 Sherri Hanna
Potter, Metalsmith, Sculptor, Visual Art Educator
"Echoes from the heartland reverberate throughout my work. I seek inspiration from my heritage and regional sources and enjoy combining contrasting media, organic forms, and natural materials with formal design elements. Although each viewer contributes their own meaning to a work of art, an observant one may also find wry humor or intended irony in some of my pieces, even the functional ones."
|
Education & Experience
MA, BAE University of Kansas
Additional graduate study at the Kansas City Art Institute and the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design.
Member of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, the Society of North American Goldsmiths, the American Craft Council and the Lawrence Potters Guild.
Now retired from teaching, Sherri was a high school art educator in Olathe, Kansas. She was a 2002 recipient of the Educator Excellence Award presented by the Olathe Public Schools Foundation and is especially proud of many of her students who have won scholarships, awards and recognition of their own for their accomplishments in the arts.
Sherri lives on a small acreage about 30 miles southwest of Kansas City where she maintains her studio and she and her husband raise Texas Longhorn cattle. The maker’s mark that Sherri places on all of her ceramic pieces originates from their registered livestock brand, the Flying H Bar.
The Process
"Raw materials, time, and talent go into the creation of any work of art.
My goal is to create a body of work with personal style, wit, and a
little wisdom. I am striving for purity of line, elegant form, thoughtful creativity and balanced simplicity in all of my work. Even though much of
my work is functional and there may be multiple pieces that are similar, each one is created individually and has its own personality."
Ceramics functional work, and sometimes sculpture, begins on the potter’s wheel. The bulk of
my work is comprised of a porcelain or high-fire stoneware clay body, with a little work in raku or terra cotta thrown in for instant gratification and variety. After alteration and trimming, the pieces are dried to the greenware state and then bisque fired to
∆06 (1845oF) in preparation for glaze firing at ∆8/9 (2300oF). The entire multi-step process may take weeks and requires an efficient combination of time-management and multi-tasking!
Often, elements
are combined from both crafts into a single piece of work. For explorations in jewelry and metalsmithing,
I prefer to work in copper and sterling silver with added components of unique semi-precious stones, exotic media, and repurposed or found objects. Jewelry pieces are bench crafted one piece at a time, each component handmade. Some pieces are fabricated using cold-join methods and others are soldered when a more substantial connection is necessary. Jewelry processes used in the production of this work may include stamping, chasing and repousse, forging and mill rolling, enameling, wirework, stone setting, and open-face mold casting.
Sherri's Products
"Each piece of ceramics, sculpture or jewelry is crafted one at a time. No two are ever exactly alike, even within sets."
Porcelain and stoneware functional work is fired to ∆8/9, 2300oF. They are oven-proof, microwaveable, and dishwasher safe.
Terra cotta and raku objects are fired to ∆06, 1845oF. They are meant for decorative use as planters and home or garden ornaments. Ceramics work, especially decorative pieces, will often include a metal component.
Jewelry pieces are fabricated with copper, brass, and sterling silver, semi-precious stones, found objects, and natural materials. Elk and deer antler elements are only from natural sheds. Most chain links and findings are handmade.
Live Edge Furniture
"I've always had a fascination for beautiful wood and natural materials and I love to build things, so when I had some spare time last winter it was an easy transition to designing live edge cedar furniture with black iron industrial pipe fittings. I personally selected each slab for its unique character from wood harvested and milled by an Amish craftsman in the heart of the Ozarks. Each piece was carefully hand sanded and finished with three protective clear coats to enhance and preserve the natural beauty and rich color of the wood."
Visit These Links
Lawrence Potter's Guild: 
Eclectics Gallery: Website
First Art Gallery of Olathe: Website
|
