Tom Radca

Born 1951 

EDUCATION

1979 BS Horticulture, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

1979 –   Full Time Potter

2016 –   Founder of the Radca Ranch School of Ceramics

BIOGRAPHY

Tom Radca is known for tile murals, large plates, and vessel forms. The tiles are cut from a block of clay, the plates and vessel forms are wheel-thrown. Radca uses unique glazing methods that he discovered by accident and developed over the years. The methods involve manipulating the glaze and its flow during the firing process. Radca fires his pieces in gas kiln introducing combustible materials to the kiln environment near the end of the firing process; a process he calls, "Painting with Fire".

Radca credits much of his success to his mentor,  Norman Schulman, who helped him make the transition from producing small functional pottery to large decorative plates and vessel forms. In 1994, Radca was the first Western artist to exhibit his claywork in Thailand. After teaching workshops in Italy in 2016 Radca opened a school to teach ceramics at his Ranch in Ohio.