John Ransmeier
Weaverville, NC | Exhibiting Since 1998
John Ransmeier is a ceramicist based in Weaverville, North Carolina. He has exhibited extensively throughout the United States at venues like The Smithsonian Craft Fair in Washington, D.C., and the Potters Invitational at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC. John grew up in Asheville, NC where he co-founded Biltmore Clay Company in 1976. He studied with ceramic artists Gene Bunker, Seth Duberstein and Paul Chaleff. He went to the Kansas City Art Institute and The University of North Carolina at Asheville before receiving a BFA from Alfred University in 1990.
His work has spanned a wide spectrum of processes, clay bodies, glazes, and styles and includes sculpture and functional objects. Most recently John is concentrating on making quality functional work and enjoys this interaction with people from all walks of life. The daily challenges of ceramic materials and techniques become rewards when he passes on his work to a receptive new owner.
“Making pots is about evolution. As long as I feel my work is progressing, I don’t worry. Not long ago, I tried to maintain control over surfaces and glazes. In reaction to that, I have gravitated toward a looser way of making pieces using glazes that I couldn’t control even if I tried. Perhaps reduction firing, with its own tendency toward variation has nudged me in this direction. I am always looking for ways to allow my work to progress. There is a saying, “At the point of origin, lie the most possibilities.” My goal is to keep enough freedom in my work to allow those possibilities to take form.”