The 29th Annual NC Potters Conference Sale Open to Public March 4 - 6, 2016
Posted on 02/25/16
Work by Sunshine Cobb - "My work is at its very best when in use, flowers or food, the work comes to life and enhances any encounter.”
Asheboro, NC - The Randolph Arts Guild is preparing to host the 29th NC Potters Conference. In addition to featuring demonstrations and lectures by premier potters from around the country the conference includes an exhibition of work by those artists as well as the potters attending the conference. The exhibition will be on display at 123 Sunset Ave. Asheboro, NC from Friday, March 4th to Sunday, March 6th, 2016. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend.
The NC Potters Conference is one of the nation’s premier ceramic conferences. This year three accomplished potters, Tony Clennell, Steven Godfrey, and Sunshine Cobb will give demonstrations and lead the dialogue for the weekend.
Tony Clennell is a second generation Canadian potter, working alongside his wife Sheila for the past 18 years. He has a Master of Fine Arts from Utah State University and is a member of theRoyal Canadian Academy of Arts. He has studied in Canada, England, and Japan. He has an extensive publishing history and is a regular columnist for Clay Times, very active on the ClayArt email discussion group, and a frequent contributor to Ceramics Monthly and Pottery Making Illustrated. Tony teaches part-time at Canada’s top art school, Sheridan College.He is the author of Stuck in the Mud and maintains a prolific blog at http://smokieclennell.blogspot.com/ The Clennells have created two educational videos: Making a Handmade Cane Handle and Taking the Macho Out of Bigware. Their studio, Sour Cherry Pottery, is located in Beamsville, Ontario.
Steve Godfrey grew up in the town of East Longmeadow, Massachusetts. He received his Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree from the Hartford Art School in 1993 and his Masters of Fine Arts Degree from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 1996. In 1998, Steve Godfrey spent the year as a resident artist at The Archie Bray Foundation for Ceramic Arts after spending time teaching ceramics at the Hartford Art School. In 1999, he accepted the position of Term Instructor and Ceramics Area Technician at the University of Alaska Anchorage. In 2004, Godfrey was hired as the head of the Ceramics Area at UAA. As the co –curator of the Kimura Gallery and the Arc Gallery on the UAA campus, he has curated numerous exhibitions such as the National Figurative Sculpture Invitational, Interface: A Selection of Contemporary Ceramics, and as the coordinator of the Ceramics Area Visiting Artist Program, Steve has been responsible for organizing over 35 workshops with internationally known artists such as Andrew Martin, Beth Cavener Stichter, Chris Staley, Arthur Gonzalez, Sunkoo Yuh, and Akio Takamori. Beyond teaching, he has been consistent in making and showing his ceramic work, participating in numerous exhibitions throughout Alaska and the lower forty-eight states. Recently, he was invited to participate in the North American Pottery Festival at the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis MN, In 2013, Steven was awarded a sabbatical and spent a month studying figure sculpture at the Archie Bray Foundation for Ceramics Arts and at museums in San Diego and New York City. When not in the studio, Steve enjoys renovating his house, making furniture, cooking, collecting art, and hiking in the mountains of Alaska.
Sunshine Cobb was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and grew up in southern California. She worked a great many jobs and took a great variety of college classes on her quest to find her bliss. While searching Sunshine tried many careers; housekeeper, customer service agent, production assistant, massage therapist, child/elder caregiver, she finally discovered ceramics. After a short stint at Chico State University, she went on to graduate with a BA in Studio Art from California State University at Sacramento, in 2004. Ceramics has been the major influence in her life for 15 years now. She has done everything from 8-day anagama wood firings to slip casting ornament’s. She focuses her talent on functional ware, embracing the richness of earthenware and currently is exploring the challenge of electrogama (electric firing). She recently graduated from Utah State University with her MFA in Ceramics. She is currently a long term resident at the Archie Bray Foundation. "Through form and surface my goal is to communicate a sense of home and memory but also to evoke that feeling of wanderlust that has informed my own life and visual sensibilities. My work is at its very best when in use, flowers or food, the work comes to life and enhances any encounter.”
Lectures are set to be given by Chris Staley, Ulysses Grant Dietz, Garth Johnson, and Art Markman. To attend the full conference individuals must register in advance. Visit www.RandolphArtsGuild.com to sign up for future emails about this and many other great events.
The Randolph Arts Guild would also like to thank the sponsors for the event this year. They are Ceramics Technical, Highwater Clays, Potters Council and Rising Sun Pottery.
While the public can’t attend the demonstrations or lectures they can attend the exhibition that accompanies the conference. Each potter attending the conference can bring up to five representative pieces of their work. With over 150 potters registered it is sure to be a pottery collector’s dream. The show will be “cash and carry” meaning the public will be able to take their purchases with them. Cash, check, Visa and Mastercard will be accepted. The sale will begin at 5:00pm on Friday, March 4, 2016 and will close at noon on Sunday, March 6, 2016.
For more information please call the Randolph Arts Guild at 336-629-0399 or email [email protected] for more information. The Guild is located at 123 Sunset Avenue, Asheboro, NC 27203. Hours: M-F 10am -- 5pm, Saturday 10am-2pm.
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