GROUNDHOG POTTERY Artist Yvette Lepley
yvette@groundhogpottery.net
FACE JUG AND GROUNDHOG COLLECTABLES
Gallery and Artist Biography
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY by Yvette Lepley
When I was about seven and living in Detroit, my mother gave me an old blender (minus the blade) to play with. I'm not sure where I ever saw a potter's wheel, but I took that blender with mud that I dug from the yard and tried to throw. It didn't take long for me to kill the motor on the poor old thing. I didn't have an opportunity to work with clay for another 20 years.
When I was in my late twenties I attended Cecil Community College in Maryland. I took a ceramics class as an elective. While I made my first little pinch pot, I fell in love. I completed my AA degree in Education in 1998. I worked at an elementary school during the day, and at the CCC's art department in the evenings and weekends. I assisted with maintaining the studio: firing kilns, recycling clay, mixing glazes and organizing the chemical room and yes...tutoring and cleaning all the time. I learned as much as I could from my instructor/boss and a local potter. I befriended a fellow student and discovered that peers learn just as much from each other as they do their instructors. After 10 years I still value the input of these key people and they are all very dear to me.
I made some functional ware, but my compulsion was making gargoyle wall hangings. I could make them anyway I wanted, there were no rules. I made a one every night for about 45 days. I continued to work both jobs while producing pottery and gargoyles to help make ends meet. I craved more! My new drive was to learn figurative sculpting techniques. I moved to attend Tennessee State University where I earned a B.S. in Studio Art with a concentration in Ceramics in December 2002. Most of my ceramic work was figural, from realistic to abstract. I studied different media, I studied art history, and prepared a portfolio for graduate school.
I moved to Delaware and resumed working at CCC in Maryland. I performed all of my old duties and I taught a few classes as well. I assisted with the Kinetic Sculpture Race in Baltimore, MD at the request of a potter friend. If you have never heard of this race before, look it up on the net, it's a real blast! Anyway, I met and fell for a wonderful man from Punxsutawney, PA. We started a long distance relationship and now I happily reside in Punxsutawney with my husband and our two boys.
As a busy new mom, there wasn't much time for clay. I set up a small glass lampworking station in my husband's workshop. I made beads which I then turned into jewelry and mobiles. It took less space than a clay studio and I already had all the equipment. I now have a small clay studio and a running kiln. So I'm back in business! Molten glass is exciting to work with, but clay is my first love! The boys keep me busy; however, I always find time to spend with my clay.
I started making face jugs and selling them on E bay, October 2006. They are so much fun. I'd never made face jugs before. They combine my love of throwing with my love of sculpture. The faces seen on my face jugs are reminiscent of my gargoyle masks that I made nearly 10 years ago in a tiny apartment in Maryland. And I thought my early work wasn't important! It all comes together in a happy balance of skill, creativity and fun.
When I was in my late twenties I attended Cecil Community College in Maryland. I took a ceramics class as an elective. While I made my first little pinch pot, I fell in love. I completed my AA degree in Education in 1998. I worked at an elementary school during the day, and at the CCC's art department in the evenings and weekends. I assisted with maintaining the studio: firing kilns, recycling clay, mixing glazes and organizing the chemical room and yes...tutoring and cleaning all the time. I learned as much as I could from my instructor/boss and a local potter. I befriended a fellow student and discovered that peers learn just as much from each other as they do their instructors. After 10 years I still value the input of these key people and they are all very dear to me.
I made some functional ware, but my compulsion was making gargoyle wall hangings. I could make them anyway I wanted, there were no rules. I made a one every night for about 45 days. I continued to work both jobs while producing pottery and gargoyles to help make ends meet. I craved more! My new drive was to learn figurative sculpting techniques. I moved to attend Tennessee State University where I earned a B.S. in Studio Art with a concentration in Ceramics in December 2002. Most of my ceramic work was figural, from realistic to abstract. I studied different media, I studied art history, and prepared a portfolio for graduate school.
I moved to Delaware and resumed working at CCC in Maryland. I performed all of my old duties and I taught a few classes as well. I assisted with the Kinetic Sculpture Race in Baltimore, MD at the request of a potter friend. If you have never heard of this race before, look it up on the net, it's a real blast! Anyway, I met and fell for a wonderful man from Punxsutawney, PA. We started a long distance relationship and now I happily reside in Punxsutawney with my husband and our two boys.
As a busy new mom, there wasn't much time for clay. I set up a small glass lampworking station in my husband's workshop. I made beads which I then turned into jewelry and mobiles. It took less space than a clay studio and I already had all the equipment. I now have a small clay studio and a running kiln. So I'm back in business! Molten glass is exciting to work with, but clay is my first love! The boys keep me busy; however, I always find time to spend with my clay.
I started making face jugs and selling them on E bay, October 2006. They are so much fun. I'd never made face jugs before. They combine my love of throwing with my love of sculpture. The faces seen on my face jugs are reminiscent of my gargoyle masks that I made nearly 10 years ago in a tiny apartment in Maryland. And I thought my early work wasn't important! It all comes together in a happy balance of skill, creativity and fun.
***Orders, questions, or comments email Yvette***
yvette@groundhogpottery.net
yvette@groundhogpottery.net
