When I was at NCECA Seattle two years ago I couldn’t resist buying a fine soda-fired beaker made by Ryan Mckerley. He is one of the artists who set up a display of work from Artstream, a travelling ceramics gallery/shop. The beaker is sculpted using a wax-resist technique and has fine orange-peel turquoise texture.
So recently when Alan and I found ourselves in Austin TX, Alan to attend the Society for American Archaeology Conference, and us to stay with my niece and her family, I thought I’d see if I could find Ryan. I emailed him and my niece Tasha offered to drive me to his studio at 2710 E. Cesar Chavez. He warned me that he’s busy getting glazing done ready for a studio tour coming up very soon so we limited our visit to half an hour. Ryan was very welcoming and we found lots to talk about. He showed us his work area and the well-used gas kiln. And he made sure I saw how he uses melted wax applied to bone dry pots before wiping away non-waxed areas to create valleys around them. Look at the link below to see lots of his work.
We discussed ceramics as a career and I mentioned the upcoming ten-month post-grad programme being offered at North Island College, on Vancouver Island. Ryan seemed very interested in the idea of a course designed to guide a ceramic artist into a professional and successful career. I’ll add the link to that here again.
http://www.nic.bc.ca/program/professional_potter_advanced_diploma
Tasha spoke to one of the two other potters who share the space, Melissa Mencini. Both potters do some teaching at an arts centre in downtown Austin, near where my niece lives. The third potter to share the space, Chris Campbell, wasn’t there that day. Their two guests for the “Art of the Pot” Austin Ceramic Studio Tour are Kurt Anderson and Adam Posnak. artofthepot.com
If you are in Austin and are trying to find Ryan’s studio on May 10th or 11th look for this funky painted building.
