Dan Finnegan

1955 Born Buffalo, New York

EDUCATION

1978-1979 Trained with Ray Finch, Winchcombe Pottery Gloucestershire, England

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

1980-1983 Manager, Fredericksburg Pottery, Virginia

1984—Studio Potter, Dan Finnegan Studio Pottery, Fredericksburg, Virginia

1994-1997 Faculty Member, Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, Virginia

2001-2013 Founder, Liberty Town Arts Workshop, Fredericksburg, Virginia

2012—Curator, Pottery on the Hill, Washington, DC

Dan Finnegan is known for making wood fired and salt glazed wheel-thrown functional stoneware pottery and bird sculptures that often portray birds in different situations. Finnegan makes a diverse range of functional work ranging from traditional to experimental forms. He uses various techniques to create interest on the surface: adding decorative sprigs, or bird sculptural elements, and chatter marks. 

Chattering is accomplished by letting a metal object bounce on and off the surface of an unfired glazed object that is turning on the wheel and in the process removing bits of glaze. Finnegan is also known for his non-functional sculptural work which may employ trompe l’oeil books and often anthropomorphic birds engaged in questionable human activities such as gambling with dice or in murder scenes vignettes. His work is always wood fired and salt glazed in various colors.

Finnegan’s pottery is influenced by his time at Winchcombe Pottery (1800-) in England. Winchcombe had been led by Michael Cardew and later Ray Finch who hired Finnegan in 1978. By the time Finnegan returned to the U.S. he had embraced the aesthetics of the Winchcombe style and continued to honor its traditions by continuing to develop his unique style. Dan Finnegan founded Liberty Town Arts Workshop in 2001 that started as a small pottery school and turned into a center for arts and crafts with over 50 participating local artists.