Rosanne Engelhardt 935 Jackson Street Benicia, California 94510 e-mail: rosanne@rosanne.info web site: http://www.rosanne.info

Sculpture:
I am currently working on organic forms and fountains in clay. My ideas come from growth patterns and formations in water, rock and vegetation which I have become intimate with while photographing the mountains and desert. When I took my first ceramics class at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, I felt a connection to the earth from the process of working with clay, as if I had come home. I would start out with a general idea or concept and the pieces seemed to flow naturally from my hands and the clay. There exits a flow that weaves its way among and between things. I believe my pieces represent this interconnection of energy flow.

Photography:
Photography helps me study the growth patterns and formations of nature. Much of my mountain photography was done during mountaineering trips to the Himalayas, Canada and Washington state. One of my loves is photographing snow and ice which is displayed in my published CD-ROM “Patterns of Snow and Ice” that I shot one icy cold Minnesota winter! My Southwest photography was done during various extended camping trips. I find it takes several days to a week before I develop an inner understanding and connection to the place I’m photographing.

A Brief History:
Exhibited in:
Contemporary Crafts Market - San Francisco
Benicia Arts Gallery
Benicia Open Studios

A native of Nebraska, I have aways had a love for things of the earth. Originally educated and trained as a public accountant, I switched to a full time pursuit of art in 1993 and attended Art School at Duluth, Minnesota where I developed a connection with clay. I also concentrated on experiencing the wilderness. Sometimes traveling in a group as I did in 1994 when I traveled to Nepal for a month to trek and climb Mera Peak (21,000 feet) with a group of women (Lois Lane expeditions out of Seattle), but often preferring to travel alone to strengthen my connection with the environment, as I did in the summer of 1994 when I spent 6 weeks camping in the desert southwest. I moved from Minnesota to California in the summer of 1995 where I have had the opportunity to take several trips to Yosemite and the north coast. Currently, I live on a sailboat and have a studio in Benicia