ARTISTS’S STATEMENT

My recent work has centered around the teapot. When building my teapots, I concentrate on creating bold forms that emphasize the natural characteristics of clay. I want to show where my fingers went and leave the rips and tears, along with both unplanned and planned impressions in the clay. I’m not trying to manipulate the clay into something slick, but something a bit grungy, leaving the viewer with no doubt that this thing has been made from materials of the earth.

By using the teapot’s form with all its commonly conceived notions of function, etiquette, and tradition—then redirecting those notions to emphasize a more primordial approach that emphasizes the touch of the hand, the properties of the clay and the chaos of the fire—I hope to create pots that are visually challenging, yet instinctively natural.

TR’s Story

Raised on a farm in northwest Ohio, TR grew up with the love of the natural world and all things mechanical. “I enjoy learning how things work both in nature and man made.” After graduating from Findlay University, Findlay, OH with degrees in Art and Biology, TR and his wife, Judy, established the Old Jalopy Pottery. The pottery’s production centered primarily around functional stoneware and porcelain, and was marketed locally, through regional art fairs, and wholesaled nationally. TR and Judy’s family also grew during this time by adding a daughter and a son. After 20 plus years TR decided to close the pottery. There were several reasons in the decision to close shop—a need for a more stable income and more family responsibilities were two, but also the work had become stale and unfulfilling. “At that time I thought I had made my last pot”. However, 10 years later TR’s joy of creating pottery returned when he attended the ceramics workshop, “Summer Mud,” at Bluffton University, Bluffton, OH. This workshop was conducted by the late Gregg Luginbuhl, TR’s first ceramics professor and life long mentor. The excitement was back and TR was enjoying the ceramic process again. When Gregg became too ill to continue teaching at Bluffton University, TR was asked to teach ceramics in his place. TR has been teaching at Bluffton University since the fall of 2016 and conducting the “Summer Mud” workshop, too. “I was given a special gift, a second chance, and am most grateful for it and for those who have supported me.”

TR lives in Bluffton, OH with his wife Judy and son, and is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Bluffton University.

ARTISTS’S STATEMENT

TR’s Story

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