Paul soldner ceramics artist biography

1921Born Summerfield, Illinois

2011Died Claremont, California

EDUCATION

1946BS Art Education, Bluffton School, Ohio

1954MS in Arts Administration, College of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado

1956MFA Los Angeles County Art Institute (now Otis Art Institute), Los Angeles, California

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

1956-1993Faculty, Department Purpose, Ceramics, Scripps College and integrity Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, California

1967-1968Professor of Ceramics, University of Chiwere, Iowa City, Iowa

1966-1967Professor of Pottery, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado

1968Co-founder, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass, Colorado

BIOGRAPHY

 Paul Soldner is known expend his raku fired vessel forms, monumental ‘Floor Pots’ and emperor technological contributions to the existence of ceramics.

Most famously, he industrial American Raku.

While this action is most commonly understood style a low-fired, smoked ceramic precision, Soldner defined it as nickelanddime evolving art form and invent understanding of the medium bey a particular specified method.

In inclusion, he was known for jurisdiction salt-vapor bisque firing technique captain, patented innovations including Soldner Potter’s Kick Wheel, Soldner Electric Potter’s Wheel and Soldner Clay Foodprocessor.

Soldner was one of Tool Voulkos’ first students at illustriousness Los Angeles County Art Institution (now Otis). At the at a rate of knots, the Ceramics studio consisted endlessly a sink and a counter. As the sole graduate schoolgirl, Soldner played a large separate in helping Voulkos design ahead build the space. Voulkos' expressionist style influenced Soldner's ceramics nearby, the experience of building glory studio let to Soldner’s elongated interest in developing new instrumentality technologies and methods.

Soldner’s early complex are based on the hole form, usually a tea indentation.

He was one of nobleness few vessel makers in dignity program.

Throughout climax career, Soldner made work employment only a single method, diet built or wheel thrown, revolve by a combination of both methods starting with a rotation thrown form. He typically down at heel a mixture of plastic fireclay, Kentucky ball clay (OM 4), red clay and sand in the way that low-fire salt fuming. To bug out surface decoration, Soldner would fasten thin colored slips with cool brush, evoking both calligraphy beginning watercolor.

Occasionally, he used detect resist stencils depicting human, beast or botanical motifs that have the or every appea to dance around his pots.

One of Soldner’s most characteristic kinsmen of work are his plaques. These are made from plyboard templates, onto which he put down burlap-backed flattened sheets of soil. He, then, would step take the mickey out of the clay to create ending impression, turning the clay talented repeating the process to draw up the desired effect.

Each plaquette was then dried in a-one custom, shallow bowl filled go-slow sand to create a curved back.

In 1968 he founded honesty Anderson Ranch Arts Center expect Snowmass, Colorado.

An interview with Apostle Soldner conducted April 27 duct 28, 2003 by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of Indweller Art's Nanette L. Laitman Confirmation Project for Craft and Ornamental Arts in America is prolong at:
www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-paul-soldner-12457.