Susan Ting is a ceramic artist and the owner, operator of ZENCLAY Studio, Galleries, and Café. She was born in Szechwan, China, and moved with her family to the United States when she was 15.

She received her BA degree in Math Education from Penn State in 1966. Susan later moved to Morgantown, and in 1978 started ceramic classes at West Virginia University. In addition to studying at WVU for more than 10 years, much of her experience and learning comes from doing her own work and by teaching classes at ZENCLAY. In 1996, she attended a six-week seminar in China.

In 2005, one of Susan’’s vases was juried into the WV Juried Exhibition in Charleston. In 2000, three of her pieces were in the juried show sponsored by the WV Arts and Crafts Guild in Wheeling, WV. In 2001, she had a one-person exhibit in carved porcelain, with the Ginkgo leaf as the theme. Another one-person exhibit was of small, whimsical sculptures. These works, while being sometimes fantastic creatures, capture a wide range of human gestures, emotions, and physical attitudes. Her recent works were shown in her third solo exhibit in February 2005. Again, many of the pieces featured the delicate carvings of the Gingko leaf. In 2001, to support WV Public Television, she donated two pieces to be used as major pledges.

Her interest in the Ginkgo leaf, the theme of the 2001 show, started while she was working on a pot. She pulled the top edge and the fragile ruffled edge reminder her of the leaf. She developed this by carving the leaves into the surface. This became the beginning of a six-month exploration and became the images for many pieces.

Susan is interested in encouraging local and regional artists, and she has used the galleries at ZENCLAY to bring awareness of social issues to the community. One example is a recent benefit exhibit and auction for the Rape and Domestic Violence Information Center. Another exhibit shows the changes in work done by artists with Alzheimer’s over a period of time.
Susan believes that art, both the appreciation of it and the creation of it, is essential to the well-lived life.

Comments are closed.