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One of the better known artists of the Harlem R

One of the better known artists of the Harlem Renaissance was Selma Burke. She is more widely known because it was her bas relief of Franklin Roosevelt that ended up on the dime. But well before then, she discovered "wild clay" on the banks of the North Carolina river near the home where she and her 9 siblings grew up. She spent time in Europe studying sculpture twice. The impact of this experience was evidenced in what I believe is one of her most interesting works, "Frau Keller," a portrait of a German-Jewish woman during the rise of Nazi Germany. At that time, she returned to the United States and earned her MFA from Columbia University. One of her more well-known works was a bronze bust of Duke Ellington. She also sculpted Booker T Washington and Mary McLeod Bethune, as well as dozens of lesser-known subjects. She referred to herself as the people's sculptor. She was also committed to social activism, education and anti-racism. In the 1940s, she founded her own school of Sculpture and also an Art School in New York City, then an Arts Center in Pittsburgh PA. She also used her notoriety (along with a conditional donation of a bust of a local doctor) to gain public library access for Black children in Mooresville NC. I wonder how her life must have influenced her work, not just in the obvious choice to sculpt famous (and not famous) Black people, and not how her formal education and her time spent in Vienna and Paris influenced her, but I also wonder about her choice to leave her studio and drive a truck for a factory in Brooklyn during WWII. She is quoted as saying during times of war, "artists should get out of their studios". Her work is described as exploring human emotion and full of symobolism. She must have been a very interesting and complex woman with many stories about PEOPLE. I loved reading that FDR wiggled too much when he sat for her sketches and she had to ask him to sit still...and he did. I am tickled by the image of this. She lived to be 94 years old and seems to have remained active throughout her life. She sculpted her last monumental work when she was 80 years old...a bronze statue of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hot deals for the hot month of July! It doesn't g

Hot deals for the hot month of July! It doesn't get much hotter than Tom Coleman's Vegas Red! Check out our latest newsletter for all the hot deals! Link in bio or just visit our website brackers.com and click on latest newsletter!

I believe it was the 2016 Kansas City NCECA confer

I believe it was the 2016 Kansas City NCECA conference where I ( this is Dave posting today) first met Malcolm Mobutu Smith. I was at one of the receptions, and this broad-shouldered, deep-voiced man in a biker jacket asked me a question about electric kilns. To this day, I don’t remember what the question was, but I remember afterward feeling that somehow my world had just gotten larger. A child of artists, Smith was exposed to art from an early age. He found his love of pottery in high school in the mid-1980s, continuing on to study at both the Kansas City Art Institute and Penn State. He received his MFA from Alfred in 1996 and has been a lecturer, demonstrator, resident artist, all over the world. (links in the notes) Currently, he is an Associate Professor of Ceramics at Indiana University, Bloomington. His work expresses the interaction between the various communities to which he belongs. His love of graphic design, especially that of 1930s comics, inspires the graffiti that sometimes adorns his work. I am particularly fond of his ‘cloud cups’, and I truly love how he incorporates street-art lines into the form of the vessel itself. On some of his pieces, my eyes even try to form words out of the dynamic strokes and angles that make up the forms. Potter, graffiti artist, hip-hop performer, Beat Boxer, teacher, and mentor, Malcolm Mobutu Smith continually finds ways to take this centuries-old art form and infuse it with modern and fresh ideas that celebrate both. Through his work, he highlights how complex people can be, and challenges us to find a better understanding of how those complexities come together to make up the whole. The idea spirals out from there, as we start to see how individuals become part of complex communities and how these individual communities connect to make up our larger world.

Hop on by! All our remaining Rub'n Buff is now on

Hop on by! All our remaining Rub'n Buff is now on Clearance! The colors we have in stock are:
Grecian Gold, European Gold, Ebony, Pewter, Spanish Copper, Silver Leaf, and Ruby. These are wax based finishes used for adding a metallic finish to fired pieces without the use of luster or metal leaf. This makes them great for at home projects and crafts with the kids. #clearance #bunnyrabbit #brackersgoodearthclays #ceramics #artsupply #lawrenceks #matelic #rubnbuff #rub'nbuff

(Anne M Bracker writing for Bracker’s today) I l

(Anne M Bracker writing for Bracker’s today) I like to occasionally peruse the my favorite ceramic artists friends lists on Facebook to uncover new-to-me artists. Ellamaria Ray is friends with several artists I already know and love. I was immediately attracted to her work as a ceramic storyteller. In 2002 she said, ”Anthropology reminds me that in this society performing and visual artists are a powerful group of modern healers. And, in the end, my spirit creates art to touch people at the soulular level.” She uses her anthropology background (M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from Johns Hopkins University) with her independent studies of figurative and conceptual ceramic sculpture to express the cultural and historical fabric of the African diaspora. I encourage you to visit her website ellamariaray.com to read more about how she documents and translates her interests into three ongoing series: masks, text-tiles (she has such a clever sense of humor!), and bottle trees & seeds. As I look through her online portfolio, my fingers tingle in anticipation of caressing the texture and tracing the lines in her Mud Text-Tiles series. It’s impossible to select a favorite of her many akua’ma (African figures that help infertile women become pregnant). It changes with ever single glance - currently it’s the honeycomb overlay and the blood-red seeds isolating the forehead of “Fana’s Mother.” But it’s her Bottle Tree and Seeds series that mesmerize me almost as intensely as hanging cobalt blue bottles are intended to mesmerize ancestors and capture evil spirits.
Ellamaria is active in the Red Line Contemporary Art Center (Denver, Co), a collaborative effort to foster education and engagement between artists and communities to create positive social change. Throughout history, art has been at the center of raising awareness about social issues and empowered transformation. Artists document, promote, inform, and shape social change. Red Line has been on the front lines of action and awareness since 2008. Ellamaria asks us as viewers of her art “to celebrate and embrace [our] own inherent magnificence.” I hope everyone chooses to accept her invitation. @ellamariaray

"I never got to touch clay until i was 25 years

"I never got to touch clay until i was 25 years old" ...but once he did, he never stopped. After being introduced to the wheel at a community college course, Roberto Lugo never spent another week without throwing pots. Having lacked the opportunity to work with clay in school he continues to be interested in ways to bring clay and art into schools, but also into communities. Roberto routinely will set out his wheel on a sidewalk and put out a sign reading "Free Pottery Lessons". He wants to share the sense of belonging that he found in the clay community with others in the hopes that it will change the trajectory of their lives for the better. I first met Roberto when he was an NCECA Emerging Artist in 2015. Many might remember the powerful speech he gave on that Saturday morning (available on NCECA's YouTube, linked from our bio), but what I remember most was a cherished 20 minutes or so in which i had the opportunity to sit down and interview him. It was then that I found our first commonality...passion & emotion. We shared a good cry together, especially as I listened to him talk about his influences and mentors in life and art. Roberto has absorbed all of their teachings. "I stopped listening to just the things i wanted to hear, but also for new ideas so that I can branch out from my current idea of why I exist," he said. What he probably did not realize is how much he became a mentor to me and shaped me in similar ways. In the following year, Roberto joined the NCECA board and I was able to continue to learn from his perspectives and his wisdom.
I have had to cut half of my words to fit Instagram. There is SO much more to his story and his inspiration. Start by listening to his emerging artist speech....whether for the first time or the twenty-first time, especially hear the parts about having a conversation and finding out we aren't so different, and i defy you to not feel his emotion and passion in this speech. Roberto continues to be a great inspiration to me. I reflect on his words so often. I suppose I wrote more about the man than the work, but I really feel they are intertwined...and they are beautiful. @robertolugowithoutwax

We're branching out today, media-wise, but stay

We're branching out today, media-wise, but staying close to home, geographically. Yesterday, I got an email from our fabulous local art hot spot, Phoenix Gallery, announcing a Virtual June Final Friday. They are hosting a Facebook Live event at 7pm to introduce Ryan Brown and her show "Shea Butter". I hadn't heard of this local lady before this email, nor did i have the depth of understanding of the importance of Shea Butter. I plan to tune in to the event and hope lots of you from across the country (and Canada, Kathy et al.) join me in learning about this painter. Maybe we can encourage her to join us in clay too! I'd like simply share her words about her work here: "Shea Butter is a critical staple in the Black Community. We use it to protect our hair and enrich our skin that comes in so many different beautiful shades. Shea butter is something that holds the Black experience together. The paintings that I have created are an ode to the Black Community. I want to show the rawness of different skin tones across different people in the portraits, therefore conveying a powerful tone through each painting. Growing up, I didn’t see a lot of Black representation in art and artists. Being able to showcase the large range of diversity in my people through my craft is incredibly empowering. My work is primarily acrylic. I use light brushstrokes and blend with my fingers to create a smoother look. This helps me to create the structure of their faces. Black people come in all different shades and hues. I showcase this through the use of different color palettes. This is essential to the aesthetic of each painting. My inspiration for my work is the beautiful Black bodies that I find on social media platforms and magazines. I look for people with striking features that I can fuse together with my own ideas. When I find someone that inspires me, I draw them by hand onto my canvas and then paint it shortly after."
In our bio, you will find links to the event, her virtual gallery, and the Phoenix Gallery Website.
PS. She's a high school student and is entirely self taught!!! (My jaw dropped when i read that). @phoenix_gallery @ryannmadisonn

I first saw Kevin Snipes’s work through the medi

I first saw Kevin Snipes’s work through the media supporting the 2018 Pittsburgh NCECA conference. It was my turn to stay home and watch the kids, in support of Cindy's board service. Snipes was a demonstrating artist that year and I had the opportunity to see his work (and an excerpt from his demonstration) on NCECA’s YouTube channel. (links in the bio).
He was born in Pittsburgh, but grew up near Cleveland, Ohio, and received his BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art. Since completing his MFA at the University of Florida, he continued as an artist in residence at many studios and art centers, received a Fellowship from the Archie Bray Foundation, and has exhibited all over the world.
Snipes explores the nature of duality through drawings on his unconventional ceramic forms. Sometimes, this imagery is literal: a male on one side and a female on the other, or brushed line art set against lines scratched through a field of color. Often, the relationship of these binary opposites is more subtle, such as 2-dimensional drawings on 3-dimensional forms. When I look at his pieces, I want desperately to see every side. The imagery on one side is intrinsically linked to the imagery on the other side, and I find myself drawn to look deeper to discover the relationships.
Snipes’s work is a starting point for a much larger conversation about ourselves. I love how his work shines a spotlight on how complicated people (or situations) can be. I know that when I look at myself, I am full of polar opposites. What I take away from this work though, is another lens with which to look at these differences. What if I view them as NOT separate and dichotomous, but instead strive to find how these aspects relate in order to create this unconventional, and complicated person? Suddenly, there is no more concept of ‘other’, only an acceptance of different parts that cannot be denied or diminished without destroying the whole. Now, what if we take that same lens, and turn it on the world around us? @hollowfingers

Augusta Fells Savage was born on February 29, 1892

Augusta Fells Savage was born on February 29, 1892 in Green Cove Springs, Florida. She was a very talented sculptor who faced many obstacles due to her sex and race. Savage was the first African American woman to open her own art gallery in America. Her goal was to give black artists a place to show their work free from prejudice. When she was a child she would make little sculptures out of mud, but her father would hit her for making them. Fortunately her high school principal encouraged her to continue art and even let her teach a clay modeling class. She decided to move to New York City to pursue her love of art, and in 1921 she was admitted to The Cooper Union School for the Advancement of Science and Art. It is a scholarship-based school, and she was selected ahead of 142 men on the waiting list. In 1923, she was accepted to a summer art program sponsored by the French government at the Fontainebleau School of Fine Arts, but her acceptance was retracted after it became clear she was black. Savage decided to publicize this by writing letters to newspapers in both America and Europe, which made headlines on both sides of the Atlantic. Though she did not get to study at Fontainebleau, sculptor Hermon Atkins MacNeil, invited her to study with him privately. In 1934, Savage became the first African-American artist elected to the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors. She then established the Savage Studio of Arts and Crafts in Harlem, open to anyone who wanted to learn to paint, draw, or sculpt. She devoted much of her later life to teaching children and summer art camps, her goal was to inspire the children to develop their talent. On March 26th, 1962, She died of cancer and was almost forgotten, but her impact as an artist and teacher is far better appreciated today. Sadly, not much of Savage's work survives today because she couldn't afford bronze, so she often had to make her sculptures out of plaster, and most of them crumbled over time. I (it’s Daphne again) find Augusta Fells Savage very inspiring because even though she faced many obstacles, she never gave up on pursuing her dreams.

In May of 2011 Bracker’s had the honor of hostin

In May of 2011 Bracker’s had the honor of hosting a Paul Andrew Wandless workshop. I (Jeanette) had the pleasure of meeting him briefly and seeing a little of his work, but being a “worker bee,” I wasn’t able to catch much of the actual workshop. One thing that did stick with me about Paul and his work was his motivation, or at least one motivation, for making his clay monotypes. He chose this method of working when he became a Dad. Anyone who has lived with an infant can tell you that your time is no longer your own, so with this type of working he was able to do what he could in the little bit of time he might be able to sneak away and could leave it untouched for an indeterminate amount of time. Sometimes days on end. This idea has been inspiring and very encouraging to me especially in recent years since having my own children. It’s a reminder that if something is a priority to you, you can find a way to make it work.
Most of the work I’ve seen from Paul Wandless uses a stylized self portrait as a jumping off point. His clay monotype series often set everyday events into a dramatic backdrop with elements familiar to Nordic mythology. In contrast, his style of drawing and use of color seem to hint more toward an African heritage. Each image is taken from personal experience and observation, and he tries to create commonalities with the viewer to engage them and spark conversation. More recently he has been using figurative sculptures as the vessels for his imagery. These I enjoy because they seem to give his images and characters more space to roam and cause the viewer to want to follow those characters around the piece to find out more about the story. As Paul says it, “My accumulated observations and personalized philosophies manifest themselves as narratives, anecdotes, myths and characters… Some clay prints are one-of-a-kind pieces… others belong to suites. But all tell stories and share insights with the viewer. Working sculpturally, the figure serves as a point of departure and is used as canvas for images, symbols and text. This allows me to apply a metaphorical face to personal concerns, beliefs, fears, ideologies and philosophies.”

In honor of Father’s Day and *my* father (Bill B

In honor of Father’s Day and *my* father (Bill Bracker), we’re putting his Raku kiln on sale. For the next four days (from June 18-22), you can save $20 on the Raku Kiln alone or as part of our complete kit. Just use the code FATHERFIRE at checkout. He always had a twinkle of glee in his eye when setting things on fire. Evenings and weekends at home often included both a bonfire and a separate smaller fire to cook burgers or dogs. Needless to say, he also enjoyed firing kilns. As I was cleaning my mom’s office here at Brackers, I found a bunch of old black and white pictures of a raku kiln making workshop my dad had taught sometime between 1975-1979. Fast-forward a few years and the tradition continues. The father of my children, my husband Dave, might as well be a moth for how much he is drawn to the flame. And much like I remember my dad’s enthusiasm for fire/firing, so, too, will our children remember Daves (ok, and mine too, but it’s FATHER’s day). We continue to enjoy raku firing here with family, our extended “clay family” and other friends. Even when the weather pushes us inside, we are fortunate that Dad’s kiln design can be fired just inside of a garage, or in this case, our warehouse, with the reduction chambers (and the majority of the smoke) remaining outside. From all of us here at Brackers, we hope you have a creative and fun Father’s Day weekend! #happyfathersday #billbracker #brackersrakukiln #raku #brackersgoodearthclays #fatherfire #pyromania #ceramics #fathersdaysale #rakukiln #familyphotos #dadsrule

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