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The 25th Annual NC Potters Conference

March 2,3 & 4 2012

Cynthia Bringle

"Being a full time artist is my passion and pleasure."

Cynthia first began studying painting at the Memphis Academy of Arts but soon switched to pottery. After completion of her undergraduate work she went on to study at Alfred University in New York to earn and attain a master's degree. Although she is most well known for her ceramics, she is also continues to work as a painter and printmaker.

Cynthia Bringle lives and works in Penland, North Carolina where she runs a gallery with her twin sister. She moved to Penland in 1970 and from there has established an International reputation in the ceramic’s world. Bringle is one of America's pre-eminent potters and a legendary teacher whose sphere of influence stretches around the globe. She has taught many workshops through they years and many of her own students have gone on to become premier potters in their own right.

In addition to exhibiting extensively around the world, She is a fellow of the American Craft Council and a recipient of the North Carolina Award for Fine Art. Her work is in the collection of the Mint Museum of Craft and Design, Burlington Art Centre, and the High Museum of Art. She is explorer, inspiration, and artist extraordinaire.

Ronan Peterson

 "My ceramics are an amalgamation of the influences of my youth, the natural and the fantastical.  My vessels provide a ceramic comic book interpretation of the natural world and its processes of growth and decay.  I use thick line contours, a fullness of volume, and areas of exaggerated detail to embellish my functional ceramic vessels.  I translate and abstract budding leaves and lichen encrusted bark, and assemble a collage of interpretations of natural phenomena.  I like to take bits and parts, magnifying some, diminishing others and assemble them into a vessel worthy of use and destined for contemplation."

Ronan Kyle Peterson grew up in Poplar, NC, a small community deep in the mountains of western North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and in 1996 received a Bachelor of the Arts degree in Anthropology, with a minor in Folklore. His interest in Folklore led him to John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC, where he began taking classes in ceramics and other media.  After working for two years with two potters in the area of Asheville, NC, he attended Penland School of Crafts. Initially, he intended to stay for a two month Concentration in Wood and Soda Fired Pottery with MacKenzie Smith, but two months turned into four years.  After Concentration, he applied for and was accepted into the Core Student program. During the two-year intensive work exchange program, he had the opportunity to study with a number of internationally known artists and craftspeople.

Currently, Ronan maintains Nine Toes Pottery, a ceramics studio in Chapel Hill, NC, which produces highly decorative and functional earthenware vessels. His work is drawn from processes of growth and decay in the natural world and translated into a ceramic comic book interpretation of both real and imagined phenomena.  His ceramic vessels has been shown in local and national exhibitions and his work has been featured in many publication such as Ceramics Monthly and Clay Times.

John Glick

"Since beginning in 1964 as a studio potter, I have greatly enjoyed the exploration of the rich world of functional pottery. And, it would seem that those who follow my work have become accustomed to the changing nature of my pottery over the years and have supported it with kindness and sympathetic generosity. For this I am grateful. Without this sense of harmony that flows between us, the survival of my studio pottery would be in question. But, as it is, my inclination to be inquisitive is happily matched by an equally willing public response. I believe it is the kind of relationship that has nurtured enduring art activity in other times in many cultures."

John received a B.F.A. from Wayne State University in 1960 and an M.F.A from Cranbrook Academy in 1962. John’s pots are primarily functional, but are not limited by this premise. He draws on the many historical precedents that give a kind of permission to move away from "pure function" occasionally to explore other avenues in the medium. As John states, “I enjoy reacting to the invitation of the unadorned surface of my pots as they are made, and this has been true since finding my "hand" with brush and color or with tools and the soft clay. Whatever the degree of involvement with decoration, I try to accomplish a harmonious blending of the intended use of the pot with its presence visually.”

A portion of his work is devoted to ceramic forms that are not functional in the traditional sense. His wall pieces of the early 1990's explored the realm of drawing and painting often deriving their forms and colors from natural landscape and sky themes. Later works explored the concepts of time and nature (tree forms, leaves) and used elements from architecture (the column) to reflect on man's impact on nature. Present works for the wall deal with personal memories and focus on a collage approach to bring together such diverse elements as mantels, fruit, pottery forms, leaves and letters into a harmonious grouping reminiscent of still life compositions.

John’s work in the studio is enhanced and balanced by accepting a limited number of invitations to lead ceramics workshops in the U.S.A. and other countries. Additionally, he makes an effort to share ideas with others through writing, lectures, and tours of his studio. He also offers year long artist-in-residence training periodically as a way to help young potters learn about techniques, philosophies and goals in a full-time studio pottery.

Martha Grover

“In our lives, we often move past the objects surrounding us at a very quick pace. My work generates a moment to pause. My goal is create an undeniable presence, one that acts as an invitation to explore the work thoroughly, taking time to know all of its many facets. Only through sustained interaction we can truly know and appreciate someone or something.”

Martha Grover is a functional potter, creating thrown and altered porcelain pieces. She attended Bennington College in Vermont, where she received her undergraduate degree in Architecture. After going to Syracuse University in New York as a fifth year student in Ceramics, she decided to pursue a graduate degree in clay. In 2007, Martha received her MFA in ceramics from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Since then she has been awarded the Fogelberg Fellowship for a residency at the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Sage Scholarship for a summer residency at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana. Martha also completed a year long residency at Red Lodge Clay Center in Red Lodge, Montana in August 2009. She received the Taunt Fellowship at the Archie Bray Foundation in 2010. Her work can be found in galleries across the US and her work has been published in several publications including Ceramics Monthly and Clay Times.

Of her work Martha states “I seek to enhance the experience of interacting with functional objects. I work toward creating a sense of elegance for the user while in contact with each porcelain piece.”  Reminiscent of orchids, flowing dresses, and the body, her work has a sense of familiarity and preciousness.

She thinks of the fluid visual movement around a piece, as a choreographer would move dancers across a stage. Transmitting desire - there is a sense of revealing and concealing, a layering of details that serves to catch our attention immediately and then the details draw us in, to make a closer inspection. Direct curves are taken from the female figure, as well as the fluidity of a dancer moving weightlessly across the floor.  The space between elements is electrified with anticipation and tension.

Jack Troy

 "Working with clay and associating with others who do so have been sources of joy for me for 49 years. The anatomy and physiology of that joy has been an unwavering curiosity about the materials of our craft and figuring how to use them for mostly useful, meaningful ends. For some of us, the real "reason" we keep coming back to clay is elusive, flying just beyond reach of the net made of words we swing at it."

Jack Troy is a potter, teacher and writer.  He received a B.S. from West Chester State College, West Chester, Pa 1961. Shortly thereafter he made his first pots in 1962 while teaching high school English. Jack would go on to study at Philadelphia College of Art, Alfred University and Kent State University where his received an M.A. in English and Art in 1967.

Jack started the ceramics program at Juniata College in 1968, built Pennsylvania's first anagama kiln there in 1978, and retired in 2005. His work in clay has taken him to twenty countries, and he has taught more than 220 workshops. He is an NCECA veteran, attending the first meeting in 1966 and only missing three annual conferences. His work has been exhibited widely, and is in numerous collections, public and private. He has written over 80 articles in ceramics publications, and his books, Salt Glazed Ceramics, and Wood-Fired Stoneware and Porcelain, are standards in the field. Calling the Planet Home is his collection of poems.  Every day he looks forward to his next firing.

Jake Johnson

“In making my work, I take clay, simple, homogenized substance, and give it a new life as something more complex.  By giving it just some of the basic qualities of life—a sense of movement, growth, and breath—the pieces develop presence and take on unique personalities and trajectories.”

Jake studied ceramics at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois.  After graduation he worked as a studio technician for sculpture and ceramics at Bradley.   He then worked as a full-time potter for a couple of years before being admitted to the M.F.A program for ceramics at Penn State University.  Since graduating in the spring of 2008 he has been working full time on his work in clay and exhibiting work both locally and nationally.

“I strive to have a feeling of animation in my work that suggests gesture and energy. Vessels, being inherently biomorphic, lend themselves well to such qualities.  Not only can individual components of vessels can be interpreted as bellies, lips, feet, necks, hips, and shoulders, but the volume within the vessel can also suggest breath and weight.

Nature and its many life-forms offer an infinite palette of forms and shapes to work from and explore.  Such a variety and diversity of life exists-- from plants and animals and human beings, to viruses and bacteria and everything in between.  Growth and movement are the common thread in life and nature. Capturing this energy is something I strive for in my work.”

Jake currently lives and works in Spring Mills, Pennsylvania.

Louise Cort

Louise serves as the curator for ceramics at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.  A graduate of Oxford University, Louise’s research centers on historical and contemporary Japanese, Southeast Asian, and South Asian ceramics and crafts, Japanese baskets and textiles, and the Japanese tea ceremony.  Her research has been featured in numerous publications around the world.

Walter Ostrom

A major force in contemporary ceramics, is regarded as an international expert.  For the greater part of his 40-year career in ceramics Ostrom served as Professor of Ceramics at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and was named and Honorary Professor of Ceramics at the Jingdezhen Ceramics Institute, China.  From his conceptual work to his more recent exploration of the vast history, hybridization and social foundation of ceramics Walter’s work has been exhibited and collected around the world.

Bob Armfield

Bob was first introduced to pottery at the age of 15 but it was not until college that the interest truly developed.  He taught for a number of years before he started to work as a potter for Walt and Dot Auman in the 1970's at Seagrove Pottery.  He would go on to open his own shop in the 1980's.  Bob currently operates Oakland Pottery in Ramseur, NC.

Mark Hewitt

Mark has been featured in the PBS series, "Craft in America," Smithsonian magazine, on the cover of American Craft magazine, and he has written extensively in the ceramic press. Mark Hewitt specializes in the production of very large wood fired planters, storage jars and vases, along with a full range of high quality tableware. He mines and refines local stoneware clays, and his principal glazes are the traditional Southern alkaline glaze and salt glaze. He exhibits his work internationally and is well-represented in museums and private collections.

ABOUT CONFERENCE

The North Carolina Potters Conference is a premier ceramics conference.  Through its history the conference has featured the some of the best ceramics artists from around the world.  This conference centers on simultainious demonstrations cultuviating a dialogue of techniques, concepts, and experiences between the artists and the audience.  Unlike other conferences, you do not have to pick and choose with workshops to attend.  All the demonstrations and presentations are scheduled for the entire group. Potters at any skill level will come away with new ideas and inspiration to improve their work.  Even non-potters have found the weekend a worthwhile introduction into the world of ceramics.

REGISTRATION

$225 - Includes Lunch and Dinner on Friday and Saturday and Lunch on Sunday.  Participants are responsible for securing their own accomodations.

Pre-Registration is Required by February 15, 2012 and limited to 150 participants. 

REFUND POLICY

Because plans are made on the basis of the number of registrations - funds are obligated in advance of the Conference.  Those who cancel prior to February 1st will receive a full refund.  Those who register and cancel prior to February 15th will receive a $100 refund.  No refunds will be made after February 15th.

AGENDA

Thursday

01:00    Registration/Check-In
05:00    Registration/Check-In Closes

             Exhibition Opens

Friday

08:00    Registration/Check-In
09:00    Welcome, Announcements, Introductions
10:00    Demonstrations
             Cynthia Bringle,  Ronan Peterson
             John Glick,  Martha Grover
             Jack Troy,  Jake Johnson

05:00    Break
06:30    Dinner
08:00    Presentation by Walter Ostrom

Saturday

09:00    Demonstrations Continue
             Cynthia Bringle,  Ronan Peterson
             John Glick,  Martha Grover
             Jack Troy,  Jake Johnson

12:00    Lunch
01:00    Demonstrations Continue
04:00    Break

06:00    Pig Picking

After the Pig Picking you are invited to an after dinner party at
Dwight Holland’s house

Sunday

09:00    Lectures
             Louise Cort
             Bob Armfield
             Mark Hewitt

10:30    Break
11:00    Lectures Continue
12:30    Lunch

CONFERENCE EXHIBITION

Each potter in attendance may bring a maximum of five representative pieces for display at the Conference. Pieces for sale should be priced to include a 25% commission to the Randolph Arts Guild.  Payment for items sold (less the 25% commission) will be mailed on April 15th.

LODGING

Attendees are responsible for their own accomodations. 

Holiday Inn Express - Special Rate: $75 Double or King | 336-636-5222

Fairfield Inn | 336-626-9197

Quality Inn | 336-626-3680

Hampton Inn | 336-625-9000

Comfort Inn | 336-626-4414

CAMPING

Deep River Campground | 336-626-4069

Holly Bluff Family Campground | 336-857-2761

Zooland Family Camping | 336-381-3422

NO CHILD CARE

There is no child care.  Please, no children at the conference.

SPOUSE CARE

Only an additional registration for the conference secures a space for meals and activities for spouses or accompanying friends

ANIMAL CARE

No pets, please.  

LOCATION

The North Carolina Potters Conference is sponsored by the Randolph Arts Guild and is headquartered in the W. H. Moring, Jr. Arts Center located at 123 Sunset Ave. in downtown Asheboro, NC.