Waylande Gregory
Waylande Desantis Gregory (1905 Baxter Springs, Kansas – 1971, New Jersey) was one of the most innovative and prolific American art-deco ceramics sculptors of the early 20th century.
His groundbreaking techniques enabled him to create monumental ceramic sculpture, such as the Fountain of the Atoms and Light Dispelling Darkness, which had hitherto not been possible.
[2][3] By the age of 14, Gregory had made a bust of the school principal in only six sittings, as well as a ceramic statue called The Spirit of Athletics which was a composite of the best parts of three classmates.
In the meantime, still in his 20s, Gregory would direct the decoration and design of the Missouri Theater,[5] the Hotel President in Kansas City, and the bas relief panels at Brandenburg Field, Pittsburg State.
[citation needed] Also, it was here that he began to develop his sense of color more thoroughly, commenting that the "Chinese loved everything vivid and rich in tone, but we as a nation are just beginning to grow up to it.
In 1933, this period came to a close after a conflict with the manager of the Cranbrook Academy; the kilns had been shut down over a bank holiday, ruining many of his works in progress.
[citation needed] In 1933, Gregory and his wife Yolanda had moved to Metuchen, New Jersey, where he set up a workshop in the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company in Perth Amboy.
It is a terracotta globe surmounting a shaft of relief figures of a scientist, an artist, an engineer, plus muscular, un-shirted men apparently representing industrial workers or working-class people.
On the outside are six figures representing Pestilence, War, Famine, Death, Greed, and Materialism fleeing the forces of Science and Knowledge, an appropriate theme for Edison, NJ.
It features the classical four elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, surrounded by eight electrons (four male and four female, similar to putti).
After 1940, he no longer created monumental ceramic sculptures, but instead focused on production porcelains for leading retail stores such as Mary Ryan, Tiffany's, B. Altman and Company, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord and Taylor, Neiman Marcus, Bonwit Teller, Gump's, Hammacher Schlemmer, and many more.
One of the most famous of these is a table setting with dishes and centerpieces done on a theme of polo players, a favorite subject which he liked to watch at Schley Field in Far Hills.[where?
In the remaining years, he would make money by teaching art classes, and also made regular appearances on the television show, Ding Dong School.
Things began to look up in the 1960s, as he had acquired a patron in the form of Barbara Farmer, who had begun arrangements to build a new arts center in Middlefield, Massachusetts.
After he had moved to New Jersey and was working with the large kilns at the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company, Gregory reinforced his larger sculptures using a honeycomb structure to build up the pieces from the inside out, making them self-supporting prior to firing, preventing sagging and cracking.
Among his innovations are compressing of glaze powder into a crayon for sgraffito, and a patented process for fusing glass and ceramic together in a crackle pattern.
