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About the artist
Bill Grange
Watercolors and Pottery
Originally from north western Minnesota, Bill and his family settled in the Brainerd Lakes area of Central Minnesota. With a Master’s Degree in Art and Education, Bill taught high school art until he retired in 1999. During his teaching career, Bill spent his “recreational” time making pottery and painting in the medium of watercolor. Now that he is retired, he as become a full time studio artist.
Bill became interested in pottery while taking summer course work through the University of Montana in the early 1960’s. There he studied under (and made good friends with) Rudy Autio, Peter Voulkos, and James Leedy. These three men, along with Soji Hamada and Warren MacKenzi, are the founders of the American Pottery Society.
Typical characteristics of Bill’s pottery are
A hand built rose, holly berries, or leaves
Blue or green(ish) glaze
Painting of northern scenery in cobalt directly into wet clay
Northern scenery imprinted into or cut out of the piece with more than one glaze to define the imagry.
All of his pottery is safe for food, oven, and dishwasher
Of late, Bill has been working with clay from Georgia. This clay comes in several natural earth colors and has a texture he especially likes for shaping on the wheel. Often he glazes the inside of the piece, keeping the natural beauty of the clay to the outside.
Bill is no slouch as a water color artist either. There is a poetic sensitivity toward the subjects of his work. Subtle secondary color use enhances his work and captures the viewer. Bill’s watercolors and his pottery have won him numerous awards and have been purchased by people from all over the country.
To quote Bill, “Art should be for everyone. I don’t want to limit myself to a specific subject, (though I love to portray landscapes and nature), size or price range. Everyone who wants to, should be able to afford something of mine”
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