On Display at the Livingston Public Library: September 2024

This September the Livingston Public Library is displaying the stunning works of ceramic artist Louise Wheeler.

Artist’s Statement

I have worked with clay as a hobby for over 20 years and have always been drawn to texture and non traditional forms and design. Over the years, as I continued to develop my own style, I drifted away from working on the wheel and began to focus on using clay slabs in combination with other materials. I started making textured bowls and platters, making impressions with lace or leaves, and adorning with feathers, beads, leather, and embroidery thread.

Around 7 years ago, I started making ceramic tiles drawing inspiration from the rich history of textile and fiber arts and craft. I wanted to honor the women around the world who have created beautiful patterns from fiber and fabric by knitting, crocheting, stamping, and sewing to make lace, doilies, quilts, and much more. Due to their delicate nature and their use as functional pieces, some of the most beautifully crafted quilts, lace, and doilies have been lost by wear and tear. Others are preserved in museums or handed down through the generations, but the classic patterns continue to be used today. I use block printing stamps, lace, and doilies (many found at rummage sales) to make textured tiles, glazed to highlight the patterns, and stitched or assembled to make what I call Clay Quilts. I recreate quilt patterns or motifs as an homage to all the beautiful textiles and fiber art that have been made by women over the centuries.

Building upon that concept, I also started making tiles decorated with nail polish. The nail polish allowed me to use a different color palette and achieve a different level of precision in pattern and layered colors. It was fun to reinterpret the schoolhouse quilt pattern and go in different directions with the possibilities of tiles and nail polish.

In my exhibit at the Livingston Public Library, I am displaying examples of my ceramics made between 2015 and 2024. Some of the notables include the beaded bowl, which received the Martha Barnes for excellence in ceramics in the 2015 member show at Visual Art Center of NJ, the blue and white stitched tiles which were among the first of my clay quilt series, and the nail polish series, which I’m totally obsessed with even though they are very smelly and fussy to make.

Biography

Louise Wheeler and her husband, Sanjay Patel, live in New Providence where they raised two sons. She is active in the community, volunteering with the NPML Friends of the Library as art curator and also on the NP Public Arts Committee. She has been going to the Visual Arts Center of NJ (VACNJ) in Summit for 20 years and has taught classes in making Clay Quilts and Glazing workshops. Louise enjoys sharing her creations, creative process, and sources of inspiration and has had pieces in group and solo shows in NJ and PA. In addition to her artistic interests, Louise enjoys tutoring math, playing table tennis and pickleball, and fostering cats.

Louise can be reached at Lolowheeler@gmail.com or at 908 477 7463