Having a deeply rooted love of the Arts and Crafts movement and in particular the tiles fabricated during that time, since 1998 I have been creating large hand-pressed ceramic tiles and their plain or tile accented toned wooden frames for the purpose of artistic display. Infusing the concepts of the Arts and Crafts movement with nuances of Asian artwork, the art generated by the Pre-Raphaelites and that created during the Art Nouveau period, my goal has been to design and glaze figural, animal and landscape tiles that, displayed in my tile embellished wooden frames, have symbolic meaning and take the viewer someplace special. Considered part of the overall artistic intent, I make and color the tile frame accents as well as the oak frame for each art tile as its color, design and symbolism are integral to the glazed art tile it surrounds. Also unique in color and design each art tile contains 3-20 hand applied glazes and is high fired in a gas kiln to cone 10 (2350°F.).
BIO
Born in Dearborn, Michigan in 1955 Linda has been drawing and creating art since the age of three. Her artistic skills were greatly encouraged by her parents, eventually enabling her to attend Our Lady of Mercy High School in Farmington Hills, Michigan because it had a very strong art program that exposed her to a wide variety of mediums and included an annual student show from which a lot of her work was sold. With her strong interest in art, in 1973 Linda went to Michigan State University, in East Lansing, Michigan where as an undergraduate she dual majored in studio art and art history. However, she was eager to find a way to combine the two more specifically so while still in Michigan she expanded her background with pre-medical science courses in chemistry, biology and physics and in 1981 went to Buffalo State College, in New York for graduate study in the field of art conservation, specializing in the conservation of paintings which she continues to do today at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in Indianapolis, Indiana. Amid this background Linda has always maintained some type of artistic activity as a means of providing a creative counter-part to the tedious and patient work demanded of a conservator. Within this context in 1998 she began creating large ceramic tiles and the wooden frames that surround them. Emphasizing the style exemplified in the Arts and Crafts movement and infusing these concepts with nuances of Asian artwork, the artwork generated by the Pre-Raphaelites and that created during the Art Nouveau period her goal has been to design and glaze figural, animal and landscape tiles that, when viewed in her tile embellished wooden frames, have symbolic meaning and take the viewer someplace special. A Roycroft Artisan since 2007 Linda continues to work in the Arts and Crafts style while embodying the Roycroft concepts of “Head, Heart and Hand”. Available for sale her work can be seen in prominent Arts & Crafts Shows and Galleries.
MASTER