VIVA Gallery is celebrating June with Pottery show!

June’s pottery show will run from June 2, 2022 until July 6, 2022 with a First Thursday reception from 5-7pm. Join us!

Guest Artist, Diane Brown

I derive my inspiration from the plants and seed-renewal I see at my farm. I focus on the seasons, so emergence of the plants and the spreading of their seeds is a natural interest for me. I have focused on this subject in a three-year Mentorship at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass, Colorado. My next works will consist of Mushrooms and Mycelium and how they nourish our environment and provide a network around the world supplying nutrients to plants and trees and replenishing the soil. As you can see, my studies are about Environmental Sciences.

I work in a free-standing, red, metal building at my farm that is a total mess of clay, props, dust, and chemicals until I have no more room and have to clean it up. The most indispensable item in my studio would have to be my kiln; without it, the work would not take on it's finished form. The kiln is where I learn the most about my limits as I continually stretch the bounds of clay.

Guest Artist, Joe Cole

A native of Washington state, Joe began making pottery in 1999 at Cornell College. He went on to make pots at Haystack School of Crafts in Maine and the Rochester Folk Art Guild in Rochester, NY, before beginning a two-year apprenticeship with internationally renowned wood-fire potter Mark Hewitt in Pittsboro, NC. After his apprenticeship, Joe worked as a journeyman potter for Dover Pottery and King's Pottery in the historic pottery community of Seagrove, NC. He also worked with local materials on clay and glaze development at STARworks Ceramics, Materials, and Research and taught wood-firing and kiln building at Central Carolina Community College. Joe has designed numerous successful wood kilns. Since moving to Wisconsin, Joe has shared his extensive knowledge of wood-firing with many ceramics students at Windy Ridge and at nearby art centers.

Joe answers some fun questions!

How did you come to focus on your current subject?

I started making functional pottery in college and have never really looked back since then.

Who or what has strongly influenced your work?

My apprenticeship with Mark Hewitt had a huge influence on the pots I make. I also draw inspiration from traditional folk pottery from around the world, as well as a handful of modern potters.

If you could have one work of art in your home from a museum or private collection, what would it be?

Maybe a celadon dish from the Yi dynasty of Korea?

Why did you decide to work in your chosen medium?

Initially I was drawn to the physical challenge of making work on the wheel. Over the years though I’ve come to appreciate the warm that quiet handmade pottery can bring to daily life.

What’s the most indispensable item in your studio?

While not technically in my studio, my kiln is certainly the most indispensable item in the creation of my work.

How do you know when a piece of work is finished?

I tend to work in larger runs of larger runs, working in repetition, so each individual pot is finished fairly quickly,

From where do you draw your inspiration?

From other pots, most often from folk pottery from the 13th-15th centuries.

What does your studio look like?

It’s fairly small with just enough room to store enough pottery to fill the kiln. A cement floor with an in floor drain makes it easy to clean, and large windows provide plenty of natural light.

Guest Artist, Johanna Wieczorek

In middle, school I started my own garden in the woods, and ever since then I have dabbled in florals and landscapes. Botanical themes have always been part of my life, and nature can really never be exhausted in the art world.
Ceramics is a medium that blends the best of sculpture and painting. Sculpture appeals to my need for texture and dimension, while I favor painting for color. Ceramics brings together color theory in the multitude of glazes while still leaving space for texture through throwing or in a hand-built piece.
My wheel is set up in front of a big, sunny window in my kitchen, where I make most of my pieces. The brightness of the area as well as just physically seeing my wheel frequently every day keeps my ideas in front of me. My projects are constantly appearing on my counters and then moving onto a big shelf where I keep my greenware and bisque pieces.

Johanna answers some fun questions!

How did you come to focus on your current subject? 

In middle school I started my own garden in the woods and ever since then I have dabbled in florals and landscapes. Botanical themes have always been part of my life and nature can really never be exhausted in the art world.

Can you articulate what draws you to a particular composition?

Most of my work is thrown on a wheel and is generally symmetrical. Decoration of the forms I create is inspired by whatever florals are in season and lately I have been drawn to watercolor-esque compositions for my bowls. 

Who or what has strongly influenced your work?

Some artists I admire are Dali, Henri Matisse, and Gustav Klimt. These painters are admired not just their work but also the way they conducted their lives.

If you could have one work of art in your home from a museum or private collection, what would it be?

Summertime Narratives Bowl No. 6

Why did you decide to work in your chosen medium?

Ceramics is a medium that blends the best of sculpture and painting. Sculpture appealed to my need for texture and dimension, while I favored painting for color. Ceramics brings together color theory in the multitude of glazes while still leaving space for texture through throwing or in a handbuilt piece.

What’s the most indispensable item in your studio?

Easily my kiln!

How do you know when a piece of work is finished?

A piece is finished either when I have reached the closest vision I had for it upon starting or when it has a mistake that I cannot fix and so must move on.

From where do you draw your inspiration?

When I am feeling unmotivated I go for a hike or try to get out on the water, observing nature for a couple hours. It brings me a fresh perspective and some fresh air gets ideas flowing again.

What does your studio look like?

My wheel is set up in a big sunny window in my kitchen, where I make most of my pieces. The brightness of the area as well as just physically seeing my wheel frequently every day keeps my ideas in front of me. My projects are constantly appearing on my counters and then moving onto a big shelf where I keep my greenware and bisque pieces.

VIVA Member Artist, Maureen Karlstad

In working with clay, I strive to make functional and beautiful objects. My focus is on the aesthetics of everyday use—how objects can please the eye that views them and the hand that holds and uses them.

I was one of the founding members of VIVA Gallery. At that time my teaching was my priority and I had difficulty producing enough work for the gallery, so I stepped back for a while. I am now on sabbatical from my teaching and back in the gallery with big plans for my pottery. I have enjoyed the inspiration and sense of community that comes from working with fellow artists and craftspeople and I am happy to be back as part of the group.

VIVA Member Artist, Charna Schwartz

When I have my hands in clay, it provides a fundamental connection to the earth. 

The forms I create are influenced by experiences and insights of places and people I have met.  

My recent creations are inspired by the rolling hills, valleys, and seasons of the Kickapoo Valley.

 Since my younger years I had a fascination with blending colors with crayons, color pencils, oils and/or acrylic paints. I now find myself doing this with glazes I apply to my pottery.

Layering a multitude of different color glazes by the use of a spray gun creates a subtleness of rolling hills and valleys of the beautiful Kickapoo region of southwest Wisconsin. 

Another type of glazing I use is called Majolica. I use different types of paint brushes and apply layers of bright colored glazes.

I make functional and decorative pottery.