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Ceramics Monthly (ISSN 0009-0329) is published monthly except July and August by Professional Publications, Inc.—S. L. Davis, Pres.; P. S. Emery, Sec.: 1609 North­ west Blvd., Columbus, Ohio 43212. Second class postage paid at Columbus, Ohio. Subscription Rates: One year SI6, two years $30, three years $40. Add $5 per year for subscriptions outside the U.S.A. Change of Address: Please give us four weeks advance notice. Send both the magazine wrapper label and your new address toCe­ ramics Monthly, Circulation Office, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Contributors: Manuscripts, photographs, color separations, color transparencies (in­ cluding 35mm slides), graphic illustrations and news releases dealing with ceramic art are welcome and will be considered for pub­ lication. A booklet describing procedures for the preparation and submission of a manu­ script is available upon request. Send man­ uscripts and correspondence about them to The Editor, Ceramics Monthly, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Indexing: Articles in each issue ofCeramics Monthly are indexed in Art Index. A 20- year subject index (1953-1972) coveringCe­ ramics Monthly feature articles, Suggestions and Questions columns is available for $1.50, postpaid from the Ceramics Monthly Book Department, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Additionally, each year’s articles are indexed in the December issue. Copies and Reprints: Microfiche, 16mm and 35mm microfilm copies, and xerographic re­ prints are available to subscribers from Uni­ versity Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106. Copies in micro­ fiche are also available from Bell & Howell, Micro Photo Division, Old Mansfield Road, Wooster, Ohio 44691. Back Issues: Back issues, when available, are $3 each, postpaid. Write for a list. Postmaster: Please send address changes to Ceramics Monthly, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212

Copyright © 1983 Professional Publications, Inc. All rights reserved May 1983 3 4 Ceramics Monthly Ceramics Monthly Volume 31, Number 5 May 1983

Feature Articles Dennis Gallagher ...... 24 Pewabic Exhibition...... 25 Onta Folk Potters by Brian Moeran...... 27 Anagama—The Fiery Brush by Jack Troy...... 34 Robert Rauschenberg Ceramics...... 39 Philip Jameson by Cheryl McLean...... 42 The Ultimate Cookie Jar...... 45 Clay Architecture 46 A Rammed Earth Studio by Marcia Selsor...... 51 Two Production Potters by Jennifer Hewko...... 54

Departments Letters to the Editor...... 7 Where to Show 13 Questions...... 15 Itinerary 17 Suggestions 21 Comment: Two Energy Scenarios by R. Clayton Baker...... 23 News & Retrospect 67 Classified Advertising 86 Index to Advertisers 88

The Cover A West African woman sgraffitoes a traditional pat­ tern around the doorway of her clay house, a project that takes place every spring in the desert community of Oualata, Mauritania. For a larger view of clay architecture from West Africa and Southwest Asia, see the article beginning on page 46. May 1983 5 6 Ceramics Monthly Letters Modern Japanese Pottery he has been reproducing in paintings and Moeran states that the “university professors, I found the CM four-part series “Survey lithographs decade after decade. Chagall museum curators, civil engineers, amateur of Modern Japanese Pottery” (October is recognized and loved the world over. archaeologists and so on” who “judge pottery 1982-January 1983) very interesting. I en­ But because his paintings have become vir­ shows and write in the numerous publica­ joy and look forward to more comments on tual copies of themselves, does he as well earn tions on Japanese pottery” are “a motley ceramic criticism and aesthetics. CM is too the objectionable criticism of being un­ band. ... in a way a bit like Robin Hood’s afraid to criticize. Please be aware of how original? merry men.” As a lecturer in the Department fast ceramics is changing—from a “how-to” Part 3 of Moeran’s survey ends with: “ .. . of Anthropology and Sociology at the Uni­ to real thought. Japanese pottery is technically light years versity of London, and under the sponsorship Mary Seyfarth ahead of what most of us produce in the of the Social Science Research Council of Winnetka, 111. West. The question is whether technical skill Great Britain, Brian Moeran can thus per­ is the only criterion by which pottery should haps expand this motley band of merry men Japanese Rebuttal be judged.” He suggests more bluntly in the to include himself. I have been living in Japan for eight years last sentence of Part 4 that the Japanese may Amanda Kobayashi and for the last five in a rural community, have something to learn from the more “spir­ Fukui, Japan studying pottery. I am in no position to con­ itual” approach to pottery in the West. What test the statistics in Brian Moeran’s four-part makes this summarization wonderfully iron­ Restoring Function (October 1982 through January 1983 CM) ic is that after the conclusion of Part 3, what I just finished having the carpal tunnel “Survey of Modern Japanese Pottery.” I have follows is an extraordinary 16-page array of operation on both hands (a 3-inch incision conducted no national surveys. And yet while full color photographs of prizewinning ex­ on the left and a 4-inch on the right) follow­ Moeran contends that potters in Japan today amples of pottery today in the Western world. ing an examination for impedance of elec­ are “more or less divided into two camps”: After learning from Brian Moeran all about trical impulses down the nerve pathways of those who contribute to Nitten and those who what isn’t good pottery (i.e. pottery being both arms. Despite the casts and prickly contribute to Dento Kogeiten; in my expe­ made today in Japan), is this then what is? stitches, improvement in function is imme­ rience, among the 10 or 12 potters I am on In discussing Japan’s relatively recent shift diate: no numbness, no snapping electricity regular speaking terms with, there is not one of emphasis from potteries to potters, three in joints. I can’t wait to get back to clay. who belongs to either one of these “two camps.” men are mentioned: Arakawa, Nakazato and I can take any amount of publishing about And of the additional 30 or 40 other potters Kaneshige. They are introduced as being specific clays, glazes, history of techniques in the area whose names and work I am among a number of potters who “began de­ and their application. The News & Retro­ acquainted with, I know of three who con­ voting themselves to the imitation of tech­ spect article on E. H. Wheeler (January) tribute annually to the Nitten, and five who niques practiced during the 16th and 17th was delicious. The “Survey of Modern Jap­ participate in Dento Kogeiten. centuries.” The word imitation bears strong anese Pottery” was important. Like ’Lil Au­ In the conclusion of Part 3 of his survey, implications. And there is nothing in the word drey, I laughed and laughed about Walter Moeran states that modern ware in Japan, or in further words to give one any idea why Zurko (January, page 77). And so keep on created with the idea of exhibiting in mind, these three potters also happen to be three keeping on. has become very large, with one potter stick­ of the biggest names in the history of modern Frances Limberg Stearns ing to one pattern. Without reservation, he Japanese pottery. If these three are depicted Globe, Ariz. concludes the reason for this is so that the only as having devoted themselves to imitat­ judges will notice the ware, and critics will ing and attempting to reproduce certain styles A Corner on the Market immediately recognize the “one-pattern” pot of the past, in a comparable survey of modern After 12 years with my hands in clay (6 as “belonging to a certain name, and pass it American Indian pottery, does one introduce years full time), I am still amazed to run accordingly—regardless of quality.” Can the Maria Martinez only as a woman who de­ across potters who think they have a corner reason be so certain, when working big and voted herself to the imitation of techniques on the market (Betty Bell in the March Let­ working in one pattern are trends not only practiced by the Pueblo Indians of previous ters). in Japanese pottery, but in Western pottery centuries? In a survey of modern British pot­ My first experience with this annoying as well; trends not only in pottery, but in all tery, are Leach and Cardew introduced only phenomenon happened with a close friend crafts; trends not only in crafts, but in all as two potters who devoted themselves to the who worked in stoneware, flameware and modern art, at least in Japan and the U.S.A. imitation of techniques practiced by Japa­ porcelain. When I expressed interest in pro­ (the only two parts of the world I happen to nese, African and English potters? ducing a line of flameware, she was aghast be familiar with). “Every potter does his ut­ Moeran suggests that “the time has come, that I would even consider “horning in” on most to make his work immediately recog­ perhaps, to strip some of the glitter off the her “specialty” and threatened the end of our nizable. Size is one way of doing this, another Japanese ceramic Christmas tree.” If Japa­ friendship if I did. Although I live and mar­ is to produce what is referred to as a ‘one- nese ceramics is a Christmas tree, then Moeran ket pots 300 miles away from her, she felt as pattern’ pot.” Painters and sculptors are also himself, in his interpretation of the present long as I lived in the northeast it would be in the habit of working large and repeating condition of that tree, has stripped it—not a personal affront if I pursued flameware. patterns. Can habits be the same, and mo­ only of its glitter, but of its branches and its For quite a while I actually believed I had tives different? Can one so easily accuse every roots as well. done something wrong until I began to meet potter in Japan of having such trivial and In the concluding paragraphs of his survey, other potters from the northeast at craft fairs commercial motives for working large? Can Moeran discusses the extent to which the who were also working in flameware. Several one so easily dismiss every “one-pattern” pot Japanese public is victim to pottery criticism of them were even willing to share their clay with: it is being done for fast recognition by written exclusively by nonprofessionals. If body recipe with me. critics? Can one so easily accuse the critics that is indeed the case, it is unfortunate. But Since this experience, I’ve come to realize who applaud a “one-pattern” pot as being by the very act of reading this four-part sur­ there are two breeds of potters. There are unconcerned with its quality and blind to its vey, we as Westerners are also made victim those who are more than willing to share apparent unoriginality? The artist Marc to a nonprofessional’s criticism of Japanese ideas, material sources and, yes, even glaze Chagall developed a style and a pattern that pottery. On the final page of this report, Continued May 1983 7 8 Ceramics Monthly Letters they don’t “throw” pots, they “turn” them) In reference to the article “Jugtown Pot­ on bats, most pieces are lifted directly from tery” by Mary Durland Fields, which ap­ recipes. These people often appear to be the the wheel head. Jugtown Pottery was res­ peared in the March issue, I would like to potters who learned to share in a structured, cued from near oblivion.by former director clarify that all of the photographs of indi­ educational environment. The pressures of Nancy Sweezy, who worked for the past 15 vidual Jugtown pieces were obtained from making a living and competing in the mar­ years to help make it what it is today, but I the North Carolina Museum of Art in Ra­ ketplace with others came after they had find no mention of her name or her many leigh. The eight pieces reproduced in the ar­ learned the lesson that sharing with others achievements. Jugtown Pottery is one of the ticle are part of the museum’s extensive col­ is how they came by their own information few traditional potteries to support an active lection of Jugtown ceramics. and knowledge in the first place. apprenticeship program over the past few Mitchell D. Kahan Where would we all be without Rhodes, years, but Mary Durland Fields fails to em­ Curator, American and Contemporary Art Nelson, Cardew, Leach, Olsen, etc., who have phasize it. Jugtown deserves better than this. North Carolina Museum of Art each contributed to our growth as potters Tom Jackson Raleigh through their willingness to share informa­ Godwin, N.C. Continued tion and experience? Isn’t it interesting that Betty Bell’s “new Spring 1982 item” has apparently been made by others for years. If the response in CM Letters to Jo Helms’s request about pansy pots is indicative of the percentage of those in the first category versus those with a cor­ ner on the market, then hopefully two out of three aren’t bad odds. I feel fortunate there are potters like Ruth Hubbell and Joy Wall- ner who are secure enough in themselves to willingly share their knowledge with us. The chances of continuing to grow in the field of pottery look pretty good. I find it difficult to believe those who ac­ cuse others of being “copy artists” aren’t themselves making mugs, teapots, casseroles, tableware, etc. Did the idea to make a mug from clay originate with them? Let’s hope those with a corner on the mar­ ket continue to thrive and flourish on their deserted islands and that the locks they keep around their information and ideas never rust so that they themselves no longer can gain access. If I should happen to mistakenly ap­ proach one of you with a request for infor­ mation, please forgive me, I’m still in the process of learning and growing. Amalia Lang Youngman Warren, Vt.

Jugtown Pottery I have just read, with great disappoint­ ment, the article on Jugtown Pottery, and am led to wonder just how much time Mary Durland Fields spent at Jugtown gathering information. While I can appreciate her interest in the pottery’s long and complex history, I do not understand her misleading emphasis on the “old methods ... as it was in the Busbees’ day,” and I have little patience with her out­ right errors of fact and gross sins of omission. A few of the more glaring examples spring from the page: although Bob Owens is a highly skilled and hard-working member of the Jugtown staff, he does not turn pots; al­ though the antique, horse-powered clay mill is an interesting relic, it has not been used for years, having been replaced with sophis­ ticated clay processing equipment which in­ cludes a hammer mill and pugmills. Al­ though some Jugtown pots are “thrown” (Jugtown potters would laugh at this term— May 1983 9 10 Ceramics Monthly Letters of making a pot) do. Even if my reaction is “sheesh!” it tells me something. If a produc­ Comment a Hatchet Job tion potter wants to make jars for starting In answer to the December article (“Look­ hyacinth bulbs, why not? It doesn’t mean ing Forward, Looking Back”) by Harriet that Ken Vavrek (March CM) has to do it, Cohen, I have never been as shocked as I was any more than his wall sculptures are going by this gratuitous attack on a fine potter. Ted to dictate the forms of David Keator’s raku Randall does not write books or articles, to boxes. I admire them both, but would never my knowledge. He is largely responsible for attempt to duplicate either. I can conceive of the development of wheel technology, and has work that would be influenced by both, and made a reputation for himself by his out­ where else could I see them side by side than standing ability to create pottery (not of the in the pages of Ceramics Monthly ? smash, bash and crash school, but both dec­ Laurie Sparer orative and functional). Minneapolis I feel very fortunate to have been able to study under Ted Randall and Val Cushing Good Formulas (who was also criticized for “the inability to As a potter who shares studio space with say an unkind word,” by someone who ap­ my wife’s gift shop, I can only sell items parently finds it difficult to say a kind word). people use in their everyday lives. My fun As for the reference to the “old boy” net­ pieces are fun to make and see, but they never work—if that means that potters and edu­ sell. cators throughout the East and Midwest show I especially enjoy articles on fine produc­ the influence of Alfred’s training, I consider tion potters, and hope CM will continue to that a compliment—I’ll ask for a member­ enlarge on this. Of special interest was B. ship card immediately. Zigman’s letter in the February issue. As I I can see why the writer of the “hatchet work in mid-temperature stoneware, I have job” has been getting into trouble writing appreciated the increase in glaze formulas in what she thinks. the Cone 6-8 range. Virtually all the for­ Samuel B. Koltun mulas CM presents do fine for me. I may Woodbury, Conn. not like the results, but that is more than I can say for many glaze formula books. I sug­ Articles on aesthetic criticism are wonder­ gest B. Zigman look up the articles by the ful when they can be read easily following people who have been presented in Suzanna Van Schoonhoven the magazine: Richard Zakin, Gerald Ro­ Ambler, Pa. wan and Melvin D. Rowe. They all offer excellent Cone 6-8 formulas that have been good bases for glaze experiments. Preserving a Sense of Play Keith B. Barnett All my adult life I have subscribed to mag­ Coos Bay, Ore. azines. Lots of them. Counting what I pick up in the newstands, I get an average of 20 magazines a month—ranging from Science Subscribers’ Comments News to Better Homes and Gardens to Ana­ Please consider publishing July and Au­ log. With the possible exception of a couple gust editions. It’s a big gap between June of issues of the small literary magazines, 1 and September. don’t think I have seen one in which I found Janet Massey every article of equal interest—includingCe­ Altadena, Calif. ramics Monthly. In fact, most of them are especially good if I find two-thirds of an issue I wholeheartedly welcome the apparent interesting. Do I think this is a ghastly sit­ trend toward giving women artists coverage uation? Would I keep spending a large part in the last few issues. More, more! I would of my income on slick paper if I did? also like to see more ceramic sculpture by The debate in CM’s Letters column never people not teaching at universities. ceases to amaze me. Are potters as a group Dorothy H. Baker so prejudiced, so intolerant that they refuse Rochester, N.Y. to admit the right to do what they want to do with clay? Am I forbidden to aspire to My definition of art is “a tool used in the making ajar of the quiet elegance of the one quest for self-knowledge.” Under this defi­ on page 43 of the March issue, just because nition competition becomes an absurdity. I when my children were small I made the define crafts as “the production of aestheti­ equivalent of pansy pots? (Mine were vases cally pleasing objects for sale.” 1½ inches tall.) If I did make such a pot, Kevin Jones would that mean I could never fool around Lummi Island, Wash. with altered castings of sanitary ware? The one thing that has always seemed im­ Share your thoughts with other readers. All portant to me as a creative person is to pre­ letters must be signed, but names will be serve my sense of play. CM helps to do that, withheld on request. Address: The Editor; by presenting a broad sample of the kinds of Ceramics Monthly, Box 12448, Columbus, things potters (some of whom would not dream Ohio 43212. May 1983 11 12 Ceramics Monthly Where to Show exhibitions, fairs, festivals and sales

Send announcements of juried exhibitions, fairs,town Syracuse Arts and Crafts Fair” (July 14-16) naissance Foundation, Box 1701, Bisbee 85603; or festivals and sales at least four months before the is juried from 5 slides, including one of display. call: (602) 432-2126. entry deadline to: I he Editor, Ceramics Monthly, Cash and purchase awards. Entry fee: $5. Booth June 10 entry deadline Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212; or phone (614) fee: $50. Contact: The Downtown Committee of Bloomington, Indiana Sixth annual “4th Street 488-8236. Add one month for listings in July andSyracuse, 1900 State Tower Building, SyracuseFestival of the Arts and Crafts” (September 3-4) two months for those in August. 13202; or call: (315) 422-8284. is juried from 4 slides. Fee: $45. Contact: The 4th May 7 entry deadline Street Committee, Box 1257, Bloomington 47402; Burlington, Vermont “Second Annual Church or call: (812) 336-2124. International Exhibitions Street Festival of the Arts” (August 19-21) is ju­ June 10 entry deadline May 13 entry deadline ried from 5 slides. Entry fee: $5. Booth fee: $150. Paterson, Neu> Jersey “First Annual Juried Craft Auckland, New Zealand “The Fletcher Brown- Contact: Charley Dooley, Craftproducers Mar­ Show” (September 17-18) is juried from 5 slides. built Pottery Award” (June 5-19) is juried fromkets, R.D. 1, Box 323, Grand Isle, Vermont 05458; Entry fee: $10. Booth fee: $65. Send self-ad- works. Purchase award: NZ$3000 (approximately or call: (802) 372-4747. dressed, stamped envelope to: Lenore Marr, Pat­ $2100). Accepted works will be on sale; 20% com­ May 7 entry deadline erson Craft Council, 66 Broadway, Paterson 07505; mission. Contact: The Competition Organizer, Manchester, Vermont “4th Annual Southern or call: (201) 278-3393, or 278-6088. Fletcher Brownbuilt, Private Bag, Auckland. Vermont Craft Fair” (August 5-7) is juried from June 10 entry deadline 5 slides. Entry fee: $5. Booth fee: $150. Contact: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania “Shadyside Summer Charley Dooley, Craftproducers Markets, R.D. 1, Arts Festival 1983” (August 5-7) is juried from 5 National Exhibitions Box 323, Grand Isle, Vermont 05458; or call: (802) slides. Entry fee: $5. Booth fee: $170. For further May 20 entry deadline 372-4747. information contact: Shadyside Summer Arts Fes­ Camden, New Jersey “Soup, Soup, Beautiful May 14 entry deadline tival, Box 10187, Pittsburgh 15232; or call: (412) Soup” (September 20-December 30) is juried from Peninsula, Ohio “Ceramics Fair ’83” (Septem­ 681-2809. slides. Entries, soup tureens, must not exceed 14 ber 2-5) is juried from 4 slides. $2500 in awards. June 12 entry deadline inches in height and 12 inches in length. Send Entry fee: $10. Booth fees: $75-$ 125 depending La Crosse, Wisconsin “Great River Traditional slides to: Campbell Museum, Campbell Place, on size. No commission. Contact: Don Getz, Box Music and Crafts Festival” (September 4-5) is Camden 08101; or call: (609) 964-4000. 173, Peninsula 44264; or call: (216) 657-2807. juried from 4 slides. $1000 in awards. Entry fee: June 4 entry deadline May 15 entry deadline $5. Registration fee: $25. Contact: Craft Com­ Downey, California “American Ceramics Na­ West Lafayette, Indiana “Lafayesta ’83” (Sep­ mittee, The Pump House, 119 King Street, La tional Juried Exhibition,” formerly “Westwood Clay tember 3-4) is juried from 4 slides. $4000-$5000 Crosse 54601. National,” (July 14-August 25) is juried from slides. in awards. Booth fee: $30 for an 8x 10-foot space. June 15 entry deadline Juror: Eudorah Moore. Awards. Contact: Amer­ Contact: Nan Schwetman, 101 South Ninth Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota “First Annual Minne­ ican Ceramics National 1983, Downey Museum Lafayette 47901. sota Christmas Craft Sale” (November 24-27) is of Art, 10419 South Rives Avenue, Downey 90241; May 18 entry deadline juried from 5 to 10 slides or photos. Contact: Ron or call: (213) 861-0419. Greensburg, Pennsylvania “Westmoreland Arts Marck or Wilma Wernick, Minnesota Christmas June 22 entry deadline and Heritage Festival” (July 2-4) is juried from Craft Sale, 4524 Excelsior Boulevard, Minneap­ Cooperstown, New York “48th Annual Art Ex­ slides. $2000 in awards. No commission. For fur­ olis 55416; or call: (612) 925-1818. hibition” (July 24-August 27) is juried from works,ther information send self-addressed, stamped en­ June 15 entry deadline $7000 in awards. Fee: $10. Contact: Olga Welch, velope to: Olga Gera, Westmoreland Arts and Bigfork, Montana “Bigfork Festival of the Arts” 22 Main Street, Cooperstown 13326; or call: (607) Heritage Festival, Box 21C, R.D. 8, Greensburg (August 6-7) is juried from slides. Fee: $7.50. 547-9777. 15601; or call: (412) 836-1703. Commission: 10%. Contact: Festival of the Arts, September 10 entry deadline May 20 entry deadline Box 247, Bigfork 59911. Gatlinburg, Tennessee “The Figure: New Form, Fort Wayne, Indiana “Three Rivers Festival Arts June 15 entry deadline New Function” (November 5-January 7, 1984) is and Crafts Show” (July 9-10) is juried from 5 Highlands, North Carolina “High Country Art juried from 2 or 3 slides of up to 3 entries. Work slides or photos. Fee: $25. Send a se|f-addressed, and Craft Show” (July 1-4) is juried from slides should not exceed 8 feet in any direction nor weigh stamped envelope to: Abby Brooks,’3525 South or photos. Fee: $55. Send a self-addressed, stamped more than can be handled by two people. Awards. Wayne, Fort Wayne 46807. business envelope to: Virginia Smith, High Coun­ Juror: F. Clark Stewart. Fee: $10. Contact: Figure May 20 entry deadline try Crafters, 29 Haywood Street, Asheville, North Exhibition, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Saint Joseph, Michigan “Saint Joseph’s 22nd Carolina 28801; or call: (704) 254-0070. Box 567, Gatlinburg 37738. Annual Outdoor Art Fair” (July 9-10) is juriedJune 17 entry deadline September 16 entry deadline from slides. Fee: $5. Contact: Registration Chair­ Manteo, North Carolina “Second Annual New Rochester, New York “Small Works National ’83” man, Krasl Art Center, 707 Lake Boulevard, Saint World Festival of the Arts” (August 19-20) is ju­ (November 26-December 30) is juried from slides. Joseph 49085; or call: (616) 983-0271. ried from 4 slides. Cash and purchase awards. Fee: Juror: Patterson Sims. Works should not exceed a May 30 entry deadline $50. For further information contact: New World 15x 15-inch format. Cash and purchase awards. Rocky Ridge, Maryland “Catoctin Mountain Festival of the Arts II, Box 246, Manteo 27954; Fee: $8 for one entry, $10 for two. Contact: Small Wildlife Artisan’s Faire” (August 13-14) is juried or call: (919) 261-3165. Works National ’83, John Haldoupis, Zaner Gal­ from 4 slides. Fee: $65. No commission. For fur­ June 19 entry deadline lery, Department W, 100 Alexander Street, Roch­ ther information send two first-class stamps, name Dillon, Colorado “Craft Fair 1983” (July 16-17) ester 14620; or call: (716) 232-7578. and address to: C.M.W.A.F., Box 156, Rocky Ridge is juried from 2 to 4 slides or photos. Fee: $40 for 21778; or call: (301) 845-6435. a 10x 10-foot space. Contact: Lake Dillon Arts June 1 entry deadline Guild, Box 1047, Dillon 80435. Regional Exhibitions Wilmington, Delaware The Delaware Art Mu­ June 30 entry deadline May 7 entry deadline seum’s 11th “Annual Craft Fair” (June 11) is open Saratoga Springs, New York “Eighth Annual Middlebury, Vermont “Table Ware” (June to residents from Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Adirondack Green Mountain Craft Fair” (Sep­ 11 —July 9) is open to current and former Vermont Jersey, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Juried tember 16-18) is juried from 5 slides. Entry fee: residents. Juried from up to 3 slides per entry. from 3 slides. Entry fee: $25. Contact: Lial Jones, $5. Booth fee: $150. Contact: Charley Dooley, Jurors: Fran and Priscilla Merritt. Awards. Con­ Education Department, Delaware Art Museum, Craftproducers Markets, R.D. 1, Box 323, Grand tact: Vermont State Craft Center at Frog Hollow, 2301 Kentmere Parkway, Wilmington 19806; or Isle, Vermont 05458; or call: (802) 372-4747. Middlebury 05733; or call: (802) 388-3177. call: (302) 571-9594. July 1 entry deadline September 2 entry deadline June 1 entry deadline Gaithersburg, Maryland “8th Annual National Chicago, Illinois “Chicago Vicinity Clay III” Richmond, Virginia “8th Annual Richmond Craft Craft Fair” (October 13-16) is juried from 5 slides. (October 7-November 4) is open to ceramists liv­ Fair” (November 10-13) is juried from 5 slides. Entry fee: $5. Booth fees: $125-$200. No com­ ing within a 250-mile radius of Chicago. Juried $4000 in awards. Fee: $5. Contact: Jan Detter, mission. Contact: Noel Clark, National Crafts from slides. Contact: Lill Street Gallery, 1021 West Hand Workshop, 1001 East Clay Street, Rich­ Limited, Gapland, Maryland 21736; or call: (301) Lill Street, Chicago 60614; or call: (312) 248-4414. mond 23219; or call: (804) 649-0674. 432-8438. June 6 entry deadline July 1 entry deadline Bisbee, Arizona “2nd Annual Bisbee Renais­ Sugar Loaf, New York “Sugar Loaf’s 10th An­ Fairs, Festivals and Sales sance Festival” (June 18-19) is juried from slides nual Fall Festival and Crafts Fair” (October 8-10) May 6 entry deadline or photos. Entry fee: $5. Booth fee: $25 for a 1 Ox 10- is juried from 3 slides of work and 1 of booth. Send Syracuse, New York “The 13th Annual Down­ foot space. Contact: Les Johnson, The Bisbee Re­ Please Turn to Page 68 May 1983 13 14 Ceramics Monthly Questions Answered by the CM Technical Staff Q I was interested in a Question concerning the term “dishwasher is no significant difference in reflection of microwave energy nor in safe” which appeared in the March CM, and would appreciate heating effect; therefore, glazes present no problem in the operation a similar comment on the subject of pottery in the microwave oven. of the microwave oven and cause no damage.” Are lustered pots as harmful to the oven as metal containers? What Exceptions to Dan McConnell’s conclusions are metallic glazes testing is appropriate before I can assure customers that my ware such as commercial lusters and reduced metallic raku. All such is “microwave safe”?—M.M. metallics should be avoided for microwave use. Your question is the most frequently asked of the CM technical An experiment to test your ware is to place a cup of water in staff. It was answered in a previous issue, but because of this ex­ the microwave oven along with the empty ceramic piece to be tested. tensive interest, it bears repeating: Heat these together for two minutes, then carefully feel the ceramic CM wrote Dan R. McConnell, Senior Product Manager for piece for temperature. A “microwave safe” piece will remain cool Amana Refrigeration, Inc. He responded: “ . . . The use of metal under these circumstances, and the cup of water will be hot. If the containers [in microwave ovens] is generally forbidden because the piece is hot, then your work is not “microwave safe.” large metallic surface area prevents the absorption of the microwave energy by the food, and acts essentially as a shield. The reflected Q Do you know the recipe for a standard Cone 9 glaze called Leach microwave energy travels back to the magnetron tube causing the Limestone?—M.G. tube to overheat, which in turn results in long-term degradation Leach Limestone is a shiny, white to celadon green glaze (de­ and reduction in life [of the tube]. Only rarely is an instantaneous pending on the amount of reduction), typically listed with a firing failure of the tube caused by the use of metal containers. Becauserange from Cone 8 to 10. It is one of the simplest glazes to make, of the subtle long-term effects on the tube, there is a great deal of containing two parts by weight of whiting (or dolomite in one var­ confusion about the use of metal containers. iation) and three parts ball clay. Because of its high shrinkage, the “In general, ceramics make excellent containers in the use of glaze should not be applied too thickly. This recipe works well in microwave ovens. Ceramics absorb very little microwave energy and single firing. therefore do not heat up themselves. They permit the microwave energy to penetrate to the food. There is very little, if any, reflection Subscribers’ inquiries are welcome and those of general interest will as in the case of metals. be answered in this column. Due to volume, letters may not be “The small amount of metal in [typical] glazes appears to have answered personally. Send questions to: Technical Staff, Ceramics no significant effect on the usability of the ceramic container. There Monthly, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212.

May 1983 15 16 Ceramics Monthly Itinerary conferences, exhibitions, workshops, fairs and other events to attend

Send announcements of conferences, exhibitions, Kuzio; at Horizon Gallery, 32 B Miller Avenue. “Tableware and Fancy Pots”; at the Northern In­ workshops, juried fairs and other events at least California, San Francisco May 3-20 Jun Ka- diana Arts Association Gallery, 8317 Calumet Av­ seven weeks before the month of opening to: Theneko, oval wall forms and sculpture; at Quay Gal­ enue. Editor, Ceramics Monthly, Box 12448, Columbus, lery, 254 Sutter Street. Maine, Belfast May 20-June 11 Randy Fein, Ohio 43212; or phone (614) 488-8236. Add one California, Santa Ana May 1-27 Kip Whe­ ceramic sculpture; at the Art Fellows Gallery, Main month for listings in July and two months for thoselan; at the Neally Library, Santa Ana College, Street. in August. Seventeenth and Bristol Streets. Maine, Portland May 12-June 4 Sue Fairer, D.C., Washington May 15-21 Adrian Saxe; works in porcelain; at the Portland Museum of at the American Hand, 2904 M Street, Northwest, Art, 111 High Street. Conferences Georgetown. Maryland, LuthervilleMay 14-June 5Cyn- D.C., Washington May 5-8 “Crafts Today.” Indiana, Munster May 7-26 Ann Carroll, Continued For details, consult CM January Itinerary. Con­ tact: Smithsonian Associates Travel Program, Arts and Industries Building 1278, Smithsonian Insti­ tution, Washington 20560; or call: (202) 357-2477. September 25-30 “Connoisseurship of American Ceramics” will include illustrated sessions on the “roots of diversity,” uses of clay in architecture, influence of European and Oriental ware, rela­ tionship to American painting styles, and devel­ opment of the studio potter. Lecturers will include Elaine Levin and Lloyd Herman. Also planned are tours to local studios, ceramic collections and the exhibition “Clay for Walls” at the Smithso­ nian’s Renwick Gallery. Contact: Selected Studies, A&I 1190, Smithsonian Institution, Washington 20560; or call: (202) 357-2475. New Jersey, LaytonMay 26-29 “The Signif­ icance of Wood-fired Kilns in America,” a confer­ ence organized by Peters Valley andThe Studio Potter magazine. Contact: Peters Valley, Layton 07851; or call: (201) 948-5200. Tennessee, Gatlinburg May 20-22 “Form and Imagery,” a conference with Dorothy Hafner, Tony Hepburn and Margie Hughto, will present ideas, attitudes and techniques for handling artists’ con­ cerns. Coinciding with the conference will be “Impressions/Patterns,” a mixed-media invita­ tional exhibition. Contact: Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Box 567, Gatlinburg 37738; or call: (615) 436-5860. International Conferences Canada, Ontario, Ancaster May 28-29 “Feats of Clay ’83,” the annual conference of the Ontario Potters Association, will focus on “sources of in­ spiration.” Speakers will include: Keith Campbell, Wayne Cardinally Leta Cormier, Ann Cummings, Harlan House, Margaret Hughes, Jeanne McRight and Tim Storey. Overnight accommodations avail­ able. Fees: $55 for members, $75 for nonmembers. Registration deadline: May 13. Contact: Ontario Potters Association, 140 Yorkville Avenue, Toron­ to, Ontario M5R 1C2. Canada, Ontario, Toronto June 10-12 The Ontario Crafts Council communications weekend, “Handmade Dollar,” will focus on financial strat­ egies for craftspeople and guilds. Contact: Craig Dreeszen, Ontario Crafts Council, 346 Dundas Street, West, Toronto M5T 1G5; or call: (416) 977-3551. Solo Exhibitions Arizona, Scottsdale through May 12 Kurt Weiser, raku; at the Hand and the Spirit Gallery, 4222 North Marshall Way. California, Fresno through May 19 Frederick Paynter, functional and nonfunctional works; at Guarantee Savings and Loan Gallery, Blackstone at Ashlan. through June 9 Valerie L’Heureux, abstract functional porcelain; at Central Federal Savings Gallery, East Shaw at Millbrook. California, Los Angeles through May 5 Ted Randall; at Marcia Rodell Gallery, 11714 San Vi­ cente Boulevard. California, Mill Valleythrough May 10 Mark May 1983 17 18 Ceramics Monthly at the Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery, University of flecting Indian ancestry; at Landsman Gallery, Itinerary California. Atrium Centre, 706 Haddonfield Road. thia Bringle; at Craft Concepts, Green Spring Sta­ California, Westlake Village through May New Jersey, Clinton May 8-June 19 “Small tion, Falls and Joppa Roads. 22 “Statements in Elegance,” includes works by Sculpture and Drawing Juried Exhibition 1983”; Minnesota, Rochester May 7-June 18 Robert Nancee Meeker; at the Retreat, 3865 East Thou­ at Hunterdon Art Center, 7 Old Stone Mill, Cen­ Arneson, sculpture; at the Rochester Art Center, sand Oaks Boulevard. ter Street. 320 East Center Street. Colorado, Denver through May 7 “Front- New Jersey, Newark through September 30 New Mexico, Albuquerquethrough May 30 runners of Front Range Colorado”; at Cohen Gal­ “Fulper: New Jersey’s Art Potters,” utilitarian Fred Wilson, sculpture; at the Muddy Wheel Gal­ lery, 665 South Pearl Street. decorated ware from the Fulper Pottery. May lery, 4505-7 Fourth Street, Northwest. through September 25 “Black and Blue,” Amer­ 17-January 20, 1984 “Tempered by Time: 800 New Mexico, Santa Fe May 27-July 14 Joan ican Indian work; at the Denver Art Museum, 100 Years of Southwest Indian Pottery”; at the Newark Daub, “The Vessels II”; at Bellas Artes, Garcia West 14 Avenue Parkway. Museum, 49 Washington Street. Street at Canyon Road. Colorado, Golden May 1-29 “Wildlife Art New York, Great Neck through May 15 New York, Brooklynthrough May 19 Thomas Exhibition”; at the Foothills Art Center, 809 Fif­ Carolyn Brice Brooks, Robert Carlson, Marilee Hoadley, “Nerikomi Clay.” May 21-July 2 Sally teenth Street. Hall, Stephen and Deanna Kostyshyn and Deb­ Silberberg, “Translucent Porcelain”; at the Clay Connecticut, Greenwich May 3-June 11 “Art orah Ortiz; at Artisan Gallery, 6 Bond. Pot, 162 Seventh Avenue, Park Slope. for Eating II,” an invitational; at the Elements, 14 New York, Hastings-on-Hudson May 15-July New York, New York through May 7 Jane Liberty Way. 1 “Grass Roots Spring Exhibition,” including Ford Aebersold, vessel-oriented sculpture; at Ele­ Connecticut, GuilfordMay 28-June 18 Harriet Ross; at the Gallery at Hastings-on-Hud­ ments Gallery, 90 Hudson Street. “Women’s Perspective Exhibit”; at Guilford son, Municipal Building. through May 7 George William Peterson III, “A Handcrafts, Mill Gallery, Route 77. New York, Hempstead through May 20 Spring Firing,” wood-fired, tea ceremony porce­ Connecticut, Hartfordthrough May 29 “Earth + Fire + Salt,” 18th- and 19th-century lain; at Japan Interiors Gallery, 814 Lexington “Renaissance of Islam: Art of the Mamluks”; at salt-glazed stoneware from New York State; at the Avenue. Wadsworth Atheneum, 600 Main Street. Emily Lowe Gallery, Hofstra University. Oregon, Portland through May 19 Ben Florida, Coral Gables through May 15 “Hills New York, Katonah through May 22 “Many Thomas, porcelain and stoneware wine carafes and and Streams: Landscape Decoration on Chinese Trails: Indians of the Lower Hudson Valley”; at goblets; at the Real Mother Goose Gallery, Wash­ Export Blue and White Porcelain”; at the Met­ Katonah Gallery, 28 Bedford Road. ington Square. ropolitan Museum of Art Centers, 1212 Anastasia New York, New York through May 14 May 4-29 Geoffrey Pagen; at Lawrence Gallery, Street. “Toward the Modern Style: Rookwood Pottery, the 913 Southwest Broadway. Florida, Fort Lauderdale May 1-31 Rudy Later Years, 1915-1950”; at Jordan Volpe Gallery, Texas, San Antonio through June 1 Steve Autio, Thom Bohnert, Richard DeVore, George 457 West Broadway. Reynolds, “The History Lesson”; at Objects Gal­ Timock and Peter Voulkos, “Pottery Questions”; May 4-31 A British clay and glass exhibition lery, 4010 Broadway. at the Broward Community College Art Gallery, including Alison Britton, Tatiana Best Devreux, Utah, Park City May 8-26 Lee Dillon, stone­ Central Campus, 3501 Southwest Davie Road. Nick Homoky, Eileen Nisbet and Jacqui Poncelet; ware and porcelain; at Kimball Art Center, 628 Florida, Maitland May 28-July 3 A dual show at Convergence, 484 Broome Street. Park Avenue. with Tim Ludwig; at the Fine Art Gallery, Mait­ New York, Rochester through May 7 Marvin Wisconsin, Milwaukeethrough May 15 land Art Center, 231 West Packwood Avenue. Bjurlin, large low-fired vessels; Richard Zakin, tile Richard DeVore, stoneware vessels with multi­ Florida, Orlando through May 19 “Small panels and porcelain vessels; at Craft Company layered glazes; at the Milwaukee Art Museum, Works,” ninth annual juried competition; at Val­ Number Six Galleries, 785 University Avenue. 750 North Lincoln Memorial Drive. encia Community College. New York, Syracuse through September 30 Georgia, Atlanta May 13-June 12 “What “Ceramics of the World from the Permanent Col­ Artists Have to Say About Nuclear War”; at Nexuslection”; “Modern Ceramics: 1930-1980”; and “The Group Exhibitions Gallery, 360 Fortune Street. Cloud Wampler Collection of Oriental Art”; at the Arizona, Phoenix through August 1 “Frontier Illinois, Chicago through June 30 “Dutch Everson Museum of Art, 401 Harrison Street, Merchants and Native Craftsmen” and “Pottery Majolica and Delft from a Chicago Private Col­ Community Plaza. from the Heard Museum Collection”; at the Heard lection,” featuring tin-glazed earthenware from the New York, Utica through June 5 “Pottery of Museum, 22 East Monte Vista Road. 16th through the 18th centuries; at the Art Insti­ the Ancient World”; at the Munson-Williams- Arkansas, Little Rock May 27-July 3 tute of Chicago, Gallery 120A, Michigan Avenue Proctor Institute, Museum of Art, Auditorium Level “Sixteenth Annual Prints, Drawings and Crafts at Adams Street. Gallery. Exhibition”; at the Arkansas Arts Center, Indiana, Indianapolis through June 5 “A North Carolina, Ashevillethrough May 31 MacArthur Park. Collector’s Choice: Asian Art from the Collection “Cherokee Crafts Today”; at the Folk Art Center, California, Brentwoodthrough May 25 of Dr. Walter Compton,” includes Chinese and Blue Ridge Parkway. “Perfumes and Paperweights”; at Del ManoGal­ Japanese ceramics; at the Indianapolis Museum North Carolina, Winston-Salemthrough May lery, 11981 San Vicente Boulevard. of Art, 1200 West 38 Street. 22 “The Plate: Form and Function”; at South­ California, Del Mar through May 22 A dual May 13-June 8 “Art League Regional” juried eastern Center for Contemporary Art, 750 Mar­ exhibition including Patrick S. Crabb, ceramics; show; at the Indianapolis Art League, 820 East guerite Drive. at Stratford Gallery, 1430 Camino del Mar. 67 Street. Ohio, Cleveland May 13-June 5 “Art in the California, Hayward May 19-22 “Annual Maryland, Easton May 6-June 3 The 19th Garden”; at Sylvia Ullman American Crafts, 13010 Spring Art Awards Exhibition”; at Sun Gallery, annual “Maryland Juried Show”; at the Academy Larchmere-Woodland. Hayward Area Forum of the Arts, 1015 E Street. of the Arts, South and Harrison Streets. Ohio, Columbus May 15-31 An exhibition California, Los Angeles through May 22 Massachusetts, Cambridge through May 7 A including Norman Schulman; at Columbus Cul­ “Handmade in Nepal,” domestic folk art includes dual exhibition with Paul Brandwein, humoroustural Arts Center, 139 West Main Street. ceramics; at the Craft and Folk Art Museum, 5814 terra-cotta containers; at Mobilia, 348 Huron Ave. May 25-June 3 Undergraduate Juried Exhibi­ Wilshire Blvd. Massachusetts, Northampton May 14-July 2 tion; at the Ohio State University, Hopkins Hall May 6-28 “More Than One,” works done in “New Porcelain”; at Craftsmarket Gallery, 150 Gallery. series; at Freehand, 8413 West Third Street. Main Street. Ohio, CrooksvilleMay 18-22 “First Annual May 8-April 1 “Some of our Favorite Artists”; Massachusetts, Springfield through June 26 An Semi- and Professional Juried Art Show”; at the at Marcia Rodell Gallery, 11714 San Vicente Bou­ exhibition including Hajime Gen Kozuru, thicklyOhio Ceramic Center, State Route 93, between levard, Brentwood. glazed ware in the Korean 17th-century Agano Roseville and Crooksville, 10 miles south of May 14-June 4 “Small Figures”; at Garth Clark tradition; at the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Zanesville. Gallery, 5820 Wilshire Boulevard. Museum, 222 State Street. Ohio, Valley View May 6-8 Moira Beale and California, San Francisco through May 14 Michigan, Detroit through May 22 “Between Don Holzman, stoneware and porcelain; at the “Teapots”; at Meyer Breier Weiss, Building A, Continents/Between Seas: Pre-Columbian Art of Hothouse Pottery Gallery, 6744 Hathaway Road. Fort Mason Center. Costa Rica,” includes ceramics from 500 B.C. to Ohio, Westerville through May 21 An exhi­ May 3-28 Takako Araki and Keiji Ito, sculp­ the mid-16th century; at the Detroit Institute of bition including Mary Dewey, clay masks and ture; at Braunstein Gallery, 254 Sutter Street. Arts, 5200 Woodward Avenue. sculptures. May 26-July 9 An exhibition in­ May 3-28 Susan and Steven Kemenyffy, raku May 15-June 5 Tile competition exhibition; at cluding Barbara Tipton, porcelain; at Herndon forms; at Contemporary Artisans Gallery, 530 Bush Pewabic Pottery, 10125 East Jefferson Avenue. House, 40 Winter Street. Street. Missouri, Saint LouisMay 1-June 6 An ex­ Oregon, Portland May 27-June 22 Hand- May 4-September 30 “Treasures from the hibition including Sandy Simon; at Craft Alliance, painted porcelaneous stoneware by Santa Barbara Shanghai Museum: 6,000 Years of Chinese Art”; 6640 Delmar Boulevard. Ceramic Design; at the Real Mother Goose Gal­ at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Gold­ Nebraska, Omaha through May 30 “Cast lery, 901 Southwest Yamhill. en Gate Park. Clay,” national juried competition; at the Crafts­ Pennsylvania, Pittsburghthrough May 12 Eva California, Santa Cruz May 14-June men’s Gallery, 511 South 11 Street. Kwong and Kirk Mangus, ziggurats and steles; at 19 “Spectacular Vernacular: Traditional Desert New Jersey, Cherry Hillthrough May 13 A the Clay Place, 5600 Walnut Street. Architecture of West Africa and Southwest Asia”; dual exhibition with R. C. Gorman, pottery re­ Please Turn to Page 62 May 1983 19 20 CERAMICS MONTHLY Suggestions from our readers Recycler/Extruder An old-fashioned meat grinder works well for mixing small amounts of recycled clay; replacing the perforated metal disk with hard plastic self-made dies turns it into a perfect extruder for small shapes. —Annelien Kisch-Kroon, Ramat Hasharon, Israel Grooved Bats The alignment of bat holes with wheel head pins can be aided by routing a groove or track which bisects the bat underside and is as wide (usually 3/8 inch) as the pins on the wheel head. A depth of 3/32 to 1/8 inch works nicely. —Clayton Baker; Columbus, Ohio A Tool You Cannot Buy When trimming stoneware or porcelain, pare off a wafer-thin slice approximately 1 x 2-1/2 inches. It can be a little thicker in the middle, but the outside edge should be razor thin, and preferably pointed at one end. Fire it to maturity with the next kiln load. This multipurpose tool will trim underglaze, slip and sgraffito designs; it will even cut burrs on fired ware. It is better than a steel tool because it does not scratch or change the surface in any way. —Margaret A. Trevett, Pickering, Ont. Micro-Wax Removal To remove unwanted wax from a pot, microwave it on high for 5 minutes. —Wilhelmena Fuhrman, Palm Harbor, Fla. Smooth-fitting Lid Still striving to achieve that sensuously smooth-fitting lid? A sim­ ple squirt of Soft Scrub from your grocer’s cleanser section and a few firm twists should work wonders on glaze-fired pots. No more rough, scratchy lids to hassle and annoy. —Malcolm Davis, Penland, A.C. Slip Mixer Potters who mix clay by sifting dry ingredients into water in cans (20 gallons or larger) may find it difficult to obtain a homogeneous slip. One solution is to fabricate a mixer by inserting a pipe into a discarded outboard motor propeller. By holding the end of the pipe and simply pumping it up and down, the clay will be quickly mixed. —Judith Brady, Lake Orion, Mich. Clay Dryer Tired of marring work when covering it with plastic? Build a “port-o-dry.” Construct a frame for an appropriate-size box out of furring strips, lath or any scrap. Staple plastic (two layers are best) to five of the six sides, leaving one side open. Place over the work to be dried. The dryer maintains a nice, humid atmosphere without touching pots or sculpture, and can even be made whole table size. —J. Boe, Denver Evening the Raw Glaze Coat To remove raw glaze drips and rough spots, slide an inverted, plastic, coffee measuring spoon over these unfired areas much like using a plane on rough wood. This can give a more uniform glaze thickness to the pot. —Arden Lanham, Long Beach, CaliJ. Dollars for Your Ideas Ceramics Monthly pays $10 for each suggestion published; submis­ sions are welcome individually or in quantity. Include an illustration or photo to accompany your suggestion and we will$10 pay more if we use it. Send your ideas to CM, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Sorry, but we can’t acknowledge or return unused items. May 1983 21 22 Ceramics Monthly Comment Two Energy Scenarios by R. Clayton Baker

Pulling the peephole plug with one massive magnetic field.) Paul’s computer gloved hand, flames surged out. It was handles the firing, programmed to exact time for reduction. “Are we going to make specifications: 270 degrees an hour, body it?” Harvey asked, with real concern reduction at 1200°F, a hard soak at Cone carved across his forehead. “I can’t say,” 9, even firing down when required. It I replied, “but the tank gauge is standing also takes care of most studio drudg­ where it usually fizzles out.” We started ery—bookkeeping, personal letters, price chucking wood through the salt port; lists for wholesale customers, tempera­ Harvey’s partner Walt went looking for ture and humidity control in the studio, trash (old tires, anything) while we fig­ and solar production of hydrogen (now ured how to enlarge the ports to accom­ the basic fuel for Paul and all the other modate the scavenged combustibles. This businesses in town). When Paul wants was serious business—we had been fir­ personal involvement in the process, he ing this propane monster 18 hours and just takes over and does it the old way; no one was prepared to shut down three the computer doesn’t mind. cones below temperature. There were I have never seen such incredible ware, $3000 worth of pots inside. “Why is it beautiful reduction, perfect buttery sur­ we’re never prepared for this?” said faces. Paul is proud of his mastery of Harvey, with a sheepish smile. “Some­ hydrogen firing and rightly so. He pi­ day the propane will run out for good, oneered the method when the whole town and the natural gas—all of it. Then it converted to hydrogen fuel in 1989. It will be scrap wood, garbage and coal wasn’t difficult, really. Just some orifice firing for us all. You think this is work changes in the natural gas system. At now, wait till then!” that time people in neighboring com­ Eventually we made temperature, got munities thought the folks in Forest City a great load of pots, especially after Walt had lost their minds or at least were em­ arrived with a pickup full of just about barking on an expensive trip into energy everything burnable. We barely made it, oblivion. Now the town leads the rest of but we did make it. the country like in the days of the old Two months later it was no laughing TVA with cheap hydroelectric fuel that matter. There it was—a banner head­ virtually made itself. After years of line across the top of page one in the burning hydrogen, Paul prefers it for fir­ morning paper: “U.S. Prepares for Nat­ ing because the reduction is so complete ural Gas Outage.” I couldn’t believe myand because the only by-product of its eyes. Was Harvey right? Maybe it would combustion is water vapor. The gases be worse. Maybe we couldn’t fire at all, from the pots themselves are worse pol­ what with everyone scrambling for sub­ luters than the fuel. He raku fires with stitutes, scrap wood, whatever was avail­ hydrides, a solid fuel containing H, an able. Anything that would burn had be­ even safer form of storing hydrogen 2 for come the most expensive commodity in portable use. The hydride tank on his town. After a few thousand years of il­ Buick pickup has also been converted to lustrious tradition, perhaps potters are accept a flexible hose and raku burner going to be finished after all. for firing anywhere the truck can go. Time warp. Paul’s kiln is gleaming Does it sound farfetched? Which sce­ white and, other than that, basically no nario is more likely? Perhaps it would different than the standard gas-fired, help in making your decision to consider sprung-arch, downdraft of the 1960s. that Forest City, Iowa, plans to convert Vacuum-formed refractory fiber panels its local energy system entirely to hy­ make up the outside, but the inside is drogen just as soon as they can acquire still an on-edge layer of hard firebrick a sufficient loan or grant. Really! While for durability and a reasonable cooling hydrogen can indeed be made from solar cycle. A real purist, he chose this tra­ power, it can also be produced from coal, ditional design rather than adopt the no and we have tons of that. Hydrogen ex­ walls kiln used by industry (wherein theists in abundance nearly everywhere on heat is placed and concentrated by a Please Turn to Page 88 May 1983 23 Dennis Gallagher

CLAY SCULPTURE by Bay Area artist Slab built from an equal parts talc reworks the form’s surface, incising and Dennis Gallagher was featured in a re­ and ball clay body with varying addi­ applying white slip on some areas. Only cent one-man show at Quay Gallery in tions of grog and perlite, the components the largest forms are disassembled to dry San Francisco. Interested in the geom­ must dry sufficiently (sometimes a few completely. At this point Dennis feels etry of man-made structures, Dennis de­ weeks because of the studio’s proximity the sculpture is finished; he goes on to velops rectilinear components that are to the ocean) to support the assembled fill the studio with a series of related abstractions of buildings, freeway sup­ weight. When satisfied with position and forms, then single fires everything at Cone ports, chimney stacks and lampposts. balance, Dennis cuts openings in ad­ 4. The fired off-white results differ little Arranged vertically up to 9 feet in height, joining walls to accommodate plastic pipe from the leather-hard assembled and al­ the composite forms also suggest figures. supports inserted after firing. Then he tered works.

Below “Sept. 82/IV” slab- built clay sculpture,7 -1/2 feet in height. Constructed from an equal parts talc/ball clay body with grog and perlite additions, the forms are single fired, then assembled over plastic pipe supports. Photos: M. Lee Falhcncc The kiln yard at Dennis Gallagher’s studio, Pacifica, California. The sculptures range to 9 feet in height. 24 CERAMICS MONTHLY Pewabic Exhibition

1 In TRIBUTE to Pewabic Pottery’s con­ wabic style or ‘look’ here,” observed show “Take Time” clay drawing, 18 /2 inches in tribution to the ceramic arts throughout organizer Elizabeth Lurie. “If anything width, underglaze pencil on porcelain, by its 75-year history 39 former students, can be said to characterize the work of Jan Richardson, Grand Rapids, Michigan. instructors, jurors and exhibitors donat­ Pewabic alumni, it is an emphasis on ed works for a recent benefit exhibition functional vessels, respect for craftsman­ at that Detroit pottery. “There is no Pe­ ship and diversity of expression.” May 1983 25 Photos:. Charles Thatcher Studio, courtesy of Pewabic Pottery and the artists Thrown, altered covered jar; 7 inches in height, raw clay fired to Cone 13 in a wood/oil-fueled kiln, by William Strickland, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

White clay grid, 21 inches in Wheel-thrown porcelain, 4 inches in “Black Seas,” wheel-thrown, altered diameter, incised, excised, by height, single-fired crystalline glaze, stoneware, 16 inches in diameter, by Julie Ray Katz, Pontiac, Michigan. by Phyllis Ihrman, Farmington, Michigan. Larson, Bakersville, North Carolina. 26 CERAMICS MONTHLY Onta Folk Potters byB rian Moeran

For MORE THAN two and a half cen­ made with local natural materials in a attractive as most of Japan’s cities are turies a group of potters, living in a small spirit of cooperation and without inter­ polluted and noisy. community called Sarayama in southern est in financial gain. The question is: Situated in a narrow valley, hardly Japan, have produced a kind of stone­ what actually happens in everyday life? 200 meters across at its widest point, the ware generally referred to as Onta pot­ Is the Japanese individual so self-effac­ community consists of just 14 house­ tery and regarded as a “folk” art or craft. ing and cooperative? Do people deny their holds. Of these, ten make pottery. Ever The ideals upon which Japanese rural “selves” in order to appreciate “beauty”? since it was founded in 1705, Sarayama society is based are closely paralleled in Is there any connection between the two has been almost completely isolated; only those of the Japanese craft movement. ideals? Does a change in one ideal affect after the Pacific War was a road put During the past quarter century, how­ the other? through to the community from the val­ ever, Sarayama society has changed, and ley below. The inhabitants used to be the social change has come to be seen as more or less self-sufficient, growing their an aesthetic deterioration by leaders of Model Community Organization own rice and vegetables on surrounding the folk craft (called mingei) movement. Sarayama lies near the northwestern land. Pottery making was a part-time The social ideal, advocated to a large border of Oita Prefecture in central job done by men when they had finished extent by the Japanese people them­ Kyushu and is within the administrative farming each day, or when the weather selves, suggests that the individual is ex­ confines of Hita City (population: 65,250 was too bad for work in the fields. pected to live in cooperation and har­ people; 17,500 households). Located Since neither agriculture nor pottery mony with others; he should subordinate about 460 meters above sea level in the making could be managed by a single personal interests to those of his primary foothills of the Hiko-Gakumeki moun­ individual—as in Japanese rural society group. Closely paralleling the social ide­ tain range (which effectively cuts off Oita in general—the household was the fun­ al, the aesthetic ideal (originally put for­ Prefecture from the north of Kyushu with damental unit of social organization. In ward by Muneyoshi Yanagi) stresses that its industrial urban complexes), Sara­ prewar days Sarayama households were for crafts to be beautiful, they should beyama is as clean, as quiet, as physically unable to take advantage of modern

Winter at the naborigama in Sarayama, a community in southern Japan. The cooperatively owned kiln not only functions as a tool for firing, but has knit the Onta potters together into a society with similar work patterns based in part on the group firing schedule.

May 1983 27 technology, and could not cope with cer­ the more water flowing through the two nation, denied artistic “creativity” and tain aspects of production on their own. streams, the more clay is prepared. was applicable by anyone regardless of Consequently, each household was obliged Nevertheless, the water flow is such that education or upbringing. to cooperate with others, not only for no household can prepare more clay than Yanagi was convinced that his chok­ such agricultural tasks as the trans­ can comfortably be utilized by two pot­ kan “nonconcept” provided an aesthetic planting, harvesting and threshing of rice, ters working at the wheel. This means standard by which beauty could be un­ but also for the digging of clay and glaze that no household is able to employ ap­ failingly apprehended. Yet, for the most materials. Like the household, the com­ prentices or outside labor to help form part, his theories were concerned with munity, too, was not simply a residen­ pots. how folk crafts were made, rather than tial, but an economic group. Thus, ide­ Until recently, all Onta potters fired with these crafts as objects in themselves. ally, the individual was expected to their stoneware in a cooperative multi­ They would naturally accord with his subordinate his interests to those of the chambered climbing kiln, allocating each concept of beauty provided that they were household and community to which he household an equal share of chamber made according to a set of rules laid down belonged. An individual participated in space. Sharing a cooperative kiln meant by himself: (1) the craftsman should rely community activities only as a represen­ that ultimately they were all tied to a both environmentally and “spiritually” tative of his household, and relations be­ similar work pattern. Thus, households on nature; he had to use locally obtain­ tween individuals were effectively re­ found it expedient to dig raw materials, able materials and “surrender his self” garded as relations between households. prepare wood and straw ash for glazes, to beauty; (2) beauty should be “com­ In Sarayama two particular aspects of and occasionally fetch fuel for the wood- munal,” brought about by “cooperation” pottery production contributed to a very burning kiln together. Moreover, since and “love”; (3) there was a close con­ strong sense of “community solidari­ chamber space was equally distributed, nection between the incentive for profit ty”—clay preparation and the firing of the cooperative kiln also ensured that the and the quality of the craftsman’s work; a cooperative kiln. economic standing of all households re­ (4) it was impossible for “bad” craftwork The iron-rich clay, obtained from a mained more or less the same. It was to be born of a “good” society (and in a nearby mountain, was and still is dug impossible to rank households categor­ good society the individual worked in in an extremely hard state. The only ically according to wealth. harmony with others); and (5) the beau­ way it can be thrown on the wheel is if ty of folk crafts lay in their use—the it is first powdered, then sifted and left more they were used, the more beautiful to settle in water tanks, before being dried The Folk Craft Ideal they became—and in this they differed to the plastic state. Something really heavy But the lives of Onta potters were not from the purely decorative arts. has to be used to break the mined clay to remain static. Along came the Jap­ Yanagi “discovered” Onta pottery in into tiny granules. Before modern ma­ anese folk craft movement, founded in 1927. When he actually visited Sara­ chinery was developed (and adopted now the mid 1920s by Muneyoshi Yanagi yama four years later, he was immedi­ in the neighboring pottery village of Ko- (1889-1961). Yanagi was a philosopher, ately convinced that these potters were ishiwara), water-powered clay crushers who became interested in what he termed the perfect example of his aesthetic the­ were employed. Usually found in groups mingei (literally “popular art”) for the ory. He wrote about them in local news­ of twos and threes, these devices line both way in which it accorded with his ideals papers and in his monthly magazine Ko- mountain streams running through Sar­ of beauty. In a series of essays he arguedgei (Crafts), praising Onta pottery ayama. Water is channeled into the hol- that, ideally, folk crafts were “beautiful”because it had always been functional, lowed-out scoop at the end of each because they consisted of functional rather than decorative. These were or­ crusher; the weight makes the crusher utensils made for everyday use by crafts­dinary craftsmen who had no preten­ seesaw down, empty the water from its men who produced things cheaply and tions to fame—simple people whose work scoop, and fall back with a thud onto a in quantity, relying on traditional meth­ was clearly lacking self-consciousness. mound of clay placed under its far end. ods of production and on the use of nat­ The community of potters and their work Each crusher has to be about 14 feet long ural (as opposed to chemical or syn­ were “all tradition,” unchanging since to be effective and, in order to seesaw thetic) materials. Folk crafts were the first kiln had been fired. They were properly, has to be pivoted at a point “unpretentious,” “pure” and “simple,” also “close to nature”: clay was pounded about 5-6 feet from the tip of the scoop. made not by individual self-conscious by water-powered crushers; pots were Each crusher, therefore, must be set at “artists,” but by “unknown craftsmen”thrown on a kick wheel, dried in the sun, about the same distance above the bed who worked in cooperation with one an­ then glazed with local materials and fired of the stream from which it takes water. other, unaware of the beauty of their in a wood-burning kiln. All this was As a result, there must be a drop be­ work, untainted by motivation for profit. “natural”; modern machinery was not tween the crushers. It is this which ef­ According to Yanagi, the only way to used at all. fectively limits the proliferation of appreciate “beauty” was by using “direct households in Sarayama, for the total perception” (< chokkan). One had to put Unloading teacups and teabowls from a drop of the streams between the culti­ aside all concepts from the mind, to enter family chamber in the communal kiln. The vated land at the top and at the bottom into a thing and see it for what it was. introduction of kiln shelves in the early of the community is fixed. Direct perception was “beyond the self’; 1960s made it possible to increase Another limitation concerns the work it enabled one to see crafts without the production considerably, compared to rate of each clay crusher, or set of crush­ intrusion of subjectivity and all its pos­ previous times when pots were piled ers, as determined by the actual flow of sible prejudices—a method of aesthetic sometimes haphazardly from the sloping, water from the stream into the scoop; appreciation that defied logical expla­ sandy floor. 28 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1983 29 Additionally, Onta pottery was con­ Left A potter’s wife ladles slip into a sidered “beautiful” because the potters settling tank. Processing the iron-rich clay helped one another; theirs was a tradi­ from a nearby mountain is a labor- intensive tional way of life which derived from activity shared in much the same way as nature. At the same time, nature affects firing preparations among Onta potters. a man’s character and thereby the qual­ Right A potter scoops prepared clay out of ity of his pots. a straw-matted drying frame. So leaders of the folk craft movement have praised Sarayama because they saw Below leftThrowing a traditional jar in potters living in a kind of “ecological an Onta pottery. equilibrium,” in harmony with nature and with themselves. Yet, it is at this Bottom left Even some of the oldest point that the first of a series of para­ members of the community are involved in doxes occurs. By the late 1950s, Yanagi’s production; in this case packing pots for ideas had become widely known and had shipment in rice straw to Tokyo. caught on with the public. Because Onta Below rightWater-powered clay crushers pottery was regarded as beautiful and at work in Sarayama. truly mingei in character, many people suddenly wanted to buy objects made in However, in the 1950s, the technique of the community. Visitors flocked to see mass producing strong, heat-resistant kiln the potters at work; most went as tour­ shelving was developed. In 1959, one ists, but for a significant few the trip to potter bought some shelves, allowing the Sarayama was a kind of pilgrimage, be­ firing of a large quantity of pots in his cause the community and its pottery allotted space. The economic advantages epitomized in their minds Yanagi’s ide­ were not lost on the others and by 1962 als of what “true” folk crafts should be. all the Onta potters had fitted their sand- This growth in consumer demand has sloped chambers with shelves, making it been responsible for changes in the pot­ technically feasible for them to meet the ters’ social organization during the past new urban demand for small domestic 20 years. They have found that they can wares. From the early 1960s both father now sell whatever they make. The less and son in each household began to de­ time they spend preparing their mate­ vote their time fully to wheel work, rath­ rials, the more pots they can throw; the er than to farming—a decision hastened more they throw, the greater their in­ by the Japanese government’s adoption come. Farming ceases to be economically of a rice curtailment policy. viable and cooperation breaks down; sta­ Full-time specialization in pottery tus differentials develop, based on wealth production led to a breakdown in com­ and talent; community solidarity is ef­ munity solidarity in a number of ways. fectively undermined. Yet, precisely be­ Cooperation among households in such cause potters adopt one or two techno­ agricultural tasks as the transplanting logical innovations and stop working and harvesting of rice came to an end. together, precisely because they begin to Moreover, because potters purchased ball make a lot of money and their individual mills to prepare certain glaze materials, talent is recognized, folk craft leaders then households stopped pooling their labor exclaim that the quality of the pottery for such tasks as pounding straw ash. is rapidly “deteriorating.” The social and With the widening and paving of coun­ aesthetic ideals end up as mutually de­ try roads, the potters found they could structive. get their materials by car, or in some cases have them delivered to Sarayama. Aesthetics and Production Whereas, in the past, each household Since the beginning of what is now had to spend 55 days per year cutting known as the “mingei boom” of the mid- wood for the kiln, and 36 days digging 1950s, Sarayama’s social organization clay; by the end of the 1960s ready-cut has been directly affected by technolog­ wood was being delivered and a bull­ ical innovations, improved communica­ dozer was hired to dig clay once every tions and increased market demand. three years. The time that each house­ In the old days, each chamber of the hold had spent on the acquisition and climbing kiln consisted simply of a sandy preparation of pottery materials was re­ slope on which pots were piled fairly duced by more than two-thirds. Every haphazardly. They could not be stacked potter could now devote more than two very high, and most of the available space additional months a year working full in a chamber was consequently wasted. time at the wheel. 30 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1983 31 The potters ceased to cooperate with it before quality, and this can only lead to send their work to these exhibitions, one another and began to rely on money to further “pollution” in their work. Those and almost every year some of them are to conduct their everyday lives. Within craftsmen who wish to survive have to awarded prizes. Moreover, in 1973, pot­ the space of 15 years, their incomes make the choice between what are seen ters were encouraged to contribute to a jumped from an average of 600,000 yen as two evils: to become individual artist- biannual national exhibition, the Japan ($2,750) a year to just over 8,000,000 craftsmen and produce something more Ceramics Exhibition. Although only two yen ($36,500). It is perhaps not sur­ closely approximating “art”; or to turn Onta potters did so, one of them was prising to find that several potters have out mere souvenir items that will inev­ promptly awarded one of the four major attempted to maximize economic gains itably be classed as a form of ethno- prizes. by building private kilns. They then fire kitsch. The news of this potter’s success as­ their pots at as fast a rate as they please, tonished everyone in Sarayama, and the without having to participate in the co­ Aesthetics and Marketing media paid so much attention to him operative kiln system where they would Changes in methods of retail pricing, that his name became extremely well have to wait for slower potters to com­ of promoting potters’ names and of ex­ known among those interested in folk plete their quotas. Thus, the cooperative hibiting pottery have served to empha­ pottery. But such attention only served kiln originally shared by ten households size the potter as an individual, rather to further affect the concept of “com­ is now fired by only five. than as a member of his household or munity solidarity.” There was some re­ No longer limited by the cooperative community. sentment among the elder potters, as their kiln system, the potters now have widely Buyers are interested in good pots be­ prizewinning comrade was called upon varying incomes. At the same time, mar­ cause they are made by good potters. by outsiders to act as spokesman for in­ ket demand also gives potters incomes Dealers’ profits can be increased if they ternal affairs when he was still a com­ far exceeding those of nonpotting house­ are able to “sell” the potter. They there­ paratively young man in his mid-30s. holds. As a result, households in Sar­ fore encourage customers to buy the(The appointment of the potters’ official ayama are beginning to be ranked hi­ products of certain potters whose work spokesman—the cooperative leader—was erarchically according to wealth. they stock and whose individual names based on seniority.) The breakdown in cooperation among they do their best to promote. What buy­ This was not the only occasion on these potters has led to severe criticism ers do not realize—and what potters which the Folk Craft Association upset of Onta pottery by Japanese folk craft theoretically cannot accept—is that within the community’s gerontocracy. Starting leaders, who have a very clear perception the sphere of the hamlet group all house­ in 1962, the director of the Tokyo Folk of what the craftsman’s relationship to holds must be more or less equal. If one Craft Museum sent one of its employees his environment ought to be. Any dis­ potter is consistently picked out for what to advise Onta potters concerning what crepancy between this “cognized” model outsiders see as “good” work, he and his was, and what was not, “acceptable” and the actual “operational” model leads household are going to gain status, and mingei pottery. She would stay a few to further criticism. It is said that mingei hence destroy the ideally nonranking days at a time, talking to potters and kilns have in general been ruined by ma­ equilibrium of all households in Sar­ making suggestions concerning the shapes, terial changes which upset man’s rela­ ayama. By promoting the names of cer­ decoration and glazing. Understandably, tion to nature—by, for example, the sub­ tain potters, and by pricing their ceramic some of the older potters began to resent stitution of charcoal or oil for wood in works higher wherever possible, dealers her appearance in the community, since firing the kilns; by the use of plaster are threatening the solidarity of the she posed a threat to the hitherto un­ molds or a jigger and jolley, rather than community. Thus, within Sarayama, questioned assumption that the way they a kick wheel, to form pots; and by the individual talent has to be denied lest taught their sons to pot was the best pos­ inclusion of chemical substances instead it reflect upon the community as a sible way. As a result, she found herself of natural materials in glazes. whole. naturally associating with those potters Critics argue that the adoption of kiln And yet potters cannot ignore their whose fathers were not working with shelving and the consequent change in buyers entirely, for they do, after all, have them at the wheel. This resentment may chamber-loading methods have led to to make a living. They therefore com­ have been the inevitable result of the ex­ poorer results in Onta ware. It has also ply—albeit unwillingly—with requests istence of Sarayama’s household system, been suggested that the quality has suf­ to sign their names on some of their pots, but it led to the Folk Craft Association fered because potters now buy wood ash particularly those that are to be used in publicly approving the work of younger from lumberyards and slip clay from dis­ the tea ceremony or given as “person­ potters. Such approval also made it pos­ tant Arita. The potters also have to con­ alized” presents at a wedding or other sible for potter households to be ranked tend with the argument that their work such function. in terms of talent—and not just wealth. has “deteriorated” because they have Ironically, in view of the fact that folk stopped farming and because a bus now crafts are supposed to be made by “un­ Direct Perception plies between Hita and Sarayama, known craftsmen,” it is the folk craft as­ Yanagi was mainly interested in beau­ bringing tourists who are interested only sociations themselves that have largely ty, and that what he called “direct per­ in “superficially beautiful” pots. been responsible for the publicizing of ception” was the only means of under­ Further criticism stems from the fact Onta potters’ names. Both the Japan Folk standing “true” beauty. He argued that, that potters now earn so much money. Craft Association and the Japan Folk in aesthetic appraisal, one had to rid the It is frequently asserted that the richer Craft Society hold annual autumn ex­mind of all concepts and allow a thing potters become, the more their work de­ hibitions in their museums in Tokyo and to be seen and to “speak” for itself. Di­ teriorates. Potters are seen to value prof­ Osaka respectively. Onta potters are asked rect perception gave rise to a standard 32 CERAMICS MONTHLY Freshly decorated jars with repeated brush daubs, finger wipes and sgraffito dry in the sun. As a result of the mingei (folk craft) boom of the 1950s, full-time specialization in pottery became an economic possibility in Sarayama, instead of the part-time farming, part-time potting of earlier days. Innovations such as the introduction of the ball mill have freed individuals from tasks formerly done on a cooperative basis. Within 15 years, their average annual income has jumped from $2750 to approximately $36,500 a year. of beauty which could be appreciated by up buying the same pots. Therefore, they the appreciation of beauty is always in­ anyone. were convinced that direct perception dividually oriented, and that what is When both Onta potters and folk craft could only provide a personal, subjective beautiful for one is not necessarily so for leaders were questioned about this point, standard of beauty. another. their reactions were extremely interest­ This point is of interest in that it shows Thus, failure by potters to meet a so­ ing. All of the dealers and many of the how the aesthetic appraisal of folk crafts cial ideal becomes simultaneously a fail­ potters felt that direct perception was parallels the social practice of the pot­ ure to meet an aesthetic ideal. Any social not simply an abstract theoretical con­ ters’ ideal of “community.” In the social change necessitates a corresponding cept, but one which could be successfullyorganization, ideally the individual is not change in aesthetic appraisal, because of practiced. (They accepted the idea that as important as the primary group to the close parallel between the social ide­ one should try to see a pot for what it which he belongs. In fact, however, the al of how Sarayama should be organized was “directly.”) However, neither deal­ marketing of pottery has the household and the aesthetic ideal of how mingei ers nor potters were prepared to accept more important than the community, and should be made. If potters remain “close that direct perception could provide a the individual more important (to out­ to nature,” their work “improves”; if they standard of beauty. The reason for their siders at least) than the household. The fail to cooperate, their work “deterio­ disagreement with Yanagi stemmed from individual does not always put group in­ rates.” So-called “aesthetic” mingei ide­ their selling experiences. Often what the terests first; he can, and does, manipu­ als are in fact no more, and no less, than potters regarded as excellent work, deal­ late group ideals to his own advantage. prescriptions for the organization of ers or the public would ignore entirely; The social ideal is not matched by social Japanese society. Mingei is in this sense, what they thought were rather poor pots practice. perhaps, the “autobiography of society.” were frequently the first to be sold. Gen­ Similarly, according to folk craft the­ The author A previous contributor to erally both potters and buyers felt that ory, the determination and understand­ CM (see the four-part series surveying there had to be, and was, individual ing of “beauty” is neither arbitrary nor modern Japanese pottery, October 1982 interpretation in people’s decisions as to subjective. If a man “surrenders his self,” through January 1983), Brian Moeran what was “beautiful.” They argued that,he can create beauty; if he rids himself is a lecturer at the University of London, if there was an overall standard which of prejudice and uses “direct percep­ England. A version of this study on Onta could be shared by anyone using directtion,” he can appreciate beauty. But pot­ pottery first appeared in Pacific Affairs, perception, everyone would in theory end ters and buyers argue that in practice vol. 54, no. 1 (Spring 1981). May 1983 33 Anagama—The Fiery Brush byJ ack Troy

Anagama-fired stoneware and porce­ my jug had been made in La Borne, lain by the author were featured in a one- France. In the meantime I wrote Rob, man show at Jane Hartsook Gallery, and in the course of our correspondence, Greenwich House Pottery, New York City, he agreed to come to Juniata College to through March 5.—Ed. design and build an anagama kiln in the summer of 1978, when he planned to ALMOST ten years ago I was surprised return to the States. to find an unusual wood-fired stoneware Rob’s written descriptions of firing his jug at a flea market near Pottstown, anagama confirmed my interest, devel­ Pennsylvania. It had a capacity of about oped from reading Daniel Rhodes’s 3 gallons and was semiovoid. Two pulled Tamba Pottery. Here was a kiln whose handles stood up from the shoulder on shape seemed to have been suggested by either side of the neck. But the surface fire itself: A single chamber tapering to was most intriguing, because of its graphic the flue, it contained no angles to thwart documentation of the firing process. Ap­ or buffer the long flame that would flow parently the jug had fallen over in the uphill from the firebox. kiln, for one side had been protected from We began by digging a trench about the heavy wood ash deposit that flowed 6 feet wide and 20 feet long with a back- in little rivulets across the opposite sur­ hoe on a slope of about 20%. We spanned face. It was scarred from having been the trench with freshly cut maple sap­ broken loose from another piece, or from lings a little more than an inch thick. some debris which had fused to it in the wall. So I came to own the first piece of These we arched across the kiln space long, intense firing. The owner offered natural ash-glazed ceramics I’d ever like big croquet wickets, and then tied it to me for half price because in the two handled. thin scrap boards across them with bal­ years he’d owned it, I was the first per­ It wasn’t like any other jug I’d seen, ing twine, making a simple arch form son to pick it up. The price was written and neither Susan Meyers nor Marty that suggested an overturned boat. in chalk on the bare spot, which he said Amt at the Smithsonian Institution was Though we intended to dig deeper, the I’d probably want to keep turned to the able to pinpoint its origin—although backhoe struck sandstone bedrock 36-40 Marty told me that if I liked that sort inches down, and we had no choice but of thing I should write to Rob Barnard, to use that as the floor of the kiln. It who at that time was winding up a four- turned out to be advantageous, as I will and-a-half-year stay in Shigaraki, Ja­ explain later. pan, where he had built an anagama Our first firing, in November 1978, kiln and was producing natural ash- was done with any wood we could gath­ glazed stoneware. Later, I learned that er. Most was green pine slab wood and

Top Wood-fired jug, approximately 15 inches in height, found by the author at a Pennsylvania flea market, and made at La Borne, France. AboveThe anagama kiln is 14 feet long, 50 inches wide, and about 50 inches in height, tapering to 20 inches at the flue. 34 CERAMICS MONTHLY Photos: Schecter Lee, Jackie Seaton and the author; illustration: Marilyn Coplin The anagama was designed and built by Rob Barnard, who had Top Wood for firing is collected from several local sawmills. just returned from four and a half years in Japan at the potters' village of Shigaraki. Shown here, he lays thickly mortared bricks AboveBundles of hardwood are cut to size, then stacked by the over bent wood and lath. side ports for stoking in the later stages of firing. didn’t burn fast enough to produce the pingement. So distinct are the pathways process. Bizen simply wasn’t in a league Btu’s we needed. Rob had come from of the flames among the objects being with Meissen. Washington, D.C., and with my small fired that a given form may show evi­ All this, and more, bothered me about class and a few friends huddled like ref­ dence of having been in a temperature natural ash-glazed pots. My ideal models ugees under two plastic-covered field range- varying as much as eight cones. had been the work of Harrison Mc­ hockey goals, he taught us Anagama 101 Few, if any, of my pots had been simply Intosh, Val Cushing, Michael and Har­ in the rain. The kiln, made of 7½ inches placed on a shelf. Most, in fact, had been riet Cohen, and others who usually made of hardbrick (presently, much better in­ used as kiln furniture, so that a kind of pots that had neither a “front” nor a sulated), and backfilled with dirt, steamed “sibling rivalry” would help determine “back”—work that, to my eye, repre­ like a dying whale from Friday morning the appearance of the work. sented elegant, symmetrical triumphs of until Sunday evening, when we quit, ex­ None of this confirmed the values I conscious design: pots inoculated with hausted and more educated than we’d had been forming as to what might con­ controlled intent. More often than not, anticipated. stitute a “good” pot. The fact is, if I had their work, and much of my own, was That firing, and the preparations for been shown slides of my current work fixed by heat, by atmosphere; but the it, jostled many of my comfortable no­ ten years ago, I would have found them fire itself, if permitted to have a say in tions, though I liked the way we had impertinent to my operational aesthet­ the process at all, just whispered rarely, quickly formed, dried and stacked the ics. Ugly, that is. My background hadn’t subordinately. ware we made—a sequence I have al­ provided a context to comprehend the When we unloaded that kiln, I saw ways valued in salt glazing, for its di­ pots of Iga, Tamba, Echizen or Shigar­ pots that had been fired. Flames 30 feet rectness. The location of objects in the aki, and from the beginnings of my in­ long had found their way through the kiln and the juxtaposition of each piece terest in ceramics in 1962, this work stacked forms, which had recorded the to others made stacking especially crit­ caused me the most trouble when I looked colors and textures of the “experience” ical: A cup or bottle placed in 20 dif­ through picture books. Seemingly the of firing. The entire kiln had been filled ferent locations could have as many pos­ products of palsied hands, those pots came with a fiery decorating brush. Unlike sible fired identities—each far more across as examples of what a ceramist other firings, this one hadn’t been ter­ variable than results I had experienced should avoid: deformations due to stack­ ribly goal oriented (“Haven’t the cones in other firings. Gravity, for example, ing; flashings that often disrupted the gone down yet?”). We had known some­ tends to cause the heaviest ash particles visual balance of the piece, impurities in thing was bound to happen, and to that to settle on pots closest to stoking areas the clay; textures I likened to my daugh­ end we had kept the hot brush moving, and on horizontal surfaces, while the ter’s childhood eczema; cracks, chips, and hour after hour, in the range of Cone finest particles drift toward the rear, cre­ other “defects” that spoke of shoddy 8-9. ating distinct zones of flame and ash im­ “craftsmanship”; poor management of For me, these pots had more in com- May 1983 35 mon with old barns than anything else couldn’t be done entirely in an officelike I could compare them to. A 100-year- studio, listening to baroque cantatas. old unpainted barn—especially a pine Rapport and good will, often with peo­ barn—takes on certain colors according ple who couldn’t even spell ceramics, were to the compass directions its sides face: to be a big part of the operation. The The north side weathers to the coolest, result, over the years, has been that I grayest tones; and the warmest, orange- know about the workings of the sawmills brown colors develop on the boards fac­ of Donnie Hoffmaster, Lester Stoudt and ing south. The east and west sides color Clarence McCracken, who now know according to their exposure to direct where jugs come from. sunlight and prevailing weather. Like­ The sight of nearly 30 cords of dry wise, anagama-fired pots often have pine slabs within 10 miles of the kiln “windward” and “lee” sides, indicating quickens the pulse, summons resource­ their stance during the fire-weather that fulness. Horse trading, diplomacy, labor confers their identities. relations, logistics and the vagaries of This was a new way to work. Gath­ chainsaws must be dealt with before the ering six dump truck loads of slab wood first pot is thrown. (It’s almost vexatious and chainsawing it to length guaranteed Stacking the kiln through its small enough to make me want to build a kiln that the process wouldn’t drift too far firemouth requires teamwork. Michael at the sawmill.) toward the trite “romanticism” that Holter, a Maryland anagama potter; has We now have a 32 X 40-foot roof over sometimes afflicts people who step out been a main partner in most of the firings. the anagama and our salt kiln. We can of an automobile and observe a firing in of the process—its smells and sounds, its store about 18 cords of wood—enough progress. Wood firing, in fact, is no more demands—and some of us are hungrier for six firings. This past summer I ac­ or less “poetic” than flipping switches on for that than others. Who knows why, quired 28 cords of pine slabs cut to length an electric kiln and letting the elements or could care? Good work in any me­ for future use. resist and conduct energy released from dium somehow transcends maker, ma­ The anagama has become an impor­ burning fossilized plants, but there’s terial and process. tant feature of Juniata’s ceramics pro­ something to be said for the immediacy This was one brand of ceramics that gram, and my students (none of whom

Above leftAfter loading, the firemouth is bricked up, leaving a small stoking/burner port at the bottom, and a larger, semicircular stoking area at the top. Left As the fire builds up, stoking is through the semicircular space at the top. A metal plate covers the hole in between rounds. AboveWhen Cone 8-10 is reached in the front, stoking is begun at the side ports with edgings from a planing mill. 36 CERAMICS MONTHLY Stoneware bottle, 12 inches in height, by the author, thrown, with natural ash glaze and flashing characteristic of the three-day wood firing. major in art) help with all aspects of a I figured that I wasn’t much of a teacher are differentiated; heartwood produces a firing, from mixing clay (75% Jordan if I couldn’t show a sincerely interested somewhat more refractory glaze. clay, 25% Custer feldspar) to stoking in psych major how to stoke effectively. (One Oak produced more gray-to-orange three-hour shifts, working in pairs. In incentive was that it could add years to tones, with pine tending toward greens— the context of a liberal arts education, my life by decreasing the risk of personal its lighter ash lofting more evenly my course represents one of their few burnout.) Careful planning among vol­ throughout the kiln. Also pine (or any problem-solving experiences based on unteer stokers aids efficiency and con­ softwood, being less dense) burns more neither verbal nor mathematical skills. tributes to cohesiveness among class quickly with a looser, lazier flame pat­ Michael Holter, a librarian and Juniata members. That, I wouldn’t trade for tern—somewhat analogous to that of graduate with a wood kiln of his own, anything. The community spirit of firing natural gas as opposed to propane, with has been my main partner in the dozen is an asset for us all, and I never need its shorter, more intense output. Pine is or so firings we’ve done. to jockey for my favorite shifts—all day also lighter and easier to handle than Learning to share responsibilities was Friday, 4-10 A.M. Saturday and Sun­oak, and where I live, is not valued as one of the hardest lessons for me, but day, and the last eight hours Sunday eve­ fuel, so it is cheaper. Burning pine keeps my exhaustion from tight-fisted control ning. me from competing in the marketplace during the first firings made me realize Recently, I have investigated the ef­ with those who need hardwood to heat I had to get smart in a couple of ways. fects of hard and soft woods as sources their homes. The pine slabs we use would, The first was to learn for myself what of natural ash glaze on a variety of clays. in fact, otherwise be bulldozed into a pile I later read in Louise Cort’s book, Shi- Firing with barkless oak, then again with and burned a couple of times a year— garaki Potters3 Valley, where a veteran pine slabs containing a high percentage enough fuel for half a dozen firings going fireman says: “To fire a kiln, you have of bark, I was able to see the color and up all at once. On the last afternoon of to learn to wait. If the kiln’s not doing texture differences in such variables. each firing, we plant a white pine tree what you want it to, you must wait untilBasically, I found that bark contains more in the area adjacent to our kiln shed. it does. Somehow it knows how to fire fluxing minerals than heartwood, since Each firing contains several objects that itself. You only have to wait and watch tree growth takes place in the cambium jiggle my expectations. I neither “like” and do what needs to be done.” Secondly, layer, where bark and inner wood cells nor “dislike” them. They seem so im­ May 1983 37 Stoneware bottle, 16 inches in height, thrown from sandy clay with feldspathic granules, by the author, and fired in the anagama kiln. bued with the qualities of a long, high that after every few firings the sandstone get attached to ceramics in the sophis­ firing that it takes a lot of looking to “floor” scorched and cracked, permitting ticated, competitive and increasingly simply see them for what they are. It’s us to dig the chamber out several times, verbal marketplace. And may these pots a little like catching fish or growing a enlarging the interior by at least 30 per­ never fit in well beside a Cuisinart ma­ vegetable that doesn’t have a name yet— cent. Currently it is 14 feet long,50 inches chine! you just want to study it and see wherewide, and about50 inches tall, tapering Bill Daley’s advice in a letter says it your perceptions lead. Framing these few to 20 inches at the flue. best: “I think natural ash-glazed pots can pots are the remaining 100 plus forms It is my hope that the works from this have an audience which is wide enough which run the gamut from flat-out win­ anagama will stand on their own merits; to keep making them. The question is, ners to just plain brown, vitreous duds. that they will be Just Pots, quite apart what’s under the ash—and that’s the One unusual feature of our kiln is from the linguistic flying buttresses that tough part, always.” 38 CERAMICS MONTHLY Robert Rauschenberg Ceramics

“Stylite II,” Japanese Recreational Clay works Series, 1982, industrial porcelain,2 V/2 inches square, with photoceramic decals. A Jew years ago, Robert Rauschenberg slipped virtually unnoticed into the ceramists' world. Heading straight for industry and its impressive technology, he has turned out a body of ceramic works which may have a significant influence on the course of ceramic art and its recent climb to acceptance as a major art medium.

May 1983 39 Right “Gates South,” approximately 14 feet in width, ceramic decals on industrial porcelain tiles, produced with the artist by Otsuka Ohmi Ceramics Company, Japan. In 1973 the firm received a technology award from the Japan Ceramics Society for their ability to produce and fire 3x12-foot tiles with no form distortion. Far right ".Drawing Room 2,” approximately6 feet in height, 2½ inches thick, photoceramic collage on a single industrially fired, porcelain tile. Below right“Moondragger,” 6 V2 feet in height, multifired ceramic construction, by Robert Rauschenberg.

“HisMOST explosive creative year,” say the critics about Robert Rauschenberg (Captiva, Florida), whose meteoric ca­ reer in the American art world spans almost 30 years, outlasting most of the art celebrities from the past few decades. Known primarily for his “combine” paintings, multimedia sculpture and col- lage-like graphics, some of the “best work of [this artist’s] career” was recently done in clay. “The star piece [shown at Leo Castelli Gallery, New York City] is a pseudo combine in which all the dis­ parate elements ... were made from fired ceramic[s] in Japan,” observed art critic Robert Hughes(Time magazine). Produced in collaboration with crafts­ men at Otsuka Ohmi Ceramics Com­ pany in Osaka, this “Japanese Clay work Series” incorporates full-color, high-fired glaze imagery applied from photoce­ ramic decals. Otsuka Ohmi received the 1973 technology award from the Japan Ceramics Society for their ability to pro­ duce and fire 3x 12-foot tiles with no form distortion due to a patented body recipe. Rauschenberg’s works were fired using the same technology—initially to 1300°C in a 200-foot-long conveyor-type kiln for 8-12 hours, then to progres­ sively lower temperatures for individual

layers of color. Most were fired six times. Photos: courtesy of Leo Castelli Gallery 40 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1983 41 Philip Jameson byC heryl McLean

42 Ceramics Monthly Imagine standing at the center of a can­ To every 528 pounds of this recipe, Phil­ Masonite is removed from the frame and yon in the Painted Desert, or in a sage­ ip adds 15 to 30 cups grog and 1 cup flipped onto a plaster bat. The flexible brush prairie broken by rocks rising from nylon fiber. At Cone 04, this low-shrink- Masonite can then be “peeled” from the a barren surface. At a glance you can age clay provides a semiporous surface clay, and the reverse surface is smoothed take in all the colors and imagery. that allows gesso to soak in, yet is dense with a rolling pin and squeegee. The Portland ceramist Philip Jameson in­ and durable. shape of the form is traced lightly into corporates this concept in his colorfully Somewhat short, but elastic enough to the ¾-inch-thick slab with a biology painted clay constructions, which he in­ stretch slightly without separating or needle, and textural relief is built up and stalls in the desert canyons of eastern cracking, the clay is pounded into slabs incised. “I work on the surface while it Oregon to test their aesthetic effective­ on a frame constructed with plywood and is still very wet and plastic to get the ness and provide inspiration for future 2x4s; Masonite bats (½-inch thick) were greatest relief or resolution of the im­ work. “There’s more than getting en­ cut to slide onto the plywood between age,” Philip explained. “Waiting even vironmental feedback from these cliff- eight hours makes the surface too hard sides,” the artist explained. “There’s the Left Portland, Oregon, artist Philip to put in the relief images.” whole process of taking my work out­ Jameson installs his painted clay forms, After drying overnight (the plaster doors, hanging it on a cliff, and viewing such as “Twist and Crawl,” on desert draws moisture from below while air it. You can’t not be influenced by what canyon walls to test their aesthetic circulates above), the previously drawn you see. It’s only natural that when youeffectiveness and inspire future work. design is cut through with a knife, but take your work out of the studio or gal­ the parts are left together for several days lery, and view it in a completely different so that the slab will dry more evenly. environment, you’re going to get some Once the excess clay is removed, the edges entirely new ideas. This is the evolu­ are refined, and the surface is burnished tionary process of art making.” during several weeks of drying. His clay constructions, recently ex­ Loaded in the kiln on a bed of grog hibited at Contemporary Crafts Gallery (sometimes one on top of another), the in Portland, concentrate the colors, shapes slabs are single fired slowly to Cone 04. and imagery from a vast expanse into a Then, the forms are gessoed to prepare comparatively small space: a single work the surface for painting with acrylics. may explore five or six different (and The first installation site, a rocky ter­ traditionally incongruous) color sys­ rain east of Bend, Oregon, was once tems. Instead of the browns, tans and populated by Indian tribes, but is now greens of a natural environment, Philip dominated by sagebrush. “I tried to jux­ uses synthetic colors. The design and tapose five of my pieces with an existing surface are stylizations referring to both crack in the canyon wall,” Philip re­ the organic world and the mechanized, called, “positioning them so that the rocks manmade world: The natural clay is in and the work created a sort of rhythm.” opposition to the almost garish painted The surrounding fossil beds echoed the surface, and the textural field opposes fossil-like relief and design of the work: the controlled, linear regions of the clay imprints reminiscent of fish spines, bird constructions. beaks, wolf heads and the human figure. For a clay “canvas” designed specifi­ “Running on Hot Rocks,” installation at Conversely, the mechanical world is rep­ cally as a surface for painting, Philip John Day, Oregon. resented by cranks, shafts and the “tracks” works with the following body recipe: 1 ½-inch-high guide strips. After dusting of manmade machines in the surface “soil” the Masonite with talc, Philip covers the of the clay constructions. When viewed White Clay(Cone 06-04) board with 2X4X8-inch chunks of clay against Oregon’s canyon cliffsides, Phil­ Talc...... 150 pounds and pounds them into a slab, working ip’s forms appear like modern petro- Frit 3110 (Ferro)...... 8 with fists and a 2x4 successively in four glyphs—contemporary statements about Nepheline Syenite...... 60 directions. Then the rough slab is cut a world in which this generation lives, Wollastonite ...... 10 horizontally with a wire drawn along works and creates. Edgar Plastic Kaolin .... 150 the guide strips. A 3-foot-wide squeegee Tennessee Ball Clay (1) . . 75 is used to smooth the surface, and a knife The author Freelance arts writer XX Saggar Clay...... 75 drawn along the edges separates the slab Cheryl McLean resides in Nottingham, 528 pounds from the guides. Next, the slab-covered England. May 1983 43 AbovePhilip pounds out slabs on a flexible, talc-dusted Masonite bat set into a plywood and 2x4 frame. Slabs are then inverted onto plaster bats and the Masonite peeled away. After cutting a design through with a knife, parts are left together for several days so that the slab will dry more evenly. When excess clay is removed, edges are refined, the surface burnished, and after firing, the forms are gessoed, then painted with acrylics. Left "Twist and Crawl,” installation at John Day Fossil Beds, Oregon. Settings such as this often echo the fossil-like design of the work: imprints reminiscent of fish spines, bird beaks, or tire tracks, cranks and machines.

44 CERAMICS MONTHLY The Ultimate Cookie Jar

Combining aesthetic expression with kitchen-counter function, 65 multimedia interpretations of “The Ultimate Cookie Jar” were recently presented at Nabisco Brands USA Gallery in East Hanover, New Jersey. Open to North American artists, the competition was juried from 305 slide entries by Helen Williams Drutt (of Helen Drutt Gallery, Philadelphia) and Christine Rohlfing (assistant direc­ Photos: courtesy of Nabisco Brands USA tor, the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, New York City). Whether abstract in form, decoratively patterned, or zealously guarded by whimsical or ferocious crea­ tures, all the selected works were ca­ pable of fulfilling the basic requirement of storing cookies.

Right Footed jar, 11 inches in height, thrown, fluted stoneware, by David Posner, Statesboro, Georgia. Right “Cookie Dog,” 16 inches in height, glazed, slab-built clay, by Dale Dap kins, Delhi, New York. Far right Thrown, altered raku container, 12 inches in height, by Syd Carpenter, Philadelphia. AboveA clay mosque courtyard at San, Below Muslim shrines in Afghanistan Mali, West Africa. Though it is fast being include towers shaped to resemble replaced by cement, clay desert architecture phalluses, domes molded to resemble is less expensive and much cooler. breasts, as in this clay structure.

Durable AND versatile, sun-baked clay has traditionally been utilized in desert regions for domestic and religious architectural elements, ranging from corkscrew columns and ornate facades to towers more than 100 feet in height. Afghan Muslim shrines include domes molded to resemble breasts, towers to resemble phalluses. In India, walls are covered with delicate trim, while Paki­ stan has wind-catching structures de­ signed to entrap cool breezes. Documenting this vanishing form of architecture in West Africa and South­ west Asia with 80 color and 45 black- and-white photographs, six maps and schematic drawings, plus illustrated building techniques, the traveling ex­ hibition “Spectacular Vernacular” was presented first at the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara, California, and will be shown next at the University of Cal­

ifornia, Santa Cruz, May 14-June 12. Photos: Carollee Pelos and courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution

46 Ceramics Monthly Right A dwelling entrance in Mali. Below A small mosque in Mali. In the desert, clay is a versatile and long-lasting building material.

May 1983 47 AboveThe Great Mosque of Djenne, Mali, constructed in 1907, Below In Sind, Pakistan, clay towers mark the sky like giant is one of the most famous in West Africa. wind periscopes, and are designed to catch cooling breezes.

48 CERAMICS MONTHLY Above and rightFiligreelike trim covers embossed clay walls on the interiors of dwellings in Gujarat, India.

The courtyard of a clay home in Oualata, Mauritania, West Africa. Each year the wall decoration is renewed by the women after the short, spring rainy season. AboveA porch arcade in Senegal, West Africa, reveals a clay wall perforated to allow air to circulate inside. Left Young men's house, Mali. Adolescent males live in this elaborately decorated clay dwelling away from their families until they marry. A Rammed Earth Studio by MARCIA elsorS

WHAT BUILDING MATERIAL could be (one with a 6 X 6-inch plate, the other 4 more appropriate for a clay studio than inches square) that bounce like pogo clay? After attending a lecture on rammed sticks. earth construction by Indiana potter After building the first course with the Richard Peeler, I decided to use the pro­ 3-foot-long form, it was decided that we cess for my new studio. Roughly sketched could work faster with a larger one. Ex­ on graph paper, the “blueprint” called cept where the smaller form was more for a 20 X 20-foot structure with the south practical (around east and west windows wall incorporating wooden framework and corners), the remaining four courses for eight windows and a door, and the were constructed with an 8-foot-long remaining walls made with five contin­ form. A section (4 inches high and 16 uous courses of rammed earth. inches long) at the bottom front of the Since the building location is on an new form could be removed to fit over irrigation project (with the water table the existing course to slightly overlap for 18 inches below the surface when the The author's 20x20-foot rammed earth strength at the corners. Each 7-foot-long ditches are flowing), it was not possible studio was constructed of a mixture of block contained 28 wheelbarrows of clay to utilize on-site materials. Various for­ 7 parts red clay to 1 part lime, blended mixture. mulas for fortifying ramming materials in a mortar mixer, then tamped into a As the building progressed, more peo­ suggest clay mixed with lime in a 7:1 portable wall form. ple became interested in helping—two ratio, so 35 cubic yards of red clay were shifts of volunteers worked only for meals. obtained from a local brick company. was moved forward (about seven-eighths The most effective crew number was six: After the area was cleared, a 2-foot- of the block’s length), the “notched” end two mixing, two manning the wheel­ wide concrete footing was poured for the wall of the previous block became the barrows and two tamping. base of the 16-inch-thick rammed earth end wall of the next, and the earth tamped The top course was leveled (according walls. While the concrete cured, I built into the prearranged negative space act­ to a surveying transit) and a conven­ a 3-foot-long ramming form from 2 x4s ed as a lock. tional wood and shingle roof was added. and ¾-inch plywood. Large homemade At first the clay and lime were mixed The roof trusses support a 2-foot over­ C-clamps (from 2 x4s, ½-inch threaded by hand and rammed with a pneumatic hang and 2-foot eaves. rods, nuts and bolts) held the form tight. hammer; but its tamping action was too In the following spring, the irrigation Each block was tamped in layers, un­ strong, often forcing the clay mixture out plain flooded due to record-breaking til a height of 18 inches was obtained. the bottom of the form. To improve ef­ rainfall. The studio stood in water as Approximately 6 inches of the clay and ficiency, we switched to using a mortar deep as 3 feet for ten days, but the rammed lime mixture (with enough water so that mixer and two hand-operated tampers earth survived with very little erosion. I it would just stick together when have since reinforced the base with river squeezed) would be tamped down to each rocks and stuccoed the walls with Q- 2-inch layer. When the block was com­ Bond (a commercial plaster/fiber glass/ pleted, the C-clamps were loosened and cement mixture with a structural integ­ the form was moved into position for rity of its own). tamping the next block. Two lawn mow­ Although construction required an in­ er rollers were mounted at the lower front credible amount of labor, the interior and upper rear of the form to make this texture and thick walls are pleasant, and operation more convenient. A wedge- I enjoy working inside the clay studio. shaped 2x4 was positioned vertically in the center of the front panel, providing The completed studio has 16-inch-thick The author Marcia Selsor is an assis­ negative space to interlock adjoining clay walls, south-facing windows and a tant professor of ceramics at Eastern rammed earth blocks. When the form conventional wood and shingle roof. Montana College in Billings. May 1983 51 Above leftThe studio was constructed on a 2-foot wide concrete footing. AboveA sketch of the studio floor plan shows placement of the two windows within clay walls and a south wall incorporating eight windows and a door within its wooden framework. Left The 3-foot-long ramming form was constructed of 2x4s and ¾-inch plywood. Two large, homemade C-clamps from 2x4s and V2-inch threaded rods hold the form tight. Approximately 6 inches of the 7:1 clay/lime mixture (with enough water so that it would just stick together when squeezed) were tamped into repeated 2-inch layers. When the ramming form was filled, the C-clamps were loosened and the form was pushed into position for the next block. Lawn mower rollers at the lower front and upper rear of the ramming form made this movement more convenient.

52 Ceramics Monthly Top After building the first course, an 8-foot-long form was constructed to make the work go faster. A section at the bottom front allowed overlapping for strength at the corners. Left Window openings were constructed with the short form and a vertical sheet of plywood at the end for a true edge. Above centerWork progressed most efficiently in teams of six: two people to mix, two transporting and two tamping the clay/ lime blend. AboveAfter five courses, walls were leveled and a roof added. May 1983 53 Two Production Potters by JENNIFER HEWKO

Two POTTERS walked into an abandoned cigar factory in trims and attaches handles, then throws 3-quart pitchers, the Pennsylvania Dutch village of Bowmansville six years teapots and utensil holders. “By the end of the week, all 24 ago. Looking down the expanse of open floor illuminated by items are covered,” he explained. “We work toward building sunlight from windows lining the walls, Jonathan Kaplan an inventory; we don’t build to order.” and Janet Huling saw an old freight elevator at the back of The concept of an inventory has come about since they the room and in a few minutes decided to buy "the three-story changed the pottery from a retail to a wholesale business. building for their new studio. Since that time, they have During their first year, they sold pots at fairs every two weeks. developed a production line of 24 thrown, functional pots Orders had to be filled as quickly as possible; then it was marketed in 90 stores throughout the United States. time to prepare for the next show. Janet noted that was an “Because of the physical layout, we’re able to move a lot exhausting and not very satisfying way to sell pots. But it is of pots through,” Jonathan observed. “It’s partly because we a good means to develop regular customers. have the space for several operations at once.” Their small Now they travel to only four fairs a year, usually those retail shop occupies the immediate front of the building and sponsored by American Craft Enterprises where they are sure also serves as storage for the inventory from which weekly serious buyers will see their work. In addition, they are then wholesale shipments are made. An area for slab and extrusion listed in the ACE buyer’s catalog, thus ensuring further ex­ work is in the front half of the studio, while throwing and posure. While it may be a satisfying experience to obtain an glazing areas are in the rear. Bisque firing is done in a order from a customer, fill it and receive payment, Janet says separate, ventilated room; two electric kiln loads are fired that the real key to maintaining a flourishing business is to daily and yield enough pots for the weekly firing of a 100- attract customers who repeat their orders and—maybe best cubic-foot gas-fired glafce kiln. Daily production is stacked of all—customers who file standing orders. on ware trucks for ease of movement throughout the studio. To attract those buyers, pots must be of consistent quality Jonathan and Janet have divided the two major processes in form, glaze color and texture. “When we send something, between them: Jonathan throws and trims; Janet waxes and customers know what they are going to get,” Janet explained. glazes. A full-time employee mixes clay (approximately 20 “They’re not going to be surprised when the box is opened. tons each year) and glaze from materials purchased wholesale That’s very important to a shop owner.” and stored in the basement. Because they feel efficient use Jonathan feels maintaining consistent glaze color and of time and space is essential for a production pottery, a work quality is probably the most difficult aspect of production cycle is followed in which a specific number of pots are made pottery. There are always small variations in the natural each week. The number is determined from the monthly sales minerals, while the thickness of the glaze can be affected by figures, with an added percentage to accommodate new cus­ such uncontrollable factors as high humidity. Besides mixing tomers. On Monday, Jonathan throws mugs, steamers, oil the stoneware body, their employee is charged with uniformly candles, pasta plates and large platters. The next day, he preparing the following glaze recipes: Below left Jonathan Kaplan and Janet Huling’s pottery studio AboveDividing the production between them, Jonathan throws and residence in Bowmansville, Pennsylvania. and trims; Janet waxes and glazes.

Stoneware Clay Body (Cone 10, reduction) White Liner Gloss Glaze (Cone 9-10, reduction) Talc...... 8 pounds Whiting...... 20% Wollastonite...... 4 Custer Feldspar...... 40 Cedar Heights Goldart Clay...... 25 Edgar Plastic Kaolin...... 10 Kentucky Ball Clay (OM ...... 4) 40 Flint...... 30 Pine Lake Fireclay (50 mesh)...... 100 100% Valentine PBX Clay (screened)...... 16 Add: Zircopax...... 10% Fine Grog...... 5 Medium Grog...... 5 Orange Satin Matt Glaze (Cone 9-10, reduction) 203 pounds Bone Ash...... 2.8% Talc...... 3.8 Total shrinkage is approximately 10 percent at Cone 10. Whiting...... 20.1 Custer Feldspar...... 49.7 Edgar Plastic Kaolin...... 23.6 Blue Satin Matt Glaze (Cone 9-10, reduction) 100.0% Dolomite ...... 18.00% Add: Red Iron Oxide...... 2.4% Gerstley Borate...... 4.00 Rutile...... 2.4% Whiting...... 4.00 Custer Feldspar...... 36.00 Brown Satin Matt Glaze (Cone 9-10, reduction) Edgar Plastic Kaolin...... 22.00 Dolomite...... 20% Flint...... 16.00 Whiting...... 5 100.00% Custer Feldspar...... 50 Add: Chrome Oxide...... 0.25% Edgar Plastic Kaolin...... 25 Cobalt Carbonate...... 1.00% 100% Granular Manganese Dioxide...... 0.25% Add: Manganese Dioxide...... 4% May 1983 55 Off-White Stony Matt Glaze(Cone 9-10, reduction) stoneware and decorative decals. Planning a teaching career, Dolomite ...... 10.40% he earned an M.F.A. at Southern Illinois University, Ed- Talc ...... 5.89 wardsville, in 1975; then spent one year as an artist-in-res- Whiting...... 8.57 idence at Millersville State College in Pennsylvania. While Nepheline Syenite...... 23.75 he made pots there, Janet (who is an art graduate of Southern Cornwall Stone...... 18.81 Illinois) organized their first attempts at serious selling. She Edgar Plastic Kaolin...... 17.85 quickly learned a fundamental lesson: most businesses want Flint...... 14.73 functional items. 100.00% After that year at Millersville, Jonathan and Janet decided Add: Rutile...... 0.05% to open a studio. They agree they made the decision with only a limited idea of what is involved in making a living by selling pots. “The romance of this business faded the first Red Glaze (Cone 9-10, reduction) hour,” Jonathan said. “But I can’t think of anything I would Bone Ash...... 3.7% rather do.” Talc ...... 3.7 Since then they have developed some basic procedures for Whiting ...... 19.9 meeting demand. They learned to maintain a file on each Custer Feldspar...... 49.3 customer and to build personal contacts. They have also Edgar Plastic Kaolin...... 23.4 worked out a system for packing pots so that they arrive 100.0% intact. And they know the value of experience in building a Add: Red Iron Oxide...... 4.0% solid reputation. With the current economic climate, success As he talks of consistency, work cycles and sales volumes, requires “creative and insightful thinking directed toward all Jonathan begins to sound like an industrialist, and indeed aspects of a business,” Jonathan observed. “Flexibility is nec­ “we are mimicking industry,” he remarked. “I used to see my essary to deal with a marketplace that is essentially unsure work as isolated occurrences, throwing a pot, trimming it. and delicate. The business of pottery is not just myopically Now I see it as a totality, from making to marketing. Every­ confined to throwing, trimming, glazing and firing. Accu­ thing together becomes a challenge, starting with raw ma­ mulated experience will enable one to have control.” By fol­ terials and moving all the way through to the store.” lowing applicable standard business procedures and deliv­ That’s a significant attitude change for Jonathan, who was ering consistent work on time, Jonathan and Janet have built once involved in what he calls the “exotic” areas of salt-fired their pottery from an empty building into a productive reality.

56 CERAMICS MONTHLY 1. Approximately 20 tons of clay are 5. The bisque area is in a separate, used per year. ventilated room in the front of the studio. Two loads are fired daily. 2. Clay is mixed in a revolving tub mixer, then pugged in a deairing mill. 6. Glazes are mixed in quantity and stored in large plastic containers 3. The handbuilding area is equipped mounted in a table top for easy access. with electric drive slab roller and pneumatic extruder. 7. The 100-cubic-foot glaze kiln in the loading dock area was recently made 4. Production is stacked on ware more efficient with the addition of a trucks for ease of movement. refractory fiber door. May 1983 57 AboveThrown stoneware vegetable steamers, 10 inches in diameter. Filled with vegetables, the pot may be placed over a pan of boiling water so that rising steam cooks the contents. The drainage platter allows the steamer to be taken straight to the table. Right A small retail store occupies the immediate front of the pottery and also serves as storage for wholesale inventory. Shipments are made weekly to shops and galleries handling the ware.

58 CERAMICS MONTHLY AboveCanister ; 12 inches in height, thrown stoneware, with wooden scoop. Left Jam jar, 5 inches in height. With a concern for maintaining consistent quality in form, glaze color and texture, Jonathan and Janet produce a 100-cubic-foot kiln load of pots each week.

May 1983 59

Itinerary Continued from Page 19 Tennessee, Gatlinburg through May 8 “Im- pressions/F^tterns,” an invitational including Molly Cowgill, Dorothy Hafner and Kurt Weiser; at Ar- rowmont School of Arts and Crafts. Tennessee, Smithville May 1-June 15 “Col­ ored Clay: National Invitational”; at Appalachian Center for Crafts, Highway 56. Texas, Dallas through May 31 “Ban Chiang: Discovery of a Lost Bronze Age”; at the Science Place, Fair Park. Texas, San Angelo through May 6 “Kiln God Festival” and “Ceramic Competition Exhibition”; at Angelo State University. Washington, Midway through May 29 “North­ west Designer Craftsmen” show; at the King County Art Museum, Highline Community College, Pa­ cific Highway. Wisconsin, West Bend May 4-29 “Men and Women in the Arts VII,” a regional competition; at West Bend Gallery of Fine Arts, 300 South Sixth Avenue. Fairs, Festivals and Sales Arkansas, Eureka Springs May 6-8 “Seventh Annual Spring Art Fair”; at Convention Center. California, Hayward May 20-22 Annual Hayward Area Forum of the Arts “Exhibition ’83”; at Centennial Hall, 22292 Foothill Boulevard. D.C., Washington May 5-8 “The Washington Craft Show,” in conjunction with “Crafts Today” forum; at the Departmental Auditorium, 1300 Constitution Avenue, Northwest. Florida, West Palm Beach May 6-8 “SunFest Juried Art Show”; at lakeside on Flager Drive. Illinois, Skokie May 21-22 Tenth annual “Midwest Craft Festival”; at Old Orchard Center. Indiana, Evansville May 7-8 “Ohio River Arts Festival”; at the Walkway, downtown. Indiana, Indianapolis May 21-22 “Broad Ripple Village Art Fair”; at the Indianapolis Art League, 820 East 67 Street. Iowa, Dubuque May 21-22 Fifth annual “DubuqueFest’; at Washington Park, Sixth and Locust. Kentucky, Louisville May 14-15 “Old Brownsboro Road Arts and Crafts Festival”; at Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church, 4938 Old Brownsboro Road. Maryland, Frederick May 20-22 “Ninth An­ nual Frederick Craft Fair”; at the Frederick Fair­ grounds. Maryland, Timonium May 20-22 Sixth an­ nual “Spring Crafts Festival”; at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. Massachusetts, AndoverMay 7 “Andover Crafts in the Park”; at Memorial Park. Massachusetts, Cambridge May 26-29 An­ nual spring show and sale; at Radcliffe Pottery, 245 Concord Avenue. Massachusetts, Worcester May 13-15 The “13th Annual Craft Fair”; at Worcester Craft Cen­ ter, 25 Sagamore Road. Mississippi, Laurel May 14 “A Day in the Park”; at Mason Park. New York, Binghamton May 14-15 “Tra­ ditional Craft Festival”; at Roberson Center for the Arts and Sciences, 30 Front Street. New York, Great Neck May 1 “Great Neck Crafts Show”; at the Old Village. New York, Katonah May 14 “Native Amer­ ican Craft Festival”; at the Katonah Gallery, 28 Bedford Road. New York, Woodstock May 27-30 “Wood- stock/New Paltz Art & Crafts Fair”; at the Ulster County Fairgrounds. Ohio, Dayton May 28-29 The 16th annual “Art in the Park”; at Riverbend Arts Council, 142 Riverbend Drive. Pennsylvania, Wallingford May 6-8 Phila­ delphia area Potters Guild show; at 414 Plush Mill Road. 62 CERAMICS MONTHLY South Carolina, Charleston May 27-29 Seventh annual “Piccolo Spoleto Crafts Fair”; at Marion Square, between King, Calhoun and Meeting Streets. Tennessee, Lawrenceburg May 14-15 “David Crockett Arts and Crafts Festival”; at the David Crockett State Park. Virginia, Portsmouth May 28-30 “Thirteenth Portsmouth Seawall Art Show”; at the boardwalk. Workshops California, Berkeley May 15-June 5 A ses­ sion on salt firing and making large pots with San­ dra Johnstone. Fee: $60. Contact: Jeff Margolin or Tom Oden, ASUC Studio, Lower Sproul Plaza, University of California, Berkeley 94720; or call: (415) 642-3065. California, Torrance May 14-15 A session with Tom Turner. Fee: $55. Contact: Neil Moss, Fine Art Division, El Camino College, 16700 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance 90506; or call: (213) 532-3670, ext. 467. California, Walnut Creek June 20-August 15 “Salt-Fired Ceramics” with Sandra John­ stone; “Raku Ceramics and Hand Construction” with Eugene Esquierdo; “Potter’s Wheel for Teens” with Karen McKeen; “Ceramics” with Gary Holt and Eugene Esquierdo; and “Beginning Sculp­ ture” with Andree Thompson. For further infor­ mation contact: Walnut Creek Civic Arts Educa­ tion, 1666 North Main Street, Walnut Creek 94596; or call: (415) 943-5846. Colorado, Boulder May 16-20 A wheel- throwing session with Karen Karnes. Contact: Boulder Potters’ Guild, 4525 North Broadway, Boulder 80302; or call: (303) 447-0310. Colorado, Denver June 20-July 8 “College- in-the-Summer” will cover throwing, handbuild- ing, kiln stacking and firing, reduction stoneware and porcelain, clay and glaze formulation. Instruc­ tors: James and Nan McKinnell. Live-in accom­ modations available. Contact: Adult Education and Public Service, Loretto Heights College, 3001 South Federal Boulevard, Denver 80236; or call: (303) 936-8441. Connecticut, Guilford May 1, 8, 15, 22, June 5 “Terra Cotta” with Anita Griffith. For further information contact: Fernn Hubbard, Guilford Handcrafts, Box 221, Route 77, Guilford 06437; or call: (203) 453-5947. Connecticut, New Haven May 31-June 3 A functional pottery session with Maishe Dickman. Fee: $60 plus some materials. Contact: The Cre­ ative Arts Workshop, 80 Audubon Street, New Haven 06511; or call: (203) 562-4927. Georgia, Gainesville July 17-30 Lanier Stoneware Pottery is offering a 1- or 2-week ses­ sion with Robert F. Westervelt on throwing, slab building, glaze technology, and gas, electric and raku firing. Fee: $100 per week. Live-in accom­ modations available. Contact: Lanier Stoneware Pottery, 5450 Pine Forest Road, Gainesville 30501; or call: (404) 532-7769. Indiana, New Harmony June 13-July 15 A session on handbuilding, throwing, raku and salt firing with Les Miley; at the Sarah Campbell Blaf- fer Ceramic Studio. Live-in accommodations avail­ able. Contact: Les Miley, University of Evansville, Box 329, Evansville, Indiana 47702; or call: (812) 479-2043. Indiana, West Lafayette May 7-8 “Fuel Ef­ ficient Kilnbuilding Workshop” with Marvin Bar­ tel. Fee: $20 for one day; $35 for two. Contact: Nan Schwetman, Greater Lafayette Museum of Art, 101 South Ninth Street, Lafayette 47901; or call: (317) 742-1128. Maryland, Baltimore May 14-15 A slide lec­ ture and demonstration on throwing and decorat­ ing with Cynthia Bringle. Fee: $40. Contact: Balv timore Clayworks, 5706 Smith Avenue, Baltimore 21209; or call: (301) 578-1919. Massachusetts, Cambridge June 17-19 A session with Byron Temple on production throw­ ing and exploration of container forms. Contact: Continued May 1983 63 Itinerary Mudflat Pottery, 25 First Street, Cambridge 02141; or call: (617) 876-3877. New Hampshire, Wilton July 23-August 10 “Wood Fired,” designing and firing a wood- burning 4-chamber, climbing kiln with John Bay- more. Limited to six participants. Contact: River Bend Pottery, Wood Firing Workshop, R.F.D. 2, Intervale Road, Wilton 03086; or call: (603) 654- 9404. New York, BrooklynMay 31-July 9 “Clay Construction Plus Raku” with Frank Olt. Live- in accommodations available. Contact: Nancy La­ pointe, Pratt Institute, 200 Willoughby Avenue, Brooklyn 11205; or call: (212) 636-3528. New York', New York May 14 “Glaze Tech­ niques for Firing in an Electric Kiln,” with Arthur Gerace, will cover glaze on glaze, wax resist, mish- ima and Oriental brush techniques. Fee: $40. Con­ tact: Craft Students League, YWCA, 610 Lex­ ington Avenue, New York 10022; or call: (212) 755-4500, extension 59. July 5-August 26 Fireworks is offering sessions on throwing and handbuilding with Joy Johnson, Nancy Lowell and Carol Cutler. Contact: Fire­ works Shop, 151 West 25 Street, New York 10001; or call: (212) 924-5479. New York, Schenectady June 4-5 “Electric Kiln Ceramics” with Richard Zakin, will cover glaze preparation, application and other processes for oxidation firing. Fee: $40. Contact: Albany Ce­ ramic Institute, 1178 Glenwood Boulevard, Sche­ nectady 12308; or call: (518) 393-5963. New York, White Plains May 7 “Wood-burn- ing Kiln Workshop” with Roger Bauman. Contact: Westchester Art Workshop, County Center Build­ ing, Tarrytown Road and Central Avenue, White Plains 10606; or call: (914) 682-2481. North Carolina, Brasstown May 1-June 5 Three pottery workshops with Marcia Bugg. July 17-30 “Summer Craft II” includes throwing and glazing with Bill Gordy. Contact: The John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown 28902; or call: (704) 837-2775. Pennsylvania, MerionMay 3 “The Influence of Chelsea Porcelain on Other English Porcelain Factories,” a lecture by John Austin. May 17 “China Trade Porcelain: Services and Ser­ viceability,” a lecture by Clare Le Corbeiller. Fee: $2 per lecture. Contact: Elizabeth Jarvis, Buten Museum, 246 North Bowman Avenue, Merion 19066; or call: (215) 664-6601. Rhode Island, Newport July 5-August 12 “Raku and Smoke Fire,” handbuilding and throwing with emphasis on sawdust, saggar and pit firing, with Jay Lacouture. Contact: Salve Re­ gina—The Newport College, Newport 02840; or call: (401) 847-6650, extension 379. Tennessee, Smithville May 14-15 “Form, Function and Surface Design of Clay” with Tim Weber. Fee: $20 per day. Contact: Appalachian Center for Crafts, Box 347 A-l, Route 3, Smith­ ville 37166; or call: (615) 597-6801. Washington, Entitat July 10-15 Second an­ nual “Raku Pottery Workshop” with Zeljko Ku- jundzic. Fee: $75 includes materials. Bring tools. Contact: Elizabeth Campbell, Box 462, Entitat 98822; or call: (509) 784-1823. Wisconsin, Drummond June 12-18 “Art Week” at Pigeon Lake Field Station will include ceramic sculpture, primitive daywork and firing. Contact: Paul Klemm, 204 North Hall, University of Wisconsin, River Falls, Wisconsin 54022; or call: (715) 425-3256. International Events Belgium, Brussels through May 21 “Trace Textile” includes Nicole Giroud, ceramic sculp­ ture. May 25-June 25 Antoine de Vinck, sculp­ ture; at La Main, Art Contemporain Ceramique Textile, 215 Rue de la Victoire. Canada, Manitoba, Snow Lake July 2-August 28 A series of weekend workshops on using local 64 CERAMICS MONTHLY materials, throwing, primitive firing and raku with Emily Crosby. Live-in accommodations available. Contact: Emily Crosby, Box 484, Snow Lake, Manitoba ROB 1MO. Canada, Ontario, Dundas May 7-8 Potters’ Guild of Hamilton and Region spring sale; at Dundas Town Hall. Canada, Ontario, Oakvillethrough May 8 A dual exhibition with Keith Campbell, airbrushed porcelain; at the Old Bronte Post Office Gallery. Canada, Ontario, Ottawa May 7-19 Ottawa Guild of Potters juried exhibition.May 21-June 8 Harlan House, porcelain; at Hiberna Gallery, 463 Sussex Drive. England, Bath through June 12 Svend Bayer, Richard Batterham, Ian Gregory, Jane Hamlyn, Walter Keeler, Peter Starkey and Sarah Walton, salt-glazed works; at Crafts Study Centre, Hol- burne Museum, University of Bath, Great Pul- teney Street. England, London through May 22 David Garland, functional earthenware; at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, Nash House, The Mall. May 7-June 2 Jacqueline Poncelet; at the Crafts Council Shop at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road. May 17-June 18 Henry Pim, functional, poly­ chrome glazed pots; at British Crafts Centre, 43 Earlham Street, Covent Garden. England, Oxford May 3-June 1 Henry Hammond, stoneware, Wendy Ramshaw, jewelry; at Oxford Gallery, 23 High Street. France, Anthy June 1-September 24 Several sessions with Liekie Schooneman on handbuilding, glazing and firing ceramic murals; at the border of Lake Geneva. Fee: $350 includes tuition, ma­ terials, live-in accommodations, trips and trans­ portation from and to the Geneva airport. Contact: Liekie Schooneman, 33 Les Savoyances, 74200 Anthy. France, Bilhac, Polignac May 9-December 17 Maison de l’Artisanat de Bilhac-Polignac (Haute- Loire) is offering several 12-day sessions on clay preparation, handbuilding and throwing, decorat­ ing, glazing and firing. Live-in accommodations available. Contact: Association des Artisans d’Art, La Maison de l’Artisanat, Bilhac/Polignac, 43000 Le Puy; or call: (71) 09-50-94. France, Champigny through May 17 “La Ceramique sur les toits” (Ceramics on the roof); at O.P.D.A.M., 14 Rue Louis Talamoni. France, Mirmande through May 23 Jacques Ibarra, cat sculpture; at Atelier de Mirmande, 26270 Loriol. France, Montpellier through May 21 Christian Rouzier, garden ceramics; at Galerie de la Place des Arts, 8 Rue de l’Argenterie. France, Paris through May 7 Edmee Delsol- Leclercq, raku; at Galerie Ikebana, 26 Rue d’Ar- maille. through May 12 Salon “Artisans du Monde” (Artisans of the World); at the Foire de Paris, Porte de Versailles. France, Perpignan through May 15 Ceramic Competition exhibition; at Fondation Firmin Bau- by, Saint-Vicens, Saint Gauderique. Holland, Heusden May 2-November 15 The Keramisch Werkcentrum Heusden is offering: study week with Jan Snoek and Henk Trumpie, Hol­ land (May 2-6); symposium with Achiel Pauwels, Belgium (June 29-July 6); lecture with Ruth Duckworth, U.S.A. (July 30); symposium with Diet Weigman, Holland (August 17-24); lecture with Piet Stockmans, Belgium (September 24); seminar with Pompeo Pianezzola, Italy (October 15-November 15). Overnight accommodations available. Contact: Keramisch Werkcentrum Heusden, Tilly Neutelings, Box 15, 5256 Heus­ den; or call: 04162-1694. Norway, Oslo May 14-June 14 An exhibition of work by the Kecskemet group, representing ce­ ramists from eight countries; at Kunstnerforbundet Gallery. Wales, Clwyd May 23-June 25 A group ex­ hibition with Phil Rogers, pottery; at the Oriel Theatr Clwyd. May 1983 65 66 Ceramics Monthly News & Retrospect Alexandra McCurdy Victoria, Australia); Patrick Shia Crabb Quilt, weaving, stitchery and embroidery (Tustin, California); Richard Parker (Kaeo, designs—some traditional, others contem­ Northland, New Zealand); Cecilia Parkin­ porary—served as thematic inspiration for son, Ray Rogers and Nick Strather (Auck­ slip decoration on functional white stoneware land, New Zealand); Rick Rudd (Wanga- which Canadian potter Alexandra McCurdy paraoa, New Zealand); and Neil Tetkowski exhibited recently at Manuge Galleries in (Granville, Ohio). Halifax, Nova Scotia. Pattern within pattern was achieved through carving, and stenciled, Workshop in Holland sponged, sgraffitoed, trailed or inlaid oxide- Mobach Pottenbakkers in the medieval city colored slips. Ranging to approximately 5 of Utrecht, Holland, was the 1982 site of an annual workshop/seminar sponsored by the Old Church Cultural Center School of Art in Closter, New Jersey. Since 1976, a sum­ mer program has been offered in various countries to give in-depth experience pecul­ iar to the particular setting. (See “Summer Workshops” in the April CM for information on this year’s session in Korea.) A family pottery in existence for almost 100 years, Mobach Pottenbakkers is a large, rambling structure with many levels. It em­ ploys approximately 22 workers, including Caspar Mobach helping unth construction five family members. Each of the potters, most of whom were trained at Mobach, is re­ Carved and slip-trailed covered jars sponsible for certain shapes; the ware carries inches in diameter, these five covered jars il­ both the potter’s and Mobach’s marks. lustrate carved and slip-trailed designs, clear Specializing in functional vessels designed glazed and fired to Cone 5. for plants and flowers, the pottery is also known for large-scale forms made by a com­ International Awards bination of throwing and coiling, such as this Chester Nealie (South Kaipara Heads, “monument to a flower.” Shown in three stages Northland, New Zealand) recently received the NZ$3000 top prize for his wood-fired jar entered in the 1982 Fletcher Brownbuilt Award. From a field of 275 works submitted for the sixth annual competition, juror Gwyn Pigott (Brisbane, Australia) selected 99 for exhibition at the Auckland War Memorial

Installation completed of installation over steel piping, the construc­ tion was designed for the Floriade, a 1982 summer garden park. The workshop group was lodged in a seedy, but charming town house on one of Utrecht’s canals. Each morning we took a bus to the Jan Mobach installing the first section pottery, working with the Mobach potters until 6 P.M. Coffee at 10 A.M. and lunches were leisurely picnics with the potters in the Richard Batterham s stoneware jar You are invited to send news and photo­ garden outside. Museum. The covered jar above, 8¾ inches graphs about people, places or events of Holland, like the rest of Europe, is suf­ in height, thrown and squared stoneware, interest. We will be pleased to consider fering an economic depression. As we got to with ash and iron glazes, by Richard Bat­ them for publication in this column. Mail know the potters, they voiced some of their terham (Blandford, Dorset, England) was a submissions to: News and Retrospect, concerns about rising unemployment and the merit award winner. Other merit awards were Ceramics Monthly, Box 12448, Colum­ fact that should they lose their jobs, there presented to: Stephen Benwell (Hawthorn, bus, Ohio 43212. Continued May 1983 67 Where to Show Continued from Page 13 self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Sharon Man­ ley, Fall Festival, Box 125, Sugar Loaf 10981; or call: (914) 469-2821. July 1 entry deadline Boone, North Carolina “High Country Art and Craft Show” (July 15-17) is juried from slides or photos. Fee: $60. Send self-addressed, stamped business envelope to: Virginia Smith, High Coun­ try Crafters, 29 Haywood Street, Asheville, North Carolina 28801; or call: (704) 254-0070. July 1 entry deadline Mount Snow, Vermont “The Eighth Annual Mount Snow Craft Fair” (September 30-0ctober 2 and October 8-10) is juried from 5 slides. Entry fee: $5. Booth fees: $125 for the first weekend, $150 for the second. For further information con­ tact: Charley Dooley, Craftproducers Markets, R.D. 1, Box 323, Grand Isle, Vermont 05458; or call: (802) 372-4747. July 15 entry deadline Highlands, North Carolina “High Country Art and Craft Show” (August 5-7) is juried from slides or photos. Fee: $55. Send self-addressed, stamped business envelope to: Virginia Smith, High Coun­ try Crafters, 29 Haywood Street, Asheville, North Carolina 28801; or call: (704) 254-0070. July 30 entry deadline Lowell, Michigan “15th Annual Fallasburg Fall Festival” (September 24-25) is juried from slides. Fee: $25. Contact: Chris Van Antwerp, Box 53, Lowell 49331; or call: (616) 897-5242, or 897- 8545. August 1 entry deadline Madison, Indiana “Chautauqua of the Arts” (September 24-25) is juried from 3 slides of work and 1 of display. Awards. Fee: $35. For further information send self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Dixie McDonough, Green Hills Pottery, 1119 West Main Street, Madison 47250; or call: (812) 265-5080. August 1 entry deadline Las Vegas, Nevada “KNPR Craftworks Mar­ ket” (October 28-30) is juried from 10 slides. En­ try fee: $10. Booth fee: $100. No commission. For further information contact: KNPR Craftworks, 5151 Boulder Highway, Las Vegas 89122; or call: (702) 456-6695. August 1 entry deadline Asheville, North Carolina “High Country Sum- merfest Art and Craft Show” (August 18-20) is juried from slides or photos. Fee: $85. Send self- addressed, stamped business envelope to: Betty Kdan, 40 Hyannis Drive, Asheville 28804; or call: (704) 253-6893. August 15 entry deadline Cashiers, North Carolina “High Country Art and Craft Show” (September 2-4) is juried from slides or photos. Fee: $55. Send self-addressed, stamped business envelope to: Virginia Smith, High Coun­ try Crafters, 29 Haywood Street, Asheville, North Carolina 28801; or calk (704) 254-0070. August 27 entry deadline Aitkin, Minnesota “Oktoberfest” (October 1) is juried from 3 photos. Fee: $15. For further infor­ mation icontact: Carol Ann DesJardins, 1911 Vi­ king Boulevard, Northeast, Cedar, Minnesota 55011; or call: (612) 434-9237. September 1 entry deadline Herkimer, New York “Eighth Annual Herkimer County Arts and Crafts Fair” (November 12-13) is juried from 5 slides. Awards and purchase priz­ es. Entry fee: $5. Booth fee: $50. No commission. Contact: Grace McLaughlin, Herkimer County Community College, Reservoir Road, Herkimer 13350. September 15 entry deadline Hillsborough, New Jersey “New Jersey Craft Experience” (November 11-13) is juried from 5 slides. Booth fees: $ 165—$230 depending on size. Contact: Howard Rose, Rose Squared Produc­ tions, 8-5 Cardinal Lane, Hillsborough 08876; or call: (201) 874-5247. Oo CERAMICS IVION 1 HLY News & Retrospect would be no place in Holland to look for such work. They wondered aloud whether Amer­ ica would have more possibilities for work as potters. We came away with many pots and a feel­ ing of having been privileged to be part of a working environment that had managed to maintain human dignity in the face of strong production demands. Text: Mikhail Zakin; photos: Mobach Pottenbakkers. Michigan Invitational “Clayworks,” an invitational show of func­ tional ceramics by 21 artists, was presented recently at the Ann Arbor (Michigan) Art Association. Designed to include varieties in style, structure, surface and color, the show featured porcelain, stoneware, earthenware and raku vessel-oriented works. Among the invitees was John Glick, who at his Plum Tree Pottery in Farmington, Michigan, pro­ duces one-of-a-kind forms and limited

John Glick’s 9-inch, stoneware box series of utilitarian objects, decorated with overlapping oxides, slips and glazes, as on the stoneware box above, 9 inches square, from the exhibition. Sherry Karver New work by Sherry Karver was pre­ sented recently in a solo faculty exhibition at California State University, Chico. Among the wall reliefs shown was “The Ways of

“The Ways of Nature” Nature,” 22 inches in height, cut from thrown disks, altered by horizontally inserting and removing metal rods, fired with underglazes and lusters on the raised areas, pit fired in sawdust. Also from the exhibition, “Surro- Continued May 1983 69 News & Retrospect gate,” 58 inches in height, was constructed from 15-inch coils (extruded three at a time

Sherry Karver’s “Surrogate” with a Play-Doh Fun Factory) on ¾-inch plywood; ash deposits on the white clay re­ sulted from firing the figures still on their wooden supports in a 30-cubic-foot gas kiln to Cone 1. Within the Highland Rim Five ceramists recently participated in “From within the Highland Rim,” a crafts exhibition featuring 100 objects by artisans from the middle Tennessee region, at the Ap­ palachian Center for Crafts near Smithville, Tennessee. Shown were large-scale raku ware by Louis and Christine Colombarini (Dow- elltown); sawdust-fired handbuilt forms by Ruby Geer (Quebeck); porcelain with inlaid

Zeke Redick's stoneware coffee brewer colored clays by Maryann Fariello (Alex­ andria) and utilitarian stoneware byZeke 70 CERAMICS MONTHLY Redick (Whitleyville). Zeke’s three-piece drip coffee brewer, shown, 15 inches in height, was fired to Cone 11 in a Minnesota flat-top kiln; wood was introduced into the burner port during the final phase of the propane fire for heavy reduction.Photo: Meryl Truett. Carlene Schumacher A stoneware form by Carlene Schumacher (Greeley, Colorado) was recently presented in the fourth annual “North American Sculpture Exhibition” at the Foothills Art Center in Golden, Colorado. Carlene’s

“Wizards of Three Realms” “Wizards of Three Realms,” 24½ inches in height, was among 66 objects in various me­ dia selected from 550 entries from across the nation and Canada. Chris Thompson Canadian ceramist Chris Thompson re­ cently presented a one-man show of raku work at the Ontario Potters Association Gallery in Toronto. Interested in decoration alluding to motion in form, Chris tries “to create tension between the calligraphic and geometric lines, and the background, which is glazed as thin­ ly as possible.” For color contrast, he utilizes an array of stains, slips, underglazes, sulfates

“Black and Gold Vase” “Yellow-Gold Jar” and oxides, as well as a reliable white glaze. Shown from the exhibition are “Black and Gold Vase,” left, 16 inches in height, with Continued May 1983 71 News & Retrospect silver nitrate glaze over wax-resist pattern; and “Yellow-Gold Jar,” 14 inches in height, with stains, sulfates and sprayed glazes. Pho­ tos: Peter Sramek. Art Nelson New work from the “Horizon” series by Art Nelson (associate art professor at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oak­ land) was featured recently in a one-man show at Anna Gardner Gallery in Stinson

Double-layered grid construction Beach, California. Among the objects pre­ sented were clay and metal constructions, such as the wall form, above, 20 inches square, Egyptian paste on steel grids, mounted in a double layer. Also shown from the exhibition

20-inch double-zualled vessel is this double-walled vessel, 20 inches in height, thrown low-fire clay, with bright yellow glaze. Photos: M. Lee Fatherree. Coille Hooven Handbuilt and thrown mythical land­ scapes, fantasy creatures confined in cages, 72 CERAMICS MONTHLY objects on pillows, wall shirts, and both semi- functional and functional vessels by Berkeley ceramist Coille Hooven were recently fea­ tured at Elizabeth Fortner Gallery in Santa Barbara, California. From the exhibition,

Semifunctional teapot this porcelain teapot, approximately 9 inches in height, was thrown and altered, with co­ balt around the rim, and clear glazed. Photo: Charles Frizzell. In Knoxville Whiteware emphasizing a circus theme by Sandy Blain, sawdust-fired sculpture with Christian symbols in relief byJim Darrow, and architectural constructions byTed Saupe were featured in a recent faculty exhibition at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Ted’s “Call Shots,” below, 31 inches in height, white stoneware with white slip, salt fired at Cone 6, is from a series of angular shapes frequently incorporating references to drafting tools such as triangles, protractors

Ted Saupe’s “Call Shots” and straight edges. “I like the mysterious, elusive interiors of these wall forms,” the art­ ist commented, “and the opposition of a static Continued May 1983 73 74 CERAMICS MONTHLY News & Retrospect surface playing off elements implying pro­ jection, revolution and collision.” For intense color and asymmetrical pat­ terning, Sandy utilized stamping, stenciling and airbrush techniques to apply polychrome underglazes and lusters on thrown-and-as- sembled forms such as “Aerial Movement,” 26 inches in height. Noting that the emo-

Sandy Blain’s “Aerial Movement” tionalism of the pageantry exemplifies par­ allelisms in daily life, Sandy explained: “The circus theme became a personal statement emphasizing the need for lightheartedness, excitement and spontaneity.” Alan and Ruth Barrett-Danes To Alan and Ruth Barrett-Danes (Aber­ gavenny, Gwent, England) the dividing line between ceramics and sculpture is no more than an arbitrary distinction. With his long family tradition in pottery, Alan has never regarded himself as a sculptor. He has the technical knowledge and makes the habitats, while Ruth invents and models the figures in their collaborative work. She was trained as a graphic artist, and so to her the image is more important than technique. She poses the problems; it is up to Alan to solve them. Their porcelain forms, shown recently at Westminster Gallery in Boston and at Ox­ ford Gallery in Oxford, England, through March 23, transpose things seen into formal statements with no utilitarian value. There is often a suggestion of unease, of subtle hor­ ror, a shudder that comes from finding ma­ cabre, dreamlike images fixed in materials usually associated with good taste and ele­ gant living. Inspiration sometimes comes through the work of their favorite artists —Hieronymus Continued May 1983 75 76 CERAMICS MONTHLY News & Retrospect Bosch, Pieter Brueghel, William Blake , and English painter Richard Dadd —as well as natural sources. During the early 1970s, in the hills of Wales, Alan became fascinated by the subworld of slugs and fungi he found there. He tried to reproduce these features in clay and glazes. At first this was no more than a technical exercise; the feeling was somewhat whimsical: clusters of velvety toad­ stools from which emerged cute snails or on which perched handsome toads—not the slimy, loathsome toads of Gothic novels, but a gleaming, iridescent variety. There was also a compact structure about these works that eventually turned the images into cabbages, in which lurked horrid little humanoids, na­ ked and sexless, but decidedly menacing. And so the symbolism became more dis­ turbing. A cabbage is not only edible and nutritious—and as such we expect it to be uncontaminated—it is also (to the English) a common symbol for the placid, unenquiring mind. There was nothing whimsical now; these were becoming complex allegories, re­ vealing further insights into human nature. From the notion of a cabbage as a symbol for a head, it was a short step to the idea of the cabbage as a head. And so appeared the anthropomorphic vegetable—a cabbage with facial characteristics, anguished features set on a stalk of a neck, and with grotesque man­ ikins caught in the folds of the vegetable flesh. The cabbage series gave way to a series of “Armchair Struggles”—human figures trapped in decaying armchairs and cushions. In the cabbages the figures are escaping; in the chairs they are suffocating, drowning in waves of coarse fabric which, as in a night­ mare, turns into flesh. The armchair series was followed by a group of “Predator Pots.” In forms such as

“Predator Pot ” this, approximately 5½ inches in height, por­ celain with inlaid stained clay, burnished, the Continued May 1983 77 78 CERAMICS MONTHLY News & Retrospect human element has become reptilian, and sinister creatures now crawl outside their en­ vironment—a basic spherical shape—domi­ nating and finally crushing it. Horror is intensified by the virtual elim­ ination of color and surface decoration. The lusters of the cabbages, seductive but dis­ tracting, have been muted in favor of the bur­ nished natural clay. Only on the eyes is there a film of transparent glaze—giving the crea­ tures a blind, literally glazed look.Text: Eric Rowan; photo: courtesy of Oxford Gallery. Richard Deutsch Pit-fired stoneware monoliths and porce­ lain vessels by Richard Deutsch, Santa Cruz, California, were featured in a recent exhi­ bition at Foster/White Gallery in Seattle. “Bean Hollow,” 20 inches in diameter, and

“Bean Hollow” “Kantharos,” below, 16½ inches in diameter, were thrown and burnished. Patterns on the white porcelain ground were achieved by pit

■111 “Kantharos” firing with various combustibles, including seaweed and charcoal. Photos: Photographic Visions. Roberta Griffith Clay works and mixed-media drawings by Roberta Griffith (Hartwick College, Oneon- ta, New York) were recently featured in an individual exhibition at the Munson-Wil- liams-Proctor Institute in Utica. On page 81, the porcelain forms shown, 24½ inches (left) and 27 inches in height, Continued May 1983 79 80 CERAMICS MONTHLY News & Retrospect from the artist’s “potterly” series, are thrown bottles, wrapped with clay rolled thin and impressed with lace and corrugated card-

Tall, textured clay-wrapped bottles board respectively, fired at Cone 9 in oxi­ dation. For handbuilding strength and ma­ neuverability, Roberta added 1.25% duPont ¾-inch nylon fiber to the following: Porcelain Body (Cone 8-10) Custer Feldspar ...... 25% Bentonite...... 3 Edgar Plastic Kaolin ...... 45 Flint...... 25 Macaloid...... 2 100% After glaze firing, slab-built additions were lightly sandblasted to heighten the illusion of cloth. Stoneware wall forms from the “Isadora Duncan” series each consist of a circular base, symbolizing the wheel and the twirling mo­ tion of the dancer, and two strips of clay “cloth,” representing both a guillotine and the scarf which strangled the dancer; “a macabre idea,” Roberta admits. For the stoneware clothlike additions, rolled about 2 centimeters thick between two sheets of plastic, about 1.5% nylon fiber was mixed into the dry clay batch. Often, the textured side of the clay-cloth was brushed with an oxide-colored ball clay slip; actual cloth was utilized as a stencil, then removed as soon as the slip lost its sheen.

Roberta Griffith's Isadora Duncan XII” Cobalt oxide was also applied over the glaze on “Isadora Duncan XII,” above, 17 inches Continued May 1983 81 82 CERAMICS MONTHLY News & Retrospect in length, fired to Cone 10 in reduction. Text: Phylis Blando; photos: Joshua Schreier; John Willis. Chris Richard Raku and low-temperature salt-glaze ves­ sels by Chris Richard , an M.F.A. candidate at Edinboro State College in Pennsylvania, were exhibited recently at Jackie Chalkley Gallery in Washington, D.C. The three-piece covered jars, basket forms and large vertical pots were thrown in sections, altered and

The artist with thrown vessel base stretched. Coated with slips and surrounded with combustible materials such as cedar shavings, hay and sawdust (soaked in solu­ tions of sodium chloride, potassium dichro- mate or ferric sulfate), the vessels were then

341/2-inch lidded jar salt fired at low temperatures. The process was recorded in the surface colors and tex­ tures, as on the lidded jar, above, 34½ inches in height. Many of these forms were fired Continued May 1983 83 84 CERAMICS MONTHLY News & Retrospect up to six times in alternating reduction and oxidation atmospheres. New Directions in New Jersey Ceramic works by Kathleen Keenan (Souderton, Pennsylvania), Mark Kuzio (Camden, Maine), Mark Lange (Tucson), Christie Norman (Seattle) and Jeffrey Zigulis (Prunedale, California) were among the ob­ jects featured in a recent exhibition “unveil­ ing new directions” at America House Gal­ lery of Contemporary Crafts in Tenafly, New

Jeffrey Zigulis's saggar-fired vessel Jersey. For color and texture, many of the exhibited forms were raku, pit or saggar fired. Jeffrey Zigulis’s work is often randomly pat­ terned with smoke, as on the saggar-fired vessel (above), approximately 24 inches in height, thrown and altered. Noritake on Tour “You are probably wondering how a nice, all-American university art professor could ever get involved in collecting Noritake por­ celains,” observed Howard Kottler, ceramist at the University of Washington, Seattle. His collection forms “Noritake Art Deco Porce­ lains,” a Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition first presented at Washington State University in Pullman. “During the late 1960s, my own work in ceramics made frequent use of ceramic decals, luster and overglaze, which are the primary surface materials on the Noritake porcelains. So, when I saw these Japanese export pieces, they aroused my professional interest and excited my collec­ tor’s bones. “At first I purchased only a few pieces of Noritake; but in the process of gathering art deco furnishings, I began to see the excellence of these porcelains and their direct relation­ ships to my other art deco objects. Since the Morimura Brothers sold Noritake porcelains to department stores, five-and-dimes and gift shops throughout the United States, it was possible to search anywhere and everywhere. “From Cele Shapiro (who worked in the New York office of Morimura from 1914 to 1941) I learned that during the ’20s and ’30s, there were staffs of designers at both the fac­ tory in Nagoya and in New York, although Continued May 1983 85 86 Ceramics Monthly News & Retrospect all the porcelain was manufactured in Japan. The head of the New York design depart­ ment was Englishman Cyril Leigh, and it was he who originated most of the designs for ware manufactured between 1921 and 1941. [Made during the 1920s, “Suzy Skier,” below, 8½ inches in length, was decorated

1920s “Daisy” plate tume balls. [From that era, this 3 7/4-inch “Daisy” plate was decorated with ceramic decals, china paints and lusters.] The pieces of this period depict what was fashionable in women’s clothes, managing to capture the shimmer of beaded dresses and bags, and the glitter of jewelry through extensive use of lusters in orange, amber, blue, gold, silver 8½-inch “Suzy Skier” and mother-of-pearl. with ceramic decals and handpainted china “The Morimura designers were influ­ paints and lusters.] His designs were inspired enced by their European ceramic contem­ by a variety of sources, but he was never a poraries—Boche, Longwy, Karamos, Wedg­ slave to a given model, and always retained wood and Carlton—but Noritake distilled an exemplary facility to express the conven­ and adapted this influence in its own dis­ tional in unconventional terms. He was also tinctive presentation. Cyril Leigh and his de­ adept at translating and adapting his sources sign staff made dramatic use of color, scale and designs to the ceramic medium, partic­ and tension to heighten their designs into ularly in the use of overglazes and lusters. strong compositions which elicit responses that “On a visit to Japan I learned that can be characterized as exotic, elegant, col­ throughout its history Noritake utilized the orful, weird, erotic and wacko.” Photos: Josh­ latest and most advanced mass-production ua Schreier; Stan Shoe key. techniques. From 1921 to 1941 the forms were basic shapes designed for everyday use Nancy Selvin with function primary and explicit in the ware. White earthenware vessels by Nancy Sel­ Occasionally there were a few pieces with vin, Berkeley, California, were exhibited at art deco shapes, but these were definitely the the Oxford Gallery, England, through Feb­ exceptions. It was through rich design, imag­ ruary 16. Characteristic of the work shown ination, coupled with superb execution, that Noritake surpassed in its products the infe­ rior commodities offered by the 30 or so Jap­ anese firms that produced ceramic export ware during that period. “The strongest work belongs to the years between 1922 and 1929 and is characterized by a wide diversity in form and surface dec­ oration. These are in the art deco style and make abundant use of bright, arbitrary and complimentary overglaze color, lusters, handpainting, strong asymmetric composi­ tions and a wide variety of motifs. By the 1930s, however, the Noritake work had a more subdued color palette with designs that are mostly symmetric or simple all-over pat­ terns. In this work ceramic decals came to replace the handpainted decoration, which is pretty much limited to floral themes with lit­ tle use of luster. “The ware produced during the 1920s is, quite literally, a visual record of that decade’s 1 life style. This is particularly true of the fig­ 4/2-inch teabowl urative pieces which reflect the joyous love is this teabowl, approximately 4½ inches in for living associated with the ‘Roaring height, slab built, with brushed slip on the Twenties’ and its rage for parties and cos- outside and runny transparent glaze on the inside, fired inverted. May 1983 87 Continued from Page 23 earth. Texas A and M researchers say they can economically make hydrogen from water in about 15 more years. Per­ haps now is the time for potters to con­ sider its implementation as the fuel of choice, as their most reasonable fuel source of the future. But who among us is really working toward a substantial potter’s solution to energy self-sufficiency? Certainly there are a few who have experimented with direct solar kilns (Paul Soldner, Zeljko Kujundzic)—a technology which either requires a substantial physical change in clay body characteristics to allow work to be fired pinpoint by pinpoint, or which will demand a significantly more so­ phisticated application than the simple light collectors (Fresnel lenses and mir­ rors) of today. Others flirt with waste materials, many of which are already sufficiently profitable to be recycled through much more efficient reprocess­ ing systems designed to serve the general public. But waste materials are often the worst polluters of all the fuel choices. In the end, potters must enter the 21st century energy prepared. Perhaps one of you will have the answer for the rest of us. Will it be you?

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