Square Plate

Bruce Dehnert. Stoneware. Flashing slip. Woodfired.

Juicer

Bruce Dehnert. Porcelain. Glaze. Flashing slip. Woodfired.

Quatro Gimlet

Bruce Dehnert. Porcelain. Glaze. Flashing slip. Walnut base by Ellie Richards.

Saturn Teapot

Bruce Dehnert. Stoneware. BwhiteD glaze. Flashing slip. Woodfired.

Plate

Bruce Dehnert. Stoneware. Flashing slip. Woodfired.

Bourbon Charger

Bruce Dehnert. Porcelain. Glaze. Flashing slip. Woodfired.

PV Anagama 2016 Unloading

Peter's Valley School of Craft: Unloading of the kiln from New Jersey Herald on Vimeo.

PV Anagama 2016 Peters Valley

Hidden Jersey

Bruce Dehnert, Head of Ceramics at Peters Valley,
sits inside the craft school's 46-foot-long Anagama kiln.
Photo by Rob Yaskovic.

"The Clay Way: 2016 National Invitational"

Bruce Dehnert.'Ingot16'. Wood-fired porcelain, glaze. 12x11x3ins

Starting May 6 with an opening reception from 5-7 PM and continuing through June 10, The Clay Lady Campus will host The Clay Way Invitational Gallery Exhibition.The exhibition will be the first ever of its kind in Nashville, as patrons will be able to see the works of three generations of artists working in clay. The Clay Way Invitational is an opportunity for the national ceramic community to showcase its history and growth during the last century.

Julia Whitney Brown, The Clay Way Curator

Julia Whitney Brown

Julia Whitney Brown's work is narrative, observation based, or a study on form itself. The means vary from installation, to relational, to object, to experiential, to conceptual, to performance. Visually, her work is most influenced by the natural world, or the contrast of the natural world to an artificial environment. Brown's work stems from three means: 1.) the need to understand, define, and categorize reality; 2) for simple pleasure and 3) for creation as an expression of living dignity experienced through personhood. Influences that drive her work include experiences, relationships, relationships with experiences, and the active and constant transformation of her desires and worldview.

Ceramics Monthly Article: Spotlight: April 2016

Bruce Dehnert

Ceramics Monthly: What impact has your role as Director of Ceramics at Peters Valley School of Craft had on your creative practice?

Bruce Dehnert: My position has afforded me the rare opportunity to put some of my philosophical assumptions to test. That is, I believe that creativity and art making can be greatly enhanced by forming connections between the artist and pretty much everything and everyone else out there who happen to somehow wander into the artist’s orbit. This includes ideas drawn from all spectrums of human experience, techniques and materials, and most importantly the human dimension as experienced through conversations. A workshop center like Peters Valley can be a stew of resources with all kinds of people coming and going quickly through the place with their myriad ideas and approaches. This also includes artists working in other mediums who I might have the opportunity to have lunch with and shoot the universe.

Because of this rich environment, I think I have maintained quite an experimental approach to my work. It’s almost impossible to be part of this creative enterprise without being influenced or inspired by the enthusiasm with which most artists, whether they be instructors, residents, or students, endeavor to bring something new to the table while they’re here. I try to watch and consider what I’m observing.
In terms of the school’s location in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, it’s always a joy to hear visiting instructors exclaim their amazement at the nature around the Center. Because we are close to New York City, most arrive expecting John Malkovich to fall out of the sky onto the Jersey Turnpike in front of Tony Soprano’s SUV as it speeds past the cargo cranes near the Port of Newark. Actually, New Jersey is the Garden State, and Peters Valley definitely lives up to that billing.

CM: Have your experiences firing the wood kiln at Peters Valley influenced your work in any way?

BD: One of the most important ideas that have crystallized my experience of wood firing is that all art is made in context. Having witnessed the many different approaches to this process by visiting artists I am constantly refreshed and inspired. Because I view wood kilns basically as tools, I am not a romantic about the role the things play in our culture or history. Having said this, I am aware of the metaphysical aspects that people may bring to the event. But I am most interested in the discipline going forward, evolving and being useful as a contemporary effect. What does that look like and why? The firing of a wood-kiln is very different than a studio-based act of art making. There is a certain absence of complete control that is liberating. This element of risk-taking is something that has interested me since I was young. It’s simply invigorating to be part of a group of artists trying to fire a kiln in the middle of a blizzard in wintertime, knowing that what we are attempting to do is going to be worth every flashing and signal of the flame’s path across the objects within. There’s an intangible value to this sort of experience…and in some ways, it seems to become more so all the time.

The Architectural Object Installation

Curated by HJM President Richard Hu, The Architectural Object asks sculptors and potters to explore architecture as it applies to the clay object. The word architecture comes from the Greek words for “chief/principal” and “artisan/builder”. The definition traditionally encompasses the process of planning, designing and constructing buildings. In current vernacular, the term has broadened to encompass the apparent architecture of complex structures like biological cells to the planning and organization of computer software. This exhibition explores how each artist defines the term—either through direct inspiration, process, or metaphor.

Bruce Dehnert
'The Architectural Object'
Photo: Joseph Hu

Bruce Dehnert 
'The Architectural Object'1
Photo: Joseph Hu

Bruce Dehnert 
'The Architectural Object'2
Photo: Joseph Hu

Bruce Dehnert 
'The Architectural Object'3
Photo: Joseph Hu

Bruce Dehnert 
'The Architectural Object'4
Photo: Joseph Hu

Bruce Dehnert 
'The Architectural Object'5
Photo: Joseph Hu

Bruce Dehnert 
'The Architectural Object'6
Photo: Joseph Hu

Bruce Dehnert 
'The Architectural Object'7
Photo: Joseph Hu

Bruce Dehnert 
'The Architectural Object'8
Photo: Joseph Hu

Bruce Dehnert 
'The Architectural Object'9
Photo: Joseph Hu

Bruce Dehnert 
'The Architectural Object'10
Photo: Joseph Hu

Joseph Hu
Bruce Dehnert

The Architectural Object Artists

Anagama Workshop

 

Bruce Dehnert.

Bruce Dehnert

The Big Burn

Jun. 26 - Jul. 09, 2016

The Architectural Object

Bruce Dehnert. Butterfly Quandary

As part of the The 50th Anniversary Conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, HJM Architects, Inc. is pleased to present The Architectural Object. The exhibition will be on view Wednesday, March 16 through Saturday, March 19th, 2016. There will be an artists' reception on Friday, March 18th from 5 to 8pm. All events are free and open to the public.