Still Life by Vernon Smith

Vernon Smith received his BFA in Ceramics from University of West Georgia. He then moved to Las Vegas to work with Tom Coleman at his newly opened studio as an instructor and studio assistant. After several years, Smith returned to Atlanta where he completed a residency at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center. He teaches ceramics at several local community art centers and recently built the ceramics studio at South Fulton Arts Center.

Vernon favors atmospheric firing in reduction, soda, salt and wood kilns. He works in series, allowing repetition to create an intuitive connection between potter and vessel, as the form evolves with fluidity and ease. His functional pottery displays extreme technical skill applied with quiet reflection on the subtleties of line. Surface treatments are calming enhancements that fit well with form, directing the eye and adding expression. Vernon's work mirrors many qualities of the artist - they radiate a quiet charm, express informed decisions, and make a soft first impression followed by gradual understanding and appreciation as thoughtful details emerge.

Vernon is inspired by the capacity of waves to measure and record energy in nature. His pots are often finished with soft blues and greens with water-like transparency, and decorated with the serene swells of varied waves. While these pots speak of water, he lets others speak more to the earth of which they are made and the fire which heats and vitrifies them. Earth tones of browns, oranges, tans and whites are typical of these works. Tying the portfolio together is a sense that a quiet moment of nature has been captured, leaving a still life in clay for future consideration.