Vicki Schwartz-Mided
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About my work...
My functional pottery is intended to connect people with the pleasure of using artisan craft work in their daily lives. I enjoy the meditative rhythm of throwing pots on the wheel, and the spontaneous alterations of the forms as I work with the clay.
 
From childhood I have collected natural objects: beach stones with holes worn through them, perfect shells and shell pieces eroded to show their interior structural pattern, leaves and petals from tropical plants, and feathers of many birds. My choices of surface textures and colors are inspired by these treasures as well as by the natural environment around my garden, the forest that surrounds the studio, and the beautiful skies of the many places I have traveled. These elements play off of each other and are changed more, often dramatically, by the effects of the soda or gas kiln firing.
 
In my Wings series I explore the symbolic freedom, grace, power and vision that is associated with birds and flight. My winged pieces express my own pursuit of empowerment as an artist and as a person.

Vicki Schwartz-Mided's Bio
I was born and raised in the Chicago area. After college I lived and worked in The Netherlands and Greece, and traveled in Europe for several years. I returned to the US to live and work in Boston for 10 years, and then returned to the Chicago area to raise my family.  When I worked in the marketing field, I was lucky to travel frequently to Asia. The beauty and unique cultures of all the places I have traveled inspire my design ideas now that I am focusing my work on ceramics.

Ceramics education:
Stirling Hall Art Center, Evanston Art Center, The Art Center of Highland Park.

Gallery associations:
Illinois Artisans Association
Gallery 659, Glencoe, IL
Kaleidoscope, Carbondale, IL

Education:
University of Wisconsin, B.A., Psychology & Art
Harvard University, M.B.A.