Artist: Bill Jones
Bill Jones, MONTANA
Short Bio:
Bill Jones is a studio potter working in Western North Carolina. His work pulls heavily from languages of traditional functional pottery but is also focused on the sculptural potential of clay itself.
Bill grew up in Bucks County, Pa in an old stone farmhouse and was artistically inclined from a young age. He studied architecture and design at university, but an urge to spend less time in digital space and to work more with his hands led Bill to leave his graduate program in 2011 in search of something else. Eventually he found his way to clay and spent several sessions as a work-study student at Penland School of Craft in North Carolina. Seeking to fully immerse himself in a clay studio, Bill moved to Seagrove, North Carolina in 2013 for a 2 year apprenticeship with potter and sculptor, Daniel Johnston.
In the intervening years, Bill has held several artist in residence positions and has exhibited around the country including at The Smithsonian Craft Show and The St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour.
Statement:
My pots are drawings. They carry with them thought and feeling and memory. Each piece is an attempt to realize an idealized form in my head. I work rapidly and in series because these attempts are never wholly successful and I’m always eager to try again. The work is never done and beauty is found in the process.
C. V.
Red Lodge Clay Center (Red Lodge, MT) September 2021 - January 2023
Long-term resident artist. Assisting with gallery sales & photography, studio & residential
maintenance and teaching community clay classes.
Rockingham Community College (Wentworth, NC) August 2019 - May 2021
Continuing education pottery instructor and clay studio technician.
StarWorks Center for Creative Enterprise (Star, NC) 2016 - 2019
Production throwing and design for The Shelter Collection and other in-house projects.
StarWorks Center for Creative Enterprise (Star, NC) 2015 - 2016
Resident artist and clay studio technician.
Penland School of Craft (Penland, NC) July 2019
Studio assistant for Daniel Garver & Nick Moen.
Penland School of Craft (Penland, NC) January 2019
Winter Resident in the drawing studio.
Penland School of Craft (Penland, NC) November 2018
Studio Assistant for Suze Lindsay.
The Bright Angle (Asheville, NC) June 2018
Resident artist in their slip-casting studio.
Haystack Mtn. School of Craft (Deer Isle, ME) July 2017
Studio Assistant for Naomi Dalglish & Michael Hunt.
Penland School of Craft (Penland, NC) September - November 2015
Studio Assistant for Suze Lindsay & Kent McLaughlin.
StarWorks Center for Creative Enterprise (Star, NC) January - August 2015
Resident Artist in the clay studio. Experimentation with local materials and reduction cooling.
Education
Daniel Johnston Pottery (Seagrove, NC) January 2013 - January 2015
Full-time apprentice.
Penland School of Craft (Penland, NC) Fall 2011 & Fall 2012
Fall Concentration work-study student in the clay studio.
University of Michigan Taubman School of Architecture (Ann Arbor, MI) August 2010 - May 2011
Graduate program in architecture (1 of 3 years completed)
Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA) September 2006 - May 2010
Focus on architecture and design. Graduated with honors.
Teaching, Workshops, Juries
Studio Potter Magazine - 2022 Apprenticeship Grant juror
Community Creative Center (Fayetteville, AR) - 2022 Arkansas Pottery Festival headlining artist
Bismarck State University (Bismack, ND) - 2022 Visiting artist
Northwest College (Powell, WY) - 2021 Visiting artist
Rockingham Community College (Wentworth, NC) - 2019 Visiting artist
Penland School of Craft (Penland, NC) - 2018 Visiting artist for Terry Gess’ Spring concentration
Selected Shows & Exhibitions
“Dip, Pour, Brush” Morehead State University (Morehead, KY) October 2022
“Halftime Show” Red Lodge Clay Center (Red Lodge, MT) July 2022
“Red Lodge Clay Center Resident Artists” Rocky Mountain College (Billings, MT) February 2022
‘Red Lodge Clay Center @ Northwest College” Northwest College (Powell, WY) February 2022
“American Pottery Festival” Northern Clay Center (Minneapolis, MN) Sept 2021
“Dirty South Cup Show” River Oaks Sq, Art Center (Alexandria, LA) May 2021
“Baltimore Craft Week” American Craft Council (online) April 2021
“Fluid Expression” Red Lodge Clay Center (Red Lodge, MT) March 2021
“Functional Ceramics Exhibition” Ohio Designer Craftsmen (Columbus, OH) April 2021
“American Pottery Festival” Northern Clay Center (Minneapolis, MI) September 2020
“Worcester Pottery Invitational” Worcester Center for Crafts (Worcester, MA) April 2020
“Sip” Savannah Clay Community (Savannah, GA) March 2020
American Craft Council Show (Baltimore, MD) February 2020
“The Winter Show” Greenhill Gallery (Greensboro, NC) 2019
Smithsonian Craft Show (Washington, DC) April 2019
“Drip”, Morean Center for Clay (St. Petersburg, FL) December 2018
“The International Cup 2018” The Clay Studio of Missoula (Missoula, MT) 2018
“The Winter Show” , Greenhill Gallery (Greensboro, NC) 2017