Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephen Homer.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My path into ceramics was a strange, long, and non-traditional one. I grew up in Columbus, OH on several acres with my mom and my grandparents and from an early age I was in love with plants, nature, and art. All of these were encouraged by my family and so have been an integral part of my existence from early on. I often had a camera in hand when out and about and was often drawing while at home. Our poor carpet in front of the television (one of those old school floor models) where I would lay and draw was heavily speckled and smudged with oil pastels and all other manner of art and craft supplies. My first introduction into the world of ceramics was when my mom attended ceramics classes at a local slipcast greenware studio. In high school I was introduced to working with clay. After exhausting the ceramic options there, I took a ceramics studio class at Columbus College of Art and Design, after which my journey in clay was to take a long hiatus.
For the next couple decades, I took courses at local community colleges in a variety of subjects, worked a curious mélange of jobs from food/coffee, light construction, to upholstering. Personal creative pursuits were relegated almost entirely to photography and illustration as hobbies. My return to clay wouldn’t happen until much later.
In 2018, after a serious health scare and major surgery, I was left questioning what I was doing with my life (as happens to so many people who go through these things) and realizing I had a relatively clean slate to work with, decided to return to school. I enrolled in a graphic design and advertising program at a community college in Charlotte, NC and after a year came to the conclusion that it was absolutely not what I wanted to be doing and changed over to the fine arts program. In the first semester I took a ceramics class and things just clicked. I spent two years studying sculpture and ceramics there before transferring to Kansas City Art Institute to finish my BFA. I first started working with Belger Arts, specifically Belger Crane Yard Studios as an instructor for Date Night Pottery classes, then as a studio intern. Just before graduating I took on the roles of Studio and Kiln Technician, then also Education Coordinator in addition to my continued teaching.
Almost every day since my return to clay I do something ceramics related, whether that’s scouring YouTube for videos, testing, making, reading, or teaching. Ceramics is my life passion and sharing that passion with others, building community, and ensuring people have the opportunity to express themselves and grow through making are the most important things to me.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Making a life within the arts is rarely easy for anyone. As artists we have to balance work, life, and our creative pursuits, which is a difficult task to say the least when most people struggle to manage just two of those. Returning to school as a middle-aged adult and trying to navigate your way into the art world is not for the timid, I can assure you, but it can be done.
One of the biggest obstacles I face is a ubiquitous one; overcoming a general lack of comprehension about the importance of art, craft, creative pursuits, and what it takes for someone to create something and the value of the act of making. We are constantly inundated with cheap objects produced on an ever rapidly increasing large scale and heavily edited, idealized social media. I engage with more and more people who are trying to get away from that, whether they are looking to purchase a handmade piece of art or create their own, trying to find their voice, and to be a part of a supportive community. Finding ways to help people navigate this is challenging, but also immensely rewarding. Whether that’s teaching them how to make something functional, find their voice within a sculpture, or just be able to bring joy through a well-made cup they purchase from me, those moments make the struggles worth it.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My studio work covers a broad range of techniques and materials within ceramics as well as subject matter. For the most part I find inspiration from the intersections of our natural world and our constructed environments, how humans interact with nature, both the good and the bad. I also deal a lot with what I think of as the beauty of impermanence and embracing the essence of things. Sometimes these are broad gestures in my work, and sometimes they are needlepoint fine. For me it is all about exploration and experimentation, how can I convey a specific experience or thought, how can I imbue this with an ephemeral emotion, how can I connect with others through visual language? I mix my own custom clay bodies and glazes; every aspect of a piece is well considered from the clay I select to the weight of the piece to the decoration. When I create a piece, it is for “someone” and not necessarily for everyone, and that’s what makes them special.
What matters most to you? Why?
People being able to express themselves creatively and build connections and community through visual language. As robust as our written and spoken language are, we are visual creatures by nature and (re)learning how to creatively express ourselves is vital to our well-being as humans. Art, craft, and design allow us to build connections, and it teaches us how to observe, question, and interpret the world around us–something we are increasingly divested from.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.stephenhomer.com
- Instagram: @stephenhomercreative
- Other: [email protected]
