Social Media:
FaceBook: Renee.Lieber1
Instagram: bayou_argileart
Bio:
- Early Years spent in LOUISIANA and TEXAS
(1960’s forward): I have been motivated
to work in clay from about age 10 (I grew up in Shreveport, LA). My parents took me to purchase clay from
Marshall Pottery (Marshall, TX) where I gawked mostly at large men with huge muscular
arms creating beautiful forms out of 10-20-pound mounds of clay. The idea of a woman making clay forms at a
treadle wheel fascinated me. I had to
find a way to do it! After completing LSU
undergraduate studies (BFA in Painting and Printmaking), a close family friend
in Shreveport, Sylvia Gallagher, (self-taught studio potter), recognized my
passion for creating art. She correctly suspected
that I might have some talent via potter’s wheel. She mentored me and several other young
graduates through establishment of a craft alliance in Shreveport, La. (mid
1970’s). She invited many well-known craftsmen/women to lead studio workshops. Some of these included: Paul Soldner, Cynthia Bringle, John Atlee, Joe
Bova, Joe Baker, and many others. She encouraged us to research, study, practice,
and scavenge anything we could to build successful, serious craft businesses. She drove me to Little Rock, AR to learn how
to make pinch pots with Paulus Berenson, a beautiful soul and author of: Finding
One’s Way with Clay. In Shreveport, I built a gas kiln (used fire
bricks generously donated by a local Libby Owens glass plant manager) with two
other women and began producing functional pieces for galleries and craft
fairs. It was hard work in every way. Although my skills were at first limited, I
began to absorb as much information as I could through workshops, seminars,
(including but not limited to: Big Creek Pottery in Davenport California,
Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, and finally graduate studies in
Ceramics at Texas Woman’s University (MA in Ceramics and Metals) in Denton, TX. John Brough Miller was my professor; he was a
genuinely nice person and a walking encyclopedia of studio techniques. His background: Cranbrook Academy –
Michigan. This professor was passionate
about large scale metal sculptures, clay and glaze (chemistry), tearing apart
and rebuilding kiln structures, and welding (required for Master’s
studies). He encouraged my interest in
primitive firing methods: smoking thrown and hand built forms using terra
sigillata (oxide slips) and adhesive products. He assigned me a space in kiln
yard to build a firing pit and gave me a cow for dung (just teasing!!). We used
all firing methods and temps. My
graduate thesis show was held at the Front Room Gallery in Dallas, TX. and at Oklahoma State University Art Gallery
(in conjunction with my mother’s fiber art pieces). I did some silversmithing along the way.
NEW YORK: (1976-78) Alfred University (in upstate
NY near Corning) was the “Cordon Bleu” for serious Ceramic students. It was there that I researched (clay, slips,
and glazes, forming and firing methods). What wonderful studios and libraries!! I truly
loved Academia and the luxuries it afforded of equipment, tools, and glaze
resources. Although I had completed a
master’s degree and knew that my head, hands, and heart were committed, I
needed the financial assurance that would come from having teacher
certification. I could not leave my job
in NY, so I asked my mother (best mentor and cheerleader) to pick up my diploma
in Denton, TX. Within the next year, I discovered
ways to subsist as a potter in NYC without starving. This included: a group of potters who invited
me to share a warehouse space in the fashion district, a fulltime job at MACY’s
Herald Square department store as demo potter (educating street people and
celebrities alike about Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and other folk pottery). Within one year, I completed my teacher
certification (K-12) at Hunter College plus required and fun student teaching. Several high-end craft galleries in SOHO and
on Madison Ave. sold my wares. I was carving-
though not starving!!HOUSTON: The passion continues: back in Houston around 1980 when (while
teaching Art for Glassell Junior
School and HISD), I enrolled in Glassell Advanced Ceramics – a sort of “post
graduate” studio experience with Bill Dennard, later with Shane Tidmore, and
Jeff Forster. Both Sharon Dennard (Bill’s
wife), and I (by my husband at the time) were pregnant in sync: she, teaching
art somewhere in Houston and I, sitting at the potter’s wheel as though I had a
watermelon in my lap! I often wondered
why my choice in glaze treatments turned temporarily to pastel colors! I was happy: teaching, making pots, and very pregnant! What else could I ask for? Around that time, Charles Gallagher invited
me to join the first group of artists at Diverse Works (in a semi-dilapidated
building on Travis St. near Market Square).
I created and sold my work out of a store window there as well as: Contemporary Art Museum, ME’s Gallery, Lawndale,
Center for Contemporary Crafts. I sold my work also through the Houston
Potter’s Guild Shop (Janis Ross: potter and CAMEO founder).
Fast forward: 30 year art education career, 30 or more years
of taking classes at Glassell, selling work here and there, and finally,
retirement – to get me back into production! I have been involved at least fifteen
years with Empty Bowls (and the committee) and the Houston Food Bank. These experiences have humbled and inspired me. On occasion, I teach for Houston Center for
Photography at Texas Children’s Hospital (sometimes using a bit of modeling
clay to illustrate a technique or to inspire a subject). Most recently, I took a sculpture class (again at Glassell)
with Susan Budge, who challenged me to “push the boundaries”- seriously working
larger and more sculpturally, using old and new methods, giving consideration
to construction, limits of kiln size, and firing challenges. It is here that I set
up a last studio (Bayou Argile Art) in a home that I share with a lovely man
who is kind, patient, and thinks I should pay more attention to glaze color and
application. (He had a 45 year career in Geology). I love clay, I love reading and learning from
books and first hand from other studio artists.
I love sharing my enthusiasm, knowledge, and hopefully inspiring others
to create. I feel honored to be part of
Clay Houston and am happiest when I am involved.
Oh… and I’m the mother of: a wonderful daughter,
a son, and great son in law) and I have three precious grandchildren. We are all so fortunate to be safe and healthy
during this time of pandemic, turmoil, and tumult. Let’s keep the wheels of love and peace
turning!
|