Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Brian Jones. His functional work explores line, color and mark making in earthenware. In 2011 he started The Jonescast, a podcast devoted to exploring what it means to be an artist while juggling life and work. This influential show ran for over sixty episodes and influenced a wave of ceramic related podcasts. For many years Brian has been making mugs for comedian Marc Maron, who gives them to the guests on his podcast WTF with Marc Maron and sells them to his audience. In our interview we talk about refining your craft and staying present in the making process, the role of podcasting in documenting the field of ceramics, and learning how to be more empathetic.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Jordan McDonald. Raised in the suburbs of Toronto, Jordan now lives in West Philadelphia where he makes functional pottery decorated with motifs drawn from historical painting and ceramics. To compliment his studio practice, he started the Pots in Words Instagram feed which features written descriptions of historical pots. He uses these as a jumping off point for imagination and innovation in his studio practice. In our interview we talk about the influence of Walter Ostrom, his love of the artist Rosanjin and working with interior designers.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Sam Harvey. He came to Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley to take a workshop at Anderson Ranch in the mid 1990’s, which began a long relationship that continues to this day including time as a studio coordinator, a board member, and an instructor. His studio practice includes pinched vessels that are decorated with geometric shapes and works on paper. In addition to his studio practice he has been a gallery director for more than a decade and has been instrumental in promoting ceramics in the Aspen, CO area. In our interview we talk about his relationship with Betty Woodman, surviving in the competitive Aspen art market, and what artists should focus on in order to have a successful career in ceramics.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Louise Deroualle. After an early interest in functional work, Louise has shifted to landscape-oriented wall work and sculptures that reference seed pods. The work is unified by a lichen-like glaze technique that involves putting refractory slips over the top of fluid glazes. In our interview we talk about growing up in San Paulo, Brazil, turning towards abstraction to convey emotion, and managing interns in a bustling workshop setting.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Daniel Dallabrida. After a long career in public relations Dallabrida turned to art as a form of visual storytelling, narrating the opinions he could not express in the corporate world. He draws from his experience living through the AIDS crisis to create video, installations, and sculpture that illustrate the effect the disease had on San Francisco’s gay community. In our interview we talk about AIDS-related Multiple Loss Syndrome, blending Greek myths with personal experience to create narratives, and reclaiming LGBTQ slurs through art making.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with HP Bloomer. His functional ceramics are decorated with layers of pattern before being fired in atmospheric kilns to enhance their surfaces. In our interview we talk about how complexity in his making process keeps him engaged, learning to self-edit, and methods for pattern making.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Louise Cort. After traveling to Japan on an exchange program in high school, Louise developed a love for everyday functional objects. This fascination led her to a PHD in ceramic history from Oxford and then onto nearly fifty years of research and curatorial work in museums. Forty of those years was spent working for the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer and Sackler Galleries where she was the curator of ceramics. In the interview we talk about her research into Japanese and Southeast Asian ceramics, how the display of an object creates meaning, and how museums are evolving as cultural awareness shifts.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Ryan Greenheck. His functional ceramics are influenced by European slipware and Chinese porcelain traditions. He maintains a studio in Philadelphia, PA and has been instrumental in starting invitational sales of functional ceramics in urban environments in the North East of the United States. In our interview we talk about evolving in the studio with the help of your peers, curating a sale to meet the needs of a community, and taking short term risks for long term financial gains.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Stephanie Kantor. In her most recent body of work Stephanie explores myths surrounding water through multiple series of ceramic sculpture and painting. In our interview we talk about the relative values of art-making materials, how experiencing a Turkish hammam sparked her interest in bathing culture, and her time as a Zeldin fellow at the Clay Studio in Philadelphia.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I speak with Aysha Peltz, Bruce Dehnert, and Lisa Vettoso, the organizers of the 45th annual Old Church Pottery Show. The event started in 1975 as a fundraiser for the Art School at Old Church in Demarest, NJ and quickly grew into one of the premier yearly sales of studio ceramics in the United States. In the interview we talk about the legacy of sale founders Karen Karnes and Mikhail Zakin, the curating process for choosing artists, and the genres within studio ceramics today.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Michael Connelly. In his Phoenixville, PA studio he makes functional pottery balancing highly engineered forms and expressive line work. In our interview we talk about creating the bones of a strong ceramic form, converting former industrial spaces into creative space in the Brewerytown neighborhood of Philadelphia, and finding work/life balance.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with ceramic artist James Whiting. After living in Japan for many years he developed a love for ceramics that guided him into his own studio practice. James makes hand built vessels that are finished with nerikomi, embossing, and other compelling surface techniques. He is also the director of the Berkeley Potter’s Studio, which has grown from 25 to 425 members during his tenure. In the interview we talk about best practices for safety, staffing and member growth in a community studio.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with potter and gallery owner Sandy Simon. She was a student of Warren MacKenzie’s at the University of Minnesota in the late 1960’s where she developed a studio practice of making utilitarian pots that continues to this day. In 1994 Sandy opened Trax Gallery in Berkeley, CA and has used the space to champion functional potters from around the U.S. In our interview we talk about how she balances form and decoration to create a unified pot, best practices for submitting work for gallery representation, and how the internet has changed the way pots are sold.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Wayne Higby. He came to Alfred University as an assistant professor of ceramics in 1973. He continues to teach there to this day, along with maintaining an active studio practice and a recent appointment as the director of the Alfred Ceramic Art Museum. In our interview we talk about the importance of what Higby calls “witnessing” in his teaching, the five lenses of critique, and the founding of the Alfred Ceramic Art Museum.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Sam Chung. In his recent porcelain vessels, Chung references Korean folk-art motifs in both form and surface. In our interview we talk about the transitions in technique and content he has made in his career, his methods for altering ceramic forms, and the impact that loss has on personal identity.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Sophie Aguilera Lester. Her ceramic sculpture is autobiographical in nature with a strong reference to historical Spanish painting. In our interview we talk about being a set designer for theater, her interest in the still life, and the art scene in Barcelona, where she has lived for most of her adult life. To start the episode, I talk with Lindsay Oesterritter about her new book Mastering Kilns and Firing, which is available now where fine books are sold.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Naomi Clement. In her current body of work, she decorates functional pots with layers of abstracted cursive text and loosely painted underglazes. The richness of her surfaces encourages the viewer to decipher the text and search for a larger narrative. In our interview we talk about the role pottery plays in daily rituals of observation and how finding her grandparents love letters spurred her interest in cursive text.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a special mailbag episode consisting of questions sent in from listeners. My wife Melissa comes on to cohost the show and we discuss topics including historical influences, bloopers from past seasons, and a few thoughts about how the #MeToo movement might affect ceramic history. On this milestone I want to send a special thank you to my listeners who have supported the show along the way. I couldn’t have done this without you.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Matt Ziemke. He abstracts the physical landscape to create planar structures that are covered with pattern and glaze. In our interview we talk about the effect technology has on the brain, working with the language of cartography, and building engaging surfaces through multiple firings.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Mary Cale Wilson. Through her multifaceted art practice, which includes sculpture, vessel making, and painting, Wilson explores ideas of womanhood and labor. In our interview we talk about using art to reconcile personal privilege, developing a personal iconography, and the ideas behind her installation Betrayal at Ebenezer