Lucy Edwards, celebrated ceramicist, potter, painter, and retired art teacher, has died at 98
“To know her is to experience a woman who is vibrant, folksy, inspiring, energetic, independent, and boundlessly creative,” a colleague said.
Lucy Edwards, 98, of Bala Cynwyd, celebrated ceramicist, potter, painter, retired art teacher, mentor, and musician, died Tuesday, May 5, of age-associated decline at Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood.
Born in Long Beach, N.Y., Ms. Edwards settled in Bala Cynwyd in the 1950s and immediately joined the region’s thriving art scene. At first, she founded preschool programs and taught art, music, and other subjects in West Philadelphia, Ardmore, and Germantown.
Soon, she had a home studio and a work studio in Gladwyne, and was showing her art and teaching at the Community Arts Center in Wallingford, the Long Beach Foundation of the Arts and Sciences, the Main Line and Wayne Art Centers, and other places. She always painted, learned to throw clay on a wheel after college, focused later on sculptural and functional ceramics, and became a notable juried master artisan.
“To know her is to experience a woman who is vibrant, folksy, inspiring, energetic, independent, and boundlessly creative,” a colleague at the Haverford Guild of Craftsmen said in an online profile. “Lucy lives and breathes her art, which seems to pour out of her.”
Ms. Edwards specialized in clay platters, pots, and animals, and her collection included paintings, drawings, photography, and mixed media. She showed often at the Tyme Gallery in Havertown and the Upper Merion Cultural Center.
“She always insisted that the arts could open the mind and free the spirit,” her family said in a tribute. Members of the Kennett Clay Club said on Facebook: “It’s amazing how varied and experimental her forms and methods are.”
She was a founder of the Haverford Guild of Craftsmen and a longtime member of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen. Colleagues at the Community Arts Center in Wallingford said on Facebook: “We enjoyed her zest for life and the creative process.”
Other friends called her “creative to the core,” “a force of nature,” and “a spitfire.” One said: “I always admired her work, spirit, and gusto.”
Ms. Edwards earned a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education at Bard College in New York and studied painting, life drawing, and clay for a few years at the Art Institute of Chicago and Washburn University in Kansas. Later, she hosted workshops at her studio and taught classes, such as Intuitive Ceramics, to adults and children.
She also worked as a summer camp counselor and played the guitar, banjo, and flute. She called her Gladwyne studio Loafer’s Glory.
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Until recently, she created every day. “Art was her language,” said her son-in-law, Eli Goldblatt. “She was determined to help people find themselves in artwork. She was inventive and experiential. It was truly a work of passion.”
Lucille Elise Edwards was born April 8, 1928. Her father was Louis Edwards, the mayor of Long Beach who was assassinated by a police officer in 1939.
She married Jerry Osterweil, and they had daughters Wendy and Pam, and sons Danny and Ken. After a divorce, she married Art Kravitz, and they had a son, Andy.
After a divorce, she married Russ O’Brien. He died in 2015. She was also a longtime partner to fellow artist Richard Hoptner.
Outside the studio, Ms. Edwards was a prolific knitter who created beautiful sweaters and hats. She sewed clothes for her daughters and enjoyed folk music and folk dancing.
“Lucy was a fierce and mighty creative person,” her family said. Her son Dan said: “Once when I was a kid, Mom told me she loved me even when she was scolding me.”
Her daughter Wendy said: “What a wonder she was, so prodigiously creative. A non-stop maker.”
In addition to her children, Ms. Edwards is survived by four grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and other relatives. Three sisters and a brother died earlier.
A celebration of her life is to be held later at the Community Arts Center, 414 Plush Mill Rd., Wallingford, Pa. 19086.
Donations in her name may be made to the Lucy Edwards Ceramic Scholarship Fund, Community Arts Center, 414 Plush Mill Rd., Wallingford, Pa. 19086.
