Status message

Your information has been submitted.

  Printer Friendly Version

Terry Gess

Biography to Display: 

1954 Born Milwaukee, Wisconsin

EDUCATION
1991 BFA Ceramics and Drawing, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

1994 MFA Studio Arts with concentration in Ceramics, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Edwardsville, Illinois

RESIDENCIES
1990-1991 Artist-in-Residence, Holden Village, Lake Chelan, Washington

1995-1998 Resident Artist, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, North Carolina

1998 Resident Artist, Chateau de La Napoule: La Napoule, France

2004 Resident Artist, Cill Rialaig Arts Center, Ballinskelligs, Ireland

WORK EXPERIENCE
1995 Studio potter

1989 Workshop Instructor, John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, North Carolina

2003 Workshop Instructor, Arrowmont School of Crafts, Gatlinburg, Tennessee

2006 Workshop Instructor, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, Colorado

2007 Workshop Instructor, Peters Valley Craft Education Center, Layton, New York

2007 Workshop Instructor, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, North Carolina

2009 Workshop Instructor, Appalachian Center for Craft, Smithville, Tennessee

2009 Clay Instructor, Haywood Community College, Clyde, North Carolina

BIOGRAPHY

Terry Gess makes tableware, distinctive in its surface technique brushwork, layered slips and glazes. The work is wheel thrown, hand-built, or a combination of the two. Gess applies slip and glazes onto bisque ware through overlapping, dipping, layering, pouring, and often using wax resist to create complex, graphic surfaces on his pots. For most of his career, Gess has worked with salt-fired white stoneware.

Terry Gess first studied ceramics in his hometown of Milwaukee under studio potters Abraham Cohn and Greg Miller. He also sought out workshops in ceramics and book arts at Penland School of Crafts between 1978 and 1990. Gess quickly established his goal to be a full-time studio potter.  After Gess’s residency at Penland School of Crafts (1995-1998) he set up his studio in the area.

Description of Marks: 

Terry Gess has used a square stamp of his last name (“GESS”) since 1990. He occasionally signs his last name.

Public Collections

Public Collections to Display: 

Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, North Carolina

La Napoule Art Foundation, La Napoule, France

Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina

Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin

Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, Department of Art, Edwardsville, Illinois

Yixing Factory #3 Teapot Collection, Yixing, Jiangsu Province, Peoples Republic of China

Bibliography

Bibliography to Display: 

Adamson, Glen & Davira S. Taragin. Tea, Anyone? The Donna Moog Teapot Collection. Racine, WI: Racine Art Museum, 2003.

Gess, Terry. “Doug Gates and the Cult of the Slow Wheel.” Clay Times (March, 1999).

_________. “How Do You Cook the Moon? The First Yixing Symposium for Western Potters.” Ceramics Monthly (June, 1997).

_________.“My Work as a Potter.” Ceramics Monthly (January, 1996).

_________. “Watershed.” Cleveland Institute of Art Literary Magazine, (May, 1991).

Schultz, Katey. “Graphic Power: Terry Gess Makes His Mark.” Ceramics Monthly (November, 2009).

 

Website(s):

http://www.terrygesspottery.com/

 

 

Center for CraftSouthern Highland Craft Guild

 

Typical Marks
1978
2013
2015
Covered Jar
Date: 1978
Materials: Stoneware
Method: Thrown and Altered
Surface Technique: Glaze
Photo: TMP
Photo: TMP
Photo: TMP
Small Painted Bowl
Date: 2013
Materials: Stoneware
Method: Thrown
Surface Technique: Glaze
Photo: TMP
Photo: TMP
Photo: TMP
Teapot
Date: 2015
Materials: Stoneware
Method: Thrown and Altered
Surface Technique: Glaze
Photo: TMP
Photo: TMP
Two Tumblers
Materials: Stoneware
Method: Thrown
Surface Technique: Glaze
Judith and Martin Schwartz Collection
Photo: John Polak
Judith and Martin Schwartz Collection
Photo: John Polak

Citation: "The Marks Project." Last modified June 4, 2023. http://www.themarksproject.org/marks/gess-0