Gallery & Handcrafted Gifts              

Suzanne Stumpf

Artist’s Bio

Suzanne Stumpf has received national recognition for both her sculptural and functional ceramic creations. Her work is included in the 2009 Lark Books' 500 Ceramic Sculptures: Contemporary Practice, Singular Works, and in the 2011 book, 500 Raku: Bold Explorations of a Dynamic Ceramics Technique. Her work was featured in Ceramics Monthly magazine, when she was named one of nine 2005 Emerging Artists, and in 2008, she was awarded an Artist Fellowship from the Somerville Arts Council (MA). Other awards have included Second Prize in the 2004 Strictly Functional Pottery National in Lancaster, PA, (Susan Peterson, juror), and Honorable Mention Prizes in the national Vessels 2007 exhibition in Durham, NC, and the 2005 Arts Worcester Biennial, Worcester, MA. Since 2002, Suzanne’s work has been selected for over 25 juried regional, national, and international art and ceramics competitions across the United States 

Also a professional musician, Suzanne is on the faculty of Wellesley College where she teaches flute and chamber music. She is co-Artistic Director and flutist for the period instrument chamber ensemble Musicians of the Old Post Road, a winner of the Noah Greenberg Award from the American Musicological Society. She has recorded for Meridian, Telarc, and Titanic. 

Artist’s Statement

My life as a professional musician has happily allowed for much creative work. Yet, musical creativity takes place in the inherently intangible realm of the temporal. Thus the terrifically tangible process of creating in clay is an exhilarating contrast.

Since the outset of my work in clay, I have focused on making unique expressive objects. Textures and patterns found in nature provide inspiration for form and surface treatment in much of my work. I often employ only slips, underglazes, and oxide washes in order to let the clay speak most articulately. For several years, I have worked primarily with porcelain, finding in its fragility a challenging, but most aptly receptive claybody.

Since 2007, my work has included increasing numbers of multi-component and interactive sculptures that invite participation from the viewer. Most of these works have innumerable permutations for viewing. Perhaps also influenced from my background as a professional musician, these flexible sculptures allow for creating variations in the artwork such as might be experienced in the live performance of a musical composition from concert to concert.

  Gifts crafted by hand are treasured forever.....