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John Cheer | Episode 693
John Cheer does about 24 shows per year, primarily along the east coast and the South, but has gone as far as Texas, Colorado, and Arizona. John has won over 85 awards for his work over the years at fine art and craft shows. John has been featured in Ceramics Monthly and Crafts Report and exhibited his “Soul Search” lamp and fountain at the State Museum in Harrisburg, PA. RCN’s Channel 53, Ebru TV’s “Blank Canvas” segment featured John in February, 2010, Season 2:4. “Mandalas For World Peace” outdoor sculpture 5’x9′
EPISODE 700 SMALL VICTORIES
Tell me about your small victories you learned from The Potters Cast. Tell us your name, Instagram Handle, and website. (I may steal a photo off one of your feeds for the show notes page)
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I’m curious, does your work have a message?
Absolutely. Absolutely. My message is creativity, the wonder, the world that we live in is actually very wonderous and spiritual and it’s actually very beautiful. With all the negativity going on it’s very difficult to see through the fog. And my work, really, you know, tries to inspire people to look at it and say, Wow, today I see this. Tomorrow I see something else. Another day I see something else. But they are all uplifting.
Does your story, your history influence your making today?
Absolutely. Everything I experience comes out through my creations because ultimately I believe that we are the icon of who we are is creators. We create things and that’s who we are as creators. So art actually defines us as a human. If you look at everything on the entire planet there is no other animal that can artistically imagine something and bring it into this physical world. We are the only creature that can actually do that.
Who are the people that helped you become who you are as an artist?
Many people. I will say in my bio, you can read it, that I give credit to first the high school teacher, Mr. Sour. And second is the master ceramist from Italy, Renzo Faggioli. At the time he was a teacher teaching at Moravian College, a professor. He really sort of introduced me to this abstract view and also introduced this Italian glaze formulas. That is why my pieces colors are actually very sort of Italian. He not only knows how to make exquisite work but he knows how to teach.
What door opened for you that makes you think, I wouldn’t be here if that specific door had not opened up for me?
I would say the high school. Absolutely. If that high school did not have ceramic classes I don’t know where I would be. I might be working at Microsoft or something. Not that that is bad but I’m just saying I may not have been as creative as I could have been.
What is one striking lesson that Mr. Sour taught you that you carry into today?
He doesn’t judge you. He doesn’t judge any student. So the kids don’t have skill and yet he would step in and help them make that work all the better. That helps the student want to make it better. Instead of saying that you can’t make this or that, he says how it can be made better.
How do you want your work to be interpreted by the world?
I don’t think it is up to me. The world is going to do its own thing. Often I wonder because in a thousand years from now I will be long gone and somebody is going to dig my piece up and what will they say? That I will never know, but it would definitely be interesting. I don’t think about how people judge my work or interpret it. I am more concerned about my interpretation and skill level to best of my knowledge. If I worry about what people think, then there are just going to be glitches in my work.
Book
Book of Greek Myths by D’ Aulaires
Contact
Instagram: @cheer_clay_studio