Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with David Peters. While studying at Utah State University, David discovered a passion for using “wild” ceramic materials to make functional pottery. For the past twelve years he has focused on developing clay and glaze formulas from ceramic materials dug in the mountains of Central Montana. In our interview we talk about the geology of Montana, how to test and adapt raw materials for studio use, and sorting through criticism when starting a new body of work.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Steven Young Lee. Growing up in Chicago the son of immigrant Korean parents, Steve turned to pop culture as a touchstone for belonging. His current body of work blends contemporary and historical references on ceramic vessels, including a recently completed large-scale plate installation. In our interview we talk about early 80’s TV heroes, how social media affects the aesthetics of globalism, and the process of making work for his show at the Portland Art Museum.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Giselle Hicks. Her minimalist vessels combine simple glazes with refined forms to highlight the process marks of her coil-building technique. After reading Elaine Scarry’s On Beauty and Being Just, Hicks has embraced the decorative function of her work, focusing on a quest for personal beauty. In our interview we talk about her experience selling through interior designers and how her transition between sculptural and functional bodies of work helped her cultivate a new audience.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Scott Barnim. Based in Dundas, Ontario, Barnim has been a potter for over 40 years. In his early career he made traditional salt ware pottery, but later became interested in surface decoration after doing a master’s degree at the University of Wales. His studio production now includes highly decorated stoneware, low fire reduced luster ceramics and cobalt transfer ware. In our interview we talk about the nuts and bolts of running a successful studio pottery, understanding reduced luster ceramics, and learning from British studio potters Alan Caiger-Smith and Mick Casson.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a panel discussion with members of the Hamilton Potters Guild. Emma Smith, Greg Voison, Melissa Schooley and Scott Barnim talk about their experience being potters in the Ontario region and the benefits of being in a guild. We also talk about building a wood kiln on a land lease property, following trends versus “selling out” your aesthetic, and how the rising cost of housing affects potters.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Paul Briggs. During his multifaceted career Paul has been a professor, minister, and artist. While in the ministry he became engaged with social justice work, which influenced his recent body of work “Cell Personae.” The collection of sculptures deals with the effect mass incarceration has on black lives. In the interview we talk about the research Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi did into flow states, what we can learn spiritually through failures in the studio, and how social justice, spirituality and art intersect.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview that Kate Fisher conducted with ceramic artist Mikey Walsh in 2014. The interview is part of Fisher’s interactive project, “Both Artist and Mother”, which addresses the issues working mothers face. In the interview they talk about dealing with the “shouldness” of time management and advice for women who desire to blend familial and career goals.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Kate Fisher. Her recent body of functional pottery draws from a visual analysis of her domestic landscape, including kid’s toys, tools and other familial paraphernalia. In the interview we talk about the parallels between endurance sports and potting, the types of support working mothers need to be active in their studios, and her ceramic outreach project “Both Artist and Mother.”

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a live episode featuring Amanda Salov, Iva Haas, Seth Charles, and Amanda Bury. The panel share their experience being resident artists and developing a career in ceramics. In the interview we talk about how to write a successful application, managing long distance relationships with friends and family, and what makes a good residency. The discussion was taped live at Central Washington University as part of the Residency Reflections exhibition.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have the final episode of a miniseries featuring current resident artists at the Archie Bray Foundation. In this episode Stuart Gair, Kyle Johns, and Kelly Stevenson talk about transitioning to full time studio work after graduate school, pushing themselves to take risks in the studio, and the value of working at the Archie Bray Foundation.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have the second in a series of discussions with current resident artists at the Archie Bray Foundation. In this episode Richard James, Kelsey Duncan and Iva Haas talk about building a character study for figurative sculpture, the choice to improvise or not in the creative process, and how a creative practice can shift the maker’s world view.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have the first in a series of discussions with current resident artists at the Archie Bray Foundation. In this episode Jessica Brandl, Yoonjee Kwak and Christina Erives talk about using humor to shape their aesthetic, creating narrative works that relate to the personal mythologies of their families, and their experience as resident artists in academic institutions and art centers.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Brenda Quinn. Her vibrant functional pottery explores the line between hard and soft through the blending of architectural and floral elements. In the interview we talk about how a childhood phobia led her to practice mindfulness, methods for generating pattern, and helping her students understand the value of handmade goods.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Matt Wedel. He uses a gestural sculpting style and vibrant glazes to create ambitious large-scale works around the themes of the figure, landscape, and what he calls “Flower Trees”. In the interview we talk about keeping up with the speed of his imagination, understanding color and surface, and the place of ceramics in the art world.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have Linda Christianson’s closing lecture from the Cultural Confluence Wood Fire Symposium, held in Helena, MT in October 2018. She talks about the human preoccupation with fire and how that is being replaced by the back lit screens of modern technology. She also addresses problems that face the field of wood firing including gender inequity and resource depletion.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a panel on nonacademic paths for learning wood firing featuring Robin Dupont, Jody Johnstone, Scott Parady, Martin Tagseth, and Tara Wilson. The panelists discuss a wide range of personal experience from Johnstone’s time in a traditional Japanese apprenticeship to Parady establishing his Cobb Mountain Art & Ecology Project to teach wood firing and ecology

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a panel on education featuring John Neely, Matthew Blakely, Pascal Geoffroy, Sandy Lockwood, and Linda Lid. The panelists discuss how they came to learn wood firing and the current status of the firing technique in educational institutions in Australia, the United States, and Western Europe.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a panel on applied aesthetics. Denny Gerwin, Linda Christianson, Shirobey Kobayashi, Trevor Dunn, and Neil Hoffman talk about the objects and experiences that have shaped their aesthetics.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a lecture from Daniel Lafferty on building wood kilns based on Islamic architecture. He uses the squinch arch, which allows him to improvise kiln characteristics to meet the specific needs of the user. In his talk he discusses building without form work, the pros and cons of burying the majority of the kiln underground, and building with diatomaceous earth bricks.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a lecture from noted physicist and ceramic artist Hideo Mabuchi. He is currently working on a joint research project with Utah State University to better understand the behavior of iron in atmospheric kilns. In this lecture Hideo talks about the concept of vital materiality and his research into the unique colors that form when iron-bearing clays are reduction cooled. Hideo is a Professor of Applied Physics at Stanford University and was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2000 for his work using optical methods to understand quantum states.