Terry Gess
Potters of the Roan Exhibit

Terry Gess Biography

Terry Gess is a studio potter in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina. His formal education includes study at the Cleveland Institute of Art, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, and Penland School of Crafts.

Terry has received international awards and recognition for his pottery. He was invited to live and work in a teapot factory in the People's Republic of China, collaborating with a master Chinese potter in the development of new teapots. He was also a guest at an international ceramic exhibition and symposium held in the small craft village of Fiskars, Finland, which coincided with a lecture at the Estonian Academy of Art in Tallinn, Estonia. The North Carolina Arts Council awarded Terry a ten week residency at Chateau de La Napoule, an international artists’ foundation housed in a magnificent castle on the Mediterranean shore of the French Riviera.

Terry Gess Artist Statement

My favorite pottery has long been the spirited, populist styles -- the Medieval English jugs, for instance, with their casually thumbed bases, or the Fifteenth Century Islamic tin-glazed wares, such as the fat, swollen-bellied Persian jars. I value these pots for their clunky forms, thick lips, and age-worn surfaces. Their casual, mundane earthiness, healthy and unpretentious, holds a subtle, grounded beauty that reveals its secrets slowly. The hand of the maker as not been overshadowed by skillful mastery or opulent lusters, but is still clearly present.

My allegiance and affiliation are with this work. It is not that I wish to mimic or interpret the qualities of these kinds of pots as much as I wish to adopt the emotive subtleties of presence, stance, and gesture that are infused throughout this kind of work.

Underlying all of my work is a desire to elaborate this kind of awkward, clumsy beauty in my pots. This is not a sloppy awkwardness, but rather an assured, considered individuality. It is assembled from the integrity of the materials and the distinction of the artist to create a particular idiosyncratic beauty.

I would like my pottery to be of service, soulful and spirit-filled.

Terry Gess Artist Resume

EDUCATION

1994 Master of Fine Art Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville: Edwardsville, IL Major in studio arts with concentration in ceramics

1991 Bachelor of Fine Art Cleveland Institute of Art: Cleveland, OH Major in ceramics, minor in drawing

1978-90 Penland School of Crafts: Penland, NC (various) Scholarship Studies in ceramics and book arts

1977-80 Potters Wheel: Milwaukee, WI Independent studies with studio potters Abraham Cohn and Greg Miller

1973-76 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee St. Mary's University of Texas

SELECTED RECENT AWARDS AND EXHIBITIONS

2009

Functional Ceramics 2009 Teapot (Invitational) Wayne Center fort the Arts: Wooster, OH

The Infinite Teapot (Invitational) Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH

Potters of the Roan Group Exhibition Invitational) Mud Fire: Decatur, GA

2008

All Fired Up-Celebration of Clay in Westchester New York (Invitational) Lyndurst: Tarrytown, NY

American Craft Council Atlanta Fine Craft Show (Juried) Atlanta, GA

American Craft Council Baltimore Fine Craft Show (Juried) Baltimore, MD

Art of Webb Fest (Invitational) Knoxville, TN

Celebrate Clay: Western North Carolina (Invitational) Hambridege Center: Rabun Gap, GA

The Artful Tabletop (Invitational) Lyndurst: Tarrytown, NY

Ceramics on Gist Street (Invitational) Pittsburg, PA

Cleveland Institute of Art Ceramics Program: 1978-2008 (Invitational) Borelli-Edwards Gallery: Pittsburg, PA

Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands (Juried) Asheville, NC

A Collection of Cups (Invitational) Heights Arts: Cleveland Heights, OH

La Mesa (Invitational) Santa Fe Clay NCECA Exhibition: Portland, OR

Three Bridges Art Festival (Juried) Chattanooga, TN

Potters Market (Invitational) Mint Museum of Art: Charlotte, NC

Potters of the Roan in Triplicate (Invitational) Crimson Laurel Gallery: Bakersville, NC

Hot & Sweet (Invitational) Sparta Teapot Museum: Sparta, NC

Sip, Slurp, Gulp: Drinking Vessels (Invitational) Santa Fe Clay: Santa Fe, NM

Southern Exposure: Atmospheric Pots & Penland Connection (Invitational) Rye Arts Center: Rye, NY

Spruce Pine Potters Market Spruce Pine, NC

Wing Road Weekend: Terry Gess, Carmen Greir & Friends (Home Sale) Terry Gess Pottery: Bakersville, NC

45th Annual Piedmont Crafts Fair (Juried) Winston Salem, NC

2007

Art of Webb Fest (Invitational) Knoxville, TN

Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands (Juried) Asheville, NC

Cup of Tea (Invitational) Penland Gallery: Penland, NC

Hand Held Drinking Vessels (Invitational) Main Street Art Gallery: Edwardsville, IL

Potters Market (Invitational) Mint Museum of Art: Charlotte, NC

Perspectives on Containment (Invitational) TRAC Gallery: Burnsville, NC

Potters of the Roan (Invitational) Rocky Mount arts Center: Rocky Mount, NC

Potters of the Roan (Invitational) Washington Street Gallery: West Virginia

Spruce Pine Potters Market Spruce Pine, NC

The Simple Cup 2006 (Invitational) KOBO at Higo: Seattle, WA

Three Bridges Art Festival (Juried) Chattanooga, TN
(Awarded Best in Ceramics)

North Carolina Potters Invitational) AKAR Design: Iowa City, IA

90 Teapots (Invitational) Xen Gallery: St Louis, MO

2006

American Craft Council Baltimore Fine Craft Show (Juried) Baltimore, MD

American Craft Council Atlanta Fine Craft Show (Juried) Atlanta, GA

American Craft Council Craft Fair Charlotte (Juried) Charlotte, NC

American Craft Council Craft Fair Sarasota (Juried) Sarasota, FL

Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands (Juried) Asheville, NC

Festival BethEl (Invitational) St Petersburg, FL

La Mesa (Invitational) Santa Fe Clay NCECA Exhibition: Portland, OR

Northern Virginia Fine Craft Festival (Juried) Reston, VA

Potters Market (Invitational) Mint Museum of Art: Charlotte, NC

Potters' Tea Party (Invitational) Red Star Studio: Kansas City, MO Sunset Mountain Crafts Festival (Juried) Asheville, NC

2005

American Craft Council Craft Fair Sarasota (Juried) Sarasota, FL

American Craft Council Craft Fair Charlotte (Juried) Charlotte, NC

BOX (Invitational) Santa Fe Clay: Santa Fe, NM Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands (Juried) Asheville, NC

Cups (Invitational) Ogden Museum of Southern Art: New Orleans, LA

Passion for Pottery II - Teapots (Invitational) Clay & Paper: Dunedin, FL

Potters Market (Invitational) Mint Museum of Art: Charlotte, NC

Potters of the Southern Mountains (Invitational) Red Star Studio: Kansas City, MO

Gas It Up: Salt, Soda, Slip (Invitational) Baltimore Clay Guild: Baltimore, MD

Lakefront Festival of Art (Juried) Milwaukee Art Museum: Milwaukee, WI

National Teapot Show VI (Invitational) Cedar Creek Gallery: Creedmoor, NC

Penland School of Crafts Resident Artists (Invitational) Folk Art Center: Asheville, NC

Palm Beach Fine Craft Show (Juried) Palm Beach Convention Center: West Palm Beach, FL

The Ultimate Table Setting (Invitational) Cedar Creek Gallery: Creedmoor, NC

4th Annual Sanford Pottery Festival (Invitational) James A. Wickler Civic Center: Sanford, NC

2004

American Craft Council Craft Fair Charlotte (Juried) Charlotte, NC

American Craft Council Craft Fair Sarasota (Juried) Sarasota, FL

A Passion for Pottery (Invitational) Clay & Paper: Dunedin, FL

Instructor Retreat (Invitational) Penland School of Crafts: Penland, NC

Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands (Juried) Asheville, NC

Duets (Invitational) Kentucky Museum of Arts & Design: Louisville, KY

Focus Gallery (Invitational) Folk Art Center: Asheville, NC

Functional Ceramics & Experimental Fibers (Invitational) Upstairs Gallery: Tryon, NC

NaCl: Salt & Soda (Invitational) Blue Dome Gallery: Silver City, NM

NC Crafts 04: (Invitational) Wellington B Gray Gallery: East Carolina University: Greenville, NC

Plaza Art Festival (Juried) Kansas City, MO

Terry Gess & Carmen Grier (Invitational) Art Under a Hot Tin Roof: Jackson, TN

Voices from the Mountains (Invitational) Gallery WDO: Charlotte, NC

Washington Crafts Show (Juried) Washington Convention Center: Washington DC

Washington Potters Association Retrospective Exhibition (Invitational) Tacoma Community College: Tacoma, WA

Palm Beach Fine Craft Show (Juried) Palm Beach Convention Center: West Palm Beach, FL

3rd Annual Sanford Pottery Festival (Invitational) James A. Wickler Civic Center: Sanford, NC

2004 Holiday Invitational Exhibition (Invitational) Northern Clay Center: St Paul, MN