Karen Kistler

karen.kistler@salisburypost.com

 

SALISBURY — Having young children and needing some “me” time, Jodi Lynn McNeely went on a search for just the right outlet to spend that time, and it was art that attracted her attention.

She said, “I wanted to be very deliberate with this precious time away, so I sought out meaningful art classes at my local community college.”

Learning about and working with ceramics in those classes and now owning her own art studio in South Charlotte, McNeely will be sharing that art with the Salisbury community as she is scheduled to be the June Artist of the Month at Pottery 101 at 101 S. Main St., Salisbury.

A reception will be held at the gallery on Friday from 5-7 p.m. during which time the community can come and meet McNeely, talk with her and see her work. Refreshments will be provided during the event as well.

“To be selected is an honor,” said McNeely, when asked what it meant to be selected as one of the artists of the month at the local gallery. “I will add that it is also a privilege. My art is one that lends itself to inspiring conversation. I consider it a privilege to share time engaging in conversation with those who come to see my art.”

It was in the early 2000s that she was looking for classes and learned that Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte was offering some amazing ceramics programs.

She took a variety of art classes for 14 years before she built her art studio. It was in 2022, she said, that she “became a recipient of the ArtPop Street Gallery Cities Program, and my art business began to get some real traction.”

Creative all of her life and exposed to crafts by her mother at an early age, she said that her “fine art exposure and accomplishments are exclusively in the art form of ceramics.”

Some of the items that McNeely will be bringing to the gallery include three different bodies of work, something she is excited about.

“My industrial technology background, ceramics education and free-form carvings leave me in a unique position to deliver original artwork with aesthetic interest and structural integrity to Salisbury,” said McNeely.

One series she plans to bring is called ““Celebrating the Blue Collar Worker.” 

She said that she created these upon request for Central Piedmont Community College’s Bill and Patty Gorelick Gallery with a goal to provide art that depicted their class offerings. It was displayed at their Harper Campus and for the first time will be available for purchase in a public setting.

This series celebrates construction workers, electricians, builders, designers, advertising, architectural technology, construction management, non-destructive examination technology and welders.

Her second body of work will be large vessels, which she said, “captures the magic of story-telling and the human connection of friendship, family and community that develops as we journey through this thing called life.”

The third body of work, she said, are small tables, which are practice but still “capture the magic of storytelling.”

She added that they “are vibrant and feature my carved ceramic story telling, and contain some up-cycled materials but mostly are a way for us to stay connected with those we love.”

Rachel Gunsch, owner of Pottery 101 shared information about McNeely noting that “Jodi Lynn has always been driven by a desire to paint something, make something or fix something.”

Her work, she said, is influenced by Mexican and Chinese folk art and “as a form of journaling, her carvings many times feature people she has met on her journey. The vibrant, whimsical colors and rich carvings of human connection are influenced by her own journey from the desert Southwest in the U.S. to mainland China where she adopted her daughters. It was there she first formed one of the greatest human connections of all — mother and child.”

Following her travels to Mexico and China, McNeely said she began to admire the strong impressions that can be made with folk art and the bright colors and depiction of family and community was “forever imprinted in me” and she began carving the likeness of people in her work.

“There is no denying that the bright colors just make me smile. They exude happiness, giving me more reason to continue illustrating through ceramic art using the most vivid glazes possible,” she said.

As for what she hopes people will learn after seeing her artwork, McNeely said that “after holding conversations centered around my art, my hope is that those attending will return home feeling more connected to their community and pass on that feeling to those in their smaller circles.”