Linnis Blanton: Spirited Vessels
On View March 4 - April 29, 2023
On View March 4 - April 29, 2023
March 4 - April 29, 2023
Foltz Fine Art is proud to present Spirited Vessels by ceramic artist, Linnis Blanton beginning March 4th, 2023. Blanton was born in Port Arthur, Texas in 1950, and is a beloved figure of the Southeast Texas art scene. Blanton taught as an adjunct instructor for twenty years at Lamar University, where he was the sole ceramics teacher, and recently retired after thirty years of teaching in the Texas public school system.
Spirited Vessels features fourteen of Blanton’s sculptural vessels. The term “vessel” alludes to the fact that each of these works, which began on the pottery wheel, have hollow interiors that are capable of housing many substances including the individual spirit of the art itself. Dimples, creases, folds, and curves are suggestive of the human body but also of rock formations that link to Blanton’s formative travels in the Four Corners region of the Southwest. The invitation of touch plays an integral role in this grouping as surface textures, soft forms that invoke the curve of a hip, or undulations like the surface of a canyon wall engage the eye and tempt the hands. Rich color, discovered through years of working and experimentation, accentuate form. These sculptures are further united in their sensuousness of form and meditative approach to art making.
As both a practitioner and former teacher of meditation, Blanton regularly refers to being in the present moment. Experimentation is central to Blanton’s way of working, and it is not unusual for Blanton to fire pieces multiple times on their journey to completion. His openness to “mistakes” (Blanton accepts mistakes as anything but an error), and his focus on the needs of the sculpture over his personal desires are central to his artistic practice. Blanton is forever intrigued by the mystery and endless possibility of glazes and firing techniques.
Linnis Blanton: Spirited Vessels will be on view at Foltz Fine Art from March 4th – April 29th, 2023.
*Exhibition is co-curated by Sirena LaBurn.
The plasticity and sensuousness of the clay is the reason I love to make vessels. The clay is constantly recording my touch and thoughts as I express my creativity. A major influence on my work was a trip to New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona to visit sacred sights of the Ancient Indians. My vessels suggest the natural phenomena of the canyon walls that are transformed from my imagination to the pot’s surface. As I work on the vessels that represent the canyon walls, they begin to change into figures. The figures seem to appear as spirits of ancestors. I alter, modify, push, and pull the surface of the clay in an attempt to express a connection of the past and present.
-Linnis BlantonOn Utopia, dimples found in the rounded form evoke the meeting of skin as well as the curves of a hip. The rounded form of Utopia comes together to meet at a soft peak reminiscent of a drift of sand. Like the richest blues found in nature, Utopia maintains a deep sapphire coloration. Striations on the surface of the clay beckon to be touched, recalling wrinkles on skin but also the weathering and layering of rock.
-Sirena LaBurn, co-curatorPurple Sandstone is immediately striking for the crevice formed where the clay seems to gently fold in on itself, creating a cave-like interior. With this sensitive folding of form, Blanton highlights the malleability of wet clay, and the softness which it is capable of suggesting even after it has been fired. The surface of Purple Sandstone is rounded and smooth, with lines gently combed onto its misty lavender surface.
-Sirena LaBurn, co-curatorLinnisBlanton
Sandstone
thrownandalteredstonewareclay,sandblasted 23x12x12in
$3,200.00
Easily held in two hands, Heaven and Earth I is a small-scale sculpture (10” x 7”) that playfully reverses the scale of human and landscape. The sculpture’s play on scale effectively makes the viewer a giant and the impossibly large canyon landscape, graspable. Heaven and Earth I’s form recalls the water and wind carved canyons of Arizona, and its pink color, the red, Arizona earth reflecting the sun. -Sirena
Heaven and Earth
thrownandalteredstonewareclay
7x7x10in $2,500.00
LaBurn, co-curatorSandstone Metamorphosis is the largest work in “Spirited Vessels.” This sculpture embodies the dual nature of many of Blanton’s pieces that oscillate between human figuration and earth formations. Blanton uses earth itself to refer to the rock formations found in the American Southwest, and Sandstone Metamorphosis specifically calls to mind hoodoos (spire like rock formations caused by erosion). Hoodoos, also known as chimney rocks, when singular appear sentinel-like, and imbue the landscape with a kind of figural spectator. The hole at the top of the sculpture allows the viewer to gaze into a deep darkness, but also serves a reminder of how the work was created, on the potter’s wheel, its shape formed by the hands of the artist.
LinnisBlanton
Sandstone Metamorphosis
thrownandalteredstonewareclay,sandblasted 37x11x11in $3,500.00
-Sirena LaBurn, co-curatorLinnisBlantonwasbornandraisedinPortArthur, Texas. Hecompletedhisundergraduatestudiesat LamarUniversitywithanAllLevelArtEducation degree,andaBachelorofFineArts.Blantonalso countshisstudiesatTexasTechUniversitywithJames WatkinsandSarahWaterasbeinginfluentialonhis practice.
Blantontaughtforthirtyyearsinthepublicschool systemandonlyrecentlyretiredfromLamarUniversitywherehewasanadjunct instructorfor20years.Abelovedteacher,BlantonisknowninSoutheastTexasfor hisartisticintegrity,hisgenerosityinteaching,andhisdeepknowledgeofclay. Blanton’sworkhasbeenpublishedinCeramicMonthlymagazine,andthebook entitled500PlatesandChargers.HehasexhibitedalloverSoutheastTexasincluding atTheArtMuseumofSoutheastTexas(Beaumont,TX),theDishmanArtMuseum (Beaumont,TX)andGalvestonCollege(Galveston,TX).
Blantoncontinueshisongoingdiscoursewiththeceramicvessel,exploringitsformal andsymbolicpotential.
1976 B.F.A.StudioArt,LamarUniversityBeaumont,Texas
1972 B.S.ArtEducation,LamarUniversityBeaumont,Texas
2002-2022 AdjunctInstructor,LamarUniversity,Beaumont,Texas
1973-2003 ArtTeacher,PortArthurIndependentSchoolDistrict,PortArthur, Texas
2014 TeacheroftheYear,SoutheastTexasArtsCouncil,Beaumont,Texas
2013 Judge,6thInternationalTexasTeapotTournament,18HandsGallery, Houston,Texas
1990 2ndPlaceAward,Artist/TeacherShow,LamarUniversity,Beaumont,Texas
2021 SacredSilence ,BeaumontArtLeague,Beaumont,Texas
2021 ConnectingHeavenandEarth ,DishmanArtMuseum,Beaumont,Texas
2020 Mindscapes ,BeaumontArtLeague,Beaumont,Texas
2018 CeramicsExhibition ,GalvestonCollege,Galveston,Texas
2015 JourneyFromWithin:CeramicsbyLinnisBlanton ,ArtMuseumofSoutheast
Texas,Beaumont,Texas
2011 EarthSongII ,MuseumoftheGulfCoast,PortArthur,Texas
2010 EarthSongI ,IceHouseMuseum,Silsbee,Texas
2000 OutoftheBlue ,BeaumontArtLeague,Beaumont,Texas
1994 JourneyWithin ,GulfCoastMuseum,PortArthur,Texas
2015 LamarFacultyExhibition ,Beaumont,Texas
2014 SacredArtShow ,BeaumontArtLeague,Beaumont,Texas
2014 SculptureInvitational ,TheArtStudio,Beaumont,Texas
2014 LamarFacultyExhibition ,Beaumont,Texas
2013 LamarFacultyExhibition ,Beaumont,Texas
2012 5thInternationalTexasTeapotTournament ,Houston,Texas
2007 RegionalCeramicCompetition ,UniversityofDallas,IrvingTexas (Juror:ValCushing)
2006 FireandIce ,IceHouseMuseum,Silsbee,Texas
InvitationalExhibition ,TexasArtistsMuseum,PortArthur,Texas
CapturedIntentions ,BeaumontArtLeague,Beaumont,Texas
LamarUniversityFacultyExhibition ,DishmanArtGallery,Beaumont,Texas
2005 LamarUniversityFacultyExhibition ,DishmanArtGallery,Beaumont,Texas
2004 LamarUniversityFacultyExhibition ,DishmanArtGallery,Beaumont,Texas
2003 ThreePersonShow ,MegnetGallery,Beaumont,Texas
LamarUniversityFacultyExhibition ,DishmanArtGallery,Beaumont,Texas
2002 LamarUniversityFacultyExhibition ,DishmanArtGallery,Beaumont,Texas
2001 Two-PersonShow ,OneAllenCenter,Houston,Texas
2000 Two-PersonShow ,OneAllenCenter,Houston,Texas
MembersShow ,TexasClayArtAssociation,SanAngelo,Texas
1997 FamilyandFriends ,DishmanArtGallery,Beaumont,Texas
1994 ArtStudioExhibition ,TheArtStudio,Beaumont,Texas (Juror:JamesSurles)
1992 BetweentheMindThoughts ,TheArtStudio,Beaumont,Texas
1990
Artist/TeacherShow ,LamarUniversity,Beaumont,Texas
1989 FiveStateArtExhibition ,ServiceLeague,PortArthur,Texas (Juror:MichaelAuping)
1987 TheUglyArtShow ,TheArtStudio,Beaumont,Texas
1986 YellowDogArtExhibition ,TheArtStudio,Beaumont,Texas
1984 SilentSpace ,TheArtStudio,Beaumont,Texas
1980 Tri-StateExhibition ,BeaumontArtLeague,Beaumont,Texas (Juror:HarryAshysen)
1979 Tri-StateExhibition ,BeaumontArtLeague,Beaumont,Texas
1978 Tri-StateExhibition ,BeaumontArtLeague,Beaumont,Texas
1972 Exhibition ,Baytown,Texas
2008 Tourtillott,SuzanneJ.E.500Plates&Chargers:InnovativeExpressionsof FunctionandStyle .NewYork:LarkCrafts,2008.
2000 Reed,Harry.“BeneaththeSurface.”CeramicMonthly(June,July,August, 2000):73.
ArtMuseumofSoutheastTexas,Beaumont,TX
DishmanMuseum,LamarUniversity,Beaumont,TX
MuseumoftheGulfCoast,PortArthur,TX GalvestonCollege,Galveston,TX
KaylaPeltier,PortArthur,TX
PamO’Neal,Beaumont,
DavidCargill,Beaumont, TX TX
RobClark,Beaumont,TX TX
SarahBethWilson,Houston,
SandyLaurette,Beaumont,TX TX
RobertMadden,Beaumont,
KristiHeid,SabinePass,TX
CarloBuscemeIV,Beaumont,TX
CarloBuscemeIII,Beaumont,TX
DonnaMeeks,Beaumont,TX TX
RobertO’Niel,Beaumont,
Jerry&PattyNewman,Beaumont,TX
TheplasticityandsensuousnessoftheclayisthereasonIlovetomakevessels.The clayisconstantlyrecordingmytouchandthoughtsasIexpressmycreativity.A majorinfluenceonmyworkwasatriptoNewMexico,Colorado,andArizonatovisit sacredsightsoftheAncientIndians.Myvesselssuggestthenaturalphenomenaof thecanyonwallsthataretransformedfrommyimaginationtothepot’ssurface.AsI workonthevesselsthatrepresentthecanyonwalls,theybegintochangeinto figures.Thefiguresseemtoappearasspiritsofancestors.Ialter,modify,push,and pullthesurfaceoftheclayinanattempttoexpressaconnectionofthepastand present.