John W. Dennison

I am a Hoosier, raised on an eighty-acre farm in northeast Indiana.  In 1970, I graduated from Ball State University.  Soon after I began teaching English in an Omaha junior high school.  There, a good friend introduced me to clay. The throwing part hooked me and I set out to make functional pots. With lots of practice and encouragement from my wife, I had some success.  Before long, I had my own wheel and a kiln and a few very sympathetic and understanding customers who thought all teapots dribbled.   In 1977 I enrolled in the art department at UNO where I studied with Henry Serenco.  I hung out there evenings and summers gleaning all I could from Henry and others with more knowledge than I.  With several classes under my belt and a couple of workshops from working potters, I learned, among other things, how to correct that dribble problem.

In 1980, I did my first official art fair, a winter show in Omaha’s Civic Auditorium.  As I remember it, the show was a disaster, but we had a good time sharing stories with the glass blower in the booth next to us. Since that first fair, I’ve participated in many art festivals, galleries, and exhibitions throughout the Midwest..

By 1984 I was teaching pottery, as well as English, to high school students whose enthusiasm for clay matched their appetite for pizza and soda.  I had a joyous time.  For the next twenty years, I shared with them the excitement of handbuilding, throwing, and firing. We honed our throwing skills, explored sculpture, studied history, dug into pit firing, and nearly perfected some simple raku techniques.

Throughout my teaching career, I developed both my both functional and sculptural work.  The sculptural work, as seen in this show, often reflects my love of literature.  Literary allusions, religious icons, and elements of pop culture often inform this work, as do my titles.  Many of these elements also emerge in my masks.