Fallon, Neil

Artist Statement
My journey to clay began in high school in the 1960's as the period that propelled practitioners from potters/crafters to fine artist, during the tail end of the American Ceramic Studio movement. For the most part I am "self-practiced" but influenced by the lineage of Marguerite Wildenhain and the Bauhaus esthetic of a well-thrown rim, body, and foot. After a successful corporate life, I retired and moved to New Hampshire and built my studio.

Studio Description
400 sq. ft. studio and with small retail display.

What type of clay do you use?
High fire stoneware

What temperature do you fire to?
Cone 10 in reduction with Shino glaze is my preferred range.

What is your primary forming method?
Wheel-thrown forms

What is your favorite surface treatment?
Still experimenting with surface treatment, but lean heavily on carbon trapping shino for surface design.

Do you make any of your own tools?
some

What one word would you use to describe your work?
vernacular

What is your favorite thing about your studio?
solitude

What is the one thing in your studio you can’t live without?
Not to be flippant, but I could not live without clay. Everything else I could make due.

What are your top three studio wishes?
A Car Kiln Pugmill, more storage

What’s on your current reading list?
Riches of the Land by Jim Tankersly

How do you save money on materials and supplies?
Recycle, Repurpose, Reuse.

How do you recharge creatively?
Take a break from the work. Let yourself become recentered.

Do you have any DIY tips for studio efficiency?
Build a recycling water sink from used kitchen sink, two buckets and small pond water pump.

What challenges have you given yourself to overcome?
Exposure

What did your first piece look like?
Clunky small wheel thrown (3" high) pouring vessel with a 3/4 inch solid base. Made in 1969. I still use it.

What ceramic superpower would you have and why?
glaze preparation

What area of skill do you most look to other artists to learn?
Surface design

What is on your studio playlist?
Anything recorded and released in the 1960's

Why do you create art?
More of a need to express than anything else.

Who is your favorite artist and what do you admire about that artist?
Marguerite Wildenhain. Respected artist/craft person/leader of her time and held to her principles of design.

If you could change one property of clay, what would it be?
Why change something that is so adaptable to so many uses?