Shawn Ireland is a potter and painter living in Athens,
Georgia. Since 1991 he has made pots with food, flowers and
candles in mind. “I choose to make pots with a foundation in folk
tradition. For me, this involves using a variety of hand processed
local clays and glaze materials, single firing in a gas/wood burning
kiln, and using a treadle style kick wheel. These ingredients
promote surprises and keep my craft connected to the natural
world.”

While being influenced by pottery making traditions adopted
from his teachers, Will Ruggles and Douglass Rankin, Shawn’s
pots continue to change. He makes useful, earthy pots for the
home and his travels to Europe and South Africa have inspired a
sculptural direction in the form of zoomorphic candlesticks, vases
and bowls he calls Animalware.

“My sculptural zoomorphic pottery continues to change most
significantly from travel experiences and an ongoing fascination
with art of the past. For over thirty years I’ve been inspired by the
world of art from Classicism to eclectic folk art. I’m most excited
when all these varied influences merge and change to become
something that feels rooted in the past but also newly surprising to
me.”

Most everything I do in my daily life relates to my passion for art. I surround myself with what I find beautiful and seek out images and objects that resonate. I love making things at the wheel or the easel and I love being lost in the moments of making or “in the search.” Watching, feeling and experiencing the beautiful natural qualities of clay and oil paint are what make this searching such a pleasure. Working from a foundation of folk tradition, I make pots with food, flowers and candles in mind. For me, this involves using a variety of hand processed local clays and glaze materials, single firing in a wood burning kiln, and using a kick wheel. These ingredients promote surprises and keep my craft connected to the natural world. My pots continue to change over time under the influence of pottery making traditions adopted from my teachers Will Ruggles and Douglass Rankin. Several trips to central Italy have inspired a figurative direction I call Animal Ware which currently takes the form of candlesticks, vases and bowls. I began painting with oils as a Resident Artist at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina in 1996. While most of my time is devoted to pottery making, evenings are spent painting. Since working in Cortona, Italy, with the University of Georgia between 2006 and 2013, I have focused on still life and landscapes. In Italy, in an environment where everything is at once new, old, beautiful and interesting, I was constantly inspired and challenged.