ABOUT THE ARTIST
Ilajean Horwitz's pots reflect her love of South Florida. Her pots have the vibrancy of the Sunshine State. Her artistic goal is to brighten the lives of those who come in contact with her work.
Her pots are functional and she encourages their frequent use. Most pieces are food safe, microwave, oven and dishwasher safe.
IJ's pots are in collections throughout the United States and in several foreign countries.
Her pieces have been featured in the Florida Craftsman Gallery juried show, at three Ceramic League of Miami juried exhibitions, at the Women's Political Caucus National Convention and in the Great Art Plate Affair at Coral Springs Museum of Art.
Rotary District 6990 selected her work for their awards in 2004 and 2005 and the Woman's Political Caucus also chose her artistry for awards at one of their national gatherings.
IJ was a recent winner of the Bonnie Waugh award for ceramic excellence.
ABOUT THE CHARITY
The Robert Horwitz Art Memorial Fund is the charity which will receive all the proceeds from the sale of the one of a kind original art pieces. The object of the fund is an art competition with the theme "Quest for Peace." The goal of the competition, which will take place at Miami Dade College Kendall Campus, is to promote awareness for peace promotion and to financially assist students studying art. For more information about this worthy project contact the artist Here
ABOUT THE CERAMICS
Each piece is one of a kind and made on the potter's wheel with low fire white clay. After it is formed, dried and trimmed, some pieces are decorated and then bisqued in a kiln followed by three coats of transparent glaze and fired again in the kiln. Other pieces are bisqued and then glazed with three coats of a variety of glazes and then fired in the kiln. Only commercial glazes are used and the manufacturer indicates that they are food safe. The pieces are also microwave, oven and dishwasher safe. However, do not take them from a cold refrigerator or freezer directly into an oven
Some pieces have additional firing and the addition of lusters and metallics. These pieces are decorative and not for food. They are labeled appropriately such as planter, vase etc.
THE MEASUREMENTS
The height is taken to the highest point. The width is taken to the widest point, which would include the handle on a pitcher, lugs on
the side of the pot etc.
HAPPY FACES
The faces are formed from slabs of clay. They are cut out, clay added, dried, colored with underglazes, bisqued in a kiln, covered with three coats of transparent glaze and fired. The average size is approximately 10 inches high and 6 inches wide. They have holes to fasten a wire to put on your favorite tree or wall.
IN THE NEWS
Photo by: JEROME T. NAKAGAWA / MIAMI HERALD
This article appeared on Sunday, July 01, 2007 in the Miami Herald feature "Florida Finds"
SMILEY FACES
Ceramicist's whimsical pieces benefit young artists
BY JO WERNE
Special to the Miami Herald
Whimsical ceramic faces hang on the trees in Ilajean Horwitz's garden. And many female faces grace her bowls, pots and planters.
Horwitz, who has been working with clay for 10 years, makes the faces smile and even applies gold on the ones wearing earrings.
"People ask me why I only do smiling faces," said the Kendall resident. "I don't like sad faces, only happy ones."
Fifteen of her faces are displayed at the Homestead Art Club's Studio 100 at the Prime Outlet Mall in Florida City.
Although she sells her colorful ceramics to friends from her home, Horwitz doesn't keep the money. In conjunction with the Miami Dadeland Pinecrest Rotary Club, she gives proceeds from her sales to fund art students at Miami-Dade College Kendall Campus.
The students's work -- whether painting, sculpture, print making, photography or graphics -- is juried by Rotary members. Winners receive checks for $350 plus a plaque depicting a painting done 30 years ago by Horwitz's late husband Robert. Titled Quest for Peace, the original is a large work showing a man reaching for a dove.
"Robert manufactured machinery for the food industry," Horwitz explained, "but he was always doing something with art. He painted, made jewelry, did lots of things. He was artistic and philosophical."
The couple moved to Miami from Sheboygan, Wis., in 1989. Ilajean Horwitz had been involved with agencies for the aging in Sheboygan and worked as an executive director for the Alliance for Aging in Miami.
She took courses from the Ceramic League of Miami and attended a two-week course through Elderhostel at Alfred University in New York. Her pieces have been in the Florida Craftsman Gallery juried show, at the three Ceramic League of Miami juried exhibitions, at the Women's Political Caucus National Convention, and in the Great Art Plate Affair at Coral Springs Museum of Art.
She turned her dining room into a studio where she fashions items on a potter's wheel in white clay, then paints them before firing. Most pieces require two firings in the small kiln in her garage, but some -- such as the faces with gold earrings -- require a third firing.
Horwitz said most of her pieces are microwave, oven and dishwasher safe. However, they cannot be taken from a refrigerator or freezer and put directly into an oven.
She turned one of the bedrooms in her house into a gallery with white shelving on all the walls. It's a stunning display of beautifully shaped demitasse cups, bowls and planters. She even makes "tagines," the Moroccan cooking dishes with temple-like lids to steam food.
Her prices range from $20 to $350.
Horwitz says she's not interested in marketing her ceramics, adding, "I just play."
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