I am so chuffed to be able to share with you some truly wonderful ceramics by Nancy Gardner and Burt Isenstein. Based in Burt’s hometown of Chicago, they work out of a small studio attached to the garage in their garden.
The forms are whimsical and very, very fun; reminiscent of weird cacti, sea creatures and cartoon characters; I love their crazy rich colours, and their clash of bright patterns. Stripes with florals and checks? Yes please! Spots over circles over stripes? Why thank you! They look like the sorts of things that Olive Oyl might have decorated her house with, or perhaps even David Hockney.
nancy and burt – orange teapot with floating circles
nancy and burt – wide load bottle
They both have impeccable track records. Nancy has a BFA and MFA in Ceramics, and Burt has an MFA as well. He also teaches in the Foundations program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has taught college ceramics, and is currently teaching drawing to architecture students a couple of times a year.The line of homewares for their Etsy shop NancyandBurt comes from Nancy’s work, as Burt’s work is more oriented to sculpture, and they have been collaborating on pottery since their first son was born in 1988. “When we decided to do this as a business, it kind of grew out what I was already doing, so I am probably more the creative and he is more the business. That said, there is a lot of discussion and collaboration on exactly what we will produce and he is also the technical guy that figures out how to get the glaze to fit and how things are fired.”
nancy and burt – diamond shaped pitcher with four feet in blue and green
Ever since she was young, Nancy has always had to be busy with her hands – drawing, painting, collage – she particularly loved copying the fashion illustrations in the newspaper. She hasn’t stopped, and her sense of childlike fun permeates each piece.
She uses quite simple, basic handbuilding techniques to make her quirky forms. “Slab, coil – mostly stuff everyone learns in beginning ceramics class. I suspect I’ve refined these basic techniques a bit, since I use them so much.”
nancy and burt – eccentric lineup
nancy and burt – collection
I asked Nancy what had been her worst experience as an artist. Surprisingly for someone with such an extensive CV, numerous awards to her name and obvious expertise, she still counted rejection from shows as the thing that hurt the most. “It happens all the time and I still hate it. You think you would get used to it, and I am to an extent, but it still stings. You just have to keep working, with the faith that another show will materialize and it usually does.”
And I really don’t think this will stop Nancy from playing and working in the studio any time soon.
Nancy Gardner – sketchbook1
Nancy Gardner – sketchbook2
nancy and burt – studio1
nancy gardner at the studio
You can find more work on their websites nancygardnerceramics.com, nancyandburt.com, and on their Etsy site, NancyandBurt.
So good to see a good and sensitive article about my friend Nancy who truly deserves more attention as an artist than she gets! Along with what you covered she and Burt are wonderful and generous colleagues (our studios are less than a mile from each other). Thank you!
Thanks so much for dropping by, Mary. Yes, the work deserves more attention – I LOVE Nancy’s work! It’s rich and lovely and funny and always makes me smile. Thank you!
Just found your blog today and I’ve loving the artists you cover (some I’ve seen at shows and exhibits, others are new to me). Got your RSS feed so I’ll be seeing you around. Keep up the good work.
Thank you so much 🙂 Yes, there is some truly wonderful art out there, and some very interesting people behind it!