Artist Biography
Over the past 15 years Paul Jeselskis has developed a line of functional and decorative porcelain pottery. His work has won numerous awards and is widely recognized across the United States. He shows at art fairs throughout the Midwest, in Colorado and New England, and he is represented in a number of galleries.
Paul first forms his work on a potter’s wheel and then carves and manipulates the surfaces. He uses a high fire porcelain clay body that he has developed, along with a variety of bright colorful glazes that are easy on the eye and durable. Paul fires his work in one of several kilns that he has built, both gas and electric.
The most difficult of the glazes is the red. Reds in high-fire porcelain come from copper carbonate in the glaze. To achieve reds from copper you need a carbon based atmosphere in the kiln at specific temperature points in the firing cycle. Potters always seem to struggle with this glaze. Paul took that as a challenge back in undergraduate school and made it a point to develop a copper red glaze that was easy to work with and reliable. Now, 19 years later, after many changes in materials, Paul has a dependable and reliable copper red glaze.
Unwilling to be confined to one medium, Paul is also involved in furniture design, painting, photography, and sculpture. He finds it important to keep his work fresh, and each medium stimulates the others.
Paul earned an MFA in Ceramics with a minor in painting from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in1987. After completing a residency at Millersville University of Pennsylvania in 1988, Paul moved back to the Chicago area to set up a studio in 1989.
Paul has taught at Indiana University Northwest and has offered workshops in kiln building, glaze chemistry, throwing techniques and sculptural techniques. He draws upon his extensive knowledge of ceramic history and glaze chemistry for the creation of his classic and artistic pottery forms.
Work Available For Sale
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