Linnis Blanton: Spirited Vessels

On View March 4 - April 29, 2023

Linnis Blanton: Spirited Vessels

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.

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Artist Statement

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 Blanton

On 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-curator

LinnisBlanton

Utopia thrownandalteredstonewareclay 11x9x9in $3,000.00

Purple 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-curator

LinnisBlanton

Purple Sandstone thrownandalteredstonewareclay,sandblasted

13x10x10in $2,100.00

LinnisBlanton

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-curator

LinnisBlanton

Sandstone 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-curator

LinnisBlanton(b.1950)

LinnisBlantonwasbornandraisedinPortArthur, 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.

EDUCATION

1976 B.F.A.StudioArt,LamarUniversityBeaumont,Texas

1972 B.S.ArtEducation,LamarUniversityBeaumont,Texas

TEACHINGEXPERIENCE

2002-2022 AdjunctInstructor,LamarUniversity,Beaumont,Texas

1973-2003 ArtTeacher,PortArthurIndependentSchoolDistrict,PortArthur, Texas

AWARDS/HONORS

2014 TeacheroftheYear,SoutheastTexasArtsCouncil,Beaumont,Texas

2013 Judge,6thInternationalTexasTeapotTournament,18HandsGallery, Houston,Texas

1990 2ndPlaceAward,Artist/TeacherShow,LamarUniversity,Beaumont,Texas

SELECTEDSOLOEXHIBITIONS

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

SELECTEDGROUPEXHIBITONS

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

PUBLICATIONS

2008 Tourtillott,SuzanneJ.E.500Plates&Chargers:InnovativeExpressionsof FunctionandStyle .NewYork:LarkCrafts,2008.

2000 Reed,Harry.“BeneaththeSurface.”CeramicMonthly(June,July,August, 2000):73.

PUBLICCOLLECTIONS

ArtMuseumofSoutheastTexas,Beaumont,TX

DishmanMuseum,LamarUniversity,Beaumont,TX

MuseumoftheGulfCoast,PortArthur,TX GalvestonCollege,Galveston,TX

PRIVATECOLLECTIONS

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

ArtistStatement

TheplasticityandsensuousnessoftheclayisthereasonIlovetomakevessels.The clayisconstantlyrecordingmytouchandthoughtsasIexpressmycreativity.A majorinfluenceonmyworkwasatriptoNewMexico,Colorado,andArizonatovisit sacredsightsoftheAncientIndians.Myvesselssuggestthenaturalphenomenaof thecanyonwallsthataretransformedfrommyimaginationtothepot’ssurface.AsI workonthevesselsthatrepresentthecanyonwalls,theybegintochangeinto figures.Thefiguresseemtoappearasspiritsofancestors.Ialter,modify,push,and pullthesurfaceoftheclayinanattempttoexpressaconnectionofthepastand present.