Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Marion Angelica - Ceramic Artist


MaryJane Basket Form
Marion Angelica


Name:        Marion Peters Angelica
City/State   Minneapolis, MN
Website      www.marionangelica.com

Bio
I was raised in Torrington, Connecticut. I double majored in Fine Art (Sculpture) and Biology at Mt. Holyoke College and earned an MFA Degree in Ceramics from State University of New York-New Paltz.  After more than 25 years of working in arts administration I returned to the studio and now have studio space and teach at The Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis.


Tell me about your work?  What are you currently working on?  How is it different from past projects?

Thanks to the Jerome Foundation and the MN State Arts Board, I was able to spend time in the high desert of New Mexico studying the land formations that have always intrigued me.  I am currently making ceramic pieces that reflect those land formations and their textures.  I also make a line of functional work out of hand-built porcelain.  This is the work I sell through galleries nationally.  I love to design functional pieces and am looking for ways to integrate the high desert project into my functional line.

Blue and White Calla Wine Stems


How did you become an artist?

As a pre-med major in college I signed up for Art Foundations 101 as a relief from all my science classes and found I loved it.  As a science-oriented kid, I won several science fairs throughout grammar and high school by carving skeletons out of Ivory soap bars or building things from toothpicks or balsa wood.  I never considered it art. In college I did stone carving, welding and bronze casting, but never touched clay until I took a pottery class at a nearby college as a “gut” in my senior year.  The moment I touched clay I knew it was the media for me.

What was the best advice given to you as an artist?

I did not get this advice directly, but this quotation has been a very strong influence on my studio practice.  Chuck Close said, “ Inspiration is for amateurs.  Artists just go to the studio and work every day.”

Teapot with Stacked Lid


Many artists struggle to find ways to sell their art.  How do you sell your work?  How do you market yourself?

I have a website www.marionangelica.com.  I also have relationships with about a dozen craft galleries throughout the US who sell my work.  I sell directly from my studio and am in the process of setting up a small gallery in my home so I can sell from there.   I spend time researching galleries and contact those who carry work that seems compatible with mine.  Every month I send out information and photos to three galleries.  Largely it falls into a black hole, but occasionally a gallery interested in my work responds.  I enter competitive juried shows nationally and locally to get my work in front of the jurors, new audiences and build my resume.


Who are the Minnesota artists you enjoy?

Julie Timm—ceramic artist                           www.freshmudpottery.com
Colleen Riley –ceramic artist                        www.eurekapots.com
Sandra Baines—painter
Kipp O’Krongly—ceramic artist                     kipokrongly.blogspot.com


If I were to follow you around in Minnesota to see art, which places would we go?  What would we see?

The Walker Art Center
The Russian Museum
Minneapolis Art Institute
The Grand Hand Gallery
The Northern Clay Center
The Duluth Art Institute
Homewood Gallery
The American Craft Council Show
The Jungle Theatre
The Moving Company
A Center for the Arts, Fergus Falls

Framed/Footed Serving Platter


In addition to www.local-artist-interviews.com, where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artists, or to see what is going on in the art world locally or otherwise?

MNArts
American Craft Council
NCECA
Potters Council
MN Women Ceramic Artists

Many galleries nationally who have on-line shows.
Ceramics Monthly


Do you have any exhibits to promote in the near future?

Three Jerome Artists @ The Northern Clay Center                   Jan 18—March 3, 2013
The House We Built @ Nash Gallery, University of MN            Jan 22—February 23, 2013
Northfield Art Guild, Northfield, MN                                         Feb. 13—March 13, 2013
American Craft Council Show, St. Paul, MN                            April 19—21, 2013
Homewood Gallery, Minneapolis                                             May 10—May 25, 2013


1 comment:

Barb said...

Love your Calla wine stems. I'm just starting. I have been doing organic style vases in which I wrap slabs, mold shapes with my hands. I have a lot to learn--many misses, but with each one I learn. I'm patient and enjoy the process--and the suspense.