Tales of a Red Clay Rambler: A pottery and ceramic art podcast

This week on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with ceramic artist Julia Galloway. Her functional porcelain pottery spans a wide range of subject matter and decorative motifs from architecture to cloud forms. She says of her work "A need for beautiful domestic objects and an instinctual drive to create things are tremendous dance partners for idea and desire." In the interview we talk about the role ceramic history plays in her life as an educator, her work ethic, and the way her visual language changed after moving to Montana. She currently serves as a professor and director of the School of Art at the University of Montana . For more information on her work please visit www.juliagalloway.com.

To subscribe to the Red Clay Rambler podcast on iTunes please click here. You can also stream the latest episode on the podcast tab for the site. Click here to listen.

To celebrate the one year anniversary of the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I am featuring a compilation of excerpts from Season one of the podcast. While all of season one's episodes are unique and enlightening in their own way, these clips raise topics that I haven't been able to shake out of my head. The episode features excerpts from interviews with Matt Long, Chandra Debuse, Christin Johansson, Nina Hole, Willow Neilson and Jason Burnett. I am eternally grateful to all the artists who took part in Season one of the podcast.

This week on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast we have a panel discussion with Nate Prouty, Adams Puryear, and Richard Nickel. We discuss comics, SciFi and the role the anti-hero persona plays in American culture. The wide-ranging discussion starts with the premise that we are in the midst of a major aesthetic shift in ceramic arts. Under the influence of contemporary graphic culture the age of "round and brown" ceramics has given way to brightly colored forms heavily influenced by the narrative structure and style of comics and SciFi.

This week on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with potter Emily Reason. She is the quintessential "potter's potter" making beautifully designed utilitarian ware for the table. Her newest body of work draws on both Chinese and North Carolina ceramic traditions.

In the interview we talk about her ongoing relationship with China, the nuts and bolts of running a studio pottery, and her experience writing a book on ceramics. Reason wrote the excellent book Ceramics for Beginners: Wheel Throwing for Lark Books in 2010. For more information on her work please visit www.emilyreason.com.

To subscribe to the Red Clay Rambler podcast on iTunes please click here. You can also stream the latest episode on the podcast tab for the site. Click here to listen.

This week on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with ceramic artist Carole Epp. Her sculpture addresses social issues through the reconfigured forms of kitch figurines. She says of her work, "Cute on the surface, my work betrays its collectible figurine reference by subverting the idealist propaganda of historical figurines in exchange for the dark realities of contemporary humanitarian concerns."

In the interview we talk about her approach to social commentary, the darkness in her aesthetic and her excellent blog, Musing about Mud. For more information on her work please visit www.caroleepp.com. To view her blog please visit www.musingaboutmud.blogspot.com.

This week on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with ceramic artist Jason Bige Burnett. His colorful ceramics reference the illustrative style used to depict pottery in cartoons. Using screen-printing techniques Jason incorporates energetic patterns that give his pots a sense of youthful excitement. In the interview we talk about his aesthetic, the current image transfer trend in ceramics, and the yearly ceramic surface forum that he founded. He is currently an artist-in-residence at the Arrowmont School for Art and Craft. For more information on his work please visit www.jasonbigeburnett.com. 

This week on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with American ceramic artist and educator Bill Griffith. His sculptural vessels reference dwellings and sacred structures. Often using atmospheric kilns Griffith develops rich earth-toned surfaces reminiscent of the prehistoric architecture of the Native American Anasazi, Japanese Haniwa, Mayan and Incan cultures. He says of his work "The beauty and strength of the exterior arch form is juxtaposed to the mystery and intrigue of the protected quiet interior spaces. For me, the work reflects the inward sense of need for dwelling space we all have within us."

For the past 25 years Bill has been the program director for the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. He has been instrumental in Arrowmont's development of a nationally renowned summer workshop program and year long artist residency. Among his many contributions to the greater ceramic world he is the founder and co-coordinator of the Utilitarian Clay Conference. This quadrinial gathering is one of the premier forums for potters to discuss the evolution of the vessel within the ceramics field. For more information on his work please visit www.billgriffithclay.com. For more information on Arrowmont please visit their website www.arrowmont.org.

This week on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with American ceramic artist Amanda Small. Her mixed media installations draw parallels between macro/ microbiological systems and cultural/interpersonal connection. In the interview we talk about the value of a multidisciplinary approach to education, traveling as a knowledge base for creativity, and her use of systems as a catalyst for sculpture.

She recently stepped down as the project coordinator at the Guldagergaard international ceramic research center in Skaelskor, Denmarkto focus full time on her studio work. As a recent recipient of a North Carolina Arts Council grant she has been awarded funding to establish a studio in her native Chapel Hill, NC. For more information on her work please visit www.amandasmall.com.

This week on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Swedish artist Christin Johansson. Her work ranges from ceramic sanitary ware to performative installation art. Her current body of work was produced under the influence of an alter ego, Augustine Adler. The dialogue between Johansson's creative selves fuels the creation of her sculptural objects, as well as providing the conceptual framework in which they exist.

In the interview we discuss the evolution of her career and the role Augustine played in creating her most recent exhibition, Her Alter Ego Universe. For more information on Johansson please visit www.christin.dk. For more infomration on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler podcast please visit www.carterpottery.blogspot.com.

This week on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Danish ceramic artist Nina Hole. Her monolithic pieces are equal parts sculpture and performance art. With the help of building teams she constructs towering forms that are fired in place and unveiled at their peak temperature. Her "fire sculptures" have been built in a variety of environments including both urban and rural settings in Mexico, Denmark, Australia, the U.S. and many other countries.

In the interview we talk about the role religious architecture plays in inspiring her forms and the development of an easily mobile building/firing process. We also discuss the Museum of International Ceramic Art-Grimmerhus and the Danish ceramic residency Guldagergaard, both of which she had an instrumental role in starting. For more images of her work please visit www.ninahole.com.