Potter’s work in porcelain conveys a lyrical whimsy
Meghan Bernard is known for her whimsical animal figures. But her creatures don’t exist in a vacuum: “I add [images of] whatever the animal likes to eat and needs in its environment to be happy.”
Photo by Colby Rabon
An artist known for her work’s memorable color, she paints a fond picture of her quirky town: “[In Tryon] we have a Times Square-style ball drop on New Year’s Eve. It’s a beach ball covered in Christmas lights and it’s at 10 o’clock instead of midnight, so everyone can still get to bed early.
“Then they do it again at 10:05, in honor of the year the mayor arrived five minutes late.”
Photo by Colby Rabon
Her home’s backyard studio is a welcome upgrade from the days when the couple lived in rentals — and she’d throw pots inside a carpet-protecting kiddie pool in a spare room. Her 14-year-old daughter helps out in the studio, and fresh inspiration comes from flora and fauna right outside the window, where a family of foxes recently displaced the resident groundhog.
Playful animals are a signature of Bernard’s aesthetic, which has a folkloric and somewhat Beatrix Potter-esque sensibility. “I’m known as the ‘fox lady’ at art shows, and it’s nice to have a recognizable style. But I try to come up with a new animal every year: a tufted titmouse or this bunny I named ‘Judgy’ because that’s how it looked. Out the window is like squirrel TV, and my cat is now impossible to live with because her ego is so big since I started using her in my designs. She thinks, ‘I’m so gorgeous, why do you bother with rabbits?’”
Bernard gives each of her hand-colored creatures its own charismatic and anthropomorphic personality, beautifully combining a lively yet calming palette with a sense of graceful movement. Spaciously quiet backgrounds are a pleasing juxtaposition to colorful interiors, and her preference for porcelain gives each piece a smoothly elegant luster.
Before critters make it into the kiln, they spend oodles and doodles of time on the pages of Bernard’s sketchbooks. “To make highly detailed bunnies and get what I want, I have to learn to draw them faster by doing them over and over again. I was sitting next to a guy on an airplane and I’m sure he thought, ‘Who is this weirdo drawing the same bunny over and over?’” But efficiency is a matter of practicality, because much of Bernard’s business comes from large wholesale orders that demand high-volume production.
“I want to simplify the design and still get the vibe I’m going for, while making each pose and placement slightly different,” she explains. “It’s a weird canvas to work with; you’re constantly turning a mug in your hand as you drink from it, so the design has to work on all sides as it spins. Then, once I get a good pose, I want to add whatever the animal likes to eat and needs in its environment to be happy.”
The conjured wildings subtly convey kinetic energy that can make them appear about to hop, fly, or pounce — a dynamic that isn’t lost on Bernard’s daughter. “When she was little she made a rule that the fox can never be looking at the mouse, to make sure the mouse is safe. But the snail is wearing armor, so he’s on his own.”
Despite the big orders that use recurring motifs, no piece Bernard makes is exactly the same; they are all one-of-a-kind works that show her signature humor and whimsy. Bernard also makes collectible teapots shaped like purses — but not often. “They don’t move very fast because they’re very expensive,” she admits. “Teapots are the most complicated object potters make. You’ve got to make all these different separate pieces, but they have to look like they all grew from the same thing, and I apply real gold that melts onto them during the third firing.” Each successive firing stresses the pot more, increasing the risk that it will be destroyed in the kiln — and all that costly gold will be irretrievably lost.
Photo by Colby Rabon
Such high-level hurdles aside, “I think what sets me apart from other potters is the amount of detail and the vibrant colors I get from my glazes on porcelain clay,” she says. “It’s time-consuming, but I find the process very satisfying.”
Meghan Bernard Pottery, Tryon, meghanbernardpottery.com, at Seven Sisters Gallery (119 Broadway St., Black Mountain, sevensistersgallery.com) and also at Woolworth Walk (25 Haywood St., Asheville, woolworthwalk.com) and Twigs & Leaves Gallery (98 North Main St., Waynesville, twigsandleaves.com). Catch Bernard at the 78th annual Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands Thursday, July 17 through Sunday, July 20 at Harrah’s Cherokee Center-Asheville (87 Haywood St., Asheville, southernhighlandguild.org).