Richard Rowland opens ceramics exhibit
See ‘Honoring the Life of Earthen Materials’ in Cannon Beach
CANNON BEACH — Cannon
Beach Gallery’s October exhi-
bition, “Honoring the Life of
Earthen Materials,” showcases
the ceramics of Astoria teacher
and artist Richard Rowland. The
show opens Friday, Oct. 2, and
there will be an artist reception
from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3.
The show will continue through
Nov. 1.
Every material Rowland
selects has its own character
that creates an ecological and
emotional perspective on the
¿nished ceramic pieces. ,n the
holistic process of ¿nding, col-
lecting, mixing and ¿ring these
raw materials, he watches their
evolution into abstracted new
forms.
Visual art gives artist another
language to express their sense
of the world. While this is true
of Rowland’s ceramics, it is not
the whole truth. His work is
more about the integration of art
with the natural world. Balance
is key in Rowland’s work: in his
T he
Illah
ee
A partm ents
D ow ntow n A storia’s
M ost Respected
A partm ent Com plex
Since 1969.
1046 Grand Avenue
Astoria, OR 97103
503-325-2280
thrown and cast forms; between
the controlled and accidental
elements. Even his home and
studio, set in woodland just out-
side Astoria, is a careful balance
between the requirements of
safe and comfortable living and
work accommodation and the
outside world.
“,nteracting directly with
raw, unre¿ned earthen materials
with all one’s senses is a prima-
ry experience, eliciting a sense
of transcendence that makes one
feel truly alive,” he says. “When
you physically touch a material
for even a moment, you begin to
understand its character.”
Rowland is of Hawaiian
heritage and feels a connection
with indigenous peoples and
their sense of place. He has col-
laborated in and initiated proj-
ects with artists from the Ab-
original, Maori and Hawaiian
communities. He understands
the respect given by these vis-
iting artists for the local native
Chinook peoples and facilitated
their meeting. These rich cul-
tural exchanges feed into Row-
land’s work.
Rowland ¿res most of his
work in his anagama (large
wood-¿red hillside kiln. He is
currently building a new kiln
and explained that the angle of
the kiln must shadow the incline
of the earth — for function and
poetic concept; the ritual can not
be separated from the making.
The ¿ve- to seven-day ¿rings of
this large, whale-shaped kiln is
indeed a ceremonial act of cre-
ation. The volcanic heat, Àying
ash and ¿re craft marks on the
surface of the clay, which he
describes as, “bringing to life an
unpredictable, emotional quali-
ty and natural spirit to the work.
The community (including the
wind and the rain ¿ring the kiln
brings a collective energy and
multi-layered perspective that
adds to the intensity of the ex-
perience.”
Every ceramic shares its sto-
ry about the ¿ring process. Like
Submitted photo
A ceramic vessel by Richard Rowland, fired in his Astoria anagama kiln and part of his new
exhibition at Cannon Beach Gallery.
an artifact, each piece holds trac-
es of a longer geological history,
connecting to bigger mysteries.
,n the anagama kiln, the ¿re
creates the spirit of the work,
integrating materials in a natu-
ral way. There is no certainty in
how a piece will turn out. “The
CCC Art Center Gallery opens ‘Investigations’
Artist David Allison to teach figure drawing workshop Oct. 9
ASTORIA — The Clatsop
Community College Art Cen-
ter Gallery will open its 2015-
16 exhibition season with
the show “,nvestigations, a
Retrospective Exhibition by
Seattle artist David Allison”
featuring artwork created by
the artist over a span of 40
years from 1975 through the
current year.
There will be a reception
at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8.
The reception and exhibit are
free and open to the public,
located at 1799 Lexington
Ave. The gallery is open from
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to
Friday, weekends and hol-
idays by appointment. The
show will run from Sept. 28
through Nov. 5.
,n conjunction with his
exhibit, Allison will conduct
the workshop “The Figure:
Thoughts on Seeing” from
10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Fri-
22 | October 1, 2015 | coastweekend.com
day, Oct. 9 with a one-hour
lunch break. During this
workshop, which includes
two hours of practice with a
live model, participants will
gain greater insight into the
artist’s process and explore
his approach in a productive,
hands-on session.
The workshop will be held
in the Drawing/Painting Stu-
dio of the CCC Art Center
and is free to CCC students
enrolled in fall term art class-
es and open to the public for a
$20 fee. Space is limited and
pre-registration is required.
For a materials list and to reg-
ister, contact Kristin Shauck
at 503-338-2472 or email
kshauck@clatsopcc.edu
Selected to exhibit in the
2015 “Au Naturel” competi-
tion by Seattle curator and art
consultant Barbara Shaiman,
Allison was also chosen by
CCC art department faculty to
receive the coveted prize of a
solo exhibition at the gallery.
Allison, who describes
himself as a painter and
draughtsman, grew up in and
around Chicago and as an
adult lived and worked in the
city until 1969. Although he
attended the University of ,l-
linois for two years followed
by a brief stint at the Art ,nsti-
tute in Chicago, he considers
himself a self-taught artist.
Allison worked at the Mu-
seum of Science and ,ndus-
try for seven years where he
had a painting studio, and his
work was shown in galleries
in Chicago.
,n 1969, he moved to Seat-
tle where he has balanced art
making with art care for the
last 45 years. He has shown
successfully in local galleries
while managing a ¿ne art ser-
vices business. ,n recent years
art making has come resound-
Submitted photo
“St. Severin, Self” (2015), mixed-media on
paper by David Allison.
ingly to the foreground.
“,’ve been working from
the nude for a long while,
perhaps 50 years,” Allison re-
counts. His early work in the
1970s was formalist, focusing
on what he calls “re-contex-
tualizing the ¿gure in space,”
using a copyist’s grid to de-
¿ne the surface and a linear
approach. He explains that
his ¿gures “exist in a push-
pull sort of space, moving be-
tween surface and form.”
He intends for his retro-
spective exhibit to illuminate
whole process is labor intensive,
challenging and extremely hum-
bling,” Rowland says.
,n “Honoring the Life of
Earthen Materials,” Rowland
hopes each piece can evoke a
genuine, intimate response. He
also hopes that the depth of that
experience and the work’s con-
nection to the natural world can
conjure a sense of immenseness.
,n addition to Rowland’s ¿ne
art pieces, the exhibition will
also include functional ware. The
holding of a cup or bowl made
by an artist from materials drawn
from the earth is an interaction
with art at its simplest level.
Rowland is an art instructor
and Gallery Exhibition Coor-
dinator at Clatsop Community
College in Astoria. He holds a
Bachelor of Art from 3aci¿c
University and a Master of Fine
Art from the University of Tas-
mania in Australia. He has stud-
ied kiln design and ceramics in
Australia and Japan.
This exhibition was made
possible with funding from the
James F. & Marion L. Miller
Foundation and exhibit sponsor,
Lum’s Auto Center.
the ways he has dealt with
context, which has shifted
from a formalist approach to
one that is “emotional and
personal. He is currently
more interested in expressing
deeper issues of mortality, re-
ligion and sexuality. “,’d like
this show to illuminate my
winding path from earlier to
present work.”
Allison explains that his
creative process begins with
an image he ¿nds compel-
ling. “,t could be a face, body,
building; in life or existing
only in a photograph.” While
his starting point begins with
observation, throughout the
development of the work
it progresses through what
he calls “stages of creation
and destruction” until he ar-
rives at an image “not high-
ly ¿nished” but that “feels
complete.” He never tries to
visualize the ¿nal image be-
forehand. “, need to surprise
myself,” he explains. “, don’t
think , could keep working
on a piece if , knew the end
result.”