About Mary Jean Mallman

Mary Jean Mallman was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Around age 5, on a sunny spring day she was introduced to clay while her Grandpa, who was babysitting her, handed her a chunk of clay to entertain herself. Intrigued by the lump dug from the yard, she created a tiny tea set to play with while her Grandpa tended to his apple trees. From that day on, Mary has had a fascination with the malleable medium. 

 

Never discouraged from creating, Mary set off on a formal study of art making. She attended the University of Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she studied ceramics and earned a BFA. She went on to study ceramics and earn a MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Upon culmination she moved to Los Angeles where she has been living, teaching, and working as an artist in Highland Park since 2004.

 

Mary’s ceramic work is simple in form; she utilizes the surface to explore urban and natural themes as well as the fundamentals of line and design. She uses white clay bodies, porcelain, stoneware clay or casting slip as the canvas for her designs. Mary’s functional work is either thrown on the potters wheel or handbuilt, while her sculptural work is usually handbuilt or slip cast. She embellishes the work with images or designs using slip, underglaze and underglaze pencil. Her work is fired at multiple firing ranges depending on the type of clay used and the nature of the work.