tennyson corley art

In her quirky girl dinner ceramics, South Carolina’s Tennyson Corley serves up a side of art, food and nostalgia.

Artist: Born and raised on the outskirts of Columbia, SC, Corley grew up around art and the business of art since her mother was an illustrator.

Corley attended Columbia College for Fine Art, where she focused on printmaking and painting, but ended up leaving her sophomore year after contracting meningitis.

“I also decided early on I wasn’t going to let lack of formal training deter my dreams of making it as an artist,” said Corley. “I continued to create art, book shows and explore mediums.”

Company/studio: Tennyson Corley Art is based in Columbia. The ceramic artist recently moved her studio from a downtown community clay studio to her home.

In the beginning: Corley’s path to ceramics was at a local ceramic studio, where her son was taking a class. She signed up for a class too and found clay cathartic and rewarding.

“It was a place where my artistic voice could be heard without all the noise I experienced painting,” said Corley.

Art & materials:

The girl dinner series, using earthenware clay, mayco stroke and coat (underglaze) and vintage cups and plates. ($100 to $250).
Also ceramic slug sculptures ($65 to $80).

“Drawing from my background as a master gardener and permaculturist,” said Corley. “I reframe these creatures, often seen as icky, as metaphors for the parts of ourselves we deem undesirable.”

What’s popular: Girl Dinners, which feature nostalgic ceramic food items and unexpected details, like cigarettes, on vintage dishes that are ready to hang or display.

“They are playful and full of joy,” said Corley. “I think people are drawn to that.”

Must-have tool: Her kiln.

“It is a literal game changer,” said Corley. “I’m not beholden to a community firing schedule, and that is freedom in itself.”

Inspirations: Ordinary life, such as highlighting food of an era.

Fun and special commissions:

A Masters golf-themed commission piece for a woman’s husband. It included a pimento cheese sandwich, golf ball, azalea, golf tee, potato chips, and a Masters ticket that included the husband’s birthday for the date of the event.
A fellow artist commissioned her daughter’s favorite after school meal.
A slug commission for a woman and her son. The son hands her “slug tickets” for being too slow, so we are putting an actual slug ticket on the slug.

“I’m a sucker for sentimentality and love hearing bits of people’s lives that I can work into a piece,” said Corley.

Recent project: A show in March 2025 at Augusta’s Westobou titled, “are you going to eat that,” based off of the cook Mary Mallon, infamously known as Typhoid Mary.

What’s next:

Gallery restocks for the Shain Gallery, Charlotte, NC.
An online release of beetles, moths and butterflies art for the Campbell Collective, Greenville, SC, September.
“Let them eat art” show for her Girl Dinners at Park Circle Gallery in North Charleston, SC. December.

Where to buy: Tennyson Corley Art.com and galleries, including: