James Watral throws himself into clay

James Watral sits at the potter's wheel in the ceramics classroom, sculpting clay. It might be a bowl, it might be a vase or it might be his newest work of art for exhibition. Through the glass windows behind him, students stop and stare in, expressions of awe on their faces as they watch him work the clay.

Watral has been manipulating clay for years, and forty years after his graduation he has quite a following.

He found his way into ceramics quite by accident. He said he was always interested in art he had at one time planning to be a painter. But between his first and second year at the Cleveland Institute of Art his grandparents told him to take a summer course.

"I took ceramics," he said. "I had no intention of taking ceramics in fact. I covered my eyes when I was going down the list of courses to take."

But once he saw his first pot being made, or thrown, ceramics was it for him.

"I could not believe that could happen," he said. "That you could make a gesture with the clay and it went 360 degrees around. It encapsulated an idea, a movement. It became a 3D representation."

Watral said he liked the physicality of ceramics, because you constantly work your body and your brain. He said that he felt like he could solve problems while working with clay.

Now many years later, Watral is a respected artist throughout the United States and a mentor to many artists - ceramic and otherwise.

"I hold James in very high regard," said Jim Bowman, co-owner of Bowman Glass that is located next to Watral's studio. "He was one of my first mentors."

Jim Bowman and his wife Mary Lynn Bowman both share similar opinions about Watral.

"He's probably one of the best ceramic artists in the country," she said.

Mary Lynn Bowman isn't just an admirer of Watral's, she's also a former student. Watral was her first art teacher and she said he's one of her best friends now, 30 years later.

"He's very personable, everyone loves him," she said. "Once you meet James, you know James."

Mary Wester, a student who has been coming to Eastfield off and on since 1976, and the current president of the Clay Guild, said Watral is a mentor to her as well.

Wester came back to Eastfield the semester after Watral came in 1999, and said that with Watral at the helm the department is running very smoothly.

"Everything seems to be shaping up well," Wester said.

It wasn't so when Watral first came here in 1999 as an adjunct instructor. He was asked to teach a course and was surprised at the lack of enrollment in the program.

The course he taught had a very strong response, and he was asked to become a full-time instructor and organize the program.

Watral credits his colleagues, administrators, and the dean of the business and fine arts division, Don Baynham, with his success in the program.

"We've been really lucky to have good teachers," Watral said. "It's not just me running [the program] alone. Everyone participates."

His goal when he accepted the positions of full-time instructor and chair of the ceramics department was to bring the standards of the program up, to get it organized and focused.

Watral said when he was hired for the position that he told Rick Maxwell, his interviewer, that he was interviewing Maxwell, too.

"I told him, 'I want to know if I can make a difference here. If I can't really act with the program here, then I shouldn't be here.' He said, 'Oh, wow.'"

Watral said he has always taught. As a student at the Cleveland Institute of Art in Ohio he taught courses for kids at the Museum of Art across the street.

He said that he wants to teach students the joy of learning and of discovery.

"It's not just about sitting and making a piece," he said. "Pottery is a craft you have to learn like the piano. It's an ongoing process that can last you all of your life. The clay always has something new to teach you."

He taught from 1963 until 1980, when he stopped for a time. He decided to work on his own, to open his own studio, to make it on his own, as he put it.

"I felt I needed to," he said.

He taught courses at different institutions such as Southern Methodist University, Texas Woman's University and the Craft Guild of Dallas during this time off from full-time teaching.

"I mainly worked in my studio seven days a week," Watral said.

The time in his studio paid off because Watral is an inspiration to others.

Artist Rusty Scruby has known Watral for 15 years. He met Watral when he was first thinking about becoming an artist and admires his work.

"He uses history and old cultures [in his work]," Scruby said. "There's a seriousness in his pieces and a lot of information in them."

Scruby also said he can't name just one favorite of Watral's work.

"I like a lot of his work," Scruby said. "The "Architecture of Self" series I really liked. I'd hate to have to name a favorite."

Watral said that his work is inspired by ancient art, particularly Egyptian.

"I pull my ideas and reaction from a lot of sources, from ancient art, contemporary art, garden design, medieval art," he said. "I get inspiration from a lot of things."

Watral said he is constantly reading and looking at art and gets a lot of his ideas from those two areas.

"I'm a visual artist, and I try to find a visual equivalent for what I like to do," he said.

He still works at his studio, despite devoting a large portion of his time to the students at Eastfield.

"Eastfield has been quite a revelation for me," he said. "It's been very good experience."

He said that in his work for the ceramics department he is able to hire good instructors for the department, and it makes him happy.

"They bring different viewpoints, different ways to approach ceramics," he said. "And they're full of enthusiasm and energy, and I like that."