A Louisiana Pottery Exhibit is available by request .

Crystalline Pottery Glazes

Plate with Warrior Design

Covered Vessel

Gladys grew her own cotton to produce these placemats and napkins.  She would weave the cotton on a loom.  She also grew indigo, which is what she used to "Color" the cotton.

Unglazed vessels, with decorated lids.

This is a very large vase with intricate carvings, and painted with oils.

Highly burnished pieces, pit or sagger fired using organic materials.  "Ms. Pat" was the most highly collected artist ever at Louisiana Pottery.  Interestingly, she began making pottery at the age of 70.

Alex is wonderful at creating beautiful forms.    He also uses multiple glazes on each piece that seem to compliment one another.

Kathy certainly pays attention to ergonomics and detail,  and her pottery is just perfect!

If you lift the lid on this teapot, you will see that it's a "perfect" fit.

Joann was a Newcomb College graduate and lived in New Orleans.  Her work is collected by many museums.  What I love about her work is the beautiful and deep carvings.  Also, the colors she achieved in "raku" firings were always spectacular!

Bob is a ceramics gradate of LSU, and he retired from Louisiana College (teaching pottery) recently.

Anyone who was a student of his, was certainly able to see "perfection" in his work.    His concentration on form, glazing, and usefulness in everyday life is certainly apparent in his work.

This is "horsehair" pottery.  The pot was fired in a kiln, and while still extremely hot, horsehair was thrown onto the pot.  The hair ignited, burned, and the carbons from the hair left an image on the pot.  

Ruth lived in Sulphur, Louisiana.  This is a handmade tile, with a lovely painting .

This piece is raku fired, and has stunning impressions that were "stretched" while spinning on the wheel.  Gary recently retired from teaching ceramics at ULM (University of Louisiana at Monroe).  

Dennis is a Professor of Ceramics, at Southeastern Louisiana University.

This cup is certainly entertaining.

David is a ceramics instructor at Salisbury University in Maryland.  I'm loving the juxtaposition of the frog under this drinking vessel.  Then there's the alligator impressions above the frog, and tiny shrimp are painted inside the mug.

Kate lived in New Orleans and filled many large orders for pottery that went to galleries or special events around the country.

She also owned and operated ceramic studios and taught many classes in pottery.

This is raku fired pottery.

WangLing is the Associate Professor of Art at Louisiana College and teaches ceramics (since 2008).  According to WangLing, she repurposes recycled trash into bizarre vessels and sculptural forms with an added touch of humor, and she also employs a graphic novel style imagery to express her philozoical life (love of animals).

Lynda earned her B.A. in 1973 at Douglass College, and an M.A. in Ceramics at Florida State University.  She has had several teaching positions, and membership on the boards of directors of a number of craft organizations.

Lynda creates a line of functional and decorative pottery created entirely in porcelain.  Her work incorporates a broad range of influences from throughout the history of ceramics, including the classic porcelains of the Chinese Song Dynasty and Japanese folk pottery.  She intends for her pieces to be used as well as contemplated.  

(d. 2017?). In a written statement, Pam noted the following:  "This Raku ware is fragile because of the heat shock forced upon the clay.  This, combined with the type of clay and chemicals in the glaze, make the Raku piece porous.  Crazing, crackling and crawling are effects that make Raku distinguishable.  I have enjoyed assisting the elements in its creation."

(d. 2017 ?). Richard Whittaker interviewed Michael Miller in 2007.  The title of the interview is "Pottery and the Ancient Life:  A Conversation with Michael Miller."

Included in that interview, here is a quotation by Michael

"Well, I got a degree in anthropology at LSU.  In anthropology you study a lot of pottery because that's what's left from a lot of ancient civilizations and cultures."

In 1971-72 Michael began taking pottery classes at LSU, and was taught by Howard Shapiro.  Howard turned out to be a very large influence on the rest of Michael's pottery career.

Michael also said in the interview,  "When I look at ancient pots, they are more beautiful, and I wish I could make pots that beautiful.  I'm a product of my own culture."

(d. 2003) Chaudrant, LA

This is a gourd with horse hair woven into the top.  Angela was a member of the Mississippi Artist Guild.  She always had a horticultural interest, and was a self taught artist.  She was inspired by the Native Americans of Natchitoches.  Angela admitted that pine weaving was too rough on her hands, therefore found horse hair to weave, which was easier on the hands.

Bruce began making pottery lamp bases for a decorative accessories firm in 1976.  In 1991, he entered and won a U.S. Pottery Olympics contest.  He remained this events champion for another 2 years.  In 1992, Bruce won a "World Championship" pottery competition in Italy.  

After throwing a pot, Bruce textures the cylinder, and then expands the shape from within.  Most of these textures mysteriously seem to relate to nature.  And then he raku fires the pot.  "Raku" is an ancient Japanese fast-firing technique where, in about 30 minutes, the pot is fired to 2000 degrees and then cooled in the open air.  The glaze Bruce uses becomes a molten liquid, and then he sprays the pot with flammable liquid, and the pot bursts into flames.  Sawdust and air paint the piece into  a rainbow of metallic colors.  Then, the pot is plunged into a barrel of water, and the color is a frozen testimony to the trials of each, fire, air and water. 

(d. 2018). Excerpts from Diane's Artist Statement include:

"For me, creating objects of art is a spiritual imperative.  At the very least, I consider any act of creation, a collaboration.  To be allowed to collaborate on a work of art is both an honor and a privilege.  Connecting with the clay gives me a profound feeling of satisfaction so complete, I simply cannot NOT do it..   ...I am merely a conduit through which creative energy flows."

Diane mentioned to me that the 3 white bowls were bisque fired and ready for glaze application on September 11, 2001.  According to Diane, "I could not imagine any color on the bowls, and decided to leave them pure and white.  This would be in honor of the spirit of the victims who died during our national tragedy."

d.2009.  "Miss Pat" as she was so affectionately known wrote this about her sagger fired pots, "Before the pots are fired, each pot is polished (or burnished with a stone.  The second firing is done inside a clay pot (or sagger pot) with hay and organic material.  The pots are then waxed and buffed. The colors and patterns are from the organic material inside the sagger."

Sandra Patrick wrote a beautiful article about Ms. Pat in the September 2001 issue of Country Roads Magazine.  In the article Sandra noted that Ms. Pat was retired from a city service job in Lake Charles, and then decided to take art classes at McNeese, and at the age of 70 began to work with clay.

In the history of Louisiana Pottery, Ms. Pat has been the most popular artist ever and certainly her work sold faster than any other artist to date.  Collectors would line up for her work, meeting me at the door upon arrival.

d. 2005.  This 17 inch tall, highly carved vase is titled "Spring Glory."  It is made of a porcelain clay, and painted with oil paint.

Victoria studied Art at Southeastern Louisiana University from 1980-81, then LSU from 1981-84 receiving a B.S. in Art Education.  In 1992  she earned a double B.F.A. in Ceramics and in Drawing/Painting.  She taught art, including ceramics in Baton Rouge public high schools from 1984-92.  Upon retirement in 1992, she moved to Folsom, LA and constructed a home and studio.  

Victoria liked to hand build pottery mostly, and especially enjoyed sculptural vessels.  According to Victoria, "I see flowers and people as related, both respond to love and nurturing and will blossom.  There is a great need for that in life in general..."

SangDuk earned a  B.F.A at Kookmin University in 2001, and his M.F.A. at Louisiana State University in 2005.  Presently, he is an Instructor at Kookmin University, Sookmyung Women's University in South Korea.  

While in Louisiana earning his M.F.A., SangDuk taught pottery classes at Louisiana Pottery.  

According to SangDuk, "The allusive rather than the direct, decoration which is simple not complex, and forms that evoke the natural not the mechanical are what represent my work.  Over the years, my work has sought to integrate the conceptual experimentation with technical exploration in ceramic technologies."

(d. 2002) Preston (Press or "Ye Olde Potter") was born in Kansas, but moved to Baton Rouge in 1950 to become The Director of the Chamber of Commerce.  He was also V.P. of Business Development at Louisiana National Bank for more than 25 years.  He also served on the boards of the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, and Capital Area United Way, a Boy Scouts Council, and the Salvation Army.  Press earned a law degree from The University of Tulsa, then became a licensed meteorologist, and later trained the British Royal Air Force pilots for Pan American Airlines during World War II.  

After being retired for 25 years, Press began to experience art forms in clay.

October, November, and December 2019

Thank you to the East Baton Rouge Parish Library on Bluebonnet for allowing me to showcase our Louisiana Artists.  

If any other Library or Museum is interested in showcasing this exhibit, please contact 

Judy Starrett

(225) 200-5473

According to Cara:  She has a BFA in Studio Art with a concentration in Ceramics from LSU.  This porcelain bowl was thrown on a pottery wheel, then the shape was cut and altered.  The series that this piece is from focused on making, destroying, and finally, making something beautiful from the act of destruction.