Steven Skinner BlackTree Studio Ceramics
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| Lakeshore PBS, Eye on the Arts Video - Steven Skinner Pottery |
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Artist Statement
Louise and I have been artists all our lives. My pottery embodies my my attraction to watercolors, printmaking, painting, and sculpture, plus my interests in American Regionalism, Dada, and Art from ancient cultures. We love the organic nature of clay which allows me to explore its texture, color, and malleability. As an artist and potter I want the clay to show evidence of my working hand, and to experience throwing, slapping, rolling, and sculpting it. I combine hand building with wheel throwing techniques, using different clays to create lines, patterns, and visual textures. I glaze sparingly, highlighting the beauty of the clay. Although our pottery is functional (to be part of daily life) with deliberate design characteristics (like my crucibles, and wrapped bowls), each work is one-of-a-kind, organic, and distinctively modern. |
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Artist Biography:
BlackTree Studio began in 2006 when Steve took a pottery workshop at LillStreet Studios in Chicago. In part he did so because of his experience at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History where, employed as an exhibit preparator, he worked with artifacts designing and installing custom-fit mounts, which required an appreciation of each artifact’s uniqueness. It didn't take long after that first workshop before he realized that pottery would become big in his and Louise's lives. |
Earlier in Steve's art career, he worked as a painter in oil, encaustic, and as a lithographic printmaker, but a desire to work in more challenging mediums led him to experiment with watercolors, which he discovered brought a creative spontaneity and expressiveness to his art. From 1988 to 2006, he worked exclusively with watercolors: his first watercolor series, (1989 to 1999), focused on Chicago’s viaducts, roadways, and bridge structures; a subsequent watercolor series (1999 to 2002), combined interior structural architecture with tropical plants found in the Chicago botanical conservatories. From 2003 to 2008, he painted The Little Things, a watercolor series of objects selected for their shape, color, patina, and personal or social significance and rendered representationally, though he enhanced each object’s qualities to subtly change their original character.
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| BigCityArt Watercolors |
Chicago Cityscape Watercolors |
Conservatory Watercolors |
The Little Things |
| While making art, Steve also devoted time to teaching painting and drawing at Columbia College Chicago, and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as Indiana University (South Bend). During the summer of 2006 he taught watercolor painting in Florence, Italy for Columbia College Chicago in conjunction with Santa Reparatta International School of Art. |
Pottery
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Résumé
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Education:
| The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Printmaking, oil painting, watercolor painting, figure drawing, sculpture, Chicago, Illinois | 1977-1981 |
| Lill Street Studios, pottery, Chicago, Illinois | 2006 - 2010 |
Teaching Positions:
| Artist-inResisence, Lill Street Studios, Lakeside, Michigan | 2010 - 2012 |
| Associate Professor, Indiana University South Bend, South Bend, Indiana | 2007-2009 |
| Associate Professor, Beginning Drawing, Drawing II, Beginning Oil Painting, Watercolor Studio, Beginning Lithography, Fine Art Department, School of Art & Design, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, Illinois | 1997-2007 |
| Associate Professor, Italian Architecture and Landscapes in Watercolor, Florence Italy, Fine Art Department, School of Art & Design, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL | 2006 |
| Co-Lead Artist, Painting, watercolor painting, printmaking, Gallery 37, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Chicago, Illinois | 2004 |
| Co-Lead Artist, Architectual Watercolors, Interior Architecture Department, School of the Art Insititute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois | 1999-2003 |
| Assistant Artist, Water Soluable Printmaking, Gallery 37 and Anchor Graphics, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Chicago, Illinois | 2002 |
Affiliations
| Internship opportunities and individual studio instruction | Ongoing |
| Co-Owner, The Potter's Wife Shop & Gallery, New Carlisle, Indiana | 2013-Present |
| Indiana Artisan, Indiana | 2010-Present |
| Artist/Potter, BlackTree Studio Pottery, New Carlisle, Indiana | 2008-Present |
| Indiana Artisan Juror, State of Indiana | 2013, 21, 23 |
| Handbuilding Class, Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph, Michigan | 2017 |
| Handbuilding Workshop, Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph, Michigan | 2017 |
| Juror, Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff, St. Joseph, Michigan | 2017 |
| Artist in Residence, LillStreet Art Center Studio, LakeSide, Michigan | 2010-13 |
| Founded BlackTree Studio Pottery, New Carlisle, Indiana | 2008 |
Art Shows:
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Shows in which BlackTree Studio Pottery has participated include: American Craft Council Shows, St. Paul, Baltimore, and San Francisco. American Craft Exposition, Chicago Botanical Gardens The 57th Street Art Fair, Chicago, The Des Moines Art Fair, Des Moines, Iowa American Made, Washington, DC., Indiana Artisan MarketPlace, Indianapolis, Kentucky Crafted, Lexington, Kentucky, Cherry Creek Art Fair, Denver, Colorado St. James Court, Louisville, Kentucky and Ann Arbor Art Fair, The Original, Ann Arbor, Michigan. |
| Three Faces of Sculpture, Space 900 Gallery, Evanston, Illinois | 2020, 21, 22 |
| 57th Street Art Fair, Chicago, Illinois | 2012-19, 23, 24 |
| Des Moines Art Fair, Des Moines, Iowa | 2013-14, 23, 24 |
| American Craft Exposition, Chicago Botanical Gardens, Glencoe, Illinois | 2018, 19, 20 |
| American Craft Exposition Virtual Show, Chicago, Illinois | 2021 |
| Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Denver, Colorado | 2015, 16, 17, 18 |
| Krasl Art Fair, St. Joseph, Michigan | 2022, 24 |
| Ann Arbor Art Fair (Original), Ann Arbor, Michigan | 2019-2020 |
| One of a Kind Holiday Craft Market, Chicago, Illinois | 2018-20, 23, 24 |
| Journeyman Distillery, Three Oaks, Michigan | 2015-19, 22-24 |
| Journeyman Distillery, Valparaiso, Indiana | 2024 |
| Ocononomowac Art Festival, Ocononomowac, Wisconsin | 2024 |
| Penrod Art Fair, Indianapolis, Indiana | 2024 |
| Peoria Art Fair, Peoria, Illinois | 2024 |
| Laumeier Art Fair, Laumiere Sculpture Park, St. Louis, Missouri | 2023-24 |
| Columbus Art Fair, Columbus, Ohio | 2018, 19, 20 |
| American Craft Council Show Baltimore, Baltimore, MD | 2017, 18, 19, 20 |
| American Craft Council Show San Francisco, San Francisco, CA | 2018 |
| American Craft Council Show St. Paul, St. Paul, Minnesota | 2013, 14, 15, 18 |
| Indiana Artisan Marketplace, Indianapolis, Indiana | 2011-19, 22 |
| Kentucky Crafted, The Market, Lexington, KY | 2012-2017 |
| American Made, Washington, DC | 2015-16 |
| Art Fair on the Square, Lake Forest, Illinois | 2013, 16-17 |
| Morning Glory Art Fair, Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 2015-19, 22, 23 |
| Lubeznik Lakefront Art Festival, Michigan City, Indiana | 2011-15, 18, 23 |
| Fernwood Marketplace, Fernwood Botanical Gardens, Michigan | 2023, 24 |
| Ruthmere Museum Pottery Fair, Elkhart, Indiana | 2023 |
| Michiana Pottery Tour, Northwest Indiana | 2022, 23 |
| Marion Art Festival, Marion, Iowa | 2014-15 |
| Fine Furnishing Show, Milwukee, Wisconsin | 2014-15 |
| Kalamazoo Art Fair, Kalamazoo, Michigan | 2022 |
| Round the Fountain, La Fayette, Indiana | 2022 |
| Laumeier Online Art Fair, St. Louis, Missouri | 2020-21 |
| St. Louis Online Art Fair, St. Louis, Missouri | 2020 |
| Midsummer Online Festival, Kohler Arts Center, Wisconsin | 2020 |
| Tennessee Craft Fair Online | 2020 |
| Uptown Art Fair, Minneapolis, Minnesota | 2019 |
| Francisco's Farm, Midway, Kentucky | 2019 |
| 4th Street Art Fair, Bloomington, Indiana | 2018 |
| Lower Town Art Festival, Padukah, Kentucky | 2016 |
| Fine Furnishing Show, Pawtucket, Rhode island | 2015 |
| Indiana State Museum Art Fair, Indianapolis, Indiana | 2015 |
| Greenwich Village Arts Fair, Rockford, Illinois | 2014 |
| Bucktown Arts Fair, Chicago, Illinois | 2014 |
| Broadripple Art Fair, Indianapolis, Indiana | 2013 |
| St. James Court Art Show, Louisville, Kentucky | 2013 |
| Morristown Craft Market, Morristown, New Jersey | 2012 |
| Art Birmingham, Birmingham, Michigan | 2012 |
| Columbus Art Fest, Columbus, Indiana | 2012 |
| Crocker Park Art Fair, Westlake, Ohio | 2012 |
| Art on Main, Hendersonville, North Carolina | 2011, 12 |
| Visions in Clay, LH Horton Jr Gallery, Stockton, California | 2010, 11 |
| 16th Nellie Allen Smith Pottery Competition, Fayetteville, North Carolina | 2010 |
| Dining In III: An Artful Experience, 18 Hands Gallery, Houston, Texas | 2010 |
| 30 Small Works, Gallery UP, Old Town Rock Hill, North Carolina | 2010 |
| Tokyo-New York Friendship Ceramic Competition, New York, NY | 2010 |
| Containers 2010, Meyers Gallery, Santa Monica, California | 2010 |
Current Gallery Representation:
| The BlackTree Studio Pocket Gallery, New Carlisle, Indiana |
| The Potter’s Wife Shop at Feeney's Hometown Goods, New Carlisle, Indiana |
| The BlackTree Studio Pottery Store |
| Artifacts, Carmel, Indiana |
| Indiana Artisan Gallery, Carmel, Indiana |
BlackTreeStudio.com©2008-2024
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Pottery
BlackTreeStudio.com
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South Woods Publishing©2008-2024 |