The Dictionary of American Ceramics, 1945 onward
Dictionary of American Ceramics, 1945 onward
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Tom Turner
1945 Born Morris, Illinois
EDUCATION
1968 BS Art, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois
1973 MFA Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina
PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE
1969-1971 United States Army Special Services, Crafts Program, Ft. Jacksonville, South Carolina
1976—Studio Potter
1971-1976 Established Ceramic Arts program, Clemson University, College of Architecture, Department of Visual Studies, Clemson, South Carolina
1986 Established Peachblow Pottery, Delaware County, Ohio (name later changed to Lewis Center, Ohio)
1986 Visiting Artist, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois
1991 Visiting Artist, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
2005—Established studio near Mars Hill, N.C.
Tom Turner is known for a wide range of functional forms. Of these he revisited the covered jar form perfecting a thin-walled vessel and producing hundreds. Up until 1975 Turner worked in both stoneware and porcelain glazed and salt fired. From 1975 onward, Turner worked in porcelain which he glazed and high fired, but after 1976 did not use salt glaze but fired glazed porcelain in an old salt kiln.
While serving in the in the US Army, he taught ceramics in the Army Special Services where his civilian supervisor introduced him to potters in the area of Columbia, South Carolina. After the Army, Turner set up the Ceramic Arts program at Clemson University College of Architecture, Department of Visual Studies. It is here that he built a small salt glaze research kiln and also where he created his very first “Copper Red Vapor Glaze” on salt-glazed porcelain. He would continue to develop this glaze over several years. In 2005 Turner established his kiln in Marsh Hill, NC to pass on his knowledge. He said of North Carolina, “…it is without doubt, ‘The Potter’s State.”
Turner credits two teachers as pivotal mentors and guides: his high school ceramics teacher, Joseph Corsello, who encouraged and helped him enroll at Illinois State University; and James Wozniak who mentored Turner at Illinois State University. Of both Turner says, “…had a passion for teaching and guiding students along their own path.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
American Museum of Ceramic Art,Pomona, California
Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, Helena, Montana
The Canton Art Center, Canton, Ohio
Ceramic Research Center, University of Arizona, Tempe, Arizona
Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, South Carolina
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York
Florence Museum, Florence, South Carolina
Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, South Carolina
McLean County Arts Center, Bloomington, Illinois
The Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina
Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Zanesville Art Center, Zanesville, Ohio
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“A Domestic Fine Porcelain.” Studio Potter 6 no. 2.
Alexander, Robert. “Tom Turner.” Ceramics Monthly (March 1982).
Axel, Jan and Karen McCready. Porcelain: Traditions and New Visions. New York, NY: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1981.
Berman, Rick. Teapots. 1980.
Bevlin, Marjorie Elliott. Design Through Discovery. 1st and 2nd ed. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963, 1977.
Britt, John. The Complete Guide to High-Fire Glazes: Glazing and Firing to Cone 10. Asheville, NC: Lark Books, 2007.
Ceramics Monthly. cover, February 1985.
Ceramics Monthly. cover, September 1978.
Cooper, Emmanuel. Ten Thousand Years of Pottery. London, England: The British Museum Press, 2000.
“Copper Red Vapor Glaze.” Studio Potter 8 no. 1.
Conrad, John W. Contemporary Ceramic Techniques. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1979.
Danhauser, Paul S. History of American Ceramics: The Studio Potter. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Co., 1978.
Dormer, Peter. The New Ceramics. London, England: Thames & Hudson, 1986.
Herman, Lloyd. American Porcelain: New Expressions in an Ancient Art. Portland, OR: Timber Press Inc., 1980.
Hopper, Robin. Functional Pottery: Form and Aesthetic in Pots of Purpose. Radnor, PA: Chilton Book Co., 1986.
___________. The Ceramic Spectrum. Radnor, PA: Chilton Book Co., 1983.
___________. Making Marks: Discovering the Ceramic Surface. Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2004.
Lane, Peter. Contemporary Studio Porcelain. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003.
_________. Ceramic Form. England: Collins 1988.
Lane, Peter. Studio Ceramics. Radnor, PA: Chilton Book Co., 1983.
Nelson, Glenn C. Ceramics: A Potter’s Handbook, 4th and 5th ed. New York, NY: Holt Rinehart and Winston, 1978, 1983.
Ostermann, Matthias. The Ceramic Surface. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002.
Perry, Barbara. American Ceramics: The Collection of the Everson Museum of Art. New York, NY: Rizzoli International Publishers, 1989.
Troy, Jack. Salt-Glazed Ceramics. New York, NY: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1977.
Turner, Tom. “PTO Powered Salt Kiln.” Studio Potter 6 no. 1 (June 1977).
Rogers, Phil. Ash Glazes. Radnor, PA: Chilton Book Co., 1992.
Taylor, Patrick and Don Pilcher. “Tom Turner: A Passion in Porcelain.” Ceramics Monthly (March 2017).
Woodhead, Steve. The Teapot Book. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005.
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Citation: "The Marks Project." Last modified March 23, 2023. http://www.themarksproject.org/marks/turner-0
