Description

Special Thanks to our Sponsors: Bicoastal Media, Mast Brother’s Towing, Coastal Douglas Arts & Business Alliance, Creative Mercantile, KDUN Radio, First Interstate Bank, Two Shy Brewery, Pizza-To-Go, Sugar Shack, & Opportas

About the Artists:

Susannah Israel has a gritty yet passionate view of humanity, drawn from city life. She was born in New York City, raised by a painter and a writer; after high school she received a scholarship to Pratt Art Institute to study ceramics with Byron Temple. She holds a B.A in Art and Chemistry from SF State University, where she returned for her M.F.A. in after working 8 years of independent studio work. Israel has written art reviews since 2000 and taught at Laney College (2001-2018), where she advocated fiercely for all students, taking on advising, writing curriculum and serving as chair.

Israel’s expressive, abstracted work uses the figure to respond to themes and issues, which she considers to be the role of sculptors across time and around the world. The overall importance of gesture and compositional dynamics are the artist’s focus, creating the characteristic anatomical distortions, abstractions and omissions seen in her figures. Terracotta is her chosen material for the rich color of the natural surface, and she is influenced by diverse uses of red clay from Mexico, the Visayas, Japan and Italy.

Emily Free Wilson is a ceramic artist and entrepreneur in Gardiner, Oregon. She owns her business Free Ceramics and runs it with her husband Matt Wilson. Emily is the Director of the non-profit the Oregon Coast School of Art. Born in Anchorage, Alaska, Emily grew up in Roseburg, Oregon. After college in Madison, Wisconsin Emily spent 10 years as the gallery director at a non-profit residency program called the Archie Bray Foundation. While in Montana she started Free Ceramics with her husband and brother and converted an old funeral home into a thriving community art center. In 2019 she moved her family and Free Ceramics to Gardiner, Oregon where they purchased the old Jewett middle school and founded the OCSA. Emily Free Wilson is a visionary, community builder and the mother of two super wonderful kids.

Free Wilson’s porcelain pottery and coil built vessels are created out of a mid-range porcelain. The majority of her current work is done collaboratively through her pottery business Free Ceramics. Having her hands in both an artistic business and her own studio allows her to push designs and ideas. Simple and inviting pots are made on a wheel or pinched out of large coils by hand and decorated with quick black lines and colorful dots. Free Wilson’s imagination can turn images of rain, fireworks or candy into fun abstract designs that dance across the forms. She strives to make a beautiful and whimsical piece of art that makes you smile and is a joy to use.