My Story
I began making pottery in the spring of 1989 while working towards my BFA at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. The whole clay process really captivated me, but what really set me on a path to becoming a potter were the people around the ceramics studio. They were fun and boisterous people who enjoyed good food and good conversation when they got together. If you want to see for yourself, go to the next NCECA conference and head for the nearest hotel lobby. At SIU Carbondale I studied under Harris Deller, who always had a way of elevating the discourse and making us face the work we were making. There was only one other undergrad major at the time so we met with the eight or so grad students in the department for slides and regular critiques. The opportunity to spend a lot of time with advanced students and the vigorous visiting artist program gave me the feeling I had gotten a great start.
After school I was determined to continue working in clay, so I followed an ad in the back of Ceramics Monthly to Coshocton, Ohio where I took a job as a production potter. Nothing in my artistic education could have prepared me for what I found there. Pottery as product; it was all about efficiency, speed and conforming to standards. It sounds maddening to many artists, but it was a job that paid better than most and after a while I found joy in the simple rhythm of my body and the clay. I connected with the history of potters and understood the feeling of making tens of thousands of pots in a year. There is something seductive about production; the rhythm, and the money, but you don’t get to think much (maybe that’s seductive too).
I could not live on bread alone, so I spent a year, in 1992, as a studio artist at the Business of Art Center in Manitou Springs, Colorado before returning to Coshocton to be a production potter for a start up pottery, Millcreek Stoneware. While I was in Colorado I had the opportunity to sell some work of my own and Mudskipper Pottery was born. I’m not sure why Mudskipper had to be the name; let’s just say I felt attracted to this little fish that forced itself out of it’s element to stand up on it’s own two fins. I continued to work in my home studio and at Millcreek for the next several years selling my work at art fairs. Its hard when you work alone in a studio separated from other potters and I suffered from slow artistic development. I needed a change but I didn’t just want to change the way my work looked. I wanted to dig deeper into the ideas that surround making functional pottery in an art context at the end of the 20th century. Going to graduate school seemed like the right way for me to develop my work and explore my potential as a teacher at the same time.
In the fall of 1997 I was accepted as an MFA candidate at West Virginia University. It was a great fit for me. With the program headed by Bob Anderson, who was always known as a potter’s potter, I didn’t have to spend time defending the idea that pots belonged in fine arts education and I could get right into the semantics of pottery. It was great to be back in the company of other artists. The BFA program was so strong that when I arrived there were several undergrads who were making better work than I was. The access to kilns and materials combined with feedback from teachers and peers to create a great atmosphere for experimentation at WVU. I was able to take my work in new directions but I found some things that were still there from the beginning. If you’re interested in my written thesis, which they tortured out of me, and some images from my show you can download the .pdf at the WVU Library. After graduation my first daughter was 9 months old and my wife and I wanted to return to Ohio. One afternoon on a trip through the state we pulled over to feed the baby in the little village of Fredericktown and we have pretty much been here ever since.
Life after graduate school can be a hard transition for many artists. The intensity of the studio interaction and explosive development of your work can not be equalled in many other settings. Some people seek to stay in that zone by acquiring a teaching position, others look to artist residency programs, and still others attempt to become self-supporting professional artists, but many get caught up in the ebb and flow of life and drift away from their work into other callings. Teaching positions are getting hard to come by and only the most prolific and dedicated artists are likely to get a full time position. These jobs, for the most part, take an enormous amount of work. Between the service to the institution in the form of meetings and committees, and the struggle to achieve tenure with a rigorous show schedule of your own work, there is not much time left for actually trying to be a better teacher much less developing any kind of life outside of your job. Having said that, I think that most of the best artists we have in ceramics are coming out of that system and it really is the perfect place for some people. Adjunct positions are much easier to come by and can be a stepping stone to a full time position, but many institutions are taking advantage of people by giving them full time course loads with part time pay and no benefits. I wanted to continue teaching after school, so I got in touch with Jim Hendrickx at Mount Vernon Nazarene University. I had done a gallery show and visiting artist demonstration there before and when I inquired about the possibility of teaching a class Jim was eager to give me a shot. MVNU is a very small school and the art department has only two full time faculty. They offer two levels of ceramics which are taught at the same time, and Jim and I have been trading off ceramics teaching, depending on enrollment and scheduling, since the fall of 2001. Teaching is a great part-time job for me. I love the interaction with the students and the process of guiding them through their introduction to clay.
Most of my time since grad school has been spent as a paternal domestic facilitator, which is fancy resume speak for “stay at home dad.” My two girls are now in school full time, and even though it was hard to continue to develop my work with so few studio hours, I would not trade the time I have with them for anything in the world. My family gives my life meaning and through that they give my work part of its meaning as well. There were times when I did more research online and sketching out new ideas than I did actually making things in the studio, and even though that probably saved me from making some poorly conceived work, it could also be very frustrating. I learned to take advantage of my think time to work time ratio and stayed professionally active by going to conferences like the Wooster, Ohio “Functional Ceramics Workshop” and the occasional NCECA.
For me, it has been an amazing journey in clay that continues to reveal itself in new and challenging ways. Sometimes its the glaze pinholes that just show up and refuse to go away until I get it sorted out, or the prospect of trying to get a new tea pot shape to pour correctly, or the discovery of some birds in an illuminated manuscript that make me want to make a totally new kind of work; but there always seems to be another challenge for me on the horizon to keep me motivated and inspired.
Artist Statement
The base of my work remains the functional clay pot and how pottery speaks to what groups of people have in common. Tableware implies an abundance of food and a willingness to share it. Earthenware is the most common clay and ubiquitous throughout human cultures for millennia. These pots attempt to combine the things I love about pots from around the world. I am particularly interested in slipware from the cultures surrounding the Mediterranean and near east during the 9th through 12th century AD. The local pots of the Islamic and Byzantine Empires had very similar shapes and patterns even though they were locked in nearly permanent conflict they ate from the same plates. Well-traveled trade routes existed between China and Iraq where porcelain met cobalt. Rome and the crusades brought this Mediterranean melting pot aesthetic to early English pottery. I blend and borrow elements of these and other cultures to make work that might sprout fresh leaves on the potter’s family tree while remaining true to it’s roots. George Ohr, the Mad Potter of Biloxi, called his pots “Mud Babies”, and in that spirit it is my hope that these pots reflect some of the joy I had in making them and that they go out into the world with their users help to make some meaning of their own.
Artist Bio
Paul Linhares is a central Ohio ceramic artist and teacher. He received his BFA in 1991 from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and his MFA in 2000 from West Virginia University. He has been an adjunct ceramics professor at Mount Vernon Nazarene University and North Central State College, Mansfield in addition to a post as visiting faculty at the Chautauqua Institution School of Art. Paul’s work has been exhibited in Cedar Creek Gallery’s National Teapot Show VII, Chautauqua Ceramics Invitational Retrospective Exhibit, Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts Butter Dish Invitational, Lilstreet Art Center’s Form Follows Function, 9th, 12th and 16th Strictly Functional Pottery National, Rosewood Gallery’s Earth in Balance, Utilitarian Ceramics National, NCECA Regional Exhibition, and numerous other exhibitions. His pottery has been featured in Ceramics Monthly in addition to 500 cups and 500 Plates and Platters by Lark Books.
CV
EDUCATION
• Master of Fine Art,
West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia - May 2000
• Bachelor of Fine Art, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois - May 1991
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
• Sole Proprietor - Mudskipper Pottery, Fredericktown, Ohio - July 1993 - Present
• Adjunct Professor of Art – Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Mount Vernon, Ohio - September 2001 – Present
• Visiting Ceramics Faculty – Chautauqua institute School of Art, Chautauqua, New York - June 2001 and July 2002
• Production Potter and Glaze Technician - Millcreek Stoneware, Coshocton, Ohio - November 1993 - August 1997
• Potter’s Apprentice - Jeff Reed and Sarah MacFarland, Colorado Springs, Colorado - March 1993 - July 1993
• Production Potter - Three Rivers Pottery, Coshocton, Ohio - September 1991 - October 1992
• Class Instructor and Clay Shop Technician - the Student Center Craft Shop, Carbondale, Illinois - July 1990 - May 1991
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
• Tableware, Zen Clay, Morgantown, West Virginia, November 2008
• Fresh Pots, Mesaros Gallery, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, April 2000
• Recent Works, Zen Clay, Morgantown, West Virginia, July 1999
INVITATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
• Cups of Comfort and Joy, Meridith Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland, November 2008
• National Teapot Show VII, Cedar Creek Gallery, Creedmoor, North Carolina, June 2008
• Chautauqua Ceramics Invitational Retrospective Exhibit, NCECA 2008, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 2008 and Chautauqua Center for the Visual Arts, Chautauqua, New York, July 2008
• Functional Ceramics 2005, Wayne Center For The Arts, Wooster, Ohio, March 2005
• Gifts of the Craftsmen, Ohio Crafts Museum, Columbus, Ohio, November 2004
• Rambunctious Clay Ceramics With Attitude, Mansfield Art Center, Mansfield, Ohio, August 2004
• Butter Dish, Odyssey Center for the Ceramic Arts, Ashville, North Carolina, October 2004
JURIED AND GROUP EXHIBITIONS
• 16th Annual Strictly Functional Pottery National, Market House Craft Center, East Petersburg, Pennsylvania, May 2008
• Form Follows Function, Lillstreet Art Center, Chicago, Illinois, September 2004
• 12th Annual Strictly Functional Pottery National, Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, April 2004
• Big Fish, Small Pot: An International Teapot Competition, Saddleback College Art Gallery, Mission Viejo, California, March 2004
• Earth In Balance, A Regional Clay Competition, Rosewood Arts Centre, Kettering, Ohio, December 2003
• 58th May Show, , Mansfield Arts Center, Mansfield, Ohio, April 2003
• Fall Members Show, Mansfield Arts Center, Mansfield, Ohio, October 2002
• Artists React to 9-11, Logan Gallery, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, New York, August 2002
• 57th May Show, Mansfield Arts Center, Mansfield, Ohio, April 2002
• Faculty Art 2002, Fine Arts Chapel Building, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Mount Vernon, Ohio, March 2002
• Faculty Show, Logan Gallery, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, New York, August 2001
• 9th Annual Strictly Functional Pottery National, Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, April 2001
• Utilitarian Ceramics National, Ameen Art Gallery, Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, Louisiana, February 2000
• Continuing the Search, Mesaros Gallery, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, May 1999
• NCECA Regional Student Juried Exhibition, Fort Hays Metropolitan Arts Center, Shot Tower Gallery, Columbus, Ohio, February 1999
• Formal Tease, Mesaros Gallery, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, May 1998
• Paul Linhares - Ceramics, Mount Vernon Nazarene College, Mount Vernon, Ohio, September 1997
• International Orton Cone Box Show, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas, March 1994, work included in the traveling exhibition
• Studio Artist Show, Manitou Gallery, Business of Art Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado, August 1993
• Atrium Gallery Show, Atrium Gallery, Business of Art Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado, May 1993
• Sculpture In Your Outer Space, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, April 1991
• Student Center Purchase Award Show, Carbondale, Illinois, March 1991
• Rickert-Ziebolt Trust Award Show, Allen Hall, SIU, Carbondale, Illinois, March 1991
HONORS AND AWARDS
• Best Of Show, Earth in Balance, Rosewood Arts Centre, Kettering, Ohio, December 2003
• Graduate Teaching Assistantship, Tuition and Stipend, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, August 1997 - May 2000
• Permanent Collection Purchase, Chef John Folse Culinary Institute, Thibodaux, Louisiana, April 2000
• Permanent Collection Purchase, Pomerene Fine Art Center, Coshocton, Ohio, January 1996
• Best of Show in Clay, Springfield Art in the Park, Springfield, Ohio, June 1994
• Pacer Corporation Purchase Award, International Orton Cone Box Show, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas, March 1994
• Honorable Mention Award, Sculpture In Your Outer Space, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois April 1991
• Talent Scholarship Award, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, November 1990
PUBLICATIONS
• 500 Plates and Chargers, Lark Books, 2008, p. 73, 142
• 500 Cups, Lark Books, 2004, p. 275
• Ceramics Monthly, “Earth In Balance”, April 2004, p. 46
• Dayton Daily News, “Commentary on contemporary world gives edge to clay medium,” November 2, 2003
• The Dominion Post, “Guatemalan coffee gift to community,” December 5, 1999
• The Coshocton Tribune, “Affordable Art,” December 7, 1995
• Ceramics Monthly, “International Orton Cone Box Show”, January 1995, p. 29
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
• Co-organized Empty Bowls fundraiser with Kenyon College, November 2008
• Guest Lecturer on Hand-built slipware, The Ohio State University, Mansfield, Ohio, August 2004
• Artist Lecture, Ceramics Studio, Chautauqua Institution School of Art, Chautauqua, New York, July 2002
• Visiting Artist Demonstrations, The Craft Shop, Braxton Towers, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, April 1999
• Artists’ Panel Discussion, NCECA Regional Student Juried Exhibition, Fort Hays Metropolitan Arts Center, Columbus, Ohio, March 1999
• Visiting Artist Demonstrations, Mount Vernon Nazarene College, Mount Vernon, Ohio, September 1997
• Visiting Artist Demonstrations, Meramec Community College, St. Louis, Missouri, May 1995