June/July/August 1986 1

William C. Hunt...... Editor Barbara Tipton ...... Associate Editor Robert L. Creager...... Art Director Ruth C. Butler ...... Copy Editor Valentina Rojo ...... Editorial Assistant Mary Rushley.... . Circulation Manager Mary E. Beaver. . . Circulation Assistant Jayne Lohr...... Circulation Assistant Connie Belcher . . . . Advertising Manager Spencer L. Davis ...... Publisher Editorial, Advertising and Circulation Offices 1609 Northwest Boulevard Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212 (614) 488-8236 Ceramics Monthly (ISSN 0009-0329) is published monthly except July and August by Professional Publications, Inc.—S. L. Davis, Pres.; P. S. Emery, Sec.: 1609 North­ west Blvd., Columbus, Ohio 43212. Second Class postage paid at Columbus, Ohio. Subscription Rates: One year $18, two years $34, three years $45. Add $5 per year for subscriptions outside the U.S.A. Change of Address: Please give us four weeks advance notice. Send both the magazine wrapper label and your new address to: Ceramics Monthly, Circulation Office, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Contributors: Manuscripts, photographs, color separations, color transparencies (in­ cluding 35mm slides), graphic illustrations, texts and news releases dealing with ceramic art and craft are welcome and will be con­ sidered for publication. A booklet describing procedures for the preparation and submis­ sion of a manuscript is available upon re­ quest. Send manuscripts and correspondence about them to: Ceramics Monthly, The Ed­ itor, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Telecommunications and Disk Media: Ceramics Monthly accepts articles and other data by modem. Phone us for transmission specifics. Articles may also be submitted on 3.5-inch microdiskettes readable with an Ap­ ple Macintosh computer system. Indexing:Articles in each issue of Ceramics Monthly are indexed in the Art Index; on line (computer) indexing is available through Wilsonline, 950 University Ave., Bronx, New York 10452. A 20-year subject index (1953-1972), covering Ceramics Monthly feature articles, Suggestions and Questions columns, is available for $1.50, postpaid, from the Ceramics Monthly Book Department, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Additionally, each year’s articles are indexed in the De­ cember issue. Copies and Reprints: Microfiche, 16mm and 35mm microfilm copies, and xerographic re­ prints are available to subscribers from Uni­ versity Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106. Copies in micro­ fiche are also available from Bell & Howell, Micro Photo Division, Old Mansfield Road, Wooster, Ohio 44691. Back Issues: Back issues, when available, are $3 each, postpaid. Write for a list. Postmaster: Please send address changes to Ceramics Monthly, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Copyright © 1986 Professional Publications, Inc. All rights reserved June/July/August 1986 3 4 Ceramics Monthly Ceramics Monthly Volume 34, Number 6 June/July/August 1986

Feature Articles Catalan Roots by Claudi Casanovas...... 28 Smoke and Color by Glenn Spangler...... 32 Deliberations by Anne Hirondelle...... 34 Large-Scale Flexible Ceramics! by Glenn Rand...... 40 East German Symposium by Jimmy Clark...... 42 Pattern and Design 47 Easy Aventurine Glazes by Robert and Beatrice Pearson...... 48 Raymon Elozua 50 Pro Art...... 51 Robert Turner Retrospective...... 53 Portfolio: John Roloff by Elaine Levin...... 57 The Other Side of Consignment by Tami Hook...... 83

Departments Letters to the Editor...... 7 Where to Show 13 Questions 15 Itinerary 17 Suggestions 23 Comment: Theories on the Creative Process by Elly Danica ...... 25 News & Retrospect 67 New Books 91 Film & Video 93 Classified Advertising 94 Index to Advertisers 96

The Cover Port Townsend, Washington, ceramist Anne Hiron­ delle works in a 10xl4-foot studio efficiently equipped with an electric wheel, extruder, worktables, storage shelves and a wood stove. With a career that moved from production stoneware to raku-fired clay draw­ ings to acrylic constructions, she has returned to mak­ ing vessel-oriented stoneware. Turn to page 34 for an in-depth profile of this potter’s life and work. Photo: Roger Schreiber. June/July/August 1986 5 6 Ceramics Monthly Letters Silica, Flint or Quartz much sense as praying for a tidal wave. Tra­ Jack Troy, Katsuyuki Sakazume, and so many Ceramics Monthly’s editorial comments dition takes care of itself; the search for new more for a spectrum of possibilities. about the tradition of using the term “flint” answers needs nurturing wherever it arises. Matt Povse to describe the material silica [see the March The strength (and tyranny) of tradition is Director 1986 Letters, page 53] are misleading to the obvious in Katsuyuki Sakazume’s answer to Peters Valley international readership in that they are not my question of whether he would return to Layton, N.J. the worldwide convention. Japan. He said that he would not because In western Europe (at least) flint is the they were so tradition bound that he would Left-Handed Throwing form of silica obtained by calcining, crushing no longer fit in. I’m a left-hander from the word go. Yet, and finely grinding flint pebbles located in Arturo Toscanini had such contempt for it never occurred to me during my ten years chalk strata. The most common and alter­ tradition that he defined it as “the memory of throwing, until I saw “lefty” Gerald Pa­ native form of silica is quartz produced by of the last bad performance.” Yet he was awash trick of California make pots, that maybe I grinding white sands or quartzite. in his own sea, the sea of music tradition should be throwing Japanese style with the As CM rightly observes, there are slight that produced him, and as a leading mod­ wheel rotating clockwise instead of counter­ differences although chemically they are both ernist interpreter of the symphonic reper­ clockwise. almost pure silica (very few other ceramic toire, he carried on the tradition of great con­ I would like to hear from other “lefties.” raw materials have such purity). As a con­ ducting. It is this larger tradition that really I throw mostly 10-pound flowerpots and it sequence of its finer grain size and catalytic matters, not the tradition of how to hold a would be interesting to know whether my action of the small amount of lime present, cello bow, or fire a kiln. stronger left hand should be outside the pot flint converts much more readily to cristo- In my article, when I wrote of standing, rather than inside. balite and is therefore preferable to quartz “perhaps still smelling of smoke, in front of I’ve never heard of any instructor or in­ in clay bodies. In glazes, however, it has been four medieval Japanese wood-fired jars,” Istruction book differentiating between right- my experience that the differences are mar­ was writing of awe, the awe I feel for all the and left-handed potters. ginal and generally nonexistent, provided onegreatest traditions of pottery. That awe does Once again us “lefties” are left out in “right” substitutes flint for quartz of similar particle not apply to contemporary pots fired in a field. size. Most differences in color and texture contemporary kiln in contemporary Ameri­ Bob Caperell arise from substitutions using quartz that is ca. As Jack wrote, “Wood firing is just an­ Naples, Fla. too coarse (200 rather than 300 mesh). other specialized way of firing.” I couldn’t In connection with Douglas Grimm’s have said it better myself. Make CM Like a Newspaper comments about hazard labeling [same Let­ Everette Busbee I have often thought Ceramics Monthly ters column], we apply hazard labels to all Layton, N.J. should be like a newspaper. However, in­ forms of finely ground free silica: flint, quartz stead of a sports section, local news, etc., we and cristobalite. I dunno, Jack Troy and Donald Thie- would have a technical section, functional A further point is that the hazards of use berger (in May letters). We all see different section, sculptural section, nonfunctional derive only from the respirable fraction (ap­ things. I also read the articles on the Peters section, history/criticism, college scene, aes­ proximately 1- to 5-micron range) of the free Valley kiln (March ’86) and thought they thetics and profiles of potters. silica, and much coarser material is of no were about a kiln firing, not an obligatory When I pick up my paper and the sports significant hazard. Thus there is no problem ode to a past kiln builder. If I’m wrong, then section is missing; I get irate. The same thing in handling quartz sands for example. I should probably demand to know all there happens when Ceramics Monthly comes. I Harry Fraser is about Mr./Ms. Paragon next time I fire expect if I get one good idea, or gain one Potclays, Limited my electric kiln. deeper insight, then it is time and money well Stoke-on-Trent, England Too bad, Jack, that you feel the eastern spent. Though I often get mad, I still wait chauvinism you do toward Lincoln fireclayfor the next issue. Awash in Tradition as being only suitable for clay wadding. It Tony Burant It is evidently difficult for Jack Troy (May has been a popular major ingredient in Butternut, Wis. Letters) to accept that he was the only one throwing bodies around here for years and at the Peters Valley anagama workshop who takes a vapor glaze just like Jordan. Don’t No Offense worked the way he did. The rest of us had let the description “fireclay” fool you. AndCeramics is such a deep and rich field of aesthetic goals that differed from his, so he also, don’t take it too easy out there—it is activity. Each issue of CM surprises me with derides our work as “sepia-toned pots,” and definitely possible to burn more than a full the great diversity of approaches to the pro­ questions “whether they are boldly of ourcord of wood a day in a kiln. It may not be cess. Nothing offends me. CM should keep time.” John Chalke, Laura Burch, Bob economical, but since when’s economics been looking for potters who have not received Scherzer, Bill Forst and I all produced work a concern with this kind of firing? previous coverage. I would like to see more for the anagama that related to our nonan- If you look carefully and use those touted in-depth and personal interviews. agama work. Our visions, our methods, dif­ qualities of time and patience (as did one of Jim Lane fered from Jack’s. We did not spend a great our sharp-eyed company here) you might get Richmond, Va. deal of time “looking at Japanese picture to translate the foreign message propped up books” and then produce pots that looked like in one of the photographs in the article. Out April Anaesthetics? they should be in Japanese books. So when here we kind of get the distinct impression This is not a funk vs. function letter. Art the kiln was opened, it didn’t look entirely it’s all contained therein. should include aesthetics as an element, not as if a medieval Bizen kiln had warped out Wally Brown anaesthetics. A full-color feature article with of orbit and landed at Peters Valley. Torrance, Calif. the content and appearance of an underglaze It looked like contemporary clay. There advertisement (“Leslie Wood,” April issue) was experiment, with its successes and fail­ Let’s hope that differing opinions prevail is unfortunate use of space in CM. ures. There was excitement. As a teacher, at Peters Valley for a long time to come. If someone has a fondness for clutter and Jack should welcome rather than deride ex­ There must be more than one way to fire an the proclivity to attempt to illustrate it, that periment, unless, of course, he thinks he has anagama as there is more than one style or is their privilege. Everyone is entitled to do the answer. type of pot to put in it. An educational or­ their own thing. Such matter presented in a We potters are already awash in a sea of ganization needs the stimulation of diversity. magazine is a jewel of editorial discretion tradition; invoking tradition makes about as Thanks to John Chalke, Everette Busbee, Continued June/July/August 1986 7

Letters of “how to.” It is clearly written and well detailed so that one can easily follow all the reminiscent of or surely inspired by the pho­ steps as well as get knowledge of how much tographer Elliot Gould played in the film and where to buy. “Little Murders.” It must have been the an­ Let’s have more. nual April Fools’ Day joke we watch for. Abram Zevy Good one! Yonkers, N.Y. CM has a good record of presenting fea­ tures to benefit the interests of clay. Some of Ready for Criticism us are primarily concerned with making pots; In response to Jens Morrison’s letter some of us are primarily concerned with (March 1986): Jens, babes, I hear ya—but making art. Many of us are involved in both. will [Time magazine critic] Robert Hughes Now we have articles for those who are pri­ come to Tujunga to meet the “Julian Schna­ marily concerned with making it. bel” of clay? Robert C. McNeely Patty Fernandez Edwardsville, 111. Tujunga, Calif. Unfair Porcelain and Plasticity I have a legitimate gripe ... I spend hours In regard to the article “Porcelain Plas­ (an entire, 12-hour workday) on one sculp­ ticity Update” in the June/July/August 1985 ture (person or animal). After bisque firing issue, I tried using Epsom salts instead of it, I glaze it, which takes hours not to have vinegar in my porcelain when I mix in Ma­ drips or dots where they don’t belong. Then son stains or inlays. The authors were right! at shows, judges barely acknowledge your No mold! The clay stays plastic longer, and presence. Potters can throw a bowl in five cracking (which has been a problem for years) minutes (I’ve thrown also), splash on a glaze is kept to a minimum. Thank you for the that happens to look great and take best in information. show. I’d like to see them handbuild an an­ Jody Swenson imal or face. After all, aren’t you supposed Riverside, 111. to be proficient at both? Why do judges think a thrown bowl is better than an animal The Purpose of Letters sculpture? For many years I have enjoyedCeramics Saima Kelley Monthly. As my ceramic interests and em­ Punta Gorda, Fla. phasis shifted and changed, there was a dif­ There’s no simple answer to your com­ ferent magazine department to appreciate. plaint. But it is important to recognize that Presently, Letters to the Editor give me plea­ there are at least jour value systems at work sure. They give an historical sense of my old in varying degrees when anyone judges an naivete from the rookies and hope for future exhibition. You recognize one oj them as being thoughtfulness from some of the old-timers. dominant, which is the value oj time ex­ Gregory Radig pended. This system, however; is paralleled Las Vegas by another which values specijic culturally established standards oj craftsmanship, by I see no purpose in publishing letters that another which values visual expression orare gratuitously nasty just for the sake of beauty and by another which values the controversy. CM has too much going for it strength, clarity and power oj the visual state­ to waste space showcasing spite and egotism. ment. Sometimes these value systems agree, Mary Ann Martin but more ojten they are in conflict, need to Eugene, Ore. be in conjlict. Otherwise, it would be a simple matter oj counting the hours it took to paint And More on Shutoff Failure a canvas; then the paintings that required the Here are my experiences regarding kiln most time to produce would be the most de­ shutoff failures (Letters, March and April sired. By your value system alone, a small 1986): I have been a full-time production Vincent Van Gogh painting could easily be potter since 1977 (no teaching subsidies, no valued less than that sculpture oj yours. grant subsidies, no part-time job, no inher­ Additionally, one need not be projicient at itance, no income from a working spouse). I both pottery and sculpture, although therefire all electric, Cone 5 and 6, except for are benejitspossible in knowing the skills and raku. I use eight electric kilns, Crusader model aesthetics of both areas.—Ed. 274S. I fire an average of three kilns a day, seven days a week. Steven Hill Although I am very pleased with the kilns— I loved the profile on Steven Hill in the their ease of maintenance and durability— January issue. He is an excellent potter and I, too, have had problems with the kiln sit­ an incredibly motivating and inspiring teach­ ters. As prescribed by their manuals, I fol­ er! It’s high time he received national atten­ lowed maintenance schedules and used guide tion. cones. Mike Vukovich of the Orton Foun­ Judy Thompson dation (March Letters) spelled out clearly Kansas City, Mo. and accurately four things that could go wrong with the sitter. They’ve all happened to me, More Process Articles resulting in kiln overfirings; fortunately there “Cane Handles” by Ray Bub in the Aprilhas been little kiln damage and no fires. issue of Ceramics Monthly is a good example Continued June/July/August 1986 9 10 Ceramics Monthly Letters couldn’t find an ad for a Mason stain seller, and, not knowing the name of the company, I’ve also found that the sitters trip off too had to hunt the ad through the whole mag­ soon, so I have had to reset the mechanism azine. by pushing in that little recessed button. I Daniela F. Johnson burned my fingertip more than once before Cranston, R.I. I realized the necessity of keeping a screw­ driver around the kilns for just such a pur­ I love the new format for CM. The use pose. Sometimes the device would not reset, of white space and type is very effective and and eventually I got fed up and direct-wired makes articles much more readable. all my kilns. Now I use only guide cones. I Susan Gerr watch them and turn off the kiln when it is Boston done. We haven’t overfired a kiln in more than a year and a half. CM’s publication of summer workshops A lot of things take me away from the last year (April 1985) was great. I didn’t go workshop, including customers, the phone, to any of them, but boy, did I dream! Maybe child transportation, etc. The best way I’ve this summer! found to remember to check the kilns is by Nancy S. Thompson setting timers. We have four spring-wound Moline, 111. kitchen timers in the workshop; two are two- hour timers and two are one-hour timers. I I have a ten year goal—to be an indepen­ set the timers to my estimate of when the dent potter by 1992 (I am currently a buyer kilns need to be checked and to five-minute in a large department store where I purchase intervals after that time. If, despite all my housewares)—look out world! good intentions, the kilns don’t get checked J.F. Wear on the first ring, the most time that can elapse Philadelphia before I am reminded, again and again, is five minutes. I pot for my own enjoyment and have nev­ If a kiln sitter needs to be attended during er sold a piece, although I have given lots firing, as March letter writer Lubov Arm- away. I realize that the art side of pottery is strong-Mazur states, I figure I am actually very important to people. I think, though, sitting a kiln sitter. Now I’ve skipped that that there are those of us out here who love step. I just watch the kiln. pottery for its simple and basic old-fashioned I have successfully convinced my insur­qualities. It’s quite a thrill to me to dig my ance agent that I can safely fire kilns, and I own clay, prepare it by hand, use sawdust or actually pay a discounted premium because wood firing, and then say “I made this from I do not use kiln-sitting devices. I trust my­ the earth; it cost me nothing but my labor of self, my assistant, and my timers to success­ love.” I want my three children to have a fully fire 50,000 pounds of clay each year. great appreciation for nature and the ways And yes, I do work seven days a week andin which it can provide. pray that I can make pots until the day I die. Denise Downs James E. Kozlowski Pampa, Tex. Holcomb, N.Y. I have returned to clay sculpture after 30 Glaze Forum Proposal years in creative business to find the world When reading American literature, I’ve has changed mostly in positive ways: good observed that all the books are entitled “The magazines, available materials, high interest World’s Greatest...,” or “The World’s Com­ in wider groups than in the ’50s. All the old plete Book of...,” or “The Entire Encyclo­guys (Voulkos, Arneson) are famous now. The pedia of...,” and those books are often one good ads for equipment helped me set up a person’s work. new studio quickly. Here’s an idea for CM: Leave four or five Myron A. Beigler pages every month for glazes, maybe with Los Altos, Calif. pictures. Readers all over the world could send their recipes, one kind every month. I would like to see more sculpture in the Split the whole thing up like this: deadline magazine. for celadons, January; deadline for salt slips, Eron Eno February; deadline for low-fire glazes, March, Wolfville, N.S. etc. This way, in one or two years CM issues While not wanting to belabor the func­ surely would be a large compendium of glaz­ tional/sculptural conflict any longer I have es, and CM would be a collector’s item to to make one comment which I read some­ many potters, because it would really contain where but can’t remember who the critic was: glazes from all over the world. “Interesting is easy; beautiful is difficult.” Ronan Vandrer Irene Manckofsky Faurbo, Denmark Marstons Mills, Mass. Subscribers’ Comments Share your thoughts with other readers. All In the Advertisers’ Index at the end of the letters must be signed, but names will be magazine, why not categorize ads referring withheld on request. Address: The Editor; to what they sell? For instance—Kilns: Skutt, Ceramics Monthly, Box 12448, Columbus, page 11; Paragon, page...; Wheels:..., etc. I Ohio 43212. June/July/August 1986 11 12 Ceramics Monthly Where to Show exhibitions, fairs, festivals and sales Send announcements oj juried exhibitions, fairs, Fee: $20. Contact: C.N. Prospectus, Everson Mu­ High Country Crafters, 29 Haywood Street, Ashe­ festivals and sales at least four months before the seum of Art, 401 Harrison St., Syracuse 13202; ville, North Carolina 28801; or call: (704) 254- entry deadline to: The Editor, Ceramics Monthly, or call: (315) 474-6064. 0072. Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212; or call: (614) June 30 entry deadline 488-8236. Add one month for listings in fuly and Parker, Arizona “Third Annual Southwest two months for those in August. Regional Exhibitions Rendezvous” (November 1-2) is juried from 5 slides. June 15 entry deadline Fee: $15 plus 20% commission on sales. An outside Wichita, Kansas The ninth annual exhibition is juried from photos. Fee: $50 for a International Exhibitions “WomanArt” (August 3-30) is open to women re­ 10x10-foot space; no commission. Awards. Send June 30 entry deadline siding in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Mis­ a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: S.W.A.A., Toronto, Ontario, Canada “First Annual In­ souri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Juried from slides. Box 5334, Parker 85344. ternational Miniature Art Exhibition” (November Juror: Philomene Bennet. Awards. Fee: $15 for Aurora, Illinois “Autumn Fine Arts Show­ 9-December 31) is juried from two-dimensional up to 3 entries. Send self-addressed, stamped en­ case” (October 18-19) is juried from 5 slides, 1 of works in any media. Awards. Fee: $15 (or Can$18) velope to: WomanArt, Box 47010, Wichita 67201. display. Awards. Entry fee: $5; booth fee: $30. for up to 3 works. Contact: Del Bello Gallery, 363 Saint Louis, Missouri “Mississippi Mud II” Send self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Aurora Queen St., W, Toronto, Ontario M5V 2A4; or call: (September 19-October 19) is open to residents of Art League, c/o Evone Ostreko, 1951 Rosemont (416) 593-0884. Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Dr., Aurora 60506. Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and July 1 entry deadline Wisconsin. Juried from 6 slides of up to 3 works. Las Vegas, Nevada “KNPR Craftworks Mar­ National Exhibitions Fee: $15. Send self-addressed, stamped envelope ket” (October 25-26) is juried from up to 10 slides. June 20 entry deadline to: Hickory Street Gallery, 1929 Hickory St., SaintEntry fee: $10. Booth fee: $120. Contact: Craft­ Los Angeles and San Francisco, Califor­ Louis 63104. works, 5151 Boulder Hwy., Las Vegas 89122; or nia “Artists’ Liaison” (September 1-October 10) call: (702) 456-6695. is juried from a minimum of 3 slides. Jurors: Jan Dayton, Ohio The third annual “Dayton Art Peters, Ray Leier and Deborah Lawrence. $7500 Fairs, Festivals and Sales Expo ’86” (November 7-9) is juried from 3 slides. in awards. Fee: $5 per slide. For further infor­ June 6 entry deadline Awards. Entry fee: $10. Booth fee: $50. Send self- mation contact: Artists’ Liaison, 1341 Ocean Ave., Bloomington, Indiana The tenth annual “4th addressed, stamped envelope to: Diane Coyle, 61D, Santa Monica, California 90401; or call: (213) Street Festival of the Arts and Crafts” (August Dayton Art Expo ’86, Box 404, Dayton 45409; or 399-9306. 30-31) is juried from 4 slides. Awards. Fee: $55. call: (513) 435-6633, or Nita Leland 434-9977. June 27 entry deadline Contact: The 4th Street Festival Committee, Box Milwaukee, Wisconsin “Craft Fair USA” (July Jackson, Wyoming “Art West Open Compe­ 1257, Bloomington 47402. 19-20) is juried from 5 slides or photos. Fee: $75 tition” (September 12-October 3) is juried from 3 Lynchburg, Virginia “Hand Crafts 1986” for a 10x10-foot space. Send self-addressed, stamped slides. Fee: $15. Awards, including a three-week (October 24-26) is juried from 3 slides. Fees: envelope to: Dennis R. Hill, 3233 S. Villa Circle, solo exhibition. Contact: Judy Sensintaffar, Art $75-$ 190. Contact: Lynchburg Fine Arts Center, West Allis, Wisconsin 53227; or call: (414) 321 - West Gallery, Box 1248, Jackson 83001; or call: 1815 Thomson Dr., Lynchburg 24501; or call: (804) 4566. (307) 733-6379. 846-8451. July 5 entry deadline June 30 entry deadline June 13 entry deadline Lexington, Kentucky “Smoky Mountain Wichita, Kansas “Wichita National All Me­ Burbank, California “Summer Arts and Crafts Christmas in July Art & Craft Show” (July 18-20) dia Crafts Exhibit” (September 7-October 5) is Festival” (July 19-20) is juried from slides. Entry is juried from slides or photos. Fee: $125. Send juried from slides. Juror: Helen W. Drutt English. fee: $5. Booth fee: $50. Send self-addressed, stamped self-addressed, stamped business envelope to: Dana Fee: $15 for up to 3 entries. Contact: Wichita Art envelope to: Creative Arts Center, Box 6459, Bur­ Kropf, High Country Crafters, 29 Haywood St., Association, 9112 E. Central, Wichita 67206; or bank 91510; or call: (818) 953-8763. Asheville, North Carolina 28801; or call: (704) call: (316) 686-6687. Manteo, North Carolina Fifth annual “New 254-0072. Saint Louis, Missouri “Dinnerware Show” World Festival of the Arts” (August 13-14) is ju­ July 7 entry deadline (October 24-November 30) is juried from slides ried from 4 slides, 1 of display. Awards. Fee: $50. Schenectady, New York “Crafts Festival ’86” of functional work. Jurors: Saunders Schultz, Dion Send self-addressed, stamped (39^) envelope to: at the Schenectady Museum (December 6-7) is Dion and Walter Moody. Fee: $15. Send self-ad­ New World Festival of the Arts, SR Box 111-E, juried from 5 slides. Entry fee: $10. Booth fee: dressed, stamped envelope to: Hickory Street Gal­ Kitty Hawk, North Carolina 27949. $90. Contact: Karen Engelke, 1791 Central Pkwy., lery, 1929 Hickory St., Saint Louis 63104; or call: June 14 entry deadline Schenectady 12309; or call: (518) 372-9155. Or: (314) 231-1929. Dillon, Colorado “10th Annual Craft Fair” Paula Scardalmalia, 3068 County Rte. 6, Berne, July 15 entry deadline (July 19-20) is juried from 3 slides or photo­ New York 12023; or call: (518) 797-3163. New Haven, Connecticut “18th Annual Cel­ graphs. Fee: $40. Contact: Lake Dillon Arts Guild, July 11 entry deadline ebration of American Crafts” (November Box 1047, Dillon 80435. Saint Louis, Missouri “Third Annual Lau- 10-December 23) is juried from slides and a re­ June 15 entry deadline meier Sculpture Park Arts and Crafts Fair” (Oc­ sume. Send self-addressed, stamped envelope to: South Norwalk, Connecticut The tenth an­ tober 11-12) is juried from 3 slides. Awards. Fee: Roz Schwartz, Creative Arts Workshop, 80 Au­ nual “Arts and Crafts Show” (August 2-3) is ju­ $20. Send self-addressed, stamped envelope to: dubon St., New Haven 06511. ried from 4 slides, 1 of display. Fee: $45. Contact: 12580 Rott Rd., Saint Louis 63127. August 4 entry deadline SoNo Arts Celebration, Box 2222, Norwalk 06852. Wooster, Ohio “Turn o’ the Century Christ­ Mesa, Arizona “Clay Forte” (November Memphis, Tennessee “Mississippi River Folk- mas” (December 6-7) is juried from 3 slides and 15-December 13) is juried from slides. Juror: Da­ fest” (August 30-September 1) is juried from slides. a resume. Period booth and costume required; work vid Furman. For further information contact: Gal- Fee: $100. Contact: Kate Canon, 125 N. Front St., can be contemporary. Fee: $45 for a 6x10-foot eria Mesa, Box 1466, Mesa 85201; or call: (602) Memphis 38103; or call: (901) 576-7230. space. Send self-addressed, stamped envelope to: 834-2242. June 20 entry deadline Wayne Center for the Arts, Box 382, Wooster 44691; August 16 entry deadline Copper Mountain, Colorado “Sixth Annual or call: (216) 264-2787 or 264-8596. Gatlinburg, Tennessee “Space: New Form/ Homespun Arts & Craft Show” (July 26-27) is July 15 entry deadline New Function” (October 25-January 24, 1987) juried from 3 slides or photographs. Fee: $35 for Durham, North Carolina “CenterFest ’86” is juried from up to 3 slides each of a maximum an 8x10-foot space. Contact: Copper Mountain (September 20-21) is juried from 4 slides. Jurors: of 3 works. Juror: Ken Holder. Awards. For fur­ Resort, Box 3001, Copper Mountain 80443; or Alan Z. Aiches and Bryant Holsenbeck. $1500 in ther information contact: Arrowmont School of Arts call: Lucy Kay (303) 968-2882, ext. 6644. awards. Contact: CenterFest-Visual Arts, Dur­ and Crafts, Box 567, Gatlinburg 37738; or call: Chatham, Pennsylvania “Third Annual Arts ham Arts Council, 120 Morris St., Durham 27701; (615) 436-5860. and Crafts Show” (September 20-21) is juried from or call: (919) 286-3684. September 6 entry deadline 4 slides. Fee: $10. Contact: R. Samuel Lam, 157 July 20 entry deadline Brea, California Orange County Associated Lloyd Rd., West Grove, Pennsylvania 19390; or Scaly Mountain, North Carolina “A High Artists’ “20th Annual All Media Juried Exhibi­ call: (215) 869-9494. ^ Country Art & Craft Show” (August 1-3) is juried tion” (November 7-December 11) is juried from June 23 entry deadline from slides or photos. Fee: $90. Send self-ad- slides. $1200 in awards. For further information Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania “A Fair in the Park” dressed, stamped business envelope to: Dana Kropf, contact: OCAA, 441 Cienaga Dr., Fullerton, Cal­ (September 12-14) is juried from 5 slides. Entry High Country Crafters, 29 Haywood St., Ashe­ ifornia 92635. fee: $75; booth fee: $75. Contact: A Fair in the ville, North Carolina 28801; or call: (704) 254- October 1 entry deadline Park, Craftsmen’s Guild of Pittsburgh, Box 10128, 0072. Syracuse, New York “American Ceramics Now” Pittsburgh 15232. July 30 entry deadline (April 8-June 28, 1987), the 27th Everson ceram­ June 25 entry deadline Lowell, Michigan The 18th annual “Fallas- ic national, is open to artists 21 years of age or Scaly Mountain, North Carolina “A High burg Fall Festival” (September 27-28) is juried older. Juried from up to 6 slides of a maximum Country Art & Craft Show” (July 4-6) is juried from slides. Fee: $40. Contact: Lowell Area Arts of 3 works. Jurors: Barbara Haskell, Henry Hop­ from slides or photos. Fee: $90. Send self-ad- Council, Box 53, Lowell 49331. kins and Michael McTwigan. $10,000 in awards. dressed, stamped business envelope to: Dana Kropf, Please Turn to Page 72 June/July/August 1986 13 14 C eramics Monthly Questions Answered by the CM Technical Staff

Q I make stoneware slab pots with the following clay recipe (by volume): STONEWARE BODY (Cone 4) Foundry Hill Cream...... 100 parts Kentucky Ball Clay (OM 4)...... 10 A. P. Green Fireclay...... 10 Grog (50 mesh)...... 20 140 parts I decorate the exteriors of these pots with slips, leaving some bare areas, then glaze the interior with the following recipe (by weight): CLEAR GLAZE (Cone 4) Gerstley Borate...... 49.5% Whiting ...... 7.5 Kaolin...... 16.0 Flint...... 33.0 100.0% This glaze bleeds through to the outside on my thinnest walled (3/i6-inch) pots, leaving a yellow discoloration that remains after they are high fired. I’ve tried bisquing higher (Cone 02) to no avail. In addition to your advice on preventing this problem, I am curious: what is actually coming through the bisque clay to cause the dis­ coloration?—A.Z. Gerstley borate is a relatively soluble glaze material which means that some of its contents go into solution (like sugar in water) and thus follow the liquid portion of the glaze wherever it goes. On thinner ware, soluble materials easily migrate from an interior sur­ face to an exterior. The colder the water, the less solubility the Gerstley borate has; this material is insoluble in other liquids such as alcohol. At any rate, your problem comes from the soluble salts of Gerstley borate migrating through the clay wall to the exterior surfaces. So try working with colder water, or substitute a frit for the Gerstley borate (as frits are generally insoluble) in order to prevent your bleed-through problem. From this explanation, it is obvious that bisque temperature has no bearing on solving the prob­ lem. But it is possible after the form is completely dry to brush off soluble salts from surfaces where they migrated; this may be im­ practical in many studio circumstances because of the labor involved. Q What if you are about to decide the direction you will go with your craft and you decide you do not want to make functional pottery. Where do you begin? Can you earn a living? Do you still have to produce functional pottery?S.— W Even so-called nonfunctional items have an aesthetic function, thus it’s difficult to separate them from so-called functional ones. No one really needs handmade ceramic dinnerware strictly for its utility. Instead, this ware is purchased at a higher price because of its aesthetic function. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that quite a few ceramists today quietly make a good living from nonfunctional ceramics. Nevertheless, you still need to produce something non­ functional for which there is a market if you intend to live from ceramics sales income. Visit any major department store to see a variety of nonfunctional items which should give some idea of the ratio of functional to nonfunctional objects sold, suitable price range, and help you determine the kinds of nonfunctional objects that have broad appeal. A business selling nonfunctional objects often depends on a larger marketing effort because people do buy fewer nonfunctional items, and customer education (through marketing) is the key to growth of nonfunctional sales. Subscribers’ inquiries are welcome and those of general interest will be answered in this column. Due to volume, letters may not be ansujered personally. Send questions to: Technical Staff, Ceramics Monthly, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. June/July/August 1986 15 16 Ceramics Monthly Itinerary conferences, exhibitions, workshops, fairs and other events to attend Send announcements of conferences, exhibitions, D.C., Washington through July 6 “Robert of Davis”; at the Craft Center Gallery, 4th Floor, workshops, juried fairs and other events at least Arneson: A Retrospective”; at the Hirshhorn Mu­ Memorial Union. two months before the month of opening to: Theseum and Sculpture Garden, Independence Ave. California, Fresno through August 17 Editor, Ceramics Monthly, Box 12448, Columbus, at Eighth St., SW. “Mexican Masterworks,” includes pre-Columbian Ohio 43212; or call: (614) 488-8236. Add one Illinois, Chicago June 13-July 17 Christopher ceramics; at the Fresno Arts Center and Museum, month for listings in July and two months for those L. Davis-Benavides, “Tectonic Sculpture with Pe­ 2233 N. First St. in August. ruvian References”; at Esther Saks Gallery, 311 California, Hayward June 10-July 10 “Crafts: W. Superior St. A Local View”; at the Adobe Art Center and Gal­ Illinois, Highland Park through June 19 lery, 1099 E St. International Conferences Jeanee Redmond; at Martha Schneider Gallery, California, La Jolla June 14-July 19 John Canada, British Columbia, Vancouver July 2055 Green Bay Rd. Crawford, Steve Fullmer, Peter Gibbs, Royce 22-25 The “World Conference on Arts, Politics Indiana, Indianapolis June 3-29 Alan Pa­ McGlashen, Cecilia Parkinson and Rick Rudd, and Business.” For details consult February CM trick, carved porcelain and basalt ware. August “New Zealand Potters”; at Gallery Eight, 7464 Itinerary. Fee: Can$225 (approximately $170). 5-31 Nell Devitt, stoneware/raku pots; at the Girard Ave. Contact: 1986 World Conference on Arts, Politics Indianapolis Museum of Art, 1200 W. 38 St. California, La Mesa through June 12 and Business, 5997 Iona Dr., Vancouver, British Iowa, Des Moines through June 15 David B. “MAGIC: EVENTual Transformation,” includes Columbia V6T 2A4; or call: (604) 222-5232. Dahlquist, “New Faces,” two- and three-dimen­ works by Luis Bermudez and Brian Ransom; at August 14-19 The Canadian Crafts Council sional stoneware works; at the Des Moines Art Reflections Gallery, 8371 La Mesa Blvd. “Conference 86” (August 14-17), at the University Center, 4700 Grand Ave. California, Los Angeles through June 14 “New of British Columbia, will include panels, seminars, Maine, Portland July 1-31 David Green- Faces: Part II,” includes works by Luis Bermudez slide presentations, workshops, etc. Contact: Con­ baum and Stephen Powell. July 1-September and Patrick S. Crabb; at Shoshana Wayne Gallery, ference Secretariat, Conference 86, Box 4412, 1 David Keator, wood and ceramic tables and 9151 Exposition Dr. Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 3Z8. Interna­ platters. August 1-September 1 Carolyn Sale, through September 28 “Edwin Binney, 3rd tional meetings of the CCC and the World Crafts sculpture; at Maple Hill Gallery, 367 Fore St. Turkish Collection”; at the Los Angeles County Council will follow Conference 86. “International July 1-31 Steven Schrepferman; at Abacus Gal­ Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. Day” (August 18) topics: “Rhythm and Creativity” lery, 44 Exchange St. California, Malibu through June 12 Thomas and “Crafts Infrastructures Worldwide.” “World Massachusetts, Boston June 7-28 British ce­ Kerrigan, habitat-series vessels; and Robert Sper­ Crafts Council Day” (August 19) topics: “Design ramist Bernard Forrester, lustered stoneware and ry, platter forms. July 12-August 14 Sylvia and Craft,” “Form and Function,” “Craft History,” porcelain plates, bowls and goblets; at Westmins­ Bower, pit-fired vessels; Maishe Dickman, glaze “Design and Aid,” and “Design—Education.” ter Gallery, 132A Newbury St. paintings and vessel forms; and Rick Foris, sculp­ Contact: Canadian Crafts Council, 801-750 Jervis Missouri, Saint Louis through June 7 Daniel tural raku vessels and architectural forms. August St., Vancouver, British Columbia V6E 2A9. Anderson. June 8-28 Linda Christianson. 16-September 25 Martha Holt and Robert Finland, Helsinki June 11-13 “Clay AZ Art July 6-August 23 Cho Chung Hyun, Korean Milnes, anthropomorphic sculptural forms; at Cross International Conference/Finland 86,” at the Ara­ pottery; at Pro Art, 5595 Pershing. Creek Gallery, 3835 Cross Creek Rd., Space B. bia Factory, will include tours, exhibitions, dem­ New Jersey, Newark through July 6 Anne California, Napa through June 28 Veronica onstrations and lectures with participants from Krauss, narrative works; at the Newark Museum, DiRosa, Carolyn Kohler, Beverly Prevost, Vee Tu- Finland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden 49 Washington St. teur and Karen Winegrade, “Clay and Water”; at and the U.S.A. Contact: Joel Eide, Northern Ar­ New Mexico, Santa Fe through June 8 John Oberon Gallery, 1130 Main St. izona University Art Gallery, Box 6021, Flagstaff,Aaron, “101 Mutations,” ceramic dogs; at Con­ California, Oakland through June 20 Daniel Arizona 86011; or call: (602) 523-3471. temporary Craftsman Gallery, 100 W. San Fran­ Hamilton, George Kellogg, Robert Lauricella and Turkey, KiitahyaJuly 6-11 “First Interna­ cisco St. Donald Paterson, “Outsider Craft,” sculpture; at tional Congress on Turkish Tiles and Ceramics” July 1-August 3 Tom Krueger, decorated, land- Creative Growth, 355 Twenty-fourth St. will discuss traditional tile and ceramics and their scape-inspired, pit-fired work. July 1-August California, Palo Alto through June 29 Philip contributions to contemporary works. For details 31 Diana Goudy, sgraffito-decorated ware; at Cornelius, Stephen de Staebler, Richard Deutsch, consult April CM Itinerary. Contact: VIP Tour­ Handcrafters Gallery, 227 Galisteo St. Margie Hughto, Marilyn Levine, Daniel Rhodes ism Piringcioglu Inc., 3 E. 54 St., New York, New August 1-14 Bunny Tobias; at Elaine Horwitch and Paul Soldner, “A Survey of Slab Ceramics: York 10022; or call: (212) 421-5400. Gallery, 129 W. Palace Ave. From Object to Expression”; at Palo Alto Cultural New York, Mamaroneck June 29-August Center, 1313 Newell Rd. 1 Randy Fein, “Facades,” wall reliefs and free­ California, Sacramento through June 22 Conferences standing sculpture; at Mari Galleries, 133 E. “Decorative Arts from the Collection”; at the Washington, Seattle June 7 “Health Hazards Prospect Ave. Crocker Art Museum, 216 O St. in the Arts: Problems and Solutions,” a conference New York, New York through July 26 Eve June 27-August 10 “9x9 Transcending Con­ directed toward artists, craft workers and art ed­ Watts, sculpture; at Carlyn Gallery, 1145 Madi­ fines,” juried all-media miniature exhibition; at ucators, will include lectures with Michael McCann, son Ave. at 85th St. Matrix, 2424 Castro Way. Bridget McCarthy, Woodhall Stopford and Julian Ohio, Columbus June 1-30 Robert Bennett, July 1-August 16 “American Ceramic National Waller, plus workshops on individual disciplines. crystalline-glazed porcelain; at Helen Winne- IV”; at the Institute for Design and Experimental Emphasis will be on safe work practices, personal more’s, 150 E. Kossuth at Mohawk. Art, 824½ J St. protective equipment and ventilation systems, with Ohio, Rocky Riverthrough July 3 Tim August 15-September 1 “California Works: low-cost practical solutions. Fee: $20. Contact: Jan Mather, gallery opening exhibition; at Cola Bjel Realist and Functional Aesthetics”; at the Cali­ Schwert or Sharon Morris, Northwest Center for Gallery, 1331 Linda St. fornia State Fair. Occupational Health and Safety, SC-34, Univer­ Oregon, Bend June 7-July 2 Lillian Pitt, California, San Diego June 1-30 “Ceramics sity of Washington, Seattle 98195; or call: (206) “Ancient Visions—Contemporary Images: Raku- 1986”; at earth bound Gallery, 835 G St. 543-1069. Fired Masks”; at the Sunbird Gallery, 836 N.W. California, San Francisco through June 28 Wall Street. “California,” art from traditional craft media; at Oregon, Portland August 1-September 28 Elaine Potter Gallery, 336 Hayes St. Solo Exhibitions “Robert Arneson: A Retrospective”; at the Port­ through June 28 “Works in Clay and Wood”; at California, Berkeley June 1-August 31 Susan land Art Museum, 1219 S.W. Park. Rena Bransten Gallery, 254 Sutter St. Felix, sculpture; at the Judah L. Magnes Me­ Oregon, Salem July 31 -August 24 Kurt through July “Airport6 Cafe,” includes work morial Museum, 2911 Russell St. Weiser; at the Corner Gallery, Bush Barn Art by Marilyn Lysohir, Richard Shaw and Irv Tep- California, Malibu June 14-July 10 David Center, 600 Mission St. SE. per; at the North Terminal Connector Gallery. Williamson, sculptural vessels; at Cross Creek South Carolina, Charleston through June 7 through July 30 Anna Silver and Betty Wood­ Gallery, 3835 Cross Creek Rd., Space B. Jan Ashmore, thrown and handbuilt porcelain; at man, “Painted Pots”; at the International Terminal California, Mill Valley through June 7 Bennett Morning Glory Gallery, Rainbow Market, 40 N. Gallery, San Francisco International Airport. Bean; at Susan Cummins Gallery, 32B Miller. Market St. June 3-28 Jim Erickson and John Lafancesca; California, San Francisco June 3-July 5 Stan at Lone Wolf Gallery, 55 Sutter St. Welsh, ceramic sculpture and monotypes; at Dor­ California, Sonoma through June 22 “Porcelain othy Weiss Gallery, 256 Sutter St. Group Exhibitions and Glass ’86,” includes works by Katherine July 6-August 2Tony Natsoulas, sculpture; at Arizona, Tucson through June 7 “Zoom,” in­ McBride and Nancy Adams; at J. Noblett Gallery, Rena Bransten Gallery, 254 Sutter St. cludes Nancy Skreko Martin, ceramic computer 13 E. Napa St. California, Santa Barbara through June cards, and Tim Diggles, wall sculpture; at the California, Walnut Creek June 5-August 3 25 Gayle Minjarez, “Raku Vessel Forms”; at As­ Gallery at the Tucson Mall, 4500 N. Oracle Rd., “West Coast Clay Invitational,” works by artists tra Gallery, El Paseo 818 State St. Suite 727. from California, Oregon and Washington; at Wal­ California, Stinson Beach through June 22 Art California, Berkeleythrough July 10 “Clay nut Creek Civic Arts Gallery, 1641 Locust. Nelson, sculptural vessels; at Anna Gardner Gal­ and Paper”; at UPB Gallery, 2430 Bancroft. Colorado, Golden June 1-July 8 Eighth an- lery, 3445 Shoreline Hwy. California, Davisthrough June 13 “Ceramists Continued June/July/August 1986 17 18 Ceramics Monthly New York, Albany through August 24 “Dutch Beth Armour, porcelain, Susan Cranshaw, stone­ Itinerary Arts and Culture in Colonial America,” includes ware, and Bob Green, pit-fired porcelain; at the 40 ceramic objects from New York, New Jersey, Vermont State Craft Center at Frog Hollow, Mill nual “North American Sculpture Exhibition”; at Delaware and the Netherlands; at the Albany In­ Street. the Foothills Art Center, 809 Fifteenth St. stitute of History and Art, 125 Washington Ave. Virginia, Alexandria through June 8 “The D.C., Washington June 18-October 31 New York, Cooperstown July 20-August Craft Collection 1986”; at the Athenaeum Gallery, “Ornamental Architecture Reborn: A New Terra- 22 Cooperstown Art Association annual exhi­ 201 Prince St. Cotta Vocabulary”; at the National Building Mu­ bition; at 22 Main St. June 4-July 6 “Weddings and Other Fantasies”; seum, Pension Bldg. at Judiciary Square, F St. New York, New York through June 10 at Scope Gallery, Torpedo Factory Art Center, 105 Florida, Gainesville through June 22 “ArtQuest,” second annual art competition; at N. Union St. “Spotlight ’86,” juried competition of southeastern Parsons Gallery, Parsons School of Design, 2 West Washington, Kirkland June 21-30 “Fifth crafts; at the University of Florida Gallery. 13 Street. Annual Juried Art Show”; at Peter Kirk Bldg. Florida, Orlando through June 17 The “12th through June 14 Jan Holcomb, relief sculpture; Wisconsin, Sheboygan June 8-August 17 Annual Juried Competition: Small Works”; at and Gertrud and Otto Natzler, “A Survey”; at Garth “Boats,” national juried exhibition; at the John Valencia Community College, East Campus Gal­ Clark Gallery, 24 W. 57 St. Michael Kohler Arts Center, 608 New York Ave. lery, 701 N. Econlockhatchee Trail. through July 11 Angela Verdon and John Ward, June 19-August 1 The “12th Annual Juried “British Pottery/Spring ’86”; at Graham Gallery, Competition: Small Works”; at the Valencia Com­ 1014 Madison Ave. Fairs, Festivals and Sales munity College West Campus Gallery, 1800 S. through July 27 “The Burghley Porcelains,” Arkansas, Mountain Home June 6-8 “Village Kirkman Rd. Japanese and related Chinese and European ob­ Mall Arts and Crafts Fair”; at Hwy. 62, NE. Illinois, Chicago through June 7 Harveyjects from the Burghley House Collection; at Ja­ California, Burbank July 19-20 “Annual Goldman, Arthur Gonzales, Deborah Horrell, pan House Gallery, 333 E. 47 St. Outdoor Summer Arts and Crafts Festival”; at the Beverly Mayeri, Marlene Miller and Judy Moo- New York, Scarsdale June 24-July 15 “Juried Creative Arts Center, 1100 W. Clark Ave. nelis, “Interior Images,” sculpture; at Esther Saks International Art Competition”; at 112 Green Street California, Laguna Beach July 9-28 “Festival Gallery, 311 W. Superior St. Gallery, 112 Green St. of Arts”; downtown. June 6-30 “New Music Chicago,” includes clay North Carolina, Hendersonville June 27- California, La Mirada June 13-22 The 25th instruments; at Lill Street Gallery, September 7 “To the Glory of God,” juried ex­ annual “La Mirada Festival of Arts”; at La Mir­ Illinois, Highland Park June 14-July 1 hibition; at Touchstone Gallery, 508 N. Main. ada Civic Theatre. “Gruppe 83,’ German ceramists; at Martha North Carolina, Raleigh through June 30 California, Oakland June 6-8 “Festival at the Schneider Gallery, 2055 Green Bay Rd. “Second Juried Exhibition of North Carolina Lake”; at Lakeside Park on Lake Merritt. Massachusetts, Boston June 26-July 17 A Crafts”; at the North Carolina Museum of His­ California, San Diego June 14-15 “Summer group exhibition including ceramics by Gretchen tory, 109 E. Jones St. Pottery Sale” of the San Diego Potters’ Guild; at Ewert, Sandy Simon and Vee Tuteur; at the So­ Ohio, Cincinnati through July 20 “Newcomb the Spanish Village Patio, Balboa Park. ciety of Arts and Crafts, 175 Newbury St. Pottery: An Enterprise for Southern Women, California, San Francisco July 7-8 “Bi An­ July 1-September 3 “Scents and Non-Scents II,” 1895-1940”; at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Eden nual Exhibition & Sale: Potters and Glassblow- juried exhibition; at Signature gallery, Dock Square, Park. ers”; at the Hall of Flowers, Golden Gate Park, North Street. Ohio, Cleveland through June 29 “May Show,” Ninth St. at Lincoln Way. Massachusetts, Hyannis July 1-September 3 67th annual juried exhibition; at the Cleveland August 8-10 “ACC Craftfair San Francisco”; at “Scents and Non-Scents II,” juried exhibition; at Museum of Art, 11150 East Blvd. Fort Mason Center. Signature, the Village Market Place, Stevens St. Ohio, Parma through June 7 “Juried Student California, Sausalito August 30-September 1 Massachusetts, Northampton through July 5 Show”; at Gallery West, Cuyahoga Community “Sausalito Art Festival”; at Bridgeway, on the “Pottery About Pottery,” functional, decorative and College, 11000 Pleasant Valley Rd. waterfront. sculptural works; at Pinch Pottery, 150 Main St. Oklahoma, Stillwater August 16-September 17 Colorado, Evergreen August 24 The “20th June 1-30 “Celebrations: An Artisans’ Collec­ “Women of Sweetgrass, Cedar and Sage,” Native Annual Evergreen Fine Arts and Fine Crafts Show”; tive.” June 14-22 “Diversity,” includes clay and American women artists’ work; at the Gardiner at Heritage Grove, next to Hiwan Homestead mixed-media works by Kate Collie, Patricia Fay, Art Gallery, Oklahoma State University, 108 Bart­ Museum, Meadow Dr. Vince Pitelka and Renee Richard; both at Sullivan lett Center. Colorado, Lake Dillon July 19-20 The “10th Square, Old School Commons, 17 New South St. Oregon, Portland through June 14 A group Annual Craft Fair”; at the Arts Guild, Dillon Michigan, Muskegon July 14-27 “Second In­ show including Harvey Brody, Frank Boyden, Tom Centre, Hwy. 6. ternational Shoebox Show”; at the Muskegon Mu­ Coleman and Nils Lou; at Contemporary Crafts, Connecticut, Guilford July 17-19 The “29th seum of Art, 296 W. Webster. 3934 S.W. Corbett Ave. Annual Crafts Exposition”; on the Guilford Green. Missouri, Saint Louis through June 15 “New June 22-July 22 “Women of Sweetgrass, Cedar Connecticut, Madison August 9 The Madi­ Vistas: American Art Pottery from the Cooper- and Sage,” Native American women artists’ work; son Association of Democratic Women’s “13th An­ Hewitt Museum”; at the Saint Louis Art Mu­ at the Portland Art Museum, 1219 S.W. Park. nual Arts & Crafts Fair”; on the Green. seum, Forest Park. Pennsylvania, Belle Vernonthrough June 15 Connecticut, South Norwalk August 2-3 June 20-July 18 “A Week Show of Pour Pots/ “Artists Celebration 1986,” juried exhibition; at “SONO Arts Celebration”; at the waterfront. A Juried Invitational”; at Pro Art, 5595 Pershing. Unique Auras, Finley Rd. Idaho, Coeur d’Alene August 1-2 “Art on the August 15-September 14 “Containers ’86,” sec­ Pennsylvania, Philadelphia through June Green”; at North Idaho College. ond annual juried exhibition; at Hickory Street 29 An exhibition with Rita and Michael Duvall, Illinois, Chicago June 14-15 “Old Town Art Gallery, 1929 Hickory St. slip-cast teacups, pots and vases; at the Works & Fair”; at the Old Town, between Lincoln Park, New Jersey, Newark through June 29 “Made Snyderman Galleries, 319 South Street. Orleans, Menomonee and Wisconsin Sts. in Newark: Decorative Arts, 1836-1986.” June Pennsylvania, Pittsburghthrough September 15 Illinois, EvanstonJune 28-29 “Fountain 28-September 14 “Spectacular Vernacular: Tra­ “Sculpture at Phipps”; at Phipps Conservatory, Square Arts Festival”; downtown. ditional Desert Architecture from West Africa and Schenley Park. Indiana, Bloomington August 30-31 “Tenth Southwest Asia,” photographic documentation of June 4-22 Rebecca Johnson and Jill Meyers, Annual 4th Street Festival of the Arts and Crafts”; clay dwellings. July 19-January 25, 1987 1985 “Three Rivers Arts Festival” award win­ along Fourth St. “Recent Acquisitions: Decorative Arts”; at the ners. July 1-September 4 Michael Carlin and Indiana, Fort Wayne July 12-13 “Three Riv­ Newark Museum, 49 Washington St. Darien D’Alfonso, “Sands Upon the Red Sea ers Festival Arts and Crafts Show”; at Freiman New Jersey, Tenaflythrough June 7 “New Shore,” clay and glass; at the Clay Place, 5600 Park. West,” works by artists west of the Mississippi, Walnut St. Indiana, Indianapolis June 14-15 “Talbot includes Katherine Berd, functional pottery; Carol Pennsylvania, State College July 6-August Street Art Fair”; along Talbot, between 16 and 18 McFarlan, Mexican-influenced pottery; Sara Post, 31 “Crafts 20,” juried exhibition; at the Museum Streets. majolica ware; Beverly Saito, porcelain; Etsuko of Art. July 7-August 1 “Sculpture and the Indiana, Lafayette August 30-31 “Lafayesta Sakimura, sculpture; and Mayer Shacter, sculp­ Sculptured Object Exhibition”; at Zoller Gallery, 1986”; at the Indiana Veterans Home. tural teapots and vessels; at America House, 24 Pennsylvania State University. Iowa, Mason City August 17-22 “Summer Arts Washington Ave. South Carolina, Columbia through June 29 Festival”; at the Charles H. MacNider Museum, New Mexico, Los Alamos June 20-July 27 “1986 Annual Juried Exhibition and Invitational 303 Second St., SE. “Fourth Biennial Juried Craft Exhibition”; at Fuller Show”; at the Columbia Museum of Art, 1112 Kentucky, Lexington July 18-20 “Smoky Lodge Art Center, Central Ave. Bull St. Mountain Christmas in JulyArt & Craft Show”; New Mexico, Santa Fe June 28-October 31 South Carolina, Greenville through June 8 “I at Heritage Hall, Lexington Exhibition Center. “Art in Craft Media,” with Richard DeVore, Ruth Have Proof That Some of This Is Correct,” in­ Kentucky, LouisvilleJuly 25-27\ The Ken­ Duckworth, Karen Karnes, Bradley Miller and cludes ceramics; at the Greenville County Mu­ tucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen “25th An­ Robert Turner; at Bellas Artes, 301 Garcia at seum of Art, 420 College St. niversary Fair”; at the Water Tower Art Associa­ Canyon Rd. Tennessee, Gatlinburg through August 15 tion, 3005 Upper River Rd. July 13-26 Bob Brodsky, Tina Davila and Wil­ “Arrowmont Summer Faculty and Staff Exhibi­ Maine, Portland July 25-27 “Deering Oaks liam Jauquet, “Rabbit Art Works”; at Contem­ tion”; at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. Family Festival Arts & Crafts Exhibition”; at porary Craftsman Gallery, 100 West San Fran­ Texas, Fort Worth through August 24 “The Deering Oaks Park. cisco Street. Blood of Kings: A New Interpretation of Maya Maryland, Baltimore July 18-20 “Artscape August 15-28 A group exhibition including Art”; at the Kimbell Art Museum, 3333 Camp ’86”; along Mount Royal Ave. Rosemary “Appleblossom” Lonewolf; at Elaine Bowie Blvd. Maryland, Havre de GraceAugust 16-17 The Horwitch Gallery, 129 W. Palace Ave. Vermont, MiddleburyJuly 26-September 13 Continued June/July/August 1986 19 20 CERAMICS MONTHLY The “3rd Annual Mississippi River Folkfest”; on Annual Outdoor Arts Festival”; at the John Mi­ Itinerary Mud Island, downtown. chael Kohler Arts Center, downtown. “23rd Annual Havre de Grace Arts & Crafts Show”; Texas, Dallas June 20-22 and 27-29 “Dallas at Tydings Park. Art and Craft Summerfests”; at the D-Art Visual Massachusetts, Northampton June 18 “Craft Arts Center, 2917 Swiss Ave. Workshops Night in Northampton,” third annual craft gal­ Virginia, Manassas June 13-15 The “6th An­ Connecticut, Brookfield July 19-20 leries open house; downtown. nual Manassas Crafts Festival”; at Prince William “Introduction to Sculpture Techniques” with Gerri Massachusetts, West Springfield June 20-22 County Fairgrounds. Boggs. July 21-25 “Surface Design and the “ACC Craftfair West Springfield”; at the Eastern Virginia, Portsmouth June 6-8 “The 16th Altered Form” with Steven Forbes de-Soule. July States Exposition Center. Annual Portsmouth Seawall Art Show”; at Riv­ 28-August 1 “Exploring the Porcelain Vessel” Michigan, Ann Arbor July 23-26 “Ann Ar­ erfront Park. with Mayer Shacter. August 18-22 “Glaze bor Street Fair”; along South and East University Washington, Bellevue July 25-27 “1986 Pa­ Clinic” with Harold McWhinnie. Contact: Brook­ Avenues. cific Northwest Arts and Crafts Fair”; at Bellevue field Craft Center, Box 122, Brookfield 06804; or Michigan, Saint Joseph July 12-13 “St. Jo­ Square. call: (203) 775-4526.^ seph’s 25th Annual Outdoor Art Fair”; at Lake Wisconsin, Cambridge June 7 The “11th An­ Maryland, Rockville June 13-14 Chris Bluff Park. nual Cambridge Art Fair”; at Village Square. Richard, a hands-on session on large-scale throw­ Minnesota, Saint Paul June 28-29 The 14th Wisconsin, Madison July 12-13 “The Mad­ ing and slab building at Montgomery College. Fee: annual “Minnesota Crafts Festival”; at the College ison Art Center’s 28th Annual Art Fair on the $40 includes materials. Up to 30 participants. of Saint Catherine. Square”; at 211 State St. Contact: Cutter Ceramics, 12266 Wilkins Ave., Missouri, Saint Louis June 7-8 The fourth Wisconsin, Milwaukee July 19-20 “Craft Fair Rockville 20852; or call: (301) 881-2253. annual “Artists’ Showcase”; at Laclede’s Landing. USA”; at the Wisconsin State Fair Park. Massachusetts, Boston June 19-July 10 “Pinch New Jersey, Allaire July 19 “Allaire Summer Wisconsin, SheboyganJuly 19-20 “Sixteenth Please Turn to Page 68 Festival”; at Allaire State Park. New Jersey, West Orange June 21-22 “June Days Folk Festival”; at Eagle Rock Reservation. New York, Chautauqua July 4-6 and August 8-10 “Chautauqua Crafts Festival ’86”; at Bes- tor Plaza, Chautauqua Institution. New York, Croton-on-Hudson June 21-22 “Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival”; at Croton Point Park. New York, Garrison August 16-17 The “17th Annual Arts & Crafts Fair”; at Garrison Landing on the Hudson River. New York, New York June 28-29 and July 5-6 The “10th Anniversary American Crafts Festival.” August 30-September 1 and Septem­ ber 6-7 The “3rd Annual Autumn Crafts Fes­ tival”; at the Lincoln Center, Fordham University Plaza. New York, Ossining June 14 The “6th An­ nual Ossining Village Fair and Juried Art Ex­ hibition”; along the banks of the Hudson River. New York, Syracuse July 11-13 The 16th an­ nual “Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival”; at Co­ lumbus Circle, downtown. New York, Tuxedo August 2-September 21, weekends “Ninth Annual New York Renais­ sance Festival”; at Sterling Forest. North Carolina, Asheville August 15-17 “Summerfest Art & Craft Show”; at the Asheville Civic Center, 29 Haywood St. North Carolina, Manteo August 13-14 “Fifth Annual New World Festival of the Arts”; at the waterfront. North Carolina, Scaly Mountain July 4-6 and August 1-3 “High Country Art & Craft Show”; at Mountain Hillbilly Crafts, Hwy. 106. Ohio, Chagrin Falls June 14-15 “Art by the Falls”; at Riverside Park. Ohio, Columbus June 6-8 “Greater Colum­ bus Arts Festival”; downtown, at the riverfront. Ohio, Lima August 1-3 “Square Fair ’86”; at Town Square. Ohio, Medina July 20 “Art in the Park”; at Victorian Courthouse Square Park. Ohio, Peninsula August 29-September 1 “Ceramics Fair ’86”; at Boston Mills Ski Resort, 7100 Riverview Rd. Ohio, Shaker Heights June 20-22 “The Craftfair at Hathaway Brown”; at Hathaway Brown School. Ohio, Zoar August 2-3 “Zoar Harvest Festi­ val”; within the village. Pennsylvania, Greensburg July 3-6 “Westmoreland Arts and Heritage Festival”; at Twin Lakes Park, off Route 30. Pennsylvania, Lancaster July 31-August 3 The “39th State Craft Fair”; at Franklin & Mar­ shall College. Pennsylvania, PittsburghJune 6-22 “Three Rivers Art Festival”; from Grant St. to Point State Park. August 1-3 “Shadyside Summer Arts Festival 16”; along Walnut St. between Aiken and Negley Aves. Pennsylvania, State CollegeJuly 10-13 The “20th Annual Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts”; at Penn State. Tennessee, Memphis August 30-September 1 June/July/August 1986 21 22 CERAMICS MONTHLY Suggestions from our readers Wax Resist Make your own room-temperature wax resist at low cost. Cut pieces of pure beeswax and cover them with mineral spirits in a covered jar. It takes about a week for the beeswax to dissolve. If necessary, thin the mixture with more mineral spirits to get the desired brushing consistency. This mixture works well as a resist. It dries quickly and can be restored if it should dry out. Also, it leaves no residue when fired. —G. Gallus, Marion, Wis. Clay Sealant A 50:50 mixture of linseed oil and paint thinner applied to un­ glazed clay sculpture gives it the rich, waxy finish of Mexican tile floors, while also sealing and protecting it. —Linda Mau, Scottsdale, Ariz. Easy Clay Reprocessing To clean and reprocess clay, toss the scraps into a pillowcase and dunk it into a bucket of water until the clay is evenly wet throughout.

Then spread the pillowcase over an oven grill raised on 2x4’s until the clay dries to proper consistency. This system assures even drying by permitting air to circulate more evenly around the clay, which can be periodically kneaded while still in the pillowcase. It is quick, easy and eliminates the “gooey hands” syndrome. —Paul Rideout, Montgomery Creek, Calif. Trimming Pads Used buffing pads from industrial floor buffers, in sizes ranging from 12 to 20 inches in diameter, make great trimming bats for large plates or bowls. The pads are soft enough to protect the rim of your pot and prevent it from moving during trimming, but rigid enough (much more than foam) to support the pot while moving it

to a shelf after trimming. Glue one pad to a wooden bat for easy placement on the wheel head, then place a second pad over the first, and the pot over that. The two pads stick together during trimming. Afterward, the top pad and pot may be easily removed to a shelf, where the pad then serves as protection for the rim of the pot as it dries upside down. Additionally, the buffing pads have a removable 31/2-inch-diameter center that makes a good, free, scrub pad for studio cleanup. —Larry Bock, Oxford, Ohio Dollars for Your Ideas Ceramics Monthly pays $10 for each suggestion published; submis­ sions are welcome individually or in quantity. Include an illustration or photo to accompany your suggestion and we will pay $10 more if we use it. Send your ideas to CM, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Sorry, but we can't acknowledge or return unused items. June/July/August 1986 23 24 CERAMICS MONTHLY Comment Theories on the Creative Process by Elly Danica There are almost as many theories about Preparation, then, is defining a prob­ creativity as there are leaves blown from lem in one’s work. How do I get that the trees in autumn. Each theory does particular shade, texture or a certain ef­ its little dance or pirouette and falls to fect? The search goes on at great length. the ground. Some fall in a blaze of color Some painters, for example, spend a and controversy, inspiring us to further lifetime searching for a color; many pot­ thought. Others are dead and colorless ters and other craft artists devote con­ long before they fall from favor. We can siderable time to research in all areas of learn something about ourselves and our their work. We collect color swatches, society from each one, no matter how photographs from magazines and objects wonderful or bizarre it proves to be. of every description as well as visual and Nineteenth-century wisdom believed emotional experiences around the prob­ in the mad genius theory of creativity. lem which interests us. The incubation An extensive listing of physical degen­ stage coincides with a voluntary relax­ erate conditions related to genius and ation of effort on the problem; most often insanity occurs in the writings of Cesare meaning long periods are spent in other Lombroso, a psychiatrist writing in the work. This is the time for daydreaming, 1890s. He believed that we inherit our visualizing the finished work and chuck­ creativity along with physical charac­ ling over whose socks will rot when the teristics such as prominent ears, defi­ work is first displayed. The problem is cient beard (in men or in women?), ir­ not yet solved, but we daydream about regularity of teeth, excessive asymmetryits success in a finished piece. One day of the face and head, sexual precocity we abandon the studio for a long walk (ah ha!), smallness or disproportion of in the country to watch the sun set, and the body, left-handedness, stammering there it is—the color, the sky, the illu­ and rickets. He lists famous short art­ mination and the happy idea. Drifting, ists—eighty-two men and three women. much too ephemeral, but there. A glimpse Twenty-three male greats were hunch­ has been given. The real value in such backed, clubfooted, lame or were ra­ inspiration is to obtain points of depar­ chitic. He calls pallor the color of great ture. We may not see the solution to the men. Great men are also prey to sterility, problem so much as a new way to ask delayed development, vagabondage, the questions which will eventually lead walking in their sleep and stupidity. One to resolution. can see why his theories went out of Creative process, if it has definite fashion. stages, either in sequence or overlap­ Creativity has taken a while to re­ ping, can be understood and accepted as cover from this bad press, although there part of every life. And if everyone has are always journalists around who will potential creativity and we can under­ happily revive such theories to account stand its strange promptings—the long for particular crazies in our midst. Still, walks, the days spent daydreaming as a I don’t think that the connection be­ necessary part of the work we do—we tween madness and creativity has much can learn something of the value of lei­ to recommend it to us, if it can even be sure and the time it takes to be creative. made in late 20th-century culture. The subconscious does not operate in Rather, I believe, with Graham Wal­ ordinary time. It has its own time and las, who wrote in the 1920s, that crea­ in western society it appears to run on tivity is a thinking process with defin­ slow. Many contemporary craftspeople able stages. The first stage is preparation, have built their life-styles to accommo­ during which the problem is investigat­ date subconscious time. It is no mere ed in all directions, or simply formu­ whim which takes us to rural settings lated. The second stage is called incu­ and life-styles. We need the time and the bation and is characterized by very little space to incubate new problems and ideas. conscious thought about the problem; but We need time to be creative. no doubt considerable daydreaming, Next time you walk in the country nightdreaming and subconscious work and stumble upon any short people with goes on in this stage. Stage three results cauliflower ears, crooked teeth, bow in the “happy idea” and is called illu­ legs—take care and do not disturb their mination. The fourth stage consists of meditations for these are artists, vaga­ verification, during which the idea is bonds, walking in their sleep perhaps, tested and reduced to an exact form. but geniuses, nevertheless. June/July/August 1986 25

Catalan Roots by Claudi Casanovas

that originated by this century’s avant- from an investigation carried out in 1980 Olot is a small town situated in northern garde. It flatters me that my works evoke with the help of a scholarship from the Catalonia, a region of about 6 million rather than copy our roots. I choose the local authorities. At that time, I was very inhabitants with its own language and theme of the amphora conscious of this interested in using fire, in the same way culture, yet politically attached to the factor. I choose the parallel stripes as water is used, as a shaping force. This Spanish state. The landscape is moun­ decoration, thinking of the old Iberian led to works fired at a higher temper­ tainous, full of narrow valleys. On a clear works with geometrical iron decoration. ature than that required by the clay— winter’s day, you can see the snow of I opt for the strong color contrasts, in this way, softening and distorting the the Pyrenees to the north and the Med­ knowing that here light has always pro­ clay, shaping through fire. From this iterranean to the east. For approxi­ vided them. Nevertheless, the main con­ stage, it was only a small step to the mately six years, I have had my work­cept is not brought about by these fac­ “boiling” of clays and the creation of ar­ shop on a 17th-century farm at the tors. For instance, I am also interested tificial magmas. So I became interested outskirts of Olot. in verticality, in the absence of a steady in the textures and colorings so similar I belong to La Cooperativa de Ce- base, in formal simplicity, in large size, to those found in my volcanic environ­ ramistes Coure, a group of seven potters in the integration of decoration with the ment. (Olot is centered in a tertiary vol­ who have a shop in the old part of town construction process, in both subtle and canic area.) and a sales service for other shops. While strong contrasts of colors and textures. Attempts to solve the technical prob­ each member has his own studio and Historical reference is just one more ele­ lems encountered with this work led me, works independently, together we or­ ment of the whole. without realizing it, to the neriage tech­ ganize cultural activities related to ce­ My works are created very roughly,nique used traditionally in Japan. In ramics, such as summer symposiums, with my inbred carelessness, which late­ this way, intuitively, I have been devel­ courses in schools, etc. The most im­ ly I have been trying to correct by doing oping a technique which has taken me portant thing we share, however, is the plenty of sketching. I always make sev­ slowly away from that first objective: the concordance of the members to improve eral pieces and decide after the firing shaping of clay with fire. the quality of the ceramics we make. which is suitable, accepting this extra Current works are made in plaster It was a tremendous help having the work as something that goes along with molds (instead of the fired earthenware support of the co-op when I began work­ ceramics. Potters should be lively in their molds used before) from 12 clays, each ing alone after apprenticeship. In the work; they are not sculptors. Potters cre­ different in composition, hardness, color absence of qualified schools here, the ate and the fire dictates. This would be and texture. All are fired in a diesel- surest way to enter the field is the semi- disastrous in sculpture. fueled catenary arch kiln at Seger Cone self-taught apprenticeship in estab­ Though I devote myself solely to ce­ 8 (2282°F) in a reduction atmosphere. lished workshops—a sort of natural se­ ramics, I cannot support myself with it. A final polishing of the fired works is lection among the potters-to-be. Thanks to a great deal of help from my accomplished by sandblasting, which An attempt to recover some features wife and her family, I feel at ease to gently wears them down. of traditional Mediterranean ceramics is concentrate on exhibition work. Oth­ The integration of decoration and evident in my work. Furthermore, I agree erwise, I would have to make parallel construction process is the factor which with the statement made by the Catalan works to sell commercially. I try to avoid has made me feel more identified with critic Eugeni d’Ors: In art everything being persuaded by commercial or ar­ this method of work. In short, I think which is not copied is tradition. tistic fashion. Each work has to be as­ one has to cultivate curiosity, and imag­ If I had to make a choice, I would sessed according to what it claims to be. inatively use the means offered by our choose our own tradition, interpreted from The method I use at present came industrial society.

At his studio on a 17th-century farm near a small town north of Barcelona, Catalan ceramist Claudi Casanovas works with a dozen different clays formed in plaster molds. 28 CERAMICS MONTHLY Claudi Casanovas's works seem relevant to the landscape which surrounds his studio where the view on a clear day encompasses the Pyrenees to the north and the Mediterranean to the east.

Volcanic-magma-inspired plate, approximately 26 inches in diameter, Seger Cone 8 (Orton Cone 7V2, approximately), reduction fired.

June/July/August 1986 29 Above leftVessel sculpture, approximately 5 feet in height, press molded from up to 12 clays (each different in color, texture and hardness), Seger Cone 8, reduction fired in a diesel-fuel kiln, then sandblasted. Above right“Amphora,” approximately 5 feet in height. In addition to historical reference, Casanovas is “interested in vertically, in the absence of a steady base, in formal simplicity, large size, in the integration of decoration with the construction process, in both subtle and strong contrasts of colors and textures.” Left “Amphora,” approximately 5 feet in height, mounted on a metal stand.

30 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Amphora ” approximately 5 feet in height, handbuilt in plaster molds, fired in reduction and sandblasted, by Claudi Casanovas.

June/July/August 1986 31 Smoke and Color by Glenn Spangler

I thought. “The can will be covered.” the results. In the next weeks, several The only thing interesting about that After making sure the smoke billowed ways of varying the solubles were tested. day was that it looked like it might rain. from the opening between the lid and Some interesting results were achieved It was the end of August, and the rains the top of the can, I waited with a pot­ in concentrating the solubles by soaking don’t usually come until October. ter’s enforced patience. As I ate lunch, the shavings in hot water for an hour Because I found myself wandering checking the firing through the open door before setting up the firing. This pro­ around the studio, trying to decide which of the studio, the rain increased to a duced darker and more colorful back­ tasks were the least undesirable, I knew downpour. A closer inspection showed ground patterns. Other soluble mate­ it was time to take a break from pro­ water running into the holes around the rials, such as 10% copper sulfate and duction. When this happens, and there bottom of the can. 10% silver nitrate, were added by pour­ are no pressing deadlines, I give myself “Well, that’s it for this test,” I thought. ing them over the shavings. Both of those permission to use work time for re­ “Wet shavings don’t burn. I’ll dump this also darkened the pattern, and the cop­ search. and start over.” per produced a green tint in the sur­ The experiment was directed toward Then I stopped. The fire was still rounding halo. producing a contrasting black-and-white burning. “So what if it’s getting wet? I soon realized that any water soluble pattern on bare porcelain bisqueware. Let’s see what happens if it goes all the color could be added, including water- In past weeks, I had placed pots in a pit way.” colors or fabric paint. Fabric paint seems fire to smoke carbon deep into the clay. Not being able to resist a little cau­ to work best. After careful cleaning and Hot spots were allowed to develop to­ tious meddling, I moved the can to dry air drying, the patterns produced by fabric ward the end of the firing to burn off ground without disturbing the fire. Two paint can be made permanent by heating carbon in some places and reveal the hours later, I returned to look. the pot to 250°F. The surface can then stark white porcelain body. Sitting in the black-and-white ash was be protected by waterproofing the pot The first tests had been inconclusive a very smoky bowl. When I picked it up with bisque seal or heavy duty Chem and uninspiring. The fire always burned and looked at the side that had been in Stop. [For a list of distributors, write: too hot, producing mostly white or light the ashes, I felt the excitement of dis­ Chem Stop Manufacturing and Sales gray surfaces. I had tried sawdust firing covery that keeps me in this business. Corporation, 9920 East Flora Vista Av­ to get and keep more carbon in the clay, The rain had soaked the shavings just enue, Bellflower, California 90706; or but that had not yet yielded dense blacks up to the bowl, which had absorbed water call: (213) 925-5506.] or clean whites. wherever it had come into contact with Color can also be added by using in­ On that August day, I decided to try the wet shavings. With the water came soluble materials such as iron oxide. A burning pine shavings. After a ring of all the soluble materials from the wood, light wash of pure red iron oxide (2 tea­ holes was punched around the bottom which were deposited in globs and streaks. spoons per quart), sprayed on the shav­ of a 3-gallon can, a bowl was nestled The smoky atmosphere had reacted with ings just before placing the pot into the inside it on 4 inches of pine shavings. the soluble materials from the wood, can, produces a pink background. Next, the bowl was covered completely forming a mottled pattern; while the As I thought about the whole pro­ with another 5 or 6 inches of shavings, damp porcelain resisted the smoke, leav­ cess—the things that worked, didn’t work which were then ignited. When there ing a white halo around the pattern. or sort of worked—I remembered some­ were glowing ashes, the can was covered It had turned into a very interesting thing my father said about farming: with a round Formica sink cutout. This day. I covered the bottom of another can “There’s nothing like a good early rain lid was propped slightly open with a with presoaked shavings, placed a bowl to get things growing, but it means you’ll small twig about half the diameter of a on top of them, and found the process have to pull a lot of weeds that spring.” pencil to create a draft from the ring of was repeatable without the need for rain. holes punched around the bottom of the Because soluble materials were the The author Studio potter Glenn can. It was starting to sprinkle as I lit important factor, I surmised any alter­ Spangler resides in Richmond, Califor­ the shavings. “A little rain won’t hurt,” ation of the amount present would change nia. 32 CERAMICS MONTHLY "Black Water Coral,” 3½ inches in height, porcelain, with iron wash, smoked on wet pine shavings. Photos: Kate Cameron, Gary Sinick

“Greenwood Tea,”23/4 inches high, fired “Fire Burst,” 4 inches high, sawdust fired “Smoking Rainsawdust-fired porcelain, on pine shavings soaked in fabric paint. on wet shavings soaked in fabric paint. 3 inches in height, by Glenn Spangler. June/July/August 1986 33 Deliberations by Anne Hirondelle

women’s issues. After the first day, I knew One day, while waiting on acceptance that law school was not for me, but quit­ to law school, I remarked spontaneously ting was not part of my repertoire. I to a friend: “I’m either going to law school continued for a year before finding the or I’m going to make pots.” courage to follow my intuition—to learn “Remember, you can always eat out to make pots. of pots,” she responded. In the summer of 1973, I enrolled in I was 28 years old. My undergraduate a beginning pottery class at the Factory training was in English. I had an M.A. of Visual Art in Seattle. I had no idea in counseling psychology and had worked what went into making a pot, but was for five years directing the University of immediately drawn to the potential of Washington YWCA, a feminist-oriented forming something from the plastic clay. social agency in Seattle. I had decided Decorated surfaces and complex firing that I needed a change and that a law techniques were less intriguing, and re­ degree would facilitate my work with main so today. I was very naive that first

AboveIn her studio on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, Top The 10x14-foot production room is well Anne Hirondelle concentrates on vessels derived from organized; a pegged rack above the wheel is used functional pots, but intended to stand as pure form. to stow tools and greenware on drying boards. 34 CERAMICS MONTHLY *Coffee Server with Base,” 10 inches in height, thrown and extruded stoneware, with soda ash glaze, fired to Cone 7-8 in reduction. June/July/August 1986 35 quarter: When a nationally recognized not simply returning to the past and to ceramist came to present a workshop, I conserve energy, I decided to fire at a felt annoyed that I could not get on with lower temperature. This necessitated my work. developing a new clay body and glazes. What began as a summer class at the After three months of testing and one Factory stretched into five quarters. Each kilnload of cracked ware, I settled on quarter, specific goals were established the following Cone 7-8 clay body and (such as centering, pulling handles, glazes: making lidded jars). Each small accom­ plishment enlarged my vision of what Stoneware Body was possible. The ability to set reason­ (Cone 7-8, reduction) able goals and an unrelenting desire to Custer Feldspar ...... 10 pounds achieve them have been essential to my Edgar Plastic Kaolin ...... 25 survival and growth as a ceramist. Vi­ Kentucky Ball Clay sions, goals, accomplishments—each is (OM 4) ...... 25 an integral part of the whole or what “Cylinder with Double Handles and Saggar Clay...... 25 artist Agnes Martin calls “the work”: Base,” thrown stoneware with lone Grog...... 20 ______“There is the work in our minds, the symmetrically cut extrusions, 15 inches work in our hands, and the work as a in height. 105pounds result.” It has been essential to keep these elements in balance, in step with one side became an essential task. Anne Shiny Black Interior Glaze another. When one has gotten ahead or Truitt, in Daybook, says that artists’ “es­ (Cone 7-8, reduction) fallen behind, the result has been con­ sential effort is to catapult themselves Lithium Carbonate ...... 3.85% fusion. wholly, without holding back one bit, Soda Ash ...... 4.81 Enrollment in a B.F.A. program at into a course of action without having Spodumene...... 9.61 the University of Washington was my any idea where they will end up.” It was Nepheline Syenite ...... 62.50 formal introduction to the art/craft world. in a similar spirit that I began foraging Kentucky Ball Clay (OM 4) . 19.23 Even though, at the time, potters were into other ways of working with clay. 100.00% considered second-class citizens, I re­ Starting with raku, I built a kiln and Add: Cobalt Carbonate...... 0.48% mained firm in my resolve. By example,developed a glaze with variations. The Manganese Dioxide. . . . 5.77% Robert Sperry showed me that the vessel shapes changed. The best ones were quite Red Iron Oxide...... 2.88% could be a legitimate and outstanding architectural. I began to see the work as form for personal expression. Through pure form and began sketching possible Hirondelle Soda Ash Glaze his teaching, I learned that to do any­ pieces. Previously central to the process, (Cone 7-8, reduction) thing that was my own necessitated a wheel work became just a beginning step. Soda Ash ...... 30.00% break from established rules. Aware of As focus shifted to developing the var­ Edgar Plastic Kaolin ...... 15.00 the plethora of existing and aspiring ious parts and constructing the finished Flint...... 55.00 potters, I once asked him if he thought forms, concern with function disap­ there was room for more in the world. peared. With a series of raku-fired clay 100.00% “There’s always room at the top,” he drawings and a subsequent series of air- Always use cold water when mixing this replied. brushed-acrylic constructions, I ulti­ caustic soda ash glaze. The following are When I moved to a small house in mately abandoned the vessel altogether. among the color variations possible with Port Townsend, Washington, on the Somewhere in this last step I lost my additions: Olympic Peninsula, the configuration of spirit. The work grew increasingly an­ the existing outbuildings determined my alytical and lifeless. I grew increasingly Red-Blue: work space. The studio is a 10x14-foot miserable. Rejections were numerous. I Tin Oxide...... 1.00% room equipped with an electric wheel, finally canceled an upcoming show and Cobalt Carbonate...... 0.25% a homemade extruder, two worktables, retired to pull weeds in the garden. Copper Carbonate ...... 2.00% a wedging table, some shelves and a small In the summer of 1984, I again said: Laven der-Black: wood stove. The kiln shed houses my “I’m going to make pots.” Only in ret­ Yellow Ocher...... 4.00% 50-cubic-foot downdraft kiln (used for rospect, I realize that by abandoning the Red Iron Oxide...... 2.00% both bisque and glaze firings). Larger vessel as the core of my work I had Golden Pewter: than the studio, the shed is also used for abandoned my own core, that somehow Copper Carbonate...... 4.00% glazing and materials storage. the two are inextricably connected. Also Manganese Dioxide...... 5.00% With a space of my own, and eager essential to my work are the kiln and Blue-Green: to work to establish myself as a studio fire. I need the sense of “letting go” and Chrome Oxide...... 0.25% potter, for two years I made my own the unknown elements that provides. Cobalt Carbonate...... 0.25% version of production stoneware fired at Initially, I felt apologetic about going The current vessels derive from tra­ Cone 10. Ironically, it was not until to­ back to stoneware. However, after work­ ditional functional pots. Most begin as tally on my own that I started learning; ing only a short time, it was apparent I sketches. They change as they become work was the real teacher and I had was not going back to anything; I was three-dimensional forms—sometimes barely begun. going on to work that was my own in a slightly, sometimes dramatically. To the By 1980, what I thought was a clear way that none had been before. It was thrown volume are added thrown or ex­ path was blocked by self-questioning and almost as though the pieces were making truded parts. The additions are altered snarled with doubt. My concern became themselves. before or after attachment, depending on why not how. Unearthing what was in- To assure myself that the work was their particular application. Each pot 36 CERAMICS MONTHLY Attracted to the concept of deliberateness (thought out and formed carefully) in relation to her work, Hirondelle produces four to six pots in a series. Up to eight different forms are included in the firing at the end of a two- to three-month cycle.

“Teapot with Base,” 11 inches in height, Cone 7-8 reduction-fired stoneware.

June/July/August 1986 37 has a base specifically designed as an An intense plodder, I work steadily clay—I begin to unravel and feel dis­ integral part of the completed form. five days a week. Work is done on week­ connected. When I start sketching in Though these vessels are intended to ends only when glazing and firing, or in search and clarification of new forms, stand as pure form, at the same time I a bind. Usually four of each form are the cycle begins again. reserve the possibility of function. The made; occasionally six. As many as eight In the studio hangs a small tile paint­ initial series was usable in regard to size, different forms are included in a firing. ed by a friend while I was at the Uni­ yet the forms and their surfaces sug­ It takes between two and three months versity of Washington. It depicts a wom­ gested ceremonial or ritualistic rather to fill the kiln and complete a firing cycle. an (me) holding her head with her hands. than everyday usage. This was confus­ Unloading the glaze kiln is the most She is standing beside a shelf of ware ing. It was only after seeing and expe­ difficult part of the process. The work labeled “pretty pots.” The woman is say­ riencing the vessels in this usable size inevitably falls short of my desire for ing: “Oh, I don’t think these are good that I perceived their potential as larger what is really impossible—perfection. enough.” When arranging to have my forms. The most recent pieces are at least By the following day, the pots always first exhibition, I had remarked to Rob­ half again as large as the original ones. look better. Then I do not project so much ert Sperry that I did not think the work Their size gives them a sculptural pres­ onto the work, but begin to allow each was good enough. “It will never be good ence that removes them from comfort­ vessel to reflect its uniqueness and es­ enough,” he responded. able, everyday usage, yet keeps the pos­tablish an identity separate from me. With the current vessels, I am finally sibility of function, using deliberate care, Before any pot leaves the pottery, how­ doing work that I can respect. In saying on special occasions. ever, I must be willing to take full re­ this I feel humble and grateful—not that Webster defines deliberate as “care­ sponsibility for its existence in the world. I have arrived, not that the work is “good fully thought out and formed, or done If I cannot, it is broken. enough,” but that I have a clarity of di­ on purpose.” I like the notion of delib­ After a firing and especially following rection and a depth of understanding that erateness in relation to my work—not a show, I take time away from the studio. allow me to work with a measure of self- only as it describes the potential use but I have learned that even when not work­ assuredness and dignity. Paradoxically, also as it applies to a person’s decision ing, I am working. My garden is an an­ I am doing work that I can respect be­ to buy a particular vessel, and especially tidote for too much clay. An internal cause I have learned to respect the work as it applies to the creative process. mechanism is a signal to return to the I can do.

“Coffee Server with Base ” 13 inches in height, thrown and extruded stoneware, fired in reduction to Cone 7-8. 38 Ceramics Monthly “Pitcher with Base,” 13 inches in height, stoneware with soda ash glaze, Cone 7-8 reduction fired, by Anne Hirondelle, Port Townsend, Washington. June/July/August 1986 39 Large-Scale Flexible Ceramics! by Glenn Rand “As flexible as dense fiber glass, the slab can be hit repeatedly with a sledgehammer without breaking.”

slightly flexible ceramic wall tiles. In the and warping) is no longer a problem. In the areas surrounding the major kiln past five years, Clay Burn has refined The two remaining ingredients are 40% sites of Imbe, Tachikui, Shigaraki and the body and glazes, and designed spe­ ball clay (acting to bond the wollastonite Mashiko, Japan, the rich earth has giv­ cialized production equipment. fibers together) and 10% talc (a flux for en character to local ceramics. For cen­ Only three materials are used in the better fired adhesion). turies, people have made their livings body to create what Ikami calls a flexible The clay body was an important de­ from ideas suggested by the clay— ceramic laminate, highly resistant to velopment for Ikami, but of equal im­ whether it is the high feldspar content abuse, carvable, able to maintain integ­ portance was engineering a process for of Shigaraki deposits or the yellow iron rity through repeated firings and capa­ the rapid, economical production of large- in the clays of Tamba and Bizen. ble of modification with a typical wood­ scale architectural tile. The Clay Burn But at Utsunomia, the major jump­ worker’s saber saw. These characteristics process involves a four-hour production ing-off point to Mashiko, you can see a are mainly the result of the presence of line which can complete over 10,000 new tradition being started. As Shoji 50% wollastonite (CaSi0 ) in the body. square meters of tile per month. Only Hamada came to this area north of To­ Due to its fibrous structure,3 wollastonite four people are required to operate the kyo in 1924 to rejuvenate classic ce­ helps create thin, shock-resistant slabs continuous processor. ramics, so Hideo Ikami came in 1980 to by the interlacing/overlapping of its fi­ After the body is mixed to the proper advance his work with architectural ce­ bers. Another attribute of wollastonite is consistency, a tube of clay is extruded. ramics. What Ikami has developed at the its near lack of free silica, which means As it emerges from a pug mill, the tube Clay Burn Ceramic Company is a way that quartz inversion (that physical is cut at the top and allowed to spread of making large-scale, yet lightweight, change in firing responsible for cracking open under its own weight to a flat slab 40 CERAMICS MONTHLY with a width of 1 meter. Each slab is clay body. With the final size of the tile cut from the mill every 3 meters of ex­ being over 30 square feet, the glazes’ trusion. In this ingenious manner, a slab coefficient of thermal expansion must much wider than the diameter of the match the clay’s, or warping will result. mill is made. The form is then trans­ Because of this, Clay Burn has an active ported along a series of conveyors to a research and development program. To roller press, which reduces it to a uni­ date, a number of glazes, using kaolin form thickness and helps eliminate the or ball clay for alumina/silica, and re­ clay’s “memory” of its extruded curve. lying on frit fluxes, have been developed. At this point, the slab surface can be As before, the production process in­ textured or modified with additions. As volves the use of infrared heat to rapidly the slab leaves the rollers, it is cut to and evenly dry the glaze. final size. Hideo Ikami developed the process for After that, firing is quite rapid. In the The 10-foot-long tile then moves to a large-scale, flexible ceramics. continuous kiln, the tile reaches a Cone chain conveyor belt for the first of two 3 peak in about an hour. On exiting the drying steps. To eliminate problems with heat which renders clay bone dry and kiln, it will have cooled to about 200°C warping, the clay is dried from the inside ready for glazing. Total shrinkage (392°F). The speed of the firing is pos­ out, as well as from the outside in, by amounts to 4% at this stage. sible because of the clay body’s low over­ infrared heat. Clay Burn has two sep­ For production tiles, the glazes are all thermal expansion. arate infrared sources. One is similar in applied with a high-pressure spray (2/3kg/ After firing, the tile will have shrunk wavelength to that which you might find cm2). Spraying is regulated to build up 2% beyond that of drying. As flexible as at a fast food restaurant; it dries the top a 0.1- to 0.3-millimeter-thick glaze lay­ dense fiber glass, the slab can be hit re­ and bottom surfaces of the tile. The oth­ er. For creative artists, such as those peatedly with a sledgehammer without er infrared source, known as “far in­ working at the Otsuka Ohmi factory in breaking. Yet it can also be cut (even in frared,” has a very long wavelength, which Shigaraki (see “Robert Rauschenberg curvilinear patterns) with a saber saw. penetrates the clay and warms the tile Ceramics” in the May 1983 CM), the Clay Burn has now licensed the use from its interior. The clay is thus dried production line can now be exited to al­ of the process to firms throughout the to a rigid, unwarped state in about five low for intricate glazing or carving. Due Orient. In addition to the potential for minutes. Further drying is now possible to the high wollastonite content, the clay various tile applications, this budding by moving the tile into a 250°C (480°F) handles well for both carving and re­ ceramic tradition is currently producing dryer. Here, the production line gains peated firings. countertops and interior or exterior walls. one of its economies, because exhaust Of course, one of the main concerns And with the potential of the medium, from the kiln is reused as the dryer’s at Clay Burn is the fit of glazes to the many new applications are likely to come.

Opposite page Clay Burn black lacquer tile, stoneware surfaced with iron oxide, fired to maturity, then coated with layers of lacquer; designs engraved through the lacquer reveal red iron beneath. Left Cut through the top of the clay tube as it comes from the extruder (rear), the slab spreads open under its own weight, then is rolled to uniform thickness and cut to appropriate width (foreground); from this point the slab enters an infrared dryer.

June/July/August 1986 41 East German Symposium by Jimmy Clark

resentatives of their respective artist I had the opportunity to explore the East unions or specially invited by the sym­ German ceramic scene as a participant posium directors. The East Germans in the “IV International Ceramic Sym­ were selected on the basis of their works posium” in Roemhild, some time ago. exhibited the previous year. Held every three years, the symposium The ability to work large scale was is organized by the Artists Union of the appropriate to the symposium’s theme, German Democratic Republic in coop­ which was to develop outdoor sculpture eration with the city council of Suhl. They and vessels. But our activities were by arranged for the facilities at VEB Toep- no means limited to the theme. Ex­ ferhof, the largest ceramics firm in East change of ideas and techniques, as well Germany, to be placed at the disposal as pure experimentation, occupied the of the participants, enabling us to work majority of our time. in dimensions beyond the capabilities of At the 1981 symposium, two wood- most private studios. burning kilns had been built. One was Twenty-eight artists participated in an adaptation of a Fred Olsen design. the symposium—15 East Germans and The other, designed by symposium di­ guests from Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslo­ rector Friedrich Stachat and technical vakia, Hungary, Poland, Rumania, director Dietrich Kleinschmidt, was based Heavily grogged clay and porcelain Russia, the United States, etc. The for­ on a Roman kiln, with improvements in model for a free-standing sculpture by eign participants were either sent as rep­ insulation and airflow. Since called the Helmut Steindorf Weimar, East Germany.

Crackle-glazed teapot, 8 inches high, rubbed with black glaze and refired, by Martin Mohwald, Halle, East Germany (German Democratic Republic). 42 CERAMICS MONTHLY rnoios: ixoiana neissig

Ceramists at the Roemhild ceramic symposium critique a group tile relief. Interaction is one of the major benefits of symposium participation.

The closing exhibition at VEB Toepferhoj\ with ceramic object sculpture by fordan Stojanow, Sofia, Bulgaria, in the foreground. June/July/August 1986 43 Constructed at an earlier symposium, this wood-burning kiln was based on a Roman design; however, the draft was significantly increased by narrowing the ends of both the firing chamber and the chimney. With balanced stoking, it can reach Cone 10 in less than three hours, but most firings last somewhat longer because of the time it takes to complete the salt-glazing process: At 2370°F, handfuls of table salt are thrown in the door to the firing chamber, and the kiln is closed for about five minutes. Then the kiln is reopened and brought back to temperature for additional saltings. Finally, pine needles or other highly combustible materials are thrown under the fire grate, and the kiln is closed and sealed with wet clay.

44 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Vessel with Ladder” approximately 4 inches in height, Garden sculpture, approximately 33 inches in height, handbuilt from colored clays, partially glazed, constructed from slabs and handbuilt figures, accented with by Kristina Mazourene, Vilnius, Soviet Union. inlaid clay, glazed, by Sigrid Artes, Neuruppin, East Germany.

“Still Life with Musical Instruments,” approximately 24 inches in height, by Gottfried Loffler, Ramelow, East Germany. June/July/August 1986 45 The author, Jimmy Clark, Philadelphia, handbuilds Kristina Mazourene (top) inlays and attaches vessels to be burnished, painted with terra sigillata colored-clay elements to thrown and altered forms and fired with sawdust in pits or saggars. such as these, to 4 inches in height, partially glazed.

Roemhild kiln, it has spurred a renais­ 2370°F (1300°C), the door to the firing ring of a much higher firing. Because sance in wood-fired, salt-glazing tech­ chamber was opened wide and several there was a problem with breakage, niques in East Germany. handfuls of table salt thrown in as far however, works completed in this man­ Shaped like an L, the Roemhild kiln’s as possible. Then the kiln was closed at ner should be made from a clay body most significant feature is that both the the firebox and the chimney for about containing grog or other temper. firing chamber and chimney narrow five minutes. The resulting reduction Though raw materials were in ready slightly at their ends. This Venturi al­ during this time would cause the tem­ supply at the symposium, many East teration of the Roman design has the perature to drop. Before the salting pro­ European ceramic artists are faced with seemingly contradictory effect of in­ cess was repeated (once or twice), the limited glazing possibilities. This has creasing the draft, allowing the temper­ kiln was reopened and brought back to given rise to myriad variations of work­ ature to rise very quickly. The resultstemperature. After the final salting, pine ing with inlaid clay and colored slips, are startling; it can reach Cone 10 inside needles or other highly combustible ma­ including detailed applications of lay­ three hours. terials were thrown under the fire grate ered clays and the application of slips Most firings lasted somewhat longer, where the coals had collected, and the through fabric (a rough silk-screening however, because of the salting process kiln was closed and sealed with wet clay. technique) or antique printer’s stencils. we employed. The fire was kept low un­ Firing effects varied, depending on the Other ceramists are experimenting with til the temperature reached 750°F (or locations of the pots in the kiln and their refiring and underfiring techniques for 400°C) so that moisture could burn off, relationships to the air currents carrying particular effects. then built up rather quickly to its max­ the salt and ashes. The results of the symposium, as well imum. Achieved by the balance of wood During the symposium, I burnished as works from the three previous gath­ stoking and draft, this rather intangible ware, painted with terra sigillatas, then erings, have found a permanent home in level was determined by trial and error. low fired it with sawdust, both in pits the International Ceramics Museum re­ If too much wood was placed on the fire, and in saggars. These techniques were cently opened in Roemhild. it cut the airflow and the temperature quickly embraced for experimentation would drop. The importance of this bal­ by many of the participants. Friedrich The author Currently residing in ance usually became evident around Stachat suggested spraying terra sigil­ Philadelphia, ceramic artist Jimmy Clark 1650°F (900°C) when the kiln often lata on a pot already fired to maturity spent six years in West Berlin where he would stall. Surpassing that hurdle, we (Cone 4-5), then refiring it in sawdust. had several opportunities “to visit and usually had no difficulty in achieving a The resulting pots had the appearance exchange ideas with East German pot­ steady temperature rise. Upon reaching of pit-fired work, but the stability and ters. 33 46 Ceramics Monthly Photos: Dean Powell Above right rig o ey ucinlt, se ex­ she functionality,” plains, “butamaddingotheraesthetic deny to trying comdt srae mgr. Im not “I’m imagery. surface accommodate porcelain. reduction-fired 10 Cone with rit’ snhss f ucinl design functional of “synthesis Artists’ “interested in color and depth of surface” of depth and color in “interested ih Cnetct Aog h partici­ the Among Connecticut. wich, fiber and clay recent a of focus the was elements” decorative contemporary with ai weltrw frs r mat to meant are forms wheel-thrown Basic hw t h Eeet Gley n Green­ in Gallery Elements the at show aig eait, ne mt (Somer­ Smith Anne ceramists, pating “Cup and Saucer with Shelf” Cone 10 reduced porcelain, 4-inch-high cup,ongouache-paintedwood,byAnneSmith. “Cup andSaucerwithShelf”Cone10reducedporcelain, il, ascuet) s primarily is Massachusetts) ville, Porcelain vase,18incheshigh,byAnneSmith,Somerville,Massachusetts. Pattern andDesign ject, notjustoneofasetsix.” ug Mrln; n Snr Wyner, Sandra and Maryland; burg, ob­ conceived individually an was it that context a create to wanting from came shelf a on cup a for idea The etc.). tured, contrasts develop to images, and various glazes with experiment to like I issues. Hinesburg, Vermont. Jenkins, Addie City; York New Forer, Beth by clayworks were exhibition sign” show could I it, isolating by cup; that for ekly Lna hsemn Frost- Shusterman, Linda Berkeley; siymt, aklgt smooth/tex- dark/light, (shiny/matt, Also featured in the “Pattern and De­ and “Pattern the in featured Also June/July/August 1986

47 Easy Aventurine Glazes by Robert and Beatrice Pearson

placed in each tub. The tubs were then however, can sometimes cause detectable Aventurine glazes are recipes containing enclosed with plastic bags; a stick placed glaze variation. For optimum results, (after firing) sparkling, minute crystals in each tub kept the plastic bag from cluster aventurine-glazed ware near the of metal oxides. But unlike the large, resting on the open mouth of the bottle. center of the kiln; or if that is not fea­ dramatic, zinc silicate crystals of typical Water vapor slowly rehydrated the pow­ sible, keep a record of ware placement crystalline glazes, no special firing dered borax, without forming many of in the kiln so that preferred locations can schedule is necessary to produce an av­ the large, hard crystals encountered pre­ be identified. enturine glaze, nor do the metal oxide viously. A sample of the original borax Aventurine glazes usually look better crystals of aventurine glazes become very continued to gain moisture for three if there is some flow during firing. All large, so temperature holding (which al­ weeks. The final weight gain was ap­ of the following recipes (developed for lows crystals time to grow) during firing proximately 30%! the 2-cubic-foot kiln, then adapted for is not required. The aventurine glazes The second, and most surprising, the 6-cubic-foot kiln) are slightly fluid, described in this article are all based on problem arose when this glaze was fired some much more so than others, so it is iron oxide and formulated to mature at in various kilns. Originally, it was fired usually necessary to make allowance for Cone 04. A junior Cone 03 was used in in a Paragon electric kiln (model B77B) this by leaving a little extra unglazed a kiln sitter to terminate the firing cycle with slightly under 2-cubic-foot capac­ room at the foot. near this point. ity. When the same glaze was fired in a Glaze 1 is a simple recipe which will 6-cubic-foot Paragon electric (model serve to demonstrate some of the prob­ K6H), it had an entirely different ap­ Glaze 2 lems that had to be solved in developing pearance. Instead of iron oxide crystals (Cone 04-03) workable recipes: embedded in the glaze, part of the iron Bicarbonate of Soda ...... 4% oxide formed a less attractive metallic Borax...... 7 surface scum. Composition changes were Gerstley Borate...... 12 Glaze 1 Red Iron Oxide...... 19 (Cone 04-03) made until the same ingredients gave satisfactory results in the larger, slower Frit 3819 (Ferro)...... 31 Borax...... 34.8% cooling kiln: Bentonite...... 6 Red Iron Oxide...... 12.8 Flint...... 21 Kingman Feldspar ...... 52.4 Slow Cool Glaze 1 100% 100.0% (Cone 04-03) Our first bag of borax varied greatly Borax...... 34% Slow Cool Glaze 2 Red Iron Oxide...... 12 (Cone 04-03) in particle size, and it was almost im­ Kingman Feldspar ...... 54 possible to use in a brush-on glaze. When Bicarbonate of Soda ...... 4% the recipe was mixed using powdered 100% Borax...... 7 borax and thinned to brushing consis­ In most cases, we found that less iron Gerstley Borate...... 12 tency, it quickly warmed, then set into was required by a glaze fired in a large Red Iron Oxide...... 17 a solid mass. Had we discovered a new kiln. Evidently, the longer cooling cycle Frit 3819 (Ferro)...... 31 cement? Only the prompt addition of in the larger kiln gives more time for Bentonite...... 7 more water with rapid stirring would crystals to form. Rather than altering Flint...... 22 keep the glaze in a usable condition. Even the firing cycle, we used compositional 100% then, there was a great increase in par­ changes to adjust crystal growth. Local Perhaps the best of the recipes presented ticle size, making it difficult to apply temperature variation within a kiln, here, Glaze 2 is easy to apply with a with a brush. brush, has only a slight flow, yet pro­ We gradually realized that the borax duces a high quality aventurine with a was partially dehydrated. With water black undertone. added, it quickly rehydrated, forming large, hard, intergrown crystals of true borax. Testing showed that the material Glaze 3 we had started with had only about half (Cone 04-03) the amount of water contained in true Bicarbonate of Soda ...... 6% borax. Its molecular weight was 291, in­ Borax...... 12 stead of the 381 expected. Cryolite...... 2 A simple, but slow, method was de­ Gerstley Borate...... 19 veloped to rehydrate the borax. Plastic In strong sunlight, this sample of an Red Iron Oxide...... 16 tubs were filled with the partially de­ aventurine glaze sparkles with gold Custer Feldspar ...... 27 hydrated powder, and an open, wide­ flecks—minute crystals reflecting light from Flint...... 18 mouthed bottle filled with water was their faceted, mirrorlike surfaces. 100% 48 CERAMICS MONTHLY Slow Cool Glaze 3 the color to shift from brown to a green­ Slow Cool Glaze 8 (Cone 04-03) ish cast, and the aventurine crystals be­ (Cone 04-03) Bicarbonate of Soda ...... 5.9% come smaller. Borax...... 24.0% Borax...... 11.7 Gerstley Borate...... 14.4 Cryolite...... 1.9 Glaze 6 Red Iron Oxide...... 14.4 Gerstley Borate ...... 19.5 (Cone 04-03) Custer Feldspar ...... 43.3 Red Iron Oxide...... 15.4 Borax...... 12% Bentonite ...... 3.9 Custer Feldspar...... 27.4 Red Iron Oxide...... 17 100.0% Flint...... 18.2 Frit 3134 (Ferro) ...... 11 This glaze tends to trap air bubbles. Ap­ 100.0% Frit 3819 (Ferro)...... 30 plying in thin layers alleviates the prob­ Glaze 3 yields rich red-brown aventu- Bentonite...... 4 lem. rine crystals and flows less than most. Flint...... 26 100% In most cases, other feldspars can be Glaze 4 substituted for the ones listed without (Cone 04-03) Slow Cool Glaze 6 major changes in glaze appearance. (Cone 04-03) Cornwall stone substituted for the feld­ Borax...... 28.0% spar content has afforded some nice Red Iron Oxide...... 14.5 Borax...... 13% glazes, but nepheline syenite is too low Frit 3110 (Ferro) ...... 22.0 Red Iron Oxide...... 15 in silica to substitute directly. If a lower- Kaolin ...... 13.5 Frit 3134 (Ferro) ...... 11 temperature recipe is desired, however, Flint...... 22.0 Frit 3819 (Ferro)...... 31 nepheline syenite might be tried in place 100.0% Bentonite...... 4 of the feldspar. Flint...... 26 The preceding recipes may be made Slow Cool Glaze 4 100% more fluid by replacing some of the flint (Cone 04-03) or feldspar with borax (1-2%). Any sub­ Borax...... 28% Glaze 7 stantial increase in the flint content will Red Iron Oxide...... 14 (Cone 04-03) require an increase in iron oxide to Frit 3110 (Ferro) ...... 22 Bicarbonate of Soda ...... 6.81% maintain the aventurine effect. Kaolin ...... 14 Borax...... 22.42 If a change in composition causes the Flint...... 22 Red Iron Oxide...... 15.41 glaze surface to become scummy, the iron 100% Frit 3134 (Ferro) ...... 5.50 oxide quantity should be reduced. If there Frit 3819 (Ferro)...... 15.52 are fewer aventurine crystals, increase Kaolin...... 8.31 the iron oxide. We tested several iron Glaze 5 Flint...... 26.03 oxides and all produced aventurines. (Cone 04-03) However, a type called Spanish Red gave Gerstley Borate...... 10% 100.00% better results in some recipes. Red Iron Oxide...... 17 Variations in glaze thickness can cause Frit 3819 (Ferro)...... 53 Slow Cool Glaze 7 discernible color differences. If an a- Bentonite...... 3 (Cone 04-03) venturine glaze is applied too unevenly, Flint...... 17 Bicarbonate of Soda ...... 7.4% the thin places often take on a purple 100% Borax...... 21.1 cast, but show no crystals. Reglazing is Red Iron Oxide...... 14.7 possible. Frit 3134 (Ferro) ...... 6.3 Because most of these aventurine rec­ Slow Cool Glaze 5 Frit 3819 (Ferro)...... 16.8 ipes contain at least one water soluble (Cone 04-03) Kaolin...... 4.2 ingredient, they should be used as soon Gerstley Borate...... 10% Flint...... 29.5 as they are mixed. It is possible to store Red Iron Oxide...... 17 100.0% the dry batch until needed. One precau­ Frit 3819 (Ferro)...... 59 tion, however: both bicarbonate of soda Flint...... 14 and borax tend to lump badly, so be sure 100% Glaze 8 to pass these dry ingredients through a More fluid than most, Glaze 5 is a good, (Cone 04-03) screen before mixing. uniform aventurine. Anyone wishing to Borax...... 25% fire at Cone 05 or 06 might give this Gerstley Borate...... 15 The authors Beatrice Pearson is an recipe a try just as it is. Small increases Red Iron Oxide...... 16 assistant professor of art and Robert in the percentage of bentonite (say 2-3% Custer Feldspar...... 44 Pearson is a professor of chemistry at the at the expense of the frit content) cause 100% University of Arkansas at Monticello. June/July/August 1986 49 Raymon Elozua

In his “Memoriam Series” of terra-cotta wall reliefs on view recently at Carlo Lamagna Gallery in New York City, Raymon Elozua’s concern was for the “often nameless and faceless G.I.’s who fought under unimaginable conditions.” The names of the works refer to World War II “battles which were not Amer­ ican ‘victories,’ but rather a struggle in which the only victor would be death,” Raymon explains. A departure from his previous three- dimensional sculpture of decaying in­ dustrial structures (see the March 1981 CM), these reliefs were handbuilt from extruded terra cotta. The gridwork and tile images were assembled wet and al­ lowed to “age” naturally, with shrinkage distortion and cracking occurring during drying. Fired in sections, the reliefs were mounted on plywood with a ceramic tile adhesive, and framed with salvaged lumber. The surfaces were painted with ceramic stains and oils, then sanded or wiped with paint remover to promote the appearance of decay. As a statement for this work, Raymon quotes from Ecclesiasticus of the Apoc­ rypha: “And some there be which have no memorial / And who are perished as though they have never been / And who are become as though they have never been born / And their children after them. / But these were merciful men / Whose righteousness hath not been forgotten. / With their seed shall continually remain / A good inheritance, / And their chil­ “Liberty 1terra cotta with oil-stained Below “Tarawa 1943” (in memory of dren are within the covenant.” surface, on plywood, 38 inches high. a battle with the Japanese), 9 feet long. Pro Art

ing with pots, but living with them, us­ While the majority of the forms are A new gallery committed to promoting ing them,” he continued. Some ware in utilitarian, Pro Art also shows some functional ceramics opened recently in the gallery is displayed in a mock kitch­ sculptural work “for well-rounded cov­ Saint Louis’s Central West End. Much en setting “to show customers it’s okay erage,” Holohan explained. “The dis­ of what is shown at Pro Art is made in to actually use them.” play still has a homogeneous quality as the Minnesota style, not specifically from the sculptures are made in the same spirit that area, but exhibiting “the strength (well organized, well put together) as and spirit inherent in those pots,” ac­ the functional ware.” cording to codirector Michael Holohan. In the first of its monthly shows fo­ “Minnesota-style pots are often very cusing on themes related to functional quiet. ceramics, Pro Art featured vessels and “We are not concerned with decorat­ sculpture by 30 North American artists.

“Sentinel/Working” 23 inches in height, earthenware with glazes and paint, by Walter Zurko, Wooster, Ohio. June/July/August 1986 51 Photos: courtesy of Pro Art

Above Mid-November,”" white stoneware plate, 121A inches in diameter, with stenciled slips, Cone 6 oxidation fired, by John Chalke, Calgary, Alberta.

Right Lidded vessels from the “Chicago Water Tower Series,” approximately 6 inches in height, thrown local brick- and fireclay, with equal parts ball clay and soda ash glaze, high fired in reduction, sandblasted, by Dan Anderson, Edwardsville, Illinois.

52 CERAMICS MONTHLY Robert Turner Retrospective

After earning an M.F.A. in industrial “Looking back,” says Gerald Nord­ Now a professor emeritus at Alfred Uni­ ceramic design, Turner taught at Black land, “Turner identifies a series of im­ versity, Robert Turner first turned from Mountain College in North Carolina— pacts relating to pottery: 1) from the Han painting to clay as a graduate student an experience that “opened me to the to the Song Chinese wares seen at the there in the late 1940s. “Turner saw ce­ wide horizons that increasingly became Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto; 2) ramics as a way to integrate art and util­ central to my perceptions in the years from Greek ideals in pottery through ity in a saleable handmade product,” notes to follow.” On returning to Alfred Sta­ Marguerite Wildenhain and the Bau- Milwaukee Art Museum scholar Ger­ tion, New York, in 1951 to teach in the haus, he noted symmetry, a timeless per­ ald Nordland, curator of the traveling university’s summer program, he estab­ fection, a view of man as preeminent; 3) exhibition “Robert Turner: A Potter’s lished a studio pottery and produced by the early ’50s, from Zen and the Ori­ Retrospective.” functional ware for the next six years. ent, Bizen, Jomon and Rosanjin, all pots

“Storage Jar ” 10V2 inches high, 1967. Through pottery, Robert Turner “seeks to manifest the ways in which he has been moved by life, art and the experience of nature,” says Gerald Nordland. June/July/August 1986 53 Photos: Steve Meyers, Dedra Walls, and courtesy of Nelson-Atkins Museum Art Exhibit A Gallery

Robert Turner which show evidence of something posed of two or three volumes rather vided me an openness to risk, vulnera­ changed by time and events, the accep­ than a form made up of foot, belly, bility and sharing, and an opening to tance of imperfections, man seen as a shoulder and rim,” says Nordland. Pro­ increased energy in my pots. A truly wa­ part of natural events; and 4) in the mid cess was altered “so that a sequence of tershed time.” ’50s, from the Scandinavians, Hans Coper actions could reveal gravity, tension, Then, on his way to the tenth Super­ and others, the use of rough clays, thin weight, and organic characteristics. Be­ mud conference at Penn State, “ques­ glazes, structural elements, the machine coming aware that the medium and the tions from Tony Hepburn made me more aesthetic. These impacts were gradually structural form of the pot itself both par­ aware of meanings in my pots. I saw assimilated and tested. His affinity with ticipate in the creative process, he ob­ that meaning is there in the pot, but it the sense of the moment rather than the served: ‘The pot tells me what to do.’” is revealed to me in retrospect, not in sense of perfection emerged.” At Penland School of Crafts in the the act. One works intuitively. This reaf­ Subsequent to joining the faculty at early ’70s, Turner “structured experi­ firmation of a capacity of one individual Alfred in 1958, his work began to evolve ences of risk to arrive at new aware­ is also the affirmation of a universal hu­ into sculptural vessel forms reflecting ness,” according to Nordland. “Inter­ man capacity, and an affirmation of in­ travels and personal beliefs. “My pottery action there with dancer/teacher Carolyn tuitive knowing which is beyond cog­ had begun as comments on what I saw Bilderbach and her dance concepts pro­ nitive knowledge.” in the history of ceramics,” Turner re­ vided a physical knowing of occupying, Since retiring from full-time teaching marked, “and it became comments on moving and extending in space, of hu­ in 1979, Robert Turner has divided his what I see through experience, an in­ man or other signals across space, of the time between New York and a home in ternal response.” push and give in space.” Santa Fe. Increased studio time has per­ By the late ’60s his work involved Recalled Turner: “I think my teach­ mitted further development of various “geometric studies of the pot as com­ ing with interacting students there pro­ series, including several forms shown in 54 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Shore (White de Chelly) * 11 inches in height, named after “Small Akan,” 9 inches in height, from a series of vessels Canyon de Chelly in Arizona, 1984. inspired by African art, 1981. “Covered Baking Dish * 12¥s inches in diameter, wheel-thrown stoneware, 1956.

June/July/August 1986 55 the Milwaukee Art Museum retrospec­ arrayed around the pots so that what is only by Turner’s sensitivity to the ma­ tive of works dating from 1956 to 1985. viewed from any angle refers to elements terials and structures he uses and to the “Turner’s work is guided by the re­ lying beyond that perspective. content they express. In exercising this sponsiveness of clay and by the inti­ “Turner uses three colors: white, red sensitivity, he forgoes a certain self-cen- mately known identity of pot forms,” and blue-black. A single glaze is used teredness and achieves an intimate, in­ comments Kenneth Westphal (of the on each piece. By controlling glaze clusive expression in his pots. It may University of Wisconsin-Madison phi­ thickness and by sandblasting, Turner take patience to come to an understand­ losophy department). “He is able to make varies the tones in accord with the ge­ ing of these pots, for they reveal them­ elaborate use of geometry within three- ometry of a piece and its array of mark­ selves slowly, often better privately, and dimensional vessels and to exploit the ings. The white ranges from the aus­ indeed even out of the corner of one’s inherent relation between interior and terity of bleached bone white to the eye. They are meant to be lived with, to exterior space. delicacy of a sandy white shoreline. The remind us of things not in the forefront “Fragility is not at issue in these pots, red is earthy in tone, though some pieces of our attention. They encourage a kind for their walls are thick, capable of emphasize the presence of iron in the of reflection uncommon in today’s busy withstanding both time and wear. They glaze. The blue-black ranges from a very age, a kind of reflection we may need to are marked by scratches, scored lines, metallic, almost impervious bronze-black learn.” excisions, stamped impressions; slabs, to a modulated, receptive deep blue. Premiered at the Milwaukee Art blocks and bars are added to the exterior, “There is nothing accidental or ar­ Museum, “Robert Turner: A Potter’s and tears, mends, indentations or dis­ bitrary in Turner’s pots,” Westphal con­ Retrospective” was also presented at the tentions of the walls are imposed by in­ cludes, “and yet there is nothing in them Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, and will ternal or external activity. As in free­ that is forced or contrived. Their com­ be shown next at Arizona State Uni­ standing sculpture, such markings are bination of necessity and grace is achieved versity in October.

“Small New Form (Akan) * 11 inches in height, thrown stoneware with additions, glazed, 1979, by Robert Turner. 56 CERAMICS MONTHLY John Roloff A Ceramics Monthly Portfolio by Elaine Levin

Photos: M. Lee Fatherree, John Jackson, Muffy Kibbey, Elke Morris, John Roloff, Anne Rybak, San Francisco Art Institute Top John Roloff, with sculpture inside half oj two-part portable kiln. Middle “Night Ship/Storm Wave/The Frozen Sea,” 50 inches long, clay and fused silica. Bottom “Night Ship/Double Horizon/The Frozen Sea,” 50 inches in length. Portfolio cover “Ancient Shoreline/Island for Lake Lahontan” (firing of “Black Coral Starfish Element”), kiln 20 feet in diameter; in Reno, Nevada, 1985.

A Ceramics Monthly Portfolio Near the harbor, within sight of barge and it can be moved, when not in use, to free Perhaps because the department’s tem­ ship repair companies, just a few blocks available space. These arrangements, as he porary buildings were somewhat isolated from the Oakland Yacht Club, is John Ro- tells his students at the San Francisco Art from the main campus, an infectious en­ loff’s studio and residence. He finds this Institute and Mills College, are the result ergy prevailed, enhanced by 24-hour ac­ working class, industrial neighborhood well of “allowing ideas to dictate the technology cess to the facilities. In this atmosphere of suited to working with ceramic sculpture, required.” “anything is possible,” Lucian prodded him but the ambience was not the reason for The proximity of water, even this rather “to find out about myself, to look at art as choosing this location—his previous studio undistinguished section of Oakland’s inner part of my life rather than something sep­ was in the crowded, noisy Mission District harbor, has been a constant in John’s life. arate.” of San Francisco where there was no good Marine geology, a study of the ocean floor, Following two years of undergraduate street access to accommodate the move­ was his goal as he entered college—a re­ art studies, John entered graduate school ment of equipment, materials and finished sult, perhaps, of spending childhood near at California State University in Hum­ work. Portland on the rugged Oregon coast. boldt. The tranquility of these new sur­ At his Oakland address, Roloff greets a There, the driftwood, bottles, stones and roundings made him realize more keenly visitor at the nondescript entrance (a roll­ shells, which the ocean deposited on the the heady, intense atmosphere he had left shore after each storm, were a source of at U.C. Davis. As a teaching assistant with endless discovery. Later, his family moved his own studio, he began to focus even more to an area near the American and Sac­ on water and ships. ramento Rivers, where his observation of After graduate school, he taught for a a watery landscape continued. Since then, short time at the San Francisco Art Insti­ seascapes and American and English 19th- tute, where he developed his first series. century landscape paintings have stirred “Elements of a Voyage,” 1974, involved ship his imagination. forms and an unusual process: “I took all Only after taking science courses at the the soluble materials in the glaze room, University of California at Davis did Ro­ loff realize he did not enjoy writing field reports or formulating chemical equations. up door facing a railroad track) in order In time, he began to associate geology with to help locate a parking place between the clay, and went from clay in nature to clay tracks and some idle railroad tank cars. To in the ceramics department. There he dis­ reach the second-floor living quarters, he covered “it was not the process of marine leads the way past studio equipment (in­ science that attracted me; it was the im­ cluding an arc welder and an oxyacetylene agery of the sea and the processes of life, torch), remnant materials from past and death, evolution and transformation that present projects, and several kiln sculp­ occurred in its depths.” He added art to tures he built. One is underneath a hang­ his geology major, attending William Wy- ing exhaust hood with attached flue above ley’s seminars emphasizing personal im­ a steel platform that can be wheeled in agery. boiled them in a large vat and let them and out of that position. When the plat­ Roloff was in Robert Arneson’s ce­ evaporate on the surface of the form,” an form, supporting one of the kiln sculp­ ramics department in the late 1960s, where intuitive approach to chemicals that con­ tures, is in place under the hood, burners Lucian Pompili, then a graduate student, tinues to be viable for him. He was are inserted into the sculpture, then after influenced his development as an artist. “searching for a dialogue with materials. the firing the piece can be wheeled out of During those years, the art department at I was more interested in transforming form the way for other work to be fired. His Davis enjoyed a reputation for exciting and through an association with some geolog­ regular gas kiln is also on wheels so that provocative work by teachers and students. ical process. After all, I was using the same Top “Mountain Kiln/Black Orchid,” 28 feet in length, steel, ceramic fiber blanket, earth and glaze materials, prior to firing, Oakland, California, 1982. Above (left)Night firing of “Mountain Kiln/Black Orchid,” as the piece reaches temperature. Above (right) “Mountain Kiln/Black Orchid,” with kiln removed and excavated, fused glaze materials, steel and fill sand; it has since been destroyed. substances you can find on the side of a zation. The idea that he could imitate na­ Francisco Art Institute. Driving west, he mountain.” ture led him to experiment with a com­ realized how eastern geography had Between 1974 and 1978, Roloff was an pound containing sodium silicate and silica changed his perspective. “I had become assistant professor at the University of as a nonshrinking coating over a clay form much more sensitive to the expanse of Kentucky. Instead of that sense of distance expected to shrink normally. The result landscape, to an awareness of seeking the provided by a constant view of the horizon was a buckled, corroded exterior suggest­ horizon line.” He recalls farmlands in Ne­ characteristic of western landscape, the hills ing ripples of water—“impossible to achieve braska where the wind rhythmically swayed surrounding the university made him feel by handbuilding, and a way to exploit the fields of grain “so they rippled like the “almost claustrophobic.” Where others might properties and materials for their visual sea.” Now, far from the grain fields of Ne­ have reveled in such intimate space, John effects that goes beyond coating the surface braska, he talks about developing an idea realized a psychological need for the ex- with a glaze.” perhaps inspired by that experience and pansiveness of western geography—an Roloff views the “Exile Series” as the other similar associations. emotion expressed in the “Exile Series.” A beginning of one of the two sculptural di­ The second direction his work has fol­ group of white ships, some caught in reeds rections he has since followed. Early work, lowed in the last six years involves large, or beached, are objects (like John) out of combining narrative content associated with outdoor installations. At a drafting table the ship as a symbol of exploration into in one corner of his living room, an area the unknown, has in recent years merged he calls his “idea center,” John makes de­ with the form to project an abstract image. tailed drawings capable of serving as blue­ Normally, John layers surface appli­ prints for these projects. Because of their cations, firing, reapplying and refiring as size, the time and materials involved, the standard practice. He finds the pursuit of installations require grants funding. In the textural surfaces “endlessly fascinating in past, each of several universities has sent its possible variations, particularly where John a request for slides and a budget, texture becomes form.” Over a period of then applied for a grant to the National time, using his sculptures as visual exper­ Endowment for the Arts (NEA) or a state iments, he has come to understand some arts council. Roloff has also worked with basic principles which now allow him to community arts organizations and com­ make an educated guess, to trust his in­ panies whose products are related to ce­ their natural environment, images of lone­ stincts as to the ultimate results. “My tech­ ramics. Individual grants received from the liness and abandonment. These emotions nical information has evolved in an organic are evident again in “Bierstadt’s Snag,” way, which has convinced me that it is 1975, homage to a 19th-century artist. The important to learn the process rather than “snag” is a bare tree branch, caught in the focus on the end product. That way I have rippled surface defining the boat’s interior. the fun of discovery through close involve­ Poetically referring to the romantic images ment with material.” in Albert Bierstadt’s many paintings of the Many ship sculptures, often 4 feet or western wilderness, the branch is also a more in length, evoke multiple associa­ vivid reminder of youthful boating trips on tions. Some suggest ghost ships, sunken the American River and hazardous en­ treasures, encrusted hulls on mysterious counters with hidden logs. voyages—perhaps to the Antarctic—or at Admitting to a romantic bent in his work, rest on the ocean floor. In a model for a Roloff is equally candid about his debt to large environmental piece, “Topiary Mon­ the painter Thomas Eakins. In “Untitled itor for the Treetop Sea” (1981), the in­ (Rower),” 1976, one of his few sculptures distinct image of a hull similar to the Civil NEA and a Guggenheim Fellowship have to include a human figure, John refers to War ironclad ship Monitor is conveyed funded time away from teaching to develop Eakins’s painting of his friends rowing on through the alignment of topiary trees, project ideas. Pennsylvania’s Schuylkill River. But the graceful foliage on a small mound that Inspiration for on-site projects came in surface of this 14-foot boat, along with its suggests the romance of an isolated island. part from a visit to Hawaii, where John occupant, is irregular, pockmarked, as if Other more substantial hulls carry evi­ was impressed by the transformation of transformed into coral through eons of time dence of the land—surrealistic, sensuous, the lush landscape by volcanic action. Sil­ spent resting on the ocean floor. fernlike shapes rising from the hull as if houettes of burned-out trees stood against No doubt because of his training in ge­ to insure the ship’s final destination. Ro­ the sky like blackened pillars. Like the Ne­ ology, Roloff found standard glazes con­ loff views these sculptures as actual and braska grain fields, the experience haunted siderably less interesting than surfaces re­ metaphorical ways to enter the world of him, suggesting a way to effect such trans­ lated to earth stratification, or the results 2000°F, “a place beyond our direct ex­ formations. of wind or water erosion. While in Ken­ perience which we can only observe. The Invited by the University of Notre Dame tucky, he began to use indigenous organic ship comes through the ‘voyage’ trans­ to conduct a two-week workshop in 1979, materials. Corn husks, pine needles or straw formed by heat, bearing the evidence of its Roloff saw an opportunity to translate vol­ dipped in slip and fired, left imprints in metamorphosis.” canic action or “the mark left on earth by the clay, an effect which intrigued him for In 1978, John returned to northern Cal­ transitory elements” into his sculpture. He its relationship to the process of fossili- ifornia to teach once again at the San used brick (the most accessible material)

Above (left) "Prairie Starfish/Glacial Epoch,” 20 feet in diameter, ceramic fiber blanket on steel framework, Craven, Saskatchewan, 1980. Roloff says he makes these works to produce a “poetic relationship” between the kiln, its parts, the propane fuel and the sculpture inside, rather than a utilitarian relationship between kiln . and fired product. In his view, all components and their changes through time compose the sculpture. Above (right)Fired “Prairie Starfish/Glacial Epoch,” glaze materials fused with ground.

A Ceramics Monthly Portfolio “Wave Ship (of Fire)/Ice Ship (of Glass) * 32 feet in length, Detroit, 1984.

The 1981 firing of “Wave Kiln 1,” ceramic fiber blanket on steel kiln structure, 15 feet in length, at Mills College, Oakland. to form a bottomless boat, which was then veloped in the field during a workshop sit­ ended idea. There’s a fine line between covered with Kaowool. Inserting a burner, uation. Others are based on detailed notes reverence and irreverence toward the ma­ he fired the structure as hot as the burner from past material transformations, ele­ terial. Tradition can dictate its use in a would take the kiln for the time it was on. vations and site research. The glazed and certain way, or the artist may discover the After two nights of firing (one to fire the fired formations left after the removal of material’s malleability allows going in many naked ground, another to fire the ground the kiln along with photographs that re­ directions.” covered with glaze materials), the result cord each event are the tangible evidence Learning how to control the material was an earth scar, 2 or 3 inches of green of the firing. The kiln is dismantled and and when to release some of that control— glass topped by a white crust, a transfor­ the fiber blanket recycled in most cases. or as Roloff says, “having a dialogue with mation—in this case, one with a relation­ Roloff’s main interest is in “developing a the material, realizing it plays an equal ship to the geological formation of rocks. poetic relationship between the kiln, its role”—is important. “Everyone must dis­ Since that workshop, Roloff has devel­ contents and the firing. These are inter­ cover their own technical requirements, oped a procedure using ceramic fiber blan­ locked and inseparable elements of the making them integral to their work.” ket suspended on a simply welded steel process.” One example, “Mountain Kiln/ Another thing John feels important is frame, a kiln sculpture. After firing, these Black Orchid” (1982), utilized the center to realize “the slowness of recognition. Af­ structures remain whole and reusable. One or “throat” of the flower as the downward ter producing a major piece or a significant or more burners fill the interior with in­ entrance to the flue system integrating de­ body of work, an artist might feel certain tense heat, retained by the refractory pad­ sign with technical requirements. this will open all the necessary doors, but ding which allows light to escape. Stu­ An essential part of these land kilns is dents, teachers, fellow artists gather to the firing system. Six standard commercial witness the night firings, which John com­ burners (each rated at 500,000 Btu’s per hour) are fueled by two 500-gallon tanks of high-pressure propane. To regulate the propane so it is not used too fast (which causes the fuel to freeze), he has, on oc­ casion, connected the tanks to a commer­ cial vaporizer. Sufficient draft is created by building a corresponding flue with a square inch of cross section for every 15,000 Btu’s per hour. In a recent kiln, John tested Fondu (a refractory cement used by industry to line in reality this seldom happens. It is more flues) mixed with grog and perlite to make important to know there is a time lag. That an insulating cement. He began with a work may not be recognized until several clay form in the shape of a stylized orchid. years later. So to preserve sanity, artists After bending and welding steel rod around must keep on working and feel good about the clay to form an armature, he applied their output.” the Fondu mixture, burying the steel. One Among the new projects John is in the advantage of Fondu is its ability to cure process of completing is a large tile floor in 24 hours. With the clay interior re­ for the Light Rail Public Transit System moved the next day, he applied ½ inch of of Sacramento. The images for the Cone Kaowool over the flat front surface, then 6 whiteware tiles relate to the ancient geo­ welded the structure to a table to make it logic and cultural history of the area, which freestanding and vertical. Two burners, was once the bottom of a vast inland sea. each capable of 80,000 Btu’s, were in­ The title, “The Ancient Valley (Sea Floor),” serted. At each end of the flowerlike form, and design also include references to the pares to “primitive rituals or events like he placed a 5-inch metal flue pipe, con­ valley’s former residents, native Ameri­ happenings.” He has dramatized them necting to his 25-foot-high studio flue. cans whose creation myths talked of a world further by welding the frame into various When the burners were turned on, the covered with water at the beginning of time. shapes—a starfish, a mountain, several strong draft pulled the fire into the ex­ Other projects involve a sculpture for a ships, a fish head—some as long as 40 feet. tremities of the form, illuminating (for a proposed public park on the shore of San One in the shape of that most transitory short time) its graceful curves with red-to- Francisco Bay and land kilns for specific of images, the curl of an ocean wave, sym­ orange heat. Though the Fondu was slightly sites. Roloff views these developments as bolically reenacts in the firing the imper­ softened by fire and did develop some fis­ opportunities to further explore his inter­ manence of its form in nature. Not until sures, John feels it could be a good ma­ est in imagery related to landscape. dawn will these “land kilns,” as Roloff calls terial for future experimental kilns. them, reveal the particular configuration In 1980, Roloff added teaching at Mills The author Arts writer Elaine Levin, a of their fusion, some taking the form of an College in Oakland to his schedule. In his regular contributor to Ceramics Monthly, obsidian orchid, others a skeletal starfish. classes, he stresses “developing one’s own has been working on a major contempo­ Each kiln is different, relating to or con­ attitude toward the material that encom­ rary ceramics history textbook. She resides trasting with its site. Some kilns are de­ passes history, perspective and an open- in Northridge, California.

Above (left) “Collision/Lava Ship/Trellis Shipstacks 25 jeet in height (with clay “Lava Ship” inside, textured with impressed pine cones and branches), steel and ceramic fiber blanket, San Rafael, California, 1984. Above (right)Preparing to fire “Collision/Lava Ship/Trellis Ship” with propane.

A Ceramics Monthly Portfolio Firing “Collision/Lava Ship/Trellis Ship ” 36 feet in length. With the kiln dismantled, clematis vine was planted to eventually cover the steel “Trellis Ship,” thus converting the form into a ship of leaves in summer and a ship of steel and bare vine in winter. “Coral Orchid/ Section (Heart of Fire) ,” steel and castable refractory over a clay positive, by John Roloff, Oakland. Rol- off’s castable is Fondu, a cal­ cium alumina cement (made by Lone Star Lafarge, Inc., 18 Koger Exec­ utive Center, Suite 220, Nor­ folk, Virginia 23502) which reaches full strength in 24 hours.

After the clay core was re­ moved, a flat wall of Kaowool and wire was posi­ tioned over the open side of the cavity.

With flue pipes on each end extending up into the hood, the sculpture/ kiln was fired with propane.

A Ceramics Monthly Portfolio June/July/August 1986 65

News & Retrospect On View at Freehand of Delaware. In turn the success of the Del­ Michael Simon (who opened the exhibi­ Nerikomi vessels byBeth Forer, whimsi­ aware meeting led to the third. tion with a slide lecture and demonstration cal teapots bySusan Garson and Thomas The idea developed from a dissatisfaction of throwing and decorating techniques) not­ Pakele, and decorative platters by Steven with large national conferences. It was felt ed: “Warren’s point of view is aligned with Portigal were featured in a May exhibition that smaller, regional meetings would better the Yanagi-Hamada-Leach revival of folk at Freehand in Los Angeles. Characteristic serve students’ concerns and would be more culture values. Simply stated, this value sys­ of Steven Portigal’s new work fired in oxida- affordable because of lower costs for trans­ tem places a high regard on the unself-con- portation and housing provided by students at the host institution. Text: Louana Lackey; photo: Grant Kester. More Living National Treasures Following in the footsteps of the recent recognition of Okinawa folk potter Jiro Kinjo as a “Living National Treasure” (see News & Retrospect page 55 in the January CM), Japanese officials have announced the inclu­ sion of two more potters to that prestigious list formally termed Important Intangible Cultural Properties. This is the first time Michael Simon at exhibition workshop that three ceramists have been named within scious making of objects for everyday use. a year of each other, and like the first ap­ No small part of the power of Warren’s pointee, Kinjo, the two latest appointees are teaching is that he taught from the perspec­ 78-inch platter by Steven Portigal, Los Angeles virtually unknown in the West. They are tive of a potter. This was so refreshing to me tion at Cone 4, this stoneware platter was Koichi Tamura and Nodo Fujimoto, both as­ as a student and added a quality of genu­ thrown, brushed and trailed with slips. sociated with the Tokyo University of Fine ineness or realness to an otherwise abstract Art (Fujimoto is currently president) and both academic life. The concerns that he imparted Clay in the East traditional ceramists of long standing. to us were the elemental and profound con­ Jointly sponsored by Towson State Uni­ The business of becoming a Living Na­ cerns of a potter: the color and texture of the versity and the Maryland Institute, College tional Treasure has always been shrouded in clay, the proportioning of form, the individ­ of Art, the third annual “Clay in the East” politics, but this time many in Japan are ual handling of the pot, the variety of fired conference featured presentations by guest asking whyTatsuo Shamaoka of Mashiko, a surfaces.” artists Christine Federighi, Ken Little, Don renowned master folk potter, was overlooked, Reflecting on MacKenzie’s impact on their Reitz and John Roloff, plus exhibitions of when he seemed a natural selection. It has work, Will Ruggles and Douglass Rankin works by faculty and students from the 13 been suggested that perhaps the recognition explained that their “objective is to make pots participating schools. Opening receptions and of Jiro Kinjo used up the balance for folk of a spontaneous nature that are warm and pottery talent, but at any rate these recent friendly to use. Use to us is the finishing of choices present a decidedly conservative di­ rection for the current group of Japanese masters. The MacKenzie Influence Since apprenticing with Bernard Leach at Saint Ives in the early 1950s,Warren MacKenzie has maintained a commitment to the production of functional pottery for everyday use; and, as a teacher at the Uni­ versity of Minnesota, he has been a major force in perpetuating Leach traditions among American potters. In recognition of his in­ fluence in the Southeast, an exhibition fea­ turing ceramics by five of MacKenzie’s for­ mer students (Sheila Hoffman, Washington, D.C.; Charlotte Levenson, Charlottesville, Virginia; Will Ruggles and Douglass Ran­ kin, Buladean, North Carolina; and Michael Simon, Farmington, Georgia) was presented recently at Western Carolina University in 7-foot “Site 64,” by Vance Bell, Edinboro University Cullowhee, North Carolina. Ruggles and Rankin mood-fired stoneware vase parties provided opportunities for interaction the making. Warren was the catalyst who and conversation. You are invited to send news and photo­ brought this objective into focus during our Artists cannot work in a vacuum—they graphs about people, places or events ofearliest stages of working with clay. Listen­ must constantly seek new ideas and new interest. We will be pleased to consider ing to his ideas, watching him work and stimuli. The first “Clay in the East,” held at them for publication in this column. Mail viewing slides of pots he respected, moved us Penn State two years ago, was so successful submissions to: News and Retrospect, deeply. He opened doors to an aesthetic ap­ an interaction of students and clay that it was Ceramics Monthly, P.O. Box 12448, proach that made complete sense to use. From renamed “Clay in the East I” by organizers Columbus, Ohio 43212. that point on, the study of folk art in our of a second conference held at the University Continued June/July/August 1986 67 Itinerary Pennsylvania, Richboro June 20-22 Dave or call: (800) 227-8688 (from Wisconsin) or (800) Robinson hands-on throwing workshop. For fur­ 457-8688 (other states). Continued from Page 21 ther information contact: Pennsylvania Guild of Wyoming, Jackson July 18-20 “Primitive Pots and Sawdust Firing” with Tally Groves. Fee: Craftsmen, Box 820, Richboro 18954; or call: (215) Firing.” August 15-17 “Japanese Bank Kiln $60. Contact: Boston Center for Adult Education, 860-0731. Firing.” Instructor: Dan Atkins. Contact: Jackson 5 Commonwealth Ave., Boston 02116; or call: (617) Utah, Logan June 9-13 “Kilnbuilding and Hole Art Association, Box 1248, Jackson 83001; 267-4430. Studio Management” with Joe Zeller. June or call: (307) 733-6379. New York, West Nyack July 2, 9, 16 and 20 16-20 “Kiln Firing: Wood and Saggar” with “Raku” with Rosemary Aiello. For intermediate Chuck Hindes. June 26-27 “Ceramic Hand- International Events students through professionals. Fee: $300 plus $20 building: Folding, Layering and Inlay” with Vir­ Canada, British Columbia, Richmond August for materials. Contact: Rockland Center for the ginia Cartwright. Contact: John Neely, Utah State 8-September 1 An exhibition of work by New Arts, 27 S. Greenbush Rd., West Nyack 10994; University, Department of Art, Logan 84322; or Zealand artists, includes pottery; at Richmond Art or call: (914) 358-0877. call: (801) 750-3460. Gallery, 7671 Minoru Gate. Oregon, Otis August 10 “Throwing Large Washington, Seattle August 14-15 Slide lec­ Canada, Manitoba, Herb Lake Landing July Forms on the Wheel” with Sandra Johnstone. Fee: ture and demonstration with Ronna Neuen- 14-18 “Primitive Firing” workshop with Emily $30. Contact: Yvette O’Neill, Sitka Center, Box schwander. Fees: $2 for lecture; $30 for workshop, Crosby, will cover working with local clays and 65, Otis 97368; or call: (503) 994-2516. includes membership. Contact: Jean Griffith, Pot­ firing with wood chips and bark. Fee: $200. Live- Oregon, Salem August 9-10 Kurt Weiser, clay tery Northwest, 226 First Ave., N, Seattle 98109; in accommodations available. Contact: Emily forming techniques: throwing, handbuilding, slip or call: (206) 285-442L Crosby, Box 484, Snow Lake, Manitoba, ROB 1M0. casting and mold making. Fee: $38.50; members: Wisconsin, Menomonie June 27-29 “Fourth Canada, Ontario, Brockville June 21-August $34.50. Up to 25 participants. Contact: Bush Barn Annual Festival of Crafts” workshop. Contact: Of­ 30 “Summer Pleasures; Summer Treasures III,” Art Center, 600 Mission St., SE, Salem 97302; or fice of Continuing Education and Summer Session, includes pottery by Carolyn Gibbs; at Heritage call: (503) 581-2228. University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie 54751; Crafts, Sheridan Mews, 182-186 King St., W. Canada, Ontario, Toronto through June 8 “The First Potters of Ontario,” reconstructed ves­ sels from pre-European cultures. July 8-August 16 “New Vistas: American Art Pottery 1880-1930” from the Cooper Hewitt Museum; at the George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, 111 Queen’s Park. Canada, Quebec, Trois-Rivieres June 17- September 11 Second national “Biennial of Ce­ ramics”; at the Galerie d’Art du Parc, Manoir de Tonnancour, 864 rue des Ursulines. England, Bath through June 29 “Alan Caig- er-Smith and the Aldermaston Pottery,” tin-glazed, smoked-luster works; at the Holburne Museum, Great Pulteney St. England, Cheltenham June 22-July 6 An ex­ hibition with Daphne Carnegy, pottery; at Chest­ nut Gallery, High St., Bourton-on-the-Water. England, Leeds August 22-October 26 “Alan Caiger-Smith and the Aldermaston Pottery,” tin- glazed, smoked-luster works; at the Leeds City Art Galleries, Municipal Bldgs. England, London through August 31 “American Potters Today”; at the Victoria and Al­ bert Museum, South Kensington. France, Nan^ay July 6-August 3 Ceramics by R. Trotro. August 6-September 7 Cl. Champy ceramics; at La Galerie Sophie et Gerard Capazza, Grenier de Villatre. France, Vallauris July 1-September 30 The tenth “International Ceramic Art Biennale”; at the Chateau, Musee de Vallauris. Italy, Faenza June 7-September 28 The 44th annual “International Competition of Artistic Ce­ ramics”; at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Corso Mazzini 92. Netherlands, Leeuwarden through July 14 An exhibition of 17th-century Chinese trade porce­ lain, illustrating diversity in style according to the preferences of their export markets; at the Prin- cessehof Museum, Grote Kerkstraaat 11. Netherlands, Oosterwolde (Fochteloo) September 1-5 “Primitive Pottery and Slip- ware Workshop.” September 8-12 “Stoneware and Porcelain Workshop.” Instructor: Kees Hoo- gendam. Contact: Kees Hoogendam, De Knolle 3A, 8431 RJ Oosterwolde (Fochteloo); or call: 05160-8238. Spain, Barcelona September 23-October 1 “International Seminar in Ceramics,” with Han- ibal Salvaro, will cover “heat formations” and treatment after firing. Limited enrollment. June 25 registration deadline. Contact: Taller d’Art Sant Jordi, Regente Mendieta 41-43, 08028 Barcelona; or call: 240-35-45. Spain, Cadiz through September 10 “La Tac- ita” is offering 2-week pottery sessions for all skill levels. Camping and live-in accommodations avail­ able. Contact: Jose Luis Aragon, La Tacita, El Colorado, Conil, Cadiz; or call: (956) 403756. Switzerland, Nyon July 4-September 28 First “Porcelain Triennial” international juried exhi­ bition; at the Nyon Museum, Place du Chateau. West Germany, Sindelfingen July 2-6 “Ton und Topfer” (Clay and Potter) fair. July 2-27 “First European Ceramics Competition”; at the Messehall, Mahdenstalstrasse 116. 68 CERAMICS MONTHLY News & Retrospect work became a way of life.”Photo: George Rector. Carbondale Clay An exhibition of clayworks by nine South­ ern Illinois University graduate students (.Blaine Gerhard, Lisa Horning, Joe Kress, Yih- Wen Kuo, Maureen Pahlman, Susan Rozalsky, Cynthia Small, Deana Walker and Matt West) and their teacher, Harris Deller, was presented recently at the Paducah Art Guild Gallery in Paducah, Kentucky. Matt West explains that his glazed earth­ enware wall forms are “an attempt to clarify my thoughts and emotions. Much of my

16-inch-high “Cabin in the Woods” by Matt West sculpture interprets these ideas as a narra­ tive; by telling something about myself, I hope to involve the viewer and evoke personal re­ action to the story.” Also shown in “Carbondale Clay” was this

“Drinking Vessel” by Joe Kress wheel-thrown cup, 6 inches in height, by Joe Kress. Photos: Eugene Heck. Roger Honey Mississippi-bluffs-inspired vessels byRog­ er Honey, faculty artist at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, were on view recently at Venture Gallery in Lathrup Village, Mich­ igan. Shown together with his cast and hand- Continued June/July/August 1986 69 70 Ceramics Monthly News & Retrospect

20-inch stoneware bowl with low-jvre glazes built forms was this thrown-and-altered New Zealand pioneer potter Peter Stichbury stoneware bowl, 20 inches in diameter. Pho­ “A principle of mine is to make pots to to: Charlie Cox. please myself,” says Peter. “This is not a con­ ceit, but a necessity if one is to maintain Peter Stitchbury standards and direction, and to develop as a New Zealand’s studio pottery movement person. In pleasing myself, hopefully I will really started to grow during the 1950s when please others.” a small number of people, many of whom Peter enjoys throwing so much—as freely were school teachers, were influenced by the and relaxed as possible—that he rarely ven­ work and philosophies of British studio pot­ tures into other methods of making. When ter Bernard Leach. At that time there was no tradition of pottery making in New Zea­ he does, he usually makes large wall forms, land, few experienced practitioners, no sup­ assembled from thrown sections, often in­ pliers of raw materials and almost no liter­ corporating patterns impressed into the clay. ature for assistance. This “first generation” of potters built their own kilns and equip­ ment, dug their own clay, experimented with making their own glazes and avidly shared hard-won information, learning and teach­ ing at the same time. One of these pioneers is Peter Stichbury, a founding member and past president of both the New Zealand Society of Potters and Auckland Studio Potters. Born in Auckland in 1924, he was trained as a school teacher, 1 and specialized in teaching art and craft until 15 /2-inch stoneware platter, with iron sand 1951 when he was appointed art lecturer at His chief delight is in glazed platters deco­ Ardmore Teachers’ College. Increasingly rated with hand-trailed iron sand collected fascinated with pottery, he arranged to study from one of Auckland’s west coast beaches. for seven months with Bernard Leach and The use of natural materials is preferred. Bill Marshall at Saint Ives, then for nine For years he dug and processed a local stone­ months with Michael Cardew in Abuja, Ni­ ware. However, when this became unavail­ geria—his trip funded by a grant from the able, he developed a throwing body com­ Association of New Zealand Art Societies. posed of four New Zealand commercial clays Returning to Ardmore Teachers’ College with additions of feldspar and ocher. So suc­ in 1959, he continued instructing for ten years, cessful is this recipe that it is now widely in the meantime considering plans to pro­ used by other potters. Glazes are also made duce pottery full time. His decision was made from local materials such as volcanic siltstone when the college was scheduled to be closed, and pumice, his three basic ones being a deep and in 1970 he became self-employed as a green celadon, a temmoku and a tessha. professional potter. Even after his college days, he continued Peter has held to the fundamental belief to tutor classes and conduct workshops for that pots are made to be used, and that the potters’ groups around the country. Though timeless pots of history are usually ones madehis work is reduction fired with oil or LPG, by anonymous craftspeople. This belief was he and his students have built and fired kilns strengthened by working with Leach and using every type of fuel available. Cardew; and those Nigerian pots, made in Due to the work of potters like Peter Stich­ vast quantities for everyday use, left a lastingbury, public awareness has spread rapidly in impression on him. New Zealand, thus creating an atmosphere Because Peter is a production potter, many of interest and support. Text: Howard Wil­ of his shapes are repetitive; however, he pre­ liams. fers work made expressively, embodying a sense of freedom, allowing him to reinterpret Louisiana Clay at Arkansas a form each time it is thrown. Thus, except The annual “Ceramics Invitational” at for sets such as coffee mugs, no shape is re­ Arkansas State University featured works by peated exactly. Design is fitness for purpose. Continued June/July/August 1986 71 Where to Show Continued from Page 13 August 1 entry deadline Mesa, Arizona “Fine Folk Festival” (October 25-26) is juried from 4 slides. Awards. Entry fee: $10. Booth fee: $70. Contact: Mesa Town Center Development Corporation, 58 W. Main St., Mesa 85201; or call: (602) 890-2613. Ormond Beach, Florida “24th Annual Hali­ fax Art Festival” (November 1-2) is juried from 3 slides. $11,000 in awards. Fee: $75. Contact: Halifax Art Festival, Box 504, Ormond Beach 32074; or call: (904) 441-5773. Asheville, North Carolina “High Country Summerfest Art & Craft Show” (August 15-17) is juried from slides or photos. Fee: $100. Send self-addressed, stamped, business envelope to: Bet­ ty Kdan, 40 Hyannis Dr., Asheville 28804; or call: (704) 253-6893. August 8 entry deadline New York, New York “15th Annual WBAI Holiday Crafts Fair” (December 5-7, 12-14 and 19-21) is juried from 5 slides. Entry fee: $15. Booth fee: $650. Contact: Matthew Alperin, WBAI Crafts Fair, Box 889, Times Square Station, New York 10108; or call: (212) 279-0707. August 15 entry deadline Herkimer, New York “11th Annual Herkimer County Arts & Crafts Fair” (November 8-9) is juried from 5 slides. Awards. Fee: $75. Send self- addressed, stamped envelope to: Grace Mc­ Laughlin, HCCC, Reservoir Rd., Herkimer 13350. Cashiers, North Carolina “A High Country Art & Craft Show” (August 30-September 1) is juried from slides or photos. Fee: $90. Send self- addressed, stamped business envelope to: Dana Kropf, High Country Crafters, 29 Haywood St., Asheville 28801; or call: (704) 254-0072. September 1 entry deadline Milwaukee, Wisconsin “Craft Fair USA” (September 27-28) is juried from 5 slides or pho­ tos. Fee: $85 for a lOxlO-foot space. Send self- addressed, stamped envelope to: Dennis R. Hill, 3233 S. Villa Circle, West Allis, Wisconsin 53227; or call: (414) 321-4566. September 12 entry deadline Dillon, Colorado The “8th Annual Colorfest Art and Crafts Show” (September 27-28) is juried from 3 slides or photographs. Fee: $40. Contact: Lake Dillon Arts Guild, Box 1047, Dillon 80435. September 20 entry deadline Asheville, North Carolina “A High Country Art & Craft Show” (October 2-4) is juried from slides or photos. Fee: $90. Send self-addressed, stamped business envelope to: Dana Kropf, High Country Crafters, 29 Haywood St., Asheville 28801; or call: (704) 254-0072.^ October 1 entry deadline Scaly Mountain, North Carolina “A High Country Art & Craft Show” (October 10-12) is juried from slides or photos. Fee: $90. Send self- addressed, stamped business envelope to: Dana Kropf, High Country Crafters, 29 Haywood St., Asheville 28801; or call: (704) 254-0072. Milwaukee, Wisconsin “Craft Fair USA” (October 25-26) is juried from 5 slides or photos. Fee: $95 for a 10x10-foot space. Send self-ad­ dressed, stamped envelope to: Dennis R. Hill, 3233 S. Villa Circle, West Allis, Wisconsin 53227; or call: (414) 321-4566. October 5 entry deadline Scaly Mountain, North Carolina “A High Country Art & Craft Show” (October 17-19) is juried from slides or photos. Fee: $90. Send self- addressed, stamped business envelope to: Dana Kropf, High Country Crafters, 29 Haywood St., Asheville 28801; or call: (704) 254-0072. October 8 entry deadline Hillwood Lakes, New Jersey “Crafts at Tren­ ton State College” (November 8-9) is juried from 5 slides. Fee: $225 for an 8x10-foot space. Send self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Rose Squared Productions, 12 Galaxy Ct., Belle Mead, New Jersey 08502; or call: (201) 874-5247. October 21 entry deadline Dillon, Colorado “4th Annual Christmas Ba­ zaar Arts & Crafts Show” (November 15-16) is juried from slides or photos. Fee: $40. Contact: Lake Dillon Arts Guild, Box 1047, Dillon 80435. 72 Ceramics Monthly News & Retrospect Louisiana State University facultyLinda ( Arbuckle, Joe Bova, James Lawton and Rob­ ert Lyon) and graduate students {David Douglas; Susan Filley Nicholas Joerling, Terry Kauffman, Joann Schnobel, Lyn Sternand

Terra-cotta teapot and cups by Christopher Weaver Christopher Weaver). Shown from the ex­ hibition is a terra-cotta teapot (with porce­ lain teeth), approximately 15 inches in height, and six wire-handled teacups by Christopher Weaver. Victoria Christen “A recurrent theme in my work of the past several years has been the paradox of tur­ bulence and stability within a single object,” comments Minnesota artist Victoria Chris­ ten. “Using the vessel form, I have con-

Victoria Christen structed a series of tilted, whirling pieces to evoke the expressive energy which offers ex­ citement but often brings us to the brink of self-destruction. These cyclonic forms also are filled with images from my past such as shards from previous work. These serve as more than simple decoration; they provide a cyclical link between my past and present. I am expressing the latent potency within pas­ sive forms by experimenting with various Continued June/July/August 1986 73 74 CERAMICS MONTHLY News & Retrospect

“Arrowhead Face22 inches in height glazes that add a sparkling, jewel-like qual­ ity to the work. I am also interested in ex­ ploring the relationship between interiors and exteriors, exposing the hidden secrets within a vessel by slicing and peeling away portions of the surface.” Shown from a recent dual exhibition at Artbanque Gallery in Minneapolis, “Arrow­ head Face” was coil built from red earth­ enware, surfaced with commercial glazes and slips, and multifired. Anna Calluori Holcombe Earthenware “Reliquary Boxes” by Anna Calluori Holcombe, faculty artist at the State University of New York College at Brock- port, were exhibited recently at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York. Archaeol­ ogy and architecture are current influences on her work, says Anna, and many of these boxes are “houselike.” “The concept of the box has held mystery and surprise for many cultures,” Anna com­ mented. “Christmas presents and jewelry

“ReliquaryboxVIII” 10 inches in height boxes come to mind. My boxes can contain things, but that is not the primary emphasis. The space inside is very small and shallow due to the double-walled construction; there­ fore, their use becomes ambiguous.” Continued June/July/August 1986 75 76 Ceramics Monthly News & Retrospect

Anna Calluori Holcombe Slab built from earthenware reinforced with nylon fibers, the boxes begin as sketches. The ideas are then transferred to graph paper which will serve as a template “to ensure that the parts of the box will later fit together properly.” Painted and sprayed with com­ mercial underglazes and glazes, the green­ ware is once fired to Cone 04. Photos: Jim Dusen. San Francisco Potters “New Dimensions West,” a juried exhi­ bition of works by 35 members of the As­ sociation of San Francisco Potters and Glass- blowers (ASFP&G) was presented recently at the University of Utah Grittens Gallery, then at the Boise State University Gallery of Art. Among the 52 ceramic objects shown

22-inch salt-fumed vessel by Joyce Clark-Bineh was this salt-fumed vessel, 22 inches in height, byJoyce Clark-Bineh, Saratoga. Also fea­ tured was this slab-built porcelain vase, 10½ Continued

10V2-inch porcelain vase by Nancy Franklin June/July/August 1986 77 78 CERAMICS MONTHLY News & Retrospect inches in height, with inlaid and applied col­ ored clays, fired in reduction to Cone 9, by Nancy Franklin, Saratoga. Photo: Bob Aude. Barbara Harnack Stoneware wall forms, including “Icons,” “Floating Figures” and masks with head­ dresses, byBarbara Harnack, Malden Bridge, New York, were exhibited at the Blue Streak Gallery in Wilmington, Delaware, through May 6. Slab built and sometimes stained, the forms were bisque fired at Cone 05, surfaced with acrylics and pastels, then sprayed with a lacquer finish. “My inspiration,” Barbara

18-inch “Icon” stoneware with, acrylics/pastels commented, “is drawn from classical and an­ cient sculpture, and enlivened by 20th-cen­ tury art, directing its focus toward an expres­ sion of womanhood, radiance, harmony and happiness.” Jenny Floch Functional ceramics by Ohio potter Jenny Floch were exhibited together with drawings by her fatherJoseph Floch (1895-1977) at Gallery 200 in Columbus recently. Among the works shown, this thrown stoneware bot­ tle, approximately 8 inches in height, was

Sandblasted stoneware bottle glazed with red and brown glazes, patterned with wax, then brushed with a cobalt slip. After firing to Cone 6 in oxidation, the sur- Continued June/July/August 1986 79 80 Ceramics Monthly News & Retrospect ment because the packing could be sold as well as the ware). face was lightly sandblasted to achieve a soft, Prices at the auction rose four times high­ worn artifactual character. Text: Bonnie Kelm. er than expected as bidders paid thousands for a single plate or bowl. The first of 35 Picasso Ceramics on Display platters, decorated with cobalt fish and flow­ An exhibition of pitchers, platters and ers, went for $37,000. By the time the last plaques byPablo Picasso was presented at gavel fell, this sunken treasure had brought Caroline Lee Gallery in San Antonio in Feb­ in close to $10,000,000. ruary and March, then at Exvoto Gallery in Houston through May 10. Periodically, from Avra Leodas 1946 to 1953, Picasso worked at a commer­ A solo exhibition of stoneware vessels by cial pottery in Vallauris, France. He “took New Mexico ceramist Avra Leodas was pre­ possession of a place of his own in our work­ sented at Linda Durham Gallery in Santa shop,” recalls Georges Ramie in his book Ce­ Fe through April 15. Characteristic of the ramics of Picasso, “that venerable workshop in which so many generations of potters have fashioned thousands of objects in the honest clay of Vallauris. Like these potters he sat down at his bench and—exacting, diligent, alert, almost feverish, taciturn—began the forerunner of the multitude of pieces he was to shape throughout those long years. . . . Forsaking Paris, his habits and his friends (even neglecting his brushes, his pencils and his graver), ...very quickly our sorcerer’s ap­Textured stoneware vessel, thrown and squared prentice succeeded in learning the magic works shown, this 13V2-inch-squarebowl was thrown and altered, sprayed with a dry white wash and fired in reduction to Cone 7. Photo: Herbert Lotz. Robert and Inge Spivack Stoneware byRobert and Inge Spivack was among the works by West German crafts­ people exhibited recently in the Pabstpalast, Avignon, France. Characteristic of their slab

Slab-built stoneware form, 7V2 inches in height 13-inch pitcher with nudes, 1948 constructions, this multipart form was glazed words that unleash the surging floods of spells. with a white dolomite matt and fired to 2282 ° F Those who watched over the progress of af­ (1250°C) in oxidation. fairs soon had to make sure that all his needs were promptly supplied and that all pro­ Wedgwood Fashions? cesses could be carried out at a regular rhythm. Josiah Wedgwood was surely one of ce­ Following the twists and turns of the imag­ ramics’ best businesspeople, seizing the mo­ ination, Picasso’s work in ceramics developed ment to produce diverse wares that some­ at the bidding of his fancy, though his fancy times amazed his public, and marketing them was lucidly held together by the reassuring with vigor and hype. Thus it should come thread of research and experiment.” as no surprise that the modern Wedgwood firm, ever in step with marketing opportu­ $10,000,000 Ceramic Treasure nities, recently entered the field of high fash­ A late April auction at Christies in Am­ ion. Bone china figurines “dressed” in en­ sterdam had people lined up in the street, sembles from the couture collection of hoping to bid on 234-year-old Qing dynasty international designer David Shilling are being Chinese porcelain recovered from a Dutch produced in numbered editions of 1000. With trading ship that sank in the South China all the aplomb of fashion show runway com­ Sea in 1752. Braving stormy seas and the mentary, publicity photos (submitted by threat of modern pirates, salvager Michael Wedgwood on behalf of its Coalport branch) Hatcher and his crew found approximately introduce the first two “models.” Hand- 150,000 mostly blue-and-white pieces well enameled in platinum, “Silver Bows,” ap­ preserved under 4 tons of tea leaves (used proximately 9 inches in height, “exquisitely historically for cushioning pots during ship- Please Turn to Page 85 June/July/August 1986 81 82 CERAMICS MONTHLY The Other Side of Consignment by Tami Hook

from your own studio because you are “Stick to those re­ As director of a nonprofit crafts orga­ handling all of the sales agent’s overhead nization (functioning on a 30% consign­ and are absorbing the loss on unsold work. tail prices. No one ment sales basis), I have been surprised Stick to those retail prices. No one that much of the recent information about wants to consign work that buyers whis­ wants to consign consignment is so incomplete and neg­ per is 30% less if they drive to your stu­ ative. Artists have used consignment for dio. work that buyers a long time as an answer to clearing a Personalities help sell handcrafted whisper is 30% less greater percentage of the sale over goods. Provide the consignment outlet wholesale marketing, testing new forms with promotional material to make it if they drive to your and colors, establishing new markets, and more as if you are present in the gallery. helping justify travel to large wholesale Information on the materials or process, studio.” accounts. notes on care and use, even recipes are One cannot use a consignment gallery helpful. Assume that the gallery owner as an odd lots outlet and expect to sell. needs to know more about the best way But if you give it good quality work in to use a vegetable steamer, or not to place sufficient quantity, it will have a chance stickers on wood-fired work, or that cer­ to present your work cohesively and tain cleaners will destroy a particular professionally. A few larger “show” pieces finish. are effective tools in getting preferred With few exceptions, never consign display space, but change them fairly your ware in galleries that have pri­ often if you are unwilling to have them marily wholesaled work. They have a stored in a closet once in a while. A financial commitment to their wholesale gallery needs a sense of variety and purchases and will give that work prior­ turnover just as you do. ity when arranging displays. And never Select a gallery which shows works connect your name with galleries that similar to yours. At our contemporary sell other artists’ seconds. craft gallery, customers are looking for Make sure you have a written con­ “growing edge” ceramics rather than tract covering insurance, shipping, Americana homecrafts—the latter could breakage, theft and payment schedules. not be displayed effectively alongside our Let the director know your policies on other inventory. commissions, layaways on major pur­ Check the prices of other works in the chases and any discounts that you might gallery. If similar ware is priced 5% to offer designers. Exclusives should be re­ 10% higher, it will help sell yours. If it served primarily for large wholesale ac­ is 20% higher than yours, you can be counts or shows; seldom is there justi­ sure that return buyers are rare. If it fication for exclusives with a consignment undercuts your prices by much, check gallery. to see if other artists are using the gal­ Work with galleries you trust. Provide lery as an odds and ends outlet. a complete inventory, and keep in touch. Set realistic prices. Do not add con­ Treat the good ones as if they were branch signment figures to the retail prices that offices of your studio salesroom that only you use. Rather, incorporate the over­ collect a fee at the time of the sale. When head costs of acting as your own sales handled intelligently, consignment can agent into the retail prices. You clear less make the difference in an artist’s in­ on wholesale because someone else takes come. the risk of stocking and selling. You clear slightly more on consignment because The author Tami Hook is director of the work must sell before you are paid. the Craft Alliance, a nonprofit organi­ You clear the most when you sell retail zation in Shreveport, Louisiana. June/July/August 1986 83 84 CERAMICS MONTHLY News & Retrospect Continued from Page 81

“Midsummer ” 13 inches high, by AnnaKarin Boode with nuclear power (Sweden is the world’s highest per capita producer) allow the gov­ ernment to establish the price of electricity at 27 ore (a mere 3½^) per kilowatt-hour. That rate is in sharp contrast to that of near­ by Denmark, where electricity costs approx­ imately three times as much. “Silver Bows,” with ensemble by David Shilling Limited availability of natural gas is also reproduces every detail of a silver lame hat a factor in the predominance of oxidation and coatdress ensemble from this London de­ over reduction firing. Only in a few of the signer’s winter 1985-1986 collection. Price: older sections of Stockholm is piped-in nat­ £99.50.” The second model to be issued, “Foxyural gas available. Elsewhere, ceramists must purchase “tubes” of propane for gas kilns. Every electric kiln I saw, when visiting the studios of Swedish colleagues, was a front- loading model, usually with a capacity of 6-7 cubic feet. Most were equipped with pro­ grammable temperature controllers and in­ sulated with both firebrick and ceramic fiber. Cone 8-9 is a popular firing range. A driving force behind the creation of con­ temporary Swedish ceramics is the country’s “percent for art” program. In contrast to the American version, there is strong pressure in Sweden to devote 1% of a construction proj­ ect’s cost to artwork, regardless of whether the buildings are publicly or privately fund­ ed. An example is the housing complex built by a private contractor near Uppsala, which Continued

Wedgwood fashion figurine “Foxy Lady” Lady,” approximately 8 inches in height, “recreates a hat and dress from the Summer 1986 collection and is also hand enameled [in] predominately amethyst and gold. Price: £135.” Swedish Clay Today by Christine Pendergrass Surface treatments ranging from no glaze to underglaze brushwork to washes of me­ tallic oxides enliven the diverse styles of the predominantly oxidation-fired pottery and sculpture I encountered on a recent tour of studios in southern Sweden, funded by a grant from the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation of New York. Inexpensive electricity is the major reason why most Swedish ceramists fire in oxida­ tion. Abundant hydroelectric power coupled Vila Viotti at work on commissioned brick relief June/July/August 1986 85 86 CERAMICS MONTHLY members who live farther away than is com­ News & Retrospect fortable to commute, modest living quarters resulted in a “percent for art” commission of with a small kitchen are available at the rear 17 works by local ceramic sculptorAnnaKarin of the gallery. Boode. Installed on the community buildings A similar situation exists at the Bias och are a series of her exterior wall reliefs, while Knada (Blow and Wedge) cooperative in her freestanding animal figures stand guard Stockholm, except that this association in­ at the entrances to the housing units. Boode cludes potters and glassblowers from all over primarily applies washes of rutile or cobalt Sweden, according to member Lena Svens- and iron on her stoneware sculpture prior to son. When I visited her studio in Forssjo, oxidation firing to Cone 8. where she concentrates mainly on thrown Vila Viotti has completed over 30 archi­ vessels, Svensson had just returned from a tectural commissions since 1969. A recent month-long, government-sponsored glazing project for the Law Courts in Nykoping en­ course held in Umea in northeastern Swe­ compassed two waiting rooms connected by den. a corridor. The “Peace at the Sessions” re­ To provide vocational training in glaze cal­ liefs, influenced by the brick walls of the old culation and testing for unemployed and un­ fortress Nykopinghus, were made in a brick deremployed ceramic artists, the government factory. For two months, she cut and altered pays each participant 5000 crowns (about the bricks as they came from the extruder so $660) to attend the course. The ceramists as to suggest stone axes, Viking shields and pay for their own food and lodging while in archaeological finds. Umea. However, the government pays travel Working with porcelain brushed with un­ costs for one trip home during the month for derglazes, Anita Hagman has completed each participant, even if that trip is made by commissions for three hospitals and a school air. in Gothenburg. In a departure from the Among the recipes Lena Svensson gleaned sculptural ceramics generally selected for art from the course was the following transpar­ in public places in the United States, one of ent glaze developed by the lateStig Lindberg,

“Peace at the Sessions” by Vila Viotti the hospital commissions was for a series of a designer at the Gustavsberg porcelain fac­ large, wheel-thrown floor pots. tory and a teacher at Konstfackskolan (School Another Swedish ceramist also active in of Arts, Crafts and Design) in Stockholm. the realm of “percent for art” is Agneta Lar­ sen, whose sculpture was exhibited recently S2 Transparent Glaze at Galleri Nu (New Gallery) in Gothenburg. (Cone 9-10) This private gallery’s fee is 25% of works sold, which is quite low compared to the Whiting...... 13% 30-40% commonly charged by galleries in Zinc...... 19 Stockholm. Soda Feldspar ...... 20 Both Anita Hagman and Agneta Larsen Kaolin ...... 19 also produce thrown functional ware, which Flint...... 29 is marketed through the Lerverk (Clay Work) 100% in Gothenburg. Representing approximately The materials and equipment used in the 30 ceramists and glassblowers, mostly from various studios I visited help illustrate the western Sweden, this nonprofit cooperative’s international flavor of Swedish daywork. fee is 15%. Each Lerverk member assumes While stoneware and porcelain bodies from the responsibility for minding the shop for the county of Scania in southern Sweden are two weeks (7 days a week) a year. For those Continued June/July/August 1986 87 88 CERAMICS MONTHLY News & Retrospect available, several of the ceramists I met use a white stoneware from Holland; others use German or British clay. Points of origin for some of the electric kilns were as diverse as Italy, Denmark and England. Besides heightening my awareness of con­ cerns shared with my counterparts in Swe­ den, this opportunity to see their studios and work has increased my appreciation of the potential inherent in my electric kiln. Photos: Nykopings Bildtjanst AB. 1957 thrown stoneware vase the exhibition is a vase thrown in 1957 from Mexico’s Centro Ceramico heavily grogged stoneware. Photo: Rauno Visitors to Mexico cannot miss the stacks Trskelin. of cazuelas (casseroles), planters and water jars made of local clay and displayed in all the markets. Alta temperatura (high-fired) Shrines and Altars ware, however, has not enjoyed the same ex­ Featuring works by 36 American artists, posure. In the past, potters working in stone­ together with example shrines from local eth­ ware and porcelain have had to rely on sales nic (Chinese, Greek, Hmong and Mexican) from their own studios or occasional exhi­ communities, “Shrines and Altars: Tradition bitions in galleries. and Innovation” was presented at the John Now there exists, in the Coyoacan section of Mexico City, just two blocks from the pla­ za, the first permanent gallery for ceramics in Mexico. Organized by a group of potters, Centro Ceramico features sculpture and mu­ rals, as well as functional ware, by 46 artists from throughout the republic. The opening show represented several generations. Included were works by Alberto Diaz de Cossio, Garziella Diaz de Leon, Humberto Naranjo, Irma Peralta and Hugo Velasquez, part of the original Mexican group which began working in stoneware. Shown

“Tranquility” by Juan Sandoval above is a 6-foot-long stoneware mural, fired to Cone 9 in reduction, by Juan Sandoval. What makes this gallery a unique home for ceramics is the effort that is being made to establish it as a gathering place to hold lectures, demonstrations and round-table discussions. In keeping with these goals, Australian aboriginal artist Thancoupie pre­ sented the first such demonstration last win­ ter, in conjunction with the exhibition of her work at the Carrillo Gil Museum. Text: Adele Karon Doherty's “Shrine to St. Louie” Goldschmied; photo: Juan Sandoval. Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, through May 18. Among the ce­ Kyllikki Salmenhaara ramic works shown was “Shrine to St. Louie,” Works by Finnish potter Kyllikki Salmen­ 50 inches in height, by Karon Doherty, haara (1915-1981) were exhibited recentlyBrooklyn. at the Hetjens-Museum in Diisseldorf, West As places of reverence and sacrifice, shrines Germany. A teacher and designer long as­ and altars traditionally are created to rec­ sociated with the Arabia factory in Helsinki, ognize the heroic, honor ancestors and wor­ he once observed that “pottery lives,” that ship divinities. In this show, however, many fingerprints made in the soft clay turning on of the featured artists call upon the aura of the potter’s wheel give it life. Shown from Please Turn to Page 95 June/July/August 1986 89 90 CERAMICS MONTHLY New Books Supporting Yourself as an Artist and a featured artists’ index. 509 black-and- A Practical Guide white illustrations; 33 color plates. $23.95. by Deborah A. Hoover Davis Publications, Inc., Worcester, Massa­ Written particularly for artists just begin­ chusetts 01608. ning their careers, this guide describes how to obtain and efficiently use available finan­ Safety in the Artroom cial and nonfinancial support. “Almost 85% by Charles A. Qualley of artists receive some specialized art training Of interest to ceramics teachers, this hand­ in school,” notes the author, “but little if any book stresses that it is the instructor’s re­ of this relates to the basic support and man­ sponsibility to eliminate or alleviate hazards agement of a career. Consequently, the poet from materials and processes. “Some teach­ or painter enters the world of the profes­ ers are aware that health and safety risks sional artist assuming that he or she is not exist in their artrooms but choose to do noth­ supposed to know about career management, ing about them. They fear the cost of making or worse, that artists should not have to know corrections will either force the abandon­ about it. They logically, but inappropriately,ment of parts of their program or give an assume that there are social institutions in unsympathetic administrator the chance to place that will support them. They are often eliminate art altogether. That fear may be shocked to learn that this is not the case. well founded in some situations. However, a There are, indeed, sources of support—but teacher who intentionally takes this course they are extremely diversified, are not fo­of action invites serious consequences; some cused primarily on the independent artist, risks may well result in illness or injury and and their representatives do not come knock­ ultimately in the unpleasantness of litiga­ ing at your door. Essentially, the support art­ tion.” In pointing out health hazards accom­ ists obtain is what they are able and willing panying use of various art materials, tools to generate themselves.” and procedures, the author notes the dangers Taking career management a step at a time, of free silica, toxic or carcinogenic glaze in­ the text begins with information on identi­ gredients and poor ventilation. Recommen­ fying resources and getting organized (in­ dations for improving conditions include a cluding examples of how artists in various list of fluxes and colorants that the author fields have secured equipment donations and feels should not be used in a school setting. free legal advice). With the groundwork laid, A final chapter on legal liability notes that the next steps described are how to “package” every art teacher should be aware of health a project, seek potential sources of support and safety hazards, should instruct students and write a proposal. A chapter on follow- carefully, test skills and knowledge, monitor through then suggests how to deal with (and behavior constantly; and “be able to prove learn from) rejection, as well as how to fulfill it.” 120 pages including sources for health the responsibilities of acceptance. 246 pages and safety equipment, bibliography and in­ including an appendix on resume prepara­ dex. $10.95 (softcover).Davis Publications, tion, list of organizations cited, glossary, bib­ Inc., Worcester, Massachusetts 01608. liography and index. $13.95. Oxford Uni­ versity Press, 200 Madison Avenue, New York, Legal Primer for Artists and New York 10016. Crafts Persons by John Goodwin Craft artists “are usually frustrated by their Claywork inadequate knowledge of law and general Form and Idea in Ceramic Design business methods. While they are most com­ by Leon Nigrosh petent collectively in their respective areas of This revised and expanded second edition of creativity, they are often lost when it comes the 1975 textbook includes 100 new photos to the fundamental legal aspects of business, of contemporary works, an added chapter on since their backgrounds are usually not slip casting, and up-to-date information on structured around a legal or business edu­ possible health and safety hazards. Begin­ cation,” observes the author of this guide to ning with a chapter on clay preparation, the laws concerning the operation of a crafts text provides illustrated process instruction business. Following discussion on contract on general methods of forming, glazing and law (including consignment contracts), he firing. Also discussed are principles of design explains the various legal forms of busi­ and various decorating techniques, including ness—corporation, partnership, limited decal and photographic imagery. The con­ partnership and the use of an assumed name. cluding chapter looks briefly at basic mar­ Marketing concerns are addressed by sec­ keting considerations. 256 pages including tions on arts and crafts shows, agents, in­ glossary; bibliography; appendixes on prop­ dependent contractors, distributors, auctions, erties of raw materials, element and oxide bills of lading, etc. Also covered are copy­ atomic weights, formulas and weights for ce­ rights and patents, product liability, routine ramic materials, clay and glaze recipes, so­ business matters and general obligations of lutions to glaze problems, addresses for man­ sales contracts. 176 pages. Publishing Ho­ ufacturers and suppliers, and temperature rizons, Inc., 2950 North High Street, Box equivalents for Orton cones; plus a general 02190, Columbus, Ohio 43202. June/July/August 1986 91 92 CERAMICS MONTHLY Film & Video

Passages ognized that my attitude toward perfection surfaces are smoothed with a rib. Trimming Nicely annotated with narrator and artist was impossible and finally educated me to is accomplished with tools made from bent commentary on process, finished work and understanding that ‘this is ceramics. You have and sharpened strapping steel. From parts concept, this video documents the making of to expect chance occurrences.’ ” thrown earlier, he assembles a teapot while the monumental ceramic sculpture “Pas­ Following coverage of technical aspects, discussing the merits of the lid vent (unnec­ sages: Heaven, Hell & the In-Between” by the video examines the finished sculpture (firstessary), or a hole/slot at the end of the spout Ohio State University faculty artist Deborahassembled for exhibition last February), and to recycle and thus prevent drips (doesn’t work Horrell. Through it you can feel something meanings behind the artist’s imagery. 20 well). The teapot and some bowls are then of the pressure and emotion involved in a minutes. Available as ½-inch videocassette fluted with a broken hacksaw blade. Other major international clay project. ($32) and ¾-inch videocassette ($45). Events bowls are decorated with brushwork. The Awarded a university research grant, Video Productions, Inc., 1228 Indianola Av­ trick is to “have a set of brushes and learn Horrell arranged to work within the Otsuka enue, Columbus, Ohio 43201. what each can do, then relate brushmarks to Ohmi Chemical Company factory in Shi- the shapes of the pots,” he says. garaki, Japan, to take advantage of its pat­ A Workshop with David Leach After 55 years as a functional potter, Da­ ented capability to produce thousands of glazes Despite extraneous noise and activity, this vid sees “a big debate is going on about the on 10x2-foot, absolutely flat, ceramic panels. video of a demonstration/lecture in Walnut traditional sorts of values. In the art schools (Recipes and firing processes were not re­ Creek, California, does contain a good deal today ‘standard’ is looked on as too limited. vealed by Otsuka, but see “Large-Scale Flex­of information about English potter David But art schools today are too chaotic. It’s very ible Ceramics!” in this issue.) Because of the Leach’s approach to ceramics. It works well difficult to establish yardsticks. Everybody large investment by the university, Otsuka as a record of the events of the workshop, seems to be trying to be original. But it’s an and Horrell, the artist felt “a huge respon­ but because extensive segments are in “real originality that’s very linked with fashion. sibility to perform” and knew she “had to time” rather than in the more compressed And fashion is here today and gone tomor­ produce a body of work making an important time we commonly associate with video, somerow.” He believes it’s all “part of the rebel­ statement.” At Otsuka, she found the envi­ portions drag on (and on). lion in our society—against various things. ronment intensified the art-making process. A precise thrower, David Leach is first But I don’t really see where it’s going. Per­ “It was provocative for them and for me.” In shown making several small porcelain bowls haps they’re waiting for a leader.” 78 min­ response to her ideas, the technicians collab­ as he talks about materials and techniques utes. $40, plus $4 shipping, for ½-inch VHS orated with various materials and processes, involved. Porcelain is “a much thirstier clay. videocassette; $65, plus $7 shipping, for ¾- and even developed a high-fire luster glaze! It wants more water than stoneware.” Be­ inch U-format. LCA Video, Box 5994, Con­ “I could feel support from them. They rec­ cause these bowls will be fluted later, the cord, California 94520.

June/July/August 1986 93 94 CERAMICS MONTHLY News & Retrospect Continued from Page 89 power and timelessness associated with shrines and altars to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary, to memorialize personal ex­ periences, or to offer social and political com­ mentary on contemporary life.Photo: Peter Muscato. Barbara Trinkl Ceramic sculpture based on architectural ruins, geologic formations and vessels by Berkeley artistBarbara Trinkl was exhibited recently at Mills College in Oakland, Cal­ ifornia. Partially sprayed with slips, the forms

Sawdust-fired “Dwelling Down,” 19V2 inches high were fired to Cone 03 in oxidation, then pit fired with sawdust. “This recent work is in­ spired by images of a continuous, cohesive world,” Barbara commented, “where the nat­ ural and manmade progress through endless transformations of birth, death and rebirth.” Text: Tran Turner. Clay USA Radford University’s second national “Clay USA” exhibition opened at the Flossie Mar­ tin Gallery in Radford, Virginia, then was presented at the Hand Work Shop in Rich­ mond through April 26. “Choosing a show from slides is always a difficult task,” ob­ served juror Paula Winokur, faculty artist at Beaver College in Glenside, Pennsylvania. “Three dimensions do not always translate well into two, and sometimes the slides can be deceiving. I was concerned about what the final outcome of my deliberations would be, but seeing all the work together was a delight. There was a good cross section of work submitted and my intention was to in­ clude the best examples possible, regardless of the genre or technique. This is therefore a very eclectic exhibition.” Among the 55 works selected from ap­ proximately 900 entries were “Cup and Continued June/July/August 1986 95 News & Retrospect want there, that the flame may erase with a flick of its wrist or else diligently add so much as to destroy by confusion. If I can parry this, if I can shield and protect, the flame and I may both show strongly, and the result might be a success.” Photos: Jack Jeffers, Bobby Hanson. Earthenware cups and saucers by Lori Mills The Way of Tea Saucer with Black” and “Cup and Saucer Works inspired by the traditional utensils with Yellow,” each 6½ inches in width, by and observances of the Japanese tea cere­ Lori Mills, Rochester, New York. mony were featured in an April exhibition Also shown was an anagama-fired white at Craft Alliance in Saint Louis. Among the stoneware bowl, 22 inches in length, by Ev- ceramic objects on view in “The Way of Tea: erette Busbee, Layton, New Jersey. “I have Inspirations” were “Melon Form,” 6 inches no desire to surrender my pots to the flame,”

“Oval Bowl” by Everette Busbee commented Busbee. “Not that I want to do Smoked-porcelain forms by Sylvia Bower battle with the flame, for battles have losers, in height, tied with linen (shown left); and and I fear the anagama flame to be a mighty “Cylinder,” 5½ inches in height, with turned adversary. It could be brought to its knees ebony lid, bySylvia Bower, West Danville, by firing with saggars, but it becomes like a Vermont. Both thrown porcelain forms were stallion whose spirit has been broken, of no covered with terra sigillata, burnished, fired interest. Instead, I want to joust with the to Cone 08, then quickly smoked in a nest flame, have a lighthearted relationship in of plant materials; the pots were removed which both our spirits stay strong, no matter before the fire reached the ferns and leaves who’s the winner of the day. I want to put responsible for the smoked-resisted pattern­ things on my pots that the flame may not ing.

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