Today, I had the pleasure of attending the Dallas Pottery Invitational and soaked in all the ceramic wares I could. I met some great potters and had riveting conversations about process, craft, and fine art.
I put Chris Alveshere on the spot when I picked his brain about craft and fine art. Showing me some of his functional wear (mugs) he said that those are craft and that his sculptures are fine art. We agreed that a simple dinner plate in a single glaze color is craft (while beautiful) and he pointed to Eddie Dominguez’s totem and classified it as fine art.
I find the conversation riveting and we agreed that pottery is craft that can be elevated to fine art.
I saw a lot of use of 3d printing models to create slip cast molds and plenty of traditional pottery. Jen Rose was most intriguing to me because she was creating sustainable art - little golf tee shaped vessels capture rain water to feed the bees. I mean how cool is that.
I walked away with a few pieces: one from Eiko Ceramics, Chris Alveshere, and Lisa Orr.
What I most appreciated about the experience is that so many of the artists were willing to talk about their process and even recipes for glazes. I found that to be extremely valuable.
Here are some photos from the event:
