biological and sociological systems: DNA coding, cell division, often in juxtaposition to imagined map-like symbols depicting interconnected relationships.  I see these symbols as diagrams of imagined space involving interaction, entanglement, memory and contemplation.

Much like my work’s conceptual basis, I find myself drifting quite a bit—largely due to my own inertia. Balancing random and calculated moves, researching the laws of science and art, my work continues to change—allowing viewers to see where I have been, what I saw, and sometimes what was lost.

Jose Sierra
Entre Tejidos Series
Stoneware
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

My past and present surroundings influence my work. The images and memories of coffee mills, intensely colored mountains, dramatic landscapes, pre-Colombian art and architecture of the Andean region of Venezuela all form an important part of my visual inspirations. These elements combine with contemporary design as well as the geometry of the Catalina Mountains to influence and inspire my work. The range of textures and colors of the Andes and Catalinas also inform my palette of glazes and engobes, which are achieved through high-firing in oxidation and reduction. By altering wheel-thrown porcelain and stoneware, my work fuses organic and geometrical forms, in which I express both the fluidity and abruptness of the shapes and lines in the landscapes and architecture that surrounds me.

Jose Sierra
Entre Tejidos Series
Stoneware
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

My past and present surroundings influence my work.  The images and memories of coffee mills, intensely colored mountains, dramatic landscapes, pre-Colombian art and architecture of the Andean region of Venezuela all form an important part of my visual inspirations.  These elements combine with contemporary design as well as the geometry of the Catalina Mountains to influence and inspire my work.  The range of textures and colors of the Andes and Catalinas also inform my palette of glazes and engobes, which are achieved through high-firing in oxidation and reduction. By altering wheel-thrown porcelain and stoneware, my work fuses organic and geometrical forms, in which I express both the fluidity and abruptness of the shapes and lines in the landscapes and architecture that surrounds me.

Jose Sierra
Entre Tejidos Series
Stoneware
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

My past and present surroundings influence my work.  The images and memories of coffee mills, intensely colored mountains, dramatic landscapes, pre-Colombian art and architecture of the Andean region of Venezuela all form an important part of my visual inspirations.  These elements combine with contemporary design as well as the geometry of the Catalina Mountains to influence and inspire my work.  The range of textures and colors of the Andes and Catalinas also inform my palette of glazes and engobes, which are achieved through high-firing in oxidation and reduction. By altering wheel-thrown porcelain and stoneware, my work fuses organic and geometrical forms, in which I express both the fluidity and abruptness of the shapes and lines in the landscapes and architecture that surrounds me.

Dino Sophia
Untitled
Earthware
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

I am obsessed with letters and numbers for their abstract qualities-- not necessarily spelling out anything. They are timeless suggesting a palimpsest, a prayer, a whisper, a mantra. My forms are simple and sculptural giving a nod to their utilitarian ancestors.

Dino Sophia
Untitled
Stoneware
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

I am obsessed with letters and numbers for their abstract qualities-- not necessarily spelling out anything. They are timeless suggesting a palimpsest, a prayer, a whisper, a mantra. My forms are simple and sculptural giving a nod to their utilitarian ancestors.

Judith Stewart
Girl with Spiral Hair
High-Fire
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

There is in art no image more evocative than the human form. It is rich in associative powers in both personal and universal ways. When the human form is sculpture, a confrontation with substance, identity and the claiming of space begins.  There also begins an essential probing into life-likeness, and the degree to which the artist wishes it to be there, or not there.  No matter however, whether it is a lump of mud or welded angle iron, deliberately formed stone, wood or clay, we never fail to recognize our very selves, in other guise.

For me it is this identity, this recognition of another kind of human presence that I wish to convey in my sculpture.

Vinent Suez
Just a Taste
Porcelain
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

My Work Has its Basis in Traditional Pottery

 I consider myself an artist/potter. I draw and paint, using traditional ceramic processes to achieve particular affects on my ceramic work in order to exploit and develop form. My concern with nature is revealed through my use of animal and bird imagery. Marks of stamps, inscribed lines, and the touch of brush emulate this fantasy in nature. Included in this colorful landscape are dragonflies, a dash of gold a glimpse of purple and brilliant blues. Saying that, I am not particularly interested in a specific genus but rather in that fleeting moment that leap of faith if you will, when they are suspended in air for a brief moment, the quick yet magic moment when they seem oblivious to gravity, suspended, or “braking” as they gracefully,land on the most delicate of branches. The dragonfly’s rush and dip across the puddles leaving only a trace; included in this rapture is my use of creatures imbued with the human condition. The intimacies of these anthropomorphic lovers expose my wit and curiosity of the human condition. I sit and watch with delight as the birds and dragonflies dance and converse around the feeders. I am amazed because the birds always carry on the same prattle, yet it is always different. The drawn landscape dwells somewhere inside.

Dusty Tailor (Taylor Guerra)
6 Puntia
Lithography
Courtesy of the artist 

Dusty Tailor (Taylor Guerra)
Winter
Wood Engraving
Courtesy of the artist

Macus Thibodeau
And If You Gaze Long Into An Abyss
Screenprint, Plexiglass, and Mixed Media.
Courtesy of the artist

Charles Timm-Ballard
Halo
Porcelain
Courtesy of the artist

Noriho Uriu
Revival
Printmaking
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

The theme of my prints displayed 39 Ink and Clay are prints from “ conceptual mapping series”

As a conceptual map is used as a way to develop one perspective based on those that came before it, I used an intaglio print of a normal circuit board, altered it and added with physical layer by cutting prints and assembling them.

The image evokes a developed urban space, featuring overlapping ripples of social communication and interactions.

Noriho Uriu
Colored Town
Printmaking
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

The theme of my prints displayed 39 Ink and Clay are prints from “ conceptual mapping series”

As a conceptual map is used as a way to develop one perspective based on those that came before it, I used an intaglio print of a normal circuit board, altered it and added with physical layer by cutting prints and assembling them.

The image evokes a developed urban space, featuring overlapping ripples of social communication and interactions.

Chris Warot
2000
4 Color Process Solar Plate
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

I set out in 2012 to create 3 new 4-color process Solarplate intaglio prints. With no first sense of initial direction, other than long and narrow image dimensions. Each new image showed up right as I needed it, based on either a previous print, or from an acrylic painting.

Margi Weir
Detroit Two Story
Sumi Ink, India Ink, and Tusche
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

It was not until I moved to Detroit in the fall of 2009, that I encountered the urban ruins that are so prevalent here. After the initial shock, like many others, I was attracted to these relics. Unlike many others, I did not retreat to the suburbs. I moved in among them and these “bones” have become personal.  The open form left by fire and weather appeals to my sense of design. They have become part of my everyday world, my neighbors.

In the “Frontline Series/ Detroit”, the title is a reference to a technique that I call “snap line”, with which I begin each drawing.  A “snap line” is made by dipping cotton twine into thinned acrylic paint or ink and snapping a taut line onto the support, similar to plucking a guitar string. The “snap line” is a record of the violent impact of paint with support. It suggests an event, an explosion, a reverberation, yet the over spray lends a softness to the line quality. I like the idea that something beautiful on the surface has an underlying violence, a dark side, if you will.

Margi Weir
Detroit Curtain 3
Sumi Ink, India Ink, and Tusche
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

It was not until I moved to Detroit in the fall of 2009, that I encountered the urban ruins that are so prevalent here. After the initial shock, like many others, I was attracted to these relics. Unlike many others, I did not retreat to the suburbs. I moved in among them and these “bones” have become personal.  The open form left by fire and weather appeals to my sense of design. They have become part of my everyday world, my neighbors.

In the “Frontline Series/ Detroit”, the title is a reference to a technique that I call “snap line”, with which I begin each drawing.  A “snap line” is made by dipping cotton twine into thinned acrylic paint or ink and snapping a taut line onto the support, similar to plucking a guitar string. The “snap line” is a record of the violent impact of paint with support. It suggests an event, an explosion, a reverberation, yet the over spray lends a softness to the line quality. I like the idea that something beautiful on the surface has an underlying violence, a dark side, if you will.

Joyce Weiss
Hope No Hope - Pessimism
Lithograph, Mixed Media
Courtesy of the artist

Jim Zver
September Collage #6
Paper, Acrylic, India Ink, and Pastel.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

The arrangements of the pre-cut shapes in my collages are decided upon by their implied suggestions of space in their relationship to one another.  When I am working extremely well there is a point when I begin to work completely intuitively, in a place where my compositional choices do not depend on conscious knowledge of composition and color. The decisions become automatic and the collage elements themselves dictate their positions.  Surprising and unexpected choices are allowed and all visual arrangements seem possible.

The collage then “cools off” for a period of time, usually one to three weeks.  During this period I can look at it with objectivity, considering final and more distanced and objective adjustments.   However, it is in this other place where I feel the collage is conceived, where the most important choices are made and where it ultimately lives.

Jim Zver
September Collage #8
Paper, Acrylic, India Ink, and Pastel. 
Courtesy of the artist

Artist Statement

The arrangements of the pre-cut shapes in my collages are decided upon by their implied suggestions of space in their relationship to one another. When I am working extremely well there is a point when I begin to work completely intuitively, in a place where my compositional choices do not depend on conscious knowledge of composition and color. The decisions become automatic and the collage elements themselves dictate their positions. Surprising and unexpected choices are allowed and all visual arrangements seem possible.

The collage then “cools off” for a period of time, usually one to three weeks. During this period I can look at it with objectivity, considering final and more distanced and objective adjustments. However, it is in this other place where I feel the collage is conceived, where the most important choices are made and where it ultimately lives.