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Delores Fortuna

Delores Fortuna


In her Galena, Illinois studio, ceramic artist, Delores Fortuna uses basic wheel thrown shapes as her starting points.  The clay wall defines both the silhoutte of the form and records that time-event process of throwing.  The wall becomes a fabric - a diary rich with gestural marks and intent.  Much as a seamstress cuts and folds cloth to make a garment, Delores uses clay as a fabric to shape vessels.  The clay and glazes are often her own formulation; fired to stoneware temperatures of 2374 degrees in a gas reducing kiln vitrifying the procelian clays and glazes.  The surfaces are food safe, usable in diswashers, microwaves, & gas/electric ovens.

Delores describes this forming function much like a dance, often a tug-of-war between thought and object- making.  Add to this the joy of working with clays as responsive as porcelain and surfaces possible only through glass fusion - a dynamic is created that has become her life-long fascination.