Discover Local Artists: Karen Ann Shlomberg Windchild
The Craft Gallery’s FACES, FACES all over the PLACES showcases 12 emerging ceramic artists including Cheryl Tall, Katherine Mathisen, Debra Fritts, Nancy Kubale and Katie Deits.
The exhibit runs from December 5 through 12.
DISCOVER LOCAL ARTIST: Karen Ann Shlomberg Windchild
For a taste, here are some pieces of local artist Karen Ann Shlomberg Windchild of Delray Beach. She has been using clay and mixed media since she can remember. She received her BFA from University of Michigan, her MFA in ceramics from Penn State University. Additional studies include Alfred NY State College of Ceramics,Hartford Art School, Sacramento State University, and Florida Atlantic University where she also taught as an adjunct professor for 6 years.
“You Think You Are A Wave But You Are Part of the Ocean,” a Retablo 31 by 26 inches, priced at $3,600.
Windchild has additionally taught clay since age 19 at Penn State, SUNY Fredonia, CCRI Warwick,and numerous art and community centers. She has been the resident head of the ceramics department at the Jewish Community Center in Boca Raton for more than 15 years.
Windchild has been a self-supporting street art show artist exhibiting at venues in Sausalito CA, Park City UT, Cherry Creek CO, Milwaukee WI, and Winter Park and Coconut Grove FL.
She has exhibited at many galleries and museums around the country, won numerous awards and her work has been reproduced in books and periodicals.
Her work derives mainly from her imagination and spiritual seeking. She has practiced and studied metaphysics, native spirituality of world cultures, yoga and Buddhism.
Retablo: “Her Robe is the Night Sky Filled with Stars,” is mixed media, 18 by 28 inches, priced at $3,900. Her newest body of work, from a seven-month stay in Texas, was built using debris from the remains of hurricane Ike. Cedar fence posts, blown down by the storm and weathered to a silvery sheen, were made into traditional “retablos”, a South American traditional altar form dating back to the earliest days of European conquest. These were originally designed for travel, to spread European religion, but were later adapted by the locals to incorporate native spiritual beliefs and daily customs.
“I began this new series of retablos ( scenes inside boxes) in Texas, where I had no clay studio. I used whatever I could find to make art, and was influenced by the strong Hispanic tradition there. It was a time of deep introspection. These pieces are very personal spiritual statements, that have waited along time to come out. They are stories from the super-conscious.”
The “Waves” retablo refers to a quote from “Tuesdays with Morrie,” Windchild said. “The interchange was about death, but it is not about a wave hitting the shore, rather, as Morrie pointed out, we are part of one spirit.”
The “Night Sky” retablo refers to the goddess, Astarte, as well as to the Virgin Of Guadalupe, with her blue cloak embellished with stars. The two seem related to Windchild. “You can see the night on one side and day on the other side. Astarte is pulling night with her,” WIndchild said.
The “Sitting with the Unknown” retablo is about dealing with emotions, including fear, by being present, rather than pushing them away, she explains.
“Sitting with the Unknown,” a Retablo, 28 by 24 inches, priced at $3,000.
Windchild, who was renamed by a Seneca medicine woman, uses this form to tell mythical stories that line up in her head waiting to be let out. “The juxtaposition of varied traditions, both artistic and spiritual, is welcome evidence of our universal connection,” she said.
Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibit runs from December 5 through 12 with two receptions: Saturday, Dec. 5 from 5-8 p.m. and Thursday, Dec.10 from 6-9 p.m. The gallery is at 5911 South Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach. For more information, call (561)-585-7744, or visit visit www.thecraftgallery.net
Creations From Clay Fau Potters Guild Holds Its Show And Sale This Weekend.
May 10, 1990 | By LISA STEMLE, Special to the Sun-Sentinel
There is a simple pleasure in working with clay. “I like the way it `mooshes` in your hands,“ said Karen Windchild. The Boca Raton potter said clay is unlike any manmade material because it is so adaptable.“You can make it look like anything you want,“ she said.
Windchild is a member of the Florida Atlantic University Potters Guild, which is having its semi-annual show and sale this weekend at Patch Reef Park in Boca Raton. Hundreds of pottery creations, some made on a wheel and some hand-built, will be sold by 40 guild members. The pieces include whimsical creations and decorative and functional pottery of all sizes. The artists range from one-semester ceramics students to professionals who have been making pottery for most of their lives.
Windchild earned two degrees in ceramics and has been creating pottery for 18 years. Two of her pieces for sale are life-like iguanas. The 18-inch creatures were commissioned for a man whose pet iguana died. Windchild, who has never seen a live iguana, made three ceramic iguanas based on photographs of the man`s pet. The patron chose his favorite and the other two are included in the show.
“People become addicts when they work with clay,“ Windchild said. It was like that for guild member Susan Urbanek of Fort Lauderdale. She wanted some clay pieces for macrame hangings she was creating in 1973. She tried working with clay and she got hooked. “Clay has been an obsession. If you`re into clay, you just don`t shake it,“ Urbaneck said.
Karen joined the FAU guild in 1978 and said it is like a family. People of all backgrounds belong to the group, which includes current and former FAU students. They meet monthly to discuss their work. Many guild members also work on pieces in the ceramics studio at the university.
The guild`s pottery sales, held in December & May, have become quite popular. Prices for items range from $2 to $1,000, she said. The proceeds are used to buy equipment and materials for the FAU ceramics studio and to bring in visiting artists.
WHAT: Pottery Show and Sale by FAU Potters Guild
WHERE: Community Center at Patch Reef Park on Yamato Road, one-quarter mile west of Military Trail in Boca Raton
WHEN: 6-9 p.m. Friday, includes reception with artists and refreshments; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday; and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday
Boca Museum Exhibits Lighter Side Of Art Displays Of 15 Artists Include Ceramics, Sculpture, Paintings
What do 16-inch ceramic people, a wooden bird with pastel plumage and a 250- pound warthog have in common?
They are all part of HA! Humor in Art, now showing in Boca Raton. The lighter side of art has come out to play, thanks to the works of 15 artists at the Boca Raton Museum of Art.
Roger Selby, executive director of the Boca Museum of Art, became aware of many of the artists from outdoor shows.
When he got all of their work together, he realized he could display even more artists, given the space.
“The more I look at the show, I sort of think it`s a shame we haven`t been doing more,“ he said.A 5-foot-long rhinoceros by sculptor Todd Warner “has enough soul to snort and walk off its base,“ said its creator. The Boca Raton sculptor is also showing a “kind of Warner-ized hybrids of egrets, herons and storks.“ A favorite from Warner`s private collection is his warthog.
`They are meant to be humorous, warm pieces, not satirical or tongue in cheek, just straight warm pieces,“ Warner said. “Someone is putting humor in a humorous exhibit … I`m excited about it.“
People live such intense lives for economic survival that color, humor and whimsy are refreshing, Warner said. “I applaud the show and recommend anyone to go and see it,“ he said.
But one artist is not quite sure why her work was selected to be in a humor-in-art show.
Karen Windchild of Boca Raton describes her ceramic masks as `magic ritual art.` They represent ceremony and the natural world to her, but Windchild has seen two reactions. `I think most people are really afraid of my work or think it`s funny.`
Her clay masks include African Lion, Black Jaguar, and a Laughing Tiger. Windchild incorporates beads, fiber, feathers and even porcupine quills in her work. `I used to live up North and up there porcupines are about as common as possums and raccoons are down here on the side of the road,` she explained.
Windchild said, `I laughed at some pieces, I smiled a lot. It`s a very imaginative, a really happy show. It`s a great show to bring children to, to let kids know art doesn`t have to be so serious.`
Boca Raton Museum of Art is at 801 W. Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton. Hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. The exhibit runs through June 11.