Dream Catcher, Ceramic Sculpture, 19” x19” x 12”
About the Artist:
Making Art
With Clay and Paint
Betty A. Gerich has had nine solo exhibitions of her sculpture including a one person show at The New Britain Museum of American Art. Two additional solo exhibitions included her recent watercolors. Betty has received an Individual Artist Fellowship Grant Award from the Greater Hartford Arts Council as well as many other awards for both sculpture and painting. She is a master signature member of the Florida Suncoast Watercolor Society. Her ceramic sculpture is featured in "500 Figures in Clay", a book published by Lark Books and "Best of America, Sculpture Artists and Artisans" as well as "Design Principles and Problems" published by Holt Rinehart Winston. Today, Betty’s studio work consists of drawings from a live model, watercolors of figures and faces, and sculpture inspired by the figure.
Bio:
My earliest memories involve making art as a child. My mother, who was also an artist, always encouraged me to experiment with materials and to draw. As an undergraduate I studied ceramics, working with the chemistry of glazes and many different aspects of wheel work and hand building. I went on to receive two more college degrees in graduate programs with studio art specialties. In 2010 I started painting seriously and exhibiting my watercolors in juried and solo exhibitions.
Statement:
What makes one person different from anybody else? For me, it is written all over their face. My study of faces has resulted in a series of portraits in which I contemplate identity focusing not only on individual likeness, but also mood and feeling. Caught in informal situations my subjects are thoughtful, intense and sometimes joyful. When they interact, they share unscripted moments with each other. My grandchildren are often in my paintings as I am fascinated by the wonder of their childhood. As a watcher of people, I may select anyone, relative, friend or stranger on the street, who catches my attention, to be in my painting.
The human figure is always present in my sculpture, even when the work appears very abstract in form. When I create works out of clay, I’m interested in drawing the viewer around the piece in a swirl of implied motion. In the most recent work, several faces have begun to appear, each with a distinct personality. Textured surfaces make the viewer want to touch these sculptures. After firing in an electric kiln, the work is finished with an acrylic patina which highlights surface textures and enhances the form adding color to the completed piece.