Meet the artist

Melissa Black Reddick is a ceramic artist and founder of Modern History Clay Works in North Carolina.

Inspiration and History After earning degrees in Fine Arts and Museum Education, Reddick spent years crafting utilitarian vessels which were featured in galleries and collections throughout the United States and abroad. Her art took a very different turn when she inherited several boxes of family papers, spanning generations. After weeks spent immersed in their yellowed contents, she knew the boxes held not only fragmented memories of the past but also the clear vision into her future as an artist. Reddick became fascinated by the moments in time captured in the haphazard collection of documents that varied in importance and formality. Scribbled grocery lists, worn diaries, green stamps, wadded trolley tickets, carefully written lists of guests attending long ago family funerals and weddings, report cards, ancient deeds of land, and a young soldier’s love letters each seemed to whisper a tiny part of a larger story. She knew she had to pursue the telling of these stories within her art and launched on a journey to craft the collections that would eventually allow her to create an entirely new body of work through Modern History Clay Works. Reddick continues to strive to celebrate these stories in each of her collections including her newest, Goldies™ Story Cups, which feature the stories, joys, and passions of everyday women.