THE VISION FOR A REGIONAL CERAMICS PROGRAM AT LEMOYNE ARTS
Imagine a thriving ceramics program which draws enthusiasts from around our region to Tallahassee for the opportunity to come together and learn from experienced potters at LeMoyne Arts.
The existing kiln sheds at LeMoyne are in high demand for traditional and alternative pottery firing methods.
The existing facility will be expanded, and new features added to create an inviting space nestled among the landscaping and sculptures of the gardens. The renovations and expansion of the ceramics firing complex, and gardens will transform the gardens at LeMoyne creating a magnet for those seeking to experience alternative pottery firings such as Raku and Saggar. LeMoyne Arts sees an opportunity to build on the current demand for clay classes and workshops and alternative firings, to draw even more students and observers to experience the thrill of creating art with clay. Transforming this existing space into an attractive and accessible venue for artists, pottery students and visitors to experience a wide variety of pottery firings will create a beautiful space all to enjoy. Features will include a clean safe space for teachers and students; new paths and seating offering access for everyone, seating and observation spaces around the complex, organization through better equipment storage, and drainage improvements. LeMoyne Arts is a leader in ceramics education through its resident artist Nancy Jefferson. Nancy’s accomplished students from over years of teaching, are eager to join her in LeMoyne’s vision for a regional ceramics center.
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Improving and expanding LeMoyne’s already very popular and active ceramics programs will include adding a new ceramics lab for building and throwing clay and renovating the existing kiln shed complex. The transformation will create an inviting space for groups and individuals to learn and practice many unconventional as well as traditional pottery firing methods.
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Potter Nancy Jefferson Finds Inspiration in Nature
Inspired by the glories of nature all around her, she fashions art by working with her hand
By Marina Brown, May 1, 2021, Tallahassee Magazine
Jefferson would not escape shaping clay and reaching into fires, and she would be inspired by the glories of nature all around her. She had been chosen by the Muse of Ceramics to become a potter.
Some 50 years later, Jefferson, whose work appears in galleries all over Florida and not infrequently in museums and outdoor art exhibitions in Tallahassee, continues to create art that is cherished for its elegance and whimsy. Since 2012, she has been the sought-after ceramics teacher at the LeMoyne Museum where she supports the vision of a wide range of students.
Jefferson attended the University of Kentucky and majored in art with an emphasis in ceramics. Then came the shift to the locale she called home for the next 24 years, Islamorada, in the Florida Keys.
“There was a wonderful atmosphere there in the ’70s — artists helping artists, a real community.” She apprenticed for two years with famed potters Dorothy and Lee Shank, and after attending the Penland School of Crafts and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, she became the center’s resident potter. Her reputation grew.
Many of her plates, vases and platters are formed into fishy bodies with perky fins, their coloration ranging from pastel to variegated, pixelated hues.
“I teach raku,” Jefferson said, “a 16th-century Japanese style, in which the piece is heated until the glaze is molten, then placed in a sawdust-filled trash can that catches fire. When brought out, you’ll see a beautiful, crackled surface.” She described “smoke-firing” involving an open pit, fire, leaves and a pottery surface rubbed and burnished with a stone. And she employs “saggar firing,” in which a piece is placed inside another container before firing. She uses more traditional kilns, as well.
With so much fire and heat, there are bound to be surprises.
Jefferson would not escape shaping clay and reaching into fires, and she would be inspired by the glories of nature all around her. She had been chosen by the Muse of Ceramics to become a potter.
Some 50 years later, Jefferson, whose work appears in galleries all over Florida and not infrequently in museums and outdoor art exhibitions in Tallahassee, continues to create art that is cherished for its elegance and whimsy. Since 2012, she has been the sought-after ceramics teacher at the LeMoyne Museum where she supports the vision of a wide range of students.
Jefferson attended the University of Kentucky and majored in art with an emphasis in ceramics. Then came the shift to the locale she called home for the next 24 years, Islamorada, in the Florida Keys.
“There was a wonderful atmosphere there in the ’70s — artists helping artists, a real community.” She apprenticed for two years with famed potters Dorothy and Lee Shank, and after attending the Penland School of Crafts and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, she became the center’s resident potter. Her reputation grew.
Many of her plates, vases and platters are formed into fishy bodies with perky fins, their coloration ranging from pastel to variegated, pixelated hues.
“I teach raku,” Jefferson said, “a 16th-century Japanese style, in which the piece is heated until the glaze is molten, then placed in a sawdust-filled trash can that catches fire. When brought out, you’ll see a beautiful, crackled surface.” She described “smoke-firing” involving an open pit, fire, leaves and a pottery surface rubbed and burnished with a stone. And she employs “saggar firing,” in which a piece is placed inside another container before firing. She uses more traditional kilns, as well.
With so much fire and heat, there are bound to be surprises.
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L-R: Students building and throwing clay in LeMoyne’s Cermaics Lab. Nancy Jefferson preparing Raku firing in LeMoyne’s Kiln
Complex. Students enjoy final pottery product after firing at LeMoyne Arts.
Complex. Students enjoy final pottery product after firing at LeMoyne Arts.
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