Bonnie Gordon

I was a fine arts student at Ohio University from 1965 to 1968.  Although my major was in painting, the ceramics classes I took as electives intrigued me.  In 1972 I put a studio in the basement of my house and began making pottery and 36 years later I continue to work in clay as a means of expression.
 
While much in my work has changed throughout the years, one important element that has remained is my focus on organic living forms.  My once straight-forward wheel-thrown stoneware planters with appliquéd flowers evolved into thrown porcelain vessels transformed by hand altering the form and incising the surface with a vocabulary of colorful symbolic imagery.  A vocabulary that has grown with each challenge as my life has been altered again and again.  These life changes have taken me to unexplored places in my soul; places rich with spirit, love, death, loss and growth and it is all reflected in my work.
 
Anywhere from six months to 3 years is spent working on a specific series of pieces.  Many of these series overlap and merge together at varying times.  My forms represent the essence of life and the incised lines are the rhythms of nature and the soul. My intention is to create an honest ceramic form, complete in both design and concept. - Bonnie Gordon