Contact Rob Cartelli at: rcartelli19@hotmail.com

I make wheel-thrown functional ware because I'm in love with the concept of creating pottery that is designed not only to be visually alluring but effective as well.  I create my mugs to have a comfortable handle, hold a good volume, not tip over easily, and all the while remain eye-catching.  I make pitchers to pour well and look alive on a dining table.  Thus, I'm presented with a constant challenge as many of my forms are works in progress.  This challenge becomes a discussion between myself and the medium; my pots at any given time become the interlocutors.

I marvel at the millennia of ceramic history and tradition.  Nearly all civilizations developed their own traditions in clay.  The earliest found ceramic shards carbon-date back some 16,000 years.  When I make a piece, I'm replicating a process that countless potters before me performed.

There are people who quilt, or golf, or play bass in 80s cover bands; I throw pots. My creativity is grounded in clay.  The first time I centered a lump of clay under my hands and threw a cylinder I was hooked.   From throwing to recycling clay, I quickly became enthralled with all the processes of ceramics.  A large part of pottery is hard work; making clay, hauling heavy bags of materials, cleaning kiln shelves, building splash pans, collecting and stacking wood, cleaning the studio, etc.  And all of that labor is worth it, just to create some everyday objects to use or look at.  I don't mean to simplify what pottery is, but to illustrate the sweat behind each piece.  It's hard work, but I love it; I hope that is evident in my pots.

For more information, please visit www.freewebs.com/rcartelli