Ruth Easterbrook
Philadelphia, PA
Biography
Ruth Easterbrook is a ceramic artist and instructor who makes a variety of pottery forms with complex glazed surfaces. First introduced to clay in high school she began her studies attending Syracuse University for her BFA in ceramics (2007). Over the years Ruth has gained skills and experience as a production potter, intern at art centers, and assisting various artists. As her career advanced Ruth has been a resident artist at Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Harvard Ceramics Program, and earned her MFA in ceramics at Alfred University (2019). Currently, Ruth is one of the Artists in Residence at The Clay Studio Philadelphia, where she continues her studio practice. Ruth Easterbrook has been awarded NCECA Emerging Artist 2020 and Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist in 2022, her work can be found in private and museum collections throughout the USA.
Artist Statement
I make pottery as an active participant in the coming together of people, and the pleasures of food. Sharing a beautifully prepared meal creates a celebration. I make pieces of service and I make interaction. Decisions in design facilitate containing, presenting, and serving in the daily lives of others. My detailed surfaces enhance the importance of a moment—attentive handling that leads to discovery and pleasure. Wildflowers and gardening from my upbringing in Northern California inspire floral motifs. After my home and neighborhood were destroyed by the Fire Storms of 2017 these flowers began to represent both place and time. While the structures are gone the flowers have returned to their familiar places demonstrating resilience and new life. My forms embody generosity and communicate utility that welcomes interaction. Using a palette of glazes from matte to glossy I map out the decoration to collaborate with the movement of the glaze as they flux and stretch across the pots surface. My decorations become fluid as they melt in the heat shifting and adjusting to the form and its multiple planes. I welcome happenstance and embrace the power of the heat as it transforms wet earth into rock and ground rocks into a subtle range of glazes.
