Gwen Heffner
Information Specialist
Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea
gwen.heffner@ky.gov
Phone: 859/ 985-5448
Fax: 859/ 985-5449

BEREA, Ky. (February 4, 2005) -- On Saturday, February 12, Wyman Rice of Lexington, will create handbuilt vessels from both slabs and coils of clay from 10:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea.

Wyman Rice grew up on a farm in Adair County near Columbia. Having always been interested in art, he began to draw at a very early age. Art instruction was not offered in Wyman’s elementary or high school – so he taught himself until he was able to take art courses in college. He attended the University of Louisville and then the University of Kentucky, where his interest in ceramics was fueled by seeing sculptural contemporary clay work. After two years of studio work in clay at UK, Wyman began his 23 year clay career.

Wyman Rice produces work without a potter’s wheel. Each piece is constructed one at a time using slabs or coils of clay. The clay is rolled out into sheets or coils and then joined to create unique and organic forms. Looking to nature and the human figure for inspiration, Wyman fires all of his work with the Raku firing process using a porous clay, specifically composed for this type of firing. Raku is a process where a pot is glazed and fired very quickly and then removed quickly from the kiln while red-hot and either plunged into water or placed into combustible materials to cool rapidly. Finished works often have a scorched look, or a lustrous and brilliantly colored surface from the metallic oxides in the glazes. This Raku firing process creates finished surfaces that can be red, green or gold and the clay itself becomes charcoal grey or black. Wyman uses a white crackle glaze that traps the smoke from the cooling into the glaze surface.

A variety of Raku pottery by Wyman Rice is regularly available at the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea. The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea is located just off Interstate 75 at exit 77 (Berea). The Center’s exhibits, shopping, and travel information areas are all open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the café from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Admission is free. The Center currently features works by more than 470 artisans from all across the Commonwealth. For more information call 859-985-5448 or visit the Center’s web site at www.kentuckyartisancenter.ky.gov

The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea is an agency in the Commerce Cabinet of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.