Spores! Lots of spores! Work from 2008

Pottery, to be or not to be

I have never fancied myself a potter.  I have always gravitated to more sculptural work.  Last fall I took a throwing class.  I had not thrown on the wheel since I was in middle school.  It is a skill that must be practice, practice a lot to perfect.  Unfortunately (in my opinion) there is a trend in art that emphasizes concept over technique.  I am not opposed to concept, but too frequently, "artists" do not learn the technical skills well enough to successfully convey their ideas.  Technical processes are merely tools to convey a concept.  It takes time to develop a skill and I have this idea that because of our increasingly fast-paced and fractured society, many persons do not want to take the time to learn a skill or trade.

So I took a throwing class.  Recently I was fortunate enough to come across a wonderful deal on a potter's wheel.  It is a Brent CXC.  I want to focus more on pottery over the next year.  This is my goal.  I never really thought that I would enjoy pottery as much as sculpture.  I didn't want to lose my voice.  What I'm realizing is that I can combine pottery and my interests to make more interesting pieces.  I also have satisfaction in opening the cupboard, seeing a bowl I made, and using it.  Functionality isn't always a bad thing, as many artists believe.

I really want to throw that "perfect" vessel, even, thin walls with a nice foot.  It is a goal of mine.  I know that I can, I just need to practice more.  The wheel is currently at the school that I work at.  I am going to make it my goal to throw 2 vessels everyday I work at the school.

Welcome!

Well I have had this blog for a while now but have not posted on it until now.  I am an artist and an educator.  Most often I work 3-dimensionally.  My passion is ceramics.  I love clay.  It's messy and unpredictable. I will work for hours and hours on one project.  It is so satisfying to open the kiln (the machine we use to fire clay) up, not knowing if the piece survived the firing, and seeing a successful piece.  I make sculptures as well as pottery and have done a little bit of both over the past year.

I also mentioned that I am an educator.  I'm working on my Masters in Art Education and am currently teaching at the Episcopal School of Knoxville.  I just finished up my second year there and will start my third in August.  I love it.  I love teaching.  I was fortunate to have a great art education growing.  My mother is an art teacher and artist.  Both of my parents supported any type of art I wanted to explore.  I want to foster such positive experiences with the arts in other young people.

Here's some of my art.  I'll try to post more of my past work with every blog.

In order:

Stumps, cone 10

Containment, cone 5, jars

A. artemisifolia, cone 5

Cynomorium, cone 05

Oh, and a special thanks to Carl who makes my art look better than it is through his wonderful photography skills.