by Greg Busceme, Sr.
In 1999, we hosted a group of ceramic artists to do clay workshops. The artists were Tom Belden, Gary “Greeny” Greenberg, Connie Albertson, who I knew from grad school, John Eden, Joyce Jablonski, and Chuck Wisinger. Joyce and I met during the clay conference (NCECA) and she led me to meet Eden, Belden and Greeny. All have worked in clay for a major part of their lives and travelled the country doing workshops. TASI added students as participants which was a new wrinkle in the program that later was adopted in their future activities that included me as a presenter. I traveled to Greeny at Clarion University in Pennsylvania, Jablonski in Kansas City, KS and a trip to UCLA, Northridge with Patsy Cox.
After this program we hosted Victor Spinski and Verne Funk, two very noted ceramic artists who created work that we have still have today. Spinski has since passed on but his legacy as a mold maker is legend.
In 2002 our last of these workshops was with Jim Leedy from Kansas City Art Institute where a large wall of clay 6ft. tall and 20ft. long was created with Leedy and the students of Westbrook High School. That wall is now completed after another workshop to rebuild the salt kiln some 19 years later with Belden and Greeny that allowed us to complete the wall last year. Leedy and Peter Voulkos were two of the fathers of the abstract expressionist movement in clay form in the 1960s and forever changed the way we looked at ceramics.
After that we were not able to produce a workshop because of economic restraints. It was a tough several years for TASI and myself. I lost track of the group until this year when I re-engaged for the kiln build project and attended NCECA again after a 20 year absence. At that conference Greeny and Patsy Cox agreed to come to Beaumont this July along with Chris Leonard, Stephen Wolochwicz, Danielle Weigandt and Steve Erickson.
I’ve learned some things through this: friends are always friends no matter what and patience, determination and perseverance will always prevail over failure.
