The pottery of artist James Burke, created in his country studio, combines function and style. The work ethic he developed as a dairy farmer has had some influence on his art. Twenty or 30 new pieces of his work will be featured at an artist opening this weekend at Skaneateles Artisans.

Burke, a new member of Skaneateles Artisans, graduated from Cornell University as an agriculture major in 1970 and began working with clay after he moved to Stanton, Va. in 1972 as a VISTA volunteer. He was introduced to clay by going with his wife to a lesson in 1972, and he's been creating pottery ever since.

He studied privately with June Jordan, whom he describes as someone really into her craft - a follower of the Bauhaus school of pottery. After he got his master's in art from James Madison University in Virginia, he potted in Virginia until the early '80s. In 1982, he returned to upstate New York to help run the family dairy farm in Millers Mills, which he calls a “suburb” of West Winfield. He continued to manage the dairy farm while working with pottery and raising his daughters, Allison and Abigail.

Ceramics, always part of Burke's life, is now the core of his full-time studio. In 2005, he returned to making pottery full-time. Each pottery piece is made of stoneware clay, hand-thrown and fired at temperatures exceeding 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit. It's safe for ovens, dishwashers and microwaves.

“I've been making a lot of the same designs for 30 years,” Burke said. “The changes over the years are miniscule, an evolution rather than a revolution.”

He added, “My work is grounded in the traditional forms that potters have been making for centuries, and it has been the refinement of proportion and glaze that has been my goal. I'm looking toward somebody using it and enjoying it, with the pottery holding up and working well.”

Burke is interested in shapes and working with clay.

“I like the glazes to complement the clay,” he said.

“I don't make show pieces,” he added, noting that his work is “100 percent for sale.” Pieces at Artisans range from $10 to $100.

Burke said he has a number of pieces at home that he actually uses because they had some flaw and couldn't be sold.

“When there's something new, I use it,” he said.

He uses a premixed clay to produce clean designs.

“There's not a lot of extraneous decoration,” he said, noting that his designs fit in well with modern as well as traditional decor.

“They don't cry ‘primitive' or ‘rustic,'” he said. “They're not ultra-modern, either. They fit in with a lot of decor.

“I've liked making bowls more than anything else,” he said. “It's a very structured regimen that I use. It's got a lot to do with keeping clay controlled and pressed. You see where you will take it, not where it will take you. You kind of save the ‘ah-ha' moment for later.”

Burke said he generally knows what kind of pottery he will work on - pitchers, for example - and adjusts the consistency of the clay to the object. He likes to create things in series, a number of the same objects in a session.

“You get into the rhythm of it,” he said.

Often what he chooses to create comes from the requests of customers.

Burke said, “It may be that I come home from the last show and don't have any of something left. A customer said, ‘I just bought four glasses and I want four more.'”

He doesn't do too many at a time, though, because of the burnout factor. He prefers to do three sets during the day, then take a break, rather than spending the whole day throwing pottery.

Burke wants to stick with what he's good at for a long time.

“I can't envision not being part of it, not going on,” he said. “People in their mid-80s are still doing it.”

Kathleen Barran

253-5311 ext. 238

kathleen.barran@lee.net

If you go.

What: Artist opening for potter Jim Burke

Where: Skaneateles Artisans, 11 Fennell St., Skaneateles

When: 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 2

Cost: Free

Info: Call 685-8580