"Life is learning experience. Clay is the best teacher I knew from my heart. It teaches me to be patience, honesty, integrity, and it inspires me to do the best I can with my hands. Being able to share what I can by guiding my students to find their own state of bliss is an amazing experience."
- Delora Bertsch
Statement
My art and my life are not divided into components. I combine them together as one unique whole personal aesthetic enjoyment. My life changed continually, whether I am ready or not, and my art changes along with my life. Every day, I seek a new consciousness and wholeness from my perspective.
My works speak of dreams, life and mystery.
As an artist, I am putting my thoughts and dreams out into my works. Beyond the gloss is memory, a part of my history. Our history is now always objective truth: memory shapes how we perceive it, and so the history is our truth
Bio
Delora Bertsch was born in Pasadena. She was born deaf, and is part Native American, Choctaw. Her family moved around many times in different states and in Milan, Italy.
Delora Bertsch attended at UC Santa Barbara majoring two studies in Creative Studies and Anthropology, and then transferred to Golden West College to complete her certificate in Graphic Design and Telecommunication. Worked for an independent graphic design company in Torrance, CA. for few years, and then decided to pursue to study further in Art Education teaching program at California State University of Long Beach in 1997. There she accidentally selected a ceramic course instead of drawing ,few weeks later stumbled upon CSULB's Ceramic Department unused Raku kiln. Got a permission to try it by herself, and Raku fired her pieces for two semesters. She was so inspired, and revamped with a new found passion for Raku medium of expression. She graduated with her Bachelor of Arts Degree and a Single Subject Teaching Credential in Art Education in 1998.
From 1997-1999, Delora Bertsch worked at Los Angeles Harbor College Art Gallery with Jay McCafferty for two years as a gallery assistant . One of the best highlight experience that Delora helped set up a solo exhibition for Paul Soldner's American Raku works in the gallery, and he demonstrated his raku works in the ceramic courtyard as well.
In 2009, she received Art Honorary Award from Councilwoman Janice Hahn of Los Angeles for her volunteer art service in the South Bay area for many years.
Delora Bertsch was also known as a De'Via deaf artist which she uses formal art elements with the intention of expressing innate cultural and her personal deaf experience. Her works have been exhibited in California, Chicago, New Orleans, Woodbury Museum in Utah.