This week on the podcast we start our series More than a Maker, which focuses on the intersection of mental health and creativity. In the first episode we have Mac McCusker, a ceramic artist based in Pittsburgh, PA. They make sculpture and vessels that provide social commentary on the rise of Bathroom Bills and other issues surrounding the LBGTQ community. In the interview we talk about addiction and art making as activism.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with Mark Warren. He is one of the cofounders of Haand, a porcelain tableware manufacturer in Burlington, NC. In our interview we talk about his path from the studio to the factory, the importance of paying a living wage, and how Haand shifted towards direct sales during the pandemic.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with Russell Wrankle. He uses animal and human references to engage the existential tension between life and death. In our interview we talk about developing animals as poetic visual symbols, and the founding of Shape Theory Collective. He started the collective and online gallery to generate funds for criminal justice reform, specifically the Last Prisoner Project, which works to free individuals jailed for non-violent drug crimes.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with Portland-based potters Chris Baskin and Dwayne Sackey. We talk about choosing a firing that fits your aesthetic, the benefits of apprenticeship, and how Sackey’s time with Baskin shifted forms during Covid. We also discuss the Studio Potter’s Grants for Apprenticeship, which helped fund and structure their yearlong apprenticeship.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with Donna Polseno and Dara Hartman. Polseno is the founding director of the Women Working with Clay Symposium and Hartman now co-directs the yearly gathering. In our interview we talk about equity across different eras and how storytelling can empower and unify a group. We also discuss their relationship through apprenticeship and studio practices.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with Sunshine Cobb about her new book, The Beginner’s Guide to Hand Building. We discuss redefining creativity to be more inclusive, creating a studio environment that fits your personality, and the variety of skills and projects she teaches in the book. The book is available now for preorder and will be released in September 2022.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with sculptor Alessandro Gallo. He uses idioms and humor as a foundation for his human-animal hybrids. In our interview, we talk about transitioning characters from his two-dimensional work into three dimensions, working with friends as models, and the role realism plays in drawing audiences into the world of his sculptures.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with Lynn Duryea. Her minimalist sculptures are made from bent clay slabs, and are surfaced with layers of sprayed glaze giving them the appearance of aged metal. In our interview we talk about how the seaside architecture of her childhood hometown influences her ceramics, her role as a founding trustee of the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, and the workshop for people living with HIV/Aids that she facilitated for thirteen years.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with director Katia McGuirk and curator Vance Koehler about the Moravian Tile Works. The institution has gone through many iterations in its long history, which started in the late 19th century with Henry Chapman Mercer, and is now home to a living history museum and working tile studio. In our interview we talk about Mercer’s aesthetics and legacy as a tile maker, the history of earthenware production in the region, and the recent revival of the facility under the not-for-profit Tile Works of Bucks County.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with Sanam Emami. Her ceramic vessels are decorated with lush repeating patterns layered over brushed slips. In our interview we talk about the history of tulips, the influence of architecture, and how she plays with revealing and concealing in her surface design.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with NYC based ceramic artist Dustin Yager. Through his Ceramics and Theory brand Dustin Yager creates porcelain pottery decorated with humorous compositions of text and decals over gestural underglaze painting. In our interview we talk about his tongue in cheek approach to ceramics, the genesis of his sculptural work, and finding community in NYC.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have the fourth installment in a series of interviews about parenting. For the series I invited artist couples to talk with each other about finding balance between creative work and life as a parent. Today’s interview features Lindsay Oesterritter and Jason Vulcan. The couple are based in Manassas, VA, where Lindsay is a studio potter and Jason is a government contractor.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have the third installment in a series of interviews about parenting. For the series I invited artist couples to talk with each other about finding balance between creative work and life as a parent. Today’s interview features Brian Jones and Melissa Weimer. The couple are based in Connecticut, where Brian is a studio potter and Melissa is a physician specializing in addiction medicine.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have the second installment in a series of interviews about parenting. For the series I invited artist couples to talk with each other about finding balance between creative work and life as a parent. Today’s interview features Sara Truman and Naomi Mostkoff. The couple are based in Gainesville, FL where Sara runs Studio TM Ceramics and Naomi is a Nurse Practitioner in Endocrinology.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have the first in a series of interviews about parenting. For the series I invited artist couples to talk with each other about finding balance between creative work and life as a parent. Today’s interview features Jen Allen and Shoji Satake. The couple are based in Morgantown, WV where they are studio artists and teachers at West Virginia University.

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.