kilns are housed, used primarily for bisque firing. Shelves hold
works in progress, and the room has a large rolling door to access
the outside. Further out from the studio is the large gas kiln, ap-
proximately eight by eight feet. A welder in Spartanburg made the
stainless steel box and door. Winton then insulated the box and
built out the rest of the kiln. Nearby is the wood-fired kiln that
Winton and Rosa built, with a firebox that is about the same size
as the kiln space. High temperatures necessary for stoneware are
reached faster, and the firing time decreased to around six hours.
Once a year, the Eugenes fire the wood-burning kiln, a method
favored among the many folk potters who work in South Carolina,
Georgia and North Carolina. Copper, bronze, cobalt and celadon
are the glazes used on their wood-fired pieces. The results are very
different from the bisque- and gas-fired works and appeal to a dif-
ferent type of collector. According to ceramics historian and collec-
tor Arthur Goldberg, the combination of the low-relief decoration
with the bronze glaze recalls the work of the 19th-century American
sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, whose early training was as
a cameo artist.
Lynn Robertson, director of the McKissick Museum, in Colum-
bia, SC, notes that the Eugenes’ style is unique and distinguishable
from the work of other Southern potters. That is not to say that the
couple function in an artistic vacuum. References to other potters
and artistic movements can be glimpsed in their pieces but have not
been copied. They demonstrate at numerous arts and craft shows
each year, including the Catawba Valley Pottery Festival in Hick-
ory, NC. They exhibit with other African American artists in group
shows, such as “Diversity in Unity: Contemporary African Ameri-
can Ceramics,” at Baltimore Clayworks in 2004.
Each year Rosa creates a new signature glaze and Winton con-
tinues to experiment with different subjects. This year’s Chanjari
blue glaze, with its deep, almost indigo hue, is striking against the
white Laguna clay; the portraits in profile are no longer strictly
African-American. The Eugenes have many works in progress like
The Price/Freedom
and new ideas not yet worked out in clay. They
take risks and experiment to see what works and what does not,
educating and encouraging others while demonstrating and discuss-
ing their work. What global or local topics will they address in the
coming years? Regardless of what Rosa and Winton create, the
works shaped by their travels, interaction with people and the natu-
ral world around them, and, ultimately, the result of their artistic
and philosophical vision are true collaborations. +
J ill Beute Koverman is curator o f collections at the M cK issick Museum,
University o f South Carolina.
T h e E u g e n e s ta k e riSks and e x p e rim e n t to see w h a t
w o r k s an d w h a t d o es n o t, e d u ca tin g an d e n c o u ra g in g
o th ers w h ile d em o n stra tin g and d iscu ssin g th e ir w o r k .
More at ebook-free-download.net or magazinesdownload.com
Far left:
Winton carving the
Abstraction
motif into a
recently thrown pitcher.
Left:
A Alajority in Relief
teapot, 2010, wheel-
thrown, low relief and
etched, Chanjari blue
glaze, 9 x 9% x 6% in.
Opposite:
Abstraction
pitcher, 2010,
wheel-thrown, carved
white stoneware with
Chanjari blue glaze,
9 x
6V2X BVt
in.
Abstraction
vase, 2010,
carved white stoneware
with evergreen glaze,
6
%x3Vix6in.
