An Exhibition of Ceramics by Terry Shepherd and Paintings by Deborah Cope
December 1, 2023- January 26, 2024
Sponsored by Chuck and Patti Shear / Shear Inc
Opening reception Friday, December 1, 2023, 6:30-9pm
Terry Shepherd, The Art Center’s Director of Ceramics, has led the Art Center’s ceramic studio since 1984. With a career spanning 52 years, he is a highly respected ceramic artist and educator and has studied and worked with Paul Soldner and many other accomplished ceramic artists. Before moving back to Grand Junction in 1983, Shepherd developed and worked out of his first studio in El Jebel, Colorado, from 1972 to 1983. Each year in December Shepherd exhibits new work alongside a selected guest artist. This year he has invited Deborah Cope, a Fruita, Colorado area artist to show with him. Cope is an accomplished painter, collage and mixed media artist with a lifetime of creating her art with passion and dedication.
Shepherd’s part of the exhibit features a wide variety of ceramic forms, a majority of which are functional stoneware vessel forms, and some altered sculptural forms inspired by natural forms such as river rock and stylized figurative contours. Shepherd fires much of his work in alternative firing processes such as low salt vapor, Raku, and saggar firing. His high curiosity and pursuit of serendipitous results leads him to take risks and embrace the firing process as a main player in the final color and shading of clay forms with oftentimes surprising and unexpected embellishment. The low salt vapor and saggar-fired work is a result of deliberate placement of pieces in the direct flame path of the kiln. Vapors from sodium, and copper and iron metal oxides result in the sublime and dramatic embellishment as a record of the flame path. Lush shading of reduced copper and other elements such as salt-brined grasses and steel wool interact with the clay and slip. His functional work is a testament to his demands for high craftmanship and celebration of gestural brushwork in design and color.
“I like the work to communicate a personal and visual language of the maker and firing process, while celebrating the strength and essence of form and the lively spirit of clay and its ability to dress up, titillate our senses, and embellish life as enhanced by the hand. I aim to make work that excites and brings joy and mystery to the viewer.
“I’m pleased and honored to have Deborah Cope show with me. I’ve known Debbie for over thirty years and have several of her paintings. This will be the first time a large body of her work is available to the public, and I get excited by her creative approach to making art. She uses confident techniques of drawing and color juxtaposition in uniquely very personal expressive ways to engage the viewer. Some of her collage/ paintings engage my interest in a lingering wonderment of visual celebration of her use of color and drawing that doesn’t reveal itself as obvious but invites my interest to keep looking and see more layers of joyful discovery over a period of time. If you’re not familiar with her work, come on by, take a long look and I think it will inspire a smile and moments of wonderment.”
Shepherd’s work is in many private collections nationwide and in public collections including The Soldner Center for Art and Innovation (Aspen, CO), Colorado Mesa University (Grand Junction, CO), and The Art Center (Grand Junction, CO). He is represented by Penryn Gallery (Penryn, CA), The Blue Pig Gallery (Palisade, CO), and The Ago Gallery (Ouray, CO).
Deborah Cope says of her work, “The compelling and consistent drive to make art has been the defining purpose of my life. I was six years old when I started painting seriously, starting with everyday objects — my bedroom door, later the kitchen cupboard door, rocks, paper, and, to her strong dismay, my mother's shoes. After the shoe incident, I began to explore painting with more conventional art materials, and at 72 I am still a working artist. Sharing and exhibiting my art has gifted me with an exciting life involving international travel, prestigious invitations, and wonderful and interesting friends along the way. My early career involved exhibiting at galleries and selling paintings to collectors all over the world. Later my focus shifted to public works and permanent collections in hospitals, universities, and other public collections on permanent display. My sole objective is to make beautiful paintings that bring joy to people.”