Michael Kline
Asheville In Atlanta 2005

MudFire Gallery will host "Asheville in Atlanta 2005", a group show curated by artist Kyle Carpenter. This annual exhibit and sale highlights a new group of artists each year, showcasing a large body of new works by each artist. Th artist reception and exhibit opening is set for Thursday, September 15, from 6-10 pm. The exhibit and sale will be on display through October 15, 2005.

Michael Kline Artist Statement

Despite the many tangents that lead me this way and that in the course of making pottery, the ideas, desires and excitement of clay remain very close to those at the very beginning of my career. To be sure, the outcome of experience and effort, trial and error has evolved through the years. But the process still begins with the simple, ecstatic response to a ball of soft clay. The successful pot elicits a similar response in the context of the home. The mountains of North Carolina provide plenty of inspiration with their wildly exuberant flora, geological plenty and the pottery history that sprang from these geological circumstances. Strong pottery form and patterns that evoke the complexity of this natural environment continue to guide my interests in this current body of work.

By some combination of optimism and risk, my collaboration with the natural properties of clay and wood fire continues to lead me through this potters life at times exasperated and at times, exhilarated.

Michael Kline Bio

Born in 1961 Michael has been a studio potter since 1993. He studied pottery, painting, and printmaking at the University of Tennessee and holds a BFA. He also studied under Michael Simon at the Penland School of Crafts in 1989. After teaching pottery the Westside YMCA in New York City he joined Mark Shapiro and Sam Taylor in Worthington Massachusetts and built a studio and kiln at Stonepool Pottery.

In 1993 Michael began his Okra Pottery Studio. He designed and created wood fired-salt glazed tableware with a botanical theme in Massachusetts until 1998 when he was awarded a Resident Artist position at the Penland School of Crafts. At Penland Michael developed a body of work in translucent porcelain as well as large-scale stoneware pottery inspired by the traditional stoneware of the Catawba Valley and Seagrove areas of North Carolina.

At the end of his tenure as Resident Artist Michael designed a kiln to fire this new work. The new kiln is designed to fire exclusively with remainder wood from local sawmills. The kiln also is large enough to fire his large-scale pottery as well his tableware and is fired six times a year. The new stoneware features Michael's botanical themes as well as traditional glass "runs". Michael lives in Bakersville, North Carolina with his wife/goldsmith, Stacey Lane. They have two daughters, Evelyn and Lillian.