Gallery Representation
If you would like to purchase work please contact In Tandem Gallery.
Artist Statement
I make animated ceramic vessels by first drawing quick, gestural curves that embody the life and energy of living things. I turn the most interesting of these drawings into functional ceramic objects and finish them with layers of glazes that melt and flow, running along the textures and physical lines of the work, enhancing surfaces and literally underlining the life of the original drawings.
Artist BIOGRAPHY
Shannon Long has both an MFA and BFA in Ceramic Art. Born in Texas, raised in Arizona, and settled in Colorado, he’s been a practicing, professional artist for more than 30 years. His efforts working with clay are informed by his experiences outdoors as an itinerant fly fishing guide, his appreciation of bodies in motion, and his love of all things flora and fauna. His intent is to create the feeling of life and change through his process
He began working with clay thanks, in part, to a dynamic high school art teacher who in 1981, when he was 15 years old, drove him and his family across the state of Arizona to an art community in Tubac to meet a man who was throwing translucent porcelain bottles and firing them with ridiculously beautiful crystalline glazes who had agreed to meet and talk with him. He was so interested in the process that he has been making art with clay ever since. As a youth, he received an Honorable Mention in the Scholastic National High School Arts Competition and his work was subsequently hung on the walls of the White House in the exhibition of winning works. He earned his BFA in Ceramic Art from Arizona State University in 1990. In 1995 he received an Honorable Mention from the Monarch National Tile Show at the Kennedy-Douglas Center for the Arts in Florence Alabama. He achieved his MFA in Ceramic Art from Texas Tech in 1996. He has taught at Texas Tech University, Metropolitan State University, and will begin teaching at Front Range Community College in 2020. His ceramic art has been exhibited in DC, AL, AZ, CA, NM, TX, CO, KS, OK, and AL. His studio practice is ongoing.
Statement of Teaching Philosophy
The importance of my students feeling capable and empowered by their classes holds tremendous value for me. To this end I foster preparedness in the creation of the works they feel are important in a way that will have the most impact on their audience and I help them understand the value of what they do and realize the ability they each have to achieve the rewards for that value.
I encourage students to build up to their bigger ideas by progressively learning and using simple foundation techniques, strategies, and skills that will allow them to fully realize their concepts. Practices such as idea sketches, preparatory maquettes, and scale or concept models, technique development, course-of-action outlines, and calendaring will all lead to more fully-realized, engaging, and well-developed final projects. I encourage students to keep sketchbooks and use them for both idea drawings and writing. Written notes are just as important as sketches as clues for successful outcomes. Assignments that require exposure to actual artwork from other artists will help maintain critical pathways to creative ideas and concepts. These should become part of their everyday process around making art. Assignments requiring discourse on subjects other than art that inspire or just interest the students will encourage broader thinking and will often lead to much needed breakthroughs. My goal is to teach these strategies in such a way that they become built-in to their individual processes.
I reinforce the idea that techniques, especially in throwing, are built up over time, through regular and consistent practice. Strategies are learned through experimentation, action, and reasonable failure; Subsequent evaluation, repetition, and recovery help students build new courses of action that will yield progressively better outcomes. When failure is encountered I want them to learn to isolate the problems and address improving on them. Success is achieved through logical and deliberate steps taken toward a goal. When concepts are short of content or too long on obvious cliches or tropes we must break down the concept and build it back up with an eye to more thoughtful final outcomes which will yield more meaningful results.
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As an instructor, ceramic art classes can often seem like 15-20 private or small-group lessons during each 3-4 hour period. Although I’ve learned to keep an eye on everyone’s progress and touch base about struggles and conceptual dead-ends I maintain openness in the classroom and encourage requests for help should I miss a queue.
It is important to develop each student’s technique at the same time as we work together on their critical thinking and conceptual journeys. It all needs to be developed simultaneously. Tied together, technique, skill, and critical thinking create the most exciting, interesting, and meaningful art. I encourage thoughtful probing of motivations, experiences, and messaging.
It’s important to inspire as well as teach. My own pedagogical theories are constantly flexing, adapting, evolving, and undergoing refinement based on daily feedback realized through student art outcomes, peer feedback, and course evaluations, as well as what I see of students progress and comprehension. My own studio practice constantly reminds me to stay present, incorporate outside influences, and refine technique which ultimately broadens my abilities as a teacher.