Sunshine Cobb, (pronouns she/they) As a studio artist living in Helena, MT she specializes in handmade functional pottery. She frequently travels (online these days) the country as an invited lecturing and demonstrating artist. They are considered an important contemporary functional potter, hailed in both academic and commercial circles, and is consistently featured in art exhibitions throughout the country. With a strong social media following and online media presence, she represents an innovator in online business models in the ever-changing ceramics field and a leading advocate for functional art in modern living. She has also authored two books “Mastering Hand Building” and “ A Beginners Guide to Hand Building” by Voyager Press.
2013
Sunshine Cobb
Jeff Campana
Jeremy Briddell
Paul Northway
I first discovered clay as a child digging in the dirt in my backyard. I have been enthralled with it ever since. During my first class of college ceramics, I chose to build my lifelong passion for the arts into a career as a working artist and educator. Pursuing this passion, I met my wife, Theresa Welty, and some of my closest friends. Theresa and I live and teach in San Antonio, Texas, and we have two beautiful children, Cole and Jody. I received an MFA in ceramics from the University of Montana and currently serve as Assistant Professor of Art at Northwest Vista College, San Antonio, Texas.
The Jentel Critic at the Bray was a gift, bestowed through the generosity of artists and art enthusiasts who were eager to share their thoughts, energy, time and patronage. At the Archie Bray Foundation, I met exceptional emerging and established ceramic artists. They welcomed me into the intimate space of their studios and into the creative underpinnings of their work. Critical writing became my witness to the journey of six artists, whose artistic creations reflect their distinctive life stories and the role of the supportive community offered by the Archie Bray Foundation.
Clara Hoag
Clara Hoag makes work that reflects, and reflects on, the human condition and the urban experience. Clara integrates architecture with human anatomy in sculptures, drawings and photographs. Clara works primarily in clay because it speaks to the idea of “building” or of being “built” —literally, metaphorically and philosophically.
Clara Hoag has been a resident artist at Houston Center for Contemporary Craft; she has received grants from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, the Puffin Foundation, and the Houston Arts Alliance; she has shown nationally in group and solo exhibitions; and she plays a mean banjo. She received an MFA in Ceramics from the University of Georgia (Athens) in 2013 and two BFAs from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) in 2009. She currently teaches ceramics, sculpture, drawing and art appreciation as a full-time professor at Houston Community College.