2024 has been a great year for the Carolina Clay Guild. We were fortunate to be inspired & acquire knowledge from some highly skilled folks speaking @ our meetings. Check out some highlights from recent presentations & information about the artists.
October 5, 2024
  • Presentation by Charlotte Munning. Charlotte holds a M. Ed. in Biology and taught in Greensboro Public Schools for 22 years and was Chairman of the Science Department at Page High School.
  • She has been in the clay community for decades as a potter who also does elaborate hand-building sculptural work.
  • We learned from her extensive experience as a Raku artist and what it takes to travel to many shows and be able to make a living in ceramics! There was discussion on this ancient style of pottery making that dates back, at least as far as the late 16th century. We enjoyed seeing examples of her work as well as a projector show with her narration.
August 10, 2024
  • Fabulous program by Leanne Pizio informed and educated! She explained her practice during a tour of her studio. It’s on a nice home compound, where you can tell how she and her husband, Will, have revitalized a pastoral setting they have put years into making it their own slice of heaven. She and Will are expanding the studio for additional space for instruction. They’re building an addition to her studio this summer.
  • Currently working on an upcoming show about death, with two other creative people, she is including painting, printing, clay and sculpture as an installation. Her dog, Bugsey, goes to school with Will, a professor at Guilford College, and may play a part as a sculpted likeness in the exhibit. Leanne double-majored in art and psychology at UNC Chapel Hill, then went on for a masters in art at UNCG.
  • Her molded forms have been a fun practice that she was happy to share: a photo with some bunny heads and another with the associated mold on a hook by a staircase. She informed of ideas of new surface design, as well, with homemade decals and also the reverse of that. We were lucky to hear about this process, which creates a more painterly surface. The layered process generates a rich depth on a 2D surface.
  • Leanne presented her techniques of mold forming and the clay basket weave vessels she has mastered. We learned about her current work & she shared design applications.Her basket weave design has been getting a lot of notice at the Art Alliance of Greensboro by her Thursday morning students, as well as so many other of her techniques, including sgrafitto, and mold. We may be able to purchase some of her works as well!
May 4, 2024
  • Multi-talented Ben Winslow demonstrated his techniques on the wheel & shared a gamut of ideas & skills he has refined over the years. He received his BFA from Georgia State University, has taught at Rockingham Community College, The Sawtooth Center, and the Art Alliance of Greensboro. Along with a home studio practice, Ben currently has regular RAKU workshops. Check out his ceramics on Instagram.
March 9, 2024
  • Max Saunders, MFA in Ceramics from Utah State University’s prestigious program, shared experiences through a discussion and slide show at the beginning of the meeting and then transitioned to a demonstration on the wheel. The focus was on texturing and stretching techniques. Resident of the Sawtooth Center in Winston-Salem, part of the new wood kiln at SECCA since it started operation, he is an instructor at Greensboro College as well. Time was available for all to see his work & some items were available for purchase.