Artist: Carolina Niebres
Carolina Niebres,
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ARTIST BIO
I wanted to work with clay for quite a while but never thought I had the time. A serious health incident over 27 years ago changed that. Therefore, I took classes at the Edina Art Center and soon became very passionate and obsessed. I learned to do everything from different forming techniques, decorating, mixing and exploring glazes, and different ways to fire pots. I fell in love with atmospheric firings: soda, wood, and salt.
I went into electrical engineering instead of taking art since I was a “good” Filipina. My first job was creating software for portable seismographs used for oil exploration. Today, I still have a day job working in information technology at 3M along with being a studio artist at the Northern Clay Center and selling my pottery in juried art fairs, art tours and a few galleries.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Using stoneware or porcelain, I create pottery that is primarily functional and always unique. Functional, because I feel my pottery is both a visual medium and a tactile experience which can serve a utilitarian purpose to enhance the lives of those who find them. Unique, not only because of my vision of the piece, but also because of the process I employ.
Currently, the majority of my work is thrown on a wheel. Some of these are altered out of round. I also create pieces by hand-building using slabs or extruded pieces. The technique I use for creating and decorating depends on the visual form or feeling I want to create. Some pieces call for an applied surface texture leading to simpler decoration like a flashing slip or leaving an entirely bare surface allowing the atmospheric element whether soda ash, wood ash or salt to “play” on the surface and accentuate the form. Quieter forms tend to lend themselves to my love of patterns which I create using wax resist and glaze. The patterns that I use are mostly inspired by the tribal tattoos from the Pacific Island cultures and natural images. Whether hand-built or thrown on a wheel, I seek to create pieces that are a pleasure to touch and use and a joy to the eye.
I call my work healing vessels because when I create a piece I ask Spirit to imbue each piece with the most positive energy for who ultimately receives the piece. My intention is this energy is for the person’s highest good whether it is healing, love, peace, joy … The specifics of the energy is between that person and Spirit.
All of the functional pottery are food safe, oven safe, dishwasher and microwave safe.
Namasté!
FORMAL EDUCATION
1983-87 University of Iowa, Electrical Engineering
ART EDUCATION
2024 Focus: Five Potters, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
2023 Alluring Pots: The Sublime in Clay, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
2022 Maker to Table, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
2019 – 2022 Soda Firing Methods, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
2017 – 2019 Fall Salt Firing Workshop, Adamah Art Studios, Dodgeville, WI
1999-2019, Edina Art Center, Edina, MN
Summer 2003 - Arrowmont
Summer 2004 - Ian Currie Glaze Workshop
2003-2005, wood-firing pottery class & assist in firing, Sarah Dudgeon
1999-2019, various classes and workshops, Edina Art Center, Edina, MN
WORKSHOPS (ONGOING)
Robin Hopper, Richard Bresnahan, Robert Briscoe, Ian Currie, Andrea Leila Denecke, Nick DeVries, Sarah Dudgeon, Randy Johnston, Robbie Lobell, Steve & Becky Lloyd, Jan McKeachie, Ellen Shankin, Sandra Schaugnessey, Zac Spates, Emily Murphy, Jeff Oestreich, Joe Cole
AWARDS
Award of Excellence – Stevens Point Festival of the Arts 2018, 2019, 2024
Barb Bihler Award for Functional Pottery – Fourth Street Festival of the Arts and Crafts 2018
Mary Louise Wormer Award for Excellence – 57th Street Art Fair 2018
Merit Award – Round the Fountain 2018
Merit Award Ceramics – Round the Fountain 2017
Merit Award - Stockholm Art Fair 2016
Best Ceramics - Art Off the Square 2016
Merit Award - Springfield Old Capital Art Fair 2016
Ceramics – Springfield Old Capital Art Fair 2015
Merit Award – Stockholm Art Fair 2012
1st Place 3D – Sturgeon Bay Fine Art Fair 2012
Merit Award - Wausau Festival of the Arts 2011
Award for Excellence - ArtSplash 2011, 2009
Award in Merit - Red Wing Fall Festival of the Arts 2010
Best in Show - Maple Grove Autumn Art Fair 2010
2nd Place 3D - Linn Creek Arts Festival 2010
Best in Show - Linn Creek Arts Festival 2009
2nd Place Ceramics - Spring Green Arts and Crafts Fair 2009
CURRENT GALLERIES
Raymond Avenue
PUBLICATIONS
500 Pitchers: Contemporary Expressions of a Classic Form - Lark Books 2006
500 Plates & Chargers: Innovative Expressions of Function & Style - Lark Books 2008
SELECTED JURIED & INVITATIONAL SHOWS
St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour – St. Croix Valley, MN (2024 - 2026)
Marion Arts Festival – Marion, IA (2026)
Raymond Avenue Gallery Annual Yunomi Invitational – St. Paul, MN (2025, 2026)
Brookside Art Annual - Kansas City, MO (2022, 2025)
Hidden Studios Art Tour – Central Wisconsin (2015,2016 ,2020 – 2022, 2025,2026)
Stockholm Art Fair - Stockholm, WI (2008, 2011-2019, 2021- 2026)
Fall Festival of the Arts - Red Wing, MN (2010 – 2017, 2025, 2026)
Stone Arch Bridge Festival – Minneapolis, MN (2008, 2009, 2012, 2013,2026)
Long’s Park Art Festival – Lancaster, PA (2021, 2022)
Minnesota Pottery Festival – Hutchinson, MN (2017 – 2019, 2021 - 2026)
57th Street Art Fair – Chicago, IL (2015 -2022)
East Lancing Art Festival – East Lancing, MI (2021)
Starving Artist’s Show – Milwaukee, WI (2012-2014, 2016, 2021)
MNWCA A Survey of Current Works - Saint Mary's University, Winona, MN (2021)
Winter Art Off the Square - Madison, WI (2009 – 2019, 2021)
Vessels: work by Minnesota Women's Ceramic Artists - Anderson Center, Red Wing, MN (2020)
Western North Carolina Pottery Festival – Sylva, NC (2019)
Clay Collective Spring Pottery Tour – Johnson Creek, WI (2019)
St. James Court 3rd Street Section – Louisville, KY (2019)
Morning Glory Fine Craft Fair - Milwaukee, WI (2011, 2016, 2017, 2019)
Driftless Area Art Fair – Soldier’s Grove, WI (2013 - 2019)
St. Paul Art Crawl – St. Paul, MN (2018, 2019)
NCECA 2019 shows:
-WOMEN WHO TEACH - The Catherine G. Murphy Gallery at St. Catherine University
-UNAPOLOGETIC-Women's Ceramic in the Land of Mingei-Sota – Northrup King Building, 3rd Floor Gallery
-MUGSHOT2: 2nd International Biennial Juried Ceramic Coffee Mug Competition – Mojo Coffee Gallery
-Heroines, Hops & Hounds – Lakes & Legends Brewing
4th Street Festival of the Arts and Crafts, Bloomington, IN (2015, 2017, 2018)
Fall Into the Arts – Edina, MN (2007, 2008, 2010, 2019)
Art Off the Square – Madison, WI (2010 - 2018)
Oconomowoc Festival of the Arts – Oconomowoc, WI (2016 - 2018)
Octagon Art Festival – Ames, IA (2009-2015, 2018)
Studio ArTour – Northfield, MN (2017, 2018)
Springfield Old Capitol Art Fair – Springfield, IL (2015-2017)
Powerhorn Art Fair (2012-2017)
Art on the Lake – Excelsior, MN (2014, 2016)
Penrod Arts Fair – Indianapolis, IN (2016)
Lakeview East Festival of the Arts – Chicago, IL (2014, 2015)
Prairie Village Art Show – Prairie Village, KS (2014, 2015)
Cantigny: Art in Bloom – Wheaton, IL (2015)
MinneSodaClay – Edina Art Center, Edina, MN (2014)
Broad Ripple Art Fair – Indianapolis, IN (2014)
Iowa Arts Festival - Iowa City, IA (2008 – 2011, 2013, 2014)
ArtSplash - Sioux City, IA (2009 - 2013)
Winter Glory Fine Craft Show - Milwaukee, WI (2012, 2013)
Omaha Summer Arts Festival - Omaha, NE (2011, 2012)
Winter Glory Fine Craft Fair – Milwaukee, WI (2011, 2012)
ArtStreet - Green Bay, WI (2009 - 2011)
Wausau Festival of the Arts - Wausau, WI (2011)
Arti Gras - Green Bay, WI (2009 - 2011)
Loring Park Art Festival - Minneapolis, MN (2007, 2010)
Madison Holiday Art Fair - Madison, WI (2009, 2010)
Uptown Art Fair - Minneapolis, MN (2008, 2009)
Spring Green Arts & Crafts Fair - Spring Green, WI (2009)
MEMBERSHIPS
-NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts) advances creation, teaching and learning through clay in the contemporary world. Ceramic art connects us to physical and cognitive experiences that foster environments of cultural equity, diversity, access, and inclusion
-MNWCA (Minnesota Women Ceramic Artists) a professional organization that supports ceramic artists who identify as women in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin
-WAAC (The Wisconsin Alliance of Artists and Craftspeople, Inc.) an organization of 400 professional artists and craftspeople from throughout the state of Wisconsin
-WDCC (The Wisconsin Designer Crafts Council, Inc) a statewide group dedicated to fostering excellence in fine crafts and making them more significant in the cultural life of Wisconsin