| ARTIST BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: | Barbara Tipton is a ceramic artist, teacher and writer. She earned a BFA in Ceramics from the Memphis College of Art, and an MFA from Ohio State University, staying on in Ohio to build a studio practice. She moved to Southern Alberta in 1986 following her marriage to fellow potter, John Chalke. She established a Calgary studio, and taught at both the University of Calgary and at ACAD. She retired from teaching in 2013.
Barbara creates functional ware, as well as objects intended primarily for the eye and mind. The process of making each type of work reinforces and informs the making of the other. Many of her sculptural objects are centred on the cup and saucer. Her sculptural cups are wheel-thrown forms, altered and assembled into 3-D shapes – some are still obviously cups and saucers, others only barely recall that origin. She often works rapidly, so that the clay retains a fresh quality. These forms are complemented by exuberant glazes, often inspired by art-historical styles. Works such as “Wedgewood Inchoate” or “Baroque Sides with Golden Twist” (both 2013) display the familiar colour combination or ornamentations of their titles. Alternatively, some hand-painted bowl designs are inspired by mediaeval manuscripts. Tapping into memories, Tipton is guided by whimsy, and deliberately allows for ambiguity in her work.
She has had several solo exhibits at the Willock & Sax Gallery in Banff, as well as across Alberta and Canada, and at the Columbus College of Art and Design, Ohio. Her work was included in the Cheongju International Craft Biennale, Cheongju, South Korea in 2009, and displayed at the Museum of Vancouver as part of the Cultural Olympiad activities for the 2010 Winter Olympics. She is included in many publications such as The Best of Pottery (Rockport Publishers, 1996), 500 Cups by Lark Publishing (2004), and Soda, Clay and Fire by Gail Nichols (2006). She has been a member of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), and served on the Board of Directors for the Alberta Potters’ Association and the Alberta Craft Council, also receiving the Alberta Craft Council Award of Excellence in 2006.
Her work is held in collections in Canada, the US and England, including at the University of Alberta Permanent Collection, Edmonton; the Glenbow Museum, Calgary; the Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa; the Ohio State University, and the San Angelo Museum of Art, Texas.
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