THE WHEEL TURNS FOR CERAMICIST RUTH ALLAN IN NEW RETROSPECTIVE AT THE MAC GALLERY

BY mike irwin

artist’s statement for the show. “I strive to create artwork that inspires the viewer.”

Ruth

Allan’s life in art and ceramics is on full display this March in a comprehensive exhibit that includes a retrospective of her techniques, materials and creative thinking.

Dozens of decorative porcelain vessels will fill Wenatchee Valley College’s Music & Art Center (MAC) gallery through March 23. The free exhibit — Ruth E. Allan: Looking Forward, Reaching Back — is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Allan will present a slide lecture on her work at 4 p.m., Friday, March 3, in the MAC Grove Recital Hall, followed by a First Fridays Arts Walk reception from 5 to 7 p.m.

“For me, working in art has been a main focus, expression, recreation, means of contributing to the community and enriching my family,” writes Allan in her

The collection demonstrates decades of development of her signature ceramic techniques — saggar and Raku kilnfiring methods — along with glazing and carving artistry that have produced her one-of-a-kind masterworks.

A Washington State native, Allan grew up on a Puget Sound farm where her love of nature and an early devotion to the arts nourished a passion for drawing, painting, carving and working with clay. She has curated local art exhibits and taught workshops at universities, festivals and potters’ groups. Her works have been featured in publications around the globe.

“Art has been a source of inspiration while raising five children, teaching, creating museum exhibits and working for arts in the community,” says her biography accompanying the exhibit.