John L Richard

Slip casted porcelain clay is my current exploration of architectural form and concepts.

As a child I played with wooden blocks that my Father made for me. I now work with blocks of plaster, which I stack-up to form molds. Then I pour slip (liquid clay) into the plaster molds. The slip will take on the shape of the interior of the stacked plaster blocks. After the slip has set up the plaster block molds are taken apart. Now I have a piece of ceramics the shape of the negative space the stacked plaster blocks formed.

Each ceramic piece is unique because of the way the plaster blocks are stacked. I can make similar pieces but none are exactly the same as they would be if I used the conventional method of slip casting.
As a child I was very interested in art and architecture. I received my B.A. in Art and education from the University of Wisconsin – Platteville. After graduation I spent 39 years teaching art and trying to develop creativity in my students.

My summers were spent selling, designing and building Geodesic Dome homes. I also made full-size sculptures of Dinosaurs for museums and collectors.

My wife Carolyn, also an artist, and I live in a Geodesic Dome we designed and built. It is the first dome built in southwestern Wisconsin.

I have taken over my son’s ceramic studio we built together in an old barn on our property. Now I am spending my time exploring ceramics.
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