On today’s Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast, I have a tribute for Bill Daley who recently passed. Throughout his seventy-year career he created large scale terra cotta works that expanded the boundaries of the contemporary vessel. A noted educator, Daley spent over forty years teaching in higher education and has received numerous awards of distinction from the College Art Association, American Craft Council, the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. In the interview we talk about his triumvirate of creativity, the true nature of intuition and looking forward at ninety. This interview was recorded in 2015 in Philadelphia, PA.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Simon Levin, David Roswell, and Polina Miller. Levin created the Clay Cohorts program in 2021 to provide artists a place for mentorship, education, and community. The program blends online learning with in-person workshops to help students stay motivated in their own creative practice. In our interview we talk about David and Polina’s experience in the program and how it is shifting as Simon welcome two new instructors to this year’s cohort.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a listener mailbag for our 400th episode. My wife Melissa joins me as a guest host to talk about the resilient nature of artists and the big changes that are coming in our family. Thanks to everyone who has been listening to the show and who has helped make this podcast a community.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Donte K. Hayes. After focusing on printmaking early in his career, Donte moved into ceramics in 2015 and continues to make sculptural ceramics that incorporate sci-fi, social issues, and the material culture of the African Diaspora. In our interview we talk about transitioning from the figure to abstraction, how objects can initiate the viewer into a new mindset, and his recent collaborative mural project “Oracles of Iowa City.” Along with Antoine Williams he designed two large-scale murals that cover the façade of a parking garage in downtown Iowa City.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Gay Smith. Her thrown and altered porcelain vessels range from everyday wares to elaborate candelabras and multipart stacked forms. In our interview we talk about articulating silhouettes through faceting, once firing porcelain in a soda kiln, and what she learned from being a community potter in an organized commune early in her career.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with John Britt. A noted glaze chemist and author, Britt has been making ceramics for over thirty-five years. In our interview we talk about problem solving in the glaze lab and balancing a career between making, teaching, and writing. His books on high-fire and mid-range glazes are best sellers, offering students an accessible way to study chemistry.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Susan Feagin. Her hand-built work is made from slabs of clay that are decorated with slip transfer, sgraffito, and other patterning methods. In our interview we talk about how she utilizes collage methods in clay, developing structure within active surface designs, and her job as clay coordinator at the Penland School of Craft.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Greg Payce. He often creates images that reference the human figure by shaping the negative space between his ceramic vessels. In our interview we talk about the remediation of objects into images, techniques for throwing large precise vessels, and how lighting can accentuate the illusions in his work.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Walter Ostrom. A retrospective book has recently been published filled with essays from colleagues and images of his work dating back to the 1960’s. In our interview we talk about his early project-based work, the questions that motivated his decades long studio practice, and his love for cross breading Rhododendron. Good Earth: The Pots and Passion of Walter Ostrom is available now from your favorite book seller.

Athens, GA area potter Carter Gillies passed away a few weeks ago. After discovering his blog in the early 2010’s I started to think of him as our potter philosopher. He wrote about both the everyday and extraordinary aspects of an artist's life leaving nuggets of wisdom for his readers. This episode is a re-airing of our 2014 interview where we talk about Carter's background in philosophy, the five stages of learning, and how selling online changes the way artists take risks in their studio.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Katrina Chaytor and Greg Payce. We recorded this live in front of an online studio audience as a part of the May 2021 Ceramic Congress. In our interview we talk about their long careers as educators, including teaching at what was then called the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Seth Green. The clean lines and expanding silhouettes of his functional pots show a love for metal working and architecture. In our interview we talk about how a breakthrough moment in Chile lead to a new body of work, developing metallic manganese glazes, and how his level of articulation changes depending on how the pot will be fired. In the second half of the episode Justin Rothshank joins Seth and me to talk about the Indiana Clay Conference.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Kathy King, Rose Katz, and Matt Katz about their new podcast For Flux Sake. The podcast takes a lighthearted look at the science behind clay and glaze. In the interview we talk about the concept for the show and play a few listener submitted questions from an episode of the show. You can subscribe to For Flux Sake on your favorite podcast app.

Earlier this week noted potter Michael Simon passed. Today’s episode is a re-airing of our 2014 interview where we talk about intuition, the influence of Michael's teacher Warren Mackenzie, and a lifetime devoted to finding truth in the pursuit of pottery. After studying at the University of Minnesota in the late 1960's, Michael set up a studio in the Athens, GA area where he made pots for more than 30 years. From shallow round bowls to complex squared boxes Michael developed a unique approach to matching form with decoration.v

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy about her new podcast Clay in Color. The podcast highlights young artists of color who are using the aesthetics of optimism in their work and is cohosted by Angelik and ceramic artist Alex Anderson. In the interview we talk about the concept for the series and feature a clip from episode one of the show.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Adam Chau about his new podcast Trade Secret. We talk about the concept for the show and play a clip from an episode on education with Judith Schwartz and April Felipe.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Stephen Earp. From his studio in NW Massachusetts Earp makes earthenware pots in the redware and Delft traditions. In our interview we talk about his interest in colonial American pottery styles, working at Old Sturbridge Village as a young potter, and how he interprets the aesthetics of 17th-century wares.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Daniel Gillberg. His career in clay has paralleled a career in paper restoration. In our interview we talk about techniques for paper restoration, what it’s like to hold a European masterwork, and how he develops both pattern-based surface design and stand-alone images for his ceramic vessels.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Doug Casebeer. Throughout his long career in ceramics Doug has focused on utilitarian pottery, while also teaching and serving as a ceramic consultant for the United Nations. For 34 years he served in a variety of roles at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, Colorado, including Associate Director and Artistic Director for Ceramics. In our interview we talk about establishing a ceramic factory in Jamaica in the early 1980’s, his time at the Anderson Ranch Art Center, and why it’s important for artists to stay curious in their art practice.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Renee LoPresti. From her studio in San Marcos, TX she makes vibrant pottery that is decorated with layered patterns of botanicals and scenes of domestic life. In our interview we talk about the collection of symbols she uses in her surface design, how she creates demand through Instagram, and how she determines price based on her laborious multi-step process.