About Me

Background:
I've been an artist all my life. Both sides of family have included professional artists.
I received a BFA from Tyler School of Fine Art and an MFA from the University of Chicago which included the Frances Freedman Award.
I then taught Ceramics and Drawing for 35 years at Oakton College, Des Plaines, Il.
I have always been an exhibiting artist, a practicing artist.
I recently began teaching at TAC in Highland Park, Il. Working with students again is refreshing and I enjoy it.

Personal Statement:
1. Technical skill is necessary and important, but not as important to me as the priority to play and synthesize. For me technical proficiency is developed to meet the need of the work. When students learn in this environment they can grow/evolve during a career.
I want to keep the inventive process open as long as possible. The result is work that is not executed.
It is work that's grown.
2. For many years I worked with clay. For the most recent pieces I developed a porcelain of extreme translucency. These pieces must stand on there own and with display illumination are transformed by the light.

I have always worked with clay in my studio and I have always drawn and painted on vacations. During the isolation of COVID I began painting daily. The first subjects in "Landscape" were done where I live near Chicago, Il.
Since travel became available again Amsterdam/London, St. Kitts, Antartica and Alaska are the subjects in "Recent Paintings".

Some people find implied narratives in some of these paintings.
People find it in paintings by Diebenkorn, Hopper, Matisse and many other artists. It is not new.
For some people these stories, these questions a painting create, give dimension to the painting that is personal.

Info on materials:
1. "Recent Paintings" are often fairly large, 48"x32" acrylic on prepared board. "Landscapes" are similar size, with some of them using watercolor paint without thinning. Paintings in the "Landscape" section were done earlier during Covid.
The smallest paintings in my website are 9"x14".
2. To be maximally translucent the porcelain I developed is not really malleable, contains little clay. The "Translucent Porcelain" pieces are moderate size, from 12"x15" to 3"x4".
Enjoy, Peter Hessemer