WOW. I love this work a lot. This is what I think I am striving for in my own work. Not necessarily the style but the idea that functional pieces can be beautiful and visually intriguing. I like the simple glazes and the outrageous forms that he uses in his pieces as well as the line changes. The dark green and black pitcher is one of my favorites as far as eye movement goes... I love how the swirly lines transition abruptly into straight and centered lines are very stimulating.

I absolutely love Jim Connell's work! Although--in his artist statement--he discusses inspiration from the past, I have not seen quite the same style as his work. I love the twist he puts into his thrown objects. These "twisted" lines on his pots capture the audience and elevate his work in beauty and elegance. I would absolutely love to know how he throws these pieces!! Also, I think the form of his work and the shapes are the most important parts of the pieces. Although the glazes are very interesting too, I get more enjoyment from the different shapes he uses in contrast to the "contour" lines of his pieces. Some of his teapots are fantastic and I absolutely agree with his artist statement: "I simply love making teapots."

Jim's pieces are incredible! I completely agree with David in that the twisted lines really make his pieces come alive. They add a sense of flow from the top of the pieces to the bottom. In his statement, he says that he really strives to make his pieces beautiful, which is affectively done with the glaxing. Each piece has its own glaze which really creates for a very diverse style.

I really like the symmetry in Jim Connell's work and how perfectly balanced his tea pots are. The colorful but simple glazing style fits the shapes perfectly. My favorite piece is the set of red bowls that are stacked together. Each fits inside the next so well that they sort of remind me of those little stacking russian dolls. The purple and red contrast of the glaze is very interesting. Like Ellen said, i enjoy how his pieces can be very functional or decorative at the same time.

The shape of his pieces are really cool. How they flow looks like they are moving, but over all I think the glazing it really impressive how well he was integrated the colors to flow with the shape of the pots.

I absolutely love this work. I would absolutely love to be able to watch Connell work and see exactly how he makes these pieces. He obviously has an abundance of technical skill (see stacked red bowls and the white piece in the 11th picture down) and creativity, and he achieves great beauty and elegance in his work. I especially love the lids--how they can make a piece so much stronger despite their relative simplicity. The glazes are also perfect--they seem to always compliment the form of the piece, adding subtle detail without being too distracting.
This work amazes me. This kind of work--twisty lines incorporated into traditional forms--is something I would love to experiment with, if I knew how.

I really like this work especially the simpler forms. The pieces have a very solid, well-made look to them. I think the geometric patterns add a lot to the shapes and the glazes add to the pieces for the most part instead of taking away from them, which I find rare. I love the detailed but interesting, and not over done shapes A LOT. I am very impressed and also curious how the artist achieves such awesome shapes and patterns. Are the pieces thrown? I LOVE the black vase, it has the perfect balance of artistic flare and simplicity.

GREAT WORK, he seems to have fun with his art! The twisted look of his work for one reason or another makes his pieces seem very solid. I also agree with David that I love the different shapes contrasted by the "contour" line which is were he also puts his handles! My Favorite piece is definitely the black pitcher (7 piece from the top going down).

Does anyone have a thought as to how he achieves the surface on pieces represented in images 3,4,5, and 9? If not, maybe try and find out.

hmm well it looks like it is not glazed because the texture is not smooth at all. But this could also mean that he does not use a lot of silica in those glazes. I think that instead he might use either a colored clay or a stain. It is also possible that he sprays the surface with some kind of granular material. i'll try to find out.....

Ha I was Right!!! he uses a matte red glaze and sand blasting to achieve the granular look on piece 3 4 5 and 9. This is a cool idea. Mr. Dillon could you show us how??

Yeah Ellen! I use sandblasting a lot myself. It is kind of fun but it hurts like heck if you don't have every millimeter of your body covered. It works well on glazes like Debbies Red, some shinos, and Temmoku.

I agree with Ellway that we should TOTALLY learn that because that is un UBER cool style! Also, Mr. Dillon, how would one put those lines into the clay like that? Obviously they are thrown pieces, but afterwards--when they clay is still pretty wet--would one crease the edges into a corner? If you know, could you demo one day for us? Because I would love to incorporate that into my concentration of teapots!!!!

I really like how his glazing makes his fantastic shapes even more obvious, they go along really well especially edges of his pieces. The flow of his shape in each of his pieces looks continuous, it looks really smooth and alive. Besides, his pieces represent his own style very well while they are very diverse at the same time.

I'm with david--I would love to learn how to to do that twisty line alteration on thrown pieces. A demo would be awesome. Also I agree with Alex...I love the way connell puts a twist (no pun intended) on traditional forms--vases, pitchers, teapots, bowls, etc.--and makes them much stronger and totally unique.

Ya Mr. Dillon, do you think he made those lines by carving away at the pieces? I really like that style and think lines like that would be interesting to incorperate in my work. I'm also thinkin we should try this sand blasting tecnique.

I'm really curious how he makes those forms! it seems like he just throws very thick pots and then just digs into them. We should also try making one of these glazes for ourselves because their really cool and give an antique feel to some of his pieces. I want to try to make some of these forms throughout the year because i feel like these pieces would fit in great with my artist statement. CONFUSION! Great work!