Susan Thayer (born 17 October 1957 in New York, NY) is an American ceramicist known for her intricately painted porcelain teapots. [1] Inspired by her grandmother's china as well as by historical European ceramics, she often combines traditional elements with other more contemporary designs in her work. [2] In order to maintain a high level of detail, Thayer must often fire each individual piece between ten and twenty times. [1] She currently lives and works in Portland, Oregon.
Thayer graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI, in 1982 with a BFA in ceramics. [2] After graduation, she remained in Providence and opened a porcelain production studio, though by 1986 she grew discouraged by "the limits imposed by the demands of production." [3] This discontent led her to begin creating one-of-a-kind pieces, [4] drawing on originality rather than the uniformity of mass production. These pieces are often inspired by traditions such as the ceremony and grandeur of a dinner table in all of its propriety: set with dishes on placemats and with multiple spoons, forks, and knives designated for different courses. [3] In addition to serving as an image of tradition, the dinner table—like the teapot—also suggests the notion of people coming together in a ritualistic setting. [5] In conjunction with this classic imagery, her distinctive teapots are also inspired by change, which she perceives as "both desirable and inevitable." [3] That sense of change manifests itself in her teapots as slight alterations of the original form: the perfect spouts start to lengthen or warp, or surface designs are rendered in glow-in-the-dark paint. [3]
Thayer's work is fluid in nature and intentionally "imperfect." [6] She does not take on commissions, preferring to follow her own ideas. [6]
Thayer's pieces are in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, [1] [5] the De Young Museum, [7] the Museum of Contemporary Craft, [8] the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, [9] The Racine Art Museum, [10] [11] and in the Newark Museum. [12] Her work was shown in 2003 in "The Artful Teapot" at the George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art and the Long Beach Museum of Art, [6] and in 1993, Feats of Clay V, at Gladding, McBean & Company in Lincoln, California. [13]
Stoneware is a rather broad term for pottery fired at a relatively high temperature. A modern definition is a vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refractory fire clay. End applications include tableware, decorative ware such as vases.
Buncheong, or punch'ong, ware is a traditional form of Korean stoneware, with a blue-green tone. Pieces are coated with white slip (ceramics), and decorative designs are added using a variety of techniques. This style originated in the 15th century and continues in a revived form today.
Joan Takayama-Ogawa is a sansei (third-generation) Japanese-American ceramic artist and currently professor at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, California. Takayama-Ogawa's heritage since the 15th century of Japanese ceramic art influences her work, that usually explores beauty, decoration, ornamentation and narrative while also introducing a dialogue that rejects the traditional role of women in Japanese culture. Her most recent work addresses issues like climate change.
Toshiko Takaezu was an American ceramic artist, painter, sculptor, and educator with an oeuvre spanning a wide range of mediums, including ceramics, weavings, bronzes, and paintings. She is noted for her pioneer work in ceramics and has played an important role in the international revival of interest in the ceramic arts. Takaezu was known for her rounded, closed ceramic forms which broke from traditions of clay as a medium for functional objects to explore its potential for aesthetic expression, taking on Abstract Expressionist concepts and placing her work in the realm of postwar abstractionism. She is of Japanese descent and from Pepeeko, Hawaii.
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Sergei Isupov is a ceramic artist born in Stavropol, Russia, now living in Cummington, Massachusetts, United States, and Tallinn, Estonia. He was educated at the Ukrainian State Art School in Kiev and went on to graduate in 1990 from the Art Institute of Tallinn in Estonia with Bachelor of Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees in ceramic art. He has since exhibited widely in both solo and group exhibitions, received numerous awards, and widely collected by museums and private collectors.
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Annette Corcoran is an American artist who was born in Inglewood, California. She earned a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1952, and continued post-graduate studies at California State University, Long Beach, California Polytechnic State University, Saddleback College, and the College of Marin.
Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take varied forms, including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is a visual art. While some ceramics are considered fine art, such as pottery or sculpture, most are considered to be decorative, industrial or applied art objects. Ceramic art can be created by one person or by a group, in a pottery or a ceramic factory with a group designing and manufacturing the artware.
Richard Shaw is an American ceramicist and professor known for his trompe-l'œil style. A term often associated with paintings, referring to the illusion that a two-dimensional surface is three-dimensional. In Shaw's work, it refers to his replication of everyday objects in porcelain. He then glazes these components and groups them in unexpected and even jarring combinations. Interested in how objects can reflect a person or identity, Shaw poses questions regarding the relationship between appearances and reality.
Kurt Weiser is an American ceramicist and professor. His work—explorations of the relationship between man and nature through narratives rendered in vivid color—are described as "Eden-like." His work has often taken the form of teapots, vases, and cups, though he has recently begun crafting globes as well. Weiser is currently the Regents Professor at Arizona State University's School of Art.
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Michael Sherrill is an American ceramist and sculptor. Primarily self-taught, Sherrill’s early work in the 1970s and 1980s focused on creating functional pieces in clay before turning to sculptural artwork in porcelain and metal in the 1990s. Sherrill lives and works in Bat Cave, North Carolina.