GRIT at A1LabArts Emporium Gallery

Two of my pieces were selected for A1LabArts exhibit GRIT which will be on display all March at the Emporium Gallery in Knoxville, TN.
” In the past 12 months, life has changed for the entire world dramatically. To persist, each person has had to draw upon their inherent grit. Grit changes the softer surfaces it comes in contact with (as does sandpaper). Grit is used as a pigeon digestive aid. Add an “s” and you’ve got a southern staple. It’s fortitude, resolution, courage. When doing strenuous tasks we grit our teeth.
For this particular show, we’re asking members to show us their interpretations of grit.”—A1LabArts

Last Call VI at the Companion Gallery

I’m thrilled to announce two of my recent drinking vessels will be exhibited and published after being accepted in the nationally juried show Last Call VI at the Companion Gallery.

From the official call:
LAST CALL VI: Handmade Ceramics for Storing, Pouring, & Sipping Fine LibationsOpen to pitchers, decanters, bottles, ice buckets, shakers, flights, goblets, steins, shots, rocks cups, tumblers, etc.
2021 Juror: Samantha Momeyer
Now in its sixth year, Last Call is one of the most anticipated juried ceramics exhibitions by makers and collectors alike. This will be the 3rd juried exhibition at our new location.
The exhibition is open to every type of clay, temperature, and atmosphere.
Companion Gallery will be printing a full color catalog and the entire exhibition will be available for sale online.
An opening reception will depend on the current situation with COVID-19.


The exhibition opening will be held at our new location on Friday March 5, 2021
Companion Gallery 3600 East Mitchell Street, Humboldt, TN, as well as ONLINE at companiongallery.com.
A FULL COLOR 8.5 x 11 print catalog will accompany the exhibition.

For more information on the Companion Gallery, the upcoming exhibit, the artists it represents, or previous publications, please visit:
https://companiongallery.com/

New Series: Puns and Breakdowns of Idiotic Curse Words

I’ve shelved several series due to my location and audience. Sabbatical is the perfect time to flesh ideas out to send to other exhibition or competition locations. This series explores how stupid curse words are (although I often indulge in the sailor language.) “Bitch” is a female dog. It should not be a bad word. I love my dogs. Tell me what you think. Work in progress is on Instagram at @cfordart .

Sabbatical Research 2021

During the Spring 2021 semester I will be on sabbatical working on ceramic research and expanding my body of work. If quarantine or lockdowns occur, I’ve been making and squirreling away blank pots to underglaze. Stay tuned to Instagram to see what I’ve been making.

Fall 2020 Exhibits and News

Exhibits for the fall semester (August-December) included
-Speak My Language (solo show with two artist talks) at Spartanburg Community College
-100th Anniversary of Women’s Right to Vote (group Show) at the CAVA Gallery in Gaffney, SC
-Limestone University Faculty Show (group show) at the Granberry Gallery

Sales, commissions, etc. can be seen
-Asheville Art Museum: https://shop.ashevilleart.org/collections/handcrafted-art
​-@cfordart and @eviltwinA on Instagram

Speak My Language is now on display at SCC through December 1! Artist Talk September 15 at 2pm.

Upcoming Exhibit News TBA

I’m in the process of measuring and selecting works for the Spartanburg Community College Library. I’ve got 33’ of exhibition space to cover! The show will be on display for the entire fall semester. Stay tuned for specific dates including a possible virtual artist talk.
Straddling the fall and spring semester, I will have works up in the Limestone University Granberry Gallery’s Faculty Show. Dates TBA.

Dr. Andrea Alison Student Success Advocate Award

https://www.limestone.edu/about/news/limestone-faculty-staff-members-receive-student-success-awards

Mission Clay Updates http://www.mcpart.org/carolyn-ford

Asheville Art Museum Acquires Works for their Permanent Collection

Breaking news hot off the press:

https://www.ashevilleart.org/press-release/app-now-collectors-circle/

Dear Carolyn,
I am pleased to let you know the Museum has received funding from its Collectors’ Circle members to acquire 6 of your disks for the Museum Collection!
- Southernisms: Grinnin’ Like a Fox Crappin’ a Peach Seed
- Southern Skills: Quilting
- Southernisms: Nervous as a Long-Tailed Cat in a Rockin’ Chair Factory
- Southern Skills: Moonshinin’
- Southernisms: That Dog’ll Hunt
- Southern Skills: Pottery

Mission Clay Round 2, Appalachia Now Closes February 2, & New Works are in Progress for NCECA

Check out my blogpost for details. Here is the summary:
1. I returned to Mission Clay for Christmas break to work on a color saturated pipe. 2. Appalachia Now closes in less than a month. Works will have the option to be bought by the museum or outside collectors. Contact the Asheville Art Museum for information. 3. I have happily agreed to be a demonstrating artist for Laguna Silky Underglazes in March at NCECA.

Thank you Mission Clay Art and Industry!

Great articles are rolling in from Appalachia Now!

https://www.metropolismag.com/design/arts-culture/appalachian-makers-tell-their-own-story-in-a-new-exhibit/
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Work begins today at Mission Clay Arts and Industry.

With a ton of news updates that need to be documented, here is a quick bit to catch up. The semester at LC is in full swing with me attempting to manage side commissions, an overload of courses, work orders, purchase orders and exhibition curation for the department, press/promo receptions for Appalachia Now / Asheville Art Museum opening, and preparations for working at Mission Clay Arts in Phoenix over Thanksgiving break. The webpage and CV updates have been low-hanging fruit as has sleep. It’s quite a busy and exciting time. Check out my Instagram ( @cfordart ) for more frequent updates. Yesterday after arrival, Pat Siler welcomed me to town (gifted bear mace, laundry detergent and soup cans for survival) and handed me off to the crazy brilliant Hans Miles for the tour and practice round of carving. I’ll elaborate more when fully functioning (hotel guests or ghost upstairs woke me to nonstop high-heel pacing and bed squeaking). Stay tuned for a long blog post when I return (more likely after Finals). Need sleep. I start carving today and only have 3.5 days to complete this project!

Mission Clay Arts, Here I Come!

Two years ago a previous professor contacted me to tell me I had to apply for a residency at Mission Clay in Phoenix, Arizona. This Thanksgiving I’ll be doing a one-week trial run to see if I can hack the intensity of a possible 4-week residency. Challenge accepted! The opportunity to carve on monumental 1 to 2-ton extruded sewer pipes in exchange for one of my works in their permanent collection is flattering and mind boggling. Stay tuned and follow me on @cfordart on Instagram during Thanksgiving break. Massive thank you’s go to #missionclay @mission_clay , #bryanvansell, #patsiler, and @hans.miles . (Photo below of Pat Siler is from Mission Clay Arts.) Other than carving night and day, I am hoping to see some Phoenix lights and at least one scorpion, eat some street tacos, and sweat in November. I’ll request must-do lists if I get to return! https://www.mcpart.org/

Appalachia Now Events at the Asheville Art Museum

The opening of the Asheville Art Museum included two weeks of events! During the closed reception for Appalachia Now artists and museum donors, I was able to meet and greet many of the 50 artists represented in the show. We found out about the organization of the multiple floors. My works are on the first floor: from and off the porch. My works selected are most certainly on the porch homage to what I love about the south. The third floor of Appalachia Now represents the spiritual side.
A few days after during the official press interviews and ribbon cutting event, I met Gary Monroe (pictured above), a fellow Tennessee Native who went to high school with one of my first professors Tim Massey, and is in the exhibit on the third floor. Both of the two are brilliant image makers. I would like to buddy up with them to do a southern-specific show elsewhere. After a week of publicity and driving, I was tired and yet energized. The amount of positivity towards the arts in Asheville with the excitement over the reopening of the museum was intense. Friday after the grand opening I was able to bring students to see the show. 

The Date is Set! The long-awaited opening of the Asheville Art Museum including the Appalachia Now exhibit opens soon!

Art/Re/Art pop up exhibit October 5!

https://www.limestone.edu/about/news/limestone-art-professor-carolyn-ford-selected-take-part-nc-exhibition

I’m super excited to be in the next Art/Re/Art exhibit in Morganton, NC this weekend! Check out the link. I’ll post pictures on Instagram. Update: I sold several works including the original The Higher the Hair, The Closer to God.

Anything Goes Again, Annual Peach Festival exhibit is on display from July-August

Taking Orders for Custom Commissions

After receiving many inquiries, I’m using the last few weeks of summer taking orders for custom commissions. If you are interested in watercolors, mixed media, paintings, charcoal drawings or underglaze painted tiles before the Christmas rush, please email for pricing. Although my exhibition work is black and white, I have a love of over abundant candy-like color. (Some photos are by my patrons with their models.)

Black and White with a Pop Show

Second place at the All Things Country Music exhibit in TN!

Asheville Art Museum full color catalogues are ready for preorder!

https://www.ashevilleart.org/museum-store/appalachia-now-catalogue-presale-excerpt/
With the date pending for the grand reopening of the museum, I’m anxiously awaiting the official reception date for Appalachia Now! To give you a taste so you can “hold your horses,” preorder the full color catalogue now to support the arts.
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(Photo above borrowed from the Asheville Art Museum webpage.)

New Works are in Production

I’ve returned from taking students to the British Isles and am in mad production mode for the Appalachia Now exhibit. Works currently being produced are actually for the gift shop since works for the exhibition we’re Juried in. This is my first attempt at plates in a long time so I hope that all fires correctly. In the meantime, here’s a sneak peak of new plates of southernisms:

Stay Tuned: Site Under Construction.

It has been a crazy busy school year! Stay tuned for updates from August 2018 to May 2019. If you’d like to stay up to date, Instagram is updated frequently with both personal art (@cfordart) and student shenanigans (@limestoneartdepartment).

Anything Goes CAVA Peach Festival Group Exhibit

https://www.gaffneyledger.com/articles/cava-members-given-artistic-freedom-in-latest-exhibit/
Anything Goes is on display at the CAVA gallery until July 20, 2018. This group show features artists from S.C. and NC including one of my triptychs featured in the Gaffney Ledger above. The reception will be Thursday, July 12, 2018 from 6-8pm. While this show is on display, I’ve been actively carving on a new Spain/Portugal-inspired pattern series. To find out more, check out my instagram @cfordart for frequent updates and process pictures.

SC>Higher Ed closes at Francis Marion

https://news.mscc.edu/news/motlow-state-features-middle-tennessee-native-carolyn-ford-art-exhibition-opening-in-february

Above: Storyteller at MSCC in TN and below Southern Sampler at SUNY Brockport, NY (Jan-March 2018).

2018 Exhibitions in Progress

Two New Exhibits Booked!
I'm excited to announce that works will be delivered in February for two exhibits. SC Clay>Higher Ed will be a group exhibition held at Francis Marion University featuring 22 professors at various colleges and universities in the state of South Carolina. This exhibit will be on display from February 20- March 29, 2018 at the Adelle Kassab Art Gallery. I will also have a solo show at Motlow Community College in Tullahoma, TN entitled Storyteller in the Eoff Hall Art Gallery. Dates have not yet been confirmed. Stay tuned!

The Southern Sampler Exhibition is in Progress for January 2018. This group show will be on display from January-March in the Tower Fine Arts Gallery in Brockport, NY.
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For more information about works in progress, follow my blog and Instagram!
Below are my newest carvings related to the deep south (USA) including my interests in travel, southernisms, musical influences from my home state of Tennessee, stereotypes/misconceptions, etc. The works have not been fired yet due to the fact they have to go through long maturity, compression, flipping, carving, and drying phases.

https://emsweb.brockport.edu/MasterCalendar/EventDetails.aspx?EventDetailId=31933

2017 Exhibitions 

This year is a very exciting year for exhibitions! I will be trying to update the page as frequently as possible but for the most current news, please follow me on cfordart on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/cfordart/​  .

http://www.waterworks.org/wvacinthenews.html

I'm flattered and humbled to have been able to share a night of art talks at Waterworks with a retrospective of Ben Martin photos and Susan Lenz fiber works. I'd like to give a HUGE thank you to Anne Scott Clement, all of the Waterworks staff and Board members for all of their help and support. I'd also like to thank all those that came to the reception and enjoyed the show. 

http://www.limestone.edu/about/news/limestone-professor-carolyn-ford-has-exhibit-ngu
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