. arts and dining .
ARTandtheCITY by Jim Magner
ARTIST PROFILE: KASSE ANDREWS-WELLER Clay. Clay is ever the art form. From flags to farms and from fruit to families, the glazed ceramics of Kasse Andrew-Weller are happy, and make you happy. It’s life as it was and should be. It has always been that way for Kasse—from childhood to now: “Through my art, I express and preserve memories that can still take me to my Happy Place.” For Kasse, it’s a slice of the universe that is wonderfully imaginative and playful. It hovers in the magical space between the naïve ideal and the tarnished reality, forever fresh and fun—it creates its own undeniable certainty. Kasse has two Masters degrees: one in Fine Arts (Sculpture) and the other in Strategic Studies. She says she used one to make a living and she is now, as
a retired Air Force Colonel, following her passion for making art and exhibiting in solo and group shows. In addition to glazed ceramics, she uses wood, mosaic stones, embroidery thread and metal as well as other available materials. Kasse is also dedicated to helping others find that happy, or at least, peaceful place in their lives through art. She works with veteran programs and groups and is always there for others. Kasse Andrews-Weller finds happiness in that next step to the future through the past. You can find all of her themes at: www.kasseart.com. If you are in need of peace and happiness this month, you can find her work at the Hill Center galleries. (See, At the Galleries.). They make great gifts and you can buy online. www.hillcenterdc.org
"Chinese Checkers in the Corn Field" Glazed ceramics, wood, marble and marbles
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(Title:) Repairing the Favorite Quilt Glazed Ceramics and Wood
wa. She came back to rediscover her grandmother’s ancient methods of making pots. She dug clay from the banks of nearby arroyos and shaped pottery and figures in all sizes and shapes. I was fascinated at how smoothly her gnarled hands could work the wet clay while my young hands couldn’t. She had to learn how to process Jim Magner’s the clay and when to put the Thoughts earthen pots on the wall to on Art dry in the morning—before Happy places often the wind would blow and rise from the ground. “Field Trip to the Gallery” Glazed Ceramics crack the clay. I taught in the mid-70s She cooked them in on what was then the pits behind her old adobe house—beneath mesPapago Indian Reservation (now Tohono quite branches. That too took much experimenting O’odham). There, I discovered Laura Kerbecause there was no one to teach her. man. She was reliving her own happy place. She wanted to locate the white clay that the warShe had left the reservation as a girl and had riors wore in the old days when they were preparing spent her whole life in Tucson. to fight the Apaches. We drove the vast desert reserNow she was back in the village of Topa-
