"Saddle Formed Landscape" by Ira Winarsky, 2010

27" wide X 12.25" deep X 6.75" high

Ira Winarsky - 1942-2015 Ira Winarsky was a Professor Emeritus from the University of Florida. In addition, he received his Masters of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture from Temple University's Tyler School of Art. His ceramic art appeared in numerous magazines including "Ceramics Monthly", "Ceramics Art And Perception" and "New Ceramics". His art has also been shown in numerous solo shows in galleries and museums. It's the subject of three books written and published by him, "Ira's New Art Book" A Portfolio 2008, and "Ira Winarsky: Art Portfolio 2010: Iridescent Ceramic Landscape Sculpture", and "Iridescent Ceramic Landscape Vessels 2012". Ira saw his life like an art piece, a work in progress. It was also been a continuous quest for the right media to make the art, and to refine its artistic expression, ranging from interactive electronic representations to phosphorescent ceramics. With his Iridescent Ceramic Landscape Sculpture he has found the media and technology that encompasses the three goals that he set for his art: first, it must relate to the viewer and the environment; second it must relate to nature; third, it must be beautiful. He has been quoted as saying, "art is its own reward" and it is the process of making art that gives him the most pleasure. The iridescent ceramic glazes, an integral part of his ceramic art, have historically been considered a type of alchemy, and the formulae for making them has been kept secret for centuries. The alchemists, and artists using these glazes never disclosed how they made them, and they died with their secrets. To this date, it is extraordinarily rare to find iridescent glazes, particularly in a broad spectrum of colors. Ira is was writing a book at the time of his tasing that explained the basic technology and chemistry for making these glazes. Ira's passion for the last twenty years of his life was to discover the secrets of the great ceramicists who created these glazes and to build upon them to create new glazes for his art. There was almost no literature on the subject, so he had to start his research with the basic chemistry of glazes and metals and the physics of light. The iridescent glaze had to function as a thin prism, emulating Sir Isaac Newton's glass prism that divided natural daylight into a rainbow of colors. His success came with a few basic colors. Eventually, he had hundreds, the result of over 3000 glaze tests and over 300 glaze firings. The glaze colors encompassed an entire rainbow of iridescent colors. Different colors and thicknesses of glaze layers and different numbers of layers create different iridescent effects. The glazes seem to be forever changing. They appear to be alive, emphasizing or de-emphasizing the landscape forms they cover. They also possess sensuality and intimacy because their colors are never the same, responding to changes to the color of natural light during the day. Iridescent glazes also interact with the viewer. They reflect the environment that encompasses the art, and the person viewing it. Beyond the glazes Winarsky researched and created entirely new genres of ceramic landscape art, including elements of the Landscape, Landscape Sculptures, Planetary Landscapes, Underground Landscapes, Segmented Landscapes, Terrestrial Landscapes, Repeating Landscapes, Sacred Landscapes, Seismic Landscapes, Alien Vessels, and Flying Saucers. Each genre requires research into its specific sculptural ceramic and glaze chemistries, and a melding of both to produce an art piece of beauty.