George Pearlman received his MFA in ceramics from Pennsylvania State University in 1994 and has been working in ceramics since 1983 (43 years). He has shown his work nationally and internationally and has been the recipient of numerous grants, artist residencies, and teaching positions throughout the U.S. and abroad. His one-of-a-kind pottery has been shown at many fine art galleries and museums including the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Maine.

George has been recognized by the Maine Arts Commission as an individual artist fellow and has his work in several museum permanent collections and many private collections. He established his completely solar powered studio, George Perarlman Pottery, in 1998, by drawing it and hammering it together himself. His mastery with wheel thrown porcelain is the result of decades spent evolving unique glazing, brushwork, and forming techniques. The elaborate shapes and surfaces of his distinctive creations are inspired by the beauty of his surroundings in Maine, a deep appreciation of art history, a truly deep dive into technique and theory and the wisdom to applaud the moments when all the underpinnings are transcended as the firing process brings its wonderful surprises.

George has incredible enthusiasm for considering what quality means in art and he has narrowed it to three primary bits of guidance for his creative practice. The first is to always be creating art in small and large ways to remember all the little discoveries and to build new pathways, further the scavenger hunt, and feel the spiritual thrill of expansive potential. The second is that human history is a very deep well of ways people strive to have a life and society that has meaning and beauty. It is important to read history and criticism. It is equally important to understand that visual art is non- verbal communication. This language of forms and colors is understood by full immersion and being at peace with leaving some of the process to be analyzed long after completion. The third is that we all live in our waves of existential dread and bliss and if we are lucky enough to find things that give us joy, we must do them. The choices made to form a piece of art must not only be well informed, but they must also be courageous, daring, and dangerous exploration out of formalism and into joy.