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Volume 2  Ginny Marsh opening the kiln Ginny Marsh I work at my home studio in Richardson, Texas. I recently “retired” after serving for a decade as Resident Artist at the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas where I also taught courses on the history of ceramics. Most of all I reveled in the energy and curiosity of the students there. I earned my bachelor’s degree at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana and my MFA at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. I then moved to the hills of southern Indiana where I lived on a small organic farm for thirty years, planted 800 trees, had a studio, raised a family, worked as the Editorial Advisor on Ceramics for Chilton Books, and taught ceramics at the University of Louisville, Kentucky before returning home to north Texas. Assigned as an undergraduate advisee to Professor Richard Peeler, I signed up for Ceramics class and was hooked the first week. Even if commercial clay bodies had been available in those days, Peeler would have made us mix our own. He took us to the local clay mine and had me mixing all my own glazes and doing firings from the beginning. By the second year, he conscripted me into helping with kiln construction. My graduate school glaze chemistry professor, Margaret Fetzer, and longtime mentor, Karl Martz, gave me skills and nurtured further curiosity in developing my own glazes, which I still do. This includes the local ash glazes which I love, and which ground my work where I live. Each of the cups in this show has ash glaze. I like fire. I like kilns with burners or that use wood as fuel, and in winter heated the house and cooked on a wood stove for 30 years. I fire most of my work at home in the gas kiln in my back yard but participate in other kinds of firings with friends. Community really can’t be separated from making or using pots. A gallery of some of my work is on my website. I exhibit in a variety of exhibitions, participate in a local studio tour every fall and sell work at benefit sales at the Craft Guild of Dallas, which brings together artists using many materials. Reggie Pointer I was born in Washington DC and raised in Massachusetts. Currently, I am an Associate Professor of Ceramics at Howard University. In addition to doing pottery, I teach printmaking and 3D design. When not teaching I am designing and playing games. Much of the time there is an educational component to the game I develop. I had taken pottery classes as an undergraduate. But pottery became serious for me when I discovered I could make money with it. And the added bonus for me was that I could make functional objects that met my needs as a cook. I mostly work with stoneware. I do all the processes available to me with no real preference toward any one of them Hand building, wheel work, slip casting are all points for departure. To get fast results I often do raku if food or drink is not an issue. I make about 75% of my glazes when working with stoneware.  Divided we stand united we fall by Reggie Pointer My favorite piece in this show is the piece titled "Divided we stand united we fall". It attempts to address the two sides we face regarding the history of this country. I make a few works every year that address current social concerns. I was struck by the comment that there were a few bad/good people on both sides. Put water in either vessel and, strangely, it tastes the same? I enjoy making cups. I enjoy trading/ selling cups. The opportunity to share my vessels with others is a pleasure. I collect vessels from all of my pottery friends and have a cabinet overflowing with cups. I'm on FB and currently working on my website. I have an Instagram account, but exhibit nationally when I can so keep your ears and eyes open.  Lara Popowitch Lara Popowitch I am from Aurora, Illinois. I received a degree in Fine Art & Business. My early career was in commercial art doing graphic design and India ink illustrations for government and non-profit organizations. The imagery on my ceramic work references the scientific study of societal beauty standards. I was doing a lot of commercial illustrative work and was looking for a different creative outlet for my own ideas. A local community college was the answer. I took some ceramic classes and was pulled in. Clay is outstanding because there are enough facets to stay challenged and engaged with it for many lifetimes. I have a home-studio, so I wish to be careful about my mess I make. I use commercial products, so I don't need to be concerned about the dust associated with handling raw materials. The clay I use is English porcelain. I throw and trim the form on the pottery wheel. The surface design is drawn and painted on with under-glazes. It is covered in a coat of clear, gloss glaze. Using an electric kiln, the piece is fired to cone six. My favorite piece would be the spirits cup named Face Sequence. Everything about it made me smile when I unloaded it from the kiln. The imagery fits well and looks clear and precise. I felt compelled to continue going down that rabbit-hole of thought.  Face Sequence by Lara Popowitch The honest answer is location [in applying to this show]. One of the last family road trips I went on with my parents and brother was to Colorado. The four of us were spellbound by the state's beauty. Having the opportunity to share my work with you and to be in that gorgeous locale was my motivation. If I can't personally be there to enjoy it, at least my art can stand in my place. I have both Etsy and Instagram accounts with the name ClayVein. You can see more about me and my work at either of these locations. Derek Redding I am the owner of Flux Studio & Gallery in Denver, CO. For 16 years I worked as a driller for a geotechnical contractor. In December of 2016 I resigned my position and opened the studio. There I focus on small batch functional wares, for both wholesale, and retail. I also teach classes 5 nights a week, to about 24 individuals a month, from beginner to advanced students. I work in both stoneware, and porcelain, and focus primarily on wheel thrown vessels. Everything is fired to cone 10 in a reduction atmosphere. I was first introduced to ceramics as a high school student where, we had an amazing facility. We had an excellent and knowledgeable instructor who, was well versed in several artistic disciplines. We also had access to high fire glazes, several kilns, both gas and electric, as well as raku firings, and many others. We also learned how to formulate and mix our own glazes from raw materials. It was a great experience, and because of it, I was catapulted forward into the clay life. All of my glazes are mixed in house from raw materials. I run about 20 different glazes from traditional shinos, pale celadons, colorful copper reds, and too many others to list. I prefer the glaze results, and the translucency of working with porcelain. However, a rich and rustic stoneware mug can be just as warm and inviting. I fire in a 20cuft gas reduction kiln to cone 10, or 2380 deg F. I have been influenced lately by an old world, and traditional form. I share the building with a world renowned architectural antique dealer and have found myself drawn towards many of their clay and glass relics of the past, that are found in their shop. I have been creating the Tankards for some time now. I purchased an 1820's English Tavern Tankard and have replicated the form. The transformation of the pewter tankard to ceramic gives new life to the archaic, and eye-catching shape.  Carved Porcelain Tankard by Derek Redding My favorite piece for this show is the Carved Porcelain Tankard Coffee Mug. I was pleased with the execution, and final product of the standard tankard I had been producing on the regular. I was making about 100 tankards a month and wanted to add a new twist to them. I really wanted to make the shape my own. So, I began to carve the body of the mug, and chiseled out the top of the handle. As well as create a more elegant, and ergonomic grip. The carving, it started as just random squiggly lines with no rhyme or reason to assist in catching and channeling the flow of molten glaze. After many failed attempts, and honestly some really ugly mugs, they evolved into whimsical, dynamic, and truly unique pieces. Where, I could not only channel, but direct the hot glass to accentuate certain elements of the form. I was inspired to apply for this show by a friend on SM. My work can be found online in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/FluxStudioDenver In the Gallery of the studio: 377 S lipan St Denver, CO 80223 Our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FluxStudioDenver/ Our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fluxstudiodenver/ Mark Rossier I am a homebody, a cook, and a family guy, which fits well with being a self-employed artist working from home. My studio and home, in the little town of Niwot, are very much my own creation with my own hands and my family’s patient support. I wanted to create it so my two daughters, Chloe and Susannah, would know what I do for work and to be around when they were, and I wanted to be able to support my wife, Ellen, in her demanding work. We love music, so instruments vie for space with pots and books and treasures collected from our travels. And a walk out back to the studio usually includes a stop at the garden and chicken coop. The four of us have made a very lovely, personalized home that takes care of us. In the middle of working towards an undergrad art major at Grinnell College in Iowa, about 1983, I took a semester off to build wooden boats on the coast of Maine and get off campus. What my boatbuilding clarified for me was that I love working with tools and in three dimensions. Back at school, I was contemplating building a boat in the middle of campus when my advisor wisely suggested that I instead take the ceramics class. Ok, it fit in my schedule. I was already drawn to traditional craft and its artistic expression, but clay had such broad possibilities and deep roots—I was smitten. Right after graduation I decided to find a potter to work for, just to see if anyone made a living anymore as a potter. That decision turned into a seven-year apprenticeship at two different potteries and subsequently setting up my own studio. My training is definitively production oriented, so I have always tended to work with those concerns in mind as far as clay, glazes, and the numbers of pieces I produce. I primarily use a locally formulated and mixed clay, as opposed to digging and processing my own. These days I am drawn to and experiment with many temperatures and processes, but I mostly work with a mid-range red stoneware that I electric fire to cone 7 (though mid-range porcelain, wood fired pieces and pit fired Ancestral Puebloan reproduction work all shows up in my studio). I like a quick feedback loop to see the results of what I’m doing, so I’ve slowly shifted from a 60 cu ft gas kiln to my small electric kiln. I am, frankly, a glaze mixing evangelist. Working with glaze chemistry, and teaching it too, are very important to my expression as a potter.  Mark Rossier I think my favorite is the Desert Sipping Cup. Perhaps it is because it is the most recently discovered glaze combination I’m exploring, but this form is one I keep returning to because of its elegance in your hand. The glazes were a surprise in how they work with each other, but their feel comes right from the desert landscape of southern Utah that we visit religiously every springtime. To me, there is a perfect combination of control and surprise in the fired surface. The colors of this piece are all possible because of a layer of slip behind the scenes. This is a great example of why I make my own glazes. And that coppery gold rim—you gotta love that! Mugs and cups have always been ever-present pieces for potters of all traditions. But they used to be the “loss leader” in the shop, the pieces that brought folks in the door and were sold too cheaply to that end. Now, cups and mugs are elevated to the complex collectible pieces they truly are, at least in the US, and because they can command such prices, they demand such care. I like that and think that is as it should be. I, like many potters, love to collect mugs and cups from other potters and know that we all use them as an important form for our self-expression—as well as to sip from. I consider Commonwheel to be a venerable Colorado clay gallery and I like to be included in exhibitions that show the best of our local potters. Go to my website (www.markrossierpottery.com)—there is always work for sale. Follow me on Instagram (@markmudman), because I will soon be advertising sales there and you’ll stay most current with what I’m doing. La Veta Gallery on Main in La Veta, CO carries my work as does Radius Gallery in Missoula, MT. But the best place to find my work is my studio showroom in Niwot that is truly open 24/7 with a wide selection of my work.  Lora Rust in the studio Lora Rust Since 2008 I have been a studio potter and pottery instructor in Atlanta, GA, selling my work at my studio, local and regional art sales, exhibits and galleries. Sharing my love of working in clay, I teach beginning and intermediate pottery classes at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center in Atlanta with concentration in the soda firing process and workshops nationwide demonstrating my unique texturing process of pushing the clay. My mother was a collector of pottery. We had loads of pottery all over our house and used it daily. When I had to take an art class in high school, I chose pottery. I use porcelain, a cone 6 porcelain by Laguna clay. I throw, alter and texture my pieces. My stylized technique of creating my designs and texture is a unique process of striking and moving clay with personally designed tools. Porcelain allows me to sponge the marks after I make them at soft leather hard, giving the designs a lush and flowing feel. I fire my work to cone 6-7 in my soda kiln in Blue Ridge, GA. Sodium vapors glaze the exterior of each vessel, interacting and uniquely highlighting the form and surface. I make my own glazes. This allows me to get the exact effect that I want for my pieces in the soda firing environment.  Dragon flower Tumbler by Lora Rust My favorite piece in this grouping is the Dragon Flower Tumbler. This pattern flows nicely on the taller tumbler form. The results from the firing were exceptional (soda fired, cone 7). The copper highlights from the exterior reacted in a spectrum of greens. Because of the variation in the surface of the porcelain, the copper migrates through the piece and can be seen on the inside. I was accepted in the show in 2018 and received overwhelming and enthusiastic support for my work at the co-op. Commonwheel honored me by placing an image of one of my mugs (the Bony Mug, also in the show) on the Call for Entry card. :~) My website LoraRust.com has expanded background and biographical information as well as an online shop, featuring my texturing tools. I also have a presence on Facebook - Lora Rust Ceramics and Instagram @lorarust. I am represented by Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL; Ember Gallery, Chattanooga, TN; The Bascom Gallery, Highlands, NC; Macon Arts Gallery, Macon, GA Lora Rust Ceramic Designs 404-805-0979 [email protected] www.lorarust.com  Tooth Cup by Sara Torgison Sara Torgison Sara Torgison is a potter and sculptor currently managing the fine art studio facilities at the University of Dayton, OH. Sara grew up in San Diego, CA surrounded by art, music, sea and sky. She holds a BFA from Humboldt State University in Ceramics and has worked at various community arts organizations in the Dayton area. I became interested in pottery in high school, but didn't really get into it until my second semester of college. HSU has an amazing ceramics department and it became my second home. I took every student assistant position I could get in the department, and slowly gained the knowledge base that prepared me to take on positions managing ceramics departments in the Dayton Ohio area (where I moved after I finished my BFA). I have been incredibly fortunate to work with local artists, firing their work and working alongside them in the studio. The strong sense of community among ceramicists has been a continuous source of inspiration in my life. I typically work with cone 10 porcelain or stoneware. I either throw and alter my vessel forms, or hand-build, adding hand mixed engobes and glazes in layers. I fire in either gas reduction or wood reduction atmospheres and find that, while I often prefer the results and community aspects of wood firing, gas firing is my personal comfort zone and a quicker, less taxing process. My favorite piece I submitted for this show is the reduction fired tooth cup, because it was the first one that came out using the engobe technique I developed and I was so excited by the results. I had seen calls for the exhibition come up in the past, but missed the deadline. I love making and collecting mugs and cups, so the theme appeals to me. I am honored I got to participate this year! My work can be found at saratorgison.com  Teacup and Saucer by Lauren Visokay Lauren Visokay
I am a ceramic artist and geologist from Charlottesville, VA. I enjoy making ceramic work that incorporates elements of geology, both through form and surface and by incorporating raw materials such as native clays. My life and work have been influenced by my time studying geology at The College of William and Mary, where I was lucky to take multiple travel courses to study geological aspects of places such as California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and Oman. Recently I have been wood firing as an Artist in Residence at the Cub Creek Foundation in Appomattox, VA. Along with being a ceramic artist, I am a runner and an animal lover. I was lucky to go to a high school with a great ceramics program, where I took ceramics classes and developed a passion for clay. My interest intensified in my college ceramics courses, and as an Artist in Residence at the Cub Creek Foundation. I prefer to mix my own clays, and the clay body that I use depends on what I am going to make and what firing process I am planning to use. For wood firing, which I am doing now, I like to use stoneware bodies that incorporate the red Virginia clay deposit present on the Cub Creek Foundation property. I mix the native clay into my stoneware bodies and also thin it out into a slip to use as a decorative element. I love wood firing and soda firing, and I prefer to mix my own glazes to accent my surfaces and firing processes. My favorite piece in this exhibition is my Teacup and Saucer. I loved the process of designing a cup and saucer form that aligns with my current body of work, and I feel that the piece has quite a charming overall quality. I was inspired to apply to this show because I have recently developed a teacup and saucer form, and I enjoy making flasks and whiskey sets. I love the idea of designing pieces for specific beverages and this show is a perfect way to showcase that! Website: laurenvisokay.wixsite.com/lvisokayceramics Instagram: @Visokayisokay Local Gallery: Red Door 104 in Farmville, VA
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This show, “Cheers! Drink Up! Celebrating the Clay Drinking Vessel” took the efforts of several people to come together. Deborah Hager and Nicole Copel, to of our potters, pitched the concept for this show last year when we were scheduling this year’s gallery events. They brought in Vicky Hansen, ceramics professor at CSU Pueblo, to round out the planning group. Then, working in conjunction with ICAN (International Ceramic Artists Network https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/subscription-offers/ican/) we launched the call for entries on CaFÉ (www.callforentry.org) and waited. . . Postcards were handed out at the NCECA conference in Pittsburgh, PA, personal contacts in the clay community were badgered, and we finally got enough entries to mount the show. As is often the case most of the artists waited until the last few days to submit their entries. Denver, CO potter Peter Karner (peterkarnerpottery.net) was enlisted to jury the pieces for the show. Here are some statements and artwork from some of the artists whose work was juried into “Cheers! Drink Up!” Amber Aguirre Kailua-Kona, HI Tell us about yourself. I am first generation Hungarian/American, child of an Auschwitz survivor. Growing up with all the baggage of having a mother with PTSD gave me a unique perspective on the "human condition". From a young age I was drawn to ceramics and I use my talent to express and resolve issues in my life.  Amber Aguirre, Kailua-Kona, HI How did you get interested in pottery? I had the luck of experiencing hand building with clay in kindergarten. The entire class was given clay to make an "ashtray", so necessary for all parents at the time (early 1960's). Since those were the "old days" when kids went to summer school for "fun and enrichment" (as opposed to because they flunked a class), I took ceramics every summer. In high school I was introduced to the wheel and I fell in love. I produced and sold pottery and also enjoyed sculpture for many years, and received my BFA from U.S.C. under Susan Peterson, and then my California high school teaching credential. As a single mom I needed a more lucrative income than art fairs, so I taught public high school ceramics. Many years later, after my daughter went to college, I retired from teaching and we moved to Hawaii where I pursued my dream of being a gallery represented studio artist. For the last 18 years I have been successfully pursuing that goal with both pottery and sculpture. Tell us about your process. My preferred clay is porcelain. I love the Helios from N.C., but it is problematic getting it shipped to Hawaii, so I tend to use a more available clay such as Coleman's. Throwing porcelain is like cream cheese (BTW, if you haven't tried that yet, it is almost the same and you can eat your pot. It also makes a great thrown fruit platter, just make sure the bat is clean first😉). What is your favorite piece accepted for this event? Why? My piece is called "Flesh Mug". I have been sculpting the figure and wanted to develop a technique that looks like skin. I was playing with the human body and decided to modify a mug to look like parts of the human body.  Amber Aguirre, "Flesh Mug" What has inspired you to apply for this show? It seemed like a fun kind of show... Where can we find your work: website, social media, local galleries. My sculptures are online at my website: www.amberaguirre.com, as well as in many galleries on the mainland (see website). My pottery can be found in many local galleries across the big island of Hawaii and also Cedar Street Gallery on Oahu. (though at the moment Volcano Art Center is closed due to LAVA🌋...it's been wild over here)! My work has also been collected and can be seen at the Honolulu Museum of Art as well as the Hawaii State Foundation of the Arts. You can also find me on Facebook Ron Dehn Pueblo West, CO In a short paragraph, tell us about yourself. I am retired from CSU-Pueblo where I spent a combined total of 42 years as a full time IT Professional and part time recruiter. My college degree (1970) is in mathematics with an emphasis in computer programming and a minor in the sciences. My wife Chris and I have 4 children and 9 grandchildren between us.  Ron Dehn, Pueblo West, CO (photo taken in Moab, UT) How did you get interested in pottery? I always admired pottery and many years ago, I found out that Pueblo Parks and Recreation was offering a community class in pottery. I took that class and the instructor encouraged me to sign up for a course at Sangre de Cristo Arts Center. After several years there, I signed up for a course at USC (now CSU-Pueblo) and continue to study under Professor Vicky Hansen. In addition to Vicky, I’ve had several amazing teachers and colleagues who continue to inspire and encourage me. I’ve been making pots for over 35 years. With your pottery, tell us about your process. The last several years I’ve been using Laguna clay, both the CA-2 409 and B-mix. Almost all my work is fired to cone 10 in a gas or wood kiln, but I occasionally enjoy raku. Most of my glazes are studio made, but I sometimes use commercial underglazes in decorating. What is your favorite piece accepted for this event? Why? The “Beer” Mug is my favorite piece in this show. I like the texture and the soft interaction of the three glazes on the piece. I also like how the glaze subtlety emphasizes the texture. In addition, the form of this piece is “stout”. (pun sort of intended) When you pick it up, it responds to you much like a firm handshake.  Ron Dehn, "Beer" What has inspired you to apply for this show? First, I applied because some of my favorite mentors are the primary organizers of the show. Secondly, I applied because I believe that mugs are easily the most important pots I make. They are the most personal and intimate of pots, second only to burial urns. I have given away literally hundreds of mugs. I give them as gifts for birthdays, weddings, and similar occasions as well as thank-you gifts to people like the mail man or the person who repaired our furnace. I consider the gift of a mug as an expression of gratitude. Where can we find your work: website, social media, local galleries. My work is rarely sold. I give nearly all of my pottery away as gifts or as donations to various fund raisers. Becca Dilldine Cookeville, TN In a short paragraph, tell us about yourself. I was born in Hinsdale, Illinois, a small suburb of Chicago. I spent most of my childhood moving from place to place due to my dad’s military position. Being an only child, I took comfort in my pets and exploring outdoors each time my family moved. While in high school, my art teacher took our classes on field trips to the Appalachian Center for Craft in Smithville, Tennessee, a satellite campus of Tennessee Technological University. It was then that I knew I wanted to become a part of the Craft Center and study ceramics. I graduated in December 2017 from Tennessee Technological University, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a Ceramics concentration and a minor in Social and Behavioral Science. I am currently pursuing a Post-Bac in Ceramics at the Craft Center, while working as the gallery assistant at the Craft Center Gallery I live in Cookeville, Tennessee with my husband, Jonathon, our cats, Felix and Marvin, and our rabbit Padfoot  Becca Dilldine, Cookeville, TN How did you get interested in pottery? My high school art teacher is the one who inspired me to go to college for fine arts and who introduced me to the Craft Center’s ceramics program. After taking intro to clay with my ceramics professor, Vince Pitelka, I fell in love with clay and knew that I had found my medium. With your pottery, tell us about your process. First I mix my own terra cotta clay body. Each pot is thrown on the potter's wheel and then altered and pinched to document my own relationship to the vessel. Then I dip each piece in a white slip to provide a light background for my paintings. I use a combination of Amaco & Speedball underglazes to paint my imagery. Once dry, I carve out my drawings, which reveal the clay body underneath. My pots are all electric fired to cone 3 (2134 degrees). What is your favorite piece accepted for this event? Why? My favorite piece would be my “Floral Beer Stein.” When I think of beer steins, I typically think of darker colors, and strong, heavy forms. But I like this take on it, being more feminine and light.  Becca Dilldine, "Floral Beer Stein" What has inspired you to apply for this show? I found out about this show while at NCECA this year in Pittsburgh, and I truly love making functional vessels for everyday use, so I felt this show was a great show to enter and I’m happy to be a part of it. Where can we find your work: website, social media, local galleries. You can find my work on my website www.beccadilldineceramics.com and on my Etsy page https://www.etsy.com/shop/BADCeramicsShop. My Instagram is @beccadilldine. I am also represented by the Appalachian Center for Craft Gallery in Smithville, TN. Caroline Elliott Burnt Thistle Ceramics Seattle, WA In a short paragraph, tell us about yourself. Magical, mystical & metaphysical. Handmade and hand-carved with intention, fraught with symbolism. Burnt Thistle Ceramics showcases the art of Caroline Elliott, who specializes in metaphysical motifs and ceramic carving. The designs woven throughout much of Caroline's art capture the intrigue of ancient carvings of Asia and South America, the Henna designs of India, and the Spiritual revival. How did you get interested in pottery? Ladue High School is where my life-long love of pottery began. I went from making cracked slab bowls to intricate teapots under the guidance of Guy Sachs and Victor Bassman. They were my greatest supporters and inspired me to aim high. Sachs helped me submit my work for the NCECA K-12 award where I won my pottery wheel, which I still have today. That little bit of validation went a long way to propel me towards my current pottery business, Burnt Thistle Ceramics. With your pottery, tell us about your process. Each item is handcrafted in my studio in Magnolia, Seattle. I use a carving technique called sgrafitto, which is an intricate and detail-oriented process. Each of my designs is completely unique, resulting in one-of-a-kind pieces of art made with intention and fraught with symbolism. Frequent symbolism and motifs found in my work: spirit animals, element signs, zodiac signs, palmistry, crystal balls, moon phases. I use a mid-range white clay body and commercial glazes. Lots and lots of black underglaze and clear glaze! What is your favorite piece accepted for this event? The Queens of Tarot jug has a special meaning for me. The Queens Tarot suite is the powerful representation of the divine feminine; of strength, courage and intellect. Each of the Queens on this vessel represent different things: Queen of Wands: A courageous leader, the Queen of Wands uses her strength and independence to guide her. Queen of Swords: Not easily fooled, the Queen of Swords uses her intellect and composure to make critical decisions. Queen of Pentacles: Ruling with warmth and compassion, the Queen of Pentacles is lovable and approachable. Queen of Cups: Secure in her intuition and inner voice, the Queen of Cups trusts her own eyes and mind as she senses the world around her. Along with symbols of the elements, zodiac and more, if you look close you will see crowns and “Q”s in each of the representations of the Queens as well as gems. What’s a Queen without some diamonds and bling! What has inspired you to apply for this show? As a big supporter of functional art, I loved the concept of this show. I also happen to be a big craft beer drinker, so the title piqued my interest! Where can we find your work: website, social media, local galleries. You can find my work through my website: burntthistleceramics.com and recent updates on Instagram @burntthistleceramics I also have my work in select retail stores that support small makers and women entrepreneurs: Liten in Seattle and Modern Mystic Shop in Atlanta. Wendy Iaconis Colorado Springs, CO In a short paragraph, tell us about yourself. My husband and I both grew up in Colorado Springs and are raising our teenage boys here as well. I have focused my passion on artistic and functional wheel-thrown pottery for over 20 years, finding joy and inspiration turning a ball of clay into an artistic vessel that someone will use and enjoy. I received my formal training in the arts, focusing on photography and ceramics, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of Denver. I continually refine my pottery skills at workshops and conferences around the country.  Wendy Iaconis, Colorado Springs, CO How did you get interested in pottery? Art has always been my passion. In college my focus was photography, and my senior year at DU I took a ceramics class. I had an amazing instructor, John Balistreri, and have been throwing ever since. With your pottery, tell us about your process. I work primarily in mid-range stoneware (Laguna B-Mix), firing to cones 6 and 7. I have an electric kiln in which I currently fire my functional ware and horse hair pieces. My color palette consists of commercial glazes that I combine for my desired affect. What is your favorite piece accepted for this event? Why? I would have to say my brownish/pinkish tea steeper is my favorite. It just turned out great. I love the shape, color and feel. The spiral is an important component in all of my work. It represents new beginnings and peace. On this tea steeper it’s very prominent (on the inside and out), which lends to the overall warmth and makes my soul happy.  What has inspired you to apply for this show? Drinking vessels are fun and sometimes challenging to make depending on the piece. I have also found that they are very personal. Achieving the perfect piece that someone connects with and uses in everyday life is an honor and something that should be celebrated. With that said, “Cheers! Drink up!” is a celebration of the drinking vessel and the chance of participating, with the hope of allowing my pieces to find their perfect place in the world, was my inspiration. Where can we find your work: website, social media, local galleries. www.wlrpottery.com Instagram: @springspottery Facebook: @springspottery Gallery 113, 125 1/2 N Tejon St, Colo Springs, CO 80907 Elizabeth James Duluth, MN Elizabeth James, assistant professor and ceramic studio area head brings a westerner's perspective to Minnesota. She received her BFA from Boise State University and MFA from Kansas State University studying under the direction of Yoshiro Ikeda. She concluded her graduate degree with a teaching residency at Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, Scotland. Liz’s interests include functional and non-functional ceramic forms that represent a confluence of observations of human behavior, life cycles, and forces of nature. Her work has been in galleries and exhibitions globally and is included in both public and private collections.  Elizabeth James, Duluth, MN Originally, I started college as a drawing/painting major and then took a ceramic class my sophomore year in college and have been passionately involved ever since! Most of my work is wheel-based porcelain that has been fired in a mid-range reduction kiln. My favorite piece that was accepted in the show would be the 4 pc. "spirit cup set" I had the wonderful opportunity of firing with my friend Nicole Copel last summer and this set was my favorite out of her soda kiln!  Elizabeth James, "Spirit Cups" My website is: lizjamesceramics.com and you can find my work in Colorado at the LaVeta Gallery on Main, LaVeta, CO. Tracy Hartman Jensen Avondale, CO I’m a native Coloradoan and live with my husband and menagerie of pets in our solar adobe home in eastern Colorado. Our home and studio sits on an ancient Indian site overlooking the Arkansas River. Much of my inspiration comes from living here. Observing the ebb and flow of the river and the wildlife that is dependent upon it, it is forever changing yet constant. It’s like working with clay. The material stays the same, but the forms are ever changing. I was first introduced to the ceramic process in the mid 70’s while attending the University of Southern Colorado, where I earned my art degree with an emphasis in ceramics. After my husband and I built our home, we built our first wood fired kiln. I have since been seduced by the wood firing process. The rich earthy colors of alchemy and ash that permeates the clay and enriches the senses, it truly is a labor of love. I currently wood fire with a small dedicated group of potters composed mostly of woman. I enjoy the camaraderie and physicality of it all. However, the older I get I’m not so sure about the physical part. My favorite piece that was accepted into this show is the: Wood /soda fired Tea bowl and tray  Tracy Hartman-Jensen, "tea bowl and tray" I applied to this show because I liked the theme it sounded fun. Who doesn’t like to drink? Some of my work is currently on display at the: La Veta Gallery on Main In La Veta ,CO Etsy: Magpie Pottery Works Bernadette Larimer White Sands Missile Range, NM (Ed. Note: I wouldn’t usually include the first paragraph she sent, but I loved it so much that I felt you needed to see Bernadette’s comments in their entirety.) I am sorry I did not get this to you earlier. I am traveling in China following the porcelain trail and I lost my phone with all my electronic connections in a taxi cab in Jingdezhen, China. I am a BFA candidate at NMSU my emphasis is in ceramics. I love the stark beauty of southern New Mexico and I am inspired by the animals and nature that surrounds me. I also am deeply interested and inspired by the ancient goddess religion and mythical creatures. I enjoy creating my own mythical creatures and anthropomorphic beings (such as the Antelope goddess) love to hand build sculptures using coil technique on earthen ware and high fire stone ware. I enjoy throwing on the wheel and decorating my pieces with underglaze. I use commercial glazes and I make my own glazes. I love all the pieces accepted for this show and I am excited to be a part of it! Naomi Peterson Laramie, WY I spent the majority of my life growing up in Quincy, IL, and moved out to Laramie, Wyoming to pursue a bachelor's in art at the University of Wyoming. I started my college career with a focus in painting, but after taking a hand building class, I couldn't stay out of the ceramics studio. Because of my interest in painting and ceramics, I love to combine the two in the objects I create. I find my inspiration in art history and anthropology, bringing together ideas about craft, culture and history. In the fall, I will be continuing my focus in ceramics at the University of North Texas as a graduate student.  Naomi Peterson's studio, Laramie, WY I think of each piece as an individual canvas that usually starts out as a thrown vessel that I alter through color, imagery or form manipulation. I enjoy combining both thrown and hand built components using a variety of different clays, usually a porcelain/stoneware mix. I also prefer to reduction fire my work, although because I use primarily underglaze, I often fire in oxidation as well. All of the glazes I use are studio-made, and my favorite underglazes are made by Amaco. My favorite piece that was accepted in this show is "Cabbage Flower" partially because it’s funny that it looks like both a head of cabbage and a flower, but mostly because it was the first in a series that I made just for fun. One piece in said series is the "Floral Mug" that I included in the show, but that I didn't submit to the juried portion of the show. Because I am in a transition period between undergraduate and graduate student, I am using this time to make work for fun and to push myself outside my comfort zone by trying new processes and techniques. I use shows and exhibitions such as this one to challenge myself to work within the project parameters and deadlines. You can find me on the interwebs at: https://www.instagram.com/n.ceramic/ www.naomipeterson.com Current and upcoming group shows: June 22-August 5 "Amuse Yeux" Juried by Eriq Hochuli with the FAC Board of Directors, Foothills Art Center, Golden, CO June 1-July 21 "Flora and Fauna" Juried by Shoko Teruyama, The Clay Center of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA September 7-29 "Vitreous" The Clay Center of New Orleans, LA  Naomi Peterson, "Cabbage Flower" Lora Rust Atlanta, GA In a short paragraph, tell us about yourself. Since 2008 I have been a studio potter and pottery instructor in Atlanta, GA, selling my work at my studio, local and regional art sales, exhibits and galleries. Sharing my love of working in clay, I teach beginning and intermediate pottery classes at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center in Atlanta with concentration in the soda firing process and workshops nationwide demonstrating my unique texturing process of pushing the clay.  Lora Rust, Atlanta, GA How did you get interested in pottery? My mother was a collector of pottery. We had loads of pottery all over our house and used it daily. When I had to take an art class in high school, I chose pottery. With your pottery, tell us about your process. I use porcelain, a cone 6 porcelain by Laguna clay. I throw, alter and texture my pieces. My stylized technique of creating my designs and texture is a unique process of striking and moving clay with personally designed tools. Porcelain allows me to sponge the marks after I make them at soft leather hard, giving the designs a lush and flowing feel. I fire my work to cone 6-7 in my soda kiln in Blue Ridge, GA. Sodium vapors glaze the exterior of each vessel, interacting and uniquely highlighting the form and surface. I make my own glazes. This allows me to get the exact effect that I want for my pieces in the soda firing environment. What is your favorite piece accepted for this event? Why? The Swam Mug. This is one of my newest patterns. I find that one pattern starts to inform another, and the designs evolve. I have enjoyed solving how to put a new pattern on different forms. With this particular mug there is an undulation to the rim. The bare clay and swan feathers react nicely with the soda spray and interior copper glaze.  Lora Rust, "Swan Mug" What has inspired you to apply for this show? I liked the collaboration with ICAN and a strong local co-op. Where can we find your work: website, social media, local galleries. My newly re-designed website LoraRust.com has expanded background and biographical information as well as an online shop. I also have a presence on Facebook - Lora Rust Ceramics and Instagram @lorarust. I am represented by Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL; Ember Gallery, Chattanooga, TN; The Bascom Gallery, Highlands, NC; Macon Gallery, Macon, GA. Shana Salaff Fort Collins, CO I live in Fort Collins and have been a studio potter since 1998. I am an educator as well as a regular contributor to both Pottery Making Illustrated and Ceramics Monthly magazines. I make useful ceramic vessels that are designed for aesthetic pleasure as well as utility. I am attempting, via my work, to enter into the very personal space of the viewer/user’s home, thus participating in the intimate (and very necessary) rituals of another’s daily life. From the consumption of food to the decoration of the home, function and aesthetics can co-exist in all aspects of life. My work runs the gamut between traditional or historically significant forms and inspirations and a more postmodern pastiche of style, colors, and decorative patterns. I see the items that I make as being useful “jewels” - shiny, small in stature, and made with as much care as possible. I love beauty and elegance as much as quirkiness and playfulness, and my vessels seek to allow the user to share my passions. Decoration versus content, beauty versus pragmatism; these are the dialectics that inform my work. My favorite piece in this show is my mug with orange leaves in the decoration. I like the playfulness of the color orange on an elegant form.  My website is www.shanasalaff.com Instagram @shana_salaff [email protected] C.A. Traen Memphis, TN In a short paragraph, tell us about yourself. C.A. “Cat” Traen is an American sculptor and illustrator born in September 1980 near Fargo, North Dakota. Traen earned her BA and MEd from University of Nevada, Las Vegas and for over a decade she instructed a public educational ceramics program for secondary students at the Rancho Ceramics Studio in Las Vegas, NV. Recently Traen relocated to Memphis, TN to build a studio gallery with a community outreach program. Traen has taught workshops, exhibited, and is collected in the US, Europe, and Asia.  C.A. Traen, Memphis, TN How did you get interested in pottery? My initial contact with ceramic clay began at summer camp and continued into casual usage in high school art class, but it was when I studied ceramics as a required course in university, I fell in love with the responsive malleable nature of the material and saw sculpting as an opportunity to draw in three dimensions and I was hooked. With your pottery, tell us about your process. I work in a broad variety of ceramic processes, but for pottery making my preference is hand building due to the ability to manipulate form and apply layers of texture. Specifically, I prefer soft slab construction where the flat clay is impressed with various textures and found objects to develop a narrative, then assembled into a three-dimensional form and manipulated to further emphasize volume and rhythm. I am fond of B-Mix clays for their versatility as well as certain mid-range porcelains for my typical studio practices, but when travelling I look forward to using regional clays and favorites of my friends. I appreciate the individual qualities of varied approaches to firings and kilns. Every opportunity to fire with new people, places, kilns, and techniques are amply welcomed and I tailor my work to each firing situation when possible. In my typical studio practices, I love a variety of commercial glazes, but just like firings I appreciate the opportunity to explore studio-made glazes formulated by friends and colleagues. What is your favorite piece accepted for this event? Why? I sent a pair of mugs from a series titled “Mediterranean Memoir”.  C.A. Traen, “Mediterranean Memoir”. These works are special to me for the objects pressed into the soft clay were found or given to me on my first European workshop tour with my fiancé, ceramic artist Robert LaWarre III. It was a tremendously romantic and powerful time for me and my development as an artist and a person.
Additionally, I have only shown 4 pieces from this series as I created them with the intention of only gifting them to dear friends and family exclusively as a sort of “souvenir” of my experience abroad. So, exhibiting this design is rare and even more special to me due to the nature and intention of their creation. What has inspired you to apply for this show? As a member of ICAN, it is my pleasure to be considered for any of their juried opportunities as well, establishing connection and presence with new galleries and locales helps gain exposure for my work and possibilities for my career. Where can we find your work: website, social media, local galleries. I am currently active on Facebook as C.A. Traen and IG @catraen. My website is frequently updated with new events and features, the newest to be an online store for my product line. You can find my work at Mojo Coffee Gallery in Minneapolis, MN and a broad selection of museums and galleries in Europe and Asia. Zane Tillinghast Rochester, NH Hello! My name is Zane Tillinghast and I am a potter out of southern New Hampshire. I got my BFA in ceramics from the Maine College of Art in 2016. Outside the studio I spend a lot of time on the water, in the woods, or working in the garden. I originally got interested in pottery when I was sixteen years old. I took a couple of clay classes in high school and really enjoyed it. It wasn’t till I was a senior in high school that I began a semester long independent study with the potter’s wheel. It is one of the most difficult tools to master but I think that is sort of where my passion for clay began. I like a challenge, from then I was hooked! I create functional work with red earthenware clay. I fire all my pots in a 1976 Skutt electric kiln. I do an oxidation firing and the mature glaze temp is around 1987 degrees Fahrenheit or cone 03. The charm found in irregularity inspires the forms. Slip, red clay, and the interaction between glazes is key to the decorative aspects of each pot. I make my own slip and many of my own glazes. I use some commercial underglaze and glaze. My favorite piece accepted into this event is this uniquely shaped mug. I love the funky little handle and the way that the surface came out. I was thinking about an abstracted landscape while decorating this mug and I am happy with the result. I applied to this show because of the focus put on clay drinking vessels. I love how intimate drinking vessels are, to make and to use. My work can be found on Instagram @zanetceramics or on my website: zanetillinghast.com |
Juanita Canzoneri
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