Living with Dying: Grief, Loss, Beauty and Joy
Teapot and Moon, clayboard, 10 x 8 inches, 2016
Laura Pharis was born and raised in Roanoke, Virginia, received a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University, a Directress's Certificate from the Association Montessori Internationale, a Diploma in Special Advanced Studies in Printmaking at the Central School of Art and Design in London, England, and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She managed the Richmond Printmaking Workshop for seven years. She was a founding member of One/Off, a group of printmakers, and has travelled to work in printmaking workshops in London and Ireland. She is professor of Studio Art at Sweet Briar College in Virginia. Her art has appeared on the covers of CDs by Robbie Wells, Mike Seeger, Elke Baker, and Nicolas Ross, and the covers of books of poetry by Allison Seay and Susan Hankla. She is also an enthusiastic traditional musician, singing and playing the fiddle.
About Teapot and Moon Laura writes:
Comfort and pleasure comes from making; the hand and the sensual reward of messing with tactile materials. Although nothing can ever be perfect or free of errors, (I've given up on trying for that), I do try for some level of craft. I'm interested in beauty. Sometimes an artist makes a piece of work that just demands to come through them. The piece in this show was the first thing I made after my long-time good friend and fiddle teacher died. The point of view is looking down on a small still-life of assembled objects; teapot, book, tailpiece, fishing lure, etc.