Bruce Bishop, Stoneware Artist

Sep 10, 2020 | Artist Profile

“I work in high fire stoneware. I do a lot of animal pieces. I have been working with sea turtles and whale imagery on pods. I also do a sculptural penguin and a sculptural bear, and a sculptural cat. The thing that’s most specific about my work is the carving that I do on the surface design. This is a self-glazing slip that I coat on the piece when it’s leather hard. I then take a metal loop tool and carve through. The area that’s left burns black when it’s fired. That becomes the positive space, and the area that I carve out becomes the negative space.

I grew up in Goshen. My mother was here before she died, and I wanted to move back and be with her during her last years. I was living in Washington state, and I was an instructor in ceramics at a community college there. Also, I was very much drawn to the Goshen artist guilds and ceramic guild as being a really good place to work with a lot of good people. I like Goshen. It’s a good place to live, and there’s a supportive community, a supportive artistic community.
It’s a bit of an experiment. I think there are some really great artists in the Michiana Pottery Tour. There are something like 21 different artists. Of course, I’d love people to come onto my website and see the For Sale section. It’s brucebishopceramics.com.

My favorite piece right now is about a 2-foot-high vase with the gosu black slip painted on it and carved through. It’s reminiscent of some Southwest Indian designs. Reminiscent, but not a copy of.”

brucebishopceramics.com