STATEMENT - The Latest...

For us, the best pots come out of the interaction between maker, materials, and process. In the transformation from raw clay to finished pots, respecting and loving each component allows its character to participate in the outcome. This strengthens the pot with honesty, while tempering the imposition of too much “me.”

We choose our materials and tools very carefully, encouraging a natural vitality that stimulates our curiosity. The clay excites the making...moving as if it is alive, and cutting with freshness from its coarse and rich nature. We make it by the slip method, mixing in a large tank and air drying it in racks. Our current clay uses about one third native materials, enlivening its commercial components with indescribable complexity.

Knowing that process and tools have subtle but powerful impacts on pots, to help us get the feeling we wanted, we took cues from potters of the past. All of our methods and tools sprang originally from those that formed the pots we loved. Also, aesthetic choices made by our teachers and predecessors gave us a foundation for how we see pots. Then, over many years of applying our ever-changing personal preferences, each pot we make sets the basis for the next. The satisfying junction of human lip and cup rim, the inner fullness of a bowl, the subtle angles of cut feet that lift and ground a pot…these are ancient values established by traditional potters and with luck, carried forward by those of us who still love to make pots.

Through our making we remain intimate with the pots by slipping, decorating, and glazing leather hard. Day by day, this method encourages a progressive development of aesthetics and technique. We fire in a three-chamber climbing kiln. After many years of firing, the inexpensive brick began to melt and transfer more heat, making the kiln less efficient. We had developed an affection for subtle ash and flame flashing, and for our pots, runny ash from the extra wood burned did not fit our aesthetic needs. We adapted by introducing gas preheat, then stoking poplar from our local sawmill, and a few years later, by finishing the first chamber with a combination of wood and drip-feed oil to further reduce the ash buildup. The second and third chambers are completed with wood. We also use a small amount of salt and soda ash to complement the flashing and slip melt.

The kiln is the final arbitrator, coalescing the interactions of process, form, fire, and colors. In the intensity of its heat and flame, it takes hundreds of pots, all made with equal effort, and transforms them into their relentlessly unpredictable final state. From this we are always astonished, but also rewarded with pots we could never have imagined...pots that always excite, and provide new learning.

We hope we make pots that seamlessly reflect the relationship between the two of us, our process and materials, our kiln, our place...our daily lives—pots that can gracefully enhance life with a story that can be continued by the user.

Will Ruggles and Douglass Rankin
Spring 2007

EDUCATION

Will Ruggles born 28 July,1956 in Elkhart, Indiana

1973 -1975 Grand Valley State Colleges, Allendale MI, Special Intensive Study in Pottery
1975 Dung Chau University, Taipei, Taiwan, Chinese Art and Civilization
Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand, Southeast Asian Art and Civilization with special study in Thai Folk Pottery

1977 - 1978 Randy Johnston Pottery, River Falls WI, Apprenticeship
1978 Four Week Workshop with Tatsuzo Shimaoka, Banff Center for the Fine Arts, Alberta,Canada
1992 Workshop with Warren MacKenzie, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC

Douglass Rankin born 20 December, 1948 in Fayetteville, North Carolina

1967 - 1971 BA Botany, Duke University, Durham, NC
1975 - 1976 Scholarship Student, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC
1976 - 1978 Randy Johnston Pottery, River Falls WI, Apprenticeship
1978 Four Week Workshop with Tatsuzo Shimaoka, Banff Center for the Fine Arts, Alberta, Canada
1992 Workshop with Warren MacKenzie, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

1978 - 1980 Joint owners (with Willem Gebben) Hillcrest Pottery, Beldenville, WI
1980 - 2007 Co-operators Rock Creek Pottery, Buladean Community, Bakersville, NC

EXHIBITIONS (since 1993)

1993 -

Two Person Show, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
“New Traditions in Function”, Baltimore Clay Works, Baltimore, MD
“Functional Ceramics 1993”, Wayne Center for the Arts, Wooster, OH
“Teapot Invitational”, Craft Alliance, Saint Louis, MO
“National Teapot Show”, Cedar Creek Gallery, Creedmore, NC Orton Purchase Award
“New Work from Rock Creek Pottery”, Appalachiana, Bethesda, MD

1994 -

“Rock Creek Pottery”, Focus Gallery, Folkart Center, Asheville, NC
“Rock Creek Pottery”, Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York, N.
“Annual Teapot Invitational”, Craft Alliance, Saint Louis, MO
“Studio Days”, Chester Springs Studio, Chester Springs, PA Best Body of Work Award
“The Potters Art: Form and Function”, South Florida Art Center, Miami Beach, FL
“Hot Tea, Ice Tea” Teapot and Pitcher Exhibition, Blue Spiral Gallery, Asheville, NC

1995 -

“Clay 95”, Blue Spiral Gallery, Asheville, NC
“The Contemporary Teapot”, Ariana Gallery, Royal Oak, MI
“The 3rd Annual Teapot Invitational”, Craft Alliance, Saint Louis, MO
“The Last Pitcher Show”, Lill Street Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Studio Days”, Chester Springs Studio, Chester Springs, PA Alexander Yeats Award

1996 -

“Side by Side”, Lill Street Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Woodfired Pottery”, The Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA
“Clay/Wood/Fire/Salt”, A National Invitational, Contemporary Artifacts Gallery, Berea, KY
“National Teapot Show III”, Cedar Creek Gallery, Creedmoor, NC
“Wood-Fired Clay: Ancient Techniques, Modern Interpretations”, Blue Spiral I, Asheville,NC
“Atmosphere & Fire, In the Stoneware Tradition”, Ferrin Gallery, Northampton, MA

1997-

“Hundred Mile Radius”, Blue Spiral I, Asheville, NC
“Penland Community Potters”, Lill Street Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Alabama Clay Conference 12”, Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, AL
“Fifth Annual Strictly Functional Pottery National”, Market House Craft Center, Ephrata, PA

Winner: Juror’s Choice, Val Cushing, juror. Sponsored by Bailey Pottery Equipment

“Hot Ice II: A Tea Ceremony”, Blue Spiral I, Asheville, NC
“Nineteen American Potters”, Moegi Gallery, Mashiko, Japan
“Clay/Wood/Fire/Salt”, Contemporary Artifacts Gallery, Berea, KY
“Common Borders”, Clemson University, Clemson, SC

1998-

“Ceramics Southeast”, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
“A Woman’s Woodfire Invitational”, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI
“28th Annual Ceramics Invitational: Wood Fired Ceramics”, University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, WI
“100 Contemporary North Carolina Teapots”, Green Hill Center for NC Art, Greensboro, NC
“Working Potters around Penland”, Chester Springs Studio, Chester Springs, PA
“Put A Lid On It”, Appalachian Center for Crafts, Smithville, TN
“A Celebration of Excellence—30 Years - 30 Potters”, Cedar Creek Gallery, Creedmoor, NC
“Women Clayworkers”, Chester Springs Studio, Chester Springs, PA
“Showcase, Will Ruggles and Douglass Rankin”, Blue Spiral 1, Asheville, NC

1999-

“Shall We Dance”, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI
“Different Stokes”—A Traveling Woodfire Exhibition, U of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, Iowa
“Wood, Salt, Soda: Atmospheric Fired Ceramics, Artists and Their Influences”, The Odyssey Gallery, Asheville, NC Guest Curators
“Side by Side: Couples in Clay”, Lill Street Gallery, Chicago, IL
“NC Pottery Center Permanent Exhibit”, NC Pottery Center, Seagrove, NC
“Born of Ashes, Woodfired Ceramics”, The Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock Arkansas
“Southern Highlands Crafts”, Appalachian Regional Commission, Washington, DC
“The Seventh Annual Strictly Functional Pottery National”, Ephrata, PA, Founders Award
“National Teapot Show IV”, Cedar Creek Gallery, Creedmore, NC
“National Teapot Invitational”, Kobo Gallery, Seattle, WA
“Wood-fired”, NC Pottery Center, Seagrove, NC
“Southeast Clay Invitational”, Blue Spiral Gallery, Asheville, NC
“Pots for Use and Pleasure”—the Leach-Hamada Lineage, Ellipse Arts Center, Arlington, VA

2000-

“Wood-fired/ Salt-fired” Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, MI
“Two in 2000”, Blue Spiral Gallery, Asheville, NC
“The New Heritage of North Carolina Pottery”, Gallery of Art & Design, NC State University, Raleigh, NC
“Rock Creek Pottery”, North Carolina Pottery Center, Seagrove, NC
“An Innovative Spirit”, The Southern Highland Craft Guild Celebrates 70 Years, Asheville, NC
“30 Stokers”, Blue Heron Gallery, Deer Isle, ME

2001-

“Clay/Wood/Fire/Salt”, Southern Highlands Guild, Asheville, NC & Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH
“Three views—North Carolina Wood Fire Potters”, Odyssey Gallery, Asheville, NC
“North Carolina Clay Past & Present” North Carolina Pottery Center, Seagrove, NC
“To Have and To Hold”, Blue Pony Gallery, Charlotte, NC
“The Penland Clay Community”, Wintrop College & Penland School
“Potters of Georgia & North Carolina”, The Bascom-Louise Gallery, Highlands, NC
“Mug Shots”, Ellipse Arts Center, Arlington, VA
“Twenty-Two Ways of Clay”, University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX

2002-

“Hot/Ice III: Teapots & Pitchers” Blue Spiral 1, Asheville, NC
“Potters of the Roan” Charleston Clay Works, Speleto Festival, Charleston, SC
“Potters Who Woodfire” Invitational Exhibition, Sanford, NC
“American Pottery Festival” Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
“4 Hands/2 Minds/1 Object: Artists’ Collaborations, Penland Gallery, Penland, NC
“National Teapot Show Five” Cedar Creek Gallery, Creedmore, NC
“New Traditions: Members of Southern Highlands Craft Guild” Folk Arts Center, Asheville, NC
“Potters of the Roan” Odyssey Gallery, Asheville, NC

2003-

“ Container-Content: A Survey of American Studio Art” The Fuller Museum of Art, Brockton, MA
“ American Pottery Festival” Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
“ Influences, Interpretations, and Traditions from Asian Ceramics” White Lotus Gallery, Eugene, OR
“ Pots in the Kitchen,” BC Potters Guild, Vancouver, Canada
“ Pots in the Kitchen,” Rufford Craft Centre, Nottinghamshire, England
“ Women in Clay, Pots for Daily Use” Odyssey Gallery, Asheville, NC
“ Potters of the Bakersville Area” Center for Crafts, Creativity and Design, Hendersonville, NC
“ Potters of the Roan” The Seen Gallery, Decator, GA
“ Folk Pottery of North Carolina”, Craft Alliance, St Louis, MO
“ Potters of the Roan” Arrowmont Gallery, Gatlinburg, TN
“ 21st Century Ceramics,” Canzani Center Gallery, Columbus College off Art & Design, Columbus, OH

2004-

" First Helpings: Plates and Platters in Preview" 2004 American Pottery Festival Preview Exhibition, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
" Hoosier Expatriates: From Indiana to the World" NCECA, Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis, IN
“ Tea Bowl Exhibit 2004” NCECA, The Potter’s House, Indianapolis, IN
“ The Fire Within” A Presentation of Wood-fired Ceramics, Seton Gallery, University of New Haven, New Haven, CT
“ Going, Going, Gone to Pots...” North Carolina Pottery Center Annual Fundraising Auction, Seagrove, NC
" Gas-fired/Wood-fired: Kilns, Fire and Ceramic Expressions", Carroll Reece Museum, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN
“ Potters and Their Mentors” Rock Creek Pottery chosen by Shawn Ireland, Liz Sparks and Michael Hunt, American Folk, Asheville, NC
“Red Star Bowl Show” Red Star Studios, Kansas City, MO
“Continuity/Tradition/Relationship...a quest for beauty in everyday pots” Pottery of Will Ruggles & Douglass Rankin, Shawn Ireland, Michael Hunt, and Liz Sparks, Earth and Fire, Vienna, VA
“The Mingei Movement: Pots for Everyday Use” Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, Biloxi, MS
“The Power of Pottery” Dunedin Fine Arts Center, Dunedin, FL
“Pots in the Kitchen” Galerie du Don, Montsalvy, France
“Pots for Home Use” Rock Creek Pottery, Akar Gallery, Iowa City, IA
“Wood-fired Pots” Blue Spiral Gallery, Asheville, NC

2005- Beginning this year we decided to limit most of our show and workshop involvement, concentrating on making and showing pots at Home.

“Potter’s Apprentice” Marywood University Art Galleries, Scranton, PA
“Kobo @ Hiro” Kobo Gallery, Seattle, WA

2006-

“Odyssey Goes West” The Clay Studio of Missoula, Missoula, MT
“Wild Clay: exhibiting the influence of using local materials” American Folk, Asheville, NC

2007-

“Southern Appalachian Tradition: The New Wave” NCECA, Clifton Center, Louisville, KY
“20th North Carolina Potter’s Conference- Presenters Exibition” Asheboro, NC
Wayne Branum, Suze Lindsay, Will Ruggles and Douglass Rankin, Santa Fe Clay, Santa Fe, NM

2008- "Ceramics Form and Function", Reynolds Gallery, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Midwest Museum of Art, Elkhart, IN
North Carolina Museum of History, Raleigh, NC
Edward Orton Junior Ceramic Foundation
Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN
International Museum of Ceramic Art, Alfred University, Alfred, NY
Gallery of Art & Design, NC State University, Raleigh, NC
Canton Museum of Art, Canton, OH

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

1985 Three Week Session, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC
1988 Workshop, Arlington Community Arts Center, Arlington, VA
1989 Spring Concentration, Three Week Session, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC
1991 Spring Concentration, Eight Week Session, “Wood Kiln Construction and Firing”, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC
1992 “Wood kiln Construction and Firing”, Peter’s Valley Crafts Center, Layton, NJ
1993 “Living With Clay”, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA. and Chester Springs Studio,
Chester Springs, PA
“ Partners in the Schools”, Chester Springs, PA
Workshop, Arlington Community Arts Center, Arlington, VA
1994 Spring Concentration, Eight Week Session, “Learning Through Making”, Penland, NC
1995 “Wood fired Pots For Home Use”, Peter’s Valley Crafts Center, Layton, NJ
1996 “Pottery Techniques and Decoration”, The University Crafts Center, NCSU, Raleigh, NC
“ A Unique Approach”, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS
2000 Three Week Session, Wood-kiln Construction and Firing, North Carolina Pottery Center, Seagrove, NC
Three Week Session, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine
2001 One day workshop, Pre-NCECCA Conference, Odyssey Clay Center, Asheville, NC
“Pots for the Home,” Two and a half week session, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC
2003 “Pots for Home Use,” Three day workshop, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
“Everyday Pots,” Weekend workshop, Seward Park Art Studio, Seattle, WA
2004  “Rock Creek Pottery” Three day workshop, Mount Hood Community College, Portland, OR

PUBLICATIONS

1980 to Present — “Ceramics Monthly” – Numerous photos of our pots and kilns.
1985 “Potters of the Blue Ridge Mountains”, An Interview, Studio Potter
1990 “Soft Clay Slow Wheels”, On Potting and Deep Ecology, Studio Potter
1993 “The Rock Creek Climbing Kiln”, Part I, On Kiln Design and Construction, Studio Potter
1994 “The Rock Creek Climbing Kiln”, Part II, On Wood kiln Firing and Raw Glazing, Studio Potter
1995 Wood-Fired Stoneware and Porcelain by Jack Troy, Chilton Books — Features on kilns, kiln designs and pots that we have made.
1998 “The Japanese Pottery Tradition and Its Influence on American Ceramics”, American Craft
1999 Wheel-Thrown Ceramics by Don Davis, Lark Books2000 Wood-fired Ceramics Contemporary Practices by Coll Minogue and Robert Sanderson, Penn Press Chapter on Kilns and pots.
Functional Pottery: Form and Aesthetic in Pots of Purpose by Robin Hopper, Krause Publications
2001 Handbuilt Tableware by Kathy Triplett, Lark Books
The Ceramic Glaze Handbook by Mark Burleson, Lark Books
The Art of Contemporary American Pottery by Kevin Hluch, Krause Publications
“ A Workshop with Shimaoka Tatsuzo”, Studio Potter, Volume 29, # 2
2002 500 Teapots: Contemporary Explorations of a Timeless Design, Susan JE Tourtillott, Editor, Lark Books
Pots in the Kitchen, by Josie Walter, Crowood Press
“ Will Ruggles and Douglass Rankin’s Rock Creek Pottery” by Linda Harkey, Ceramics Monthly, September 2002
2003 Stayin’ Alive Survival Tactics for the Visual Artist by Robin Hopper, Krause Publications
Chapter on ways of potting and pots.
“Rock Creek Climging Kiln Update”, The Log Book, Issue 13
500 Bowls: Contemporary Explorations of a Timeless Design, Susan JE Tourtillott, Editor, Lark Books
2004 Making Marks: Discovering the Ceramic Surface, Robin Hopper, Krause Publications
2008 Slab-built Ceramics, Coll Minogue, Crowwod Press
2009 The Living Tradition-North Carolina Potters Speak by Michelle Francis, Charles Zug III, Rob Amberg, Denny Mecham- for the North Carolina Pottery Center - Goosepen Studio and Press

LECTURES

1993 “The Forum”, The Clay Studio and The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
1996 “The Impact of the Japanese Folk Art Movement on Twentieth Century American Ceramics”, Symposium participants, the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA
2001 Pre-NCECA Conference, “Rock Creek Pottery,” Folk Art Center, Asheville, NC
2003 “Pots with Lasting Influence,” The Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
         “Rock Creek Pottery,” University of Washington, Seattle, WA
2004  “Rock Creek Pottery” Mount Hood Community College, Portland, OR
2007 “Seeking a Personal Aesthetic” panel for the 20th North Carolina Potters Conference, Asheboro, NC

KILN DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

Will and Douglass have been working on innovative kiln design and firing technique for over thirty years. The continuing focus is on developing understanding through conceptual refinement and simplification—the objective being to realize the fundamentals of the nature of fire and form. These fundamentals have revealed themselves through intensive interactive experimentation. The results are: high duribility with minimal materials; ease of understanding of flame quality, its heating and coloring characteristics, and its distribution; simple and natural controls for changing the flame (its heating and atmospheric quality) and easily manipulating where it goes; and ease of choosing and changing the rate fo heat rise for the desired effects. Combined, the results are many more pots fired the way the potter likes, with more understanding of why this happened.

Will and Douglass continue to make new kilns and designs, but also to modify and refine kilns that have been in use for years. This ongoing work is with kilns they have built themselves, but as importantly, with kilns they have designed for (or with) others. Refinements overlaid on refinements, the new designs and techniques evolve. There are many kilns they have influenced either through hands-on involvement, or via materials published by Will and Douglass, and they are in use throughout the country and world. Below are some of the projects in which they have been directly involved.

Kilns Designed and Built for Educational Institutions

These projects were intensive teaching events during which students learned to build and fire a kiln. These kilns were then used as educational tools.

Penland School of Crafts, North Carolina
Peters Valley Crafts Center, New Jersey
North Carolina Pottery Center, North Carolina

Kiln Designs for Others

These are some of kilns that Will and Douglass designed and built, designed, or kilns in which they have contributed significantly to the design.

The Residency Wood Kiln, Penland School of Crafts, North Carolina
Canton Clay Works, Connecticut
Hurricane Mountain Crafts Center, New York
Hartford Art School, Connecticut
Ruth Conway, Indiana
Bill Funkhouser, California
Peg Udall, Maryland
Louis Harter, Connecticut
Shawn Ireland, North Carolina
Jeff Supplee, Tennessee
Michael Hunt, North Carolina
Jane Peiser, North Carolina
Susan Beecher, New York
Frank Pitcher, Maine
John Anthony, Pennsylvania
Lynne Horning, Virginia
Courtney Martin, North Carolina
Lara O'Keefe, North Carolina
Mike Henshaw, Georgia
Josh Copus, North Carolina
Sean Fairbridge, New Mexico

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