Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Forrest Middelton, Arash Shirinbab, and Raeshma Razvi. Our discussion focuses on the collaboration between Middelton, a ceramic artist, and Shirinbab, a calligrapher. They have been working for the past year on an exhibition and performance titled “To Contain and To Serve.” The exhibition mixes functional ceramics with Persian calligraphy and Twitter posts to generate dialogue around political and social issues in Iran and America. Razvi is a documentary filmmaker that has been shooting the collaboration for future use in a film.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Vicki Grima and Stephen Creech. The focus of our discussion centers around nation-wide open studio events that bring the public into ceramic artist’s studios as a form of outreach and education.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Thor Thoreson. A student of Marguerite Wildenhain from 1970-73, Thor talks about his time at the Pond Farm School and the influence of Wildenhain’s modernist teachings. He came to Pond Farm at the suggestion of Dean Schwartz, a ceramics teacher at Luther College who sent many students to study with Wildenhain. Schwartz later compiled the comprehensive text on Pond Farm, titled Marguerite Wildenhain and the Bauhaus: An Eyewitness Anthology. In addition to the interview, this episode features an audio tour of the surviving buildings at the Pond Farm School given by Thoreson.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a panel discussion featuring Shannon Garson, Linda Fahey, Gerry Wedd, and Joel Blume. The discussion was prompted by the Omnus Terra: All Lands exhibition, which was curated by Garson and Fahey.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Graham Marks. He worked in ceramics from 1968 to 1992 making large earthenware vessels that are reminiscent of seeds, geodes and other earthworks.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Matt Metz. Based in Alfred, NY he makes black porcelain pots that are covered with slips and carved through to reveal patterns in low relief. Over more than three decades he has developed a personal iconography that includes floral, geometric and figurative imagery. This episode also features a mini interview with Brian Jones about the relaunch of his ceramic podcast called The Jonescast. For more information visit www.jonescast.com.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Shoko Teruyama. Her colorful earthenware pottery features drawings of vines, floral motifs, and narrative characters depicting personal experiences and folklore.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Bill Carty. He is a professor of ceramic engineering and materials science at Alfred University. In addition to instructing future ceramic engineers he teaches art students how to develop problem-solving skills for their art practice. In our interview we talk about using data-based experimentation to dispel ceramic myths and how to remedy common issues such as crazing.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Cory Brown, William Newman-Wise and Yeh Rim Lee. The three are currently in their final year of graduate school at the NY State College of Ceramics at Alfred. In our interview we talk about practicing effective time management, developing relationships with faculty, and reckoning with Alfred's ceramic traditions.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Andrea Gill. Her large-scale hand-built forms reference historical European vessels, patterns and the figure. Her most recent body of work springs from an ongoing fascination with the patterns of Chinese export ceramics. In the interview we talk about gender dynamics within the ceramic world in the 1960’s, knowing how to get a student to dig deeper in the studio, and her time teaching at the NY State College of Ceramics at Alfred, where she has been on the faculty since 1984.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a double interview featuring Roberto Lugo and Wallace “Wally” Higgins. In the first segment I talk with Roberto about his Instagram project "Our Villages Baby," in which he raises awareness of artists of color and their contributions to the ceramic field.In the second segment I talk with Wally Higgins about his military and ceramic career. In his late teens he enlisted in the Army before going on to serve as one of the Tuskegee Airmen in what is now the U.S. Air Force. He served in Saipan and Oakinawa before returning to the states to get a BFA in ceramic design from Alfred University. After a few years working at the Glidden Pottery he came back to Alfred as a teacher, where he taught glaze materials and mold making. He retired as Professor Emeritus in 1985. Among his many laudits, Wally has been awarded the WW-II Victory Medal, New York State Medal for Merit and two Congressional Gold Medals, the highest honor bestowed on a civilian in the United States.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Bryan Hopkins. A long-time porcelain vessel maker, he constructs his pieces leaving the seams and joinery visible. The effect hints at the history of refined porcelain production, while also showing the potential for future decay and deconstruction.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Jane Shellenbarger. Her ceramic studio practice utilizes atmospheric firing in the creation of pouring and containment vessels. She has been an educator for many years including teaching positions at the Kansas City Art Institute, Northern Michigan University and the School for American Crafts at Rochester Institute of Technology, where she is currently an assistant professor.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Peter and Laurie Pincus. The couple live in Rochester, NY where they maintain a studio and Peter teaches at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Peter designs vessels that have up to 170 mold parts, which allow him to visually break the pieces into hundreds of small blocks of color. Beyond being a technical tour-de-force, the pieces often defy visual logic making the viewer question the three-dimensional nature of the pieces.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Liz Quackenbush. An artist since her teens, she spent decades refining the maijolica technique that allowed her to paint imagery on her forms. Since then she has explored many genres of functional pottery.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with four members of Objective Clay, a cooperative group that originated after its members where presenters at the Utilitarian Clay Symposium.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Margaret Bohls. She lives in Lincoln, NE where she teaches at the University of Nebraska. She maintains a studio practice making functional pottery that references the history of Asian and European ceramics.

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have an interview with Louise Rosenfield. After many years as a ceramics maker she turned to collecting functional pottery, and now has one of the premier collections in the United States. 

Today on Tales of a Red Clay Rambler I have an interview with Joy Tanner and Will Baker. Together they operate Wood Song Pottery in Bakersville, NC, making individual bodies of atmospheric-fired ceramics. In the interview we talk about being resident artists at the Odyssey Center, striking out to start their own studio, and leaning on the ceramic process for inspiration. 

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler I have an interview with Bill Griffith and Peter Beasecker. Together they coordinate the Utilitarian Clay Symposium, held every four years to celebrate utilitarian clay objects.