Artist Statement

The Art of Pottery is bound to the voyage of human civilization.  Humble earthenware storage jars and cook pots were instrumental in facilitating the growth and success of the first cities 10,000 years ago.  Ceremonial vessels and figures marked the passing of significant individuals and events.  Cultural connections have been established and maintained through pottery forms and surface patterns.  In my exploration of pottery I have been drawn to the decorative surface of Mediterranean works from the bronze age to medieval times and how those patterns work as a link of familiarity from Western culture to that of ancient Persia and through the Silk Road to China and the East.  I layer these connections and influences in color, pattern and imagery to construct loose, metaphorical narratives that might spark conversations about the nature and direction of our civilization in the intimate spaces pottery tends to occupy.
Pottery, to me, is an art of connections.  I would like to facilitate connections between people, cultures, and our shared human story through the use and exchange of significant objects for daily use.  My pots are made with an earthenware clay and brushed over with a white clay slip. They are either stamped with hand carved clay stamps or incised with a sharp stick.  The historically inspired, highly alkaline glaze is applied by pouring or by brush and is colored with iron, copper and cobalt.  It is my hope that this work will help create new meanings, connections, and illuminations as it enters people’s lives.

Artist Bio

Paul Linhares is a central Ohio teacher and ceramic artist.  He received his BFA in 1991 from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale and his MFA in 2000 from West Virginia University.  He has been an adjunct ceramics professor at Mount Vernon Nazarene University and North Central State College, Mansfield in addition to a post as visiting faculty at the Chautauqua Institution School of Art.   In October of 2014, Paul produced a one person show, The Art of Connections, for the Canton Museum of Art.  His work has been exhibited in Cedar Creek Gallery’s National Teapot Show VIII & VII, the 9th, 12th, 16th, 17th and 18th Strictly Functional Pottery National, Rosewood Gallery’s Earth in Balance, the Utilitarian Ceramics National, 1999 NCECA Regional Exhibition, and numerous other exhibitions. Paul’s pottery has been featured in both Ceramics Monthly and Pottery Making Illustrated in addition to 500 Cups, 500 Plates and Platters, 500 Teapots vol.2 by Lark Books, and iPotters (the enhanced ebook) by Kevin Hluch.

Representation

Paul’s work is currently represented by the following galleries:

River Gallery: 19046 Old Detroit Rd., Rocky River OH 44116, 440.331.8406

The Galena Vault: 9 Columbus Street, Galena, Ohio 43021, 740.936.5232

Heights Arts: 2175 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118, 216.371.3457

Zenclay Gallery: 2862 University Ave, Morgantown, WV 26505, 304.599.7687

CV

EDUCATION

Master of Fine Art,
West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia                                May 2000
Bachelor of Fine Art,
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois                                May 1991

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Sole Proprietor – Mudskipper Pottery Fredericktown, Ohio, July 1993 – Present
Adjunct Professor of Art – Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Mount Vernon, Ohio, September 2001 –Present
Visiting Ceramics Faculty – Chautauqua institute School of Art, Chautauqua, New York, June 2001 and July 2002
Production Potter and Glaze Technician – Millcreek Stoneware, Coshocton, Ohio,  November 1993 – August 1997
Potter’s Apprentice – Jeff Reed and Sarah MacFarlan, Colorado Springs, Colorado, March 1993 – July 1993
Production Potter – Three Rivers Pottery, Coshocton, Ohio, September 1991 – October 1992
Class Instructor and Clay Shop Technician – the Student Center Craft Shop, Carbondale, Illinois, July 1990 – May 1991

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

An Art of Connections, Canton Museum of Art, Canton, Ohio, October 2014
A Conference of Birds, Schnormeier Galery, Mount Vernon, Ohio, July 2010
Tableware, Zen Clay, Morgantown, West Virginia, November 2008
Fresh Pots,  Mesaros Gallery, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, April 2000
Recent Works, Zen Clay, Morgantown, West Virginia, July 1999

INVITATIONAL EXHIBITIONS

10th Annual Ceramic Invitational, River Gallery, Rocky River, Ohio, February 2015
9th Annual Ceramic Invitational, River Gallery, Rocky River, Ohio, April 2014
All-Ohio Ceramic Invitational, Hieghts Arts Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio, September 2013
National Teapot Show VIII, Cedar Creek Gallery, Creedmoor, North Carolina, June 2011
Damn Right I’ve Got the Blues, Mudfire & Clayworks Gallery, Decatur, Georgia, May 2011
Cups of Comfort and Joy, Meridith Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland, November 2008
National Teapot Show VII, Cedar Creek Gallery, Creedmoor, North Carolina, June 2008
Chautauqua Ceramics Invitational Retrospective Exhibit, NCECA 2008, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 2008 and Chautauqua Center for the Visual Arts, Chautauqua, New York, July 2008
Functional Ceramics 2005, Wayne Center For The Arts, Wooster, Ohio, March 2005
Gifts of the Craftsmen, Ohio Crafts Museum, Columbus, Ohio, November 2004
Rambunctious Clay Ceramics With Attitude, Mansfield Art Center, Mansfield, Ohio, August 2004
Butter Dish, Odyssey Center for the Ceramic Arts, Asheville, North Carolina, October 2004

JURIED AND GROUP EXHIBITIONS
22nd Annual Strictly Functional Pottery National, Market House Craft Center, East Petersburg, Pennsylvania, May 2014
Ohio Potters … Today, The Clay Place at Standard, Carnegie, Pennsylvania, May 2012
18th Annual Strictly Functional Pottery National, Market House Craft Center, East Petersburg, Pennsylvania, May 2010
17th Annual Strictly Functional Pottery National, Market House Craft Center, East Petersburg, Pennsylvania, May 2009
16th Annual Strictly Functional Pottery National, Market House Craft Center, East Petersburg, Pennsylvania, May 2008
Form Follows Function, Lillstreet Art Center, Chicago, Illinois, September 2004
12th Annual Strictly Functional Pottery National, Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, April 2004
Big Fish, Small Pot: An International Teapot Competition, Saddleback College Art Gallery, Mission Viejo, California, March 2004
Earth In Balance, A Regional Clay Competition, Rosewood Arts Centre, Kettering, Ohio, December 2003
58th May Show, Mansfield Arts Center, Mansfield, Ohio, April 2003
Fall Members Show, Mansfield Arts Center, Mansfield, Ohio, October 2002
Artists React to 9-11, Logan Gallery, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, New York, August 2002
57th May Show, Mansfield Arts Center, Mansfield, Ohio, April 2002
Faculty Art 2002, Fine Arts Chapel Building, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Mount Vernon, Ohio, March 2002
Faculty Show, Logan Gallery, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, New York, August 2001
9th Annual Strictly Functional Pottery National, Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, April 2001
Utilitarian Ceramics National, Ameen Art Gallery, Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, Louisiana, February 2000
Continuing the Search,  Mesaros Gallery, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, May 1999
NCECA Regional Student Juried Exhibition, Fort Hays Metropolitan Arts Center, Shot Tower Gallery, Columbus, Ohio, February 1999
Formal Tease,  Mesaros Gallery, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, May 1998
Paul Linhares – Ceramics, Mount Vernon Nazarene College, Mount Vernon, Ohio, September 1997
International Orton Cone Box Show, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas, March 1994, work included in the traveling exhibition
Studio Artist Show, Manitou Gallery, Business of Art Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado, August 1993
Atrium Gallery Show, Atrium Gallery, Business of Art Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado, May 1993
Sculpture In Your Outer Space, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois April 1991
Student Center Purchase Award Show, Carbondale, Illinois, March 1991
Rickert-Ziebolt Trust Award Show, Allen Hall, SIU, Carbondale, Illinois, March 1991

HONORS AND AWARDS

Best Of Show, Earth in Balance, Rosewood Arts Centre, Kettering, Ohio, December 2003
Graduate Teaching Assistantship, Tuition and Stipend, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, August 1997 – May 2000
Permanent Collection Purchase, Chef John Folse Culinary Institute, Thibodaux, Louisiana, April 2000
Permanent Collection Purchase, Pomerene Fine Art Center, Coshocton, Ohio, January 1996
Best of Show in Clay, Springfield Art in the Park, Springfield, Ohio, June 1994
Pacer Corporation Purchase Award, International Orton Cone Box Show, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas, March 1994
Honorable Mention Award, Sculpture In Your Outer Space, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois April 1991
Talent Scholarship Award, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, November 1990

PUBLICATIONS

American iPottery, Kevin Hluch, 2014

500 Teapots II, Lark Books, 2013

Ceramics Monthly, “Paul Linhares Cultural Mash-up”, December 2010, p. 50-53

500 Plates and Chargers, Lark Books, 2008, p. 73, 142

500 Cups, Lark Books, 2004, p. 275

Ceramics Monthly, “Earth In Balance”, April 2004, p. 46

Dayton Daily News,  “Commentary on contemporary world gives edge to clay medium,” November 2, 2003

The Dominion Post, “Guatemalan coffee gift to community,” December 5, 1999

The Coshocton Tribune, “Affordable Art,” December 7, 1995

Ceramics Monthly, “International Orton Cone Box Show”, January 1995, p. 29

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Curator for The Collectors Collection Ceramics Exhibition, MVNU Schnormeier Gallery, Mount     Vernon, Ohio, July 2012

Visiting Artist Demonstrations, Lecture, and Annual Broward College Potter’s Guild Show     Juror, Broward University,  Fort Lauderdale, Florida, April 2012

Guest Lecturer on Hand-built slipware, The Ohio State University, Mansfield, Ohio, August 2004

Artist Lecture, Ceramics Studio, Chautauqua Institution School of Art, Chautauqua, New York, July 2002

Visiting Artist Demonstrations, The Craft Shop, Braxton Towers, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, April 1999

Artists’ Panel Discussion, NCECA Regional Student Juried Exhibition, Fort Hays Metropolitan Arts Center, Columbus, Ohio, March 1999

Visiting Artist Demonstrations, Mount Vernon Nazarene College, Mount Vernon, Ohio, September 1997

Visiting Artist Demonstrations, Meramec Community College, St. Louis, Missouri, May 1995