Hank Hall in 6th International Texas Teapot Tournament

"Celebrating Line & Dots", © Hank Hall

Two of Hank's signature teapots are currently showing in the 6th International Texas Teapot Tournament presented by C.A.M.E.O. and 18 Hands Gallery in Houston, Texas. Celebrating Line & Dots and Squirt II are among 80 exhibited teapots from across the county, England and Singapore. The juror for the exhibit Piero Fenci is a distinguished ceramic artist and educator with an MFA in ceramics from Alfred University in Alfred, New York.

18 Hands Gallery is a premier ceramic arts gallery located in the Historic Heights District in Houston. CAMEO (Clay Arts Museum and Education Organization) of Houston sponsors exhibits of emerging artists, workshops and demonstrations in support of its core mission of supporting education and appreciation of clay as a form of art. The exhibit opened at 18 Hands Gallery with a reception on January 12 and runs through January 27.

Hall's fascination with making teapots started when he studied under Bauhaus-trained Marguerite Wildenhain at Pond Farm Pottery in Guerneville, California during the summers of 1973 and 1974. His goal now is satisfying his own esthetic sense of what makes an entertaining, inventive, and personal teapot form. According to Hall, "Sometimes I entertain myself by searching store aisles for hardware gadgets, trinkets, wire, and other materials to fashion into a teapot lid or an embellishment. Recently I have been decorating my teapots with dots and lines to bring my interests in drawing and clay together."

Hall is a full-time working artist in Olde Town Spirit Lake where he has renovated the late Joe Lieb's wood-working shop into an art studio and gallery called Art on 16th. The gallery features outstanding work by area fine artists - including Hall's teapots, pottery, drawings, and paintings - and started the tradition of the area's First Friday Art Trek in 2007. For more information go to www.hankhallarton16th.com or Facebook.