Patrick Donnelly
Patrick Donnelly (1967, Oak Park, IL), used pottery making as a buffer to his dense class load at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. He unexpectedly gained comradery, relaxation and the ability to use his hands instead of strictly absorbing volumes of information for his major. He hoped the studio would stay a part of his life after graduation (1990, BA in History), and he kept that wish at the back of his mind as he moved on.
Donnelly took a leap and applied for a teaching position in the city of Chaing Mai, Thailand, after a family member praised the country. He figured the time to travel and experience a different culture was then, before the bills and major responsibilities of life set in. He enjoyed three years of teaching English at Payap University, and even managed to get a few sessions in at a local studio. It was worth it to him to take a 45-minute bus ride just to touch clay again. This cemented the fact that he indeed did have a bug for clay!
Attaining his MBA in international market assessment didn’t leave much time to be creative, so when Donnelly graduated from Dominican University of California in 1999, he was on the look out for a studio. After moving back to the Chicago area, Donnelly finally committed in 2005. Lincoln Square Pottery Studio – Learning Center was on his route to his brother’s home, so he just walked in and signed up. He remembers the neighborhood in the early 2000’s, when “beer was cheaper than bottled water”, and the students would often get a drink at one of the many dive bars after class!
Donnelly’s career in IT management doesn’t leave much room for creativity, so LSPS-LC became the place to express himself. He especially savors the act of throwing bowls, each one getting better over time. Because he spent so many years away from the wheel, he never forgets the privilege of playing with clay. The rhythm, meditation and therapeutic value are not something he takes for granted.
Although Donnelly is pretty precise when it comes to creating his favorite forms, bowls and small sandwich plates, he loves the uncontrollable nature of glaze. He revels in the knowledge that there are many elements involved in the firing process. The position of the piece in the kiln, what it’s next to, and how thickly the glaze is applied all contributes to multiple visual outcomes. To add to the surprise, Donnelly likes to dip his pieces in three or four glazes, each delicately overlapping the other. The end results are shapes created in the overlap, each with a unique color not attainable any other way. Adding colored and crushed glass to some of the work adds even more variety. The glass melts and puddles into the glaze, creating hues and refracted light. Donnelly firmly believes you have to let go of the control and “let the glaze do the talking.”
Donnelly’s pieces often display colors that seem inspired by natural landscapes. When asked about his connection to nature, he cites his childhood camping travels with family. He and his four siblings would stuff into a full sized van with a custom foldout kitchen and tour the national parks. Yosemite, the Grand Tetons, the Land O’ Lakes region and boundary waters in Wisconsin all play a vital role in his visual memory. The soft and comforting glaze colors are also attributed to the hues in his childhood home. His parents stripped the wood in their 100-year-old house and stained it different colors in each room. Leaded glass windows also displayed harmonizing tints of color. All in all, the artist can draw a connection to his happy childhood and the tones he dabbles in today.
Donnelly is taking on a few larger projects for 2020; a tiered pagoda in blues and whites for his back yard, as well as a sculpture of a fishing man for his father-in-law’s pond. The artist doesn’t know if he’ll be at the studio another 15 years, but is still happy to come to class each week, socialize and challenge himself with new ventures!