Sandra Blain

Sandra Blain resides in Knoxville and has taught at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. For many years she also directed the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Blain in her artist statement writes: " Sculptural forms provide volumes for surface manipulation and marking the influence of pattern as evidenced through eclectic array of historical, environmental, natural and man-made systems of organization. Significant in the construction of form and surface impressions is the inherent quality of clay - the process that enables the medium to capture sand record the spontaneity of a direct tactile experience. Manipulated and assembled hand built forms impressed with organic and inorganic materials serve as metaphors for landscape elements. Often the surface reveal a personal narrative experienced on daily walks. Slips and glazes are drawn, brushed, stamped, stenciled and airbrushed on the surface of the pieces during various intervals of a multiple firing process. A sense of depth and visual complexity is the result of layering techniques, ideas, and images."(http://web.utk.edu/~art/faculty/blain.html 5-1-08)ProfessorDirector Emeritus, Arrowmont School of Arts and CraftsM.F.A.University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee . 1972Honors + Awards:Honored with Gallery Dedication, Sandra J. Blain Gallery, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN, 1992Life Member, Southern Highland Handicraft Guild, 1993Honorary Member, Foothills Craft Guild, 1989 and Tennessee Association of Craft Artists, 1990Trustee emerita, American Craft Council, 1984Artist Award, Knoxville Arts Council, 1992Juror for national and regional ceramics/mixed media exhibitions and craft fellowships Ceramic work included in Nelson, Speight, Peterson and Zakin ceramic books.Public service work includes involvement with national, regional, state and local craft organizations.Ceramic work included in Nelson. Speight, Peterson and Zakin ceramic books.Kurka Departmental Faculty Award, 1997Tennessee Arts Commision Gordon Holl Outstanding Arts Administrator Award, 1999Tennessee Art Education Administrator of the Year Award, 2001Solo Exhibitions:Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC, 1989North Georgia College, Dahlonega, GA, 1990Bellarmine College, Louisville, KY, 1992Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 1993Blue Spiral Gallery, Asheville, NC, 1994.Collections:Center for Art and Culture, Gent, BelgiumNorthern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZAlfred University, Alfred, NYTennessee Arts Commission, Nashville, TNBellarmine College, Louisville, KYCarroll Reece Museum, Johson City, TNJohnson City, TN.Collections:Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZAlfred University, Alfred, NYTennessee Arts Commission, Nashville, TNBellarmine College, Louisville, KYCarroll Reece Museum, Johnson City, TN.Delta State University, Cleveland, MSSancho Santiago College, Santa Ana, CAUnion University, Jackson, TNGroup Exhibitions:"Living with form: Horn Collection", Little Rock Art Center, Little Rock, AR 2000"Who Knows Or When: Artists Interpret Geography and Time" Wustum Museum, Racine, WI 2000"Sandra Blain and Bill Griffith: Ceramics", Berea College, Berea, KY 2000"Figurative Ceramic Invitational", Connell Gallery, Atlanta, GA 1999"National Crafts '99", Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, PA 1999"Celebrating Tennessee Women Artists", Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, TN 1998"Ceramics: Viewpoint '98", Grossmont College, Hyde Gallery, El Cajon, CA 1998"Clay, Fiber, Paper, Wood, Metal, Glass National", Octagon Center for the Arts, Ames, IA 1997"Crafts National 28,"Zoller Gallery, Pennsylvania State University,University Park, PA, 1994"Spotlight 94: Southeast Crafts," Sawtooth Center for Visual Art,Winston-Salem, NC, 1994"From the Mountains to the Mississippi," Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN, 1993"New Ceramics," Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, CT, 1993"Mid-States Craft Exhibition," Evansville Museum of Art, Evansville, IN, 1993"Spotlight 92: Southeast Crafts," Virginia Center for the Arts, Richmond, VA, 1992"Clay National," Radford, VA, 1991"La Grange National XV," Lamar Dodd Art Center, La Grange, GA, 1990.