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Marko Biddle | Episode 1025
Marko Biddle, an artist/educator from Pittsburgh, PA, discovered his passion for ceramic arts at 15 through classes at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild. With over 20 years of art education experience, Marko now resides in Louisville, KY, teaching clay to students in grades 5-12.
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What is one the your favorite things you get to do at NCECA?
That’s a hard question honestly because every year, every conference, it’s different. So solving problems. Solving problems and getting things done for Josh so he doesn’t have to deal with those problems.
Which perennial shows do you want to see every year?
Sadly because I am so busy during the conference these last several years I don’t get to see many of the shows that are outside of the convention center. Like today we got to go for a short walk and see a few shows, I didn’t get to do that at all the last few years. So really if it’s not i the convention center I may not get to see them.
Because of the time schedule.
Correct.
You are a big foodie guy. Were does your love of food come from?
Well if I am spending all day making a plate I am not going to serve you a frozen pizza on that plate. So especially making functional pottery I feel like they go hand in hand. And also Josh has been a huge mentor of mine and that man can cook. Not many people know that and as a teenager he would have these big…he would bring in all these amazing artists and have these artists and big dinners at his house with fifty people and he would cook all this food. And working in restaurants throughout college and even after college and working in the service industry food is one of the best sensory experiences we have.
You are in your early forties, where does that drive come to still want to be a learner?
As an arts educator I have to model for my students all the time. An ideal situation they know how to make and they are making and I am making along side them. And I am always trying to do something new and something I have never done before just like I want to eat a food I have never had before. I am just curious and I want to explore and I try to model that to my students.
How do you define the word creativity?
To create you need imagination and you need to take action. You can’t just let those thoughts live in your head so to create anything you have to act. So you set a goal in your head, plan out how and what, act on that goal, and evaluate the results. Is this what I envisioned? Do I want to revisit? Do I want to explore further? So for me I always ask myself, What do I want? What am I doing? And do they match?
Book
Finding One’s Way with Clay by Paulus Berensohn
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Contact
Instagram: @markobiddleceramics