Photo by Hannah Spicher

Tyson Graham is an artist, musician, and teacher based in the Boston area. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design from the University of South Carolina and apprenticed under Claude Graves of Little Mountain Pottery in Tryon, NC.

Tyson’s red earthenware ceramics are decorated with slips and sgraffito and fired in gas and electric kilns. The decorations come from patterns in nature, and often evolve into loose abstractions of flowers, leaves, and trees. His love for music comes through in his pottery with images of guitars, fiddles, and banjos.

As the child of a professional clarinet player and woodwinds professor, Tyson’s musical background dates back to his early childhood, when he started learning violin and guitar. He has explored many styles of music, including jazz, bluegrass, and folk varieties, with an emphasis on the upright bass, guitar, and fiddle. He is passionate about the traditional fiddle and banjo tunes associated with southern Appalachia, often referred to as old time music. He has taught for the Pacolet Junior Appalachian Musicians program, the Montessori Academy of Spartanburg, and offers private lessons for guitar, banjo, fiddle, and upright bass.

Tyson currently makes pots and teaches ceramics at Mudflat Studios in Somerville, MA.