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​“There is a softness and warmth about the ceramic vessel that carries with it every touch of the potter and the mark of the flame”. – Eric Botbyl.

As I am getting to know Eric a little more, I am learning about a person that is in love with life itself. As he describes his fond memories of his wife’s pregnancies, to the swollen ripeness of an orange, just to compare it with a swelling seed, whether it is a human life or a seed about to bust open, I see the swelling roundness of a ball of clay which grew from the potters' wheel and opened into a hollow swelling object.
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Eric addressed not only the romantic part of working with clay but there is the practical side before the making. He refers to it as heavy lifting, grunting, cutting, wedging, and sweating. Then there is the stage in which the vessels that were made must become an object that represents some thoughts, in which the piece itself will hold the history of its making from formless to object, a vital element of his work. This is the time when Eric highlights and preserves the clay history of the object with texture, coloring, retexturing and finally glazing and firing.

The hard labor of a craftsman and the pleasures and hardships are intertwined always walking side by side, but when Eric Botbyl presents his works of art there is no doubt that Eric has a passion for clay and life itself.
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During his presentation at the MSClayworks 2023 in Tupelo, the 2nd Clay Conference in Mississippi, he will use the language of form, line, texture, contour, surface, gesture, color, and touch to convey his message. Using the pottery wheel as a tool, he will form objects which, not by his invention, but by the inventions of potters throughout the ages inherited human anatomical names.
Potters talk about the body, the lip, the neck, the shoulder, the belly, and the foot, and often the bottom. The last one is often a term that can let potters erupt into laughter, depending on in which sentence it is used.
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Eric will use several techniques, to alter, build, and reconstruct wheel-thrown objects, while communicating his ideas to the pottery audience. ​

​78-year-old David Macdonald lives and works in Syracuse, New York. Now known as an emeritus ceramic professor, his work extended beyond his college students as he teaches and exhibits his ceramic artwork around the country.

MacDonald received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) in 2011, after he had already retired (2008), a milestone after 38 years of teaching college students.  His exceptional talent, innovative techniques, and passion for creating and teaching live on.
David's love for pottery was ignited during his college years when he held a coffee mug that was made during a class that he needed as a pre-requisite for his undergraduate studies. The act of drinking coffee from his own clay mug became the pivotal moment in which a painting artist student turned into a future leading American Ceramic teacher and artist.

Danny Meisinger from Kansas is known for throwing big on the pottery wheel, but he showed at MSClayworks 2022, the first Mississippi clay conference how easy it is for a master to recover when wheel throwing goes wrong. He was one of the demonstrators in the Auditorium of the Meridian Community College in October 2022.
He proved again why he is considered as one of the best wheel throwers when it comes to throwing big and throwing multiple mugs with different shapes while the bigger thrown pieces are drying for the next work.

Sam Clark is a ceramic artist from Madison in Mississippi who draws what he wants to make with clay. He demonstrated at MSClayworks 2022 his extraordinary abilities with drawing and sculpting. Sam is one of the jewels of Mississippi and again demonstrated the deep roots of clay in Mississippi.
This video clip of Sam shows a part of his humor and amazing talent as an artist.

See more of Sam Clark.

See more of Susan Thomas.

Susan Thomas is a ceramic artist from Florida.
This video clip shows how she worked with colored clay during the clay demonstrations of MSClayworks 2022 in the auditorium of the Meridian Community College.
Susan was one of three demonstrators for this 1st clay conference in the state of Mississippi. 

See more about Danny Meisinger and Susan Thomas.

Danny Meisinger demonstrated how to throw a big bottle shape on the pottery wheel. Susan Thomas helped Danny to cut the wheel-thrown balloon vessel in half during the clay demonstration at the MSClayworks conference in Meridian Mississippi. It is always fun and a pleasure to look at life through the eyes of an artist. 

Lots of fun, and all is looking forward to MSClayworks 2023.
Where will that be? Stay focused ...

Danny Meisinger is a ceramic artist from Kansas, and the owner of Spinning Earth Pottery in Spring Hill. In this video, Danny demonstrates some of the techniques that he uses to throw big platters like the one he is holding.
Obviously, the pottery wheels must have enough power to allow throwing this big, and that is why Danny usually use a Brent C model.
He is one of the clay demonstrators at the 1st Mississippi clay conference that will be held this year in Meridian. This live clay event will be in the auditorium of the Meridian Community College on October 8, 2022.

Here are more images of the wheel thrown artwork of this talented ceramic artist. It is only when you see him next to his work that you realize the size of the vessels, bowls, sculptures and other clay works.
To see the other clay artists who will be demonstrating at MSClayworks 2022, see our demonstrations page, and get the full picture at the home page.