News / Blog
World Magazine
Fantastic article in World Magazine! Thank you and get job to Hannah Harris.
Sculptor Michael Sherrill’s studio in western North Carolina is tucked under trees, nestled a few yards from a small waterfall. The soft, cascading sound of the waterfall met the snap of a wood-burning fireplace as Sherrill poured green tea into stoneware mugs and described how nature and faith influence his art.
Hands in Clay Workshop with Michael Sherrill
Join Michael Sherrill, a materials-based artist who primarily experiments in the media of clay, metal, and glass, for a two-day workshop that will explore techniques using porcelain and slips to create transitional color. Inspired in his own work by observations of the natural world where color is always in motion – transitioning from one color to the next, Michael will demonstrate post-firing surface techniques using diamond abrasives to remove material and polish the surface. In his practice he uses extruders and a lot of hand building techniques, but artists whose practice is at the potter’s wheel will also discover techniques applicable to their work. During the weekend workshop, participants will work with porcelain at cones 6 and 7.
In addition to the two-day workshop, Michael will be giving an artist talk, A Visual Presentation and Conversation with Michael Sherrill and Joan Takayama-Ogawa, on Friday night from 7-9pm. This event is free to the public! Check out the Eventbrite invitation for more information and to rsvp.
Sa, Su
Time
10:00AM to 4:00PM
Dates
Feb 22, 2020 to Feb 23, 2020
https://www.otis.edu/extension
Michael Sherrill using an Atomizer Sprayer
Michael Sherrill at Centro De Arte, Curaumilla, Chile
TALK THE TALK AND WALK THE WALK
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 - 7PM EDT
Artist talk with Michael Sherrill
Peruse the Renwick Gallery’s exhibition Michael Sherrill Retrospective, then join the artist for a discussion about his work. Made primarily of clay, metal, and glass, Sherrill talks about how his artworks explore our relationship with these materials. He also shares the development of his clay tool line, MudTools. The talk is followed by a question and answer session with the artist.
Photos by Scott Allen at Hang the Moon Photography.
- Categories - After Five, Lectures & Discussions
- Building - Renwick Gallery
- Event Location - 2nd floor, Rubenstein Grand Salon
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Co-sponsor - Renwick Gallery -
Cost - Free; walk-in -
Part of series - Featured Programs
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019, 12-1PM
Nature Walk with Michael Sherrill, Golden Triangle BID, and Smithsonian Gardens
Take a stroll through the Renwick Gallery’s Golden Triangle neighborhood with artist Michael Sherrill, horticulturist James Gagliardi from Smithsonian Gardens, and David Suls, senior director of planning and policy at the Golden Triangle BID. The group leads a walking tour to explore the innovative rain garden landscaping in the neighborhood. Be sure to check out the exhibition Michael Sherrill Retrospective at the Renwick to see how Sherrill’s artwork reimagines the natural world in creative new ways.
Meet in front of Renwick Gallery, Pennsylvania Avenue.
Categories - Gallery Talks & Tours,
Building - Renwick Gallery
- Event Location - First floor lobby
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Co-sponsor - Renwick Gallery -
Cost - Free; walk-in
Washington Post Review of Michael Sherrill Retrospective
August 30 at 8:00 AM
North Carolina ceramist Michael Sherrill set out to make if not a better teapot, at least a more distinctive one. The Renwick Gallery’s “Michael Sherrill Retrospective” demonstrates clearly that he succeeded. But it’s what he did next that makes this exhibition so memorable.
The show, organized by Charlotte’s Mint Museum, covers more than 40 years in the largely self-educated artist’s life. It includes 73 items, beginning with inventive but relatively conventional pieces made in the 1970s and culminating with recent mixed-media, nature-inspired creations in which form entirely dispenses with function.
Sherrill’s tea vessels are notable for their fanciful contours and shimmering glazes, which can simulate gray-silver metal or produce rainbows of graduated hues. As the artist continued to innovate, the pots got bigger and their parts more exaggerated. These agreeably cartoonish creations are far too large for conventional use, with enormous spouts that compete for attention with the object’s central part.
Some of the teapots and other items, among them oddly beautiful “oil cans” that exalt industrial design, evoke myth, literature and Sherrill’s own background. “Right and Left Brain” comprises two identically shaped vessels, one multicolored and the other black-and-white. The artist, who is dyslexic, has written a chapter of his autobiography in fired clay.
The ceramist has spent his adult life in the North Carolina mountains and now maintains a studio near the evocatively named town of Bat Cave. Over time, the surrounding landscape has figuratively infiltrated his studio. Much of Sherrill’s later work borrows motifs from the forest and expands into other materials. The show’s final gallery blooms with exquisite floral arrangements in porcelain, bronze and glass. Most of the inspirations are botanical, but in one 3-D tableaux coils a snake rendered in green glass.
Sherrill hasn’t entirely forgotten teapots. There’s a lovely, if not especially functional, 2005 one that emulates the soft shape of a folded elephant-ear plant leaf. But this potter’s journey has sent him far from the housewares department and deep into the woods.
October Issue - CERAMICS MONTHLY
Listen to the Mint Museum's podcast "Art Crush" featuring Michael Sherrill.
"Michael Sherrill part 1 and 2" produced by the Mint Museum's series Art Crush and hosted by Sheri Lynch.
