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BETSY EVANS


What clay body do you use?


" Depends on what I am doing.  Currently I have been working with Armstone mid-range but I don’t always fire it to Cone 5.  When I get the opportunity to woodfire, I work with stoneware."


 

Primary forming method?

"Whatever gets me to the final product.  I will throw to get forms quickly but I’m primarily a hand-builder these days."


Primary firing temperature?

"Mostly low to mid-range"


Favorite surface treatment?

"Texture…all kinds of texture. Slip build up, stamps, sgraffito, silicon templates. Flash and ash, underglazing, glazing, patterns and hopefully more"



Favorite Tools?

"I don’t think I have favorite ones.  Xiem makes some pretty sweet tools.  But, I don’t think you need that many to make awesome work." 


Describe your studio environment.

"Dirty!  There is just a lot going on in my studio.  Come by and visit me anytime at Winter Street Studios, studio 13B upstairs.  I would love to have a window someday."





How/Where do you market & sell your artwork?

"II have my website, Instagram and facebook.  My studio is located in a place that has a lot of events, a few annual craft shows and I have a gallery in New Orleans.  I’m also starting to focus on installation work.  Lots of eggs in my basket and always looking for more... "


What sparks your creativity? What drives you to work with clay?
" I have suffered from severe health issues for the last 3 years and, frankly, would not been able to function as an artist without ClayHouston this Fall.  I’m so grateful to have such a great community.  Knowing that has freed me up to be more creative and I am always inspired by my contemporaries..."


Did you come to ceramics from a different career? Tell us about your journey to a ceramics career.
    "I was originally a furniture maker but I think I’m better with clay than wood.  Although, I would love to start incorporating more wood and metal into my work.  I was taught how to throw at Glassell School of Art but I consider myself to be self-taught.  Having a gallery for nine years was probably the biggest education of all.  I set up over 200 shows, touched 1000’s of pieces of artists’ work, was exposed to clay on an international/national level and created wonderful relationships as a result."



    How have you have taken your experience as a well-established maker in the field and passed that knowledge along to other artists?
      "It has only been recently that I have considered myself a well-established maker so this is a tricky question for me.  I tried to help artists when I was a gallery owner with craftsmanship tips, pricing, display and marketing.  As a maker, I am willing to share any tricks, ideas and techniques I know."



      What’s the best advice you’ve been given by a fellow maker, mentor, or teacher?

        "It is all about the work.  The more you work, experiment, have successes and failures, the better the results will be.  If you are in your studio and not feeling creative, don’t get frustrated, get some work done.  There is always something to do.  Also, ceramics is all about timing.  Get the timing right and it solves all kinds of problems.".



        Website URL and other social media platforms:


        Betsy Evans lived in Houston as a child, moved away for many years, and returned to the Houston area in 1999.  She received her B.A in Anthropology with a minor in Printmaking at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine in 1991.  After stints in working at a History Museum in Portsmouth, NH and as an EMT on an Ambulance in Taos County, NM, Betsy landed in Portland, Oregon where she earned a certificate in Woodworking with an emphasis in metalsmithing from Oregon College of Art and Craft in 1999.

        Betsy moved back to the Houston area in the summer of 1999.  Several years later, she opened a gallery with two women on 19th Street in the Heights and named it 18 Hands Gallery.  She represented national ceramic artists for nine years and still represents 18 Hands Gallery at an annual convention called NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts).

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