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| Christina Paraskevas Carlson This artist has a passion for art since a young age. At the age of 19, she began an apprenticeship with Goldsmith Lee Yarnell, in Red Bank N.J and studied gemology, jewelry design, and metalsmithing at the Fashion Institute of Technology, N.Y.C. She spent thirteen years learning to create unique pieces with metal and then turned her attention to clay. This became her life’s passion and she has never looked back. Over the past 15 years she has honed her skills while teaching others to follow their creative instincts. She has been instrumental in the organization and daily operations of the Creative Arts Center at Thompson Park, Lincroft N.J. and has also been a pottery instructor at the center for 15 years. In addition, she instructs special workshops and classes in alternative firing methods such as raku, pit, barrel and saggar fired pottery as well as horsehair and feather reduction.The path from goldsmith’s apprentice to potter has been an exciting twenty-four year journey. Christina lives in Lincroft N.J with her husband Jeff, their four children and loyal Corgi, Buddy. ARTIST STATEMENT Primitive firings using organic materials and salts to fume images onto burnished clay are what I find most interesting. I love the way the calm, smooth surface of a pit or saggar fired vessel is decorated with bursts of beautifully organic color that are an outcome of these out of control and unpredictable firing methods. It’s as if the chaos is trapped inside the surface of the pot. My shapes are deliberately smooth and clean to show off the colors and random patterns created by the firing process. Great effort and planning is put into creating each vessel to achieve a desired outcome. I will spend hours burnishing a piece to make it glisten and then I give it over to the fire. It is a very freeing experience to let them go and let nature take over. When it works, it is truly rewarding. EXHIBITS The Art Alliance of Monmouth County Selected August Gallery Show “Collaborations with Fire” 2014 WORKSHOP/CLASSES/EXPERIENCES Technical assistant to Bryan Quincannon 2005 – 2006
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