Kathryn Finnerty Workshop at Univ. of Florida- Come on down!

Kathryn Finnerty is one of my favorite potters. I got to see her work in person at the Eurocentric show at NCECA a few years back. She was making large bird jars that were absolute head turners. I kept going back for more. This will be a great chance to meet her and watch her work. We will have the usual workshop, as well as pot lucks and an after party. I can provide accommodation information if any needs it.

Press Release

H.O.T. (Handbuilt or Thrown) Clay, a University of FL student Ceramics club, is pleased to announce potter Kathryn Finnerty’s visiting artist workshop and lecture Jan. 28^th- 29^th .  Workshops are open to the public, free to students and the general public. H.O.T. Clay sponsors visiting artists with the support of the University of FL School of Art + Art History, a part of the UF  College of Fine Arts.

 Finnerty workshop schedule       
 January 28^th    
8:30a.m.-4:30p.m.      Demonstration        Fine Arts C B14
6:00p.m.-7:00p.m.      Lecture                      TBA                    
January 29^th            
8:30a.m.-2:30p.m.      Demonstration        Fine Arts C B14   

Biography
Kathryn Finnerty is a studio potter living and working in Pleasant Hill, Oregon.  Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, she studied Ceramics at the George Brown College of Applied Arts in Toronto and Sheridan College of Applied Arts in

Kathryn has taught at a number of institutions,  including the University of Manitoba, the Alberta College of Art and Design,  Ohio State University, Ohio University and the University of Alaska – Fairbanks. In the summer of 2000 Kathryn and her late husband, Tom Rohr, also a potter, moved to Oregon to build Pleasant Hill Pottery and focus on the practice of making pots.  More information about Kathryn Finnerty’s work: http://kathrynfinnerty.com/

Kathryn Finnerty Artist’s Statement
I am drawn to the historical traditions of European decorative ceramics. My work is ornately decorated with surface patterns and images integrated into the form of each piece. Earlier work focused on patterns and ornamentation that defined form with this decoration. My concentration was with a close-up, intimate, and confined sense of space much like the spaces that I physically inhabited living in a city. Moving 6 years ago from an urban center to acreage in central Oregon has expanded my perspective and presented me with the opportunity to discover a natural world outside of my previous daily experience. From my studio windows I witness a pastoral landscape particular to the Northwest, lush and green, wet and moist. There are quail living in our hedge-row, starlings nesting in the eaves of our barn, hawks that soar over our pasture and the owls that hoot from the woods at dusk. I see the coyotes cross the fields on the edge of our property hunting for vermin, hummingbirds flutter in our garden in search of nectar and a Great Heron resides in our pond in the summer months. All of this delights and nourishes me daily and I have found it impossible to resist the tug to draw on this abundance for inspiration in my creative process. This landscape has found a way to impose itself into the existing framework, drawing my attention and the viewer’s eye deeper into the pieces.

Education
Master of Fine Arts, 1993
Studio Arts, Ceramics
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Bachelor of Fine Arts, 1989         
Studio Arts, Ceramics
Nova Scotia College of Art and Design
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Special Studies, 1987
Ceramics and Design
Sheridan College of Applied Arts, Ontario, Canada

Commercial Industrial Arts, Diploma 1986
Ceramics and Design
George Brown College of Applied Arts, Toronto, Canada

For further information contact Chris Pickett at cpickettt@hotmail.com
Campus map: http://campusmap.ufl.edu/