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ARTIST’S BIOGRAPHY
A resident of Alabama since 1987, Lynnette Hesser is a full-time artist working in the studio she shares with her husband and ceramic artist, Steve Loucks, in Wellington, Alabama. She was awarded the Alabama State Council on the Arts Fellowship in Crafts Grant for 2011, is published in a number of ceramics books including The Complete Guide to Mid-Fire Glazes, Glazing and Firing by John Britt, 500 Raku, The Ceramic Glaze Handbook by Mark Burleson and the 1997 Studio Potter Magazine Alabama artist feature. She is the Contributing Editor to Steve Loucks' book, Glazes from a Potter's Perspective: a Simple, Kitchen-Method Approach to Understanding Glaze Development.
Lynnette conducts workshops and exhibits her work nationwide. She was an Adjunct Instructor of Art for Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama for 16 years, with Gadsden State Community College in Gadsden, Anniston and Oxford, Alabama for four years. She was the Manager of the Ceramics Studio at the University of Florida, has many years both full-time and part-time teaching art to Pre-K through high school age students, and two as an individual classroom teacher of second grade and transitional first. She holds a BA from Denison University in Granville, Ohio, a BFA and MFA from the University of Florida (all three with ceramics concentrations), and an MSEd from Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, Alabama with an Early Childhood concentration.
In Alabama, her work is represented by Four Corners Gallery in Birmingham, sold from this website, and in-person, by appointment, from her studio. She also produces “Seven Springs Handmade Soaps”, a line of all-natural soaps and “La Fleur Rose” Solid Lotions, Lip Gloss, jewelry, photography, notecards, art quilts, marbled papers and small books, along with tie-dyed, hand knitted, and sewn items. She was an active member of the Alabama Clay Conference Steering Committee for over a decade. Lynnette and Steve Loucks co-hosted the 2016 Alabama Clay Conference which was held in Gadsden, Alabama and two others previously. She has continued her education in the crafts by taking classes at the John C. Campbell Folk School, Snow Farm, and Penland. Lynnette is an active volunteer and juried member of the Alabama Designer Craftsmen and juried member of the Southern Highland Craft Guild.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
“As a ceramic artist, I derive the designs in my work from floral and geometric images and patterns. I create flowers or floral scenes on my clay forms by deeply carving into the surface of the piece or with three-dimensional embellishments. I capture the essence of flowers rather than recreating them and relate the position and the type of flowers to the shape of each piece. I seek to involve the viewer in the wonder, intricacy, and subtle simplicity of the delicate qualities of nature and pattern.
Attention to detail is paramount in my work. The pieces are usually made by throwing on the potter’s wheel, then using the techniques of altering, embellishing, carving, sprigging, and/or assembling. I love to reticulate the edges or walls of my pieces by carving decoration all the way through the clay which plays positive and negative spaces against one another. Or, my pieces may have been hand-built often incorporating a hollow and twisted technique I developed to lighten and add volume to the sculptures. I use only white stoneware or porcelain. All the pieces are then glazed and fired to cone 6 electric or to cone 10 reduction and often luster fired for lovely halo and rainbow effects. I usually use just one but sometimes multiple glazes for decoration and serviceability for the beautiful and enjoyable use of my pieces in the home or office.”
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