8 x 10 Atlanta

MudFire Gallery will host "8 x 10 Atlanta" - an exhibit illustrating the state of clay in Atlanta with eight works each by ten Atlanta clay artists. The show will run November 6 - 25, 2003. An opening party and artist reception will be held Thursday, November 6 from 6:00 to 10:00 pm

Margaret Patterson

In 1962, at the insistence of my advisor, I took a pottery class as an elective while a math major at Wesleyan College, Macon, Georgia. I was quite intimidated being in art class - seven art majors and I. While the others much preferred the expressive possibilities of handbuilding in clay, I fell in love with the material when we started working on the wheel. As the saying goes, I was hooked - like so many who came before and like so many yet to be. I became a potter with the first lump of clay spinning on the wheel -- and that first lumpy pot. Over the intervening decades, I never ceased to be a potter, even during periods when my focus was away from clay. That focus changed back to clay in 1987 with a serendipitous meeting with Charles Counts - a meeting that re-directed my life to a rich spectrum of clay activities.

Until I entered the MFA program at Georgia State University in 1997, almost all of my work was functional and wheel-thrown. After gaining freedom from the very round, very perfect form, I found a whole new world of altered shape and surface. My firing methods included raku and high-fired stoneware and porcelain. At Georgia State, I quickly turned to handbuilt slab work -- work that began as teapot forms but soon the spouts and handles disappeared, turning the work into bits and pieces of architecture. That work was low-fired, finished with terra sigillata with a patina that enhanced the surface texture, imparting a metallic appearance.

The infatuation with metal began several years ago with my first visit to the National Palace Museum in Taipei. I went to see the ceramics and discovered the matt-surfaced forms of Chinese bronzes, from ritual vessels, to bells, to ax blades. They continue to be an inspiration in my work. Other areas of influence include architecture -- especially modern and contemporary architecture as well as architectural ruins - bridges, contemporary sculpture, geometric shapes and forms, mechanical fittings, most metal objects, abstract paintings, textures and geometric patterns -- especially grid patterns and parallel, or quasi-parallel, lines.

Having finished the MFA program, my recent work which alternates between functional and non-functional also alternates between wheel work and handbuilt.Information and images to be posted.

Education

2001 - 2002, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, Post graduate work in metalsmithing

2001, Gorgia State University, Atlanta, GA, Master of Fine Arts - Ceramics

Ongoing, Various clay workshops and schools - Local, National, International

1964, Wesleyan College, Macon, GA, BA - Mathematics

Employment and Teaching Experience

Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, Graduate Teaching Assistant-Ceramics, 1998-2000

Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, Atlanta, Georgia, Pottery Assistantship Program, 1995-1996

BellSouth/Bell System, Retired 1991

Clay workshops:
Roswell Visual Arts Center, Roswell, Georgia, 2002
Sweet Earth Pottery, Clayton Georgia, 2002
Taipei American School, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China, 1999, 2000

Published Images, since 1997

Books:
500 Teapots, Kathy Triplett and Suzanne Tourtillot Lark Books, 2002
The Ceramic Glaze Handbook, Mark Burleson, 2001
Handbuilt Tableware, Kathy Triplett, 2001
The Ceramic Design Book, Chris Rich, Editor, 2000
Wheel Thrown Ceramics, Don Davis, 1999
Handbuilt Ceramics, Kathy Triplett, 2000
The Extruder Book, Daryl Baird, 2000

Magazines:
Ceramics Monthly
Clay Times

Select Shows and Recognition

8 x 10 Atlanta, MudFire Pottery Center, Atlanta, Georgia - 2003

Perspectives: Georgia Potters and Collectors, Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation, Watkinsville, Georgia - 2003

Gallery Sklo, TULA Art Center, Atlanta, Georgia 2001

Hambidge Fellow, The Hambidge Center, Rabun Gap, Georgia, 1997-current

Featured in Contemporary Ceramics Show, The Hambidge Center, Rabun Gap, Georgia - 2001

Thesis show, Structures, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia -- 2001

National Council on Education in the Ceramic Arts 2001

Regional Student Juried Exhibition, Charlotte, North Carolina - March 2001

National Council on Education in the Ceramic Arts 2001

Storefront Display, Rock Hill, South Carolina - March 2001

Annual Juried Student Exhibition, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998 Juror's Award 2001 and 1999

Prix du Joe Award 2002

Baltimore Clayworks, National Teapot Show 100 Teapots, Baltimore, Maryland - 2001

American Craft Council Southeast Region Spotlight 2000, Kennesaw, Georgia -2000

Shimpo Scholar, Shimpo Corporation - 1999