Constance “Connee” Mayeron Cowles

img_2100I have worked primarily in ceramics since 1973. The focus of my work is high-fire porcelain ware, thrown on an electric wheel, and defined by an organic sensibility through a combination of form and painting. My work is highly tactile and invites functional interaction.

“Ultimately, it is Mayeron Cowles’ intuitive sense of design, color and materials that flows through all of the work, coalescing into a style uniquely her own. Organic and tactile, often to the point of sensuality, her work is visually bold and dramatic, yet accessible. It is only the palpable tension created between the suggestive sweeping curves of her forms and the hard surfaces of her materials that keeps the work, whether sculpture or tableware, aesthetically tethered to this side of the operatic.” -David Francis

In more recent years, I have collaborated with my husband, Fuller Cowles, on public art projects in theimg_0691 form of tile or granite mosaic sculptures. I have been seduced into the world of watercolor and egg tempera painting. And finally, for the past 10 years, I have worked with shells in a painterly fashion to create elaborate and outrageous decorative objects.

I am forever appreciative of the luxury of being an artist. It is a constant reminder of everything that I experience and see in the world around me. My work challenges me to consider how I internalize and express those experiences. As my life experiences change, so too does my work. It is always new and intimate – it is a conduit for connecting with other people.

Other activities:

  • St. Croix Pottery Tour (host, 1992-present)
  • Minnesota Center for the Blind (founder, 1970s)
  • American Craft Council (board member, 1996-2001)
  • Franconia Sculpture Park (board member, 1996-1998)
  • Weisman Art Museum (board member, 2003-2009)
  • Northern Clay Center (advisory board, 1989-1991)
  • Island Academy Ceramics School, Antigua (founder, 2015-present)
x