Steve Aitchison
Porcelain Clay Pottery
Artist Bio
Iowa native, Steve Aitchison, has just lately returned from almost twenty years spent in Tuscon, Arizona. The artist has learned his craft in the most direct manner - by doing the work. Throughout the decade of the 80's, Aitchison worked at the Octagon Center in Ames, Iowa. That community facility has long been an important practical resource for a number of artists beginning professional careers, particularly in ceramics. From that pivotal experience, Aitchison went on to Tuscon where he was instrumental in establishing an artists' cooperative studio, 14th Street Studio. That the artist has returned to his native state in the year of one of its most demanding winters in recent memory is a testament to the strength of his ties to Iowa.
Aitchison's current work focuses on vessels and platters created on the wheel. He is using a porcelain clay body, and employs gas and pit-firing processes. With both his platters and "Cloud Vessels," Aitchison's life-long refinement of his craft affords him the facility to create pieces that mirror a personal response to his medium and its demands.