Tales of a Red Clay Rambler: A pottery and ceramic art podcast

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. To find o...

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. For more information on Merran, including the upcoming memorials that will b...

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...

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. For more information visit www.sar...

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. John is the Divisional Vice President of External Affairs at Blue Cross and Blue Shield Montana.   More than a Ma...

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. To see exam...

This week on the podcast we start our series More than a Maker, which focuses on the intersection of mental health and creativity. In the first episode we have Mac McCusker, a ceramic artist based in Pittsburgh, PA. They make sculpture and vessels that provide social commentary on the rise of Bathroom Bills and other issues surrounding the LBGTQ community. In the interview we talk about addiction...

Today on the  Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with Mark Warren. He is one of the cofounders of Haand, a porcelain tableware manufacturer in Burlington, NC. In our interview we talk about his path from the studio to the factory, the importance of paying a living wage, and how Haand shifted towards direct sales during the pandemic. For more information visit www.haand.us .   Today's episo...

Today on the  Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with Russell Wrankle. He uses animal and human references to engage the existential tension between life and death. In our interview we talk about developing animals as poetic visual symbols, and the founding of Shape Theory Collective. He started the collective and online gallery to generate funds for criminal justice reform, specifically t...

Today on the  Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with Portland-based potters Chris Baskin and Dwayne Nii-Teiko Sackey. We talk about choosing a firing that fits your aesthetic, the benefits of apprenticeship, and how Sackey's time with Baskin shifted forms during Covid. We also discuss the Studio Potter 's Grants for Apprenticeship, which helped fund and structure their yearlong apprentice...

Today on the  Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with Donna Polseno and Dara Hartman. Polseno is the founding director of the Women Working with Clay Symposium and Hartman now co-directs the yearly gathering. In our interview we talk about equity across different eras and how storytelling can empower and unify a group. We also discuss their relationship through apprenticeship and studio pr...

Today on the  Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with Sunshine Cobb about her new book, The Beginner's Guide to Hand Building . We discuss redefining creativity to be more inclusive, creating a studio environment that fits your personality, and the variety of skills and projects she teaches in the book. The book is available now for preorder and will be released in September 2022. For more...

Today on the  Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with sculptor Alessandro Gallo. He uses idioms and humor as a foundation for his human-animal hybrids. In our interview, we talk about transitioning characters from his two-dimensional work into three dimensions, working with friends as models, and the role realism plays in drawing audiences into the world of his sculptures. To see examples...

Today on the  Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with Lynn Duryea. Her minimalist sculptures are made from bent clay slabs, and are surfaced with layers of sprayed glaze giving them the appearance of aged metal. In our interview we talk about how the seaside architecture of her childhood hometown influences her ceramics, her role as a founding trustee of the Watershed Center for the Cerami...

Today on the  Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with director Katia McGuirk and curator Vance Koehler about the Moravian Tile Works. The institution has gone through many iterations in its long history, which started in the late 19th century with Henry Chapman Mercer, and is now home to a living history museum and working tile studio. In our interview we talk about Mercer's aesthetics and...

Today on the  Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with Sanam Emami. Her ceramic vessels are decorated with lush repeating patterns layered over brushed slips. In our interview we talk about the history of tulips, the influence of architecture, and how she plays with revealing and concealing in her surface design. To find our more visit www.sanamemami.com .   Today's episode is brought to yo...

Today on the  Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I talk with NYC based ceramic artist Dustin Yager. Through his Ceramics and Theory brand Dustin Yager creates porcelain pottery decorated with humorous compositions of text and decals over gestural underglaze painting. In our interview we talk about his tongue in cheek approach to ceramics, the genesis of his sculptural work, and finding community...

Today on the  Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast  I have the fourth installment in a series of interviews about parenting. For the series I invited artist couples to talk with each other about finding balance between creative work and life as a parent. Today's interview features Lindsay Oesterritter and Jason Vulcan. The couple are based in Manassas, VA, where Lindsay is a studio potter and Jason...

Today on the  Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast  I have the third installment in a series of interviews about parenting. For the series I invited artist couples to talk with each other about finding balance between creative work and life as a parent. Today's interview features Brian Jones and Melissa Weimer. The couple are based in Connecticut, where Brian is a studio potter and Melissa is a phy...

Today on the  Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast  I have the second installment in a series of interviews about parenting. For the series I invited artist couples to talk with each other about finding balance between creative work and life as a parent. Today's interview features Sara Truman and Naomi Mostkoff. The couple are based in Gainesville, FL where Sara runs Studio TM Ceramics and Naomi is...

Today on the  Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast  I have the first in a series of interviews about parenting. For the series I invited artist couples to talk with each other about finding balance between creative work and life as a parent. Today's interview features Jen Allen and Shoji Satake. The couple are based in Morgantown, WV where they are studio artists and teachers at West Virginia Unive...

On today's Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast, I have a tribute for Bill Daley who recently passed. Throughout his seventy-year career he created large scale terra cotta works that expanded the boundaries of the contemporary vessel. A noted educator, Daley spent over forty years teaching in higher education and has received numerous awards of distinction from the College Art Association, American...

Today on the  Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast  I have an interview with Simon Levin, David Roswell, and Polina Miller. Levin created the Clay Cohorts program in 2021 to provide artists a place for mentorship, education, and community. The program blends online learning with in-person workshops to help students stay motivated in their own creative practice. In our interview we talk about David...

Today on the  Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast  I have a listener mailbag for our 400th episode. My wife Melissa joins me as a guest host to talk about the resilient nature of artists and the big changes that are coming in our family. Thanks to everyone who has been listening to the show and who has helped make this podcast a community.   Hey Red Clay Rambler fans, as we wrap up 2021, I need yo...

Today on the  Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast  I have an interview with Donte K. Hayes. After focusing on printmaking early in his career, Donte moved into ceramics in 2015 and continues to make sculptural ceramics that incorporate sci-fi, social issues, and the material culture of the African Diaspora. In our interview we talk about transitioning from the figure to abstraction, how objects ca...