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The ceramic process has come to present a paradoxical challenge that fully engages my need for creative expression. Over the course of my life as a potter, I have come to realize I love the forms best while they are in their fresh, wet state. At that stage they are fully alive with expression – responding to every touch – even to the point of recording the creator's fingerprints. Because of this attraction to the wet pots, most of my work occurs at this wet stage – creating, reforming, exploring, even decoration, all happen in this “live” state. I see the clay forms as a metaphor for life as they dry, wither, lose their life and become like brittle bones. The challenge, as I see it, is to use the kiln to breathe life back into these forms such as they had at their beginning. To this end, the kiln is therefore an equally important player in the process, as is the wheel or any other tool I use to create my work - indeed, even the clay itself. I am currently using the soda kiln to perform my "resuscitations". The paths of the flame and soda vapor caress and breathe upon the ware, hardening but imparting its own life permanently into the clay. My measure of success with any piece is ultimately whether the finished form is infused with the same life it had when I first created it. Like a phoenix rising from the flames, the paradox is complete.
Bill Buckner is a studio potter living and working in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. After receiving a BA from Florida State University, he spent a year in graduate school at FSU studying ceramics, metals and metal enameling before entering the MFA program in metalsmithing at Indiana University (Bloomington). After finishing school, he returned to his first love - clay. Bill's work is primarily concerned with highfire stoneware and porcelains and would be characterized as functional, more or less. The development and use of shino glazes has been his focus since approximately 1990. More recently, a soda kiln was constructed in 2000 to explore a love for vapor fired ware first begun at university in the mid 1970's. Bill is currently a faculty member in the Fine Arts Department of the Marist School and an insturctor in the Pottery of the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, both in Atlanta.
Florida State University and Indiana University - Graduate work in MFA program in metalsmithing, enameling and ceramics.
BA, 1977, Florida State University
"Perspectives 2005"
(photo citation)
Upfront,
Ceramics Monthly Magazine
February 2006
Endless Variations: Shino Review 2005
Glaze recipe book (citation)
"Dancing Platters" by Peggy Albers
Clay Times Magazine
November/December 2004
American Shino (citation)
Published by Chameleon Books; (January 2003)
ISBN: 0915829711
"The Gallery", Clay Times Magazine
July/August 1997
Bill is a member of the faculty of the Fine Arts Department of the Marist School in Atlanta, teaching art foundations (elements and principles of design), 3-D design, photography and the ceramics courses as well as running the ceramics studios. The Marist School is a private college preparatory school serving the Atlanta area.
Bill is also an instructor at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center in Atlanta, where he teaches beginning and advanced wheel-throwing as well as specialized clay courses. View a video clip by Peggy Albers from the advanced throwing class.
Workshops! Bill is available to provide weekend or extended workshops on a variety of clay topics including throwing (small/BIG) and handbuilding, kiln building, soda firing, glaze chemistry and others. Contact Bill for more information and booking a workshop.
National Council for Education in the Ceramic Arts (NCECA)
Potters Council of The American Ceramic Society
National Art Education Association
Perspectives 2006
Regional Invitational Exhibition - 50 Georgia Potters
2006, Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation
Watkinsville, Georgia , USA
Alchemy of Fire and Ash
A wood fire invitational exhibit
2006, Commonwheel Artists Coop
Manitou Springs, Colorado, USA
Atlanta Teapot Festival
Invitational and Juried Exhibition
2006, Mudfire Gallery, Seen Gallery, The Signature Shop & Gallery
Atlanta, Georgia , USA
Fired Works
Regional Invitational Exhibition
2005, Macon Arts
Macon, Georgia , USA
Perspectives 2005
Regional Invitational Exhibition - 50 Georgia Potters
2005, Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation
Watkinsville, Georgia , USA
Endless Varitions: Shino Review 2005
National Invitational Exhibition
2005, Baltimore Clayworks
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Malcolm Davis, Curator
keramos
Trio Exhibition with Margaret Patterson and Eloise Hally
2004, MudFire Gallery
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
8 x 10 Atlanta
Regional Invitational Exhibition
2003, MudFire Gallery
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Teapots-A-Go-Go
Teapots-A-Go-Go 2
National Invitational Exhibition
2003, 2004, MudFire Gallery
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
American Shino
National Invitational Juried Exhibition
2001, Babcock
Galleries
New York, New York, USA
2002, The
Fitchburg Museum
Fitchburg, Massachusetts, USA
Les Richter, Curator and Jury
The American Shino show opened on Saturday, September 8, 2001, just three days before the "9/11" tragedy. Having just returned from England, I was unable to attend the opening. Many of the artists, who attended the opening were stranded in New York City for up to a week, unable to return to their homes.
Emory University Faculty & Staff Art Exhibition
Juried Exhibition
2000, Emory University
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Shades of Shino
National Invitational Exhibition
1997, The
Baltimore Clayworks
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Malcolm Davis, Curator and Jury
Spotlight '96
Southeast Juried Exhibition (American
Craft Council)
1996, Kentucky Art & Craft Gallery
Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Bruce Pepich, Juror
Clay on the Wall
National Juried Exhibition
1996, Eastern Washington University Gallery of Art
Cheney, Washington, USA
Juan Granados, Juror
The Third Annual Strictly
Functional Pottery National
National Juried Exhibition
1995, Market House Craft Center
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA
Chris Staley, Juror
The
Virtual Ceramics Exhibit
International Juried Exhibition
1995, ongoing
Location: http://www.ilpi.com/artsource/vce/welcome.html
Janet Mansfield, Juror
William Hunt, Juror
Art Couture, Haute Couture
National Juried Exhibition
1981
"Altered States", fabricated broach, silver and electro-colored titanium
Pittsburgh Center for the Arts
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Lake Superior '81
National Juried Crafts Exhibition
1981
"Brigid's Cup", fabricated in nickel silver and red brass
Duluth Art Institute
Duluth, Minnesota, USA
1981 Sterling Silver Design Competition
National Juried Exhibition
1981, Sterling Silversmiths Guild of America
"Shrine", fabricated box in sterling silver with enameled medallion
The Nelson Gallery
Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Indianapolis Art League Regional Exhibition
Regional Juried Exhibition
1981
"Enameled Hollow Form", hollow form raised in copper and enameled
"Brigid's Cup", fabricated in nickel silver and red brass
Indianapolis Museum of Art
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Works in Clay: Bill Buckner and Tom Broyles
Student Exhibition
1978
The Gallery of the Art Education and Design Building
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida, USA
