Category Archives: Pottery

The potter’s place

Posted on June 14, 2017 by Carter Gillies

Something I had written a few years ago: “Being a potter isn’t a ‘job’. It’s being the nexus of a very special community that forms to create and sustain beauty in the humble corners of daily life. Every time you … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Beauty, Ceramics, Creative industry, Creativity, Imagination, Pottery | Leave a comment

Pottery sale this weekend (!)

Posted on May 30, 2017 by Carter Gillies

I am almost done glazing and firing for the sale this weekend at my studio! If the rain holds off today I will get the last load in and be able to start cleaning the studio (don’t want to kick … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Ceramics, Clay, Pottery | 3 Comments

Better pottery through accuracy and precision

Posted on April 9, 2017 by Carter Gillies

“I don’t think you can talk about progress in art—movement, but not progress. You can speak of a point on a line for the purpose of locating things, but it’s a horizontal line, not a vertical one.” Donald Barthelme Several … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Creativity, Imagination, metacognition, Pottery, Wittgenstein | Leave a comment

Six Friends show at AKAR

Posted on March 27, 2017 by Carter Gillies

If you know me you know that I don’t do a lot of self promotion here on the blog (This is a guy who as a kid used to hide under the table as his friends sang Happy Birthday to … Continue reading →

Posted in Ceramics, Pottery | 4 Comments

“What gets you up in the morning?” and other wisdom from the Linda Christianson workshop, acts one and two

Posted on March 2, 2017 by Carter Gillies

A few weekends ago I had the good fortune to attend a workshop offered by Linda Christianson. She is not a stranger to me. She was, in fact, my teacher back in the day. Could that really have been almost … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Arts education, Ceramics, Creative industry, Creativity, Imagination, metacognition, Pottery | 2 Comments

Intention and Execution

Posted on February 9, 2017 by Carter Gillies

So… more than one person is having difficulty with my recent posts. I put them out there, and undoubtedly I could have done things differently. I will take that blame and accept that my own intentions and their execution are … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Creative industry, metacognition, Pottery | 1 Comment

Is this an artist’s statement I should give to the folks at AKAR?

Posted on February 5, 2017 by Carter Gillies

Hello virtual brain trust! I need your opinion. I need to give an artist’s statement and in the state I’m in I don’t really want to talk about my own work. I don’t want to make it personal until I … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Ceramics, Creative industry, metacognition, Pottery | 12 Comments

Recovering the Mojo

Posted on February 3, 2017 by Carter Gillies

You have perhaps heard me moan about the pitfalls of ‘signature style’ over the years, but it perhaps takes an extraordinary circumstance and not a little courage to be willing to change. We can get too comfortable with our personas … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Beauty, Creativity, Ephemera, Imagination, metacognition, Pottery | 12 Comments

Does art even matter?

Posted on November 15, 2016 by Carter Gillies

Sigh. Like for many of you, I am supposing, something significant about the world changed last Tuesday. Values for society and our communities were suddenly brought into question. Many seeming certainties showed the fractures of doubt. Not that we believed … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Arts advocacy, Beauty, Creative industry, Creativity, Imagination, metacognition, Pottery | 1 Comment

The Completionist

Posted on October 8, 2016 by Carter Gillies

I had a realization last week: I am a completionist. What I mean by that is that its not in my nature to get much satisfaction by leaving things half done. Sometimes its unavoidable, but when I have a choice … Continue reading →

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