Small Sq. Vase Ceramic $48	Large Sq. Vase Ceramic $145
Lg. Oval Baker Ceramic $90	Pitcher Ceramic $70

Shawn Ireland

"I find beauty in the simplicity and usefulness of folk pottery. To me, pots from pre-industrial cultures worldwide embody the spirit of a life less encumbered. This spirit is influential in that it inspires me, while making, to look and to feel. Also influential is the work of contemporary potters who tap this spirit. I choose to make pots with a foundation in folk tradition and discover, gradually, how my touch develops."

I make pots for holding food and flowers and lately, candles. I choose to make these pots with a foundation in folk tradition. For me, this involves using many local clays and glaze materials and firing with wood. These ingredients promote surprises and keep my craft connected to the natural world.

My pots have changed over time under the influence of pottery making traditions adopted from my friends and teachers, Will Ruggles and Douglass Rankin. Lately, several trips to central Italy have inspired a figurative direction in the form of candlesticks, vases and bowls. Coupled with these experiences is a growing understanding of the relationship between my clay and glaze materials and wood kiln. All this and the love of making constitute my pottery today.
 
The clay I mix by hand is a blend of ingredients from North Carolina and Georgia. Twenty five percent of the body is a local red earthenware. The nontoxic glazes, which melt at 2300 degrees, are composed primarily of local feldspar, silica, red clay, kaolin and ash from my woodstove.
 
The pots are fired in a two chambered kiln fueled with wood which is salvaged from burn piles at a nearby sawmill. The combination of wood flame and ash, which melts into the clay and glaze, can produce colors and surfaces reminiscent of objects found in nature. Like these objects, wood fired pots can look similar to each other but never identical. This unpredictability and variation makes every kiln load a new start.

511 Red Banks Rd. | Greenville, NC 27858 | Phone 252.353.7000 | Fax 252.353.7007 | Email Art@CityArtGreenville.com