Liz Zlot Summerfield Workshop

Elegant and Intimate

Liz will instruct participants on the creation of functional forms working from basic paper templates. Forms covered will include boxes, creamers and sugars, and butter dishes. Participants will use soft slab forming techniques, then decorate surface with terra sigilatta and underglazes.

Throughout the weekend, the group will discuss how to draw from personal influences in order to better individualize the work. Participants will explore the broad term "function" through slide talks, class discussion, and the making of pots. Liz encourages participants to come with specific questions, and sketches and images (not only of pots) that they are drawn to.

Liz will demonstrate rolling and folding of soft slabs, and creating components of pots such as spouts, lids, and fee. Participants will learn to make and apply terra sigillata on the surface of their bone-dry pots. Liz will provide a packet of recipes and technical information to take home as a reference guide.

Class size 18. Basic clay skills required.

Liz Zlot Summerfield
Artist Statement

I find function a vehicle for expression while also allowing approachability to my work. Creamers and sugars, salt and pepper sets, and lidded containers are my primary subjects. My work is small and intimate in size. These handheld objects are constructed with slabs that softly drape over one another creating three-dimensional drawings throughout the surface of the piece. These lines are kept visible to accentuate the process of the making.

The beauty of utilitarian objects is that they are capable of functioning away from their primary context but also retain their inherent sense of function. A pot, box, or tool may function primarily as a useful object and later retire its usefulness and function as an aesthetic object such as in a collection. In either context, the object has a specific purpose, whether it is to contain or sit among others of its kind. Within a collection, everyday objects gain importance as members of a whole; they start to become more than the sum of their parts and have potential to give value to valueless objects. I view my work as an ever-growing collection, where I am the maker of objects that are similar but also defined by their subtle differences. I draw inspiration from my own personal collectibles such as vintage aprons and hand made boxes. As with many collections I strive to imbed my work with a sense of nostalgia, memory, and past time.

Liz Zlot Summerfield Bio

Liz attended the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis to complete her Masters of Fine Arts in 2001. She currently works as a full time studio artist from her home in Bakersville, North Carolina. She is a current member of The Potters of the Roan and the Southern Highland Crafts Guild. She exhibits her work nationally through exhibitions, galleries, and fine craft shows.

Liz Zlot Summerfield Resume

EXHBITIONS/SHOWS

2007, American Craft Council Show, Charlotte, North Carolina.

2007, Gifted Part 1, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Invitational Exhibition.

2007, Potters of the Roan: Group Exhibition, Trac Gallery, Burnsville, North Carolina.

2007, The Pitcher Show: An Invitational Ceramics Exhibition, UNCP AD Gallery, Pembroke, North Carolina.

2007, Down East Invites Down South, Dowstudio, Deer Isle, Maine. Invitational Exhibition.

2007, Miniature Power, Mudfire Clayworks, Decatur, Georgia. Invitational Exhibition.

2007, Scott Summerfield & Liz Zlot Summerfield, Miya Gallery, Weaverville, North Carolina.

2007, Potters of the Roan: Group Exhibition, Rocky Mount Arts Center, Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Invitational Exhibition.

2007, Beyond Expectations: New Members of the Southern Highland Crafts Guild, Folk Art Center, Asheville, North Carolina. Invitational Exhibition.

2007, Put A Lid On It, Mudfire Clayworks, Decatur, Georgia. Invitational Exhibition.

2007, Potters of the Roan: Group Exhibition, Washington Street Gallery, West Virginia. Invitational Exhibition.

2007, What's Cookin: A taste of culinary artwork by southern potters, painters, and photographers. Swan Coach House, Atlanta, Georgia. Invitational Exhibition.

2007, Potters of the Roan: Group Exhibition, North Carolina Pottery Center, Seagrove, North Carolina.

2006, 30 Something: A Group Exhibition of Local Emerging Artists, Toe River Arts Council, Spruce Pine, North Carolina.

2006, San Angelo Ceramic Competition, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo, Texas. Juried Exhibition. Juror Ann Lancaster.

2006, Strictly Functional Pottery National, Market House Craft Center, East Petersburg, PA. Juried Exhibition. Juror Tom Coleman.

2006, Crisp, Mudfire Clayworks, Decatur, Georgia. Invitational Exhibition.

2006, American Craft Council Show, Atlanta, Georgia.

2006, Through Women's Eyes, by Women's Hands, The Women's Center, Chapel Hill, NC. Juried Exhibition. Jurors: Sally Bowen Prange, John Rosenthal.

2005, Building Community, Lake Norman Art League, Huntersville, NC. Juried Exhibition. Juror David J. Brown.

2005, Fall Celebration of Arts, Toe River Arts Council, Spruce Pine, NC.

2005, A New Look, River Gallery, Chattanooga, TN. Group Exhibition.

2004, A Marriage of Materials, Sunset River Marketplace, Calabash, NC.

2004, Fall Celebration of Arts, Toe River Arts Council, Spruce Pine, NC. Juried Exhibition

2004, College Bowl, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN. Juried Exhibition.

2004, Refresh, Nash Gallery, Minneapolis, MN. Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition.

2003, It's Only Clay, Bemidgi Community Arts Center, Bemidgi, MN. Juried Exhibition.

2003, Minnesota Clay, Rochester Art Center, Rochester, MN. Invitational.

2003, Mandatory, Nash Gallery, Minneapolis, MN. Group Exhibition.

2001, Ewers, Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, MI. Juried Exhibition.

2000, Best of Tennessee Crafts 2000, Tennessee Association of Craft Artists, TN. Juried Exhibition.

1999, Holiday Festival Invitational, Appalachian Center for Crafts, Smithville, TN.

COLLECTIONS

Martha Connell, Atlanta, Georgia.

University Of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Bemidgi Community Arts Center, Bemidgi, Minnesota.

AWARDS

Merit Award. Fall Celebration of Arts, Toe River Arts Council, Spruce Pine, NC. 2005.

Best In Show. Fall Celebration of Arts, Toe River Arts Council, Spruce Pine, NC. Juried by Ruth T. Summers. 2004.

Merit Award. Best of Tennessee Crafts 2000, Tennessee Association of Craft Artists, TN. Juried Exhibition. 2000.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"No Place Like Home: Doing Business Through Open Studio Tours", Ceramics Monthly, June/July 2007

Bendin, Dariel, "Liz Zlot Summerfield Workshop At Sunset River Marketplace", Alternatives, January/February 2007.

Brown, Linda Luise, "Modesty and Passion: Potters of the Roan", Ceramics Monthly, February, 2007.

Crisp", Atlanta Planit, March 2006.

Nichols, Ann, "A New Look", Chattanooga Times Free Press, January, 2005.

Bendin, Dariel, "A Marriage of Materials", Alternatives, November 2004.

Bendin, Dariel, "Sunset River Marketplace in Calabash NC, Features Husband and Wife Show", Carolina Arts, November 2004.

"Fall Celebration of Arts Marches On," Mitchell News-Journal, September 2004.

Wilber, Katrina, "The Big Payoff", The Minnesota Daily, April 2004.

EDUCATION

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. Masters of Fine Arts-Ceramics, 2001-2004.

Appalachian Center for Crafts, a division of Tennessee Technological University, Smithville, TN. 1998- 2001.

University of Colorado, Boulder, CO. Bachelor of Arts-Ceramics 1992-1997.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Workshop Instructor, "Handbuilding Functional Objects" Sunset River Marketplace, Calabash, North Carolina. February 3-4 2007.

Workshop Instructor, "Handbuilt Lidded Objects" Sunset River Marketplace, Calabash, North Carolina. November 6-7, 2004.

Teaching Assistant, Art Department, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis MN, 2001-2004.

Workshop Instructor, Appalachian Center for Crafts, Outreach Programs, 1998- 2001. Art Comes to School -- Hands-on clay workshops for elementary students grades 3-7 (grant funded). Hands-on Craft Experience for Elementary School Students -- Bookbinding and weaving workshops for 6th grade students (program in existence for 11 years; grant funded). High School Art/Vocational Crafts Programs -- Origami Book workshop for 9th-12th grade art and vocational students (grant funded).

MEMBERSHIPS

Southern Highlands Craft Guild

Potters of the Roan

Toe River Arts Council

American Crafts Council