Today we’d like to introduce you to HP Bloomer.
Hi HP, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My mother received her MFA in Ceramics from Texas Women’s University and was working as the ceramics instructor at the Art Center of Waco when I was a child. In lieu of a babysitter my mother often brought me to the classes she was teaching. I remember making dinosaurs from terra-cotta and decorating them wildly with absurd glaze combinations. This was my first introduction to clay and making. In 1998, I enrolled at The University of North Texas to pursue a degree in painting and drawing. Being involved in the music scene, I was easily sidetracked and lost focus. My interest in music began to hurt my grades, and I had to take a break from one or the other, which at the time meant that the schooling went by the wayside. After two or three years and a sketchy tour of the West Coast with a hardcore punk band, I came back to school with new determination and influence. Having experienced the lifestyle of a nobody musician on the road with their band, I decided it was time to finish my degree. At the time, ceramics happened to be the quickest means to an end for that. I took on three or four jobs and rededicated myself, pushing through and completing my BFA in Ceramics with a Minor in Geology in December of 2007. During those final years of my undergraduate degree, I fell in love with the making process of clay. It offered endless options and avenues to explore. It also appealed to the young punk rocker in me as a subversive art in which I could make art objects which retained universal function but which were universally acceptable and recognizable. We all recognize what a bowl or a mug is and instinctively know how to use them, and I loved that about clay. Additionally, I was firing all of my work at the time in wood kilns, which were solely heated with wood reclaimed from tree trimmers, which kept the process eco-friendly and more affordable for me. After my return to school, my passion for clay had grown, and I wanted to continue to grow as a ceramic artist. I did a semester of post-back work at UNT and applied to Graduate Schools around the country. UNT, however, offered me a fellowship which no other schools were willing to compete with. So, I spent the next three years laboring over my craft and statement and growing my skills. By 2011, I had completed my MFA in Studio Art with a focus on Ceramics. Knowing that if I stayed in Denton, I wouldn’t be able to financially access the facilities needed to continue to grow, I applied for several jobs and residencies. In April 2011, I accepted a part-time teaching position at Colorado Mountain College in Aspen and Rifle, Colorado, in conjunction with a two-year artist residency at the Carbondale Clay Center. This was the course of my career for the next decade. I continued to travel from one residency program and part-time teaching gig to the next until the pandemic hit. I had spent years in Tennessee, New Mexico, and California before moving back to Colorado. When everything starting going into, lockdown it seemed to be more important to me to be closer to my family in Texas. So, in May of 2020, I moved back to Denton, where I established a studio space and am currently a maker. Over the last 3 years, I have been selling my work online and at in-person events/markets, teaching at UNT and at Dallas College, and teaching workshops locally and nationally, all while exhibiting my work around the country. Currently, I am represented by Lilstreet Gallery in Chicago, Anderson Ranch Art Center in Snowmass Village, Colorado, The Carbondale Clay Center in Carbondale, Colorado, Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Tryon Arts & Crafts Center in Tryon North Carolina, Cobb Mountain Art & Ecology Project in Cobb California, The Freehand Gallery in Los Angeles California, and the UNT CoLab in Denton, TX.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Finding your way with an equipment-heavy art is difficult when you don’t come from a background that grants easy access to it. Every choice I have made about where I have lived over the last 15 years has been decided by access to a job, facilities, and equipment. This has often put me in locations far away from places I actually wanted to be and far detached from my friends and family. I have often had to work up to 5 or 6 part time jobs at times to support my passion for what I do. That takes a toll in a lot of ways.
As you know, we’re big fans of Bloomer Ceramics. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Bloomer Ceramics was formed to give a more professional face to my ceramic business. When I moved back to Texas in 2020, I was looking for new outlets to sell my work. I wanted to explore making and selling work wholesale to shops and creating custom dinnerware for chefs & restaurants on top of selling through galleries. While my current body of work is highly decorative with multiple patterns and glazes used in ornate abstracted patterns which talk about humanity’s relationship with the natural world, my wholesale work and dinnerware are much simpler and more affordable. I have worked with Osteria il Muro in Denton for the last two years to create custom dinnerware for their amazing dishes. With 15 years of professional experience in the clay world I am able to offer diverse and customizable designs and glazes to my clientele and am happy to do less or more with my work when asked.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hpbloomer.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/HPBLOOMER
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hpbloomer/
