Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler I talk with James Lobb and Wally Bivins. Both artists have long time ties to Pottery Northwest, having transitioned from artist-in-residence to staff members to executive directors. In our conversation we talk about creating a sense of ownership in a community art center, taking creative risks as an administrator and the history of the Seattle-based organization.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler I talk with author and gallerist Mark Delvecchio. In partnership with Garth Clark, he opened the Garth Clark Gallery in Los Angeles in 1981, before moving to New York in 1983 to direct their  iconic West 57th Street location. For almost three decades he managed the gallery helping to promote and shape a generation of American ceramic artists. Del Vecchio has written numerous articles and published Postmodern Ceramic, a widely used ceramic text in art schools. Mark now lives in Santa Fe, NM where he is the curator of ceramics for Peter’s Projects.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler podcast I talk with multimedia artist Virgil Ortiz. Raised in Cochiti Pueblo, Ortiz learned to make traditional ceramic forms by watching older members of his family. As a teen his interest in sci-fi helped him branch out from pottery into figurative sculpture and narrative story telling. As his career in ceramics matured he has ventured in many other directions including writing movie scripts, designing contemporary fashion, and making multimedia installations.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion with Christine McHorse. Over her nearly fifty-year career she has transitioned from making traditional Pueblo pottery to a body of complex sculptural vessels that are technical and aesthetic frontrunners. 

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion with Adam Field, Neil Celani and Joe Taylor. Field and Celani are members of Clayscope, a collective that uses Periscope, and other social media platforms, to build ceramic community online. 

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion with Garth Clark & Justin Crowe. The two are core staff members of CFile, an online ceramic journal covering “a global community of cutting-edge educators, ceramics creatives, critics, curators, collectors, dealers, and brilliant young techies.”

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion with Justin Crowe. His current creative practice is split between designing functional ceramic wares and producing digital projects that exist solely online. In our interview we discuss his role in creating “The Selfie Arm”, a humorous critique of contemporary narcissism, which took on new meaning as it went viral on major media outlets CNN, MTV News, and The Huffington Post.

Today on the podcast I have a panel discussion about the ceramic figure and story telling. Panelists Carole Epp, Magda Gluszek, Jill Foote-Hutton and Tammy Marinuzzi discuss character development, mining their personal history to create a story arc, and methods for drawing viewers into serious content through humorous or nostalgic subject matter.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion with Kathy Erteman. Her ceramic vessels and architectural wall pieces read as modernist paintings that have been stretched into three-dimensional form.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion with Jeni and Forrest Gard. Founding members of the Socially Engaged Craft Collective both create ceramic objects that are used in performance based art that engages community. In the interview we talk about their history as makers, the core framework of socially engaged art, and the founding of the collective. 

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion on wood firing with Linda Christianson, Elisa Helland-Hansen, Jan McKeachie Johnston, and Lindsay Oesteritter. We talk about how each artist came to wood firing, how they developed a personal aesthetic within the process, and how they critique their work after a firing.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion with the founding members of the Kansas City Urban Potters. The group of seven artists banded together in Kansas City, MO in 2014 with the purpose of expanding “visibility of contemporary studio pottery to local and regional audiences through invitational exhibitions, public lectures and community-based events.”

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion with art dealer Jayson Lawfer. Trained as a potter, Jayson brings a maker’s touch to his role as gallery director of The Nevica Project. Under his direction the Chicago-based gallery focuses on primary and secondary market sales for fine art and craft, including the work of Chuck Close, Richard Serra, Shoji Hamada, and many more.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler podcast I have a discussion with Namita Wiggers and Michael Strand. I talk with the duo of curators about their project for NCECA's 50th anniversary Across the Table, Across the Land. Taking place over the better part of the year the project encouraged the public to submit both object and event-based works around the idea of ceramics, food and community. 

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion with figurative sculptor Wesley Anderegg. Based in the Santa Rita Hills of northern Santa Barbara County, Anderegg uses ceramic figures to weaves narratives that are both primal and complex in their approach to emotion.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion with multimedia artist Roberto Lugo. His current body of ceramic vessels uses portraiture, graffiti inspired patterns, and hip hop aesthetics to investigate notions of personal identity and belonging.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion between guest host Holly Hanessian and British artist Michael Eden. During his MPhil research at the Royal College of Art Eden set out to merge digital technology with the craft skills he used during his previous experience as a potter.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a panel discussion with Jen Allen, Deb Schwarzkopf, and Steve Godfrey. The trio’s ceramic roots go back to Alaska, where Jen and Deb were students of Steve’s at the University of Alaska Anchorage in the early 2000’s.

This week on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Joel Magen. His recent passing was a huge shock to the clay community in Northern California. One of the few potters in the area to offer an apprenticeship, Joel helped educate dozens of potters at his Dark Horse Pottery in Davenport, CA.

Today on the podcast I have an interview with Kari Radasch. Known for her vibrant earthenware pottery, Kari is a prolific artist that has produced multiple varied, and successful, bodies of work in the last decade. Her current focus is to convey joy through vibrant color and surface patterning. She maintains a studio practice in Westbrook, ME while also teaching at the Maine College of Art in Portland, ME.