Artisans

Artists in Clifton


Sharon Benedict


Mural in the Clifton Opera House painted by local artist Sharon Benedict

A little about Sharon Benedict:


BFA 1972, MFA 1975, Post grad teaching certification in Special Education

She has  taught art (Drawing, Art for the differently abled, Gourd art and Life drawing) at the Springfield Art Museum as well as many other locations for many years. Sharon was a member of the Ohio Plain Air Painters for one year. Primarily, she has been a gourd artist (pyrography) and drawer and have won many awards at the Ohio Gourd festival over the years. Sharon is  currently the Out Reach Manager for the Greene Co. Public Library.  She gardens as a hobby, and plays violin in the orchestra at the church in Clifton.

 Jak Campbell

Jak Campbell was born into a family of working craftsmen... wood workers, electricians, contractors, journeymen, and a few hobbyists.  It didn’t take long before it was apparent he would become an exceptional crafter with anything related to wood.  Building and remodeling became second nature, as he acquired skills early and continued to hone them throughout his life. Over the years, Jak admired the work of fine wood turners and furniture makers, eventually taking a turn on the lathe himself. It was a particularly good fit. This new endeavor allowed him to team his interest in the texture, feel, and look of different woods with an innate creativity. Jak’s focus with wood turning has been primarily in the creation of bowls made from native Ohio woods:  some practical, some functional, and some crafted simply for the amazing aesthetic appeal of their evolution.  Every piece is an original inspiration of the wood itself - one of a kind, never to be duplicated, replicated, or copied.  The reverence Jak holds for nature, the forest and woods, and each individual piece of wood he turns, is immediately apparent in his art.



Bruce Grimes

"My work derives its inspiration from personal experience and historical references. Using clay as my medium I create both functional and artistic pieces without the help of asistants or apprentices. The functional wheel-thrown work is high-fired and emphasizes form, design and color. The artisitc pieces are raku-fired and focus on images of animals and symbols representing personal interpretations of life experiences and commentary."

"In either high-fired, or raku-fired work, my focus continues to be form and design. The high-fired functional work takes into consideration the function, aesthetics, and the user. From this I create a full line of functional pottery that accents household space and use. I mix my own clay bodies and glazes, and fire the pieces to approximately 2400° F. My glazes and designs are developed to enhance the individual pieces, not to overwhelm the piece, but to beautify it. the functional work is wheel-thrown."

"Primarily, I work with stoneware and raku clays. The high-fire process provides continuing opportunities to explore form and color. The raku process provides me a chance to explore imagery and color while experiencing the immediacy that raku firing allows. I mix my own raku clay bodies and glazes, and do the post-firing reduction in straw. I have been involved with the raku process for almost forty years and have exhibited it in over 200 shows and galleries both nationally and regionally."

"Most of the elements of the created form are wheel-thrown. The surface then becomes the "cavnas" for my painted and graphic images. The process enables me to work with fluid thrown forms, altering and designing each piece as an entity within itself. I am particularly interested in the formal aspects of creativity in getting each piece to work aesthetically. Balance, color, and rhythm all function within the structure of the work. The inherent elements of the form are enhanced by the color and design to give each piece its own statement and character. Each formal decision in the creative process can be viewed alone or as a part of the whole. A balance is established between the rhythm of the form and the surface design. The challenge is to create something of beauty and value from a material that starts as a lump of clay."


Katherine Kadish
"Painter-Print Maker"

Katherine Kadish was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She began attending Saturday art classes at the Carnegie Museum at age nine and later received her B.F.A. in painting and design from Carnegie Mellon University and her M.A. in art history from the University of Chicago.

Kadish has exhibited her work internationally in addition to having been awarded a number of prestigious fellowships and residencies. The artist lives in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and maintains her studio in the nearby village of Clifton and works regularly in New York City.    www.katherinekadish.com