Illian | The Marks Project

Clary Illian is well known for her wheel thrown functional pieces. Illian apprenticed at Leach Pottery from 1964 to 1965, leaving with an appreciation of the Asian aesthetic and of the hard work of being a studio potter. These have guided her work during her career. Through the years she has worked with stoneware, then porcelain, and finally earthenware. She switched from a gas fired kiln to electric firing which allowed her to use brighter colors, and simplify her lifestyle. At this time, she began decorating her work with images of plants and animals, continuing to produce useful pottery for local customers at a reasonable price.

A Portion of the movie, A Year in the Life: Clary Illian, can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhobQAM1Mho.

The Potters’ Cast, episode 223, an interview with Clary Illian, “The Value of Apprenticeship”, can be accessed here: http://thepotterscast.com/223.

Clary Illian is featured in the PBS Documentary, Craft in America: Crosswords, Midwestern Potters, segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzdkoqJLNqE.

1964

1965

St. Ives Pottery, Bernard Leach, St. Ives, Cornwall, England

1965 - present

Studio Potter

Brunnier Art Museum, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa

rosenfieldcollection.com

Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Arvada Center. Useful Pots: Exhibition May 10-June 28, 1981. Arvada CO: Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, 1981.

Hluch, Kevin A. The Art of Contemporary Pottery. Iola WI: Krause Publications, 2000.

Illian, Clary. The Potter’s Workbook. Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press, 2002.

_________. Trevor Corser: His Life and Work. St. Ives, England: Leach Pottery, 2016.

_________. Guest Editor. “Women and Clay.” The Studio Potter 20, no. 1 (Dec. 1991).

Illian, Clary, Atom Burke, Rene Paine, Saffron Heike. Clary Illian: A Year in the Life (DVD format).

Williams, Gerry, ed. “Clary Illian and Garrison, Iowa.” The Studio Potter 7, no. 2 (Jan. 1979).

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Clary Illian

Typical Marks

Other

Brunnier Art Museum, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
United States

rosenfieldcollection.com
Dallas, Texas

Take your place among TMP artists

Make your mark — support TMP!

Clary Illian

Typical Marks

Other

Brunnier Art Museum, Iowa State University, Ames, IowaUnited States

rosenfieldcollection.comDallas, Texas

Take your place among TMP artists

Brunnier Art Museum, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
United States

rosenfieldcollection.com
Dallas, Texas