Laura Andreson

1902Born San Bernardino, California
1999Died Los Angeles, California

EDUCATION

1932BA University of California, Los Angeles, California
1937MFA Painting, Columbia University, New York, New York

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

1933-1970Faculty, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
1934Founder, UCLA Ceramics Program

BIOGRAPHY 

Laura Andreson is known for making and refining simple vessel forms. Initially Andreson worked in low-fired earthenware with brightly pigmented glazes of yellows, reds and turquoise-greens with an undercoating of oxide stains.

According to Andreson, early work was handbuilt until 1940, then wheel thrown. In 1948 she began using stoneware for which she developed a range of stoneware bodies and glazes. In 1957 Andreson began work in porcelain. 

Laura Andreson established one of the first academic ceramics programs in America at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and is credited with reviving the art of pottery making in America. Her work reflected her interest in the forms of Scandinavian design, techniques of Persian reduction firing and Japanese ceramic colors.

Her creative process radically differed from that used by most potters. She typically started with a glaze and then decided what kind of vessel to create for it. After retiring she continued her pioneering research developing new firing techniques, clay bodies and glazes, providing future generations of clay artists with valuable technical information.

Andreson’s papers are in The Smithsonian Institution's National Archives of American Art. An excerpt from an interview with Laura Andreson conducted May 20, 1981 by Ruth Bowman, for the Archives of American Art’s Oral History Program is available at:
http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-laura-andreson-13075.