James Brooke
Artist Process Statement:
My work is high-fired porcelain that is both functional and decorative. I use the potter's wheel and various hand building techniques to make each piece. By layering slips and glazes I create a certain depth of surface and a final richness that can only be imparted through high temperature, reduction firing. Each piece is individually crafted and offered from my hands to yours.
Artist Bio:
Down on the Texas Gulf coast there is a unique spot in the world where the Bible Belt is cinched tightly around the state's second largest oilfield. Born here in 1950, with the aid of a two-ton come-a-long, and immediately whacked on my backside with the King James version (revised), I drew my first breath. I grew up among pump jacks, pipe fitters, and preachers.
After eighteen years of petroplex culture, I was off to college at the University of Texas in Austin. Five years later, after sidelines in Engineering and Business schools, I graduated with a B.F.A. with a specialty in ceramics and a minor in art history. Coming out of chute number 4, from Austin, Texas, riding Widowmaker, my next move was in 1974 to Tacoma, Washington, to begin graduate studies at the University of Puget Sound. I studied there under Carlton Ball for two years, and graduated in 1976 with an M.F.A. in ceramics. So now I had been declared a "master"…..hmmm. Well, I couldn't afford to leave town, so I set up a pottery studio there in Tacoma in a garage with a dirt floor, no running water, and not a lick of business acumen. It was a struggle, but pots did get made.
In 1984, I was granted an Artist-in-Residency in Queensland, Australia, at Beechmountain Pottery. For six months I worked and helped this studio develop a line of hand-made domestic ware. I got along with the Queenslanders particularly well after discovering we were only brothers separated by a common language. Following this residency, I traveled extensively in the South Pacific, managing to get back to Washington state flat broke.
I landed on the Kitsap Peninsula, just across Puget Sound from Seattle, but light years away from the urban culture. In Suquamish, the resting place of Chief Sealth, I set up a new studio with a school chum. It was off again producing pottery, but this time with some additional insight that had been gained in Australia. In 1986, I opened Potlatch Gallery in Poulsbo (just up the bay from Suquamish), that showcased Northwest artists and craftsmen, as well as my own work. For the next four years I worked in the studio during the week and ran the gallery on weekends. There weren't many vacations during those years, but I gained invaluable experience in retail, display, lighting, etc. One of my biggest insights came from observing on a daily basis just how my designs were accepted or rejected by the retail customer. Using this, I could test market designs very quickly and effectively.
In 1990, I made the decision that my real love and interests were rooted in the studio, so I sold the gallery. This same year, I married the lovely Barbara Lowe, moved to Seattle, and set up yet another studio, Northlake Potters, with Loren Lukens. After ten years in this location, Loren and his wife purchased a great building/home, and we moved our studio to our present location in West Seattle. We have been in this space now for twelve years, and our studio partnership continues today at Brace Point Pottery located on the bluffs above Puget Sound.
Artist Process Statement:
My work is high-fired porcelain that is both functional and decorative. I use the potter's wheel and various hand building techniques to make each piece. By layering slips and glazes I create a certain depth of surface and a final richness that can only be imparted through high temperature, reduction firing. Each piece is individually crafted and offered from my hands to yours.
Artist Bio:
Down on the Texas Gulf coast there is a unique spot in the world where the Bible Belt is cinched tightly around the state's second largest oilfield. Born here in 1950, with the aid of a two-ton come-a-long, and immediately whacked on my backside with the King James version (revised), I drew my first breath. I grew up among pump jacks, pipe fitters, and preachers.
After eighteen years of petroplex culture, I was off to college at the University of Texas in Austin. Five years later, after sidelines in Engineering and Business schools, I graduated with a B.F.A. with a specialty in ceramics and a minor in art history. Coming out of chute number 4, from Austin, Texas, riding Widowmaker, my next move was in 1974 to Tacoma, Washington, to begin graduate studies at the University of Puget Sound. I studied there under Carlton Ball for two years, and graduated in 1976 with an M.F.A. in ceramics. So now I had been declared a "master"…..hmmm. Well, I couldn't afford to leave town, so I set up a pottery studio there in Tacoma in a garage with a dirt floor, no running water, and not a lick of business acumen. It was a struggle, but pots did get made.
In 1984, I was granted an Artist-in-Residency in Queensland, Australia, at Beechmountain Pottery. For six months I worked and helped this studio develop a line of hand-made domestic ware. I got along with the Queenslanders particularly well after discovering we were only brothers separated by a common language. Following this residency, I traveled extensively in the South Pacific, managing to get back to Washington state flat broke.
I landed on the Kitsap Peninsula, just across Puget Sound from Seattle, but light years away from the urban culture. In Suquamish, the resting place of Chief Sealth, I set up a new studio with a school chum. It was off again producing pottery, but this time with some additional insight that had been gained in Australia. In 1986, I opened Potlatch Gallery in Poulsbo (just up the bay from Suquamish), that showcased Northwest artists and craftsmen, as well as my own work. For the next four years I worked in the studio during the week and ran the gallery on weekends. There weren't many vacations during those years, but I gained invaluable experience in retail, display, lighting, etc. One of my biggest insights came from observing on a daily basis just how my designs were accepted or rejected by the retail customer. Using this, I could test market designs very quickly and effectively.
In 1990, I made the decision that my real love and interests were rooted in the studio, so I sold the gallery. This same year, I married the lovely Barbara Lowe, moved to Seattle, and set up yet another studio, Northlake Potters, with Loren Lukens. After ten years in this location, Loren and his wife purchased a great building/home, and we moved our studio to our present location in West Seattle. We have been in this space now for twelve years, and our studio partnership continues today at Brace Point Pottery located on the bluffs above Puget Sound.
