'Boiling point': Attorney/artist creates beautiful ceramic teapots

By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News

Attorney and mosaic artist Ruth Tyszka curated an art exhibition, “STEEP: Exploring Boiling Point Issues and the Vessels That Contain Them,”  at the Janice Charach Gallery located in the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit, 6600 W Maple Rd, West Bloomfield Township.

The exhibition, featuring  works in ceramic, glass, mosaic, painting, sculpture and more, was planned to run through April 22 but is on hold during the COVID-19 crisis.

Tyszka, whose artwork appeared in the highly competitive Mosaic Arts International Juried Exhibition and was awarded in the 2012 Michigan Fine Arts Competition, will showcase her work alongside 27 other artists.

“The dictionary defines 'steep' as 'to soak in a liquid at a temperature under the boiling point' and it is an integral step in the process of brewing tea," Tyszka said. “We live in a time when individuals, communities and our earth are steeped in a multitude of issues just under the boiling point. STEEP is a group exhibition of artists, in a variety of mediums, who explore both the pressing issues that approach a boiling point and those functional items necessary to the steeping process, such as teapots and related vessels.”

Tyszka, who says both law and art demand she keep learning and solving problems, clerks part-time for U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Edmunds, where she also interned as a law student. She previously clerked for Federal Magistrate Judges Mona Majzoub and Charles Binder.

She spends the remainder of each week working in art, usually in her own studio where she has expanded her space.

An accomplished guitarist and graduate of the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, Calif., Tyszka spent 10 years playing in several local bands that covered Motown tunes and top 40 hits.

A graduate of Oakland University, she earned her JD, cum laude, from Wayne Law, where she was a member of the Student Board of Governors, and served as a student representative on the Law School Building Committee.

After graduation, she worked for Miller Canfield and then at Rivenoak Law Group in Troy.

She got into visual art during her time at Miller Canfield. A class in stained glass at Universal Stained Glass in Oak Park led to her interest in sculptural mixed-media mosaic work, working with glass, stone, ceramic, and repurposed or recycled materials.

She has studied at two mosaic schools in Ravenna, Italy, taking courses in mosaic restoration and contemporary mosaic design, and touring historic sites and museums.

On trips with her husband, attorney David W. Christensen of Charfoos & Christensen in Royal Oak, they usually visit mosaic sites or look for beach glass, unique stones or flea market trinkets for her artwork.

Tyszka, who has participated in several previous exhibits at the Charach Gallery and at ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, shares her artistic passion by teaching others at the Creative Arts Studio in Royal Oak.

A native of Pigeon in Michigan’s “Thumb,” Tyszka grew up in Waterford in Oakland County, and now makes her home in Bloomfield Hills with her husband and two dogs.

For more information visit www.charachgallery.org or call 248-432-5579.


By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News

Attorney and mosaic artist Ruth Tyszka curated an art exhibition, “STEEP: Exploring Boiling Point Issues and the Vessels That Contain Them,”  at the Janice Charach Gallery located in the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit, 6600 W Maple Rd, West Bloomfield Township.
The exhibition, featuring  works in ceramic, glass, mosaic, painting, sculpture and more, was planned to run through April 22 but is on hold during the COVID-19 crisis.
Tyszka, whose artwork appeared in the highly competitive Mosaic Arts International Juried Exhibition and was awarded in the 2012 Michigan Fine Arts Competition, will showcase her work alongside 27 other artists.
“The dictionary defines 'steep' as 'to soak in a liquid at a temperature under the boiling point' and it is an integral step in the process of brewing tea," Tyszka said. “We live in a time when individuals, communities and our earth are steeped in a multitude of issues just under the boiling point. STEEP is a group exhibition of artists, in a variety of mediums, who explore both the pressing issues that approach a boiling point and those functional items necessary to the steeping process, such as teapots and related vessels.”
Tyszka, who says both law and art demand she keep learning and solving problems, clerks part-time for U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Edmunds, where she also interned as a law student. She previously clerked for Federal Magistrate Judges Mona Majzoub and Charles Binder,
She spends the remainder of each week working in art, usually in her own studio where she has expanded her space.
An accomplished guitarist and graduate of the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, Calif., Tyszka spent 10 years playing in several local bands that covered Motown tunes and top 40 hits.
A graduate of Oakland University, she earned her JD, cum laude, from Wayne Law, where she was a member of the Student Board of Governors, and served as a student representative on the Law School Building Committee.
After graduation, she worked for Miller Canfield and then at Rivenoak Law Group in Troy.
She got into visual art during her time at Miller Canfield. A class in stained glass at Universal Stained Glass in Oak Park led to her interest in sculptural mixed-media mosaic work, working with glass, stone, ceramic, and repurposed or recycled materials.
She has studied at two mosaic schools in Ravenna, Italy, taking courses in mosaic restoration and contemporary mosaic design, and touring historic sites and museums.
On trips with her husband, attorney David W. Christensen of Charfoos & Christensen in Royal Oak, they usually visit mosaic sites or look for beach glass, unique stones or flea market trinkets for her artwork.
Tyszka, who has participated in several previous exhibits at the Charach Gallery and at ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, shares her artistic passion by teaching others at the Creative Arts Studio in Royal Oak.
A native of Pigeon in Michigan’s “Thumb,” Tyszka grew up in Waterford in Oakland County, and now makes her home in Bloomfield Hills with her husband and two dogs.
For more information visit www.charachgallery.org or call 248-432-5579.

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