Goedele Vanhille

In 1983, after graduating art school in Belgium, Goedele came to America and studied under Dennis Parks in Tuscarora, NV. Upon her return to Belgium, she started a studio and produced a variety of high-fired works to be sold at wholesale fairs. Goedele returned to the US again in 1989 to follow an opportunity to study with Paul Soldner in Claremont, CA. While in the US, she met and married a fellow ceramic artist and craftsman John Fahnestock. They have three grown children, and amidst life's surprises, Goedele has maintained a studio called Yank and Flanders in southwest Colorado since 2001. For years she has fired with electricity but has recently built a gas- fired kiln and is currently enjoying the fresh, yet familiar, array of possibilities this offers her work. Goedele makes functional work seasonally, which roots her back to her beginnings with clay and reinforces her intimacy with the material and process. The rest of the year though, she experiments with more playful and organic sculptural work. Goedele has shown work both nationally and internationally. To this day, she is able to retain her commitment to her studio and delves happily into her projects and enjoys the surprises they dependably offer.