Wexler Gallery Artist Randy O'Brien

RANDY O'BRIEN

Randy O'Brien

Lavender/Blackberry Vessel
Ceramic
4" high x 10" wide

STATEMENT

I find a lot of pleasure exploring the infinite possibilities in ceramics. My glazes are a 3 dimensional surface. They add as much form to a piece as does the clay. I take my inspiration from the natural world. Lichens, mosses and mineral formations influence my decisions.

biography

A full time potter for almost 20 years, Randy O'Brien began working with clay while he was a student at the University of California at Berkeley. He moved to Santa Cruz, California in 1984 to study with ceramic artist and educator Al Johnsen. Randy's love for the wilderness and adventure led him to move to Alaska in the late 1980's. He established a pottery studio in Homer creating and selling functional, stoneware pottery with glazes inspired by the glacial fields and mountains of Kachemak bay. Always an experimenter, he returned to art school in the mid 90's earning a BFA at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. While a student at Alfred he focused on the development of special effect, low fire glazes. He began developing his current body of work in the year 2000. Inspired by the mineral formations, mudflats and lichens of southern Arizona he developed a three dimensional glaze surface that mimics the aesthetic of a naturally occurring material. His glaze surface is composed mostly of volcanic ash and metallic oxides. This new body of work is being very well received and has recently been included in the Baltimore Clayworks exhibition "Wall Works", the "National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts 2003 Clay National" and "Ashes To Art" at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco . All of his pieces are created with a passion and love of clay.

resumÉ

Education
1994 - 1996 New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University - BFA / ceramic art
1989 University of Alaska Fairbanks
1984 - 1987 University of California Santa Cruz
1981 - 1982 University of California Berkeley

Regional Juried Exhibitions
1993 "14th Annual Spring Juried Arts Show", Pratt Museum, Homer, Alaska - Honorable Mention
1991 "8th Annual Kenai Clay Exhibition", Kenai, Alaska - Honorable Mention
1990 "11th Annual Spring Juried Arts Show", Pratt Museum, Homer, Alaska - Honorable Mention
1988 "9th Annual Spring Juried Arts Show", Pratt Museum, Homer, Alaska

National Juried Exhibitions
2003 "2003 NCECA Clay National", San Diego, California
2003 "Wall Works", Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, Maryland
2002 "Vases", Peck Gallery, Providence, Rhode Island
2002 "The Vase", Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, Michigan
2001 "Craft Forms 2001", Wayne Art Center, Wayne, Pennsylvania

International Juried Exhibitions
2003 "Ashes To Art", Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, California - ACGA Excellence in Clay Award
2001 "Ashes To Art", Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, California

Invitational Exhibitions
2002 "Style and Structure", Obsidian Gallery, Tucson, Arizona
2002 "Celebrate! Art 2002", Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson, Arizona
2002 "Ashes to Art: Special Edition", Sonoma County, California
2001 "Celebrate! Art 2001", Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson, Arizona
2001 "[Color] Holiday Exhibition", Obsidian Gallery, Tucson, Arizona

Solo Exhibitions
2003 "Mudflats and Mosses", Running Ridge Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2003 "Color, Texture, Form", Wexler Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Two Person Exhibitions
2002 Mixed Media, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, Pennsylvania

Permanent Collections
Pratt Museum, Homer, Alaska

Publications
"Ceramics Monthly", April 2002, page 18
"Experience Clay" Maureen Mackey, Davis Publications, 2003; pages 4, 126
"Scottsdale Life", September 2003, pages 76, 77

Copyright © 2004 , Randy O'Brien