Patty Warashina (Uncommon Gifts)

Uncommon Gifts

Patty Warashina

(born 1940)

"It's a curse. I wish I were in painting, you know, where it is something that you immediately put down. But, like I say, the clay keeps drawing you back. Just the feel of it—I don't know what it is—the curse keeps drawing me back [laughs]." (Oral history interview with Patti Warashina, 2005. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.)

With shocking, yet entertaining works, Patti Warashina shaped change in the ceramic arts and brought national recognition to the department of ceramics at the University of Washington's School of Art during the 1970s. Her energy and professional example inspired many students during 30 years of teaching.

Patti Warashina considers her work to be influenced by her dreams of youth: "Growing up in Spokane was—it was a very quiet, family—oriented city, but for me, I think, looking back, I mean, it was the kind of town that gave you a lot to think about during your spare time...I remember when I was growing up, I'd lie in the lawn, and we had great skies and beautiful clouds...and I had these coloring books, and I'd be coloring away..."

• Governor's Award of Special Commendation for the Arts, 1980
• Grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, 1975 and 1986
• Art Professor, University of Washington, 1971-1996
• Member, Archie Bray Foundation Board of Directors
• Visiting Artist and Voulkos Fellowship recipient, Archie Bray Foundation, 2008
• Twining Humber Lifetime Achievement Award, Seattle's Artist Trust, 2002
• Selected museum collections: American Craft Museum, New York; Los Angeles County Art Museum; the Smithsonian's American Art Museum; Renwick Gallery, Washington DC; Ichon World Ceramic Center, South Korea; and Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art, Japan