Matt Briney
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Matt Briney is a sixth-generation Montanan and third-generation potter. The son of
master ceramic artists Tom and Marcie Briney and the grandnephew of sculptor, painter, potter, and educator Mike Moran, Matt’s entire life has been shaped by ceramic art. Although he has never taken an official art class, Matt has had the opportunity to learn in a hands-on manner from some amazingly skilled artists across multiple mediums whose influences can be seen in his work. Working in his parents’ pottery shop as a teenager was the beginning of Matt’s pottery education, but being a potter was not something he had ever entertained, and his life took a different path for a while. Still playing with mud and color, Matt’s artistic medium of choice became concrete, and he worked on high end residential and commercial projects throughout the Pacific Northwest, Rocky Mountains, and Southwestern Desert. Concrete and clay are very different mediums, but the design concepts, color theory, and work ethic that Matt learned from working with his parents translated well into the world of decorative concrete. In 2009 Matt returned to the family business and began to embrace the idea of being a potter in a family of artists. Working in a high-volume production pottery shop with only two potters provided the opportunity to throw tens of thousands of pots in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and styles. He became fully involved in the entire process, from mixing clay and throwing pots to making the glazes and firing the gas kiln to achieve the beautiful cone 10 reduction colors that their studio is known for. By 2017 the family business was going through 15 tons of clay a year creating beautiful handmade pottery that was sold at fine art shows and sent to gift shops and galleries across the country, with most of the work being sold in and around Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks. In June 2017, Matt’s family was involved in a deck collapse that resulted in his wife suffering spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries. Her healing journey led them to San Diego with their three children in 2020 and has given Matt the unexpected and amazing opportunity to become a member of the San Diego Potters’ Guild. Upon moving to San Diego Matt found some used pottery equipment and set up a studio at his house where he began developing his own style and working on achieving colors that mimicked cone 10 gas reduction glazes, but that are fired in an electric kiln to cone 6. Working in porcelain and stoneware, Matt uses a combination of wheel throwing and hand building techniques to create decorative and functional ceramic pieces that he hopes will invite interaction, evoke emotion, and embody the possibility of motion in their stillness. Matt has spent most of his life in mud and clay but feels like he’s just getting started and is excited to learn and grow as both a person and an artist in this chapter of life. |
