Servingware

STATEMENT
The clay vessels of Eshelman Pottery order and dignify human life. Clarity is given to simple forms by contrasting glazed and unglazed surfaces. Pure clean glazes render elegant presentation of food and drink.
I am exploring and developing innovative and highly functional slipcast forms. My current work incorporates architectural forms and elements of utilitarian objects and tools, and is influenced by contemporary design.

BIOGRAPHY
Paul's developing artistic interests were directed along practical lines as he grew up in Iowa. He received a B.A. in art from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington and an M.F.A. in ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island. His wife Laurel received a B.S. in biology from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.
Since 1988, Paul has been working with Laurel in northwestern Illinois. They have three children who all worked in the pottery during their years at home.

STATEMENT
The clay vessels of Eshelman Pottery order and dignify human life. Clarity is given to simple forms by contrasting glazed and unglazed surfaces. Pure clean glazes render elegant presentation of food and drink.
I am exploring and developing innovative and highly functional slipcast forms. My current work incorporates architectural forms and elements of utilitarian objects and tools, and is influenced by contemporary design.

BIOGRAPHY
Paul's developing artistic interests were directed along practical lines as he grew up in Iowa. He received a B.A. in art from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington and an M.F.A. in ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island. His wife Laurel received a B.S. in biology from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.
Since 1988, Paul has been working with Laurel in northwestern Illinois. They have three children who all worked in the pottery during their years at home.

STATEMENT
I make functional and sculptural pottery, often combing both concepts. Traditional shapes from ancient cultures, and found in archeological sites or museum collections, inform my work. I’m influenced by the ideas found in art movements – Dada, American Regionalism, and Pop – as well as the forms found in the Peruvian and Etruscan cultures. My work always has a strong sensory quality – both visually and tactilely. My pots are fun to hold.

BIOGRAPHY
Steven Skinner grew up in a small, rural community in northern Illinois. After Steven’s military service, he graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he studied lithography, photomechanical lithography, oil painting, drawing, and sculpture.
Early in his art career, Steven painted in oil and encaustic. But a desire to work in more challenging mediums led him to experiment with watercolors which he discovered brought a spontaneity and expressiveness to his technique.
From 1988 to 2006, Steven worked exclusively with watercolors: his first watercolor series, (1989 to 1999), focused on Chicago’s viaducts, roadways, and bridge structures; a subsequent watercolor series (1999 to 2002), combined interior structural architecture with tropical plants found in the Chicago botanical conservatories. From 2003 to 2006, Steven painted The Little Things, a watercolor series of objects selected for their shape, color, patina, and personal or social significance and rendered representationally, though Steven enhanced each object’s individualistic qualities to subtly change their original character.
While making art, Steven Skinner also devoted time to teaching painting and drawing at Columbia College Chicago, and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as Indiana University (South Bend). During the summer of 2006 he taught watercolor painting in Florence, Italy for Columbia College Chicago in conjunction with Santa Reparatta International School of Art.
For several years Steven worked as an exhibit preparator at the Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. As a preparator, he worked with artifacts and designed and fabricated custom-fit mounts, which required an appreciation of each artifact’s uniqueness.  Steven was especially drawn to the Field’s outstanding collection of pre-Columbian pottery, which, he often sketched during his lunch hour.  When Steven began to study pottery at Lill Street Art Center (Chicago) in 2006, the lasting impact of those beautiful, ancient functional objects, began to inform his artwork.
Steven and his wife make their home in rural northwestern Indiana. There he works in his pottery studio and utilizes a downdraft gas fired kiln that he constructed.

STATEMENT
The clay vessels of Eshelman Pottery order and dignify human life. Clarity is given to simple forms by contrasting glazed and unglazed surfaces. Pure clean glazes render elegant presentation of food and drink.
I am exploring and developing innovative and highly functional slipcast forms. My current work incorporates architectural forms and elements of utilitarian objects and tools, and is influenced by contemporary design.

BIOGRAPHY
Paul's developing artistic interests were directed along practical lines as he grew up in Iowa. He received a B.A. in art from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington and an M.F.A. in ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island. His wife Laurel received a B.S. in biology from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.
Since 1988, Paul has been working with Laurel in northwestern Illinois. They have three children who all worked in the pottery during their years at home.

STATEMENT
The clay vessels of Eshelman Pottery order and dignify human life. Clarity is given to simple forms by contrasting glazed and unglazed surfaces. Pure clean glazes render elegant presentation of food and drink.
I am exploring and developing innovative and highly functional slipcast forms. My current work incorporates architectural forms and elements of utilitarian objects and tools, and is influenced by contemporary design.

BIOGRAPHY
Paul's developing artistic interests were directed along practical lines as he grew up in Iowa. He received a B.A. in art from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington and an M.F.A. in ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island. His wife Laurel received a B.S. in biology from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.
Since 1988, Paul has been working with Laurel in northwestern Illinois. They have three children who all worked in the pottery during their years at home.

STATEMENT 
The pottery making process is magical. Things existing only in our imaginations become tangible objects which add value to people’s everyday life. The pottery creation is measured by the human senses at nearly every stage of the  process. This process reflects our emotion and passion in the tangible result. It affirms our Asian heritage and the American influence on us.
We aspire to make unique functional pottery that reflect ourselves, fits the American life style and enriches our customers’ everyday life. As we are making pottery, we think about how individual customers use our pieces and how it affects them. This gives us a unique connection with the people who use our pots.
We achieve our goal by making functional pottery as a collaborative work between us and our customers. Our functional-ware completes as art when customers use it. Our dinnerware is complete as art when customers place their food and use it in their everyday life. Our ikebana flower vases are only complete when customers include their flower arrangements and place the completed piece in the perfect location in their home.

BIOGRAPHY
In 2009 Thomas Arakawa was working as an auditor at a large accounting firm when he enrolled in a workshop at Blossom Hills Crafts pottery studio. He was hooked. In the following years he was mentored by studio owners Joanne Brice and David Johanson. He continued his education in Wood firing under Phil Park at Spring Valley Anagama, and Hiroshi Ogawa at Hikarigama Anagama in Elkton, Oregon. In 2014 Kathy began working with him and they began a professional relationship that blossomed into a life partnership.
Most of their pieces are collaborative efforts. Thomas throws most of the pots, and Kathy does slab work, decoration and glazing. They use three types of stoneware for the work and gas fire to 2300F. Their wide variety of functional and sculptural designs are both sturdy and delicate. Their striking Ikebana vases are now receiving national acclaim.

STATEMENT
The clay vessels of Eshelman Pottery order and dignify human life. Clarity is given to simple forms by contrasting glazed and unglazed surfaces. Pure clean glazes render elegant presentation of food and drink.
I am exploring and developing innovative and highly functional slipcast forms. My current work incorporates architectural forms and elements of utilitarian objects and tools, and is influenced by contemporary design.

BIOGRAPHY
Paul's developing artistic interests were directed along practical lines as he grew up in Iowa. He received a B.A. in art from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington and an M.F.A. in ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island. His wife Laurel received a B.S. in biology from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.
Since 1988, Paul has been working with Laurel in northwestern Illinois. They have three children who all worked in the pottery during their years at home.

STATEMENT
The clay vessels of Eshelman Pottery order and dignify human life. Clarity is given to simple forms by contrasting glazed and unglazed surfaces. Pure clean glazes render elegant presentation of food and drink.
I am exploring and developing innovative and highly functional slipcast forms. My current work incorporates architectural forms and elements of utilitarian objects and tools, and is influenced by contemporary design.

BIOGRAPHY
Paul's developing artistic interests were directed along practical lines as he grew up in Iowa. He received a B.A. in art from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington and an M.F.A. in ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island. His wife Laurel received a B.S. in biology from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.
Since 1988, Paul has been working with Laurel in northwestern Illinois. They have three children who all worked in the pottery during their years at home.

STATEMENT
The clay vessels of Eshelman Pottery order and dignify human life. Clarity is given to simple forms by contrasting glazed and unglazed surfaces. Pure clean glazes render elegant presentation of food and drink.
I am exploring and developing innovative and highly functional slipcast forms. My current work incorporates architectural forms and elements of utilitarian objects and tools, and is influenced by contemporary design.

BIOGRAPHY
Paul's developing artistic interests were directed along practical lines as he grew up in Iowa. He received a B.A. in art from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington and an M.F.A. in ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island. His wife Laurel received a B.S. in biology from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.
Since 1988, Paul has been working with Laurel in northwestern Illinois. They have three children who all worked in the pottery during their years at home.

STATEMENT
My personal art work has shifted quite a bit in the last 5 years. An art tour of Spain during my sabbatical in the spring of 2013 and a public art mosaic project (funded by Quad-City Arts, Metro Arts) beginning in the summer of 2014, forced change in my art work.
I have made ceramic vessels which refer to the human form for many years. The traditional vocabulary of ceramics uses figurative references, so lip refers to the top edge of a form and the words belly, neck and foot to other appropriate parts. I attempt to communicate through these pieces as a poem would, in the improvised juxtaposition of form, color, design, narrative, and references.
The pieces in this exhibit span the last few years. Many of the earliest pieces reference art work by Hieronymus Bosch. I rediscovered Bosch while on a trip to Spain during a sabbatical in the spring of 2013. I encountered The Garden of Earthly Delights, Bosch’s painting from the early 16th century. In it, there are other worldly architectural forms which seem to be plant-like. Scholars have written that they may be portals for souls attempting to travel to their afterlife. I was so amazed at these beautiful and imaginative forms that I began to try to translate small parts of them to clay. Largely though, their delicacy wasn’t well suited to clay. From here, looking for similar organic plant-like forms I remembered that I had been introduced to the plant photography of the German artist Karl Blossfeldt. This really became the more direct references for these pieces. Different from my past work, many of these pieces are made by starting with paper templates on slabs of clay. Wheel thrown parts are often added to develop the forms sculpturally.

BIOGRAPHY
As a college teacher I tend to work in spurts, and more concentrated ones in the summer. The most recent work was begun from biking along the Mississippi where I noticed the variety of support structures combined under bridges. I was interested in the combinations of various volumetric forms with open, filigree-like metal work on the top. I was also influenced by a mosaic project I’ve been working on for the past two summers, which involves tiling the concrete portions of a large geometric/totemic sculpture. While the newer work is more geometric in form, it relates to older pieces in the totem like forms and surface details. I use both stoneware and porcelain and finish the process with gas and wood fired kilns.
Education 
M.F.A., Ceramics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 1980.
Apprenticeship/Production Potter, Ridker Pottery, Bethesda, Maryland 1976‑78. B.S., Crafts, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland: 1976.

STATEMENT
My personal art work has shifted quite a bit in the last 5 years. An art tour of Spain during my sabbatical in the spring of 2013 and a public art mosaic project (funded by Quad-City Arts, Metro Arts) beginning in the summer of 2014, forced change in my art work.
I have made ceramic vessels which refer to the human form for many years. The traditional vocabulary of ceramics uses figurative references, so lip refers to the top edge of a form and the words belly, neck and foot to other appropriate parts. I attempt to communicate through these pieces as a poem would, in the improvised juxtaposition of form, color, design, narrative, and references.
The pieces in this exhibit span the last few years. Many of the earliest pieces reference art work by Hieronymus Bosch. I rediscovered Bosch while on a trip to Spain during a sabbatical in the spring of 2013. I encountered The Garden of Earthly Delights, Bosch’s painting from the early 16th century. In it, there are other worldly architectural forms which seem to be plant-like. Scholars have written that they may be portals for souls attempting to travel to their afterlife. I was so amazed at these beautiful and imaginative forms that I began to try to translate small parts of them to clay. Largely though, their delicacy wasn’t well suited to clay. From here, looking for similar organic plant-like forms I remembered that I had been introduced to the plant photography of the German artist Karl Blossfeldt. This really became the more direct references for these pieces. Different from my past work, many of these pieces are made by starting with paper templates on slabs of clay. Wheel thrown parts are often added to develop the forms sculpturally.

BIOGRAPHY
As a college teacher I tend to work in spurts, and more concentrated ones in the summer. The most recent work was begun from biking along the Mississippi where I noticed the variety of support structures combined under bridges. I was interested in the combinations of various volumetric forms with open, filigree-like metal work on the top. I was also influenced by a mosaic project I’ve been working on for the past two summers, which involves tiling the concrete portions of a large geometric/totemic sculpture. While the newer work is more geometric in form, it relates to older pieces in the totem like forms and surface details. I use both stoneware and porcelain and finish the process with gas and wood fired kilns.
Education 
M.F.A., Ceramics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 1980.
Apprenticeship/Production Potter, Ridker Pottery, Bethesda, Maryland 1976‑78. B.S., Crafts, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland: 1976.

STATEMENT
My personal art work has shifted quite a bit in the last 5 years. An art tour of Spain during my sabbatical in the spring of 2013 and a public art mosaic project (funded by Quad-City Arts, Metro Arts) beginning in the summer of 2014, forced change in my art work.
I have made ceramic vessels which refer to the human form for many years. The traditional vocabulary of ceramics uses figurative references, so lip refers to the top edge of a form and the words belly, neck and foot to other appropriate parts. I attempt to communicate through these pieces as a poem would, in the improvised juxtaposition of form, color, design, narrative, and references.
The pieces in this exhibit span the last few years. Many of the earliest pieces reference art work by Hieronymus Bosch. I rediscovered Bosch while on a trip to Spain during a sabbatical in the spring of 2013. I encountered The Garden of Earthly Delights, Bosch’s painting from the early 16th century. In it, there are other worldly architectural forms which seem to be plant-like. Scholars have written that they may be portals for souls attempting to travel to their afterlife. I was so amazed at these beautiful and imaginative forms that I began to try to translate small parts of them to clay. Largely though, their delicacy wasn’t well suited to clay. From here, looking for similar organic plant-like forms I remembered that I had been introduced to the plant photography of the German artist Karl Blossfeldt. This really became the more direct references for these pieces. Different from my past work, many of these pieces are made by starting with paper templates on slabs of clay. Wheel thrown parts are often added to develop the forms sculpturally.

BIOGRAPHY
As a college teacher I tend to work in spurts, and more concentrated ones in the summer. The most recent work was begun from biking along the Mississippi where I noticed the variety of support structures combined under bridges. I was interested in the combinations of various volumetric forms with open, filigree-like metal work on the top. I was also influenced by a mosaic project I’ve been working on for the past two summers, which involves tiling the concrete portions of a large geometric/totemic sculpture. While the newer work is more geometric in form, it relates to older pieces in the totem like forms and surface details. I use both stoneware and porcelain and finish the process with gas and wood fired kilns.
Education 
M.F.A., Ceramics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 1980.
Apprenticeship/Production Potter, Ridker Pottery, Bethesda, Maryland 1976‑78. B.S., Crafts, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland: 1976.

STATEMENT
My personal art work has shifted quite a bit in the last 5 years. An art tour of Spain during my sabbatical in the spring of 2013 and a public art mosaic project (funded by Quad-City Arts, Metro Arts) beginning in the summer of 2014, forced change in my art work.
I have made ceramic vessels which refer to the human form for many years. The traditional vocabulary of ceramics uses figurative references, so lip refers to the top edge of a form and the words belly, neck and foot to other appropriate parts. I attempt to communicate through these pieces as a poem would, in the improvised juxtaposition of form, color, design, narrative, and references.
The pieces in this exhibit span the last few years. Many of the earliest pieces reference art work by Hieronymus Bosch. I rediscovered Bosch while on a trip to Spain during a sabbatical in the spring of 2013. I encountered The Garden of Earthly Delights, Bosch’s painting from the early 16th century. In it, there are other worldly architectural forms which seem to be plant-like. Scholars have written that they may be portals for souls attempting to travel to their afterlife. I was so amazed at these beautiful and imaginative forms that I began to try to translate small parts of them to clay. Largely though, their delicacy wasn’t well suited to clay. From here, looking for similar organic plant-like forms I remembered that I had been introduced to the plant photography of the German artist Karl Blossfeldt. This really became the more direct references for these pieces. Different from my past work, many of these pieces are made by starting with paper templates on slabs of clay. Wheel thrown parts are often added to develop the forms sculpturally.

BIOGRAPHY
As a college teacher I tend to work in spurts, and more concentrated ones in the summer. The most recent work was begun from biking along the Mississippi where I noticed the variety of support structures combined under bridges. I was interested in the combinations of various volumetric forms with open, filigree-like metal work on the top. I was also influenced by a mosaic project I’ve been working on for the past two summers, which involves tiling the concrete portions of a large geometric/totemic sculpture. While the newer work is more geometric in form, it relates to older pieces in the totem like forms and surface details. I use both stoneware and porcelain and finish the process with gas and wood fired kilns.
Education 
M.F.A., Ceramics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 1980.
Apprenticeship/Production Potter, Ridker Pottery, Bethesda, Maryland 1976‑78. B.S., Crafts, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland: 1976.

STATEMENT
I make functional and sculptural pottery, often combing both concepts. Traditional shapes from ancient cultures, and found in archeological sites or museum collections, inform my work. I’m influenced by the ideas found in art movements – Dada, American Regionalism, and Pop – as well as the forms found in the Peruvian and Etruscan cultures. My work always has a strong sensory quality – both visually and tactilely. My pots are fun to hold.

BIOGRAPHY
Steven Skinner grew up in a small, rural community in northern Illinois. After Steven’s military service, he graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he studied lithography, photomechanical lithography, oil painting, drawing, and sculpture.
Early in his art career, Steven painted in oil and encaustic. But a desire to work in more challenging mediums led him to experiment with watercolors which he discovered brought a spontaneity and expressiveness to his technique.
From 1988 to 2006, Steven worked exclusively with watercolors: his first watercolor series, (1989 to 1999), focused on Chicago’s viaducts, roadways, and bridge structures; a subsequent watercolor series (1999 to 2002), combined interior structural architecture with tropical plants found in the Chicago botanical conservatories. From 2003 to 2006, Steven painted The Little Things, a watercolor series of objects selected for their shape, color, patina, and personal or social significance and rendered representationally, though Steven enhanced each object’s individualistic qualities to subtly change their original character.
While making art, Steven Skinner also devoted time to teaching painting and drawing at Columbia College Chicago, and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as Indiana University (South Bend). During the summer of 2006 he taught watercolor painting in Florence, Italy for Columbia College Chicago in conjunction with Santa Reparatta International School of Art.
For several years Steven worked as an exhibit preparator at the Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. As a preparator, he worked with artifacts and designed and fabricated custom-fit mounts, which required an appreciation of each artifact’s uniqueness.  Steven was especially drawn to the Field’s outstanding collection of pre-Columbian pottery, which, he often sketched during his lunch hour.  When Steven began to study pottery at Lill Street Art Center (Chicago) in 2006, the lasting impact of those beautiful, ancient functional objects, began to inform his artwork.
Steven and his wife make their home in rural northwestern Indiana. There he works in his pottery studio and utilizes a downdraft gas fired kiln that he constructed.

STATEMENT
I make functional and sculptural pottery, often combing both concepts. Traditional shapes from ancient cultures, and found in archeological sites or museum collections, inform my work. I’m influenced by the ideas found in art movements – Dada, American Regionalism, and Pop – as well as the forms found in the Peruvian and Etruscan cultures. My work always has a strong sensory quality – both visually and tactilely. My pots are fun to hold.

BIOGRAPHY
Steven Skinner grew up in a small, rural community in northern Illinois. After Steven’s military service, he graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he studied lithography, photomechanical lithography, oil painting, drawing, and sculpture.
Early in his art career, Steven painted in oil and encaustic. But a desire to work in more challenging mediums led him to experiment with watercolors which he discovered brought a spontaneity and expressiveness to his technique.
From 1988 to 2006, Steven worked exclusively with watercolors: his first watercolor series, (1989 to 1999), focused on Chicago’s viaducts, roadways, and bridge structures; a subsequent watercolor series (1999 to 2002), combined interior structural architecture with tropical plants found in the Chicago botanical conservatories. From 2003 to 2006, Steven painted The Little Things, a watercolor series of objects selected for their shape, color, patina, and personal or social significance and rendered representationally, though Steven enhanced each object’s individualistic qualities to subtly change their original character.
While making art, Steven Skinner also devoted time to teaching painting and drawing at Columbia College Chicago, and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as Indiana University (South Bend). During the summer of 2006 he taught watercolor painting in Florence, Italy for Columbia College Chicago in conjunction with Santa Reparatta International School of Art.
For several years Steven worked as an exhibit preparator at the Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. As a preparator, he worked with artifacts and designed and fabricated custom-fit mounts, which required an appreciation of each artifact’s uniqueness.  Steven was especially drawn to the Field’s outstanding collection of pre-Columbian pottery, which, he often sketched during his lunch hour.  When Steven began to study pottery at Lill Street Art Center (Chicago) in 2006, the lasting impact of those beautiful, ancient functional objects, began to inform his artwork.
Steven and his wife make their home in rural northwestern Indiana. There he works in his pottery studio and utilizes a downdraft gas fired kiln that he constructed.

STATEMENT
I make functional and sculptural pottery, often combing both concepts. Traditional shapes from ancient cultures, and found in archeological sites or museum collections, inform my work. I’m influenced by the ideas found in art movements – Dada, American Regionalism, and Pop – as well as the forms found in the Peruvian and Etruscan cultures. My work always has a strong sensory quality – both visually and tactilely. My pots are fun to hold.

BIOGRAPHY
Steven Skinner grew up in a small, rural community in northern Illinois. After Steven’s military service, he graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he studied lithography, photomechanical lithography, oil painting, drawing, and sculpture.
Early in his art career, Steven painted in oil and encaustic. But a desire to work in more challenging mediums led him to experiment with watercolors which he discovered brought a spontaneity and expressiveness to his technique.
From 1988 to 2006, Steven worked exclusively with watercolors: his first watercolor series, (1989 to 1999), focused on Chicago’s viaducts, roadways, and bridge structures; a subsequent watercolor series (1999 to 2002), combined interior structural architecture with tropical plants found in the Chicago botanical conservatories. From 2003 to 2006, Steven painted The Little Things, a watercolor series of objects selected for their shape, color, patina, and personal or social significance and rendered representationally, though Steven enhanced each object’s individualistic qualities to subtly change their original character.
While making art, Steven Skinner also devoted time to teaching painting and drawing at Columbia College Chicago, and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as Indiana University (South Bend). During the summer of 2006 he taught watercolor painting in Florence, Italy for Columbia College Chicago in conjunction with Santa Reparatta International School of Art.
For several years Steven worked as an exhibit preparator at the Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. As a preparator, he worked with artifacts and designed and fabricated custom-fit mounts, which required an appreciation of each artifact’s uniqueness.  Steven was especially drawn to the Field’s outstanding collection of pre-Columbian pottery, which, he often sketched during his lunch hour.  When Steven began to study pottery at Lill Street Art Center (Chicago) in 2006, the lasting impact of those beautiful, ancient functional objects, began to inform his artwork.
Steven and his wife make their home in rural northwestern Indiana. There he works in his pottery studio and utilizes a downdraft gas fired kiln that he constructed.

STATEMENT
I make functional and sculptural pottery, often combing both concepts. Traditional shapes from ancient cultures, and found in archeological sites or museum collections, inform my work. I’m influenced by the ideas found in art movements – Dada, American Regionalism, and Pop – as well as the forms found in the Peruvian and Etruscan cultures. My work always has a strong sensory quality – both visually and tactilely. My pots are fun to hold.

BIOGRAPHY
Steven Skinner grew up in a small, rural community in northern Illinois. After Steven’s military service, he graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he studied lithography, photomechanical lithography, oil painting, drawing, and sculpture.
Early in his art career, Steven painted in oil and encaustic. But a desire to work in more challenging mediums led him to experiment with watercolors which he discovered brought a spontaneity and expressiveness to his technique.
From 1988 to 2006, Steven worked exclusively with watercolors: his first watercolor series, (1989 to 1999), focused on Chicago’s viaducts, roadways, and bridge structures; a subsequent watercolor series (1999 to 2002), combined interior structural architecture with tropical plants found in the Chicago botanical conservatories. From 2003 to 2006, Steven painted The Little Things, a watercolor series of objects selected for their shape, color, patina, and personal or social significance and rendered representationally, though Steven enhanced each object’s individualistic qualities to subtly change their original character.
While making art, Steven Skinner also devoted time to teaching painting and drawing at Columbia College Chicago, and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as Indiana University (South Bend). During the summer of 2006 he taught watercolor painting in Florence, Italy for Columbia College Chicago in conjunction with Santa Reparatta International School of Art.
For several years Steven worked as an exhibit preparator at the Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. As a preparator, he worked with artifacts and designed and fabricated custom-fit mounts, which required an appreciation of each artifact’s uniqueness.  Steven was especially drawn to the Field’s outstanding collection of pre-Columbian pottery, which, he often sketched during his lunch hour.  When Steven began to study pottery at Lill Street Art Center (Chicago) in 2006, the lasting impact of those beautiful, ancient functional objects, began to inform his artwork.
Steven and his wife make their home in rural northwestern Indiana. There he works in his pottery studio and utilizes a downdraft gas fired kiln that he constructed.

STATEMENT
I make functional and sculptural pottery, often combing both concepts. Traditional shapes from ancient cultures, and found in archeological sites or museum collections, inform my work. I’m influenced by the ideas found in art movements – Dada, American Regionalism, and Pop – as well as the forms found in the Peruvian and Etruscan cultures. My work always has a strong sensory quality – both visually and tactilely. My pots are fun to hold.

BIOGRAPHY
Steven Skinner grew up in a small, rural community in northern Illinois. After Steven’s military service, he graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he studied lithography, photomechanical lithography, oil painting, drawing, and sculpture.
Early in his art career, Steven painted in oil and encaustic. But a desire to work in more challenging mediums led him to experiment with watercolors which he discovered brought a spontaneity and expressiveness to his technique.
From 1988 to 2006, Steven worked exclusively with watercolors: his first watercolor series, (1989 to 1999), focused on Chicago’s viaducts, roadways, and bridge structures; a subsequent watercolor series (1999 to 2002), combined interior structural architecture with tropical plants found in the Chicago botanical conservatories. From 2003 to 2006, Steven painted The Little Things, a watercolor series of objects selected for their shape, color, patina, and personal or social significance and rendered representationally, though Steven enhanced each object’s individualistic qualities to subtly change their original character.
While making art, Steven Skinner also devoted time to teaching painting and drawing at Columbia College Chicago, and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as Indiana University (South Bend). During the summer of 2006 he taught watercolor painting in Florence, Italy for Columbia College Chicago in conjunction with Santa Reparatta International School of Art.
For several years Steven worked as an exhibit preparator at the Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. As a preparator, he worked with artifacts and designed and fabricated custom-fit mounts, which required an appreciation of each artifact’s uniqueness.  Steven was especially drawn to the Field’s outstanding collection of pre-Columbian pottery, which, he often sketched during his lunch hour.  When Steven began to study pottery at Lill Street Art Center (Chicago) in 2006, the lasting impact of those beautiful, ancient functional objects, began to inform his artwork.
Steven and his wife make their home in rural northwestern Indiana. There he works in his pottery studio and utilizes a downdraft gas fired kiln that he constructed.

STATEMENT
I make functional and sculptural pottery, often combing both concepts. Traditional shapes from ancient cultures, and found in archeological sites or museum collections, inform my work. I’m influenced by the ideas found in art movements – Dada, American Regionalism, and Pop – as well as the forms found in the Peruvian and Etruscan cultures. My work always has a strong sensory quality – both visually and tactilely. My pots are fun to hold.

BIOGRAPHY
Steven Skinner grew up in a small, rural community in northern Illinois. After Steven’s military service, he graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he studied lithography, photomechanical lithography, oil painting, drawing, and sculpture.
Early in his art career, Steven painted in oil and encaustic. But a desire to work in more challenging mediums led him to experiment with watercolors which he discovered brought a spontaneity and expressiveness to his technique.
From 1988 to 2006, Steven worked exclusively with watercolors: his first watercolor series, (1989 to 1999), focused on Chicago’s viaducts, roadways, and bridge structures; a subsequent watercolor series (1999 to 2002), combined interior structural architecture with tropical plants found in the Chicago botanical conservatories. From 2003 to 2006, Steven painted The Little Things, a watercolor series of objects selected for their shape, color, patina, and personal or social significance and rendered representationally, though Steven enhanced each object’s individualistic qualities to subtly change their original character.
While making art, Steven Skinner also devoted time to teaching painting and drawing at Columbia College Chicago, and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as Indiana University (South Bend). During the summer of 2006 he taught watercolor painting in Florence, Italy for Columbia College Chicago in conjunction with Santa Reparatta International School of Art.
For several years Steven worked as an exhibit preparator at the Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. As a preparator, he worked with artifacts and designed and fabricated custom-fit mounts, which required an appreciation of each artifact’s uniqueness.  Steven was especially drawn to the Field’s outstanding collection of pre-Columbian pottery, which, he often sketched during his lunch hour.  When Steven began to study pottery at Lill Street Art Center (Chicago) in 2006, the lasting impact of those beautiful, ancient functional objects, began to inform his artwork.
Steven and his wife make their home in rural northwestern Indiana. There he works in his pottery studio and utilizes a downdraft gas fired kiln that he constructed.

STATEMENT
I am intrigued by contrast, the play of dark against light, the pull of empty space against the inclination to fill it up, the placement of line and shape, the use of subtle texture.
For the past six or so years I have worked almost exclusively in a palette of black and white in a conscious effort to simplify process and design.  In the end, process is never simple and good design is always balanced and strong.
My current work is wheel-thrown and altered stoneware with slips, underglaze and glaze, and slab-built white stoneware with black stoneware inlay.
I am influenced by minimalist art and design and the long traditions of Asian pottery and British studio ceramics.

BIOGRAPHY
Lori Katz is well known for the striking strength and simplicity of her black and white dinnerware, wall installations and innovative teapot designs.
Her work has been included in definitive shows and collections throughout the world, including the American Craft Museum's "Tea Party" invitational, the permanent collections of the Wustum Museum of Fine Arts in Racine, Wisconsin, the US Embassy in Bandar Seri Begawan and IBM Corporation.  Her work has been featured in numerous publications including Home and Design and Where magazines, and the book 500 Plates and Chargers.
Lori is an instructor in the Ceramics Departments of the Art League School in Alexandria, VA and the Workhouse Art Center in Lorton, VA. She maintains her studio at The Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, VA.