December 1995 1 Spencer L. Davis ....Publisher and Acting Editor Ruth C. Butler...... Associate Editor Kim Nagorski...... Assistant Editor Tess Galvin...... Assistant Editor Lisa Politz...... Editorial Assistant Randy Wax...... Art Director Mary Rushley...... Circulation Manager Mary E. May...... Assistant Circulation Manager Connie Belcher...... Advertising Manager

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Ceramics Monthly (ISSN 0009-0328) is published monthly except July and August by Professional Publications, Inc., 1609 Northwest Boulevard, Columbus, Ohio 43212-0788. Second Class post­ age paid at Columbus, Ohio. Subscription Rates: One year $22, two years $40, three years $55. Add $10 per year for subscrip­ tions outside the U.S.A. In Canada, add GST (registration number R123994618). 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 Department, Post Office Box 12788, Columbus, Ohio 43212-0788. Contributors: Manuscripts, announcements, news releases, photographs, color transparencies (including 35mm slides), graphic illustrations and digital TIFF or EPS images are welcome and will be considered for publication. Mail submis­ sions to Ceramics Monthly, Post Office Box 12788, Columbus, Ohio 43212-0788. We also accept unillustrated materials faxed to (614) 488-4561. Writing and Photographic Guidelines: Printed information on standards and procedures for submitting materials is available upon request. Indexing: An index of each year’s articles appears in the December issue. Additionally,Ceramics Monthly articles are indexed in theArt Index. Printed, on-line and CD-ROM (computer) index­ ing is available through Wilsonline, 950 Univer­ sity Avenue, Bronx, New York 10452; Informa­ tion Access Company, 362 Lakeside Drive, For­ est City, California 94404; and from daai (design and applied arts index), Design Documentation, Woodlands, Stone Cross, Mayfield, East Sussex, TN20 6EJ, England. These services are also avail­ able through your local library. Copies and Reprints: Microfiche, 16mm and 35mm microfilm copies, and xerographic re­ prints 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: Send address changes toCeramics Monthly, Post Office Box 12788, Columbus, Ohio 43212-0788. Form 3579 requested. Copyright © 1995 Professional Publications, Inc. All rights reserved

CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1995 3 4 CERAMICS MONTHLY Volume 43, Number 10 December1995

Feature Articles

Mark Nafzigerby Phyllis Blair Clark ...... 29 Voices from Withinby Wendy Pearson ...... 35 Spodumene for Low Thermal Expansion by M. J. Murray...... 39 Bradley Millerby Laura Dixon ...... 42 Mata OrtizTwenty-five years ago, self- Craft Alliance Teapot Annual ...... 47 taught potter Juan Quezada (above) single- handedly revitalized the Casas Grandes Swiss Porcelain Triennialby Frank Nievergelt...... 49 ceramics tradition in Mata Ortiz, Mexico. Today, the number of practicing potters in Mata Ortiz the area has grown to over 300; see page 51. Traditions and Innovations by Bill Gilbert ...... 51 Post-Industrial Ceramics Spodumene for Low Thermal Expansion An Interview with Rudy Fleck by Jo Lauria ...... 57 Research has shown that including spo­ dumene in a clay body alters its thermal Jill Bonovitzby L. Robin Rice ...... 59 expansion; turn to page 39. In Pursuit of Japanese Tradition by Glenn Rand...... 63 Post-Industrial CeramicsLos Angeles potter/teacher Rudy Fleck applies metal alloys to bisqueware to achieve an “ever- alterable” surface; an interview with him begins on page 57. Up Front

Jennifer Lee ...... 12 Graduate Study Down Under Crafts National 29...... 12 by Monica Mitchell ...... 16 New Everson Director Named .... 12 San Diego Consortium II ...... 18 Paula Winokur ...... 14 Bertha Blai: An Admirable CERF Update ...... 14 Artist at Eighty Donna Bruhl ...... 14 by Gail Molnar Pfeifer ...... 18 Todd Garner ...... 14 Florida Craftsmen Gwen Heffner ...... 16 43rd Exhibition ...... 20

Jill BonovitzWhether creating tableware or large decorative vessels, Philadelphia ce­ Departments ramist Jill Bonovitz concentrates on devel­ oping nuances of texture and color “so as to Letters ...... 8 Group Ceramics Exhibitions...... 74 use as little as possible to express what I New Books ...... 22 Ceramics in Multimedia Exhibitions...... 76 want”; see page 59. Call for Entries Fairs, Festivals and Sales ...... 78 International Exhibitions ...... 66 Workshops ...... 78 The cover Mark Nafziger pulling a straw National Exhibitions ...... 66 International Events ...... 80 through slip trailed on a wheel-thrown pot. Regional Exhibitions ...... 66 Questions ...... 84 As the resident potter at a living history Fairs, Festivals and Sales ...... 67 Classified Advertising ...... 88 museum in northwest Ohio, Nafziger “can’t Suggestions ...... 72 Ceramics Monthly Annual Index ...... 90 just loaf about when visitors are present. Calendar Comment: They expect to see a potter at work. It is Conferences...... 74 A Guide to Serious Art show time, as well as production time”; International Conferences...... 74 for Newcomers by Michael Stoy ...... 92 page 29.Photo: Jim King, Royal Images. Solo Exhibitions ...... 74 Index to Advertisers ...... 96

December 1995 5

a regular basis. Many schoolrooms have imagine, would Rick Berman seriously main­ Letters totally inadequate ventilation. tain that the piece is “the most ridiculous About five years ago, I developed some article ever published in CM or anywhere severe reactions to all petroleum-based prod­else.” Where, one wonders, would he rate the Lithium Shivering ucts, all fragranced products and all types of minutes of the last meeting of the Interna­ The arrival of CM each month means smoke. Yes, I do use the sawdust compoundstional Flat Earth Society? relaxed procrastination over a cup of tea—a occasionally, but I have to wear a double- By zeroing in on frivolous points, such as pleasant pause in a clay-filled workday. To­ barreled respirator when I do use it. Then I the use of electric mixers and hairdryers, Ms. day was no exception. live with the reaction of the rubber gasket on Kiemi-Sawyer’s critics are missing the main “Five Steps to Stop Glaze Shivering” in my face. That’s a “lesser-of-two-evils” choice,thrust of her article, which was to contrast the October 1995 issue made me think since the cleaning compound sets up a list of two very different philosophies. My knowl­ immediately of lithium oxide as a possible respiratory, neurological and physical reac­ edge of Oriental ceramics is not profound, shivering culprit to add to JeffZamek’s list. tions that can sideline me from work for but I sense a deep debt to tradition. Since lithium fluxes gave me my only shiver­ weeks. (Oddly enough, wet clay and wet I’ve been searching (in vain) through ing problems in 25-odd years of potting glazes do not cause reactions.) Simple fiber Leach’s A Potters Book for the passage where, (aside from those caused by a cold, clammy dust masks readily available at hardware and as an enthusiastic student in Japan, he ques­ basement studio), I thought I would add my paint stores are all I need for general work tioned some technique or other, only to be thoughts to Jeff5s helpful article. and cleanup where only dust is a factor. Theymet with incomprehension and the response: Glaze recipes containing lithium exhibit do not protect against the fumes from the “But that’s the way my master did it.” low-expansion rates and are often used whencleaner. Such an attitude has its merits and dan­ high resistance to thermal shock is required. Harriet Bolin, De Land, Fla. gers. The potter is secure in drawing on (In this respect, lithia-based fluxes differ from centuries of tradition, but also runs the risk of the other alkaline fluxes, which exhibit higher99.99% Sardonic dullness. The North American potter, by thermal expansion rates. In fact, according to I would like to thank Ms. Sawyer for her contrast, like practitioners in all creative fields something I once read, lithium carbonate is essay (see the September 1995 Comment), on this continent, is freer and quicker to used in the ceramic nose cones of rockets which was 62.49% passionate. However, she experiment. Again, there are pluses and because of its zero expansion property.) did not go far enough, as I believe there are minuses: Without Paul Soldner and his So, if you have a shivering glaze with a lot no “warm and alive” pots in the world; this followers, we would not enjoy the postfiring of lithium carbonate, spodumene, lepidolite, includes all of history. Voulkos, Coleman techniques that make modern raku such an petalite or amblygonite in the recipe, you and Kottler should have stuck to their small exciting new form. might suspect compression due to an exces­ boxes of crayons (without hot pink) to make I know that when I eventually lack the sive amount of lithia in the glaze recipe. their art with. energy to load and fire my 60-cubic-foot kiln However, if you have a shivering potter on There was hope eight years ago when I every month, I shall be able to change course your hands, you might suggest a winter saw an “alive” bead (made by a Canadian) and explore raku and smoke firing. sabbatical in a tropical climate. Shivering with an early-American yellow crater glaze on The downside, alas, is unfocused experi­ ain’t fun for either glaze or human. it. This brought me profound joy, so I medi­ mentation and innovation, which tend to Carolyn Ngren Curran, Glens Falls, N.Y. tated about the warmness of this American produce clever but lifeless pots. glaze with its large yellow craters. But when I I work in the country, fairly isolated from Allergy Alert drove my Mitsubishi out to meet this Cana­ other potters, and the articles and photos of I have been reading and using ideas from dian beadmaker, I soon discovered that he pots in CM are virtually my only glimpse this fine publication since 1979.1 find all theblow-dried his beads. into what is happening elsewhere. And here I discussions and articles valuable, even when I I was appalled, saddened. I walked home have to join Ms. Kiemi-Sawyer in her corner. think the work or ideas are farther out from to consult my I Ching (it may have been my While it is impossible to fully appreciate a center than I’d ever want to go. But it’s a Torah as it was eight years ago), and also pot from a photo, it is possible to get a feel large world and there’s ample room for us all.performed a Japanese Wheat Grass Cere­ for the piece. I taught a general arts program in public mony, as I was out of tea. This did not help. Alas, so many of the pots featured lack schools for 6 years, have kept a private studioBut I recently heard of an inspired french that reverence for clay that gives a piece life. at home for 16 years and now teach a potterybread holder somewhere in Greenland. This It would be unthinkable for a silversmith or a course at a living history!creative arts center pot has a Japanese enjoyment level of fine woodworker to fail to show respect for in Barberville, Florida, several times a year. 78.83%, so there is hope. Thanks again, the material: woods are laid down like fine I am writing in response to Joseph Ms. Sawyer, and please beware of all opiates. wines. We potters are luckier. Our raw mate­ Opalinski’s idea for teachers to keep their Brion Hall, Seattle rial is plentiful; in fact, it’s literally dirt-cheap. custodians happy (October 1995, page 75). But we shouldn’t revere clay the less for that. Teachers and others should be quite careful, Missed the Main Thrust Potters who abuse the clay by producing asking all students beforehand about allergies, May a Canadian potter be allowed to clever pieces whose shapes would be more before using the sawdust sweeping com­ climb into the ring to join in the Kiemi- appropriate in metal or plastic; or who cloak pound. More and more individuals are be­ SawyerlBernardo/Berman fight? And may I their work in glazes that seek to imitate coming sensitive to the petroleum-based suggest that the correspondents were pro­ acrylic sheet; or, worse, who mask the essen­ cleaning compounds and could suffer mild tovoked to such outrage (Letters, October tial clayness of their products by daubing severe reactions to its use in the classroom on1995) that the main point of Ms. Kiemi- them with cheap shiny paint from a hardware Sawyer’s article is being overlooked? store (see the September 1993 CM cover Share your thoughts with other readers. All letters I am sure that she must be regretting her article)—such clayworkers are, I suggest, must be signed, but names will be withheld on blanket condemnation of 99.9% of contem­betraying our craft. request. Mail to The Editor, Ceramics Monthly, porary American pots. After all, the pots of a I have a potter friend in British Columbia Post Office Box 12788, Columbus, Ohio 43212- Warren MacKenzie alone would surely drop who shares my viewpoint (and presumably 0788; or fax to (614) 488-4561. this percentage by several points. Nor, I that of another October letter writer, Paul

8 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1995 9 Letters Brady brings to all of his work. However, it was a disappointment because, by showing his vessels in black and white rather than Weinberg, who asks that CM occasionally color, the magazine robbed its readers of an acknowledge our debt to Leach, Hamada, opportunity to visually experience the rich­ Cardew and company). ness of his work. My friend calls us “dinosaurs” and I am Robert Brady displays the same gifts that proud of the epithet. By chance, the Septem­have earned him an international reputation ber CM featured a cover story by the South as a sculptor in his smallest bowl to his largest African potter Hyme Rabinowitz. I find vessel, and he generously shares these gifts myself constantly drawn to the exquisitely with each and every student who is fortunate simple teapot on page 67.1 hope Mr. to learn from him. Hopefully, next time the Rabinowitz won’t be offended if I say he photographs will do more justice to his work. looks to me like another dinosaur. Gale McSwain, Placerville, Calif. By contrast, the extruded teapot on page 60 seems merely ingenious and illustrates Memorial Issues perfectly what Ms. Kiemi-Sawyer and I are After reading a letter by Ervin Otvos in trying to articulate. the September issue of CM, my curiosity was Alex Robertson, Lakefield, Ontario, Canada piqued. I looked through back issues and reread Daisy Brand’s letter and the original Clay Goblins article on the Hungarian war memorial by Over the course of making any quantity Gyorgy Fusz. of pottery, the ceramics worker almost cer­ I cannot understand the antagonism Mr. tainly has experienced some alterations to theOtvos shows toward Ms. Brand. Although I original idea for the form of a pot. Honesty am ignorant of Hungarian history, I am dictates that one admit the occasional happy aware of the complexity of issues that World accident, some are attributable to venture­ War II aroused. Certainly, Daisy Brand’s some moods, and others such as the one point of view is valid. It is distasteful to me pictured below, are simply the work of the that such a memorial is erected in this day most perverse form of clay goblins. and age of renewed nationalism and aggres­ This time the goblin took the form of a sion. We are still seeing the results of policies common wood rat who apparently sought created during the war played out in Yugosla­ via and Russia. It was a horrendous war, as they all are. Each nation must be judged by its actions, not by its sympathies. Jane Egelson Foster, Turners Falls, Mass.

Left-Right Left brain and right brain activity must be exercised equally—otherwise one “goes nuts” and freaks out on things like peanut butter or O. J. and other fattening things. sustenance in the minuscule residue of salad John S. Taylor, Columbia, S.C. oil remaining on the inner surface of this small bowl after its use in the final “rubbing Vivika Heino Tribute down” process. While this piece was the most I would like to share some thoughts about afflicted, a rueful inspection of the rest of theVivika Heino who recently passed away [see previous day’s work revealed six more pieces page 24 of the October CM]. My first meet­ that had suffered at least a munch or two! I ing with Vivika came in 1982 at her home in may have to add a formula for Habanero- Ojai, California. Her energy, intelligence and Flavored Corn Oil to my book of slip and love of clay were boundless. The concern she glaze recipes. had for the future of studio pottery was deep Thanks for the opportunity afforded and sincere. A potter since the 1930s, she was potters to share an occasional story such as a pioneer and one of the building blocks of this; it helps to know that no one is spared our modern studio pottery movement. their share of minor calamities. Vivika, along with potters such as Laura Mike Sisson, La Mesa, Calif Andreson, Karl Martz and Harding Black, provided leadership and great wisdom during Lost Opportunity the seminal period of American studio pot­ It was both a delight and a disappoint­ tery. Her contributions and the great body of ment to see the article on Berkeley artist work she produced will stand for decades as a Robert Brady in the September CM. It was a testament to her importance and creativity. pleasure because the text helped to capture She was a potter’s potter, a wonderful teacher the expansive spirit, unique sense of vision, and a very special soul. delight in creation, and exacting insight that Tom Tumquist, Lakewood, Colo.

10 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1995 11 Up Front

Jennifer Lee An exhibition of works by British ceramist Jennifer Lee was on view recently at Galerie Besson in London. Handbuilt from colored stoneware, Lees works demonstrate an “exacting coun­ terpoint: between the poised balance of a form, standing there, against the light, and the rich organic multilayering of its surface, which seems to resemble the planets own inner strata,”

Hirotsune Tashima “Banana Republican,” 19 inches in height, stoneware, award winner; at Zoller Gallery, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.

Jennifer Lee “Olive Pot,” approximately 8 inches in height, handbuilt colored stoneware; at Galerie Besson, London. noted London critic David Whiting. “These bands of various oxides ensure a total integration of interior and exterior, a certain wholeness in the pot. “Her pots offer the quietest and most abstract exploration of space as well as the properties of clay itself,” he continued.

Crafts National 29 Jurors James Gilroy and Gary Pelkey, cofounders/codirectors of Owen Patrick Gallery in Philadelphia, selected 97 works from Bonnie Seeman’s “Cup and Saucer,” 6½ inches the 1401 submissions for exhibition in “Crafts National 29” at in height, porcelain, award winner. Pennsylvania State University’s Zoller Gallery in University Park. “Jurying is a difficult and triclsy process,” Gilroy and “demonstrated a mastery of material technique, took risks, Pelkey noted in their statement in the accompanying catalog. questioned themselves, abandoned the lure of reference and “It demands serious responsibility and a vigilant, open mind. derivation for a clearer and purer synthesis of the artist’s own We bring to the process only the knowledge and experience we vision,” they explained. have fostered over the years. A constant debate takes place not only between us but within us to question any assumptions and New Everson Director Named scales we use to judge so that the broadest interpretation of Sandra Trop was recently appointed director of the Everson work may be experienced.” Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York. Previously, Trop had When examining the slides, they looked for works that been associate director and was named interim director when pushed the “definition of craft into fine art.” Accepted works Ronald Kuchta resigned last February. Trops plans for the museums future include the return in You are invited to send news and photos about people, places or 1997 or 1998 of the “Ceramics National” competition, which, events ofinterest. We will be pleased to consider them for publica­ for the first time, will be theme-based. The Everson will also tion in this column. Mail submissions to Up Front, Ceramics focus on the acquisition of American ceramics, “filling in the Monthly, Post Office Box 12788, Columbus, Ohio 43212-0788. gaps,” Trop said, thanks to the recent bequest from the Howard

12 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1995 13 Up Front Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF), a nonprofit organization providing support to craftspeople with career-threatening emergencies. Approximately 1500 artists, buyers and collectors Kottler Testamentary Trust (see page 12 of the Up Front section attended the event, paying more than $20,000 at the auction of in the September issue). donated works by over 175 artists. Plans are underway, too, for a traveling exhibition of the One potter helped recently by CERF is Malcolm Davis of museum’s Robineau collection, which includes the “Scarab West Virginia. When Davis lost his studio to fire, CERF pro­ Vase” stolen and recovered in 1989 (see page 69 of the April vided $1000 to help him rebuild it. “Then they connected me 1989 issue ofCeramics Monthly). with four different suppliers offering discounts on everything from wet clay to a new combustion system,” he said. Paula Winokur CERF was also able to help Davis replace his slab roller— An exhibition of porcelain sculpture and wall pieces by Vivika and Otto Heino had offered him an unused roller that Horsham, Pennsylvania, artist Paula Winokur was on view had been sitting in their California studio, but getting it to him recently at the Fine Arts Gallery of Long Island University’s was a problem, until a participant of the CERF Supplier Pro­ gram shipped the roller to Davis free of charge. CERF s Supplier Program was started just over a year ago, with about 20 companies across the country participating. Today, membership has tripled to more than 60 suppliers. Participating companies help craftspeople by offering discounts on materials, donating supplies and extending payment plans.

Donna Bruhl New work by Minnesota artist Donna Bruhl was exhibited recently at the Craft Connection Gallery in Saint Paul. The vessels on view were from a “sailing vessel series,” the product of a lifetime spent near one of the many glacial lakes in the state.

Paula Winokur’s “Markers,” to 8 feet in height, unglazed porcelain; at the Fine Arts Gallery, Southampton College, Long Island University, New York.

Southampton campus. These works “are evocations of memory, places visited, history and geology assimilated and redefined,” Donna Bruhl “Spinnaker,” 22 inches in height, explained Winokur. earthenware with Cone 02 glaze, sandblasted; New York Times art critic Phyllis BrafF noted that they tended at the Craft Connection Gallery, Saint Paul. to “stress the discovery of physical shapes and emphasize the independence of form. Jagged rifts and tears, uncharacteristic of By combining black, sandblasted surfaces with areas of shiny porcelain, imply interruptions and often give the sculpture a glaze in bright, primary colors, Bruhl explores the paradox of sense of vitality,” she continued. “Nervous energy is particularly static movement in her work. evident in ‘Markers,’ with its trio of slightly irregular 8-foot shafts, each supporting an oddly formed rock.” Todd Garner “Earth Witness,” an exhibition of sculpture by American CERF Update ceramist Todd Garner, was presented at the Collins Gallery in An auction, party and dance were held recently at the Esplanade Glasgow, Scotland, then traveled to several venues around the of the Moscone Center South in San Francisco to benefit the country. Living in Scotland for the past six years, Garner has

14 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1995 15 Up Front been influenced by Celtic mythology, Christianity and the overlapping of the two. “This has provided me with a vocabu­ lary of symbols, icons and belief structures with which I can construct three-dimensional sentences, paragraphs and, indeed, stories that resonate with ancient references and yet have im­ plied relevance in a modern context,” he explained. “The hill, the guardian spirit, the saint, the book, are all parts of this subjective vocabulary.” As can be seen in “Watcher in the Water,” the saint “repre­ sents a ‘highly idealized’ embodiment of the missionaries of the Gwen Heffner’s “Vermont Pond,” 10 inches in height, Celtic Christian Church who straddled the border between slip-carved porcelain; at the Focus Gallery, Southern Highland Handicraft Guild’s Folk Art Center, Asheville, North Carolina.

which is one of the least creative and more time-consuming parts of the process.”

Graduate Study Down Under by Monica Mitchell In 1993,1 attended a ceramics conference in Australia and enjoyed it so much that I applied to several schools there for graduate study in ceramics. The application process is similar to that experienced by M.EA. candidates in the United States except, in Australia, generally one must create a focused and detailed study proposal for the entire year. My proposal was composed of 80% studio practice and 20% research. Todd Garner’s “Watcher in the Water,” 3 feet I was accepted into three schools, and decided to attend the in height, lightly grogged white earthenware; Canberra School of Art at the Australian National University. at the Collins Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland. The school is large, with an art-supply shop, library, cafe and studios; and has a prestigious artist-in-residence program. Last Druidry and Christianity, an interface between the religion of year’s artists-in-residence included Japanese avant-garde the natural and the religion of the supernatural,” Garner noted. “The saint is my symbol for the combination of spiritual reverence with environmental respect. He/she is the sentinel, the one who watches, the witness.” Working with a lightly grogged clay, Garner uses several handbuilding techniques, including slab construction, coiling, modeling and mold making. The resulting pieces are then bisque fired to Cone 06 and, when necessary, glaze fired to Cone 04. To obtain the desired colors, he applies stains, commercial underglazes and glazes, and metallic lusters. He may also use acrylic paints to enhance color effects.

Gwen Heffner An exhibition of carved porcelain by Kentucky artist Gwen Heffner was presented through August 31 at the Focus Gallery of the Southern Highland Handicraft Guild’s Folk Art Center in Asheville, North Carolina. Inspired by a recent collaboration with printmaker Laura Lee Cundiff, Heffner began decorating her wheel-thrown vessels with slips, then carving through them to reveal the white clay beneath. “This was similar to the feeling Monica Mitchell’s “Current Events,” approximately of doing wood-cut prints, which I had done in undergraduate 20 inches in height; at the Canberra School of Art school,” Heffner noted. Gallery, Australia. “Now I find myself drawing all the time and thinking about positive/negative space, color and imagery,” she continued. “It’s sculptor Satoru Hoshino, California artist Philip Cornelius a real change from the focus of pure form, which has dominated and Norwegian ceramist Elina Brandt-Hansen. Greg Daly, my work for the past few years. I use slips that are full of color­ Janet DeBoos, Tony Flynn, Ian Jones, Anita Mcintyre, Fergus ants and flux all by themselves so that I need glaze only the Stewart, Hiroe Swen, Allan Watt and Bernard Weiss are the inside of forms. This has eliminated a great deal of spray glazing, ceramics instructors. A program called ArtForum, run

16 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1995 17 Up Front instructor at the Crafts Center, was also invited to participate in this year’s consortium. Shown from the exhibition are works by Brent and Thompson. Brent uses crystalline glazes to “produce a delightful array of snowflakes’ in a random pattern. As in saggar firing, the surface effect is miraculous. You never know what the exact result will be,” she observed. She also uses sterling-silver handles—some

Jeanette Brent’s crystalline-glazed teapot, 3% inches in height, with sterling-silver handle.

“Traveler,” approximately 33 inches in height, by Kentucky artist Monica Mitchell. throughout the year, brings in guest artists, local and interna­ tional, to lecture on various topics—my first semester, the focus was on aboriginal art; the second, on art and pornography. The graduate diploma and masters of visual arts programs are extremely challenging. Course requirements include an introductory talk for the school, a speech about mid-year progress, several reviews by supervisors and graduate program coordinators, an exhibition, a report on the year’s process and products, and a research paper. I began by worldng on large, coil-built sculptures. These rocklike forms were exhibited in March 1995 along with work by three other graduate students. My research paper compared and contrasted American and Australian modernism, utilizing the American-born sculptor Margel Hinders work as examples. Born in 1906, Hinder moved to Australia in 1934 with her Ed Thompson vase, 12 inches in height, thrown and husband, Australian futurist and cubist painter Frank Hinder, altered; at the Grove Gallery, Crafts Center of the and never returned to the U.S. University of California, San Diego. I remain very enthusiastic about education overseas. My year at Canberra was exciting from beginning to end. Moreover, the cast, others created by hand—to accent her teapots. The Imobs ceramics faculty was very friendly and put on some memorable on the lids are often bezel set with semiprecious stones. barbecues—Aussie style, of course. Thompson’s work is thrown and altered. He then draws a pattern on the surface and “roughs out” a relief by hammering San Diego Consortium II with a pestle. Finally, he scrapes the work with a metal rib, The second “San Diego Consortium” exhibition [see the article before glazing and firing to Cone 10. about the first on page 49 of the May 1994 CM], featuring works by ceramists Jeanette Brent, Reiko Campbell, Dot Bertha Blai: An Admirable Artist at Eighty Kimura, Julie Thompson and Minako Yamane-Lee, was pre­ by Gail Molnar Pfeifer sented recently at Grove Gallery of the Crafts Center of the As surely as a potter shapes clay into forms, the art of pottery University of California, San Diego. Ed Thompson, a ceramics has shaped Bertha Blais life over the past 30 years. “If I didn’t

18 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1995 19 Up Front have pottery, I wouldn’t have anything,” she says. Blai is 80 years old and still teaches classes in her central Philadelphia apartment building. Her summers are spent teaching pottery to children at Camp Scatico in Elizaville, New York. She had cardiac bypass surgery in January 1995, and thought she would skip the camp this year, “but it caused such an uproar that I just couldn’t do it.” Berthas passion for clay started when she was a student at the Tyler School of Art, Temple University, in Elkins Park, Pennsylva­ nia, from 1959 to 1965. She had always wanted to teach, so, when her children were grown, she enrolled in Temples School of Education at the age of 44. It was there that Bertha Blai with several of her ceramic works. she took her first art class and decided it was art she wanted to teach. Her art professor introduced her to the room. Most of the campers come back every summer until dean and founder of Tyler, Boris Blai. When Dean Blai asked they reach the age limit for the camp. “On opening day, they why she wanted to transfer to Tyler, she told him, “Because love to go into the dining room to look at their contributions when I start to paint, I can paint all night, and I don’t want to from previous years,” Bertha says. stop.” The dean accepted her on the spot. At Tyler, she studied The secret to teaching success is “simplify everything,” she with Rudolf Staffel and fell in love with clay. explains. “I supply good equipment and step-by-step instruc­ Over the years, she developed a close friendship with Dean tions along the way. Students make one object at a time, and Blai, and they later married. Boris was a great influence on her their excitement over the finished piece gives them the encour­ work. On one wedding anniversary, he wanted to buy her a agement to go on to the next piece.” mink coat, but Bertha said, “Don’t buy me a mink, buy me a Will she stop teaching soon? “Why should I? You’re never kiln.” He did, and she has been potting in her home ever since. too old to teach ceramics.” Then she reconsiders and says, “I “I have adopted my husband’s philosophy of teaching,” expect to continue at least until I am 90, then perhaps I will Bertha claims. “He believed that teaching is not just a profes­ look for a new job.” sion; it is a religion. If a student fails, it means that the teacher has failed. He or she didn’t know how to teach.” Florida Craftsmen 43rd Exhibition Teaching art was an integral part of the Blais’ life together. “The Florida Craftsmen 43rd Exhibition” was presented Their summers were spent on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, through October 10 at the University of Tampa’s Scarfone where they taught at the Long Beach Island Foundation of the Gallery. On view were works by 40 members of the organiza­ Arts and Sciences (founded by Boris Blai and Philip Klein in tion. WTiile the exhibition has previously been a juried compe­ 1948; see “Ceramics at the Seashore” on page 18 of the Febru­ tition, the 1995 edition was organized as an invitational; to be ary 1995 CM). In the early 1970s, after Boris’ retirement as included, artists must have been award winners in previous dean of Tyler, the Blais were artists-in-residence at Glassboro Florida Craftsmen exhibitions. State College (now Rowan College) in New Jersey. Around the same time, they helped establish a fine-arts program at the du Cret School of the Arts in Plainfield, New Jersey. It was there, Bertha says, “I really learned to teach.” Whenever she has had to move, all of her pottery equipment has gone with her. Then she has always managed to find a way to teach. After her husband died in 1985, Bertha moved into Logan East, a continuing-care residence in Philadelphia, for four years. WTiile living there, she started a weekly ceramics class. Now, she runs classes in her apartment building for students ranging in age from 20 to 60. Her summer job, as a counselor at Camp Scatico, brings the widest smile to her face. “I teach wheel throwing and hand- building to children from 6 to 16,” she explains. “I find it helpful to bring in themes when teaching children. This helps them to focus. One year, the themes were fruits and vegetables, then fish, and this year’s theme was butterflies.” Each year, Bertha adds to a mural that she has helped the children create. Every child makes a tile that reflects the theme. The tiles are glued to a wooden board to create a panel. There Michael Rutkowsky shallow bowl, 13 inches in diameter; are now seven panels hung between the windows in the dining at the University of Tampa, Scarfone Gallery.

20 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1995 21 Smith interweaves his opinions about such The third chapter details kiln types— New Books topics as creation, skill, art or craft, and updraft, downdraft and crossdraft—and de­ borrowing. “I don’t think there’s anything sign considerations. (Diagrams, drawings and wrong with borrowing,” he comments. “Veryphotos illustrate examples.) Although the few things in any art are completely plans discussed “are not based on specific Pottery, People and Time original....But it seems to me that borrowed measurements,” Gregory provides “several A Workshop in Action ideas can only be put to good effect when a basic principles that should be followed with by Alan Caiger-Smith place has been made ready for them. They regard to the ratios of fireboxes to chamber In this memoir, British potter Alan Caiger-have to be reinterpreted to make sense in the size, chimney height and so on.” Smith reflects on his 40-year career and on new context, otherwise all that happens is The advantages and disadvantages of the pottery in general while detailing “behind- simple mimicry.” various materials used in the construction of the-scenes” activities at his Aldermaston Aldermaston Pottery closed in 1993. “Thekilns—solid firebricks, common bricks, high- Pottery from 1955 to its closing in 1993. “A event was not of our choosing,” he explains. temperature insulation bricks, castables, in­ busy cooperative workshop has many facets, “It was determined by the economic reces­ sulation, ceramic fiber—are covered in the many of them unseen even by those who sion. There was no room for debate: it was following chapter. “The most important fac­ know the place well, and sometimes very only a matter of finding the right moment tor when setting out to build a kiln is to unlike the P.R. image and the best way to wind things up....Now choose the best possible materials available,” presented in art peri­ the team of potters had to be dispersed, but Gregory asserts. “This is perhaps the most odicals and press re­ no one was going to be lost....The life we important piece of equipment needed by the leases,” he observes. shared was coming to an end, but sooner or potter; too many shortcuts may prove to be a Caiger-Smith be­ later new impulses arise in place of old ones.”false saving in the long run.” came interested in ce­ To prosper in today’s market, a potter Construction methods and equipment ramics, specifically needs “a guiding star, determination, good are explained next—from suitable founda­ tin-glazed earthen­ health and physical energy. You’ve got to caretions and bricldaying to building the walls, ware, in college. He enough about making things to counterbal­ crown and arch. was so captivated by daywork that he “used ance the stress of paying your way. The A chapter on kiln plans includes schemat­ to place my finished pots from the kiln on theromantic era is over and gone; costs and ics for an oil-fired downdraft kiln, a catenary- floor by my bed so that I could touch them overheads, insurance and safety regulations arch kiln, a catenary-arch kiln for salt firing, before sleeping and see them the moment I are a serious business. Talent and enthusiasmtwo- and three-chambered climbing kilns, a awoke.” have to be backed up by P.R. and financial Bourry box wood Idln, a fast-fire wood Idln After college, he opened a collaborative acumen.” 216 pages. 37 color and 16 black- and a fiber kiln for raku. Experimental kilns, workshop in his hometown, Aldermaston. “I and-white photographs; 2 sketches. £28 (ap­such as the clay-coated paper kiln, are also had to start on my own, ” he recalls, “but it wasproximately US$45). Richard Dennis discussed. 96 pages, including index. 20 color something I wanted to share and needed to Publications, the Old Chapel, Shepton and 62 black-and-white photographs; 93 share, because there was still so much to Beauchamp, Somerset TA19 OLE; telephone/ sketches. £9.99/US$22.95, softcover.A&C understand. Work is different when it is fax (46) 024-2009. Black, 35 Bedford Row, London WC1R 4JH, shared: the highs are more effervescent, the England. Distributed in the United States by lows less daunting and one learns new things Kiln Building Gentle Breeze Publishing, Post Office Box1484, in unexpected ways.” by Ian Gregory Oviedo, Florida 32765. In diary-like chapters, Caiger-Smith goes Pottery and building kilns “go hand in on to talk about the pottery’s working style, hand,” states the author of this how-to guide,Ceramics and Print the other members of his “team,” various “and, contrary to popular belief, it is not just by Paul Scott commissions, inflation, materials used, exhi­ a case of piling briclts “Ceramics and print have in common the bitions, and memorable customers and visi­ together, putting in a ability to repeat a shape, form or image,” tors, including a group of patients from a few pots, and hey states the author of this handbook. “The mental hospital, a man with an assumed presto! Producing difference is that ceramics deals with the name (discovered later) who ordered 30 ash­ anything with one’s three-dimensional, and print the two-dimen­ trays for a hotel and never paid for them, a hands needs thought, sional. It is not surprising then that print and gypsy who ordered two ½-gallon bowls and care and application.” ceramics have been used together for hun­ picked them up two years later. Drawing from his own dreds of years to produce decorative wares “It has to be faced,” he writes about one experience, Gregory and tiles.” What is surprising, he remark, is disappointing show, “our latest exhibition in goes on to discuss the “that ceramics and printmaldng processes Edinburgh was not a success. The gallery “dos and don’ts” of have been so little documented, classified, or people put it down to the weather, to the kilnbuilding, beginning with preliminary regarded by the contemporary ceramics and economic crisis, to the Easter holidays, etc. considerations; for example, firing-tempera- craft establishment.” etc....The real explanation is that group exhi­ ture range, output, studio space and kiln site. Intended “to redress the balance,” this bitions are notoriously difficult. People go for Since the book is “concerned primarily text covers the transfer of ceramic color from a name. In P.R. terms, a group doesn’t cut with raw-flame kilns, both for oxidation and a plate (metal, wood, plaster, etc.) or screen any ice. I knew this, but I don’t regret trying reduction firing,” Gregory next looks at po­ directly and indirectly, using individual ce­ a group show once again. It’s a chance for tential fuels—wood, oil, coal and gas. Avail­ ramists’ work as examples throughout. each person to follow up on ideas and work ability and practicality, as well as the effects After a historical overview of ceramics and outside the normal repertoire.” on clay and glazes, should be taken into print, Scott discusses relief printing. “To the Throughout these reminiscences, Caiger- account, he says. artist-printmaker, relief printing means

22 CERAMICS MONTHLY

New Books ing machine is turned off just before the other surfaces, when the silk screen is placed paper passes through the heated rollers, and over the surface, and a ‘squeegee’ pulled the paper is removed from the machine, the across the inside of the screen, forcing ink linocuts and woodcuts,” he explains. “These image can in turn be transferred to a clay through the open mesh onto the receiving are made by cutting away those areas that aresurface by simply laying the paper face down surface. Where the screen is blocked, no ink not to be printed.” Among the relief-printingonto a prepared slab of clay, and rolling appears; in open areas, ink does.” tools traditionally used with ceramics are gently,” Scott notes. “Upon removal, the He also describes the process of transfer­ rubber stamps and sponges. Although stampsimage appears on the clay surface.” ring designs to silk screens through photo­ can be purchased, Scott recommends cutting Scott looks at silk screening and decals sensitive films and emulsions. “Almost any soft pencil erasers into various designs. next. “Silk screens are frames of wood or design can be transferred to a silk screen by Intaglio printing—from metal or plas­ metal, with one side covered with a stretched using photosensitive screen emulsions or ter—and monoprinting are described in the fine mesh made from silk, polyester, nylon or films,” Scott explains. following chapters. Monoprinting can be steel,” he explains. “Designs are put on screens “Photostencil films done from fabric, paper, plaster, the kiln, as in substances which effectively block the are applied to the well as from photocopies. “If the photocopy­mesh. These are transferred to paper, clay or screen before exposure through a ‘positive,’ to ultraviolet light. Films can be applied from sheets of photostencil material, or squeezed on with photosensi­ tive emulsion. When dry, screens are ready for exposure. The ultra­ violet source can be as simple as sunshine or daylight, but conventionally, a mercury va­ por lamp or carbon arc lamp are used.” California ceramist Les Lawrence has worked with screen printing for many years, according to Scott. “He uses a variety of photographic images, and currently uses a water-based system, mixing inks up with clay slip, black glaze stain and commercial black underglaze with a little gum arabic. Instead of printing directly onto the clay surface, he prints onto plaster bats.” Scott goes on to discuss direct printing on clay, making decals, onglaze and underglaze prints, custom-made and industrially pro­ duced decals. The final chapters look at lithographic printing and direct photographic emulsions. A chemical process used primarily by ceram­ ics industry, lithographic printing is done “almost exclusively with ‘predictable’ on­ glaze colors,” Scott notes. “Because making lithographic decals demands access to spe­ cialized and expensive equipment, this sort of printing can realistically only be done in a print workshop.” Direct photographic emulsions, he then explains, “are liquid, light-sensitive emul­ sions applied to ceramic surfaces. After dry­ ing, they are exposed to light and ‘developed.’ The resulting print is part of the ceramic it was applied to.” 128 pages, including glos­ sary, health and safety guide, list of ceramic and print suppliers, bibliography, and index. 24 color and 88 black-and-white photographs; 3 sketches. £9.99/US$22.95, softcover.A&C Black, 35 Bedford Row, London WC1R 4JH, England; and University of Pennsylvania Press, 423 Guardian Drive, Philadelphia, Pennsyl­ vania 19104.

24 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1995 25 26 CERAMICS MONTHLY

28 CERAMICS MONTHLY

rowing up on a farm in northwest­ ern Ohio, Mark Nafziger never even considered a career in art. At Goshen College (Indiana), his goal initially was to complete a math and science pro­ gram for a career in secondary educa­ tion. But after meeting a certain young lady, he began visiting the art depart­ ment and soon discovered what a fasci­ nating place it could be. Six years and a senior exhibition in clay later, he gradu­ ated with two degrees. He had reasoned that dual majors in math and art would be of as great an interest to school boards, as Joyce, the young art major, was to him. A wedding followed graduation. That summer, he worked at various construction jobs, planning to go on to graduate school. Then the position of resident potter opened up at Sauder Vase, 10 inches in height, wheel-thrown Stoneware pitcher, 10 inches in height, Village near Archbold, Ohio. Nafziger stoneware with trailed-slip decoration. with banded and feathered slip. thought that would be a good way to spend some time before grad school and applied for the position. He soon settled into the villages pottery, a tiny building, circa 1900, with no heat or running water. Now, 14 years later, he has a handsome new studio built to his specifications. A nonprofit organization, Sauder Village is essentially a living history mu­ seum representing life in the 1800s, but it is unique in the fact that it features craftspeople who work with modern ma­ terials and meet the market demands of the 1990s. Rather than mirroring one particular time period, Sauder Village joined the 20th century by encouraging contemporary craftspeople to work in their own particular styles. Although he is lenown as Sauder’s resident potter, Nafziger receives no sal­ ary from the village. He is self-employed, purchases his own supplies, materials and equipment, and pays for his utili­ ties. In return for studio space, he is expected to demonstrate pottery pro­ duction for village visitors seven months of the year (mid-April through Octo­ ber). That doesn’t mean he demonstrates throwing every day. The shop schedule matches that of most private studios: Platter, approximately 19 inches in diameter, wheel-thrown stoneware, with trailed some days are primarily devoted to pro- slip and sprayed glaze, fired to Cone 9-10 in reduction.

30 CERAMICS MONTHLY About 20% of Nafziger’s work is sold directly to Sauder Farm visitors.

After many years of working in a tiny building with no heat or running water, Nafziger moved into a new studio built to his specifications.

Nafziger often sketches guidelines The new 2660-square-foot studio includes a kiln room, a clay-mixing room, as well with a pencil before slip trailing as a large production and observaton area divided by a counter. intricate patterns on large platters.

December 1995 31 duction; others to decorating, glazing, from the orderly mentality of his Ger- loading and unloading Icilns, etc. Pro­ man-Swiss heritage, the lovingly stitched duction flow must be maintained; he quilts under which he slept as a youth, cant change his schedule to accommo­ the plowed fields of the surrounding date visitors requests. farmland and the works of M. C. Escher, Still, Nafziger, or someone knowl­ blended with his intrinsic math skills. edgeable in pottery, must be in the shop All contributed to and became a part of each day while numerous visitors (about To feather slips on vertical surfaces, his slip-decorating repertoire. 125,000 per year) observe and ask ques­ Nafziger begins by ribbing the wall dry. Hair-dye (Lady Clairol Tint and tions. Although it can be intimidating Toner) bottles tipped with 18- or 20- working in front of an audience, he gauge hypodermic needles (from a vet­ values this interaction with visitors as erinarian) are used to trail slip. The point an opportunity to create an awareness is ground down, then the needle is of and an appreciation for functional wedged tightly into the bottles nozzle. daywork. Most of the trailing is done directly Over the years, it became obvious on greenware, but feathering is done on that the physical restrictions of the old freshly thrown pieces. When planning shop would never permit the resident to feather slips on a vertical surface, potter to make pottery a full-time ca­ Nafziger begins with stiff clay, and ribs reer, and Nafziger was invited to design the wall dry to avoid slumping. A base a new building to house the pottery. coat of white slip (heavy cream consis­ After many hours of intensive planning, tency) is trailed on as the wheel turns. the present shop evolved. The construc­ Next come bands of contrasting slip. A tion also became a living exhibition, as “carefully selected” broomstraw (quills the timber was cut on site and the “barn Bands of contrasting slip are trailed are too sharp) is then pulled through onto a base coat of white slip. raising” was open to the public. The the slip. result is a handsome, timber-framed, All his work is bisqued to Cone 07 2660-square-foot structure. The much in one of two electric kilns. Most is larger space houses a public area/show- then dip-glazed; however, large or intri­ room (528 square feet), a production cately patterned pieces are usually area (912 square feet), a clay storage sprayed (with an automotive paint and mixing area (392 square feet), a sprayer purchased in a hardware store) kiln room (540 square feet) and a stor­ in a ventilated booth. Glaze firing is to age loft (288 square feet). Cone 9-10 in reduction. Outside, the heavy rustic doors are Sometimes Nafziger thinks about embellished with ironwork by Sauder s A “carefully selected” broomstraw is hiring employees or assistants, “but then then pulled through the wet slip. resident blacksmith. Inside, large win­ I would have to tell them what to do, dows cast daylight on the attractive dis­ and I have realized that I really like to play of cups, mugs, bowls, pitchers, work alone,” he says. “I am very par­ casseroles and platters. The potters wheel ticular about my work and I would lose and the rows and racks of works in control with another working in my progress are visible, but not accessible space. Whenever I do need an extra to the public. hand, my Dad arrives to help with clay The modern side of the time line is mixing, glazing, loading the kiln and certainly evident in the equipment, chatting with visitors.” which includes a 45-cubic-foot car kiln. Even though questions can be mun­ Recessed tracks allow the car to be rolled dane, ranging from “Do you make these into the shop so it can be loaded and things here?” to “Are those ready to unloaded in full view of the public. cook in your kitchen oven?” Nafziger When not in use, the tracks can be delights in explaining what he is doing covered so that ware carts roll easily to his audience and finds it exciting across the floor. Hair-dye bottles tipped with hypodermic when someone develops a knowledge Nafzigers personal style emerged needles are used to trail slip. of and enthusiasm for daywork.

32 CERAMICS MONTHLY Nafziger applies most of his slip-trailed decoration to dry greenware—rotating it on the wheel for banding or holding it at an angle in his lap for curvilinear patterns. All his work is bisqued to Cone 07 in one of two electric kilns, and glaze fired to Cone 9-10 in a 45-cubic-foot car kiln.

December 1995 33 Recipes

Basic White Slip Gold Glaze (Cone 10) (Cone 9, reduction) 6 Tile Clay...... 20.0 % Dolomite...... 22.5% Kentucky Ball Whiting...... 3.3 Clay (OM 4) ...... 62.5 Custer Feldspar...... 48.9 H. C. Spinks Foundry Ball Clay...... 25.3 Hill Creme...... 12.5 100.0% Flint ...... 5.0 Add: Bone Ash ...... 2.0% 100.0% Rutile...... 8.0% Sieve through an 80-mesh (mini­ Blue Glaze mum) screen. Slip can be brushed or (Cone 10, reduction) trailed on wet, damp or dry pots. If Barium Carbonate...... 12.00% used for trailing, it is important to Whiting...... 12.00 screen at least three times for smooth­ Custer Feldspar...... 43.00 ness. For blue, add 6%-12% cobalt Bentonite...... 1.00 carbonate. For brown, add 15%- Large or intricately patterned work is Kaolin...... 6.00 glazed by spraying with an automotive 30% red iron oxide and fire in re­ Flint...... 26.00 paint sprayer in a ventilated booth. duction. For black, add 2%-6% 100.00% cobalt carbonate, 4%-10% manga­ Add: Copper Carbonate.. 0.43% nese dioxide and 8%—15% red iron Red Iron Oxide...... 4.30% oxide; fire in reduction to Cone 10. About 20% of his work is sold di­ Rutile...... 4.30% Clear Glaze rectly from the pottery shop. Another When applied thickly, this recipe (Cone 10, reduction) 30% is through special orders or repeat yields iron blue, but it may run if Dolomite...... 17.1% sales to local customers. He also whole­ applied too thickly. sales 25% to the Sauder Village Gift Whiting...... 2.6 Shop. (This is a definite plus, as there is Custer Feldspar...... 35.3 Stoneware Body no packing or shipping involved. A two- Bentonite...... 2.0 (Cone 10) minute walk with the pots from the Kaolin...... 22.8 Custer Feldspar...... 12.3% studio to the village shop with a guar­ Flint...... 20.2 6 Tile Clay...... 9.5 anteed payment is hard to beat.) The 100.0% Cedar Heights Goldart...... 19.8 remaining 25% is retailed through two Cedar Heights Redart...... 3.5 pre-Christmas Ohio Designer Crafts­ Tallow Matt Glaze Hawthorn Bond Fireclay... 7.9 men Enterprises shows in Cincinnati (Cone 9-10, reduction) Kentucky Ball and Columbus. Bone Ash...... 7.6% Clay (OM 4) ...... 19.8 When asked how working half the Dolomite...... 15.5 H. C. Spinks Foundry year with an audience and half in rela­ Talc...... 6.5 Hill Creme...... 19.8 tive isolation affects production, Naf­ Custer Feldspar...... 44.0 Flint...... 5.6 ziger replied, “When the village closes Kaolin...... 26.4 Fine Grog...... 1.8 at the end of October, I really crank out 100.0% 100.0% the work.” He usually glaze fires four times within a three-week period, mak­ ing November his single most produc­ tive month. Surprisingly, the next most produc­ at work. It is show time, as well as tive, it is a more relaxed and thoughtful tive months are April through October, production time.” time. Come spring, though, he is “anx­ when the village is open. “You cant just The winter months are when he takes ious to see people in the shop. It is like loaf about when visitors are present,” he time to repair or construct equipment being away from clay for a while—you explained. “They expect to see a potter and work on the studio. While produc- go into withdrawal.” ▲

34 CERAMICS MONTHLY Voices from Within by Wendy Pearson

“Reptilian Repose,” 22 inches in diameter, handbuilt stoneware, smoke fired, $750, by Monica Robertson, Brantford, Ontario, Canada,

^A^here do ideas come from? Every devoted reader of science fiction knows the story of writer Harlan Ellison an­ swering, in exasperation, that most loathed of questions “Where do you get your ideas?” with a single word, “Schenectady.” In the days before sci­ ence fiction existed, which is to say be­ fore the Industrial Revolution brought us mass-produced blue jeans, Styrofoam cups and the nuclear bomb, it is prob­ “My Town” vases, to 12 inches in height, able that most potters could have an­ majolica decorated, $100 each, by John Prosser, Brantford, Ontario, Canada. swered that question almost as simply as Ellison did, and without the irony.

December 1995 35 “Flying Horse (Eastern Han Dynasty),” “Chinese Line Dancing,” 16 inches in diameter, 34 inches high, handbuilt stoneware, platter with masked crackle glaze, raku fired, $500, by Monica Robertson. $275, by John Prosser.

Tradition, history, the needs of the ly revolved around the quest for a voice person show at the Rosewood Gallery, a people for whom the pots were made— of ones own. Indeed, the question of show that also featured the work of these were the individual potters well- voice permeated the whole show—not local ceramists Robert Tetu and Monica spring of ideas. Indeed, it is probable only finding a voice, but transforming Robertson. All three exhibited clayworks that even thinking of the work of shap­ it into another key, and trying to find that were notable for their technical ing clay as requiring “ideas” would have ways to use and adapt other peoples strength. While Prosser and Tetu con­ been as foreign to “traditional” potters voices. centrated on thrown work of a decora­ as Mary Shelleys Frankenstein would I suspect all of us have had the expe­ tive and/or functional nature in either have seemed to a reading audience rience of looking at an individual potters raku or earthenware, Robertson stuck steeped in the tradition that assumed work and thinking that not only do the to handbuilt sculptural pieces. “literature” meant works written by pots look very much like someone else s For Prosser, the show marked a new­ long-dead Greeks and Romans. pots, but that the potter has also failed found sense of direction. While he has North American potters have very to go beyond the original vision. Pots always been a potter with strong techni­ little in the way of a continuous native like these may be technically brilliant cal skills, these new worlds reveal the tradition; most of us are trained in in­ but somehow lifeless. However, the pro­ melding of technique with vision. They stitutional settings or are self-taught. Our cess of becoming a potter—or weaver can be divided into roughly three cat­ vision of pottery comes from slides, or painter or even a writer—seems also egories: majolica-glazed earthenware, a books and gallery shows, and our fight to require the discipline of practice and controlled and largely pictorial approach to establish ourselves as potters is con­ imitation. There seems to be no short­ to raku, and finally a new and experi­ ditioned not only by economic consid­ cut that lets the individual artist break mental dip into the area of “shadow erations, but by the need of each through directly to a distinct voice with­ crackle.” He studied the last technique individual to shape ideas in clay, to find out the months and years of imitation. at a summer course taught by Michael a voice as a potter. A recent exhibition Yet that breakthrough must at some Sheba in Haliburton; it involves the at the Rosewood Gallery in Brantford, point arrive for every artist. application of a slip that will flake off Ontario, reinforced this notion for me. Brantford-area potter John Prosser after raku firing, leaving the clay both Although called “Quest of Fire,” it real­ made that breakthrough in the three- stained by the coloring of the slip and

36 CERAMICS MONTHLY patterned by the smoke that penetrated and crackle white that he uses as his the lost tribe s name, which Tetu oblig­ the normal crackling of the slip. basic raku palette. ingly translated as “Pussyfoot.” Pots in the majolica series, which Robert Tetu is an established potter This sense of playfulness permeated Prosser called “My Town,” derived their from Seaforth, Ontario, who is known many of the pieces in the show. A recur­ images from his formal training in ar­ for his fine functional porcelain. For rent image for all three of the potters chitecture. The brushwork is loose and this show, however, Tetu chose to aban­ was the lizard. Tetu had wax-resist liz­ lively; some of the pots in this series are don his functional work to develop raku ards on raku pieces; Prosser made a in black and white; others are rendered ideas. He has been working in raku for series of small press-molded lizards that in subtle colors that recall the freshly some time, emphasizing strong, clean climbed the gallery wall; Robertsons washed look of a street after a summer line with areas of wax-resisted design major sculptural piece, “Reptilian Re­ rain. The decoration runs naturally that bring to mind the spare grace of pose,” was a coil-built stoneware pot around the pots, presenting the viewer Chinese calligraphy. with two lifelike lizards crawling over with neat little surprises as the pot is Tetu, like Prosser, also seems to be its surface. A second coil-built pot with turned: a line of laundry flapping in the participating in a general shift among a single lizard curled across its lid effec­ breeze, half-empty wine glasses on a Ontario potters toward earthenware. tively repeated and reinforced the theme. wrought-iron table. The attraction of the softly muted ma­ All of her handbuilt pieces were very Prossers raku work involved the use jolica glaze with the bright palette of strongly modeled and often showed con­ of tangrams. A tangram is a design whose underglaze colors gave both of these siderable delicacy of feeling for the quali­ components, no matter how turned or potters ample room for experimenta­ ties of clay as a sculptural medium. It twisted, will always revert to a square. tion. Tetu used his earthenware work was unfortunate that this delicacy of Often the resulting shapes look like very largely for a series of sustained jokes feeling did not always carry over into basic blocky people cavorting playfully about finding a lost Central American the use of decorative images on the pots. across the surface of a plate or bowl. tribe in the desert. Each of the plates in A general problem with the use of These shapes are generated using the the series told a part of this story and images from other cultures was exem­ computer, and reveal Prossers particu­ each featured cats and cacti as their ma­ plified for me by a tall coil-built pot lar interest in the area of computer- jor design elements. His favorite animal with Oriental additions, both in the aided design, yet another tie-in to his seems to be the cat—not surprisingly, handles and in the horse on the lid, early architectural education. Combined the joke in the story revolved around which was a precise replica of a bronze with other geometric elements—prima­ rily lines of varying thickness—these figures create interesting motifs in black Covered jar, 15 inches in height, with copper glaze against the bright copper, vivid turquoise over wax-resisted decoration, raku fired, $250, by Robert Tetu, Seaforth, Ontario, Canada.

December 1995 37 “Crackle Cream” vases, to 15 inches in height, wheel thrown, brushed with a crackle slip that flakes off after firing, smoked, $95, $200 and $200, by John Prosser.

original that was part of a Chinese exhi­ edge that, as potters, we participate in a oed by his students, and one afternoon, bition at the Royal Ontario Museum in historical and historicized cultural pro­ trying to explain to us all why we needed Toronto in 1974. Despite the fact that cess, with both tribal and international to understand glaze technology, Roy said its origins were acknowledged in its title, traditions. There are ways in which we something that I have never forgotten, this sculpture seemed a little too close can reinterpret and integrate these im­ something at once simple, obvious and for comfort. In a parallel piece of writ­ ages from the common global history profound: “There are only two ways to ten work, one would be tempted to of pottery, but these ways may not be do pottery. Either you have tradition or speak of plagiarism. It was off-putting easy for us to find and still preserve a you have science.” because it both took a historical image sense of our own individual voices. These Like writers of science fiction, most from another culture, then treated it as are areas that go beyond technique and of us do not have a clear sense of be­ if it belonged to the potter. Had the can only be answered by a genuine will­ longing to a continuing tradition with copy been less close, had it had some­ ingness to listen to the voices of others centuries of history behind us. Few of thing to say about the relationship be­ and an openness to ones own cultural us come from families or villages where tween Han-dynasty pottery and our milieu and personal history. the craft of pottery is our way of life. own, it might have been less discom­ Although each of the potters in this We find our own traditions in the his­ forting. Taken in concert with a coil- show has been shaped by an institu­ torical and theoretical visions of the pur­ built pot encircled by silhouettes of tional training and an apprenticeship in pose of art and craft in our times, and buffalo and a pair of quasi-Mayan masks, the practical work of making one s own in the perusal of a written and docu­ the borrowing of the flying horse seemed pots, each clearly got his or her ideas mented history of pottery that makes to suggest a willingness to simply take from different places—though none available to us information from many rather than to transform. from Schenectady. The best works were periods and places. We have a chemical Relying primarily on images from those in which it was clear that the ideas science that explains to us the processes other people s cultures can only be prob­ were generated from within, from the by which raw ingredients are trans­ lematic today. It is no longer possible potters accumulated integration of ce­ formed into finished works, and we have for us to commandeer the visual or oral ramics science and history. a historical science that tells us about records of indigenous cultures without In my brief tenure as a student of the ways these raw ingredients can and in some way taking over what does not ceramics at Sheridan College, I had the have been shaped in other places and at belong to us and laying ourselves open pleasure of taking a course in ceramic other times. These are our sources of to charges of “cultural appropriation.” technology from Ron Roy. His enthusi­ ideas, and it is up to us how we use or At the same time, we have to acloiowl- asm for his subject was not always ech­ abuse them. ▲

38 CERAMICS MONTHLY ^^lay bodies suitable for use in ther- pany, Gwalia Consolidated, Ltd., pro­ Spodumene mal shock situations require low or zero vided samples for the following tests: coefficients of thermal expansion. for Low Plastic Body Trials When spodumene (Li20 Al203 Analyses of spodumene ores from 5Si0 2) is included in the body, it has Thermal the effect of altering thermal expansion this deposit are detailed in Table 1, but behavior. because of time constraints only alpha Expansion Spodumene occurs naturally as a spodumene concentrate was selected monoclinic pyroxene known as alpha for this study. by M. J. Murray spodumene. When heated to above Four clays of very different charac­ 1082°C (1980°F), it undergoes an ir­ ter were selected for blending trials. reversible volume increase of approxi­ Adialyses of these clays are also given in mately 30% to form the tetragonal Table 1. Two blending ratios were used phase known as beta spodumene. for each clay, namely 40% spodumene Within the past decade, a large de­ and 50% spodumene by weight, pro­ posit of spodumene ore in Western Aus­ ducing eight test bodies. tralia was opened for commercial Two additional bodies were included exploitation. It is claimed that this de­ in these trials: Body 9, a minor varia­ posit is the largest source of high-grade tion on Body 1; and Body 10, a synthet­ spodumene in the world. The com­ ic bone china body without spodumene (42% synthetic bone ash, 37% potash feldspar, 21 % kaolin and 2% Ben tone 38). Table 2 lists the compositions of the other test bodies. The individual compositions were batched, then ball-milled with water for three hours. The milled body was then de-watered by pouring it into plas­ ter molds. Upon reaching a plastic state, it was removed and stored in a sealed container to age for one week. Next, half of each body was rolled into a slab of 10mm (less than ½ inch) thickness and cut into test bars of 30x130mm (approximately VAX5 inches), which were immediately marked at 100mm centers and allowed to air dry. When fully dry, they were measured to determine shrinkage. The remaining half of the body was evaluated for its throwing properties using a potters wheel. Two standard bowl shapes, 120mm in diameter and 80mm in height, were made from each body. When leather hard, one bowl from each body was burnished to seal the surface and evaluate any benefits. All the test bowls and bars (with the exceptions of B3 and B7) were fired

December 1995 39 together in a natural gas-fired kiln of 1- Eleven casting bodies were prepared cubic-meter capacity to a temperature and allowed to age for three days. The of 1300°C (2372°F). Firing atmosphere slip-casting body compositions are listed was maintained at neutral throughout in Table 3. Slips were individually the firing using an oxygen probe. Total poured into plaster molds. Casting time firing time was 6 hours. Bodies B3 and was 10 minutes, after which all molds B7 were fired to 1140°C (2084°F) in were emptied and incline-drained for an electric kiln. an additional 10 minutes. The castings When the bars were cool, tests to were removed from the molds after 24 measure the clays physical properties hours, air dried, then collectively fired (including drying and firing shrinkage, to 1140°C in an electric kiln. flexural strength, water absorption, ap­ Measurements were then taken for parent porosity, bulk density and ther­ drying and firing shrinkage, water ab­ mal expansion characteristics) were con­ sorption and thermal expansion char­ ducted. Five bars were tested for all acteristics. bodies and results averaged. Plastic Body Results Slip-Casting Body Trials A summary of all physical test re­ A terra-cotta body was selected as sults is presented in Table 5. Drying the basis for evaluating the influence of shrinkages were not excessive and all spodumene on casting slips. A line fell within the range 3%—7%; how­ blending procedure was used to pro­ ever, firing shrinkages were unusual. vide bodies with 1% increments in Indeed, there were firing expansions in spodumene up to a total of 10%. seven cases—the result of the irrevers­ ible expansion of alpha to beta spod­ umene. The bone-china body BIO shows a typically high-firing shrinkage and contrasts the unusual behavior of alpha spodumene. Flexural strength (modulus of rup­ ture) was acceptable for stoneware ap­ plications. Most of the compositions showed strengths in this region. Bodies B5 and B8 were the strongest of the spodumene compositions. All the bodies had high water-ab- sorption figures, demonstrating the ef­ fect of the volume expansion of alpha spodumene at 1082°C. The lowest ab­ sorption was obtained from body B8. Apparent porosity results were also high, the lowest porosity being obtained from body B8. Bulk density results were low, as would be expected from bodies with high porosity values. The highest result was obtained from body B8. The bodies achieved low and in most cases linear rates of expansion. The low­

40 CERAMICS MONTHLY est thermal expansion was achieved by a terra-cotta body reduced the porosity. body B4 with a coefficient of expan­ Also, the sensitivity to rapid firing and sion of 1.88 X 10E-6 cm/cm between cooling cycles was improved, thus per­ 20°C and 800°C (68°F and 1472°F). mitting a faster rate of cooling and Subjective evaluations of the throw­ consequently a quicker kiln turnaround. ing and burnishing behavior of the plas­ Furthermore, the addition of only tic bodies are presented in Table 4. The small quantities of spodumene could best bodies for throwing were Bl, B5 assist in the precise lowering of the and B9, all containing ball clay, BBR thermal expansion of a body to achieve and spodumene. Addition of the com­ a better fit between the body and some mercial plasticizer Bentone 38 improved glazes. It would be of particular benefit the properties required for throwing. where glaze shivering was a problem. The unusual firing expansion en­ Slip-Casting Body Results countered with alpha spodumene bod­ Drying shrinkage values for all slip- ies could be useful in the production of casting bodies was 8% of dry length. products requiring zero or minimal di­ The spodumene content had no no­ mensional change in firing; for example, ticeable effect. prototypes for mold making. Firing shrinkage for all slip-cast bod­ Another suitable application would ies was 15% of dry length. Again, the be for raku firing. Raku trials using spodumene had no noticeable effect. spodumene-based bodies have demon­ Water absorption steadily decreased strated that they are superior to the from 4.93% to 0.66% with increasing conventional heavily grogged fireclay spodumene content. The fluxing ac­ bodies. The loss rate was less, the bod­ tion of the lithium in the spodumene ies were structurally sound and, in many is clearly beneficial. instances, could be used functionally. The thermal expansion of the base Another benefit was the improved glaze terra-cotta casting slip was progressively colors, which was attributed to the pres­ decreased with increasing spodumene ence of lithium compounds in the body. content. The quartz anomaly at 573°C This color enhancement was also (1063°F) was notably reduced. achieved from the same spodumene bodies without any glaze when they Applications were in a wood-firing kiln together with As a modifier of existing bodies, a range of conventional bodies. spodumene can provide better thermal expansion characteristics and reduced The author M. ]. Murray is a senior porosity. In this study, the addition of lecturer in ceramics at Monash Univer­ only small quantities of spodumene to sity in Victoria., Australia.

December 1995 41 Biomorphs,” up to 11 inches in length, high-fired and tumbled stoneware,

The low window shelf of the sunlit “Twentieth-century art is about deal­ studio is lined with abstract, figurative ing with the information,” says Miller. pieces shaped from recycled clay, and “Artists are trying to find their context polished smooth in a rock tumbler. Most in the world by creating new images have a feminine reference; some are more about what is important in their lives. ambiguous. “I am interested in how Contemporary artists have so few for­ forms merge. Two images coming to­ mal guidelines; we can do anything we gether can create so many meanings,” want. Historically, art has had much explains Colorado artist Bradley Miller, stronger formal guidelines. This may reaching for a piece. “This figure could seem limiting at first, but it resulted in be a mummy, or a fetus, or a pregnant incredibly beautiful pieces because it al­ torso, representing three primal events: lowed the artist to focus on nuance and birth, union or death. My works are subtlety of form. In my most recent often contemporary reconfigurations of work, I’ve gone back to the primary ancient and universal imagery.” form, the basic human figure.” Miller suggests that today, because Miller received an M.EA. in 1977 Bradley Miller in his Woody Creek, we have access to so much global infor­ Colorado, studio. from the University of Oregon where mation, our society has lost a collective he studied with Bob James, George moral framework. Unlike his Norwe­ of his heritage. For him, to completely Kokis and David Stannard. Because he gian ancestors who lived by a set of buy into one belief system would mean studied in the Northwest where the commonly understood standards, Miller denying the validity of the immense museums have strong Oriental collec­ says that he has given up the traditions range of beliefs throughout the world. tions, Millers work is affected by the

42 CERAMICS MONTHLY about glazes. I am intrigued by the rock- like quality of the clay. I want to see how clay surfaces can evolve in color and texture. An unglazed piece has a solid look through and through, whereas glazed pieces have a surface. Psycho­ logically, the two feel very different.” The first pieces he fired were solid ceramic spherical “stones” up to 5 inches in diameter that had been polished in a ball mill to simulate river wear. Several of the large stones cracked unintention­ ally. He salvaged the pieces, tumbled them again and reassembled them. “The forms that emerged were an unexpected delight. Then I had the idea that I could intentionally reproduce these forms by wrapping clay pieces in tissue paper and compressing them to­ gether. During the firing, the paper burned out, leaving the pieces free from one another. These pieces were tumbled and reassembled. The forms that emerged were beautiful but inherently different from the cracked forms.” Through a little research, Miller found that these forms, close packing of spheres and cracking patterns, were op­ erative at all scales within the universe. “History Series #15,” 13½ inches in height, stoneware, 1984. Photographic studies of bubbles revealed that when spheres come together into Oriental aesthetic. “It has to do with a packing patterns, they form the tetra­ reverence for organic form—a rever­ hedron, a four-sided triangle. ence for nature as opposed to an urban Today, after working with the form aesthetic.” for many years, Miller believes that the By focusing on the human figure, universe is built on tetrahedrons, and Miller says that, conceptually, he has that intuitively we know that we are an been “working up the food chain.” His extension of this. “You know,” exclaims early sculpture reflects his interest in Miller, speaking of cell division, “in the molecular science and patterns in na­ early stages of embryonic development, ture, themes that still permeate his work we are tetrahedrons. Maybe at some today. His repertoire included rocks, complex level, emotions can be ex­ Miller fires to Cone 10 in an updraft gas primal images, base-life forms, viruses kiln outside his studio. plained this way too.” and microscopic organisms. He remains “interested in how the While in graduate school, Miller be­ Miller. “Firings were very inexpensive. I universe works. Although I am never gan experimenting with a half dozen would form a piece, load it wet into the going to understand how the universe small—less than ½ cubic foot—table- kiln to candle overnight, then fire it the operates, there are parts that interest me top kilns, which assembled into what next day. I learned a lot because the formally. I am curious about how the he called a “fire bench.” These small small variations that showed up with forms come together in a way people kilns were fueled by propane, natural each firing would influence the next respond to at some primal level.” gas and electricity. load. Although I occasionally experi­ Experimenting with the fire bench “Working at that scale you don’t have ment with low-fire, commercial glazes, in the early 1980s, Miller learned to a lot to lose and much to gain,” assures I have never been interested in learning work with thick, bricklike forms fired

December 1995 43 “Double Spiral Bowl,” 9½ inches in length, stoneware, tumbled in a rubber-lined jar filled with water and silicone carbide grit, 1994.

“Holder,” 11 inches in length, high-fired and tumbled stoneware, 1993.

over a five-day cycle. He began making A friend of mine was in a monastery in on his directorship, he commented: “I sedimentarylike cast landscapes, which Burma. She was stripped of every didn’t realize how much of my creative today serve as the bases for the bowls worldly possession except for a mat, a energy it took to run the ranch. I kept and cups that he handbuilds and carves robe, sandals and a bowl.” on making art, but the organization with spirals and other mythic symbols. After graduate school, Miller and his continued to grow and it became im­ The bases are blocks of geology, each wife, Mollie, were invited to run the possible to do both. During that time, one a discovery when Miller cuts them ceramics program at the Anderson Mollie and I built a home and studios, open with a lapidary saw. Ranch Arts Center, a nonprofit school and it became clear that it was time to “I began to elevate the bowl to make near Aspen. Miller recalls that at that get back into my art full time. I’ve come it more important, putting it on a ped­ time “the facilities weren’t very good, to realize that my personality is much estal to make it and the contents more but people wanted to be in the moun­ better suited to art making than to ad­ significant. Bowls are elemental, essen­ tains in the summer, so the ranch was ministrative meetings.” tial tools. They really are an extension able to attract a strong faculty.” Now Miller spends much of his time of the hands. Bowls work in a minute In 1984, Miller became the execu­ working in his studio overlooking the part of the universe. They are very spe­ tive director of Anderson Ranch, a po­ Roaring Fork River in Woody Creek, cific to being on the surface of the earth. sition he held until 1992. Looldng back Colorado. Most of his clay is recycled

44 CERAMICS MONTHLY from unwanted clay from nearby Ander­ son Ranch Arts Center. “My clay bod­ ies are not reproducible,” insists Miller. “I haven’t used a recipe or formula for over 15 years.” For his figurative sculptures and rocks, he mixes scrap stoneware, earth­ enware and porcelain, and to this he adds coarse masonry sand, sawdust, ver- miculite and grog. “I get a broad varia­ tion of textures, colors and stonelike finishes. For instance, the sand from the local quarry has chunks of feldspars in it that turn to black glass. Occasionally, I’ll get a total meltdown. Some of my more interesting bases have been made of sludge from sink traps.” Miller fires his pieces in a 16-cubic- foot, updraft kiln fueled with natural gas. For the thickest work, he takes four days to fire to red heat, then one more day to hit Cone 10. “My kiln often has a 3-cone spread between top and bot­ tom, which adds variation.” Most ceramists unload a lain and immediately see their results, but this is

“Floaters,” displayed to 9 feet in height, stoneware and steel, 1992-1993.

“Radiator Bowl,” 18 inches in length, handbuilt stoneware, fired to Cone 10, 1994.

December 1995 45 not the case for Miller; approximately 90% of his work is either tumbled or cut with a rock saw after it comes out of the kiln. “Like raw geodes must be opened to reveal their beauty, I must first take away something from my work by grinding or cutting to reveal the finished piece.” Miller wants a smooth, sensually finished form that is tactilely interest­ ing, so the bowls, rocks and figurative pieces go into two 5-gallon, rubber- lined jars filled with water and silicon carbide grit. These tumble at 120 rpm for 12 hours to 1 week, depending on the desired result. The landscape bases are sliced with a 2-foot diamond lapi­ dary saw to disclose the layers, then attached to the tumbled bowls and cups. Figurative clay sculpture and bowls and cups on landscape pedestals fill the neatly laid-out space, along with wood and stick sculpture and vaporous color drawings on rice paper injected with energetic lines on a background of deep opaque colors. “I work in a lot of me­ dia,” admits Miller. “I am attracted to drawing because you can express things that are ethereal. Sculpture is more static. Individually, none of my pieces expresses a complete idea. To understand them, you must look at the whole. It is like when words come together into sen­ tences and paragraphs to create a book. There are many parts to my work, and I am just now beginning to see how they relate into some larger concept.” How risky is it to give up the steady paycheck of an administrative job for the uncertain life of an artist? “When you’re an artist, your income fluctuates wildly from month to month. There is a business side to the work that you have to keep up—sales, getting galler­ ies, tax records, etc. We bought a Powerbook for correspondence and ac­ “Trophy Series #4,” 13 inches in height, stoneware, 1987, by Bradley Miller. quired a 4x5-inch camera for quality photographs.” Last year, everything came together for Miller when he re­ stagnant. There is a dilemma when an keep things in perspective, I try to re­ ceived a National Endowment for the artist creates something the market re­ member that everything is basically re­ Arts Visual Artist Fellowship. sponds to. You get stuck going into processed rock. Everything comes from “The important thing is that I con­ production and the process isn’t all that the earth and returns to it—computers, tinue to evolve. I don’t want to become creative. It’s easy to lose the context. To the space shuttle, my work, us.” A

46 CERAMICS MONTHLY Craft Alliance Teapot Annual

“Mother and Child II ’95,” 13 inches in length, handbuilt teapot, $1500, by Adrian Arleo, Lolo, Montana.

W^lore than 100 functional and sculp­ tural interpretations in clay, mixed me­ dia and metal by established and emerging crafts artists from across the country were featured in the “Third Annual Teapot Exhibit” at Craft Alli­ ance, a nonprofit art center and gallery in Saint Louis, Missouri. Selections were made by curator Daniel Anderson, ce­ ramics department chair at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville. To assure that the 1995 show was “different,” remarked gallery director Barb Jordan, “Anderson challenged his fellow instructors and students to ex­ plore a variety of techniques and mate­ rials in creating their vessels. The result “Tea Shrine Series #1,” 30 inches high, was a selection of conventional teapots glazed earthenware with gold leaf, $1500, with extraordinary surfaces, as well as by Richard Wehrs, Saint Louis, Missouri. more conceptual pieces.” ▲

December 1995 47 “Ziggarat Teapot and Fence,” 10 inches in length, wheel-thrown and slip-cast terra cotta, $1400, by James Lawton, Chicago.

“Humanitea,” 10 inches in height, handbuilt terra cotta, $475, by Dan Keegan, Buckhannon, West Virginia; from the “Third Annual Teapot Exhibit” at Craft Alliance in Saint Louis, Missouri.

48 CERAMICS MONTHLY Swiss Porcelain Triennial by Frank Nievergelt

The fourth edition of the interna­ The prizewinners were announced The jury also appreciated the subtleness tional triennial of porcelain at the Castle at the exhibition. First prize, the Pois- of the coloration combined with the of Nyon Museum of History and Por­ son d’Or, valued at SF 10,000 (approxi­ volcanic surface. celain in Switzerland offered a rich se­ mately US$8700) was presented to Tony Through his current work, Franks is lection of contemporary work. From a Franks of the United Kingdom for his developing a theme of slowly shifting field of 147 entries from all over the unconventional use of the material, and time, constant renewal, and the funda­ world, the jury selected works by 23 the tension between an archaic expres­ mental relationship between geology and artists representing 12 countries. sion and the preciousness of porcelain. landscape. Heavy bowls, dishes and cups

Bowl form, 12½ inches in diameter, winner of the first place Poisson d’Or prize (valued at approximately US$8700), by Tony Franks, United Kingdom.

December 1995 49 refer to a particular location in Scot­ land. By mixing bone china with a se­ lection of mosses, leaves, pine chips and other natural elements from that loca­ tion, he also establishes a physical link. Further references to the geology of the site are made by eroding the fired clay through sandblasting, grinding and cut­ ting. The final color of the surface al­ ludes to the climate, atmosphere and changing mood of the location. Tjok Dessauvage of Belgium was awarded the Prize of the City of Nyon (SF 6000, approximately US$5220) for a sculpture exemplifying the delicacy and translucency of porcelain. Usually, he chooses archetypes (demispheres, cyl­ inders, cones) as a starting point in which to create a kind of small-scale universe. The pot structure is considered to be a record of information, an exponent of an idea through which the concept is worked out. Certain abstractions of landscapes, elements of nature, move­ “Three Movements in a Square,” 8¾ inches in height, Prize of the City of Nyon (approximately US$5220) winner, ments, electronic schemes, sports, ar­ by Tjok Dessauvage, Belgium. chaeological fragments and decorative patterns are incorporated in the form. The Prize of the IKEA Foundation (SF 5000, approximately US$4350) went to Frank Steyaert and Chris Scholliers of Belgium in recognition of their successful combination of the monumentality of the stand and the delicacy of the nerikomi object. The collaboration between the sculptor, Steyaert, and his pupil, Scholliers, be­ gan in 1992. Tomoko Nishimura of Japan received the Prize Retraites Populaires (SF 5000, approximately US$4350) for the imag­ inative and humorous interpretation of an 18th-century tradition, which, by todays Japanese standards, is not far “Happy Go Lovely,” 9½ inches in Untitled sculpture, 18 inches in length, from being considered kitsch. height, Prize Retraites Populaires Prize of the IKEA Foundation (approxi­ (approximately US$4350) winner, mately US$4350) winner, by Frank Altogether, the show offered a varied by Tomoko Nishimura, Japan. Steyaert and Chris Scholliers, Belgium. vision, including irreverence for a mate­ rial, which always requires great techni­ cal skill. Porcelain was abandoned, relegated to the industrial and utilitar­ Porcelain provides the requisite quali­ asked to imitate paper or cloth. The ian world, during the period of Orien­ ties for the elaboration of a new lan­ exhibited works represented the aesthetic tal-inspired preference for stoneware. guage: it can be folded, wrapped in and technical revolution that this mate­ Since then, it has been rediscovered by string, rolled up, etc.; one may concen­ rial has undergone in the past few de­ studio artists, and has lent itself to all trate on its fineness and transparency cades, passing from simple table art and sorts of whim. or, to the contrary, its opacity; it may be decoration to art in its purest form. ▲

50 CERAMICS MONTHLY Gerardo Cota tending a dung firing in Mata Ortiz, Mexico.

Mata Ortiz Traditions and Innovations

by Bill Gilbert

rhe village of Juan Mata Ortiz, inhabited between A.D. 1275 and 1400 question but that the initial source for Mexico, lies about 20 miles south of and was then abandoned. The larger the current production was the Casas Nuevo Casas Grandes in the high north­ Casas Grandes system flourished be­ Grandes ceramics tradition. The forms ern plains of the state of Chihuahua. tween 1175 and 1400, concurrent with and designs utilized in the early part of Home to approximately 2000, this farm­ the habitations of Chaco Canyon and this revival were derived directly from ing and ranching community was Mesa Verde to the north. The artifacts the prehistoric Casas Grandes style. At named in honor of a local hero in the excavated at Paquime provide ample evi­ the same time, aspects of what is taking 19th-century war with the Apache. Over dence of trade with the prehistoric pueb­ place in this village appear more closely the past 25 years, it has been the center los of the southwestern United States. related to highly energized studios or of a revival of the Casas Grandes ceram­ There is also a close association between movements in contemporary art. The ics tradition. During this time the num­ the materials, processes and design mo­ difficulty in categorizing this work stems ber of practicing potters in Mata Ortiz tifs used in their ceramics. In short, the from the large distance Euro-American has steadily grown to the present count ceramics of Casas Grandes can best be culture imposes between traditional craft of over 300. understood as a part of the pueblo ce­ and contemporary art. Lacking is a Knowledge of the Casas Grandes sys­ ramics tradition. model for understanding the work of tems is based primarily on the Charles It is somewhat more difficult to de­ Mata Ortiz as a contemporary art form Di Peso archaeological excavations of termine the proper artistic context in that has roots in the traditional crafts of the ancient center of Paquime, just south which to examine the contemporary Native American culture. of Nuevo Casas Grandes. Paquime was work from Mata Ortiz. There is no There are parallels between the re-

December 1995 51 vivals of puebloan ceramics in New pieces for their aesthetic appeal. The work a powerful sense of movement Mexico and Arizona and what has taken driving force is economic, and for most that separates it from the mainstream of place in Mata Ortiz. In the revivals at of the potters in Mata Ortiz, Juan pueblo pottery and ranks it as one of Hopi and San Ildefonso, one person Quezada is the tradition. the more successful weddings of two- was initially responsible for revitalizing The range of Quezadas innovations dimensional and three-dimensional de­ a style that had been lost to the culture. is staggering. He has influenced every sign in contemporary ceramics. In Mata Ortiz, Juan Quezada is the aspect of the production of ceramics in The influence of this breakthrough equivalent of Nampeyo at Hopi or Mata Ortiz from clay bodies, to form­ can be witnessed throughout the works Maria Martinez at San Ildefonso Pueb­ ing techniques, to designs. Yet, his single of other Mata Ortiz potters. It is the lo. He accomplished this without the most important innovation is the break precedent for the insects and lizards of influence or direction of outside schol­ he made with the design system of hori­ Manuel Rodriguez crawling over each ars or experts, basing his work on the zontal banding that is the dominant other, and for the intricate designs of shards and pots he discov­ Gerardo Cota spinning off ered in wandering through into the open space of the the local environment. From lower half of his vessels. the very beginning, the lack Repeatedly, the younger of access to collections of potters first emulate Que­ whole pots, photographs or zadas forms and designs, and books meant that Quezada then develop entirely new frequently had to employ his styles to identify their work imagination in extrapolating as separate. Their initial in­ entire forms and designs from spiration was the example of small fragments. his economic success, not an He also needed to rein­ interest in the ancient Casas vent the process of fabricat­ Grandes culture. As a result, ing pottery step by step they are less bound by the through trial and error. A pro­ prehistoric tradition and have cess similar to that used some a strong impetus to develop 600 years earlier at Paquime a distinctive style that identi­ (based on the materials avail­ fies them as artists in their able in the local environment) own right. This has contrib­ evolved slowly. This faculty uted to the almost constant for creative experimentation innovation that makes the is perhaps Quezadas most revival in Mata Ortiz so important trait. The fact that unique. This faculty for in­ he has been able to accom­ novation establishes compari­ plish all of this by himself is sons with movements in of great importance to all that contemporary art and dis­ has since taken place in Mata tances the work of Mata Ortiz. Compared to the re­ Ortiz from revivals within the vivals at Hopi and San Juan Quezada has influenced every aspect of Mata Ortiz field of pueblo pottery. Ildefonso, the balance in pottery; his use of a diagonal design axis and overlapping In the development of Mata Ortiz is tilted toward patterns gives the illusion of depth and movement. their personal style, some individual experimentation have turned to the Mimbres and innovations, and away from rigid motif in the tradition of Casas Grandes culture, with the help of books brought adherence to tradition. and much pueblo pottery. The system by traders and collectors, as a source In Mata Ortiz, the potters do not of horizontal banding allows a two-di- within the field of pueblo pottery but consider themselves to be direct descen­ mensional design to be laid across the outside of Quezadas recent investiga­ dants of the Casas Grandes culture. They surface of a pot. Quezada decided to tions. The Mimbres culture produced have no ongoing tradition to connect treat the entire pot as a design field to painted pottery between A.D. 800 and them to Casas Grandes, no memory of create designs that acknowledge the full 1150 in what is now western New relatives making pots in this style or three-dimensionality of the pot. This Mexico, eastern Arizona and northern anyone using their pots for household innovation, in addition to his use of a Chihuahua. It is among the most highly or ritual purposes. Even today you rarely diagonal rather than vertical design axis regarded ceramic work in the pueblo see these potters using their own works and his tendency to overlap designs, tradition and has great appeal as a source in their households or saving favorite creating an illusion of depth, gives his of inspiration to the young artists. How-

52 CERAMICS MONTHLY Handbuilt and burnished marbled-clay jar with brushed decoration, 10½ inches in height, by Cesar Dominguez and Maria Gabriela Almeida.

Right: Pantyhose-burnished jar, 9 inches in height, with polychrome brushwork, by Gerardo Cota; unlike most Mata Ortiz potters, he begins with a design in mind and shapes the pot accordingly.

December 1995 Left: Intricately patterned jar, 18 inches in height, by Oscar Rodriguez; his designs frequently include animals “captured” in the act of transformation, such as a fish becoming a bird.

Jar with lizard imagery, 7 inches in height, by Manuel Rodriguez; he uses a broader palette of pigments (including rose, orange, yellow and brown) than most of the other Mata Ortiz potters. ever, questions remain as to the appro­ priateness of their use of Mimbres de­ signs. Some people view this as plagiarism of the styles and heritage of the pueblo cultures in the United States. On the other hand, Quezada is very clear in his belief that the Mimbres cul­ ture is a shared antecedent of Casas Grandes and the northern pueblos. He has personally discovered Mimbres pots buried within the physical boundaries of contemporary Mata Ortiz. Perhaps most compelling about Mata Ortiz are the questions it raises. It is fairly easy to make the argument that economic considerations have driven the explosion of artistic production in Mata Ortiz. The town was very poor for a long period of time, and the advent of any new possible means for earning a decent living was bound to draw the attention of the townspeople. Before pottery, the main economic options for the men were working for the railroad or for the Mormon fruit growers, or subsistence farming and ranching on

54 CERAMICS MONTHLY Right: Highly reflective blackware jar, 8½ inches in height, by Eduardo Ortiz; to prevent smearing while decorating, he usually wears hand coverings made from stockings.

Geometrically patterned jar, 6 inches in height, by Olga Quezada and Humberto Ledezma; their work often incorporates squared or fluted rims.

Deer-bone-burnished jar, 8 inches high, by Juan Quezada; though they use the same raw materials, he prepares a black pigment much darker than the brownish black utilized by the others. the ejido (collective land). For the women, meaningful access to the cash economy did not exist. Given Quezadas initial success and subsequent rise in income, it is easy to understand why other families have tried their hands at pottery. What is not so easily understood is how so many people have been able to become proficient in such a short time. Part of the explana­ tion is the open access to information. From the beginning, Quezada shared his discoveries with his family. This quickly expanded to include extended family, neighbors and friends of his chil­ dren. Even today, one can trace the spread of design styles along kinship lines and compadrazgo relationships throughout the village. The absence of a guild system, such as the one operat­ ing in the North American pueblos with its defined boundaries between mem­ bers and outsiders, has meant that those who were interested were able to learn at least the basics from others with more experience.

December 1995 55 It is also true that the relative sim­ plicity of life in the village provided nascent artists with sufficient time to practice their new art and, perhaps more importantly, the patience to undertake the laborious, time-consuming process required to produce this work. Many of the advanced potters making large works will spend over 20 hours decorating one pot. For a long period of time Gerardo Cota was losing over half of his pots in the firing. It takes incredible patience to continue working in these circumstances. Artists in Euro-Ameri- can culture are, for the most part, quite simply not capable of this degree of patience. Time is too expensive in con­ temporary Euro-American life. This may explain why people had the time and interest to experiment with this new art form. What has not been addressed is why so many are so good at it. Why can over 300 people in this Jar with Mimbres-derived lizard motif, 8 inches in height, by Hector Gallegos village master the difficult task of form­ and Graciela Martinez. ing pots by hand, without the help of a potter’s wheel, and painting with a brush made of a piece of wood with three or four strands of human hair attached? And why have so many easily assimi­ lated the extremely refined aesthetic of this work? Is it the result of an existence lived close to the means of production where eye-hand facility is exercised ev­ ery day? If this is the case, why haven’t the other nearby villages with the same way of life taken up and become profi­ cient at this process? Is it the natural extension of an aesthetic ingrained in daily life? If so, why is this aesthetic not reflected in the furnishing of their Left: Jar, 7 inches in height, houses, and why do these works have by Andres Villalba Perez; he no place in the daily life of the commu­ concentrates on creating nity? Furthermore, why can so many of designs that reflect the these artists not only replicate the aes­ traditional Casa Grandes style. thetic beauty of the Casas Grandes ce­ ramics, but go on to create their own personal aesthetic vision? Certainly the any pretense of having the answers, but driven by an intense creative urge and proximity of a market knowledgeable out of interest in the nature of human an extraordinary aesthetic ability. in the aesthetic of pueblo pottery has artistic creativity and in order to make been a major influence, and yet, pottery clear the unique qualities of the artistic The author An associate professor of ce­ villages in other areas of Mexico with production in Mata Ortiz. There is ramics at the University of New Mexico, access to the U.S. market have not de­ something very interesting going on in Bill Gilbert recently curated an exhibition veloped the elegant formal style of these this town. It hasn’t become codified yet. of Mata Ortiz pots. Presented at the Uni­ potters or the complicated iconography It is new enough that it is difficult to versity Art Museum in Albuquerque, “The of their design systems. predict what direction it will eventually Potters of Mata Ortiz: Transforming a Tra­ These questions are asked not out of take. What is clear is that it is being dition” included 56 works by 27potters.

56 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Votive,” 28 inches in height, with metal alloy fired to Cone 5, aged with corrosive, on lemon wood and slate base.

Post-Industrial Ceramics An Interview with Rudy Fleck by Jo Lauria

Rudy Fleck is a potter and teacher (at Interviewer: This epochal ending, how Loyola Marymount University in Los does it specifically affect your work? Angeles) whose current work challenges Fleck:By surfacing my clayworks with the construct of permanence. Accord­ metals that corrode and change, I’m ing to the laws of physics, all matter is allowing the instability of our existence mutable, unstable; change is inevitable. to have its say. This century has wit­ Fleck believes that attempting to cover nessed profound changes in the way we clay with an impermeable glaze denies live, and what we live with daily is an the aspect of change so inescapably acceleration in that rate of change. The present in todays world. He therefore age of steel is rapidly becoming one of has developed a process of applying the silicon chip. metal alloys to bisqued clay to achieve I find myself producing objects of an ever-alterable surface. This postfiring contemplation, incorporating perma­ surface instability is his response to the nence, the ancient pedigree of the clay end of the industrial era as we know it. object; but also presenting, through the

December 1995 57 corroding of a metal alloy surface, an sounds as if it could be hazardous. What opposite sensibility of time. safety measures should be considered? The alloys are meant to weather with Fleck: All the usual precautions you’d age as a reflection on postindustrialism take with chemicals need to be exer­ and the flawed ideals contemporary ex­ cised, although ferric chloride in solu­ istence harbors. This surface seems more tion is not what you’d call a very potent applicable to our present than the tradi­ chemical. It is available over the counter tional silicate-based glaze guarantee of as an etchant for circuit boards. Listed centuries of an unchanged surface. In in the MSDS as an irritant, but not a essence, I’m creating these hybrid forms “Sensitive Hunter,” 50 inches in height, carcinogen, it can be dangerous with to make a statement about transition wheel-thrown stoneware, with Cone 5 chronic exposure, just like the bulk of and permanence. The formal clay ob­ glaze and metal alloy, aged with the materials commonly found in a clay corrosive, by Rudy Fleck, Los Angeles. ject is viewed as permanent, stable. Over studio. I’m very cautious in my forays time, the metal alloys will continue to into chemistry, and try to avoid falling change, show age. Mutability, corrosion, in love with a result that calls for a possibly decay—these are the underly­ fry off the surface during the firing. I’ve serious health or environmental risk. ing concepts. fired this recipe at Cone 5 and up to Interviewer: What’s next? Where is this Interviewer: How do you achieve this Cone 10 in both oxidation and reduc­ work going for you? mutable surface? tion without a significant change in the Fleck: I can’t get over a sense of my life Fleck: The metal alloys are mixed with results: a black matt surface. hurtling along. When I’m able to work water and applied to the bisqued clay The surface can then be aged through with clay I have a sense of unfolding surface in the same manner as tradi­ the application of corrosives. One of events that is unique. Touching the clay tional glazing. The starting point was a the most effective is a 40% solution of is very much like touching another per­ standard recipe for bronze: 80 parts cop­ ferric chloride. After a number of days, son, and just as that other person re­ per, 10 parts tin, 5 parts zinc. Lately, a green to yellow patina appears; al­ sponds in a complex manner, so does I’ve been adding 5 parts Macaloid; this though this surface can be scrubbed off, the clay. suspends the alloy mixture, and helps over a period of time it starts to reap­ with green strength and adherence to pear. A close analogy would be the rust The interviewer Jo Lauria is a ceramics the bisqued surface. The application that appears on a nail. artist, arts writer and independent cura­ cant be very thick, as the metal tends to Interviewer: The use of the corrosives tor living in Southern California.

58 CERAMICS MONTHLY Jill Bonovitz by L. Robin Rice

Jill Bonovitz with a series of gestural wheel-thrown vases displayed in groupings at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts’ Morris Gallery.

rhe work of Philadelphia ceramist Jill “If you look back over the work I’ve on the form, then tried to see what I Bonovitz fully acknowledges the essen­ been making, it hasn’t varied that much,” could do with the surface to change it.” tial and the expressive. In the process, she muses. “I’ve been maldng the bowl Though never meant to be hung on she brings “high” art down to earth and since I first put my hands in clay. It’s a wall, her bowls are circular mono­ makes practical things into objects of just stretching it, refining it. It’s a basic chromatic paintings—each a self-con­ fantasy and contemplation. “As soon as form.” tained visual world in which the liquid I had my own studio,” Bonovitz says, “I Bonovitz is perhaps best known for densities of slip and subtle variations of settled into two streams of work: func­ her flattish bowls, around 2 feet in di­ color suggest both human and geologi­ tional pieces and large vessels. I love to ameter, surfaced with terra sigillata. “I cal history. Bonovitz neatly sidesteps the make things that I and others can use; specifically wanted to take one form, a 20th-century art debate about the arbi­ they are very expressive. But the vessels low shallow vessel, and see how many trariness of rectangular paintings dis­ are also expressive in a different way. variations I could get on it. I homed in played on rectangular walls by abolishing

December 1995 59 Vessel, 26 inches in diameter, drape-molded white earthenware with carved layers of terra sigillata.

the sense of horizontal and vertical in these meditative works, which are dis­ played at heights carefully chosen to maximize the viewer’s ability to appre­ ciate nuances of texture and color. They appear simultaneously, built up and worn down: records of accident and intention, and clearly products of the earth and of human creation. “It takes me a couple of weeks to build them,” Bonovitz explains. “I build them right side up and upside down. I start with a slab draped over a bisque mold, turn it right side up and add one fat coil and paddle it up. Then I flip the pot upside down so I can work on the outside of it.” A foot may or may not be added during construction. Between work sessions, she allows the clay to harden until the shape is stabilized. “Picture this,” Bonovitz says, “I have to take it off the table, put my hand on the inside of the pot and flip it. It’s very hard because the clay is so heavy and thick. After I put a lip on it, I dry it upside down on strips of wood.” Bonovitz has experimented with various lip forms, sometimes building horizontally back toward the middle of the bowl or out and down in an angular bracket profile. “I spend a long time on the lip. One thing that I try for is to have the edge look like it isn’t cut off— that it could keep going up and out. It isn’t smooth. I want it to be kind of scraggly and rounded, not really defi­ Vase from the “Teres Series,” 15 inches nite or permanent.” in height, earthenware with terra sigillata. The 25- to 26-inch diameter of the finished bowls is limited by the 29-inch

60 CERAMICS MONTHLY Earthenware vessel, 26 inches in diameter, bisqued at Cone 06, then layered with terra sigillatas and fired to Cone 010.

her father, Bonovitz began to incorpo­ rate text, such as Stephen Berg’s “When it rains/I know what death is/as it sweeps through branches/glazing the trunks.” She allowed the poetry to merge with the surface and to become largely or entirely obscured. Sometimes she forms words in or­ ganic materials, such as seaweed or salt- soaked rope; the organic script burns away, leaving “ghosts” in the terra sigil­ lata. The influence of painter Cy Twom- bly’s synthesis of the written word with expressionistic imagery is discernible in these pieces, as is Bonovitz’s interest in Oriental calligraphy. In her most recent work, Bonovitz Bonovitz glazing dinnerware in her studio—the third floor allows drawing and form to speak with­ of an old brick warehouse in South Philadelphia. out words. At a solo show at the Penn­ sylvania Academy of the Fine Arts’ diameter of the larger of her two kilns. She is willing to fire the bowls as Morris Gallery, a group of seven bowls The bowls tend to be quite shallow, many times as necessary—sometimes floated like pale jewels on pedestals rising around 4½ inches. four or five—to get the subtle effects painted to exactly match the carpeting Bonovitz usually works on two or she wants. A Cone 010 firing produces of the gallery. three simultaneously, starting each on a the “lowest possible sheen,” the soft Bonovitz’s collection of pre-Colum­ differently shaped mold for variety. She finish Bonovitz wants. bian pottery perhaps influenced the se­ uses a white earthenware body mixed to Layers of terra sigillata are applied, ries of small cylindrical vases with antic her own recipe. “Its really a raku body, then carved away. The pale powdery curving handles that was also part of mostly fireclay with 20% grog.” Its not colors glow: the dense blackish patina the Morris Gallery show. Her interest very plastic, but is well-suited to the size of copper, velvety earthy saffrons, hints in the vase shape dates back to the early and sculptural character of these vessels. of fathomless blue and warm rosy peach. days of her ceramic work. “There was a After the bowl has been bisqued to “I’m drawing with the slip and the carv­ long period where I was drawing vases. Cone 06 (the highest temperature to ing. Sometimes I do a dark terra sigilla­ Very few of them were made, but they which it will be fired), Bonovitz begins ta undercoat, then a lighter top coat were a starting point. One year we went the process of applying terra sigillata. “I and scratch through to the underlayer. skiing,” she recalls, “and I would draw don’t lose a lot of pieces,” she says. I’m striving to express my inner self in vases in the snow with the point of my “When I do, its not because they crack, the inner part of the pot, to have some ski pole while waiting for the lift.” but because I put the terra sigillata on of the inner part of me be there.” She wanted the new vases “to be very and I don’t like it.” In 1988, in response to the death of gestural. I wanted them to be loose,

December 1995 61 delicate, to accentuate the throwing. They were fairly spontaneous. I wanted some to bulge out at the top and some at the bottom.” Bonovitz glazed the vases with a transparent matt, with occasional sul­ fate applied to the thin coil handles. Porcelain tableware with coordinating tablecloth and napkins. When they were finished, “they just naturally fell into small groupings. I’m Two electric kilns are located on the slab-built cylindrical teacup with an ex­ not as interested in one vase by itself as first floor and Bonovitz transports pots aggerated angular handle. in the whole wall and the sum of the from one floor to another by means of a Although the forms of her plates and different parts together.” large freight elevator. “For a lot of people, bowls have changed over the years, “the The 53 mostly white vases were dis­ firing is the most important part [of cup form stays the same. It does not played in small clusters on shelves making ceramics]. For me, it’s just like evolve when everything else changes.” baking a cake. I’m interested that it She rolls out a thin slab and cuts out a works right.” pattern with darts at the base. To this Twenty years ago, Bonovitz was a cylinder, which curves out slightly and founding member of the Clay Studio then in at the base, she adds a longish [see “Philadelphia’s Clay Studio” in the horizontal coil handle. March 1995 CM]. The second location Bonovitz does not want to make “the of the cooperative burned down soon same thing over and over again. That’s after the artists moved into the build­ not what my pottery is about.” The ing. Even though the fire was caused by shapes are not rigidly identical and each Plastic-draped shelves along one wall a problem unrelated to ceramics-pro- piece incorporates a unique decoration provide visible storage space. duction, Bonovitz doesn’t “go to sleep in glaze pencil and watercolor, often without checking the kiln,” she says. centered in a brushed circle of sulfate matching a precisely colored, muted Though the expressive earthenware (either copper, cobalt or a combination gray-green wall. When Bonovitz saw bowls are the largest pieces Bonovitz of the two), producing a gentle grayed the “gorgeous color” of the painted wall makes, her functional porcelain wares blue-green. and shelves, she realized that the group­ are more numerous. “I was always drawn When she is commissioned to make ings of vases “actually looked very dif­ towards utilitarian pottery,” she says. a table setting, all her drawings are ferent from what I had envisioned when She admires many types, from “the loosely related. The mood may range I was making them. They looked so Swedish stuff, white and plain, to my from spare whimsy to classical severity. much like people talking.” grandmother’s fancy floral china,” as well “For a while when I was making vases, I Bonovitz’s airy, white-painted studio as pottery of the American Southwest drew vases on the porcelain,” she re­ occupies the entire third floor of an old and France. calls. “I did a series of architectural draw­ brick warehouse in the Bella Vista part The handbuilt tableware that she ings looking out of the windows here in of South Philadelphia. The remarkably makes combines the translucent deli­ my studio: churches and rooftops and clean and orderly workspace includes a cacy of traditional European china with chimneys. And then I was reading a small sitting area. “What I sit and look simpler, more direct forms. “I don’t want book on yoga symbols. I didn’t take the at is very important to me,” she says. to make the pottery that I see all the symbols directly, but I took ideas like “Even in my studio, I put things that I time. I work a lot on the intuitive level; spirals, things that are universal. I’ve like around me.” so, it is often hard for me to verbalize always loved pictographs, petroglyphs One long worktable contains white what I want, but it’s [related to] the and calligraphy.” slip molds; another is filled with small feeling I get when I look at it.” Whether functional or expressive, functional bowls just out of the kiln. She cherishes “the thinness, translu- Bonovitz’s work is resonant and alive Clusters of ornamental weeds hang dry­ cency and delicacy of porcelain.” A typi­ without being intrusive. “One constant,” ing in a corner and deep shelves run cal table setting includes a flattish dinner she says, “is always trying to pare down along another wall filled with large ves­ plate (about 12 inches in diameter, the work so as to use as little as possible sels both old and new. “I keep old pots formed on a plaster drape mold), a bread to express what I want to express and that have something to teach me,” she and butter plate, a deep serving bowl have the essential be there. I respond to says, but, also, “I feel so good when I (slip cast in a plaster mold made from a the repetition and excess in other people’s smash a bad pot and get rid of it. It’s so wheel-thrown original), a rice bowl or a art, but I don’t think I could make that. liberating.” soup bowl, an oval serving dish and a That wouldn’t be the essence of me.” ▲

62 CERAMICS MONTHLY In Pursuit of Japanese Tradition by Glenn Rand

It is easy enough to believe the past. It is harder to join in the present when the perceptions of the past are strong. Ce­ ramics in Japan is like that. In searching out the ceramics identity of the coun­ try, you are forced to come to grips with its physical geography and history. First, there is the clay, for that is Koishi Morioka, a Kyoto potter who is adapting Japanese what has been responsible for much of tradition to meet 20th-century concerns. Japans ceramics diversity. Among natu­ ral deposits, the differences are great. There is everything from Kutani por­ celain to the iron-rich clay of Tamba. Then there is the method of firing— with wood, gas or electricity. Resulting surfaces vary from the natural ash of Shigaraki to the finely brushed glaze patterns of Kyoto. Westerners view of Japanese ceram­ ics has also come to include a sense of ceramics history. We have grown to ex­ pect Mashiko-yaki to reflect the tradi­ tions of Hamada, and Mino-yaki to be heavy with Shino glaze. But in approach­ ing Japanese ceramics this way, we miss much of its richness. We also miss the reason it is important in Japanese cul­ ture. The fact is, the ceramics of Japan (just as the society itself) has been strongly influenced by other societies. Japanese ceramics tradition is actually one of controlled flexibility. Take Tokoname, one of the six an­ cient kiln sites, for example. The ce­ ramics of Tokoname gained prominence in the Kamakura era—at the height of the tea ceremony, when rich ash glazes on natural clays were in high demand. Morioka with his wife and an assistant in his studio in Kiyomizu Danchi (the production pottery area of Kyoto). But as years passed, and societal rewards changed, the tea ware was replaced by toilets and utility materials. Now the area is lmown for making plumbing

December 1995 63 fixtures, not tea ware. But even with the days can surround neighbors downwind movement toward mundane commer­ with thick, black smoke. cial products, there has been continued Morioka revels in the way the winds artistic effort. of the flame touch and color the clay in The shift in production was actually a wood-burning noborigama, and wants good for the artistic output, as Toko- this tradition to continue. He also real­ name potters were no longer pressured izes the demands of the society he lives to be the mainstay of local industry. in, and has decided to use the technol­ This meant that they could work in ogy at hand to allow traditional firing much more individual ways. to continue. He uses an industrial filter Today, as you exit the train in Toko- system to remove the particulate matter name, you can see the variety of work from the smoke coming from his kiln. being produced. A gallery above the Through Moriokas use of modern station has one area dedicated to tradi­ technology to solve a problem that only tional tea ware, an area for single artist existed when he remained committed shows, and another in which many art­ to his tradition, we can see the strength ists display individual ceramics state­ of the aesthetic approach adapted to the modern realities of the physical process ments. Comparing the tea services to Wheel-thrown stoneware jar, 14 inches contemporary work is to see the breadth in height, with natural ash glaze. of making ceramics. It is this selective of the tradition. But perhaps more im­ adaptation that is the real sense of Japa­ portant is the subtlety of the changes in nese ceramics tradition. The tradition is the tradition. adjusting to the new in conjunction Several contemporary potters are with the reverence for the old. ▲ transforming traditional forms into new interpretations. One is Koishi Morioka. He is a happy man, and laughs as he picks up a piece of his work and rolls it slowly in his hands. It is a bowl he has just taken from his noborigama. Flick­ ing his fingernail against the rim, he listens for a clear, high ring. This makes him smile. Pinging the rim again, he says, “Ping, noborigama; hoka ni (oth­ ers), bong, bong.” To Morioka, the density is as impor­ tant as the pattern in the glazing. Trained in traditional Japanese, Korean and Chi­ nese ceramic techniques, he scoffs at the modern potteries in Kiyomizu Danchi (the pottery production area of Kyoto). His is a small kiln, only four chambers, but it is the only wood-fired noborigama in the area. Morioka is a good example of how Japanese ceramics tradition has adapted to the 20th century. Modern Japan has the same problems as any other indus­ trialized nation. After an open flirtation with unbridled industrial production techniques, the society settled back and started to take into account the side effects. Air pollution is a particular prob­ Lidded jar, 6 inches in height, thrown and altered stoneware, wood fired lem. And wood firings that go on for in a noborigama, by Koishi Morioka.

64 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1995 65 professor, Ohio University; Judith Schwartz, pro­ ceramics, Columbus College of Art and Design. Call for Entries fessor, New York University. Entry fee: $15; maxi­ Fee: $15 for up to 5 works. For prospectus, send mum, 2 entries. For entry forms, contact Inge SASE or mailing label to Coffee Break, 4046 Knapp Application Deadline for Exhibitions, Balch, Associate Professor, Department of Art/ Avenue, Grove City 43123; or telephone (614) Fairs, Festivals and Sales Ceramics, Baker University, Post Office Box 65, 871-3035. 618 Eighth Street, Baldwin City 66006. February 1, 1996, entry deadline Newton, Massachusetts “Here’s to U” (May 1- International Exhibitions National Exhibitions 31, 1996), open to sets of cups. Juried from 5 slides. Fee: $15. Commission: 40%. Contact In­ December 15 entry deadline December 15 entry deadline finity Gallery, P. O. Box 95065, 341 Watertown Andenne, Belgium “Fifth International Bien­ New Concord, Ohio “Gender Agenda: Second St., Newton 02195; (617) 630-8385. nial Ceramic Festival” (May 26-27, 1996) will Annual Musky National” (February 18-March Ephrata, Pennsylvania^ourth Annual Strictly include the “Contemporary Ceramic Art Exhibi­ 15, 1996), open to U.S. women artists. Juried Functional Pottery National” (April 29-May 19, tion,” “International Potters’ Market” and “An­ from a maximum of 3 slides per entry; up to 3 1996). Juried from slides. Juror: Phyllis Blair tique Ceramic Show.” No entry fee for exhibition; entries. Fee: $20. Best of Show award includes Clark. Cash, purchase, business awards. Fee: $10, 30% commission. Potters’ Market fee: BF 3500 additional exhibition (solo or with one other 1 entry; $15, 2; $20, 3. For prospectus, send #10 (approximately US$116). Juried from up to 4 artist) juried from 5 additional slides. Cash awards business-size SASE to Fourth Annual S.F.P.N., slides and resume. Awards: BF 200,000 (approx­ at juror’s discretion. For prospectus and further 1005 Oak Lane, New Cumberland, Pennsylvania imately US$6600). For further information, information, send SASE to J. Wallace, L. O. Palmer 17070-1329. contact Artecerame asbl, rue de Halliot 2, B- Gallery, Muskingum College, New Concord March 1, 1996, entry deadline 5300 Andenne; or telephone (85) 84 12 74; fax 43762; telephone (614) 826-8310 or E-mail Radnor, Pennsylvania “Why Art Is Necessary” (85) 84 52 03. [email protected] (April 5-28,1996), open to “hangable” art. Juried January 15, 1996, entry deadline January 2, 1996, entry deadline from slides or photos. Entry fee: $12. Location: Panevezys, Lithuania“Eig\\th Panevezys Inter­ Lafayette, Louisiana “National Juried Compe­ Chilton Publishing Company. For prospectus, national Symposium” (July 1-August 2, 1996). tition of Two- and Three-Dimensional Art” send business-sized SASE to Something for All Seven artists will be selected for residency and (March 9-April 12, 1996). Juried from slides. Seasons, 887 Bob-O-Link Lane, West Chester, exhibition. Juried from slides and resume. For Fee: $25 for 3 entries; $8 for each additional entry; Pennsylvania 19382. information and application form, contact Jolan- limit 5. Awards. For prospectus, send #10SASE to March 10, 1996, entry deadline ta Lebednyklene, Director, Panevezys Civic Gal­NJS Chairman, 700 Lee Ave., Lafayette 70501; or Springdale, Arkansas “14th Annual Women’s lery, Respublikos 3, 5319 Panevezys; or fax (370) telephone/fax (318) 269-0363 Tuesday-Friday. National Juried Art Exhibition” (May 1-31,1996). 542-4721. January 10, 1996, entry deadline Juried from slides or originals (artist’s choice). For January 30, 1996, entry deadline Galesburg, Illinois “30th GALEX National Ex­ application, send SASE to Elizabeth Ryan, Art Seoul, Korea Sixth annual “Jinro Interna­ hibition/Competition” (February 2-29, 1996), Chair, Route 4, Box 20 C, Eureka Springs, Arkan­ tional Ceramic Art” (June 24-July 14, 1996), open to all media. Juried from slides. Juror: Rudy sas 72632. workshop and seminar; work completed during Autio. Entry fee: $20 for up to 4 works. Awards: March 15, 1996, entry deadline the 20-day workshop will be exhibited in Seoul. $2000. For prospectus and further information, University Park, Pennsylvania* Grabs National Selected artists will receive air fare, accommoda­send SASE to Galesburg Civic Art Center, 114 East 30” (June 2-July 21, 1996). Juried from slides. tions, materials and other travel expenses. For an Main, Galesburg 61401; or telephone (309) 342- Juror: Michael Monroe, curator-in-charge, Peter application form and further information, United 7415. Joseph Gallery, Manhattan, New York. Fee: $20/ States residents should send an SASE to Tony Corvallis, Oregon “Women’s Vision” (March 3 entries. $3000 in prizes. For prospectus, send Marsh, Ceramics/Art Department, California State 13-April 5, 1996), open to women artists. Juried SASE to Crafts National 30, Zoller Gallery, 210 University-Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Boule­ from slides. No entry fee. Awards. For brochure, Patterson Building, Penn State University, Uni­ vard, Long Beach, California 90840. All other send SASE to Corvallis Arts Center/Linn Benton versity Park 16802; or telephone (814) 865-0444. applicants should send anSASE to Hongik Univer­ Council for the Arts, Women’s Vision, 700 S.W. March 27, 1996, entry deadline sity, Ceramic Research Institute, 72-1 Sangsoo- Madison, Corvallis 97333. Latrobe, Pennsylvania “Westmoreland Art Dong, Mapo-Gu, Seoul, Korea; telephone 82-2- January 12, 1996, entry deadline Nationals” (June 2-16, 1996, and/or July 4-7, 320-1222; fax 82-2-325-4449. Wichita, Kansas “Art Show at the Dog Show” 1996—artists are eligible for both shows). Juried January 31, 1996, entry deadline (March 1-April 7, 1996), all entries must include from slides. Awards: $23,000; best of both shows, Koblenz, Germany “Collectors’ Cups—But a dog in the subject matter. Juried from slides. Fee: $1000. Send legal-sized SASE with 64

66 CERAMICS MONTHLY 9-May 11, 1996), open to artists residing in New Action Center, Post Office Box 565, Blacksburg Gaithersburg, Maryland“Sugar\oa?s 19th An­ York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. 24060-0565. nual Winter Gaithersburg Crafts Festival” (De­ Juried from actual ceramic pieces (entirely orJanuary5, 1996, entry deadline cember 13-15, 1996). Juried from 5 slides, in­ primarily) for wall display and ceramic (entirely or New York, New York “20th Annual American cluding 1 of booth. Booth fee: $275-$425. No primarily) teapots; up to 3 entries. Jurors: Steven Crafts Festival” (June 29-30 and/or July 6-7, commission. For information/application, send 3 Kemenyffy and Lee Rexrode (faculty artists at 1996). Juried from 5 slides. Fee per weekend: loose, first-class stamps to Sugarloaf Mountain Edinboro University of Pennsylvania), and John $430 for an 8x8-foot space; $490 for a 10x7; and Works, Inc., 200 Orchard Ridge Dr., Ste. 215, Vanco (executive director, Erie Art Museum). For $560 for a 10x10. Send SASE with 64<£ postage to Gaithersburg20878; or telephone (800) 210-9900. prospectus, send SASE to Potscape Gallery, 3901 American Concern for Artistry and Craftsman­ Timonium, Maryland “Sugarloaf s 20th An­ West 26th Street, Erie 16505; or telephone/fax ship, Post Office Box 650, Montclair, New Jersey nual Fall Timonium Crafts Festival” (October (814) 833-7067. 07042; or telephone (201) 746-0091. 11-13, 1996). Juried from 5 slides, including 1 of March 29, 1996, entry deadline New York, New York “ 11 th Annual Autumn booth. Booth fee: $425. No commission. For State College, Pennsylvania “Images ’96” (June Crafts Festival” (September 7-8 and/or 14-15, information and application, send 3 loose, first- 25-July 19, 1996), open to artists residing in 1996).Juried from 5 slides. Fee per weekend: class stamps to Sugarloaf Mountain Works, Inc., Pennsylvania and the mid-Atlantic region. Juried $390 for an 8x8-foot space;$490 for a 10x7; 200 Orchard Ridge Dr., Ste. 215, Gaithersburg, from slides. Juror: Helen Frederick, papermak- $520 for a10x10. Send SASEwith 64<£ postage toMaryland 20878; or telephone (800) 210-9900. ing/printmaking, founding director of Pyramid American Concern for Artistry and Craftsman­ Novi, Michigan “Sugarloaf s 2nd Annual Fall Atlantic. Entry fee: $20. Awards: $2000. For ship, Post Office Box650, Montclair, New Jersey Novi Art Fair” (October 25-27, 1996). Juried prospectus, send SASE to Central Pennsylvania 07042; or telephone(201) 746-0091. from 5 slides, including 1 of booth. Booth fee: Festival of the Arts, Post Office Box 1023, State January 12, 1996, entry deadline $425. No commission. For information and appli­ College 16804-1023. San Mateo, California“S\iga.T\oa£’s 1st Annual cation, send 3 loose, first-class stamps to Sugarloaf San Mateo Crafts Festival” (November 8-10, Mountain Works, Inc., 200 Orchard Ridge Drive, Fairs, Festivals and Sales 1996). Juried from 5 slides, including 1 of booth. Suite 215, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20878; or Booth fee: $425. No commission. For informa­ telephone (800) 210-9900. December 8 entry deadline tion and application form, send 3 loose, first-class Somerset, New Jersey “Sugarloaf s 3rd Annual Gainesville, Florida“ 10th Annual Hoggetowne postage stamps to Sugarloaf Mountain Works, Fall Somerset Crafts Festival” (September 27—29, Medieval Faire” (February 9-11, 1996). Juried Inc., 200 Orchard Ridge Drive, Suite 215, 1996). Juried from 5 slides, including 1 of booth. from slides or photos. Booth fee: $85. For further Gaithersburg, Maryland 20878; or telephone (800) Booth fee: $425. No commission. For informa­ information, contact Linda Piper, Fair Coordina­ 210-9900. tion and application, send 3 loose, first-class stamps tor, Department of Cultural and Environmental Gaithersburg, Mary land “Sugarloaf s 21st An­ to Sugarloaf Mountain Works, Inc., 200 Orchard Affairs, Post Office Box 490-30, Gainesville 32602; nual Fall Gaithersburg Crafts Festival” (Novem­ Ridge Drive, Suite 215, Gaithersburg, Maryland or telephone (904) 334-2197. ber 21-24, 1996). Juried from 5 slides, including 20878; or telephone (800) 210-9900. December 15 entry deadline 1 of booth. Booth fee: $400-$500. No commis­ Fort Washington, Pennsylvania “Sugarloaf s 2nd Blacksburg, Virginia “25th Annual Brush sion. For information and application form, send Annual Fall Fort Washington Crafts Festival” Mountain Arts and Crafts Fair” (March 29-31, 3 loose, first-class postage stamps to Sugarloaf (November 1—3, 1996). Juried from 5 slides, 1996). Juried from slides or photos. For applica­ Mountain Works, Inc., 200 Orchard Ridge Drive, including 1 of booth. Booth fee: $425. No com­ tion and further information, send SASE to Brush Suite 215, Gaithersburg 20878; telephone (800) mission. For information and application, send 3 Mountain Arts and Crafts Fair, The Voluntary 210-9900. loose, first-class stamps to Sugarloaf Mountain

December 1995 67 Call for Entries Box 41564Jacksonville 32203; or telephone (904) tus, send SASE to Art in the Park, Post Office Box 387-7007, fax (904) 381-7817. 2164, Clinton 52733; or telephone Carol Glahn February 1, 1996, entry deadline (319) 259-8308. PensacolaFlorida “May Arts Expo” (May 25- February 17, 1996, entry deadline Works, Inc., 200 Orchard Ridge Drive, Suite 215, 27, 1996). Juried from 3 slides of work plus 1 of State College, Pennsylvania “Central Pennsyl­ Gaithersburg, Maryland 20878; or telephone booth. Jury fee: $10. Booth fee: $90. Awards: vania Festival of the Arts Sidewalk Sale and Exhi­ (800) 210-9900. $3600 cash plus $3000 purchase. For further bition” Quly 11-14, 1996). Juried from slides. Manassas, Virginia “Sugarloaf s 16th Annual information, send SASE to May Arts Expo, 23 Entry fee: $15. Awards: $15,000. For prospectus, Fall Manassas Crafts Festival” (September 6-8, South Palafox Place, Pensacola 32501; or tele­ send SASE to Katherine Talcott, CPFA, Post Office 1996). Juried from 5 slides, including 1 of booth. phone (904) 435-7646. Box 1023, State College 16804-1023; or tele­ Booth fee: $350-$450. No commission. For in­ Frederick, Maryland “22nd Annual Frederick phone (814) 237-3682. formation and application, send 3 loose, first-class Craft Fair” (May 17-19, 1996). Juried from 5 February 23, 1996, entry deadline stamps to Sugarloaf Mountain Works, Inc., 200 slides of work plus 1 of display (and resume for Beaver Creek, Colorado “Beaver Creek Arts Orchard Ridge Drive, Suite 215, Gaithersburg, new exhibitors). Entry fee: $10. Booth fee: $300- Festival 9” (August 10-11, 1996). Juried from 4 Maryland 20878; or telephone (800) 210-9900. $390. No commission. For further information, slides of work plus 1 of display. Entry fee: $25. Stevens Point, Wisconsin “24th Annual Festival contact National Crafts, Ltd., 4845 Rumler Road, Booth fee: $240 for a 10x10-foot space. For of the Arts” (April 14, 1996). Juried from 4 slides Chambersburg, Pennsylvania 17201; or telephone application, send SASE to Marilyn McCray, c/o of work and 1 of display, plus resume. Registra­ (717) 369-4810. Vail Valley Arts Council, Post Office Box 1153, tion fee: $50. Jurying fee: $10. Awards. Send SASE Gaithersburg, Maryland“21 st Annual National Vail, Colorado 81658. to Festival of the Arts, Post Office Box 872, Craft Fair” (October 18-20, 1996). Juried from 5 Lionshead, Colorado “Vail Arts Festival 13” Stevens Point 54481. slides of work plus 1 of display (and resume for (July 13-14, 1996). Juried from 4 slides of work January 15, 1996, entry deadline new exhibitors). Entry fee: $10. Booth fee: $340- plus 1 of display. Entry fee: $25. Booth fee: $240 San Antonio, Texas “Fiesta Arts Fair” (April $425. No commission. For further information, for a 10x 10-foot space. For application, sendSASE 20-21, 1996). Juried from 3 slides. Booth fee: contact National Crafts, Ltd., 4845 Rumler Road, to Marilyn McCray, c/o Vail Valley Arts Council, $200 for a 10x10-foot space. Awards. For further Chambersburg, Pennsylvania 17201; or telephone Post Office Box 1153, Vail, Colorado 81658. information, contact the Southwest Craft Center, (717) 369-4810. February 29, 1996, entry deadline 300 Augusta, San Antonio 78205; or telephone Philadelphia, Pennsylvania “Manayunk Arts Cambridge, Wisconsin “Fifth Annual Cam­ Tracey Bennett (210) 224-1848. Festival” (June 29-30, 1996). Juried from 4 slides bridge Pottery Festival” (June 8-9, 1996). Juried January 16, 1996, entry deadline of work plus 1 of booth. Entry fee: $ 15. Booth fee: from slides. Booth fee: $150. Send SASE to Lynn Columbus, Ohio “Columbus Arts Festival” $275 for a 10x15-foot space. For application, Needham, Registrar, 245 Hoopen, Cambridge (June 6-9, 1996). Juried from 3 slides of work send SASE to Manayunk Arts Festival, 4320 Main 53523; or telephone (608) 423-4502. plus 1 of booth. For prospectus, contact Colum­ Street, Suite 2, Philadelphia 19127; or telephone March 1, 1996, entry deadline bus Arts Festival, 55 East State Street, Columbus (215) 482-9565. Salina, Kansas “Smoky Hill River Festival— 43215; or telephone (614) 224-2606. February 15, 1996, entry deadline Exhibiting Artists” (June 8—9, 1996), open to fine January 24, 1996, entry deadline Clinton, Iowa “Art in the Park” (May 18-19, arts and crafts. Juried from 6 slides. Jurors: Brad Jacksonville, Florida “ArtWorks” (May 17-19, 1996). J uried from 5 slides, including 1 of display. Anderson, Marty Avrett and Raechell Smith. En­ 1996). Juried from slides. Awards: over $25,000. Entry fee: $5. Booth fee: $70 for a lOxlO-foot try fee: $15. Booth fee: $175 for a 10x10-foot For prospectus, contact ArtWorks, Post Office space. No commission. Cash awards. For prospec­ space. No commission. Awards: $1500, purchase

68 CERAMICS MONTHLY

Call for Entries

awards; $3800, merit awards; possibly more. For further information, contact the Salina Arts and Humanities Commission, Post Office Box 2181, Salina 67402-2181; or telephone (913) 826-7410, fax (913) 826-7444. Salina, Kansas “Smoky Hill River Festival— Four Rivers Crafts Market” (June 7-9, 1996), open to crafts. Juried from 5 photos. Jurors: Mona Gates, Debra Henderson and Tamara Vandergriff. Entry fee: $15. Booth fee: $100 or 10% commis­ sion (whichever is greater) for a 1Ox 10-foot space. Awards: $900 in merit. Contact the Salina Arts and Humanities Commission, Post Office Box 2181, Salina 67402-2181; or telephone (913) 826-7410, fax (913) 826-7444. Kalamazoo, Michigan “Mayfair” (May 25, 1996).Juried from 4 slides of work plus 1 of booth. Entry fee:$5. Booth fee:$50 for a12x15- foot space. For further information, contact Mike Otto, Kazoo School, 1401 Cherry Street, Kalamazoo 49008-1824;or telephone (616) 781-0304. Bellevue, Washington “50th Pacific Northwest Arts &: Crafts Fair” (July 26-28, 1966). Juried from 5 slides. For prospectus, contact Pacific Northwest Arts &C Crafts Fair, 301 Bellevue Square, Bellevue 98004; telephone (206) 454-4900; or fax (206) 454-4102. Spring Green, Wisconsin “27th Annual Spring Green Arts and Crafts Fair” (June 29-30, 1996). Juried from slides. Jury fee: $10. Entry fee: $75. For further information, contact Spring Green Arts and Crafts Fair, Post Office Box 96, Spring Green 53588; or telephone (608) 588-2042. March 3, 1996, entry deadline Baltimore, MarylandaTht Third Annual Fells Point Art and Craft Show” (August 17-18,1996). Juried from 5 slides of work plus 1 of display. No entry fee. Booth fee:$270 fora 10x10-foot space; $330 for a 10x10-foot corner space;$385 for a 10x15; $445for a 10x15-foot corner space; un­ der tent, add $50;in building, add $50. For further information, contact David Egan Produc­ tions, 1606Portugal Street, Baltimore 21231- 2334; telephone(41 0) 563-2606 or E-mail David [email protected] March 13, 1996, entry deadline Madison, Wisconsin “Art Fair on the Square” (July 13-14, 1996). Juried from slides. Entry fee: $23. Booth fee: $255. No commission. For fur­ ther information, contact the Madison Art Cen­ ter, 211 State Street, Madison 53703; or tele­ phone (608) 257-0158. March 15, 1996, entry deadline Rochester, Michigan “New Art at Meadow- brook” (September 28-29, 1996). Juried from 3 slides of work plus 1 of display. Entry fee: $10. Booth fee: $135 for a 12x12-foot space (subject to change). Contact the Creative Arts Council, Post Office Box 250874, West Bloomfield, Michigan 48325-0874; or telephone Karin Batchelor (810) 360-8327. Corning, New York “A Festival of Art” (July 27-28, 1996). Juried from 4 slides of work plus 1 of booth. Booth fee: $ 180 for a 1 Ox10-foot space. For application, sendSASE to Empire State Crafts Alliance, 320 Montgomery Street, Syracuse, New York 13202. Syracuse, New York “Masterworks: A Celebra­ tion of Fine Art and Crafts” (November 23-24, 1996). Juried from 4 slides of work plus 1 of booth. Booth fee: $195 for a 10x10-foot space. For application, sendSASE to Empire State Crafts Alliance, 320 Montgomery Street, Syracuse, New York 13202.

70 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1995 71 turing, trimming, smoothing, etc.)—Lyle from warping, but so light there is no damage Suggestions Harvey, Bothell, Wash. to the surface. From Readers Of course, you can use as much weight as Antiwarp Weights you like in relation to the thickness of the Pantyhose filled with beans make excel­ slabs, but I prefer to use a lot of small Abrasive Pads Supplier lent free-form weights to help prevent slabs weights.—Peter Sheremeta, San Jose, Calif. L. D Jeffries’ suggestion for using kitchen from warping as they dry. Simply pour a scrub pads to clean pots (April 1995) is great,pound or more in a doubled leg of pantyhoseCork Stamps but my source is the local automotive paint and tie two knots (with a bit of space between I save the cork from my weekly bottle of supply store. It sells abrasive pads (the same asthe knots), then pour in more beans, fol­ wine to carve as a stamp for impressed deco­ on the kitchen sponge/scrub combo) in largelowed by another two knots, etc. When ration.—Penny Stover, Huntsville, Ala. sheets that can be cut to any size you wish. you’ve run out of beans or pantyhose, sepa­ Most importantly, the pads come in three rate the weights by cutting between the knots.Raku Glaze Application different grades (fine, medium and coarse) Placed on the perimeter of finished work, If you use any raku glazes that contain suitable for different production stages (tex-these weights are heavy enough to keep slabs light-sensitive chemicals (e.g., silver nitrate), you should avoid getting any on your hands because of staining. Usually, the stains have to wear off. I found it handy to glaze my pots with an old turkey baster. It gives a nice pour effect without skin contact.—Heather George, Carnegie, Pa.

Firing Glazed Planters To conserve space in the kiln, fire gradu­ ated shapes of glazed planters one inside the other. Just leave the bottoms unglazed and use wadding made of equal parts kaolin and flint to separate the nested forms.—Glen B. Blakley, Saint George, Utah

Firebrick Protection To avoid damaging the insulating firebrick when stacking a top-loading kiln, I built a form-fitting (crescent-shaped) wooden shelf with a wooden flange. The flanged shelf fits securely over the top edge, thus avoiding any potentially damaging pressure on the firebrick when I lean over the side to stack the bottom shelves.— John McCoy, Boca Raton, Fla.

Keeping Clay Dust Down I often raise a cloud of dust when I slam down a ball of clay on a bat. To keep from breathing any in, I “scrub” the air with a quick spritz from a spray bottle. The airborne dust clings to the water spray and drops to the floor.—Donna McGee, Hatfield, Mass.

A Worktable Strike Watch for local bowling alleys replacing lanes. The hardwood makes great tabletops. I was fortunate to buy 16 feet for $30. Attaching 4-inch-square wooden legs to 8- foot lengths gave me two incredible work­ tables.—Diane Mann, Merom, Ind.

Fail-Safe Trimming Instructions Beginning potters often run into trouble when trimming a foot on a bowl, but the following steps should be fail-safe: 1. Examine the inside of the bowl and determine placement of the foot in relation to the curve (change of direction) between bot-

72 CERAMICS MONTHLY tom and wall. Use a ruler held vertically to mark the position of the proposed foot to the outside. Estimate ½ of the wall thickness, then mark with a short vertical line inside the foot position mark. Draw another short line ¾ of the wall thiclmess on the outside. This sets the position and width of the foot ring. 2. Measure the inside depth of the bowl, then mark its position on the outside. Draw one horizontal line the thickness of the wall below the mark, then another line below the first to indicate the height of the foot. 3. Feel the wall of the bowl to determine where the extra thickness begins. Mark with a T to show where trimming is needed (no trimming above the T). 4. Invert the bowl and center on the wheel. Align a needle tool with the vertical lines on the outside to incise corresponding concentric rings to indicate the placement and thickness of the foot. Trim the inside of the foot down to the second horizontal line (desired wall thickness) on the outside, then trim the ring down to the first horizontal line (desired height of the foot). Finally, trim the outside of the foot ring down to the mark that indicates the inside bottom, and remove un­ wanted thickness at the side (to the top of the T).—-Joyce Michaud Nice, Frederick, Md.

Fluting Tool A melon-ball spoon can be altered to produce an inexpensive, effective fluting tool.

Simply grind off the bottoms of the bowls at a slant, leaving about ½ inch on the edge. File the edge until sharp.—Sister Dennis Frandrup, Saint Joseph, Minn.

Lightweight Support When I need to support the walls of my handbuilt vessels to keep them from caving in, I use the Styrofoam packing peanuts that come in the boxes of ceramics supplies I purchase. They are easy to pour into any vessel, can be cut to smaller sizes, and will pour right out when said vessel is dry.— Vickie Coleman, Frederick, Md.

Dollars for Your Ideas Ceramics Monthly pays $10for each sugges­ tion published; submissions are welcome indi­ vidually or in quantity. Include an illustration or photo to accompany your suggestion and we will pay $10 more if we use it. Mail ideas to Suggestions, Ceramics Monthly, Post Office Box 12788, Columbus, Ohio 43212-0788; or fax to (614) 488-4561. Sorry, but we cant ac­ knowledge or return unused items.

December 1995 73 Women’s Center, 1238 North 28th Street. Calendar Montana, Helena through December 31 Tom Events to Attend—Conferences, Rippon, sculpture and collage; at Holter Museum of Art, 12 East Lawrence. Exhibitions, Workshops, Fairs New Jersey, Millburn December 2—30 MaryLou Higgins, “Holiday Showcase 1995”; at Sheila Nussbaum Gallery, 341 Millburn Avenue. New York, New York December 5—January 6, 1996 Bodil Manz; at Garth Clark Gallery, 24 Conferences West 57th Street. Alabama, Montgomery January 19-21,1996The North Carolina, Chapel Hill January 19—Febru­ “Alabama Crafts Conference 1996” at Auburn ary 8, 1 _9j?6Virginia Scotchie, “Time and Effort”; University-Montgomery Campus will include at Hanes Art Center Glass Gallery, Hanes Art exhibitions and a ceramics workshop with Paul Center, University of North Carolina. Soldner. For further information or to register, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh through December 30 contact Georgine Clarke, Director, Alabama State Ken Ferguson; at the Wood Street Galleries, 601 Council on the Arts, 1 Dexter Avenue, Montgom­ Wood Street. ery 36130-1800; or telephone (334) 242-4076. Texas, Houston through December 14 Yoshiro New York, Rochester March 20-23, 1996 Ikeda; at North Harris College, 2700 W. W. “NCECA ’96—30th Annual Conference.” For Thorne Dr. further information, contact Regina Brown, Ex­ December 2—30 Sharon Smith, raku vessels; at ecutive Secretary,NCECA, Post Office Box 1677, Artables Gallery, 2625 Colquitt. Bandon, Oregon 97411; telephone (800) 99- Texas, Lubbock through December 5 “Octopus NCECA. Garden,” sculptural vessels and batiked quilts by Ruth Rubin; at the Upstairs Gallery, Artary Visual Communications, 4509 Clovis Highway. International Conferences January 28-March 2, 1996‘‘Intimate Immensity: Australia, Canberra July 6-9, 1996 “Interna­ Recent and Classic Works by Patti Warashina”; at tional Connections,” national ceramics conference, the Art Department, Texas Tech University. will include discussion forums, master classes, Wyoming, Cheyenne January 22-February 20, demonstrations, exhibitions. International artists 7.9.96Thomas P. Hubert, sculpture; at the Laramie welcome. For further information, contact Anita County Community College Fine Arts Gallery, McIntyre, ANU School of Art, Ceramics Work­ 1400 East College Drive. shop, Baldessin Crescent, Acton, ACT 2601; tele­ phone (62) 49 58 21. Group Ceramics Exhibitions Solo Exhibitions Alabama, Birmingham through December 8 “Echizen: 800 Years of Japanese Stoneware”; at Alabama, Huntsville January 5—February 2,1996 the Birmingham Museum of Art, 2000 Eighth Darlene Nguyen-Ely, multimedia sculpture; at Avenue, North. the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Univer­ California, Davis December 9-January 7, 1996 sity Center Gallery. Exhibition of sculpture and works on paper by Arizona, Scottsdale December 1—30 Matthew Robert Arneson, and sculpture by Jean Van Metz, functional pottery.January 2-31, 1996 Keuren; at John Natsoulas Gallery, 140 F Street. Deborah Masuoka, sculpture; Anne Hirondelle, California, Downey through December 30 “Ex­ vessels; at Joanne Rapp Gallery: The Hand and ploring a Movement: Feminist Visions in Clay”; the Spirit, 4229 North Marshall Way. at Downey Museum of Art, 10419 Rives Avenue. California, Los Angeles through March 3, 1996 California, San Francisco through February 19, Magdalene Odundo, “Ceramic Gestures”; atUCLA 1996 “Vessels of a Culture: Korean Ceramics Fowler Museum of Cultural History. from the Asian’s Collection”; at Asian Art Mu­ December2-31 Philip Cornelius. Akio Takamori; seum, Golden Gate Park. at Garth Clark Gallery, 170 S. La Brea. D.C., Washington December 17-early 1997“Seto California, Redlands January 10—February 17, and Mino Ceramics”; at the Freer Gallery, Smith­ 1996 Darlene Nguyen-Ely, multimedia sculp­ sonian Institution. ture; at the San Bernardino County Museum, Florida, Miami Beach December 9-January 3, 2024 Orange Tree Lane. 1996 “Faces and Forms,” ceramics by Peter California, San Francisco through December 9 Fitzpatrick and Britta Slater; at the Continuum Viola Frey. December 14—January 27, 1996Ann Gallery, Sterling Building, 927 Lincoln Road. Agee; at Rena Bransten Gallery, 77 Geary. Georgia, Atlanta through January 28, 1996“Fit through December 9 Peter Voulkos, “Plates and for a King: Ceramics of Royalty and Nobility”; at Prints”; at Braunstein/Quay Gallery, 250 Sutter the High Museum of Art, 1280 Peachtree Street, Street. Northeast. D.C., Washington through January 1,1996“ Rick Illinois, Chicagothrough December 14“C lay Cup Dillingham (1952-1994): A Retrospective”; at V”; at Northeastern University. the Renwick Gallery, National Museum of Amer­ through December31 “Eighteenth-Century French ican Art, Smithsonian Institution. Vincennes-Sevres Porcelain”; at the Art Institute Michigan, Pontiac December 8-January20,1996 of Chicago, 111 South Michigan Avenue. Jacqueline Rice; at Habatat/Shaw Gallery, 7 North Kansas, Great Bend January 28-March 16, 1996 Saginaw. “1995 Clay National,” NCECA touring exhibi­ Montana, Billings through December 15 Marcia tion; at Barton County Community College. Selsor, “Kirlian Visions,” drawing in raku; at the Kansas, WichitaJanuary 28—March 17, 1996 “Revolution in Clay: The Marer Collection of Send announcements of conferences, exhibitions, ju­ Contemporary Ceramics”; at Edwin A. Ulrich ried fairs, workshops and other events at least two Museum of Art, Wichita State University. months before the month of opening (add one month Massachusetts, Amherstthrough December 20 for listings in July; two months for those in August) to “Ceramics/Northeast”; at the Fine Arts Center, Calendar, Ceramics Monthly, Post Office Box 12788, University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Columbus, Ohio 43212-0788; or telephone (614) Massachusetts, BostonJanuary 13-March 3,1996 488-8236. Fax announcements to (614) 488-4561. “Intimate Conversations: Ceramics by Nine

74 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1995 75 Calendar Pots”; at the Hand Workshop, Virginia Center for the Craft Arts, 1812 West Main Street. Virginia, Williamsburg through December 31 “Designed to Deceive: English Pottery Fakes.” Women,” with works by Nancy Blum, Barbara through January 5, 1996* British Delft from Co­ Botting, Janet Grau, Leah Hardy, Marian lonial Williamsburg”; at DeWitt Wallace Decora­ Pritchard, Melissa Stern, Julie Terestman, Janis tive Arts Gallery, Colonial Williamsburg. Mars Wunderlich and Bridget Young; at the So­ Washington, Spokane January 5-26, 1996* Clay ciety of Arts and Crafts, 175 Newbury Street. on the Wall”; at the Gallery of Art, Eastern Wash­ January 15-March 1, 1996 “Intimate Conversa­ ington University. tions: Ceramics by Nine Women,” with works by Nancy Blum, Barbara Botting, Janet Grau, Leah Ceramics in Multimedia Exhibitions Hardy, Marian Pritchard, Melissa Stern, Julie Terestman, Janis Mars Wunderlich and Bridget Alabama, Northport December 8—January 31, Young; at the Society of Arts and Crafts, 101 Arch 1996 “Spotlight ’95”; at the Kentuck Museum, Street/34 Summer Street (downtown crossing). 503 Main Avenue. Massachusetts, Cambridge December 23-March Arizona, Mesa January 2—February3, 1996* 18th 10, 1996*Hares Fur, Tortoiseshell and Partridge Annual Vahki Exhibition”; at Galeria Mesa, 155 Feathers: Chinese Brown- and Black-Glazed Ce­ North Center. ramics, 400-1400”; at Arthur M. Sackler Mu­ Arizona, Tucson through January 6, 1996 “An­ seum, Harvard University Art Museums. nual Holiday Exhibition,” with ceramics by Donna Massachusetts, Ipswich through December 31 Anderegg, Wesley Anderegg, Joy Fox, Janet “Holiday Traditions”; at Ocmulgee Pottery and Hoelzel, Alec Karros, Lisa Marshall and Shel Gallery, 317 High Street, Route 1A. Neymark; at Obsidian Gallery, 4340 North Massachusetts, NewtonDecember 1—31 “National Campbell Avenue, Saint Philips Plaza, Suite 90. Exhibition of Contemporary Clay,” with works January 18-March 17, 1996“A Treasury of Fine by Tsuya Chinn-Truitt, Marc Digeros, Wayne Craft: Arizona Designer Craftsmen ’96”; at Fuerst, Tyler Gulden, Naomi Kastenbaum, Tohono Chul Park. Ruchika Madan, Jeremy Nudell Kalin, Stiffy California, Claremont through December 31 Robson, Mark Shapiro, Andy Shaw, Mima “Myth and Magic: Oaxaca Past and Present”; at Weismann, Rebekah Wostrel; at Infinity Gallery, Lang Gallery, Montgomery Gallery, Pomona 341 Watertown Street. College, 333 North College Way. Minnesota, Wayzata through December 31 “Fire California, La Jolla through December 31 “Holi­ on the Mountain Pottery,” works by Beth and day Times and Cookie Jars”; at Gallery Eight, Gregg Warner Rutter; at Cosecha Design, 746 7464 Girard Avenue. East Mill Street. through December 31 “Annual Holiday Show”; at Missouri, Kansas City through December 16*Com­ Gallery Alexander, 7850 Girard Avenue. mon Roots Clay Perspective,” works by Goshen through December 31 “Masks—The Art of Dis­ (Indiana) College alumni Lynn Lais, Dick Lehman, guise”; at Mingei International Museum ofWorld Mark Nafziger and Royce Yoder; at the World’s Folk Art, University Towne Centre, 4405 La Jolla Window and Gallery, 4120 Pennsylvania. Village Drive. New York, Alfred through December 10 “Vivika California, Los Angeles through January 7, 1996 and Otto Heino: A Retrospective”; at the Mu­ “Frank Lloyd Wright and Japan”; at Los Angeles seum of Ceramic Art at Alfred, Ceramic Corridor County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. Innovation Center, Route 244. California, Sacramento through December 23 New York, New York through December 16*The “North American Works ’95”; at Matrix Gallery, Jane Hartsook Gallery 25th Anniversary Exhibi­ 1725 I Street. tion”; at Greenwich House Pottery, 16 Jones St. through December 31 “Western Artists/African December 5-January 6, 1996 “20th-Century Yi- Art”; at the Crocker Art Museum, 216 O Street. xing Teapots”; at Garth Clark Gallery, 24 West December 6-24 “Present Perfect,” four-person 57th Street. exhibition with ceramics by Julie Didion; at North Carolina, Charlotte through January 7, Michael Himovitz Gallery, 1020 Tenth Street. 1996 “Built Upon Honor: The Ceramic Art of California, San Diego through January 3, 1996 Ben Owen and Ben Owen III.” January 20—July “T urning Back the Sky, ” exhibition of contempo­ 21, 1996*North Carolina Crystalline Ceramics”; rary Native Hawaii art and life, through February at the Mint Museum of Art, Bridges and Levine 19, 1996*And the Bead Goes On!”; at San Diego galleries, 2730 Randolph Road. Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado, Balboa Park. North Carolina, Robersonville through December California, San Francisco through December 25 15 “Survey of North Carolina Pottery,” over 500 “Light Interpretations: A Hanukah Menorah In­ pieces; at St. James Place, US Highway 64. vitational”; at the Jewish Museum, 121 SteuartSt. Texas, Austin through January 7, 1996*Revolu­ December 7—January 27, 1996 “Teapot Invita­ tion in Clay: The Marer Collection of Contempo­ tional”; at Dorothy Weiss Gallery, 256 Sutter rary Ceramics”; at Austin Museum of Art at Street. Laguna Gloria, 3809 West 35th Street. California, Santa Barbara through December 23 Texas, Dallas through March 17, 1996 “Con­ “Women/Beyond Borders”; at Santa Barbara tained and Uncontained: 4 Clay Artists,” works Contemporary Arts Forum, 653 Paseo Nuevo. by Syd Carpenter, Martha Jackson Jarvis, Mag­ California, Santa Cruz through December24* Clay/ dalene Odundo and James Watkins; at the African Fiber ’95”; at Santa Cruz Art League, 526 Broad­ American Museum, Fair Park, Grand Avenue way. entrance. Connecticut, Brookfield through December 24 Utah, Salt Lake City through January 14, 1996 * 19th Annual Holiday Craft Exhibition and Sale,” “Clay on the Wall”; at Salt Lake Art Center, 20 with works by over 200 craftspeople; at Brookfield South West Temple. Craft Center, 286 Whisconier Road. Virginia, Alexandria through December 31 “Holi­ Connecticut, Guilford through December24* Art­ day Fantasy,” works by Washington Kiln Club istry: A Holiday Festival of Craft”; at the Guilford members; at Scope Gallery, Torpedo Factory, 105 Handcraft Center, 411 Church Street. North Union Street. Connecticut, New Haventhrough December 23 Virginia, Richmond January 12-March 16, 1996 “Celebration of American Crafts”; at Creative “Message in a Bottle: Contemporary Pictorial Arts Workshop, 80 Audubon Street.

76 CERAMICS MONTHLY D.C., Washington through January 1, 1996“On the River,” includes four ceramic works; at Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution. Florida, DeLand December 1-January 28, 1996 “Southeastern Fine Crafts Biennial Invitational, I”; at the DeLand Museum of Art, 600 North Woodland Boulevard. Florida, Delray Beach through March 3, 1996 “Kindred Spirits: The Eloquence of Function in American Shaker and Japanese Arts of Daily Life”; at the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, Morikami Park Road. Florida, Pensacola January 29-March 2, 1996 “It’s a Small World,” juried exhibition of minia­ tures; at SOHO Gallery, 23 Palafox Place. Georgia, Albany through January 1, 1996“ Break­ ing Barriers: Recent American Craft,” includes ceramic sculpture by Viola Frey, Michael Lucero and James Tanner; at the Albany Museum of Art, 311 Meadowlark. Illinois, Chicago December 1-31 “20th Annual Holiday Show and Sale”; at Lill Street, 1021 West Lill Street. January 23-February23,1996“A. Houberbocken Presents the Seventh Annual Teapots, Funky and Functional”; at Chiaroscuro Gallery, 700 North Michigan Avenue. Massachusetts, Boston through December 31 “Memories ’95” ornament and menorah exhibi­ tion; at Signature, Dock Square, 24 North Street. Massachusetts, Chestnut Hill through December 31 “Memories ’95”; at Signature, the Mall at Chestnut Hill, Boylston Street. Massachusetts, Mashpeethrough December 31 “Memories ’95,” ornament and menorah exhibi­ tion; at Signature, Mashpee Commons. Massachusetts, Northamptonthrough December 31 “Noah’s Ark”; at Ferrin Gallery, 179 Main. Michigan, PontiacDecember 8-January20, 1996 “Art to Wear: A Group Jewelry Exhibition”; at Habatat/Shaw Gallery, 7 North Saginaw. Minnesota, Bloomington January 5-February24, 1996 “Abstract Energies and Rhythms,” three- person exhibition with earthenware sculpture by Gary Erickson; at Bloomington Art Center, 10206 Penn Avenue, South. Missouri, Saint Louis through December30“The 31st Annual Holiday Exhibit”; at Craft Alliance, 6640 Delmar Boulevard. Missouri, Warrensburg January 22-February 25, 1996 “Greater Midwest International XI”; at Central Missouri State University, Art Central Gallery. Montana, Helena through December 31 “Winter Showcase,” regional arts and crafts; at Holter Museum of Art, 12 East Lawrence Street. NewJersey, Newark through June30,1996“ Cook­ ing for the Gods: The Art of Home Ritual in Bengal”; at the Newark Museum, 49 Washington Street. NewJersey, Oceanvillethrough January 7, 1996 “Holiday Craft Exhibition and Sale,” works by 18 regional artists; at the Noyes Museum, Lily Lake Road. New York, Albany through September 6, 1996 “Ways We Collect: From the Collections,” in­ cludes early New York ceramics; at the New York State Museum, Madison Avenue. New York, Hastings-on-Hudson December 3— January 14, 1996 “Influenced by Nature,” with ceramics by William Daley, Susan Eisen, Joy Rosen and Dale Zheutlin; at the Gallery at Hastings-on-Hudson, 7 Maple Avenue, Munici­ pal Building. New York, New York through December 8 “Mas- terworks of Chinese Art from Cornell Univer­ sity”; at Taipei Gallery, McGraw-Hill Building, 1221 Avenue of the Americas. through December 30Two-person exhibition with

December 1995 77 Calendar Washington, Seattle through December 29“Inte­ rior Idioms”; at Seafirst Gallery, Columbia Seafirst Center, 701 Fifth Avenue, Floor 3. Wisconsin, Oconomowoc January 23-February ceramics by Glenda Cahillane; at Nancy Margolis 23, 1996“A. Houberbocken Presents the Seventh Gallery, 560 Broadway, Suite 302. Annual Teapots, Funky and Functional”; at through February 25, 1996“Craft in the Machine Oconomowoc Gallery, 157 E. Wisconsin Ave. Age: European Influence on American Modern­ Wisconsin, Wauwatosa January 23—February 23, ism, 1920-1945”; at the American Craft Mu­ 1996 “A. Houberbocken Presents the Seventh seum, 40 West 53rd Street. Annual Teapots, Funky and Functional”; at 2900 through February 25, 1996 “A. W. N. Pugin: North Menomonee River Parkway. Master of Gothic Revival”; at the Bard Graduate Center, 18 West 86th Street. Fairs, Festivals and Sales through May 5, 1996 “Staten Island Biennial Juried Craft Exhibition”; at Staten Island Insti­ California, Berkeley December 2—3, 9—10, 16-17 tute of Arts and Sciences, 75 Stuyvesant Place. “Berkeley Artisans 1995 Holiday Open Studios”; New York, Uticathrough December 31 “Treasures throughout south and west Berkeley. For map, for the Table”; at Munson-Williams-Proctor In­ send SASE to 1250 Addison Street, #214, Berkeley stitute, Museum of Art, 310 Genesee Street. 94702; or telephone (510) 845-2612. New York, Windham through January 8, 1996 California, San Francisco December 2-3, 9-10 “Holiday Arts and Crafts Exhibit and Sale”; at “1995 Celebration of Craftswomen”; at Fort Greene County Council on the Arts, Mountaintop Mason Center, Piers 1 and 2, Buchanan Street Gallery, Main Street. and Marina Boulevard. North Carolina, Charlotte through February 11, Connecticut, Middletown through December 10 1996 “Kingdoms of the Sun: Masterworks of “The Wesleyan Potters 40th Annual Exhibit and Ancient Andean and Spanish Colonial Art”; at the Sale”; at Wesleyan Potters Craft Center, 350 Mint Museum of Art, 2730 Randolph Road. South Main Street. North Carolina, Winston-Salem through January Maryland, Gaithersburg December 8-10“Sugar- 21, 1996“Accounts Southeast: Craft—Function loaf s Winter Gaithersburg Crafts Festival”; at and Tradition”; at the Southeastern Center for Montgomery County Fairgrounds. Contemporary Art, 750 Marguerite Drive. New York, New York December 8—10 “12th Ohio, Cincinnati through January 1, 1996“ls\'m- Annual Holiday Craft Sale”; at Greenwich House gei: Japanese Folk Art from the Montgomery Pottery, 27 Barrow Street. Collection”; at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Eden North Carolina, Charlotte December 8-10“ACC Park. Craft Fair Charlotte”; at the Charlotte Conven­ Ohio, Cleveland through December 31 “Holiday tion Center. Collectible Show”; at American Crafts Gallery, 13010 Larchmere Boulevard. Workshops Ohio, Columbus through January 6, 1996“ Grace and Gravity,” exhibition of work by 11 Japanese California, Concow December27—January 7,1996 artists, including ceramics by Hee-Chang Yoon; “Winter Wood-fire Workshop” with Nolan Babin, at Riffe Gallery, Vern Riffe Center for Govern­ firing a 200-cubic-foot kiln. Fee: $350 for full ment and the Arts, High and State streets. workshop/$250 for 7-day session; includes mate­ January 8-28, 1996 Five Sculptors Plus,” with rials, firing and lodging. Contact Nolan Babin, ceramic sculpture by Eva Kwong; at Schumacher 13191 Mullen Way, Oroville (Concow), Califor­ Gallery, Capital University, Fourth Floor Library. nia 95965; or telephone (916) 534-9137. Ohio, Lancaster through January 6, 1996 “Two D.C., Washington January 14, 1996 A session for the Road,” two-person exhibition with ce­ with McKenzie Smith. Fee: $50.February 3—4, ramic sculpture by Donn Hedman; at the Gallery 1996 A session with Ellen Shankin. Fee: $85. at Studio B, 140 West Main Street. Contact Hinckley Pottery, 1707 Kalorama Road, Ohio, Toledo through January 7, 1996“Made in Northwest, Washington, D.C. 20009; or tele­ America: Ten Centuries of American Art”; at phone (202) 745-7055. Toledo Museum of Art, 2445 Monroe Street. Florida, Coral Gables February 9-10, 1996Dem- Oregon, Eugene through December 23 “Le Petit onstration of throwing, altering and drawing into 3”; at Alder Gallery, 160 East Broadway. forms with Ed Eberle. Fee: $25. Contact Chris­ Oregon, Portland through December24“ Holiday tine Federighi, Art Department, University of Gift Show”; at Oregon School of Arts and Crafts, Miami, Post Office Box 248106, Coral Gables 8245 Southwest Barnes Road. 33124; or telephone (305) 284-5470. Tennessee, Chattanooga through December 30 Florida, DeLand February 1-2,1996S lide lecture “Third Annual Juried Salon Show.” through Au­ and demonstration of carved vessels with Andy gust 1996 “1995-1996 Sculpture Exhibit”; at Nasisse. Contact Stetson University, Art Depart­ River Gallery, 400 East Second Street. ment, Campus Box 8252, DeLand 32720. Tennessee, Smithville through January 5, 1996 Florida, Pensacola January 15—19, 1996“Studio “Holiday Festival”; at the Appalachian Center for Architectural Ceramics Workshop” with Peter Crafts, 1560 Craft Center Drive. King and Marni Jaime. Fee: $475. Registration Utah, Logan through December 11 “The Patri­ deadline: December 24. Contact Nancy Lauck, mony Continues,” exhibition of new works ac­ 2617 North 12th Avenue, Pensacola 32503; or quired for the permanent collection; at Nora telephone (904) 438-3273 or fax (904) 438-0644. Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Utah State Uni­ Maryland, Baltimore December9— 76Wood firing versity, 650 North 1100 East. with McKenzie Smith; participants should bring Virginia, Richmond through December 23“ Holi­ 6-8 bisqued pots. Fee: $55. Contact Baltimore day Sale.” “A Season of Lights”; at the Hand Clayworks, 5706 Smith Avenue, Baltimore 21209; Workshop, 1812 West Main Street. telephone (410) 578-1919. Washington, Longview January 11—February 1, New Jersey, DemarestJanuary 12—14 or 15—16, 1996“Szl£Portraits—Beyond Reflection”; at the 1996 “Teapots—Form and Function” with Art Gallery, Lower Columbia College. Malcolm Davis. Slide presentation and pot-luck Washington, Richland through December 24 dinner (January 12): $20. Workshop (January “Holiday Magic”; at Allied Arts Association, 89 13-14 or 15-16) plus slides: $150 . January 24— Lee Boulevard. 26, 1996“Form and Development,” hands-on

78 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1995 79 Calendar

workshop with Karen Karnes. Fee: $175. Febru­ ary 1—2 or 3—4, 1996 “Surface Development” with Robbie Lobell. Slide presentation and pot- luck dinner (February 2): $20. Workshop (Febru­ ary 1-2 or 3-4) plus slides: $150. February 14, 1996 “Pot Patterning Pointers” with Kevin Donohue. Fee: $55. Contact Old Church Cul­ tural Center School of Art, 561 Piermont Road, Demarest 07627; or telephone (201) 767-7160. North Carolina, Brasstown January 26—February 3, 1996“Wood Firing—Forms and Function” with Ben Owen. Fee: $380. February 11-I7“Pot- tery Basics—Handbuilding and the Wheel” with Marcia Bugg. Fee: $232. February 23-25 “Clay Whistles” with Barbara Joiner. Fee: $130. Con­ tact John C. Campbell Folk School, Route 1, Box 14A, Brasstown 28902; (800) 365-5724. North Carolina, Durham January 12—14, 1996 “The Dimension of Color,” slide lecture and workshop with Susanne Stephenson. Fee: $95. Contact Sarah Howe, 2934 Ridge Road, Durham 27705; or telephone (919) 490-6304. Oregon, Portland February 17-18, 1996A ses­ sion with John Glick; fee: $150. Telephone (800) 999-2529, Georgies Ceramic and Clay Company. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia February 9, 1996 Lecture with Helen W. Drutt English. Location: Philadelphia Museum of Art. Contact the Clay Studio, 139 North Second Street, Philadelphia 19106; or telephone (215) 925-3453. Vermont, Middlebury February 9—11, 1996 A session with Andy Martin; fee: $195. Contact Vermont State Craft Center, Frog Hollow, 1 Mill St., Middlebury 05758; (802) 388-3177. Wyoming, CheyenneFebruary 5-6, 1996A. ses­ sion with Thomas P. Hubert. Free. Contact Laramie County Community College, Fine Arts Gallery, 1400 East College Drive, Cheyenne 82007; or telephone (307) 778-LCCC.

International Events Australia, BuccarumbiJanuary 7—13, 1996“Ves- sel Poetics—The Sculpted Surface” with Sandra Taylor and guest artist Toni Warburton. January 18-24, 1996 “Modular Works for Walls and Gardens” with Sandra Taylor and guest artist Ivan Gluck. Registration deadline: December 1. Fee: Aus$785, includes materials, lodging and meals. Contact Sandra Taylor, Blackadder, Buccarumbi, NSW 2460; or telephone/fax (66) 494-134. Canada, Ontario, Toronto through January 28, 1996“Vakts: Deception in European Ceramics”; at George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, 100 Queen’s Park. December 2—January 28, 7.95^ “Reshaping Tradi- tion: Contemporary Canadian Ceramics in Asian Modes”; at the Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen’s Park. Canada, Ontario, Waterloo through February 25, 1996 “Ceramics Israel”; at Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, 25 Caroline Street, North. Denmark, Copenhagen December 1-30andJanu­ ary 12-30, 1996 Exhibitions of earthenware; at Galleri Norby, Vestergade 8. England, Chichester January 5—7, 1996 “Pot­ tery—Throwing and Turning with Handle Mak­ ing” with Alison Sandeman .January 19-21,1996 “Master Potter Series: 4—Form and Surface” with Jim Robison. February 11—16, 1996 “Pot­ tery General—Handbuilding and Throwing” with Alison Sandeman. Contact West Dean College, West Dean, Chichester, West Sussex PO18 0QZ; or telephone (243) 811-301; fax (243) 811-343. England, London through December 23 “Christ-

80 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1995 81 Calendar

mas Exhibition”; at the Crafts Council Shop, Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington. through January 21, 1996 “Africa: The Art of a Continent”; at Royal Academy of Arts, Picadilly. England, Middlesbrough December3—January 14, 1996*The Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Party,” exhibition of tableware by Morgen Hall; at the Cleveland Craft Centre. France, Dunkerque through March 1996*Pots de Chicoree: Faiences Europeennes duXVe auXVIIIe Siecle”; at Musee des Beaux-Arts, Place du Gen­ eral de Gaulle. through April 1996 “The Raw and the Cooked: New Work in Clay in Britain”; at Musee d’Art Contemporain, Jardin des Sculptures. France, Mulhouse through February 26, 1996 “Propositions,” exhibition of ceramics by Gabriele Fontana, Michel Delmotte and Pierre Riehl. “Ma Neige,” works by Michel Wohlfahrt; at Maison de la Ceramique, 25, rue Josue Hofer. France, Nancaythrough December 11 Exhibition of sculpture by Georges Jeanclos; at Galerie Capazza, Grenier de Villatre. France, Paristhrough December 2 Exhibition of ceramics by Caroline Chevalier.December 6—Janu­ ary 6, 1996 Exhibition of ceramics by Yang, Seung-ho; at Epona, 40, rue Quincampoix. Germany, Dusseldorfthrough January 14, 1996 “Meissner Porzellan des 18 Jahrhunderts”; at Hetjens-Museum Dusseldorf, Schulstrasse 4. Germany, Frechenthrough February 4, 1996 “Form + Color”; at the Museum fur Zeitge- nossische Keramische Kunst, Bonnstrasse 12. Italy, RomeDecember 15—February 28, 1996 “Giappone in Italia,” three-person exhibition with ceramics by Gerd Knapper; at the Japanese Cul­ ture Center. Jamaica, Falmouth January 19-27, 7.9%Throw- ing; loading, firing and unloading a Japanese-style wood/salt kiln with Scott Goldberg and Jeff Oestreich. Fee: $ 1800, includes materials, 2 meals daily, lodging and round-trip airfare. Location: Good Hope Pottery. Contact Jeff Cox, 92nd St. Y, 1395 Lexington Ave., New York, N.Y. 10128; or telephone (212) 415-5565; fax (212) 415-5575. Japan, Tokyo December I-/Exhibition of ceram­ ics by Gerd Knapper; at Wako Art Hall, Ginza. Mexico, Oaxaca regionJanuary 2-10, 1996*Cz- ramics: From the Zapotec Tradition and Beyond” with Nancee Meeker. Contact Horizons, 108-P North Main Street, Sunderland, Massachusetts 01375; or telephone (413) 665-0300. Netherlands, Delft December 9-30 “Kerstten- toonstelling,” ceramics by Gertde Mulder, Simone Haak, Petra Kroeze, Erik Jan Kwakkel and Else van der Waal. January 27-March 9, 1996Exhibi­ tion of ceramics by Erica van Broeckhuijsen; at Terra Keramiek, Nieuwstraat 7. Netherlands, Deventer December 10-January 6, 1996Exhibition of works by David Frith, Dun­ can Ross and Sutton Taylor; at Loes and Reinier International Ceramics, Korte Assenstraat 15. Netherlands, Oosterbeek through December 25 “From Round to Angular,” ceramics by Dien Pleiter, Susanne Silvertant and Tom Van de Rot­ ten; at Galerie Amphora, Van Oudenallenstraat 3. Netherlands, ’s-Hertogenboschthrough January 28, 1996Retrospective exhibition of ceramics by Ettore Sottsass Jr.; at Museum Het Kruithuis, Citadellaan 7. Norway, BergenDecember 3—23 “New York, New York: Clay”; at Hordaland Art Center. Spain, Manises through December 31 “Biennal Europea de Ceramica”; at Museo de Ceramica de Manises.

82 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1995 83 Q When I use 30% or more nepheline syenite in Questions a glaze, after three to six months, the glaze batch Answered by the CM Technical Staff thickens to the point that water must be added to facilitate dipping. But thinning the batch weakens adherence to thepiece, and the glaze cracks all over. This problem has plagued me for years. Can you Q lam currently investigating what characteris­ help?-—G.M. tics a clay body and the glazes/slips used on it are I don’t think that what you are experiencing most favorable for outdoor weather. Iam especially is due just to the percentage of nepheline syenite interested in mid-range to high-fire sculpture bod­ in your glaze. Rather, it has to do with the ies, something that would survive an Alaska win­ dynamics of suspended solutions and solubil­ ter and an Arizona summer. Canyouhelp?—R. V ity. Some materials are more soluble than oth­ Outdoor sculpture in the north requires ers. Some completely dissolve into solution, freeze-thaw resistance, which is affected by the while others are suspended. Most glaze materi­ compressive strength of the clay, as well as the als are basically held in suspension. The nature amount and nature of its pore space. Usually, of their molecular and physical weights, relative the higher you fire, the more compressive solubilities and chemistry determines the de­ strength the clay has. Vitreous stoneware usu­ gree of settling out of solution. For example, ally has very good freeze-thaw resistance. frits, because of their high degree of insolubility, Glazes should fit the body well and not tend to settle into a hard mass on the bottom of craze. Water can work its way into the craze the glaze container, while the finer materials of lines and eventually cause the glaze to spall. terra sigillata, after the final decanting, remain Durable glazes, such as ones appropriate for in fairly good suspension over time. Particle size functional ware or other glazes that do not and solubility of the materials are important in scratch or etch easily, should be used. determining settling. Companies provide ma­ The simplest way to find a good stoneware terials analysis sheets that may indicate solubil­ or mid-range outdoor body is to test the ones ity in various solutions. you already have. You should test your slips and There are many ways to rectify the problems glazes at the same time. Prepare test pieces of of glaze settling. First, it might be important to each clay body, slip and glaze combination— realize that over time, glazes in solution develop wedged, built and fired in the same manner bacteria. Sometimes it is quite noticeable by the intended for the outdoor sculpture. Immerse smell, or from a colored scum that builds up on these pieces in boiling water for a few hours, the edge of the glaze bucket. then place them in the freezer. Every morning, All glaze materials contain impurities that take them from the freezer and boil for ten precipitate out of solution. These precipitates minutes, then refreeze. After a month, any can affect the glaze in detrimental ways, includ­ suitable clay/glaze/slip combinations should ing perhaps some of those that you cite. I like to remain unaffected. use freshly mixed glaze, but when that’s not Clay used by a northern brickyard is also a possible I always sieve my glazes completely good place to start. Brickyards will often sell wet before use. I also clean the glaze buckets reli­ bricks at a good price, or sometimes you can giously and add a few tablespoons of mouth­ “clean up” around their mixing equipment. wash (Listerine) to each batch of glaze to retard The pores created by adding coarse grog to the bacterial growth. clay are usually not a problem—northern com­ Essentially, what you want to achieve is a panies expect their brick to handle freezing and degree of flocculation in your glaze system, thawing. having an ideal combination of solute (dis­ Once you’ve developed an outdoor clay/ solved material) and liquid (in this case, water). glaze palette, remember the entire sculpture What is problematic is that in glazing bisque- should be designed to shed water and snow. ware, as the clay absorbs the water and the Avoid concavities that will collect water, put solute is deposited on the surface of the pot, too slightly convex curves on any horizontal planes much liquid in the mix means a thinner coating so that sheets of ice will be less likely to form, of glaze. Too little liquid results in an overly and make bases that sit securely on a slope so thick coating. that the bottom of the sculpture never stands in It is useful to monitor the specific gravity of a pool of water. Also be sure that joints in your glaze. A hydrometer is a very inaccurate multisectional sculpture are well protected with method of measuring the weight of the liquid an appropriate caulk. versus the weight of the solids (specific gravity). Louis Katz Instead, weigh a known quantity of glaze. Many Texas A&M University texts provide a reference for the amount of Corpus Christi liquid versus solids at certain specific gravities (e.g., F. H. Norton’s Ceramics for the Artist Subscribers' questions are welcome and those of gen­ Potter). eral interest will be answered in this column. Due to Glaze viscosity is a valuable factor to know volume, letters may not be answered personally. Ad­ also. A simple viscosimeter (Lehman Manufac­ dress the Technical Staff, Ceramics Monthly, Post turing, Kentland, Indiana), along with its com­ Office Box 12788, Columbus, Ohio 43212-0788.panion scale, not only gives the specific gravity

84 CERAMICS MONTHLY but also measures the resistance to flow, or viscosity. Casting slips are in the range of 1.7 to 1.85 (general parameters, meaning that the slip is that much heavier than an equal quantity of water). Glazes can be in the 1.5 to 1.6 range. Understand that these numbers are only of­ fered as general guides. Your glaze may and probably will be different. Perhaps one of the most widely used sus­ penders is bentonite. Other clay in the glaze is also responsible for keeping the glaze in suspen­ sion. Bentonites, which are hectorite clays, do not affect the fired product. I keep a few gallons of bentonite mixed in warm water on hand. Mixed vigorously and sieved, it is then added to the glaze batch (about 1 cup of bentonite solution to 5 gallons of glaze). Bentonite used in combination with gums and other commercial products may produce better glaze suspension as well as harden the surface so that the glaze coating is not as easily disturbed by handling. Many of the glazes I spray have a CMC gum content of about half a percent; the glaze is very fluid and the settling problems are kept at a minimum. Jonathan Kaplan Ceramic Design Group Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Q I would like some advice on cleaning my pug mill when switchingfrom stoneware to porcelain. Any ideas?—-J.H. Some commercial clay companies mix many different clays in the same pug mill. They manage this by running their clay bodies in order—from dark to light or light to dark. This is possible to do in small pug mills, too, but the transition from stoneware to porcelain is par­ ticularly difficult. Even a small percentage of stoneware mixed into a porcelain body will result in much speckling. Most studio pug mills come with directions for disassembly and cleaning. (If you don’t already have a copy of these, contact the manu­ facturer.) Some pug mills, having barrels that split, are easier to clean than others. The newer pug mills usually have reducing barrels at the output end that can easily be removed for cleaning. Unplug the mill, take off the reducing barrel (if it has one) and open the case. If your mill has one, you may need to remove a shredder screen first. It is usually easier to clean out wet clay than dry. Be careful; some pug-mill blades have sharp edges. Leather gloves might be useful. Cleaning non-stainless-steel mills in prepa­ ration for porcelain mixing is particularly prob­ lematic. It is a good idea to remove all rust with a wire brush. (Aluminum scale should also be removed.) Expect the first bit of clay in a non- stainless-steel mill to contain some streaks of iron. Each time you start up one of these mills, you probably will get streaks of rust from the output barrel. In these mills, it is better to pug in larger batches. You can try to flush the stoneware out of the

December 1995 85 Questions

pug mill using porcelain (the last batch of stoneware should be soft and the first several hundred pounds of porcelain should be hard), but you will end up with hundreds of pounds of “dirty” porcelain. Occasionally taking apart your pug mill is not a bad thing to do and cleaning is a good excuse. Getting all the hard clay and lost sponges out should really improve the performance of your mill. While it is apart, inspect the blades for wear and damage. If the gearbox requires periodic oil changes, this is also a good time. Using antiseizing compound (available at auto­ parts stores) on the bolts before reassembly will ease your next cleaning and help the bolts last longer. Spraying the inside of steel mills with WD40 really seems to help with future clean­ ups and keeps a new layer of rust from forming before you start the mill up the first time. Louis Katz Texas A&M University Corpus Christi

Q When clay or glaze is allowed to dry on my aluminum wheel head or dipping tongs, they get little spots that are impossible to wash off What's the cause of this, and can it be prevented?—S. C. I took your question to the director of metallurgy at the University of Alabama. He said that the spots were oxidation caused by the contact of water and oxygen with the metal alloy. The reason for the spots (rather than overall oxidation) is that the metal alloy is not uniform and some areas tend to oxidize more readily than others. Aluminum and aluminum alloys normally do oxidize, providing the metal with a thin protective coating. This process is exacerbated in the case of a wheel head or tools that are used in mildly abrasive materials because the oxide coating is periodically wiped off and a new layer soon forms. In the case of your wheel head, the inconsistency of the alloy, some small chemical reactions and small scratches work in concert to cause the spots. The surface of aluminum objects can be treated with a “flame coating,” but this is prob­ ably going to cost more than a replacement wheel head and certainly more than your dip­ ping tongs. If you are in a large metropolitan area, you can look in the telephone directory for companies that surface metals. These compa­ nies will be able to discuss the actual costs. My best advice is not to scrub aluminum surfaces. This only serves to remove the thin oxide coating. To clean them, rinse the surface with a stream of water and dry with a soft cloth. If tools are to go unused for a period of time, you can coat them with a silicone spray, but avoid getting this spray on drive belts and floors. W. Lowell Baker University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Alabama

86 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1995 87 88 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1995 89 Ceramics Monthly Annual Index January—December 1995

Ceramics Monthly has indexed the year’s articles in Collecting Sixth Annual California Competition, Sept., p 38 each December issue since 1962. An index covering Hands-On Learning: A Ceramics Teaching Swiss Porcelain Triennial,Nievergelt, Dec., p 49 January 1953 through December 1961 was published Collection,Hauser, Sept., p 41 Third Strictly Functional, Nov., p 37 in the January 1962 issue. Additionally, a 20-year White House Collection, The, Nov., p 61 Uncharted Territory: Contemporary Taiwanese (1953—1972) subject index, covering feature articles Ceramics,Canavier, June/July/Aug., p 79 plus the Suggestions and Questions columns, is Commentary Vallauris Biennial, Jan., p 41 available for $1.50, postpaid, from the CM Book 4/4 Beat, A, von Dassow, Apr., p 94 Voices from Within, Pearson, Dec., p 35 Department, Post Office Box 12788, Columbus, Facing Tradition,Hatori, May, p 96 White House Collection, The, Nov., p 61 Ohio 43212-0788. Functional Efficiency Versus Aesthetic Audacity, Wisconsin Potters Invitational, Oct., p 48 Lewis, Nov., p 92 Business Genuine and Ersatz,Larsen, March, p 100 History $1200 Studio, The, Krakowski, May, p 89 Guide to Serious Art for Newcomers, A,Stoy, 50 Years at the School for American Craftsmen, Designing for an Italian Factory,Koblitz, Jan., Dec., p 92 Phelan, Feb., p 51 Language in Ceramics,Larson, Oct., p 96 P37 Greek Folk Pottery,Beall and Haworth, Jan., Edgecomb Potters,Drake; Marrying Production Leach: Toward a Universal Culture,Hluch, Jan., P 53 Values and Creative Spirit, Hilton, June/ p 96 Lowly Bean Pot, The,Robinson, Sept., p 95 July/Aug., p 60 Service,Brow, Feb., p 96 Shards, Time and Human Endeavor, Robinson, Kevin Nierman, Brin, Oct., p 63 True Character of the Maker,Blackie, June/July/ Oct., p 62 Laser-Engraved Surfaces,Lehman, Jan., p 61 Aug., p 120 Living Tile, Resnick, Nov., p 53 View from Abroad, A, Sawyer, Sept., p 102 Miscellaneous Barcelona’s Castilla Fountain,Madola, March, Making a Living in the ’90s: Teaching in the Decoration p 58 Studio, Bub, Nov., p 48 Atmospheres, Jones, Jan., p 44 Philadelphia’s Clay Studio, 20th Latest on Glaze Calculation Software, The, Vavrek; Bruce Winn,Folk, March, p 55 Anniversary Show,Clark, March, p 63 Malmgren, Oct., p 50 China Paint: The Ultimate in Low Fire, Lewing, San Francisco Fair Connections,Canavier, NEA Fellowships, March, p 35 Feb., p 39 Jan., p 57 San Francisco Fair Connections,Canavier, Jatun Molino: A Pottery Village in the Jan., p 57 Staples Street Station, The, Gates, June/July/ Ecuadorian Amazon Basin,Molinaro, May, Aug., p 70 Staples Street Station, The, Gates, June/July/ p 63 Starting Over in the Mountains, Aug., p 70 Anderson; A Laser-Engraved Surfaces,Lehman, Jan., p 61 New Way of Working,Kaplan, June/July/ Layered Cone 6 and Cone 06 Glazes, Wilson, Potters and Pottery Aug., p 51 June/July/Aug., p 56 Worker’s Compensation, Luciani, Apr., p 84 Ann Linnemann, Apr., p 31 Low-Fire-Salt Fuming, Soldner, Apr., p 41 Baptism Through Fire, Emmelmann with Clay and Glazes Mark Nafziger,Clark, Dec., p 29 Arrowsmith, May, p 54 Bruce Winn,Folk, March, p 55 Outside In Bowls, Friedlander, March, p 52 Between Points in Clay,Barnard; Beyond East Ceramics in Northern Ireland: More There than Pat Charley: Pattern and Influences,Telford, and West, Allen, June/July/Aug., p 39 the Troubles, Malm, Jan., p 31 Jan., p 47 Bruce Winn,Folk, March, p 55 China Paint: The Ultimate in Low Fire, Lewing, Post-Industrial Ceramics: An Interview with Ceramics in Northern Ireland: More There than Feb., p 39 Rudy Fleck,Lauria, Dec., p 57 the Troubles, Malm, Jan., p 31 Cone 5 'WTrite Glazes,Naragon, Sept., p 97 Departments Chris Carter: An Autobiography, Feb., p 61 Diane Kenney: An Autobiography, May, p 37 The following departmentalfeatures appear Designing for an Italian Factory,Koblitz, Jan., East Meets West in Southern Arizona,Murphy, monthly except as noted: P3 7 Oct., p 34 Calendar Diane Kenney: An Autobiography, May, p 37 Edgecomb Potters,Drake; Marrying Production Call for Entries East Meets West in Southern Arizona,Murphy, Values and Creative Spirit, Hilton, June/ Classified Advertising Oct., p 34 Edgecomb Potters, Marrying Production July/Aug., p 60 Letters Drake; Eight Steps to Stop Crazing,Zamek, Apr., p 82 New Books: Jan., p 65; Feb., p 28; March, p 26; Values and Creative Spirit, Hilton, June/ Five Steps to Stop Glaze Shivering,Zamek, May, p 28; June/July/Aug., p 32; Sept., July/Aug., p 60 Oct., p 92 p 22; Oct., p 26; Nov., p 30; Dec., p 22 Following Anagama Tradition, Martin, Apr., Hawaiian Functional Forms,McWilliams, May, Questions Answered by the CM Technical Staff P 32 p 47 Suggestions from Readers Glenda Taylor,Colgan, Apr., p 47 Italy’s Franco Rampi,Grosso, Sept., p 35 Summer Workshops 1995, Apr., p 36 Greek Folk Pottery,Beall and Haworth, Jan., Journeying 10,000 Miles,Yeh, March, p 41 Up Front P53 Latest on Glaze Calculation Software, The, Video: Jan., p 80; Feb., p 32; March, p 32; Apr., Handbuilt Vessels, Hartley, Nov., p 63 Hawaiian Functional Forms, May, Malmgren, Oct., p 50 p 78; Sept., p 28; Oct., p 30 McWilliams, Layered Cone 6 and Cone 06 Glazes,Wilson, p 47 June/July/Aug., p 56 Exhibitions In Pursuit of Japanese Tradition, Rand, Dec., Living Tile, Resnick, Nov., p 53 2nd Annual Strictly Functional, Feb., p 35 p 63 Locating Glaze Materials,Petersham, June/July/ 9th San Angelo Competition, Feb., p 43 Italy’s Franco Rampi,Grosso, Sept., p 35 Aug., p 72 .Alfred Now, Seyfarth, Oct., p 59 Jatun Molino: A Pottery Village in the Making a Living in the ’90s: Teaching in the Arch 191, Apr., p 28 Ecuadorian Amazon Basin,Molinaro, Studio, Bub, Nov., p 48 Built, Thrown and Touched, Apr., p 45 May, p 63 Mark Nafziger,Clark, Dec., p 29 Contemporary Greek Ceramists, June/July/ Jill Bonovitz,Rice, Dec., p 59 New Look at Some Old Glazes, A,McWhinnie, Aug., p 46 Journeying 10,000 Miles,Yeh, March, p 41 Feb., p 92 Craft Alliance Teapot Annual, Dec., p 47 Kevin Nierman, Brin, Oct., p 63 Opening Doors, Smyser with Schuck, Oct., p 56 Donna and Wesley Anderegg, Nov., p 39 Laser-Engraved Surfaces,Lehman, Jan., p 61 Potting in Cape Town, Rabinowitz, Sept., p 65 Feats of Clay VII, March, p 60 Lowly Bean Pot, The,Robinson, Sept., p 95 Sister Dennis Frandrup, Huston, Jan., p 51 Form and Function in Baltimore, March, p 38 Making a Living in the ’90s: Teaching in the Spodumene for Low Thermal Expansion, Four Functional Potters, Apr., p 53 Studio, Bub, Nov., p 48 Murray, Dec., p 39 Gathering of Tea, A, Hamaker, May, p 60 Making Vessels, Kraft, Sept., p 63 Starting Over, Dano, Apr., p 25 International Cone Box Show, Jan., p 25 Mark Nafziger,Clark, Dec., p 29 Starting Over in the Mountains, Anderson; A New Artists Tea Party, March, p 51 Mary and Edwin Scheier, Feb., p 38 New Way of Working,Kaplan, June/July/ Philadelphia’s Clay Studio,Vavrek; 20th Mata Ortiz: Traditions and Innovations,Gilbert, Aug., p 51 Anniversary Show,Clark, March, p 63 Dec., p 51

90 CERAMICS MONTHLY Mecklenburger Vogel, The,Frankenberger, Oct., Handbuilding with Suspended Clay, Values and Creative Spirit, Hilton, June/ p 41 Thomsbury, May, p 44 July/Aug., p 60 Opening Doors, Smyser with Schuck, Oct., p 56 Italy’s Franco Rampi,Grosso, Sept., p 35 Following Anagama Tradition, Martin, Apr., p 32 Outside In Bowls, Friedlander, March, p 52 Jim Leedy: The Re-enchantment of Clay,Catto Handbuilding with Suspended Clay, Pat Charley: Pattern and Influences, Telford, and Cadieux, Feb., p 57 Thomsbury, May, p 44 Jan., p 47 Justin Novak: Consumer Confidence, Feb., p 46 Handbuilt Vessels, Hartley, Nov., p 63 Patrick Sargent: Fire Potter,Whiting, Nov., p 66 Living Tile, Resnick, Nov., p 53 Jatun Molino: A Pottery Village in the Potting in Cape Town, Rabinowitz, Sept., p 65 Low-Fire-Salt Fuming, Soldner, Apr., p 41 Ecuadorian Amazon Basin,Molinaro, May, Raku Potter Charles Bohn, Bynum, June/July/ Marc Leuthold, Nov., p 58 p 63 Aug., p 75 Patrick Crabb: Contemporary Archaeologist in Laser-Engraved Surfaces,Lehman, Jan., p 61 Robert Brady’s Vases and Bowls,Schwartzburg, Clay,Peterson, May, p 35 Latest on Glaze Calculation Software, The, Sept., p 53 Post-Industrial Ceramics: An Interview with Malmgren, Oct., p 50 Scott Jones’ Decorated Platters,Lupia, Sept., p 45 Rudy Fleck,Lauria, Dec., p 57 Living Tile, Resnick, Nov., p 53 Stages of Development: Karen Bennicke, Bente Robert Harrison’s Gibson Gateway,Racker, Jan., Low-Fire-Salt Fuming, Soldner, Apr., p 41 Hansen and Peder Rasmussen, Zettersten, p 42 Making a Living in the ’90s: Teaching in the Nov., p 40 Shaping Abstract Ideas,LaPointe; Process Tips Studio, Bub, Nov., p 48 Starting Over, Dano, Apr., p 25 and Attitudes, Sept., p 49 Mark Nafziger,Clark, Dec., p 29 Starting Over in the Mountains, Anderson; A Sister Dennis Frandrup, Huston, Jan., p 51 Mecklenburger Vogel, The,Frankenberger, Oct., New Way of Working,Kaplan, June/July/ Stages of Development: Karen Bennicke, Bente p 41 Aug., p 51 Hansen and Peder Rasmussen, Zettersten, Mysterious Hole, The: Determining Correct Superior Inspiration, Risak, Nov., p 46 Nov., p 40 Burner-Orifice Size,Ward, May, p 50 Svend Bayer,Hewitt; Excerpts from a Svend Steve Welch, Oct., p 39 Opening Doors, Smyser with Schuck, Oct., p 56 Bayer Conversation with Lucy Birtles, Susan Eisen, Rauch, June/July/Aug., p 48 Outside In Bowls, Friedlander, March, p 52 March, p 45 Thrown Together, Yep, Oct., p 54 Pat Charley: Pattern and Influences, Telford, Taking the Rude out of Extrude, Latka, Sept., p 60 Wood-Firing Dialogue: An Interview with John Jan., p 47 Vessel as Canvas, Kolodziejski, Sept., p 55 Balistreri, Leedy, Oct., p 45 Philadelphia’s Clay Studio,Vavrek; 20th Walter Dexter: Surface and Sculpture,Gustafson, Anniversary Show,Clark, March, p 63 Oct., p 40 Studio, Tools and Equipment Potting in Cape Town, Rabinowitz, Sept., p 65 $1200 Studio, The, Krakowski, May, p 89 Raku Potter Charles Bohn, Bynum, June/July/ Sculptors and Sculpture Baptism Through Fire, Emmelmann with Aug., p 75 Atmospheres, Jones, Jan., p 44 Arrowsmith, May, p 54 Shaping Abstract Ideas,LaPointe; Process Tips Baptism Through Fire, Emmelmann with Bradley Miller,Dixon, Dec., p 42 and Attitudes, Sept., p 49 Arrowsmith, May, p 54 Ceramics in Northern Ireland: More There than Starting Over, Dano, Apr., p 25 Barcelona’s Castilla Fountain,Madola, March, the Troubles, Malm, Jan., p 31 Starting Over in the Mountains, Anderson; A p 58 China Paint: The Ultimate in Low Fire, Lewing, New Way of Working,Kaplan, June/July/ Bill Stewart, Dawson, Apr., p 50 Feb., p 39 Aug., p 51 Bradley Miller,Dixon, Dec., p 42 Chris Carter: An Autobiography, Feb., p 61 Svend Bayer,Hewitt; Excerpts from a Svend Eduardo Andaluz,Hernandez, May, p 42 Designing for an Italian Factory,Koblitz, Jan., p 37 Bayer Conversation with Lucy Birtles, From the Feet Up, Natsoulas, June/July/Aug., p 68 Diane Kenney: An Autobiography, May, p 37 March, p 45 Fusz Gyorgy,Pogdny, Apr., p 29 Edgecomb Potters,Drake; Marrying Production Taking the Rude out of Extrude, Latka, Sept., p 60

December 1995 91 Comment

A Guide to Serious Art for Newcomers by Michael Stoy

As a newcomer to the world of art and the value in a work that everyone else is ceramics, you may find yourself intimi­ fawning over. That being the case, to dated by the written and verbal descrip­ have your work considered serious art tions of some works. It may frequently you don’t need to fool everybody. You seem like people are writing or speaking a only need to fool a couple of people (usu­ foreign language. You may find yourself ally all that is required is to con the gal­ completely unable to comprehend any lery owners) and no one else will dare connection between the written descrip­ contradict them. No one is likely to say tion and the actual piece. You may be “this work is a piece of feces” out of fear further confused when you can’t see any of seeming ignorant, unrefined, uncul­ way to relate the asking price to any in­ tured, uneducated, etc. This principle is trinsic value of the work. Do not despair! referred to colloquially as the “Emperors The problem is not that you are ignorant New Clothes Theory.” or stupid, but that you have not yet The Overpricing Principle: Charging learned the few basic principles that in­ too much for a work is employed by form most of the contemporary world of most gallery owners and show jurors as a serious art. quick standard for determining if it is The Accessibility Principle: For a work serious art. The basic idea is that if the to be considered serious art, it must not price seems to have any relationship to its contain any elements that would make it intrinsic value or the time or skill re­ understandable to the average person. quired to produce it, the work is imme­ Beauty, symmetry of form, realism, per­ diately disqualified for consideration as fection of technique or harmony of color serious art. The greater the difference be­ immediately disqualifies it as serious art. tween what the average person would be The Functionality Principle: For a work willing to pay and the price being asked, to be considered serious art, it must not the more serious the work must be. be functional The Invest­ or utilitarian. ment Principle: For example, if To be considered serious art, the written A corollary to a platter is to be description must use as many large the overpricing used for serving principle, this is food it cannotand arcane words as possible. In addition, the basis on be serious art, the words should be combined in such which most se­ but if the same rious art invest­ platter is to be a way as to have no coherent meaning. ment is made hung on the (as well as wall, it then has a chance to at least be many stock purchases). It doesn’t really considered as serious art. The odds in this matter what the value of something is; all case would be against it, though, since it that matters is what you can sell it for has elements that could be considered tomorrow. This allows you to pay some functional. outrageous price for a piece today—in The Obfuscation Principle: For a work the firm belief that some other fool will to be considered serious art, the written be willing to pay an even higher price for description must use as many large and it tomorrow. The colloquial form of this arcane words as possible. In addition, the principle is the “Greater Fool Theory.” words should be combined in such a way The Shock Principle: The more gro­ as to have no coherent meaning. The tesque and shocking the work is, the bet­ colloquial form of this principle is, “If ter its chances are of being considered you cant baffle them with brilliance, be­ serious art. fuddle them with bullshit.” The Talent Principle: When determin­ The Embarrassment Principle: No one ing whether a work is to be considered as wants to be embarrassed by admitting serious art, the talent required to produce ignorance, or that he or she doesn’t see it should not be considered. In fact, if the

92 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1995 93 Comment

talent exhibited by a work exceeds that of the average third grader, its chances of achieving serious-art status are greatly di­ minished. As a newcomer to the world of serious art and ceramics, you should not despair if you find that after a few years of trying to master the medium you actually have no technical ability and no artistic talent. You will be heartened to know that while you may not have a future as a functional potter, you can still apply these principles and have a hugely successful career as a ceramics artist. In fact, you can get your three-year-old to produce your works for you and you just have to go around to galleries and sell them as (you guessed it) serious art. Of course, to be truly successful as a serious artist, you must be able to speak and write the language. If you missed the course in psychobabble, do not despair; I have developed two simple tools that will enable you to speak and write like a na­ tive. You will find them useful in writing exhibition statements and in giving in­ terviews for magazines, newspapers, tele­ vision, etc. The first tool is a two-paragraph de­ scriptive summary. To produce your own customized version, you just select one of the choices from the words that are pro­ vided inside each set of parentheses. You can do this by picking the word choice that seems to best fit your particular work—or, in keeping with the obfusca­ tion principle defined above, the words can be selected at random. “I am interested in (nature, truth, beauty, symbolism) and its relationship to (art, life, space, purity) as expressed through (form, texture, color). This shows in the (geometric, organic, psychological, visual, holistic, symbolic) aspect of my work. My work has been heavily influ­ enced by both (folk, contemporary, clas­ sical, primitive) ceramics and my (early teacher, father, mother, dreams), leading me to (explore, discover, develop, expand) my (self, roots, feelings, beliefs, subcon­ scious, mortality, innocence) and my re­ lationship to (contemporary society, folk traditions, nature, art). I attempt to con­ vey a sense of (neo-, mytho-, semi-) (po­ etic, organic, sensual, natural) (reality,

94 CERAMICS MONTHLY December 1995 95 Comment For those of you who own computers, a simple program can be written that randomly selects the words from the avail­ able choices to fill in the blanks. An ex­ sensibility, beauty, harmony) and (spon­ ample of the results of such a program is: taneous, irreducible, indispensable, re­ “I am interested in nature and its re­ splendent, sublime) (feeling, potency, lationship to purity as expressed through introspection, power, vision) in my work texture. This shows in the holistic aspect that (transcends, enlarges, explores, sym­ of my work. My work has been heavily bolizes) (beauty, joy, life, art) and achieves influenced by both primitive ceramics an (aesthetic, sublime, visceral, powerful, and my mother, leading me to discover primal, reserved, enduring) (truth, har­ my roots and my relationship to art. I mony, honesty, integrity). attempt to convey a sense of neo-poetic “These works make a (profound, dy­ beauty and indispensable power in my For example: the three-digit number namic, powerful, subtle, engaging, vis­ work that transcends life and achieves an 259 yields “dynamic natural elegance” ceral) statement through the use of enduring harmony. and 416 would be “neo-organic purity.” (positive, negative, complex, raw, abstract, “These works make a dynamic state­ Armed with the principles presented congruent) (space, form, elements, tex­ ment through the use of abstract form, here, a newcomer need no longer feel ture), creating a (feeling, symbolism, di­ creating a vision that is both organic and ignorant and intimidated by the serious- chotomy, tension, beauty, vision) that is elegant. They inspire the viewer to pon­ art scene. And, by making use of these both (organic, holistic, self-conscious, in­ der the underlying psychological passion two tools, you too will be able to secure timate, monumental, primal) and (natu­ and subtle symbolism of the work.” fame and fortune, and command the envy ral, elegant, simple, flamboyant, opulent). The second useful tool is a psycho­ and respect of your peers as a truly seri­ They (challenge, inspire, engage, entice, babble synthesizer. This will allow you to ous artist. invite) the viewer to (ponder, feel, dis­ develop a more personalized description cover, understand) the underlying (visual, of your work than the first tool allows. The author A full-time director of engi­ rhythmic, primal, psychological, sym­ When an appropriately impressive de­ neering for a manufacturing company near bolic) (elegance, beauty, form, meaning, scriptive phrase is needed, you simply Seattle, Michael Stoy is also a professional power, passion) and (profound, subtle, select a random three-digit number then photographer; specializing in wilderness im­ deep, generous) (austerity, harmony, sym­ look up the phrase produced from the ages, and an amateur potter. He has yet to bolism, vision, conviction) of the work.” table provided: produce a single piece of serious art.

Index to Advertisers

A.R.T. Studio...... 15 Creek Turn...... 76 L&L...... 94 Scott Creek...... 68 Aftosa...... 87 Critter...... 94 Laguna Clay...... 25 Sheffield...... 77 Amaco...... 28 Davens...... 81 Leslie...... 79 Shimpo ...... Cover 2 Amherst Potters...... 86 Dedell...... 82 Lockerbie...... 79 Skutt...... Cover 4 Anderson Ranch...... 86 Del Val ...... 70 Maryland Refractories...... 82 Snyder...... 84 Architectural Workshop...... 71 Dolan...... 82 Max...... 80 Soldner...... 21 Artists On-Line...... 67 Duralite...... 80 Miami Clay...... 85 Southern Oregon...... 82 Southern Pottery...... 80 Axner...... 23, 93 Euclid’s...... 86 Mid-South...... 2 70 Spectrum...... 83 Bailey...... 1, 6, 7, 65 Falcon...... 78 Mile Hi...... 19 Standard...... 71 Base ‘Ur’ Art...... 75 Flourish...... 82 Minnesota Clay USA...... 82 Studio Potter...... 92 Bennett’s...... 3 Functional Ceramics...... 70 Miracle Underglazes...... Bluebird...... 75 Modern Postcard...... 74 Tallat...... 80 Geil...... 26, 27 Brickyard...... 84 82 Tara...... 11 Georgies...... 94 New Century...... Thomas-Stuart ...... 83 Canadian Potter...... 79 Giffin...... 84 North Star...... 69, 95 Trinity...... 77 Cedar Heights...... Cover 3 Great Lakes Clay...... 87 Olsen...... 71 Ceramic Review...... 81 Tucker’s...... 93 Handmade Lampshade...... 94 Paragon...... 93 Tuscarora Pottery...... 70 CeramiCorner...... 86 HBD ...... 70 Pebble Press...... 84 Ceramics Monthly...... 13, 73, 83 Highwater Clays...... 91 Peter Pugger...... 94 U.S. Pigment...... 95 Classified...... 88 University of Dallas...... 86 IMC...... 70 Peters Valley...... 86 Clay Art Center...... 76 International Technical...... 78 Philadelphia Pottery...... 95 Venco ...... 17 Clay Factory...... 82 Piedmont Pottery...... 84 Jepson...... 9 Ward ...... 10 Contact...... 92 Potter’s Service...... 74 Kickwheel...... 4 Wasil...... 82 Contemporary Kiln...... 82 Potters Shop...... 80 Kiln Sitter...... 94 Westerwald...... 87 Continental Clay...... 24 Prophet...... 85 Corey...... 80 KLM...... 82 Wise...... 94 95 Cornell...... 80 Kraft Korner...... 70 Ram...... Wolfe...... 94 Creative Industries...... 72 Krueger...... 70 Sapir...... 81 Worcester Center...... 75

96 CERAMICS MONTHLY