View Jim Kraft’s works featured on Ceramics Now Magazine
“My work in clay has been a succession/evolution of ideas over a thirty year period. I take certain elements that “work” in one series and often build the next series based on those elements. That could include the color of the clay body, the colors of the surface treatment, the texture of the surface, the form or the building technique.
I enjoy working with the idea in mind of smaller parts making up the whole. Tiles covering a wall. Vessels made with coil and brick-like pieces, or cut and torn clay parts that make a vessel look basket-like. The vessel form appeals to me on a level that I don’t understand. It is a sort of mystery. When I am out in the world and see such a form I am immediately drawn to it. As much as I am concerned with surface texture it is ultimately the simple form of a vessel that appeals to my eye.
I would like to think my work, and the act of making the work, connects me with past cultures who used the same materials to make vessels for ceremony or everyday use. I like the idea of being a part of the long history of people making things with their hands.” Jim Kraft
→ Jim Kraft was featured in the first printed issue of Ceramics Now Magazine.
Jim Kraft’s C.V. (resume) – View his works
EDUCATION
1978-1979 – Bachelor of Fine Arts, Ceramics, For mural commission inquiries e-mail:
– University of Washington, Seattle, Washington jimkraft@cablespeed.com
1976-1977 – Ceramics, Factory of Visual Arts, gallery affiliations
– Seattle, Washington
1970-1973 – Bachelor of Arts, Ceramics, Northern Michigan
– University, Marquette, Michigan
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2008 – Pacini Lubel Gallery, Seattle Waqshington
– Hibberd McGrath Gallery, Breckenridge, Colorado
2007 – Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, Washington
– Butters Gallery, Portland,Oregon
2005 – Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
– Hibberd McGrath Gallery, Breckenridge, Colorado
– Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, Washington
2004 – Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, Washington
– Gallery Materia, Scottsdale, Arizona
2003 – Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, Washington
– Hibbard McGrath, Breckenridge, Colorado
2002 – Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, Washington
– Freed Gallery, Lincoln City, Oregon
2000 – Foster/White Gallery, Kirkland, Washington
– Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan
– Hanson Howard Gallery, Ashland, Oregon
– Cole Pratt Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana
– Simon Edwards Gallery, Yakima, Washington
1999 – Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, Washington
– Freed Gallery, Lincoln City, Oregon
1998 – Edward Cain Gallery, Port Townsend, Washington
– Freed Gallery, Lincoln City, Oregon
– Cole Pratt Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana
– Simon Edwards Gallery, Yakima, Washington
1997 – Foster/White Gallery, Kirkland, Washington
– Hanson Howard Gallery, Ashland, Oregon
1996 – Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, Washington
– Cole Pratt Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana
– Gallery at Salishan, Glenden Beach, Oregon
1995 – Hanson Howard Gallery, Ashland, Oregon
1994 – Foster/White Gallery, Kirkland, Washington
– Maveety Gallery, Salishan, Oregon
1993 – Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, Washington
1991 – Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, Washington
1990 – Maveety Gallery, Salishan, Oregon
– Maveety Gallery, Portland, Oregon
– Franklin House Gallery, Port Townsend, Washington
1989 – Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, Washington
1988 – Maveety Gallery, Portland, Oregon
1987 – Gumps Gallery, San Francisco, California
1986 – Maveety Gallery, Portland, Oregon
1985 – Contemporary Crafts Gallery, Portland, Oregon
1983 – Oregon School of Arts and Crafts, Portland, Oregon
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1993 – “Group Clay Exhibition in Honor of the Northwest Clay Symposium”, Foster/White Gallery, Kirkland, Washington
– “Year of American Craft,” Maveety Gallery, Salishan, Oregon
– “Recent Work by Gallery Artists,” Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, Washington
1992-93 – “Foster/White Gallery Ceramics Exhibition”, Sea-Tac International Airport, Seattle, Washington
1990 Fifth Annual Monarch Tile National Ceramic Competition, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo, Texas
– “Contemporary Crafts”, Graham Horstman Gallery,Denton, Texas
– “An Exhibition of Contemporary Northwest Art Using Animal Imagery”, Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles, Washington
1989 – “Clay and Clay Plus,” Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, Washington Ninth Annual Northwest International Art Competition, Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, Washington
– “Clay ’89”, Langman Gallery, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania
1988 – “Clay and Canvas”, Contemporary Craft Gallery, Portland, Oregon
1987 “Functional Abandon: Clay as Canvas”, Safeco Insurance Co., Seattle, Washington
1986 – “Four Person Show”, Himovitz/Salomon Gallery, Sacramento, California
– “Animals: Contemporary Visions”, Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan
1985 – “Animal Sculpture”, San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California
1984 – American Ceramics National, Downey Museum of Art, Downey, California
– “Clay 1984: National Survey Exhibition”, Traver Sutton Gallery, Seattle, Washington
82/79/77 – Pacific Northwest Arts and Crafts, Bellevue, Washington
81/79/77 – Annual Washington State Painting and Sculpture Show, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, Washington
– Edmonds Art Festival, Cash Award, Edmonds, Washington
1980 – Tacoma Art Museum Crafts, Cash Award, Tacoma, Washington
– “Governor’s Invitational Art Exhibit”, Capitol Museum, Olympia, Washington
1977 – “Seattle Ceramics”, University of Portland Art Gallery, Portland, Oregon
– “Marietta College Crafts Exhibition”, Museum of History and Industry, Marietta, Ohio
– “Northwest Crafts Exhibition”, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, Washington
SPECIAL AWARDS
1978-79 – Recipient of two Ford Foundation Grants
COMISSIONS
1989 – Washington State Arts Commission, Lewis and Clark Elementary School, Wenatchee, Washington
1988 – Washington State Arts Commission, Eatonville Middle School, Eatonville, Washington
PUBLICATIONS
– “The Spirit of Ceramic Design” by Robert Piepenburg, Pebble Press Ann Arbor, Michigan, page 36 2009
– “Postmodern Paperist Shares Space with Pastoral Ceramicist,” by Judy Wagonfeld, Seattle Post Intelligencer, June 18, 2004, page 21
– “Portuguese Accents”, by Sheila Farr, Seattle Times, Seattle, Washington, February, 2002
– Feature photo, “Potters Wheel of Fortune”, by Karen Sandstrom, Arts and Living Section, Cleveland Plain Dealer, pages 1-E and 8-E. Nov., 1997
– “The Spirit of Clay” by Robert Piepenburg, Pebble Press, Farmington HIlls, MI, pages 86-87, 1996
– “Making Vessels” Ceramics Monthly, September, pages 63-64, 1995
– Photos, “ Portfolio” selection, American Craft, August/September, Vol 55, No. 4, page 50, 1992.
– “Jim Kraft at Foster/White,” by Suzanne Carmichael, American Ceramics, January,Vol. 9, No.4, page 50 1992
– Photo, “Gallery” selection, American Craft, August/September, 1992
– Feature, “UpFront” Ceramics Monthly, December, pages 10-12, 1991
– Photo, “Goings On,” Seattle Weekly, July 10, page 23, 1991
– Feature, “News and Retrospect,” Ceramics Monthly, December, page 66, 1989
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
– The Boeing Company, Seattle,Washington
– Delta Airlines, Portland International Airport, Portland Oregon
– Gateway Associates, AT & T Gateway Tower, Seattle, Washington
– Henry Ford Communicty College, Dearborn, Michigan
– Kaiser Permanete, Northwest Region
– Multnomah Arts Commission, Portland, Oregon
– Nora Eccles Harrison Museum, Logan, Utah
– The Norman Company, Seattle, WA
– Safeco Insurance Company, California and Alaska
– Swedish Medical Center, Seattle, Washington
– Vulcan, Inc., Seattle, Washington
– Westin Hotel, Seattle, Washington
– Boise Art Museum, Boise, Idaho
Visit Jim Kraft’s website.
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