Chances of Charles “Mack” Clark, college professor, artist extraordinaire, antique collector and exotic pigeon breeder ever experiencing boredom are slim.
The charming, southern-bred dean of the school of arts and sciences at the University of Mobile (UM) is a perpetual whirlwind of activity and creativity — and bored he is not.
To say that he has found his niche in the world of art would be an understatement. The Montevallo native has spent the majority of his professional career at UM where he has taught for 26 years and served as dean for the last four.
But that’s just his day job. Trying to distinguish his love of teaching from his passion for his own unique porcelain art form would be like trying to choose a favorite child.
Clark, however, quickly clarifies his priorities. I hope my epitaph will read, “His greatest joy was teaching,” he said.
But coming in a close second in his multitude of interests is his own style of porcelain art he created during a metamorphosis of experimentation that started 20 years ago. While searching for a Mother’s Day gift for his young daughter, Molly, to give her mother, Clark happened upon a ceramic shop where people could make ceramics from scratch. He decided to try his hand at making a lamp for his wife, Susan’s, present.
The pleasing outcome of the lamp piqued his interest in ceramics and the shop owner, impressed by his artistic talent, encouraged him to pursue the hobby.
She did give him a piece of sound advice: “You should learn how to work with the ‘Mercedes’ of ceramic art — porcelain.” It was well-heeded counsel as Clark’s two decades of experimentation resulted in his own style of porcelain art that launched him into the arena of highly sought-after artists in his field. He soon developed a die-hard passion for the centuries-old art form which dates back to the Chinese dynasties.
“Porcelain is a hard taskmaster. It’s very labor-intensive,” he said, explaining that with his technique one piece of porcelain has to be painted before each kiln firing — usually 5–7 times — before it is completed. To make the work even more challenging, not only is the piece extremely fragile and delicate, but it can crack, break or not come out as expected in the final firing.
“You can do everything right and it still not come out flawless. If that happens, he says matter-of-factly, “I throw it out. I don’t sell seconds. I just start over.”
Clark points out that anytime he creates an original piece of porcelain he names it after the person who gets the first one. Although Clark may use a mold multiple times, the art he paints on each piece is always different.
When Clark began his work with this delicate type of clay he was not interested in pursuing the typical styles people are familiar with today such as figurines and flowers.
“I have nothing against them,” he points out, “as I have many of them in my home. I just wanted to take it a step further. I bypassed the traditional European porcelain technique and went back to the Chinese influence and style.
“I use lots of deep, rich luscious colors,” he said with enthusiasm.
Clark said that “Instead of painting on canvas, I paint on smooth surfaces of porcelain.”
Another unusual aspect of Clark’s work is his creation of his own molds. He occasionally sculpts something out of clay that he ultimately wants to design out of porcelain. After he completes the sculpture he makes a plaster of paris mold of it and then begins the porcelain process. Clark explained that, even though this route is laborious, it is also satisfying.
Once the mold is complete, the next step is to fill it with an expensive liquid clay known as “slip” that, when dried, duplicates the mold design. Clark keeps a lookout at flea markets for turn-of-the-century glass or ceramic pieces. If the piece meets his specifications he buys it and makes a mold out of it.
For the past 14 years, the artist has kept an art gallery at the Grand Hotel in Fairhope, where many of his creations are sold.
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