By Louana M. Lackey by Louana M

by Louana M. Lackey by Louana M. Lackey With A Foreword by Peter Voulkos Published by The American Ceramic Society 600 North Cleveland Avenue, Suite 210 Westerville, OH 43082 CeramicArtsDaily.org Published by The American Ceramic Society 600 N. Cleveland Ave., Suite 210 Westerville, OH 43082 USA http://ceramicartsdaily.org © 2002, 2013 by The American Ceramic Society All rights reserved. ISBN: 1-57498-144-7 (Cloth bound) ISBN: 978-1-57498-541-2 (PDF) No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in review. Authorization to photocopy for internal or personal use beyond the limits of Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law is granted by The American Ceramic Society, provided that the appropriate fee is paid directly to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 U.S.A., www.copyright.com. Prior to photocopying items for educational classroom use, please contact Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. This consent does not extend to copyright items for general distribution or for advertising or promotional purposes or to republishing items in whole or in part in any work in any format. Requests for special photocopying permission and reprint requests should be directed to Director, Publications, The American Ceramic Society, 600 N. Cleveland Ave., Westerville, Ohio 43082 USA. Every effort has been made to ensure that all the information in this book is accurate. Due to differing conditions, equipment, tools, and individual skills, the publisher cannot be responsible for any injuries, losses, and other damages that may result from the use of the information in this book. Final determination of the suitability of any information, procedure or product for use contemplated by any user, and the manner of that use, is the sole responsibility of the user. This book is intended for informational purposes only. The views, opinions and findings contained in this book are those of the author. The publishers, editors, reviewers and author assume no responsibility or liability for errors or any consequences arising from the use of the information contained herein. Registered names and trademarks, etc., used in this publication, even without specific indication thereof, are not to be considered unprotected by the law. Mention of trade names of commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the publishers, editors or authors. Publisher: Charles Spahr, Executive Director, The American Ceramic Society Art Book Program Manager: Bill Jones Editors: Barbara Case and Susan Sliwicki eBook Manager: Steve Hecker Graphic Design: Melissa Bury Photographs appearing in this book are reprinted courtesy of: Christofer Autio, Lar Autio, Rudy Autio, Jaap Borgers, Bill Brown, Dave DonTigny, L.H. Jones, Louana M. Lackey, Hiromu Narita, Joan K. Prior, Bruce S. Rose, Roger Schreiber, and Howard Skaggs. Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2002019766 Dedication To Frederick R. Matson, who introduced me to ceramic studies as an undergraduate, guided me through the pitfalls of graduate school, saw me through to the successful completion of my dissertation, and graciously continues in his role of mentor. V Contents Foreword by Peter Voulkos ix Preface xi Acknowledgments xiv Becoming an Artist 1 At the Archie Bray 21 Teaching and Making Art in Missoula 47 An Artist Abroad 79 In the Studio 103 More Time for Art 127 Plates 151 Chronology 247 Appendix 249 Bibliography 255 Index 259 Rudy and Pete, New Jersey, 2000. Foreword I Know Rudy eing in Rudy Autio’s presence is to experience the greatness and humbleness we all seek. The time we’ve spent together is extraordinary, to put it mildly. Rudy and I have been friends and colleagues for fifty-five years. Rudy’s vastly diverse talents, enhanced at times by his wife Lela’s remarks, amazed all. From the beginning we had a lot in common; we had clay, music, guitars, art, Montana, immigrant parents, new families, no money, military service, the G.I. Bill, athlete’s foot, and a passion for making stuff. At the Archie Bray we also had the chance to collaborate and build something together. We were the “Kids,” according to Archie. He called what Rudy made “horses and babes,” and what I made “ribs, guts, and belly buttons.” We were a good influence on each other. We had give and take. Rudy is the consummate artist. I am constantly astounded and jealous. He can paint, draw, sculpt, and play the accordion; he’s a real renaissance guy. Our relationship has taught me a world of ideas. I respect Rudy as one of the finest artists and teachers, and hold him as my best friend. —Peter Voulkos IX B At the Archie Bray t the end of Rudy’s first year of graduate school in 1951, he and Lela went back to Montana for the summer. Lela and their baby stayed in Bozeman with Bob and Gennie DeWeese while Lela took classes in lithography at the university. Rudy and Peter Voulkos, who also was back in Montana after his first year of graduate school, went to Helena together hoping to find summer jobs and a place where they could do their work. They found both at the Western Clay Manufacturing Shoji Hamada decorating a bowl at the Archie Bray, 1952. A RUDY AUTIO Company in Helena. The firm’s owner, Archie Bray, hired both of them to work in his brickyard and to help him build a pottery for the art center he wanted to start. Archie Bray was not just a simple maker of brick. He had a degree in ceramic engineering from the Ohio State University, and he played the piano, sponsored concerts and theater productions, and owned a modest art col- lection. Archie dreamed of building a place where artists and musicians could work, and he talked about his idea of an art center with his friends—Branson Stevenson, and Peter and Henry Meloy. All three were enthusiastic about the idea. Stevenson, an oil company executive, was an amateur artist. Peter Meloy and his brother Henry Meloy, were interested in pottery. Pete was an attorney in Helena and an amateur potter. Henry “Hank” Meloy taught Hank Meloy, with his portrait of his brother, Peter, ca. 1951. painting and life drawing at Columbia University in New York City, and returned to Helena in the summers to make pottery with his brother. The Meloys had unsuccessfully tried to build a kiln 22 At the Archie Bray on their ranch, so Archie had been letting them fire their pots on top of the bricks in his brick kiln. The first phase of the projected art center would be a pottery. The projected center would begin with ceramics. Painting, sculpture, weaving, and possibly, a music conservatory could be added later. A high-school friend of Rudy’s, Kelly Wong, who had also studied art at Bozeman, joined Rudy and Pete in the brickyard. The three worked from early morning until late at night. They shoveled raw clay onto conveyer belts to be crushed and fed into the pugmill; they sometimes would relieve the regular “nippers” to pick up brick as it came from the extruder; at other times, they were assigned to help with the firing. When they weren’t working in the brickyard, they laid brick for the new pottery. They did not labor alone at this; Pete Meloy and many other volunteers helped to build the pottery. Frances Senska (1982:35) reports that “So many eager amateurs laid brick for those walls, it’s a wonder they remain standing. But the experts managed to compensate for the wavering rows, and the roof plate landed on a level course.” By all working together, they managed to construct a building with a showroom, a workroom, and rooms for clay mixing, glazing, and kilns. When the pottery was finished, Archie and Peter Voulkos built a large downdraft kiln for high- fire reduction wares, the first gas-fired kiln in the state. Under Archie’s guidance, Rudy built the twenty-five-foot chimney stack. While they were building the pottery, Rudy, Pete, and Kelly did their own work at night in a corner of the tile-drying shed. Pete made pots on the wheel while Rudy made hand-built sculptures by coiling shapes together. Until the new kilns were built, they fired their work 23 RUDY AUTIO on top of the brick in the big beehive kilns, just as the Meloys had done earlier. That first summer at the Bray, Rudy and Pete shared a shack with Kelly behind the present pottery building. The following summer, 1952, after Rudy and Peter Voulkos finished graduate school, they returned to the Bray as resident artists. Rudy and Lela bought a small house in Helena, and Pete and Peggy Voulkos moved into an old chicken house behind the pottery. Although Archie paid Rudy and Pete a modest wage, money from the sale of their work was used to help sup- port the pottery. Rudy and Pete and the other resident pot- ters made work for the shop—gift store items such as planters, fruit bowls, and nut dish- es—nothing that could be called art. They had barely enough money to live on, and Rudy says he still doesn’t know how Lela made do on his small salary. Lela and Peggy made enameled ashtrays for the shop and taught pottery classes. Lela found some of the customers and students difficult to deal with: A lot of rich people would come and look at the stuff, but they would never buy anything, Lela Autio, 1952.

Load more