Artist: Page Kelly Piccolo
Page Kelly Piccolo, MONTANA
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Page Kelly Piccolo is the ceramic artist behind Zephyr Valley Ceramics, a one woman studio located south of Helena, Montana. A fifth-generation Montanan, Page was born in Bozeman, Montana and raised in Helena. Spending her young adulthood moving around the US - where she lived in North Carolina, Minnesota, North Dakota and Washington - Page returned to Montana in 2002 and received her degree from Carroll College in 2007. Page was first exposed to clay early in grade school and then again in the late 1980's during a summer spent as a nanny for a family of production potters. In 2003, Page began taking community classes at the Archie Bray Foundation, and in 2007 started a regular studio practice.
Botanicals and the texture of fabrics, echoed in my work, are a driving source of inspiration. I am motivated by the visual tension between organic textures and refined imagery or form. I am personally drawn to pieces that engage my senses on multiple levels. My efforts toward the same feeling created in my own work have led me to playing with the surface treatment of the work, making the traditional functional ceramic forms, occasionally layering iron slip through fabric to the leather-hard surface. I continue to pursue the perfect crystal development in my glaze surface, which I require to be fired multiple times as I add my botanical photography in the form of iron decals. The resulting surface and form work together to engage and invite the viewer to touch and hold the piece. I crave this interaction with the object. I hope to invoke feelings between person and pot of heritage and heirloom, connection and comfort. I invite wonder and joy. I work primarily in Cone 6 stoneware, and fire in an electric kiln in an oxidation atmosphere.
EDUCATION
1990-1991 - Art Institute, Seattle, WA
2004-2007 - Carroll College, Helena, MT BA
EXHIBITIONS
2016, December 2 - January 13, Trackside Gallery, "Cup of Joy," Spokane, WA
2016, November 18 - December 31, 1+1+1 Gallery, "Small Works," Helena, MT
2016, November 4 - December 24, Radius Gallery, "Holiday Show," Missoula, MT
2016, October 21 - December 17, Studio Art Center, "This is Helena," Helena MT
2016, October 1 - November 4, Charlie Cummings Gallery, "Cup: The Intimate Object XII," Online
2016, September 2 - October 2, Del Ray Artisans, "Fire and Earth," Alexandria, VA
2016, September 1 - 30, Companion Gallery, "Irons in the Fire: the Many Faces of Iron in Ceramics," Humboldt, TN
2016, June 30 - August 28, Clay Arts Vegas, "Serve It Up 2016," Las Vegas, NV
2016, June 2 - June 27, James May Gallery, "Working Pots," Algoma, WI
2015, September 11 - December 1 - Paris Gibson Square, "Montana Clay," Great Falls, MT
2014, October 25 - December 20 - Free Ceramics and The Studio Art Center, "This is Helena," Helena, MT
2014, June 1-June 30, Holter Museum, Peter Held Hallway Solo Exhibit, Helena, MT
2013, October 26 - November 27 - Free Ceramics Gallery, "This is Helena," Helena, MT
2013, May 10- June 5 - Tart, "Cultivated," 111 Bozeman, MT
2013, March 8 - May 8 - Tart, "A Baker's Dozen," Bozeman, MT
2010, "KC Clay Guild Teabowl National," Kansas City, MO
2009, November Featured Artist , A.L. Swanson Gallery, Helena, MT SHOWS
2016, November 4 - Downtown Helena Fall Art Walk, 436 N Last Chance Gulch, Helena, MT, 5-9 pm.
2016, July 23-24, Montana Clay Tour, 650 Logan, Helena MT
2016, May 13 - Downtown Helena Spring Art Walk, 7 W 6th Ave, Helena, MT 5-9 pm.
2014, March 22-23, Made in Montana Marketplace, Lewis and Clark Fairgrounds, Helena, MT
2014, January 29 - February 2, Billings Market Wholesale Show, The Expo Center, Billings, MT
2013, December 6-8 - Jefferson County Potters Holiday Sale, Elkhorn Mountain Inn, Montana City, MT
2013, November 8 - Saunders Jewelry, Downtown Helena Fall Art Walk, 21 N. Last Chance Gulch, Helena, MT
2013, May 17 - Downtown Helena Spring Art Walk, Placer Condo Association 5-9 pm.
2013, March 22-23 - Made in Montana Marketplace
2012, December - First Annual Jefferson County Potters Holiday Sale
PUBLICATIONS
2010 Lark Books "500 Vases"
CONTINUING EDUCATION/WORKSHOPS
Jennifer Allen, 2007, "Discovering Decals," Archie Bray Foundation
Wayne Higby, 2009, "Embracing Doubt," Archie Bray Foundation
Jeff Oestreich, 2010, "Wheel Update," Archie Bray Foundation
Bruce Cochrane, 2010, "Lidded Form and Surface Technique," Archie Bray Foundation
Ayumi Horie & Andy Brayman, 2014, "This is a Stick Up! Decal Making from Start to Finish," Archie Bray Foundation