Mesquite Art Personality James Watral

Mesquite Art Personality James Watral

Sample of his works. This is to give evidence of why is one of the nations top Ceramic Artist.

Giving a public demonstration.....

Excepts of who he is....

From his website....

James Watral

Ceramics Department

ChairProfessor of Ceramics

Teacher Statement:

As a teacher I consider it very important to give the students a solid technical foundation so they are able to actualize their ideas. This foundation and research into historical and contemporary works provides the student a sense of purpose and the confidence and ability to explore their own concepts.

James Watral, one of the top ceramicists in the nation, put on a two day ceramic workshop for Upper and Middle School art students April 5 and 6. He guided students through several projects, gave demonstrations on working with clay and inspired the students to be creative.

“My work alludes to a number of stylistic sources: Egyptian art, Greek art, Croatian folk art, oriental art, garden design as art, Etruscan art, Coptic art, and contemporary art concepts and aesthetics,” said Mr. Watral on his webpage.

James Watral is currently the Professor of Ceramics at Eastfield College in Mesquite, TX. Visit his webpage here Greenhill News (posted 4/20/2004)

Then at.... Pillsbury:

Go, boy

Dallas' most important art player gets a little more prominent

Call it insecurity, or the kind of intense inadequacy that makes the school bully lash out at the class Einstein. Call it some irresistible urge all humans have to topple the mighty, or even some perverse fantasy fueled by a very basic instinct -- envy. Call it what you will, but whatever it is, it takes over when you're talking to the polished and perfectly elegant Ted Pillsbury, a man of immense accomplishment who, again, has the North Texas art scene by the tail.

"James volunteered to make some of his best work available and to help supplement it with Dallas-area and Texas artists," Pillsbury says. "There is a strong group of ceramic artists working in Texas." Watral, Gary Huntoon, Marla Ziegler, Piero Fenci, Peter Beasecker, Nicholas Wood, Lisa Ehrich, and Sally Campbell, featured in Deliberations, are among them. Their work highlights three sources of inspiration for working in clay. One is a traditional approach, referencing Greek and Egyptian antiquities; another is a more recent, decorative approach with objects in the Majolica tradition; and the third represents a class of artists working in clay to create sculptural forms.

Source:

By Annabelle Massey Helber / Dallas Observer December 2, 1999

Then you get the feel of how small towns like Mesquite, Texas do have their bright spots.