by Peggy Mika
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| This outdoor work by King, titled “Architectural Passages,” was installed at the Gulf Coast Museum of Art, in Largo, Fla., in 2000, and is now installed in Silver Spring, Md. |
“Peter is a carpenter in clay,” Hawkins says, referring to King’s early days working construction to pay for college. King talked builders he worked for into adding his custom ceramic tiles and sinks to houses under construction, and his life’s work and passion grew from there.
King discovered the pottery wheel by accident. In the early ’70s he was a student at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, Fla., studying philosophy and religion. He didn’t know a thing about throwing pots — had never even heard the term — until a college buddy had to stop by the pottery studio on campus.
“He showed me how to throw a pot … and when I first touched the clay all of the years I had spent building came into what I was doing at that minute,” King recalls. His focus on architectural ceramics came to him in the pottery studio at about 4 a.m. one day. “I was working on a mug, and I had a vision of a four-foot tall column.” He knew what he wanted to do, but people in the field advised him that architectural ceramics was a thing of the past.
Architectural ornamentation as an art form “died in the beginning of the last century,” King says on his Web site. It was replaced by the International Style that is devoid of ornament. “Prior to the advent of the International Style, designing the ornament for a building was often considered the architect’s most important work,” his artist statement says. “My goal is not to replicate the past but to create architectural ornamentation that speaks of my own culture.”
King works to bring what he calls a “visual richness” back into homes and public places. “The work that I do that I like best has a rock n’ roll sensibility,” he says referring to the way that architecture of the Baroque period has a Baroque sensibility.
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| A fireplace (left) and an outdoor fountain by King show some of the diverse work he does. | ||
King’s craft dates back to the techniques used hundreds of years ago. “I’m a mud and art potter,” he says of himself. He mixes his mud from the same materials used in brick making. There are no secret recipes. His tools are pretty simple, too: string and sticks and chopsticks from Chinese take out.
The process involved with a new commission goes something like this, he says:
King founded his studio, Stonehaus, in 1977 in a historic neighborhood in Pensacola, a metropolitan area of about 290,000 in the Florida panhandle. He met his wife, Xinia Marin, who is also a ceramic artist, in Costa Rica in 1996. They live beside their studio. “We live where we work and I keep my own hours — 100 hours a week,” he laughs, because he enjoys the work. They employ three part-time people and staffing grows when the work grows or changes.
King loves the process of working with the clay and creating the physical product. Marin is a wiz in the area of glazing and firing. “Xinia is the alchemist,” he says. “It’s a real talent to be able to anticipate the color you will get after firing. She is very good at it.” She often develops unique color palates for new projects.
The majority of his sales are regional and contact is by word-of-mouth, King says. “People need to see my work to understand it.”
Other ways to find clients — Web site, advertising, mailing list — don’t work well for King. “I don’t have a ‘line’ to promote and have no real interest in creating a line,” he says.
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| One of King’s favorite pieces is this tribute to 9-11, which he donated to the city of Pensacola, Fla. |
Today, King’s income can be divided into three areas. About 20 to 30 percent is derived from teaching, another 10 percent comes from an annual holiday open house (to keep the local “buzz”), and the remainder comes from the architectural work. Pricing his work is “the hardest part of all,” King says.
In some ways, King muses, ceramic art is not appreciated by art lovers. “People don’t respect ceramics. They say ‘clay is cheap’ and making pots is ‘just playing around,’ but in reality it’s expensive because it’s so time consuming,” he says. It’s maddening to him that art collectors will pay for a painting to look at, but when they consider buying a ceramic piece, they ask ‘what’s it for?’ or ‘will it go through the dishwasher?’” — questions they would never ask about a Van Gogh!
He finds public art and corporate art to be good sources of income and less emotionally demanding than commission work because the work is less personal. “When you deal with a person one-on-one (commission work) you love the work and develop a relationship with the client.” Public and corporate projects are more detached.
King is thrilled about the growing demand to teach. He will be the primary presenter with his wife at “The International Architectural Ceramics Symposium” to be held for two weeks at the St. Petersburg Clay Company in October. General manager Hawkins says the symposium, which was largely King’s idea, is unique because it includes an installation.
Examples of King’s Public Works |
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“Peter is a wonderful teacher,” he adds, noting that he has studied with King. “He is very personable, vibrant. His students bond as a group.”
“Peter is a pioneer in bringing architectural ceramics back,” Hawkins says. “He has popularized the movement largely because of his willingness to share and his teaching skills. Peter is determined to see this movement grow and continue.”
Making a transition to teaching comes at a good time for King. While he will never give up the studio work, King admits it is physically demanding. He also lost several commissions to Hurricane Ivan in 2004. But, perhaps more importantly, teaching now is preparing him for his long-term goal which is to move to Costa Rica to build a craft school and teach. He’ll continue to teach and do commission work in the states from there.
“I don’t know what else to do. As an artist, you like to make stuff,” he says. “I’ve been doing this for 30 years and I feel like I’m just starting.”
Peggy Mika is assistant editor of The Crafts Report.