December 1991 1 William Hunt...... Editor Ruth C. Butler ...... Associate Editor Robert L. Creager...... Art Director Kim S. Nagorski...... Assistant Editor Shawn R. LaRowe ...... Staff Assistant Mary Rushley ...... Circulation Manager Mary E. Beaver...... Circulation Assistant Connie Belcher ...... Advertising Manager Spencer L. Davis ...... Publisher

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Ceramics Monthly (ISSN 0009-0328) is pub­ lished monthly except July and August by Professional Publications, Inc., 1609 North­ west Blvd., Columbus, Ohio 43212. Second Class postage paid at Columbus, Ohio. Subscription Rates:One year $22, two years $40, three years $55. Add $10 per year for subscriptions outside the U.S.A. Change of Address:Please give us four weeks advance notice. Send the magazine address label as well as your new address to: Ceramics Monthly, Circulation Offices, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Contributors: Manuscripts, photographs, color separations, color transparencies (in­ cluding 35mm slides), graphic illustrations, announcements and news releases about ceramics are welcome and will be consid­ ered for publication. Mail submissions to Ceramics Monthly, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. We also accept unillustrated materials faxed to (614) 488-4561. Writing and Photographic Guidelines:A booklet describing standards and proce­ dures for submitting materials is available upon request. Indexing: An index of each year’s articles appears in the December issue. Addition­ ally, Ceramics Monthly articles are indexed in the Art Index. Printed, on-line and CD-ROM (computer) indexing is available through Wilsonline, 950 University Ave., Bronx, New York 10452; and from Information Access Co., 362 Lakeside Dr., Forest City, Califor­ nia 94404. These services are available through your local library. A 20-year subject index (1953-1972), covering Ceramics Monthly feature articles, and the Sugges­ tions and Questions columns, is available for $1.50, postpaid, from the Ceramics Monthly Book Department, Box 12448, Co­ lumbus, Ohio 43212. Copies and Reprints:Microfiche, 16mm and 35mm microfilm copies, and xerographic reprints are available to subscribers from University Microfilms, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106. Back Issues: When available, back issues are $4 each, postpaid. Write for a list. Postmaster:Please send address changes to Ceramics Monthly, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Form 3579 requested. Copyright © 1991 Professional Publications, Inc. All rights reserved

2 Ceramics Monthly December 1991 3 4 Ceramics Monthly VOLUME 39, NUMBER 10 • DECEMBER1991

Feature Articles

A Paper Kiln by Caroline Court ...... 26

Doug Casebeer by Laura Dixon ...... 29 Jeff Irwin’s Wax-Resist Images ...... 34

Sixty Years of Discovery by Harding Black ...... 36 with Rudolf Staffel and William Daley on Harding Black ...... 38

Staten Island Zoo MuralsNew Mexico Staten Island Zoo Murals by Amanda Jaffe ...... 42 artist Amanda Jaffe studied patterning of the zoo’s inhabitants to produce glaze The Burghley Collection ...... 44 images that related to the site of two com­ missioned tile murals; see page 42. 15th Fletcher Challenge Exhibition by Peter Lange...... 45

A Paper Kiln All you need are a stack of Magnesium Matt Glazes by Harold McWhinnie ...... 53 pots, a few firebrick, slurry-coated paper over chicken wire, a tin can, and you’ve built a useful, wood-fueled kiln; Caroline Airbrushing on Clay by Hanna Lore Hombordy ...... 78 Court explains, starting on page 26. Manipulating Raku Glazes by Robert Keyser...... 82 Airbrushing on ClayUnderglazes, slips, engobes and glazes can be airbrushed on raw, bisqued or glazed surfaces for a vari­ ety of effects; turn to page 78 for advice on developing patterns and overcoming com­ Up Front mon difficulties, as well as purchasing, operating and cleaning an airbrush. Dorothy and Walter Auman Breaking In (1925, 1926-1991)...... 10 by Kay Babineau-Rector ...... 14 Free Summer Workshops Listing ...... 10 Bill Griffith...... 16 Tableware in Detroit...... 18 Jim Kraft...... 10 Bonsai Containers Jolyon Hofsted by Lorraine Joyal...... 18 by Gerard Haggerty ...... 12 Robert Sperry Commission...... 20 NEA Deadlines ...... 12 Platter Competition ...... 20 Uncommon Ground Colorful Clay ...... 22 by Shirley Johnson ...... 14 Artist Information Hotline ...... 22 Rhode Island Design...... 14 18th Annual Earthworks...... 22

Doug CasebeerThe challenge of func­ tion, says this Colorado studio potter, is “to invoke passion from an inanimate object. I don’t care if people love or hate my work, Departments but if they are indifferent, then I haven’t done my job—I haven’t created enough comfort or enough controversy”; see the Letters ...... 8 Classified Advertising ...... 84 profile beginning on page 29. Call for Entries ...... 58 Annual Index January-December 1991 ...... 86 The coverTexas potter Harding Black Calendar ...... 64 outside his San Antonio studio, circa 1963. Suggestions ...... 72 Comment: Recognized as “a master of glazes” (he ran The Trend toward Standardization 10,000 tests in one 15-year period), Black Questions ...... 74 by Brad Sondahl...... 88 talks freely about his 60-year ceramics ca­ reer beginning on page 36. New Books ...... 76 Index to Advertisers ...... 88

December 1991 5 6 C eramics Monthly December 1991 7 Letters millers are traditionally exposed to higher modern dust controls. Such exposures are dust levels). For these and other reasons extremely unlikely in nonmining work the R T. Vanderbilt Company, Inc., as environments, though all talc suppliers well as many independent health re­ routinely warn users of this potential. searchers, seriously question any “causal” In not properly researching this issue, relationship between the lung cancers Ceramics Monthly made no attempt whatso­ Think before You Fire observed and exposure to this talc dust. ever to address this matter in a thorough Many other potters may feel as I do Fortunately, other researchers have and objective fashion. Balanced reporting about firing pots, which would serve far investigated the cause-effect question and is critical when addressing complex scien­ better left as good honest clay. have concluded that the excess cancers tific issues. Such matters are rarely as Certainly, an aesthetically unsuccessful observed are not likely related to this talc definitive as we would all like them to be. [fired] ceramic piece may be broken dust. In an exhaustive study matching John Kelse and/or dumped in the garbage. Environ­ lung cancer cases against non-cases in the R. T. Vanderbilt Industrial Hygienist mentally, however, it can never be truly same work group (case control study), Dr. Norwalk, Conn. destroyed. Multiplied manifold, the waste John Gamble, the government researcher is enormous. responsible for compiling the basic statis­ Temperature/Measurement Conversion Florence Ferman tics that NIOSH reported, concluded: After many years, I, once again, am Westlake Village, Calif. “Although lung cancer SMRs are ele­ subscribing to Ceramics Monthly. I left vated, we could not detect an exposure- Canada 15 years ago, and already at that “Gasp ” Queries response relationship....In summary, there time, our ceramics department had “gone The October 1991 issue was one of the is no pattern suggesting exposure to GTC metric.” I am therefore surprised to see most comprehensive thus far. Great ar­ talc increases the risk of lung cancer.” that all temperature references in the ticles! In addition, in a report from the Amer­ magazine are in Fahrenheit. I would like I read “Gasp” with much interest as I ican Thoracic Society on the health effects to suggest that future temperature refer­ have been experimenting with natural of tremolite, the group found: ences also appear in Celsius. If nothing clays in Southeast Arizona. I’ve used con­ “The nested case-control study...was else, a minimal consideration to your crete (portland cement) with ball clay and able to evaluate the potential role of European readers (and those North just plain sand and rock in the adobe. smoking and other occupational expo­ American areas that have converted to the Why would Joseph Mannino fire his piece sures. Smoking was found to be a signifi­ metric system) would be a monthly inclu­ if he used cement? Wasn’t that element cant factor, but there was no evidence of sion of a conversion table of temperatures his stabilizer? Or was it for effect? Weren’t an effect of other occupational exposure and measurements. the “broken areas” parts that were af­ or length of employment at the mine; in Julia Manitius fected by the cement? fact, there was a generally decreasing risk Bornholm, Denmark I would like to read more about others with duration of mine employment. who have built outdoors with natural, “The results of the case-control study Making It Outside the System fired and unfired clays. and the lack of any dose-response rela­ I’m with Wallie Festa-Hammer of Guil­ Patricia Frei-Burris tionship for lung cancer risk in the cohort ford, Connecticut [October 1991 Letters]. Pearce, Ariz. study do not support a conclusion that the I want to hear about those, like myself, elevated risk in this population was attrib­ who are just starting out in the ceramics Talc Cancer Link Denied uted to mine exposure.” field. How about those of us who have no In the Questions column of the Octo­ It is unfortunate that Ceramics Monthly college degree or never studied with “the ber 1991 issue ofCeramics Monthly, readers did not ask the Vanderbilt Company to greats”? I’ve turned a hobby into my life were informed that an updated mortality comment on the NIOSH update that was and against all odds I’m determined to study of New York State tremolitic talc cited. Epidemiology studies involving a make it. miners and millers had been completed small group of workers are extremely Sheila Hargis by NIOSH and that lung cancer mortality problematic when they do not adequately Gaithersburg, Md. among these miners was twice that ex­ control for smoking, exposure level or pected. What CM did not print was (1) other work experience. Such studies are Run the Risk that this excess is now one-third lower viewed with extreme caution in the scien­ I like CM’s willingness to take risks with than previously recorded; (2) that this tific community. All the more reason, we covers, controversial articles, etc. Keep up excess remained focused among those believe, that extreme care should be the great work and keep the Soldner ads who were employed for a very short dura­ exercised in the press whenever a non­ running. tion (several less than one month); (3) peer-reviewed statistical report of this James Bozeman that all cases were smokers; and (4) that nature is addressed. Portland, Ore. the excess again appeared almost exclu­ Though excessive exposure to any sively among miners versus millers (when mineral dust should be minimized, the Fired Up in Saskatchewan literature suggests that it takes high-talc Our club has been in existence since Share your thoughts with other readers. All lettersexposures over an extended period of 1968 in one form or another and has must be signed, but names mill be withheld on time before “talcosis” becomes a serious subscribed for most of these years. We use request. Mail to The Editor, Ceramics Monthly, risk. We have observed this among our CM as our main reference, as we feel the Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212; or fax toown talc workers, who experienced ele­ recipes are reliable and colors for electric (614) 488-4561. vated dust exposures before the advent of Please turn to page 56

8 Ceramics Monthly

Walter Auman also came from a pottery family, but he Up Front didn’t become a potter until 1949 when he and Dorothy were married. After they established their own pottery in 1953, Walter concentrated on digging and preparing clay, mixing glazes and firing. In addition to building their own studio business, the Dorothy and Walter Auman (1925, 1926-1991) Aumans were avid collectors of historical ware. In 1969, they opened the Seagrove Pottery Museum in an old train North Carolina potters Dorothy and Walter Auman, who depot they had relocated behind their shop. There they operated Seagrove Pottery for nearly four decades, died displayed some 1900 pots representing nearly every October 17 when a truckload of lumber fell onto their important North Carolina pottery active from the 1830s van on U.S. Highway 220, five miles north of Seagrove. through the 1950s. Later, worries over security led them The Aumans were counted among the nation’s top to consider selling the collection; it was purchased by the traditional craftspeople, and were often cited for their Mint Museum and moved to Charlotte in 1989. Although the Aumans rarely signed their work, ex­ plaining that pots were what was important, their efforts did not go unnoticed. Among the many awards they received was the North Carolina Folk Heritage Award, recognizing them for their years of significant contribu­ tions to ceramics, and the North Carolina Governor’s Distinguished Service Award for lifetime achievement.

Free Summer Workshops Listing The 1992 “Summer Workshops” article will appear in the April issue. Potteries, craft schools, colleges/universities or other art/craft institutions are invited to submit infor­ mation about summer programs in ceramics by February 11, 1992. (Regularly scheduled classes are excluded.) Please include the workshop name and/or a synopsis of what will be covered, location, opening and closing dates, level of instruction, instructor’s name, languages spoken, availability of camping or live-in accommodations, fee(s), an address, plus a telephone number potential partici­ pants may call for details. Captioned photos from last Seagrove, North Carolina, potters Walter and Dorothy Auman. year’s workshops are welcome and will be considered for publication in the 1992 listing. Mail information and unselfish and effective promotion of North Carolina photos to Summer Workshops, Ceramics Monthly, Box pottery. “In fact,” noted Dwight Holland, president of the 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Announcements may also Randolph Arts Guild, “all the potters who are in the be faxed to (614) 488-4561. Seagrove area really owe a debt to Dorothy and Walter because, without the legwork they did, the craft would Jim Kraft never have been perpetuated. And they did it quietly. “Terrapin Series,” an exhibition of new works by Washing­ That was their way.” ton potter Jim Kraft, was presented recently at Foster/ Dorothy Auman was born into one of the oldest, largest and best-known U.S. potting families (the Coles). Her father, Charles C. Cole, helped his brother set up New Hill Pottery near Durham, then reopened their father’s shop at Steeds in 1937. Even as a young child, Dorothy was fascinated with clay and often asked her relatives to teach her more about throwing. PHOTO: ROUfcH SCHREIBER In “The Potters of Seagrove,” a video produced by the Randolph Arts Guild, she talks about “the satisfaction of taking just a lump of clay, putting it on that wheel and making something useful out of it.” Like most potters, she found this sense of satisfaction in her work “a lot easier to feel, than to talk about.”

You are invited to send news and photos about people, places or events of interest. We will be pleased to consider them for publication in this Jim Kraft’s “Return of the Horse,” slab-built earthenware column. Mail submissions to Up Front, Ceramics Monthly, Box sculpture, 37 inches in length, 1991; at Foster/White Gallery 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. in Seattle.

10 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1991 11 Up Front discarded toys and cast-off car parts, bulbs and bottles, kitsch and kitchen ware. Hofsted’s quirky juxtapositions and abrupt jumps in scale prompt us to investigate as­ White Gallery in Seattle. The forms on view varied from sumptions we make about the world—calling into ques­ wall pieces to coil- and slab-built vessels to figurative, free­ standing images. tion, for instance, preconceptions about the difference between furniture and sculpture. Kraft broke from the traditional vessel form in creating Hofsted is known as a ceramic sculptor; by definition, coil- and slab-built forms flat and without bottoms. Be­ this calling obliterates the boundary between utilitarian cause these are displayed on their sides, the interiors must be considered in addition to the exteriors. Fascinated practicality and aesthetic flights of fancy. His lustrous vessels assume various forms. Teapots may masquerade as with surfaces, Kraft uses both painterly and sculptural something animate, or may be found sitting atop a tab­ ideas to decorate these interiors. leau of clay and metal objects that includes a gangster and Expanding on this fascination with surfaces in his wall pistol. One ovoid white pot that is mounted on three pieces, Kraft decorates by scratching and pressing forms alabaster columns looks like the very model of post­ and symbols into the works. His free-standing animal modern architecture, except for the ceramic peanuts sculptures and their surface decorations represent our scattered on its golden base. more instinctive qualities. Several of Hofsted’s recent sculptures are built out of The variety in Kraft’s work reflects his own explora­ stacked parallel planes that he says represent multiple tions into possibilities and choices. Clay “is my perfect layers of meaning. Some of the works’ associations are medium,” he says. “I can...meet it halfway and allow its autobiographical; the toy car floating in a pond alongside textures to have their say....It’s a good relationship.” a bemused bullfrog alludes to a fateful day in upstate New Jolyon Hofsted York when the artist himself nearly “croaked” after his car by Gerard Haggerty went over a washed-out bridge. A solo exhibition of Hofsted’s latest work was pre­ Jolyon Hofsted, Shady, New York, invites us to take for art sented recently at Dome Gallery in New York City. what we ordinarily take for granted. Witness the objects that he casts in metal and clay: a motley mix including NEA Deadlines Professional ceramists interested in applying for $15,000 Visual Artists Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) have until February 14, 1992, to sub­ mit applications for the sculpture category, or until March 16, 1992, for the crafts category. Individuals may apply only once, and only in one fellowship area. Anyone who received an NEA grant of $15,000 or more in 1987/ 88 or 1989/90 is ineligible. Applications must be post­ marked no later than the deadline date. Applications and guidelines may be obtained by writ­ ing Visual Arts Program/Fellowships, Room 729, National Endowment for the Arts, Nancy Hanks Center, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D.C. 20506; or telephone (202) 682-5448. Despite efforts by some members of Congress to introduce new “anti-obscenity” provisions into the latest appropriations bill, restrictions will remain the same as last year; that is, the NEA is not allowed to fund art that local courts would find obscene (see “1990NEA Grants” in the December 1990 CM). Even though two-thirds of the House and Senate had voted for it, a Jesse Helms- sponsored provision prohibiting government funding of “patently offensive” works was stripped from the bill as part of a complex deal with Western senators to preserve low grazing fees on federal land. Outraged by what he called a “swap of corn for porn,” Rep. William Dannemeyer (R-Calif.) vowed to stand up to the “imperial arrogance of liberals in Congress” by trying to force another vote on the Helms’ measure, but the reauthorization bill passed without additional restrictions. Surprisingly, the current fellowship guidelines avoid Jolyon Hofsted’s “Man with Gun,” 30 inches in height, with the issue of obscenity restrictions, stating only that the Cone 04 and 022 lusters, and cast bronze umbrella, 1991; at Dome Gallery, New York. review panelists will be charged with considering the

12 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1991 13 Up Front usual criteria: the quality of work, as demonstrated by 10 slides; the applicant’s “record of professional activity and achievement”; and whether the “work reflects continued, serious and exceptional aesthetic investigation and will be at a critical point of development during the proposed fellowship period.”

Uncommon Ground by Shirley Johnson Work by two Minnesota potters was the subject of “Un­ common Ground: An Exhibition of Functional Pottery by Robert Briscoe and Cheryl Husby” on view recently at the Northern Clay Center in Saint Paul.

Kate Blacklock’s handbuilt “Vessel #2,” 20 inches in height, earthenware with stains; at Lill Street Gallery in Chicago.

are currently on the faculty, while the remaining exhibi­ tors received M.F.A. degrees from RISD in years past.

Breaking In by Kay Babineau-Rector It seems that most of my adult life I have dreamed of being an artist. What could be more wonderful? Yeah, as an artist I could be on perpetual vacation...cool. Time for a cold shower of reality. Serious about a career as an artist, I bought a house— with a garage for a studio—in the Santa Cruz mountains. Robert Briscoe stoneware vase, 9 inches in height, wheel After settling in, I painted for about three months, but thrown and altered, with ash glaze; at the Northern Clay Center in Saint Paul. then realized I couldn’t sell my work. It was too personal, and I couldn’t part with it. Obviously, this career was Husby’s taut, salt-glazed porcelain bowls, cups, platters going nowhere fast. and jars are purposely stitched, appliqued, stamped or So I turned to ceramic skills learned in college (ten printed overall with black marks. years ago) and launched into limited production. I de­ Conversely, Briscoe’s ash-glazed, loosely thrown stone­ signed a line of dinnerware that was elegant, fine (rather ware forms are gestural. Comb or hand, barely grazing a than everyday) and very contemporary. platter’s rim, modulates a plane as if by accident. Color Things went well. Galleries were interested and would trails across large bowls. A broad brush marks blunt take everything as soon as it was made. I liked that. Who casseroles and jars with slip. wouldn’t? It seemed like a good time to go into big-time production, especially as Christmas was coming. You Rhode Island Design know what I mean...$$$. A recent “Rhode Island” show at Lill Street Gallery in So I made a lot of pots and stored them on shelves, Chicago focused on an array of ceramic art coming from stacked, jammed into every corner of the studio. It never the smallest state. On view were works by Christina Ber- occurred to me to box the work for storage; besides, I toni, Katherine Blacklock, Larry Bush, Belinda Gabryl, liked to look at it. Michael Lamar, Bruce Lenore and Jacquelyn Rice. The morning of October 17, 1989,1 went for a long Much of the credit for the area’s strong showing in walk, planning to pack the kiln as full as possible for a ceramics belongs to the Rhode Island School of Design. glaze firing. It was a new kiln and I enjoyed seeing just Three of the exhibiting artists (Bertoni, Bush and Rice) how much I could fit in, using spark plug gappers to test

14 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1991 15 Up Front flames? Back inside the studio, the kiln was still on its stand, and the quake must have tripped the switch be­ cause it was shut off. What a relief! But all around were the least possible space between pots. I like a tight fit. greenware, bisqueware and finished ware shards. Nothing About 5 o’clock in the afternoon, I came in for a cup looked salvageable. of coffee and what turned out to be the ride of a lifetime. I reached down to remove a large plastic bottle full of The earth moved. I set the cup down and watched the glaze from a nail on which it had managed to impale coffee jump out onto the floor, itself, and it began to leak all while the cup was still on the over just as another aftershock counter. I felt like a rag doll in hit. So I plugged the nail back the middle of a “No, it’s mine!” into the hole, put the bottle argument. I quickly grabbed down and again got out fast. some wall, then the floor What a day! Aftershocks grabbed me. On one side of came and went every few the room, cupboard doors minutes—some big, some opened and shelves automati­ small. It was three days later cally emptied themselves, then before I had the guts to open the other side of the room the kiln. The posts had given followed suit. way, and the shelves and pots I got up quickly and moved were just one solid unit. to the cupboard where I keep Since everything was bro­ my favorite teapots and sculp­ ken, it seemed like a good time ture, shutting the door each Kay Babineau-Rector with a series of terra-cotta bowls in her to redesign my line. (Catastro­ time the quake flung it open— Santa Cruz garage studio (after repair of quake damage). phe has its positive side.) an argument I was determined Eventually, I liked what I came to win. Glass was shattering everywhere. A projectile up with and so did the galleries. After months passed, a lodged in my leg; it scared me more than it hurt. And the couple of them asked for nonproduction, one-of-a-kind, ride went on and on. This was truly not fun. high-end pieces. So I thought more in those terms. After I thought it finally ended. About the time I grasped all, that was the whole idea, wasn’t it? Be an artist. Do what had happened, it started again. At that point, I individual work. decided to abandon my treasures in the cupboard and I experimented with the slab-built bowl and vase follow a basic instinct to get out of the building. shapes, changing from a whiteware body to terra cotta As the aftershocks subsided, I could think only about because I really like the rich color. Things were moving my kiln, wondering if there were molten pots rolling along nicely. around my studio. Would everything soon burst into On delivering some of the new terra-cotta work, a dealer mentioned an upcoming show with a theme spoofing western art. That appealed to me, so that night I designed three pieces I thought would be appropriate and decided to crash the show. Two days before the exhibition opened, I took them in. The gallery accepted them and I had a new ceramic direction—an animated, bright, sculptural route. The problem was that my work as a whole looked a little schizophrenic. The sculpture was different from the line of terra cotta that was different from the dinnerware, not to mention the closeted paintings. Many artists say that “one must have a cohesive style.” But I need the freedom to express an idea with the medium that is most inspiring at that moment. I need to use the medium as I dictate. Who makes up those rules anyway? I don’t know that I will ever get to be an artist extraor­ dinaire. There seem to be too many rules. But I do have my studio and I’m having fun. After all, one cannot live on production dinnerware alone.

Bill Griffith A solo exhibition featuring wood-fired works by Bill Griffith, assistant director of Arrowmont School of Arts Two of Kay Babineau-Rector’s terra-cotta vessels, slab built, brushed with low-fire underglazes and glazes, each approxi­ and Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, was presented mately 7 inches in height. recently at the Clay Studio in Philadelphia. The slab-built

16 C eramics Monthly December 1991 17 ing on a mini scale, it encourages plants to age in a world ranging from a few inches to several feet high. There are six traditional styles of tree, held in five container shapes—round, oval, square, rectangular and hexagonal. Historically, glazed pots (kusuri-mono) were used for flowering or fruit trees to show their blossoms to best advantage, while deciduous and pine trees are said to require quieter, unglazed pots (deimono). In the West, however, bonsai pots do not always follow convention. Certain rules do apply to the proportion of the tree to the pot. Generally, the pot’s length should be two-thirds that of the tree’s height. If the tree is wider than tall, again the tray would be two-thirds of the tree’s largest (widest in this case) measurement. The depth of the tray should be similar to the girth of the trunk, so a skinny tree would have a tray with very shallow sides. For collected trees (those gathered from the wild) with Bill Griffith’s “Table Form #2,” 14 inches in length, slab-built deep tap roots, a deeper pot is often necessary. Root stoneware, wood fired in an anagama; at the Clay Studio in Philadelphia. consideration is vital, and aesthetics must give way to function unless you want an artificial plant. (Yes, there really are silk bonsai on the market.) “table” and double-walled vessel forms were inspired in Crucial to healthy plants is good drainage. Whereas part by ancient Japanese funerary urns and architecture. terra-cotta pots absorb water, stoneware will not. With All were wood fired in an anagama. The three-day firing promotes surface flashing and ash effects.

Tableware in Detroit “Table for Two,” featuring works by six studio potters, was shown recently at Pewabic Pottery in Detroit. Included in the exhibition were place settings and serving dishes by Bill Broulliard, Cleveland; Diana Kuli-

Lorraine Joyal’s wheel-thrown stoneware bonsai tray, glazed on the exterior only, 10 inches in diameter, with central drain and smaller anchor holes for wire.

frequent waterings, the minimum requirement is one large hole, at least ½ inch in diameter. But, a bonsai tray may have several holes (drainage holes, plus small holes to anchor a tree to the tray with one or more wires). Another functional consideration is the angle of the pot’s sides; some bonsai need annual transplanting. Pots Diana Kulisek stoneware serving platter with glaze decoration, angled outward at the top facilitate plant removal. Forget 16 inches in length; at Pewabic Pottery in Detroit. scalloped or irregular lips—the design is too distracting. Bonsai trees are primarily outdoor plants, brought sek, Windsor, Ontario; Patrick Loughran, New York; inside for display. The containers are buried or heavily Andrew Martin, Denver; Angelica Pozo, Cleveland; and mulched during winter months in northern climates. Michael Simon, Watkinsville, Georgia. Even our mild climate on the coast of Vancouver Island can witness freezing weather, so I use Cone 9-10 stone­ Bonsai Containers ware bisqued in an electric kiln, then glazed on the by LorraineJoyal outside only, and high fired in a gas kiln. Low-fire pots “Aha! So you torture trees,” said a grinning friend. “Next, accept moisture more readily, and the expansion of you’ll probably want to bonsai people.” frozen water causes cracking during cold spells. Bonsai (pronounced bone-sigh), an ancient Asian art, I throw my round pots on an electric wheel, leaving a literally means “plant in a pot.” Basically container garden­ thick base from which to trim legs. Oval pots can be

18 Ceramics Monthly December 1991 19 Up Front

formed from round ones by removing a leaf-shaped section from the center, then pushing in the sides to close the opening. Other shapes can be formed from wheel- thrown pots, but this is a personal preference and hand- building can certainly be easier for rectilinear pieces. Feet should be trimmed or added, as the drain hole must be elevated; otherwise, the runoff water will pool. Naturally, the drain should be placed at the lowest point in the bottom of the pot. I prefer light glazes such as the following recipes on a light-colored commercial stoneware:

Carleton Cream Glaze (Cone 9) Dolomite...... 33.33% Feldspar...... 33.33 Ball Clay...... 33.34 100.00%

Does not combine well with oxides. Waxy White Glaze (Cone 10) Colemanite...... 9.37% Dolomite...... 7.29 Talc...... 15.63 Custer Feldspar...... 43.75 Edgar Plastic Kaolin...... 5.21 Flint...... 18.75 100.00% Add: Zinc...... 4.17% Zircopax...... 5.21% Bentonite...... 2.00%

Good on functional ware interiors. Takes stains nicely. In designing for bonsai collectors, remember that the tree is the subject, so keep the pot simple. Also, collectors may not be aware of the surprises and spontaneity of handmade reduction stoneware, so avoid custom orders. And finally, if collectors want reproduced traditional styles, save yourself some trouble and send them to bonsai supply shops where molded and pressed pots are available Robert Sperry sculpture, 17 feet in height, assembled from 359 stoneware tiles decorated with crackled slip over glaze; at in quantity. safeco Plaza in Seattle.

Robert Sperry Commission white film more abstract. It is more a symbol of reality A 17-foot-high tile sculpture by Robert Sperry (University than an attempt to recreate reality.” of Washington faculty artist) was installed recently on the The use of the tiles themselves reflects his interest in north corner of SAFECO Plaza in Seattle. While the shape film as well; each “frame” is an integral part of the whole. of the commissioned sculpture parallels that of the adja­ cent SAFECO building, the surface was decorated with Platter Competition Sperry’s slip-on-glaze technique (described in his article To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the Firehouse Art “Abstractions in Black and White” in the June/July/ Center in Norman, Oklahoma, sponsored the regional August 1990 issue of Ceramics Monthly). exhibition “Platters.” Juried by Warren MacKenzie, studio After bisque firing, the 359 stoneware tiles were coated with matt black glaze and fired to Cone 7 in an electric kiln. Thick white slip was then applied over the fired glaze. Because unfired slip shrinks significantly over fired glaze as it dries, cracking results in a pattern that follows the lines and curves of the brushed application. PHOTO: SANFORD MAULDIN The tiles are then refired to Cone 5. Sperry’s focus on black and white stems from his appreciation of black-and-white films as an abstraction of reality. “Color gives the impression that it is telling the truth about an object,” he says, “while black and white is George Forst’s “Chatter Platter,” 15 inches in length, handbuilt stoneware with pulled/rolled feet, slip decoration, salt glazed, obviously a lie. This automatically makes a black-and- $180; at the Firehouse Art Center, Norman, Oklahoma.

20 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1991 21 Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation and the American Council Up Front for the Arts have established a national, toll-free informa­ tion hotline for visual artists. Artists can now call (800) 232-2789, Monday through potter and professor emeritus at the University of Minne­ Friday from 2-5 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, to talk to sota, the show included functional and decorative works the staff at the Arts Resource Consortium library (at the by 19 artists from the Southwest. American Council for the Arts). Mainly a referral service, MacKenzie was pleased that none were anything like the hotline can direct you to sources for information on his work. “I trust that when artists submit to a show...they such matters as health services, legal assistance, residen­ don’t know what the juror does. Unfortunately, that’s not cies, public art programs and funding. usually true. It makes me nervous that people try to second-guess the juror and send something they think 18th Annual Earthworks that person will like. It usually shows up and is second-rate “Earthworks RI,” an annual juried exhibition open to work. But the top pieces in this show are very powerful.” residents and former residents of the state of Rhode Island, was presented recently at the Helme House Gal­ Colorful Clay lery of the South County Art Association in Kingston, “Color,” a multimedia exhibition of works by 12 artists, Rhode Island. was on display recently at Freehand, a Los Angeles gallery. The juror was Chris Staley, associate professor of Given the fact that color has the ability to affect our lives, ceramics at Pennsylvania State University and former even expressing for us how we feel, the exhibition was adjunct instructor at the Rhode Island School of Design. From 168 entries, Staley selected 58 to show, then desig­ nated 6 awards. First place went to Rhode Island School of Design graduate Chris Theiss (now studying at the University of California, Davis) for “Kitchen at the Bunkhouse,” a free- standing sculptural interpretation of the ambience sur^ rounding a pot-bellied stove.

Sarah Chamberlin vase, approximately 16 inches in height, wheel thrown, with majolica decoration, $325; at Freehand, Los Angeles.

organized to examine artists’ use of color and awareness of inherent color subtleties. Eight of the exhibitors—Sarah Chamberlin, Los Oliv­ os, California; Ken Garber, Los Angeles; Scott Goldberg, Brooksville, Maine; David Gurney, Arroyo Grande, Cali­ fornia; Jon Hur, Piru, California; Douglas Kenney, San Antonio; Mary George Kronstadt, Washington, D.C.; and Barbara Takiguchi, Oakland, California—work in clay. Perspective turns to mind-bender in Chris Theiss’ first-place- Artist Information Hotline award winner, “Kitchen at the Bunkhouse,” 38 inches in height, Do you have a question about insurance? Need legal slab-built whiteware, with sgraffito surfacing, $1800; at the South County Art Association’s Helme House Gallery, assistance? Help may be just a phone call away. The Marie Kingston, Rhode Island.

22 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1991 23

A Paper Kiln by Caroline Court

During a year’s residence in Lisbon, paper as insulation, as well as to pro­ of February 1991—a typical winter I had the opportunity to work with tect the chamber and ware from ad­ day in Portugal with bone-chilling Aline Favre, a Swiss ceramist and verse weather conditions. rains alternating with intense, renew­ inventor (with Christian Danthe and Many varieties of the paper kiln ing sunshine. Fabienne Gloria) of the paper kiln. have been developed since those Both bisque- and greenware were For 25 years a professor at L'Ecole early experiments. The following de­ to be fired. As the breakage rate can des Arts Decoratifs in Geneva, Favre scribes one construction/firing that be catastrophic when direct flame was in Portugal to teach at the Cen­ took place at AR-CO on the first day hits ware, it is best to work with a tro de Arte e Comunicagao (AR-CO). Over the years, she has searched for the best materials and processes with which to express herself and her commitment to three-dimen­ sional form. In 1977, Favre took her first steps with porcelain, and a year later won a gold medal with Florent Zeller at Faenza in recognition for their work in colored porcelain. A 1980 trip to the United States, where she worked with Paul Soldner and Jim Romberg, opened the door to raku and fumed clay. The paper kiln was invented in 1983 to fulfill the need for a simple but effective technique for firing ce­ ramics in the Jura Mountains of Switzerland. It allowed campers to participate in kiln construction and to gain an awareness of the different stages of firing. Besides, it was just plain fun, with a lot of the hands-on excitement and mystery of tradi­ tional primitive firing. In fact, traditional firing tech­ niques used in Africa and the Amer­ icas were Favre’s first source of inspiration. While understanding them is crucial to learning the stages of firing, it is also necessary to adapt to local climate and available mate­ rials. Favre and her collaborators de­ cided to try using slurry-coated

Editor’s note:It is essential that any­ one wishing to construct a “paper kiln” first be well versed in kiln safety prac­ tices. A lightweight, minimally insulated firing chamber might become a sub­ stantial fire hazard if constructed near combustibles, in areas where wind could lead to loss of structural integrity, or where the kiln might pose an “attrac­ tive hazard” to adult visitors and curi­ Flames shoot from a tin-can chimney as the large, slurry-coated-paper kiln ous children. at Centro de Arte e Comunicagao in Portugal reaches temperature.

26 CERAMICS MONTHLY As* t o tmeaue, at accentu­ salt temperatures, low At After additionalpiecesofcharcoaland poured betweenthebricksandsalt A paperkilnbeginswithafoundation pattern hc wr ws etd a wl a a as well as seated, was ware which hardwood areleanedverticallyagainst ts ea oie oos rendering colors, oxide metal ates overall. sprinkled were salt of lbs.) salt aretucked/sprinkledinandaround ute oe acrig o iig at­ firing to according tones subtle (8 kilograms 3 inches; a 3 to firemouths of the height into and bricks shelv­ kiln of bits odd and bricks from n; hs wud ev a firemouths as and airintakes. serve would these ing; grate tofeedthefirewithoxygen. sprinkled overall.Oncethetopsurfaces nhdaee fudto func­ foundation inch-diameter spaced brick a each in pattern, laid were radiating These dirt. 35) loosened (about firebrick hard of made high intalcandgrog. the stackedware,varyinglengthsof in fu oeig wr constructed were openings four tion, on floor kiln the both as tioned 60- This next. the from inches 5 to 3 the into pressed and edge on set body clay thermal-shock-resistant of hardfirebricklaidinaradiating to 5inchesfromthenext.Charcoalis t h prmtr f h founda­ the of perimeter the At hrol a pue bten the between poured was Charcoal was course foundation kiln’s The , each bricksetonedgeabout3

ih emclt) r ue ct from cut cubes or vermiculite) with ih ihr % opr abnt or carbonate copper 3% either with ly bet ta wr t b fired. be to were that objects clay ierc. hs a t alw adequate allow to was This firebrick. ukd mudd n satrd in placed, scattered were and mounded charcoal tucked, of Pieces g te eeomn o rc, inter­ rich, of esting surfaces. encour­ development the hopefully, age and, circulation from separated were All the ones. inside larger pieces smaller and bricks, ue a cntutd rm h very the from constructed was ture mixed (clay wadding by other each several straddling often first, pieces 2% cobaltcarbonateadded. frit) boron safety—a bi- for lead 50% (or and silicate slip white 50% engobe is favorite Favre’s hues. va­ of riety a colorants—yield metal soluble mosphere (reductionoroxidation). h bik rt foundation—larger grate brick the h wr ws tce o tp of top on stacked was ware The o t a ta te in substruc­ kiln the that was it So xds slae ad nitrates— and sulfates Oxides, is. t h fudto prmtr four perimeter, foundation the At first. ae a vsal osue. h di­ The obscured. visually was ware hs fcos ae o e evaluated be to have factors These n hd cuuae a al tc of stack tall a accumulated had slurry and yogurt-consistency of full row a aray rprd wheelbar­ a prepared already had the alongside top the chimney opening. from wire en h wr wt a ae sel They shell. paper a with wire the chick­ the inside worked were fastened sticks and wrapped was wire en decid­ when ing whattypeofwoodtouse. firing each for ditions) this woodentepee. then cutlongenoughtowraparound obscured. Astretchofchickenwireis o tef ih ie is Additional ties. wire with itself to how burn. will sticks determine the easily and quickly dryness and ameter stacked the hardwood until of mound stick the against after stick lean 2 sprinkled overtheentiremound. addition, In ware. the about and the wareuntilallclayisvisually io (½ b. o cmo sl were salt common of lbs.) (5½ kilos have been brushed off\ ware is stacked, is ware off\ brushed been have mouths andair-intakeports. fire­ as serve to shelves kiln broken and brick from constructed are openings ih agr ics tadig h bricks the straddling pieces larger with aog ih xetd ete con­ weather expected with (along rud h woe tpe chick­ tepee, wooden the Around tdns hn rprd o cover to prepared then Students to proceeded students the Then December 1991

27

PHOTOS: ALINE FAVRE, STUART M. HUNTER

Once the chicken wire has been fastened A shell of slick paper (from magazines) A large tin can with both ends removed together with wire ties, additional dipped in yogurt-consistency slurry is is positioned at the top to serve as the sticks are worked inside from the top. laid over the chicken wire. kiln’s chimney.

slick paper, as found in fashion and firemouths. As I put my hand to the grate elevated 3 feet above the news magazines. kiln wall, I felt the dampness of wa­ ground (a stack of bricks support­ A large dn can with both ends cut ter vapor escaping from the slurry ing each corner); the ware and grate out was positioned at the highest and the heat increasing. This would were then covered with wood, wire point to serve as the chimney. turn out to be a slow firing, taking and slurry-dipped paper. From ground to chimney top, the about six hours to red-orange heat. A pre-heating fire was lit in a shal­ wire structure was layered with pa­ After the fire was well established, low hole beneath, then the grate per coated on both sides with slurry. there wasn’t much more to do ex­ was lowered progressively by remov­ In all, ten layers of paper were hung cept enjoy the flame and sparks ing equal numbers of bricks from alternately, horizontal and vertical, shooting up into the darkness, and each corner. After the grate was flush with overlapping seams. The sheets chat with Favre about her past and to the ground for a few hours, a at the top were folded and snuggled future firings. reducing flame appeared. up against the chimney to form a She talked about the many varia­ Favre noted that the firing at heavier collar. tions of the paper kiln that have AR CO had been a large one as pa­ Once the kiln had been brushed been developed. One involved con­ per kilns go. As kiln size increases, all over with a final coat of slurry, it structing a site-specific sculpture so does the difficulty of controlling was ready to be fired up. There was around 2x4s driven vertically into rate of heat increase and evenness. no need to wait for the slurry to dry. the ground, with an air vent built She delights in the knowledge Favre says she has even fired success­ into the base; it was then surrounded that since the paper kiln was first fully in the rain. by more fuel (wood) and a paper attempted eight years ago, the de­ Sometime before, a small wood shell to be fired on site. sign has continued to be refined and fire had been started to the side, Another variation used for firing the technique has spread to places and shovelfuls of the glowing coals smaller pieces had the ware piled where it might otherwise be diffi­ were placed in each of the four directly over chicken wire on a metal cult to fire ceramics. ▲

Ten layers of slurry-coated paper are shovelfuls of coals to be placed in each hung with overlapping seams. Around of the four firemouths; this ignites the the chimney, sheets of paper are folded wood inside. There is no need to wait to form a heavy collar. Finally, a thick for the slurry to dry before initiating coat of slurry is applied over the entire firing; paper kilns can fire even in the kiln surface. A small fire (started rain. The kiln shown here took about nearby earlier in the day) provides six hours to reach red-orange heat.

28 CERAMICS MONTHLY Doug Casebeer by Laura Dixon

In his studio at Anderson Ranch Arts Center (Snowmass Village, Colorado), Doug Casebeer is surrounded by personal artifacts collected over the years.

Colorado potter Doug Casebeer had by the third grade. “I realized early on ning a pottery factory with 45 employ­ been repeating a series of marks in his that my enthusiasm came from doing,” ees. We started from scratch, designing sketchbook for three months when one he says. a product line, as well as identifying a day their meaning was disclosed to him Following an interest in design, he market. We had to build wheels, kilns, by his wife Susan. It was clear to her that studied architecture in college. Later, mixers—everything.” he was “drawing the plains of Kansas.” he switched to art school, then went on Casebeer arrived in Kingston in a Suddenly, sketched out before him, to earn an M.FA. at the New York State period of political unrest and civil dis­ Casebeer saw his childhood manifested College of Ceramics at Alfred. obedience. “I learned about corruption, in those marks. “Looking back on my education, the poverty and social anger. But I also dis­ This potter’s current work is a syn­ transition from architecture to pottery covered that uneducated people living thesis of his midwestern upbringing; his seems logical. Both involve vessels: the in the midst of poverty could be as search for identity in the poverty of Ja­ house being the vessel of the person or hardworking, innately intelligent and maica; and the geologically dramatic the soul, the pot being the vessel of happy as anyone else. I saw a sense of landscape around his mountain home. food and nourishment.” calm grow out of the hardship, and I Casebeer’s youth was characterized Just one week out of graduate school, gained the knowledge that you can learn by a Midwest ethic that incorporated a Casebeer was on his way to Jamaica as a and persevere in the light of adversity.” strong sense of work, family and com­ ceramics technical consultant for the During three years in Kingston, munity. He grew up around his grand­ United Nations. “I thought I was going Casebeer completed only one body of father’s junkyard, and was welding and to teach people how to throw pots,” he work: a series of 35 dishes that pay hom­ cutting steel in his father’s metal shop recalls. “Instead, I found myself run­ age to the culture that affected him so

December 1991 29 deeply. “Every day as I drove to work bamboo on the mountainsides of Ja­ His repertoire of vessels includes through the heart of the city, I crossed maica, the barred windows. But now, I pitchers, tumblers, mugs, casseroles, through all social and economic bound­ use them to activate the surface so there plates and teapots, but his personal vi­ aries. My oval dishes represent a series are more ledges and lips for the ash to sion is most successfully incorporated of burned-out buildings that I passed hang on, adding texture and grip. This in the platters. These “have almost be­ daily along Maxfield Avenue.” is an example of how an aspect of my come three-dimensional paintings for Each of the dishes is decorated with personal vision becomes a functional me. The marks represent my past. They five black diagonal lines. “These repre­ resolution. talk about the endless fields on the sent the grids that barred the windows “The work is bisqued at Cone 08, plains where I grew up, and they sym­ of my home: the bars I had to look then glaze fired to Cone 11.1 use glazes bolize the wheat in all phases of the through to see the rest of the world. in a variety of ways, producing different growing season: the seed, the green The vulgarity of the situation is reflect­ results with the same recipe. I have been growth and the stubble. ed in my brushwork.” using the same Shino glaze for nearly “Three rows sweep across my plat­ Opposite the grid lines are the black 15 years and am just now understand­ ters like the wind sweeps down from holes, the charred openings in build­ ing its potential. the Rockies across the fields. If you look ings where windows should have been. “In all three firing methods [with east, you see white slip, which is the “I would stare into the blackness of these wood or gas, and salt glazing], body snow hitting the fields. Look west, and buildings. To me, the darkness repre­ reduction is very strong, beginning at you see the brown soil. The four notches sented the unending sense of on the rim stand for the four [Jamaican] poverty.” compass points. The reality of life in Kingston “Lately, I am inspired by the hit hard; Casebeer realized that Colorado landscape. I recently he had been taking too much went to Colorado National Mon­ for granted. The images from ument where the water had childhood continued to reap­ washed through a canyon dur­ pear in his sketchbook, urging ing a flash flood. I saw those him back into the studio. But watermarks as brushstrokes. his U.N. job left little time for Something clicked and I knew I personal work and, without it, wanted to incorporate that im­ one important aspect of his life age into my work. was missing. “I am in the continual pro­ As he prepared to leave Ja­ cess of answering questions, and maica, a former teacher and it is only within the last year and friend told Casebeer about a a half that I am satisfied with position at the Anderson Ranch some of the solutions. I finally Arts Center in Aspen, Colorado. have something that is my own. “I didn’t know much about the I let the work inform me. The place, but I had heard good re­ work doesn’t mature unless it ports. I was hired to adminis­ draws from itself. Conceptually, trate the summer workshop the work tells me what it needs program in ceramics, but in the and I become the conduit. I re­ winter months, I was free to be alize a pot from a lump of clay, a working artist.” and I know that the answers are Moving to Colorado meant a right there. My job is to pull return to the studio, where he them out and put them back in. immersed himself in utilitarian The answers might have been pottery. “My inclination has al­ there all along, but maybe I ways been to make pots that en­ Casebeer’s studio is in a 100-year-old log bam. wasn’t ready to receive them.” ter people’s lives and bring them Finding answers doesn’t nec­ comfort. My work has to be so essarily mean adding more to a compelling as to invite use, both func­ Cone 08 for 1 ½ hours. All three kilns pot. The result “should have no dispar­ tionally and sensually. I am concerned are fired in slight to heavy reduction ate or excessive elements. I put a lot out with how a rim feels on the lips, how a until Cone 11 is down.” there during the first phase, then I re­ handle fits a grip, and how a bowl sits Wood firing is favored because it duce and clarify by taking away what on the table. I want my pots to speak seems to continue the creative process. doesn’t talk to me. You see, work that is about my time, my culture and myself.” “When I feed the kiln, I am still putting alive talks back; indifferent or medio­ Doug Casebeer works solely in stone­ life and energy into the work. When it cre work is voiceless. The challenge of a ware, firing much of his ware in a 90- comes out, the process is complete and functional potter is to try to invoke pas­ cubic-foot, bourry-box (self-stoking, the piece takes on a spirit of its own.” sion from an inanimate object. I don’t wood-burning) kiln and a 90-cubic-foot For practical reasons, such as the care if people love or hate my work, but salt kiln. “Much of the growth of my work’s size and avoiding ash deposits, a if they are indifferent, then I haven’t current work is in response to the wood 70-cubic-foot, downdraft, gas kiln is used done my job—I haven’t created enough kiln and what it can offer. For instance, for large platters and dinnerware. “I comfort or enough controversy.” lines have always been inherent in my enjoy the ritual that surrounds dinner- pottery because they represent so ware,” Casebeer says, “and I like the bal­ The author Laura Dixon is a free-lance much—the ever-changing horizon, ance between the kilns.” writer from Snowmass Village, Colorado.

30 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Teapot and Twig Tray,”8 inches in height, thrown and handbuilt stoneware, wood fired to Cone 11.

Stoneware cup and saucer,6 inches in diameter, wheel thrown, with Perfect Black Glaze on the cup interior, salt glazed.

December 1991 31 Wood-fired stoneware pitcher, 11 inches in height. “Flower Vase,” 15 inches in height, wheel-thrown and manipulated stoneware, with brushed and trailed glaze decoration, fired in reduction to Cone 11.

32 CERAMICS MONTHLY Stoneware tumblers, to 7 inches in height, wood fired. Wheel-thrown stoneware pitcher with pulled strap handle, 12 inches in height, glazed, reduction fired to Cone 11, by top “Twig Tray,” 12 inches long, wood-fired stoneware. Doug Casebeer, Snowmass Village, Colorado.

Recipes Perfect Black Glaze Oribe Green Glaze (Cone 9-11, reduction) (Cone 9-11, reduction) Soda Ash ...... 3.41 % Bone Ash ...... 1.05% Whiting...... 14.77 Talc...... 7.81 Shino Slip Custer Feldspar ...... 47.73 Whiting ...... 22.36 (Cone 9-11, reduction) Edgar Plastic Kaolin ...... 9.09 Custer Feldspar ...... 30.91 Soda Ash ...... 3.20% Flint...... 25.00 Edgar Plastic Kaolin ...... 12.55 Spodumene...... 12.16 100.00% Flint...... 25.32 Kona F-4 Feldspar ...... 8.64 Add: Zinc Oxide ...... 13.64% 100.00% Nepheline Syenite ...... 36.00 Chrome ...... 1.14% Add: Copper Oxide ...... 5.49 % Cobalt Carbonate...... 4.55 % Edgar Plastic Kaolin ...... 28.00 Thin to medium application for reds; Red Iron Oxide ...... 3.41 % Kentucky Ball Clay (OM 4) ...... 12.00 medium to thick for greens. Apply even 100.00% Apply a medium thickness. Yields black thicker for deep emerald greens. If very Can be applied from thin to thick on wet in reduction and wood firing; can go blue thick, yields intense green to red; use only to leather-hard clay. Spray thin on bisque- in salt. for brushwork. ware. Yields orange to pink in wood-burn­ Lorio’s Ash Glaze Leach White Glaze ing and salt kilns; white in reduction. (Cone 9-10, reduction) (Cone 9-11, reduction) Shino Glaze Whiting ...... 28.12% Whiting ...... 20 % (Cone 9-11, reduction) Wood Ash (elm, washed Custer Feldspar ...... 40 Soda Ash ...... 3.35 % and sieved) ...... 13.02 Edgar Plastic Kaolin ...... 10 Spodumene...... 12.60 Albany Slip...... 43.23 Flint...... 30 Kona F-4 Feldspar...... 14.11 Edgar Plastic Kaolin ...... 15.63 100% Nepheline Syenite ...... 50.39 100.00% Add: Tin Oxide...... 1 % Edgar Plastic Kaolin ...... 2.92 Add: Yellow Ocher ...... 4.17% Zircopax ...... 10% Kentucky Ball Clay (OM 4)...... 16.63 This glaze, like many ash glazes, can run Apply a medium thickness. Yields white 100.00 % off pots if applied too thickly; one me­ in all kilns, with one exception— can pro­ Thin to thick application with differing dium coat is best. Yields golden yellow in duce lime green when wood ash is depos­ results—thin for brick red; thick for white. most kilns. ited on top of it.

December 1991 33 Jeff Irwins Wax-Resist Images

Featured in recent exhibitions at hand on a sheet of plastic, then an­ ber and contemplative tone,” he com­ Schneider-Bluhm-Loeb Gallery in other sheet of plastic is placed on top. mented. “By eliminating the color in Chicago and at Java Gallery in San When the slab is laid over a newspa­ this body of work, I hope to increase Diego were narrative wall forms con­ per mold, the top sheet of plastic pro­ the impact of the narrative and lessen centrating on social, political and in­ tects the surface from finger marks, [distraction]. dividual issues by California ceramist while the bottom prevents ripping “The wood-block quality of the Jeff Irwin. “Though the symbols have from underneath. Irwin then manipu­ drawing is achieved with wax resist. a personal background, the issues are lates the slab, applying pressure from The greenware generally is brushed much more universal,” the artist ex­ both sides. After the top plastic is re­ with white underglaze, and a light pen­ plained. “To some degree, we all share moved and excess clay trimmed away, cil drawing is made. Wax resist is then concerns pertaining to struggle, the surface is covered with thick slip. applied to all the areas meant to be change, environment, relationships, Underglaze imagery is applied to kept white. Black underglaze of vary­ memories and goals. Use of the masks the bone-dry form. Irwin’s preference ing densities is brushed around the and torsos is a way of integrating hu­ for predominantly black-and-white wax resist to achieve a hard edge. The man presence with the narrative.” surfaces comes from his interest in drawing may be altered further with Irwin’s plates are thrown on large wood-block prints and Chinese stone some sgraffito. Finally, the piece is hump molds, but the torsos and heads rubbings. “Their character of line, fired once to Cone 04 and sprayed are slab built. A slab is rolled out by contrast and simplicity evokes a som­ with an acrylic sealer.” ▲

To achieve characteristics inspired by wood-block prints, San Diego ceramist Jeff Irwin applies black underglaze over white, wax resisting hard-edge areas, detailing with sgraffito.

34 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Driven To...” 27 inches in length, earthenware torso formed over newspaper, with underglazes and luster, sprayed with clear acrylic sealer.

“Fallen Leaves,” 22 inches in diameter, earthenware “Kings Who Build Castles May Lose Their Crowns,” thrown on a hump mold, with brushed, resisted and 29 inches in height, slab-built earthenware, with wax- incised underglazes, single fired to Cone 04. resisted and sgraffito underglaze imagery, by Jeff Irwin.

December 1991 35 SIXTY YEARS OF DISCOVERY by Harding Black

Harding Black is 79 years old and has offer ten-cent art classes for children, our historical potters would have noth­ worked seven days a week for as long as he and we set up a clay modeling class­ ing to do with us, he went down to can remember. Harding arrives at his stu­ room in an old streetcar on the mu­ Mexico one summer and learned how dio at 5 A.M. each day and works until seum grounds. I got a truckload of to throw from this old Mexican pot­ about 3 P.M., by which time his hip is brick clay, put it in a big wooden box, ter. When he came back, he set up a becoming too painful to continue. wheel in his father’s chicken The carpal tunnel syndrome, which house and built a kiln out in affects his wrists and hands, will the chicken yard. not be operated on because his doc­ Along with this other boy, I tor feels that might result in would go over to watch Rudi Hardings inability to make pots. throw. We built a kick wheel Yet he is “one of the lucky ones, with a big steel wagon wheel as one of the 10% of people in this the flywheel, and had a ma­ country who are doing what they chine shop make us a head. It want to with their lives,” Harding was a good wheel. You could once noted. give it a kick, center the clay, There is a spirit conveyed give it a couple more kicks and through these words that warrants almost finish throwing because attention. It is not new or unique, it had so much centrifugal but rare and selective in its occur­ force. But suspending all your rence. That it exists within 10% weight on one foot and kick­ of this country’s population may ing with the other shook every be too generous an estimate. It is a muscle in your body. Throw­ spirit that allows for uniqueness, a ing could make you sore all requisite for the potential of accom­ over. As soon as I could afford plishing great things. It is embod­ to, I bought a /4hp electric mo­ ied in the life of Harding Black, tor and motorized the wheel. who, for the past six decades, has Rudi really got tired of committed himself to a celebration teaching ten-cent classes. So he that embraces and holds sacred went to Philadelphia and got a hard work and sweat, endless job teaching pottery there. Af­ searching, and the selfless sharing ter he deserted, that left it up of discoveries with all interested to me to teach pottery classes parties. He is a humble man with Harding Black counts himself as one of the lucky few at the museum. a spirit of heroic proportions.—Paul who are doing what they want with their lives. For my first brick kiln, I got McCoy, curator of the retrospec­ some plans from Newcomb tive exhibition “Harding Black: In Cel­ watered it with a hose and got in there College in New Orleans. The burners ebration,” at Martin Museum of Art, Baylor with my hands to work it up. came from a junkyard—a big square University, Waco, Texas Of course, I wanted to learn throw­ box with six jets once used on a boiler. ing, but the historical potters around But it wouldn’t get hot enough, so we It all started more or less with collect­ San Antonio at that time were not added electric fans to improve the ing arrowheads as a Boy Scout. When­ making crocks or jugs anymore. They draft, and were able to get it up to ever we went to the river, we looked were making little bitty pots painted 1800°-1900°F. Of course, it was out­ for Indian campsites and arrowheads. with blue bonnet flowers to sell at the side and, if it rained, we had to run Then the Witte Museum organized dime stores. They were afraid if we out there and cover the fans. an archaeological society and I joined learned how to throw, we would horn Eventually, I saw plans for a car to go out on West Texas digs. in on their blue bonnet pots. kiln and built a kiln with the door and Soon I started making Indian-style Rudolf Staffel, who was also teach­ floor on wheels. We got four cast-iron coil pots. Then Ellen Quillin (direc­ ing ten-cent, children’s art classes, wheels (like those used on carts that tor of the Witte Museum) decided to wanted to learn to throw, too. Since haul bricks around on tracks at the

36 CERAMICS MONTHLY Red stoneware bowl,6 V4 inches in diameter, wheel thrown, with Chun glaze, high fired in reduction, 1957.

Fascinated by glazes, Harding Black has conducted thousands of tests at his studio in downtown San Antonio,

December 1991 3 7 Rudolf Staffel and William Daley potter, although about 80% of the manship and Appreciation] must have magazine was geared toward engineer­ come out in the 1930s. [Charles on Harding Black ing interests. I think Cox, and Baggs, Fergus] Binns had also written an ex­ and Charles Harder wrote for that. Did cellent book [ The Potter’s Craft]. Leach’s you get the Data Book issue? book was relatively late. This conversation between William Daley Staffel: Ceramic Industry was my bible, Pritchard: Were you and Harding Black (professor emeritus, University of the Arts, and my Data Book issue is falling apart. influenced in the 1950s by develop­ Philadelphia) and Rudolf Staffel (profes­ It has information you can’t get any­ ments at Alfred [University] or in sor emeritus, Tyler School of Art, Temple place else. Scandinavia? University, Philadelphia) was taped and Daley:Ceramic Industry printed a re­ Staffel: Macho potters don’t talk about edited by Marian Pritchard (clay artist/ view and compilation of all the salient aesthetics. Pots are pots, you know, and craft historian at Community College of technical information from that year, they let it go at that. When I say “they,” Philadelphia) for the catalog accompany­ plus other information pertinent to I don’t mean to point at somebody ing the exhibition “Harding Black: In Cel­ glaze calculations was included in the outside of the realm of all of us work­ ebration” at Baylor University.—Ed. back of this book. It was a text as well as ing in ceramics. It would be discussed, a review. So, Rudi, do you think Hard­ but not in the formality that you would Daley: When did you meet Harding ing used these sources? find in criticism of so-called fine arts. Black? Staffel: I’m sure of it; and what really His chief source of information and Staffel: It must have been around 1932. pleased and amazed me was to see that inspiration was Chinese ware. Harding I was teaching what they called the Harding was writing articles for Ceram­ did a lot of traveling; he’d see a pot he “Talented Students Class” for the pub­ ics Monthly. liked, then go home and research the lic schools. Students from all grades, Daley:I don’t think people realize how glaze. whose teachers thought they could much the magic of a glaze surface in­ You know one of the prerequisites profit by extra art lessons on Saturday, spired individuals to devote their en­ of being an artist is persistence, and were sent to the Witte Museum. Actu­ ergy and interest to exploring it. Do this guy really has persistence. It just ally, it was my first teaching job. you know if Harding was ever inter­ oozes out all over the place, and it’s Daley:Had you finished art school by ested in finding natural clays and glaze fascinating to see. then? materials? Daley:Do you think he was successful Staffel: I had finished dropping out of Staffel: Yes, his article “Iron Spotted in terms of marketing his work and art school by then. As far as I know, Glazes” [Ceramics Monthly, February having an audience for it? Harding Black was self-taught. It bears 1954] mentions that one of his glazes Staffel: Well, the audience was certainly out a contention I’ve always had that if is dependent on a clay he found near there and highly admiring. I don’t you want to learn something, teach it. San Antonio. think he worked at it too much. His In hindsight, I think Harding was some­ Also, he had a clay mine of his own passion is ceramics. He just wants to thing of a genius in ferreting out infor­ someplace in the hills north and west make the work. In the early days, if you mation. of San Antonio. He once gave me a wanted a Harding Black pot, you’d go I remember he was going great guns sample of the clay; it would have been see Harding Black. in the war years. He was way ahead of impossible for the layman to use be­ Daley:I guess in the early days, except anybody I knew, as far as glazes were cause it had no plasticity whatsoever. for the department stores, there concerned. His copper reds are unbe­ Harding would ball mill the clay for weren’t any outlets, were there? lievably beautiful. hours and hours; then it was magnifi­ Staffel: No. There were outlets for Harding is a master of glazes and cently plastic. paintings, but not for ceramics. That’s one of the most generous human be­ Daley:How did he discover it? a phenomenon of our age, I guess. ings in the ceramics field. He has a Staffel: Almost every state has a geo­ Daley: What kind of demeanor does room full of beautifully organized test logic report of mineral deposits. He he have? What kind of person is he? tiles of all his glazes. All the recipes are went to Austin, the capital, and studied Staffel: He’s always dressed in a long there too, and he shares them with the mineral deposits of the state. The apron full of clay. When I go now to anyone who is interested. It’s wonder­ guy’s a walking ceramics encyclopedia. visit remaining family members in San ful to visit him. Daley:Is he as interested in the form Antonio, I drop by Harding’s place, Pritchard: Why was there so much in­ of the pots as he is in the glazes? and he’s always there, working. We look terest in Cone 10 reduction glazes like Staffel: I think he is mosdy interested at each other as if we had visited yester­ the copper reds at that time? in the tactile feel of the pot. He is a day, although it may in actuality have Staffel: Well, I think it was Bernard functional potter, but I don’t think he been ten years. “Well, hi, how’re you Leach’s A Potter's Book that sparked in­ cares too much for what we might call doing?” he says, then picks up the con­ terest in almost all of us. Also, there the sophistication of form and its his­ versation we were having ten years ago. was the work of Charles Binns at Alfred torical development, things of that sort. When I was giving a talk at the NCECA University, plus that of Paul Cox, who Harding’s aesthetics, as far as the form [National Council on Education for wrote prolifically. is concerned, demand that the form is the Ceramic Arts] meeting in San An­ Pritchard: How would potters working adequate for the glaze. tonio a few years back, Harding was in in Texas find information on formu­ Pritchard: What were some of the aes­ the audience, and we resumed our dia­ lating glazes? thetic influences coming into Texas? logue right then and there. Staffel: People like Arthur Baggs and Staffel: The 1940s was a time of “do Daley:We’ve been talking all along Paul Cox loved to write articles on vari­ your own thing.” There was one excel­ about Harding’s special qualities, but ous aspects of ceramic industry. lent littie book written by... what made him so singular for you? Daley:In every issue, Ceramic Industry Daley:Edmund deForest Curtis. Staffel: The fact that nothing was diffi­ magazine had a section for the studio Staffel: Curtis’s book [Pottery: Its Crafts­ cult for Harding. Nothing.

38 CERAMICS MONTHLY brickyard) to build the car. That was brilliant orange-red, like that on old on the phone and found out who my kiln for quite a while. Franciscan ware. A Geiger counter owned it. They said just carry it off Before that, I was talked into going next to one of those orange Franciscan the lot and it’s yours. down to an old Spanish village right plates would probably go crazy. Before it was taken down, she had in the middle of town to make tile for Anyway, I got through two years on an architect down there to make ac­ the floors there. It was a WPA [Work the WPA project and went back to the curate drawings so it could be restored Projects Administration] project, em­ museum. Actually, I never did stop historically. The woodwork was heavy, ploying these young Mexicans, about my Saturday children’s classes. in good shape. In those days the win­ 30 of them. I was getting $35 a week About that time we had a hurri­ dow frames were built of good lum­ and they were getting $30 a month. cane come through San Antonio. It ber. The museum then hired WPA Believe it or not, those poor people came all the way up from the coast workers at 50 cents an hour to rebuild had to feed families on $30 a month. with winds up to 75 or 80 mph. The the Ruiz house, which gave me a shop. A funny thing happened then. We roof was torn off the old Ruiz house On the other side of town, a friend were getting shale out near Falls City, downtown, next to city hall. I read of mine was trying to make electrical and between the layers of shale was about it in the paper; the article said insulators, but the project flopped. this orangish oxide. I had used ura­ they were going to bulldoze the house He phoned me up one day and said I nium to make a bright orange-red and make a parking lot. We’d always could have a 200-cubic-foot kiln if I glaze, and thought that it looked like thought we’d like to have a rock or would move it. It was on leased prop­ uranium, but didn’t ever test any of it adobe place for the clay shop at the erty. So I tore it down, brick by brick, in a glaze. That was 15 years before museum, and wondered if maybe cleaned off all the mortar, then re­ they finally discovered the uranium they’d give it to us. Ellen Quillin got built the kiln behind the Ruiz house. out there. I could do my own brickwork be­ I had always gotten uranium from cause I had worked every day of sum­ suppliers. But then, all of a sudden, I mer vacation for a neighbor who was couldn’t get it anymore. I didn’t know a bricklayer. I started out working for why until they dropped the bomb. We $1 a day, mixing mortar and throwing used 20% uranium oxide to make that brick up to the second story and all

Wheel-thrown porcelain vase, 7 inches in height, with orange-peel oxblood glaze, 1950.

December 1991 39 that. Finally, I got so I could lay brick nue high school when Witte left this our business office and they’ll let you on a chalk line. I wasn’t a corner man, money to build a museum. She got it have it.” The Flowers had oil wells, so but I could lay on the line, so I got up started, then started the children’s money was no problem for them. I to $2.50 a day. classes. Eventually, she got WPA money was lucky the bank didn’t lend me the We started adult classes after we to teach adult classes. money. The Flowers loaned it to me moved into the Ruiz house. About I’ll never forget the first live-model at 3%, and the bank wanted 6%! that time Bernard Leach’s book on class. The day before they were sup­ Once the shop was built, I rebuilt high firing came out. I had been do­ posed to have the first night class, my kiln, reclaiming all the bricks I ing low-fire lead glazes for 15 years. headlines in the San Antonio paper could. When I was working on the For the slip-decorated children’s work, read “Nude Model at Witte Museum.” chimney, one of the bank loan offi­ I had used commercial frit with a little The police were sent out to arrest this cers came by and said, ‘You mean clay added to it to make a clear glaze. nude model. Quillin was there at the somebody was crazy enough to let you Of course, the adulLs wanted to do door when the officers arrived. They have the money to build this place?” the same thing I was doing—dabbling turned out to be two of her former He couldn’t believe it. They haven’t in stoneware reduction glazes. [See pupils. Boy, did she get on them. She been that careful about loaning since. Harding Black’s Ceramics Monthly ar­ said, “You go tend to the burglars and I used to dig all my own clay, then ticles “Opening the Door to Copper robbers. Let me tend to the art.” They hammer mill, ball mill, filter press and Reds,” January 1953; “Iron Spotted turned around and left. pug it. Physically I can no longer do Glazes,” February 1954; and “Lava The best art in San Antonio all all that. I’ve had to adjust, to buy al- Glazes,” October 1961.] goes back to Ellen Quillin. It is amaz­ ready-ground clay, fire in an electric I had spent more than 20 years at ing what that woman did. kiln. But I’m real happy with what I the museum, when Ellen Quillin de­ Back to building my shop: I started have worked out with these high-iron- cided to retire. She said, “Harding, looking for a lot in 1955, and found content and opalescent glazes at Cone you’d better get your own place. You one with utilities for only $3000.1 had 5 oxidation. I’m also working on trans­ may not like the new director.” She the lot and $12,000 in the bank, but lucent porcelain and an iron-blue thought I ought to find a lot and build needed another $12,000. The loan glaze that doesn’t run. my own studio, even if I couldn’t do officer at the bank said, ‘You want I still stand to throw at the same more than put up a lean-to. $12,000? An artist? We wouldn’t let one-speed (100 rpm) wheel I’ve been Quillin built that whole museum you have $1000.” I got the same story using for 40 years—you get a bad back from scratch, and got the teaching of at another bank. when you sit at wheels—and keep logs arts and crafts started in San Antonio. When Miss Flowers, a student at on a lot of glaze tests. That’s what The artists didn’t do it. She was a the museum, learned I hadn’t gotten adds interest to a firing. That’s the botany teacher over at the Main Ave­ a bank loan, she said, “Go down to name of the game: discovery. ▲

left Stoneware bowl, glaze- over-glaze mottling, 6 inches in diameter, 1971.

40 CERAMICS MONTHLY right Thrown bowl, porcelain, with flame glaze over slip, 7½ inches in diameter, 1984. below Crackle-glazed porcelain bowl, 93A inches in diameter, 1990, by Harding Black, San Antonio, Texas.

December 1991 41 Staten Island Zoo Murals by Amanda JafFe

Given technology-dominated society, The Staten Island Zoo project was it is easy to dismiss our connection to perfectly suited to these ideas. The the natural world. Today, many of us zoo is a wonderfully pleasant park in live the majority of our lives in artifi­ a stressful city—a place for urbanites cial habitats. Despite this, we have not to get a glimpse of the natural world. been able to extinguish a primeval, The commission appealed to me not psychological attachment to nature. only because the zoo is a metaphor In my work, I want to create im­ for the concept of peace within chaos, ages that evoke the intrinsically sooth­ but also because animals have been ing qualities of nature. Henri Matisse m^yor characters in my work. wrote: “What I dream of is an art of The zoo was remodeling two wings, balance...like an appeasing influence, changing from traditional steel and like a mental soother, something like concrete cages to a more realistic re­ a good armchair in which to rest from creation of the animals’ natural envi­ physical fatigue.” My goal contains ronments. Two habitats were to be these qualities but also the symbols of Amanda Jaffe, faculty artist at New recreated: a South American tropical life’s turbulence. Mexico State University, Las Cruces. rain forest and an African savanna.

Model for “Stream Walk” a 25-foot-long tile mural installed last summer in a school near Seattle.

42 CERAMICS MONTHLY Model for the rainforest habitat mural at the Staten Island African savanna model; construction began after approval by Zoo30, inches high, slip-cast tile with terra sigillatas. the zoo’s board of directors and the Art Commission.

Visitors would be able not only to view My first model depicted realistic Tile Casting Body the animals in their natural habitats, images of the animals that would be (Cone 4) but actually to enter them. housed in the remodeled wings, but it Talc...... 30.00 lbs. This commission was the direct re­ didn’t express my ideas well enough. Nepheline Syenite ...... 33.75 sult of submitting examples of my work I started over. In the final models, the Bandy Black Ball Clay...... 5.00 to the American Craft Council (ACC) central rectangle in each mural rep­ C&C Ball Clay...... 6.25 slide file. In 1984, Jennifer McGregor resents a calm, enjoyable space. The D6 Kaolin...... 25.00 Cutting, of the New York City Percent surrounding dark area of randomly Edgar Plastic Kaolin ...... 12.50 for Art Program, was looking through moving fur patterns and textures rep­ Kentucky Special the ACC files for artists who could resents the manic, stressful aspects of Ball Clay...... 12.50 make permanent and relatively van- New York City. Flint...... 30.00 dal-proof exterior artworks. My first When the models were approved 155.00 lbs. mural proposal was for the Brooklyn by the zoo’s board of directors and Library. Although the Brooklyn com­ the Art Commission of New York City, To 7.5 gallons hot water, add 17.5 mission was awarded to another final­ I took a semester leave of absence ounces Dispersal (liquid deflocculant), ist, I received the Staten Island Zoo from my teaching position at New 45 grams barium carbonate and 45 commission based on my model for Mexico State University to build the grams soda ash. Next, add the recipe’s the library project. murals. Because these were to be ex­ dry ingredients one at a time. Blend At the site, two sets of double door­ terior murals, exposed to the ele­ well and screen. ways were sealed off as part of the ments, I knew I needed a clay body All the tiles for this commission remodeling. I thought the brick cor­ that could withstand the freezing and were slip cast, then most were brushed beling that framed the original doors thawing of the humid northeast coast. with terra sigillatas made from Albany would work well as frames for murals. After calling everyone I could think slip, Cedar Heights Goldart and Red­ My goal was to produce images that of for recipes and advice, I tested clay art. Single fired to Cone 4, they were were well integrated into the setting, bodies for weathering strength by sub­ on the verge of melting (the clay some­ that reflected the inside of the build­ jecting them to freezing/thawing con­ times bloats at flat Cone 4); the result­ ing, and that mirrored my view of the ditions. Finally, after it withstood 15 ing slight sheen appeals to me, and I zoo as a calm, relaxing, meditative freeze/thaw cycles, I decided on the continue to use this recipe for all my park in a loud, stressful city. following Cone 4 white casting body: tile pieces, interior and exterior. A

December 1991 43 The Burghley Collection

A special exhibition of European ce­ the golden limestone facades are The remaining historical ceramic ramics dating from the 16th to the punctuated with mullioned windows, objects languished until after World 19th century was on view at Burghley domed turrets, arches and ornamen­ War I, when the fifth Marchioness de­ House in Stamford, England, through tal obelisks. cided to catalog the Burghley hold­ October 6. Acquired by members of While the habit of collecting was ings. She also added to the collection, the Cecil family, the collection in­ established in the Cecil family by Lord buying at sales and bringing signifi­ cludes examples from most of the Burghley, it was the ninth Earl of cant pieces from her own inheritance. major producers of Italian maiolica, Exeter who was the first to acquire One of the most important pieces Dutch and English delft, French fa­ significant examples of European ce­ of Italian maiolica included in the ex­ ience, and English, French and Ger­ ramics. A patron of English porcelain hibition was a large urn, dated 1670, man porcelain. factories, he bought maiolica during decorated with imagery inspired by Burghley House was built by Wil­ visits to Italy in the 18th century. Torquato Tasso’s epic poem about the liam Cecil, the first Lord Burghley, Other major additions to the ce­ first crusade, “Gerusalemme Liberata who was Lord High Treasurer to ramics collection were made by (Jerusalem Delivered).” Queen Elizabeth I. Begun in 1565 and Isabella Poyntz, wife of the second Among the English porcelains completed in 1587, it is recognized as Marquess of Exeter in the early 19th shown was a rare Derby figure of a “the largest and grandest house of century. When family fortunes plum­ crouching monkey, which is not re­ the First Elizabethan Age.” Palatial in meted in the late Victorian period, corded in lists of the factory’s produc­ scale, the house contains some 240 however, the third Marquess was tion and reflects the 18th-century rooms, including 18 lavishly decorated forced to auction many of the Burgh­ fascination for “singeries,” decorative state rooms open to visitors. Outside, ley porcelains at Christie’s. motifs incorporating monkeys. A

Porcelain monkey, approximately 4 inches in height, a rare Derby figure, not recorded among the factory’s known production; reflects 18th-century fascination for “singeriesdecorative objects incorporating monkeys.

left Castel Durante maiolica urn, approximately 32 inches in height, decorated with imagery inspired by Torquato Tasso’s epic poem about the first crusade, “Gerusalemme Liberata (Jerusalem Delivered),” dated 1670.

44 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1991 45 It’s an unlikely combination—New that nodded in the direction of his with the associated expense, time and Zealand’s largest corporate giant (a time at the Leach Pottery in England risk, made selection from slide entries blue-chip investment firm) teaming years earlier. inevitable; this will be introduced next up with the potters of Auckland (cre­ Oestreich was spotted in the open­ year. The policy of submitting actual ative unemployables, backyard opera­ ing crowd, where anyone looking like work had been maintained in an ef­ tors) to present what has become an a potter and unaccounted for comes fort to give New Zealand potters as exhibition of international reputation under strong suspicion as being the much exposure to developments in and prestige. The opening ceremony mystery winner flown in by the spon­ clay as possible. Even unpacking and is the highlight of the local potters’ sors for the awards ceremony. Never­ processing the incoming work was of year. Invitations are at a premium, and theless, he turned out to be a decoy, substantial benefit. annually there is a mysterious discrep­ and spent a week here, blowing his This also marks the end of the an­ ancy between the number of tickets winnings and befriending potters. nual “Salon de Refuse” where potters issued and the large crowd that actu­ The audience was in a state of con­ could exhibit and sell unselected work ally turns up. Potters dress up in a big fusion when they saw their best shot at a concurrent venue. It was always a way, while the Fletcher Challenge folk take second prize. There was also a good test whereby the judge was in­ relax their dress ethic, but you can feeling of mild disappointment at the evitably found to be more competent still tell them apart—the potters are shortage of local successes. So it was than first thought. the ones milling around the food. with considerable drama and pleasure The impact each judge has had on This year, American ceramist Ron that Nagle handed the premier award those working with clay, particularly Nagle (Mills College, Oakland, Cali­ of NZ$10,000 to Tim Currey, a potter in Auckland, is undeniable. Richard fornia) was enticed out to New from Coromandel, in the depths of Shaw, Patti Warashina, Robin Welch Zealand to select the exhibition. Jet the New Zealand bush. Still, there was and Elizabeth Fritsch all have been lag, culture shock and wintry weather some bemusement as Currey is virtu­ judges in the past. Ron Nagle has a aside, the task was a formidable one. ally unknown in his own country, and formidable reputation as part of the Nagle met the challenge head-on, that is a rare thing with a population wave that turned clay on its ear—those found about 30 pieces out of the 458 the size of New Zealand, where every­ who attended his workshop found entered to his immediate liking, then body knows everybody, particularly themselves in a dialogue with strong set about swelling the numbers for potters. The only bad news of the night reservations about work that wasn’t the show to a realistic 158. was Currey’s announcement that he exploratory or expressive—“better to Previous judges have experienced is moving to Australia. pump gas, and show one good pot a a similar reaction and that’s not sur­ His winning sculpture “Rock Col­ year” Since many of those in atten­ prising—most viewers on encounter­ umn” is a substantial geologic form in dance make domestic ware repetitively ing an eclectic collection of 400+ pots pure white, which Nagle could not for a living, the scene was set for would find only a smaller number had place. He could find no tradition or healthy debate. It was a workshop from immediate impact. The swelling of the recognizable source, and that in­ which you took home little for your numbers is done in the interest of trigued him. bag of tricks, but perspectives were mounting a nationally important ex­ The Fletcher Challenge Award is given a bit of a shakedown. hibition, but there are never pots se­ now very much an international com­ So why is this competition impor­ lected that the judge does not enjoy. petition, with this year’s selection fa­ tant? The impact of the pots that ar­ Ron Nagle was uncompromising voring international entries over local rive, the influence of the judge and a about award decisions, and this was for the first time. Australia, Great Brit­ growing need to raise standards in appreciated by the potting commu­ ain, Japan and the United States were order to “foot it” with the avalanche nity—an excessive number of awards the main sources, although countries of international entries are all of con­ devalues them. There were two pieces like India and Brazil were also repre­ sequence to the evolution of ceramics in the lineup that stuck with him sented. Artists from a total of 25 coun­ in New Zealand. throughout the three-day selection tries entered work, with Japan once It is an unusual relationship—an process, yet there was only one major again well ahead of the field in the industrial giant joining forces with prize to give. So Nagle combined two proportion of entries getting into the people whose businesses couldn’t get of the NZ$1000 merit awards to form exhibition. The Japanese took 3 of much smaller—but it raises the pro­ a NZ$2000 “second prize.” This was the 10 awards as well. file of both parties and, into the bar­ presented at the opening ceremony But the success of the competition gain, potters get to have an annual to Jeff Oestreich of Minnesota for his has brought necessary changes. Send­ scrub-up, a night out and a month of “Teapot,” a sculptured functional form ing an actual piece to enter, together superb public exposure. ▲

46 CERAMICS MONTHLY above Stoneware teapot, approximately 8 inches in height, thrown and altered, with temmoku glaze, reduction fired, by Jeffrey Oestreich, Taylors Falls, Minnesota; US$1163 (NZ$2000) second place award winner. left “Joh En,” approximately 13 inches in height, stoneware with inlaid extruded porcelain, by Hideo Kobayashi, Uji City, Kyoto, Japan. article cover “Rock Column,” approximately 26 inches in height, handbuilt from local earthenware, by Tim Currey, Port Charles, New Zealand; US$5815 (NZ$10,000) first place. This international competition is sponsored by Fletcher Challenge, a major investment firm in New Zealand.

December 1991 47 above “Passage with Palm Print ” approximately inches7 in height, thrown and altered porcelain, with celadon glaze, by Lawson Oyekan, London, England; US$582 (NZ$1000) merit award.

left “Artifact Teapot,” approximately 12 inches in height, slab-built porcelain, with Cone 06 glaze, by Lana Wilson, Del Mar, California.

48 CERAMICS MONTHLY right “Mural of Molela” approximately 26 inches in height, handbuilt earthenware, by Udai Lai Kishan Lai Kumbar, Molela, Rajasthan, India. below “Bench Jar ” approximately 7 inches in height, wheel- thrown stoneware, with Shino glaze, reduction fired in a gas kiln, by Chloe King, Havelock North, New Zealand; US$582 (NZ$1000) merit award.

December 1991 49 left “Flower 1991,” approximately 19 inches in height, handhuilt and extruded white earthenware, with colored glazes sprayed over a majolica opaque base, by Richard Slee, Brighton, England.

below “Oil Bottle,” tongue-in-cheek comment on the Gulf War; extruded, slip-cast and wheel-thrown terra cotta and white earthenware; some elements (with lusters and decals) oxidation fired, others saggar fired; assembled on a sand-filled wooden base; approximately 16 inches in height; by Peter Lange, Auckland, New Zealand.

50 CERAMICS MONTHLY “The Place Water Has Gone ” approximately 22 inches in height, handbuilt porcelainby, Kyoko HoriKyoto,, Japan; US$582 (NZ$1000) merit award.

December 1991 51 “Vase Form” 12 inches high, wheel-thrown blend of red and white earthenware, with tape-resisted terra sigillata, burnished, fired to Cone 05, then sawdust smoked, waxed, by Duncan Ross, Famham, England; US$582 (NZ$1000) merit award.

52 CERAMICS MONTHLY Magnesium Matt Glazes by Harold McWhinnie

In stoneware glazes (Cone 6-10), mag­ Magnesium Matt Glaze 4 nesium is often used as a matting (Cone 8-10) agent, as well as to improve glaze fit Magnesium Carbonate...... 9.52 % with the clay body. It produces an ex­ Whiting...... 14.29 cellent opaque matt surface and will Nepheline Syenite ...... 28.57 yield some interesting color effects Kaolin...... 9.52 when combined with cobalt carbon­ Flint...... 38.10 ate or oxide, or iron oxide. 100.00% Magnesium has few, if any, adverse CaO 0.449 Al2Os 0.351 Si02 3.170 side effects, is stable and can provide MgO 0.356 soft textures and colors difficult to NagO/KgO 0.194 achieve with other glaze ingredient combinations. Sources include mag­ Magnesium Matt Glaze 5 nesium carbonate, dolomite, talc and (Cone 5-6) some wood ash. Magnesium Carbonate...... 13.64% A computer glaze program was Whiting...... 13.64 used to convert several published and Nepheline Syenite ...... 36.36 unpublished recipes to molecular for­ Kaolin...... 9.09 mulas. Using computer programs Flint...... 27.27 makes such conversions an easy task, 100.00% and facilitates the development of CaO 0.361 AJ 2Os 0.340 Si02 2.391 some interesting variations as well. MgO 0.430 Na20/K20 0.209 Magnesium Matt Glaze 1 (Cone 8-10) Magnesium Matt Glaze 6 Magnesium Carbonate ...... 12.5% (Cone 4-6) Whiting ...... 12.5 Magnesium Carbonate ...... 17.39% Kaolin...... 25.0 Whiting...... 21.74 Flint...... 50.0 Nepheline Syenite ...... 43.48 100.0% Kaolin...... 8.69

CaO 0.395 Al2Os 0.451 Si02 4.132 Flint...... 8.70 MgO 0.471 100.00% Nap/K^O 0.134 CaO 0.460 A1 2Os 0.248 SiOg 1.378 Magnesium Matt Glaze 2 MgO 0.406 (Cone 5-6) NagO/KgO 0.134 Magnesium Carbonate...... 9.52 % Color variations of the preceding Whiting ...... 14.29 base glazes are possible with additions Nepheline Syenite ...... 38.09 such as: Kaolin...... 19.05 Flint...... 19.05 Yellow to Brown: 100.00% Iron...... 5.00-10.00%

CaO 0.449 A1203 0.436 Si0 2 2.834 Blue: MgO 0.356 Cobalt...... 0.50% N^O/Kfi 0.195 Blue-Green: Magnesium Matt Glaze 3 Copper ...... 0.50% (Cone 1-3) Brown-Green: Magnesium Carbonate ...... 14.29% Nickel...... 5.00% Whiting ...... 19.05 Nepheline Syenite ...... 38.09 The author A frequent contributor to Kaolin...... 19.05 CM, Harold McWhinnie teaches in the Flint...... 9.52 Design Department at the University of 100.00% Maryland, College Park. He was among the first ceramists to use a computer to CaO 0.451 A12Os 0.357 Si0 2 1.816 MgO 0.403 develop families of glazes, generating both

Na20/K20 0.147 molecular formulas and batch recipes.

December 1991 53

Letters Continued from page 8

kilns are fairly well reproduced here. The first comment at the monthly meeting is usually “Is the Ceramics Monthly here yet?” or “Does Sandy have it again?” WTien we get stale, we pick up one of the magazines and get “fired up” again. We are fortunate to have a great studio (city-run) on top of the hill in Weybum in the SHAC (Signal Hill Arts Centre)—great view of our prairie horizon and sunsets, for which we pause and reflect on the beauty of our province, Saskatchewan. Our club is always learning, plus we teach the young children’s classes (9-12 years) and this year we are trying a teenagers’ clay class. It’s good to get the younger generation involved in this medium again. Sandra Hanni Weyburn Pottery Club Weyburn, Sask. Canada

Village Pottery Kudos I sure enjoy the articles on village pot­ ters in other countries. D. Wood Gresham, Ore.

More Loiv-fire Color Enough brown stoneware! More color­ ful earthenware! I’d like to see profiles of artists such as Betty Woodman, Phillip Maberry, Beatrice Wood, Belinda Gabryl and anyone else working in low fire. Leeann McClure Waltham, Mass.

Business/School Reference I have used the magazine for years— for myself in my business and for my students at the high school level. Students do oral presentations to the class about different artists or techniques and show off the color photos. Keep it coming! Alice Yates Kingfield, Me.

Classroom Inspiration Ceramics Monthly is used extensively in our classroom. Each semester every stu­ dent must read ten articles and present one oral report to the class. This has inspired many new ideas and a wide range of techniques. A teacher is limited in how many techniques can be presented, and Ceramics Monthly has opened the door and inspired some innovative student work. Pat Rogers Ridgecrest, Calif.

56 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1991 57 Kitchen Sink: Artists and the Kitchen, NewForms, New Functions” (February 27-May 16, 1992). Call for Entries Juried from slides. Juror: Bruce Pepich, director, Exhibitions, Fairs, Festivals and Sales Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, Wisconsin. Entry fee: $18; up to 3 entries. Cash and purchase awards. For prospectus, contact Registrar, Arrowmont School, Box 567, Gatlin­ burg 37738; or telephone (615) 436-5860. January 10, 1992 entry deadline International Exhibitions Lafayette, Louisiana “Lafayette Art Association Annual National Juried Competition of Original December 13 entry deadline Two- and Three-Dimensional Art” (March 3- Auckland, New Zealand “Fletcher Challenge April 7, 1992). Juried from slides, juror: Ida Ceramics Award 1992” (May 28-June 28, 1992). Kohlmeyer. Entry fee: $25, 3 entries; $8, 2 addi­ Juried from up to 3 slides. No entry fee. Awards: tional; limit 5 entries. Awards: $3000. Send #10 Premier, NZ$10,000 (approximately US$5815); sase to J. K Sommer, Lafayette Art Gallery, 700 up to 5 merit awards, NZ$1000 (approximately Lee Avenue, Lafayette 70501. US$582) each. Contact Fletcher Challenge Ce­ January 15, 1992 entry deadline ramics Award, Box 13-195, Onehunga, Auckland. La Grange, Illinois “Diminutive Art” (February December 15 entry deadline 15-March 20,1992), all-media miniature compe­ New Haven, Connecticut “Sixth Annual Women tition. Juried from up to 5 slides. Entry fee: $25. in the Visual Arts Exhibition” (March 4-29,1992), For prospectus, send sase to Aardvark Gallery, 6 open to all women artists over 18. Juried from South Sixth Avenue, La Grange 60525; or tele­ slides. Entry fee: $15 for 3 slides. Jurors: Miwon phone (708) 579-1989. Kwon, free-lance writer and exhibitions coordi­ January 25, 1992 entry deadline nator at Whitney Museum of American Art, New McPherson, Kansas “Aesthetics ’92” (April York; and Sowon Kwon, visual artist and editorial 1992), open to all media. Juried from slides. associate at the New Museum of Contemporary Juror: Linda Faw Neher. Awards: $1000 plus Art, New York. Send sase to Women in the Visual merit certificates. For prospectus, send #10 SASE Arts, 315 Peck Street, New Haven 06513; or to Aesthetics ’92, Box 252, McPherson 67460. telephone (203) 865-5055. January 27, 1992 entry deadline December 31 entry deadline Bethlehem, Pennsylvania “Re-Awakening: A Koblenz, Germany “Salzbrand ’92” (Summer Celebration of Spring” (May 2-June 7, 1992), 1992), open to all ceramists working with salt competition for works involving flora, fauna and glaze. Artists must submit at least 3 but no more nature imagery .Juried from 3 slides per entry; up than 5 works when entering 1 category; those to 3 entries. Jurors: Nicholas Kripal, ceramic entering more than 1 category may submit up to sculptor/associate professor of ceramics, Tyler 8 works. Awards: DM18,000 (approximately School of Art of Temple University, Philadel­ US$10,000). Contact Handwerkskammer Ko­ phia; Bob Natalini, jewelry/sculpture artist/lec­ blenz, Galerie Handwerk Koblenz, Rizzastrasse turer/teacher, Reading, Pennsylvania. Entryfee: 24-26, Postfach 929, D-5400 Koblenz. Telephone $15. Cash awards. For prospectus, send #10 sase (49) 261-398-230; or fax (49) 261-398-282. to Luckenbach Mill Gallery, 459 Old York Road, January 1, 1992 entry deadline Bethlehem 18018; or telephone (215) 691-0603. Boston, Massachusetts Competition celebrat­ January 31, 1992 entry deadline ing “Discovery of America” anniversary (travel­ Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada “5th National ing throughout 1992, then donated to the Na­ Biennial of Ceramics” (June-September 1992, tional Gallery of Art), open to all media. Juried then traveling). Open to Canadians living in from slides. Awards: $9500 to top 6 semifinalists. Canada. Juried from description and 3 slides of Sponsored by G’Vanni’s Restaurant. Send sase work plus resume. Entry fee: Can$25. Awards: to Discover G’Vanni’s, Box 6255, JFK Station, Can$l 1,000. Contact National Biennial of Ce­ Boston 02114; or telephone (617) 248-1992 or ramics, C.P. 1596, Trois-Rivieres G9A 5L9; or fax (617) 248-1993. telephone (819) 691-0829. January 10, 1992 entry deadline March 1, 1992 entry deadline Vallauris, France “13th International Biennial Racine, Wisconsin ‘Just Plane Screwy: Meta­ of Ceramic Arts” (July 1-October 31, 1992). Ju­ physical and Metaphorical T ools by Artists” (June ried from 3 slides (3 different views) of each 7-September 13,1992), open to all media depict­ entry, plus technical descriptions; up to 2 entries, ing artists’ tools. Juried from up to 10 slides and together not weighing more than 80 kilograms resume. Send sase to Charles A. Wustum Mu­ (approximately 175 pounds). Awards: Grand seum of Fine Arts, 2519 Northwestern Ave., Racine Prize: Fr40,000 (approximately US$7055); 53404; or telephone (414) 636-9177. A.V.O.C.A. Prize: Frl5,000 (approximately March 2, 1992 entry deadline US$2645); plus 1 gold medal in each of 4 catego­ Bethlehem, Pennsylvania “Stories: The Narra­ ries—architectural pieces, thrown pots, enamel tive Art in Contemporary Crafts” (August 8- and creativity. Contact Biennial Committee, Hotel September 20, 1992). Juried from 3 slides per de Ville, 06200 Vallauris; or telephone 64 24 24. entry; up to 3 entries.Jurors:Janet Grau, ceramic sculptor/instructor/resident artist, the Clay Stu­ National Exhibitions dio, Philadelphia; and Bhakti Ziek, fiber artist/ assistant professor of woven design, Philadelphia December 6 entry deadline College of Textiles and Sciences. Cash awards. Mesa, Arizona “The Art of Art Therapy” (April For prospectus, send #10 sase to Luckenbach 7-May 5, 1992), competition for artworks illus­ Mill Gallery, 459 Old York Road, Bethlehem trating the healing power of art therapy. Jurors: 18018; or telephone (215) 691-0603. Ardyth Bernstein, Barbara Levy and Eugenia March 19, 1992 entry deadline Sutcliffe. Juried from slides. Entry fee: $3 (volun­ Milwaukee, Wisconsin “Vessels” (May 15-June tary) for up to 5 entries. For prospectus, contact 26, 1992). Juried from 5 slides and resume. Fee: Galeria Mesa, Art Therapy, Box 1466, Mesa 85211; $10. Send sase to A. Houberbocken, 230 West or telephone (602) 644-2242. Wells Street, Suite 202, Milwaukee 53203; or December 12 entry deadline telephone Joan Houlehen (414) 276-6002. Gatlinburg, Tennessee “Everything but the March 20, 1992 entry deadline Jenkintown, Pennsylvania “The Clay Cup” (April Send announcements of juried exhibitions, fairs, festi­ 1-30, 1992). Juried from actual work; 9-inch vals and sales at least four months before the event’s limit. Juror: Ron Nagle. Entryfee: $5 for one cup entry deadline (please add one month for listings inJuly only. Cash awards and catalog. For prospectus, and two monthsfor those in August) to Call for Entries, send sase to Abington Art Center, 515 Meeting­ Ceramics Monthly, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio house Road, Jenkintown 19046; or telephone 43212; or telephone (614) 488-8236. Fax announce­ (215) 887-4882. ments to (614) 488-4561. University Park, Pennsylvania “Crafts National

58 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1991 59 Call for Entries February 15, 1992 entry deadline Richmond, Virginia “Spotlight ’92” (May 8- July 31, 1992), open to artists residing in Ala­ bama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ten­ 26” (June 7-July 26, 1992). Juried from slides. nessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Juried from Juror: John Vanco, executive director of the Erie slides of up to 3 works. Juror: Barbara Jedda, Art Museum, Pennsylvania. Entry fee: $20 for up curator for Craft Alliance, Saint Louis, Missouri. to 3 entries. Awards: $3000. For prospectus, send Entry fee: $12. Contact Spodight ’92, Hand Work­ sase to Crafts National 26, Zoller Gallery, 101 shop, 1812 West Main Street, Richmond 23220; Visual Arts Building, Penn State University, Uni­ or telephone (804) 353-0094. versity Park 16802; or telephone (814) 865-0444. May 1, 1992 entry deadline April 1, 1992 entry deadline Los Alamos, New Mexico “Biennial Crafts 1992 Eureka Springs, Arkansas “Fifth Annual Sculp­ Exhibition” (June 19-July 19, 1992), open to all ture Show and Sale” (May 1992). Juried from artists residing in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexi­ slides. Entry fee: $20 for up to 3 entries. Awards: co, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah. Awards: ap­ from $1500 for first place to $200 for honorable proximately $750. For prospectus, send legal­ mention. Send sase to Sally Gorrell, Box 283, sized sase to the Fuller Lodge Art Center, Box Eureka Springs 72632. 790, Los Alamos 87544. April 3, 1992 entry deadline Lincoln, California “Feats of Clay V” (June 3- Fairs, Festivals and Sales 27,1992). Juried from a maximum of 3 slides per entry; up to 3 entries. Entry fee: $10 per entry. January 2, 1992 entry deadline Works should not exceed 24 inches. Juror: Anne Chatham, Ontario, Canada “Crafts and Coun­ Currier. Place, merit and purchase awards. Send try Collectibles” (March 14-15, 1992). Juried sase to Lincoln Arts, Box 1166, Lincoln 95648; or from photos. Fee: $145 for a lOxlO-foot booth. telephone (916) 645-9713. Profit-sharing plan for exhibitors at 2 or more May 1, 1992 entry deadline shows. Contact Brenda Proc, CraftWorld/Cry- Manitou Springs, Colorado “Sculpture in Mani- derman Productions, 136 Thames St., Chatham, tou” (July 10-12,1992). Juried from slides. Entry Ontario N7L 2Y8; or telephone (519) 351-8344. fee: $20. Awards. For prospectus, contact Darpino, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada “Crafts and Coun­ Alliance of Professional Artists Association, 513 try Collectibles” (March 21-22, 1992). Juried Manitou Avenue, Manitou Springs 80829; or from photos. Fee: $245 for a 10x10-foot booth. telephone (719) 685-1861. Profit-sharing plan for exhibitors at 2 or more June 12, 1992 entry deadline shows. Contact Brenda Proc, CraftWorld/Cry- Milwaukee, Wisconsin “Not Just Another Fur­ derman Productions, 136 Thames St., Chatham, niture Show: More than Just a Fixture” (August Ontario N7L 2Y8; or telephone (519) 351-8344. 28-October 23, 1992). Juried from 5 slides and Pickering, Ontario, Canada “Crafts and Coun­ resume. Entry fee: $10. Send sase to A. Houber- try Collectibles” (March 5-7, 1992). Juried from bocken, 230 West Wells Street, Suite 202, Mil­ photos. Booth fee: $395 for a 10x10-foot space. waukee 53203; or telephone (414) 276-6002. Profit-sharing plan for exhibitors at 2 or more shows. Contact Brenda Proc, CraftWorld/Cryder- Regional Exhibitions man Productions, 136 Thames Street, Chatham, Ontario N7L 2Y8; or telephone (519) 351-8344. December 9 entry deadline Sarnia, Ontario, Canada “Crafts and Country Rockford, Illinois “Sixth Regional Exhibition” Collectibles” (April 4-5,1992). Juried from pho­ (February 28-April 3, 1992), open to any artist tos. Booth fee: $220 for a 10x10-foot space. Profit- living within 150 miles of Rockford. Juried from sharing plan for exhibitors at 2 or more shows. 3 slides. Entry fee: $15. For prospectus, send SASE Contact Brenda Proc, CraftWorld/Cryderman to Regional Gallery Ten, 514 E. State St., Rock­ Productions, 136 Thames Street, Chatham, ford 61104; or telephone (815) 964-1743. Ontario N7L 2Y8; or telephone (519) 351-8344. December 10 entry deadline January 13, 1992 entry deadline Philadelphia, Pennsylvania “Ceramics Now” Gaithersburg, Maryland “Spring Arts and Crafts (February 28-March 22,1992), open to artists in Fair” (April 10-12, 1992); “Autumn Crafts Festi­ Delaware, Washington, D.C., Maryland, NewJer- val” (November 20-22, 1992); “Winter Crafts sey, New York and Pennsylvania. Juried from a Festival” (December 11-13,1992). Juried from 5 maximum of 5 slides and an artist’s statement. slides (including 1 of booth display). Booth fees Entry fee: $2 per slide. Juror: Nancy Carman. vary. Send 3 (29£) stamps for postage to Deann Send sase to University City Arts League Gallery, Verdier, Director, Sugarloaf Mountain Works, 4226 Spruce Street, Philadelphia 19104. 200 Orchard Ridge Drive, Suite 215, Gaithersburg January 7, 1992 entry deadline 20878; or telephone (301) 990-1400. Charlotte, North Carolina “Carolina Clay Com­ Timonium, Maryland “Spring Crafts Festival” petition” (February 3-28, 1992), open to resi­ (May 1-3,1992); “Maryland Crafts Festival” (Oc­ dents of North and South Carolina. Juried from tober 9-11, 1992). Juried from 5 slides (includ­ slides. Entry fee: $5. Cash awards in functional ing 1 of booth display). Booth fees vary. Send 3 and nonfunctional work. For prospectus, send (29£) stamps for postage to Deann Verdier, Di­ #10 sase to Pope’s Gallery, Box 241106, Char­ rector, Sugarloaf Mountain Works, 200 Orchard lotte 28224; or telephone (704) 552-7745. Ridge Drive, Suite 215, Gaithersburg, Maryland Wayne, Pennsylvania “Craft Forms 1992: An­ 20878; or telephone (301) 990-1400. nual Exhibition of Fine Contemporary Crafts” Manassas, Virginia ‘Virginia Crafts Festival” (January 11-28,1992), open to artists residing in (September 11-13, 1992). Juried from 5 slides Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Juried (including 1 of booth display). Booth fees vary. from actual work, hand delivered on January 6- Send3 (29£) stamps for postage to Deann Verdier, 7, 1992. Entry fee: $12. Jurors: Bill Daley, emeri­ Director, Sugarloaf Mountain Works, 200 Or­ tus professor of art/ceramics; and Richard Rein­ chard Ridge Drive, Suite 215, Gaithersburg, hardt, emeritus dean of craft; both at the Univer­ Maryland 20878; or telephone (301) 990-1400. sity of the Arts. Cash awards. For prospectus, send January 24, 1992 entry deadline sase to Wayne Art Center, 413 Maplewood Ave., Milwaukee, Wisconsin “30th Annual Lakefront Wayne 19087; or telephone (215) 688-3553. Festival of Arts” (June 12-14,1992). Juried from January 24, 1992 entry deadline slides. Entryfee: $18. Booth fee: $225 for a5xl4- Quincy, Illinois “42nd Annual Quad State Ju­ foot space. Awards: 10 cash awards of $1000 each. ried Exhibition” (April 5-May 2, 1992), open to Contact Lakefront Festival of Arts, Milwaukee Art all artists residing in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Museum, 750 North Lincoln Memorial Drive, Missouri. Awards: $3000 cash, plus solo show and Milwaukee 53202; or telephone (414) 271-9508, other awards. For prospectus, send business­ extension 255. sized sase to Quincy Art Center, 1515 Jersey, January 25, 1992 entry deadline Quincy 62301; or telephone (217) 223-5900. Montclair, New Jersey “16th Annual American

60 C eramics Monthly December 1991 61 Call for Entries

Crafts Festival” (July 4-5 and 11-12,1992) Juried from 5 slides. Entry fee: $10. Booth fee: $460 for a 10x7-foot space; $490 for a 10x10-foot space. Send SASE to Brenda Brigham, American Con­ cern for Artistry and Craftsmanship, Box 650, Montclair 07042; or telephone (201) 746-0091. January 31, 1992 entry deadline Stevens Point, Wisconsin “Festival of the Arts” (April 12,1992) Juried from 5 slides and resume. Entry fee: $40. Jury fee: $5. Cash and purchase awards. Send SASE to Festival of the Arts, Box 872, Stevens Point 54481. February 1, 1992 entry deadline Columbus, Ohio “Columbus Arts Festival” (June 5-14,1992) .Juried from 3 slides of work plus 1 of booth or of 10 or more pieces. Entry fee: $10. Booth fee: $225-$290. For further information contact the Columbus Arts Festival, 55 East State Street, Columbus 43215; or telephone (614) 224-2606. February 29, 1992 entry deadline State College, Pennsylvania “Central Pennsylva­ nia Festival of the Arts Annual Sidewalk Sale” (July 9-12, 1992). Juried from 4 slides of work plus 1 of booth. Entry fee: $15. Booth fee: $275 for a 10x10-foot space. Awards: minimum of $12,000. Send sase to Katherine Talcott, Assis­ tant Director, Box 1023, State College 16804; or telephone (814) 237-3682. March 1, 1992 entry deadline Guilford, Connecticut “35th Annual Guilford Handcrafts Exposition” (July 16-18, 1992). Ju­ ried from 5 slides. Entry fee: $15. Booth fee: $360 or $410 for a 10x12-foot space. Cash awards. Contact 35th Annual Guilford Handcrafts Expo, Box 589, Guilford 06437; or telephone (203) 453-5947. March 15, 1992 entry deadline Clinton, Iowa “Art in the Park” (May 16-17, 1992). Juried from 5 slides. Entry fee: $5. Booth fee: $50 for a 10x10-foot space. Cash awards. No commission. Send sase to Clinton Art Associa­ tion, Box 132, Clinton 52732; or telephone Carol Glahn (319) 259-8308. Cambridge, Wisconsin “First Annual Cambridge Pottery Festival” (June 13-14,1992). Juried from 4 slides. Entry fee: $10. Booth fee: $100. Awards. Send SASE to Cambridge Pottery Festival, Cam­ bridge Chamber of Commerce, 105 South Spring Street, Cambridge 53523; or telephone (608) 423-3780. April 1, 1992 entry deadline Garrison, New York “23rd Annual Arts and Crafts Fair” (August 15-16, 1992). Juried from slides. Entry fee: $5. Booth fee: $175 for a 10x10- foot space. Send sase to Garrison Art Center, Box 4, Garrison 10524; or telephone (914) 424-3960. Greensburg, Pennsylvania “Westmoreland Arts and Heritage Festival” (July 2-5, 1992). Juried from slides. Entry fee: $30. Cash and purchase awards. Send SASE to WAHF-C, Box 203, RD 12, Greensburg 15601; or telephone (412) 830-3950. Spring Green, Wisconsin “Spring Green Arts and Crafts Fair” (June 27-28,1992). Juried from slides. Entry fee: $60. For further information contact the Spring Green Arts and Crafts Fair, Box 96, Spring Green 53588; or telephone (608) 588-7080. April 10, 1992 entry deadline Layton, New Jersey “Peters Valley Crafts Fair” (July 25-26, 1992). Juried from 5 slides. Entry fee: $15. Booth fee: $185 for a lOxlO-foot out­ door space; tented space extra. Send sase to Peters Valley Craft Fair, 19 Kuhn Road, Layton 07851; or telephone (201) 948-5200. May 22, 1992 entry deadline Norman, Oklahoma “A Midsummer Night’s Fair” (July 10—11, 1992). Juried from 4 slides or photos. Booth fee: $45 for a lOxlO-foot space. Send SASE to MSNF Artist Selection Committee, Firehouse Art Center, 444 South Flood, Norman 73069; or telephone (405) 329-4523.

62 C eramics Monthly December 1991 63 California, Los AngelesJanuary 4-29,1992David Calendar Regan. Kurt Weiser; at Garth Clark Gallery, 170 Conferences, Exhibitions; Fairs, South La Brea Avenue. California, Walnut Creekthrough December 24 Workshops and Other Events to Attend Roberta Laidman, “Dogs”; at Banaker Gallery, 1373 Locust Street. Georgia, AtlantaDecember 6-January 4,1992Grady Kimsey, “Echoes Recalled: Mysteries of the Edge”; Conferences at Connell Gallery/Great American Gallery, 333 Buckhead Avenue. Alabama, MontgomeryMarch 13-15, 1992 “Ala­ Indiana, IndianapolisDecember 3-31 Linda LeMar, bama Clay Conference VII” will include demon­ sculpture; at Alliance Museum Shop, Indianapo­ strations, discussion and slide lectures with Val lis Museum of Art, 1200 West 38th Street. Cushing and Frank Fleming. Fee: $40; students/ Massachusetts, BostonDecember 1-31 Hideaki seniors, $25; after February 13, 1992, $5 addi­ Miyamura; at Kikusui Gallery, 101 Charles Street. tional late fee. Contact Sue Jensen or Joy Hester, Massachusetts, Miltonthrough December 13 Lois Auburn University at Montgomery, Department Atherton, porcelain and stoneware; at the Milton of Fine Arts, 7300 University Drive, Montgomery Art Museum, 44 Edge Hill Road. 36117; or telephone (205) 244-3377. Massachusetts, WorcesterDecember 4-January 25, Illinois, ChicagoFebruary 13-15, 1992 “College 1992 Rosalie Olds, “Soup’s On”; at the Worces­ Art Association Annual Conference.” Orienta­ ter Center for Crafts, Atrium Gallery, 25 Saga­ tion: February 11; placement begins February more Road. 12. Contact CAA, 2/5 Seventh Ave., New York, Michigan, Farmington HillsDecember 7-28 Marie New York 10001; or telephone (212) 691-1051. Woo; at Habatat/Shaw Gallery, 32255 North­ North Carolina, AshevilleFebruary 21-23, 1992 western Highway, #25. “Arts and Crafts Conference and Antiques Show” Michigan, RoyalOakjanuary 11-February 8, 1992 will include a seminar entided “Rookwood Pot­ John Rohlfing; at Swidler Gallery, Washington tery” with Kenneth Trapp, a demonstration on Square Plaza, 308 West Fourth Street. cleaning and repairing art pottery with Doug Missouri, Kansas Citythrough December 24 Ken Eisele, and the panel discussion “Building an Ferguson; at Garth Clark Gallery, 855 Rockwell Arts and Crafts Collection.” Also includes tours Lane. of two potteries. Fee: $231, includes 2 nights Missouri, Saint Louisthrough January 4, 1992 lodging with continental breakfast, all confer­ Paul Dresang, new work; Eva Kwong, sculpture; ence events (tours extra) and catalog; 2 people, Andy Martin, functional work; at Pro-Art, 1214 $296. Contact Grove Park Inn, 290 Macon Ave­ Washington Avenue. nue, Asheville 28804; or telephone (800) 438- New York, Alfred January 15-May 17, 1992 5800, extension 1010 or (704) 252-2711, exten­ Charles Fergus Binns, “A Chair Must Invite the sion 8007. Or contact Bruce Johnson, Confer­ Sitter,” stoneware; at the Museum of Ceramic Art ence Director, Box 8773, Asheville 28814; tele­ at Alfred, New York State College of Ceramics at phone (704) 254-1912. Alfred University, Harder Hall, Fifth Floor. Pennsylvania, PhiladelphiaMarch 4-7, 1992 New York, New Yorkthrough December 15 Sydney “NCECA 1992—Old Worlds/New Worlds,” an­ Hamburger, mixed-media sculpture/paintings; nual conference of the National Council on at 14 Sculptors Gallery, 164 Mercer Street. Education for the Ceramic Arts. Contact Regina through December 21 British ceramist Peter Hayes, Brown, Box 1677, Bandon, Oregon 97411. Or porcelain; at Graham Gallery, 1014 Madison Ave. contact Minerva Navarrete, NCECA Conference January 7-February 1,1992 Ruth Duckworth .John Planner, 33-25 147th St., Flushing, New York McQueen; at Garth Clark Gallery, 24 West 57th 11354; or telephone (718) 939-0963. Street. North Carolina, Winston-Salemthrough December International Conferences 12 David Keator. January 9-February 19, 1992 Geri Camarda; at Piedmont Craftsmen, 1204 Finland, Helsinki June 16-18, 1992 “Interaction Reynolda Road. in Ceramics—Art, Design and Research ” includes Ohio, FindlayJanuary 13-February 7, 1992 Mark exhibitions in area galleries and museums, plus Chatterley, ceramic sculpture; at the University invited speakers from the United States, Norway, of Findlay, 1000 North Main Street. Finland, England and Japan. (For specific speak­ Oregon, Corvallisthrough December 27 Ceramic ers, see September or October issue.) Location: sculpture by Christine Pendergrass; at Oregon University of Industrial Arts Helsinki. Fee: State University. FIM1200 (approximately US$300); participants Pennsylvania, Bethlehemthrough December 27 presenting papers, FIM800 (approximately Terry Niedzialek, “Hair Sculpture and Its Roots”; US$200); students, FIM600 (approximately at Lehigh University, Wilson and Hall Galleries, US$150). Following the conference, there will be Alumni Memorial Building. a 1-week workshop directed by Frank Boyden Pennsylvania, PhiladelphiaJanuary 3-26, 1992 (United States) and Torbjorn Kvasbo (Norway) Alec Karros. Kevin Kautenberger; at the Clay in Posio, Lapland. Contact the University of Studio, 139 North Second Street. Industrial Arts Helsinki (ULAH), Centre for Ad­ January 23-April5,1992RobertAmeson, “Guard­ vanced Studies, Hameentie 135 C, SF-00560 ians of the Secret II.” Betty Woodman; at the Helsinki. Or telephone Tuulikki Simila-Lehtinen, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Penn­ secretary general (358) 0 7563-344; or Marianne sylvania, 36th and Sansom Streets. Finnila, press/marketing (358) 0 7563-539; or Pennsylvania, PittsburghthroughFebruary 16,1992 Taina Sarvikas, conference secretary (358) 0 Edward Eberle; at the Carnegie Museum of Art, 7563-234. Or fax (358) 0 7563-537. Forum Gallery, 4400 Forbes Avenue. Texas, Houstonthrough January 16, 1992 Patti Solo Exhibitions Warashina; at North Harris County College, 2700 W. W. Thorne Dr. Arizona, SedonaJanuary 7-February 17,1992 Don Wisconsin, Superior December 8-20 George Reitz; at Sedona Arts Center, Highway 89A and Pobuda, raku and crystalline-glazed vessels; at Art Barn Road. Holden Fine Arts Center, Third Floor Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Superior. Send announcements of conferences, exhibitions, ju­ ried fairs, workshops and other events at least two Group Ceramics Exhibitions months before the month of opening (add one month for listings in July and two months for those in August) to Alabama, Huntsvillethrough January 19, 1992 Calendar, Ceramics Monthly, Box 12448, Columbus, “17th-Century Chinese Porcelain from the But­ Ohio 43212; or telephone (614) 488-8236. Fax an­ ler Family Collection”; at the Huntsville Museum nouncements to (614) 488-4561. of Art, 700 Monroe St., SW. Continued

64 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1991 65 Calendar

Arizona, Phoenixthrough December 7 “CLAY,”ju­ ried exhibition of works by CLAY members; at Shemer Art Center, 5005 East Camelback. California, Los AngelesDecember 7-January 1, 1992 “Rituals of Tea”; at Garth Clark Gallery, 170 South La Brea Avenue. D.C., Washingtonthrough December 31 Emerging clay artists; at the Farrell Collection, 2633 Con­ necticut Avenue, Northwest. through January 9, 1992 “Annual Ceramics Ex­ hibit,” with work by graduate and undergraduate students of George Washington University; at the Colonnade Gallery, Marvin Center, 21st and H Streets, Northwest, Third Floor. Georgia, Athens through December 31 Works by Rick Berman, Cynthia Bringle, Jerry Chappelle, Bruce Gholson, Sam Taylor and Aaron Weiss- baum; at the Art of It All, 234 College Avenue. Georgia, Atiantathrough December 24 “Third An­ nual Clay Invitational”; at Aliya Gallery, 1402 North Highland Avenue, Northeast. Illinois, Chicagothrough February 2, 1992 “The Radiance ofjade and the Crystal Clarity of Water: Korean Ceramics from the Ataka Collection”; at the Art Institute of Chicago, Michigan Avenue. Illinois, NorthfieldthroughDecember28 “Teapots— Beyond the Limit/’juried national; at Northfield Pottery Works, 1741 Orchard Lane. Iowa, Iowa Citythrough March 1, 1992 “American Woodfire ’91 /’juried/invitational exhibition with 56 works; at University of Iowa Museum of Art, Riverside Drive. Massachusetts, East CambridgeDecember 4-Janu- ary 10, 1992 “Mudflat Works: Celebrating 20 Years”; at Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second Street. Michigan, Detroit through December 1 “Pottery with Pretensions: The Marriage of Ceramics and Silver”; at the Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Avenue. through January 18, 1992 “Holiday Invitational,” works by over 100 artists; at Pewabic Pottery, 10125 East Jefferson Avenue. December 6-31 “Tradition Handed Down: Potters of Seagrove, N.C.,” exhibition dedicated to the memory of Dorothy and Walter Auman, Seagrove Pottery; at the Galeria Beagas, 35 E. Grand Blvd. Michigan, Jacksonthrough December 14 “Math­ ematics of the Heart: A Clay Invitational,” with works by Daniel Anderson, Katherine Blacklock, Christopher Davis-Benavides, Bill Farrell, Bur­ ton Isenstein, Doug Jeck, Ron Kovatch, Greg Pitts, Virginia Scotchie and Delia Seigenthaler; at Ella Sharp Museum, 3225 Fourth Street. Michigan, Royal Oakthrough December 21 Works by Bruce Cochrane, Matthew Metz, Walter Ostrom and Dale Periera; at Swidler Gallery, Washington Square Plaza, 308West Fourth Street. Minnesota, Saint PaulJanuary 10-February 15, 1992 “Minnesota Blues,” work by 35 Minnesota and Wisconsin ceramists; at the Northern Clay Center, 2375 University Avenue, West. New York, New Yorkthrough December 8 Dual exhibition of clayworks byjoy Brown and Carolyn Chester; at Wheeler Seidel Gallery, 129 Prince Street, Soho. December 3-January 4, 1992 “Rituals of Tea”; at Garth Clark Gallery, 24 West 57th Street. Ohio, Mansfield December 15-January 19, 1992 “Clay on Walls”; at the Mansfield Art Center, 700 Marion Avenue. Pennsylvania, PhiladelphiaJanuary 9-April 5, 1992 “Clay Heritage: African American Ceram­ ics,” including historical ware by slave potters, native pots from East Africa (late 19th and early 20th century), as well as contemporary works by Syd Carpenter, MarthaJackson-Jaivis, MarvaJolly, David McDonald, Sana Musasama, Winnie Owens-Hart, James Tanner and James Watkins; at the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum, Seventh and Arch Streets. Pennsylvania, Pittsburghthrough December 26

66 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Cups and Bowls, Clay for Collectors”; at the Clay Place, 5416 Walnut Street. Texas, Lubbockthrough September 1992 “Fire and Clay”; at the Museum at Texas Tech University. Utah, Salt Lake Citythrough December 30 “The 28th Ceramic National: Clay, Color, Content”; at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, University of Utah, 101 Art and Architecture Center. Virginia, Norfolkthrough January 3, 1992 “The Many Faces of Clay.” January 3-March 4, 1992 “Clay Habitats”; at Dominion Bank, 999 Water­ side Drive.

Ceramics in Multimedia Exhibitions Arizona, MesaDecember 10-January 18,1992“H id- den Personas! January 28-February 22,1992“14 th Annual Vahki Exhibition: Japanese Techniques in Crafts”; at Galeria Mesa, 155 North Center. Arizona, ScottsdaleDecember 1-31 “Small Trea­ sures: Collected with Passion”; at Joanne Rapp Gallery/The Hand and the Spirit, 4222 North Marshall Way. California, Los Angelesthrough December 29 “Mexico: Splendors of Thirty Centuries”; at the Los Angeles Coun ty Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Boulevard. California, Pasadenathrough January 5, 1992 “Handmade for the Table,” including ceramics by Johanna Hansen, Steve Horn, Jaye Lawrence and Kevin Myers; at the Folk Tree Collection, 199 South Fair Oaks Avenue. California, San FranciscoDecember5-28 “Teapot Invitational”; at Dorothy Weiss Gallery, 256 Sutter Street. January 4-February 22, 1992 “Many Mansions,” with clayworks by Lee Kavaljian and Lemora Martin; at the Craft and Folk Art Museum, Land­ mark Building A, Fort Mason. California, Walnut Creekthrough December 24 “Banaker Presents...A Gift of Art,” with clayworks by David Gilhooly, Roberta Laidman and Laura Peery; at Banaker Gallery, 1373 Locust Street. January 23-March 15, 1992 “Bay Area Women Artists,” including clay sculpture by Sherry Kar- ver; at the Regional Center for the Arts, Bedford Gallery, 1601 Civic Drive. Colorado, Snowmass Villagethrough January 7, 1992 “Ranch Artists’ Holiday Show,” works by 17 artists participating in the winter residency pro­ gram; at Anderson Ranch Arts Center, 5263 Owl Creek Road. Connecticut, New Haventhrough December 23 “The Celebration of American Crafts”; at Cre­ ative Arts Workshop, 80 Audubon Street. D.C., Washington through January 5, 1992 “Graphicstudio: Contemporary Art from the Collaborative Workshop at the University of South Florida,” with clayworks by Robert Rauschenberg. through January 12, 1992 “Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration”; at the National Gallery of Art, Fourth St. and Constitution Ave., NW. Florida, Saint Petersburgthrough December 24 “The Magical/The Mystical”; at Florida Crafts­ men, 235 Third Street, South. Illinois, Chicagothrough January 5, 1992 Four- person exhibition featuring ceramics by Kather­ ine Blacklock, Tom Coleman and Yih-Wen Kuo; at Schneider-Bluhm-Loeb Gallery, 230 West Su­ perior Street. Iowa, Amesthrough January 12, 1992 “Salute to Seniors: An Art Exhibition for Artists Over 60”; at Octagon Center for the Arts, 427 Douglas Ave. Kentucky, LouisvilleJanuary 19-25, 1992 “Din- nerWorks”; at the Louisville Visual Art Associa­ tion, Water Tower, 3005 Upper River Road. Louisiana, New Orleansthrough January 26,1992 “Next Generation: Southern Black Aesthetic”; at the Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp Street. Massachusetts, Bostonthrough December 31 “Sig­ nature Ornament,” holiday ornament exhibi­ tion; at Signature, Dock Square, 24 North Street. Massachusetts, Chestnut Hillthrough December 31 “Signature Ornament,” holiday ornament exhi­ bition; at Signature, the Mall at Chestnut Hill, Boylston Street. Massachusetts, Ipswichthrough December 31 “Holi-

December 1991 67 Calendar

day Traditions”; at Ocmulgee Pottery and Gal­ lery, 263 High Street. Massachusetts, LincolnDecember 7-February 2, 1992 “Art that Works: Decorative Arts of the Eighties, Made in Ajnerica”; at DeCordova and Dana Museum, Sandy Pond Road. January 2-24, 1992 “The Sculptural Object,” in­ cludes functional and nonfunctional ceramics; at Clark Gallery, Lincoln Station. Massachusetts, MashpeethroughDecember31 “Sig­ nature Ornament,” holiday ornament exhibi­ tion; at Signature, Mashpee Commons, 10 Steeple Street. Massachusetts, Northamptonthrough January 5, 1992 “The Doll House II”; at Ferrin Gallery, 179 Main Street. Massachusetts, WorcesterJanuary 25-February 29, 1992 “New Traditions/1992,” with clayworks by Paul Kotula; at the Worcester Center for Crafts, Main Gallery, 25 Sagamore Road. Michigan, Farmington HillsJanuary 4-25, 1992 Three-person exhibition of sculpture and draw­ ings, including works by Scott Chamberlin and Bruno La Verdiere; at Habatat/Shaw Gallery, 32255 Northwestern Highway, #25. Missouri, Kansas CityDecember 15-February 23, 1992 “Design 1935-1965: What Modern Was”; at Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4525 Oak Street. Missouri, Warrensburg January 20-February 14, 1992 “Greater Midwest International VII”; at Central Missouri State University Art Center Gallery, 217 Clark. Newjersey, MontclairthroughJune 7, 1992 “High­ lights from the Native American Collection”; at Montclair Museum, 3 S. Mountain Ave. Newjersey, Newark throughDecember“Continuity and Innovation in Contemporary Native Ameri­ can Art.” through March 1, 1992 “Teapots and Coffeepots”; at the Newark Museum, 49 Wash­ ington Street. Newjersey, Red Bankthrough December 29 ‘Win­ ter Showcase,” with ceramics by Barbara Farrar/ Melissa Greene; at Art Forms, 16 Monmouth St. New York, BrooklynthroughDecember 29il Objects of Myth and Memory: American Indian Art at the Brooklyn Museum.” through January 21, 1992 “A Dialogue with Tradition,” includes ceramics by the Nahohai family of Zuni, New Mexico; at the Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway. New York, Hastings-on-HudsonthroughDecember 7 “Grass Roots Alumni: Part I,” including ceram­ ics by Harriet Ross. December 15-January 12, 1992 “Grass Roots Alumni: Part II,” including ceramics by Barbara Rittenberg; at the Gallery at Hastings- on-Hudson, Municipal Building. New York, Long Island Citythrough February 28, 1992 “New Art Forms for the Public Square,” including clayworks by Stanley Mace Andersen, Doug Knotts, Sarah MacFarlane, Geff Reed and Kathy Triplett; at the Steelcase Inc. Showroom, IDCNY Center 1, Suite 343, 30-30 Thomson Ave. New York, New Yorkthrough December 21 Dual exhibition with ceramic vessels by Hans Coper; at Rubin Spangle Gallery, 395 West Broadway. Ohio, Akronthrough January 5, 1992 “Focus on the Collection: A 70th Anniversary Celebration”; at the Akron Art Museum, 70 East Market Street. Ohio, Clevelandthrough January 5, 1992 “Reflec­ tions of Japanese Style” and “Asian Autumn: Masterpieces from the Collection”; at the Cleve­ land Museum of Art, 11150 East Boulevard. Oregon, Portlandthrough December 24 “Holiday Show”; at Oregon School of Arts and Crafts, 8245 Southwest Barnes Road. Pennsylvania, EdinboroJanuary 22-February 15, 1992“Crafts National Invitational,” with clayworks by Ed Eberle, Bruce Gholson, Andrea Gill, Bonnie Gordon, Paul Kotula, Kris Nelson, Richard Notkin, Chris Staley, Gerald Wagner, Marie Woo and Denise Woodward; at Bruce Gallery, Edinboro University. T ennessee, Gatlinburg throughDecember 14 “From

68 C eramics Monthly All Directions.” December 19-February 22, 1992 “Selections from the Permanent Collection”; at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. Texas, San AntonioDecember 8-21 “Endeavors III”; at Southwest Craft Center, 300 Augusta. Vermont, Middleburythrough December 31 “Cele­ bration of American Crafts IV”; at Vermont State Craft Center, Frog Hollow. Virginia, RichmondJanuary 10-February 28,1992 “Place Setting Invitational”; at the Hand Work­ shop, 1812 West Main Street. Washington, Richlandthrough December 22 “Holi­ day Magic”; at Allied Arts Association, 89 Lee Boulevard. Wisconsin, Milwaukee through January 10, 1992 “A. Houberbocken Holiday. ’January 17-March 13, 1992 “Fourth Annual Teapot Show”; at A. Houberbocken, 230 West Wells Street, Suite 202.

Fairs, Festivals and Sales Arizona, TempeDecember 6-8 “23rd Annual Old Town Tempe Fall Festival of the Arts”; in Old Town Tempe, along Mill Avenue. California, Del MarDecember 8 “28th Annual Christmas Exhibition and Sale,” works by the Carmel Valley Artists; at 2244 Carmel Valley Rd. California, PomonaDecember 6-8 “1991 Harvest Festival”; at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds. Colorado, Goldenthrough December 23 “17th An­ nual Holiday Art Market”; at the Foothills Art Center, 809 15th Street. Connecticut, Brookfieldthrough December 24 “12th Annual Holiday Craft Sale”; at Brookfield Craft Center, Route 25. Connecticut, Guilfordthrough December 24 “13th Annual Holiday Festival of Crafts”; at Guilford Handcrafts, 411 Church Street. Connecticut, Middletown through December 15 “The Wesleyan Potters 36th Annual Exhibit and Sale”; at the Wesleyan Potters Craft Center, 350 South Main Street. Florida, Boca RatonJanuary 25-26, 1992 “Fiesta of Arts and Crafts”; at the Boca Raton Commu­ nity Center, 201 West Palmetto Park Road. Maryland, GaithersburgDecember 13-15 ‘Winter Crafts Festival”; at the Montgomery County Fair­ grounds. Massachusetts, SomervilleDecember 6-18 “Mudflat Annual Holiday Sale and Open Studios”; at Mudflat Studio, 149 Broadway. Newjersey, DemarestDecember 7-8 “ 17th Annual Invitational Pottery Show and Sale”; at Old Church Cultural Center School of Art, 561 Piermont Road. New York, AlbanyDecember 6-8 “Capital Art and Crafts Marketplace”; at Knickerbocker Arena. New York, Eastchester December 6-7 and 9-14 “Hudson River Potters 14th Annual Show and Sale”; at Eastchester Library Gallery, 11 Oak Ridge Place. New York, New YorkDecember 5-7 “Eighth An­ nual Holiday Craft Sale”; at Greenwich House, 27 Barrow Street. December 6-8, 13-15 and 20-22 “20th Annual WBAI Holiday Crafts Fair”; at Columbia Univer­ sity, Ferris Booth Hall, Broadway at 115 Street. Ohio, Columbus December 5-8 “Winterfair”; at the Ohio State Fairgrounds. Pennsylvania, Bethlehemthrough December 22 “Gallery of Gifts,” fund-raising sale of contempo­ rary crafts; at Luckenbach Mill Gallery, 459 Old York Road. Pennsylvania, JenkintonDecm£er6-7“l991 Trunk Show of Contemporary Crafts”; at Abington Art Center, 515 Meetinghouse Road. Pennsylvania, WallingfordDecember 6-8 “Potters Guild 27th Annual Holiday Sale”; at Community Arts Center, 414 Plush Mill Road. Texas, Beaumontthrough December 23 “Christmas Art Sale”; at the Art Studio, 700 Orleans at Forsythe. Virginia, Richmondthrough December 23 “Annual Holiday Invitational Gallery Sale”; at the Hand Workshop, Virginia Center for the Craft Arts, 1812 West Main Street. Wisconsin, Milwaukeethrough January 10, 1992

December 1991 69 Calendar ruary 9) with Bruce Baker. Fee: $75 for both; $45 Nigel Lambert, Jane Perryman, Philomena for one. Contact the Pennsylvania Guild of Crafts­ Pretsell and Ruthanne Tudball; at Oxford Gal­ men, Box 820, Richboro, Pennsylvania 18954; or lery, 23 High Street. telephone (215) 860-0731. France, Nancaythrough December 15 Exhibition of “A. Houberbocken Holiday”; at A. Houber- Pennsylvania, PhiladelphiaJanuary 24, 1992 A works by Antoine de Vinck; at Galerie Capazza, bocken, 230 West Wells, Suite 202. lecture by Robert Arneson. Location: Philadel­ Grenier de Villatre. phia Museum of Art. Fee: $5, students $2. Con­ France, Sevresthrough December 30 Retrospective Workshops tact the Clay Studio, 139 N. Second St., Philadel­ exhibition of works byJean-Paul van Lith; at the phia 19106; or telephone (215) 925-3453. Musee national de Ceramique de Sevres, place Arizona, PhoenixFebruary 1-2, 1992 A session de la Manufacture. with Tom Coleman. Fee: $30; members, Arizona International Events France, Uzes throughJanuary 12,1992“ Caf Theieres,” CLAY, $20. Contact Sue Abbrescia, Arizona CLAY with ceramics by Tristan Chaillot, Pierre Dutertre, Workshop Chairman ,5110N.73rdSt., Sco ttsdale, Australia, Redcliffe throughJanuary31,1992 “12th Jean Fontaine, Jean-Nicolas Gerard, Kristie Arizona 85253; or telephone (602) 949-9165. Annual Exhibition of the Peninsula Potters”; at Hammartstrom, Anne Krog Ovrebo, David Miller, Arizona, SedonaJanuary 7, 1992 A session with the Down Under Gallery, Redcliffe Entertain­ Josette Miquel, Joel Nugier and Micotte Pemot; at Don Reitz. Fee: $36, includes box lunch. Contact ment Centre, Downs Street. Galerie Terra Viva, Saint Quentin la Poterie. the Sedona Arts Center, Box 569, Sedona 86336; Belgium, Brussels through December 7 Solo exhibi­ Netherlands, Amsterdamthrough December 11 Wall or telephone (602) 282-3809. tion of works by French ceramist Eric Astoul; at sculpture and multiples by Piet Stockmans. De­ Connecticut, BrookfieldFebruary 22-23, 1992 Gallery Atelier 18, Rue du President, 18. cember 14-January 15, 1992 Two-person exhibi­ “Making Ceramic Jewelry/Color Clays” with Ina Canada, Ontario, Torontothrough December 30 tion with monumental ceramics by Netty van den Chapler. Fee: $190; $175, members. Contact the “Sixth Annual International Exhibition of Minia­ Heuvel; at Galerie De Witte Voet, Kerkstraat 149. Brookfield Craft Center, Box 122, Brookfield ture Art”; at del Bello Gallery, 363 Queen St., W. Netherlands, Deventer through January 5, 1992 06804; or telephone (203) 775-4526. through January 5, 1992 “The Art of the Yixing Three-person exhibition featuring raku by Gisele Missouri, Kansas CityJanuary 25-26, 1992 A Potter: The K S. Lo Collection, Flagstaff House Buthod Garcon; at Kunst and Keramiek, Korte session with Bruce Cochrane. Fee: $65; Kansas Museum of Tea Ware”; at the Royal Ontario Assenstraat 15. City Clay Guild members and Avila College stu­ Museum, 100 Queen’s Park. Netherlands, ’s-Hertogenbosch January 18-26, dents, $55. Send SASE to Marie Deborah Wald, England, Baththrough December 6Solo exhibition 1992 Exhibition of clayworks by the European 425 West 62 Terrace, Kansas City 64113; or tele­ of works by John Calver; at Saint James Gallery, 9 Ceramics Work Center’s artists, in conjunction phone (816) 361-2798. Margarets Building, Brock Street. with its opening; at the European Ceramics Work North Carolina, RaleighFebruary 24-28, 1992 England, Londonthrough December 23 “New Work Center, Zuid-Willemsvaart 215. “Clay Portrait Sculpture” with Daisy Grubbs. Fee: for Christmas”; at the Crafts Council Shop at the Switzerland, Vallorbethrough December 14 Exhibi­ $175. Space limited. Contact Randy Hinson, Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington. tion of ceramics by ToshiyukiTakeushi; at Galerie Sertoma Arts Center, 1400 West Millbrook Road, through December 24 “The Christmas Collections”; Artcadache, Rue des Grandes-Forges 5. Raleigh 27612; or telephone (919) 782-7583. at Con temporary Applied Arts, 43 Earlham Street, Wales, Caernarfonthrough January 4, 1992 Solo Ohio, CantonJanuary 18-19, 1992 Using molds Covent Garden. exhibition of ceramics by Debbie Smith; at and extrusions to construct sculptural pieces, December 4-January 10, 1992 “Christmas Exhibi­ Caernarfon Library. withjoan Bontempo/William Kremer. Fee: $75. tion”; at Galerie Besson, 15 Royal Arcade, 28 Old Wales, Llangefni through January 4, 1992 Solo Contact Canton Art Institute, 1001 Market Ave., Bond Street. exhibition of ceramics by Joanna Mallin-Davies; N, Canton 44702; or telephone (216) 453-7666. England, OxfordJanuary 13-February 12, 1992 at the Llangefni Library. Pennsylvania, AllentownFebruary 8-9,1992“Slides ‘Jugs, Mugs, Rugs and Bugs,” with clayworks by Wales, YstradgynlaisthroughJanuary 4,1992 Solo and thejury Process” (February 8) and/or “Booth Nancy Angus, James Campbell, Michael Casson, exhibition of ceramics by Leah Hinks; at the Construction and Marketing Techniques” (Feb­ Georgina Garland, Jane Hamlyn, Paul Jackson, Ystradgynlais Library.

70 Ceramics Monthly December 1991 71 Suggestions With a band saw, cut one end at a 90° angle so the pipe stands vertically (unless you want From Readers a slanted cylinder), then cut in half length­ wise and rejoin with electrical tape. Cast plaster as usual; it’s then a simple matter to peel off the electrical tape and remove both halves of the pipe.—Zoe Primrose, Kansas Tiered Drying Storage City, Mo. To dry and store clean tools and sponges, hang a three-tiered wire basket over the Slip Stamping sink. Put absorbent foam (the kind used in Shaped or carved wooden blocks cov­ flower arrangements) in the top tier to hold ered with cotton fabric or canvas make great brush handles. Tools go in the middle bas­ slip stamps. Attach the fabric with Super ket and sponges in the bottom.— Tom Glue or staple to the sides. Dewbray, Roselle, III. After dipping the stamp, let the slip dry a bit (until almost tacky) to avoid drips or Hump Mold Release pattern distortion when it is pressed onto A large-diameter plastic ball glued with greenware.— Ilisa Slavin, Atlanta construction adhesive to a bat works well as a hump mold for bowls, but release can be Glaze Application Variation difficult. The solution is to moisten the For interesting patterns, try soaking surface of the ball with water or slip, then cheesecloth or any other netlike material in cover with kitchen plastic wrap. glaze, applying it (flat or bunched) to bisque- Slab or coil build the bowl as usual; you ware, then firing. The technique also works can even center the bat on a potter’s wheel well to develop light texturing with slips.— and throw a foot. After the clay has set Ralph Collins, Atlanta (speed dry the thrown foot with a hair dryer), invert the bowl and mold onto another bat. Reducing Back Strain When throwing pots at an electric wheel, try placing a 2x4 under the back legs of your stool or chair to tilt the seat forward and thus help reduce/eliminate back strain. A brick under your left foot may also help establish good working posture. — Mike Gabriel, Chino, Calif.

Scissor-Cut Ribs The slats from discarded Venetian blinds can be cut with ordinary scissors to make Even if you have substantial release prob­ free flexible ribs and interesting texturing lems, it is easy to pull the kitchen wrap tools.—David Root, Lawrence, Kans. slighdy, then direct air from a vacuum cleaner (with reverse flow capability) along the in­ Speedy Shelf Wash ner edge of the clay. The mold should then Instead of a brush, use a large, furry paint release easily.—Mike Durante, Dallas roller (the kind designed for painting rough concrete block walls) to apply kiln wash to Snow Saucer Glaze Container shelves; it’s the fastest method. —Steve Grim­ A saucer-shaped snow sled makes a great mer, Kansas City, Mo. catcher/container when glazing the surface of large platters. Either place slats across the Multipurpose Spatula saucer to support the platter as you pour A kitchen spatula with a wooden handle glaze over it, or place the platter in a glaze- will make a variety of throwing tools. The filled saucer and swirl as if you’re panning hardwood handle, if sharpened to a point, is for gold.—Randy Gressley, Gaithersburg, Md. an excellent separating stick for removing clay from the base of a freshly thrown pot Corrugated Drying Surfaces before it is cut from the wheel head or bat. Corrugated fiber-glass panels make ex­ The rubber part is equally useful as a rib, or cellent drying surfaces for pots. The rounded it can be cut and sanded to form a decorat­ ridges do not mar feet, yet allow for good ing rib.—Doug Hanson, Mount Vernon, Iowa circulation of air beneath the forms. The panels I use (sold as light diffusers) Dollars for Your Ideas can be purchased at building supply stores. — Ceramics Monthly pays $10 for each suggestion John Kudlacek, Emporia, Kans. published; submissions are welcome individually or in quantity. Include an illustration or photo to Casting Plaster Cylinders accompany your suggestion and we will pay $10 Perfectly round plaster cylinders (to carve more if we use it. Mail ideas to Suggestions, or flute as models for slip-cast cups or vases) Ceramics Monthly, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio can be cast in heavyweight PVC pipe. (Avoid 43212; or fax to (614) 488-4561. Sorry, but we lightweight pipe because it will deform.) can’t acknowledge or return unused items.

72 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1991 73 required to prevent sticking; appropriate and foot, creating greater pressure there; Questions clay water content is also important. The what’s more, small movements in the foot cutters (like cookie cutters) are spot welded will produce big movements in the rim. Answered by the CM Technical Staff on two sheet metal sleeves, which can be (Those are two good reasons why you don’t rolled at a machine shop so that each per­ see much bowl-shaped architecture.) fectly surrounds half the horizontally di­ So, one of the easiest solutions to your vided roller. Talk to a local printer about problem is to fire bowls to their highest Q I am handbuilding tiles of various sizes with where to get the metal stock used in making temperature in the inverted position with my slab roller, but have a problem in making theprinters’ cutting dies. The two sleeves can rims bedded on sand so that they can shrink tiles perfectly square. Is there a method, shortthen of be attached with flush-mounted sheet as needed, but remain horizontal under the purchasing tilerr^aking equipment, that allows metal screws on the slab roller cylinder— weight of the bowl’s mass. If rims need to be this to be done with a slab roller ?—C. W. like a printing plate on a press. A local glazed, fire the work again in the standard If your production is small, it is easy to machine shop should be able to provide the (upright) position, but at two or more cones simply cut around handmade wooden or finished slab roller sleeves, given a basic lower than the bisque. Masonite templates, which themselves are drawing and the exact diameter and width Should inverted firing not provide made perfecdy square. You can cut these of your roller. As with the single-tile cutters, enough support, bisque firing can be car­ yourself with a saber saw or hand saw, allow­ remember to make these multiple cutters ried out inside a sand-filled saggar. This ing exactly for the shrinkage of your own slightly larger than the finished tile to allow totally supports the piece, but takes much particular clay body. Place the templates on for combined drying and firing shrinkage. longer to heat and cool the load (which top of the slab to be cut, then use a wet must be reduced in scale because of the fettling knife for a smoothly cut edge. Q How does one prevent mid-range porcelainlikemuch heavier mass). Also, there are inexpensive, standard- clay from warping and distorting? I have a Of course, adding refractory material size, single-tile cutters available. They con­ particular problem with this happening to large (typically silica, kaolin or ball clay) to the sist of cookie-cutter-style steel edging with bowls.—M.M. body, and firing to a lower cone will help full-size push-out plates. These work well— A little known fact among potters is that prevent any warping due to overfiring. Slow, provided the slab is first dusted with dry clay many bowl forms are far more stable when even drying will also help prevent warping as a separator. fired in the inverted position. That is be­ caused by uneven evaporative shrinkage. If your production is large, it is also cause a domelike shape distributes weight possible to dedicate a slab roller to tile- evenly down the wall to the wider-circumfer- Subscribers’ questions are welcome and those of making: outfit a slab roller’s cylinder with ence base—a fact architectural dom^ build­ general interest will be answered in this column. strap-steel cutters so that the slab roller ers have used to advantage for centuries. A Due to volume, letters may not be answered person­ continuously cuts tile. A separator (typically right-side-up bowl, however, distributes all ally. Address the Technical Staff, Ceramics clay powder or some oily substance) is again its weight downward to the smaller bottom Monthly, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212.

74 C eramics Monthly December 1991 75 with the pots of other people...about the New Books house. Then the pots by the other people can tell me about my own—and maybe mine can take me by surprise.” When acquiring other people’s work, he looks for “a pot that speaks to me, that reveals new things about itself every time I Warren MacKenzie use it, or that reminds me of what I saw in it An American Potter when I bought it. And I like pots that tell me by David Lewis things about the potters who made them— inner things, things about their sensibility in Written by a friend of some 40 years, this contrast with my own. It’s nice to have the biography of one of the most influential personalities of other potters around. It potters of the 20th century is well seasoned stops one from getting egocentric.” with anecdotes, personal observations and Now that he has retired from teaching, quoted philosophy. Born in 1924, Warren MacKenzie spends most of his time in the MacKenzie studied art at the School of the studio—the book concludes with a photo Art Institute of Chi­ series showing him throwing and decorat­ cago before he and ing various shapes. Among his decorating his late wife Alix ap­ tools are cheese slicers, graters, rasps, butter prenticed with Ber­ paddles, heavy treaded toy truck wheels and nard Leach at Saint a bed caster with triangular indentations Ives. On returning to filed into its surface. Scale drawings also theU.S.in 1952, War­ help describe the studio’s layout (throwing, ren began teaching glazing and kiln rooms) and equipment at the School of Art (dough mixer, pug mill, wheels and kilns). in Saint Paul by day 191 pages, including afterword by Tatsuzo and at the University Shimaoka, excerpts of letters from Bernard of Minnesota in Minneapolis in the eve­ Leach, excerpts from a taped interview, glaze nings. By the fall of 1953, he had been recipes and chronology. 45 color and 85 appointed a daytime lecturer at the univer­ black-and-white illustrations. $65. Kodansha sity, enabling him to parallel his academic America, Inc., 114Fifth Avenue, New York, New career with working as a studio potter. York 10011. Also available from the Ceramics As his reputation grew internationally, Monthly Book Department, Box 12448, Colum­ MacKenzie was called upon to do work­ bus, Ohio 43212. shops around the country and abroad. He also was active on the regional and national The Potter’s Dictionary arts scene, serving as president of the Na­ tional Council on Education for the Ce­ of Materials and Techniques ramic Arts, as a panelist and adviser to the by Frank and Janet Hamer National Endowment for the Arts, as well as Intended for studio potters, teachers and a selection panelist for the Minnesota State students, this updated third edition includes Arts Board. new information on materials, processes, Throughout these years of parallel activi­ equipment, safety and health hazards, avoid­ ties, the studio remained the center of his ance of pollution and existence, the place where he could focus energy conservation, on his primary goal—producing pots for plus about 100 new ordinary people to enjoy using every day. photographs. “Mostly,” Lewis writes, “MacKenzie’s pots Entries are listed speak of Chinese porcelains of the Sung in alphabetical order, period, and of peasant stonewares of the and cross referenced Korean Yi dynasty. They speak of the Korean with key words in impact on Japanese crafts four centuries bold type to give ago and of the richjapanese heritage, which “quick access to as resulted from this flowing together....They much or as little in­ also talk of bringing East and West together, formation as is re­ not in any didactic sense but as components quired on any particular topic.” For example, of an unselfconscious working language.” under flocculation, the reader is advised to MacKenzie rarely uses his own pots. “It’s also see viscosity, fluidity, forces of attrac­ too much like talking to oneself,” he is tion, double layer theory and zeta potential. quoted as saying. “One of the things which Among the new entries are descriptions distinguishes handmade pots from mass- of inlay, lamination and neriage, while produced pots is the communication be­ rewritings of the entries for raku and salt tween the potter and the user. So I use other reflect recent experimentation and con­ people’s pots. The only time I use my own is cern for safety. 384 pages, including tables, when I have a new shape or a new glaze. bibliography, list of suppliers, and recipes. Then I might decide to have it in the kitchen 555 black-and-white photographs and line or on the table for a while, just to see how it drawings. $49.95. University of Pennsylvania performs. Or sometimes I like to have one Press, Blockley Hall, 13th Floor, 418 Service or two of my own pots mixed randomly in Drive, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104.

76 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1991 77 Airbrushing on Clay by Hanna Lore Hombordy

A versatile tool, the airbrush curved surface, I simply is typically used in graphic weigh down the stencils with arts, technical illustration and small metal parts like flat wash­ photo retouching, but it can also ers, nuts and screw eyes. Placing a be used in daywork for surfaces with stencil on a curved surface is more the spontaneity of raku or the verve troublesome. One can lay a vessel on of expressionistic painting. On the “Eucalyptus by Starlight ” 17inches in its side over a foam cushion that is diameter, earthenware, by the author. other hand, a planned and controlled protected with thin plastic. A flexible approach can produce a precise and stencil can then be draped over the repeatable image. elude the ability to stay on the clay piece and the vessel rotated as needed. An airbrush can produce flat, solid surface and to resist the force of air If the stencil covers a large area, it areas of color or areas evenly shaded flow, reusability and ease of cleaning. may be necessary to cut darts to make from light to dark. It can emphasize Frisket films (generally used when air­ tucks. The darts should be sealed with texture or imitate texture. A clever brushing on paper) are not success­ tape to prevent any color from blow­ use of a series of stencils can convey ful, except when used on already ing through. Another solution is to the illusion of depth. Edges and lines glazed surfaces. A stronger, somewhat glue the stencil to the vessel with rub­ can be hard and sharp or soft and absorbent stencil is preferable. ber cement; remember to remove any diffused. The brushstroke itself can With transparent stencils, one has cement that may have oozed into the function as line, as in spray-painted the advantage of being able to see area to be sprayed. Rubber cement is graffiti art. through to the design underneath, removed by rubbing with the finger Earlier work in graphic arts influ­ and placement is easily adjusted. or with a rubber-cement pickup enced my experimentation with air­ However, clear stencils tend to be lost (available at art supply stores). An­ brushing on clay. At first I used the more often, as they are harder to see. other option is double-sided tape, airbrush merely to make “improve­ I avoid this by giving them a quick which clings to most stencils and is ments,” such as adding pink highlights spatter of any color spray paint. You easily removed. to a matt lavender glaze before raku- could also use two thin sheets of trans­ In many cases, the use of a mask­ ing. Ultimately, I used transparent parent acetate joined with spray ad­ ing liquid best suits the round vessel. underglaze with a thin glaze and en­ hesive. The adhesive adds a visible There are water-soluble liquid mask­ tirely eliminated the fuss and danger cloudy film. ing products on the market that are of raku reduction chambers. Some stencils are more durable especially formulated for use on clay My current work involves the use than others. Those that tend to curl and are easily brushed on. Unlike wax of stencils. These can be actual mate­ up can be pressed between boards. I resist, this liquid mask must be re­ rials (leaves, for example) or images have been known to press my stencils moved before firing. designed by the artist and cut out. with a steam iron. Found materials, such as leaves, Desirable characteristics of stencils in- When airbrushing a flat or slightly make excellent stencils. Leaves can

78 CERAMICS MONTHLY Pouring underglaze through a fine screen or tea strainer Stencils (in this case actual leaves weighted down with nuts removes any large particles that might interrupt its even and other metal scrap) can be added between sprayings to flow through the airbrush. produce a multiple layer effect.

be used “as is,” or pressed and coated zor blades. Jagged edges on acetate the image or the result may be unsuc­ with varnish on both sides, which are smoothed out with emery paper. cessful. Preliminary sketches on pa­ makes them fairly flat, reversible and There is no ideal stencil material. per help avoid this, although luck reusable in different arrangements. Variables such as size and shape of sometimes intervenes. Experience will Other suitable found materials are work, dexterity and individual style all help avoid a result that is either too netting, laces, paper doilies, cheese­ enter into the choice. Trial and error rigid or too frenzied. cloth, screening, coins, small pieces often lead to the best solution. You can airbrush on raw, bisqued of hardware, pebbles and so on. When a stencil is placed firmly or glazed surfaces. Most of my work is Gummed labels and masking tapes in against clay, it produces a slick, hard- done with underglazes on greenware. various combinations are good for edged image. A stencil that curves up The pieces are then fired unglazed or geometric designs. Commercial tem­ at the edges or is loosely placed allows sprayed with glaze and single fired to plates used in drafting and engineer­ some of the color to penetrate under­ Cone 04 or Cone 5. ing can also give interesting results. neath, which results in a softer, hazy- Underglazes, slips and engobes are Materials for making original sten­ edged look. all suitable for airbrushing, as long as cils include clear vinyl, flannel-backed The drama of black and white is they are extremely smooth and finely vinyl table covering (purchased in a easily achieved with just one stencil. ground. Liquids used in the airbrush fabric shop) and acetate sheets in vary­ Just decide whether the stencil will should have the consistency of milk. ing thicknesses (available at art sup­ represent the background or the sil­ Coarse liquids, including typical glazes, ply stores). Naugahyde-type remnants houetted design, or parts of each. An should not be used since they won’t from an upholstery shop work well intermediate tone can be added dur­ flow evenly and, worse, they damage for heavier weight stencils. Contact ing the last stages of airbrushing by the airbrush’s fragile needle tip. Those shelf paper is useful because of the lifting part of the stencil and spraying wishing to mix their own sprayable adhesive backing; it can be applied to underneath. compositions can refer to Daniel a stiff fabric or plastic to give the sten­ For a more complex image involv­ Rhodes’ book, Clay and Glazes for the cil added strength. When one side of ing the nuances of light and color, Potter, which has an excellent chapter the material is slick and the other use a series of overlapping stencils. on that subject. more absorbent, the slick side should First place stencils representing areas I find measuring and mixing quite be placed down. that are to be the lightest tone and dreary; commercial products alleviate Stencils can also be made of clay. appear closest to the viewer. Middle this problem. They are consistent and Variously formed or cut-out shapes can tones come next. The last stencil readily available in many colors. Un­ be draped over the surface to be air- placed will be the first one removed. derglaze colors may be blended to­ brushed. However, this makes for a Areas subject to more spraying typi­ gether. Translucent colors can be thick stencil, plus the moist clay quickly cally will turn darker than areas ex­ sprayed over opaque colors. Opaque becomes wetter when sprayed. Smaller posed at a later stage. So spray a color, underglazes can be used over each accent pieces can be made of fired remove a stencil, spray another color, other, completely blocking out the clay. Here, absorption is no problem, and so on. Conversely, stencils can be color underneath. Light colors can but the thicker bisqued/glazed sten­ added instead of subtracted, giving a block out dark. cil can be cumbersome. multiple exposure effect in one color, Forget that labels advise the user For one-time application, almost in two, or with a change of color be­ to put a product only on greenware any paper makes a good stencil. When tween every move. and to fire only to a certain tempera­ blocking out larger areas, plastic wrap Waiting to remove the final stencil ture. Underglazes often can be used or newspaper is inexpensive and works is quite suspenseful. Adjustments can on damp ware, on bisqueware and equally well. still be made at this time to emphasize even over glazes. Many Cone 04 un- Use felt pens to draw on stencil detail, add a shadow or whatever, work­ derglazes work well at Cone 5. Daniel material; then cut with scissors, hobby ing back and forth until the result is Rhodes was right in stating that “en­ knives, swivel knives or single-edge ra­ just right. However, don’t overwork gobes usually have very wide toler­

December 1991 79 ances in composition, application and to remove any lumps that might inter­ Ceramists need a model that can firing range.” rupt its flow through the airbrush. A handle fairly heavy materials, yet be A common question is how thick syringe, eyedropper or brush can be suitable for smaller detail. Several to spray. The answer depends on how used to fill the cup of an airbrush, or manufacturers market models with in­ the airbrush is adjusted, the angle of underglaze can be poured into one terchangeable nozzles and needles, the spray, the distance from the piece of the covered jars that attaches to offering a wide particle range and ap­ and the amount of water in the liq­ most models. When spraying several plication capability. Different tips al­ uid. One should add just enough wa­ colors, it is a good idea to have ajar low diverse spray patterns, and needles ter to create an even flow. Too much with each color ready to be attached can be adjusted in and out to vary water dilutes the color and causes the to the airbrush as needed. sprayed effects. work to become unnecessarily damp. Setting work to be airbrushed on a Airbrushes have either single or Commercial products should be turntable makes the job more trac­ double action. Single action is easier thinned no more than 50%. For solid table. A turntable is essential, for in­ to use and less expensive, too; your coverage, three passes over an area stance, when adding a hazy border to finger controls air flow. The double- should do. Shading must be judged a round plate. One merely props the action airbrushes are more versatile by eye. Underglazes that are to be airbrush in a fixed position, then turns and faster to use. One’s finger con­ covered with clear glaze will turn much the piece while spraying, until a de­ trols both airflow and color feed. I brighter and can be applied thinner sired tone is achieved. prefer the double-action model with than those left unglazed. There are many types of airbrushes an assortment of needles. It is a good idea to pour underglaze on the market. Happily, the most ex­ The needle portion of the air­ through a fine screen or tea strainer pensive are too delicate for daywork. brush’s needle valve is the most deli­

When airbrushing underglazes, parts Overlapping stencils can be positioned, Loosely placed stencils allow some of of a stencil can be pulled back, then then removed one at a time as layers of the underglaze to penetrate underneath, sprayed, to develop intermediate tones. under glaze are applied. giving a softer edge.

Stencils can be made from a variety of materials, including Brushed liquid latex masking products often yield the best clay itself; however, thicker stencils can be cumbersome. results on curved surfaces.

80 CERAMICS MONTHLY cate part of an airbrush, and care must color cup. Finally, airbrushes should sprayed on a wet surface spreads the be taken not to damage the tip. If it is, be lubricated as directed by the manu­ puddles of underglaze into spidery it can be sharpened on a honing stone. facturer. shapes, although such accidents might Bent needles should be replaced. Airbrushing problems unrelated to conceivably be transformed into part Using a face mask is a wise precau­ cleaning are caused by pressure—the of the composition. tion, and a spray booth would be an airbrush must have a constant and If there are small defects in the additionally sensible investment. sufficient supply of compressed air. work, such as spots of color, they can Hold an airbrush like a pencil, the Electric compressors are frequently be successfully removed with a sharp cord wrapped around the wrist so as used. A small diaphragm type that de­ knife. Larger flaws can sometimes be not to get in the way. Those using an livers 30 psi (pounds per square inch) erased by gently rubbing with a paper airbrush for the first time might want pressure is adequate. If electricity is towel. Additionally, corrections can be to practice on paper. The common unavailable or quiet operation is de­ made by spraying opaque color over procedure is to make a series of evenly sired, a C02 tank with regulator is unwanted decoration, but usually the spaced lines, dots, circles and combi­ suitable. If only a small amount of air whole area will have to be blocked out nations thereof. Once you have some is needed, pressure tanks the size of a again. When airbrushing underglazes control, try a large area of even tone, can of spray paint are available; a spe­ on bisqueware, the whole image can spraying back and forth, then repeat­ cial valve is attached to control air be simply washed off. ing in another direction. Next, try volume. The air pressure lasts about Once the basics are mastered, you graded-tone areas, from dark to light an hour, depending on the type of can strike out in your own direction. and back again, etc., aiming for as airbrush and the area sprayed. There are still many untried ideas and even a transition as possible. Shaded Pressure becomes low if the hose techniques to investigate. Keep in cubes, spheres, cylinders and cones connection is loose, or if there is a mind the counsel of Shakespeare, who are good final practices. leak in an old hose. Or, debris inside a said: “Our doubts are traitors, and Cleaning the airbrush and its color hose can obstruct air flow. make us lose the good we oft might cups is of utmost importance. Annoy­ Two problems are caused solely by win, By fearing to attempt.” ing problems, such as spattering, the operator of the airbrush—both To supplement experimentation, grainy spray, uneven airflow and air relate to puddling. The first kind of literature provided by manufacturers backing up into the color cup, are puddling happens when too much liq­ of airbrushes and ceramics suppliers caused invariably by a dirty airbrush. uid sits on the stencil and the excess is a good source of information. Read­ It is best to clean the airbrush imme­ runs over the edge onto the clay. To ers wishing more facts and additional diately after use by running clean wa­ prevent this, keep the airbrush mov­ points of view on airbrushing can re­ ter through it. A “reamer” is often ing, and watch for buildup, especially fer to Dewey Decimal Classification provided to help clean colorant resi­ on nonabsorbent stencils. It’s better numbers 741.29 and 751.494 at their due from the nozzle’s interior. The to wait until some drying occurs be­ local public libraries. needle should be removed and wiped fore continuing spraying. clean with a cloth. Then the front end The other problem involves liquid The author Hanna Lore Hombordy pro­ of the airbrush can be immersed in buildup on the sprayed surface. This duces ceramic sculpture, vessels and tile- water, but only as far as the tip of the results in pigment movement; air work at her studio in Ventura, California.

Underglazes sprayed over tom newspaper (used as a stencil) “Picture Window ” 12 inches in diameter, white stoneware can easily produce hill or mountain imagery. plate, with airbrushed underglazes, fired to Cone 5.

December 1991 81 Manipulating Raku Glazes by Robert Keyser

Experimenting with glazes can lead The second glaze I experimented to interesting results in raku firing. with was Very Dry Burgundy Matt. As While studying at Arizona State Uni­ its name implies, it yields only matt versity in Tempe, I was able to work surfaces, but a wide range of color: with several Cone 08-06 recipes that Very Dry Burgundy Matt Raku Glaze were on file in the ceramics depart­ Colemanite...... 50% ment. Through colorant and applica­ tion manipulation of two glazes, I Talc ...... 30 Nepheline Syenite ...... 20 achieved some variations you too 100 might like to try. % Add: Copper Carbonate...... 3 % The original recipe for Lizard Skin Raku Glaze yields a mottled gloss that Both red and white clay bodies were fluctuates from green to copper in used with little difference in the end color, depending on the amount of result. The greatest variation (for both postfiring reduction: glazes) occurred in postfiring reduc­ tion, depending on what and how Lizard Skin Raku Glaze much combustible material was used. Borax...... 8.4% I reduced with sawdust almost exclu­ Colemanite...... 58.8 sively, and was able to control pattern- Lithium Carbonate...... 12.6 ing by giving some thought to Magnesium Carbonate ...... 3.4 placement of the ware in the reduc­ Nepheline Syenite...... 16.8 tion material. . % 100 0 My bowls and platters often incor­ Add: Copper Carbonate...... 3.0% porate holes and serrated edges. I In working with this recipe, I de­ found that by reducing these forms cided to increase the copper to 10%. upside down, but at a slight angle (by This allowed the glaze to be used as a elevating one side on a brick), the copper wash, giving dry matt and oil smoke created flow patterns of differ­ spot surfaces. Then, because copper ent colors from the point of escape at is highly soluble, I was able to use the the brick and through the various solution from the top of the glaze holes. Sculptural forms were usually bucket to regulate color and whether reduced at the bottom only. the end result would be matt or gloss. When the work was placed directly I mixed up a 5000-gram batch to in the reduction material, copper use all year as needed. However, the color was sure to be found; but where longer I let this glaze sit in solution, the smoke was able to circulate and the more intriguing the results be­ escape, bright, vivid blues, greens, yel­ came. When it was allowed to settle to lows, reds and violets were achieved. the bottom of the container, the top Wherever the clay remained unglazed, water was relatively clear. By gently carbon penetrations yielded black. tapping the bucket, some color en­ tered the water. This top color yielded The authorAfter completing his studies a variety of results, from the subtle to at Arizona State University, Robert Keyser the quite colorful. settled in Longmont, Colorado.

82 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1991 83 84 Ceramics Monthly December 1991 85 CERAMICS MONTHLY Annual Index January-December 1991

Ceramics Monthly has indexed the year's articles in each Island Pottery in the Baltic,Andersen and Petersen, Isaac Button, English Country Potter, Stanbridge, December issue since 1962. An index covering January 1953 Feb., p 53 Sept., p 51 through December 1961 was published in the January 1962 Jeff Irwin’s Wax-Resist Images, Dec., p 34 Making Decisions,Carone, Nov., p 27 issue. Additionally, a 20-year (1953-1972) subject index, Jeff Kell, Yakutchik, June/July/Aug., p 89 Making of a Potter, The,Hewitt, Apr., p 43 covering feature articles plus the Suggestions and Questions Polynesian Paradise,Owen, May, p 48 Randy Johnston,Krukowski, Oct., p 35 columns, is available for $1.50, postpaid, from the CM Book Stenciled Imagery,Siler, Mar., p 30 Shiro Otani,Barnard, June/July/Aug., p 49 Department, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Tactile Forms: Pebbled Surfaces from Sprayed Glazes, Keys, Sept., p 42 Potters and Pottery Accidental Potter, The,Gluskoter, Jan., p 50 Business Departments Ah-Leon: 14 Principles of a Good Teapot, June/ Alfred Hering, Fries; German Traditions in The following departmental features appear monthly July/Aug., p 43 Ceramics, Nov., p 42 except as noted: Alfred Hering, Fries; German Traditions in How to Buy Supplies,Zamek, May, p 82 Calendar Ceramics, Nov., p 42 Clay and Glazes Call for Entries Allure of Slipware, The, Starr, Feb., p 42 50:50 Wet Glaze Blends,Friedly, Nov., p 53 Classified Advertising Art Out of Need: Don Reitz, An Autobiography, Accidental Potter, The,Gluskoter, Jan., p 50 Letters Feb., p 47 Allure of Slipware, The, Starr, Feb., p 42 New Books: Every month except February Bill Brigham, Korsak, Apr., p 27 Bill Brigham, Korsak, Apr., p 27 Questions Answered by the CM Technical Staff Doug Casebeer,Dixon, Dec., p 29 Crystal Glazes in Reduction!Carroll, Mar., p 35 Suggestions from Readers Explorations in Gold: Working with Leaf, Developing Mid-Temperature Clays,Clark, June/ Summer Workshops, Apr., p 29 Williams, June/July/Aug., p 58 July/Aug., p 92 Up Front Island Pottery in the Baltic, Andersen and Petersen, Doug Casebeer,Dixon, Dec., p 29 Video: June/July/Aug., p 84 Feb., p 53 Janet Mansfield: Toward an Australian Aesthetic, Geology and Maps for Clay Prospecting, Aigner, Exhibitions, International Works Hamlyn; The Full Flavor of Salt,Mansfield, Apr., p 82 15th Fletcher Challenge Exhibition,Lange, Dec., Island Pottery in the Baltic, Andersen and Petersen, Mar., p 44 p 45 Jeff Irwin’s Wax-Resist Images, Dec., p 34 Feb., p 53 Ann Roberts, Mar., p 29 Jeff Kell, Yakutchik, June/July/Aug., p 89 Italian Architectural Influences,Alberetti, June/ Avant-Garde Spanish Ceramics, Nov., p 37 July/Aug., p 46 John Foster Retrospective,Crowell, June/July/ Biennale Orlandi, Mar., p 38 Lee Kavaljian,Smith, Apr., p 40 Aug., p 40 Burghley Collection, The, Dec., p 44 Magdalene Odundo, May, p 30 Low-Fire Highlights, Mar., p 42 Chosen Clay in Western Canada, Sept., p 48 Mike Dodd,Harrod; Glazing and Firing,Dodd, Magnesium Matt Glazes,McWhinnie, Dec., p 53 Japanese Masters’ Pots, June/July/Aug., p 32 Manipulating Raku Glazes,Keyser, Dec., p 82 Jan., p 54 Jutland Pottery: Denmark, Oct., p 32 Mike Dodd,Harrod; Glazing and Firing,Dodd, Polynesian Paradise,Owen, May, p 48 Magdalene Odundo, May, p 30 Raku Integrations,Kenney, June/July/Aug., p 37 Jan., p 54 Spirited Designs: German Industry Challenges Reef-Inspired Porcelain,Dann, Sept., p 40 Palette of Cone 6 Oxidation Glazes,Dietrich, A, Students, Feb., p 34 Apr., p 81 Sixty Years of Discovery,Black; Rudolf Staffel and Vladimir Tsivin of Leningrad,McCully, Jan., p 34 Raku Integrations,Kenney, June/July/Aug., p 37 William Daley on Harding Black, Dec., p 36 Yoh Akiyama’s Fractured World,Jones, Oct., p 48 Reef-Inspired Porcelain,Dann, Sept., p 40 Tactile Forms: Pebbled Surfaces from Sprayed Slip Casting, Rowan Exhibitions, United States Glazes, Keys, Sept., p 42 Part 1: Properties of Slip, Jan., p 84 6th Monarch Exhibition, Nov., p 48 Thai Folk Pottery,Katz, Sept., p 28 Part 2: Plaster Molds, Feb., p 82 American Arts 8c Crafts Ceramics, May, p 44 Sculptors and Sculpture Part 3: Cone 6 Casting Slips, Mar., p 82 American Craft Classics, Nov., p 47 Agustin De Andino’s Mural,Acero, June/July/ Part 4: Cone 08-03 Casting Slips, Apr., p 78 California Clay, Apr., p 49 Aug., p 57 Part 5: Iron-Bearing Casting Slips, May, p 80 Cleveland’s Final May Show, Jan., p 31 Alberto Mingotti,Fiocco and Gherardi, Jan., p 47 Part 6: Casting Glazes and Engobes! June/ Crosscurrents,Wells, Oct., p 46 Art of Paul Bogatay, The,Folk, June/July/Aug., July/Aug., p 98 Deborah Masuoka, June/July/Aug., p 26 p 28 Staten Island Zoo Murals,Jaffe, Dec., p 42 Feats of Clay III, May, p 36 Blending Intuition and Logic,Smith, Mar., p 49 Totems,Samuels, Sept., p 36 Functional Ceramics 1991, Oct., p 43 Bruce Taylor,Gustafson, May, p 37 University of Montevallo,Meyer, June/July/Aug., Great Western Bowl Extravaganza, The; Bowls: David Roesler’s Mishima,Vettraino, Sept., p 44 p 33 Benchmarks 8c Drawings, Harris, Building Electroplating Ceramics,DeSalvo xvith Collins, the Collection, Briggs, Jan., p 37 Collecting Feb., p 37 Jeff Irwin’s Wax-Resist Images, Dec., p 34 Fragmented Landscapes,Karver, Jan., p 48 Burghley Collection, The, Dec., p 44 John Foster Retrospective,Crowell, June/July/ Great Western Bowl Extravaganza, The; Bowls: Gasp, Mannino, Oct., p 25 Aug., p 40 Benchmarks 8c Drawings, Harris, Building Guardians: The Spirit of the Work,Ameson, Apr., Low-Fire Highlights, Mar., p 42 p 50 the Collection,Briggs, Jan., p 37 Oregon Potters Today: Turning Point or Step Idea Development,Huey, Oct., p 44 Hot London Summer, A: Auctions,Stanbridge, Backward?Kangas, Apr., p 36 Iron Horse Mural, Nov., p 35 Oct., p 28 Philadelphia Clay, Mar., p 40 Japanese Masters’ Pots, June/July/Aug., p 32 Italian Architectural Influences,Alberetti, June/ Sixty Years of Discovery,Black; Rudolf Staffel and July /Aug., p 46 William Daley on Harding Black, Dec., p 36 Commentary Jean Linard,Hillhouse, May, p 41 Studio Potter Network National, Oct., p 27 Bending to the Marketplace,Hluch, Oct., p 78 Lee Kavaljian,Smith, Apr., p 40 Traditional Notions, Recent Directions, Ian., Deeper Sense of Ecology, A,Berensohn, Sept., No Limits, Benson, Oct., p 74 p 90 p 60 Secure Wall Hangings,Hubert, Mar., p 80 New Challenges for Studio Profits,Fair, May, History Staten Island Zoo Murals,Jaffe, Dec., p 42 p 88 American Arts 8c Crafts Ceramics, May, p 44 Stenciled Imagery,Siler, Mar., p 30 Opinion versus Promotion,Kangas, June /July/ Art of Paul Bogatay, The,Folk, June/July/Aug., Totems,Samuels, Sept., p 36 Aug., p 102 p 28 Vladimir Tsivin of Leningrad,McCully, Jan., p 34 Permission,Daley, Nov., p 86 John Foster Retrospective,Crowell, June/July/ Yoh Akiyama’s Fractured World,Jones, Oct., p 48 Reviving Craftsmanship, Hunt, Mar., p 86 Aug., p 40 Studio, Tools and Equipment Ruminations on Bungee Cords,Drake, Jan., p 88 Thai Folk Pottery,Katz, Sept., p 28 Shakers versus the Rockettes, The,Barnard, Apr., Accidental Potter, The,Gluskoter, Jan., p 50 p 86 Miscellaneous Allure of Slipware, The, Starr, Feb., p 42 Threatened Gifts, Krakowski, Feb., p 86 Ceramic Work Center of Holland, The,LaPointe, Blending Intuition and Logic,Smith, Mar., p 49 Trend toward Standardization, The,Sondahl, Mar., p 22 Electroplating Ceramics,DeSalvo with Collins, Dec., p 88 Geology and Maps for Clay Prospecting, Aigner, Feb., p 37 Apr., p 82 Island Pottery in the Baltic, Andersen and Petersen, Decoration Historical Pottery Reconstruction: From Just a Feb., p 53 Accidental Potter, The,Gluskoter, Jan., p 50 Few Shards, Martin and Fry, Nov., p 80 Jeff Kell, Yakutchik, June/July/Aug., p 89 Airbrushing on Clay,Hombordy, Dec., p 78 Lorena Stove, The,McNiel, Feb., p 58 Low-Cost Spray Booth, A, Blazey, May, p 52 Allure of Slipware, The, Starr, Feb., p 42 Photographing Ceramics Revisited,Rand, Mar., Mike Dodd,Harrod; Glazing and Firing,Dodd, David Roesler’s Mishima,Vettraino, Sept., p 44 p 26 Jan., p 54 Electroplating Ceramics,DeSalvo with Collins, University of Montevallo,Meyer, June/July/Aug., No Limits, Benson, Oct., p 74 Feb., p 37 p 33 Paper Kiln, A, Court, Dec., p 26 Explorations in Gold: Working with Leaf, Polynesian Paradise,Owen, May, p 48 Williams, June/July/Aug., p 58 Portfolios Secure Wall Hangings,Hubert, Mar., p 80 Fragmented Landscapes,Karver, Jan., p 48 Ban Kajitani,Hunt, Jan., p 39 Stenciled Imagery,Siler, Mar., p 30 Iron Horse Mural, Nov., p 35 Creative Business,Cole, May, p 53 Thai Folk Pottery,Katz, Sept., p 28

86 C eramics Monthly or functional limitations. The first model champions knowledge of glazes Comment and firing techniques. The second tri­ umphs in results obtained dependably The Trend toward Standardization by Brad Sondahl through others’ specialized knowledge. This shift in paradigms mirrors trends in specialization in many other Ceramics is by nature a hybrid between pottery in Japan, mixing glazes from parts of society—for example, the re­ art and science, much as architecture materials such as rice and wood ash. placement of the general practitioner combines art and engineering. At one Today he applies commercial overglaze by a host of doctor specialists. Perhaps extreme, scientific experimentation in decoration on commercially prepared the trend toward standardization in ce­ ceramics has yielded superconductors, earthenware. He is not alone. The rain­ ramics is an inevitable part of the mod­ outer coverings for space shuttles and bow hues now frequent in galleries and ern world. Issues such as product car engine components. At the other at fairs point to the widespread popu­ liability may eventually force most pot­ extreme, avocational potters can now larity of commercial stains and glazes. ters either to have their glazes tested by pick clays, stains and glazes from color So what is gained, and what is lost? an accredited laboratory or to use cer- charts and achieve beautiful results with Commercial preparation yields a broad tifiably safe commercial preparations. minimal knowledge of ceramic science. palette of reliable colors, ease of appli­ We are not yet at that point. Because Most of our experience lies somewhere cation, nontoxic formulations, less of ceramics’ hybrid nature, a certain between. Let us examine the trends: preparation time, fewer losses, and ac­ technical prowess with glazes and fir­ A hundred years ago painters mixed cessibility to those who are not scientifi­ ing will always remain necessary. Even their own oils from raw materials. With­ cally inclined. On the negative side is in painting, where paints are no longer out the intimidation of that technol­ the loss of unique glazes developed by mixed from their constituent oxides, ogy, painting as an art and hobby has individual experimenters, which will af­ choice of gel media, extenders and dry­ flourished. Also, such problems as fad­ fect true diversity in the ceramic envi­ ing agents offers a genuine technical ing and peeling have been reduced. ronment just as monoculture of crops hurdle. And all artists must face the One need only recall Leonardo da or trees affects diverse former prairie real high jumps of form, content, ex­ Vinci’s failures in experimental paint­ or woodland environments. pression and aesthetics, which have ing materials to laud commercial stan­ At stake are competing paradigms plenty of challenge in themselves. dardization of modern art supplies. One of the nature of pottery. The traditional The point of this article has been to wonders, however, if Leonardo would model is of the relatively self-sufficient, cause the examination of our inclina­ be so memorable today if he had not technically competent craftsperson, tions toward sources of clay, color and had his passion for experimentation who produces beauty through intimate glaze, and to be aware of their implica­ and invention? association with a limited range of form­ tion, so that we may delight or anguish I perceive a distinct trend toward a ing processes. The emerging model is in the winds of change. similar standardization in ceramics to­ of the free artist, given a broad palette day. Fifteen years ago, I apprenticed through commercially prepared clays The author Brad Sondahl maintains a with a potter who had worked at a folk and glazes, untrammeled by tradition storefront studio in Spirit Lake, Idaho.

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88 C eramics Monthly December 1991 87