A native of Dublin, N.H., Tejas Moses came to UNH because he wanted to maintain his relationships to people and places he had before college, while feeding his desire “for challenge and adventure and bliss.”
Those and “a really good financial aid package” that included a prestigious Hamel Scholarship, landed Tejas in Durham and UNH, where he majored in fine arts with a concentration in ceramics.
Steady guidance from lecturer and artist Don Williams enabled Tejas to immerse himself in studying and making “usable pottery,” which is rooted in the Japanese Mingei tradition from the early 20th century emphasizing simple forms hand-made by local craftspeople from local materials and intended for mass use.
In his sophomore year, he used a UNH Research Experience and Apprenticeship Program award to study the Mingei tradition, talking to artists, visiting art galleries and museums, and making his own pottery. In his senior year, he won a UNH International Research Opportunities Program grant to travel to Jingdezhen in China. “The two months I spent in China were instrumental to my finding the exciting groove in ceramics on which I’m now riding,” says Tejas in truly excellent style. “It changed the way I touch clay. And it helped me understand my role in the long history of ceramics and how my particular gifts could be used to benefit the communities I am a part of.”
Back on campus, Tejas spent a semester as a ceramics fellow, firing kilns, cleaning, mixing glazes and doing other things students aren’t generally asked to do but are critical to the smooth functioning of the clay studio. Tejas says, “the experience gave me a new appreciation for the labor of the studio and the technical skills required of a working potter.”
A three-year member of the UNH Rock Climbing Team, Tejas is confident his liberal arts education has prepared him to define his “own terms for personal and professional success.” He plans to work at various summer camps for children and adults, teaching “primitive” crafts such as pottery making with wild clay and bow making. He also hopes to hold a joint show with Ben Putnam at the 3S Artspace in Portsmouth.
And after that? “I want to find a way to balance my love of outdoor adventure, teaching and making.”
