Teapots: An Invitational - Julia Galloway Missoula, MT

Julia Galloway Teapot $220
porcelain, Cone 6 (8" x 6.5" x 4.5")

Statement:
I am interested in pottery that is joyous; objects that weave into our daily lives through use.  Pottery decorates our living spaces with character and elegance.  Teapots celebrate our drinking tea; a pitcher decorates a mantel when not in use; a mug with slight texture inside the handle allows our fingers to discover uniqueness.  Pottery is a reflection of us.  In making cream and sugar sets I am curious about their own inherent dialogue; the set itself is reminiscent of close conversations and their ritual celebratory use.  An exhibition and gallery location is a brief but very important place for pottery.  It is through the act of "show" that the public first comes to see and understand the work.  Specific displays of pottery can bridge the viewer with the content in work.  Displaying square tumblers on library-type shelves supports the ideas of all kinds of nourishment.  Exhibiting cups at eye level decorated with the skyline of Rochester gives the viewer the sense of being inside looking outside. 
     I make pottery out of porcelain clay.  It is extremely sensitive and responsive to the human touch when it's soft; when fired it becomes dense and strong.  It is this responsive nature of clay that continues to interest me.  It responds to your touch, and then you respond to it.  The same happens in the firing process with glaze materials and the atmosphere of the kiln.  Clay is a supportive and demanding medium for the creative journey of making. 
     I am insistent about making things with my hands.  A need for beautiful domestic objects and an instinctual drive to create things are tremendous dance partners for idea and desire.  Utilitarian pottery supports and represents our intimate rituals of nourishment and celebration.

Bio:
Julia Galloway was born and raised in New England.  Her utilitarian pottery has been exhibited across the United States and Canada and she has demonstrated at the NCECA and the Utilitarina Clay Conferences.

Her work can be found in the collections of: The Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA - Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Museum, Washington, DC - The Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV - Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT - The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada - The Woodman Collection: The University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado.

She earned her undergraduate degree from New York State School of Ceramics at Alfred University and Graduate Degree at the University of Colorado in Boulder.  For nine years Galloway taought at the School for American Crafts at RIT and recently she moved to Missoula where she is a Professor of Ceramics and Chair of the School of Art at the University of Montana.

Website: http://www.juliagalloway.com/