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| Bob Wagar |
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The process of salt firing with self-glazing clay allows the work to be salt glazed without contaminating the environment
While working, I am often reminded of art historian Paul Johnson’s remark: It is not so much what the artist’s eye sees, but what his spiritual impulse creates. When that impulse surges in me, the work is filled with a history and knowledge beyond my own; a gift that has been bestowed upon me.
The works are self-glazed, cone 4 stoneware. The process of salt firing with self-glazing clay allows the work to be salt glazed without contaminating the environment or destroying the kiln.
This method was developed by ceramic engineer James Tanner and published in 1958. With his guidance, and after several years of painstaking trials, I eventually became confident enough with the process to begin creating a whole new body of figurative work. Each sculpture is modeled as a solid lump of clay, weighing hundreds of pounds; it is then hollowed, dried, and fired.
Thirty years as a production potter made me proficient with my medium. Yet what I have learned on this incredible journey is amazing - and I still look at these works in wonder. It is a path I hope to follow for a very long time.
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| photo by Tim Barnwell |
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| Bob Wagar |
Daughter of Wisdom detail (G10)
Self-glazing stoneware 2007
58" high 107 pounds $3800 |
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Bob Wagar
82 Spooks Branch Road
Asheville, NC 28804
828-253-9773
Clay
email Bob Wagar
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