MEET THE ARTIST
Ceramic artist, Candace Resnick began her love affair with clay 37 years ago. Bored with her career as a professional seamstress, she started hanging around a friend’s pottery studio and became so fascinated by the process that she couldn’t resist trying it herself. That was it. She sold her sewing machine and never looked back.
Her early wheel thrown forms utilized decorative techniques involving added coil and incised designs. In those days, all her firings were done in the reducing atmosphere of wood and gas kilns and bright colors were neither easily achieved nor particularly sought after by the general public. However, though not in step with the fashion then in vogue, Candace was hungry for colors beyond the earth tones which were readily available. A breakthrough came in the form of a book entitled “The Penland Book of Pottery” which she devoured on sight. The publication included the techniques of some of the most innovative ceramists of the time and she promptly signed up for some classes at Penland School in North Carolina. Her initial two month stay there opened her eyes to the vast possibilities of commercially made ceramic stains in a rainbow of colors as well as the bottomless potential of hand built forms.
Twenty years ago she left utilitarian pottery behind and began creating decorative murals and sculptural pieces which now grace homes throughout the world. The foyer of the Roman embassy boasts three of her larger than life flowers which are part of the private collection of ambassador Sembler and a Saudi Arabian Prince swims with 40 of her ceramic tile fish undulating across the bottom of his pool. Each and every piece is unique and all custom installations are collaborations with her clients and tailored to fit their lifestyles and individual tastes.
Candace works with high fired white stoneware clay to which she adds colored stains. The colored clay can either be rolled into thin sheets which are appliquéd to a plain background slab or applied as slip (clay which has been watered down to the consistency of paint) with an airbrush and a series of hand cut stencils. An innovative clay recipe, which makes use of paper pulp as a reinforcing agent, (originally pioneered by friend and contemporary Rosette Gault) has allowed her the freedom to create impossibly large, yet delicate pieces which simulate draped cloth, large tropical leaves and fragile, exotic flowers. Resnick has written about her original techniques in Ceramics Monthly and has taught many workshops. Her students run the gamut from Alaskan school children in far flung native villages to accomplished ceramic artists. She has shown in galleries and invitational shows around the world and her work has been extensively published.
Several years ago, Resnick opened a contemporary ceramic studio in Basalt called the Kolor Wheel. The business was subsequently sold, expanded and moved to Aspen. The experience she gained from this endeavor was used in turn to springboard her into her current part time business “The Princess Potter”. Kilns, wheels and ceramics on the sea??? They said it couldn’t be done, but Candace is not easily daunted and her determined efforts have resulted in “paint your own potter” concessions on all of the vessels in Princess Cruise Lines’ fleet. This has been a fabulous opportunity and has taken her around the world installing the program on the ships and working with Jenggala Keramik in Bali on the design and production of custom ready made pieces for the passengers to paint. Resnick was an artist in residence at Jenggala during February, March and June of 2006 and the gallery opened her solo exhibition on July 21, 2006.
Candace lives and works at the base of Mt. Sopris, thirty minutes from Aspen, Colorado. Her large studio has glorious views of the mountain and her owner designed custom home includes many examples of her early installation work.