Becoming a Retailer | Linda Fahey | Episode 144

Posted on September 17, 2015September 16, 2015 by Paul Blais

Linda Fahey | Episode 144

Beyond being the chief curator and proprietor of YONDER, artist Linda Fahey spends much of her time in the shop’s studio, making her own line of ceramics, all inspired by a life lived by the coast. At YONDER, her open studio is a space for exploration, innovation, and collaboration, where she welcomes customers, artists, and friends to pull up a seat at her worktable for conversations and creating. Her work is shown at respected shows in the Bay Area throughout the year, and is available nationwide through design-focused stores such as Anthropologie, Voyager, and Rare Device.Continue reading→

Using Instagram and Branding | Brit McDaniel | Episode 143

Posted on September 15, 2015September 14, 2015 by Paul Blais

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Brit McDaniel | Episode 143

As the artist and designer behind Paper & Clay, I make modern functional ceramics that are designed to be both beautiful and very usable. I draw inspiration from my love of Scandinavian design in the design of my forms and development of glazes, but also in a broader sense. I love having simple but well made elements as a part of my own home, and I strive to create work that fits that form.Continue reading→

Making Relationships | John Britt | 142

Posted on September 10, 2015July 19, 2022 by Paul Blais

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John Britt | 142

John Britt is a studio potter in Bakersville, North Carolina who has been a potter and teacher for over 30 years. He lives in mountains of western North Carolina although he grew up in Dayton, Ohio. John is primarily a self-taught potter who has worked and taught extensively, both nationally and internationally, at universities, colleges and craft centers, including the Penland School of Crafts where he served as the Clay Coordinator and then, as the Studio’s Manager.

He is the author of the “The Complete Guide to High-Fire Glaze; Glazing & Firing at Cone 10” which was published by Lark Books in 2004, and his most recent book “The Complete Guide to Midrange Glazes: Glazing and Firing at Cone 6” which will be published October 2014. He also has and two e-books (PDF’s): “The Quest for the Illusive Leaf Bowl and Other Assorted Articles” and “Aventurine Glazes”. He also has a DVD produced by Ceramics Daily entitled: “Understanding Glazes: How to Test, Tweak and Perfect Your Glazes”.

He was the juror for the book; “500 Bowls”, Technical Editor for “The Art and Craft of Ceramics”, and the “Ceramic Glaze: The Complete Handbook” by Brian Taylor and Kate Doody. He has written numerous articles for ceramics publications including: Ceramic Review, Studio Potter, Clay Times, Ceramic Technical, New Ceramics, The Log Book and is a frequent contributor to Ceramics Monthly.Continue reading→

Residencies & Social Media | Brice Dyer | Episode 141

Posted on September 8, 2015September 7, 2015 by Paul Blais

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Brice Dyer | Episode 141

Brice Dyer

Brice Dyer received his BFA in ceramics and sculpture from the University of North Texas. After graduating in the spring 2012 he moved to St. Petersburg Fl where he was a Artist-in-Residence at the St. Pete Clay Company. After spending two years in Florida he moved to Kansas City to be a Foundation Resident at Redstar Studios. His work is influenced by geology and landscape and
is primarily hand-built.

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An American Potter | Bill van Gilder | Episode 140

Posted on September 3, 2015September 3, 2015 by Paul Blais

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Bill van Gilder | Episode 140

A professional potter for more than 45 years, Bill van Gilder began his clay work at age 15, as a studio apprentice to the late Byron Temple. During the following years, he apprenticed in Ireland and England, and received a degree from Harrow School of Art, London, England. He then established and managed two large teaching/training centers in Southern Africa (Lesotho & Swaziland) under the auspices of The World Bank. Bill returned to the U.S. in 1979 and established a studio and craft gallery atop South Mountain in Central Maryland, which he continues to operate today.Continue reading→

A Young Artist’s Story | Molly Allen | Episode 139

Posted on September 1, 2015August 31, 2015 by Paul Blais

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Molly Allen | Episode 139

Molly Allen is an emerging sculptural ceramic artist. Originally from Colorado, She completed her BFA at Sierra Nevada College as the 2014 Valedictorian. Since then she has completed artist in residency programs at Watershed Center for the Ceramics Arts and Mendocino Art Center. Molly’s work uses animal forms to explore the human subconscious.

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Developing a Brand | Shannon Garson | Episode 138

Posted on August 27, 2015August 27, 2015 by Paul Blais

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Shannon Garson | Episode 138

Shannon Garson is an Australian ceramic artist specialising in thrown, decorated porcelain. Her work is available at galleries and stores and in her online store.

Shannon’s studio is based in a small rural town of Maleny in the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast. Each piece of porcelain is unique, the result of many hours work. In add Shannon Garson pots and cake small ition to her artistic practice Shannon runs innovative workshops incorporating nature in porcelain and surface design for schools and small groups.

Shannon’s drawings about the strange beauty and wonder to be found in the marginalized eco-systems of the littoral zone. Details of shorelines, rock pools and coastal wallum scrub are revealed in the sgraffito and oxide drawings that crawl over the surface of these delicately thrown porcelain vessels. Exhibition work is available from these galleries.

“I want the surface of the pot to be part of the drawing, not just a surface for the drawing to sit on. I want the whole pot to be experienced, from the weight of it as you pick it up, the texture, the drawing, colour, smoothness of the glaze, all the elements draw the viewer into experiencing the vessel.”

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Developing A New Work | Michael Kline | Episode 137

Posted on August 25, 2015August 25, 2015 by Paul Blais

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Michael Kline | Episode 137

Michael Kline is a potter working in the mountains of North Carolina. The Penland School of Crafts brought Michael to the area to be a resident artist in 1998 and he has called it home ever since. Michael also keeps an online journal called “Sawdust & Dirt” where he chronicle his life as an artist.

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Growing a New Business | Danielle Clare Pomorski | Episode 136

Posted on August 20, 2015August 19, 2015 by Paul Blais

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Danielle Clare Pomorski | Episode 136

Danielle Clare Pomorski is Ceramics and Theatre artist from Erie, PA. She has been working with clay since 2003. She has studied at Ohio Wesleyan University under Kristina Bogdanov. In 2009 she moved to Athens, Greece where she was taught by a couple that were both third generation Greek potters. In 2010 she moved to Brooklyn and took a few classes at Choplet taught by Damien Garcia. She is now working at Clayspace1205 at the tippy top of Greenpoint, Brooklyn.Continue reading→

A Heritage of Art | Alex Matisse | Episode 135

Posted on August 18, 2015August 17, 2015 by Paul Blais

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Alex Matisse | Episode 135

Alex Matisse grew up in a converted white clapboard church in the center of a small New England town in a family of artists.

For three years, Alex apprenticed in the workshops of North Carolina potters Matt Jones and Mark Hewitt. Their work combines traditions, from the Anglo-Oriental school of Leach, Hamada, and Cardew to the folk pottery of the south-eastern United States and many places between. In their workshops Alex learned to love simple pots; adorned or bare, quiet and strong, they make their place comfortably in the home and speak to the thousands of years of pots before them, and all that is to come.

Alex’s work is made in a fusion of pre-industrial country traditions in both process and material. It is fired in a large wood burning kiln and made of as many local materials as the chemistry will allow.

Ales believes in the beautiful object; that there are inescapable aesthetic truths, physical attributes, that remove time and place from the defining characteristics of the made object. These objects can be viewed today or many years from now and be understood as beautiful. Though their quotidian value may become antiquated, their aesthetics will save them. Alex believes in making pots that carry this truth while, as Henry Glassie told Alex in passing one day, holding one hand to the past with the other outstretched to the future.

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