Master ceramicist marries form, function, and some very funny faces
An interesting selection of ceramic work is emerging from the Windy Hill Pottery studio. Master ceramicist Laurie Graham is “throwing outside the box”, creating a diverse collection of pots that are aesthetically pleasing as they are functional.
A career ceramicist, Graham has been working independently for nearly 30 years. She was an interior design major at Tennessee Tech until she took a clay class as an elective. Feeling a connection to the medium, she immediately changed her major to ceramics. After Tennessee Tech, she graduated from the Appalachian Center for Crafts in Cookeville, worked for several production potters, and then eventually started her own practice.
Graham’s passion is throwing on the wheel and embracing the function of the pottery. In school, and for a while after, she excelled at the craft because she chose to focus on function rather than form.
She was inspired by the work of George Ohr, the “Salvador Dali of Ceramics”, and has been drawn to textures found in the natural world—trees, leaves, vines, and seashells, to name a few.
While being sculptural, her work retains all of the necessary function of pottery.
“I still do a lot of production work,” she tells us, “but at In-Town Gallery I get to exhibit more of my fine art pottery.”
In addition to being a member artist at In-Town, she exhibits at the Chattanooga Market and has booths at Vintrest Antiques, in Hixson and on the South Side.
She does mostly electric wheel-thrown work, altering and supplementing it. The process of combining various processes with wheel-thrown forms creates textures that she allows to come through.
She alters the pieces by adding molded pieces, cutting away, carving, hand building or stamping—creating textures on the surfaces of the pots by pressing objects into the clay—organic objects like rocks, tree bark, and leaves, as well as a variety of man-made objects such as toys and kitchen utensils. This approach adds another dimension to the tactile interaction with an object that is designed to be handled.
Graham compares the process of mixing glazes to cooking, telling us, “I still use the recipes for several glazes that I learned how to make in school.”
Over the years, she has utilized more commercial glazes, which are already pre-mixed. These are gloss and matte glazes that she uses in different combinations, depending upon the desired effect. She uses the combinations of glazes to enhance textures, create patterns and drips, or simply to color the pots.
A fan of people watching, Graham enjoys making pots with faces on them, delighting in funny expressions.
“I have to be in the right state of mind to make the funny faces,” she explains, “because I’m not looking at anybody—I’m not working from a particular person’s face—it’s more just what comes out of my head when I’m in a silly mood.”
Sometimes she stains the pots to describe the texture, adding minimal glaze, saying, “I like the feel of the raw clay, too.” In the past she has experimented with wood firing and raku, but currently she has settled upon firing with an electric kiln.
Right now she is working on new pieces for In-Town Gallery’s first Friday showcase in July, where she will be paired with painter Julie Turner—the gallery features the work of different member artists each month, except for in May and November when they have their all-members shows.
Much of Turner’s work involves landscapes and flowers, so the two artists are creating bodies of work with the theme of “things that grow”. Graham’s new works for this show will include large vases and round pots, some of them with shapes and bright colorful glazes inspired by flowers.
Graham will be exhibiting at the Sip Tennessee Wine Festival on March 23, and at the Chattanooga Market when it opens again in May. She is also available for commissions, and will make anything that a person wants, from dinner sets, sculptures, and lawn decorations to household furnishings.
Over the years, she has even made several thrown sinks—these large ceramic vessels are mounted to a base and can be installed in a kitchen or bathroom. She makes outdoor pieces as well: flower pots, hanging planters, bird feeders, and bird houses. She always enjoys a challenge, and is open to new ideas.ac