Diane Lebo
Ceramics

I don't really have an "artistic statement." I do what I enjoy, what is exciting to me. This takes me down many strange and often bewildering paths.I feel that as art, clay is an art of the material. The actual feel of the clay in one's hands as the process begins is as much a part of the completed work as the color of the glaze or the finished form.

Lately, I have been reading about the clayworks of Shigaraki, Japan--the "Old Kilns." I find Japanese claywork very exciting and interesting and, in the U.S., I like the work of Carl Beamer, ceramics instructor at Bloomburg State University, Bloomburg, PA., along with many, many other ceramists and artists.

I started very early to attempt to imitate my uncle, Ray Stevens, an artist (and musician) who would draw cartoons to entertain me as a child. I can remember lying on the floor on Sundays with pencil and paper, trying to copy a character out of the Sunday funnies, something he could do with ease. This was back in the 1940s!

I began working in oils in high school in Winamac, IN. My instructor was teacher, Ed Reutebuch. I continued classes while raising a family and studied with Josephine Kimmell in Kendallville, IN. After moving to Richmond, I was fortunate enough to study with Elmira Kempton. I began painting in water colors about this time. I also took classes with Richmond artists, Esther Nussbaum and Betty Muhl.

My watercolor paintings won prizes at both Richmond and Winchester Art shows. This occured so far in the past that I can only date these by the fact that my children, now adults with children of their own, were in elementary school at this time.

I became interested in clay about 15 years ago and began classes at Riverbend in Dayton, OH. I studied with Carolyn Sorrell and Mariella Owens, and exhibited in the Riverbend shows. Since then, I have worked mostly in clay.