James C. Watkins

James C. Watkins (1951 - ) was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1951 and raised in a farming family in Athens, Alabama. He is a ceramic artist living in Lubbock, Texas who has worked with clay for over 40 years. He is known for his large scale double-walled ceramic vessels and laser cut [http://www.ceramicartcart.com/PCS_Laser_Scribing.html porcelain substrate] tiles. He is recognized for his textured surfaces, created by using alternative firing techniques. His porcelain substrate tiles are [http://pottery.about.com/od/potteryglossarydf/g/fume.htm fumed] with stannous chloride and multi-fired using ferric chloride, gold and platinum luster to achieve colorful surfaces.

Watkins gained recognition through his inclusion in the 1993 [http://americanart.si.edu/whc/whc-noframe.html?/whc/watkins.html White House Collection of American Crafts], which was curated by Michael Monroe, who was then the director of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution. Watkins' work is held in 21 permanent collections, including the [https://www.clintonlibrary.gov/ Clinton Library] in Little Rock, Arkansas, the [http://www.sccp.jp/e/artist-in-residence/about-artist-in-residence-program/ Shigaraki Institute of Ceramic Studies] in Shigaraki, Japan, the [https://www.everson.org/ Everson Museum] in Syracuse, New York, the [https://www.d.umn.edu/tma/ Tweed Museum] in Duluth, Minnesota, and the [https://eiteljorg.org/ Eiteljorg Museum] in Indianapolis, Indiana. His work has been widely exhibited in 40 solo exhibitions and 164 group exhibitions. Provided by Wikipedia