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Community Corner

Meet the Artists (October 2013): John Moore, "The Hairy Potter"

GULFPORT, FLORIDA: Domain Home Accessories & Gallery will host a reception celebrating local artist John Moore, popularly known as the Hairy Potter.  This installment of Domain’s monthly “Meet the Artists” events will take place on Saturday, October 19th from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at “& Gallery” (3129 Beach Boulevard South in Gulfport).  Complimentary hors d’oeuvre and beverages will be provided.

Largo, Florida resident John Moore is a featured artist at “& Gallery” as well as Gulfport’s Art Walk events.  A large collection of his new work will be on display and available for sale during the October 19th event.  His “Hairy Potter” pseudonym is derived from the unusual technique that Moore employs in the making of his pottery, using horse hair obtained during the grooming of horses from their tails and manes.  Each art piece begins with fine porcelain and raku clay, hand-burnished to a smooth, marble-like finish.  After repeated kiln firing, the horse hairs are laid over the piece which has just been removed from the kiln at extreme high temperatures.  The hairs become consumed by the heat, twisting and curling in unpredictable patterns, leaving the carbon prints of the hairs etched permanently into each piece that is ultimately unique.  Moore’s inspiration for the technique is derived from an Apache tradition of honoring a fallen war horse by applying its hair to pots, believing the spirit of the horse is thus kept alive.

Spanish moss from local trees is also sometimes used in the creative process to produce additional unique patterns on the pottery, also creating a reddish hue that varies from one piece to the next.  Moore’s other creative forms include a “patchwork pot” process in which pots are intentionally shattered into multiple pieces, each piece then fired again and finished with any number of techniques, including colored glazes, horse hair, Spanish moss, pit firing and smoking.  The pieces are then reassembled as in a three-dimensional jigsaw.  Moore’s whimsical “egg” creatures are popular and easily affordable art works, each clay “egg” attached to human or animal-like limbs and other anatomical appendages, even including horns on the heads of the “devilled eggs.”

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Born and raised in New Hampshire, Moore first took up pottery in a high school class.  After making a living and supporting a family with other jobs over a 10-year period, he returned to clay in the 1980s.  He was soon supporting himself with the pottery work, especially functional dinnerware pieces, and was also able to obtain a position teaching pottery to adults at the University of Maine.  Feeling uninspired by conventional tableware, Moore “reinvented himself” with his move to Florida in 2001, where he has since flourished.  His impressive creative art work has been displayed in hundreds of art shows throughout Florida and the South.  He has won numerous awards in shows, including St. Petersburg’s prestigious Mainsail Art Festival, and a recent first-place award in clay at the Mount Dora Arts Festival.  Photos of his work are featured on his website: www.theHairy-Potter.com.

“& Gallery” opened last year in the space adjacent to Domain Home Accessories, one of Gulfport’s most popular retailers for over 12 years, specializing in “functional art for the home.”  “& Gallery” showcases the work of over 40 local and regional artists.  “Meet the Artists” events at “& Gallery” occur during Gulfport’s popular third Saturday Art Walk.  Artists and artisans line the sidewalks of scenic Beach Boulevard. on Art Walk evenings.  Independent shops and boutiques, live glassblowing at the Industrial Arts Center, live music venues, street performers, and Gulfport’s popular restaurants are all part of the lively Art Walk scene.  Parking in the Waterfront village is free and convenient.  Free trolleys are available for visitors parking in remote sites for transportation to and from the hub of Art Walk.  For more information, contact Daniel Hodge, (727) 366-4086 or email dan@igc.org; or visit the Facebook page for Domain Home Accessories & Gallery: www.facebook.com/domainhome.

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Did you know?  On November 1st, 2013 Gulfport Art Walk celebrates 20 years of highlighting the work of local and visiting artists, a forerunner in the now-burgeoning Tampa Bay “art walk” movement.

Stroll our Waterfront village for Art Walk each first Friday and third Saturday,
6 to 10pm to encounter art and artists, a lively dining scene, and our unique “Old Florida” feeling.

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