Helen Gragert, handblown glass, green/orange vase, signed on bottom, good condtion with no chops or cracks, 4x3.5x3.5. Born in 1953 at an airbase in Virginia where her father, a career officer, was stationed at the time, Helen Koons Gragert spent her childhood through college years in a unique cultural setting of Lindsborg, Kansas. The influence of the artistic environment of that small central Kansas community of Swedish descendants, coupled with a gift for creative expression, led Helen to begin working in the medium of watercolor while in high school and to take a profound interest in other art forms.Her first exposure to glass blowing came as a youngster while on a trip with her mother and aunt to Mexico. There Helen met a native artisan who allowed her to assist in the creation of a piece of blown glass. As brief as the creative moment might have been , the grace and beauty of glass-blown art captured her imagination and etched a lasting impression in her mind. She knew that someday she would again experience the power and excitement of blowing glass.During her high school years, Helen studied watercolor under the tutelage of Sally Johnson and received her introduction to pottery. She remained in Lindsborg to attend Bethany College, receiving a bachelor's degree in the natural sciences in 1975. Then newly married, she moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to study at Oklahoma State University, eventually earning a master's degree in food and nutrition. But, while her higher education degrees were in the sciences, Helen's passion remained in the arts. She continued to paint, finding much subject matter in the rural settings of north central Oklahoma that reminded her greatly of her Kansas roots.In Stillwater, Helen also discovered an excellent, community-supported arts program known as Multigraphis. Studying pottery under local artist Ron Jones, Helen moved from red clay to porcelain, eventually developing a style that today blends delicate Oriental-like forms with striking modern glazes. Taking advantage at Multigraphis, one of the few municipal-owned and operated glass-blowing facilities in the United States, Helen began taking classes in the medium in 1985 studying under Gary Borden, Randy Walker, and Cindy Rasche.Finding creative enrichment in an art form that she had long admired, Helen advanced rapidly during the next few years, showing her glass work, as well as her porcelain and watercolor paintings, at art festivals and displays in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Norman, and Weatherford, Oklahoma, and Wichita and Lindsborg, Kansas.In 1987 she was invited to display her glass at the Wichita Art Museum sales gallery, where it continues to be shown. Her work is also on display at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Arts Place, Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Es Posible Gallery, Carefree, Arizona; and Multigraphis seasonal gallery, Stillwater, Oklahoma.Helen also exhibited her glass, by invitation at a special show for graduates and friends of the Department of Art at Bethany College in 1990. Her studio, Artistic Impressions, is located in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

good

4 x 3.5 x 3.5 in

1.2 lb