Rick Clark

Barbour County

Pottery

Website

I produce one-of-a-kind, sculpted, functional, stoneware pottery with a wildlife theme. A lifelong love and respect for the natural world and concern for man’s impact on our animal brethren inspires my creative practice. Many of my subjects are endangered species. For each piece, I begin on the potter’s wheel by throwing the basic form. Then, I sculpt directly into the wall the faces of elephants, apes; the bodies of whales, dolphins, penguins, etc. followed by added details such as eyes, tusks or flukes using my hands and simple tools.

My work will provide you with truly unique pieces of art that are also functional. A large serving bowl may become the centerpiece of a table setting for salad or hold a bottle of champagne on ice. My mugs will enhance the enjoyment of your coffee, tea or soup. Vases will add impact to that special bouquet or collection of wooden utensils on the counter. And any of them they may stand alone as a work of art.

Biography

I am in large part a self-taught potter. I was primarily a painter throughout school, working in oils, and I always did a lot of drawing. In high school I took a black and white photography class, and as an art major at West Virginia Wesleyan a ceramics class, but it wasn’t until I started teaching at The White Mountain School in northern New Hampshire in the mid 1990’s that I really delved into those two areas as I learned right along with my students. It was also during my time at WMS that I began whittling spoons and other utensils which I still enjoy as time allows. After moving to Spotsylvania, VA I continued with pottery as a hobby, and it was around 2006 that my sculpted forms came into being starting with elephants and inspired by a student. This work was put on hold for a couple years after moving to WV in 2010 until I established my current studio located in the Chestnut Ridge Community Building near Philippi.

In 2013 I was juried into Tamarack and in 2014 was selected to participate in the Tamarack Foundation Urban Markets program, attending my first wholesale trade show the following January.

I continue to refine my techniques and explore new animal forms as an expression of my lifelong love for the natural world.