Beatrice Wood
* Slide 1: my artist of choice is Beatrice Wood. Here is a black and white image of her on a
potter’s wheel throwing what looks like a pot or vessel.
* Slide 2: she was born in 1893 in San Francisco to wealthy, overprotective parents. 5 years later,
Beatrice spent a year in Europe which included being exposed to various types of art. This made
Beatrice interested in art and ruined her mother’s plans for Beatrice. Eventually, Beatrice’s mom
sided with her on being a painter and Beatrice was enrolled in The Academy Julian (pronounced
jewlian) located in France. I am not going to try to pronounce the city’s name. Beatrice did not
like it there and sometime in the late 1930s, she studied ceramics with Glen Lukens.
* Slide 3: how Beatrice got interested in ceramics started with a set of baroque (pronounced ba
rok) dessert plates. She really wanted a matching teapot with her dessert plates, and she could not
find one. So, Beatrice decided to make her own and enrolled in a ceramics course at a high
school in 1933. Making pottery like store bought teapots proved to be challenging to her and, she
was determined to push on. A few years later, Beatrice rented a small artisan shop in Sunset
Boulevard where she created, displayed, and sold her ceramics. Once her career was established
well enough, Beatrice built a home in Ojai (pronounced oh hi) where she continued her works in
ceramics. Before I move onto the pieces, I want to say the firing style may or may not be correct
for each works of art.
* Slide 4: this piece is made from earthenware and glaze that probably has clear glaze because
some of the surface looks reflective. This clown figurine depicts what I like to call a classic
clown because of its white face, big red lips, blushing red cheeks, giant ruffled collar, polka
dotted suit, and large shoes. I am not about the large hands being a classic clown trait and, the
tall, conical hat is fitting because the hat reminds me of dunce caps.
* Slide 1: my artist of choice is Beatrice Wood. Here is a black and white image of her on a
potter’s wheel throwing what looks like a pot or vessel.
* Slide 2: she was born in 1893 in San Francisco to wealthy, overprotective parents. 5 years later,
Beatrice spent a year in Europe which included being exposed to various types of art. This made
Beatrice interested in art and ruined her mother’s plans for Beatrice. Eventually, Beatrice’s mom
sided with her on being a painter and Beatrice was enrolled in The Academy Julian (pronounced
jewlian) located in France. I am not going to try to pronounce the city’s name. Beatrice did not
like it there and sometime in the late 1930s, she studied ceramics with Glen Lukens.
* Slide 3: how Beatrice got interested in ceramics started with a set of baroque (pronounced ba
rok) dessert plates. She really wanted a matching teapot with her dessert plates, and she could not
find one. So, Beatrice decided to make her own and enrolled in a ceramics course at a high
school in 1933. Making pottery like store bought teapots proved to be challenging to her and, she
was determined to push on. A few years later, Beatrice rented a small artisan shop in Sunset
Boulevard where she created, displayed, and sold her ceramics. Once her career was established
well enough, Beatrice built a home in Ojai (pronounced oh hi) where she continued her works in
ceramics. Before I move onto the pieces, I want to say the firing style may or may not be correct
for each works of art.
* Slide 4: this piece is made from earthenware and glaze that probably has clear glaze because
some of the surface looks reflective. This clown figurine depicts what I like to call a classic
clown because of its white face, big red lips, blushing red cheeks, giant ruffled collar, polka
dotted suit, and large shoes. I am not about the large hands being a classic clown trait and, the
tall, conical hat is fitting because the hat reminds me of dunce caps.
