Fire Arts Inc. invites the public to an exhibit by potter and woodworker Chris Heck. His exhibit, “Stuff Made from Other Stuff,” will be open from March 6 – June 30, with an opening reception on Friday, March 6, from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Chris’s unique, sometimes whimsical clay pieces take a departure from traditional pottery. Often an exploration of organic form in space, his vessels are sometimes created with his unique process of modeling malleable clay forms through detonations using gun powder and fireworks.

He also enjoys the organic process of working with wood. In Chris’s hands, large slabs of wood become functional pieces such as tables, cutting boards and charcuterie boards.  Many of the pieces are created with a variety of exotic woods, making interesting patterns and colors.

Show dates: January 3 – February 28, 2020
Opening reception: Friday, January 3, 5:00 – 8:00 pm

Leather sculpture, alabaster, terracotta and bronze sculpture will fill the Fire Arts Showroom for a January and February retrospective exhibit of work by New Carlisle artist, Randall J. Clark. Past visitors to the South Bend Farmer’s Market may remember when, as a shareholder vendor, his work was displayed from 1972 till 1995. Students, faculty and staff may remember the fifteen years at Indiana University South Bend when he served as gallery director and adjunct faculty. The r j clark studio/gallery in his New Carlisle home is where he continues to create, teach, and primarily display his work.

Public, and mostly private collections throughout the United States and 12 foreign countries, include representations of work that has received national awards and the silver award at the 1994 international Peace and Justice Exhibit in Jilin China. There, artists from over 50 countries presented work commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Randall was recipient of IUSB’s first BFA awarded in 1995 as a graduate of distinction, and an MA in Arts Management from Columbia College Chicago was awarded in 1998.

Show dates…

Info on the artist?

Bright colors and pattern interacting with form are key elements to much of this new work. Produce bags are stretched over ceramic forms to create geometric patterns. She calls the long skinny neck work “Kiwi-quitos” because of the resemblance to the proboscis of a mosquito and the long beak of a kiwi.

A sodium silicate crackle texture was used on the lidded vessels glazed in dark blues, greens and purples and on the more organic work which is the result of aluminum foil or paper clay saggar firing.

Our 6th Annual Juried Show
May – June 2019

Sculptor Mike Slaski judged this show comprised of work created by artists who have a great concern for our planet’s life forms.

1st prize: “Polar Bear” by Wayne Andrews is the depiction of a bear and her cub adrift on a small piece of melting ice subtly rendered and painted.  This work is a complete integration of the theme of climate change and aesthetic quality.”

Mike Slaski

January – February 2019

Our Resident Stone Sculptors open the 2019 exhibition season with a gathering of their works. Each artist has his own style and creative vision.

November 2-30, 2018

Fire Arts proudly remembers artist/model John Young with an exhibition by various artists. With drawings, paintings and sculptures, this special exhibit celebrates John’s contribution to the art community.

For well over three decades John Young modeled for artists in the Michiana area. He was truly a Renaissance Man. In high school he was known as Tarzan, not just because he shared a likeness with the character, but because of the many animals he kept and his minimalist approach to clothing. He also served in the Army where he spent most of his deployment in Italy.

John’s life was filled with many noteworthy events and activities, including being detained by the FBI, miss-identified as a hitman, becoming a father, taking up welding and blacksmithing (mostly for fun), teaching Kung Fu and Tai Chi, raising exotic reptiles, carpentry, massage therapy, acupuncture, learning to read and write traditional Chinese characters, security work in Iraq, and of course nude modeling.

John could easily slide into a conversation with a neighbor from down the block, a patron at a restaurant, or a nun interested in taking Tai Chi classes. Neighborhood kids would come by and help him make a sword or learn Kung Fu.  He was a big part of the South Bend community and couldn’t go anywhere without running into someone he knew or was willing to help out; going to the grocery store with him could easily turn into a three hour event ending in him at someone’s house to repair their roof.

John Michael Young unexpectedly passed away this past spring. He led an interesting life and it’s hard to separate the man from the myth, but those who knew him are better for it (myth or not). He is survived by his mother, five siblings, and four children.

March- April 2018

“The Bearded Bogwallop,” “The Wichfinger Whatsit,” and “The Crone of Early Spring” are some of the featured faeries and other mythical characters from the whimsical mind of sculptor Rhonda Whitledge. For Whitedge, creativity is life. “I experience an almost primordial connection when I take a shapeless lump of material in my hands and through manipulation, create something new, the likes of which may never have been seen before.”

From her earliest memories, Whitledge could never pass by any malleable substance without trying to sculpt something, i.e., in clay, snow, mud, paper, wax, mashed potatoes, even cardboard. The media she has worked in over the years were dictated by circumstance and budget. After exploring through creating in bread dough, soft sculpture, ceramic clay, and bronze, polymer clay has become her mainstay for sculpting. Whitledge works mostly in Cernit, a temperamental, but durable, polymer clay that allows her to achieve a fine level of detail.