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162: Live from Flower City with Metz, Briscoe, Finnegan and Aerni

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler I have a live taping of the podcast featuring Matt Metz, Bob Briscoe, Dan Finnegan and Richard Aerni. Our wide-ranging discussion focuses on the invitational show/tour model for which multiple artists come together to attract a larger buying audience.

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161: Patti Warashina on sculpting the human figure

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler I talk with Patti Warashina. Her illustrious career in clay spans over five decades and includes more than three decades teaching at the University of Washington in Seattle. Her large-scale sculptures often show the human figure moving through imagined landscapes.

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159: Deb Schwartzkopf on cultivating the perfect studio space

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler I talk with Deb Schwartzkopf. For more than a decade she lived from coast-to-coast studying ceramics and taking part in artist-in-residence programs. In our interview we talk about utilizing criticism from a teacher to improve your work, returning to a challenging form to find aesthetic resolution, and cultivating hobbies that feed one’s studio practice.

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158: Helenske, Brodeur and Howard talk about being Pottery Northwest resident artists

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler I talk with Alix Brodeur, Adam Helenske, and Isaac Howard. All three have been resident ceramic artists at Pottery Northwest within the last five years. In our conversation we talk about the creative benefit of working in an urban environment, developing a personal voice through atmospheric firing and making a living in Seattle.

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157: James Lobb and Wally Bivins talk about the history of Pottery Northwest

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler I talk with James Lobb and Wally Bivins. Both artists have long time ties to Pottery Northwest, having transitioned from artist-in-residence to staff members to executive directors. In our conversation we talk about creating a sense of ownership in a community art center, taking creative risks as an administrator and the history of the Seattle-based organization.

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156: Mark Del Vecchio on developing a collector base for a gallery

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler I talk with author and gallerist Mark Delvecchio. In partnership with Garth Clark, he opened the Garth Clark Gallery in Los Angeles in 1981, before moving to New York in 1983 to direct their  iconic West 57th Street location. For almost three decades he managed the gallery helping to promote and shape a generation of American ceramic artists. Del Vecchio has written numerous articles and published Postmodern Ceramic, a widely used ceramic text in art schools. Mark now lives in Santa Fe, NM where he is the curator of ceramics for Peter’s Projects.

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155: Virgil Ortiz on reinterpreting the Pueblo Revolt

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler podcast I talk with multimedia artist Virgil Ortiz. Raised in Cochiti Pueblo, Ortiz learned to make traditional ceramic forms by watching older members of his family. As a teen his interest in sci-fi helped him branch out from pottery into figurative sculpture and narrative story telling. As his career in ceramics matured he has ventured in many other directions including writing movie scripts, designing contemporary fashion, and making multimedia installations.

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152: Garth Clark and Justin Crowe on trends in ceramic art and design

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion with Garth Clark & Justin Crowe. The two are core staff members of CFile, an online ceramic journal covering “a global community of cutting-edge educators, ceramics creatives, critics, curators, collectors, dealers, and brilliant young techies.”

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151: Justin Crowe on making viral art in the internet age

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion with Justin Crowe. His current creative practice is split between designing functional ceramic wares and producing digital projects that exist solely online. In our interview we discuss his role in creating “The Selfie Arm”, a humorous critique of contemporary narcissism, which took on new meaning as it went viral on major media outlets CNN, MTV News, and The Huffington Post.

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Jeni Hansen-Gard and Forrest Gard on socially engaged craft

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion with Jeni and Forrest Gard. Founding members of the Socially Engaged Craft Collective both create ceramic objects that are used in performance based art that engages community. In the interview we talk about their history as makers, the core framework of socially engaged art, and the founding of the collective. 

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Wood firing with Christianson, Helland-Hansen, McKeachie-Johnston, and Oesteritter

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion on wood firing with Linda Christianson, Elisa Helland-Hansen, Jan McKeachie Johnston, and Lindsay Oesteritter. We talk about how each artist came to wood firing, how they developed a personal aesthetic within the process, and how they critique their work after a firing.

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Kansas City Urban Potters on the goals of their group

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion with the founding members of the Kansas City Urban Potters. The group of seven artists banded together in Kansas City, MO in 2014 with the purpose of expanding “visibility of contemporary studio pottery to local and regional audiences through invitational exhibitions, public lectures and community-based events.”

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Jayson Lawfer on determining value in the secondary market

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion with art dealer Jayson Lawfer. Trained as a potter, Jayson brings a maker’s touch to his role as gallery director of The Nevica Project. Under his direction the Chicago-based gallery focuses on primary and secondary market sales for fine art and craft, including the work of Chuck Close, Richard Serra, Shoji Hamada, and many more.

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Wiggers and Strand on Across the Table, Across the Land

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler podcast I have a discussion with Namita Wiggers and Michael Strand. I talk with the duo of curators about their project for NCECA's 50th anniversary Across the Table, Across the Land. Taking place over the better part of the year the project encouraged the public to submit both object and event-based works around the idea of ceramics, food and community. 

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Wesley Anderegg on using humor to address the dark side of life

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion with figurative sculptor Wesley Anderegg. Based in the Santa Rita Hills of northern Santa Barbara County, Anderegg uses ceramic figures to weaves narratives that are both primal and complex in their approach to emotion.

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