| Paul Soldner | ||
| Birth Date: April 24, 1921 |
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| Death Date: January 3, 2011 Artist Gallery |
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| Paul Soldner was born in Summerfield, Illinois on April 24, 1921. Growing up, he had never planned to be an artist; in fact, as a college student, he was pre-med. His medical aspirations waned after being drafted into the Army and serving as a medic for three-and –a-half years during World War II. He returned to the United States with a strong interest in photography, and the desire to pursue a more artistic career. He turned to painting, and earned a Bachelor’s degree in art at Bluffton College in Ohio and then a master’s from the University of Colorado in Boulder.
At Boulder, Katie Horseman, a visiting lecturer and head of ceramic at Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland, introduced Soldner to ceramics. After teaching for eight years in public schools and driven to become a potter, Soldner then 33, headed for Los Angeles County Art Institute, became Voulkos’ first student, earned his master’s in the fine arts and became one of the few in the 1950s to turn functional pottery into a craft and art.
Soldner has made invaluable contributions to the field of ceramics, including developing American raku and a technique known as “low temperature salt firing” and gaining international acclaim with his raku work.
“As an artist, I work with clay, bronze, photos and prints. From these mediums, I make objects of use, but their uses are varied. Some are functional, some are not. They are meant to sometimes surprise, disgust or delight. Although made to be used; use need not be common. In its highest sense, such use is in the spirit of Celebration, of life enhanced and perhaps, made more special."
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