Photograph taken by Joyce Palmer

 George Bowes
Birth Date: 1961

Artist Gallery
George Bowes was born in Toledo, Ohio and graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art with his BFA. From there he opened his own studio in Cleveland, where he worked for thirteen years. During this time, Bowes traveled to Nova Scotia and Europe, and completed over 30 residencies. He also received grants from the Ohio Arts Council and Arts Midwest/NEA Regional Visual Arts Fellowships, allowing him to work full time in his studio without interruption. After being invited to teach as a sabbatical replacement at the University of Florida, The University of Akron, and the Cleveland Institute of Art, Bowes decided to return to graduate school to be eligible for teaching positions in higher education. He earned his MFA from the University of California Davis and taught at Georgia State University, The Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and Southern Methodist University. In 2008, Bowes landed a position at the College of the Mainland in Texas, where he currently teaches. Bowes creates functional objects that are combined with an element which causes viewers to stop and contemplate them, giving the objects more depth. This particular teapot was influenced by the Reagan presidency and the resulting discord between the United States and many other countries. Bowes made this teapot as a reaction to the fact that maps are always changing, countries reunite, and the names of countries sometimes change. Bowes studied Staffordshire teapots that were covered in pattern and salt glazed stoneware embellished with china paints when he traveled to Europe in the 1980's. The china paint on "Fractured World Teapot" covers the outside of the piece, while glaze covers the inside. This teapot is from a singular series of work where Bowes employed the technique of china painting, making it a rare piece. Bowes enjoyed trying different techniques with the china paint, making the earth portion shiny and the spout, handle, and base a black matt by mixing a matting agent with the paint. Bowes' work can be found in many collections, such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Newark Museum, The Akron Art Museum, The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, and others. He has been featured in numerous publications and exhibitions.