Geoff Booras

Geoffery currently lives and works in New England. After finishing his undergraduate degree at Skidmore College he moved to Quakertown, NJ as Toshiko Takaezu’s apprentice for a productive and delightful year. Working with Toshiko was an intense experience full of personal growth and self reflection.
Geoffery’s work at the PRAG is a reflection of his everlasting interest in nature and organic form. He hopes to continue to pursue his exploration into nature as he trains for an intense and exhausting climb of Denali this summer.

Tim Clark
www.timclarksculpture.com

Tim Clark received a BS in Studio Art from Skidmore College and an MFA in Ceramics from the School for American Crafts, Rochester Institute of Technology. Upon completing his undergraduate degree, Tim apprenticed with Toshiko Takaezu for one year in Quakertown, NJ. After a semester as a special student at the Cleveland Institute of Art, he taught ceramics at Edmund Burke School in Washington, DC and at Darrow School in New Lebanon, NY. Tim currently resides in Natick, Massachusetts, where he is a studio artist and teaches ceramics at The Rivers School.

Joseph Delphia

Joseph Delphia has been living and making wood-fired pottery in Pittsburgh since 2007. He received his BFA from Miami University and has exhibited his work within the region. Joseph has taught for the Carnegie Museum of Art, The Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild and the Union Project. Currently he is a Faculty Member at the Boyce Campus of the Community College of Allegheny County.

Alexandra Dzubak

Ben Eberle

After receiving my BA in creative writing from Skidmore College in 2003, I spent the next period of my life with Toshiko Takaezu. Following the year long apprenticeship I moved back to Boston where I spent a year working in two different studios teaching adult art education classes. I took Toshiko's good advice to pursue an MFA as soon as possible and enrolled in San Jose State's School of Art and Design in the fall of 2005. This spring I will finish my MFA in ceramic art having experienced the west coast clay atmosphere to its fullest. Influences such as the 'Bay Area Figurative' and the legendary California Funk Art movements are just a few of the characteristics to this area that have broadened my range and knowledge of ceramic art. They simply do not exist back east. I have been fortunate enough to display my work broadly across the country in a range of galleries and national venues like the NCECA Student Show in 2006, the California Conference for Ceramic Art in 2006 and 2007, and more recently in the Concordia Biennial in St. Paul, MN. I am also very fortunate to have my work affiliated with the Lacoste Gallery in Concord, MA.

Fitzhugh Karol
www.fitzhughkarol.com

I am perpetually looking for joy. I believe I am at my best when I am persistently working. The accumulation of work born out of this persistence is the record of my energy – energy spent in search of something or someplace I love. I use my body, I feel my work. I believe that I am always playing and always searching and that the possibilities are endless.

After working predominantly with clay over the past 8 years, I found myself after graduate school without a kiln. The persistent desire to make perhaps unknowingly led me towards wood. In the past I have used wood only as an enhancement or small part of a larger work. I now find that many of the forms I am attracted to lend themselves to wooden variations. This exploration has been liberating, physical and informative.

Fitzhugh Karol lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Fitzhugh received his M.F.A in Ceramics from Rhode Island School of Design in 2007. Prior to that he was apprentice to Toshiko Takaezu in Quakertown, NJ. Fitzhugh received his Bachelors Degree in Art from Skidmore College in 2004.


David Kaufmann

Dave Kaufmann started working with clay when he was twelve years old, and while his roots are in functional, wheel thrown pottery, the last few years have taken him some different places in building larger, more sculptural vessel forms by hand. Dave received a BS in Studio Art with a concentration in ceramics from Skidmore College in 2006 and went on to apprentice with Toshiko Takaezu in Quakertown, NJ the following year. He currently lives and works at Millbrook School in Millbrook, NY where he is a full time teacher and a part time artist. He says of his recent work:

"My work from the last few years consists of tiny pieces. I make open vessels through a repetitive process of attaching little bits of clay to one another over and over until a whole form emerges. The shapes that I create are somewhat mysterious to me. I know that functional vessels are always in my consciousness and I strive for the same sense of containment in my hand built pieces that surrounds me with every bowl or cup. However, while I always have ideas in mind, I try to let the forms grow on their own and be what they need to be. The technique that I use is wonderfully repetitive and meditative, and the time that I spend making these pieces is important to me. The resulting texture keeps me connected to the process and when I look down into the hollow space of the form that I've made, I feel full and can read the history of where that thing has been with every little pinch of clay."

Hilde Munck

Marbles have always fascinated me. I grew up during WWII when toys were exceedingly rare. But I had a marble which I treated as my top treasure. About 10 years ago I, accidentally, started glass beading and never quit. It is now my hobby, not my occupation. Two years ago I was introduced to Pat Falbo, a silversmith, and ever since I am taking classes from her. Silver and glass can be combined quite beautifully. As an aside, I don't make marbles, although I could if the need arises.

Nicholas Newcomb

Nicholas Newcomb is a New York City based ceramic artist, whose work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums, including The Francis Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, The Schenectady Museum, and The Firlefanz Gallery in Albany.

Nicholas received his undergraduate degree in Art from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. He has worked and studied with many artists including an apprenticeship with renowned ceramic artist Toshiko Takaezu and other highly-acclaimed artists and sculptors such as Regis Brodie, Leslie Ferst, Paul Chaliff, Jeff Shapiro, and Chris Guston.

With its roots in traditional hand-thrown forms, Nicholas Newcomb's work exhibits influences from modern and contemporary art, minimalist art and design, and art nouveau. The pieces shown here represent three common themes in his work. His functional pieces are inspired by shapes, colors, and textures found in nature. Drawing influence from contemporary architecture, the sculptural pieces experiment with form and light - the interplay between them - and interior and exterior space - engaging the viewer to consider each simultaneously and its relationship with the other. Also highlighted is a certain whimsical, playful approach, particularly in his piece, "31 Bowls Left to Chance." Many of the pieces shown here are experimental studies for large-scale designs.

Scott Newcomb

I have been producing these objects and presenting them not only for myself but for the public to experience in Union Square, New York City for four years. They have developed into my most direct communication with the city; my language through which I unify art and commerce. This visual dialogue brings elements of my identity into the world in the truest and most authentic way I know, and I instinctively indulge what I have a compulsion to create in a spontaneous nature.

I explore the balance of creating objects that are both quietly intimate and eye-candy-stimulating. They are immersive in their visual vibration as a result of the application process of encaustics and mixed media, and the responsive quality of the medium allows me to heat, burnish, and otherwise alter an extremely durable yet sensitive material. Each emanates a tinted silhouette of light due to its relief from the wall – a subtle and intimate hue that changes throughout the day. The square allows for a general level of consistency and makes each one a recognizable, observable unit.

This approach to my own creative production has made me receptive to progressive action in my work, nurturing an interest in innovative, experimental practices. The direct communication I have established through these portals allows for the work to steadily evolve and for complex, personal human interaction to develop as a result.

Justin Rothsank
www.rothshank.com

Justin Rothshank is founder, associate director, and manager of ceramics at Union Project, a non-profit organization that provides gathering and working space for artists, community builders, and people of faith. Justin’s work at the Union Project has been recognized with numerous historic preservation awards from city, state, and national organizations. Justin’s ceramic work has been exhibited around the country. His work has been published in Clay Times Magazine, Pottery Making Illustrated, Ceramics Monthly Magazine and on CeramicsArtsDaily.org. Justin has been a presenter and visiting artist at numerous workshops throughout the Midwest. Justin was recognized in 2007 by Ceramics Monthly as an Emerging Artist. He was also awarded a 2007 Alcoa Foundation Leadership Grant for Arts Managers, the 2005 Decade of Servant Leadership Award from Goshen College, and was named to Pittsburgh Magazine’s 40 under 40 in 2005.

Tory Slosson
Indus Designs

Constantly devising ways to express and focus an over-active imagination, I have found myself venturing into a variety of creative endeavors. Combined with a blissfully ignorant attitude of “ I can do that,” and a strong belief that all active pursuits must be driven by passion, my outlets for my inspirations have been diverse. Initially my main media was photography, including shooting PR photography for Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus World. Adoring darkroom manipulation led to a natural progression into digital image manipulation. After graduating from Chatham College with a B.A. in Communications, I returned for post-graduate work, mostly in the visual arts, including a Certificate Degree in Digital Media. Having married a commercial photographer eight years ago, I laid my camera down and have turned my attention to furniture and jewelry designs.My approach to designing jewelry is very similar to that of another passion - cooking. I love to gather items that really strike me and create a wonderful 'pantry', so when it's time, I can take a little of this and combine it with a little of that till it's just right. The majority of my work is in semi-precious stones, minerals and pearls. I strive to find high quality materials, knowing that it is what I would look for when I'm setting out to buy for myself. My designs are fashioned to personify people I know. Therein lies the meanings behind the names of each piece. After all, jewelry is such a personal expression, it must transcend simply "matching your outfit".

Sarah Acton Sheer

Sarah Acton Sheer began her painting life as a greeting card designer in Boston. Through the years she has worked with pastel, hand painted silk, and is currently working in oil. Through her paintings of people and nature, she strives to capture a simple poetry within her subjects.

Sarah lives and works at home in Western Pennsylvania with her husband Barry, son Wyatt, and daughter Suzanne, all of whom are musically talented and passionate about living a creative life. Her work has been shown and won awards in galleries such as; La Fond Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA; CNY Gallery, Cazenovia, NY; Mendleson Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA; as well in private collections.

C.A.Tarin



Suck the marrow out of life. – Thoreau

C.A. Tarin is a Connecticut based artist whose paintings, block prints, sculptures and jewelry reflect her varied interests and passions. Artistic in all areas of her life, C.A. Tarin is also involved in theatre – improvisational and dramatic performance – food, music, and massage therapy.

C.A. graduated from The University of Connecticut, Storrs and studied painting with numerous artists such as Don Mcclain of Portland, ME; Gary Jacob of Hartford, CT; and Paul Zelanski at UCONN. She works primarily in acrylics, oils, wire, beaded work, and metals.

Drawing inspiration from her childhood spent wandering through the forests in Syracuse, NY, C.A. Tarin’s Tree Series is a rumination on one tree and its passage through time. The jewelry reflects her eclectic sense of style and lifestyle. Each pet featured in the portraits shown is a personal friend or relation of the artist’s and can also be done on commission.

Mary White
www.marywhitejewelery.com

Mary White jewelry was founded when I was eleven, with my first table rental at a craft fair. I think it cost fifteen dollars for the day, and my selection included mostly earrings. It still does. Back then, it was called “Earmarked by Mary” which was a really terrible name, but my mom wrote it in calligraphy on the earring cards, so it looked pretty great.

Making small objects has always been either an occupation or a preoccupation of mine. Using metal, resin, gemstones, or found objects, working with a variety of materials has allowed me to apply my natural tendencies in a productive and personally satisfying way.

Since I had been making jewelry for longer than I had been doing just about anything else, I decided to go to the Maryland Institute College of Art’s jewelry program. I wanted to learn soldering and lost wax casting, both of which I loved. After attending for two years, I was awarded a scholarship to attend a summer session at Haystack Mountain School of Craft in Deer Isle, Maine; a steam casting program taught by Fred Woell. At that point, I decided I would attend the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York the following fall. I completed the jewelry program there, and since then have produced lines for Tiffany and Co., the Museum of Modern Art, Red Envelope, and private clients. The jewelry I produce personally reflects a variety of interests, consisting of beaded, cast, and fabricated work.

I currently live in Philadelphia, where I have just moved with my bombastic husband, Scott Newcomb. Thank you for your interest in my jewelry and me.