Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast we have an interview with British studio potter Kitty Shepherd. Her slipware vessels feature brightly colored images of pop culture. In our interview we talk about her recent tile work linking vintage lipsticks to iconic music, her duo portraits of Freddy Mercury and Queen Elizabeth, as well as her expat life living and working in Granada, Spain.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast we have a live episode that was taped as part of the Envision: Woodfire NC conference in May 2022. Guest host Garth Johnson talks with Joy Brown, Kate Waltman, and John Neely about their use of wood firing as an aesthetic tool, as well as a discussion on the environmental and cultural impacts of the practice.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with artist and educator Kathy King. Her graphic sgraffito-decorated ceramics often depict relationship dynamics and feminist themes. In our interview we talk about her early sculptural work around reproductive rights, how she matches images to form, and her day job running the ceramics studio at Harvard University.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with photographer and podcast host Rebecca Ickes Carra. For more than a decade she has been a professional photographer focused on weddings and portraiture. A few years back she turned that business know-how into the podcast the Maker’s Playbook, where she interviews ceramic artists and other creatives about their business.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with Massachusetts potter Steve Theberge. His functional pots are decorated with slips that are reduction cooled to create rich earth tones. In our interview we talk about the influence of Zen monastic training and social justice work on his studio practice, as well as his educational roots in the apprenticeship system.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with Takuro Shibata, a working potter and Director of STARworks Ceramics in Star, NC. In our interview we talk about settling in North Carolina after a degree in chemical engineering and a ceramic apprenticeship in Japan, and developing an aesthetic using local materials fired in a wood kiln.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with Los Angeles-based artist Alex Anderson. In our interview we discuss the ideas behind his use of mirrors, the LA art scene, and the relaunch of his podcast Clay in Color with Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy, which recently started its second season.

Artist, writer, and critic Anthony Merino passed away last week. Today we feature a rebroadcast of our 2015 interview where we discuss the exhibition 50 Women: A Celebration of Women in Ceramics. In our interview we talk about Anthony and Alex’s curatorial process, and the active community they built using social media.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast we have a live episode that was taped as part of the Envision: Woodfire NC conference in May 2022. I’m joined by Steve Blankenbeker, Takuro Shibata, Josh Copus, and Hideo Mabuchi to talk about the discovery and use of locally dug clay.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with Eric Botbyl. He is both a working potter and a gallery owner helping to promote the work of functional artists. In our interview we talk about developing his highly gestural pottery forms, matching a decorated surface to form, and creating Companion Gallery.

Part two of our 10th anniversary live episode includes a trivia section about the history of the show and past guests. I was joined by Carole Epp and Britta Schroeder, as well as a live audience on Zoom. Many thanks to everyone who came to the taping and helped us celebrate.

Today on the podcast we have part one of a live episode to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the podcast. I was joined by Carole Epp and Britta Schroeder, as well as a live audience on Zoom. Many thanks to everyone who came to the taping and helped us celebrate. In this episode we talk about our favorite episodes and how making gives our lives meaning.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with Michael Sherrill, who creates mixed media sculptures that draw from the flora of Western North Carolina. In our interview we talk about his early days as a salt firing potter, developing new techniques for sculpture, and the creation of his Mud Tools brand.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with Kat Hutter and Roger Lee. The pair share a studio making stoneware pottery that is decorated with bright geometric designs. In our interview we talk about their paths to being full time artists, splitting time between two studio locations, and the roots of their modernist aesthetic.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast we welcome back Keith Brymer Jones to talk about his new autobiography Boy in a China Shop. You might know him from his role as a judge on the hit show The Great Pottery Throwdown, or as the master mind behind the ceramic manufacturer MAKE International, where he collaborates with brands like Tatty Devine, Sukie, and the National Trust.

Australian ceramic artist and educator Merran Esson passed away last week. This episode features a rebroadcast of our 2013 interview where we talk about learning to trust one's inner voice, capturing the passage of time within an object, and her role as the head of ceramics at the National Art School in Sydney, Australia.

This week we wrap up our More than a Maker series with an interview with Michael McCarthy. He is a potter and instructor at the Austen Riggs Center, a residential psychiatric hospital and treatment center located in Stockbridge, MA. In our interview we talk about art making within the mental health treatment paradigm, how decreasing expectation can lead to creative breakthroughs with students, and his path to being a potter. We also discuss building community in Western MA and creating colorful glazes in a wood kiln.

On this week’s edition of More than a Maker we talk to Sarah Petty. Both a trained artist and acupuncturist, I talk with Sarah about her path to creativity and the healing arts. In our interview we talk about building skills as an artist, the training and methodology behind integrative medicine, and how the pandemic helped spark a new way of making in her studio.

On this week’s edition of More than a Maker we talk to John Doran. In our interview we talk about The Big Blue Sky Initiative, a multipart plan to address mental health in the state of Montana including suicide prevention, treatment for addiction, and other resources for mental health.

This week we continue our series More than a Maker with an interview featuring Bakersville, NC artist Will Baker. He is known for his beautiful atmospheric fired pottery, along with his kiln building skills which have taken him all over the eastern U.S. In our interview we talk about dealing with burn out through a variety of mindfulness practices, as well as the theory of flow states.