bio

nell devitt
2019 After working with clay for many years I continue to be committed to clay, integrity in design, consistency and a sense of professionalism.
1986 Worked with post-firing techniques focusing on smoke fired sculptural tile installations.
1985 Began exhibiting with American Craft Council.
1978 Set up studio in rural Indiana and started producing a line of functional stoneware pottery, experimenting with different forms of raku and post-firing techniques.
1976 Apprenticed with potter Ono Yoshi in Kasama, Japan.

 

selected exhibitions + publications
2019 New Work, By Hand Gallery, Bloomington, IN
2017 Ceramic Retrospect, Miller Gallery, Waldron Arts Center, Bloomington, IN
2011 Smoke + Fire, Hand/Eye, Online Magazine
2010 Clay + Glass, John Waldron Gallery, Bloomington, IN
2009 Not Just For The Office, Katie Gingrass Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2008 2007 Reflections, Art Forms, Red Bank, NJ
2007 Clay On The Wall -- 2007 Clay National, Landmark Gallery, Lubbock, TX
Not Just for the Office, Katie Gingrass Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
Reflections, Art Forms, Red Bank, NJ
2006 Raku, Cross Mackenzie Ceramic Arts, Washington DC
Clayfest, University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN
2005 Particles + Passion, the Art of Clay, Academy of Art Museum, Easton, MD
For the Office, Katie Gingrass Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
Furniture: Form + Function, Virginia Brier, San Francisco, CA
2004 Tiles and Containers, Two Person Exhibition, The Gallery, Bloomington, IN
Independent Colleges Exhibition, NCECA, Indianapolis, IN
Integrity of the Minimal, Post Picasso On Line Juried Exhibition
2003 Women in Clay, Earlham College, Richmond, IN
The Word Made Clay, Tile Heritage Foundation, La Jolla, CA
Clayfest, University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN
2002 21st Century Tiles: From Earth to Fire, The Catherine G. Murphy Gallery, St Paul, MN
SOFA Chicago 2002, Katie Gingrass Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2001 Clay Tiles, Two Person Exhibition, The Gallery, Bloomington, IN
From Earth to Fire, The Catherine G. Murphy Gallery, St Paul, MN
2000 Group Exhibition, Art Forms Gallery, Red Bank, NJ
Tile as Art, Greater Reston Art Center, Reston, VA
1999 Group Exhibition, Katie Gingrass Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
Smithsonian Craft Exhibition, Washington, DC
1998 Smithsonian Craft Show, Washington DC
Tiles, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
In Indiana, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN
Black & White Show, Forrest Scott Gallery, Millburn, NJ
1997 Fine Crafts, Art Resources, St Paul, MN
Chelsea's Choice, Chelsea Galleries, Beechwood, OH
Virtual Ceramics Exhibit
1996 Within & Without, The Intimate Moment, Muskingum College, New Concord,OH
Born of Fire, Signature Gallery, San Diego, CA
1984, 1996 Two Person Exhibition, The Gallery, Bloomington, IN
1995 Virtual Ceramics Exhibit
Group Show, Art Forms, Red Bank, NJ
High on Tile, Silo Gallery, New Milford, CT
1986, 1995 Clayfest, University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN
1995, 1989 Indiana Crafts, Artlink Artspace, Fort Wayne, IN
1994 Tile Exhibition, Lill Street Gallery, Chicago, IL
Born of Fire, Signature Gallery, San Diego, CA
High on Tile, Silo Gallery, New Milford, CT
1993 Crafts National, Zoller Gallery, University Park, PA
Group Exhibition, Art Forms, Red Bank, NJ
The Fine Art of Fine Craft, Gallery G, Tenafly, NJ
1992 Shadow + Light, Adams Art Gallery, Dunkirk, NY
1991 Monarch Tile National, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo, TX
1990, 1991 American Craft at the Armory, American Craft Council, New York, NY
1989 Primitive Fire, The Clay Pot, Brooklyn, NY
Fireclay Group Exhibition, Contemporary Crafts Gallery, Louisville, KY
Indiana Crafts Invitational, Artlink Art Space, Fort Wayne, IN
1988 The Art of Clay, Harcus Gallery, Boston, MA
1987 Women in Clay, Leeds Gallery, Earlham College, Richmond, IN
Clay Spectrum 5, Craftsman's Gallery, Scarsdale, NY
1987, 1986 Pottery about Pottery, Treasure Boxes, Pinch Pottery, Northampton, MA
1986 One Person Exhibition, Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN
Collectors' Choice, America House Gallery, Tenafly, NJ
1985 Contemporary Design and Decoration, Artlink Art Space, Fort Wayne, IN
National Crafts Invitational, Hamm Brickman Gallery, Albany, NY
1984 Earthenware: Red, White and Black, Pinch Pottery, Northampton, MA
1982 Indiana Potters Guild Invitational, Indiana University South, Albany, IN
1981 National Cone Box Show, Purdue University, Lafayette, IN

 

selected commissions
  American Airlines, Chicago, IL
Bloomington Convention Center, Bloomington, IN
Butterfield Bank, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Bunger + Robertson, Bloomington IN
Charles Plaza Apartment Towers, Baltimore, MD
Children's Hospital, St Paul, MN
Cimarex Energy, Oklahoma
Cremer, Spina, Shaughnessy, Jansen + Siegert, LLC, Chicago, IL
Domus Realty Limited, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Five Currents, Monterey, CA
Fuji Film, USA, INC, Hanover Park, IL
Granada Suite Hotel, Atlanta, GA
Hyatt House, Indianapolis, IN
Hewlett-Packard Company, Paramus, NJ
ICSC, New York, NY
Interculture Art Inc., Tokyo, Japan
John Hopkins, Baltimore, MD
Jump Trading, Chicago, IL., London, UK
Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC, Chicago, IL
Lowes Corporate Headquarters, Winston-Salem, NC
Marriott Crystal Gateway, Arlington VA
Macy's East, New York, NY
Northwestern Mutual, Milwaukee, WI
Pawling Properties, New York, NY
Richcourt Fund Advisors Inc., New York, NY
Robert Morris University, Chicago, IL
Silver Oak Services Partners, Evanston, IL
U.S.Trust Bank, Boston, MA
Zweig Glazer Mutual Funds, New York, NY

 

statement

I make smoke fired clay tiles -- black, abstract tiles that hang on the wall.
The tiles are black because of the smoke firing process and abstract because I try to distill ideas down to their
basic part. Abstraction allows for many different interpretations or none at all. These tiles are not functional -- but sculptural installations that provide a visual experience many have said is calm and peaceful. I work alone and produce a limited number of tiles each year, specializing in custom commissions.

 

technique

These clay tiles are made by hand using a slab roller. A template is then pressed into the clay to produce the basic pattern. Textural detail is added by incising, carving and scraping. A clay slip is applied to areas for the semi-gloss surface. The black color and straw marks are the result of a post-firing technique of smoking. When the clay reaches maturation temperature in the kiln, the tiles are individually removed with a pair of tongs and placed in a closed reduction chamber full of straw. The straw ignites, oxygen is cut off, carbon molecules enter the clay - the tile is changing. This technique produces the highly irregular, imperfect and uneven surface.

 

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