About the Artist
Dr. Christopher Greenman has been claying since 1983. He learned in the Leach/Japanese tradition at Pennsylvania State University under the tutelage of master potter Ken Beittel, who authored Zen and the Art of Pottery.
Dr. Greenman seeks inspiration from aesthetics of Japanese pottery and seeks to find his place in what Beittel called the “Great Tradition of pottery”. He de-lights in creating forms that allow a viewer or user to re-unify with the world of nature and themselves. Dr. Greenman received his doctorate in Art Education from Penn State in 1990. After graduation he worked at the Kentucky Art and Craft Foundation as Curator of exhibitions and education. Since 1996 he has taught ceramics, art education, art history, art theory and art appreciation at Ala-bama State University in Montgomery. In 2009, he was selected as one of 10 international artists to participate in the International Workshop of the Ceramic Arts (IWCAT) in Tokoname, Japan. His work can be seen in national, regional, and local shows.
Each piece that I make is unique in design and is embraced as “one of a kind” functional stoneware. The glazes used are functional and safe for everyday use.
Christopher Greenman Artist Statement
I teach art at Alabama State University, an HBCU (Historic Black College or University). I began my journey in pottery learning under Ken Beittel, author of “Zen and the Art of Pottery.” I am trying to find my way in the “Great Tradition” of pottery which reflects the world traditions of pottery. I find great inspiration from the pottery and sculptural ceramic forms that come from the East – Japan, China and Korea. I also look at the Japanese/English Mengie tradition of “folk pottery” – simple, unadorned forms made for use, made with a knowledge of try-ing to re-unifying the user with the outside world of nature.
I try to make work in which “a certain love of roughness is involved, behind which lurks a hidden beauty, to which we refer in our peculiar adjectives shibui, wabi, and sabi. It is this beauty with inner implications that is referred to as shibui. It is not a beauty displayed before the viewer by its creator [rather it is] a piece that will lead the viewer to draw beauty out of it for themselves. The world may abound with different aspects of beauty. Each person, according to his dis-position and environment, will feel a special affinity to one or another aspect. But when their taste grows more refined, they will necessarily arrive at the beauty that is shibui. “The Unknown Craftsman: A Japanese Insight into Beauty,” Soet-su Yanagi, Bernard Leach.
This for me is the path to see and to realize the “Great Tradition.
I try and balance my life between teaching(awakening the search for beauty in student’s lives) , potting, seeing, listening, and experiencing life as much as possible.
Dr. Greenman teaches clay workshops locally and regionally to high school stu-dents and to college and community groups. He also teaches an art methods class at ASU which has provided art lessons to students at Floyd Elementary from 1997- 2016.
Christopher Greenman Resume
Education:
Doctor of Philosophy, Art Education -Pennsylvania Sate University 1990
Master of Science, Art Education – Pennsylvania State University 1984
Bachelor of Art – Art History – Pennsylvania State University 1980
Experience:
Professor of Art, Alabama State University 2017
Associate Professor of Art, Alabama State University 2002-present
Assistant Professor of Art, Alabama State University 1996-2002
Curator of Exhibitions and Education, Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft 1991-1994
Assistant Curator, Lehigh University Art Galleries, 1985-1988
Selected Exhibitions:
2012 Wiregrass Museum Biennial, Dothan Alabama
2012 Texas Teapot Tournament, 18 Hands Gallery, San Antonio, TX
2011 Atmospheric Firing, Carbondale Clay Center, Carbondale, Colorado
2011 The Band: An Exhibition of Work from The Crew of Fat Bastard The Anagama Kiln at University of Montevallo; Mobile Arts Council
2010 Wiregrass Museum Biennial, Dothan, AL
2010 Steep, Teapot show, Red Dot Gallery, Birmingham, AL
2010 One Person Show, The Kiln Gallery, Fairhope, AL
2010 Faculty/ Student Show, Alabama Conference, Troy University, Malone Gallery
2009 Faculty Student Show, Alabama Clay Conference, University of Ala-bama
2009 Muddy’s WoodFire Classic, Myers Gallery, Santa CA
2009 IWCAT Exhibition, INAX Tile Museum, Tokoname, Japan
2009 IWCAT exhibition at the Tokoname Ceramic Exposition, Tokoname, Japan
2009 Starbrick Clay National Cup Show, Nelsonville, OH
2008 Painting With Fire: Wood Fired Ceramics, Lake Oswego, OR
2008 1000 LBS of Alabama Clay, Kentuck Museum, Northport, AL Anagama Artists, Alabama School of Math and Science, Mobile,
2008 1000 LBS. of Alabama Clay, Alabama Artists Gallery, Montgomery, AL,
2007 Mudfire Gallery Atlanta, GA “Patterns and Process,” Christopher Greenman, Becca Floyd 2007
2007 Alabama Originals, Contemporary Crafts from Alabama, Alabama Artists Gallery, Montgomery, al
1996-2012 Montgomery Art Guild Annual Exhibitions
2000-2011 Montgomery Museum of Art, Art Guild Biennial Exhibition
2006 Texas Teapot Tournament Exhibition
2006 Bluegrass National Clay Exhibition
2007 Ocala Festival of Art, Ocala, Florida
2005 Dogwood Festival
2004,2005 CraftArt, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Florida,

2001, 2002, 2004 Kentuck

Articles: Creating Community to Sing The Great Tradition, Ceramics Technical, Issue # 23, November, 2006.