About

Randy Glotfelty

Co-owner of Sir Ramic Porcelain, Inc., and Jen-Ken Kiln.  I have been in the fired arts world most of my life.  My mother’s studio was one of the after-school bus stops and many days my twin brother and I opted to get off there instead of going home.  I only wish we kept better track of the calendar.  If we had, we would have remembered that she was closed on Wednesdays, and it would have saved a three mile walk home.  She had a ceramic shop in the heart of Lakeland, four storefronts wide, that became the greenhouse where many creative seeds were planted.  Mom was an amazing artist and encourage any and all explorations into the art world.  She was also a world traveler and was kind enough to let us tag along on many a trip.  She called us her slave labor.  That was code for minimal work and maximum adventure. 

During one of mom’s many adventures she came across a porcelain slip receipt that my brother and I began to experiment with.  Through our college years we made, developed, and sold slip to the doll making industry.  It was during that time we forged some relationships with a few German doll and figurine manufactures that catapulted us into a thriving business. 

As the porcelain business grew we became more interested in other areas in fired arts and soon decided to purchase the Jen-Ken Kiln brand to broaden the scope of our operation.  Since then, we have come along side of many artists in every kind of fired art.  I love to see emerging artist take their fired arts concepts to fruition.  With more than forty years of wide eyed exploration in the fired arts world, I have seen and experienced a thing or two.  It’s through experiences, challenges, and friendships that I have collected those teachable moments I love sharing with other aspiring artists. 

I am confident that through my pains and gains I can help listeners take their fired art to the next level.

Tabitha Pennekamp

I am, Tabitha Pennekamp, born curious, raised to explore. It would be a disservice to ignore my  upbringing and jump directly into my world as an artists, art educator, enthusiast. I am a firm believer that it is impossible to isolate the one from the other. So much of who we are as a people/creators, is influenced by our environments, which shape our perspectives. As my good friend, and colleague,
likes to say, “Behind every set of eyes is a story”.

In this pod cast we are going to give you a glimpse of that story so that you may better understand the versions of our worlds as we bring you information, opinions, and perspectives of the fired arts world.

I am the daughter of a once marine biologist, turned Lutheran Pastor, and a once Medical Technologist turned super mom having seven kids. As a Twin in a pack of seven, living very frugally, we were always using creativity to keep ourselves entertained. My mother would find odds ands ends to make inventive inexpensive toys. An avid sewer, crafter, and mig-shifter, I learned from her, how to turn something ordinary into amusement for hours.

This instilled innovation, and love of exploration, was the catalyst for my creative development.

It’s no surprise that my work is about making the ordinary, different. I play with the traditional and like to alter the expected. As an artist, I investigate visually and tactilely rich surfaces to engage the onlooker in deeper relationships and associations with the work. Intriguing a viewer to interact allows for a more personal connection with the work, which will bring that viewer into the present moment. Making the mundane become enjoyable and thought provoking is a challenge I readily take on.

I was born in 1986 in Fort Wayne, Indiana and  received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, where she was a Studio Assistant and Teaching Assistant for the ceramic Department. I remained a mid-westerner until moving to Florida to attend Florida Atlantic University where I obtained my Master of Fine Arts Degree in Ceramics. In my attendance at Florida Atlantic University, I was the recipient of the John McCoy Ceramics Scholarship, the Friedland Grant, and a Graduate Teaching Assistantship. I was a Teaching Assistant for many ceramic and art classes and the professor on record for several hand-
building and wheel throwing classes.

Throughout my time as a ceramicist, I have been a major advocate for the National Empty Bowls project where I was able to help contribute over 10 thousand dollars to the homeless shelter, soup kitchens, or food banks in Decatur, Illinois, Delray Beach, Florida, and Lakeland, Florida. My work has been displayed in several galleries in South Florida, and internationally in Orvieto, Italy, at NCECA 2011(the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts) earning honorable mention in “Some Like it Hot”, in Florida Atlantic’s juried student show receiving best in show, in “Continuum” at Cultural Council of Palm Beach County in Lake Worth Florida, and in Millikin Universities Alumni show. After winning the Artist Search Contest at AuburnArt.com, my work is now sold there. Currently, I reside in Lakeland, FL where I am connecting with the art community and pursuing my passion in teaching and creating work in fired arts.