All meetings will be held virtually until such time that it is deemed safe to resume in-person meetings (post Covid-19). Program meetings are scheduled on the second Monday of each month, unless otherwise specified. All meetings will begin at 7:00 p.m.
September 14, 2020: Anthony Schaller
Meet Anthony Schaller, owner of the Schaller Gallery in Michigan representing over 100 ceramic artists. Anthony will present how he got involved in clay, and established the Red Lodge Clay Center and Schaller Gallery. He will discuss relationships with ceramic artists that he has cultivated and provide advice on approaching galleries, selling online, and marketing. This is expected to be a more interactive discussion than presentation. Browse the Schaller Gallery website and come with questions.
October 12, 2020: Martha Grover
Martha Grover is a functional ceramic artist who lives in Bethel, Maine. She is widely known for her popular videos and has contributed articles to many and various art and ceramic journals. . Her thrown and altered porcelain works often suggest orchids, flowing dresses, and the body. Martha is also a seasoned workshop presenter – both in-person and virtually.
On this date, Martha will demonstrate for Montgomery Potters the creation of a lidded butter dish, and answer any questions you might have about her process.
November 9, 2020: Dan Finnegan
Dan Finnegan has long been a major presence in Fredericksburg, VA, where he established two successful venues for teaching, study and exhibition of pottery and the arts. He has also been active in the DC area as instructor at the Torpedo Factory, and the organizer and curator of the annual Pottery on the Hill sale and related events. His work is represented in many collections in the US as well as in the UK, and he has mentored many emerging potters at his Fredericksburg workshops.
Details about Dan’s talk to follow!
https://danfinneganpottery.com
December 14, 2020: Rhonda Willers: “Quick and Easy Terra Sigillata for Your Studio”
Rhonda Willers is a visual artist, writer, researcher, and author of the book, Terra Sigillata: Contemporary Techniques. Focusing on fragility, space, and subtle strength, she works with repetitive forms and markings to elicit thoughts of memories, spiritual spaces, and rituals. Her diverse art practice includes ceramics, mixed media, drawing, painting, and time-based social practice installations and experiences. Rhonda actively engages in the ceramics community through her service as a volunteer working board member for NCECA.
Rhonda will share with Montgomery Potters her method for creating and applying surface decoration using the ancient practice of Terra Sigillata (sealed earth).
https://www.rhondawillers.com/home
January 11, 2021: Mark Shapiro: “Enslaved and Free: 19th Century African-American Potters”
A 2019 Smithsonian Artist Resident Fellow, Massachusetts potter and scholar Mark Shapiro’s works are held in numerous public collections including the Renwick Gallery of Art. Mark edited A Chosen Path: The Ceramic Art of Karen Karnes; founded the Apprenticelines project; is a founding member of POW! (Pots on Wheels), and a regular participant in Pottery on the Hill (DC).
Mark will be debuting his talk, “Enslaved and Free: 19th Century African-American Potters” featuring the work of Thomas W. Commeraw, African-American freeman potter, and others whose work illuminates the robust role that African Americans have played in American culture and ceramic history.
https://www.stonepoolpottery.com
February 8, 2021: Naomi Clement: Artist at Work
As a potter, Naomi Clement explores how things fit together and how they do not. In particular, she is interested in points of transition: the space where orange becomes red, the place where glaze meets bare clay, the edge of a handle and the end of the pot. In her process, she continually seeks out and creates opportunities for these moments to occur: leaving a seam visible in a hand-built cup, cutting a soft line in the rim of a bowl, or negotiating the space between white slip and raw clay. In her presentation, Naomi will talk to us about her work and journey in clay and provide a short demonstration.
A Canadian artist and educator, Naomi received her MFA from Louisiana State University, and her B.F.A from the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design University. She has participated in residencies, given lectures and workshops, and exhibited her work across Canada and the United States.
March 8, 2021: Shiyuan Xu: Handbuilding the Unseen with Paper Clay
Shiyuan Xu is fascinated with shapes, patterns, and structures of microscopic phenomena in the ocean and diverse plant seeds on land. She handbuilds structures with porcelain paper clay and uses unconventional processes to apply glazes on the sculptural pieces. The materials allow her to push the boundaries of fragility and strength, simplicity and complexity, order and chaos. Meticulously, the thin skeletal lines are woven into a harmonious volume. In her presentation, Shiyuan will show slides of her work and glaze process, how she makes paper clay, and demonstrate a hollow structure building technique.
A graduate of the China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, P.R China and Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, Shiyuan is currently Artist in Residence at Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago.
April 12, 2021: Erica Iman: Experimental Nature: Material, Form + Process
Erica Iman, a studio artist in Kansas City and a founding member of KC Urban Potters, will discuss the experimental nature of her work in clay, and demonstrate aspects of her approach to materials and process in arriving at her evocative forms.
Erica received her BFA in Ceramics and BSE in Art Education from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2005 and an MFA in Ceramics from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville in 2012.
May 10, 2021: Matt Katz: Craze-y for You: Glaze Flaws
The life of the ceramicist is burdened by post-firing depression. In our final program of the Montgomery Potters 2020-2021 season, we will examine the causes of glaze flaws, and how to keep them from happening.
Matt Katz has taught Clay and Glaze studies at the world renowned New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University for over 15 years and has also worked for 20 years as a research scientist and industrial consultant in their Ceramic Engineering department. Matt has made it the goal of his career to make the complex subject of material science digestible and understandable for the artist. His experience as a maker, scientist, consultant and teacher, gives him a singular perspective on what ceramics artists need and how they learn.
June 14, 2021: Joanna Mark: Ceramic Wall Art – A Unique Approach
In her presentation for Montgomery Potters, Joanna Mark, who has worked and taught at Harvard University’s ceramic studio for many years, will share her special method of creating wall art. Joanna has been working in clay for 40 years and specializes in functional and sculptural ware, both hand-built and wheel-thrown. She primarily works with T1 clay when hand building and fires in a variety of ways including cone 6 oxidation, and high fire reduction and soda. She is particularly interested in texture. Joanna’s award-winning work has been featured in national publications and in juried exhibitions.
July 11, 2021: Shino: An American translation of a Japanese Glaze
This program will be presented virtually on July 11th from 5-7 pm. The panel is moderated by Joe Hicks, and includes Loren Scherbak, Kevi Crowe, Jim Dugan, and John Jessiman. Registration for this event is through the Sandy Spring Museum website (https://www.sandyspringmuseum.org/event/virtual-shino-an-american-translation-of-a-japanese-glaze/). Scroll down to the bottom of the page; unclick the donation button at checkout or make a donation if you like (to support wonderful programming at the Museum).
This panel is part of the national exhibit, Inspired by Malcolm: A Passion for Shino,which is now open through September 5th at the Sandy Spring Museum. The exhibit illustrates the range and beauty of shino glazes, fired in wood or gas kilns. Described as “the beauty of snow on a river rock in spring” (David Beattie), or “soft, supple surfaces that enjoy being painted by flame and atmosphere” (Brian Gow), shino glazes are concocted in the reduction kiln atmosphere. “Oh honey, it will break your heart every time,” (reported Laura Schreeg) but in a good way.
For those who never met Malcolm Davis, his closing speech at the 2010 NCECA conference is worth your time. Spend some time with Malcolm and see the talk at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj0lE-Sc2OM&t=307s.
Business meetings:
1. August 24, 2020
2. September 21, 2020 (Yom Kippur is on September 24)
3. October 26, 2020
4. November 23, 2020
5. January 25, 2021
6. February 22, 2021
7. March 22, 2021
8. April 26, 2021
9. May 24, 2021
* No business meeting in December.