Pringle Teetor was
born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and left there in 1976 to attend
college at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.During her summers from 1975 -1977 she also attended La
Preparatoria de Guanajuato, Mexico, the University of Dijon, France and
University of Innsbrook in Austria.She graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio with a BA in Studio
Art in 1979.While earning her
degree she started teaching at the San Antonio Art Institute which she
continued for many years. There she worked and studied with some of the other
faculty members such as Carl Embrey, Jerry Alexander, Danville Chadbourne and
William Hocker. Pringle continued to teach and show her work between trips to
Antarctica, Africa, Indonesia and other unusual sites around the world while
working as a tour operator.One
would see her in the middle of hundreds of people of all ages as she made
balloon animals and hats in many of the remote villages and islands she
visited.Many of her earlier
ceramic pieces were influenced by her travels. During this time she also kept
up a very active volunteer career with many non-profit groups San Antonio and
taught summer camp at the San Antonio Zoo and performed as a supernumerary in
the San Antonio Opera.
After moving
to North Carolina in 1995, she took a break from the arts to manage her
husband’s business and do volunteer work for the Junior League of Durham and
Orange Counties, Outreach and Preventions Services of Alamance as well as the
United Way of Alamance County. On a whim she took a one day glassblowing workshop and knew wanted to stay with this medium. Happy to be once again involved in the art
world, she currently has a warm glass studio at her home as well as a hot glass
studio at Cedar Creek Gallery in Creedmoor, NC.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Art has always been a part of my essential being. A former potter, I began my experience with clay as a small child. My unique life experiences as well as artists with whom I have studied as well as worked have always influenced my art. Living abroad and traveling the world, I always used my camera as a tool to express feelings and to communicate familiarity with my subject to others. To capture history or the emotion of a tragedy or immense joy, if I can put it on paper and make others have the same feeling as I did, then I have accomplished something valuable. To capture the emotion and dance of light and color in a solid object is to enlighten.
The first time I tried molten glass, I knew I was hooked. Glassblowing combines science with art. Its properties are at any time hot or cold, fluid or soft, then brittle and hard. This metamorphosis can take place in an instant. It can be opaque and transparent, shiny or matte. You use your hand to form it but you can’t touch it. You can work alone or depend on several people to work as a team. It can be physically challenging and exhausting. The connections of color, light, shape and composition provide endless outlets for the creative soul. I am a beginner. I will always be learning.
