ARTIST INFO

SUSAN FEAGIN
Penland, NC

CLAY | Soda fired sculptural vessels

Penland Affiliation | Current Penland Clay Studio Coordinator, Penland Core Fellow 1998-2000, Penland Instructor 2016

Artist Information | Studio artist, Penland Clay Studio Coordinator; education: MFA University of Florida, BFA University of North Carolina, Greensboro; exhibitions: Spruce Pine Potters Market Invitational (NC), Soul Full Cup, Group Rivers Studio and Gallery (WV), In Tandem Gallery (NC), Turchin Center for the Arts (NC).

Artist Statement | I consider myself to be a Southerner even though I was born in Burbank, California. My mother grew up in Reidsville, NC and the Feagins came to North Carolina from Georgia. I thought I would study in college at UNC Greensboro to become a layout designer for a magazine or perhaps a journalist, but instead I ended up making pottery in the basement ceramics studio. After graduating with a BFA in design in 1992, I went back home to Atlanta and worked a series of part-time jobs to equal one full-time job. This did not leave much time for art making. However, I am one of those lucky people who have known about the Penland School of Crafts most of my life. My great aunt Sue Rice attended Penland in the late 1950’s and when I was learning to throw pots in 1990, Aunt Sue insisted I take clay classes at Penland. Following her advice, I took my first wood-fire workshop at Penland in 1994. I enrolled in more clay workshops at Penland over the years and became a core student there in 1998 and 1999. While a part of that program, I also took printmaking and papermaking classes. In 2000 I moved to Athens, Georgia, finally got the newspaper paste-up job I had always wanted, shared a rented studio with a friend in Farmington, and assisted and taught beginning clay classes at Good Dirt Ceramic Center. We all know this is not a great time in history for newspapers and especially for paste-up artists. My job was replaced by computer software in 2004 and that same year I left Athens to attend graduate school in ceramics at the University of Florida. One of my greatest experiences as a graduate student at UF was teaching someone how to use a typewriter. After graduating in 2007, I returned to Penland as the clay studio coordinator. It is a thrill to be back at the studio and the school that means so much to me.

Technical Information | Slab built forms with screen printings and sgraffito