Wendy Elwell

1947 Born Newton, Massachusetts

EDUCATION

—Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Kalamazoo, Michigan

—BA sculpture, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan

—BA ceramics Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan

—Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois

—Grand Rapids Junior College, Grand Rapids, Michigan

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

10 Years—High School Art, Minnesota

1980-1999 BernWell Pottery with husband Dennis Bern, Hendersonville, North Carolina

1999—BernWell Pottery with husband Dennis Bern, Pisgah Forest, North Carolina

BIOGRAPHY

 Wendy Elwell with her husband Dennis Bern founded BernWell Pottery Studio and Gallery in 1980 where together they produce functional works using stoneware clay and finished with wood ash glazes.  In addition to typical functional pieces she also produces lamps.

Elwell studied with Byron Temple, Tom Kendall, Tom Coleman, Ellen Shankin and Mimi Strang. Her extensive travels as a child in a military family exposed her broadly to ceramics and may have fueled her interest in colorful glazes. Elwell has been especially interested in copper red glazes.