Bruce Bartos grew up in Berwyn, a few miles from downtown Chicago. His mother was always encouraging participation in the arts; trips to the Art Institute and trying to get her four sons involved. School had art daily, with bigger projects often.
Bartos was a member of the Chicago Art Institute for some years. In 1992 he moved to Arizona and has retained some influence from that area in his color choices and design.
Bruce currently lives in Grand Rapids, creating and teaching pottery to young, emerging artists. He chooses to work in ceramics because it is useable art, one-of-a-kind, an infinite outlet for creative ideas, and the pieces last forever. There are bits of ceramics as old as humankind. Bruce has practiced different ceramic styles, including Raku. He enjoys this method because the results when firing are wonderfully diverse and exciting.
