| With 11
clay artists in the exhibit, there is considerable variety
in the style, the purposes and the techniques represented.
Eight of the artists are classified as contemporary craft
artists, and the other three as traditional artists. This
distinction might seem confusing, as they are all obviously
living, contemporary artists. For the purposes of this
exhibit, we used the definition of traditional artists
as defined by folklorists. Artists are considered traditional
if they learned their craft from members of their family
or their community through non-academic means. Traditional
arts are passed from generation to generation, but there
are changes along the way. Each artist adds his or her
own creative touch to the process. Often new technology
changes the way work is done. But among traditional artists,
there is a strong |
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Ceramics
utilizes clay, a mineral material that may be
formed with bare hands or cast as slip. The plasticity
of clay seems...
<continued>
The South is one of
the few regions of the country where traditional
potters still dig their own clay. For example, The
Hewell Family gets their clay sixteen miles from...
<continued>
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commitment to carry
on the traditions of their mentors, to honor their heritage.
Often traditional artists work in multi-generational
family businesses, as is the case with Jerry Brown,
the Hewells, and Vernon Owens. And quite often, traditional
artists rely on resources they collect themselves from
their environment. They dig and process the clay before
forming it by hand.
Of course, there are contemporary
potters – like Brian Nettles – who have
the same close involvement with the processes of digging
and processing their own clay. The difference is that
Nettles did not learn how to find and work clay from
someone in his own family or community. Contemporary
artists usually learn their craft through a combination
of study, research, experimentation, and travel. They
often study a particular tradition and incorporate elements
of that traditional artform within their work, such
as Fong Choo’s work with Yiching style miniature
teapots, or Ron Meyers’s Japanese-inspired tea
bowls. Other potters explore new ideas of working with
clay, such as Alice R. Ballard’s slip cast representations
of plant forms and Bonnie Seeman’s elaborately
sculpted bowls and teapots.
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