Artigianati.com

Andy Rogers is climbing the ladder of the art show circuit with his unique style of organically shaped pottery pieces inspired by nuts and shells.Photo by Eric Keith

by Ken Newton

Curiosity left Andy Rogers with pockets full of the natural world. People hike for different reasons. He returned home with seeds, nuts and fungi.

The detail, the texture, the nuance of these small objects fascinated him, stuck in an artistic memory.

Even now, he considers razor coral and the underside of a mushroom, from sea and land but with like lines. “I’m curious to see how things develop in different environments,” he says.

Snow lingers outside the window of his Maryville, Mo., home, but beneath the freeze rest spores and berries and other dormant marvels. Mr. Rogers takes note, his work their reflection.

In his hands, a pound and a half of clay becomes an anemone. Or maybe a cactus or a morel. Technique is learned, a discipline that can be mastered. Artists, the good ones, operate with an image in mind of the finished work.

Mr. Rogers, a ceramic sculptor, can’t get to all the images.

Not that he doesn’t try. His home studio expresses a dedication to craft. Shelves carry thrown clay in various stages of drying and production. A row of glaze ingredients lines one wall, labels reading “cobalt oxide” or “iron chromate.” A potter’s wheel stands nearby, foot pedal set to power its rotations, and a dirty stew of discarded material sits alongside.

“There’s only one way to fail in this, and that’s to be lazy,” he says. “When you really love what you do and want to be working, there’s the draw.”.....

Read more at  -  http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2010/jan/28/ceramic-sculptor-inspired-nature