James C. Watkins

He is recognized for his textured surfaces, created by using alternative firing techniques. His porcelain substrate tiles are fumed with stannous chloride and multi-fired using ferric chloride, gold and platinum luster to achieve colorful surfaces. Watkins gained recognition through his inclusion in the 1993 White House Collection of American Crafts, which was curated by Michael Monroe, who was then the director of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution. Watkins' work is held in 21 permanent collections, including the Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas, the Shigaraki Institute of Ceramic Studies in Shigaraki, Japan, the Everson Museum in Syracuse, New York, the Tweed Museum in Duluth, Minnesota, and the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, Indiana. His work has been widely exhibited in 40 solo exhibitions and 164 group exhibitions.

• Name — James C. Watkins • Born — 28 May 1951 • Field — Ceramics, Pottery

Watkins is a Paul Whitfield Horn Professor Emeritus in the College of Architecture at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas where he taught Architectural Ceramics and Architectural Drawing. The Horn Professorship is the highest honor that Texas Tech University bestows on members of its faculty. Horn Professorships are granted to professors in recognition of national and international distinction for outstanding research or other creative scholarly achievements.

Watkins uses his experience of growing up in the rural south during the 1950s and 60s as a source of inspiration for his signature work. His mother and father were farmers. Watkins is the oldest of six children - three boys and three girls. He grew up in a time when large cast-iron pots were still used as an essential farming utensil. His mother made soap, hominy and souse in the large black cast-iron pots. Watkins creates large double-walled ceramics forms that are inspired by the memory of helping his mother keep the fire burning hot around the cast-iron pots.

• 1973 Kansas City Art Institute, Ceramics/Drawing, B.F.A • 1977 Indiana University-Bloomington, Ceramics, M.F.A

• A Meditation of Fire The Art of James C. Watkins, by Kippra D. Hopper; Publish by Texas Tech University Press, 1999, 136 pages (hardcover) Find this book

* • Illustration — James C. Watkins working in his studio. — • Illustration — Double-walled Caldron from the ("Fragility Series"), saggar fired, 20 in. high x 20 in. wide, photo by Jon Thompson. — • Illustration — Multi-fired porcelain substrate tile piece from the ("Reflections Series"), 12 in. high x 24 in. wide, photo by Denny Mingus.