Ceramics Monthly: As a father-daughter duo, what was the impetus for creating your ceramics podcast, “Clay and Kin,” sharing your dad Richard Buncamper’s more than 40 years of studio and teaching experience?
Njeri Buncamper: The impetus for creating Clay and Kin really grew out of a handful of interviews I did with my Dad about his education, life as a ceramic artist, and his teaching career. Now retired, he spent more than 40 years in the studio and classroom, shaping not only pots but also generations of artists. I thought that his experience should be shared with the world, especially as we have watched ceramics programs shrink, and creative spaces disappear, and a podcast would be a perfect vehicle to support clay, creativity, and community.
CM: Richard, how did you teach students to find their artistic voice without influencing it too much? Do you see similarities in parenting?
Richard Buncamper: At Kean University in Union, New Jersey, I used the critique process and personal conversations with students to stress the practice of being “visually curious” and advised them to follow their passions. Museums, galleries, botanical gardens, film, music concerts, dance recitals, your local environment, and finally the world and all its majesty supply an endless source of ideas. It is all around us all the time; you simply have to look and be curious. A sketchbook, a journal, and that always-handy smartphone allow us to record and notate all that we see and hear. This translates to a visual catalog of ideas that reflect your passions. Documentation is the process I used over the years to encourage students to start on that long, hard road to finding their artistic voice.
As I was raising my daughters, I enjoyed how, as I exposed them to photography, printmaking, ceramics, painting, sculpture, and the world of art in general, their new, naive eyes formed a fresh palette of discovery and ideas. It translated into an appreciation and respect not only for the arts but also for the visual splendor of this world we live in. It also allowed me to see it all again through their eyes in a new, exciting, and different way. Encouraging my students to read books, visit museums, learn a musical instrument, travel, look at other cultures, and try to understand the human condition translated to exactly, in many ways, what I wanted to teach my daughters.
CM: Njeri, what has it been like to interview someone you’ve known your whole life? What conversations have surprised you most since you started recording?
NB: Interviewing someone I’ve known my whole life has been revealing. I thought I knew all his stories, but with each episode I learn something new about him. I’ve been surprised by how blessed his life has been: from his education at the High School for Art and Design in New York as a teenager to his military service, followed by teaching and making his own artwork. With each episode, I’ve also learned more about his artistic philosophy—things he never articulated at home because he was always in “teacher mode” elsewhere. The biggest surprise has been how our conversations become more intentional and focused when we are recording the podcast. In sharing our conversations, I’ve discovered new parts of my dad—while learning and growing myself.
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Ceramics Monthly: As a father-daughter duo, what was the impetus for creating your ceramics podcast, “Clay and Kin,” sharing your dad Richard Buncamper’s more than 40 years of studio and teaching experience?
Njeri Buncamper: The impetus for creating Clay and Kin really grew out of a handful of interviews I did with my Dad about his education, life as a ceramic artist, and his teaching career. Now retired, he spent more than 40 years in the studio and classroom, shaping not only pots but also generations of artists. I thought that his experience should be shared with the world, especially as we have watched ceramics programs shrink, and creative spaces disappear, and a podcast would be a perfect vehicle to support clay, creativity, and community.
CM: Richard, how did you teach students to find their artistic voice without influencing it too much? Do you see similarities in parenting?
Richard Buncamper: At Kean University in Union, New Jersey, I used the critique process and personal conversations with students to stress the practice of being “visually curious” and advised them to follow their passions. Museums, galleries, botanical gardens, film, music concerts, dance recitals, your local environment, and finally the world and all its majesty supply an endless source of ideas. It is all around us all the time; you simply have to look and be curious. A sketchbook, a journal, and that always-handy smartphone allow us to record and notate all that we see and hear. This translates to a visual catalog of ideas that reflect your passions. Documentation is the process I used over the years to encourage students to start on that long, hard road to finding their artistic voice.
As I was raising my daughters, I enjoyed how, as I exposed them to photography, printmaking, ceramics, painting, sculpture, and the world of art in general, their new, naive eyes formed a fresh palette of discovery and ideas. It translated into an appreciation and respect not only for the arts but also for the visual splendor of this world we live in. It also allowed me to see it all again through their eyes in a new, exciting, and different way. Encouraging my students to read books, visit museums, learn a musical instrument, travel, look at other cultures, and try to understand the human condition translated to exactly, in many ways, what I wanted to teach my daughters.
CM: Njeri, what has it been like to interview someone you’ve known your whole life? What conversations have surprised you most since you started recording?
NB: Interviewing someone I’ve known my whole life has been revealing. I thought I knew all his stories, but with each episode I learn something new about him. I’ve been surprised by how blessed his life has been: from his education at the High School for Art and Design in New York as a teenager to his military service, followed by teaching and making his own artwork. With each episode, I’ve also learned more about his artistic philosophy—things he never articulated at home because he was always in “teacher mode” elsewhere. The biggest surprise has been how our conversations become more intentional and focused when we are recording the podcast. In sharing our conversations, I’ve discovered new parts of my dad—while learning and growing myself.
Instagram: @clayandkinpodcast
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