Pottery - January

It's been a while with an art post, and thought I would include an art piece of mine this time around. This is a clay pot I made way back in 1967 during a high school art class. Montee Hoke was my art teacher in high school and I learned much from him. Besides being my teacher, Montee was also an exhibiting artist, and he influenced a generation of artists working in clay. He received many awards including from the Springfield Art Museum, Fort Worth Art Center, and the Philbrook Art Center. His work has been represented in group exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institute and Brockton Art Institute as well as several other prestigious museums. 

I remember the day I made this piece. After I cut it off the pottery wheel, I took it over to the Willys Jeep that Montee kept in the art studio. I sat down on the hood and begin whacking the sides of the pot with the knife I used to slice it off the pottery wheel. Monty came over and watched as I was pounding on the pot. He had a curious look on his face and said, "that is quite good and creative. Very nice."

My inspiration for this piece? My many adventures as a young son hunting quail with his Dad in the Oklahoma country side.