Redware by Selinda Kennedy -- Visit our Art Gallery

Muncy Art Gallery presents Selinda Kennedy
Kennedy Redware: 570-546-6695

A native of Hunterdon County, N.J., Selinda Kennedy of Muncy, PA, specializes in redware pottery. From 1986 to 1989, she participated in workshops, receiving hands-on instruction from the Margaret Waldren Foundation artist-in-residence program. She studied and produced tile mosaics using methods inspired and developed by Henry Mercer and the Moravian Tileworks, located in Doylestown, Pa. Selinda opened her own studio in Muncy in 1989. She has since developed her own signature in decorating her own line of redware.

She employs 17th, 18th and 19th century motifs, inspired by by famous examples of folk art found in museums and private collections. These traditional designs are derived primarily from German folk art imagery, song and book plate vignettes, powder horn engravings, frakturs and more.

"Through personal experimentation and research of period designs, I hope to continue to create a unique collection of symbolic images, combined with new color combinations and detail," Kennedy said. "I use historic shapes and antique forms to mold my canvas, using a terra cotta clay body. These pieces are decorated with colorful slips, engobes and glazes. Each color is formulated and applied with brushes and sponges,and then detail is applied with a fine brush. These pieces are fired in the bisque and then they are glazed and fired again."

Commissions are very popular, the artist said, and examples are Architectural Portraits, Wedding and Birth announcements, fireplace surrounds and inserts, kitchen and bathroom tiles, fund raisers for private schools. Historic landmarks are a specialty.

"A sense of fulfillment happens when I continue to show my work year after year at the same shows and my clients continue to build their collection of my work."

"The most challenging and satisfying works have been my Springerle mirrors," she said.

Using elaborately hand-carved cookie molds from Switzerland and Germany, she forms and presses tiles in redware. The tiles are then assembled on a hard wood backing with a mirror insert. The images are impressions of people, animal, bird and floral motifs.

Kennedy is recognized and judged by Early American Life as one of America's best since 2002.

Exhibitions

Gallery Americana, Houston, Tx.
Mount Vernon, Washington, D.C.
Imagine Art Studio, Smithfield, Va.
Abby Aldrich Folk Art gift shop, Williamsburg, Va.
Fort Frederick State Park, Big Pool, Md.
Contemporary Longrifle Assoc., Lexington, Ky.
Post Light, Philadelphia, Pa.
Reading Museum, Reading, Pa.
Lord Nelson's Gallery, Gettysburg, Pa.
Mennonite Heritage Center, Harleysville, Pa.
Dixon's Gunmakers Fair, Kempton, Pa.
B&S Gallery, Williamsport, Pa.
Art Center, Clinton, N.J.
Druid Oak, Hancock, Md.
Living History Market Fairs in Glen Gary, Va., Oak Ridge, Va., Mansfield, Pa., Woodbury, Ky., and Fort Frederick, Md.

(click on image for larger example)

Mosaic tile insert for fireplace
This design was inspired by a pocketbook
embroidered in silk and metallic thread,
circa 1720-1750. These redware tiles are
hand painted using slips, engobes and glazes. The tiles are cut using techniques from the Henry Mercer Moravian tile works in Doylestown, PA.

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Tulip mosaic tile insert for fireplace
Custom designed, this fireplace surround
was inspired by the cast-iron window
grates found on this Circa 1848 home. The
tulip is a popular PA German design.

 

Below are examples of a new line by Selinda; these bright and lovely redware pieces are "Pockets" to hang on the wall.
Sizes are approximate

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Early 19th Century Fraktur
14x10 $425

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Early 19th Century Fraktur
12x11 $425

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18th Century Fraktur
14x14 $450

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1804 drawing for Magdalena Meyer
Ontario, Canada
16x10 $450

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18th Century Fraktur
12x13 $375

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18th Century Fraktur
8x5 Prices $125 to $195

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18th Century Fraktur
9x5 Prices $125 to $195

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18th Century Fraktur
8x5 Prices $125 to $195

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18th Century Fraktur
8x5 Prices $125 to $195

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18th Century Fraktur
10x8 Prices $125 to $195

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18th Century Fraktur
9x7 Prices $125 to $195

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18th Century Fraktur
9x7 Prices $125 to $195

 

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18th Century Fraktur
8x10 $195

 

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1830 Fraktur drawing
unidentified artist
5x7

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1825 Manuscript Tune Book &
Bookplate for Anna Hock

unidentified artist,
Lincoln County, Ontario
5x7

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19th Century Fraktur drawing
unidentified artist
5x7

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18th Century Power Horn Engraving
5x7

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18th Century Power Horn Engraving
5x7

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Angels & Bird $295
Mid-19th century Mennonite ink & watercolor by Samuel or Martin Gottschall, Montgomery County, PA.

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Ephrata Cloister Tunebook $275
Circa 1745, ink & watercolor, artist unidentified, Lancaster County, PA.

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Mermaids $295
1814-1819 Fraktur by David Cordier, Southeastern PA.

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Four Roosters $295
Late 18th century ink & watercolor possibly by Schwenkfelder,
Southeastern PA.

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Rooster $295
Early bookplate by David Ellinger

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Parrot $295
Circa 1790 Gift Fraktur
by Heinrich Otto, Pennsylvania

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Bird Bookplate $275
1806 ink & watercolor, unidentified
artist, Southeastern PA.

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Pelican Feeding Babies $295
1800 ink & watercolor, Bucks or Montgomery County, PA
The Pelican is an ancient
Christian symbol of devotion.

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1775 Rooster $265
Carved horn powder flask

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George & Martha $265
Circa 1780 ink & watercolor,
Sussel-Washington artist,
Lebanon or Lancaster County, PA.

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Birth & Baptismal Certificate $265
1792-1861 ink & watercolor by
Rev. Henry Young, Southeastern PA.

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Wedding Fraktur w/2 Parrots $275
1800 Hand-drawn, lettered & colored, unidentified artist, Southeastern PA.


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1829 Fraktur for Catharina Meyer
unidentified artist
Ontario, Canada
14x14 $325

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1810 Fraktur by Joseph Lochbaum
Winterthur Museum
14x14 $325

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1819 Birth & Baptism Certificate
for Isaac Weaver

Bucks Cty, PA
16x12 $295

(click on image for larger example)

1825 Manuscript Tune Book &
Bookplate for Anna Hock

unidentified artist,
Lincoln County, Ontario
10x17 $295

(click on image for larger example)

1828 Fractur drawing by Isacc Gross,
Bucks County, PA
16x12 $325

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1823 Fraktur drawing
attributed to Bernhard Mission

Bucks County, PA
16x12 $295

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18th Century Fraktur
10x10 $255

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18th Century Fraktur
10x10 $165

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18th Century Fraktur
10x10 $165

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18th Century Fraktur
10x10 $165

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1819 Birth & Baptism Certificate
for Isaac Weaver

Bucks Cty, PA
8x10 $195

 

 

 

 

Contact Us

Muncy Historical Society
40 North Main Street
P.O. Box 11
Muncy, PA 17756
(570) 546-5917
MuncyHistorical@aol.com

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March through November ** except holidays **
and by special appointment.
Hours are subject to change
Check schedule by calling (570)546-5917