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Aaron Ligon | Episode 433
Aaron Ligon is a ceramic artist living in Charlotte, NC. Aaron’s work is primarily in earthenware or porcelain. Forms are wheel-thrown, sometimes altered, and heavily carved with simple glazing. Aaron maintains a studio at Clayworks and at home. Aaron’s work is sold at the “New Gallery of Modern Art” in Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina
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What is your favorite tool that you like to use?
In carving I have a Dolan 220C knife that is irreplaceable and in relief carving Diamond Core makes a K1 V tip zebra carver and those two things are things I could not do without.
What is your favorite part of the process, the throwing or the carving?
Both. The carving is so meditative and repetitive and if you get on Instagram or the website you will see what I am talking about. There is this juxtaposition of these hard-edged lines that are parallel yet there is this undulation that happens throughout the pot that really kind of does it for me. The carving is where it is kind of identifiable, I love it it is very gratifying, and throwing is where it starts, again if something is not up to a level of expectation I have for myself it is bad and if it is it’s fantastic when you do that last pull and it does what you want it to do.
With you full-time job what is your schedule like for ceramics, how do you fit it in?
Yeah, it’s pretty rough. I think the people that see the full spectrum of that understand the level of seriousness. So I pretty much work 9 to 5, 5 days a week in a professional context and every night I am putting in the hours essentially carving and relief carving and sanding and refining. So a typical day is I am working all day spend time with my family, have dinner, get them in bed and then I spend probably three hours working on carving pots. On the weekend I will throw typically 50-75 pounds of porcelain and I really enjoy doing that. It is probably 25-30 hours a week into ceramics and a full 40 hour work week otherwise.
You mentioned you do a lot of sanding. What sort of safety precautions are you taking to protect your lungs?
I do as little sanding as possible after the bisque. I use a green ware file. It is a funky looking over sized nail file that I use when the clay is green and then I do as little sanding as possible and when I do I have goggles and a respirator. I do that outside usually sitting on a bucket on a nice breezy day so I am not breathing that nasty stuff in.
Do you enjoy having a gallery represent you or do you think it would be better if you sold your pieces yourself?
You know, I do a little bit of both. There are a lot of friends and people that want to buy directly and that will kind of commission things. I do a little bit of that. I enjoy the gallery representation and having the physical space and the gallery is a place to show work and I see that as continuing to be more important moving forward.
Do you price your work differently when it is a commission?
No. I mean there is a level of certainty that happens with it but typically I am probably pricing it a little lower just to accommodate for shipping costs that is hard to pass on to a customer. I include the shipping but I don’t price it much differently that in a gallery context.
What is your favorite down-time thing to do with your family?
Oh man, playing with the kids. My oldest is in baseball right now that means my youngest is in the backyard making me throw baseballs to him all the time. We play and wrestle and run around. I take them to museums. My down-time is always kind of my family. If I am not in the office I am in the studio and if I am not in the studio I am at home with my family. That is a very full life and practically speaking there is not much time for anything else.
Book
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Contact:
Instagram: @cmodart