About the Artists
dorothy and Willard cole
Over many years and three generations, a family of artists generated artwork they shared with each other for comment and inspiration. However the largest portion of it created by Dorothy and Will Cole during their lifetimes never made its way into the public eye. Dorothy and Will were artists in the purest sense of the word. Dorothy as a ceramist and a painter; Will as a sculptor and pen & ink artist. They made art. End of story. It occupied their days to the degree that marketing their output never happened. For them, it was all about the investigation, the act of creation and the process of discovery. The closest they came to using their skills to provide for themselves were the years they each spent teaching art to others.
the rest of the family
To be chronologically correct, there is actually a fourth generation: Robert Walter's paternal grandfather Hugo Walter, who began painting and drawing toward the end of the 19th century. His work can be accessed under the Robert Walter menu heading or below. The next generation of artists after Dorothy and Will is their oldest daughter Dianne Walter and her husband Robert Walter. The following generation would be Dianne's two sons, Chris and Jeff Herring. Although Dianne and Chris are not actively selling their work at this time, this is no mark against their skills: Dianne as a master weaver and Chris as a wonderful ceramist.