Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a lecture from Scott Ross about building large scale sculpture for wood kilns. He builds his work by ram casting laminated layers of solid clay, which he then manipulates into geometric forms. In the lecture he discusses ram casting methods and the logistics of moving a 900-pound piece into a wood kiln.
Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a lecture from John Neely about the evolution of the Train Kiln. Neely developed this unique style of wood burning kiln to achieve similar aesthetics to Japanese Anagama. Neely’s design however is easier to build and more environmentally friendly, generating heavy ash surfaces using less wood and man power than a tube kiln.
Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a lecture from George McCauley. Over his 50-year career he has made pottery, mixed media sculpture, and metal work, as well as being a cowboy, carpenter and movie producer. His self-described "casual" approach to art making highlights the emotive quality of gestural mark making and loose brushwork. In this lecture he talks about his experience with low fire wood firing.
Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a lecture from Sandy Lockwood. A gifted clay worker for many decades, Sandy discusses how morphogenic making and bodily learning can be a foundation for understanding the practice of wood firing. The lecture was given at the Cultural Confluence Wood Fire Symposium, held in Helena, MT in October 2018.
Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a lecture from Josh Deweese on the history of wood firing in Montana. During his talk he recounts stories of historic Montana kilns and the influential artists who fired them. The lecture was given as the keynote speech at the Cultural Confluence Wood Fire Symposium, held in Helena, MT in October 2018.
Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Mark Campden. He makes two distinct lines of functional pottery at his studio in Co Kilkenny, IE. The first a majolica line featuring decoration pulled from his surrounding landscape, and the second a lusterware line featuring dense geometric patterns based on fish, butterflies and other fauna. In our interview we talk about the influence of his father Edgar Campden, who worked at Aldermaston pottery with Alan Caiger Smith for over thirty years, and the science behind making reduced luster pottery.
Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with members of the Society of Cork Potters: Sara Roberts, Charlie Mahon, Darren Francis Cassidy. The group started in the 1970’s with the aim to create the exchange of information between ceramic artists working in County Cork. In our interview we talk about making a living in rural Ireland, the value of working with an artist group, and dealing with the effects of the Great Financial Crisis.
Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Mary Gallagher. She opened the Blue Egg Gallery in Wexford in 2011 and shows a variety of craft artists from Ireland and abroad. In our interview we talk about the Norman history of Wexford, the state of craft in Ireland and how she uses large art fairs, like Ceramic Art London, to help her curate shows for the gallery.
Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Susan O’Byrne. Susan creates ceramic animal sculptures that convey the complex emotional landscape of human relationships. She sculpts around a wire armature using layers of paper clay before surfacing the forms with mosaic-like patterns. In the interview we talk about her building process, creating a life in Glasgow Scotland, and how she used animals to represent family history in her traveling exhibition “The Five Sisters”.
Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a mega panel discussion on the state of wood firing around the world. We start by talking about gender dynamics in the artists home countries before moving onto the environmental impact of firing and finding one’s voice in the process. The panel features Lindsay Oesterritter (USA), Nancy Fuller (SCT), Robin Dupont (CAN), Zac Chalmers (AUS), Tristan Chambaud-Heraud (FRA), Shikamaru Takeshita (JPN), John Neely (USA), and Linda Lid (NOR).