Jim Headley
It’s not unusual to find Jim Headley (b. 1963 Winfield, Il) hunched over the pottery wheel with great concentration. The artist comes up for “air” during the demos given by Lincoln Square Pottery Studio - Learning Center’s Meg Biddle. Headley makes the most of every minute of his Tuesday evening (intermediate level) class at the studio, throwing and re-throwing bowls, vases and jugs until he’s satisfied with the results.
Jim Headley with vases inspired by Jackson Pollock (in his pre-abstract expressionism stage)
Headley was a creative child who watched his accountant father do oil paintings as a calming side hobby. He developed some artistic instincts, and was finally able to explore them when he attended Northern Illinois University (graduated in 1985). While working towards his degree in computer science, he picked up a few unrelated credit classes. A 101 ceramic hand-building class really appealed to his problem solving senses. He knew he was hooked after finding truth in the adage, “the first 50 pots you make, only your mother will love.” He didn’t care about the lack of perfection, he was just excited about making each piece better than the last!
After graduating NIU, Headley settled down with his partner in Warrenville, Illinois. A good friend’s mother learned he had a connection to ceramics, and offered him an old pottery wheel. One cleaned-up basement and used kiln later, he had a working studio. Headley took some refresher courses at the ClaySpace (now located in Lisle, Illinois) and then spent years in his studio, starting and completing large bodies of work. Because buckets full of glaze are often not realistic for a single practicing artist to acquire, Headley bought small quantities at a time. This lead to some creative glazing solutions, including brushing on the liquids, instead of dipping them completely. The end results resonated with his aesthetic, which he still recreates today.
A water pitcher made in Headley’s home studio. Brushed on glazes create the deep, layered look
Headley’s work is easily picked from the hundreds of pieces that are removed from the LSPS-LC glaze kiln each week. The layered look of his work has an enigmatic appearance. The Tang Dynasty (618 to 907 AD) funerary vessels at the Chicago Art Institute make up just a few of his inspiration sources. These three-colored pieces (oxides included copper for green and iron for amber or brownish yellow) featured runny-looking surfaces, giving them an almost modern and layered look. Headley can spend a good deal of time lost in the depths of those museum vessels.
Along with stops at local art institutions, Headley refers back to an influential visit to the University of Minnesota’s Weisman Art Museum. There is a pristine pottery collection bequeathed by famous Minnesota Artist Warren MacKenzie. The ceramic works span the gamut from modern to ancient Korean- all with an eye towards the extraordinary. Headley’s own clay forms are drawn from his aesthetic adventures, and influence him to try to make the best of each shape he takes on. The artist admits to taking his most recent work home, then spending a great deal of time analyzing it. He’ll carefully inspect the lip, foot, curvature and surface treatment. He revels in this process, but it ultimately becomes the means for him to try for an even more quality piece.
Headley made a major life change in 2016, moving from his small suburban city to Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood. A group of his university friends had all settled around the EL Brownline train stop, and encouraged him to join their community. The change from Warrenville to Chicago was massive, but the artist quickly began to enjoy the hustle, vistas and interactions associated with city living. A new job as a systems analyst for Cook County had him commuting downtown to City Hall (the county hall section) each day. While enjoying his new surrounding, condo living made it impossible to start up his home studio again. He began searching for a studio and landed on LSPS-LC and Lillstreet Art Center. He decided to try out both spaces, but chose LSPS-LC first. He never made it to Lillstreet because he found the speed, atmosphere and lessons at the North Center studio fit him perfectly.
The Tuesday night classes are a good fit for Headley because he can spend the majority of the time honing his craft after a quick and insightful demo. Instructor Meg Biddle takes suggestions for session themes, and Headley mentioned bowl making. Gaining additional techniques and absorbing Biddle’s research on the topic upped pottery game. Seemingly simple, a bowl (be it a tea, soup or dough bowl) takes a lot of work to look and feel consistent in quality. Headley took the instruction (he still has room for growth he says) and decided to use porcelain instead of stoneware. Porcelain collapses easily on the wheel if it’s too wet, and cracks if it’s too dry. The artist is letting the material dictate the designs this time. Because the clay is so fussy but beautiful, Headley is adding simple colorful dots (by using a small sponge on a stick) to the surface. A thin layer of clear glaze then locks in the delicate and whimsical design. There is one other recent series that Headley pursued bright designs - the pre-abstract expressionistic work of painter Jackson Pollock. The simple, gestural brushstrokes is what caught his eye, and he incorporated that essence into his own pieces. .
Headley working diligently on the perfect bowl at LSPS-LC recently
Headley has sold some of his pottery in the past, but the amount of work, travel and finances revolving around the art fair circuit made him shy away. His friends and family have been the lucky recipients of most of his ceramic creations. He keeps some of the most refined pieces of a single series, as well as a collection of work by other artists. A piece by artist Steven Hill has a place of honor ins home, and is admired often. Headley aspires to have brushstrokes like Shoji Hamada, and a showing and selling philosophy like Warren MacKenzie. While working toward the best version of each vessel, the artist will continue to enjoy his creative environment, and the endless new series he’ll be able to explore in the future.