Matthew Gaddie is a potter from Bardstown, Kentucky. This twenty‐six year old changed his major from painting to ceramics at the University of Evansville in Indiana. He admired Les Milley, his college professor, who was nearing retirement age. “Les had energy and much enthusiasm for clay and student learning. Also, he was an excellent role model,” said the potter.
After college, Matt decided that he wanted to live a simple life and moved back to the family farm upon graduation. He has developed a wonderful line of functional pottery and has taken an active interest in building various types of kilns.
Gaddie’s studio is on a 315‐acre family farm that began as a log cabin homestead in the late 1700s. In the 1800s the house served as a stagecoach stop and as an Inn on the Wilderness Trail. This history has influenced his works. Matthew states, “My work reflects the ebb and flow of the simple life I grew to admire as a child. In this age of cheap and disposable plastic, I create permanent objects purposely made to be used, kept, and cared for daily – to become a part of people’s everyday lives.”
Gaddie works in both stoneware and porcelain using gas and wood‐fired kilns. He sometimes introduces soda to the kiln chamber at peak temperature in order to create bright turquoise surfaces from copper in his glazes. His pottery is often altered into ovals and his surfaces are textured and lively.
In the age of quick marts, high-speed connections and one‐stop shopping, Matthew creates
works that are labor intensive. His aim is to produce each vessel that is packed with integrity. People will find his works to be subtle, simple and requires time to appreciate. It is his hope that
everyone using his pottery will slow down just for a moment and enjoy talking, connecting and observing.
More on Potter Gaddie at: meadows@bardstowncable.net.
Editor’s note: All or some portions are reproduced from AAPJ’s Potter’s Shed Section 2007-08 Fall/Winter print edition.