March 1998 1 2 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998

Volume 46 Number 3

Wheel-thrown stoneware forms by Toshiko Takaezu at the American Craft FEATURES Inlaid-slip-decorated Museum in vessel by Eileen New York City. 37 Form and Energy Goldenberg. 37 The Work of Toshiko Takaezu by Tony Dubis Merino 75 39 George Wright Oregon Potters’ Friend and Inventor Extraordinaire by Janet Buskirk 43 Bennett Bean Playing by His Rules by Karen S. Chambers with Making a Bean Pot 47 The Perfect Clay Body? by JejfZamek A guide to formulating clay bodies 49 A Conversation with Phil and Terri Mayhew by Ann Wells Cone 16 functional porcelain Intellectually driven work by William Parry. 54 Collecting Maniaby Thomas G. Turnquist A personal look at the joy pots can bring 63 57 Ordering Chaos by Dannon Rhudy Innovative handbuilding with textured slabs with The Process

"Hair of the Dog" clay 63 William Parry maker George Wright. The Medium Is Insistent by Richard Zakin 39 67 David Atamanchuk by Joel Perron Work by a Canadian artist grounded in Japanese style 70 Clayarters International by CarolJ. Ratliff Online discussion group shows marketing sawy

75 Inspirations by Eileen P. Goldenberg Basket built from textured Diverse sources spark creativity slabs by Dannon Rhudy. The cover: New Jersey 108 Suggestive Symbols by David Benge 57 artist Bennett Bean; see Eclectic images on slip-cast, press-molded sculpture page 43.

March 1998 3 UP FRONT 12 The Senator Throws a Party by Nan Krutchkoff Dinnerware commissioned from Seattle ceramist Carol Gouthro 12 Billy Ray Hussey EditorRuth C. Butler Individual work based on traditional North Carolina folkware 12 International Competition in Switzerland Associate EditorKim Nagorski Juried exhibition at the Musee de Carouge Assistant EditorConnie Belcher 14 Todd Burns Editorial AssistantElaine Jebsen Soda-fired pots at the SOFA Gallery in Bloomington, Indiana Art Director Randy Wax 14 Made by Men by Carda Burke Production SpecialistRobin Chukes Work by 36 male artists at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon Advertising ManagerSteve Hecker 14 Debra Belcher Chako Circulation AdministratorMary R. Hopkins Small-scale chairs at the 1812 Arctic Gallery in Virginia Beach Circulation AdministratorMary E. May 16 On Their Own Publisher Mark Mecklenborg Works by artists who are not affiliated with a gallery 16 Lisa Reinertson Editorial, Advertising and Circulation Offices Figure sculpture at John Natsoulas Gallery in Davis, California 735 Ceramic Place 16 Eric Van Eimeren Post Office Box 6102 Whimsical vessels at the Holter Museum in Helena, Montana Westerville, Ohio 43086-6102 18 Don Fritz Telephone: (614) 523-1660 Raku books at Catharine Clark Gallery in San Francisco Fax: (614) 891-8960 18 Thorvald Bindesboll E-mail:[email protected] Turn-of-the-century work at the Museet PA Koldinghus in Denmark [email protected] [email protected] 18 Rural Wisconsin Ceramics [email protected] Work by isolated artists at the Bloomington Art Center in Minnesota 20 Porcelain Juried National Website: www.ceramicsmonthly.org Vessels by 19 artists at Shoestring Gallery in Rochester Ceramics Monthly (ISSN 0009-0328) is published monthly, 20 Pre-Columbian Art at the Mint Museum except July and August, by The American Ceramic Society, 735 Permanent collection on display Ceramic Place, Westerville, Ohio 43081. Periodicals postage 22 Amy Briggs by Stephen Robison paid at Westerville, Ohio, and additional mailing offices. Salt-glazed pottery at the Appalachian Center for Crafts Opinions expressed are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent those of the editors or The American 22 John A. Davis Ceramic Society. Functional ware at Geoffrey Diner Gallery in Washington, D.C. Subscription Rates: One year $26, two years $49, three years 24 David Gilhooly $70. Add $ 12 per year for subscriptions outside North America. Satirical daywork at the Solomon Dubnick Gallery in Sacramento In Canada, add GST (registration number R123994618). 24 Teapot VIII Change of Address: Please give us four weeks advance notice. Tea ware at Gallery Alexander in San Diego Send the magazine address label as well as your new address to: Ceramics Monthly, Circulation Department, PO Box 6102, 24 Midwest Clay Guild 25th Anniversary Westerville, OH 43086-6102. Three-day show and sale of members’ works Contributors: Writing and photographic guidelines are avail­ 26 David Tell, 1945-1998 able on request. Mail manuscripts and visual support (photo­ graphs, slides, transparencies, drawings, etc.) toCeramics Monthly, 26 John W. Logan, 1942-1997 735 Ceramic PL, PO Box 6102, Westerville, OH 43086-6102. We also accept unillustrated texts faxed to (614) 891-8960, or e-mailed to [email protected] DEPARTMENTS Indexing: An index of each year’s feature articles appears in 8 Letters the December issue. Feature articles are also indexed in the 30 New Books Art Index and daai (design and applied arts index), available 78 Call For Entries through public and university libraries. 78 International Exhibitions Copies and Reprints: Searchable databases and document 80 United States Exhibitions delivery are available through Information Access Company, 362 Lakeside Dr., Foster City, CA 94404; and through Univer­ 80 Regional Exhibitions sity Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106. 82 Fairs, Festivals and Sales Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal 86 Suggestions use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted 90 Calendar by The American Ceramic Society, provided the base fee of 90 Conferences $5.00 per copy, plus $0.50 per page, is paid directly to the 90 Solo Exhibitions Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 92 Group Ceramics Exhibitions 01923. Prior to copying items for classroom use, please contact 94 Ceramics in Multimedia Exhibitions the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, 96 Fairs, Festivals and Sales MA 01923; (508) 750-8400. The code for users of the Trans­ 96 Workshops actional Reporting Service is 0009-0328/97 US$5.00 + $0.50. 102 International Events Back Issues: When available, back issues are $7 each, includes 106 Questions shipping and handling; $10 each outside North America. 115 Classified Advertising Postmaster: Send address changes toCeramics Monthly, PO Box 118 Comment: 6102, Westerville, OH 43086-6102. Form 3579 requested. Copyright © 1998 Workshop Fantasies by Marilyn Chadwick The American Ceramic Society 120 Index to Advertisers All rights reserved

4 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 5

and appreciates beauty,” as Hluch states, What about the possibility of problems Letters nearly as much as it craves feeling and sub­ from minimal exposure on a regular basis? stance. One could easily argue that more There is no scientific evidence of chronic compelling than Hluch’s flower is the ab­ exposure problems. A precept of all good sence of that flower, plucked from our grasp. scientific investigation is that studies can False Art Assumptions Dan Keegan, Kansas City, Mo. prove only true, not false, assumptions. Kevin Hluch has wandered out on a very As repeated in all the articles I’ve written slippery slope in his argument for a “beauty Slap Happy about ceramic materials, knowledge of health revolution” in art (January 1998 CM). He is Lately, I had been realizing some of my hazards is paramount to safe handling. I on firmer ground when he quotes Yanagi: disenchantment with American functional believe that it is a disservice to the field to “Beauty is a kind of mystery.” Hluch would pottery is the rootlessness with which most of present unbalanced reporting of the relative have been better off leaving it at that. It is a us fumble along trying to produce something risk we actually face while making pots. At fine definition that keeps the door open for “new” or “important.” I found Kim Elling­ first, when the boy called “Wolf!” everyone artistic and viewer interpretation. Unfortu­ ton’s experience with the history in his own listened; soon, no one listened. nately, he uses a flower as an example of backyard, as well as those beautifully func­ JeffZamek, Southampton, Mass. “unexplainable beauty.” Not exactly, I sus­ tional pots that are the result, quite moving. pect, what Yanagi had in mind. A few weeks ago, I serendipitously had a Picking Up an Education Hluch also makes false assumptions about conversation with a potter in my area about I am an engineer who is also a potter. I motives behind contemporary art, artists and local clays. Ellington’s article in the February appreciate the technical articles very much commerce. He attempts to reduce contempo­ issue brought me up short, like a slap in the because I am trying to pick up a ceramics rary art to sniveling, sophomoric attempts to face. Thanks for the slap, Kim, and more education “secondhand.” I consider the be different, radical and confrontational. power to you! technical material, as well as the aesthetic Contemporary art is not just a quest for Mark Rossier, Boulder, Colo. material, very informative, well written and novelty. It is a search for meaning in our to the point. Now, if CM could just tell me lives, for unique interpretations of our exist­ Frits 146, 154 and 156 how to change careers! ence, and a search for new ways to define our General Color & Chemical Company is a Chris Moratz, Gardiner, N.Y. humanness. Can it be difficult to understand? producer of ceramic frits and colors for the As difficult as life itself. Is it always successful? ceramics industry. We normally sell our frits No Special Orders Hardly. But that is not the point. It is the in 50-pound bags, but due to the interest I was looking through some old papers journey that counts. Fortunately, young and generated by Robert Pearson’s article in the and found this note from 1979. It reminded unheralded artists are often supported by November 1997 issue of Ceramics Monthly, me just exactly why I do not do special orders those who can afford to take a leap of faith we have put together several purchase options anymore. Keep in mind that they approached and purchase works. to allow individuals to test these glazes under me because they liked my work, style, etc., in Art does sometimes turn into a great studio conditions. the first place. We had also selected the glazes investment, but over time rather than over­ We have tested the glazes listed in the and decoration from my existing palette. night. It is simplistic thinking to believe that article. Our laboratory testing has indicated “We’re basically pleased with the lamp success in contemporary art is based on that results will vary due to thickness of base, but since you are firing again this next novelty and shock value alone, or that the application, dispersion of color mixture, week, I’d appreciate reglazing in more of a system churns on quick-buck schemes and firing time and firing temperature, in that brown rather than so gray. I’d like the brown conspiracies. If it were this easy, we could all order; however, unique red colors were ob­ bands wider so there’s not so much gray be rich. tained with each combination that we tried. space in the middle. I’d like two or three The strong voices, the fresh perspectives To facilitate experimentation, we have brown tones, as in the vase I’ve left. I’d also and the visionary works of art always rise to prepared a sample package of frits, as well as really like the speckled look on the plain part the top through the filter of time. Beauty 1-pound packages of Color Mixtures 3, 4 so it isn’t so white. The finish is a bit too alone cannot provide the answers, nor sustain and 5 (already milled and dried). The frits shiny—can it be a matt glaze?” us, any more than shock value. and ultrafine silicon carbide are also available Because of that I gave up making pots for American painter Fairfield Porter put it by the pound. ten years. another way: “Art does not succeed by com­ Please direct any questions and comments Earl Brunner, Las Vegas pelling us to like it, but by making us feel directly to me. this presence in it, that someone or some­ Earl F. Breese III, Ceramic Engineer Shiho Kanzaki Appreciation thing is there.” General Color & Chemical Co., Inc. Dave Shaner once quoted Willa Cather as Porter’s paintings are beautiful by modern Post Office Box 7, Minerva, Ohio 44657 saying “the road is everything and the end is standards, yet he understood that beauty is nothing.” My road led to the Shigaraki, not the meter of success. Great art has some­ Barium Follow-up Japan, home of Shiho Kanzaki, where I was a thing powerful that we feel rather than pre­ Following the publication of my article guest for three weeks. It was a rare privilege scribe. I don’t believe the audience “craves “Is Barium Carbonate Safe?” in the Septem­ to observe and participate in his ten-day ber 1997 CM, a few people have called with anagama firing. In keeping with our commitment to providequestions, while others have publicly voiced Kanzaki’s pots are based on Shigaraki an open forum for the exchange of ideas concerns, and I would like to take this oppor­ tradition, both in firing and in spirit. Over and opinions, the editors welcome letters tunity to clear up some misconceptions. the past several centuries, a standard of from all readers. All letters must be signed, The focus of the article was on how to use beauty has developed in Japan, which the but names will be withheld on request. Mail barium carbonate safely. Citations of near- Japanese have defined as shibui and shibusa, to Ceramics Monthly, PO Box 6102, fatal cases of ingestion of barium carbonate words that denote the quintessence of beauty. Westerville, OH 43086-6102, e-mail to were given as extreme examples of intentional Kanzaki has what Yanagi described as “deep- [email protected] or fax to misuse or industrial accident—none of which seeing” eyes, and his forms reveal the fact that (614) 891-8960. should be encountered by studio potters. he is secure with these shapes. He is not

8 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 9 Letters He reiterated many times during the sonal philosophy and asked me to read it. It firing the importance of the fire: the color became clear why I had been invited to his and depth of the coals in the firebox; the home. He believes one should live life with interested in cosmetic surface decoration and color and shape of the chimney smoke; a soft purpose without greed or desire, should give lets the fire and ash complete his pots in a “weeping” sound at the firebox, and a phe­ without expectations, and that the people simple and natural way. Kanzaki’s pots are nomenon called pira-pira, the Japanese word around you are of utmost importance. I’ll be made with a spirit and soul that dictate that Kanzaki used to describe a fluttering, as thinking of Kanzaki. strong shapes, design and color. when watching the flight of a butterfly. These Bill Merrill, Port Angeles, Wash. What was evident during the firing was fleeting sinuous flames ignited in a northern- his concentration and his ability to make light fashion well above the short crown­ Dunting Solution decisions concerning what was transpiring in shaped flame coming from the chimney In reading a past issue (October 1997), I the kiln. Kanzaki stopped using a pyrometer indicated to him that the kiln was becoming noticed an interesting letter in the Questions at 800°C and relied on his experience, which hotter and more even in temperature. section. The letter was about dunting with he considers to be most important, to judge As I was sitting in Kanzaki’s studio before porcelain platters. I believe I may have an­ the heat and ash buildup on the pots. I left, he handed me a statement of his per­ other solution to the potter’s problem. Through discussions with other potters who have had this problem in the past, it appears that it can be resolved by simply bisquing hotter up to Cone 02 or even Cone 1. This applies only to platter forms and stressful shapes. Regular shapes don’t need the extra heat. The rationale seems to be something about the unstable nature of the silica or kaolin—not enough free silica con­ version, etc. The suggestion for this solution came from Craig Martel (Salem, Oregon), who got it from Jim Robinson (Ashland, Oregon), who got it from Tom Coleman (Las Vegas). Joe Brecha, Tacoma, Wash. Survey Says I just wanted to point out that in all the 1997 issues of CM, there appears to be a pretty good balance between functional, nonfunctional pottery, and ceramic sculpture based on the photos CM uses to illustrate pieces. The results of my semiscientific survey revealed about: 30% functional pots (in­ tended to be used for food, etc.), 20% non­ functional pots (pots that could function but expression is a more dominant element), 30% ceramic sculptureltileletc. (not intended to functionlhold food), and 20% historical! technicallkilns, etc. I was surprised by the number of func­ tional pieces in the pictures of CM. I thought it would be less. To really do a fair survey, one would have to define what is meant by functional, non­ functional, sculptural, technical and tighten up the methodology. But before you say functional pottery isn’t well represented, do some counting. You may be surprised. Philip Schroeder, Oak Park, 111. Clarification Regarding my January 1998 article on fuming with seashells in saggars: Please note that once the saggar is loaded with greenware and shells, it is extremely risky not to either immediately begin preheating the kiln or commence firing, particularly when using crushed shells that have been soaked in salt water. The moisture from the shells may penetrate the clay body. Kelvin Bradford, Warkworth, New Zealand

10 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 11 Up Front

The Senator Throws a Party by Nan Krutchkoff In honor of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Senator Dianne Feinstein recently hosted a dinner party, inviting all the women members of the Senate. It was to be a special event, a celebration of feminine influence and accomplishments in the political arena. How appropriate that the celebration should also reflect the feminine perspective on supporting—and appreciat­ ing—the arts. For the table, the Senator commissioned Seattle ceramist Carol Gouthro to produce 12 distinct place settings. Each set included a dinner and salad plate, a soup and a deep bowl, a cup and saucer, plus a tumbler of a similar color scheme. Feinstein selected the style, but gave Gouthro total freedom to choose the

Billy Ray Hussey’s “Figure of an Alligator,” approximately 8½ inches in height, 1995; at the Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina.

When Melvin Owens was commissioned by an antiques dealer to produce face jugs, he hired Hussey to help him. The dealer later hired Hussey to replicate Shenandoah Valley bell lions. What Hussey did not know was that the unscrupulous dealer was selling them as antiques for prices ranging from $2000 to $9000 apiece. By that point, however, he was well known as a folk potter in his own right, and his production pieces were becoming a must-have for serious folk-art collectors, such as Paul McCartney. Since 1988, Hussey has maintained his own studio, produc­ ing traditional ware in a wood-fired groundhog kiln. At the same time, he has continued to experiment with traditional forming techniques and glazes to develop new forms. International Competition in Switzerland Carol Gouthro dinner plate, 11 inches in diameter, slip- cast terra cotta with low-fire glazes and underglazes. The Musee de Carouge in Carouge, Switzerland, presented a juried exhibition of clayworks depicting three chess pieces: the design and colors. There are repeated motifs throughout each set, but with changed relationships. Each of the sets has a different dominant color. On her studio wall, Gouthro proudly displays a letter of thanks from Senator Feinstein, in which she wrote: “Every time I look at the dishes, I smile.” Billy Ray Hussey The Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, North Carolina, recently exhibited 125 clayworks made over a 20-year period by folk potter Billy Ray Hussey of Robbins, North Carolina. Although Hussey was doing chores in his cousin M. L. Owens’ pottery shop by the time he was 10, he did not throw his first pot until the age of 20. In the years that followed, Hussey worked with a number of potters, including Walter Owen, Charlie Coe, Glenn Bolick, and Walter and Dorothy Auman. Byung-Joo Suh’s interpretation of three chess pieces (knight, king and pawn), to approximately 5 inches in Submissions are welcome. We would be pleased to consider height; at the Musee de Carouge, Switzerland. press releases, artists' statements and photoslslides in con­ junction with exhibitions or other events of interest for publi­ pawn, king and a third piece of the artists choice. From 303 cation in this column. Mail toCeramics Monthly, Post Office entries, jurors selected 38, awarding the Prix de la Ville de Box 6102, Westerville, Ohio 43086-6102. Carouge to Seoul, Korea, artist Byung-Joo Suh. Continued

12 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 13 Up Front

Suh handbuilt a king, pawn and Imight from colored clays (for blue clay: 80% white clay, 8% cobalt blue stain, 12% transparent glaze; for yellow clay: 80% white clay, 6% yellow stain, 2% coral stain, 12% transparent glaze), then fired them to 1260°C (2300°F). Todd Burns Functional ceramics by Indiana potter Todd Burns were fea­ tured in a recent exhibition at the SOFA Gallery in Blooming­ ton, Indiana. His current focus is on pouring vessels: “I enjoy the challenge of incorporating the individual parts into a harmonious whole, and the opportunity to explore the figura­ tive nature of these forms as well,” he explains. Burns rarely tries to “hide the marks I make and, in fact, the techniques, or marks, are usually the impetus for making a particular piece. This is due, increasingly, to the belief that process, materials and content are inseparable. “To this end, I fire my work in either a wood or soda kiln,” he notes. “The soda or ash tends to create a glaze that is integral with the surface and is capable of producing surfaces that come

John Slavonic’s “Repository I,” 15 inches in height; from the exhibition “Made by Men” at Renshaw Gallery, Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon.

their approach toward the medium of clay.” And at least one viewer was deftly provoked—a female college student drove the tedious hour and a half from Portland for the reception, steam­ ing over what the concept of “distinctly male” meant. Unfortunately, she arrived late and missed Lou’s talk, during which he acknowledged that his intention was not to reveal and celebrate an aesthetic belonging solely to men, but rather to point out the absurdity of such a distinction and assert that “art Todd Burns pitchers, each approximately 11 inches is gender-blind and colorblind.” In addition, he wanted viewers in height, wood-fired stoneware; SOFAat Gallery, to question their own reactions to the exhibition, and ask Bloomington, Indiana. themselves why one form of exclusion rings of solidarity, sister­ hood and refuting male oppression, while another seems a form close to the appearance of wet clay. Both the forming process of discrimination. and firing work together to produce a pot that maintains the qualities of the materials from which it was made.” Debra Belcher Chako Small-scale ceramic chairs by Virginia artist Debra Belcher Made by Men Chako were featured through January 5 at the 1812 Arctic by Carda Burke Gallery in Virginia Beach. Although Chako took ceramics In November 1997, the Renshaw Gallery at Linfield College in classes when she was 16, she did not work with clay again until McMinnville, Oregon, hosted a gender-specific exhibition of nearly a decade after graduating from the University of Califor­ ceramic art. Juried by David Gilhooly, “Made by Men” featured nia, Berkeley, with a degree in architecture. work by 36 male artists from 20 states. Five years ago, she set up a studio with a wheel, a slab roller, When professor Nils Lou imparted to friends and colleagues a large worktable and two electric kilns. For the next year and a that he intended to organize the exclusively male ceramics half, Chako “could not be pried off the wheel, preferring to exhibition, they momentarily stopped in their politically correct spend my time making strictly functional pots. However, tracks. The notion of a men-only show brings with it a peculiar sometime during my fifth month of pregnancy, I lost all ability uneasiness, as if somehow the participants would be taking part to center,” she remarked, and began handbuilding her first chair in group blasphemy, breaking vague yet powerful P. C. com­ at that time. “I have been designing and building clay chairs of mandments. But, as Lou pointed out in his gallery talk, not an all sorts since—using the chair form as a basis to express differ­ eyebrow is raised, nor one political feather ruffled at entry calls ent ideas and motifs. for exclusively female exhibitions. “My small-scale chairs free me to explore the chair form So, one may ask, what exactly did this gesture of male without many of the constraints of full-size furniture,” she exclusivity intend to prove? The literature advertising the show explains. “The possibilities seem limitless.” was intentionally baiting: “This exhibition is an effort to cel­ Using red sculpture clay, Chako begins by drawing (with her ebrate the aesthetic of men, distinct from that of women, in finger) parts of the chair onto a slab, then cutting the parts out

14 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 15 Up Front featured works was “Box” by Massachusetts potter Anne Elliot. Mostly handbuilt, with occasional wheel-thrown or extruded elements added, her work is inspired by various sources—from with a knife. Before smoothing the edges, she places a piece of architecture, carpets and neolithic sculpture to Korean and sheeting over the pieces and rubs lightly to transfer an outline of Japanese ceramics. the shapes to the fabric. This outline can then be used to According to Elliot, her intent is “to create pieces that are produce another chair. visually simple in form and color, that appeal to the eye and Some parts are wrapped in plastic, while others are allowed hand, that push at the boundary of tradition, and that are to partially dry. To “weld” the joints together, Chako uses a always functional.” Lisa Reinertson Free-standing human and animal figures, as well as wall reliefs, by Lisa Reinertson were exhibited recently at John Natsoulas Gallery in Davis, California. Interested in the “mysteries em-

Debra Belcher Chako’s “Chester Windsor” and “Sea Grass Windsor,” 16 inches in height, handbuilt red sculpture clay, turquoise glaze over iron oxide, fired to Cone 6, $125 each; at the 1812 Arctic Gallery, Virginia Beach. mixture of vinegar and slip. The more complex pieces are often assembled directly on a kiln shelf. The chairs are surfaced with combinations of commercial and studio-mixed glazes, then fired to Cone 6. On some, she also inlays polymer clays into unglazed grooves, and “refires” in a kitchen oven. On Their Own “Artists on Their Own,” a juried exhibition of works by 11 artists who are not affiliated with a gallery, was on view recently at Greenwich House Pottery in New York City. Among the

Lisa Reinertson’s “Jaybird,” lifesize; at John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, California.

bodied in the primal and mundane human experience,” Reinertson hopes to develop “a poetic relationship between the human and animal figure—poetry of form, composition and color, and poetry of image and meaning. “I strive to capture something of what I see in the character of the person,” she says of her figures. Eric Van Eimeren Whimsical vessels by Montana artist Eric Van Eimeren (see the October 1996 issue of CM) were featured last fall at the Holter Museum of Art Artworks Gallery in Helena, Montana. Com­ Anne Elliot’s “Box,” 4 inches in height, stoneware; bining clay, industrial hardware and found materials, Van at Greenwich House Pottery, New York City. Eimeren tries to “make work that is not only fim to see and use

16 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 17 Up Front along with their images of generic children. He uses this fascina­ tion to create daywork that not only pays homage to a lost idealized youth but illustrates our cultural-specific visual imag­ ery reflected back to us from another culture. Thorvald Bindesboll Ceramic vessels, as well as works in other media, by Danish designer Thorvald Bindesboll (1846-1908), were exhibited recently at Museet PA Koldinghus in Kolding, Denmark.

Eric Van Eimeren’s “Screw Bowl,” 6 inches in height, whiteware with steel screws; at Holter Museum of Art, Helena, Montana. but also creates a dialogue between human construction and the natural world. “Many of the pieces I make tend to be tongue in cheek,’ whimsical renderings of common utilitarian objects,” he contin­ ued. “Mechanical and biotic elements intermingle, resulting in a functional piece that looks like an oil can one moment and a creature out of a life-science book the next moment.” Don Fritz “Cherry Pie,” an exhibition of raku-fired ceramic books by Thorvald Bindesboll vase, approximately 12 inches California artist Don Fritz, was on view recently at Catharine in height, black and brown glazes, with sprayed Clark Gallery in San Francisco. Influenced by a recent trip to blue and white “waves,” 1906; at Museet PA Japan, Fritz used both Japanese typography and American Koldinghus, Kolding, Denmark. popular iconography from the 1950s that can be found in modern-day Japanese culture to illustrate the books’ surfaces. Recognized as one of the leading forces in the new design Having grown up during the 1950s, Fritz is fascinated with movement at the turn of the last century, Bindesboll set new American artifacts of the period: books, toys and cartoons, standards for the Danish applied arts. Rural Wisconsin Ceramics Ceramics by five rural Wisconsin artists were featured in the exhibition “Fire in the Woods” at the Bloomington Art Center in Minnesota. Working in relative isolation in the woods of

Martye Allen’s “Bear Teapot,” 8 inches in height, Don Fritz’s “New World,” 10 inches in height, raku fired; porcelain with sgraffito decoration; at the at Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, California. Bloomington (Minnesota) Art Center.

18 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 19 Up Front (Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina), and a miniature vase by Peggy Thieneman Leake (Louisville, Kentucky). When producing his teapots, Long is mindful of two stages northwest Wisconsin, the artists—Martye Allen, Andy Mack, in the process: “the softness of the wet clay and the subtle marks Marty Pearson, Amy Rusch and Shane Upthegrove—felt a need left by fire. Pressure from within the form and marks left on the for some contact with peers for feedback and support, and wet surface of the clay vessel are very important to me,” he began meeting once a month for a potluck and critique. The exhibition highlighted the work that has evolved from these monthly meetings. Porcelain Juried National Shoestring Gallery in Rochester, New York, recently presented porcelain vessels by 19 artists from throughout the United States. Among the works featured in this juried exhibition were teapots by Robert Long (Starkville, Mississippi) and Susan Filley

Susan Filley’s “Feather in My Hat,” 9 inches in height, wheel-thrown porcelain, reduction fired in a gas kiln, $225.

commented. “Yet these marks alone only convey half of a vessels story; the other half of the tale is written by fire. I am always searching for ways during the firing of the vessel to further the illusion of life and to suggest a pureness and beauty.” Pre-Columbian Art at the Mint Museum “Arts of Ancient America,” a permanent collection of pre- Columbian art, opened last fall at the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, North Carolina. The first phase of a two-year rein-

Peggy Thieneman Leake’s “Genesis I,” 3 inches in height, wheel-thrown porcelain with layered glazes, $95; at Shoestring Gallery, Rochester, New York.

Robert Long teapot, 10 inches in height, thrown and altered, Kero, approximately 7½ inches in height, Peru-Bolivia, A.D. with Shino glaze, fired to Cone 10 in heavy reduction, $360. 500; at the Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina.

20 CERAMICS MONTHLY

Up Front evolution of bottles and storage jars that can be found through­ out Africa, Asia and the Americas. Briggs’ larger storage jars were built in molds. Thrown with stallation, it is intended to help transform the museums focus to open tops and bottoms, the molds were bisqued, then slabs, the arts of the Americas. coils or puzzle pieces of clay were layered in the interiors. Once Made possible by a $1.25 million grant from the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund s Museum Collections Accessibil­ ity Initiative, the reinstallation in the Storrs and Dowd galleries provides double the previous exhibition space and enables the museum to present a comprehensive history of ancient America, with a geographic and chronological focus. “The cultural achievements of ancient American peoples are undeniably spectacular,” notes E. Michael Whittington, curator of pre-Columbian and African art, “rivaling that of ancient Egypt in building cosmopolitan cities, developing written languages, astronomy and mathematics, and in creating an astonishing range of art from complex textile weaves to ceram­ ics, mural paintings and monumental sculpture.” Amy Briggs by Stephen Robison Wood-fired pots by Amy Briggs, Cookeville, Tennessee, were featured recently at the Appalachian Center for Crafts in Smithville, Tennessee. Having grown up in the area, Briggs has Cups, 4 inches in height, wood fired, by Amy Briggs, Cookeville, Tennessee.

this was completed, the piece was placed on the wheel, and a top, lip or neck was thrown directly onto the work. John A. Davis Functional ware by Washington, D.C., potter John A. Davis was exhibited through December 31,1997, at Geoffrey Diner Gallery in Washington, D.C. Influenced by Early American folk

Amy Briggs storage jar, 17 inches in height, wood fired; at the Appalachian Center for Crafts, Smithville, Tennessee. a strong connection to the work of the region; her attraction to the subtleties of fly ash, flashing and the qualities achieved by wood and salt firing are the focus of her latest work. John A. Davis container, 10 inches in height, wheel-thrown Her pottery is influenced by contemporary as well as histori­ stoneware, with dolomite glaze over temmoku; at Geoffrey cal ceramics; all of the work in the show was a continuation or Diner Gallery, Washington, D.C.

22 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 23 Up Front pottery as well as American art pottery, Davis produces prima­ rily wheel-thrown stoneware, often accented with animal or floral relief images or handles. David Gilhooly Sixteen ceramic pieces by California artist David Gilhooly were presented in the exhibition “The Very Last, Final, I’ll Never Touch it Again Ceramics Show” at Solomon Dubnick Gallery

Jean Hashitate miniature teapots, to approximately 4 inches in height, wheel-thrown, crystalline-glazed porcelain; at Gallery Alexander, La Jolla, California.

was to make a fun and functional container. However, I became more interested in the endless possibilities of shape and design.” Each piece is thrown and bisque fired, then glazed inside and out, using crystalline glazes “because of the variations you can get with each piece and every firing.” The work is fired to Cone 9-10, then the temperature is dropped 300°F and maintained for another three hours. Midwest Clay Guild 25th Anniversary To celebrate its 25 th anniversary, the Midwest Clay Guild in Evanston, Illinois, held a three-day show and sale of members’

David Gilhooly’s “L’fils de Loam (Chief Spud Seattle),” 18 inches in height; at Solomon Dubnick Gallery in Sacramento, California. in Sacramento, California. As the title indicates, Gilhooly is reportedly giving up ceramics again to concentrate on work in other media. Since the 1960s, his satirical daywork has featured an alternative world populated by frogs and other assorted crea­ tures, plus a virtual grocery store of food items. Teapot VIII Teapots, sugar bowls and creamers, teacups and mugs, spoon Eric Doctors’ “Dreaming of Granada,” 22 inches in height, rests, etc., were exhibited in “Teapot VUI” at Gallery Alexander slab built, carved, fired to Cone 6 in oxidation, $1500. in La Jolla, California. Among the works shown were miniatures by San Diego artist Jean Hashitate. works; a portion of the proceeds was donated to the Hospice of Born and raised in Japan, Hashitate immigrated to the the North Shore, which helps care for the terminally ill and United States 20 years ago and took her first ceramics class in their families. 1989. “The miniature teapots started when I was trying to Each of the current 12 members has his or her own make a soy-sauce container,” she explained. “Originally, my goal workspace, in addition to shared studio equipment, including a

24 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 25 Up Front at Alfred University. In 1969, he joined the faculty at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton; five years later, he accepted the position at Illinois State. “He was an artist who would constantly and sometimes irreverently question the dogma of the day,” noted colleague Anne Shatas (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). “He refused to be categorized, David Tell and was an innovative instructor who took an

Gale Rattner’s “Forest Fantasy,” 5 inches in height, unorthodox but effective approach to teaching. His premature handbuilt porcelain, with matt green and green texture departure has robbed us of his wonderful and insightful per­ glazes, multifired in oxidation from Cone 9 to Cone 1, $300. sonal perspective.” John W. Logan, 1942-1997 John W. Logan, potter and owner of Texas Pottery Supply and Clay Company in Ft. Worth, died December 18, 1997. Logan took his first ceramics class in the early 1970s at Weatherford Junior College. He later received a bachelor of fine arts degree from Texas Christian University. A teacher for many years before losing an arm in a pug-mill accident, Logan continued to produce wheel-thrown daywork, and actively supported ceramics activities throughout the Dallas/Ft. Worth area (he had been elected president of the Texas Pottery and Sculpture Guild for 1998).

Fern Pritikin’s “Urn,” 15 inches in height, sprayed copper matt glaze with chrome brushwork, raku fired to 1850°F, $450; at Midwest Clay Guild, Evanston, Illinois. 40-cubic-foot gas kiln, 4 electric kilns and glazing facilities. Members also share responsibilities, such as paying the rent, scrubbing the floors and ordering supplies. For the annual sale, each member transformed his or her worlcspace into a mini gallery. David Tell, 1945-1998 Artistleducator David Tell, professor of art at Illinois State University in Bloomington, Illinois, died January 9, 1998. Tell earned a bachelors degree at Edinboro State College in Pennsyl­ vania, then a master’s at the New York State College of Ceramics John W. Logan

26 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 27

teach at Dartington Hall, an estate owned by New Books Dorothy and Leonard Elmhirst. To research “suitable prototypes of domestic ware” to be made at Dartington, he went back to Japan Bernard Leach for a year. On returning to England in 1935, by Edmund de Waal Leach did not go back to St. Ives, where his “Bernard Leach was the pre-eminent art­ son David was running the pottery efficiently; ist potter of this century. In both the West instead, he moved to Dartington to write A and in Japan, his influence on the construc­ Potter's Book. “Intended as both a technical tion and growth of a guide and an aesthetic one..., the shape of the studio pottery move­ book is due in great measure to [editor Henry] ment has been pro­ Bergen’s fierce interventions,” de Waal main­ found,” states the tains. “Leach was told to keep his ideas on author of this critical social reform back, to cut autobiographical look at Leach’s life and reflection, to avoid rhetorical sweeps, ‘cackle work. “He was deeply and prancing.’” involved in shaping World War II “acted as a catalyst for the canon ofhistorical Leach’s attitudes to making pots,” according pottery on which to de Waal, and a structured process of much of current pot­ teaching, of training and using students, was tery still draws....Much of his passionate put in place at St. Ives. Leach would draw advocacy... centered on the idea of‘appropri­ forms on cards, with measurements attached, ateness’: on the idea of a kind of propriety thatand hand them out to the workers. As a can be found in the choice of the materials teacher of potters, his influence increased, that make up a pot, and in the conduct of theand “for the first time, it became possible to potter himself” talk of a ‘Leach style,”’ says de Waal. Bom and raised (until age 10) in the Far The large jars of this time have become East, Leach studied drawing at art school in known “as his most characteristic work.... But England. In 1909, at the age of 22, he went their success is due in great part to the quality to Japan to teach etching, intending to estab­and facility of the throwing: William Marshall lish himself as a painter. Instead, he became often threw the pot to Leach’s designs, leav­ interested in pottery, and began studying ing only the neck to be finished by Leach,” with Kenzan VI in 1912. A year later, explains de Waal. “There are ironies implicit Kenzan VI built Leach a small kiln and gave in the fact that some of Leach’s most memo­ him sealed proof of accession to the name ofrable works were not actually made by him: Kenzan. the paradoxes of their ‘authorship’ have been “This meant that Leach could, and fre­ consistently overlooked.” quently thereafter did, use the title Kenzan As writing about pottery became increas­ VII. Given Leach’s status as a Western artist ingly significant to Leach, he turned over the and Kenzan’s as a paid teacher, the signifi­ management of the pottery to his third wife, cance of the transference of this title after onlyJanet (Darnell) Leach, who he had married in a year, to someone who could barely speak 1954. “Alongside extended periods of travel­ Japanese let alone fully comprehend or liter­ ing and exhibiting in America, Japan and ally read the allusions implicit in the traditionAustralia, he was to publish a series of diverse arouses curiosity,” de Waal notes. “It has, and popular boolcs. Amongst these were his however, been an unremarked constant in Japanese travelog A Potter in Japan; his book descriptions of Leach’s mythic ‘grounding’ inon Kenzan; his compilation of writings by Japanese ceramics.” Soetsu Yanagi, The Unknown Crajtsman; a After 12 years in Japan, Leach returned tobook on Hamada; a photographic essay of England with Shoji Hamada to establish a ‘inspiring pots,’ A Potter s Challenge; as well as pottery on property near St. Ives. Because of the miscellany of memoirs and poetry Beyond ongoing technical problems, Leach could notEast and West....In much of these later writ­ make much work, and “his few successful ings, autobiography cedes into philosophical pots, and some cracked ones that were mendedrumination. His own life story and pottery- in the Japanese manner with an imitation making itself meld together seamlessly. gold lacquer, were expensive. Leach’s move­ When he died in 1979 at the age of 92, ment, therefore, towards making a more “tributes from potters of diverse backgrounds extensive range of pottery began as a matter were revealing. Leach was the key factor in of expediency.... [His] acceptance of the ne­ many of them becoming potters: his status as cessity to make functional ware was not a the progenitor of the movement was clear.” chosen course.” 80 pages, including select bibliography and With his pottery on the verge of financial index. 40 color and 20 black-and-white pho­ ruin, Leach agreed to initiate a program and tographs; 6 sketches. £8.99 (approximately

30 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 31 New Books fore encouraging them to bargain, you derail must know your strengths so you can build the value of your work in your own eyes as on them, your weaknesses so you can shore well as anyone happening to be looking on... them.A up,” states the author of this revised and better option is to have pieces with slight updated guide (first published in 1984) to US$ 14), softcover. Tate Publishing, Millbank, faults on hand at discounted prices.” setting up, managing and marketing a home- London SW1P 4RG, ENGLAND. The following chapters help calculate the based business. After a brief overview of the minimum price to ask, as well as the price to work-at-home indus­ The Basic Guide to Pricing ask for one-of-a-kind pieces, plus describe try, and a look at Your Craftwork hidden costs that cut profits. Record keep­ myths, scams and by James Dillehay ing—when to start, hiring an accountant, unprofitable ideas, Intended to “help you arrive at a worldng etc.—is also discussed, as is creating financialBrabec talks about as­ knowledge of at least two things: the actual reports. “Financial reports will tell you your sessing your situation, cost of your craftwork and the selling price break-even point,” the author states. “They then deciding which you ask for it,” this guide looks first at basic will give you a clear picture of your business’ type of business will pricing, including the value of work, increas­ financial health.” work. She includes ing perceived value, accenting benefits over The final chapters cover cost-cutting mea­such suggestions as features, packaging sures, getting more profit from your time andfind a need and fill it, do what you love, build and promotional ma­ workspace, and the tax advantages derived on what you know and do best. Here, as terial, etc., then covers from a craft business. 160 pages, including throughout the book, she includes examples various pricing strate­ appendixes on record-keeping forms and leadfrom other home-based business owners and gies, such as position­ SBDC offices, and index. Softcover, $12.95, some tips of her own in the margins. ing, seasonal pricing plus $3.50 shipping. Warm Snow Publishers, Positioning yourself for success—setting and bargaining. Post Office Box 75, Torreon, New Mexico up a workplace, selecting a business name, “New exhibitors 87061; (800) 235-6570. designing printed materials—are discussed might think it better next. “Many beginners in business fail to to sell pieces at a dis­ Homemade Money grasp the direct relationship between good count when the show by Barbara Brabec printing and more sales,” Brabec remarks. is ending just to move more items,” notes “Before you launch a business at home, “Some will try to get by for a while with Dillehay. “The problem is once you start you need a clear understanding of yourself, typewritten copy and hand-drawn illustra­ agreeing to bargain with customers, and there­your capabilities and your limitations. You tions when, for just a few dollars more, they

32 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 33 New Books Diversifying your business through writ­ Beginning with a look at developing ing, conducting workshops, mail-order mar­ skills—through workshops, art tours, books keting, toll-free telephone numbers, etc., is and videocassettes—as well as setting up a could have professionally printed materi­ also addressed. The final chapter focuses on studio, the book then covers exhibiting, with als.... When it comes to a choice between maintaining control, with sections about tips on where to show, shipping, obtaining price and quality, only you can decide what’s worldng around your children, coping with gallery representation and marketing. essential for your business. Just remember stress, etc. 400 pages, including U.S. and Next, selling artwork—through a con­ that your customer is likely to j udge you, yourCanadian resource directory, and index. sultant, mail orders, dealing with frustration, product and your service on the quality of Soficover, $21.99, plus $3.50 shipping and etc.—are discussed. Descriptions of various your printed materials.” handling. Bettenuay Books, 1507 Dana Ave­ types of artists’ groups, such as co-ops and Business planning, developing a market­ nue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45207; telephone (800) membership organizations, follow. “In addi­ ing strategy and pricing for profit are consid­289-0963. tion to the specific services to the field, an ered in the following chapters, as is scouting important element that these [membership for business (retail/wholesale, advertising, How to Start and Succeed as an Artist organizations] provide is advocacy,” explains mailing lists, etc.) and publicity, including by Daniel Grant Grant. “Power in our society exists in num­ creating a press release and writing promo­ “Artists are people who have defined them­bers, and organizations that can draw upon a tional articles. “Regardless of the publicity selves as such; those who believe in their own sizable constituency may help to overturn method you use, remember that editors and artwork have as much right to call themselves laws that adversely affect artists, or apply program directors are not interested in giving artists as the most celebrated figures whose pressure on legislators and agencies to create you free advertising. What they want is news worlds are displayed in new regulations and statutes that protect or or information that will inform, benefit or at galleries and muse­ assist them.” least entertain their readers and listeners.” ums,” states the au­ The final chapters address sources of in­ In the middle of the book, Brabec has thor of this revised spiration, and overcoming mental blocks and included a “book-within-a-book,” enabling guide (geared toward other obstacles. 239 pages, including listings readers to “find answers to questions or busi­ painters). “Art’s great­ of art instructional videocassettes, mail-order ness problems quicldy, as they arise.” Titled est strength is that it is art-supply companies, and artists who make “An A-to-Z ‘Crash Course’ in Business Ba­ not the sole domain of art supplies for other artists; and index. $18.95, sics,” it includes listings on such categories as specialists and techni­ softcover. Allworth Press, 10 East 23rd Street, accountants, Canadian orders, copyrights, cians, that it follows Suite 400, New York, New York 10010; tele­ labor laws, retirement plans, zoning laws, etc. no laws or doctrines.” phone (800) 491-2808.

34 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 35

Form and Energy The Work of Toshiko Takaezu by Tony Dubis Merino

TToshiko Takaezus wheel-thrown stone­ ware forms are touchstones of contem­ plation. They transport the viewer out of the world of bills, deadlines and so­ cial mores, and establish a kind of pri­ mal calm. Each piece included in her retrospective at the American Craft Mu­ seum in New York City resonated with an organic individuality. Takaezus works are so completely natural looking that they seem almost to have been forged by the powers of nature, instead of the artist’s hands. There are two basic elements in nature: objects and energy. Objects are plants, animals, stones and rivers. Energy is in the force of wind, the fall of rain or the Teapot, 8¾ inches in height, glazed stoneware, 1954. warmth of the sun. This natural di­ chotomy is paralleled in the way in which Takaezu deals with the form and the surfaces of her pieces. The forms are in the shapes of natu­ ral objects. Globes, ellipses, cylinders and pegs allude to stones, shells, eggs and figures. While feigning symmetry, these forms generate their representa­ tional content through slight imperfec­ tions. They are littered with slight bumps, gullies and undulations. Takaezus use of a slight twist or tilt to allude to a human body is reminis­ cent of the graceful figures of modernist sculptor Henry Moore. Her work is not a conservative extension of the mini­ malist tradition, however. Takaezus brilliance is her ability to represent the energies of nature in the surfaces of her work. Rarely are these energies manifested by an object. Most people tend to see only the object itself, not the forces that formed it. The shiny surface of a stream-polished rock is im­ mediate. The viewer is far less aware of the eons of flowing water that produced this surface. Beyond that, energy is difficult to “Green Rain,” depict in art. While the artist can ex­ 25 inches in height, wheel- actly mimic a natural objects form, the thrown stoneware most he or she can physically do is with poured allude to the energy that made the form. glazes,1985.

March 1998 37 Takaezus surfaces make this allusion with breathtaking clarity. There are an infinite number of forces in the natural world, ranging in inten­ sity from the imperceivable erosion of a rock by a slow-moving stream, to the violent blast of an erupting volcano. An untitled work from 1994-97, a huge form in which opaque scabs of black and graphite float on seas of greens, oranges and lavenders, generates a simi­ lar set of associations. The opaque dark colors seem to skid over the brighter hues under them, like cool scabs of rock floating on sheets of lava. Included in the exhibition were pieces whose forms allude to growth and whose surfaces explode in color, like an act of creation. These pieces are far more than simply naturalistic. They represent not only the objects that fill our world, but the energy that created them. ▲

“Oil of the Earth,” 61 inches in height, glazed stoneware, 1994.

Untitled, approximately 66 inches in height, glazed stoneware, 1994-97, by Toshiko Takaezu, Quakertown, New Jersey.

38 CERAMICS MONTHLY George Wright Oregon Potters’ Friend and Inventor Extraordinaire by Janet Buskirk

George Wright operating his 100-year-old pug mill.

George Wright has been involved with known potter; however, George “never In the 1960s, George bought 30 acres clay in Oregon since 1945. Over the quite got the hang of making pots.” in Manning, Oregon. Although he did years, his knowledge and skills have had At that time, the clay sold to studio not build his own house there until a significant impact on studio pottery potters in Oregon came from outside about 1975, a few potters settled on the in the region. In tribute to his contribu­ the state. Dave noticed Georges old property. Jim Sloss was one of the first. tions, the Oregon Potters Association pug mill and suggested that they pro­ He had been a student at Pacific Uni­ recently recognized him as “Inventor duce pottery clay. Georges initial re­ versity and had worked in George s stu­ Extraordinaire; Helper to All; Teacher sponse was, “I don’t know about clay; dio. Jim and George had spent many First Class; Friend Above and Beyond all I know about is bricks.” hours together bricking up the door of the Call of Duty.” By the late 1950s, small brickyards Georges kiln. While they worked, they George s association with clay began that produced drain tile, flowerpots and would talk, and these talks taught Jim a when he came home from World War various other earthenware items were lot about clay. II and, with a friend, bought a brick­ having a difficult time competing with When Jim moved to the property in yard in Molalla, Oregon. They had no the plastic products entering the mar­ Manning, he lived in a trailer George brickmaking experience, but the ketplace. With Daves prodding, George had built as a portable pottery studio brickyard s previous owner agreed to stay retooled and soon was making clay for (an idea that did not work out). While for a year and teach them how to run it. most of the schools in the area, as well living there, Jim did all his firings in a They produced flowerpots and bricks as for local potters. wood kiln that George designed, and from 1945 until the mid 1950s, when George then bought an electric kiln continued to sporadically fire his work George left Molalla and moved to For­ and built a gas kiln. Within a short in Georges kilns until 1977, when est Grove, Oregon, to run another brick­ time, the facility was full of pottery stu­ George decided it was time for Jim to yard. While there, George and his wife dents (including Pacific University “leave the nest.” At the time, Jim was Pearl took a pottery class with Dave classes), and many other potters began devastated, but he now credits George Frank. Pearl went on to become a well- to work there. with forcing him to take his work seri-

March 1998 39 ously, set up his own studio and be­ blunged in a 50-gallon drum, come a full-time potter. screened wet, then pumped to the When George moved to Man­ dry ingredients. Using local clay cut ning, he continued making clay; built costs, but processing it was time con­ various kilns, small homes and stu­ suming; the clay that George cur­ dios to rent to potters; and, with rently makes contains no local clay. Pearl, opened the Pearl Wright Gal­ One of the things that George lery, which featured pots made by has always been proud of is that he the people who lived on the prop­ charges 15<£ per pound for his clay. erty, as well as worlcs by other local Whether a person buys a bag or a potters. When the gallery opened, ton, everyone pays the same price. there was only one other in the area At 79, George still uses the old that sold quality pottery. By the time pug mill, making several tons of clay the Pearl Wright Gallery closed in per week for local potters and schools. 1983 (running it had become too His pug mill, from the old brick­ time consuming), several other area yard, was built in the late 1800s. It craft galleries had been established. was originally run by a belt turned The clay body that George origi­ by a tractor engine, but the tractors nally made in Manning was 75% magneto wore out. Now he turns commercial ingredients (see page 42) the belt on the bare rim of the back and 25% local clay, which was wheel of an old pickup truck.

Building the Korean wood-fired kiln

Covering the finished kiln with earth for insulation.

40 CERAMICS MONTHLY Over the years, about 25 potters have stained-glass artist, a weaver and a In the late 1960s, George took a job lived on Georges property. In addition painter or two. Several of these people with the Tektronix (an oscilloscope and to Dave Frank and Jim Sloss, the list started families or were married while computer company) ceramics depart­ includes Bill Creitz, Barbara and Dale living there. All of them helped build ment. He described this job as the easi­ Rawls, Andy and Pat Balmer, Ed and and used a large variety of kilns and est thing he had ever done; “you just Diane Swick. George has also provided other equipment while they lived and/ walked around all day turning up space for a woodworker, a glassblower, a or worked on the property. switches.” He worked there full time for a few years, then spent several years trying to quit, each successive year be­ ing asked to stay just one more year. About 1984, George sold the clay business and announced to everyone that he had retired. Within a short time, though, he began to experiment with a high-grog, high-nylon-fiber clay that he thought could be useful to sculptors. By 1985, he was making small quanti­ ties and inviting local potters to try it out. Judy Teufel brought me and a few friends along one day. We made pots, glazed them immediately, fired them to Cone 10 in four hours, cooled them in two hours, and unloaded them six hours after we had made them. Amazingly, only one piece cracked; the rest came out whole. That new clay was tough. Word got around, and soon George was back in the clay business. A few weeks later, when cutting off a chunk of this clay, Portland potter Gail Pendergrass looked at the nylon fibers that stuck to her wire, and asked, “What is this, dog hair?” George, a teetotaler, named the clay “Hair of the Dog.” Soon he had orders for many tons. Most people use it for large sculptural pieces, but Joel Cottet, a potter in Hillsboro, has used Hair of the Dog to make hot tubs, as well as tables and chairs. George is also known throughout the Northwest for his interesting and innovative kiln designs, many of which incorporate inexpensive, simple materi­ als, and he has always been willing to share his plans with others. At least 25 area potters and several schools use his salt and raku kilns, as well as his various wood-fired kilns. Currently, there are three propane kilns; one high-temperature, propane- fueled salt kiln; one low-temperature salt kiln; two high-fired wood-fueled A “cathedral arch” kiln using notched mullite kiln shelves to form the peaked roof;kilns; one lower-temperature wood-fu­ to keep construction costs to a minimum, the firebrick is backed by cinder blocks eled Korean tunnel kiln; numerous elec­ filled with fiber-glass insulation. tric kilns; an above-ground brick “pit”

March 1998 41 kiln; and a raku kiln on his property. All are fired regularly. One of the things that amazes people is Georges willingness to lend a hand. At the Oregon Potters’ Association trib­ ute to George, we heard many stories of times when he had helped with difficult projects; e.g., laying out the floor of one kiln, putting together a burner system for another. Dale Rawls described the time he had blown up a propane kiln. While Dale was in his house calming down, George unstacked the kiln, resprung the arch, restacked the kiln, then came inside to tell Dale he could fire anytime. A few years after that incident, Jeanne Charles, Tony Hackenbruck and I George Wright demonstrating the construction of a small cathedral arch kiln; started building our kiln. We were al­ total cost for materials, including a propane burner, is around $800. ways busy and were taking years to finish it. One day, George drove up with a truckload of lumber and said that he stead of using bricks, he cuts notches in noticed we didn’t have a kiln shed, so he mullite kiln shelves, then leans them was here to build one. against each other to form a peaked Recipes When the National Council on Edu­ roof, and covers it with a few inches of cation for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) fiber insulation. Every few hundred Original Throwing Body conference was held in Portland in 1987, firings, the mullite shelves will sag and (Cone 10) a group of Koreans came to Oregon to should be turned over. Doing this takes Custer Feldspar...... 50 lb. build a traditional Korean wood-fired two people about half an hour. Kentucky Ball kiln to be fired in conjunction with the He recently designed a small gas kiln Clay (OM 4)...... 200 conference. Frank Irby, the Portland li­ with which to demonstrate his kiln- Local Clay*...... 375 aison for NCECA, called George and building techniques. It uses cost-effec- Mason’s Blend Fireclay...... 700 asked if the kiln could be built on his tive and time-saving materials, including Silica Sand (70 mesh)...... 100 property. George agreed. Partway the cinder-block outer walls and the 1425 lb. through the kilnbuilding, it became clear kiln-shelf arch. He can take the kiln *High in iron and bauxite. that the sponsoring foundation was run­ apart and completely rebuild it in a ning low on money, so George called mere three hours. The cost for all of the Hair of the Dog Sculpture Clay his old friends at refractory companies, materials, including the propane burner (Cone 10) found some discounted supplies, then system, is around $800. Custer Feldspar...... 50.0lb. paid for them himself George’s con­ In the Northwest, you cannot enter Bentonite...... 10.0 nections and his generosity made it pos­ a gallery displaying daywork without Kentucky Ball sible to finish construction, and the kiln seeing work made from George’s clay, Clay(OM4)...... 200.0 is still fired regularly by local potters. fired in one of his kilns and/or fired in a Lincoln 60 Fireclay ...... 500.0 George’s kilns are designed to make kiln of his design. In fact, his influence Silica Sand (70 mesh)...... 200.0 the best use of whatever materials are is felt throughout the country, since so A. E Green available. One of his interesting, cost- many people have built the kilns he Grog (20 mesh)...... 300.0 effective methods of building kiln walls designed (for which others are often Nylon Fiber...... 0.5 is to back an inside layer (4½-inch- given credit). With his willingness to 1260.51b. thick) of K-23 insulating bricks with a share his time and expertise, George is A very tough, open clay body, which layer of cinder blocks filled with fiber­ everyone’s “friend above and beyond the is useful for large, heavy or thick glass insulation. The cinder blocks with call of duty.” sculptural work. To prevent lumps fiber glass cost only a dollar or two of nylon, separate the fiber with wool each, compared to at least $10 for The author Janet Buskirk is a studio carders as it is added to the batch. enough bricks to cover the same area. potter in Portland, Oregon. She credits The fiber will clog screens in de­ Most of his recent kiln designs have most of what she knows about kilns to airing pug mills. used his “cathedral arch” design. In­ George Wright.

42 CERAMICS MONTHLY Untitled teapot, 7 inches in height, pit-fired earthenware, with glaze, acrylics, white gold leaf and epoxy. Bennett Bean Playing by His Rules by Karen S. Chambers

“At the beginning of the Renaissance, minum. They lost their spot, so ceram­ complex as he plays the organic effects painting was not art,” muses New Jer­ ics became available for art. Now, the of pit firing against areas of translucent sey artist Bennett Bean, as he talks about mistake that most people make is that glaze, bright acrylic paint and luminous his 30-plus-year career as a potter, they think the content of ceramics gilding. He no longer makes utilitarian painter, sculptor, designer, furniture- should be the same as art; it should be pots, but instead constructs dynamic maker, teacher. “Painters were hired by art in clay. But there are characteristics tableaux of sliced-open, wheel-thrown the Church to paint paintings that were in ceramics that are totally of that uni­ forms with slab additions. used as teaching devices to bring the verse. The basic one is the vessel.” Bean has arrived at this point through word of God to the unlettered. They For Bean, the “real distinction be­ a career-long search that began as a stu­ were put out of business, lost their socio­ tween art and not-art is content, not dent at the State University of Iowa. “I economic niche, with the arrival of the material, not style.” He explains that was a standard undergraduate art ma­ printing press. Then the activity be­ the subject of his ceramic work, “the jor, trying to make up my mind be­ came available as art.” same way a painting has a subject, comes tween painting and ceramics. The Bean was holding forth in the living from the traditional vessel. I’m not mak­ painting faculty were so self-obsessed room of the 18th-century farmhouse ing pieces about use, volume, tactility, that they were unable to communicate he has shared for 27 years with his wife, narrative. My pieces, since about 1980, at all. The faculty of the ceramics de­ Cathy Bao, a former professor of phi­ are specifically about decorated surfaces partment and the students were at least losophy: “Essentially, the same thing outside and space inside.” grounded in the world. Also, I was se­ happened with ceramics. Potters were But Beans work is hardly simple. duced by the technique; throwing is put out of business by plastics, tin, alu- The decoration has become increasingly absolutely seductive.”

March 1998 43 to throwing pots, picking up where he left off in graduate school, “making Bizen-influenced Japanese pots. Since then, it has been a slow evolution to the work that I’m doing now. It was very much a step at a time.” The house was within commuting distance to Staten Island, where he con­ tinued to teach until 1978, although his tenure was a stormy one. The ad­ ministration fired Bean three times, but he was reinstated each time. The final time, he was given what he refers to as a “terminal sabbatical,” during which he realized that he could make more money and have a better time as a full-time practicing artist. It was on the occasion of the second firing attempt in 1974 that, as Bean tells the story, “I thought I would have to make a living. The economy had gone in the hole and I had never thought of the economy collapsing before. I had just never considered the economy.” When he was growing up in Iowa City, where his father was the head of the department of internal medicine at the Untitled (“Footed Vessel Series”), 17 inches in height, state university, “checks came 12 times glazed earthenware, pit fired, with acrylics on the exterior a year no matter what the economy was and gold leaf applied to the interior. doing, so I thought, ‘Oh my God, a depression is coming and I’ve got to make something that is completely de- Although Bean took 13 semesters of and six months later sold a piece to the pression-proof.’ The only thing I could drawing during his academic career, he Whitney Museum of American Art. Af­ think of was death; hence the ‘Burial majored in ceramics, earning a B.A. de­ ter his work was included in the presti­ Urn series,” an exploration of Chinese gree in 1963. He began his graduate gious Whitney Biennial in 1968, he celadons and Song-dynasty forms. work at the University of Washington, was picked up by a major commercial This interest in Oriental ceramics, where Fred Bauer and Patti Warashina gallery specializing in contemporary fine still pervasive in Western ceramics com­ were fellow students, but left after one art. But this immediate success “was munities at the time, led to a 1975 semester to study with Paul Soldner at quite a shock to my system. It seemed series of flameware sake warmers. With Claremont College in Southern Cali­ to me that you were supposed to labor these, Bean realized that a work was not fornia, receiving an M.F.A. in 1966. in the vineyards of anonymity for years necessarily finished when it came out of Then, as part of the last generation of and slowly be recognized. Well, I showed the kiln. “I was doing flameware and I graduate students to be assured a teach­ up in New York, read a book, and liter­ was doing lusters, because the flameware ing post, Bean was hired by Wagner ally was seized upon by the establish­ didn’t have enough visual strength. It College on Staten Island to teach ce­ ment,” Bean recounts. “I looked at this was matt and brown; it was like ‘let’s get ramics, as well as a variety of other craft with a somewhat jaundiced view. By a little more oomph out of this deal.’” and design courses, and sculpture. ’70 I had had enough of that universe, In the spirit of experimentation and He found himself in the middle of thought that the clay subculture was curiosity that characterizes his career, he the fine-art world. “It seemed impos­ filled with much nicer people and that I wondered what would happen if he “just sible to do ceramics there, so I thought would return to that world.” painted the lusters on and fired them what do people do in New York? Well, That was the year Bean found a co­ with a torch. I went outside where I they do art, so I started making art.” lonial farmhouse near the Delaware wouldn’t die from luster fumes and Bean began making acrylic-and- Water Gap in New Jersey that his wife painted it, fired it with a torch, looked Plexiglas sculptures in the California ver­ says was “suffering from benign neglect.” at it, realized it wasn’t good, added sec- sion of minimalism called “Cool Art,” After moving to the farm, he returned Continued

44 CERAMICS MONTHLY Untitled (“Triple Series”), 15 inches in height, wheel-thrown and altered earthenware, with masked glazes, pit fired, accented with acrylics and gold leaf.

Making a Bean Pot

Bennett Beans richly decorated earth­ glazes—made of equal parts (by vol­ “rules” is to only paint the unglazed enware forms are complicated visually ume) Mason stain, Pemco frit P25 and areas. But, if necessary to make the com­ and technically, taking nearly 20 steps 20 Mule Team Borax—are mixed to a position work, he will paint over the and combining traditional and nontra- thin consistency and painted on like glaze. The entire piece is then sealed ditional ceramic processes. It is a long watercolor. “This glaze is designed to inside and out with urethane gel. Mul­ process but a way of working that “is go in a pit and get hard enough to stay tipart forms are mounted on matt black entirely appropriate to my neuroses,” on the pot, but not so gooey that the wooden slabs to control how they are Bean says. ashes and crud from the pit stick to it,” seen by viewers. He begins by throwing a group of Bean explains. Bean does not make detailed draw­ vessels from a white earthenware body. The pots are pit fired with dry wood, ings for his pieces, although he does When they are leather hard, he bur­ but the wood smoke imparts a gray, not make “shorthand notes to myself. When nishes them with a stainless-steel rod to the deep black that Bean wants. That I’m working on these pieces, I am not remove the throwing marks. He then comes from the addition of green hard­ planning on the future. When I work arranges two or more vessels into a com­ wood sawdust and oats. Salt and cop­ on the green clay, I’m making green position where each part relates to the per cause the pink blushes. Wearing clay shapes. I’m not thinking about what other in a dialogue of forms, sometimes heat-resistant gloves, Bean can rearrange color the glaze is going to be or how cutting them apart and overlapping the the pots during the firing to control the they’re going to be painted. I’m doing sections or adding extensions. When effects. The heat of the wood fire burns what I’m doing. When I get to the thoroughly dry, they are brushed with off the tape and melts the wax, leaving decoration stage, then I’m thinking white terra sigillata and polished, then white areas. about decoration as pattern, but not as fired to Cone 06. Usually, his assistant, Jane Clark, gilds color. When I get to the painting stage, Bean then masks off areas using the interiors and other designated areas. I’m thinking about painting. So I’m Chartpak Pressure Sensitive Graphic Then, using acrylic, Bean paints the doing exactly what I’m doing when I’m Tape, Contact paper or wax. His remaining masked areas. One of his doing it. I’ve made the rules.”

March 1998 45 Untitled vessel, 7½ inches in height, pit-fired earthenware, with acrylics and black latex, by Bennett Bean, Blairstown, New Jersey.

tions, fired it again with a torch. A lot of metric motifs versus more organic ef­ ing gold leaf in response to a desire to it was impatience, because a luster firing fects resulting from wood firing. use the open vessel form, without relin­ is a 12- or 14-hour process. Now I can These works clearly mark an aban­ quishing the basic tenet of his aesthetic do six luster firings in 20 minutes, and donment of the Oriental heritage that exploration: decorated surface outside, keep adding, keep embellishing.” no longer seemed appropriate to Bean. space inside. “I saw some Mimbres bowls That discovery made him conclude He looked, instead, closer to home, ad­ and thought I’d like to make that shape. that “they lied to me in graduate school. miring Native American ceramics and Its such a wonderful shape. But as soon They said when the thing came out of collecting American art pottery. Bean as I made that shape, it became stun the kiln, it was permanent, it would be also began to explore postfiring decora­ outside and skin inside. I’d lost my space. that way for 2000 years.” He saw that tive effects, such as the sheen that Na­ It was surface inside and surface out­ post-firing techniques could be used to tive American potters achieved by side. The space had opened out. The get the effects he envisioned. “My ex­ rubbing the surface of a fired pot with problem was finding a material that read pectations and what I was getting back an animal skin impregnated with fat. as space, and gold did that.” from the kiln were not always the same. He adapted the process, first using lin­ Why Bean felt compelled to resolve This was an effort to get the last word.” seed oil and now paste urethane. this issue in this manner is explained by This experience led to a series that To add color after firing, Bean began his intellectual process of creation: “Con­ began in 1975 in which Bean airbrushed by using various colorants, including struct yourself a universe, based on some designs onto the fired surface of platters ocher, which he thought would be mar­ ideas that you’re interested in and make using semivitreous slips. The composi­ ginally acceptable to ceramics purists. rules around those ideas—I’ll do this; I tions were partially inspired by the works Opting not to be restricted by tradi­ won’t do that. Once you have those of the post-painterly abstractionist Larry tion, he soon turned to other materials, rules, it’s like a sonnet. It’s a very clear, Poons, who arranged geometric motifs experimenting with various paints be­ very rational structure, and within that in a regular pattern on the picture plane. fore choosing acrylic in 1982. rational structure, you have complete This exploration was the beginning of Another more traditional postfiring freedom to play.” what has become Beans signature look, technique that Bean uses is gilding. This For Bean, following the rules is a a formal dialogue of hard-edged geo­ began in 1983 when he started apply­ very creative process. ▲

46 CERAMICS MONTHLY The Perfect Clay Body? by Jeff Zamek

Is there a perfect clay body? No. Are Each group of clays (fireclays, stone­ versely, when a high-temperature flux is some clay bodies better than others? wares, ball clays and earthenwares) con­ used in a low-temperature clay body, it Yes, but first I should define what is tributes specific attributes to the clay will not melt. In such cases, the flux acts meant by the term “clay body.” Today, a body. Such clay qualities can be particle like filler. combination of clays, fluxes and fillers size, green strength, fired strength, fired Moreover, the correct amount of the form most clay bodies. In the past, only color, shrinkage, plasticity, texture, form­ appropriate flux must be used. An one or two elements made up a clay ing abilities, and low amounts of warp­ overfluxed clay body can bloat, slump, body. Natural clays were simply dug ing in drying and firing. shrink excessively and fuse to the kiln from deposits, then possibly sand or When a particular clay is not avail­ shelves. When increasing the flux com­ another temper material was added to able, a substitution can be made from ponent of a clay body recipe, always the mix. With a scientific understand­ the same group or subgroup. By choos­ make test pieces and place them in a ing of raw materials came increasingly ing a clay within the same group, most regular production kiln on top of an complicated clay body compositions. of the clay characteristics will remain old kiln shelf. Be aware that firing clay One method of understanding clay consistent. For example, in throwing and glazes in small test kilns can pro­ bodies is to think of the total mixture as bodies, Thomas ball clay can be substi­ duce inaccurate results, because the having three basic parts—clay, flux and tuted for Kentucky ball clay (OM 4). smaller kilns have faster firing and cool­ filler. Each serves at least one function: Other factors, such as degree of desired ing times, as compared with larger pro­ enhancing forming characteristics, sur­ plasticity, green strength, particle size duction kilns. Ceramic materials need face texture or color, and/or reducing distribution, and metallic oxide con­ end-point temperatures to melt, but they drying shrinkage, fired ab­ also need the time to reach sorption rate or fired shrink­ that end-point temperature age. Many different materials One method of understanding clay to reach maturity. can be used to fulfill these bodies is to think of the total mixture In choosing the flux for a clay body, the minimum and requirements. For example, if as having three basic parts—clay, flux the recipe requires flux, there maximum amounts that can are many frits and feldspars and filler. Each serves at least one be used are fairly wide—2% that could be used. The best function: enhancing forming character­ to 3% variations will not clay body recipe will have the make a significant difference. correct ratios of the appro­ istics, surface texture or color, An exception occurs when priate clays, fluxes and fillers or reducing drying shrinkage, frits are used, as they will to achieve the desired result. fired absorption rate or fired shrinkage. shorten the maturing range Clays are grouped depend­ of the clay drastically. Frits ing on their refractory quali­ are a combination of oxides ties, particle size, oxide composition, tent should also be considered to “fine that have already been fired; they are loss on ignition, shrinkage rates, ab­ tune” the clay body. fast-acting and potent fluxes. A low-fire sorption rates and other defining char­ Fluxes help lower the melting point dense clay body with 7% to 10% frit acteristics. The basic clay groups found of heat-resistant clays and fillers in a might be underfired at Cone 06 and in clay body recipes are fireclays, ball clay body. Increasing the amount of overfired and melted at Cone 05. (All clays, kaolins, stoneware clays, bento­ flux also increases the glass formation temperature references to cones in this nites and earthenware clays. Within each with the clay body. A primary goal of a article are based on large Orton pyro- major group are subgroups that further flux is to cause the clay body to melt at metric cones heated at 270°F per hour.) define a particular clay characteristic, a predetermined maturing range. In Also, some frits are slightly soluble and such as plastic kaolin and nonplastic functional pottery, the maturing range break down when wet, causing the moist kaolin—Grolleg is a plastic kaolin while occurs when absorption, shrinkage and clay body to become extremely hard or English China Clay is a nonplastic ka­ fired color are compatible with the glaze, rubbery soft, depending on the particu­ olin. Each group and subgroup con­ producing a dense vitreous body. lar frit used. tains many individual “brand names” For every temperature range, there Talc (magnesium silicate) is a com­ of clay. For example, among the many are appropriate flux materials that will mon insoluble raw material that can be individual brands of ball clay are Ten­ work correctly. Using the wrong flux used in low-fire bodies from Cone 06 nessee ball clay #9, Taylor ball clay, Ken­ can have serious consequences. If a low- (1830°F) to Cone 04 (1940°F) for sev­ tucky ball clay (OM 4), Kentucky melting flux is used in a high-tempera- eral reasons: It helps reduce dry and Special and Thomas ball clay. ture body, overfiring can result. Con­ fired shrinkage. It also reduces warping

March 1998 47 while increasing the chance of a good clay body, take into consideration the potters simply choose not to use any glaze fit. Many low-fire clay bodies are forming method, drying shrinkage, fireclay in their clay bodies. composed of 50% talc and 50% ball firing temperature, kiln atmosphere, Overall, the negative aspects of clay; however, high-talc bodies are not glaze interaction, fired color, fired fireclay can be mitigated by spreading very plastic. When talc is combined with shrinkage and fired density. the risk and using two different fireclays frit or nepheline syenite, the combina­ After testing many combinations and in the recipe. Inspecting the dry clay tion can cause the clay body to become having students try out the most prom­ before the mixing operation will help vitreous at low-temperature ranges. ising results, I developed the following prevent large and obvious contaminates When talc and iron are present in high- clay body: from entering the clay mix. Some pot­ temperature bodies, a warm brown color tery supply companies will even screen is possible in reduction atmospheres. ZAM Super Clay Body the fireclay, which is a significant step in In the mid- to high-temperature (Cone 6-10, oxidation or reduction) improving the quality. The screened clay ranges, Cone 6 (2232°F) to Cone 10 Custer Feldspar...... 7 parts costs more but if it saves one pot, it is (2381°F), feldspars are the best choice A. P. Green Missouri worth the extra price. Using fireclays of flux in a clay body. To illustrate their Fireclay (28 mesh)...... 15 should be calculated on a risk-versus- melting characteristics when used alone, Cedar Heights reward basis. Each potter must decide if they melt at Cone 6 and by Cone 10 Goldart (200 mesh)...... 40 the good qualities are worth the risk. are semiopaque glasses. Soda feldspars Hawthorn Bond Why use fireclay? The coarse or large melt at approximately 100°F lower tem­ Fireclay (35 mesh) ...... 10 particle size makes it ideal for adding peratures than potash feldspars, while Old Hickory Thomas “tooth” or stand-up ability in throwing lithium feldspars are the most refrac­ Ball Clay...... 15 and sculpture bodies. Fireclays also lower tory. Within these three groups, many Sheffield Clay or drying and firing shrinkage, and the individual feldspars are suitable for a Cedar Heights Redart...... 3 warping potential of a clay body. Their clay body formula. Flint (200 mesh)...... 10 refractory or heat-resistant nature allows The main reasons for using feldspars Maryland Refractories for a high-temperature clay body. are their ability to go into a melt easily Grog (48/f) ...... 8 Why aren’t good-quality fireclays and slowly over a wide temperature 108 parts mined and sold to potters? Economics. range. The most successful functional A good throwing body, having a wet- Potters buy less than one-tenth of a stoneware bodies have a range of two to to-dry shrinkage rate of 6%. It fires a percent of all the clay mined. And the three cones at which they will be dense medium brown in reduction and to light fireclays that are currently being mined and vitreous without being overfired or cream in oxidation. Total fired shrink­ already meet or exceed the major users’ underfired. Feldspars are the ideal group age is 12.0% at Cone 6, and 12.5% at requirements. Such industries as steel of fluxes to promote this situation. Cone 10. The absorption rate is 2.6% manufacturing, casting and ceramic re­ Fillers reduce clay body shrinkage at Cone 6, and 0.5% at Cone 10. fractories control the market, and the and warping in the drying and firing Composing a clay body is based on quality of the fireclay. Potters and ce­ stages. Flint, silica sand, sawdust, mul- theory, experience, current materials and ramics supply companies do not have lite, calcined kaolin, calcined alumina personal choice. Listed here are the clays, the economic purchasing power to de­ and grogs of various sizes are the most fluxes and fillers, along with my reasons mand a better grade. widely used fillers. While flint can be for choosing each material. A perfect While it does appear that fireclays called a glass former, it needs very high clay body may not exist, but it does contribute many potential problems to temperatures (3200°F) to go into a melt help to know what considerations are the clay body, they do serve a useful by itself. It is only when flint is com­ made when a recipe is developed. function in their ability to add large bined with a flux that the melting tem­ particle sizes to the total mix. Some of perature is decreased. As a filler, flint Fireclay the best clay bodies have small, me­ reduces dry shrinkage and warping in Fireclays are the weakest part of any dium and large clay platelet sizes. The the clay body. clay body because of poor reliability. In variation in platelet sizes (large platelets If the amount of filler is too high, fact, if the clay body contains fireclay, in fireclays, medium platelets in stone­ the clay body’s plastic qualities are de­ eventually a problem can be traced to ware clays, small platelets in ball clays) creased. Clay bodies designed for slab this marginal performance clay. The mechanically interlocks the moist clay, building and tile work usually have problems with fireclays can range from resulting in greater surface areas touch­ more filler or nonplastic material than excessive and small-size silica (causing ing, which increases plasticity. throwing bodies. Less warping and cooling cracks); high organic content, Excess fireclay can make the fired shrinkage in tile bodies are a higher lignites or coal (causing black coring); clay too porous, nonplastic and decrease priority than plasticity. calcium nodules (causing lime pops); the fired strength of the pots, but too A perfect clay body is a subjective and sand (causing excessive grittiness). little fireclay will lower the maturing term, but the chance of obtaining this Other impurities that have been found range and yield a soft body with little ideal mixture increases when the cor­ in fireclays are tree branches, metal bolts, “tooth.” Clay bodies with no fireclay rect amounts and ratios of clay, flux and paper, rocks and cigarette butts. Based component often feel and throw like fillers are present. When designing a on reports of poor quality control, many Please turn to page 110

48 CERAMICS MONTHLY Porcelain tiles on an old hand-hewn log identify the studio/home of Phil and Terri Mayhew.

A Conversation with Phil and Terri Mayhew by Ann Wells

It was one of those rare afternoons I listed on the National Register of His­ was. I remember the first time I ever hope I will always remember. The sound toric Places. walked through there by myself and of the water in the little manmade pond The Mayhews are unusual residents how scared I got. The woods are big in the front yard. The sun streaming of Beersheba, primarily because Phil was and deep, you know. I kept walking through the trees as a cool breeze once a summer person. “An old sum­ until I saw the road. I was never afraid brushed by us. The creaking of the chair mer person,” he says, with a twinkle in to go in the woods again after that. on the front porch as I leaned forward. his eye. They have been permanent resi­ “The only changes that’ve been And, of course, there was the smell of dents since 1986. It is also significant made—all the houses have water now, Beersheba Springs, a sweet, clean, subtle that they have been able to make a and all the roads have been paved. This scent. All of these sensations combined living here as potters. Grundy County was a gravel road [in front of the house]. that afternoon on Phil and Terri May- is one of the poorest counties (if not the And for gravel, they used this red shale hew’s front porch. poorest) in the state of Tennessee, hav­ that they got from coal mines; it’s full of In 1833, a woman named Beersheba ing no industrial tax base. little bitty fern fossils. All these rocks Porter Cain discovered a path to a spring “All my life I’ve wanted to live in you see on the porch right here, this is of iron water in the Cumberland Pla­ Beersheba,” says Phil. “I remember the my childhood rock collection. That in teau region of Tennessee. Six years later, elation of Friday afternoons. School was large measure led to the pottery. We’re a summer resort was officially opened over, and I knew we were gonna be making our own fossils. there, providing a respite from the heat going to Beersheba for the weekend. “I’ve been fascinated with minerals and spreading polio in Nashville and “I learned about nature up here. My all my life. When I was eight years old, other nearby cities. Although Beersheba’s first experiences with the woods were one day, just out of the blue, this guy heyday as a resort has long since passed, here. This little path goes right down to showed up at our house. He was a ge­ today it still functions as a retreat, both the little water shed over there and comes ologist. His parents went to my father’s for citizens of Nashville who own sec­ out right across the road as it circles church and he had heard I was inter­ ond homes there and for those who back around that way. It’s not a far walk ested in rocks. He had come to see me, visit the hotel on the bluff. The town is at all, but for an eight-year-old kid, it this little kid. He had this big box of

March 1998 49 rocks. He and I sat on the floor of the versity of Georgia. I told them in my years. Then I went out in the woods to front room of our house for about, oh, letter that what I wanted to do was be a potter or starve, which I almost did I’d say two hours. He told me what a change my major. That kind of im­ that first year. I made $176 in two sedimentary rock was and he told me pressed Lamar Dodd. He thought that months. I spent a hard winter. The what metamorphic was, what igneous was great. Anyway, I thought I might next summer I met Terri and we was. He sat down and for reasons known want to try sculpture. And I took a started dating. We got married the only to him, he wanted to spend some pottery class. It was absolutely magic. day Elvis Presley died.” time with this kid.” “Unintention­ “So we are basi­ ally,” Terri adds cally making our with a laugh. own rocks,” inter­ Phil continues: jects Terri, bringing “We got married by us back to the topic a justice of the at hand. peace, then drove “Yeah,” says Phil. back home to fire a “Chemically speak­ kiln! Anyway, we ing, the porcelain lived down there for and the glaze ingre­ 12 years. This was dients that we use are Terri and Phil Mayhew working side by in northern Geor­ identical to a lot of side in their “winter studio,” an enclosed gia. It was an old the rocks in this col­ area on the back of the house. homesite that had lection. This is cal- been built by an art­ cite. This,” picking up a clear cube, “is All of a sudden I remembered what it ist back in the late 1920s. We had a calcium carbonate. That’s whiting right was like to be passionately involved in little camper trailer that we lived in. there. This is granite,” holding up a an artistic medium. There was a waterfall right next to our pink and gray striped slab, “it’s got feld­ “I wound up with a double major in studio, constant background noise, spar and it’s got silica.... ceramics and metal work. I got my which is one reason why we’ve gotta “I’ve got this big kiln down there, M.EA. in ’68, and taught at Brenau have this,” indicating the little waterfall and I can mix these things together and College in Gainesville, Georgia, for five in the garden. “It was just a marvelous, subject them to these enor­ marvelous way to live. We mous temperatures, and re­ had electricity, but we hauled create the conditions that exist water from a spring.” way down in the Earth where They had to heat water all this stuff formed over a on the stove to bathe, ex­ long period of time. Endless plains Terri. combinations. Glaze overlays, “Our business suffered, glazes fired on top of other because it was hard for people glazes. So that kind of led to get in touch with us. We to this [potting], that and were a mile from the nearest wanting to recapture that road. Had to cross two creeks mystical kind of thing I to get to it. It was really inac­ found as a kid up here. cessible, but it just suited our “Art for me was just a ca­ nature at the time. Since we thartic, a therapeutic thing. moved here, our work has And then I went to college. changed a lot. We’ve gone About the only thing you from being almost hermitlike could do back then with art, in Georgia, and, as you you know, was study to be a know,” Phil laughs, “we are teacher or go into commer­ in the middle of the uni­ cial art. I wound up getting a verse here. We think of this B.EA. in commercial art and as a metropolis.” I despised every minute of it. “Can we backtrack a So I decided I would go back moment?” I ask. “Terri, can to graduate school and try to you tell me a little bit about do something I like. where you got started work­ “I got accepted at the Uni­ Glazed porcelain necklace and earrings by Terri Mayhew. ing with clay?”

50 CERAMICS MONTHLY “I took my first clay class in college business off the front porch here. I mean, says Phil, “because that way you are not and it was that awful red clay and we don’t make our living off the front dependent on any one particular source ugly green glaze. I thought, well, I’ll porch, but every year it gets to be more of income. We’ve sailed through three never touch clay again. Then I did a and more. We have people drive up recessions now. Without a drop in sales. lot of things in the interim. Worked from Nashville and Chattanooga and “I also think it’s good to have a broad for an interior designer for a while even Atlanta. Also, Phil’s been doing repertoire. Things that are inexpensive and did a bunch of stuff, always sort this for 30 years and I’ve been doing it as opposed to pretty expensive pieces, of leaning toward because even in the something artistic. worst of times “I started work­ people will still buy ing with clay when a coffee cup. And I I met Phil. I tried love to make cof­ throwing for a fee cups. It is the while. I did dishes. most intimate form It took me four or of communication five years to realize that a potter can that I am on this have with his or her planet to make clientele. That little thousands and act of having your thousands of tiny morning beverage little beads. It’s becomes a ritualis- been a hands-on tic, important part learning process. of the day for Developing my people. It’s an ex­ own techniques. pansion of the con­ And I m kind of a cept of metaphor. fanatic about mak­ Your ability to see ing every little a deeper meaning component piece.” in a simple thing. “How have you Like Terri’s jewelry. worked together?” Your jewelry be­ I ask. “Is it collabo- comes a metaphor rative or more sepa- for you.” rater “I didn’t realize “Its both,” an­ that at first,” Terri swers Phil. “Were Platter, 18 inches in diameter, wheel-thrown porcelain, explains. “I just a good show team fired to Cone 16, by Phil Mayhew. knew what hap­ because if pots are pened to me when not selling, well, jewelry usually is.” for 18, and we didn’t drop our folks I would work really tiny. Then I real­ “Also,” says Terri, “I’ll do different from Georgia when we moved up here. ized that’s what I’m all about. The glaze combinations than Phil will. Some­ We also belong to the Southern High­ breath quiets and you slow down and body else might do a test tile, but I can lands Craft Guild.” focus in small. do a piece of jewelry, and I’ll end up “When did you become members?” “I think that unless you have a sense having a piece we can sell. There’s so “After we moved up here, we of order in yourself, you’re not going to much that we collaborate on, in a way, joined,” Phil explains. “That was a be able to make the big world any more because we talk everything through.” very major boost. They have two re­ orderly. So you are a better person in “Our displays are always designed ally great shows a year and they have the big world by looking and focusing for two of us to be together. It’s kind of four craft galleries.” in a smaller way. It’s also a celebration of interesting to see the pots, then see the “Plus,” adds Terri, “we have maybe the tradition of women—in that they jewelry, which are the same glazes and 15 craft and gallery situations. One thing worked in their homes. They were quiet the same material, but two different we do—that I think maybe some young and focusing on tiny stitches and hold­ treatments,” says Phil. people are overlooking these days—is ing families together.” “Let’s talk for a minute about how we diversify. We’ll have accounts that “It is a spiritual thing,” continues you make a living and all that. How has will maybe be only $300, then some Phil. “It is communication by means that evolved?” I ask. that are really big.” other than words. Like music. You are “Well,” answers Terri, “we do a lot of “You have to have a broad clientele,” forced to come up with a more unique

March 1998 51 way, direct way, of touching people about four hours to get the kiln up to where their gut is. You know, bypass the red heat. By the time you get there, whole verbal trip.” you’re already past the phase change. “If someone asked me to sum myself Once you nurse it past that, you can up, ‘What are you?’ I’d hand them a climb real fast. bead,” Terri says. “I’ve heard that your clay body is “I’d hand them a mug,” says Phil, stronger the longer it takes you to fire. I “and maybe play them a guitar piece.” don’t agree with that. What’s important “Why Cone 16?” I ask. is the cooling time. You’re bringing the “One day I was experimenting with clay right to the edge of the molten forced air,” explains Phil, “and the lain state, then you cool it slow. As it cools, got real hot real fast, faster than I ex­ crystals form. pected. Anyway, I shut it off and the “Sit out in the winter sometime and next morning I went outside and opened watch a bucket of water freeze. You can it up; inside, it was slagged. This was K- see it happen. You can see these crystals 23 firebrick, insulation brick, which by form on the surface. Porcelain is the the way makes a beautiful green matt same way. We’re talking about frozen glaze when it melts. But the colors in liquid. If you supercool it real fast, you’re the glazes were absolutely gorgeous. I Wheel-thrown and faceted porcelain going to interfere with the crystalliza­ don’t know how high I fired it, prob­ mug, 5 inches in height, by Phil Mayhew. tion. If you cool it slow, then you’re ably around Cone 15 or 16. I was so gonna get a nice orderly crystal forma­ intrigued by the results that I just forgot You can’t do that at Cone 10. It just tion. That’s where the durability comes about the tragedy of melting my kiln, doesn’t work. It becomes extremely vola­ from.” and went into town, got a bank loan, tile and causes these little crater effects “I’m going to ask you a chicken-or- then bought some K-26 firebrick. that we get. We call it the lace effect. egg question,” I say. “The form or the “You know, as a general rule, the “We’re still learning. It’s more com­ glaze. Where do you think it starts? I higher the maturation temperature of plicated than you might think. I’m still mean, physically it starts with the form, any ceramic material, the harder it’s go­ using the same glaze formulas I was but then the faceting you do shows off ing to be. So we started deliberately using back in college. I just adapted the glaze so beautifully.” firing higher and higher. It took about them. We fire pretty fast—to Cone 16 “Well,” says Phil, “It’s fifty-fifty, be­ a year of just experimenting. We re­ in about six, six and a half hours.” cause my faceting harkens back to be­ did the porcelain body. We raised the “Wow!” I exclaim. ing interested in crystallography.” kaolin content and dropped the feld­ “Well, we take it slow at first. It takes “Of course, I picked up faceting spar; that auto­ from Phil’s facet­ matically raised the ing,” says Terri. melting tempera­ “It breaks up the ture so it matures light, too.” at Cone 16. “And the way the “I’m happy with glaze puddles in the the colors we get faceting.” there. There’s a dif­ “So it’s the form, ference that you can and the color is like see between Cone 6 the cherry on top,” and Cone 10. If you Phil summarizes. have experience “It’s like the whis­ working with clay, per of vermouth you can kinda tell over the martini. It the temperature, all goes together. within a certain “I guess the two range. There’s also parts I like the a pretty significant most....I like a pot difference between when I take it right Cone 10 and Cone off the wheel, you 16. This textured know, when it’s still business with the va­ Covered jar, 10 inches in height, glazed porcelain, wet and it’s just got­ nadium that we do. fired to Cone 16, by Phil Mayhew. ten waked up. I

52 CERAMICS MONTHLY think of working with written on the bottom. clay as waking it up. Talk about an ego trip.” You smack it around, He laughs. you wedge it, so that it “And it kind of all of a sudden wakes gains power through up and realizes what it the years,” I add. really is. And it realizes “That’s a lot of that it really is fullest power. I just never when you take it off cease to be fascinated the wheel. You’re ap­ by it all the time. The proaching another level creative process. I learn when you take it out from every piece I do. of the kiln. So when I shy away from the you take it off the term production pot­ wheel and when you ter’ because people take it out of the kiln, want to give it a nega­ to me, are the peak ex­ tive connotation. Every periences. I guess you time I make a piece could say there’s an­ that I’ve made a simi­ other level, too, when lar one to before, I’m somebody interacts reestablishing a neuro- with it. That’s when it pathway that is a men­ really comes full circle. tal counterpart of the “I’ve seen it so many physical actions I’m do­ times. You can see a pot ing. The more fluid grab a person. It be­ that action becomes, comes a really pro­ the less you have to found experience. This think about it. was fascinating: Years “There’s a great ago, I had this blind Japanese word, hari- guy come through and gaiy and it means no he wanted to buy a tea­ thought. When you pot. He felt every pot reach a level when you in that display. He saw don’t have to think every one of them with about what you are do­ his hands. And he ing, then you begin to picked out a matt push into the realm of finish. It spoke to him. magic. I do it because That gets into the spiri­ it’s doing something tuality of it. You know, inside and I’ve never where you share a piece found anything to of yourself with an­ compare to it. You just other person. The feel­ have to achieve uncon­ ing that you’ve put scious control of your into a piece of work medium, and the only resonates inside this way to do that is by other person in the the beauty of repeti­ same place where it tion. Something hap­ resonated for you. At pens. Isn’t that right?” that point, just for Porcelain vase, 10 inches in height, wheel thrown and faceted, fired “That’s right, Phil,” that brief instant, to Cone 16 in reduction, by Phil Mayhew, Beersheba, Tennessee. Terri chimes in. you’re not separate. We all laugh and re­ “Art brings people together. It is the much about worldng with ceramics is lax, leaning back in our chairs as the sharing of sensory experiences that tran­ that it’s such damn durable stuff. I like breeze stirs. scends difference. I call it a mission of to think of stuff being around a thou­ “Talk about magic,” I reply. “This is beauty. And one of the things I like so sand years from now that’s got ‘Mayhew’ it today.” A

March 1998 53 Collecting Mania by Thomas G. Turnquist

Tie search for the stay at their perfect vessel has guesthouse. The taken me to almost four days I shared every state in the with the Heinos union. Over the changed my view past 15 years, my of studio ceramics ceramics collection forever. Sincc then, has grown to over collecting studio 700 pots. Nearly pottery has been 50 artists are rep­ my sole focus. The resented. I have door was opened pots by Harding and the flood of Black and Karl pots began. Martz, who started People always in the 1930s, sit­ ask me why I col­ ting next to vessels lect daywork. Self- made by potters Handbuilt porcelain bowls, to approximately 5 inches in height, 1990, analysis has pro­ by Nan McKinnell, Denver, Colorado. who did not begin vided at least a working until the partial explana­ 1980s. The group­ tion. I collect pots ing is diverse, but because I appreci­ unified by a com­ ate the fact that mon thread—pots they begin as a ba­ of quality. sic element and are I have been a converted to beau­ pottery collector tiful objects. Also, since 1978, and in­ I love the perma­ terested specifically nence of pottery. in studio pottery I enjoy the idea since 1982. It all that a ceramic ob­ began one day ject I share space when, as I was with may survive driving down for thousands of South Broadway years. Collecting in Denver, I spot­ pots also could be ted some pots a way of soothing through the win­ compulsive behav­ dow of an antiques Wheel-thrown stoneware vases with Cone 5 glazes, to approximately 6 inches ior—but I try to shop. A few days in height, 1994-95, Father Anthony Bellesorte, Vina, California. believe this is not later, when I en­ the situation. tered the shop and held those pots Their work was finely thrown and the The years of collecting have taught in my hands, I was hooked! My first forms classic. This addition to the col­ me an important lesson as well. Potters purchases were Weller and McCoy lection came about 1979, but no more are more important as people and vases. These promoted interest in sev­ studio pottery was acquired until 1982, friends than the work they create. Noth­ eral other art-and-craft-era producers, which was the most pivotal year in my ing can replace human bonding. Not including early Rookwood, Hampshire 20 years of collecting. even the best vessel on the earth can and Van Briggle. In 1982, a collector from the Bos­ match the value of a potter as a friend. The first piece of studio ware I pur­ ton area suggested that I contact Vivika Contact with potters has augmented chased was a lovely piece by the White and Otto Heino. After several telephone my understanding of their work, and I Pottery of Denver. The Whites were a conversations with Vivika and Otto, I have become close to several over the father and son team of English extract. was invited to visit their studio and years. Denver potter James McKinnell

54 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 55 acting as my best man when Denise and I married is an example of the impact potters have had upon my life. In fact, Denise and I met because her father is a collector of studio ceramics. I went to her fathers company to see him about some pots. Denise was there, and the rest, as they say, is history. I am reasonably optimistic about the future of ceramic art in this coun­ try; however, more effort should be made to promote pottery in general and strides taken to bring the potter and collector together in particular. Op­ timal use of the Internet could be of great help. An increasing number of buyers/collectors are surfing the web for pots. Twenty years of collecting have given me much joy and many vivid memo­ Lidded jar, 7½ inches in height, glazed porcelain, 1987, ries. The joy on Harding Blacks face as by David Beumee, Lafayette, Colorado. he threw at the wheel, the boundless energy of Otto Heino, and the soft quiet grace of Father Anthony are all a part of my being. Poet Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy may have said it best when he wrote: “God gave his children memory/that in life’s gar­ den there might be/June roses in De­ cember.” I have many bouquets to enjoy when December arrives. ▲

Wheel-thrown stoneware plate with layered glazes high fired in reduction, approximately 9 inches in diameter, 1997, by Mel Jacobson, Minnetonka, Minnesota.

Slab-built and wheel-thrown porcelain teapot, approximately 5 inches in height, 1997, by Dannon Rhudy, Paris, Texas.

56 CERAMICS MONTHLY Lidded jar, 8½ inches in height, porcelain, brushed with soda ash, reduction fired, by Dannon Rhudy. Ordering Chaos by Dannon Rhudy

dvances in my recent work can cluded a landscape of great beauty. The bring order where confusion reigned, , be traced to the landscapes of glacial moraines of southern Indiana how to find shape and form where all Ak my youth, the things I saw were covered with great hardwoods, and seemed chaos, and how to find pleasure every day, while my attention was taken broken by ravines with outcrops of shale, and interest in daily work. by more pressing matters. Indeed, my sandstone and limestone. There were Five years ago, while I was still in isolated rural upbringing provided me occasional small fields and meadows, graduate school, I was invited to par­ with a number of benefits that went bordered by brambles, blackberry, horse­ ticipate in an exhibition called “A Show quite unrecognized at the time. I re­ tail, wild rose, honeysuckle, plus a pro­ for All Senses.” The premise was that member being very aware of the draw­ fusion of lakes, ponds and streams. work in the exhibition could be touched, backs: siblings to care for, gardens to Another benefit, again unrecognized, smelled, held, heard, seen. I had been tend and harvest, food to preserve. Work was that there was always something making burnished and saggar-fired ves­ was endless, and there was time for little broken to be fixed and little to fix it sel forms. While I was preparing several else. Television went unwatched. A trip with, plus a meal for 10 or 15 people to for the show, I began to realize that to the city came once or twice a year. be made from whatever was at hand. I though the pots were wonderful to the The benefits, which I accepted with realize now that I was getting valuable touch, they were really very limited tac- neither question nor recognition, in­ training in how to improvise, how to tually. They took much of their appeal

March 1998 57 from the random landscapes of color imparted by the firing technique. That made interesting visual texture, but what if the observer could only experience the work with his or her hands? It would be much like eyes look­ ing at a flat landscape, neat and tidy and made up wholly of well-manicured grass. Pleasant, perhaps, but soon bor­ ing. By the time I delivered those vessels to the exhibition a couple of weeks later, I was already beginning a new, more textural series. There were numerous problems, however. The pots I had been making were large, thrown, porcelain vessels, sometimes slightly altered, essentially smooth-surfaced. I tried applying tex­ ture after the pot was thrown, at various stages of hardness, but found both the process and the results to be unsatisfac­ tory. The process was too slow. The results were stiff, patterned and static. I Throwing the lip on a vase assembled from textured slabs could not seem to find a way to draw pressed inside a wheel-thrown “mold.” on the clay surface in the same way that I might draw on paper. An indefinable gestural quality was missing. I thought about handbuilding, but that did not seem to solve the problems of surface texture and variation. Then it occurred to me to handbuild with tex­ tured slabs. I tried a couple of very small pieces; they seemed to work fairly well and I saw possibility there. I made more slabs, and tried some bigger pots. But the bigger the piece, the greater the difficulty in putting it together. To main­ tain the surface texture, it was necessary to do all the building from the inside of the pot. If the slabs were soft enough to manipulate the shape easily, they were too soft to hold a shape of their own. Putting the usual crumpled paper, inflated balloon or nylon-filled-with-ver- miculite inside simply did not work. I did not want geometric pots, nor ones where the surface was planned and regimented. I wanted to make a pot that had the lyrical flow and grace of a wheel-thrown piece, but I also wanted a randomly patterned surface, something that would evoke that landscape so thor­ oughly embedded in my childhood memory. After a number of experiments, I finally decided that the only way I could get what I wanted in both form and surface was to press slabs in a mold. The outer form is removed by scoring the surface, I looked around the studio for some­ then simply tearing off large sections. thing to use for that purpose, and found

58 CERAMICS MONTHLY a couple of bisqued bowls. extra clay was left at the bottom Within minutes, I had put to­ for additional support. gether a couple of bowls by tear­ Finally, the thrown press ing off random pieces of the molds were dry enough to try. I patterned and textured slabs, brought them in, placed a piece and laying these inside the bowl- of paper towel in the base of molds, without even looking to each to keep the clay from stick­ see what I might be putting ing at the bottom, and set to where. When I turned the bowls work. It took perhaps 10 to 15 out to see the textured surface, I minutes to make each piece, not was interested in what I saw. a lot longer than it takes to Everywhere the different pieces throw one. Certainly it was a had overlapped were folds and great deal faster than ordinary lines, like creeks running across handbuilding. a field. The textures were remi­ The speed of making was a niscent of wild grasses, plowed great boon to me: impatience is furrows, forests, rocky outcrops. my besetting sin. I tried various I made more torn-slab bowls means of making sure that the and other open forms, but was piece would be coherent when already on to the next problem. I removed the supporting form, How could I make a closed including welding it together form? I made a couple of bowls with a rib, and placing the whole and put them together—not too thing, form and all, back on the exciting. The mid-line was ex­ wheel and using my fingers to actly that: in the middle. And it sort of throw the inside. Both was obvious that there was a methods worked, but I preferred join. Even after I had re-tex­ the rib for most forms because tured the seam, it was visible to it seemed a bit faster. When I an investigative eye. finished the first piece, I cut While I considered what to some lines in the surface of the do next, I dried and fired some “mold,” and peeled it off. It of the bowls. The rims warped. came off without a hitch, the A lot. I would need to add a coil inside pot perfect, unique. to strengthen the lip. And I still I added a handmade folded hadn’t thought of a really good lip on those first pots. It worked way to make closed forms, such reasonably well, but now I use as vases and bottles and jars. that technique only for less for­ The obvious solution, making a mal pieces, such as baskets. For plaster or bisque two-part mold, bottles, jars, teapots and so did not appeal to me much, but forth, I add a coil and throw I decided to try anyway. Lidded jar, 21 inches in height, slab-built the lip. It gives a more specific I threw a half dozen differ­ and wheel-thrown porcelain, wood fired. termination, a more definite ent shapes and sizes, cut them containment for the form, and carefully in half, and bisqued them. They occurred to me that I could probably lid making is easier. I prefer to throw worked fairly well as press molds. The use a thrown, leather-hard form as a the lids, adding texture afterward. drawbacks, serious to me, were that the mold for the slabs, then cut the outside The extra time it takes to throw the seam still showed to some degree, and I piece off. It would not matter whether mold, then press the slabs is well worth­ was limited by the number of bisqued the forms were open or closed. And, while. I have the multiple pleasures of forms I had made. All my pieces would nothing would be wasted, because I throwing at the wheel, texturing the be essentially alike, differing only in sur­ could recycle the outer part! slabs, then using random pieces to slab face texture. I would still have to fiddle I could hardly wait for some of the build a pot that I could not possibly with the seams, too, spending a lot of thrown pieces to stiffen up enough to produce in any deliberate, conscious painstaking time disguising them. try. I set them out in the sun to speed way. In addition, I have the pleasure of I was completely exasperated, and things along. Meanwhile, I rolled and creating some small chaos by the use of kept thinking that I was missing some­ threw some additional slabs and put the random texture on the surface of thing obvious. So I set everything aside, them aside to set up a bit. Then I threw the pot, while imposing an order of my and while the bisque kiln fired, sat down some more pots, so they would be ready own making by the mold shape, con­ at the wheel to throw. I was in the midst just in case the idea worked; these were taining the chaos at one edge by the of the third or fourth piece when it thrown more thickly than normal, and foot and at the other by the lip. A

March 1998 59 The Process

To build pots from textured slabs, I begin by throwing a mold form from a stoneware body, though slightly more thickly than I would ordinarily, to give some additional support during the con­ struction process. While throwing, I carefully monitor the inside shape, ig­ noring the outside appearance. When satisfied with the form, I reach inside and incise a groove for a foot ring with my finger. In that way, when I lay the clay slabs inside to form the pot, the foot becomes an integral part of the piece; however, for some large, more formal pieces, I throw a foot from an added coil at the leather-hard stage. Of course, extra care must be taken when throwing the foot directly on the pot, as pots made in this fashion disintegrate more quickly than a thrown pot. For the textured slabs, I use a simple “dirty porcelain” recipe of 25% kaolin, 25% Custer feldspar, 25% flint and 25% ball clay. I use the porcelain not for reasons of translucency or delicacy, but because I like the way the clay sur­ face behaves in wood and/or soda firing. I do sometimes use stoneware; techni­ cally, it works as well or better than porcelain. I tend to choose it for large open forms such as platters, because it warps less. With either clay body, the inner pot will shrink away from the outer form as it dries. The outside pot can be cut or peeled away within a very short time of the inner one being finished. The slabs are rolled to a thickness of about ¾ inch or a bit thicker (they will become thinner during construction). They are then textured in a variety of ways, using whatever I think might cre­ ate an interesting surface. I often draw directly on the slabs with a needle tool or other implement, then stretch the slabs to exaggerate the lines. When the slabs have dried slightly, I begin tearing pieces off randomly, plac­ Vessels in Dannon Rhudy’s “Porcelain Landscape Series” are produced ing them inside the forms, textured side by pressing textured slabs inside wheel-thrown stoneware “molds”; down/out. I try not to overlap too much, lips are then thrown and the outer mold forms peeled away. because I want the finished piece to have a smooth interior. Keeping the inside fairly even to begin with saves

60 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 61 Teapot, 9 inches in height, slab-built and wheel-thrown porcelain, reduction fired, by Dannon Rhudy, Paris, Texas.

time later on. Once the major pieces of and most accepting of the clay coil. is not necessary to do so. If the outer clay are laid in, I check for voids and fill When I am ready to add the lip, I throw form is removed fairly quickly, it is those. If a small void is found after the a fresh chuck on the wheel, insert the merely a matter of scoring the surface pot is out of the form, it is easily filled form containing the pot, then pull up and tearing the clay away. If there is an from the inside. and shape the lip in the ordinary way. interruption for some reason and the Next, the interior is smoothed with Sometimes on removal of the outer outer form becomes too hard to score a damp sponge. I then use a tool with a form, it is necessary to make some cor­ and tear easily, then I just wait for it to serrated edge to score the entire inner rections along the line of attachment dry completely, and tap it with a ham­ surface. Finally, I use a rib to smooth where the thrown part begins. I gener­ mer. It cracks and falls away like an and compress the scored clay. When ally try to make 10-15 pots, then throw eggshell. In general, it is only necessary the pot is finished, the textured outer all the lips, make the next batch of pots, to remove the mold form just past the surface remains essentially undisturbed. throw lips and so on. It helps to relieve widest curve of the pot. As soon as the I prefer to throw the lip on the hand- too much repetition of motion, and to lip is dry enough to support the piece, it built piece before I remove the outer keep me moving around the studio. can be lifted out and turned upside support. I find it easier to get an even It is possible to remove the outer down to dry the foot. Then, the mold lip while the inner pot is still pliable form as soon as the lip is thrown, but it clay is recycled. A

62 CERAMICS MONTHLY William Parry The Medium Is Insistent by Richard Zakin

^ATilliam Parry is a private and re­ In 1942, at the end of his sopho­ served person, and he has always kept more year, Parry was drafted for war­ his artwork very private and reserved. time service. He was stationed in He must, first of all, please himself, England near the Welsh border. As a and he takes great pride in exhaus­ first lieutenant, he had command of tively thinking the work through be­ a platoon specializing in storage and fore making it. maintenance of war materials. Like many other contemporary Parry was used to anonymous in­ ceramists, Parry came to the field via stitutions and to having many as­ a series of accidents. He was born in pects of his life decided by others; 1918 in the small town of Lehighton, Alfred Station, New York, artist William Parry. the Army did not faze him. He says Pennsylvania (100 miles north of of the experience, “I only got shot at Philadelphia). His childhood was not 1938, as he was having dinner with a once. The Army was part of my educa­ easy. His father died when he was 4 and friend from the bank. The friend had tion. I saw a lot. I went to museums his mother died when he was 11. Prior attended Alfred (though not as a ce­ and cathedrals. I left the Army in 1945. to her death, he had entered Girard ramist), and the topic was introduced, “I went back to school for another College in Philadelphia. Girard is not a but the word was unknown to Parry. two years [as a veteran his schooling college in the general sense, but rather “What is ceramics?” he asked. was paid for by the government] and an orphanage as well as a school. It is His dinner companion explained the got my B.EA. degree in 1947.” known for its excellent care and its high process that turned raw clay into the Then he had to go about making a educational standards. plates they were eating from. living. “I thought I would be a clay Parry has good memories of Girard; “It seemed so exotic—to think of artist. I wasn’t thinking of teaching. I he enjoyed many aspects of his life there mud being turned into this shiny thing: thought I would have a studio.” and it gave him access to life opportuni­ to think of making something with the Instead, he went to California to ties he otherwise would not have had. hands,” Parry recalls. work for a tableware manufacturer. Un­ At this time, he knew nothing of either He wrote a letter to the college at fortunately, three months later, the firm art or ceramics. After graduating in Alfred asking for information, applied was bankrupt. He went on to another 1935, he went to work for a bank in and was accepted. “At that time,” he firm, but did not stay long. Concur­ New York. Three years later, he says, “I says, “I had next to no money” and rently, he began teaching in an adult- had the realization that I wasn’t going supported himself with “a couple of jobs education program in Corona, Cali­ to spend my life in banking.” (one was scraping chewing gum off the fornia, and soon grew to like teaching. His introduction to ceramics was in dormitory steps).” “I began to realize that I knew things that were useful and sought after by my students.” In September 1948, he was hired to teach at the Philadelphia Museum School of Art (now The College of the Arts). Fifteen years later, in September 1963, Parry left Philadelphia to return to Alfred as professor of dimensional design and sculpture. During his tenure at Alfred, he took an active part in the life of the college and of the community. He also was active in crafts organizations—instru­ mental in the effort to found the Na­ tional Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), he served as its first president. Parry was always interested in the “Swan Lake,” from a series of fork, spoon and knife forms, to 14 inches in height,way art is taught and worked to make handbuilt stoneware, with rubbed oxides, 1993-94. his teaching as effective as possible. He

March 1998 63 “Egypt,” to approximately 19 inches in height, 1993-94.

spent a good deal of his time teaching tried to create projects that would en­ tinue using the skills they had already undergraduate students. The needs of courage the students to find new and come to rely upon.” the department required that he teach more deeply personal channels of ex­ Parry also taught graduate students. in a number of different undergraduate pression,” Parry explains. “Our strat­ In the 1960s, when he first came to areas, including an introductory course egy was to create exercises that would Alfred, most graduate students special­ called The Freshman Foundation. direct the students to work in ways ized in pottery. Later, as a result of a rise This course was team-taught by a that required them to invent. They in interest in ceramic sculpture, he took small group of dedicated faculty. “We needed something more than to con­ on more graduate responsibilities and

64 CERAMICS MONTHLY “A Ringing in the Ears,” 15 inches in height, handbuilt “OB 39,” 19 inches in height, glazed stoneware, stoneware with oxides, fired to Cone 6, 1991-92. from the “Off Butterfly Series,” 1987-88.

his influence on the graduate program faces in order to emphasize the texture, The critic Robert Ellison has justly became stronger. thus playing strongly textured clay sur­ called him “a master of morphing.” Parry Parry is an extremely effective lec­ faces against strongly textured glaze sur­ loves to examine forms with which we turer; his delivery is spare, thoughtful faces. Color can be quite beautiful but are all familiar and to play with them to and centered on the subject rather than is rarely the main point of the work. change their shape, their size or their on his own needs and persona. Yet at Glaze and stain applications (often brush character. He loves to monumentalize the same time, he has a highly personal applied) are generally simple and direct. small, intimate forms—e.g., oversized way of presenting his material. He first His technology is very varied. He knives, forks and spoons. His handling states a thesis, then he shows slides that has spent a great deal of time on projects of these images takes us back to the illustrate many aspects of that thesis. in which technology and aesthetics are origin of these everyday objects and re­ This takes about half an hour. In the blended; for example: he has bonded veals their power. These simplified and last third of his lecture, he comes back bronze and clay, and has experimented deepened forms are quite different to the original thesis and restates it. At with self-glazing clay bodies. from the enlarged and monumental­ this point he smiles broadly and comes Parry has always used his work to ized hot-water bottles and clothespins to a dead stop. He has made his point. enhance his appreciation of some as­ of Claes Oldenburg. Oldenburg’s To those who remain unconscious of pect of the world. His subject matter is pieces are unsettling and ironic. Parry’s the way he has organized his thoughts, mostly taken from nature. He is moved are very serious and reassuringly de­ the ending can be very abrupt and very by the flow of water, by lakes, creeks scribe a world of harmony. arbitrary. To those who know his meth­ and waterfalls, by the California desert, It is this seriousness of tone that most ods, the “ritual” is very effective. and the mountain country of the Ameri­ strongly differentiates his work from that Parry retired from teaching in 1989, can Southwest. of the younger generations. There is but still lives near Alfred. He has a strong The works of humankind are im­ little interest in what is happening “right sense of place. “I liked the landscape of portant as well, especially those that now,” little interest in the immediacies Alfred a great deal, its complexity, its speak of ancient preoccupations and the of popular culture and no hint of irony. hills and valleys.” origins of human consciousness. He par­ His work is marked by a sense of con­ He has said of his daywork that he ticularly recalls the hypnotic power of a templation and wonder. has created pieces “in which the me­ neolithic structure composed of a group­ Though Parry takes his responsibili­ dium is insistent.” His surfaces look ing of 3000 stones in Brittany. When ties as an artist very seriously, he has very natural and rich, and speak of the borrowing imagery from these things, never sought fame. Indeed, he has “never way clay looks when still malleable. He he studies them carefully, drilling deeply wanted to take the time and expense to often rubs glazes or stains into his sur­ into the nuances of their character. create that kind of career.” It has always

March 1998 65 been important for him to to move from idea to idea. work for the sake of doing As a result, his changes in the work rather than for direction have sometimes recognition. seemed confusing and Of course, he has paid wasteful to his audience. To for this decision and he many, it seems that no knows it. The goad of a show sooner does he master a skill deadline can be a powerful or an image than he moves encouragement to produce on to another way of work­ more work. Because he has “OB 42,” from the “Off Butterfly Series,” 38 inches wide, ing or seeing and has to always worked to his own handbuilt stoneware with Cone 6 glazes, 1989. learn how to do that new schedule, there have been thing. The reason for this is periods of time when he has not complex. He simply not produced ceramic work. He has less, inventive imagination has led to a loves to explore new processes. The ex­ used these times to read and think or to body of work marked by many shifts in perience of exploration is more impor­ explore other media (leather, wood, direction. Of this, Parry has written: “I tant to him than a successful product. bronze, photography, cement, plaster, have sought to base my work on self­ Moreover, he has never had a retro­ rubber, carpeting, sheet metal, roofing directed problems without recourse to spective exhibition. Rather than show­ paper, Naugahyde, cardboard, among grants or commissions. I have waited ing a broad spectrum of work, he always others), which have encouraged a highly for the issues to come to me.” shows his “freshest pieces.” He has done explorative and inventive mood in the He has never felt the urge to settle this “in order to see this new work my­ work that came out of these periods into one idea and exploit all its possi­ self.” Even in his shows at the College away from clay. bilities. The restlessness and sense of of the Arts in Philadelphia in 1992 and He is not one of those artists whose curiosity that have marked his thinking his exhibition at Alfred upon his retire­ work evolves in a straight line; his rest- means that it has seemed natural to him ment in 1991, he did not show his pieces from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. As a result, very few have ever had a chance to see the development of his work, to understand its range. Then, too, his work has a kind of insularity. As he has matured as an art­ ist, he has grown into his own way of seeing and his own processes. This takes up most of his consciousness. While he is cognizant of contemporary trends, he does not consciously reflect on them in his work. While this has encouraged work of an insular charac­ ter, it has also encouraged a characteris­ tic authenticity and strength. For his voice to have found a wider audience and had a greater influence would have required far more atten­ tion, on his part, to a career in the arts. I would argue that the fine-arts career model has never been a very good fit for most of those working in clay. Parry fashioned a very different career for himself, one that fits the medium better and one that works better for an educator. His choices have given him the freedom and the opportunity to satisfy his intellectual curiosity and to do his own kind of work. Only now “Subdivision 21,” approximately 5 feet in length,1993, can we look back over the span of his by William Parry, Alfred Station, New York. career and understand its shape. ▲

66 CERAMICS MONTHLY David Atamanchuk by Joel Perron

Graceful, quiet and technically refined to the point of mystery, the work of David Atamanchuk, shown recently at the Canadian Embassy gal­ lery in Tokyo, raised many ques­ tions—both explicit and implicit. But, according to Atamanchuk, a Cana­ dian studying pottery in one form or another for some 15 years in Japan, there’s one question that is always asked: “How can a foreigner make such Japanese pots?” So what’s so Japanese about them? Perhaps it is the earthy colors, classi­ cally Asian shapes, or subtle balance of function with beauty. Besides a steady marketplace—as evidenced by the fact that 90% of his customers are Japanese—Japan also offers Atamanchuk the opportunities he seeks to visit some of the world’s most remarkable museum collections of Asian ceramics. It was at Idemitsu Museum of Art in Tokyo where in 1979 he began an in-depth study of everything from ancient Persian to Chinese and Japanese wares, from complete pots down to mere shards. After two years, he was allowed to actually handle virtually any of the museum’s pieces. He followed his study at Idemitsu with more ceramic research at the Tokyo University of Fine Arts in 1983. Undoubtedly, such a thorough aca­ demic grounding is what gives Ata­ manchuk’s pots their sturdy Asian classicism, whether the vessel be a Wheel-thrown vase, approximately 15 inches in height, Shigaraki clay fired in a saggar surrounded by sawdust, flower vase, incense burner, teabowl copper sulfate and a small amount of salt, $1700. or sake cup. But, there is more to his work than untiring emulation of Asian models. Some casual observers may overlook the contemporary flavor of his interpretations. The fact that he melds aesthetics spanning millennia reflects a certain necessary distance

March 1998 67 from tradition—bending it to his in­ dividual purpose. Walking through the lustered por­ celain vessels, earthy saggar-fired vases and craclde-glazed raku incense burn­ ers, one starts to get a sense of his persevering experimental nature and the flexibility that goes with it. The wisps of white floating across scorched, unglazed vases, for example, are an effect of firing with salt put into individual containers within the pots—a technique more limited and controlled than throwing salt into the kiln during the firing. Another technique involves the use of sawdust and copper sulfide in saggar firings. The resulting patterns are to a large extent unpredictable, but Atamanchuk can anticipate some red areas due to reduction. “Yakishime Vase,” approximately 18 inches in He also achieves a harder raku height, wheel-thrown Shigaraki clay, fired in a crackle glaze than most others found saggar surrounded by sawdust and copper in Japan because he uses a Canadian sulfate to 1250°C (2282°F), $1500. glaze recipe that melts at 1000°C (1832°F), or 100°C higher than the Japanese counterparts. His shapes for raku ware also break free of the usual Japanese restriction to teabowls and bowls for kaiseki ryori (a formal Japa­ nese cuisine). Incorporating his initials as a con­ spicuous design element is another practice setting Atamanchuk apart from traditional discretion in Japa­ nese ceramics. It also signifies his de­ sire for individuality and in this sense reflects an unabashed modernity. A

Raku incense burner, approximately 4 inches in height, wheel-thrown Shigaraki clay with colemanite glaze, $400. Atamanchuk’s crackle-glazed ware is fired on the top shelf of an electric kiln to 1000°C (1832°F), at which time the lid is opened and the temperature allowed to drop to 750°C (1382°F); the pot is then removed from the kiln, allowed to cool until pinging is heard, and smoked with newspaper. If desired, more crackle can be achieved by simply blowing on the cooling piece after it has been removed from the kiln.

68 CERAMICS MONTHLY Saggar-fired vase, approximately 11 inches in height, wheel-thrown Shigaraki clay, $1800, by David Atamanchuk, Atami-Shi, Shizuoka-Ken, Japan.

March 1998 Clayarters International by Carol J. Ratliff

E -mail and the Internet have allowed the studio potter to get in touch with others sharing like interests. This past summer, that contact evolved from online communications into a promo­ tion opportunity. But the “Clayarters 1st Annual International” was no vir­ tual reality. It was an actual show that generated exposure and sales for mem­ bers of Clayart. “Weeds,” 9½ inches in diameter, Best described as an online discus­ stoneware, Cone 10 reduction, $95, sion group, Clayart allows members to by Robert Santerre, Zionsville, Indiana. use e-mail to share their experiences with one another. It was founded in comes along. It also helps the members 1992 by Joe Molinaro (faculty artist at not to have to read the same answer to Eastern Kentucky University) and Rich­ the same question many times over. Ar­ ard Burkett (San Diego State Univer­ chives of previous posts can be found sity). Anyone can subscribe; simply send at: www.reference.com/cgi-bin/pn/ the following e-mail message to listarch?list=clayart@lsv. uky. edu listserv@lsv. uky.edu: Clayart member Marcia Selsor from SUBSCRIBE CLAYART Montana has noticed that “graphic arts YourFirstName YourLastName and pottery are the two most prevalent The volume of mail is high, averag­ mediums of artists on the Net. My “Suplicando,” approximately 14 inches ing about 45 to 60 messages a day. theory is that we clay people are already in height, terra-cotta figure, fired to That’s after Joe opted to moderate the technically dependent/involved to Cone 02 in an electric kiln, $45, list a couple of years ago in an attempt produce our work, and the Internet is by Francoise Melville, Port Edward, British Columbia, Canada. to keep it focused on daywork, as well just another level of technology to as filter out the influx of junk mail that deal with.”

“Brown Trout,” 17 inches in length, stoneware with underglazes, fired to Cone 6, $225, by Liz Dodge, Berkeley, California.

70 CERAMICS MONTHLY Oval server, 4 inches in height, wheel-thrown and altered terra cotta, with majolica decoration, $90, by Posey Bacopoulos, New York City.

Lidded box, approximately 7½ inches “Moon over Spirit Lake,” 9½ inches in height, handbuilt earthenware, terra in diameter, stoneware with magnesia Four-cup teapot with green ash and sigillata, aluminum-foil smoked, $70, glaze, colored glass, $50, by Don rutile glazes, $50, by Rusty Sieck, by Russel Fouts, Brussels, Belgium. Goodrich, Zion, Illinois. Pittsboro, North Carolina.

P. Jaine Jacobs of New Jersey also from her online. Both have outside em­ When it came time to make up bro­ appreciates “the irony of such a mod­ ployment. Celia works three-fourths chures, T-shirts and a web page to pro­ ern, high-tech resource as the Internet time as an admissions counselor at the mote this show, several participants being so widely used by folks practicing University of Southern Maine, and jumped in to offer some expert assis­ what is, no matter how evolved, an an­ Marshall is a physical-education teacher tance. Anne Fallis-Elliott in New York cient art. While were all technically de­ at Windham Primary School. did the design and layout of the bro­ pendent to some degree, and some of The idea for the show came about chure, which lists e-mail addresses and us may use the latest computer-con­ soon after Marshall discovered Clayart. trolled kiln, others of us in Clayart are He had been known to joke with Celia happy to raku or smoke our pots with about their isolated country home some­ some wood in a pit. The broad range of day becoming the art and pottery capi- techniques and potters in Clayart em­ tol of the world, but actually there was a phasizes how varied and thus expressive need to feel connected. our clay medium is.” The call for participants went out on The idea to mount a show of works Clayart around the first of the year. made by members of Clayart was One by one, e-mail replies came in; Marshall Talbotts. He had been telling most were from the U.S., but Clayart the group in his e-mail posts how he members from Canada, Belgium and had been building a gallery from the the Philippines also contacted Marshall. foundation up. Four years ago, he had a The participant selection was more of a few tomatoes from his garden and a screening process than the typical little of his wife Celias pottery for sale jurying. With the help of snail mail at the end of his drive. Today, he sells (U.S. postal service), we sent him pho­ bushels of tomatoes, some maple syrup tos, slides, resumes, brochures and busi­ and lots of pots. ness cards. He gave us weekly updates, The artist in the family is Celia, with with introductions to each new partici­ “Torso Vase,” 12 inches in height, Marshall serving a support role. Of pant. We could feel his excitement grow­ thrown and altered stoneware, multiple course, he has been accused of chaining ing with each new post, and it became glazes and firings, $150, by Jon her to her wheel, because we rarely hear contagious. Pettyjohn, Manila, Philippines.

March 1998 71 Raku vessel from the “Quiet Fire Series,” 8 inches in height, wheel thrown and rethrown, multiple slips and silicaceous lacquers, $2400, Vase with horse-hair carbon markings, by Harvey Sadow Jr., Jupiter, Florida. 10 inches in height, wheel thrown, $98, by Carol Ratliff, San Diego, California.

“Black Oval Teapots,” to 12¾ inches in height, wheel thrown and altered, with mixed wood ash glaze, fired in an electric kiln to Cone 6 or Cone 7, $150 and $130, by Anne Fallis-Elliott, New York City.

Casserole, 6 inches in height, stoneware, Batter bowl, 7 inches in height, wheel thrown and altered, fired to Cone 6, white stoneware, with brushed blue slip, $55, by Emily Pearlman, New York City. Shino-type glaze and brushed iron oxide highlights, $38, by Rick Sherman, San Jose, California.

“Beehive Vase,” 10 inches in height, coil-built stoneware, fired to Cone 10 in reduction, $450, by Celia Talbott, Naples, Maine. “Down on Crooked Creek,” 18 inches high, raku-fired slab, $1000 for set of two, by Marcia Selsor, Billings, Montana.

72 CERAMICS MONTHLY Colored clay pitcher, 9 inches in height, fired to Cone 8 “Thunder and Rain,”8 1/4 inches high, slab built, with wood, in an electric kiln, $120, by Don Hoskisson, Dallas, Oregon beads, stibnite, $175, by Valice Raffi, Sacramento, California.

a general description of each lery and surrounding area in potter’s work. an e-mail post: “Marshall and As Anne observed, “Right Celia’s new gallery space con­ from the start, Clayart fos­ sists of a separate building on tered an atmosphere of help­ the same property as their ing, and I think that’s what home. It is located on an im­ got the show rolling—every­ portant secondary road, one volunteered something. Route 114, leading from I had a good time working Naples, Maine, along the on different designs and flow­ north side of Sebago Lake ing in text and names that toward the greater Portland changed as the idea grew. I area. Maine Official Business liked capturing type on line Directory signs point the way. and styling; not having to “As you get close to the type any of it myself, espe­ gallery, you can see flags cially anyone’s name and ad­ (open, U.S, Canada) from dress, was very appealing. the road, as well as large pieces Besides getting to know pot­ of pottery strategically placed ters from all over a little bit, I on stumps along the way. As also got to know my across- Fluted vase, 5 inches in height, with Shino glaze, $75, you pull into the driveway, the-street neighbors. And this by John Baymore, Wilton, New Hampshire, Celia’s pottery is clearly vis­ was for a show in Maine!” ible, displayed along with As everything fell into place, it was adventure is a source of amusement, large racks of moose antlers (sheds) on truly amazing to see so much coopera- excitement and hope.” the front porch of the gallery. Large tion between people who didn’t know The “Clayarters 1st Annual Interna- picture windows on either side of the one another. Harvey Sadow from Florida tional” opened in the new gallery on door allow tantalizing glimpses of the noted, “The idea that so many diverse the afternoon of June 25. Patsy Catsos, pottery inside. people can be in agreement to take posi- also from Maine, helped the Talbotts “As you walk in the door, your eye tive action, linked only by distilled com- set up and prepare for business. She first focuses on the low shelving in the munication (e-mail) and a spirit of sent an excellent description of the gal­ center of the room. A sculpture of a

March 1998 73 brook trout by Liz Dodge [which sold Selling work in any show can always on one of the first days of the show] is be a gamble. The juror or curator se­ flanked by the colorful vases by Robert lects your piece and you spend the Santerre. Your eye then roams around money to ship, but if the right person the perimeter of the room, where large doesn’t see that piece, it is shipped back built-in shelves display the majority of right after the show closes, usually one the pottery. There is some open wall month later. Most of us do shows for space as well, where wall-mounted ce­ the exposure, not for direct income. ramics and a few paintings are on dis­ This show was a little different in play. Lighting is provided by six large that it was scheduled to run from June windows that wrap around the room. to Labor Day, guaranteeing maximum Track lighting is also available to reach exposure to tourists as well as local pa­ into the recesses of the shelves. The trons. Also, because it was held in a flooring, believe it or not, is cherry, commercial gallery, the pieces went out which enriches the atmosphere.” as they were sold. We heard about sales Some of the 40 participants in this as they happened via e-mail, and re­ show are just starting out, while others placement pieces were often requested. are “old-timers” with years of experi­ Overcoming her fear of shipping losses, ence, such as John Baymore of New Liz Dodge from California waited out Hampshire, who was on the “Comput­ the UPS strike to send a replacement ers in the Studio” panel at the 1984 for the trout that had sold shortly after NCECA (National Council on Educa­ the show opened. She was delighted to tion for the Ceramic Arts) conference, “Potted Palm,” 22 inches in height, learn that “it is possible to ship sculp­ where he “proposed the eventual estab­ handbuilt, fired to Cone 04, $250, ture across the U.S. and have it arrive in lishment of an online potters informa­ by Beverly Crist, Dallas, Texas. one piece.” tion center with e-mail database Altogether, with more than 500 visi­ functions. What do you know,” he says. that the world marches on, in spite of tors to the gallery, the show realized “Here we are!” our tendency/ability to hang on to an sales of approximately $5000 (not in­ Tom Gray from North Carolina ancient art form. Technology is not cluding Celia’s sales). Not bad for a new states that his hope for this show “is something to be afraid of, but should gallery on a secondary road in the north­ that potters around the country realize be utilized and harnessed.” east corner of the country. ▲

“Oil Ewer,” 4½ inches high, stoneware, with soda vapor glaze, $16, by Patrick Veerkamp, Georgetown, Texas.

Thrown and incised stoneware bowl, 11 inches in height, with satin-black- accented grooves and saturated-iron glaze, Cone 10 reduction fired, $80, by Gail Dapogny, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

“Earth Bowl,” 15 inches in diameter, handbuilt terra cotta, with black “Don’t Touch My Hat,” 9 inches high, underglaze wash, $70, by Layna thrown, altered and assembled Portugal, Evanston, Illinois. porcelain, ash glazed, soda fired, $250, by John Britt, Dallas, Texas.

74 CERAMICS MONTHLY Inspirations by Eileen P. Goldenberg

“Three-Legged Teapots with Rubber Handles,” 21 inches in height, $235 each.

While on vacation in Arizona sev­ very interested in symbols and pat­ eral years ago, I was fortunate to terns that occur concurrently in dif­ visit the Betatakin ruins—some ferent cultures. Take the spiral, for 130 rooms built into a 450-foot- example. It started out as a snake, high alcove by the Anasazi—and was considered sacred by many cultures, amazed at this feat. I wondered what representing creation and power. It the small square windows in the far is universal in its occurrence in art upper reaches had been used for. around the world and across time. Some time later, I noticed small The spiral and other universal square cutouts appearing in my work, symbols are often incorporated in obviously inspired by those mysteri­ sgraffito decoration on my coffee ous Anasazi windows. bowls, tumblers and vases. Many of Since then, I have read about these vessels also have three lines many different tribes and civiliza­ carved into the rim. One day, while tions, both ancient and contempo­ thinking about my childhood, I re­ rary. These include Native American, membered an experience in my Australian Aborigine, Eskimo, East­ “Tall Vessel,” 14 inches in height, porcelain father’s deli in Brooklyn. I must have ern European, Cycladic, African, Ha­ with sgraffito lines through black slip, $250. been 7 or 8 years old, big enough to waiian and Goddess cultures. I am get up on the stool at the counter

March 1998 75 and spin around on my belly at light­ rectly on raw clay is not possible, be­ Contrast has always been an inter­ ning speed (or so I thought). The seat cause they tend to flake off.) By taking a esting concept to me, and I love to had a red vinyl cover with three lines on sharp tool and carving through the combine unorthodox materials with my the chrome side. Only recently did I slightly soft slip/glaze, the white clay daywork. One of my favorite pastimes realize that this is where the three lines underneath is exposed. Its like carving is wandering around hardware stores on my work come from. It is a pattern through butter. looking for potential handle possibili­ that stored itself in my memory and In combination with the black-and- ties. Recently, I have been building tea­ rematerialized in my work. white sgraffito decoration, I also use pots with rubber and copper handles. From the time I spent reading books textures—my current favorite being People are often surprised, but usually and visiting art galleries and museums, small bumps. Such bumps have come delighted to find such an unusual com­ forms emerge, colors blend and shapes and gone in my work. I’ve seen them bination. Someone once called a rubber congeal. I let them all evolve in my on Japanese iron teapots, buildings and handle a “safety handle,” because it wont sketchbooks, then bring these sketches some plants. When glazed in matt jade, get hot or break. to the studio and make clay prototypes. the bumpy surfaces almost look like Inspiration can come from many Sometimes, I also create a form on the metal from medieval times. places—a spinning stool in a deli, win­ wheel without a sketch. It is a very Making glazes bubble by adding sili­ dows in an ancient Anasazi ruin, arti­ tactile method of creating that merges con carbide yields another texture. It facts in museums, travel and study of clay, ideas and my hands. reminds me of lava flows seen in Ha­ other cultures. The trick is to assimilate The sgraffito technique permits me waii, erupting from the ground, the everything, then push your imagina­ to draw directly on the clay, creating a glowing red, hot liquid oozing into the tion and experiment with new shapes textured surface. Basically, I begin by sea, creating huge steam clouds and boil­ and decorations. Art is vital to civiliza­ dipping the area I want to decorate in a ing water. A crimson glaze, inside a black tion, to our emotional expression, to black slip/glaze. (Using most glazes di­ lava-glazed bowl, evokes Pele. our need to satisfy our creative selves. ▲

“Coffee/Tea Bowls,” 4 inches in height, $37 each, by Eileen Goldenberg, San Francisco.

76 CERAMICS MONTHLY

March 31 entry deadline Dieulefit, France “International Ceramic Com­ Call for Entries Mino, Japan “The 5 th International Ceramics petition: The Ceramic Phone Booth” (May 30- Competition ’98 Mino, Japan” (October 23- August 31). Juried from drawings of the booth at Application Deadline for Exhibitions, November 3), in two categories: ceramics design 1:5 scale and/or other visual support needed for Fairs, Festivals and Sales and ceramic art. Juried from actual works. Jurors, presentation, plus resume. Works should not ex­ ceramics design: Yusuke Aida, Alan Chan, Kazuo ceed 1100 pounds, 7½ feet in height or 13 square Kimura, Katherine McCoy, Timo Sarpaneve, feet. Four finalist awards of US$300; winner will Ettore Sottsass and Ikko Tanaka. Jurors, ceramic receive US$2500 at completion of project in International Exhibitions arts: Federico Bonaldi, Claudi Casanovas, Masako Provence. No entry fee. Contact Maison de la Hayashi, Jun Kaneko, Kenji Kaneko, Takuo Kato March 15 entry deadline Terre Parc de la Baume, 26220 Dieulefit; e-mail and Janet Mansfield. Awards (per category): Grand [email protected] or see website at Monterrey, Mexico “Second Biennial of Art Prize, 3 million yen (approximately US$25,000), in Ceramics” (opens August 5), open to works less www.ceramic.com/Maison.Terre.Dieulefit/ plus a domestic or foreign study trip; gold award, June 1 entry deadline than 70 centimeters (approximately 27 inches) in 1 million yen (approximately US$8200); two any direction. Juried from 6 slides (from different Mashiko, Japan “The 2nd Mashiko Ceramics silver awards, 500,000 yen (approximately angles) per entry; up to 2 entries. For further Competition ’98” (October 4-November 29). US$4100); 5 bronze, 300,000 yen (approximately information, contact the Organizing Committee, Juried from actual works. Jurors: master potters US$2460); and 7 special judges’ awards, 200,000 Hidalgo #1719Pte., Col. Obispado, Monterrey, Tatsuzo Shimaoka, Shinsaku Hamada, Hideyuki yen (approximately US$1640). For further infor­ N.L., C.P. 64080; telephone (8) 346-1203 or Hayashi, Ryusaku Miwa; plus art critics Hiroshi mation, contact International Ceramics Festival fax (8) 346-1304. Aoki, Mitsuhiko Hasebe, Kenji Kaneko and ’98 Mino, Japan, Executive Committee Office, 2- March 20 entry deadline Hiroshi Mizuo. No fee. Awards: Shoji Hamada 15 Hinode-machi, Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture Award and Shoji Kamoda Award, each, 1,000,000 World Wide Web “Silverhawk Fine Crafts 507; telephone (81) 572-22-1111, fax (81) 572- yen (approximately US$7800), plus judges’ spe­ Internet Exhibition” (Spring). Juried from 3 slides. 25-3400, or e-mail [email protected] cial awards, 100,000 yen (approximately US$780). Fee: $ 15. Send#l0 SASE to Silverhawk, PO Drawer May 15 entry deadline Contact Secretariat, Mashiko International Pot­ LLL, Taos, NM 87571. Naples, Maine “101 Clayart Mugs” (June 25- tery Contest Executive Committee, 2030 O-aza September 7), open to potters who subscribe to Mashiko, Mashiko-Machi, Haga-Gun, Tochigi- For a free listing, please submit informa­ Clayart. Juried from slides, photos, actual works Ken 321-42; or fax (81) 285-72-6430. tion on juried exhibitions, fairs, festivals or digital files. Entry fee: $10 (refunded if not July 25 entry deadline and sales at least four months before the selected). Contact Marshall Talbott, c/o Pottery Sandton, South AJrica “1998 National Ceram­ event’s entry deadline (add one month forBy Celia, PO Box 4116, Naples 04055; telephone ics Biennale” (September 18-October 10), open listings in July and two months for those in (207) 693-6100 or e-mail [email protected] to artists around the world. Juried from 3 slides. August). Regional exhibitions must be Naples, Maine “Second Annual Clayarters In­ Awards: first place, R10,000 (approximately open to more than one state. Mail to Callternational” (June 25-September 7), open to art­ US$2024); Altech Sculpture Award, R5000 (ap­ for Entries, Ceramics Monthly, PO Box ists who subscribe to Clayart. Juried from slides, proximately US$1012); 5 merit awards, R1000 6102, Westerville, OH 43086-6102, e-mail photos, actual works or digital files. Contact (approximately US$200) each; best New Signa­ to [email protected] or fax Marshall Talbott, c/o Pottery By Celia, PO Box ture, R1000; best handwork, R500 (approximately to (614) 891-8960. 4116, Naples 04055; telephone (207) 693-6100 US$100); best thrown piece, R500. Contact the or e-mail [email protected] Association of Potters of Southern Africa, 1998

78 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 79 Columbus Convention Center, in conjunction March 19 entry deadline Call for Entries with the National Council on Education for the Tampa, Florida “Artful Toys” (April 18-June Ceramic Arts (NCECA) 1999 conference. No en­ 10). Juried from 3 slides (with SASE). Entry fee: try fee. Juried from slides. Cash awards. Color $25; members, $18. Commission: 40%. For fur­ National Ceramics Biennale, PO Box 184, Florida catalog. For prospectus, contact CM Interna­ ther information, contact Artists Unlimited, The Hills 1716, Gauteng, R. S. A.; or telephone/fax tional Competition, PO Box 6102, Westerville, Channel District, 223 N. 12th St., Tampa 33602; Gail de Klerk, (27) 673-3748 or telephone Cynthia OH 43086-6102; fax (614) 891-8960; or down­ or telephone (813) 229-5958. McAlpine (27) 768-5341, fax (27) 768-5342. load from www.ceramicsmonthly.org March 23 entry deadline August 28 entry deadline Chicago, Illinois Public artworks for the Mid­ Zanesville, Ohio “1998 International Ceram­ United States Exhibitions way Airport Terminal Building Complex (perma­ ists Invitational Biennial” (October 25—Novem­ nent). Juried from 20 slides, resume, statement ber 29). Juried from slides. For prospectus, send March 7 entry deadline about qualifications and prior experience with business-size SASE to Zanesville Art Center, 620 Lincoln, California “Feats of Clay XI” (May comparable projects, support materials. Contact Military Rd., Zanesville 43701. 16-June 7). Juried from slides. Fee: $10 per entry; the Public Art Program, Midway Airport Project, September 30 entry deadline up to 3 entries. Juror: Clayton Bailey. Awards: Dept, of Cultural Affairs, 78 E. Washington St., Columbus, Ohio “Ceramics Monthly Interna­ over $9000 in place, merit and purchase. For Chicago 60602; or telephone (312) 744-7487. tional Competition” (March 15-21, 1999), open prospectus, send legal-sizeSASE to Lincoln Arts, March 25 entry deadline to utilitarian and sculptural ceramics. Location: PO Box 1166, Lincoln 95648. Greensburg and Youngwood, Pennsylvania “Westmoreland Art Nationals” (May 31-June 14 and July 2-5). Juried from slides. Awards: $23,000 in purchase prizes; best of each show, $700; best of both shows, $1000. Send legal-size SASE with 55

Regional Exhibitions April 24 entry deadline Gatlinburg, Tennessee “Spotlight ’98” (August 13—October 24, then traveling), open to artists

80 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 81 Call for Entries

over 18 residing in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Caro­ lina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. J uried from slides of up to 3 works. Juror: David McFadden, chief curator, American Craft Museum, New York City. Entry fee: $20. Cash and merit awards. For entry form, send SASE to Billi R. S. Rothove, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, PO Box 567, Gatlinburg 37738; or telephone (423) 436-5860. May 1 entry deadline Kingston, Rhode Island “Earthworks: Open Juried Clay Annual” (May 7-23), open to current and former residents (or students) of Rhode Is­ land. Juried from work. Juror: Robert Green. Fee: $8 per entry; up to 6 entries. Cash awards. For prospectus, send #10 SASE to Earthworks, South County Art Association, 2587 Kingstown Rd., Kingston 02881. Bellingham, Washington “Eighteenth Annual Northwest International Art Competition” Quly lO-October 10), open to artists residing in Ore­ gon, Washington, and British Columbia, Canada. Juried from slides. Jurors: Linda Stevens Connor and Robbie Conal. Fee: $8 per entry; up to 3 entries. For application, send SASE to Allied Arts of Whatcom County, PO Box2584, Bellingham 98227.

Fairs, Festivals and Sales March 9 entry deadline Guilford, Connecticut “Guilford Handcraft Exposition” Quly 16-18). Juried from 5 slides. Entry fee: $20. Booth fee: $360 or $410 for a 10x12-foot space. Jurors: Stephen Fabrico, ce­ ramist, Bloomington, New York; Arthur Grohe, owner, Signature Gallery, Mashpee, Massachu­ setts; Frances Kelly, executive director, Interlaken School of Art, Stockbridge, Massachusetts; Peter Petrochko, wood artist, Oxford, Connecticut; and Sue Sachs, metal and jewelry artist, Parsippany, New Jersey. For application, send SASE to 41st Guilford Handcraft Exposition, PO Box 589, Guilford 06437; or, for further information, tele­ phone (203) 453-5947. London, England “ 19th Chelsea Crafts Fair” (October 13—25). Juried from 4 slides. For appli­ cation, contact the Sales Development Unit, Crafts Council, 44a Pentonville Rd., London N1 9BY. March 11 entry deadline Madison, Wisconsin “Art Fair on the Square” (July 11-12). Juried from slides. Entry fee: $25. Booth fee: $275. No commission. Contact the Madison Art Center, 211 State St., Madison 53703; or telephone (608) 257-0158. March 13 entry deadline Findlay, Ohio “Findlay Area Arts Festival” (June 6—7). Juried from 3 slides of work plus resume and cover letter describing your work (with SASE). Fee: $5. Booth fee: $60 for a 10x10- foot, open space; $85 for a 7x8 sheltered space. Cash awards. Contact Findlay Area Arts Council, 112 W. Front St., Findlay 45840; or telephone (419) 422-3412, fax (419) 422-2765. March 15 entry deadline Hamden, Connecticut “Hamden Arts Com­ mission Arts and Crafts Festival” (May 2). Juried from photos or slides. Booth fee: $35. Awards. Contact Mimsie Coleman, Hamden Arts Com­ mission, 2901 Dixwell Ave., Hamden 06517; or telephone (203) 287-2546. Livonia, Michigan “22nd Annual Livonia Arts Festival” (June 13-14). Juried from 4 slides of work plus 1 of display (with SASE). Booth fee: $125 for a 12x14-foot space. No commission.

82 CERAMICS MONTHLY

Call for Entries April 6 entry deadline application, contact the Hand Workshop, 1812 Chautauqua, New York “Chautauqua Crafts W. Main St., Richmond 23220; telephone (804) Alliance” (July 10-12 and/or August 7-9). Juried 353-0094 or fax (804) 353-8018. from 3 slides of work plus 1 of booth. Entry fee: May 5 entry deadline Cash awards. Contact Livonia Arts Commission, $10 per show. Booth fee: $175 per show. For Tampa Bay, Florida “ACC Craft Show Tampa 33000 Civic Center Dr., Livonia 48154. prospectus, send business-sizeSASE to Devon Tay­ Bay” (December 4-6). Juried from slides. Contact Pontiac, Michigan “Art Pontiac” (June 13- lor, Festivals Director, Chautauqua Crafts Alli­ the American Craft Council, (800) 836-3470. 14). J uried from 4 slides of work plus 1 of display ance, PO Box 89, Mayville, NY 14757-0089. Charlotte, North Carolina “ACC Craft Show (with SASE). Entry fee: $25. Booth fee: $230 for a April 7 entry deadline Charlotte” (December 11-13). Juried from slides. 10x15-foot space, $260 fora 10x20. No commis­ Boston, Massachusetts “Crafts at the Castle” For further information, contact the American sion. Contact Art Pontiac, PO Box 430022, (December 2-6). Juried from 5 slides. Entry fee: Craft Council, (800) 836-3470. Pontiac 48343; telephone (313) 783-3830 or fax $25. Booth fee: $550-$850 for an 8x10- or Bellevue, Washington “Second Annual Bellevue (313) 783-3852. 10x10-foot space. For application, send name Showcase of Fine Crafts” (September 18-20). March 31 entry deadline and address to Gretchen Keyworth, Crafts at the Juried from slides. Contact the American Craft Clinton, Iowa “Art in the Park” (June 20—21). Castle, Family Service of Greater Boston, 34½ Council, (800) 836-3470. Juried from 4 slides of work plus 1 of display. Beacon St., Boston 02108; or fax (617) 523-3034. June 1 entry deadline Entry fee: $5. Booth fee: $75 for a 12xl2-foot April 10 entry deadline Tampa, Florida “CraftArt ’98 Outdoor Fine space. No commission. Cash awards. For prospec­ Staten Island, New York “First Annual Out-of- Craft Festival” (October 17-18). Juried from 3 tus, send SASE to Art in the Park, Box 2 i 64, Hand Fine Craft and Performance Festival” (Oc­ slides of work plus 1 of booth. Entry fee: $15. Clinton 52733; or telephone Carol Glahn (319) tober 16-18). Juried from 5 slides. For applica­ Booth fee: $185 for a 12x12- or 12x15-foot 259-8308. tion, send SASE to Snug Harbor Cultural Center space. Juror: Lloyd Herman, former director, Portland, Oregon “Art in the Pearl” (Septem­ Crafts Fair, Att: Alison Johnson, Out-of-Hand Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. For ber 5—7). Juried from slides. Contact Art in the Director, 1000 Richmond Terr., Staten Island application, send large SASE to Florida Craftsmen, Pearl, PO Box 18053, Portland 97218; or tele­ 10301; or telephone (718) 448-2500. Inc., 501 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, FL 33701; phone (503) 722-9017. April 15 entry deadline or telephone (813) 821-7391. April 1 entry deadline Evergreen, Colorado “32nd Annual Evergreen Mason City, Iowa “MacNider Museum Out­ Spokane, Washington “Inland Craft Warnings” Arts Festival” (August 22-23). Juried from 4 door Art Market” (August 23). Juried from up to (September 25—27). Juried from 5 slides and resume slides of work plus 1 of display. For application, 5 slides. Fee: $40. Cash awards. Contact Charles (with SASE). No entry fee. For application, send contact Evergreen Artists’ Association, Danna H. MacNider Museum, 303 Second St., SE, Mason business-sizeSASE to G. Freuen, Inland Craft Warn­ Cuin, PO Box 1511, Evergreen 80437; or tele­ City 50401; or telephone (515) 421-3666. ings, 15205 Shady Slope Rd., Spokane 99208. phone Danna Cuin (303) 674-5521. August 7 entry deadline Sheboygan, Wisconsin “28th Annual Outdoor May 1 entry deadline Zanesville, Ohio “Zanesville Art Center Out­ Arts Festival” (July 18-19). Juried from 5 slides. Richmond, Virginia “34th Annual Hand Work­ door Festival” (September 19). Juried from slides. Entry fee: $17. Booth fee: $80 for a 10x10-foot shop Art Center’s Craft and Design Show” (No­ Entry fee: $10. Exhibitor’s fee: $25. No commis­ space. Contact John Michael Kohler Arts Center, vember 13-15). Juried from 5 slides. Entry fee: sion. Awards. For prospectus, send business-size PO Box 489, Sheboygan 53082-0489; or tele­ $15. Booth fee: $325 for a lOxlO-foot space, SASE to Zanesville Art Center Festival Committee, phone (920) 458-6144. $490 for a 10x15, or $650 for a 10x20. For 620 Military Rd., Zanesville 43701.

84 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 85 bit fits the holes just right, so the job can be Suggestions done quickly and easily.—Lili Krakowski, From Readers Constableville, N. Y.

Flexible Ribs Rolling-Pin Rack Unwanted compact disks make good Because of space lim itations, the quest toflexible ribs. Cut easily with a pair of scissors, hang objects on the wall of our studio never they have the advantage of being larger than ends. To get the rolling pins into an area the frequently cited credit cards.—Terry Long, where the students could use them more Marton cum Grafton, York, U.K.

Kiln Loading Vision Aid I use a small hand mirror to help load glazed ware. By extending it over placed pieces, I can clearly see whether pieces are touching or if they can be moved closer together. A stick attached to the handle of the mirror helps me extend my visual check into extremely inaccessible places.—Johanna Shealy, Plantation, Fla.

Removing Stuck Lids When trying to remove a stuck lid after firing, try putting the piece in a microwave along with a cup of water. Two minutes on high is usually sufficient to heat the pot enough to tap the lid free.—Karen Labarga, Plantation, Fla.

Better Than Wax To get a clean line while glazing your ware, use art masking fluid instead of wax often and return them clean, we built the rackresist. It can be found in the watercolor shown here from scraps of wood in a matter section of your local art store. Any unwanted of an hour or less and bolted it to the wall.—drips can be easily peeled off (rather than Mona Arritt, Huntington, W.Va. trying to incorporate the splash mark into the design). It can also be peeled off so that Protecting Cracked Skin another color can be applied in the masked When the skin on my fingers cracks in area. Or it can be left intact to burn off in the cooler weather, I found that Band-Aids are firing. Another great advantage is that it too thick and clumsy, and fall off easily whenwashes out of brushes.—Suzy Mitchell, wet. A better product is “micropore” tape, Watsonville, Calif. found in the same section at local drugstores. It fits closely to the skin and will stay on all Throwing Aid day, allowing the skin to heal while I work.— I have been throwing since 1971 and had Ginnie Shaknis, Rego Park, N. Y tried for years to find something to throw porcelain with that would allow me to work Hole Template longer, when I decided to try beer. (I teach at Dried herbs and seasonings come in jars a local college and was able to get permission.) with perforated inner plastic lids that make It offers just enough lubrication to reduce excellent templates for the holes for teapot friction and extend throwing time. The clay spout strainers or colanders. A ½-inch drill absorbs minimal water so I can go bigger. Beer’s great for alleviating cracking on dry hands too. Share your ideas with others.Ceramics I buy the cheap stuff, but not light beer. It Monthly will pay $10 for each one published. works well on all clays. The only drawback is Suggestions are welcome individually or inthe smell.—-Janet Shipka, Eagle, Colo. quantity. Include a drawing or photograph to illustrate your idea and we will add $10 to theAccelerated Cutting payment. Mail toCeramics Monthly, PO Box A strand of wire from a discarded car/ 6102, Westerville, Ohio 43086-6102, e-mail motorcycle accelerator cable makes an excel­ to [email protected] or fax to lent cut-off wire. Simply secure the ends to (614) 891-8960. two pieces of wood with small nails, then

86 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 87 Suggestions

straighten by running the wire across the edge of any strong object. The result is a tough cut-off wire. I’ve been using mine for many years now.—Emman Okunna, Awka, Nigeria

Sock It to Me To beat the heat of wood firing during south Georgia summers, we fill regular (clean) cotton socks with crushed ice, knot the top and hang them at the back of our necks. They sit there fairly well as we do our chores— within a couple of minutes, we forget they are there. By combining the “sock o’ ice” with constant guzzlement of cold water and sports drinks, as well as fresh fruits and whole-grain bread, we prevent the cramping and halluci­ nations characteristic of stokers’ fatigue.— Mike Henshaw, Cairo, Ga.

Realistic Test Tiles For more realistic glaze test tiles, throw miniature pots off the hump, then incise, stamp or texture the exteriors. Pierce a small hole near the lip and inscribe the clay name or number on the bottom. After the glaze firing,

the small test pot (or several pots) can be strung and hung on the glaze bucket handle for results at a glance. No more searching through a test-tile box.—Doris Coursen, Stone Ridge, NY.

Repairing Cracked Greenware To repair greenware cracks, use a soft bristled brush dipped in vinegar to soak the area. Then press paper clay (mixed to a creamy consistency with a solution of 5 parts water and 1 part sodium silicate) into the crack with a flat wooden modeling tool. After 30 minutes, compress again using the same wooden tool. Allow to dry completely before bisque firing.—-Jake Black, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada

88 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 89 [email protected] or see website Calendar www.ceramicart.com.au Canada, Alberta, Edmonton May 21-24 “Fire­ Events to Attend—Conferences, works ’98” will include keynote speaker Janet Exhibitions, Workshops, Fairs Mansfield, plus guest artists Ryan Cameron, John Chalke, Jun Kaneko, Warren MacKenzie, Frederick Olsen, Diane Sullivan, Barbara Tipton and William Truchon. A pre-seminar kiln- building workshop will also be held May 18- Conferences 21. For further information, contact Fine Arts, Faculty of Extension, University of Alberta, 93 California, Davis April 4-5 The “9th Annual University Campus NW, Edmonton T6G 2T4; California Conference for the Advancement of telephone (403) 492-3034 or 492-3093, e-mail Ceramic Art” will include lectures, panel discus­ [email protected] or see website at www. sions, slide presentations, demonstrations and extension, ualberta.ca/finearts/fireworks tours. Presenters include Clayton Bailey, Stephen Canada, Ontario, Mississauga May 22—24 Braun, Fiona Fell, Marc Lancet, Annabeth Rosen, “Different Paths,” annual conference of Fu­ Esther Shimazu, Irv Tepper and Patti Warashina. sion: The Ontario Clay and Glass Association, Fee: $150/2 days, $75/1 day; students, $100/2 will include workshops with Peter Powning and days, $50/1 day. Registration deadline: March 31. Chris Staley, panel discussion, slide presenta­ For further information, contact John Natsoulas tions, glaze consultations with Ron Roy, exhibi­ Gallery, (530) 756-3938. tion. Fee: Can$240 (approximately US$160), in­ North Carolina, Charlotte May 29-30 “Cer- cludes 1-year membership; students/seniors, MATECH ’98” will include sessions on clays, Can$205 (approximately US$140); members, glazes, kilns and firing, molds and pressing. Con­ Can$185 (approximately US$125); student/se­ tact CerMA, PO Box 2188, Zanesville, OH 43702- nior members, Can$ 165 (approximately US$110). 2188; telephone (740) 452-4541, fax (740) 452- Late fee of Can$25 (approximately US$15) after 2552, e-mail [email protected] or website April 30. Contact Fusion: The Ontario Clay and http://www.offinger.com/cermatech Glass Association, Gardener’s Cottage, 225 Con­ Ohio, Cincinnati May 3—6 The American Ce­ federation Dr., Scarborough, Ontario MIG 1B2; ramic Society’s “100th Annual Meeting and Ex­ telephone (416) 438-8946, fax (416) 438-0192 or position.” For further information, contact The e-mail [email protected] American Ceramic Society, PO Box 6136, England, Preston September 4—6 “International Westerville, OH 43086-6136; telephone (614) Festival of Ceramics: Fired Print” will include dem­ 890-4700, e-mail [email protected] or see website onstrations, lectures and workshops by Greg Bell, www.acers.org Neil Brownsword, Maria Geszler, Juliette Goddard, Ohio, Dayton May 27-30 “First Annual Artists Jefford Horrigan, Mo Jupp, Les Lawrence, Patrick Marketing and Skills Development Conference,” King, Philomena Pretzell and Helen Talbot. Con­ designed for beginning and intermediate artists, tact Caroline Till, 21 Hamilton Way, Acomb, York, although all artists may attend. Contact the Artists Y02 4LE, United Kingdom. Marketing and Skills Development Conference, Lithuania, Panevezys July 26—31 “Panevezys In­ do DeEarnest McLemore, Riverbend Art Center, ternational Symposium 10th Anniversary Con­ 1301 E. Siebenthaler Ave., Dayton 45414; or ference” will include demonstrations and slide telephone (937) 278-0656. lectures by Romualdas Aleliunas, Vilija Bal- Texas, Fort Worth March 25-28 “NCECA ’98— ciuniene, Eugenijus Cibinskas, Nerute Ciuksiene, 32nd Annual Conference: Heroes, Icons, His­ Philip Cornelius, Greg Daly, Luisa Figini, Makoto tory, Memory” will include keynote speech “In Hatori, Nina Hole, Yih-Wen Kuo, Juozas Praise of Heroes at Work in the Clay” by folklor­ Lebednykas, Peteris Martinsons, Hans Meeuwsen, ist/ author Henry Glassie; and closing lecture “The Fred Olsen, Thomas Orr, Egidijus Radvenskas, Concrete Culture and the Electronic Culture” by Giancario Scapin, Mitsuo Shoji and Rimas painter/Newsweek art critic Peter Plagens. Also VisGirda. Also includes exhibitions. Contact includes demonstrations, slide presentations, panel Jolanta Lebednykiene, Director, Panevezys Civic discussions and exhibitions. For further informa­ Gallery, Respublikos 3, 5319 Panevezys; or fax tion, contact Regina Brown, Executive Secretary, (370) 542-4721. NCECA, PO Box 1677, Bandon, OR; telephone Taiwan, Taipei June 14—July 2 “The Chinese (800) 99-NCECA. Experience: Ceramic Art and Symposium.” Lim­ Australia, Gulgong May 7—13 “Hyperclay ited registration; deadline: April 1. For further Gulgong 1998” will include hands-on workshops information, telephone the Northern Illinois Uni­ in making pottery, sculpture and installations, versity Study Abroad Office (815) 753-0700 or building and firing the Red Bellied Black, plus Professor Yih-Wen Kuo (815) 753-4702. exhibitions and tours. Presenters include Dan Anderson, Claude Champy, Ross Mitchell-Anyon, Solo Exhibitions Alan Peascod, Don Reitz (keynote speaker), Gabriele Schnitzenbaumer, Sandra Taylor and Arizona, Phoenix through April 19 Ah Leon ce­ Masamichi Yoshikawa. For further information, ramic bridge; at the Phoenix Art Museum,1625 contact Ceramics Art and Perception, 35 William N. Central Ave. St., Paddington, NSW, 2021, Australia; telephone Arizona, Tempe through April 19 Richard Shaw; 02 9361 5286, fax 02 9361 5402, e-mail at Tempe Arts Center, 54 W. First St. Arkansas, Little Rock through March 29 Jeri Au; at the Arkansas Arts Center, MacArthur Park, For a free listing, submit announcements of Ninth and Commerce. conferences, exhibitions, workshops and ju­ California, Rancho Palos Verdes through March 1 ried fairs at least two months before the Len Rubenstein, “The Journey,” ceramics, sculp­ month of opening. Add one month for list­ture and photography; at the Palos Verdes Art ings in July; two months for those in August. Center, 5504 W. Crestridge Rd. Mail to Calendar, Ceramics Monthly, PO Box California, San FranciscoMarch 31-May 2 Rich­ 6102, Westerville, OH 43086-6102, e-mail to ard Shaw, porcelain sculpture; at Braunstein/Quay [email protected] or fax to Gallery, 250 Sutter St. (614)891-8960. April 1—14 Bonita Cohn, “Dances with Fire,”

90 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 91 mental stoneware vessels; at the Clay Studio, 139 Calendar N. Second St. March 3-25 Lynn Smiser Bowers, functional pot­ tery, “Out of Kansas City”; at the Philadelphia anagama-fired pottery and photographs of wood- Museum of Art, Art Sales and Rental Gallery, burning kilns; at Ruby’s Clay Studio and Gallery, Benjamin Franklin Pkwy. 552A Noe St. Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh through March 25 Mark California, Santa Monica through March 4 Cindy David Tomczak, recent works; at the Clay Place, Kolodziejski; at Frank Lloyd Gallery, 2525 Michi­ 5416 Walnut St. gan Ave., B5b. through March 27Donald Hedman; at Manchester Connecticut, Bristol through March 13 Donna Craftsmen’s Guild, 1815 Metropolitan St. Namnoum ceramic and steel sculpture, “Arach­ Texas, Commerce March 10—April 3 Marty Ray, noids and Other Sculpture”; at Hartford College illustrated pottery; at Texas A & M University- for Women, Butterworth Gallery, University of Commerce, University Art Gallery. Hartford, 1265 Asylum Ave. Texas, Lancaster through March 7 Dick Lehman, Florida, DeLand through March 19 Susan Z. Vey; wood/saggar/side-fired stoneware. March 9—April at Stetson University, Duncan Gallery of Art, 5 Mary Law, soda-fired stoneware and porcelain. Sampson Hall, 421 N. Woodland Blvd., Unit 8252. April 6-May 3 Sandi Pierantozzi, terra cotta. Neil Georgia, Atlanta through March 7Jindra Vikova Patterson, wood-fired stoneware; at the Cedar figurative sculpture, “The Countenance Divine”; Valley College Ceramics Gallery, 3030 N. Dallas at Connell Gallery, 333 Buckhead Ave. Ave., E Bldg. Illinois, Chicago through March 14 Margaret Virginia, Bridgewater March 2—April 3 Tamara Ponce Israel, “A Domestic Bestiary,” sculpture, Laird; at the Kline Center Gallery, Kline Campus paintings and sketches; at Perimeter Gallery, 210 Center, Bridgewater College. W. Superior St. through March 21 Jun Kaneko, large-scale heads; Group Ceramics Exhibitions at Klein Art Works, 400 N. Morgan. Maryland, Frederick through March 3 Antonio Arizona, Phoenix through April 18 “Legacy of Tobias Mendez, terra-cotta sculpture; at Hodson Generations,” works by 28 Native American Gallery, Tatem Arts Center, Hood College. women potters; at the Heard Museum, 22 E. Maryland, Hagerstown March 8-April5 Scott R. Monte Vista Rd. Jones platters and pots, “Many Styles”; at Wash­ California, Claremont through March 22 The ington County Museum of Fine Arts, City Park. “54th Ceramic Annual Exhibition”; at Ruth Chan­ Massachusetts, Boston April 4—May 5 Fance dler Williamson Gallery, Scripps College, 11th Franck, “The Poetry of Nature”; at Pucker Gal­ and Columbia sts. lery, 171 Newbury St. California, Davis March 31-May 3 “12th Annual Massachusetts, Northampton March 21-April Thirty Ceramic Sculptors Show”; at John Nat­ 19 Megan Hart, porcelain; at Ferrin Gallery, 179 soulas Gallery, 140 F St. Main St. April 3-May 2 “1998 California Clay Competi­ Michigan, Ferndale March 7—April 11 Susanne tion”; at the Artery, 207 G St. Stephenson vessels and platters; at Revolution, California, El Cajon March 2-27 “Ceramics: 23257 Woodward Ave. Viewpoint ’98”; at Grossmont College, Hyde Michigan, PontiacMarch 6—28 “The Many Faces Gallery, 8800 Grossmont College Dr. of Howard Kottler.” April 4-May 2 John Wood­ California, La Jolla March 1—April 3 “Current ward; at Shaw Guido Gallery, 7 N. Saginaw St. Clay VII,” juried exhibition of works by artists Minnesota, Minneapolis March 6-April 15 Eddie residing in southern California; at Gallery Eight, Dominguez, “Influences of Home, Land and 7464 Girard Ave. Culture”; at the Northern Clay Center, 2424 California, Los Angeles through March 30“ Hirado Franklin Ave., E. Porcelain of Japan from the Kurtzman Family March 6—April 18 Eddie Dominguez, Collection”; at the Los Angeles County Museum “Influences of Home, Land and Culture”; at of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. CreArte, Chicano Latino Art Center and Mu­ California, San Franciscothrough March 28 “Po­ seum, 1921 Chicago Ave. tent Images: Figurative Clay Sculpture,” works by New York, Alfred April 18—July 23 “The Rudy Autio, Steven Bradford, Hedi-Katharina Stonewares of Charles Fergus Binns: The Father Ernst, Sergei Isupov, Doug Jeck, Jean-Pierre of American Studio Ceramics”; at the Interna­ Larocque, Michael Lucero and Keisuke Mizuno; tional Museum of Ceramic Art at Alfred, Alfred at Dorothy Weiss Gallery, 256 Sutter St. University. March 21-May 31 “British Potters: Dixon Long New York, New York through March 7 Anne Collection”; at the San Francisco Craft and Folk Kraus. March 3-April 4 Ralph Bacerra. Junko Art Museum, Building A, Fort Mason. Kitamura. Beatrice Wood. April 7-May 2 Ken California, Santa Monica March 7-April 1 Exhi­ Ferguson. Michael Cleff; at Garth Clark Gallery, 24 bition of works by Akio Takamori and Kurt W. 57th St. Weiser; at Frank Lloyd Gallery, 2525 Michigan through March 21 Eui-Kung Lee; at Jane Hartsook Ave., B5b. Gallery, Greenwich House Pottery, 16 Jones St. Connecticut, Brookfield March 15-May 3 “Salt through March 28 Steve Welch, colored clay; at Fired: Form and Surface”; at Brookfield Craft Nancy Margolis Gallery, 560 Broadway, Ste. 302. Center, 286 Whisconier Rd. New York, Port Chester March 6-28 Ruth Berelson, Hawaii, Makawaoy4prz/77-A/ay 5?“Hui No’eau collages, “Home Free, Free for All: Memories of the Juried Ceramics Show”; at Hui No’eau Visual 1930s”; at the Clay Art Center, 40 Beech St. Arts Center, 2841 Baldwin Ave. North Carolina, Durham March 22-April 22 Illinois, Champaign through March 20 “The In­ Gayle Tustin, wall reliefs; at the Durham Art terpreted Object,” works by 21 ceramists; at Parkland Guild, 120 Morris St. College Art Gallery, 2400 W. Bradley Ave. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia through March 1 Su­ Illinois, Chicago through March 1 Sculpture by san Beiner, juried show of porcelain vessels. Keaton Valerie Bunnell, Brad Erdy and Karen Schindler. Wynn, juried installation. March 6—29 Sumi March 14—April26“Vessels That Pour,” works by Maeshima, organic thrown and altered vessels. over 30 ceramists; at Gallery 1021: Lill Street, April 3—26 Ken Vavrek, Clay Studio founder, 1021 W. Lill. sculpture. Resident artist Doug Herren, monu­ Kansas, Baldwin City March 10-April 7 “The

92 CERAMICS MONTHLY 1998 International Orton Cone Box Show”; at Baker University, 618 Eighth St. Louisiana, Thibodaux March 9—27 “Chef John Folse Culinary Institute Utilitarian Ceramics National Competition”; at Ameen Fine Arts Gal­ lery, Nicholls State University. Maryland, Baltimore March 14-April26“h Fresh Perspective,” work by resident and member art­ ists; at Baltimore Clayworks, 5706 Smith Ave. Massachusetts, Ipswich March 7—31 “A Tea Party.”ylpril4-30“Oceanlines”; at the Ocmulgee Pottery and Gallery, 317 High St. (Rte. 1A). Michigan, Berrien Springs through March 1 “Women Who Fire with Wood,” ceramics by Linda Christianson, Charity Davis, Jane Herald, Catharine Hiersoux, Karen Karnes, Diane Ken­ ney, Pam Lau, Peg Malloy, Ginny Marsh, Jan McKeachie-Johnston, Linda Sikora and Mary Wolff; at Andrews University Art Center Gallery. Missouri, Columbia through March 23 “In and On: Vessels and Wall Hangings,” works by Irene Alexander, Bede Clarke, Robert Friedman, James Kasper, Sue Luger and Naoma Powell; at Legacy Art and BookWorks, 1010 E. Broadway. New Mexico, Roswell March 6-May 24 “Ceram­ ics: Celebration ’98”; at Roswell Museum and Art Center, 100 W. Eleventh St. New York, Alfred March 18-September 18 “The Students of Binns”; at the Ceramic Corridor In­ novation Center, Rte. 244, 200 N. Main St. New York, New York through March 21 “Artists on Their Own”; at Greenwich House Pottery, 16 Jones St. April2—June 14 “Art and Industry: 20th-Century Porcelain from Sevres,” featuring almost 200 one- of-a-kind and limited production works, plus artists’ original drawings and designs; at the Ameri­ can Craft Museum, 40 W. 53rd St. North Carolina, Charlotte through August 23 “The Knouff Collection of Asian Ceramics”; at the Mint Museum of Art, 2730 Randolph Rd. Ohio, Wooster March 23—April 18 “Functional Ceramics 1998,” works by 25 potters; at the Wayne Center for the Arts, 237 S. Walnut St. Texas, Arlington through March 28 “The Na­ tional Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts Regional Juried Student Exhibition”; at the Ar­ lington Museum of Art, 201 W. Main St. Texas, Dallas through April 5 “Clay Traditions: Texas Educators and Their Teachers,” works by 14 ceramics educators and their mentors; at Dallas Museum of Art, 1717 N. Harwood. March 6- 30 “First Annual K-12 National Ceram­ ics Exhibition”; at Haggar Gallery, University of Dallas. March 17—April 1 Exhibition of ceramics by Rich­ ard Aerni and Malcolm Davis; at the Creative Arts Center, 2360 Laughlin. March 20—April 24 “Texas Tea,” works by John Britt, Sally Campbell, Mark Epstein, Barbara Frey, Ginger Geyer, Gary Huntoon, Susie Moody, Michael Obranovich and Marty Ray; at Edith Baker Gallery, 2404 Cedar Springs at Maple. March23—May 2“Two Peas Outta the Pod,” salt- and raku-fired stoneware by Randy Brodnax and Michael Obranovich; at the Dallas Visual Arts Center, 2917 Swiss Ave. March 28—May 1 “Fireworks: On and Off the Wall,” works by approximately 35 Texas ceramists; at the Dallas Visual Art Center, 2917 Swiss Ave. Texas, Denton March 1—29 “Ceramics USA 1998”; at the University of North Texas Gallery, School of Visual Arts. Texas, El Paso March 6—April5 “From the Ground Up XVII,” juried exhibition of works by regional artists; at Los Paisanos Gallery, Chamizal Na­ tional Park. Texas, Farmers Branch March 4-30 “Brookhaven College Ceramics: Alumni + Faculty,” with works

March 1998 93 sual Poetry: Word as Image”; at Creative Arts Calendar Workshop, 80 Audubon St. Connecticut, New Milford March 22—April 26 “Colors of Spring,” three-person exhibition in­ by Barbara Brault, Sam Clarkson, Lisa Ehrich, cluding ceramics by Mary Lou Alberetti; at the Susan Mollett and Marla Ziegler. “Texas Ver­ Silo, Hunt Hill Farm, 44 Upland Rd. nacular Ceramics: 1845-1945”; at Forum and D.C., Washington through April 26 “Japanese Studio galleries, Brookhaven College, 3939 Val­ Arts of the Meiji Era (1868-1912)”; at the Freer ley View Ln. Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution. Texas, Ft. Worth through March 11 “For the Florida, Hollywood through May 70 “45th Florida Imperial Court: Qing Porcelain from the Percival Craftsmen Exhibition”; at the Art and Culture David Foundation of Chinese Art”; at Kimbell Center of Hollywood, 1650 Harrison St. Art Museum, 3333 Camp Bowie Blvd. Florida, Palm Beach through March 11 “A Taste March 16-28 “Texas Clay Exhibition,” juried for Splendor: Russian Imperial and European show of ceramics; at the Tandy Center, 100-200 Treasures from the Hillwood Museum,” over 180 Throckmorton. decorative and fine-art objects; at the Society of March 25—April 3 “Within the Borders,” juried the Four Arts, Four Arts Plaza. exhibition of works by Texas potters; at Bank One Florida, Tampa through March 28 “9th Annual Texas, 500 Throckmorton. Black and White, Shades of Gray”; at Artists Texas, Irving March 19-April 8 “Making It in Clay: Unlimited, 223 N. 12th St. Celebrating Student Success,” works by past and Illinois, Chicago April 5-May 11 “Teapots, Fun, present students of North Lake College; at North Funky and Functional”; at Chiaroscuro Galleries, Lake College Gallery, 5001 N. MacArthur Blvd. 700 N. Michigan Ave. March 23-April 26 “To Have and to Hold: Ce­ Illinois, Galesburg March 14-April 11 “GALEX ramic Vessel Making in Texas,” works by approxi­ 32”; at the Galesburg Civic Art Center, 114 E. mately 50 ceramists; at the Irving Arts Center, Main St. 3333 N. MacArthur Blvd. Kansas, Wichita March 1-April 2 “Art Show at Texas, San Angelo April 16-May 31 “Twelfth the Dog Show”; at the Foyer Gallery, Century II San Angelo National Ceramic Competition”; at Convention Center. San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, 704 Burgess St. April 3—5 “Art Show at the Dog Show”; at the Texas, Tyler through March 13 “Within the Bor­ Sunflower Cluster Dog Shows, Kansas Coliseum. ders,” juried exhibition of works by Texas potters; Louisiana, Lafayette March 17-April23 National at the Meadows Gallery, University of Texas at juried exhibition of 2- and 3-dimensional art; at Tyler, 3900 University Blvd. the Lafayette Art Gallery, 412 Travis St. Vermont, Montpelier March 2—27“Spout It Out; Massachusetts, Boston through May 17“A Grand An Exhibition of Teapots.” April 1—30 “The Pot­ Design: The Art of the Victoria and Albert Mu­ tery of Mata Ortiz, Central American Village seum”; at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 465 Pottery”; at Vermont Clay Studio, 24 Main St. Huntington Ave. Virginia, Alexandria through March 2 “Kiln Club Massachusetts, Cambridge March 13-April 12 Annual Show”; at Scope Gallery, Torpedo Fac­ “Illuminations: Into the Light,” juried exhibition tory, 105 N. Union St. of candlesticks, lamps, lanterns and sconces; at Cambridge Artists Cooperative, 59A Church St. Ceramics in Massachusetts, Lexington March30-May 3 “Clay/ Multimedia Exhibitions Paper/Paint and Glazes,” with architectural ce­ ramics by Joan Carcia; at Depot Square Gallery, Arizona, Mesathrough March 14 “Get Real.” 1837 Massachusetts Ave. March 24-April 18 “The Draping Game.” April New Jersey, Morristown through April 19 “Flora 28-May 30 “Myths, Metaphors and Icons”; at ’98,” including pottery by Debra Betancourt; at Mesa Arts Center, 155 N. Center St. Macculloch Hall Historical Museum, 45 Mac- Arizona, Sun City through March 8 Dual exhibi­ culloch Ave. tion including pottery by Ed Oshier; at Sun Cities New York, Albany through April 26 “The 1998 Museum of Art, 17425 N. 115th Ave. New York State Biennial”; at the New York State Arkansas, Little Rock through March 29 “Re­ Museum, Empire State Plaza. gional Craft Biennial Competition.” April 26— New York, Hempstead through March 22 “1998 June 14“ Pure Vision: American Bead Artists”; at Faculty Exhibition”; at the Hofstra Museum, Emily the Arkansas Arts Center, MacArthur Park, Ninth Lowe Gallery, 112 Hofstra University. and Commerce. New York, New York through March ^“Celebrat­ Arkansas, Springdale April 6—May 25 “16th An­ ing the Tiger: Chinese New Year Exhibition”; at nual Women’s National Juried Art Exhibition”; Taipei Gallery, McGraw-Hill Building, 1221 at the Art Center of the Ozarks, 214 S. Main. Avenue of the Americas. California, Fresno April 7—August 9 “A Taste for through May 3“ G reat Cities Small Treasures: The Splendor: Russian Imperial and European Trea­ Ancient World of the Indus Valley,” approxi­ sures from the Hillwood Museum,” over 180 mately 100 objects, including ceramics; at the decorative and fine-art objects; at the Fresno Asia Society, 725 Park Ave. Metropolitan Museum, 1555 Van Ness Ave. through June 28 “Finnish Modernism in Design: California, Sacramento April 2-25 “Figurative Utopian Ideals and Everyday Realities, 1930- Works,” dual exhibition with bronze and clay 1997”; at Bard Graduate Center, 18 W. 86th St. sculpture by Helen Post; at Solomon Dubnick March 21—May 2 “The Dragon’s Tale,” calligra­ Gallery, 2131 Northrop Ave. phy and art objects, including ceramics; at &C E J California, San Diego through April 30 “Arts of Frankel, 1040 Madison Ave. the Amazon,” 250 art and ritual objects; at Mingei March 24-April 4 “Animals and Animal Designs International Museum of Folk Art, Balboa Park, in Chinese Art,” 25 artworks, including ceramics, Plaza de Panama. dating from the Shang period to the late Ming California, San Franciscothrough April 19 “Trea­ period; at Eskenazi, 28 E. 78th St. sures of African Art from the Tervuren Museum”; North Carolina, Winston-Salem through March at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, 28 “New Members ’97”; at the Piedmont Crafts­ Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Lincoln men Gallery, 1204 Reynolda Rd. Park, 34th Ave. and Clement St. Ohio, Cincinnati March 15—May 24 “Designed Connecticut, New HavenApril 13—May 22 “Vi­ for Delight: Alternative Aspects of 20th-Century

94 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 95 Calendar the Arts ’98”; at North Suburban Synagogue Beth El, 1175 Sheridan Rd. Maryland, Baltimore ylpnl 75-“National Clay Jewelry Exhibition and Sale”; at Baltimore Decorative Arts”; at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Clayworks, 5706 Smith Ave. Eden Park. Maryland, Gaithersburg April 3—5 “Sugarloaf Ohio, Columbus through April 1 “A Change of Crafts Festival”; at the Montgomery County Place,” works by Ohio Arts Council arists-in- Fairgrounds. residence, including ceramics by Walter Zurko; at Maryland, Timonium April 24-26 “Sugarloaf the Ohio Arts Council, 727 E. Main St. Crafts Festival”; at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. through April 30 The “118th Student Exhibi­ Michigan, Novi^4prz/77-7.9“Sugarloaf Art Fair”; tion”; at Columbus College of Art and Design, at the Novi Expo Center. Canzani Center, 60 Cleveland Ave. Minnesota, St. Paul April 17-18 “St. Paul Art April 5—26 Three-person exhibition including Crawl,” tours of 150 artists’ studios; downtown. ceramics by Denise Romecki; at the Cultural Arts April 17-19“ACC Craft Show St. Paul”; at the St. Center, 139 W. Main St. Paul Civic Center at RiverCentre. April 25-June 28 “The Best of 1998,” juried New York, New York March 13 Benefit auction exhibition of Ohio crafts; at the Ohio Craft Mu­ of ceramics for the National Council on Educa­ seum, 1665 W. Fifth Ave. tion for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA); at Sotheby’s. Ohio, Lancaster March 7-May 9 “Garden Sculp­ For further information, telephone (212) 606- ture—Art for Your Garden”; at the Gallery at 7000. Studio B, 140 W. Main St. Pennsylvania, Ft. Washington March 20—22 Ohio, Mansfield through March 22 “Annual All- “Sugarloaf Crafts Festival”; at the Ft. Washington Ohio Juried Art Exhibition”; at Pearl Conard Art Expo Center. Gallery, the Ohio State University at Mansfield, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia April 17-19 “Phila­ 1680 University Dr. delphia Furniture and Furnishings Show”; at the Pennsylvania, Allentown through March 15 “26th Pennsylvania Convention Center. Juried Show”; at Allentown Art Museum, Fifth Vermont, Montpelier March 7 “Keep the Cup and Court sts. Tea Party,” fund-raiser. Tickets: $20 per person; Pennsylvania, Philadelphia through March 15 each attendee receives a teacup. Telephone the Exhibition including ceramics by Wesley Vermont Clay Studio, (802) 223-4220. Anderegg, Dan Anderson and John Rohlfing. Virginia, Manassas May 1-3 “Sugarloaf Crafts April 1—30 Exhibition including ceramics by Gary Festival”; at the Prince William County Fair­ DiPasquale, Frank and Polly Martin; at the Works grounds. Gallery, 303 Cherry St. Wisconsin, Stevens Point April5 “Festival of the Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh through March 22 Bi­ Arts”; at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens ennial of works by members of the Craftsman Point, Fine Arts Building, Interior Courtyard. Guild of Pittsburgh; at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts Gallery, Mellon Park, 6300 Fifth Ave. Workshops Tennessee, Chattanooga through May “1997-98 Sculpture Garden Exhibit”; at River Gallery, 400 Arizona, Tempe March 6—8 Lecture and work­ E. Second St. shop with Richard Shaw. Lecture is free. Work­ Tennessee, Gatlinburg through April 11 “New shop fee: $100; Tempe Arts Center members, Form/New Function: Surface.” “National Spring $60; ASU students, $30. Telephone the Tempe Faculty Invitational Exhibition.” April 15—May Arts Center, (602) 968-0888. 16 “Artists-in-Residence Exhibition”; at Arrow- California, Los Angeles March 20-22 Hand- mont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway. building, mixing and applying terra sigillata, bur­ Tennessee, Nashville through March 18 “Visual nishing and firing in traditional Native American Fragments,” two-person exhibition with wood- methods, with Ricky Maldonado. Fee: $40; mem­ fired ceramics by Bill Griffith; at Sarratt Gallery at bers, $35. Contact Patti Hallowes, Program Coordi­ Vanderbilt University, 402 Sarratt. nator, American Ceramic Society-Design Chapter, April 18-May 30 “The Best of Tennessee Crafts”; Southern California Section, (818) 848-9691. at Parthenon Gallery, Centennial Park. California, Santa Ana March 14 Demonstration Texas, Dallas March 17—April4“Surfaces,” three- of large platters and double-walled vessels with person exhibition with ceramic sculpture by Lisa James Watkins, plus a discussion on surface deco­ Ehrich and Marla Ziegler; at Craighead-Green ration and choice of firing methods. Fee: $30. Gallery, 2404 Cedar Springs, Ste. 700. Contact Patrick Crabb, Fine Arts Dept., Santa Utah, Salt Lake City through April 5 “ME WE,” Ana College, 1530W. 17th St., Santa Ana 92706; collaborative exhibition of works by ceramist Tre or telephone (714) 564-5613. Arenz and metal sculptor Amie McNeel; at the Salt California, Ukiah March 10-15 A session with Lake Art Center, Main Gallery, 20 S.W. Temple. Svend Bayer, coiling and throwing large pots, Wisconsin, Oconomowocthrough March 29“ Tea­ loading and firing an anagama. Fee: $250, in­ pots, Fun, Funky and Functional”; at the Ocono­ cludes materials, firing and camping facilities. mowoc Gallery, 157 E. Wisconsin Ave. Contact Doug Browe/Jan Hoyman, 323 N. Main St., Ukiah 95482; telephone (707) 468-8835 or Fairs, Festivals and Sales e-mail [email protected] California, Walnut Creek May /^Slide presenta­ Arizona, ScottsdaleMarch 13-15 “Scottsdale Arts tion and demonstration with Frank Boyden. Fee: Festival”; at the Scottsdale Civic Center, Old $45, includes potluck lunch. Contact Walnut Town Scottsdale. Creek Civic Arts Education, PO Box 8039, Wal­ California, San Francisco March 13—15 “Con­ nut Creek 94596; or telephone (510) 943-5846. temporary Crafts Market”; at Fort Mason Center, Colorado, Boulder March 6-7 Workshop and Herbst and Festival pavilions, Marina district. slide presentation with Chris Staley. Fee: $60. D.C., Washington April 23-26 “Smithsonian Sponsored by the Boulder Potters’ Guild. Contact Craft Show”; at the National Building Museum, Caroline Douglas, 1527 North St., Boulder 80304; 401 F St., NW. or telephone (303) 447-0110. Florida, New Smyrna BeachMarch 14-15 “Im­ Colorado, Glenwood Springs May 16— 77“Raku ages: A Festival of the Arts”; at Riverside Park. Workshop” with Robert Piepenburg; participants Illinois, Highland Park March 7—8 “Festival of should bring 4 bisqued pieces. Fee: before March

96 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 97 Calendar tional Pots” with Gail Kendall. May 22—24 “Teaware, Baskets and Dinnerware” with Anne Fallis-Elliott. All skill levels. Contact Vanessa Smith, Native Soil, 602 Davis St., Evanston 60201; 15, $200; after, $225. All skill levels. For further telephone (847) 733-8006 or fax (847) 733-8042. information, contact Glenwood Spring Center Kentucky, Bowling Green March 20-21 “Craft for the Arts, (970) 945-2414. By Design: A Hands-on Workshop Weekend” Connecticut, Brookfield April 4 “Paper Clay” will include keynote speech by James Wallace, with Rebecca Peck Jones.April 18 “Working with director of the National Ornamental Metal Mu­ Porcelain” with Angela Fina. April 25-26 “Low- seum, Memphis, Tennessee; plus demonstration temperature Salt Firing” with Richard Launder. by clay artist Wayne Ferguson. Fee: $50/two days, May 2-3 “Colors, Clays and Firing” with Penelope $35/one day; students, $30/two days, $ 15/one Fleming. May 9-10 “Spirit/Bird Houses” with day. Out-of-state residents: $75/two days, $50/ Barbara Allen. May 30—31 “Throwing Large one day. Registration deadline: March 13. Con­ Forms” with Maishe Dickman. Contact Brook­ tact the Craft Marketing Program, (888) 592- field Craft Center, PO Box 122, Rte. 25, Brookfield 7238 or (502) 564-8076; or the Kentucky Art 06804; or telephone (203) 775-4526. and Craft Foundation, (800) 446-0102 or (502) Connecticut, Guilford March28-29“Glaze Work­ 589-0102. shop for Potters” with Angela Fina. Contact Guilford Kentucky, Somerset March 28-29 and April 4-5 Handcraft Center, PO Box 589, 411 Church St., “Raku Workshop” with Meg McClorey, making Guilford 06437; or telephone (203) 453-5947. and firing raku pottery over two consecutive week­ D.C., Washington March 7-8 Slide lecture and ends. All skill levels. Fee: $ 170, includes materials. demonstration with Ron Meyers. Fee: $ 100. Con­ Contact Meg McClorey, 2535 Pumphouse Rd., tact Hinckley Pottery, 1707 Kalorama Rd., NW, Somerset 42503; telephone (606) 679-7897 or Washington, D.C. 20009; telephone (202) 745- e-mail [email protected] 7055 or e-mail [email protected] Maine, Portlan & April 21 or May 23“ Raku Work­ Florida, Atlantic Beach April 4-5 “Throwing, shop,” participants should bring up to four me­ Altering and Assembling Utilitarian Pottery” with dium-sized pots; fee: $35. May 9 “Porcelain Wheel Steve Loucks. Contact the Atlantic Beach Potters, Throwing and Glazing” with Laurie Adams. May (904) 249-4499 or e-mail [email protected] 21 “Clay Sculptress” with Abby Huntoon. Con­ Florida, Belleair March 20 “Lunch with an Artist tact Portland Pottery, 118 Washington Ave., Port­ Series” with ceramic sculptor Leslie Anne Chanove. land 04101; or telephone (207) 772-4334. April 9 “Insights through Decorative Arts,” lec­ Maryland, Frederick March 6-8 “Spiritual Jour­ ture with Cynthia Duval. April77“Lunch with an neys,” slide lecture and workshop with Susan Artist Series” with clay artist Mark Fehl.April24- Greenleaf. Workshop fee: $110. March 20-22 26 “Pueblo Pottery,” demonstration by Nathan “Wood-fired Pottery,” slide lecture and workshop Youngblood. Contact the Florida Gulf Coast Art with Svend Bayer. Workshop fee: $165. April 1 Center, Education Dept., 222 Ponce de Leon “Raku—From Zen Tradition to Modern Innova­ Blvd., Belleair 33756; or telephone (813) 584-8634. tion,” lecture with Patrick Timothy Caughy.v4pril Florida, Miami March 7—8 “Fun Functional” 4 “Eastern and Western Techniques in Trim­ with Karon Doherty. Fee: $80; CLM and Florida ming,” lecture/demonstration with Richard Craftsmen members, $60. Contact Ceramic Lafean; fee: $60.^4pn725andA/ay5?“Playingwith League of Miami, 8873 S.W. 129 St., Miami Words—Painting with Fire,” producing ware 33176; or telephone (305) 233-2404. (April 25) and raku firing (May 9 in Baltimore); Florida, PensacolaMarch 30-April 4 or May 11- fee: $145, includes 25 pounds of raku clay and 16 “Architectural Ceramics Workshop” with Pe­ firing. April 26 “Tin-Glazed Earthenware: Who, ter King. Fee: $550. Limited registration. Contact What, Why, Where, When and How,” lecture StoneHaus, 2617N. 12th Ave., Pensacola 32503; with Louana Lackey. May 1-2 “Ceramic Restora­ telephone (850) 438-3273 or fax (850) 438-0644. tion,” lecture and workshop with Colin Knight- Florida, St. Petersburg March 14-15“ From Archie Griffin; participants can bring a piece for ap­ Bray to Tampa Bay” with Rudy Autio, Paul Soldner praisal. Workshop fee: $65. Lecture fee: $5. Con­ and Peter Voulkos. Fee; $200. Contact St. Peters­ tact Hood College Ceramics Program, 401 burg Clay Co., 2326 16th Ave., N., St. Petersburg Rosemont Ave., Frederick 21701; or telephone 33713; telephone (813) 327-2815, fax (813) 321- (301) 696-3456 or (301) 698-0929. 7926 or e-mail [email protected] Massachusetts, Plymouth April 10-11 Demon­ Florida, West Palm BeachMarch “Exploring stration and slide lecture with Svend Bayer. Con­ Form through Functional Pottery” with Ellen tact the Plimoth Plantation, (508) 746-1622, ext. Shankin. March 30-April 3 “Ceramic Surface 356, or (781) 837-4263. Design and Decorative Processes” with Robin Massachusetts, Somerville March 8 and22 “Zen, Hopper. Contact the Robert and Mary Mont­ Yoga and the Physics of Clay” with David LaPierre. gomery Armory Art Center, 1703 S. Lake Ave., Fee: $100; members, $50. March 14-15 Demon­ West Palm Beach 33401; telephone (888) 276- stration and critiques with Michael Kline and 6791 or (561) 832-1776, or see website at Mark Shapiro. Fee: $100; members, $50. Contact www.armoryart.org Mudflat Studio, 149 Broadway, Somerville 02145; Hawaii, Honolulu March 19-23 “Aha Hana Limaor telephone (617) 628-0589. (A Gathering of Crafts),” workshops and slide Massachusetts, Williamsburg April 25—27 lectures with three artists, including ceramist “Working with Colored Clays: A Japanese Ap­ Stephen De Staebler. Contact Hawaii Craftsmen, proach to the Vessel” with Debbie Freed. May (808) 596-8128. 9—11 “Get Hot! Alternative Firing and Deco­ Hawaii, Makawao April 4-5 “Clay Pots: An Ex­ rating Techniques” with Bob Green. Contact perience of Intimacy, Delight, Uncertainty and Horizons, 108 N. Main St., Sunderland, MA Revelation” with Randy Johnston. Contact Hui 01375; telephone (413) 665-0300, fax (413) No’eau Visual Arts Center, 2841 Baldwin Ave., 665-4141, e-mail [email protected] or Makawao 96768; telephone (808) 572-6560 or website www.Horizons-art.org fax (808) 572-2750. Massachusetts, Worcester March 7-8 A session Illinois, Evanston April 24—26 “Postmodernist with Malcolm Davis. April 4—5 A session with Majolica: Historical Context, Contemporary Prac­ Karen Karnes. Contact Worcester Center fot tice” with Walter Ostrom, handbuilding, throw­ Crafts, 25 Sagamore Rd., Worcester 01605; tele­ ing, decoration. May 1-3 “Handbuilding Func­ phone (508) 753-8183. Continued

98 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 99 Calendar North Carolina, Asheville April 4 “A Day with Chris Staley,” demonstration of throwing tech­ niques. Fee: $50, includes lunch.May 8-9 Dem­ onstration and slide lecture with Svend Bayer. Minnesota, Minneapolis March 6 Slide lecture Fee: $125. All skill levels. Contact Mark Burleson, with Eddie Dominguez. Contact the CreArte Odyssey Center for the Ceramic Arts, 236 Chicano Latino Art Center and Museum, (612) Clingman Ave., Asheville 28801; telephone (704) 813-1953. 285-0210, fax (704) 253-3853 or website March 7—8 Slide lecture and hands-on workshop [email protected] with Eddie Dominguez. Fee: $75; members, $65. North Carolina, Brasstown March22-28 “Func­ March 21 “Regis Masters Series,” lecture with tional Design: Wheel and Hand” with Lucy William Daley. April 18 “Regis Masters Series,” Hamilton. March 29-April 4 “The Art of Raku” lecture with Ruth Duckworth. May 16 “Regis with Lynn Jenkins. April 5-11 “Handbuilding Masters Series,” lecture with James Melchert. with Coils” with Julie Larson. April 12—18 “Por­ Free. Location: Minneapolis Institute of Arts. For celain: On the Wheel and under the Brush” with further information, contact the Northern Clay David Voorhees. May 1-9 “Wood Firing in a Center, (612) 339-8007. Grand Manner” with Hogue Vernon. Fee: $400. Montana, Helena March 19-22 “Salt Glaze Fir­ May 10-16“A Bird in the Hand,” handbuilding ing Workshop” with Rick Pope. April 30-May 3 animal sculptures with Mary Dashiell. May 17— “Cone 6 Soda Glaze Firing Workshop” with Julia 23 “Clay Vessels with Natural Materials” with Galloway. Fee/session: $150, includes firing. All Lenore Vanderkooi. May 24-30 “Making Pot­ skill levels. Contact Josh DeWeese or Teresa tery” with Terry Gess. Skill requirements vary. Hastings, Archie Bray Foundation for the Ce­ Fee (unless noted above): $258. For further infor­ ramic Arts, 2915 Country Club Ave., Helena mation, contact Registrar’s Office, John C. 59601; telephone (406) 443-3502, fax (406) Campbell Folk School, 1 Folk School Rd., 443-0934, e-mail [email protected] or Brasstown 28902; telephone (800) FOLK-SCH, website www.archiebray.org fax (704) 837-8637, website www.grove.net/^jeefs New Mexico, Albuquerque to Santa FeApril 18- or e-mail [email protected] 25 “Clay into Spirit” with Anita Griffith. Contact Ohio, Kent May 18-29 “Blossom Ceramics Work­ Horizons, 108 N. Main St., Sunderland, MA shop,” lectures and demonstrations on hand­ 01375; telephone (413) 665-0300, fax (413) 665- building, throwing, slip painting, firing, plus tile 4141, e-mail horizons@horizons-art. org or website and mosaic, and large ceramic sculptures, with www.horizons-art.org Eva Kwong and visiting artists Aurora Chabot and New Mexico, Ro swell April23-24Demonstration Tony Marsh. Intermediate through professional. of throwing large double-walled vessels with J ames Contact Becky, Kent State University Art Dept., Watkins. Fee: $50. Contact the Roswell Museum Kent 44242; telephone (330) 672-2192 or fax and Art Center, (505) 624-6744, ext. 16. (330) 672-4729. New Mexico, Santa Fe March 16—20 “Raku Ohio, Wooster April 15—18 “Functional Ceram­ Workshop” with Liz Anderson. Contact Art and ics Workshop,” including demonstrations with Clay Studio, 851 W. San Mateo Rd. #4, Santa Fe Cynthia Bringle, Pete Pinnell and Patty Wouters; 87505; or telephone (505) 989-4278. plus presentations by Tom Huck on approaching New Mexico, Taos May 4—9 “Micaceous Cook­ galleries, and Pepper Fluke on her trip to Mata ware” with Jeri Track. Contact Taos Institute of Ortiz. Fee: $ 180/students, $90; three days, $140/ Arts, 5280 NDCBU, T aos 87571; telephone (800) students, $75; includes lunches, 1 dinner and 822-7183 or (505) 758-2793; see website at catalog of “Functional Ceramics” exhibition. www.taosnet.com/TIA/ or e-mail [email protected] Contact Phyllis Blair Clark, 102 Oakmont Ct., New York, East Setauket May 2-3 “Japanese Wooster 44691. Throwing and Altering Techniques” with Peter Oregon, Gresham March 14 Handbuilding Callas. Contact Hands on Clay, Inc., 128 Old with porcelain, throwing miniatures, decoration Town Rd., East Setauket 11733; or telephone and glazing with Barb Campbell and Terry (516) 751-0011. Inokuma. Fee: $20; OPA members, $15. For New York, New York March 21 “Beyond Tradi- further information, contact Stephen Mickey, tion” with Makoto Yabe, traditional and contem­ Mt. Hood Community College, 26000 S.E. Stark porary approaches to Japanese pottery. Fee: $90; St., Gresham 97030. members, $75. Contact the Craft Students League, Rhode Island, Kingston May 3 “Pit Firing” with YWCA/NYC, 610 Lexington Ave., New York Bob Green. Fee: $45; members, $40. For further 10022; or telephone (212) 735-9731. information, contact South County Art Associa­ New York, Port Chester March 6 “Decorating tion, 2587 Kingstown Rd., Kingston 02881; tele­ Technique” with Debbie Bedwell. April 18-19 phone (401) 783-2195. “Two Approaches to Wheel Work” with Polly South Carolina, Charleston March 21-22 “People Ann and Frank Martin. Contact the Clay Art and Pots” with Chris Staley. Fee: $120. For fur­ Center, (914) 937-2047. ther information, contact Gibbes Museum of Art New York, West Nyackv4pnl 19 “Surface Strat­ Studio, (803) 577-7275. egies for the Electric Kiln” with Mary Barringer. Tennessee, Gatlinburg March 2— “Tile: Techni­ Fee: $65. Contact Rockland Center for the Arts, cal Details and Experimentation” with Gloria 27 S. Greenbush Rd., West Nyack 10994; or Kosco. March 9—13 “Tradition and Innovation” telephone (914) 358-0877. with Markjohnson. March 16-20 “Handbuilding” New York, White Plains April 13-15 “The Func­ with Kathy Triplett. March 23-27 “Majolica: A tional Teapot” with Lisa Stinson, handbuilding Glaze for Painters” with Terry Siebert. Fee per and throwing. Fee: $141.25; currently enrolled week: $275. Contact Arrowmont School of Arts students, $103. April 24 “Creative Stretches in and Crafts, PO Box 567, Gatlinburg 37738; tele­ Clay” with Vera Lightstone. Fee: $40; current phone (423) 436-5860, fax (423) 430-4101 or students, $25. May 8 “Form and Texture” with e-mail [email protected] Sandi Pierantozzi. Fee: $40; current students, Texas, Dallas March 21-22 Slide lecture and $25. Preregistration required. Contact SUNY/ workshop with Richard Aerni, throwing large Westchester Community College, Westchester forms. Workshop fee: $40; lecture is free. For Art Workshop, Westchester County Center, 196 further information, contact Creative Arts Center, Central Ave., White Plains 10606; or telephone 2360 Laughlin, Dallas 75228; or telephone (214) (914) 684-0094. 320-1275. Continued

100 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 101 Calendar David MacDonald. Workshop fee: $125; slide Alexandria 22314; or telephone (703) 683-2323, lecture is free. For further information, contact fax (703) 683-5786. the Southwest Craft Center, 300 Augusta, San Antonio 78205-1296; or telephone (210) 224- International Events Texas, Ft. Worth May 15-17 Throwing and 1848, fax (210) 224-9337. altering workshop with Ellen Shankin. Fee: $75; Vermont, Montpelier April 17 Demonstration Canada, Alberta, Banff May 16—18 “Clay and Texas Pottery and Sculpture Guild members, with Elizabeth Roman, throwing and altering Mythology: The Trickster” with George Kokis, $50; membership, $20. Limited registration. vessels. Fee: $4; members, $3. For further infor­ storytelling and clay forming. Fee: Can$249 (ap­ Contact Rachel Bates, (817) 732-8038 or e-mail mation, contact the Vermont Clay Studio, 24 proximately US$170). May 30—31 “Explorations [email protected] Main St., Montpelier 05602; or telephone (802) in Raku” with Ed Bamiling. Fee: Can$l45 (ap­ Texas, Irving March 21 Demonstration and slide 223-4220. proximately US$100). For further information, presentation with Don Reitz. Fee: $30, includes Virginia, Alexandria March 14—15 Demonstra­ contact Office of the Registrar, Banff Centre, lunch. For further information, contact Marty tion of tool making and Oriental throwing tech­ (800) 565-9989 or (403) 762-6180, fax (403) Ray, North Lake College, 5001 N. MacArthur niques, plus slide lecture on building and firing a 762-6345, e-mail [email protected] or Blvd., Irving 75038-3899; telephone (972) 273- Mashiko-style kiln and processing clay and glaze website www-nmr.banffcentre.ab.ca 3577 or e-mail [email protected] materials from nature, with Willi Singleton. Fee: Canada, B. C., Victoria March 7—8 Workshop Texas, San Antonio March 14—15 “Decorative $80. For further information, contact the Art with Steven Heinemann, demonstrations on clay and Functional,” slide lecture and workshop with League School (Pottery Dept.), 105 N. Union St., models, molds, slip casting, handbuilding, surface development and application. May 2-3 Work­ shop with Michael Sherrill, concentrating on un­ usual techniques in throwing and altering, pulling clay and assemblage. Fee/session: Can$100 (ap­ proximately US$67). Contact Meira Mathison, Metchosin International School of Art, 650 Pearson College, Victoria V9C 4H7; telephone (250) 391-2420 or e-mail missa@pearson- college.uwc.ca Canada, Ontario, Bowmanville March 8—April9 “Winter’s Harvest,” juried exhibition of crafts; at the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington, Cream of Barley Mill, 143 Simpson Ave. Canada, Ontario, Brights Grove March 1-22 “Works in Clay,” exhibition of works by 10 pot­ ters; at Gallery in the Grove, 2700 Hamilton St. Canada, Ontario, Toronto April 2-25 Exhibi­ tion of ceramics by Mimi Cabri; at Prime Gallery, Gallery 11, 52 McCaul St. China May 20-July 4 “China Ceramic Summer” with Wayne Higby, professor of ceramic art, Alfred University; Chen Guang Hui, assistant professor of ceramic art, Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute; and Jiansheng Li, professor of ceramic art/director, Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute. Will include “In­ ternational Ceramic Conference” in Yixing, work­ shops and lectures in Jingdezhen, and trips to other cities/sites. Fee: US$4375, includes lodg­ ing, studio fees, Yixing conference fee, round-trip airfare, and in-country travel. Registration dead­ line: March 14. Include 10-20 slides of current work plus SASE. Contact Marlene Wightman/ China Ceramic Summer, New York State College of Ceramics, Alfred University, Alfred, New York 14802-1296; or telephone (607) 871-2425. June 20-July 7 “The Arts in China: A Travel Workshop” with Coeleen Kiebert, traveling throughout China and working with masters of traditional Chinese arts, with an emphasis on ceramics and landscape painting; plus studio work­ shops with Coeleen Kiebert. Contact the Univer­ sity of California Santa Cruz Extension, 740 Front St., Ste. 155, Santa Cruz, CA 95060; or telephone (408) 427-6695. England, Chichester March 1-6 Handbuilding and throwing workshop with Alison Sandeman. March 15-20 A workshop on sculptural ceramics, experimenting with human and animal forms, with Tessa Fuchs. March 20-22 Throwing and turning workshop with Alison Sandeman. March 29-April 3 A workshop on sculptural pots for plants with Gordon Cooke. April 12-17 Hand­ building and throwing workshop with Alison Sandeman. Contact the College Office, West Dean College, West Dean, Chichester, West Sussex PO18 0QZ; or telephone (243) 811301. England, Hundon May 25-29 Workshop on handbuilding, smoke and organic firing with Jane Perryman. Fee: £240 (approximately US$392), indudes materials, firing and lunch. Contact Jane Perryman, Wash Cottage, Clare Rd., Hundon,

102 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 103 Calendar

Suffolk CO 10 8DH; telephone/fax(440) 786228. England, Ipswich Spring Two-week workshops on handbuilding, throwing, decorating with sprigs and slips, packing and firing a salt-glazed kiln, plus wood-fired raku, with Deborah Baynes. Fee: £590 (approximately US$964), includes materi­ als, firing, lodging and meals. Contact Deborah Baynes Pottery Studio, Nether Hall, Shotley, Ipswich, Suffolk 1P9 1PW; telephone (473) 788300 or fax (473) 787187. England, London through March 22 “Present- Day Responses to Leach.” through March 29 Ex­ hibition of ceramics by Bernard Leach.April 9- June28 “Handmade in India,” exhibition of con­ temporary Indian crafts; at the Crafts Council Gallery Shop, 44a Pentonville Rd., Islington. through April 5 “Japanese Influences”; at Crafts Council Shop at the Victoria & Albert Museum, S. Kensington. March 8 “Potters Responding to Leach” series, a lecture with Joanna Constantinidis. March 27 A workshop with Takeshi Yasuda. Contact the Crafts Council, Education Section, (0171) 806 2528. March 26—May 1 Exhibition of new work by Claudi Casanovas; at Galerie Besson, 15 Royal Arcade, 28 Old Bond St. France, Sevres March 3 “Potiers et faienciers de l’Egypte ancienne, 5000 ans d’art et d’artisanat,” lecture with Claire Derriks. April 7“Franz Anton Bustelli et la porcelaine de Nymphenburg,” lec­ ture with Katarina Hantschmann. May 5 “La ceramique montee de Louis XIV a la Regence,” lecture with Jean-Neret Ronfort. Contact the Societe des Amis du Musee National de Ceramique, Place de la Manufacture, Sevres 92310; or tele­ phone (41) 14 04 20. Italy, Tuscany April 18-25 “Mosaics: An Ancient Italian Tradition Made Contemporary” with Eliza­ beth MacDonald. Contact Horizons, 108 N. Main St., Sunderland, MA 01375; telephone (413) 665- 0300, fax (413) 665-4141, website www.horizons- art.org or e-mail [email protected] Jamaica, Montego Bay April 16-25 “Making Pottery in Jamaica” with David Pinto and Jeff Shapiro. Contact Anderson Ranch Arts Center, PO Box 5598, Snowmass Village, CO 81615; telephone (976) 923-3181 or fax (976) 923-3871. Belize, San Jose SuccotzMarch 21-28 “Maya Pottery Workshop,” working with village potters. Fee: $895, includes living accommodations, field trips. Contact Brenda Cordova Silva, 1344 Rio Grande, Los Lunas, NM 87031; telephone (505) 861-0800, or Charlotte Potok, (802) 454-7849. Netherlands, Delft March 7-April 18 Stoneware bowls by Alev Siesbye. April25-June 6Stoneware wall plates/slabs by Cathy Fleckstein; at Terra Keramiek, Nieuwstraat 7. Netherlands, Deventer March 7-April 4 Ceram­ ics by Felicity Aylieff. April 18-May 16 Glazed stoneware by Vincent Potier; at Loes and Reinier, Korte Assenstraat 15. Netherlands, Leeuwarden through March 8 “Raku: A Dynasty of Japanese Potters”; at Keramiek- museum het Princessehof, Grote Kerkstraat 11. Netherlands, Oosterbeek March 15—April 12 Exhibition of collaborative works by ceramist Resi Arts and painters Ad Gerritsen and Klaas Gubbels. April 26-May 25 Exhibition including ceramics by Arja Hoogstad and Nicoline Nieuwenhuis; at Galerie Amphora, van Oudenallenstraat 3. Switzerland, Geneva through March 16Ceramics and glass by Bernard Dejonghe. through May 11 “Scent Bottles of the 18th Century”; at Ariana, Swiss Museum of Ceramics and Glass, 10, ave. de la Paix.

104 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 105 screen fails, or the screen itself tears, normallybe quite painful and take a long time to heal. Questions near the edge. Also, be sure to take every precaution to avoid Answered by the CM Technical Staff The screens tear easily because they are breathing the dust from the materials you are made of brass, which does not stand up to thescreening. Finally, dry the screens well and store abrasion of forcing materials through the mesh.them in a clean, dry place. This will slow the Every time you use a screen, you polish off thenatural corrosion and weakening of the brass. Q Is there a way to fix broken glaze sieves natural protective oxides on the surface of the To repair plastic sieves, you could try the (the plastic ones) with a sieve insert? They brass and weaken the wire a little more. Thoughsame technique I have used for making sieves. break mostly around the edges.—R.K soft, brass is preferred because it does not rust.Beginning with a shallow plastic pan or bucket, Plastic glaze sieves are a real asset to the To prolong the life of brass screens, start I cut a hole in the bottom (leaving about an inch ceramics studio in that they are much cheaperwith a large screen and work down to a finer of flat bottom around the edge), then attach a than the brass-framed sieves and much easier screen, gently agitating the materials through piece of screening material with hot glue. This to clean. However, they do tend to fail in two with a rubber spatula. If you use your hands, glue melts the plastic, welding the screen per­ ways: the joint between the plastic and the you will risk sanding your fingertips, which canmanently to it. If you are screening only dry materials, you can use steel screen, which can be purchased from most hardware stores. If you are screening liquids, you can also find brass screen at some hardware stores. It is commonly called water- pump screen. If you are lucky, the store may carry both in a variety of mesh sizes. W. Lowell Baker University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Q My wife is the ceramist in thisfamily, but when I mentioned I would like to try my hand at making some tiles, she was all in favor of it. What I want to do is make tiles depicting selected denizens of the Chesapeake Bay. I would like to use decals, but don’t know how to make them. Can you provide any information regarding textual material on how to make decals, then how to use them?—G.B. There are several good sources of informa­ tion on making your own ceramic decals; the book Ceramic Screen Printing by Albert Kosloff is quite good, but it may be out of print; check with your local library. You may also want to see the two-part series on “Making Ceramic De­ cals” that I wrote for Ceramics Monthly in 1975. There are also a few companies that do custom decal work in small quantities. If you provide them with camera-ready art, they can easily produce good decals. Multiple colors are more expensive than single colors. If you decide to produce your own decals, it is important to understand that in theory a decal is a simple silk screen, but in practice it is quite involved. Although not overly complex, decal making and application do require spe­ cialized materials and procedures. Jonathan Kaplan Ceramic Design Group Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Have a problem? Subscribers’ questions are welcome, and those of interest to the ceramics community in general will be an­ swered in this column. Due to volume, letters may not be answered personally. Mail to Ceramics Monthly, PO Box 6102, Westerville, Ohio 43086-6102, e-mail to [email protected] or fax to (614) 891-8960.

106 CERAMICS MONTHLY

Suggestive Symbols by David Benge

I create ceramic art of an eclectic na- ture, incorporating images and symbols from other cultures. Each has a specific meaning and purpose that is designed to affect the viewer in a unique way. For example, the ancient Egyptian winged scarabs are intended to suggest transfor­ mation and rebirth, while serpents have the effect of drawing the viewer out, in a sense forcing the observer to react. I must admit, however, that this can work both ways; some people are fascinated by serpents, while others are repulsed and pushed away. I don’t worry about this. I view serpents in a classical sense. They have always been used in art as a symbol of metamorphosis, mystery, magic and sexuality. Another ancient Egyptian symbol I also use is the ankh, which is shaped like a cross with a loop at the top and sometimes with a loop on each side under the cross arms. It is a symbol of life-force. It represents knowing our­ selves on deep levels, a symbol of per­ sonal unity. My representations of Earth are meant to be a symbol of wholeness. It’s my belief that the world has the poten­ tial to come together with an entirely new kind of unity that would heal the current schism between the traditional mind and the higher self, and remind us of our true connection to the planet on which we live. I’ve been involved in clay since 1965, when I studied ceramics with F. Carlton Ball and Susan Peterson. They taught me a lot about the technical side of ceramics—that it’s only through a sound understanding and control of the mate­ rials that an artist can expect his or her “Dolphin World,” 11½ inches in height, slip-cast true vision to take form. and press-molded porcelaneous stoneware. For ten years, I was a Cone 10 re­ duction potter in Santa Fe, New Mexico, interest in metaphysics and personal most of these pieces are unglazed or then I returned to my native Los Ange­ transformation. I wanted to make art utilize minimal glaze only in specific les to work in various ceramics factories that would reach people on a more per­ areas of the piece. I like simplicity and in the area. I did research and develop­ sonal level, to make them think and feel understatement. ment in glazes and clay bodies, as well in a new way. For the most part, this work is pro­ as designs for tableware and other por­ My current body of work consists of duced as separate elements, which are celain products. These designs are still slip-cast, press-molded porcelaneous assembled with epoxy. I create my own available on the market today. stoneware fired to Cone 6 in an electric plaster molds, sculpting the original In 1990,1 struck out on my own to kiln. The clay is colored with stains and shapes out of Plasteline, then casting create artwork that would reflect my raw oxides; glazes are simple. In fact, press or slip molds.

108 CERAMICS MONTHLY Sometimes, I paint backgrounds for these forms on gessoed wood panels, using oils, acrylics or casein. This allows me to complete an idea, which other­ wise could not be done, given the chro­ matic limitations that exist with fired clay and glaze. Having worked with clay for many years, I’ve learned that there is a natural evolution to the work To keep it fun, you have to keep growing as an artist. Creativity is about fun. Anything less does not satisfy and eventually leads to boredom. I see the whole process of making art as a challenge. When I get stuck or frustration sets in, I always remember my primary goal is to achieve some semblance of aesthetic beauty. People need beauty in their lives, especially now, and I try hard to supply that in some small way. A “Fire Scarab,” 16 inches in diameter, glazed and lustered stoneware on oil-painted wood, by David Benge, Los Angeles, California.

Recipes David Benge Stoneware Body Red Iron Oxide...... 2.0 parts Note: The matt glaze must be (Cone 6) Golden adobe: deflocculated. Slake glaze with 60 cu­ Alumina Oxide (Calcined).. 1.0 parts Mason 6464 Zirconium bic centimeters of water for every 100 Wollastonite W-10...... 5.0 Yellow Stain...... 4.0 parts grams dry glaze. Let sit overnight, then Nepheline Syenite Red Iron Oxide...... 1.0 parts mix as you add drops of Darvan that (400 mesh)...... 12.0 Rutile...... 2.0 parts has been diluted with 50% water. Add Primas Feldspar...... 10.0 Dark cobalt: only as many drops as you need to thin Edgar Plastic Kaolin...... 15.0 Ferro C202 Blue Stain...... 5.0 parts the glaze, usually 12-20 drops for a Kentucky Ball 3000-gram batch. Clay (OM 4)...... 27.5 David Benge Matt Glaze Kentucky Special...... 7.5 (Cone 6) David Benge Gloss Glaze PyraxClay...... 5.0 Whiting...... 10% (Cone 6) Zinc Oxide...... 20 Sno Cal Kaolin...... 5.0 Whiting...... 15.00% Flint (200 mesh)...... 23.0 Frit CC-257 (Ferro)...... 10 Primas Feldspar...... 23.00 111.0 parts Primas Feldspar...... 35 Frit 400 (Hommel)...... 5.00 Kentuclsy Ball Clay (OM 4)..... 10 Frit 3292 (Ferro) ...... 18.00 Age for 30 days if using as a plastic Flint (325 mesh)...... 15 Edgar Plastic Kaolin ...... 12.00 body. Colored bodies are produced with 100% Flint (325 mesh) ...... 27.00 a variety of stains and oxides: Color variations are achieved with the 100.00% Add: Bentonite...... 3.40% Blue-white: following additions: Harshaw D-355 Black: Ball mill for seven hours for a smooth Periwinkle Blue Stain 2.0 parts Cobalt Carbonate...... 2% melt. Color variations are achieved with Blue-purple: Copper Carbonate...... 4% the following additions: Mason 6385 Purple Stain... 7.5 parts Drakenfeld 4346 Red Black: Brown Stain...... 3% Opaque white: Harshaw Z-560 Black Stain ..7.5 parts Periwinkle blue: Zircopax...... 10.00% Brown: Harshaw D-355 Periwinkle Blue .... 4% Gray: Ferro C834 Peach Stain 7.5 parts Zircopax...... 7% Harshaw Z-560 Black Stain....0.25%

March 1998 109 The Perfect Clay Body? Continued from page 48

cream cheese. The amount of “tooth” flint can be as high as 25%. While clays required is a subjective decision that has and other materials, such as talc, feld­ to be decided by the individual potter. spars and frits, also have a silica compo­ nent, the amount of silica is usually not Stoneware enough to achieve optimum vitrification. Cedar Heights Goldart stoneware is Clay bodies generally use 200-mesh the backbone of the recipe, as it is the flint and glaze recipes frequently call for major material by weight. Stoneware 325-mesh flint, but either mesh size is clays are relatively clean, medium-plate- suitable for a clay body; however, for let-size clays and, as their name implies, consistent results, its important to use they can be fired to stoneware tempera­ the same mesh size every time the body tures (Cone 6 to Cone 10). While is mixed. Goldart had high concentrations of sul­ fur in the past, that has been kept under Flux control for the last 15 years. Feldspar is the major flux or glass Stoneware clays have greater plastic­ former in the clay body. If too much is ity than fireclays, but they are not as incorporated, a pot can slump or attach plastic as ball clays. As a group, they are itself to the kiln shelf during the firing. reliable and adapt well to other clays in In extreme overfluxing, the clay body the recipe. Low amounts of stoneware can achieve the “Chernobyl effect,” a clay will cause an unbalanced mix. Con­ molten mass on the kiln floor. Over- versely, too high a stoneware percentage fluxing caused by excessive amounts of will detract from the qualities of the feldspar can also darken the fired clay other clays in the body. color if any iron is present in the body, Ball Clay or cause it to bloat or become brittle. While ball clays contribute plasticity Too little feldspar in the clay body to the clay body, they also increase the will lower the amount of glass forma­ rate of shrinkage during the drying and tion within the fired clay, which can firing stages. Achieving a balance of lead to improper glaze fit and the possi­ greater plasticity and minimum shrink­ bility of moisture seeping through the age must be considered when choosing fired clay form. One method of fixing a the amount of ball clay for the recipe. clay body that does not hold liquid is to Low amounts of ball clay will produce a tighten up the body with increased “short” body that will crack easily when amounts of flux. Once the correct bent in the forming process. On the amount of flux is added, the absorption other hand, too much ball clay can lead rate of the fired clay will decrease and it to excessive shrinkage, and warping of will hold liquids. Most stoneware func­ the clay in the drying and firing stages. tional pottery should have absorption rates of 3% or lower. A glaze should Flint never be considered as a “sealer” or wa­ The addition of flint (silica) to a clay terproof coating, as water will always body yields several benefits: It decreases seep through any small imperfection in warping and shrinkage in the drying the glaze. The only reasons for using stage; however, high amounts of flint glazes on functional objects made from can make the clay less plastic. It reacts properly formulated stoneware are for with feldspar during the firing to aug­ aesthetic purposes and to provide an ment the development of glass forma­ easily cleaned smooth surface. tion within the clay body. It also Generally, potash feldspars (such as promotes a better glaze fit and decreases Custer or G-200) are preferred over soda the chances of glaze crazing defects. feldspars (Kona F-4 and nepheline syen­ In Cone 6 to Cone 10 throwing ite) because, as a group, potash feldspars bodies, the amount of flint should gen­ are less soluble. Over time, soda feldspars erally be kept below 14%, the excep­ can sometimes break down in the body, tion being porcelain bodies, for which causing the moist clay to become thixo-

110 CERAMICS MONTHLY tropic or rubbery in the forming pro­ manufactured from ground-up firebrick. cess. The clay can also feel soft and have As a rule, particle-size variation is pre­ a Jell-o consistency when being worked ferred when choosing grog due to the on the wheel. As water is applied to mechanical advantage of interloclcing form the pot, the clay becomes very soft grog sizes and shapes. Different size grog and loses its ability to hold a thrown particles touch and combine, yielding a curve. In time, the clay cannot support cohesive clay body. Grog also decreases its own weight and the form usually dry and fired shrinkage in the clay body; slumps or cannot be pulled higher. however, high amounts of grog can make Sheffield clay is a low-temperature the moist clay less plastic. earthenware mined by Sheffield Pottery Since the grog is already fired, for Supply Company in western Massachu­ every 10% of grog added to a clay body, setts. It serves more than one major fired shrinkage is decreased approxi­ function in my clay body. When a raw mately 1%. Little or no grog in the clay material can offer more than two func­ body decreases the amount of “tooth” tions, it should be strongly considered when the clay is being formed on the for inclusion. Besides contributing dif­ wheel. The moist clay has difficulty ferent clay platelet sizes to the mix, standing up and will slump during Sheffield clay has a high iron content, throwing. In most stoneware throwing which causes a brown clay body color bodies, grog amounts of more than 15% in reduction and a medium cream color negatively affect the plasticity and han­ in oxidation atmospheres. Being a low- dling qualities. Too much grog in the fire clay, it also promotes fluxing action clay body will produce a “gritty” moist in the clay body. Cedar Heights Redart, clay that will be “short” or nonplastic. another low-temperature clay, can be Grog is classified by particle size. The substituted for Sheffield clay. lower the number, the larger the grog When a darker color clay body is particle size. Grog 8/12 mesh size looks required, it is always better to incorpo­ like small pebbles, while grog 100 mesh rate high-iron-bearing clays rather than is a fine powder. Grog 48/f ranges from adding straight red iron oxide. Addi­ 48 mesh (about the size of beach sand) tions of metallic coloring oxides to the with varying smaller particles to pow­ clay body for color will make the moist der size; it gives good particle size distri­ clay take on water very fast during the bution to the clay body. throwing process, causing the clay to become too soft. Also, metallic oxides The Plasticity of Clay can easily overflux the clay body, espe­ In the past, Japanese potters used to cially in reduction atmospheres. If me­ mix and store moist clay for future gen­ tallic oxides are added to the clay body, erations of potters. By this process, the they should be limited to 2% or less. A clay was “aged,” becoming more plas­ better solution is to find a metallic- tic. Today, other methods are available oxide-bearing clay. Again, having one to increase a clay body’s plastic quali­ material cover several purposes will pro­ ties. Two important factors determine duce greater stability. the moist clay’s plasticity: the ingredi­ For color, platelet size and minor ents and the amount of time the clay fluxing properties, small amounts of body spends in the moist state. Differ­ earthenware clay can be incorporated ent clay body additives can be used to into clay bodies formulated for stone­ accelerate the plasticity process, but the ware temperatures; however, earthen­ length of time under the right condi­ ware or other low-temperature clays tions is still a critical factor in the devel­ should not be used in amounts of more opment of good throwing bodies. than 10% in stoneware bodies, as their The unique characteristics displayed fluxing action may then cause bloating, by clay/water structures contribute to warping and excessive fired shrinkage. the plastic qualities of moist clay. Under magnification, clay particles look like Filler flat plates, which makes for ideal sur­ Grog is manufactured from virgin faces when brought into contact with deposits of alumina/silica refractory water. The colloidal action of the water material. It is then calcined or fired to attracts and holds the clay platelets. A high temperature. Grog can also be good example of this action can be

March 1998 111 The Perfect Clay Body?

shown by tearing paper into small pieces. drawn together in a manner similar to The paper represents dry clay, which the attraction of the poles of magnets. does not bond or stick together at this The overall effect is a tight, plastic body point. Now add just enough water to with good throwing properties. moisten both sides of each piece of pa­ Additive A is a blend of lignosul- per. The pieces of paper will stick to­ fonates and other chemicals manufac­ gether and can even be bent or shaped. tured by Lignotech USA (Post Office Box 582, Lavonia, Georgia 30553) for Increasing Plasticity use in the paper-manufacturing pro­ The natural plasticity of clay/water cess. When Additive A is added in structures can be enhanced by several amounts up to 0.75% based on the dry methods. As mentioned earlier, addi­ weight of the clay, it can increase the tions of bentonite or ball clay can im­ moist clay s plasticity without changing prove plasticity; however, bentonite its fired shrinkage, absorption or color. should be limited to no more than 2% Additive A is produced in several to avoid “gummy” clay, and ball clay versions, some of which (types 1, 3 and should not exceed 25% to avoid exces­ 4) contain barium in a safe, nontoxic sive dry shrinkage and warping. Too form; these can be used to eliminate the much ball clay can also cause handles to scumming common on clay bodies crack at joints, and any thin area (such where soluble salts are present. When as an overtrimmed pot bottom) is likely included in a clay body, it has the ad­ to crack. Such drying cracks occur be­ vantage of increasing the plastic proper­ cause of the shrinkage stress induced ties of the body while not causing where a thin cross section of clay meets excessive shrinkage rates in the drying a thicker cross section. and firing stages. Starting mold growth in the moist clay can also improve plasticity. Mold Methods of Mixing increases the binding action or attrac­ Simply mixing the dry ingredients tion of the clay platelets. When mixing and adding the correct amount of water a 100-pound batch of clay, add to the are all that is really required to achieve a water ½ cup beer, coffee or apple cider plastic mass of usable clay. Hand mix­ vinegar, or 3 ounces yeast. Any one of ing will accomplish the goal, but when these agents will start mold growth. larger quantities of moist clay are re­ Stoneware clay bodies seem to suc­ quired, machines are labor- and time- cessfully accept wider variations of mold saving necessities. The goal is simply to growth than porcelain clay bodies. Green surround each clay platelet by a film of mold seems to offer the best plastic quali­ water. Achieving this will ensure the ties to the moist clay; black mold growth greatest plasticity. can cause problems due to its lack of Combining the use of a clay mixer blending in with the surrounding clay and a pug mill is the most efficient body. Some types of black mold can method of mixing clay. Ceramics sup­ even cause voids in the moist clay. Al­ ply companies use both machines in ways wedge moldy clay before begin­ the production of stock clay bodies as ning the forming process. well as custom-mixed clays. The dry Adding 3-5 ounces Epsom salts clay and water are blended in the clay (magnesium sulfate) per 100 pounds mixer, then the moist clay is transferred dry clay ingredients can increase plas­ to the pug mill and compressed by a ticity on another level. Epsom salts will mechanical screw. It then goes through increase the attraction of clay platelets a chamber where the air is removed and in the moist clay state, causing the clay is extruded from the pug-mill nozzle in to become flocculated. To disperse uni­ usable condition. Clay compaction can formly throughout the body, add Ep­ also make for a denser fired clay body, som salts to the water used in mixing as compacted clay platelets fuse faster the clay. The clay platelets are then and more completely during the firing

112 CERAMICS MONTHLY than noncompacted platelets. Pug- clay is allowed to “rest” or “age” for milled bodies can run 0.25% to 0.5% several days before forming begins on less in fired absorption than the same the wheel. After mixing operations, the recipe not pugged. moist clay is pliable and can be bent Hand-wedging the clay before use into shapes; however, each clay platelet should increase plasticity, and can help is not thoroughly wet (with the excep­ avoid potential problems caused by the tion of filter-press clays), resulting in a pugging process. The tube or block of lack of plasticity. The same moist clay a clay that is extruded from the pug mill few days or weeks later will have most can have weak spots or shear lines. Some­ of its platelets surrounded by water, times fine-particles within the moist clay yielding an increase in plasticity. body are rubbed by the pug mill auger blade and separated from coarse par­ The Perfect Recipe ticles, causing two separate clay bodies. Is there a perfect body that can ac­ As the clay is augered through the mill, complish miracles and overcome bad fine-particle clays are moved up against technique or improper firing cycles? No. coarse-particle clays in a concentric ring Can the Zam Super Clay Body do well pattern. When the body is extruded, in salt, soda and wood firing, as well as there will be a seam line between the reduction and oxidation atmospheres? fine-particle and the coarse-particle clays. Yes. Does it throw well? I think so. It If visible, this seam will look much like has proven itself over the years with the circular pattern of a sliced jelly-roll many potters; however, anyone inter­ cake; however, ested in using it because the ex­ should still be­ truded clay is A super clay body or glaze gin with a small moist and com­ recipe will not lessen test batch before pacted, the the time and effort involved getting out the seam might not old mixer and be apparent, es­ in producing good, honest making a ton. pecially through pots. The magic recipe is Choosing a plastic ship- in the potter, not the clay. the correct clay ping bag. body is a sub­ To find out jective decision. if a pugged clay has such a weak area, If this recipe does not meet your needs, slice 2 inches from the extruded face I hope it at least provides a starting and place this slab in water overnight. If point for your own research. While it is the clay shows “jelly-roll” cracking pat­ true one clay body cannot do every­ terns the next day, be sure to hand wedge thing, certain combinations of clay, flux thoroughly, particularly before attempt­ and filler work well under many differ­ ing to throw wide-based forms, such as ent conditions. plates. Otherwise, upon drying, the clay It is always a good idea to first mix seam separates, causing a crack. up a small amount of any new clay or Another method of mixing clay re­ glaze recipe, then test fire it on an old quires the use of a filter press. Dry clay kiln shelf to prevent any possible dam­ is mixed with excess water to form a age to the kiln. If the result is good, mix slurry. It is then pumped into a series of up a larger batch and continue to test absorbent bags, which are subsequently until the new recipe has proven itself compressed to remove the excess water. over a couple of firings. The resulting “leaves” of moist clay can A super clay body or glaze recipe will then go onto the pug mill for further not lessen the time and effort involved mixing and de-airing. WTiile filter press­ in producing good, honest pots. The ing is expensive and labor intensive (and magic recipe is in the potter, not the not frequently used by commercial clay- clay. A good potter can go into any mixing operations), it produces greater studio, anywhere, scrape the clay off the plasticity than other mixing methods floor and still make pots. because each clay platelet is surrounded by water in the slurry stage. The author A frequent contributor to Whatever the mixing method, the CM, ceramics consultant JeffZamek re­ best results are obtained when the moist sides in Southampton, Massachusetts.

March 1998 113 114 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 115 116 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 117 Comment

Workshop Fantasies by Marilyn Chadwick

In the spring, workshop catalogs begin last of the commute to my nine-to- using colored clay, and it says “begin­ to arrive. Some people moon over seed five. Shall I discover how to deconstruct ner to advanced.” That means all of us. catalogs. Some people collect travel bro­ a thrown form and turn it into a sculp­ My ego, bruised and battered by a year chures. I am the Walter Mitty of pot­ ture? What about a week in the South­ of competing in the workplace, won’t tery workshops. Shall I be the “ultimate west making a storyteller doll with a have to worry about keeping up. potter” and learn how to run my own Native American potter? I pack my bags. Should I or shouldn’t studio? Suddenly, I see myself efficiently Finally, I find the workshop I know I bring my fantasies? I leave them aside, turning out pots to fill orders, free at I will attend this summer. It is about then at the last moment decide to take them. Who knows? I may want them, and they really don’t take up much space in my toolbox. This is my vacation. I will finally have time to let my creative side take over. I have been waiting all year to have nothing else to do but “pot.” What a luxury, not to have to squeeze a few hours into Saturday morning for a ce­ ramics class or to will my body to keep working Thursday night, long after my energy has been drained by the day. I park my car and drag my belong­ ings to Cabin 1. My roommate is there already. She is a furniture maker, but decided to take a workshop in fiber to learn something new. I like her right away. We go to dinner together and meet the other participants of the ses­ sion. Everyone is excited and a little nervous; we trade stories. Most of us are hobbyists, from art teachers to law­ yers, some more serious than others. We all worry about whether we’ll mea­ sure up to the rest of the class. I repeat my mantra, beginner to advanced. The workshop unfolds. We each have our own studio space. This is luxuri­ ous—my own space. I can leave unfin­ ished pieces wrapped on my table next to my tools, all ready for my return. A few days into my fantasy workshop, reality sneaks in. I don’t think I like my instructor. She is not interested in the students. She brought her own assis­ tants with her. They all sit together, talking and laughing at private jokes. She tells us that the best way to learn is to watch an expert. That is how she learned. She treats us to a demon­ stration on the first day. Thereafter she is involved in her own work. We have the opportunity to watch a master pot­ ter at work. I keep my doubts to my­ self. Maybe I’m being too critical, but didn’t I pay for instruction?

118 CERAMICS MONTHLY March 1998 119 Comment are actually nice. I have colored-clay takes to teach new techniques. She recipes, and I learned a lot, even though knows how to laugh. On leaving the it wasn’t from the instructor. workshop, I would feel part of a com­ It is about halfway through the work­ After the drive home, I find my day­ munity of potters. shop when we reach a turning point. dreams in the toolbox. I throw them I don’t think I will be giving up my After days of lunches and dinners to­ away and create a new one. It is not day job for pottery soon, but I take this gether, we know each other well enough about me, but about the ideal instruc­ side of my life seriously, and I want to to be frank. We are all feeling neglected! tor. He or she is someone who likes be taken seriously. What is my day job? How to deal with this? Some of us teaching. She is at the workshop all day I am a teacher of teachers. I work in want to go for direct confrontation. and talks to the students. The assis­ classrooms directly with the teachers. I Some of us are pacificsts— teach them how to com­ no trouble please; we are municate information ef­ here to de-stress. This dis­ The ideal instructor... is someone who likes fectively and with respect cussion goes on for days. teaching....She critiques our work, but knows how to make and, I hope, warmth for None of us directly con­ their students. I want the fronts the instructor. us feelgood about ourselves. She uses our mistakes to teach same things for myself. Has The more demanding new techniques. She knows how to laugh. anyone ever thought about begin to ask insistent ques­ teacher training for work­ tions. The instructor is shop instructors? pleasant and answers them, but she al­ tants are there to assist, not to become By the way, I’ve heard about a great ways returns to her own work quickly. a barrier between the instructor and handbuilding workshop scheduled for The benefit of all this is that we unite the lowly, paying students. this summer. I heard that the instruc­ around our common discontent. We The ideal instructor would like work­ tor is fantastic. He is Peter Voulkos and help each other, the more advanced gen­ ing with students of varying skill lev­ John Dewey combined. I can hardly erously sharing expertise with the nov­ els—she knows we aren’t professionals, wait for the catalog. ices. We have fun and we learn new but she would treat our questions seri­ things from each other. ously anyway. She critiques our work, The author Employed by the city of New The workshop ends. I have quite a but knows how to make us feel good York, Marilyn Chadwick is a peer coach for few pieces to take home. One or two about our efforts. She uses our mis­ teachers who are deemed unsatisfactory.

Index to Advertisers

A.R.T. Studio...... 81 Cornell...... 112 Laloba Ranch...... 88 Santa Fe Clay...... 116 Aardvark...... 95 Creative Industries...... 80 Leslie...... 101 Sapir...... 101 Aftosa ...... 83 Davens...... 103 Lockerbie...... 33 Scott Creek...... 110 Amaco...... 11 Dedell...... 88 Long Island University...... 93 Seattle Pottery...... 105 American Ceramic Society...... 89, 104 Del Val...... 112 Max...... 116 Sheffield...... 117 American Craft...... 84, 95 Derek Marshall ...... 113 Metchosin School...... 113 Shimpo...... Cover 2 Amherst Potters...... 90 Dolan ...... 88 Miami Clay ...... 91 Sierra Nevada College...... 110 Anderson Ranch...... 112, 119 Duralite ...... 116 Miami University...... 91 Skutt...... Cover 4 Arrowmont...... 95 Snyder ...... 100 Euclid’s...... 96 Mile Hi...... 88 Axner...... Cover 3 Minnesota Clay USA...... 31 Spectrum ...... 13 Falcon...... 112 Bailey...... 1, 6, 7, 36 Miracle Underglazes...... 116 Standard...... 101 Flourish ...... 88 Bennett’s...... 5 Modern Postcard...... 105 StoneHaus...... 97 Geil...... 77 Studio Potter...... 100 Bluebird...... 32 NCECA...... 28, 29 Georgies...... 98 Bracker Ceramics...... 112 New Mexico Clay...... 82 Taos Art School...... 84 Gibbes Museum...... 86 Brent...... 27 New Orleans Clay...... 113 Tara...... 9 Giffin...... 79 Brickyard...... 94 North Star...... 21, 114 Thomas-Stuart...... 119 Brown Tool ...... 92 Great Lakes Clay...... 103 Trinity ...... 117 Olsen...... 97 Hammill & Gillespie...... 107 Truro Center...... 88 Callas...... 103 Olympic...... 82 Ceramic Arts Library...... 94 Haystack...... 92 Tucker’s...... 106 Ceramics Monthly...... 119 HBD ...... 82 Palissy ...... Ill U.S. Pigment ...... 99 CerMa...... 97 Highwater Clays...... 10 Paragon...... 93 University of Alberta...... 99 Clark...... 110 Hood...... Ill Peter Pugger...... 113 Pewabic...... Ill Venco...... 87 Classified...... 115 International Technical ...... 96 Clay Art Center...... 90 Philadelphia Pottery...... 113 Ward...... 30 Jahn...... 104 Clay Factory...... 82 Potters Guide...... 99 Wendt...... 82 Jepson...... 15, 17, 23, 25 Clay Times...... 102 Potters Shop...... 86 Westerwald...... 98 Clayworks Supplies ...... 116 Kickwheel...... 2 Pottery Making Illustrated...... 78 Whistle Press...... Ill Contact...... 105 Krause Publications...... 34 Pure & Simple...... 82 Wise...... Ill Contemporary Kiln...... 116 Krueger...... 104 Ram...... 114 Wolfe...... 82 Continental Clay...... 118 L&L ...... 19 Randall...... 91 Worcester Center...... 114 Corey...... 88 Laguna Clay...... 85 Rosen...... 35 YWCA...... 114

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