Description

Like culture, history, and anything American Revolution? This workshop is what you’ll want to par cipate in! In this workshop, pottery artisan Thomas Kilian will discuss his practice as a studio potter whose art is distinguished throughout the fields of contemporary art, historical replication, and studio pottery by its strong commentary, historical depth, and technological virtuosity. Kilian gives dynamic relevance to the legacy of ceramics as a form of social expression, specifically in Early America during the New Nation era (Independence Day - 1849). Kilian will demonstrate the craft of throwing clay using Early American tools and techniques, including the use of a heritage kick-wheel. He will also discuss and show how important decorating was for early Americans and demonstrate the use of slips, spring moulds, cobalt, and inscribing. Pottery is at the core of history and, looked closely enough, pottery becomes evidence of the politics and sociology of a new nation that America formed and grew into.   

INSTRUCTOR BIO: 

Kilian was awarded the "Heritage Artist" of IBXArts in 2010 and "Artist of the Year" by Scuppernong Gazette in 2009. His family was featured in the nationally noted NC magazine, “Our State.” Kilian specializes in early American heritage pottery and is touring for the VA250 initiative. He collaborates with Popular Forest, Old City Museums and Arboretum, and James City County (Jamestown) as a third-person interpreter, ceramic artist, and workshop instructor. A major difference in Kilian’s work has been based on authenticity. He develops his glazes and clays and has been unfettered by conventional training. Kilian started in clay at the tender age of eight and opened his ceramic studio in 2007 in the Inner Banks of North Carolina. His experience has yielded many accomplishments, such as creating the  of heritage pottery collection commissioned by North Carolina’s Cultural Resources for historic heritage sites, acceptance into Mino, Japan's International Ceramics Festival, and exhibiting his museum pieces.   Kilian specializes in heritage pottery and the history of the pottery trade. He operates a fully outfitted studio in Chatham, VA.