Pottery artist influenced by nature
The work of Ramona Jane is being featured at the Phillips Gallery.
The muddy creeks of her childhood Whitefish home along with nature have influenced potter Ramona Jane in her creative work in clay.
The vast beauty of the Flathead Valley inspires much of the forms, textures, and imagery used to make Ramona Jane Stoneware, Raku, and pit-fired pottery, along with her travels throughout the U.S. and Europe.
Her work is being featured at the Phillips Gallery inside the Kalispell Center Mall.
The artist’s first exposure to ceramics was as a child in the early 1970s with slip-casted forms at a community studio with her mother in Whitefish. It was magical then and still is today for her.
“When I sat down at the potter’s wheel for the first time at Flathead Valley Community College, I lit up and the flame for this medium continues to burn on inside me,” she said.
Together with her family in their Kalispell studio, they create uniquely individual wheel-thrown, slab, and hand-built pottery. From wet clay to final glaze firing, their stoneware, Raku, and pit-fired works are Certified Made in Montana.
Jane acquires some of her clay from The Archie Bray Foundation for Ceramic Arts (The Bray). At The Bray, they produce clays on-site in Helena. Their clays are of high quality and meet Jane’s needs in the techniques and firing temperatures that she uses.
Her pottery has a rustic influence with industrial appeal. This exhibit will present a selection of her newest and unparalleled collection of her newest unique pieces recently revealed from the fires of her kiln. Jane places some of her work into a container with combustible materials. The materials ignite, and then she closes the container. This produces an intense reduction atmosphere which affects the colors in the glazes and clay bodies. This process is known as Raku and dates to the 1550s.
The Ramona Jane Pottery Show reception will take place Saturday, Nov. 25 from 1-3 p.m. at Phillips Gallery located inside the Kalispell Center Mall. The public is invited to meet the artist and enjoy the art on display. Refreshments to be served.