Overview
Austin P. Smith is the artist and maker behind Camden Clay Company. He studied ceramics at Bennington College from 2003-2007, and has maintained a studio in Maine ever since. He is inspired by his home state’s coastal landscape and waterways, which is especially evident in his Chart Series. Austin primarily enjoys working in slip cast porcelain, and has studied with such highly regarded slip casting artists as Andy Brayman, Tom Spleth, and Steven Heinemann. He has been both a student, and teachers’ assistant at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and a resident at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts.
Water’s rhythmic power of erosion and deposition forms the ever-changing coastal landscape of my home state, Maine. This is not unlike my approach to clay as a medium. In slip-casting, there is a constant give and take of material – carving away and filling in. As the saying goes, “You could not step twice into the same river.” Neither can you cast the same mold twice. Each time I pour liquified porcelain clay into a plaster mold it alters the mold, and each time I pull a piece out of a mold I learn something new, thus altering my knowledge and perception as an artist.
Our Products Are Available At The Locations Below
The Good Supply - Pemaquid, ME
Maine Craft Portland - Portland, ME
Lewis & Pine - Beacon, NY
Center for Maine Contemporary Art - Rockland, ME