a conversation between two friends separated by one state, sharing the same passion for the art of knitwear.

knitorious is an archive for knitwear designers, knitwear students, knitwear lovers and even the knitwear curious.

2.15.2011

artist in focus: Max McLeod

The Triptych

Here is a photo taken of the materials after they were dug up.

Max McLeod, who lives in North Carolina, uses local earth to create work that reflects a
great understanding of the natural world and provokes thoughtfulness and wonder.

The first step he takes towards an end result of workable clay is to screen the raw
dirt through wire. This allows McLeod to remove some of the rocks and organics. Although,
he does mention that sometimes he will leave some outside elements in the sifted matter.
Next, he must soak the materials in rainwater for one to two months. To complete the
process, he filters the water away, and uses only the top most layer of finished clay.
"I have four clay colors I work with: red, yellowish and a warm and cool gray."-- McLeod
The artist likes to use local materials mostly without glaze.

"My interest in ceramics and photography is often overlapping. Objects of interest
to me sometimes come from random falling leaves or layering of mountain range upon
mountain range. A blending of glaze over textured clay gives controlled random color.
A clay surface becomes a focus for flat abstract photograph. Leaf or flower structure
becomes inspiration for ceramic texture. Finding the art is my goal"



layering yard clay and porcelain.

This piece is a continued study of McLeod's local home clays.
He worked upon an 8x8 wood backing, and added no artificial color. This four panel
series was not fired, rather, allowed to sun bake for about a day and a half.

The artist welcomes the cracks of sun baked, thin native clay.

dried elements...


Photos of McLeod's display of ceramics and photography at "An Artful Affair"
Saturday Night, which took place back in November. This event was created by
a group of potters, Terra4m.

Though McLeod is an architect, he has been directing his energy and thought towards
exploring expression using ceramic work and photography as a medium.
He sells his work primarily at small private group artist sales, though, a recent customer
in Singapore now makes him an international artist!


"No glaze, just dirt at it's best."
-- McLeod, when describing this flower vase of immense beauty on his blog.

McLeod's photo of the dried leaves of a Begonia plant. It contains that quality of natural
abstraction the artist wishes to emulate within the texture and color of his own work.


unglazed server with no color added

Max McLeod also collaborated with his son, Will McLeod (who happens to be
a great friend of mine/never-soon-enough future business partner), in creating an image
for his novel collection that made its debut during Fashion Week of Spring/Summer 2010.
Max created the sharks teeth beads, which appeared to have a coat of sea brine and some
thing's bloody remains, that dripped from the necklaces worn over Will's masterful display
of clothing design. This work can be viewed on Will's website.

Highly inspirational... & I hope to experiment with natural dye processes
more throughly in the future of my work. So, linking this particular
artist to this blog was very important to me. Hopefully the collaborations will continue....

1 comment: