ARTIST INFO

SHAWN IRELAND
Athens, GA

CLAY | Functional pottery

Penland Affiliation | Penland Core Fellow 1993-1994, Penland Resident Artist 1996-1999

Artist Information | Studio artist; education: BFA Kutztown University; teaching: Penland, Canton Clayworks (CT), University of Georgia (GA), Appalachian Center for Craft (TN); exhibitions: Spruce Pine Potters Market Invitational (NC), Mint Museum Potters Market (NC), Smithsonian Craft Show (DC), Philadelphia Museum Craft Show (PA).

Artist Statement |Most everything I do in my daily life relates to my passion for art. I surround myself with what I find beautiful and seek out images and objects that resonate. I love making things at the wheel or the easel and I love being lost in the moments of making or “in the search”. Watching, feeling and experiencing the beautiful natural qualities of clay and oil paint are what make this searching such a pleasure.

Working from a foundation of folk tradition, I make pots with food, flowers and candles in mind. For me, this involves using a variety of hand processed local clays and glaze materials, single firing in a wood burning kiln, and using a kick wheel. These ingredients promote surprises and keep my craft connected to the natural world.

My pots continue to change over time under the influence of pottery making traditions adopted from my teachers Will Ruggles and Douglass Rankin. Several trips to central Italy have inspired a figurative direction I call Animal Ware which currently takes the form of candlesticks, vases and bowls.

I began painting with oils as a Resident Artist at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina in 1996. While most of my time is devoted to pottery making, evenings are spent painting. Since working in Cortona, Italy, with the University of Georgia between 2006 & 2013, I have focused on still life and landscapes. In Italy, in an environment where everything is at once new, old, beautiful and interesting, I was constantly inspired & challenged.

Technical Information | Wood fired clay