Art is Problem Solving | Matthew Fitzsimmons | Episode 432

Matthew Fitzsimmons | Episode 432

Matt was raised a Navy Brat. While in high school he found clay. Matt is a graduate of the University of Iowa(Go Hawkeyes!) and is married with two sons (21 & 23). He lives in Iowa and has been a guest artist/volunteer/instructor at Augustana College since 2008.

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Why be a volunteer?

It is a great way to give back and it’s what I do. I am a support person and I love doing it. I have the luxury of doing it. How’s that? And I appreciate having that luxury.

How does being a volunteer change you?

It makes me feel good. I feel useful. I feel like I am a contributor.

When you have a problem with your clay what kind of steps do you take to find answers?

So the consistency of the clay or am I actually throwing something and running into problems?

I am thinking more of your making process.

I guess I am always paying attention to what the clay is doing and how it is responding to what I am doing. I think that throwing clay is a lot like surfing in that when you are riding the wave you have to watch what the wave is doing and do what the wave allows you to do. So there is this big interaction between you as the potter and the clay and you have to really be in tune with feeling what the clay is allowing you to do. There will be times when I am throwing and I will be lifting the clay and I am being too aggressive and I start seeing a friction torque and the clay starts to bend a little bit and starts to wobble, I know I have to relax my pressure. If I don’t the clay is going to bite me and collapse. You really have to pay attention to how the clay is responding to your touch.

What is your favorite part of making?

Throwing. Throwing clay. Making a vessel. I do not enjoy glazing. I am color blind and a lot of people don’t know that and I have zero confidence in my glazes. I don’t know what people see. I know what I see but I also know I was 48 years old and I found out that peanut butter wasn’t green.

Looking back on your clay career so far, is there something you would do differently?

Probably wouldn’t have taken so much time away. But I am fine giving that time up. That time when my kids were little was a precious time and filled with happiness and joy. Not that it isn’t filled with happiness and joy now. I look back on those years and I am glad I took the time to do that.

As a teacher, what do you consider makes a successful pot?

I guess a lot of that depends on the maker. Is the maker satisfied with what they have made? If they are then it is successful. It doesn’t have to have a function, it can just be a pretty. Now if you want to go technically I would say the walls should be even, it shouldn’t weigh a thousand pounds. Maybe people should ask themselves, when we make things out of ceramics they have the potential of being around for tens of thousands of years and this stuff doesn’t break down: Is this piece worthy of that? If you want a good critique on your own work that is a good question to ask.