2023 when form meets function artists
ARTISTS ARE LISTED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER BY LAST NAME
Please scroll down to see all artists
Linda Bayer
I’m a bit of an eclectic artist. I enjoy pastel painting, mandala painting, the art of blending essential oils and getting my hands drity in clay.. My passion for pottery started in high school. The Clay Studio - actually the NAA - has brought back lots of memories and reignited my passion for clay work and all arts.
My first Clay Studio class was with Tina Greco. She does several inspiring classes that familiarize you with clay work or refresh your skill. After several classes, I purchased a 3 month clay studio membership and facilitated the Pottery Studio sessions last winter. I get a bit busy in the summer months with the volunteer work I do at the NAA, so most of my art gets set aside. I am very anxious and ready for the Pottery Studio sessions to start again this year. I enjoy working in the studio with others and seeing the variety of works we create.
I enjoy creating functional clay pieces such as free form bowls and trays along with whimsical nature pieces such as my funky fish with reference from my scuba diving days.
Betsy Ernst
My interest in pottery goes back to an early class at Cranbrook Art School north of Detroit.
I remember the feel of clay in my hands and shaping the clay into an object of my choice.
I have been a student of pottery all my life, exploring other cultures as I travel and realizing that we understand civilizations through the pottery that each generation of humans have made.
My own work is to follow simple traditions of hand-building and wheel throwing. I tend to like the more earthen glazes but the deep cobalt blues are so beautiful when added to a piece.
I was fortunate to have an amazing mentor in clay living down the street from me when I lived in Pleasant Ridge. Sue Bolt, and her sculptures and clay works all tell stories about women that fascinate me. This is why I have brought my Garden Goddesses to the show so others may enjoy what I feel when I see the female essence in art.
Marjorie Farrell
Marjorie Farrell has created art in some form since she could hold a Crayon. It is still one of her favorite mediums. She has worked in fiber, clay, acrylics, watercolor, pastel, charcoal, and pencil creating sketches, collages assemblages, paintings, pottery. She has a degree in art history and has held jobs in galleries and museums in Seattle and New York State.
Prior to moving to Michigan permanently 10 years ago, Marjorie lived in Woodstock, NY where she worked in the stock photography business for 20 years first as a researcher and curator and then as a photographer. Along with her stock photography images, she exhibited her photos in shows throughout New York State.
Marjorie and Walt Farrell are early members and supporters of NAA and the Clay Studio.
Recently, they have had a building constructed on their property which houses 2 studios—one in which to create and one to house their art collection, library, and couple of comfy chairs to relax and be inspired in a creative environment.
Rich Foa
I have been a woodworker and woodturner since my retirement in 2010 from a career in clinical neurology. I began my hands-on arts education with a year at the Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building in Pt. Hadlock, WA learning to build wooden boats. I then worked as a volunteer boatwright for many years at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. Gradually my focus shifted from wooden boats to wood and mixed media sculpture and to classical woodturning. With my wife, I have been an art museum and gallery devotee for decades. I have long been inspired by both ancient and modern sculpture, particularly surrealist sculpture, as well as the work of artists of the fine craft movement -- especially contemporary glass and sculptural ceramics. In my own work, I strive to create well-crafted objects that reflect on the modern world with an element of irony or humor. I always hope that my work will prompt reflection or put a smile on the face of a viewer.
Edward Foley
Edward is the creator of Northport Workshop and Studio. He is an artist, maker, Michigan Native and a nature enthusiast. He makes art, furniture and every day beautiful objects–each inspired by the natural wonder of Northern Michigan. Edward grew up in the Detroit area and spent as much time as possible with his family in Northport and Traverse City. He attended the College of Creative Studies in Detroit for undergraduate studies and went on to the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills where he received his MFA. After successful careers that included teaching art at the University level and also doing museum exhibition design in institutions such as the San Francisco Museum of Art, Judah L Magnes Museum, Stanford University, Rutgers, University and Princeton University, he moved to Northport with his wife, son and lab retriever, to be closer to family and nature.
Contact Information:
Website www.northportworkshop.com
Instagram @northportworkshop
Thomas Gennette
Thomas has been working in clay since early 1970’s. A graduate of Wayne State University and the University of Illinois, Tom has studied with some of the best known ceramic artist in the country. Tom taught High School ceramics for 30 years as well as evening classes at Pewabic Pottery in Detroit. His work has been exhibited in galleries and shows and he founded and ran Northport Pottery for 16 years. Tom’s work is inspired by classic forms from ancient Japanese and Chinese pottery. His focus on Raku glaze firing provides a spontaneity that comes from the uncontrollable nature of the process.
Tina Greco
My art is about recognizing the human form for what it is, rather than how we would like it to be. The ordinary is valued, the differences expressed, the imperfection now satisfying just like life itself. I hope as you view my sculpture you will connect to the emotion each piece is speaking to you as it did to inspire me to create the piece.
Oran Hesterman
Throughout my career as farmer, entrepreneur, professor, philanthropist, and nonprofit executive, one constant has been centering myself and my life with hands in clay. I threw my first pot at age 16 at Berkeley High School in California and have been working with clay on and off ever since. My clay art mirrors my passion for healthy food and food systems. I create functional and decorative pieces to be used in preparation and serving food. There is little in life that is more fulfilling than preparing a healthy meal from ingredients produced on local farms and gardens and serving that meal to family and friends in stoneware dishes that I have created. I am always excited to share this experience with others who value the art of cooking and eating.
Having recently retired as founder and CEO of Fair Food Network I now am spending much of my time in my ceramics studio in Omena and working at Morada Way Clay in Islamorada (Florida Keys) in the winter. In April and May, I studied throwing and glazing techniques with a master potter in Tuscany, Italy at La Merdiana Ceramics School. Upon returning to Omena this summer and fall, my major project is to create a customized line of dinner stoneware working with my son-in-law chef in Leelanau County. Stay tuned!
Instagram: sunrise_stoneware
Facebook: Oran Hesterman
Clay Maas
As the wheel began to spin, so did my mind with new ideas. I transformed the clay in a way that transformed me -Clay. As the pot danced on the revolving wheel, I felt inspired by the movement and motion of the spinning piece. I wanted to capture this emotion and allow the movement to flow over the entire pot like a wave on the water. Watching these new pieces come to life has reignited my passion for creating. This new perspective is to focus on the beauty of pottery.
Hi, I'm Clay and I'm the co-owner of ClaySpaceTC. My passion for ceramics sparked during my final year of college and that passion has been burning ever since. I grew up in a small Ohio town and I now reside in Traverse City with my wife, Emily, our daughter wren and our buoyant doodle Lincoln (who is also the mascot of ClaySpaceTC). I love ClaySpaceTC because it allows me to grow every day and share my love of ceramics with others.
Social: @claymaascreative on Instagram
Dick Martin
Lacking any formal arts background or training, I do nevertheless take whimsy seriously. I find it satisfying to playfully reconfigure found and made wood, metal, and other parts, very often incorporating one or more nonsensical devices, sometimes involving movement with gears or levers, requiring the turning of a handle, pushing a lever, spinning a wheel, adding a sense of touch to objects thought to be primarily visual.
But while usually whimsical, I’m also philosophically minded, meaning that I prefer questions I cannot answer to answers I cannot question. I like to make things that show or promise evolution or unintended change. To the question of why I make them I can answer that I make them because I can. I decide to make them.
Elizabeth Meyers
Like a child playing in the sand or making mud pies, I find great joy in getting my hands into clay. It works my muscles, lowers my blood pressure and sets my mind to exploration. Here’s a funny thing about clay; there is a point in the process of making during which the piece expresses its own space and I must respect that space or risk damaging the work. A short while later, it throws its own shadow. I form the clay and through that experience, the clay forms me; teaching me to slow down, to observe, to experience the making and later the use of clay objects.
What do I like in a piece of pottery? I like a simple, functional object to provide a tactile response to being picked up and used. That could be through texture or form or weight. Add to that the color and finish that results from firing and suddenly, that little cup or vase has many dimensions to be explored and appreciated.
So, if a person is drawn to a piece of pottery, it is worth exploring to learn what one finds exciting in that piece. Something is there to be enjoyed.
Brianne Munch
Brianne Munch is an artist, educator and advocate for the arts. She grew up in Traverse City, MI, where she currently lives, works, and creates. Since her youth, she has been engaged with the arts realm and has been a constant creator within it. After receiving her B.A. in Studio Art from Hope College, she has grown as an artist in her local community and sells her ceramic work in boutiques and restaurants. Her inspiration for her ceramic work derives from her mentors, the historical aspect of vessels, and the culinary functionality of artwork for the everyday. Alongside her own studio practice, she teaches wheel throwing classes and works in the gallery realm at a local non-profit. While ceramics is her main focus, her work expands into sculpture, analog photography, and printmaking.
www.briannemunch.com | Instagram: @briannemunchstudio
Steve Pucelik
I developed a passion for woodworking beginning when I was 12, using firewood and basic hand tools to create small items around the house. I was quickly introduced to power tools by teachers and family members, some of which I still use 40 years later. I continue to focus on unique and one-of-a-kind pieces that extend the beauty of the wood. Rarely will I stain or paint a piece, preferring to find a creative way to compliment various species and colors that are designed to last a lifetime using skillful joinery and the strength of the wood itself.
https://www.45northwoodworks.com
Barbara Waddell
I have a vast collection of multimedia materials and enjoy working with all of them. Form and function is important in my work. The question in the beginning is what type of form should I make? Also, is it art or master craftmanship? Thinking about the elements of design at least gets me started and than the excitement of WHAT IF takes over. I have been a member of NAA since the beginning of WHAT IF WE COULD HAVE AN ART CENTER? Which has given myself and others the opportunity to work in many avenues of art and fine craft. Today my focus is to explore diverse ideas in weaving, pottery and fiber arts. It is a great joy to experiment and see what happens…
Michelle White
My whole life I always felt I was an artist but did not think it was the right path to follow to make a living and be on my own, so I stuffed that idea until it could no longer stay tucked away in my soul. In 2014 I finally honored myself and took a private paint class with Brenda Clark and that was it, I was hooked! I started painting just about everyday and began to develop my own style.
Then, in 2018, “the girls” started to show up and took a life of their own. All I could draw for a very long time were faces. They are basically one line and full of expression. Each one starts with the same movement, yet they are all different, if only slightly, and never the same. Many times I attempt a landscape and boom, out of nowhere my hand starts to draw a girl. If I don’t honor that, the landscapes become a struggle. So I give “the girls” the time they need. They fill me with joy and give me freedom to express myself and be creative in other ways.
I have recently become obsessed with ceramics. The feel of the clay calms me in ways I never expected. The ability to shape it is endless and freeing, no restrictions, and the anticipation of the end result is so exciting to me. Some work out and some do not, and even what may seem like a big flop, could come out of the kiln as a stunning piece. It makes me think about life…keep going, it just might turn out to be super cool. Some people need physical exercise for their mental health, I need to do art. It fills my soul, brings me closer to God and it heals!
Chris Woomer
Light and shadows have always been of interest to me. Especially early morning and late afternoon. Capturing a moment in time and freezing it for the viewer is my goal. Being from Michigan if you happen to see any shadows, there must be some sun out there! I have used many different media to convey these images. This piece is made from 1/4 inch stitches of embroidery thread on linen which convey the warmth of an evening shadow with fiber. In addition, I believe this piece conveys the element of ‘time’ when the viewer realizes how this piece was made.