Eva Champagne on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast

This week on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with ceramic artist Eva Champagne. Her hybridized biomorphic sculptures highlight the infinity variety and unifying order that occur within the natural world. She says of the work, "By synthesizing abstracted formal references to animals, plants and geologic sources, I create intentionally ambiguous ceramic sculptures that exist in the fluid margin between categories. My aim is toward something composite that will challenge the habitual presumption that the object must be either one thing or another in favor of a more open “both/and/maybe” interpretation of form."

In the interview we talk about living overseas, the intellectual and spiritual interpretations of her hybrid forms, and her upcoming residency at the Gaya Ceramic Center in Bali. Eva has started a Kickstarter campaign to help fund her trip to Bali. To support her project visit her Kickstarter site by clicking here. To view more of Eva's work please visit her website eva-champagne.com.

To subscribe to the Red Clay Rambler podcast on iTunes please click here. To add the podcast to your Stitcher Radio on Demand Playlist click here. You can also stream the latest episode on the podcast tab for this site.

Music for a Montana Summer

As summer is winding down I thought I would post a mix of old and new sounds from my studio. This soundtrack has been perfect for the long daylight hours of a Montana summer. I'm always interested to hear what you have been listening to so please leave comments about your new music, or your old summer favorites.

Chairman of the Board- Give me just a little more time 1970

The first notes of this song transport me back to childhood beach trips to Ocean Isle, NC. As we left the mountains and got closer to the beach my parents would switch to vacation mode by popping beach music into the cassette player.

Kopecky Family Band- Heart Beat 2013

A got turned onto this great band through the ATO records Spring Sampler on Noise Trade. If you aren't familiar with them or Noise Trade they are both definitely worth a look.

Sam and Dave- Hold on I'm Comin  1966

Another family favorite for the summer. My dad would put this on and we would dance in the car. This would completely embarrass my older brother which only made us dance harder.

Langhorne Slim and the Law- Bad Luck 2012

They just played the Newport Folk Fest which is available as a free download from NPR Music. A unique voice backed by toe tapping Americana music.

Damian Marley- All Night 2005

One of my favorite tracks off of Damian Marley's Grammy award winning Welcome to Jam Rock. Perfect sonic motivation for working late in the studio.

The Great Beehive Kilns of Yesteryear

www.preservemontana.org

I recently posted images on my Face Book page of the Archie Bray bee hive kilns. The large domed kilns haven't been fired since the 1950's but they still loom large as remnants of the Archie Bray's industrial past. University of Pennsylvania has been leading a conservation project to partially restore and stabilize the kilns over the last two summers. After seeing images of the kilns Jim Weber wrote me about a trip his took to visit similar kilns in Lizella, GA. He has graciously agreed to let me post his story here. Thanks Jim!

Lizella, Ga. is about 40 miles south from me. I went there years ago and met and spoke with one of the "Meritt" family men who had grown up in the pottery business. I can't remember his first name, but his nephew ( I think) Mark, is still digging clay where something like 5 or 6 generations of the family have grown and worked.

Mr. Merritt gave my friend and I a tour of the old shop and kilns and reminisced of the days when he was 60 + yr.'s younger. He started by telling about loading/unloading these big bee-hive kilns, when just a boy. They would empty the kiln while it was still quite warm, or "still hot !!", he remembered. The boys would enter the kiln through the small opening (hence, a "boy's work") and grab as many fired flower pots (their #1 product which were fired stacked together, maybe in 5'-6' "columns") and remove them. As they emptied space enough, they would take a stack of "green" planters into the kiln, leave them and grab yet another stack of fired pots and run back out. This continued until the finished pots were out and the new pots were in . . . days of candling and firing and cooling and . . . the "pot-boys" would do their part again.

The old man, Mr. Merritt, said to me, "Why, look at my hands, son . . . I couldn't leave a finger-print if I tried." Sure enough, his hands and particularly his fingers were "smooth as glass" because "those pots were hot!!, and we'd have thousands to get out !!" ((he gave a more accurate count which I can't remember). They would not wait for a more thorough cooling, as they needed the residual heat to warm and "finish dryin' the new pots".

I'll NEVER forget this old man and his shiny smooth hands. Mark Merritt and his wife and partner Conni continue the family tradition with clay as part of their daily lives. Here is a link to a posting on their F.B. page. Look them up and "Like" them. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lizella-Clay/165045871222

Jim Weber

Courtney Murphy on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast

This week on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with potter Courtney Murphy. Her functional earthenware draws from a variety of influences including "simplified abstractions of nature, children's artwork, folk art, mid-century modern forms and shapes, as well as textiles, patterns and historical pots." She maintains a studio in Missoula, MT were she is an artist-in-residence at the Clay Studio of Missoula.

In the interview we discuss our mutual love for Western North Carolina, her approach to pattern and form, and her experience making the rounds of the ceramic residency circuit. For more information please visit www.courtneymurphy.net, or to purchase her work please visit her Etsy site www.etsy.com/shop/courtneymurphy.

To subscribe to the Red Clay Rambler podcast on iTunes please click here. To add the podcast to your Stitcher Radio on Demand Playlist click here. You can also stream the latest episode on the podcast tab for this site.




Courtney and I are both alums of the Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts. Courtney will be teaching a workshop at the newly renamed Odyssey Clayworks in Asheville, NC on September 7th and 8th. For more information please visit www.odysseyceramicarts.com.

Griffin, McConnell, and Johnson talk about climbing the career ladder on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast

Mel Griffin

Peter Christian Johnson

Mathew McConnell

This week on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I am featuring a panel discussion on ceramic career paths with Mel Griffin, Mathew McConnell, and Peter Christian Johnson. The conversation starts by questioning the premise of an established career ladder in ceramics and evolves into a discussion about success, living a mobile life, and creating your own career path.

Mel Griffin is a potter and tile artist living in Helena, MT. For more information about her work please visit www.melgriffin.com. Mathew McConnell is a sculptor and educator living in Fayetteville, AK. He is currently a visiting assistant professor at the University of Arkansas. For more information on his work please visit www.mathewmcconnell.com. Peter Christian Johnson is sculptor and educator living in La Grande, Oregon. He is currently an assistant professor at Eastern Oregon University. For more information on his work please visit peterchristianjohnson.com. All three of these artists have been long term resident artists at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, MT where the interview was conducted.

To subscribe to the Red Clay Rambler podcast on iTunes please click here. To add the podcast to your Stitcher Radio on Demand Playlist click here. You can also stream the latest episode on the podcast tab for this site.

Talking about Artist-in-Residence programs with Julie Kesti

Archie Bray Brick Pile, Helena, MT

Landscape near Ernabella, Australia

Here are a few excerpts from a recent interview I did with blogger, artist, and body worker Julie Kesti. We talked about the many ways you can benefit from artist-in-residence programs. I have spent the last year residency hopping between China, Denmark, Australia, and the U.S. The experience has been invaluable and I enjoyed talking to Julie about what I gained from my travels. Click here to read the full interview.

Tell us a couple of your favorite residency moments:

During my residency at Anderson Ranch in the winter of 2007 I had the opportunity to work with an exceptional group of residents. I was discussing my work one night with a resident whose work I admired. After a pause in the conversation she told me very directly that the way I talked about my work didn’t match the aesthetic of the objects I was making. She said this with great politeness, without malice. It was shocking at first but after a few days I decided she was right.

This was a major turning point in my work. Her honest assessment of my work helped me change my aesthetic completely. I changed firing temperatures, materials and consequently left behind most of the artistic crutches that I had been leaning on for many years. The fact that she was my peer and not a formal teacher made me more open to her criticism.

This type of interaction is why I love residencies. You never know who you will meet and how they will affect your life. I have made life-long friendships during residencies.

Any fun or interesting mishaps in your residency application/travel/completion journeys?

This past fall I was a resident at ICRC Guldagergaard in Skaelskor, DE. Shortly after arriving I set out to go shopping at the local grocery store. As the shopkeeper rang up my groceries I pulled out my wallet. For some reason I could not figure out Danish money. I tried for at least three minutes before I sheepishly handed her all my money. She looked at me with a smile and handed back the change. Small embarrassments like this happen all the time so it is helpful to travel with a good sense of humor.

Do you have any final thoughts or words of advice to artists who might be thinking about a residency?

Don’t be afraid to think big. Commit to a residency that might be a little higher than you perceive your skills to be. Residencies are a great way to stretch the boundaries of what you think you can do. Plan a big project and then do everything in your power to complete it.




Julie and I met in Shanghai after a mutual friend put us into contact. Along with her husband Sean, she has been living in Shanghai practicing her art while studying Chinese Medicine. You can view her art work and read her blog at juliekesti.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @juliekesti, on Tumblr at http://juliekesti-art-by-mail.tumblr.com, or on Instagram @juliekesti.

A statement from Julie about her recent work.
Often my work is an exploration of the puzzles and challenges, textures and qualities of our physical and spiritual / psychological boundaries. My work in recent yeas includes body parts, shadow tracings, and abstract mixed-media drawings evoking ideas of safety, possession, permission/freedom, and impermanence. Or--sometimes--I just start layering colors, and layer and re-layer them and see where it takes me.

Since moving to Shanghai, I have been experimenting with zine formats, beginning to think about visual narratives in booklet or letter form. I’ve also been keeping a blog, which has been a productive place of exploration, experimentation, and focus. Part of this is an artist interview series, about their creative habits and process, conducted through the mail and made into both zines and a blog series.

Apply now for the Sixth Annual Gulf Coast State College Cup Show: Form and Function

Former participant Blair Clemo

Former participant Shawn O'Connor

Former participant Robert Lawarre

I have the great pleasure of jurying the sixth installment of Gulf Coast State College's annual cup show. If you are a cup maker, sculptor or a conceptual artist using clay I encourage you to enter this exhibition. I have copied a few of the application details below. You can click here to download the full prospectus. I am already looking forward to seeing all the great cup forms that artists will submit to the show. The deadline for applications is September 20th but don't wait, you can apply today by clicking here.

Gulf Coast State College Amelia Center Gallery is hosting a juried exhibition that explores the idea of the drinking vessel. The exhibition will focus on the function and concept of the drinking vessel; including its relation to history, politics, craft, technology, utility, and narrative. The goal is to offer a survey of the wide array of approaches to contemporary ceramics through the lens of the most intimate and accessible vessel, the cup.

Eligibility 

The exhibition is open to both functional and sculptural work that addresses the idea of “the cup”. Please submit only original work that has been completed in the last three (3) years. Amelia Center Gallery reserves the right to reject any work that is not suitably prepared for exhibition or that differs from the original submission.

Entries and Fees

Please submit your entries online at www.onlinejuriedshows.com. Each artist may submit up to three (3) entries. All images must be of high quality saved in the JPEG format, at 72dpi. Files must be 1920 pixels on the longest side, and file size must not exceed 4 MB. The files should be titled with the artist’s first and last name and entry number (example: Steve_Smith_1.jpg). File numbers must correspond to the entry numbers on your entry form. Please do not submit any other materials (CV, resume, statement, etc.). For tips on how to shoot, resize and submit images see the Help link online at www.onlinejuriedshows.com. Entry Fee. There is a non-refundable entry fee of $25. Fees must be paid through www.onlinejuriedshows.com. Payments may be made through PayPal or by any major credit card.

Calendar 

Application Due September 20, 2013 

Notification Begins September 26, 2013 

Accepted Work Due October 10, 2013

Opening Reception October 18, 2013 

Show Closes November 7, 2013 

Unsold Work Shipped November 14, 2013