CURRICULUM VITEA

  Turtle Island Pottery   About Us   Contact Me   CALENDAR   "NO TWO ALIKE"   Mantle Clocks   FACE PITCHERS   BEAR   PHOTOS   Curriculum Vitea   Popcorn Sutton   BIRD SCULPTURES   MOLLY   GIFT Certificate   Blue Flowers and Dragonflies

All photos taken and website managed by Maggie

  

CURRICULUM VITEA  comments by Maggie Jones

            I have been a working potter since 1972 at the age of nineteen. I have no formal education past high school.

               At age fifteen I began learning the craft of making pottery under the direction of my Junior High School art teacher. My father set up equipment in our basement and we learned together. By my High School graduation I was proficient at wheelwork and became a full-time apprentice for a studio potter in Tarrytown, NY.  At age 19 I opened my own studio and fired with a gas kiln at the fledgling Farmington Valley Art Center in Avon, CT. I also taught and fired another gas kiln for a pottery co-op there.

                   My ceramics experience or "education" involves participating in many workshops all over the country as listed below. I have fired all types of kilns, wood, oil, gas and electric. I have used all types of clays including many locally found clays and minerals. I have built several kilns of my own. I have fired earthenware, raku, stoneware and porcelain, salted, pit-fired and other techniques. I have mixed my own glazes since before the advent of calculators and computers and work with a wide variety of commercially prepared glazes.

                  In 1984 I was a special student under Paul Soldner at Scripps College in Claremont, CA with privileges the same as a graduate student working towards an MFA in ceramic art. Soldner expressed to me that having me in the studio along with his MFA students was a "shot in the arm". I was an example, for these graduates, of an artist making a living with her craft. I also took a watercolor class with head of the art department, Tucker Cooke, at UNC Asheville in 2000.

               I have been in the mountains of NC since 1977 with my husband, Freeman Jones, and since 1980 we have made a living with this craft. While raising our two children the pottery produced was mostly functional stoneware items that we sold at craft fairs and supplied many shops and galleries. During this time we focused on "peddling our wares" and did not exhibit in any solo exhibitions or venues of that kind. Because of the change in our work from the strictly functional crafted wares to the artfully sculpted one of a kind items, I feel I am a newly emerging artist with the ability to expand into new types of venues. The antique art pottery collector, sculpture collector and interior designer are customers who appreciate these one of a kind, decorative wares.

                           I have been a potter, clay artist-sculptor for over 40 years. I am still learning...it's a big world and...the earth is made of ceramics.

Maggie Jones

 

Education:

            ·      1971  Graduated Conard High School, West Hartford CT

            ·      1971-72  One year fulltime apprentice to studio potter Faith Sussman, Tarrytown NY

Workshops and Additional Education:

            ·      1968  2 weeks,  Eastern Connecticut State University

                  1972  5 weeks,  "Earth, Air, Fire and Water"  John Woolman School, Grass Valley CA.  Richard Hotchkiss and Rimas VisGirda.  Participated in building a six chambered climbing kiln, the largest in the US that is still being fired two times each year. The pottery was made entirely with locally found clays and minerals. The kiln was built with handmade brick using fireclay and sand. The large kiln was fired with wood from the area. There are 2 videos out now about this workshop.

            ·      1975  3 weeks,  New Hampshire Guild of Craftsmen with Ron Probst and Dennis Parks 

            ·      1975  2 weeks,  independent study, Rochester Folk Art Guild, NY

            ·      1975  8 weeks,  Sun Valley Art Center, with Jim Romberg, Idaho

            ·      1975  2 weeks,  John Woolman School, Grass Valley CA

            ·      1976  2-days,  Arizona State University with Paul Soldner, Tempe AZ

            ·      1976  6 months,  Assistant to Faith Sussman, Cave Creek AZ

            ·      1977-1982 Taught classes at Blue Ridge Technical College, local community classes, Blue Star summer camp, Hendersonville NC

            ·      1980-1983 Operated studio and business at Forge Valley Fun Park, Mills River NC

            ·      1983  3-days,  Callonwolde Art Center with Paul Soldner, Atlanta GA

            ·      1984  5 months,  Special student invitee. Scripps College, Claremont CA. Special students with Paul Soldner had the same privileges as the Graduate MFA program.

            ·       1980-present  Owner/operator Turtle Island Pottery

            ·      2005-2007 Trustee of the American Art Pottery Association 2005-2007

            ·     2007  Member Southern Highland Craft Guild

Published Articles:

            ·      Clay Times magazine May/June 2004

            ·      Journal of the American Art Pottery Association Sept/Oct 2005

Demonstrations Performed:

            ·      Catawba Valley Pottery Festival, Hickory NC

            ·      1983  weekend exhibition and demonstration Unicoi Lodge, GA

            ·      1984-2004 Annually, Unicoi State Park Fireside Art and Craft Show, Unicoi GA

            ·      2005 American Art Pottery Association Convention, Netherlands Hotel, Cincinnati OH 

Shows and Group Exhibitions:

            ·      1978 Art in the Park, Boone NC

            ·      1978-1984 High Country Crafter shows, Asheville, Highlands, Cashiers, Sapphire Valley

            ·      1978-2004 Mount Mitchell Craft Fair, Burnsville NC

            ·      1980-2000 Mountain Heritage Day, Cullowhee NC

            ·      1984-2004 State Park Fireside Art and Craft Show, Unicoi GA

            ·      1980-1988  Shows, Key West, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, New Smyrna Beach FL.

            ·      1984-2008 Appalachian Potters Market, Marion NC (founding committee member)

            ·      1988 All Souls Crescent Biltmore Show, Asheville NC

            ·      1987-2000 Eno River Arts Festival, Durham NC

            ·      1983-1998 Hills Skills, Greenville NC

            ·      1990-2000 Lazy Daze, Cary NC

            ·      1994 and 2006 Santa Fe Community College Springfest, Gainesville FL

            ·      1997-2008 Catawba Valley Pottery Festival, Hickory NC

            ·      2000-2008 Carolina Pottery Festival, Shelby NC

            ·      2001-2006 Sanford Pottery Festival, Sanford NC

            ·      2003 Mossy Creek Pottery Festival, Cleveland GA

            ·      2003 Meader's Homeplace Pottery Show, Cleveland GA

            ·      2004-2007 Burlon Craig Festival, Vale NC            ·     

            ·      2004-2006 Shows with antique art pottery dealer and collectors such as the Pottery Fest, Maitland FL and American Art Pottery Association conventions and shows.

            ·      2004-2007 Pottery Lover's, Zanesville OH

            ·      2005 American Art Pottery Association Convention, Cincinnati OH

            ·      2006 AAPA Convention, Syracuse NY

            ·      2007-2008 Potter's Market Invitational at the Mint Museum, Charlotte NC

            ·      2008  Contemporary Craftsfirms Arts and Crafts Conference at the Grove Park Inn. Invited for 2010

            ·      2007 Member Southern Highland Craft Guild participating in summer and fall shows Asheville, NC