Ron Morris

Ron is a native of Hartselle, Alabama and graduated from Morgan County High School in 1970. It was there that he took his first art classes and began to work in clay and other art media. . Ron learned to make pottery in the 1970's at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa where he received an MFA degree in ceramics in 1980. During the early 1980's, he worked and lived in Lisbon, Portugal for a period of four years before returning to Alabama.

Ron currently lives in Fayette, Alabama where he runs a local pottery business and teaches pottery classes. His wife, Anita, runs a bakery at the same location in downtown Fayette. Ron taught K-12 art classes in various public schools from 1974 until 2000. He taught art at Bevill State Community College from 2000 until 2014 before retiring. Ron offers clay classes to the public and is a full time potter and artist.

When creating with clay, Ron employs various firing methods including mid-range stoneware firings in several electric kilns and gas firing in a raku kiln. Using an old electric kiln which has been converted for outdoor firing, Ron produces low-fired raku pottery with a range of metallic copper finishes. He creates functional ware, decorative wall designs on wood, and hand built clay sculptures. His ceramic pieces often include decorative relief surfaces with energetic designs which are carved into the clay while it is still soft. Ron enjoys combining wheel-thrown forms with hand-built slabs and traditional coil forms before bisque firing and glazing.

In addition to creating works in clay, Ron enjoys using wax crayons to create whimsical drawings which are stained with black India ink and then carved to reveal bright colorful patterns and designs scratched into the surface. Ron uses a variety of tools such as calligraphy pens, sharpened nails, and dental instruments to scratch the stained surfaces. Ron incorporates a wide range of complex stylized images including animal forms, portraits, floral arrangements, and landscapes in these crayon drawings. These works are reminiscent of his many years as an elementary art teacher. The influences of children’s drawings and their content are evident in Ron’s work as he explores the use of vivid colors and a myriad of textures and unusual patterns. The blend of illustrated themes incorporates his playful attitude, style, and interest in children’s drawings and techniques as an art form.

Ron loves to manipulate clay and paper surfaces. He enjoys the process of scratching and carving into leather hard clay which he colors using various colored slips and glazes. His carved drawings are created by using layers of wax crayons on paper to create linear patterns, shapes, spaces, textures, and complex stylized images. These are covered with black India ink and allowed to dry before scratching into the surface with various tools to reveal the bright layers of bold colors, lines, patterns, and textures beneath.