Arkansas potter Trent Tally will be the first artist to create art while shoppers watch inside the museum store at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.

The nationally known, award-winning ceramic artist will conduct demonstrations on a pottery wheel from 10:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. today.

Tally’s ceramic vessels are influenced by primitive, ancient and modern art. He works in porcelain, stoneware, low-fire earthenware and raku (a kind of leadglazed Japanese earthenware). He is best known for exploring form and surface design, experimenting with various types of ceramic glazes and techniques.

“I try to make a connection not only with human history but also with the history of the earth as far as the geological history,” Tally said in a soft, deliberate voice.

“A lot of my work has a feeling that it’s been dug up from ancient site or an ancient culture,” he added.

Diana Walpole, retail floor coordinator for the Crystal Bridges store, said she is prepared for an onslaught of onlookers as Tally starts his vessels from scratch on the pottery wheel.

Shoppers at the museumwill be able to purchase works they’ve watched him start, although Tally will finish the pieces later. From the basic piece, he’s likely to add handles, a lid or sculptural piece on top, which he will to do back at his studio in Elkins.

“One of the things we wanted to do in the store this year is to create a learning aspect so that somebody can see something being created and then [eventually] take home that piece of art to reflect that experience,” Walpole said. “So this is the first time we’re going to do that.”

Said Tally: “The creative process is wonderful, especially with clay because you’re starting out with this block of mud and you’re changing it into a whole new thing. I’ve said before, it’s almost like I’m putting the work through another fiery birth. It’s like nature has broken down the rock into these fine particles and then deposited it in the ground, and I’m digging it back up and I’m recreating it into something totally new.”

Walpole expects Tally’s presence to drive sales in the store today.

“It creates an energy and an excitement in the store,” she said. “People will probably stand and watch him for a little bit as he gets his handsin the clay and talks about what he’s doing.

“I just think there’s going to be a great energy going on.”

Tally landed the gig from last summer’s Bentonville Art Walk, a project of Downtown Bentonville Inc., when he won Best of the 3-D category. In September, his works - along with the winners of Best of 2-D and Best of Show - were featured in the Crystal Bridges store.

Downtown Bentonville Inc. Executive Director Daniel Hintz described Tally as a prolific artist and good businessman.

“He’s a good representation of the type of talent that we have in Northwest Arkansas and we were quite delighted to pass along his information [to Crystal Bridges],” Hintz said.

Tally has been doing juried art shows since about 1996, the same year he built his working studio in Elkins and started his business, Clay Art Works. He does functional and nonfunctional pieces, but his most popular works are decorative.

At one point, he was participating in as many as 22 shows a year in a nine-state area. He’s traveled as far north as Minneapolis and as far south as New Orleans.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 01/26/2013