Pennie Ebsen

Duration: january-march 2022

Three years ago, Pennie Ebsen retired from teaching art with plans to develop her art practice with her new-found chunk of time; instead, life and the pandemic happened. Now, as a resident artist, Pennie aims to develop her art-making practice in a satisfying way and claim focused time for creative efforts and artistic growth.

Pennie has been a potter who creates work to enhance the small things in daily life: eating, drinking, celebrating with flowers, candles, or wine, and so forth; however, she would like to take a sculptural detour, and maybe, in the detour, there will be a new path. During her time in New Harmony, she plans to explore form, surface, complexity, and support of stacked sculpture “towers” that integrate with outdoor landscapes.

quick facts

How many years have you been working as a clay artist? I have been working with clay for 25 years

What is your main clay body that you currently use? Currently, my preferred clay is high fire stoneware.

What is the primary method you use for building your work? Most of the work I make is thrown on the wheel. I often do simple alterations.

What is your favorite studio tool? My hands, my mind, my heart. My hands act out the ideas in my head and my heart instills the passion for clay work.

Do you have any future clay wishes or dreams? My own studio space to work and experiment with my clay ideas, and the time to use it. Which is why I am so grateful for this opportunity. The time and space to dedicate to bring ideas to form, and the opportunity to experiment as I work.

ARTIST STATEMENT

From the moment I learned to transform clay with my fingers, the clay began to transform me. The experience of managing a lump of clay into a mug or a bowl form ignites a flame of creative energy that moves into all areas of my life. The simple satisfaction of using the forms I have created completes a circle that started with a simple idea and a ball of clay. Functionality, beauty, and accessibility matter to me.  My pots should work well for their intended purpose and look good while they are working. They should be affordable so that buyers are comfortable to use them daily.  

When I sell a vase or a mug, I co-create with the new owner of my work. I start with the clay to create a form, glaze, and fire it and pass the positive energy to someone else, who perhaps has a vision for tulips to elevate the center of their table or someone else who groups my candlesticks with others to create an artful vignette in their home.  I delight in being the first step in the collaboration and relax into the mystery of not knowing with whom I share the vision or where my creation will land.

BIOGRAPHY

BORN: New Haven, Connecticut | USA

Pennie Ebsen is an artist/educator living and working in Oak Park, IL. She came to clay reluctantly and embraced it immediately on experiencing its transformational qualities. Pennie received her Masters of Education from University of Illinois at Chicago and her Bachelor of Art from Stetson University. She earned her teacher certification from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Pennie taught art in public schools for 20 years, with a focus on high school ceramics. Lively engagement in the classroom developed into a wheel throwing club which sponsored a fundraiser linked with the national Empty Bowls movement, as well as high level student work that was exhibited and received awards at national exhibitions. 

As a functional potter, Ebsen aims to enhance the gathering around the family table with comfortable and beautiful dinnerware, serving dishes, and flower vases. The residency at the New Harmony Clay Project has offered Ebsen time and space to create both successfully and not so successfully and to experiment with sculptural ideas while offering a foray into salt firing with her fellow residents. With time and curiosity, Pennie has plans to work sculpturally with stacking landscape towers and experiment with integrating clay forms with vintage found objects.