Louise Hobbs

Clay Sculpture

I have always been interested in pottery and clay sculpture.

©Louise Hobbs 2017

When I was 16, I had a pottery class with Miss Powell at George School, a Quaker boarding school in Pennsylvania.

Later, after pursuing many majors, I thought back to what I enjoyed most, and finished a degree majoring in ceramics at Berea College, Kentucky. 

©Louise Hobbs 2017
Later, after pursuing many majors, I thought back to what I enjoyed most, and finished a degree majoring in ceramics at Berea College, Kentucky. I worked at the pottery in their student industry, paid work required of all students. My professor Wally Hyleck worked on the border between craft and art making huge raku vessels. Dorothy Tredenick taught art history, specializing in Eastern art, and this captured my interest. I wished to know about cutting edge, modern art so I could find my own place. I attended UNC at Chapel Hill, studying with Donald Kuspit, reknowned critic, and Sarah Immerwahr, archaeologist. Both pre-classical art and sculpture today interested me. I took studio art classes in the UNC art department while there and started my own pottery at family place Baldwins Mill. 

©Louise Hobbs 2017

I helped organize, wrote the catalogue essay, and gave tours of a Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture exhibition at the Ackland Art Museum (1976). The master’s thesis was entitled “Abstract Expressionist Ceramic Sculpture and the Return to the Object.” After this, a move to Sarasota, Florida brought positions at the Ringling Museum of Art. Organizing traveling exhibitions and writing catalogue entries in my off time seemed too left brain, and I missed the work in clay. Seeing the museum liaison with the schools inspired me to seek another degree in curriculum and instruction at USF, Sarasota and Tampa, when I was also certified to teach art. I started back working in clay under the inspiration of Barbara Kazanis. A twenty-five year career as a public art teacher followed, making clay sculpture on the side largely as examples for high school students, but also for my own enjoyment. 

©Louise Hobbs 2017
Today I devote my attention to clay sculpture. I’m attracted to figural images that look ancient, and have a primitive force. This effect requires different types of surface treatments and firings. Recently Seagrove and Old Salem pottery inspired a series of “whimsy” clay animals, horses, pigs, turkeys, chickens some of which were cast: an owl and a large fish. My husband Al McCanless and I experiment with glazing : ancient techniques of terra sigillata and smoke firings or use oil drip crystalline glazes, raku, oil spot, oxidation and reduction reds, and majolica. Al started Dover Pottery with first wife Milly. He is a chemist of glaze technology, also plays fiddle and makes banjos. Together we live in a mid-19th century log house on Terrell’s Creek in the Baldwins Mill community.