5 Questions
Carole Neilson Ceramics
Artist and Ceramicist, San Francisco, CA
Carole Neilson's Ceramics center on her relationship with clay as a material.Since her discovery clay at the Academy of Art in Mol, Belgium she has moved many times, but ceramics have always remained a constant. Now living in San Francisco, Carole focuses on exploring the most elemental aspects of ceramics to produce a collection that is at once timeless and contemporary.
To begin with, could you describe the firing process that gives your work it’s beautiful and unique surface quality?
My porcelain pieces are first bisqued and then glazed in an electric kiln in my studio, a tow stage process. Then I use a third alternative fire, using fine combustible to give an unique pattern of color.
How has your background in the sciences influenced the way you approach ceramics?
I studied molecular biology and worked for ten years in a research lab. This background has given me the skills and curiosity to explore and experiment. More importantly it gave me the discipline to record everything I do in work notebooks. The research science background also installs a discipline of constant innovation. You push the rules and limits right out of the box.
Does your work as a teacher make you a better student in your own practice?
I am teacher at school but always a student in the world of ceramics. The huge diversity in ceramics puts a certain obligation in learning and finding out; there is so much you don't know.
You live in San Francisco now, but it seems like your French roots still have a major influence on your work. Would you say this is true and if yes then how so?
Firstly San Francisco provides another angle on " anything is possible" which opens another creative direction. My French /Alsace roots drives me to consider what my place and role in ceramics is. Am I an artist or a potter? In Alsace every object has a function. For example in the past, a jug for beer did not have the same shape as a jug for serving wine. I really adore the functionality of an object. I identity myself as an "artisan."
What are your plans for the next year and what are you most excited about?
I will show my work in two fairs before Christmas, Unique SFand Renegade craft fair in San Francisco. Also I have my pieces at in two regular venues in San Francisco and one shop in Venice Beach and I really love the special connections I have with the owners at these eclectic places. I'm also working with a top chef on creating dinnerware for a series of extra special dinner parties. This really "fires" my creative side as this project is unique.
