Today we’d like to introduce you to Travis Carr.
Travis, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
As a kid I always enjoyed playing in the creek mud behind my house. I loved figuring out how to make things and tinker around. I don’t think that curiosity and urge to make ever really left me. I sort of got addicted to ceramics in college and have been teaching high school art in Roswell for 20 years. I enjoy sharing the experience of being a maker and teaching the values of craftsmanship and self-expression.
Currently, I am working with my friend and neighbor Kent Knowles in partnership called Porchlight Pottery. I build organic forms out of porcelain and black stoneware, and Kent hand-draws images of animal or human characters on each one. The pieces are funky, they have personality; no two are quite the same. We build off each other’s ideas, we enjoy surprising and challenging one another.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I’m a potter so my medium is clay. I enjoy clay because of its primal nature. It’s one of the earliest mediums used, it’s readily available, and it’s an incredibly complex material for all its simplicity. Process is a huge part of my interest in being an artist, and ceramics is certainly a process-dependent art. From manipulating the clay, itself to the finishing, the firing, the decoration – one single piece is truly the culmination of multiple techniques. Sharing that process with Kent in our Porchlight work creates a dynamic, mutually creative & inspirational experience for both of us. It’s fun to combine our two mediums to make work with character, something different and unexpected.
Have things improved for artists? What should cities do to empower artists?
It doesn’t get much better than Atlanta for an artist. I feel that there is a lot of recognition and appreciation for art in our city, a lot of respect. Advancements in social media, technology, and internet accessibility has given everyone, including artists, so much more of a voice, a platform if you will. So, in that sense, I feel like exposure is easier today, but it’s more difficult to stand out, do something different, and connect with people on a more personal level. That’s one of the reasons I love clay as a medium – it’s earth, it’s a soulful material that people can physically connect with, which I feel is so necessary in this time of diminishing face to face social interactions. I talk to my students a lot about the importance of and intimacy inherent in a handmade object. Media and society can make everything feel mass-produced these days, and a handmade piece of art is a way to break through that. You put yourself in every piece you make, and then share that with the world in hopes that there’s a positive connection made. Kent and I share that philosophy, and Porchlight Pottery is our way of putting something fresh and a little weird out there.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
ShopSCAD in Savannah is selling Porchligh Pottery pieces. We’ve taken several commissions and otherwise showcase our work at www.porchlightpottery.com.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.porchlightpottery.com
- Instagram: @carrtravis76
- Facebook: facebook.com/travis.e.carr
Image Credit:
Caroline Carr
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