S T E V E M U R P H Y
A Potter, sculptor and artist working primarily in clay.
Over 30 years as a studio artist specializing in high-fire stoneware and porcelain.
Received his BFA in Design from UMass Dartmouth then pursued an intensive study of clay in Nagano Japan.
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"Each time a kiln is opened, there is something new—a color change, a different texture of clay. Many of my favorite pieces were gifts from the fire."
B O S T O N P O T T E R Y
I seek to make beautiful and functional art. My bowls are made from stoneware clay on a potter’s wheel. Many of my pieces are carved. The textures gained by carving create variations in the glaze thickness and color. I make and sell the carving tools that give my pots a distinctive feel. Surface patterns are made with altered brushes and colored clay slips. Most pieces have a single glaze that is fired in either a gas reduction or wood fired kilns.
My introduction to clay in Japan nearly 30 years ago laid the foundation for my craft and art. My educational background in design, study of Japanese tea ceremony, and love of food all add to my functional ceramics — pottery that can be used every day and treasured as a work of art.
Sculpturally, I create a variety of forms including incense burners inspired by Japanese and Mayan beast sculpture and study of animals at the zoo. My more modernist sculptures are based on microscopic organisms.
I have been an active part of the wood-firing community in New England for over 18 years and a teacher of clay for nearly 30. Currently I am teaching at Mudflat Pottery School and Harvard Ceramics.
-Steve Murphy
T E A C H I N G
Harvard Ceramics, 2016 to present
Mudflat Pottery School, 2014 to present
DeCordova Museum School, Lincoln, MA – April 2008 to 2014
Boston Center for Adult Education, Boston, MA – 2000 to 2008
Fuller Museum of Craft, Brockton MA – 2005 to 2009.
Japan Exchange and Teaching Program, Nagano, Japan – 1989 to 1992
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Wood fires, Burning bright, Make clay art, That gives delight.
W O O D F I R I N G
Wood firing, the oldest way to make pottery, the most beautiful...and difficult way to fire. Preparing the many cords of wood, cleaning and painting shelves, stacking bricks by size is just the beginning. You carefully apply clay wads to a piece, place it just right, thinking about how the path of the fire and deposits of ash will paint your art. Shinos to the back, tenmokus to the front, in the ash pit or way up high? So many decisions.
I work twice a year with a group of potters at Chris Gustin’s anagama and soda kilns. We work to make us all happy, Kim likes hers bright, Hollis likes his burnt, Lucien likes his...covered up in dirt! (ash really, but it didn’t rhyme) We all have places in the kiln that we really love, working together so long, you get a feel for whose piece goes where. I’m often reminded of the old video game Tetras, if this Gustin vase fits there, then the Archer bottle next to that and then my beast, his head hanging in the air.
There is great joy in loading a wood kiln, and a lot of surprises unloading it. Everyone is welcome at a wood kiln unloading, spring and fall, sign up for the email list or keep an eye on this site. Chris Gustin’s anagama wood kiln is at 231 Horseneck Road in South Dartmouth MA, Come for the kiln then go for fresh seafood and a walk on the beach.
GUSTIN STUDIO ANAGAMA WOOD KILN
G A L L E R I E S
Mudflat Gallery, 36 White St., Somerville, MA 02140
Fuller Craft Museum, 455 Oak St., Brockton, MA 02302
Local Pottery, 376 Washington St, Norwell, MA 02061
The Store@ DeCordova, 51 Sandy Pond Road. Lincoln, MA 01773
Lucy Lacoste Gallery, 25 Main Street, Concord MA, 01742
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E X H I B I T I O N S
State of Clay, postponed due to you-know-what. Lexington Arts & Crafts Society, MA 2020
Gustin Gallery, 20/30 Watershed Exhibition, Dartmouth MA 2017
Biennial Ceramics Exhibition, New Hampshire Institute, Manchester, NH 2016
Gustin Gallery, Woodfire Show: NCECA Providence, Dartmouth, MA, 2015
State of Clay, Pushing Boundaries, NCECA Providence, Fuller Craft Museum Brockton, MA
Ceramics en MASSe, Mary L. Fifield Art Gallery, Bunker Hill Community College, 2014
Cup: The Intimate Object, Charlie Cummings Gallery, October 3rd to 24th, 2014. Gainsville, FL
Ceramic Spectrum, Jamestown Art Center; Jamestown, RI 2013
Danforth Art Museum Annual Juried Exhibition Framingham, MA 2013
State of Clay, Lexington Arts & Crafts Society. Juried show of Massachusetts artists 2012
Our Shared World, Lexington Art and Crafts Center with Mass Audubon Society 2012
Watershed 25th Anniversary Wood Fire Benefit, Gustin Gallery South Dartmouth, MA 2011
Tea Bowl National, KC Clay Guild, Kansas City, MO 2010
Strictly Functional Pottery National, Lancaster PA, 2010
Jet Stream Anagama: West Travels East, Gustin Gallery South Dartmouth, MA 2007