Whats New In Downtown West Orange!

When you walk into Supreme Bakery these days you will notice that in addition to the beautiful interior and exterior renovations, beautiful artwork adorns the walls. Lisa G. Westheimer, a local resident and artist, told Rich Stolz, owner of Supreme Bakery, that she was very impressed with the recent renovations especially the new caf� tables and chairs which create a warm and inviting space. She told Rich that all that was missing was artwork on the walls and that she, as an artist, would be happy to display some of her work. Rich loved the idea and came up with the idea of showcasing local artists on a rotating basis.

Lisa Westheimer obtained her Master of Arts degree in Studio Arts in May 2008 from Montclair State University. This is her first year working full time as a studio artist and her primary media are ceramics and reclaimed glass. Her ceramic work, examples of which hang on Supreme Bakery's walls, mostly focuses on primitive and alternative processes.

The 4 pieces in the above picture are not glazed. They are colored with liquid clay then burnished to a smooth surface much the same way Native American Indians create ware. When the pieces were red hot Lisa removed them from the kiln and laid horsehair and sprinkled sugar on them which left permanent carbon trails.

1 plate 2 platter

The 2 platters in these pictures were made in the raku method where the pieces were painted with glazes containing metals. Just before taking them red hot from the kiln Lisa threw colored glass on them which melted. She then took them out and smoked them in containers full of newspaper which creates the glowing metallic colors.

The next time you stop into Supreme Bakery for that cup of coffee and danish, take a closer look at some of these amazing pieces.

(Lisa is also involved in reclaimed glass work by scavenging wire glass windows from construction sites. This type of glass melts wonderfully and the wire in them allows it to be formed into many different shapes that hold together well in the kiln. Last year she was a participating artist in the Art From the Ashes project in Pasadena, California. www.artfromtheashes.org and www.lisagw.com/afta. She was given shattered glass windows reclaimed from the rubble of a furniture factory destroyed in a California wildfire and made several objects which were sold at auction along with work from other participating artists. All proceeds went to the charity of choice of the person who lost their business in the fire. It was a great way of making something good out of a tragedy.
Lisa hopes to make artwork from glass scavenged from buildings in our town, and is working on pieces for the West Orange Police Substation in the Valley from glass she scavenged from the building when it was being renovated. West Orange has a lot of industrial buildings which have outlived their usefulness and are in need of transformation and her glass work is a way to capture a bit of their past and preserve it as a reminder of how wonderful and formidable they once were.)