Isaac Watson is a facilitator. He’s the guy who can see how to build the structure that others move about in order to connect, share, and learn from. Hailing from Portland, Isaac has been involved in the craft world as both a maker and as a founder of I Heart Art, a collaboration between Etsy, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Museum of Contemporary Craft and the Portland Etsy Team. He doesn’t accept the idea that some people are right-brained and others left-brained, and he expects a high bar to be set in terms of individuals doing more for themselves. All that being said, Isaac is also magnanimous, articulate, and open. Incidentally, I feel like I did so much talking because I see Isaac as having lots of answers for questions that I have had over the years. His latest project, Maker’s Nation, is set to give creative people an outlet to help give them business skills, connect with other makers, and a chance to not be so self-isolating…and hopefully in the future a health care plan. Keep an eye on him. If there’s an organization that he’s leading, you don’t need to join, but at least show up for the first few meetings.

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Maybe it’s that all good comedy comes from the same kind of place: a willingness to be honest but cloaking it in a jest. Realness and comedy, or knowing which side of the joke is up or if the thing that you’re seeing is a joke at all (Andy Kaufman). That’s where Clayton Bailey comes in. Clayton was this year’s NCECA fellow and gave the closing lecture. A California artist, Clayton’s worked in a way that both confirms his greatness as an artist and also pokes fun that the field he’s been involved in for 50 years. His humor is more tounge in cheek than ironic, dryer than silly. He operated as a teacher at the univeristy level for years and his work was based on pulling academia’s seriousness apart…or at least jabbing it for some life. Subversion can be taken any number of ways and Clayton’s version of it includes alter-egos, fake science, and asking his audience to join in on the bit (seriously, it’s just clay. It’s okay to make fun of how uptight we sometimes/always are about it. again, liberals usually don’t have a great sense of humor). His body of work is expansive and he’s always pushed himself to the next level of what the work should be or where the joke should go. When California ceramics is talked or written about Funk is always included. But the Funk movement operated in that kind of overly academic world that wasn’t taken far enough for Clayton. He has worked outside of the common eyesight of ceramics. He has worked backwards, in a way, creating his own world and inviting others to take a peek inside. Enjoy the conversation! I know I did.

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Chris Lyon is one half of the team who founded Mudshark Studios. In just a few years, they’ve gone from pouring molds in a garage to working in a huge semi-industrial space. Chris and I talk about how things started at Mudshark, their recent growth, and what the future might hold for his business. We also get into his upbringing, introduction to clay, and why working in the manner that he does fits him. Chris and his partner, Brett Binford, are helping to restart American industry in their own way and our conversation is a nice little window into the process. Enjoy!

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Podcast #17

Garth Johnson seems to be in a lot of places at once, and is somehow always at the point of convergence where art and ideas take place. Early on in Lincoln, NE he was involved in the local music scene, where he met friends who would later on connect him with LA comedy. Garth also has a life in acaedmia in Eureka, CA and is still able, no, make that willing, to keep connected to other, seemingly disparate non-academic movements (craftivism, Maker Faire, DIY). Garth is interested in the connections between people, material, and the importance of making. He’s written extensively about ceramics and craft and still manages to make his own work. The only thing that impresses me more than Garth’s ability to juggle so many things at once is the fact that he sees the ceramic world much differently than most who are invested in it: that there ought to be a lot less hand wringling about our place in the larger art world, that we are stronger than we think, and that we need to look outside of ourselves to really make creative inroads when it comes to concept and execution. He drops a lot of things to check out in this conversation, keep a notepad and pencil ready and check them out later on.
 

After having been away from the studio and office for a few months this year I’m back and ready to update my website.

Here is a listing of the most recent Jonescasts from 2012. You can download new and back episodes on iTunes. Just search for Brian R. Jonescast.

Podcast #11

I went to college with this week’s guest, Penny Rakov. We’ve been able to catch up from time to time over the years and have followed each other’s careers. Penny’s been busy carving out her jewelry business with tenacity and focus. Her work is technically complex and pulls you right in. We talk business, getting respect from the big dogs, and making compromises with oneself in order to get what you want, among other things. Good talk. Check out her work!

Podcast #12

Among other things, Brian Giniewski’s work is concerned with the involvement of the hand in process, dumbing down work, and reorganizing how and who makes an object. He utilizes digital and traditional processes, photography, and context as tools to explore concepts. We spent some time talking about his past working on the wheel and his transition into making work that is removed from the traditional setting for functional pottery. We also talked about the idea of making work, the scope of American ceramics, and the line that is drawn between those who are interested in using clay as just a material and those who defend its history.

Podcast #13 part one/part two

I took the train up to Doylestown, PA to meet Lisa Naples at her studio and home. We had met back in 2004 when Lisa was a visiting artist at Ellen Shankin and Brad Warstler’s place during the Floyd, VA 16 hands tour. I saw Lisa again while I was in Philadelphia participating in the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show in 2010. Since then we’ve kept in touch here and there, mostly me asking her questions about establishing a local studio tour. In 2008 Lisa and her husband started Elephant’s Eye, a Bucks County studio tour that was fully realized when they initiated it. They have since cancelled the event to focus on other parts of their lives. Regardless, Lisa has maintained a vital studio practice and her work has changed both formally and conceptually since we first met. Our conversation stretches from how one finds their way with a chosen life path, sticking to it, selling work, welcoming challenges in the studio, and being open to experience events that can change your life. Since our talk was almost twice as long as usual I’ll be relasing it in two parts. The first part will be up on iTunes today, Friday, February 10th and the second will drop on Thursday the 16th. This is a good one.

Podcast #14

Jeff Guido is the artistic director at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia. For the past ten years he has guided the aesthetic and programming decisions as well as having a hand in choosing resident artists. We talk about Jeff’s background, his expectations for residents, the importance of the handmade, and an upcoming event that will help to push the importance of functional ceramics. Enjoy!

Before school got back into session I was able to sit with Michelle Ross in her studio for a bit. I had been wanting to get her on the podcast since the beginning and was happy for the opportunity. (That being said, we did talk about work in her studio that I was not able to photograph. My bad.) We covered all of the major bases: upbringing, process, career, getting work into the world, etc. I’d like to thank Michelle for her time. If you get a chance to check out her work you should do so. You can also see her work here.