Kent McLaughlin

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts

Accession no: 2007.15.1 Type of work: ceramic
Artist/creator: Kent McLaughlin

Artist biography: Kent McLaughlin is a studio potter working in western North Carolina. He was first introduced to making pottery in 1972 while attending college in Florida. He began his training in 1973 at Brevard Community College, the University of Central Florida, and Penland School of Crafts. Kent apprenticed with a production potter for three years in the late 70’s before opening his own studio. He and his wife, Suze Lindsay, own and operate Fork Mountain Pottery in Bakersville NC. In 2003, Kent began firing his cross-draft kiln using waste fry oil as an alternative fuel source. His glaze palette includes shinos, celadons, Mashiko khaki glazes, and iron reds, which reference the fertile grounds that surround his mountain studio and home. Throughout his potting career, he has pursued further growth and knowledge by attending and assisting in clay workshops at Penland School of Crafts, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. He has taught, lectured and demonstrated at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado, J.C. Campbell Folk School and Odyssey Center for the Ceramic Arts in North Carolina, and Brevard Community College in Florida. He exhibits locally in the North Carolina area as well as nationally, including invitationals at Baltimore Clayworks, Charlestown Clayworks, Santa Fe Clay, Gallery 1021, Chicago, and Chester Springs Studios, PA. He is a member of Southern Highlands Craft Guild, Toe River Arts Council and the National Council on Education in the Ceramic Arts.

Title of work: Vase
Date of item: no date
Signed: Signed, “McLaughlin” on the bottom of the vase (incised into the clay)
Dimensions: 18.5” h x 4 ½” diameter (46.99 x 11.43 cm)
Description: Tall, slender Jade green vase with three striation rims around the circumference of the vase on the top half of the piece.
Material: stoneware with porcelain slip under celadon glaze
Technique: wheel thrown, waste fry oil fired
Medium: ceramic
Country of origin: U.S.A.

Artist’s statement about work: I make pots because I love the process and limitless possibilities involved when working with clay. I am attracted to the idea that mankind made pottery before the written word. Pottery was an essential and fundamental part of early civilization. Yet today pots fulfill a different requirement in modern life by carrying a message of life. I have made this object with my hands with the intensions of you using it with your hands. Your touch embracing my touch. The direct connection between maker and user. This is an essential and fundamental consideration I enjoy when I work.

Condition: Good condition from Condition Report dated March 10, 2010
Provenance: Gift
Donor information: John and Darlene Williams, Dallas, Texas
History of object: Purchased from the artist by John and Darlene Williams from the exhibit Different Directions: Coming Together in Clay, 2007, at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts and given as a gift to the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.
Exhibitions: 2007 Different Directions: Coming Together in Clay, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, April 20 – June 27, 2007. 100 American Ceramics from the Collection of the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX, June 11 – September 5, 2010.

Cataloger name: K. Zimmerly
Date: November 29, 2010
Sources used: artist file; website: www.sodachicks.com