May 1999 1 2 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999

Volume 47

Number 5

Two jugs, to approxi­ mately 12 inches in height, stoneware with brushed slip and glaze decoration, fired in FEATURES reduction, $180 each, 28 Maribel Portela by Kate Bonansinga by Jill Fanshawe Kato, London, England. Mexican Sculpture at the Intersection of Folk Art and the Avant-Garde 66 31 Taking a Closer Look by David Frank A microscopic view of clay “Bringing Down the Moon,” 13 inches in height, stoneware 35 Australian Aboriginal Ceramics by Joseph Pascoe with white engobes, fired to A new medium for traditional designs Cone 04, then smoke fired, 39 Writing an Artist’s Statement by Ariane Goodwin by Beth Cavener Stichter, Tips for a “marketing should” Columbus, Ohio. 41 19th-Century Texas Vernacular Ceramics 48 by Bill Komodore The legacy of traditional stoneware potters 45 Porcelain Containers for Ikebana Flower Arranging by Angela Fina Fresh ideas for a disciplined art form 48 New Beginnings by Beth Cavener Stichter A mother and daughter take on the art world 54 Studio Ceramists in Finland by Elaine Levin “Triple Chambered Ocarina,” 7 inches in Erna Aaltonen and Howard Smith join a growing arts community height, saggar fired and 58 The Making of an Artist by Joel Betancourt waxed, by Janie Rezner, An interview with Rick Berman Mendocino, California. 61 Visiting Banff Centre for the Arts 64 by Mel Malinowski Stretching artistically in the Canadian Rockies 64 A Soulful Sound by Janie Rezner The cover:“Ikebana Vase,’ Making music with ocarinas 14 inches in height, wheel- thrown porcelain, multiple 66 Jill Fanshawe Kato by Ian Wilson glazed by dipping and Colorful slab-built functional ware “El Dios Quier Cafe (The God spraying, fired to Cone 11 Wants Coffee),” 11 inches high, in heavy reduction, by 70 More Electric Kiln Copper Reds by Maribel Portela, Mexico. Angela Fina; see page 45. by Robert S. Pearson and Beatrice I. Pearson Photo: John Polak. Local reduction in Cone 6 glazes 28

May 1999 3 UP FRONT 12 People’s Choice Winner selected by ballot at the “Ceramics Monthly International Competition” EditorRuth C. Butler 12 Jun Kaneko’s Big Color by Kate Bonansinga Associate EditorKim Nagorski Examination of the artist’s painterly imagery Assistant EditorConnie Belcher 14 The Crafts National in Pennsylvania Assistant EditorH. Anderson Turner III Juried competition at the Wayne Arts Center Editorial AssistantRenee Fairchild Design 14 Dinnerware Gala in Kentucky Paula John Production SpecialistRobin Chukes Exhibition of tableware in the Grand Hall at the Louisville Art Association Water Tower Advertising ManagerSteve Hecker 14 Ceramics of Ancient Peru Customer Service Mary R. Hopkins Over 200 artifacts on view in Leeuwarden, Netherlands Circulation AdministratorMary E. May 14 Nicholas Kripal PublisherMark Mecklenborg Sculpture at Snyderman Gallery in Philadelphia Editorial, Advertising and Circulation Offices 735 Ceramic Place 16 Alice Manzi Post Office Box 6102 Liturgical commission at St. Joseph’s Church in Millstone, New Jersey Westerville, Ohio 43086-6102 16 Carol Martin Telephone: (614) 523-1660 Fax: (614) 891-8960 Handbuilt and wheel-thrown vessels at Denise Bibro Gallery in New York City E-mail: [email protected] 16 Sara Radstone [email protected] [email protected] Wall and floor works at Barrett Marsden Gallery in London [email protected] 18 University of Tennessee Faculty Exhibition Website: www.ceramicsmonthly.org Multimedia show at Ewing Gallery of Art and Architecture in Knoxville Ceramics Monthly (ISSN 0009-0328) is published monthly, except July and August, by The American Ceramic Society, 735 18 New Mexico Ceramics Ceramic Place, Westerville, Ohio 43081. Periodicals postage Invitational exhibition at Weyrich Gallery in Albuquerque paid at Westerville, Ohio, and additional mailing offices. 18 Jong Sook Kang Opinions expressed are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent those of the editors or The American Sculpture at the Bergen Museum of Art and Science in Paramus, New Jerse y Ceramic Society. 20 Emerging Artists Show Subscription Rates: One year $26, two years $49, three years $70. Add $ 12 per year for subscriptions outside North America. Juried exhibition of clayworks at the Vermont Clay Studio in Waterbury Center In Canada, add GST (registration number R123994618). 22 Steve Dixon Change of Address: Please give us four weeks advance notice. Send the magazine address label as well as your new address to: Earthenware vessels at Nancy Margolis Gallery in New York City Ceramics Monthly, Circulation Department, PO Box 6102, 22 Native American Crafts Exhibition Westerville, OH 43086-6102. Contributors: Writing and photographic guidelines are avail­ Multimedia show at the Kentucky Art and Craft Gallery in Louisville able on request. Send manuscripts and visual support (photo­ 22 Olin (Russ) Russum, 1919-1998 graphs, slides, transparencies, drawings, etc.) to Ceramics Monthly, 735 Ceramic PL, PO Box 6102, Westerville, OH 43086-6102. 22 Isabel Parks, 1910-1999 We also accept unillustrated texts faxed to (614) 891-8960, or e-mailed to [email protected] Indexing: An index of each year’s feature articles appears in the December issue. Visit the Ceramics Monthly website at DEPARTMENTS www.ceramicsmonthly.org to search an index of all feature articles since 1953. Feature articles are also indexed in the Art 8 Letters Index and daai (design and applied arts index), available 26 New Books through public and university libraries. 72 Call For Entries Copies: For a small fee, searchable databases and document 72 International Exhibitions delivery are available through The American Ceramic Society’s Ceramic Information Center, PO Box 6136, Westerville, OH 72 United States Exhibitions 43086; e-mail [email protected] or telephone (614) 794-5810. Also 74 Regional Exhibitions through Information Access Company, 362 Lakeside Dr., 76 Fairs, Festivals and Sales Foster City, CA 94404; or University Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb 78 Suggestions Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106. 82 Calendar Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted 82 Conferences by The American Ceramic Society, provided the base fee of 82 Solo Exhibitions $5.00 per copy, plus $0.50 per page, is paid directly to the 84 Group Ceramics Exhibitions Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 88 Ceramics in Multimedia Exhibitions 01923. Prior to copying items for classroom use, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, 92 Fairs, Festivals and Sales MA 01923; (978) 750-8400. The code for users of the Trans­ 92 Workshops actional Reporting Service is 0009-0328/97 US$5.00 + $0.50. 97 International Events Back Issues: When available, back issues are $7 each, includes 100 Questions shipping and handling; $10 each outside North America. 106 Classified Advertising Postmaster: Send address changes to Ceramics Monthly, PO Box 6102, Westerville, OH 43086-6102. Form 3579 requested. 108 Comment: Copyright © 1999 Leach’s Circular Logic by John Britt The American Ceramic Society 112 Index to Advertisers All rights reserved

4 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 5

chemist attempting to solve the world’s woes Letters through pottery. I don’t get turned on by what one person calls creative expression, nor do I get pissed off by what another calls Loved It a teapot. The March issue of Ceramics Monthly was So, where is everyone? Am I the only one exceptional. From articles to images to left who can write a sentence without includ­ NCECA [National Council on Education foring words that would baffle an English ma­ the Ceramic Arts conference] information, it jor? Where are all the wonderful people who was a gem. Thanks. took up pottery just because they love what Dannon Rhudy, Paris, Texas they do? Where are all the potters who just sit down and make something—who don’t Hated It worry if the work doesn’t resemble the work I look forward to each issue of Ceramics of ancient Japan (after all, who did they Monthly to see what has been selected for the mimic?) or if the teapot will actually hold cover. Imagine my surprise when I saw the water? It would be reassuring to know that March issue. What a disappointment! How they aren’t all gone, just maybe hiding. did this piece make it to the cover of the Gail L. Knapp, Horseheads, N.Y. magazine? I was amazed that it won top honors with a $5000 prize. Weren’t there any Room for All other entries for the sculpture category? CM is invaluable to me. I read it avidly Darleen Watson, Atlanta from cover to cover each month, including those scholarly epistles in Letters to the edi­ Terribly Clever tors, which would be much more suited to a In a recent issue, CM published a letter double-volume treatise for a Ph.D. from Constance Sherman lamenting the We have a humbler routine. Our house­ creation of what she called “terribly clever hold is driven by a night-school-orientated, teapots.” I agree with her wholeheartedly. three-times-a-week ex-nurselmidwife whose For years I have been buying teapots— passion is now pottery and painting. Our none “terribly clever”—at craft shows. I keepdaily exchanges run to things like “Don’t them in bookcases in my kitchen, where theythrow that jar away—I need it” and “Look at are readily accessible for tea every day. We this for nice texture.” usually use two at each tea: one for the brew­ Oh well, it’s all great fun and there’s ing leaves and one for the hot water. plenty of room for all of us—even those Thelma Charen, Chevy Chase, Md. awful teapots. Just thought I would present the other side of the coin. For the Love of Clay Sheila Smith, Sarnia, Ont., Canada Just simply a potter, or just a simple potter? Am I the only one? Several years ago, Take Off the Blinders before I made an unconscious decision to I didn’t realize until I read James J. close myself off from the rest of the world, Hanlon’s letter (April 1999) that I had just there were people out there enjoying what been making trash. Fortunately for me, none they did. With each monthly reading of of my customers for pit-fired pots know that Ceramics Monthly, I’m beginning to believe either. Mr. Hanlon must also think that the these people are gone. pots of the Pueblo potters, such as Maria I’m a potter because I love clay—I love Martinez, are also trash (no glaze, no good). working on the wheel, and I really love open­Take off the blinders Mr. Hanlon; even ing the kiln to find that everything has sur­ without glaze on them, there are a few good vived and I actually like it. Am I an artist? I pots out there. am if you see me that way. Am I a crafts- Ed Fullmer, Meadview, Ariz. person? Okay, if that is how you want to see me. I guess it’s all in who you ask. Materials Update When it comes right down to it, it doesn’t I have just finished reading Jeff Zamek’s matter. I’m just someone who enjoys what excellent article “Materials Substitutions for I’m doing. I will never be a philosopher Clay Bodies” (February 1999 CM).I believe disguising myself as a potter, nor will I be a that there are many potters and artists who read this magazine who would love to get In keeping with our commitment to provide more information on raw materials (availabil­ an open forum for the exchange of ideas ity, costs, suppliers, etc.). Although some of and opinions, the editors welcome letters this information is available in other publica­ from all readers. All letters must be signed, tions, nothing beats getting an up-to-date but names will be withheld on request. Mail professional article such as Mr. Zamek’s. to Ceramics Monthly, PO Box 6102, I did want to point out one slightly out­ Westerville, OH 43086-6102, e-mail to dated piece of information in the article, [email protected] or fax to though. In the “Feldspars” section, he says (614) 891-8960. that spodumene from Australia is marketed

8 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 9 Letters Co. (Pittsburgh) and Trinity Ceramic Sup­ red-hot kiln knows there is nothing easy or ply, Inc. (Dallas). comfortable about it. Derek J. McCracken, American Minerals, Inc. Kara hi ne-biki is Japanese for postfire in the United States by F&S Alloys and King of Prussia, Pa. reduction, but for some reason that just does Minerals (also known as F&S International, not roll off the tongue like rah-koo and is too Inc.). This company, which was based in More on Raku long to remember. Kama aku, which means New York City, actually has been out of I agree with Richard Garriott-Stejskal kiln it opens, has a similar sound to raku, so business since December 31, 1998. (Letters, March 1999) that postfire reductionfrom now on, that’s what I’m calling mine. Spodumene is now handled in North and wares should not be called raku unless they Timothy Lienhardt, Fort Myers, Fla. South America by American Minerals, Inc., are produced by descendants of Chojiro or which is still using the same stocking dis­ Donyu, who was the most famous member Good Job tributors to sell this lithium mineral to pot­ of the Raku family. I have been very impressed with the ters: Amherst Potters Supply (Hadley, The word raku, when translated in En­ thorough and well-organized listings of Massachusetts), Laguna Clay (City of Indus­ glish, means ease or comfort. Anyone who national and international exhibition oppor­ try, California), Standard Ceramic Supply has “tonged” a glowing teabowl out from a tunities in CM as of late. I no longer bother to look in other magazines to compile shows that interest me—they are all covered in Ceramics Monthly. Erik Bright, Providence, R.I.

Kudos to Eleanor Murphey I really enjoy the pieces that are not quite so far out. My main interest centers on deco­ rated ceramics. In the feature “So, It Was Boys?” in the February ’99 issue, the artist Eleanor Murphey was wonderful. Sara Caution, Garland, Tex.

Computer-Assisted Designs I wish to comment on the question from J. R. answered by Jonathan Kaplan (Decem­ ber 1998 CM). While there is nothing wrong in employing clip art, people should be aware that it is subject to copyright restrictions, and permission to publish should be sought if it is used for commercial gain. I suspect J. R. intends to do this because of the use of the phrase “generic and adaptable.” Clip art is an ideal resource for those who are not adept with pencil, enabling them to include images in their writing or other graphic works. But perhaps a better way is to learn to draw and refine initial sketches into polished designs. I agree with the suggestion of Jonathan Kaplan. There are superb computer programs available for image manipulation. The pro­ cesses he suggests offer an excellent way to make your own clip art from the most mod­ est scribble. Stuff you can be proud of! Ivor Lewis, Redhill, South Australia

Details, Details Ceramics Monthly is the premier publica­ tion in its field; however, more detailed info on the clay and glazes used on featured pots, sculpted pieces, etc., would be helpful, not just “...dipped and burnished slips, salt fired,” etc., or “Robin’s Egg Glaze.” Al Scott, Vernon, B.C., Canada

Correction Two digits were transposed in the toll-free telephone number in the review of the video Westville Pottery on page 32 of the April 1999 issue. The correct number is (800) 959-0597.

10 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 11 ing himself as an artist in the U.S., he left everything and Up Front returned home for a few years to learn more about traditional Japanese ceramics. The risks that he assumed in his lifestyle translate to his People’s Choice ceramic techniques. Kaneko is well-known for hisdangos A wood-fired platter by Kent, Ohio, potter David Farrall won (Japanese for dumplings), the pod-shaped sculptures, reaching the $2000 Peoples Choice award for the “Ceramics Monthly up to 11 feet in height, that he began making in 1983. He is International Competition.” During the first five days of the one of the few contemporary sculptors to achieve this scale in clay. With the help of assistants in his Omaha, Nebraska, studio, he stacks large coils of clay for six to ten dangos at a time, dries each for four months, then decorates them, usually with brightly colored patterns (polka dots, stripes and circles), after which he fires them in a kiln for ten-days. The show at Lewis and Clark included 17 pieces from Kanekos “Dutch Series,” which he created in 1995 and 1996 at the European Ceramics Work Center in the Netherlands. Over the course of two visits totaling five months, Kaneko experi­ mented with the brilliant colors of low-fire glazes. His interest in pattern was obvious in the exhibited works, some of which hung on the wall, others that were in the round. Kaneko made apparent his high level of comfort with the fact that he has not yet hit upon exactly why he decorates his surfaces with bright, geometric shapes. In graduate school, he was asked why he painted with polka dots. To this day, he does not seem to have an answer. He stated that he’s interested in “closing the gap between the idea and the visual object,” but

David Farrall platter, 30 inches in diameter, stoneware with porcelain insert, natural ash glazed; winner of the $2000 People’s Choice award for the "Ceramics Monthly International Competition.” exhibition, which was presented at the Columbus Convention Center during the 33rd annual NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts) conference, attendees had the opportunity to choose their favorite piece from the 112 on view. As in the initial selection from 1549 slides by jurors Anita Besson, Jimmy Clark and Michio Sugiyama (see page 63 of the Jun Kaneko’s “Voyage,” approximately 27 inches in length; at Lewis and Clark College Gallery of March 1999 CM), competition was stiff; at the final tally just Contemporary Art, Portland, Oregon. prior to the March 19 awards ceremony, approximately three- fourths of the works had received multiple votes. For a complete list of finalists, see the International Compe­ tition Catalog page on the Ceramics Monthly website at www. ceramicsmonthly. org. Jun Kaneko’s Big Color by Kate Bonansinga “If you can build a box, you can build a house,” said Japanese- born artist Jun Kaneko during his slide lecture accompanying a solo exhibition at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. This matter-of-fact ambition defines his large, abstract ceramic sculptures and his impressive career. Kaneko moved to Califor­ nia in 1963, when he was 21 years old; he knew no English and had no friends in the United States. In the mid 1970s, after attending graduate school at Claremont College and establish-

Submissions are welcome. We would be pleased to consider press releases, artists' statements and photoslslides in con­ junction with exhibitions or other events of interest for publi­ cation in this column. Mail to Ceramics Monthly, Post Office Box 6102, Westerville, Ohio 43086-6102. “Egyptian King,” 53 inches in height, by Jun Kaneko.

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Up Front never clarified exactly what the idea is; which, in a sense, makes him and his work all the more enigmatic and fascinating. “I believe that if I follow my intuition to make an object, sooner or later, maybe 30 years later, I may have an idea of what I have been doing,” he commented. Kaneko has spent a lifetime experimenting with the formal problems of space, form, color, pattern and scale, and mastering the technical challenges of clay; reducing, in his words, “the distance between the material and the maker.” For him, this is enough.

Crafts National in Pennsylvania Elmer Taylor stoneware set, to 6 inches in width; “Craft Forms ’98,” a competition open to worlds made from at the Louisville Visual Art Association Water clay, metal, wood, fiber, glass and mixed media, was on view Tower, Kentucky. recently at the Wayne Art Center in Wayne, Pennsylvania. From 820 submissions, jurors Sharon Church and William Daley, Art Association Water Tower. For the event, the art association both professors emeritus at the University of the Arts, selected invited 15 artists who work with clay, glass, silver and wood to 75 worlds by 62 artists from 26 states. Massachusetts ceramist produce dinnerware—plates, bowls, mugs, etc.—for eight Nancy Hayes received best of show for two terra-cotta pieces, people. Fifteen designers were then invited to create table settings complementing the dinnerware. The exhibition opened with a black-tie dinner.

Ceramics of Aincient Peru “The Incas, Rulers of the Andes,” an exhibition of approxi­ mately 200 ceramic plus a few gold and silver objects made by the Incas of Peru (1500 B.C. to A.D. 1532), was presented

Nancy Hayes’ “Natural Balance,” 22 inches in height, terra cotta with slip and glaze, $1400; at the Wayne (Pennsylvania) Art Center.

“Beginning to End” and “Natural Balance”; and D. Hayne Bayless of Connecticut was among the artists selected for jurors’ choice awards. When beginning a sculpture, Hayes considers three-dimen­ sional design issues, such as how the form and its positivel negative spaces work, and whether it is continually active. “By using the tools of design as the foundation, I can then further explore the organic references that inspire the shapes, such as sea life, plants, trees, roots, animal skins and primitive (tribal) tattooing of the body,” she explained. “I am strongly attracted to growth patterns in nature and how individual elements seem to grow out of one another. “The surface of the sculpture is elaborated on by the use of Chancay figure (A.D. 1100-1300), depicting woman as heavily obsessive line making, the lines creating patterns. I am a symbol of fertility, earthenware; at Keramiekmuseum interested in the merger of pattern and form, how the form het Princessehof, Leeuwarden, Netherlands. affects the pattern and how the pattern shifts when applied on a three-dimensional form. In each piece, the obsessiveness of the recently at the Keramiekmuseum het Princessehof in lines is balanced by areas whose surface is defined by glazes that Leeuwarden, Netherlands. Donated by the Museum of Anthro­ are layered to create depth.” pology in Rotterdam, as well as from a private collection, the Hayes’ works are often fired several times, with a new layer of exhibited works offer an overview of Inca and pre-Inca cultures. glaze added each time, to allow the “individual elements of each Many came from graves or temples, reflecting the Incas’ ideas piece, areas rich with pattern and those that are layered with about religion and culture. glaze, [to] work together, giving life to the shapes.” Nicholas Kripal Dinnerware Gala in Kentucky Sculpture by Philadelphia ceramist Nicholas Kripal was exhib­ “Dinnerworks ’99,” an exhibition featuring tableware, was on ited recently at Snyderman Gallery in Philadelphia. In the past view through February 12 in the Grand Hall at the Louisville several years, Kripal has created forms he defined as “metony-

14 CERAMICS MONTHLY

Up Front Jersey. The statue of St. Joseph (shown here) as well as a 14-foot crucifix were unveiled as part of the dedication ceremony of the new church. mies: the use of one form that could also be expected to suggest A teacher of figurative ceramic sculpture at Skidmore another. The sculptures that resulted from these ideas, when College in Saratoga, New York, Manzi maintains her own placed in groups, implied a sort of language that, if one knew studio as well. She has worked with religious sculpture since the meaning of each she studied in Italy with American sculptor and priest, individual form, Father Thomas McGlynn. could either be read as a sentence or Carol Martin deciphered as a Handbuilt and wheel-thrown vessels by Carol Martin, a New phrase.” York potter who lives in England, were among the works For this exhibi­ exhibited in the “National Ceramics Invitational” at Denise tion, Kripal altered Bibro Gallery in New York City. Simplicity of form and sensual some of these sculp­ tures. “First, I elimi­ nated all extraneous details in an attempt to produce the most essential form, but not necessarily the most minimal one,” he explained. “Sec­ ond, in constructing these forms, certain Nicholas Kripal’s “Halving,” aspects of my process 32 inches in height, terra cotta were given a primary with pigments; at Snyderman role in determining Gallery, Philadelphia. formal decisions. The bisecting, halving and doubling of some revealed contradictions within the resulting whole form, setting up a visually appealing tension.” The new sculptures “are now less organic, more architec­ tonic. When coupled with coloration and painterly surface applications, they create objects that, I hope, expand the more finite definitions of sculpture.”

Alice Manzi New Jersey artist Alice Manzi recently completed two stoneware statues commissioned by St. Josephs Church in Millstone, New

Carol Martin’s “Black Bird,” 34 inches in height, handbuilt porcelain with terra sigillata, fired to 900°C (1652°F), then pit fired in a bed of wood shavings; at Denise Bibro Gallery in New York City. surface qualities derived from the nature of the clay or from organic materials in a pit firing are dominant themes of her work. “I like to balance austerity with the deepest sensuality I can achieve in surface treatment,” Martin explains.

Sara Radstone Wall and floor works by British ceramist Sara Radstone were on view recently at Barrett Marsden Gallery in London. “For almost two decades, Sara Radstone’s work has had a quiet, consistent and powerful presence at the sculptural edge of ceramics,” observed ceramist/critic Alison Britton. “It takes the eye, firmly and by surprise. “The self-excavating research that is her work is made in

Front and back views of “St. Joseph,” approximately pursuit of particular forms in clay that hold her interest and are 5 feet in height, stoneware: installed at St. Joseph’s apt for their intuitive contents,” Britton continued. “To start on Church in Millstone, New Jersey. the surface, the forms look as if they might have been eroded

16 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 17 Up Front

Sandra Blain’s “Distinctive Objects: Mantel Series,” 58 inches in length, slab-built clay and mixed media, impressed with various materials for texture, with stamped, brushed and sprayed slips, oxides and glazes, multifired; at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. personal narrative experienced on daily walks,” she explained. “Slips and glazes are drawn, brushed, stamped, stenciled and airbrushed on the surface of the pieces during various intervals of a multiple firing process. A sense of depth and visual com­ plexity is the result of layering techniques, ideas and images.”

New Mexico Ceramics From a recent exhibition of works by members of the New Mexico Potters Association, five artists were invited to partici­ pate in a subsequent show at the Weyrich Gallery in Albuquer-

Sara Radstone’s “Triptych,” approximately 66 inches in height, handbuilt stoneware with oxides, slips and glazes; at Barrett Marsden Gallery, London. rather than fabricated. But the pitted and dimpled dry skin of clay reveals fingermarks, careful seams and scratches that confirm things made, not found. “A sldn, a crust or a shell protects an interior. Her forms are always hollow, and this is important....Their stony gray surfaces (many versions of gray, painted and rubbed back) are interest­ ingly undermined by the fact that they are empty and light. The forms are the main point.” Radstones works “increasingly resist classification and ceramic prediction—stretched lines, like fencing poles, water­ spouts, the handle of a hoe, long limbs, hollow reeds,” Britton concludes. “They are elongating far beyond the size of her kiln, and are recomposed of segments, beautifully joined with plastic Juanita Wolff’s “Tomas,” 13 inches in height, handbuilt with low-fire glazes, $500; at Weyrich Gallery, metal. They are not obvious; they are lying, leaning, hanging, Albuquerque, New Mexico. like shadows lurking in corners, blips in the line of vision.” que. Each of these artists—Richard Garriott-Stejskal, Albuquer­ University of Tennessee Faculty Exhibition que; Ilena Grayson, Placitas; Joyce Rubenfeld, Alexis Sabin, Ceramic objects by Sandra Blain, Sally Brogden and James F. Santa Fe; and Juanita Wolff, Corrales—was asked to present five Darrow were among the works featured in “The University of to seven examples of his or her work. Tennessee Art Faculty Exhibition” at Ewing Gallery of Art and Born in Argentina before moving to Brazil, Haiti and now Architecture at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. “Sculp­ the United States, Juanita WolfF handbuilds and carves carica­ tural forms provide volumes for surface manipulation and tures from our culture, accenting them with low-fire glazes (as marking,” commented Sandra Blain in regard to the work seen here in “Tomas”). shown here. “The influence of pattern is evidenced through an eclectic array of historical, environmental, natural and Jong Sook Kang manmade systems of organization.” “Art Tables in Clay,” an exhibition of works by Korean artist Blain handbuilds and manipulates her forms, impressing Jong Sook Kang, was presented at the Bergen Museum of Art them with organic and inorganic materials, which “serve as and Science in Paramus, New Jersey. Currently living in metaphors for landscape elements. Often the surfaces reveal a Englewood, New Jersey, Kang created clay tables to “provide a

18 CERAMICS MONTHLY

Up Front locus, a place where people may gather, a place where they may relax and possibly meditate. “My tables,” she said, “are functional, but in addition, they have an aesthetic value and serve as metaphors for the inevitable in our lives. At first, on approaching my theme for the ceramic tables, I particularly concentrated on the strained, kinetic shapes in my worlds, instead of using stable shapes on wide bases, like pyramids or cones. “I chose extruded elements to suggest a light appearance, even though the forms are relatively large and massive. I tried to communicate a sense of energy, of dynamism, by introducing the unique and by suggesting motion rather than a stationary, or stable, posture. “Through the balance I strive for in my works, I tell of the unity of man and nature, and the struggle that is life,” Kang concluded. “I emphasize the tension of the upside-down cone and hint at an energy, a life form inside my pieces. I exaggerate these tensions, applying unstable oblique lines to the forms.”

Emerging Artists Show “Emerging Artists of the U.S.,” a juried exhibition of clayworks by 13 up-and-coming artists, was on display through February 28 at the Vermont Clay Studio in Waterbury Center. Shown from the exhibition are an architectonic sculpture by Eric J. Eley, Paoli, Pennsylvania, and a teapot set (page 22) by Forrest Lesch-Middelton, Montpelier, Vermont. “My present body of work is inspired by both rural and urban industrial architecture,” explained Eley. “These structures hold many fascinations for me, beginning with the ability of

Jong Sook Kang’s “Cup of Celebration,” approximately 29 inches in height, stoneware with glazes and terra sigillata; at the Bergen Museum of Art and Science, Paramus, New Jersey.

“Cup Table” and “Wall Cup,” to 26 inches in height, stoneware with glazes and terra sigillata, by Jong Eric Eley’s "Untitled,” 10 inches in height, earthenware, Sook Kang, Englewood, New Jersey. $150; at the Vermont Clay Studio, Waterbury Center.

20 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 21 Up Front Dixon creates works referring to the “rich British tradition of political narrative and caricature. “I am interested in the history of clay,” he adds, “the unique way that ceramic relics and fragments communicate across the centuries, telling tales of great personalities and events, as well as the mundane rituals of daily life.”

Native American Crafts Exhibition “Head, Heart and Hands: Native American Craft Traditions in a Contemporary World” opened recently at the Kentucky Art and Craft Gallery in Louisville. A touring show, it features over 50 works in a range of media, including pottery, painting,

Forrest Lesch-Middelton’s “Nestling Teapot,” 8 inches in height, $120. something built completely for function to be so visually beautiful and stimulating as a form. “As I began to use the visual vocabulary of these buildings as a basis for my sculpture, it became apparent that, even though I was seemingly building in a mechanical mindset, subtle figurative elements were integrated into the work,” Eley contin­ Nathan Youngblood’s “Untitled,” 11 inches in height, ued. “I now am consciously maldng more anthropomorphic carved; at the Kentucky Art and Craft Gallery, Louisville. work, speaking of the relationship between man and machine without being robotic.” sculpture, jewelry, glass and fiber, by artists from over 10 Native Lesch-Middelton’s vessels are a “series of thoughts, some American tribes. The participating artists’ “personal artistic remembered, some forgotten. Though I’d like to believe that all visions reflect their individual creative voices and diverse cultural I do is planned, this only accounts for some of my work; I learn experiences, yet share a common history,” comments curator to value my mistakes as I do my triumphs. Almost every time I Brion Clinkingbeard. After closing at the Kentucky Art and sit at the wheel, I make a new discovery. I log my reaction to Craft Gallery, the show moved on to the Ohio Craft Museum this surprise somewhere in the caverns of my mind, only to be in Columbus; late spring and summer, it will be presented at accessed and tested at a later time.” Yakima National Cultural Heritage Center and Museum, Washington; then in the fall and early winter, at DeLand Steve Dixon Museum in Florida. Earthenware vessels by British artist Steve Dixon were exhibited recently at Nancy Margolis Gallery in New York City. In a Olin (Russ) Russum, 1919-1998 desire to illuminate the complex and scary world we live in, Artist/educator Olin Lansing Russum, Jr., known to his friends, students and collectors as Russ, died last October after a long illness. Russum earned a B.A. at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an M.F.A. at Claremont Universities in Claremont, California. His works ranged from functional ware of all sizes to freestanding sculpture and architectural bas-relief murals as large as 20 by 50 feet. He worked until his death out of the Monkton, Maryland, studio he built with his late wife, wood sculptor and furniture designer Jean Bosley Russum.

Isabel Parks 1910-1999 Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, and Zephyrhills, Florida, potter Isabel Parks died in January. A long-time exhibitor on the craft- fair circuit, Paries traveled all over the country. Best known for her handbuilt and oil-fired white stoneware pieces inspired by nature, she greatly enjoyed participating in the different craft shows, visiting with other artists and the public, then returning Steve Dixon’s “Let Them Eat Beef,” 16 inches in length, slab-built earthenware, $3500; at Nancy to Zephyrhills. It was on just such a trip that she passed away Margolis Gallery, New York City. peacefully in her show van.

22 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 23 24 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 25 of forms, to technically awe-inspiring sculp­ a plaster prototype, and making footed bowls, New Books tural assemblages,” observes the author of thiscups and saucers. As throughout the book, how-to guide. The book opens with an illus­step-by-step photos accompany the text. The following chapters show how to make The Definitive Guide to Mold trated introduction to the tools and materials two-piece molds (removing prototypes from Making and Slip Casting needed, followed by an explanation of plaster properties and an overview of prototypes and the molds, keys, soaping the mold, the no­ Contemporary Techniques for Potters molds—designing prototypes with templates,model mold) for handles, spouts, pitchers, by Andrew Martin considering undercuts, designing molds, soap­tiles, lidded forms, etc.; and complex molds “On the eve of the 21st century, slip ing molds, removing the prototype, etc. for hollow-cast feet, large hollow-cast forms, casting as an aesthetic pursuit is finally enjoy­ Next, Martin describes the making of solid and drain-cast ing a renaissance among studio potters. To­ various one-piece molds, such as modeling combination molds, in­ day, the most creative ceramics artists are slip clay for a serving dish, throwing walls on a serts for vases, etc. casting everything from elegant tableware wheel to cast as a prototype, using a template “Master molds are lines to one-of-a-kind highly decorated seriessystem to make a plate, a tumbler mold fromused to duplicate molds for production. The best molds to duplicate are one-piece molds or molds of forms that you need to cast in high quantities....One of the advantages of master molds is that irregulari­ ties in the original mold can be removed in the master,” explains Martin. A chapter on slip formulation and casting techniques is also included. “Casting slip is formulated in a completely different way from plastic clays used for wheel throwing,” Martin warns. “The desired quality is nonplastic rather than plastic.” In the next chapter, he covers the prin­ ciples of casting. “Learning how to cast your mold is as much an art as a science.” While the steps are straightforward: “you pour slip into the mold, let it absorb to the desired thick­ ness, then pour the excess out,...decisions will be made primarily through intuition and experience....Timing is the key.” The following chapter on troubleshoot­ ing addresses repairing broken or chipped molds, overcoming common problems asso­ ciated with mixing plaster and casting slip, and casting mishaps. In the final section, Martin interviews contemporary artists Adrian Saxe, Richard Notkin, Tom Spleth, Anne Kraus, Donna Polseno and Richard Hensley. “The idea of using molds to create a unique object each time with a unique combination of elements appeals to me because my pieces have, on average, about a dozen castings,” Notkin says. These castings “are uniquely combined to make a unique object. And that object takes a full week to make. We often think of molds as something where you can make a hundred identical objects a day. And that’s a valid part of the process. But my approach [involves taking a week] to make and explore a different combination of elements.” 201 pages, including glossary, index and list of suppliers. 16 color and 401 black-and-white photographs. $49.95, softcover. Magus Publications, 369B Third Street, Suite 105, San Rafael, California 94901; telephone (800) 890-6390.

26 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 27 Maribel Portela Mexican Sculpture at the Intersection of Folk Art and the Avant-Garde by Kate Bonansinga

At 38, Mexican sculptor Maribel Portela is just advanced enough in her career to have avoided the recent trend. A graduate of the National School of Plastic Arts, Portela also has a deep ap­ preciation for historical and folk art. Her sculptures couple this with a con­ temporary sophistication. For example, her figurative works reference pre- Columbian, terra-cotta funerary figures, especially those from the deep shaft tombs of the West Mexican Colima, Jalisco and Nayarit, which date from approximately 200 B.C. to A.D. 500. These ancient figures, around a foot high, do not have detailed features, but are able to capture the essence of what it means to be human. Portelas best work does this as well. She recently completed a series of small, three-dimensional busts of gods and goddesses. Many of them sit atop a thin, steel rod, as if staked. The execution is intentionally naive: facial features are exaggerated, noses and ears oversized, and eyes placed toward the tops of the foreheads. “The God of Strength” crosses his hands over his chest in both the clay and bronze versions. “The Voyage” raises his hands to his head, where he bal­ ances a boat complete with passenger, a “The Voyage,” 17½ inches puzzled expression on his face, as if he’s in height, handbuilt here are changes afoot in Mexico. not quite sure why his neck is so tired. stoneware, with stains. Students and new graduates of fine- “Navigator of the Aegean Sea” is part Tart universities seem to be adopting theof a boat series, originally shown in an artistic styles and prejudicial hierarchies installation of 700 pieces in Monterrey, of the large urban centers of the United Mexico. The figure sits bolt upright in States and Europe. They have little ap­ his boat, legs outstretched, hands calmly preciation for folk art made by artists resting on his thighs, in confident con­ without formal training and, thus, turn trol of his direction and his destiny. their backs on an art historical corner­ “Back Diver,” in contrast, is “jumping stone of their homeland. They even shun ship,” in search of calmer waters. famous 20th-century Mexican artists, The square wall pieces, decorated such as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, with representational and abstract im­ because they were inspired by tradi­ ages, both incised and in relief, look to tional art forms. traditional “santos” (personal altars)

28 CERAMICS MONTHLY “The Red Goddess,” 13 inches in height, wall piece with incised and brushed imagery.

found in private Mexican homes. “The Red Goddess” is perched on top of a ladder, another of Portelas recurring symbols for movement from one place to the next. The goddess’ wide torso and thin, crossed arms are reminiscent of ancient Cycladic figures, assumed to be goddess figures. All Portelas pieces are handbuilt and brushed with stains. She uses clay as a means to create a form, and has no interest in exploring the great diversity of ceramic techniques. However, clay is undoubtedly her preferred medium; most of her work is ceramic, although she has also used wood, slate, bronze, “Back Diver,” 7½ inches in height, handbuilt wall pumice and paint. piece, with brushed stains. Agustin Arteaga, a Mexican art critic who wrote about “We Are Time,” Portelas solo exhibition at Drexel Gal-

May 1999 29 lery in Monterrey, captures the crux of her art making: “Her primary medium is easily confused between the clay that gives it origin and the human spirit that engenders it.” The sculpted results simultaneously embrace traditional Mexican figurative work and contemporary artistic formats. All, including the niches, busts and boats, integrate the supernatural with the real, and seriousness with humor, a characteristic of much of the art and literature of South and Central America. They are accomplished expressions of human actions and interactions. ▲

“The God of Strength,” 9 inches in height, handbuilt stoneware with oxides.

“Navigator of the Aegean Sea,” 12 inches in height, handbuilt stoneware with brushed oxides, by Maribel Portela, Mexico.

30 CERAMICS MONTHLY Taking a Closer Look by David Frank

Grolleg kaolin at 15000x magnification.

n the sixties, we would say “You are certain procedures, I could achieve cer­ As I headed to Yale with coffee cans what you eat.” At that time, as now, tain results. I interpreted the clays reac­ filled with each of the ingredients that I iI was philosophically, if not liter­ tion to each kiln firing, and I learned mix together in my clay body, I was ally, eating clay. I would spend my days the effects of the manipulations of my filled with the excitement I normally at the pottery up to my elbows in mud, hand. With advances in science (X-ray feel just before unloading a kiln. The and yet I wanted to get closer. I would diffraction, differential thermal analysis technician laughed when he saw my pull pots out of the kiln before they and electron microscopy, that is), it has coffee cans. He took a mere quarter were cool; in fact, I once packed for a become possible to learn about clay in a teaspoon of each clay to prepare for one-man show with pots that were so much more direct way. viewing with the microscope. What I hot the paper began to smoke on the When I discovered that I could rent would see would be the result of eons of way to the gallery. As I drove along the Yale University’s scanning electron mi­ natural weathering. highway, I watched light, white smoke croscope to take a closer look at the This weathering of rocks occurs by streaming from the boxes in the back of materials I was using, I had to do it. I two basic processes: physical weather­ my pickup truck. (I would have stopped knew that the reason clay works or ing and chemical weathering. Physical had I seen flames.) Nevertheless, the doesn’t work for potters is dictated by weathering is the breaking down of rocks brown, charred newspaper crumbled the shape and composition of those tiny by such processes as freeze-thaw, differ­ and made a terrible mess when I un­ clay particles. Like peeking into a kiln ential heating of various minerals and packed the pots six hours later. to see the pots that are too hot to take the growth of plant roots. Chemical Studio pottery is experiential. Over out, I couldn’t wait to see the particles weathering is the breaking down of rocks the years, I learned that by following of clay that were the basis of my world. due to water dissolving the rock, or at

May 1999 31 Edge of broken piece at 2500x magnification.

least some of the constituents of the composed of feldspar, quartz and mica. or areas in the lake. At middle latitudes, rock. In temperate regions, physical and The quartz would weather into sand, clay can sometimes be deposited sea­ chemical weathering are both evident. while the feldspar would weather into sonally in thin layers, due to the re­ As rocks weather from these different clay (if the chemical weathering was duced erosion in the winter. It will record geologic processes, they fall apart into strong and the climate was wet). The the years like the rings on a tree, a sand, silt and clay. Which one a rock clay that is thus formed would be exclu­ process called varving. This transported weathers into is determined by the com­ sively silicoaluminous and would be clay would now be a secondary clay, position of that rock and the type of termed a kaolin. like a ball clay, and would no longer weathering it undergoes. The name kaolin comes from a Chi­ have the clear crystal faces displayed The word clay is used in two ways. nese word meaning high ridge, and is originally by the kaolin. To a soil engineer, it means particles of the name of a hill near Jauchau Fu, Secondary clay particles are smaller less than 2 microns, regardless of their where clay was mined for pottery mak­ and more plastic, and could have ex­ composition. To a potter or mineralo­ ing. As the feldspar breaks down, water changed some of their constituent at­ gist, clay is defined as fine-grained sheet carries away the soluble constituents oms. For example, some aluminum silicates (more precisely phyllosilicates, (Na, K, Ca), which eventually reach the might replace silicon, or magnesium from the Greekphyllon, leaf). For these ocean. This has over the eons (with the might replace some aluminum. So just sheet silicates to form, chemical weath­ addition of chlorine from undersea vol­ as the feldspar decomposed to form clay, ering is always involved. Here, I will be canic vents) left us with salty oceans. this clay is accepting new ions and/or using the term clay to mean sheet sili­ If transported by ground water, the losing old ones (a process called ion cates exclusively. quartz (sand), the mica and the clay exchange). This kind of a replacement In a typical scenario, we might have would be separated by density and par­ coupled with a clays unique origins gives a parent rock of granite (the most com­ ticle shape. All three would accumulate rise to the four different groups that mon rock type in the continental crust) in lake beds, possibly in separate layers geologists divide clays into.

32 CERAMICS MONTHLY Bentonite at 2000x magnification.

Earthenware (Cedar Heights Redart) at 6000x magnification.

May 1999 33 Ant’s head at 160x magnification.

The next day, I returned to view my and notation of magnification at the better idea of just how big the flakes are. samples. The world that I saw by way of bottom of the pictures. I know that one I was also aware of what I did not see. the electron microscope was exactly as micron is very small. Yes, I even know The clay was sterile. There were no theory told me it should look. More­ that one micron is one-millionth of a microbes. No creatures in this unseen over, it turned out to be beautiful and meter. But anyone who has made pots microscopic world. I reasoned that when reminiscent of the slab pieces I was work­ for a living, like I do, gets very leery of the clay was processed for bagging, any ing on at the time. For the first time, I big numbers. I remember making pots natural organisms were killed, so I put could actually see the underlying reality for a store in Nantucket when I was just some naturally occurring local clay un­ to the walls of my pots. starting out. I still had what was to me der the microscope, but still couldn’t Experience had taught me that I must the largest student loan in North find any creatures. Perhaps there was cut teapot spouts at an angle to com­ America and I was worried. Well, busi­ not enough food or oxygen for them to pensate for their unwinding during ness was good and they ordered 20 live on. firing. Experience had taught me to put dozen vases. I jumped with joy. I would Nevertheless, I still wouldn’t recom­ handles on with their bottoms to the be rich, except...I...had...to...make... mend that you think of your clay as left of their tops, because I throw them...one...at...a...time. Four weeks entirely harmless. I did see asbestoslike counter-clockwise, so that they will later, I wasn’t jumping any more. They fibers in the samples of bentonite, which come out straight. Experience had were talking about just 240 vases. How reinforced the need to wear a respirator taught me to trim or tap the bottoms in big, or small, is a million or millionth? when weighing out dry materials. on pots so that the walls, which shrink Back in my studio, I saw my answer As I mentioned earlier, my life as a less, wont bend the bottoms out and in an ant on the floor. I gave the ant a studio potter has been mainly experien­ cause the pot to sit poorly. The electron ride to a bag of dry clay, then called tial (See “Storytelling” in the Novem­ microscope pictures gave a new reality Yale. Because a scanning electron mi­ ber 1998 CM). I have learned as much to what experience had taught me. croscope looks at samples in a vacuum, from my failures as my successes. These An immediate problem I did have in my noble ant had to give his life for pictures, which I have had since 1981, looldng at and making meaningful sense science, but when I looked at an ant have however afforded me one more out of the pictures was the micron line hair along with clay flakes, I could get a insight into the clay that I love. ▲

34 CERAMICS MONTHLY Australian Aboriginal Ceramics by Joseph Pascoe

‘Large Pot,” stoneware with oxide-highlighted incising, 1989, by Thancoupie, Weipa and Cairns, Queensland “Warlu Jukurrpa (Bush Fire Dreaming),” earthenware bowl, 1989, by Biddy Napaljarri Rockman, Lajumanu, Northern Territory.

Clay at Weipa was sacred. We only It is asserted, presumably correctly used it for ceremonial purposes and each in the absence of contradictory anthro­ color had a meaning. Red\ black, yellow pological information, that Australian and white....We only used it for decora­ Aboriginals did not make ceramic ob­ tion, of our bodies and special spears and jects prior to the modern era, though woomerahsy not to make things.... The idea clay had a sacred role as body paint and of having my hands in clay and working as an antiseptic, and heated balls of clay with it making art was somehow strange functioned as bed warmers during cold but exciting. I thought of pots then as just desert nights. Clay toys are seen in 1930s for using in the kitchen—it was only much photographs, and the Museum of South later I realized that clay would be my art Australia has figures made at the and also my legends. Lutheran Mission at Hermannsburg in (from Thancoupie the Potter by Jen­ the 1950s. However, just as the thoughts nifer Isaacs, 1982) and actions of sand paintings and body decoration changed into the contem­ “Aki (Wild Currents),” coil-built terra Aboriginal art in Australia has under­ porary medium of acrylic on canvas in cotta with underglaze decoration, 1993, gone an extraordinary renaissance dur­ the early 1970s, clay was adopted as by Irene Mbitjana Entata, ing the past 20 years. Its international another acceptable art medium, with Hermannsburg, Northern Territory. success, especially with regard to paint­ the necessary skills initially imparted by ing, has been empowered by a mixture resident art coordinators. of political and cultural factors. Adding Thancoupie learned how to make more subtly to this situation is the work ceramic vessels in 1971 from Peter of individual ceramists. Rushforth in Sydney. Her adventure into

36 CERAMICS MONTHLY ceramics was an inspiration for other Aboriginal people. Thancoupies work is deeply con­ cerned with depicting and preserving Aboriginal Dreamings, with special ref­ erence to theThanaquith tribe of north­ ern Queensland. The spherical form shown on page 35 suggests the earth, while the features of the narrative, of the Dreaming story, form the basis of the design. Heather Walker and Jenuarrie, two sisters from near Rockhampton, Queensland, handbuild their ceramics. Their works affirm their Aboriginality with a clarity and depth that also seem­ ingly lacks anger. The boat form in “Iron Bark Series No. 3,” raku ware on coiled-fiber base, 1992, Heather Walker s “Watching” (page 38) by Jenuarrie, Queensland. is based on rock art and the boats that sailed in Princess Charlotte Bay. Jenuarries gentle spherical form has a feeling for color and surface that allows comparison with pots by international contemporary raku artists; her more re­ cent works explore connections between Aboriginal and Melanesian art. The Tiwi people of Bathurst and Melville Islands, off Darwin, Northern Territory, employ gestural geometric cross-hatching and a restricted palette of browns with only an occasional pic­ torial reference, as seen in Jock Puatjimis “Large Vase” (page 38). Their traditional bark painting derives from the physical- ity of making, rather than direct concep­ tualization as art. Production can be spasmodic and determined by ceremo­ nial requirements and the tropical cli­ mate. Their first pottery was started in 1968 at Bagot with the assistance of Ivan McMeekin, of the Sturt Pottery at Mittagong, and Michael Cardew. Eddie Puruntatmeri was among the first Tiwi to learn to make pottery; his 1994 platter depicts a Northern Terri­ tory bird. The charismatic simplicity of its realization is enlivened by its cheeky border pattern and yellow color. The “Jabiru,” slip-cast earthenware with underglaze decoration, 1994, by Eddie Puruntatameri, Melville Island. extent to which the initial Leach/ Hamada training was accepted here and elsewhere by other Aboriginal ceramists

May 1999 37 is an open question. Certainly, it pro­ vided a positive base, both technical and philosophical. The Ntaria potters, from what was the old Lutheran Mission at Hermanns- burg (established 1875), 150 kilome­ ters west of Alice Springs in central Australia, began producing their excit­ ing coil-built ceramics, following the arrival of white instructor Naomi Sharp in 1990. Historically, theirs has been an extraordinary mixture of cultural influ­ “Watching,” handbuilt terra cotta, 1992, ences. Many of the ceramic objects from by Heather Walker, Queensland. Ntaria are called “My Country” and evoke the regions landscape. The intense heat and equally intense tourist interest are additional players in this cultural conundrum. The tug of different cultures is clear in Irene Mbitjana Entatas “Aki (Wild Cur­ rents),” shown on page 36, which has a native plant styled as a Grecian garland, laid over a background of traditional dot painting. The importance of Aboriginal ce­ ramics, especially when seen against the backdrop of the white historical and contemporary developments, lies in its spiritual purpose. An overt manifesta­ tion of this is the pottery occasionally produced in remote communities, such as Lajamanu and Fitzroy Crossing in the Central Desert. The titles given to the works directly correspond to the Dreaming, or spiri­ tual parent or totem, of the maker. The profound nature of this relationship is emphasized by the various beings de­ picted in the ceramic Dreamtime as specific landforms. Such named land- forms epitomize stories derived from the narrative of their original creation in the Dreamtime. An example is Biddy Napaljarri Rockman’s bowl “Warlu Jukurrpa (Bush Fire Dreaming)” shown on page 36. Elsewhere around Australia, other Aboriginals are beginning to work with “Large Vase,” earthenware with oxide decoration, 1993, clay. No doubt, Aboriginal ceramics will by Jock Puatjimi, Bathurst Island. continue to manifest in new ways, in accordance with the cultural dynamics of Australia. ▲

38 CERAMICS MONTHLY Writing an Artist's Statement by Ariane Goodwin

orking on an artist s statement where they can be judged (criticized) by magic marker or keyboard), one that lets can be deeply trying, so much others, as in an artists statement. your hand, and thus words, flow across wso that even the most respon­ Often, when we sit down to write a the page. 3. A timer (for two- and three- sible, professional artist never even be­ statement, every thought we ever had minute writing exercises). 4. Uninter­ gins the process. The statement lingers, about our work vanishes. We are con­ rupted time (two hours is good). in an unformed lump, on an invisible vinced that we have nothing to say about shelf of “marketing shoulds.” our own work, or certainly nothing of Warming Up There are several reasons for this, the value. Sometimes, we toss our unformed Timed writing exercises are wonder­ most daunting of which is the writing thoughts into a mental scrap bucket, ful for warming up. Writing fast elimi­ itself. Sure, you know an artists state­ turn out the light, and head out of the nates cautious thought (a creativity killer), ment is a good marketing tool. You know studio. Or we fake it, ending up with reduces internal censorship and trims that people who love your work want to insubstantial or overblown words mas­ away excess, pushing us to center on know more about you. You know that querading as us. what is essential. Treat it like a game, offering your audience more ways to con­ There is an alternative response. Be­ where you are trying to beat the clock. nect with you increases their delight in gin with the thought that you have a lot The great thing about writing is that, what you do, and the perceived value of to say that is neither self-important nor like daywork, you can scrap (crumple your work. But, you protest, there are all trivial, but relevant, revealing and won­ up the paper or hit the delete key) awk­ those words. derful. Because, the good news is: you ward first efforts and start again. Noth­ Right you are. An artist s statement is can use your own words. There is an unself- ing is lost, and your writing “muscle” all about words, which are a completely conscious language that you use all the grows stronger with each mistake. different language than wedging and time when thinking or talking about • Set your timer for three minutes. shaping, glazing and firing. Clay is in your work. The trick is to learn how to • Then, without thinking about spell­ the world of our senses; while words are catch yourself doing it, then faithfully ing, grammar, punctuation or your Aunt the landmarks of our mind, once re­ write it down. Martha, tell a friend about your work. moved from sight and touch. Why bother? An artists statement Work as quickly as is comfortable. Sometimes, when the world of words builds a compelling bridge between you • When the timer goes off, stop. You captures our world of senses, we feel a and your audience. For the buying pub­ probably will not be able to resist read­ delight in the connection. After all, we lic, the artists statement provides a bet­ ing what you wrote, but absolutely do have lived longer with words than we ter understanding of the work and more not erase, edit or do anything else to have with clay in our hands. Think about reasons to take your pots home. For you, change it. it: what is more organic to humans than the statement gives you one more way to • Put it in the back of your writing language? Our first intentional sounds validate what you do. folder; or if you are using a journal, turn proclaim us as individuals even before Working with clay and writing an the page and fasten it with a paper clip; our first baby steps. So why is it that as artists statement are kindred activities. or if using a word processor, save the file. adults, who have found a place in the In both cases, you need raw materials, a What is important here is that you wrote, world with what pleases us most (clay), commitment to set aside sufficient time, not what you wrote. one of the fundamental connections to patience with yourself and a willingness that deep pleasure (our words) eludes us to practice. You did not learn to throw Silencing the Inner Critic as soon as the idea of writing an artists or handbuild in one sitting; nor will you Before you begin writing in earnest, statement pops up? learn to write an artist s statement in one there is one critical detail to attend to. I imagine that a combination of art sitting. But when that first statement sits Just as you want clay to be free of imper­ critics and formal education has some­ gleaming in your hand, the satisfaction fections, you want the process of writing thing to do with this. One promotes will be the same. your artist s statement to be free of your language, in service to noble judgments inner critic, who is as potentially damag­ (the emotional emphasis here is on “judg­ Getting Started ing to your work as any trapped air. ments”), and the other unwittingly To begin, gather the necessary raw • Close your eyes and imagine your teaches us to mistrust words. In school, materials: 1. A spiral notebook (if you internal critic. Who appears on the scene someone else told us when, where and like lined paper), or a folder (if you like when you have to write? For me, it is my how we could, or could not, use which unlined typing paper), or a beautifully eighth-grade English teacher, with her words to communicate in writing. This bound leather journal encrusted with rigid back and her rigid relationship to mistrust smolders, mostly unnoticed, jewels; they all work equally well. 2. A language. Sentence diagrams lorded over until our words are thrust into a context favorite writing implement (pen, pencil, her narrow kingdom. Words that flowed

May 1999 39 like liquid silk over my tongue, expired • After two minutes, stop. • What do you want to tell this per­ daily on her blackboard. Again, put these exercises away. You son about your work? Write like one • Still with eyes closed, bring this in­ have done what you needed to do. In possessed. So much to tell; so little time. ternal critic of yours into full view. Firmly, the beginning, process is everything and authoritatively, but respectfully, give your the product (the artist’s statement) is still Statement Writing Exercise 3 internal critic its marching orders. Care­ just a glimmer in your minds eye. • With eyes closed, imagine a piece of fully explain—ignore sputtering and in­ your work has come to life in the studio. terruptions—that you are going to work The Product What does it do? on writing and that, as much as you will Your ability to write an artists state­ • Set the timer for two minutes. need your critics help later on for revi­ ment will improve with practice. Just as • Write for the child in you, the one sions, right now the critic must find your work grows and changes, so will who loves adventures and magic. something else to do. your artists statement. • Escort your critic outside the room; An artists statement is not a resume, Catching the Abundance leave her/him in the hall with crayons or a historical summary of your work, a An artist’s statement is a lifelong pro­ clay, or climbing a tree, whatever (but be critique or a list of accomplishments. An cess, evolving alongside your work. It specific). Come back into the room and artist’s statement is a celebration of your will grow and change, becoming a sig­ open your eyes. work, a reflection on your work, a per­ nificant contribution to the totality of Enjoy the peace and calm, but be sonal revelation about your work, a psy­ your artistic story. The important thing watchful. Your job is to remain alert and chological bridge between you and your is to keep casting your net. Let your wild catch your critic sneaking back to whis­ audience, and an effective marketing tool. child create your own zany timed writ­ per that you are not good enough, or To write an artists statement, you ing exercises on a weekly basis. smart enough, or honorable enough to will need to tap into the natural lan­ Tote around a small, spiral notebook do this good work. Periodically, you may guage of your mind, for you and only in which you can jot down any phrase have to escort your critic back outside. you can tell what and how and why you that comes to you in a conversation, a This is a new relationship, and no self- do the work you do. dream or daydream, in the car, in the respecting critic easily gives up ruling One way to capture these words about studio, in the shower, anywhere inspira­ the throne of judgments. your work is to overcome any self-con- tion strikes. This exercise is good for any time you sciousness that pops up when you try to Include personal comments in your set about writing anything. It only takes write about yourself Timed writing ex­ technical notebook. What were you a minute or two to establish these inter­ ercises are perfect for this. At the same thinking as you applied that last glaze, or nal boundaries and effectively rein in the time, they should give you an abun­ centered that large platter, or unloaded judgmental part of yourself. It is also fun dance of fresh words from which to the kiln at dawn? to see how this benefits other areas of choose for your statement. Enlist a friend to talk with you about our lives. The following exercises are designed what you do and why; take notes or to engage the imagination, putting the record the conversation. Often we say Reservations/Motivations focus on playfulness and your creative the perfect thing to someone else. Be The next two exercises continue clear­ spirit. Do them one at a time, over a few ready to catch your words before they ing away the obstacles to hearing our days, or all at once. By casting a large vanish downstream. own language: net, you could come up with a record Pluck out quotes, of your own, that • Set the timer for two minutes. catch, but be grateful for any keepers. appear in any articles written about your • Write down every reason why you work. The following quotes came from cannot, should not or will not write a Statement Writing Exercise 1 Ceramics Monthly (May 1998). If I was statement. Mince no words; forget about • With eyes closed, imagine you are either of these artists, I would send out complete sentences. Just fume and fuss! in your studio and suddenly one of your every one of my pieces accompanied by Here’s where you get to meet the Doubt pieces starts to talk to you. these compelling words. See if you agree: Dragons face to face; when exposed on • Set the timer for three minutes. I know that truly good pots owe more to paper, their potency dissipates. •Write down everything the piece the generosity and spirit with which they • After two minutes, stop. says, no matter how absurd; just keep are made. Imparting this spirit in pots is Now that you have all your reserva­ your hand moving across the page. Al­ infinitely more difficult than simply mak­ tions listed, move on to motivations: low yourself to be awkward. It’s the ing well-crafted pots. It requires focus tem­ • Set the timer for two minutes. beginner’s way. Tell yourself that you are pered with an affection for what I am • Quickly, write down every reason free to write absolute junk! making—Cary Hulin you can, should and will write an artists Clay takes you back to the source.— statement. Be as fanciful and playful as Statement Writing Exercise 2 Dennis Smith you wish. Here, you have the opportu­ • Close your eyes and imagine that Nothing should block us from writ­ nity to engage large visions, and affirm someone from your childhood, whom ing about our work, being clear about why you are doing this, sending a pow­ you have not seen for a long time, comes what makes it unique. With a little exer­ erful message of intent to your best ally, into your studio while you are working. cise and occasional note taking, an artist’s your sub/super-consciousness. • Set the timer for three minutes. statement should easily take shape. A

40 CERAMICS MONTHLY 19th-Century Texas Vernacular Ceramics by Bill Komodore

any of the potters who came to MTexas as the state was forming belonged to families that had “turned and burned mud” for generations. In Texas, they found a land where the cli­ mate was not always spring and the natives not always friendly. In fact, this was no place for adornments. The rug­ ged, powerful and elegant forms that emerged reflected their new experiences: dreams of faraway places, unpredictable journeys, dangers and the fight for sur­ vival, discoveries of new resources, the beauty of a wild land. American stonewares in general have German and English roots, having bor­ rowed their technique primarily from the former and their form from the latter. Lower-fired earthenware was made in New England by 1644, and salt-glazed stoneware by early in the 18th century. The alkaline-glazed stoneware tradition to which Texas belongs came from the wood-fired kilns of the South. Texas history is incredibly complex. It involves French, Spanish, Mexican, Tejano and Anglo immigrants, more than 40 Indian tribes and mixtures of the above—all involved in complex struggles that gave rise to tales of atroci­ ties and heroism and yearnings for free­ dom. The nearly 268 million acres of land that comprise Texas are just as di­ verse in character. Early impresarios or proprietors of huge grants of land tried to obtain even more by importing people. They searched all over the east­ ern U.S. and Europe, offering free land, painting a picture as desirable as a Claude Lorraine Arcadian landscape. Their promises appealed to folks who often had little but a dream of owning and cultivating their own land. George Jackson writes how the proprietors’ de­ scription of the Texas landscape com­ Alkaline-glazed stoneware jar, 19 inches in height, circa 1870, pelled his parents to emigrate from stamped JR, by Joseph Rushton; he operated Rushton Devonshire, England, in 1848. “They Pottery in East Texas from 1868 to 1900. represented this country as having a de-

May 1999 41 lightful climate, no chilling winds or driving snows, but one continuous spring and summer, with all manner of fruits and wild game in abundance, clear and beautiful streams of water with plenty of fish.” But life in Texas for the early immi­ grants was no picnic. Jackson writes, “Oh, the horrors here in Texas that these early settlers tell—it will cause your hair to stand on end and make you think of h___ .” The pioneer potters were not exempted from hardships. They came from Edgefield, the cultural ceramics center of South Carolina where many of them had under­ gone intensive five- to seven-year apprentice­ ships. They worked their way across the country as itinerant potters, even­ tually reaching Mount Lebanon, Louisiana, the end of the Pony Express trail, the end of America, and for several, the end of their lives. The names of several major families of potters, such as Gibbs and Prothro, can be found on headstones in the Mount Lebanon cemetery (nearby Gibbsland is named after the Gibbs brothers). Yet just beyond lay the land of dreams, good and bad. Along with promises of free land and plenty of game, there were sto­ ries of massacres and disasters crossing the raging Red River. Some made deals with barge captains to cross the river when it was calm. Others came through New Orleans and the Sabine River to Jefferson or from Galveston to San Antonio after arduous ocean voy­ ages, and some came down through Oklahoma. Indian trading posts at key points became immigrant gateways. East and Northeast Texas were the sites of the earliest stoneware potteries. The first task was to make bricks for the Alkaline-glazed jar, 17½ inches in height, kiln, molded two at a time and fired in circa 1865, by B. J. Rushton. makeshift ovens. The kiln was then built in either a beehive or groundhog configuration, using a piece of string for measurements.

42 CERAMICS MONTHLY in this beautiful, bountiful new land: reds over pale greens. Taylor Brown “We were a pitiful looking lot...and one made pots that at places look as if melted of my little brothers died at that place, by a blowtorch, and there are the mys­ and my mother was almost broken­ terious Hunts and the elegant Joseph hearted, and as the cold clods fell upon Rushton and his classical son-in-law, his coffin, the tears streamed down my Jim Hayden. T. I. and Cyrus Cogburns mothers cheeks and she said, ‘It is hard pieces have the monumentality of an­ to give up my darling boy and see him cient ceremonial vases. buried in a foreign land/” Along the river of clay that is the As these firsthand accounts suggest, Wilcox formation sprouted potteries painful experiences steeled the early pot­ from Arkansas to San Antonio. North ters and were reflected in their work. of Denton into the Red River along the And work they did. In Henderson alone, Eagle Ford/Woodbine formation came which was the Edgefield of Texas, a sort the Denton potters (J. C. Lambert, of Renaissance occurred, producing Thomas Donaldson, John Cranston and some of the finest of early Texas stone­ James Roark) with their flawless preci­ ware. James Prothros work looks like it sion. German immigrants, such as Wil­ is cast in stone; John Leopard s liam Meyer, eventually settled double-fired glazes cascade near San Antonio and brought

Stoneware jar with iron oxide over alkaline glaze, 13½ inches in height, by John Leopard; he worked in Rusk County in East Texas during the third quarter of the 19th century.

Finding clay was not a problem. Deep in the woods near Henderson, close to the cemetery where the Hunt family of potters is buried and next to the long gravestone of the great potter John Leopard, one can see beds of pure white and red clays running side by side in stream cuts. Not far from Jefferson, they could load their work on prairie schooners pulled by longhorn steers or mules and have it shipped by riverboat to places as far away as New Orleans. An early traveler was entranced by “the native beauty...and exuberant fe­ cundity.” Another by “the broad and almost limitless prairie stretched away in the distance and seemed as bound­ less as the mighty ocean, and we looked on with admiration and delight as the sun began to disappear in the west, and looked like burnished gold, as it cast its bright and glistening rays across the Stoneware jug, 19 1/4 inches in height, with alkaline glaze over iron oxide, circa 1850, by John Leopard. boundless prairie, and looked like spar­ kling diamonds upon the waving grass.” But great tragedy was also endured

May 1999 43 County, Georgia. Born in 1808, he was a man of substance who lost three sons in the Civil War (two of them potters), and at age 73 (1881) moved to Lometa, Lampasas County, Texas, with a 40- year-old son. An interesting scientific study was made in 1979 by the office of the state archaeologist, Texas Historical Commis­ sion, of the Kirby Kiln, a mid-19th- century pottery site. This involved the excavation of a groundhog-type kiln; unfortunately, “progress” has destroyed most other 19th-century sites. A pot­ tery enthusiast can still visit the existing Hunt kiln ruin at Henderson in Rusk County, though. Most importantly, examples of the work from these kilns do remain. These humble offerings of our rural past, mas­ terful in execution, subtle but mighty in appearance, communicate values of­ ten missing from our own impaired so­ ciety. The integrity, verity, strength of these vessels still speak to us all, reveal­ ing the ambitions, pride, sweat and toil of the pioneer potters. ▲

Alkaline-glazed stoneware jar, 1 VA inches in height, by James Prothro; he operated a pottery from 1850 to 1860 at Chalk Hill (now under Lake Cherokee) in East Texas.

continental know-how, adjusting it to freely about Texas. Known for their in­ fit Texas needs. dependent spirit and sometimes for their The Rev. John M. Wilson established “spirits,” they were nevertheless wel­ an interracial dynasty of potters charac­ comed because of their knowledge and teristic of the post-Civil War climate ability, and the fact that they could im­ and the spirit of Texas independence. part secrets learned elsewhere. Some of Hiram Wilson, who had been his slave, the relatives and friends of Brown, Stoneware jar with alkaline glaze, started his own pottery. Other Wilsons, Prothro, Leopard, Rushton and Donald­ 15 inches in height, circa 1870, James and Wallace (both black), unre­ son are among the restless spirits one stamped JH, by Jim Hayden; lated to Hiram, followed. encounters in the records. he worked at Rushton Pottery “Tramp potters,” as Bill Gordy jok­ Texas also drew established potters in East Texas from 1868 to 1900. ingly called itinerant potters, moved such as Jesse Bradford Long of Crawford

44 CERAMICS MONTHLY Porcelain Containers for Ikehana Flower Arranging by Angela Fina

Ikebana bowl, 6½ inches in height, wheel-thrown and altered porcelain, with layered dipped and sprayed glaze, fired to Cone 11 in heavy reduction, $120.

kebana flower arranging is a Japanese asked to meet me. Subsequently, this of containers. The height, depth, color, Iart with many schools or styles, rang­ master of the art became my mentor in texture and especially the width of the ing from the very spare, rigorously struc­ the requirements of containers for opening are very exact for each of the tured to exuberantly modern free styles. ikenobo arranging, the most classical many types of arrangements within About eight years ago, an ikebana artist school of ikebana. I immediately felt each school. There are different color asked me to make a 16-inch-wide flared attracted to the aesthetics of the art and and surface requirements for different flat bowl similar to one from Japan that the containers, and was interested in seasons, and for different plant materi­ she had broken. I was happy to make it, entering into a collaborative relation­ als. But just as potters find freedom as I loved the form, and I did have a ship with these floral artists. within the constraints of other func­ similar persimmon glaze. When she took It takes some time to learn the tech­ tional forms (such as the teapot), I have this bowl to her ikebana class, the teacher nical requirements of the different types found that once I understand the un-

May 1999 45 derlying requirements of ikebana con­ tainers, I am free to explore shapes, col­ ors and surfaces. I very much enjoy working with the arrangers, as they are serious, disciplined artists, who spend a lifetime studying and trying to perfect their art. I have taken beginner courses in two schools of arranging and have learned great re­ spect for the difficulty of making a suc­ cessful composition. In return, I am honored by the respect the arrangers have for the potters art. When I get it right, there is an informed appreciation of my work that is very encouraging. The containers for the more classical schools of ikebana need to have an

Ikebana vase, 14 inches in height, porcelain with layered glaze, fired to Cone 11 in heavy reduction, $110.

Ikebana vase, 19 inches in height, wheel-thrown porcelain, glazed by dipping and spraying, fired to Cone 11 in heavy reduction, $130.

46 CERAMICS MONTHLY Ikebana bowl, 8½ inches in height, wheel-thrown and altered porcelain, with layered glaze, fired to Cone 11 in heavy reduction, $120, by Angela Fina, Amherst, Massachusetts.

anonymous character, very unlike the The ikebana containers in this ar­ American insistence on self-conscious ticle are from a solo show at the Ferrin Angela Fina Porcelain Body personal expression. One Japanese pro­ Gallery in Northampton, Massachu­ (Cone 11) fessor explained that the pots must be setts. The show was a nice opportunity G-200 Feldspar...... 22 lb devoid of ego. Vessels that are powerful to push some forms by doing shape 6 Tile Clay...... 50 personal statements, complete in them­ evolutions and to develop new glazes. Flint (325 mesh) ...... 13 selves, are not suitable for a dialogue Each of the four weeks the show was Pyrophyllite...... 12 with the art of the arranger. The pot up, I invited arrangers from different Veegum T...... 2 must not fight for attention, but should schools to make arrangements in any 99 lb be a cooperative part of the total pre­ containers they wished, which made for Add 8 ounces Epsom salts to the water sentation. a lively experience. before adding the clay. My ikebana containers are made from One never can stop learning about This recipe is based on a Jane Peiser Cone 11 porcelain, as that is the mate­ the specific requirements of ikebana con­ clay body that probably originated at rial I have used for 20 years. Porcelain tainers, as they are changing all the time. Alfred University. I use only 22% feld­ allows for refinement of form and clar­ But the research and constant updating spar because I fire to Cone 11 flat, but ity of color and, of course, is watertight. are enjoyable to me. As a production anyone firing to Cone 9 or 10 should I mostly throw, or throw and alter these potter who makes over 2000 pots a probably use 25%. I prefer 6 Tile to pieces, but I also extrude, slab build and year, the necessity to learn and change other kaolins because it throws better. slump mold some shapes. Efficiency of means Im never stuck or bored crank­ Flocculating the clay with Epsom salts also makes it easier to throw. The pyro­ production and reasonable pricing are ing out the same pots for years. I am phyllite helps prevent cracking and Vee­ very important considerations, as I make still grateful to the arranger who came gum T is an excellent plasticizer. my living selling pots. to me with a broken bowl. A

May 1999 47 “Inward Spiral,” 7 inches in height, porcelain and stoneware, $800, by Beth Cavener Stichter. New Beginnings by Beth Cavener Stichter

(ten, one of the first questions people neutron stars through my artwork. the language of clay, but needed to figure 0:ask me is “Where did all this come Then I received the staggering news of out what I wanted to say. from?” I have a reservoir of clever an­ my parents’ impending divorce. Little At that point, my ideas were scat­ swers, but the truth is the two people did I know the ending of their relation­ tered in so many directions, I spent who raised me have an incredible ap­ ship would act as a catalyst for my more time staring at blank pages in my preciation for the natural world, on the mother’s and my own artistic careers, as sketchbook than working in clay. I was most minute and grandiose scales. My well as signal the beginning of our fighting the age-old dilemma of craft: mother, Nancy Jacobsohn, is a sculptor; unique friendship. versus fine art. Throughout my four she taught me the language of clay I spent the following year studying years at Haverford, I had been taught (which I sometimes feel I speak more on scholarship in Florence, Italy. Upon that clay was simply an intermediary fluently than English), and fueled my my return, I apprenticed with sculptor material, to be used only for practice or desire to communicate my ideas with Alan LeQuire in Nashville, where I as a prelude to bronze casting. But I had my hands. My father is a molecular learned about mold making and the grown up with a love for the material biologist; he and I spent endless hours bronze casting process. After graduat­ itself. Stepping across that fine line, I staring at the night sky while he stretched ing with a B.A. from Haverford College feared the craft world would not em­ the seams of my imagination with tales in Pennsylvania, I spent an intense se­ brace my ideas as a ceramics sculptor. I of recombinant DNA and evolutionary mester building my portfolio at the Ap­ chose to walk along the line itself, as did battles on the microscopic scale. palachian Center for Crafts in Tennessee, my mother, each of us leaning toward a I spent the first 21 years of my life trying to discover who I was as an artist. different side. studying science, working summers in Prior to my time at the craft center, Throughout my teenage years, my my fathers lab and paving the way to my education had involved a very clas­ mother and I lived miles apart in the Ph.D.-dom. Toward the end of college, sical approach to the fine arts. I had same house. The only gap in the stone my astronomy and physics studies dis­ concentrated on honing my skills on wall we had built between us was a integrated into numbers and pages of the human figure, while ignoring the shared love for horses. By the time I was equations. I was a long way from the creative side of my work. When I faced 13 and going through a severe emo­ ghostly touch of awe that had led me the challenge of building a portfolio to tional depression, my only solace was down this path. It was then that my approach galleries, I realized my work the horse I had saved for since I was 6 first language resurfaced, and I found lacked coherence and didn’t truly reflect years old. Here is where my mother and my way back to insect exoskeletons and any part of myself. I had rediscovered I found common ground. We made an

48 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Ananse’s Jar,” 27 inches in height, raku-fired stoneware with stains, inks, and acrylic, $2400, by Beth Cavener Stichter.

May 1999 49 “Tomorrow We Ride,” 16½ inches in height, smoked stoneware with oxides, $1200, a collaboration by Beth Cavener Stichter and Nancy Jacobsohn.

brought the two of us together, and has provided us both with the necessary tools to make our careers a reality.

About the Work My own investigation has centered on three different means of expression. I chose to work with insects because of the fascinating mixture of fear, revul­ sion and awe that they inspire in most everyone. I created my own mythology “Horse God,” 16 inches in height, $500, handbuilt, in which strange alien creatures disguise raku-fired stoneware, by Nancy Jacobsohn. themselves with our own human nature and culture. There is a long tradition of insect representation in mythology, superstition and folklore, uneasy alliance and somehow managed she and I had worked to achieve. To the which has provided me with an endless to buy two horses, supporting them doctor’s amazement, she fought her way source of dark and whimsical images. with second jobs and pinched pennies. to a full recovery from the operation, It seems only natural that another In the difficult years before I left for and was eventually able to bring the frequently occurring subject in my work college, the horses somehow kept our horses back into her life. is the hand. Aside from our faces, our tenuous relationship together. As time passed and we put our lives hands are one of the most expressive During my junior year, I learned not back together, the two of us forged a features of the human body. Lastly, I only that my parents were about to be stronger relationship. In the last three have found simple grace in the visual divorced, but my mother also required years, we have each taken the giant leap rhythms of muscle, bone and sinew, a potentially dangerous back operation into the unknown. My mother, starting and these elements have woven them­ as a result of childhood polio. The doc­ a new business of her own, and myself, selves into many of my pieces. Through tors advised her to sell the horses, claim­ fresh from college, have set out on simi­ this formalistic abstraction of organic, ing she would no longer be capable of lar paths of discovery of ourselves and mechanical and subconscious forms, I riding or taking care of them. It seemed our work. It has been an exhilarating can reexamine the everyday world, sug­ like a bitter end to the dream that both and unnerving experience that has gesting a different way of looking that

50 CERAMICS MONTHLY will encourage viewers to look closely to coil built from the legs up over metal- keep her booth filled at each craft fair. see what is there. rod armatures. The rods are held up­ We began talking tentatively about the My mothers work has evolved from right by bats with holes drilled through; idea of pooling our resources and creat­ her passion for horses. During the re­ once the piece is leather hard, the rods ing a mother/daughter show. covery period after her back surgery, she are pulled out through the bat. In order to present our work to the was in a great deal of pain and very galleries (as well as for applications to discouraged, so the doctor urged her to Putting Together a Show the craft fairs), we were advised not to spend as much time in the studio as she Faced with the necessity of selling scrimp on photography. I am convinced could. The limit then was about 15 our artwork, my mother and I each felt that having our work photographed pro­ minutes, and all she could make were the need to approach a few galleries to fessionally was the most crucial step of beads. So she made piles and piles of see about arranging a show. Having been all. From my own experience managing them. When my mother was able to involved in the arts community around the gallery, I had learned quickly that sculpt again, she made a horse with a Nashville for the better part of ten years, self-promotion made the difference be­ beaded mane and tail that she called she was fortunate to have developed a tween success and failure. “The Horse God.” It wasn’t that she number of contacts who were willing to Realizing that most gallery person­ thought it had any supernatural power, take a look at her work. The most per­ nel would not take the time or have the but it was invested with all her pain, sistent problem the two of us faced from means to view our slides on a projector, regrets and unrealized dreams. She has the very beginning was that neither of I also put together a portfolio of 5x7- made many horse gods since then, and us actually had enough pieces to fill an inch prints to bring with us when we she tells customers that each comes with entire show. approached them in person. My mother three wishes. While it isn’t guaranteed At the time, I was managing a gal­ also had a stack of postcards printed that he will grant them, she does guar­ lery in Columbus, Ohio, and was with photos of her wrork that she car­ antee he will listen and consider them. finding it hard to squeeze time and en­ ried around in place of business cards. The bodies of her horses and other ergy out of my day for the studio. Mean­ These seemed to be quite effective and quadrupeds are quite massive in rela­ while, my mother’s work was selling so not as easily misplaced or forgotten. tion to their long thin legs, so they are well that she found it a challenge to As we set out to find an interested

“Gone,” 15 inches in height, handbuilt stoneware “Giraffe,” 19 inches in height, glazed stoneware with white crackle glaze, raku fired, $400, with stained beads, raku fired, $700, by Nancy by Nancy Jacobsohn. Jacobsohn, Sparta, Tennessee.

May 1999 51 “Vessel #2,” 20 inches in height, stoneware, with brown glaze and black stain streaks, $775, by Beth Cavener Stichter, Columbus, Ohio.

gallery in Nashville, we began keeping a list of the questions that seemed most helpful in refining our search: Which galleries currently carry work Beth Cavener Stichter and her mother, Nancy Jacobsohn, not only similar to ours but also in our preparing to remove a piece from the kiln for postfiring reduction. price ranges? We first scouted out some of the galleries that carried high-end craft and sculpture, attending openings and special focus exhibits. Looking in the paper for galleries that advertised these events was helpful, and we appre­ ciated the fact that they took some trouble to publicize. This approach was extremely useful, as we were able to talk to the artist(s) at receptions and ask questions about the gallery and how the show was handled. What area of the gallery is available for a show? With both of us creating work on the medium to large scale, we were concerned about pieces being jammed together. We found out quickly that you should be greedy—ask for as much space as the gallery can relin­ quish, then do your best to fill it up. The piece is nestled in newspaper and other combustibles, Also consider making pieces to go on then a horse watering trough positioned over all. the wall in order to maximize the effect of the body of work How many pieces are needed to fill the space provided? One factor, which

52 CERAMICS MONTHLY neither my mother nor I had consid­ How far in advance should the pieces how much customers appreciated this ered, was that the gallery would want to be delivered? May the artist help with small gesture. I used to explain to my retain a few pieces on consignment. This the setup? Most galleries like to have employees that in the fine arts market, meant that we both had to scramble two or three days to set up the show, so people are more interested in buying a like mad to make enough work for the it is wise, especially for long-distance piece of the artist. You hear of people next show. Having enough pieces to shows, to agree on a setup date a month owning a Van Gogh or a Picasso. In the replace items that sell is also an impor­ in advance. craft market, people are also buying the tant consideration. In summary, we found it is a good materials and the techniques; e.g., a raku What display options are available idea to do your homework and check vase or a hand-carved figure. Combin­ (sculpture stands, cases, vitrines to cover out the galleries before approaching ing the two—providing information delicate work, wall space)? It is also a them. Have a resume, a brief biogra­ about yourself and how the piece was good idea to ask if it is possible to store phy, a sheet of professional slides and a made—helps the potential customer rec­ your boxes and packing material at the business card at hand. Also, one of the ognize the time, craftsmanship and per­ gallery for the duration of the show. I most valuable lessons I gathered from sonality involved in the work. All these lived eight hours away from the first worldng in a gallery was the fact that small details make a huge difference, show we did together, and since the most of the buying public do not know and are well worth the extra minutes. gallery was short on storage space, I had how to value your work. In our gallery, For the moment, I am content work­ to haul a whole van load of packing all the work was accompanied by infor­ ing in my basement studio, calling forth material away and back after setup and mation cards telling a little about the images and dissecting my surroundings, before tear down. artist, where he or she is from, and how not thinking too much about tomor­ How does the gallery handle insur­ the work is made. I couldn’t believe row. It is still the beginning. A ance for breakage and theft? The hard­ est lesson I have learned in this whole experience is that it is important to have an understanding in writing before Recipes agreeing to do a show. I had several pieces innocently chipped or broken, Vince Pitelkas Raku Body This is a tried-and-true clear crackle not by customers, but by the gallery (Cone 8-10) glaze, which was passed along to personnel as they moved or rearranged Ball Clay...... 25 % Nancy Jacobsohn by Harry Hearne. the display. You’d be surprised how few Cedar Heights Goldart...... 25 She applies it with a horsehair brush. people realize picking up a 20-pound Fireclay...... 25 sculpture by a 2-inch protrusion is not Fine Grog...... 25 a good idea. Dry Alligator Rust Raku Glaze What are the pricing and payment 100% Bone Ash ...... 2 parts Gersdey Borate...... 4 arrangements? The standard commis­ Beth Cavener Stichter uses this clay Nepheline Syenite...... 1 sion for most galleries is a 60:40 agree­ body for most of her large-scale pieces. Copper Carbonate...... 1 ment (60% for the artist, 40% for the It builds very quickly, and holds up gallery), although we have run into a well against cracking or warping. 8 parts few where it is 50:50. In the latter case, Jacobsohn “inherited” this recipe from it may be impractical for the artist to White Stoneware Tile Body Nancy Humeniuk. She uses a mouth deal with that much of a cut and can (Cone 8-10) sprayer for a thin application. WTien affect the decision whether to even show G-200 Feldspar...... 45 lb applied thickly, it produces an inter­ at that gallery. Ball Clay...... 60 esting cratered surface. How long will the show be on dis­ Cedar Heights Goldart...... 60 play? We found that about a month was Edgar Plastic Kaolin...... 90 Vince Pitelkas Smooth Matt Glaze the best length of time. It leaves plenty Flint...... 45 (Cone 5-8) of time for word-of-mouth and news­ Fine Grog...... 45 Dolomite...... 18% paper reviews to generate publicity. 345 lb Whiting...... 4 Does the gallery have a publicity plan Nepheline Syenite...... 17 (e.g., a postcard for the show, mailing This recipe is a modified basic stone­ Potash Feldspar...... 40 list, ad in the paper, TV spots or flyers)? ware body from the Appalachian Cen­ Ball Clay...... 11 It is customary for the gallery to do ter for Crafts. Stichter uses it for Kaolin...... 10 some publicity, but it is best if you come pressed tiles. prepared with a press release, good slides 100% for the newspaper and your own mail­ Clear Crackle Raku Glaze This clear glaze is applied over the ing list. After a few shows, we decided Gerstley Borate...... 80% surface of slips and stains to give depth to print our own postcard, leaving the Nepheline Syenite...... 20 of color. It is usually sprayed on lightly backs blank for information about fu­ 100% with a mouth sprayer. ture exhibitions.

May 1999 53 Studio Ceramists in Finland by Elaine Levin

Studio ceramists have Finnish ceramist increasingly become Karin Widnas had part of a global com­ urged Howard Smith munity. We read of and his wife, Finnish this phenomenon ceramist Erna Aal­ regularly in reports of Erna Aaltonen and Howard Smith; the couple recently moved from Helsinki tonen, to join the to a small village in southern Finland to join a growing arts community. workshops, symposia village’s clay commu­ and conferences at nity. Smith and Aal­ which ceramists from tonen are typical many nations gather together, often in tions of an urban area. As the commu­ residents, in their Finnish/American col­ remote locations around the world. nity grew, the idea of letting the rest of laboration as designer and ceramist and One recent example of a mixture of the world know about the artists of in their association with Arabia. Smith nationalities congregated in May 1998 Fiskars evolved into the first interna­ trained at the Pennsylvania Academy in southern Finland for an “Interna­ tional exhibition for woodworkers, of Fine Arts. During the turbulent tional Ceramics Exhibition.” The set­ which was presented in 1993. 1960s, when life for black Americans ting was the picturesque village of The Fiskars Company, manufactur­ was particularly unsettling, he attended Fiskars, serenely located in the country­ ers of scissors and tools, owns the village the International Student Movement side amid lush hills and a meandering land, and encourages the influx of art­ Youth Festival in Helsinki. After the stream about an hour by train from ists. Together with a number of British festival ended and with help from the Helsinki. European, Australian, Asian and Nordic ceramics companies, em­ friends he had made there, he estab­ and American ceramists were invited to bassies and Arabia, the well-known Finn­ lished a studio, which he maintained participate. In addition, industrially pro­ ish ceramics factory of Helsinki, it has for 14 years, exhibiting collages, paint­ duced utility wares and experimental helped finance the exhibitions. ings, sculpture and drawings. He also work from small manufacturers were In recent years, a number of ceram­ designed interior fabrics and served as also represented. Of the 47 ceramists in ists have relocated to this village as well. a color consultant to architects. the show, a large number attended the Because previous exhibitions had not An opportunity to teach art in south­ opening and the seminar that followed. included daywork, the group of nine ern California brought Smith back to Although it might seem unusual as ceramists now living in Fiskars decided the states for eight years. When he re­ the location for an international exhibi­ the time had come to promote their turned to Helsinki in 1985, it was as a tion, the village is an artists’ colony. The medium. Some of them teach at the guest artist/designer at Arabia, the por­ area was discovered some years ago by University in Helsinki, while others are celain factory that has been at the fore­ artists working in various materials who full-time potters, designing for ceramic front of Finnish design for decades. were attracted by the area’s natural factories and selling their work at galler­ Scandinavian countries have a long tra­ beauty and the prospect of living close ies throughout Scandinavia and Europe. dition of giving artists a studio within a to nature. The woodworkers, weavers Although the majority are Finnish, Suku factory in which to do their own work and designers who settled there spread Park emigrated from Korea; Howard and also to design for production. the word to their fellow artists about a Smith, an artist and ceramics designer, Arabia was established by Rorstrand tranquil place far away from the distrac­ is an American. of Sweden, one of the oldest porcelain

54 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Eurus,” approximately 16 inches in height, by Erna Aaltonen.

“Isis,” approximately 23 inches in height, by Erna Aaltonen.

May 1999 55 Limited-edition plate, 13 inches in diameter, designed by Howard Smith for Arabia as part of the Drummer Collection.

manufacturers in Scandinavia. Opened some he could keep, in 1873, when Finland was part of the others Arabia pur­ Russian Empire, Arabia supplied ware chased. The variety for the Russian market. During this early and ingenuity of his period, when it was not important to designs prompted the be original, Arabia simply produced cop­ export manager to re­ A mask by Howard Smith; displayed at the “International ies of Swedish and English ceramics. quest that he develop Ceramics Exhibition,” in Fiskars, Finland. Then in 1917, when Finland became a line for production. independent of Russia, Arabia cut its He titled the result­ ties to Sweden. In the post-World War ing limited edition of plates, vases, bowls clock faces are replaced with a raised II period, the renowned designer, Kaj and wall pieces the “Drummer Collec­ line, some numbers enlarged as though Franck introduced the modern, unclut­ tion.” His title for the series refers to the signaling an important part of the day. tered style that has become associated drum, an African instrument of com­ Humor is also part of another series with Finnish ceramics. munication. In Smiths view, his art is of plates from that period that he kept in For two years, working in a studio at also a type of communication. his own collection. More organic than Arabia, Smith was given the freedom to Many of his designs for plates be­ the others, the decoration is a stylistic make whatever he liked, using any came part of Arabia’s regular produc­ profile of a distinctly African face, a cur­ equipment he needed. Although he had tion. The geometric and organic vaceous image that appears in other ma­ had some experience with clay, having combinations of lines and patterns terials he has worked with, but also on worked with a studio potter who was reflect the timeless quality of contem­ tiles and in the ceramic masks he dis­ affiliated with the Philadelphia Acad­ porary Finnish art. One plate in this played in the international exhibition. emy of Art, Arabia at first assigned him group floats curvaceous black rectangles Aaltonen’s Imowledge of glazes, cast­ a Finnish technical assistant, Erna Aal­ on a deep blue sea, reminiscent of an ing, mold making and firing helped tonen. She had come to Arabia after aerial view of the many ships anchored Smith’s designs come to life. In 1988, attending Kuopio Academy of Handi­ in Helsinki’s harbor. after leaving Arabia, the two established craft and Industrial Design. The factory He was also asked to design a series Studio Arteos in a three-story former had offered her more training and the of clocks for Pro Arte, a division of paper factory in Tervakoski, a small town opportunity to do glaze research. Her Arabia offering limited editions of new north of Helsinki. The building had knowledge of production methods made work by Finnish artists. In commenting several saunas (ubiquitous in Scandina­ her a valued assistant to guest artists. on the clocks, Smith noted, “There’s a vian countries). Smith converted one During his time at Arabia, Smith dash of humor in all I do, a grin or a into a studio for handbuilding, mixing produced a prodigious amount of work; smile.” Indeed, some numbers on the glazes and storage, and they kept an­

56 CERAMICS MONTHLY other for personal use, but rebuilt the them to participate in group or one- antiquity through the appearance of a dressing rooms into bedrooms. Other person exhibitions, and work together weathered surface, along with the infer­ areas became Aaltonens studio, a show­ on commissions in Finland and Eu­ ence of space flight and the future room, a living room and kitchen. rope. Eventually, however, a number of through the attachment and incorpora­ Looking for ideas for multiples while inconveniences inherent in the three- tion of mechanical elements. paging through a book on birds, story Tervakoski building convinced The clay gears, spirals and fluting on Aaltonen suggested that they make a them they needed to find more ame­ these sleek vessels support long, carved bird in clay. The first, named “Timo” nable space, one closer to nature, to a necks and glyphlike knobs on lids, de­ (short for Timothy) for a friend who yard, a garden, trees and birds—most tails that also come from Aaltonen’s ear­ had died, combined, according to Smith, of all, a place not requiring supplies to lier interest in old Finnish ornaments. “the attributes of an owl and a robin.” be carried up a hundred steps. When The spiral has been a consistent theme, Produced with matt glazes of deep blue, their friend Karen Widnas told them coming from her school years when she canary yellow, velvet black and snow about Fiskars, they visited the area and was making beads. Variations on the white, “Timo” was a best seller for de­ were immediately charmed. They soon spiral wind around a long tubular wall partment stores throughout Europe. found an old building they could buy piece titled “Joki (The River).” Always looking for innovative de­ to convert into a home and two studios. As part of the Fiskars Cooperative of signs, Arabia kept in touch with the In the two years since their move, artists and a member of the planning couple. As a result, a few years later, the most of their plans have been realized. committee for the “International Ce­ prototype of “Timo” was sold to Arabia, Aaltonen’s studio on the ground level is ramics Exhibition,” Aaltonen coordi­ which now handles production and fully equipped with two electric kilns nated a seminar during which the worldwide marketing. Recently, other and an electric potter’s wheel. She is Australian, Latvian, Finnish and Ameri­ small and large, wide-eyed birds have currently working on a series of 2- and can participants showed slides and dis­ joined “Timo,” including an aggressively 3-foot-high handbuilt forms inspired by cussed the influences on their work. In inquisitive crow. All were featured in a Egyptian and Mediterranean storage addition to “finding stimulation from recent display at Stockmann, Helsinki’s vessels she had seen in a museum in our cultural heritage, from nature and foremost department store. Stockholm, as well as familiar, old Scan­ our environment,” she observed, “art­ Studio Arteos met Smith and dinavian cooking pots. These vessels ists always absorb ideas from the work Aaltonen’s needs for eight years, enabling have a duality in their suggestion of of others.” A

‘Joki (The River),” 59 inches in length, carved wall form, 1997, by Erna Aaltonen

May 1999 57 The Making of an Artist by Joel Betancourt

mong the academic assignments to move back and forth with my work. A students must complete to earn I make loose and classical pots at the those highly prized diplomas are some same time, even on the same day. I that are actually quite enjoyable as well make certain types of pots for different as informative. Such was the case for firing techniques. The reality of it is me at Florida Atlantic University when that I work for myself and I love all the the senior fine-art students were required different things that I make equally. It’s to interview an artist working in the all connected. field. I was given the chance to question Interviewer: If your work has always Atlanta potter Rick Berman on his work had this energy and loose quality, do and his thoughts on the artist’s life. you recall what caused you to work in His responses to a questionnaire were such a way? incorporated into a slide lecture for the Berman: The pots that I loved from the other senior B.F.A. students. The pre­ first day were the nasty wood-fired Japa­ sentation helped us look deeper into “Salku Vase,” 12 inches in height, nese pots from the ancient kilns and, of Bermans work and into another much- tumble stacked with charcoal and salt, course, those by Peter Voulkos. I think ignored area—the making of an artist: fired to Cone 10. he is the most gifted clay person that ever lived, so how could I not be Interviewer: Who has influenced you ing people hope and being uplifting. influenced by him and his knowledge? artistically? Sometimes it happens; sometimes it Interviewer: What form of preparation Berman: My first teacher, John Nygren, doesn’t. do you undertake before working on a seems to keep showing up in my work. Interviewer: What caused you to study series? Are you a planner? Do you start He came from Cranbrook in 1968 to and dedicate your life to art? off by making sketches, or do you go set up a ceramics and sculpture pro­ Berman: After being a classic under­ straight to work? gram at the University of North Caro­ achiever throughout my whole school Berman: I go straight to work with lina, Wilmington. I took Monday night career and literally flunking out of col­ an overall plan, but don’t know where ceramics just for fun, and just kept go­ lege in 1963,1 just simply found what I it will take me. I am very fortunate to ing. He has been a glassblower from was interested in doing at 24. Up until have a repertoire of forms and tech­ then to now. We still keep in touch. that time, the only art I had seen was in niques that has developed over the Interviewer: Are there any influences bathrooms. The only two things I liked years to draw from. I think now that outside of ceramics or even outside of in school were shop in the eighth grade even if I didn’t get anything new for art? For example, have any writers in­ and mechanical drawing in the tenth. It the rest of my life, I’d still have plenty fluenced your work? just wasn’t the time yet to put two and to work with. Berman: I’m probably more influenced two together. Interviewer: Are there any other projects by music than anything else. I rarely see When you really find what you like you would like to try in the future? Any a piece of art that intoxicates like music. to do, that subject will teach itself to different approaches to your current Sliding blues, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, you. Once that learning energy is work; maybe working larger, pushing Led Zeplin, Hendrix, bluegrass, all kinds opened, you can learn all kinds of stuff your work to a greater sculptural realm get me. without even trying. I feel extremely or creating installations, etc.? Interviewer: What is the role of an art­ fortunate to have this type of life this Berman: One of my goals is to make a ist within a society? How does art add time around. series of maquettes that can be made to a society? Interviewer: Your work has a great deal into huge steel and wood sculptures. Berman: To try to make some contri­ of energy and action. Each form almost Interviewer: What do you try to cap­ bution to humanity, just like everyone moves in front of the viewer. Have you ture with your work? else s role. Art has the potential to add a always worked in such a manner? If Berman: An object that truly moves lot: beauty and love, expanding con­ not, why the change? and intoxicates someone...whereby the sciousness, teaching ancient truths, giv­ Berman: I have always had the freedom maker, the object and the viewer are a

58 CERAMICS MONTHLY Glazed bottle, 8 inches in height, raku fired.

May 1999 59 completed circle of understanding. Not made for the commercial world, not made for the acceptance of the masses, but made for pure joy and love and wholeness. Interviewer: What does a work have to possess to be successful? Berman: Total commitment. Life and death conviction. Interviewer: Are there any areas of pro­ duction you find difficult to deal with while working? Berman: I always have too many things to do in a day. I’m always rushed, but recently I realized that I do my best work when I rush. I think less when I work fast. The less I think, the better. Interviewer: I know that it is very difficult to be a working artist. Is there anything that keeps you going? Berman: I can’t really answer that ques­ tion except to say that it is my destiny, and I can’t imagine not making things with my hands. I am obsessed with recording my life with objects and hav­ ing a job whereby I have real things to look at, at the end of the day, that prove that I exist. Interviewer: In our class, we are all about to enter the “real world.” Can you tell us what were your biggest obstacles to overcome as an artist? Berman: Caring what other people think, financial worries, living in the same intellectual and social world as the wealthiest class, and earning less money than garbagemen. When I look back over the past 30 years, I tell you that it has been a miracle that I have survived, raised three great kids and never been Raku vase, 10 inches in height, by Rick Berman, Atlanta. in debt. Interviewer: Do you have any advice to give us, or any words of wisdom? Berman: I do think it’s important to study the history of your craft. I feel I will say that from the first week or Don’t rule out teaching in public that too big of a majority of this new so when I started working as a potter in and private schools. College jobs are wave of clay people know very little 1968,1 knew that if I were to survive, I rare, although lots of people will retire about their ancestors. You should be would have to have a teaching job. Well, in the next ten years. Also, don’t think writing research papers and going to I just got one in September of 1998. its just tough for potters. What about museums, taking all the art history avail­ My colleagues are all retiring, and I just jazz musicians, dancers, actors, writers? able to you. Build kilns and get dirty. got a job. I teach ceramics and sculp­ The list goes on and on. Live on your Look and smell and see and feel. Don’t ture in the upper school at Pace Acad­ wits, and you’ll make it. let this McPottery generation eliminate emy here in Atlanta. Interviewer: Is there anything you stress your senses. This is the first time my family has to your graduating students? If you work with conviction and live ever had health insurance. Already, this Berman: Go study with someone who your life in a loving way, the universe school year I have had more vacations you really admire. Facilities are about will provide everything you need—not than I’ve had in 30 years, and that doesn’t the same everywhere. Humans make everything you want, but everything even count this coming summer. I love the difference. Do everything you do you need. my job. with total conviction. ▲

60 CERAMICS MONTHLY Visiting Banff Centre for the Arts by Mel Malinowski

had lived in Saskatchewan, where we formed a sort of informal commune on my wife’s family farm. It was during that time that Lynne, already a potter, taught me how to throw. The lessons stayed with me, and I eventually set up my own pottery, first in Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan, and later in Saskatoon. Lynne had not potted for a few years and with the subversive notion of get­ ting her back into clay, I had also sug­ gested on the phone that perhaps we make a tour of the Banff Centre for the Arts. So, it was agreed and I contacted Ed Bamiling in the ceramics depart­ ment (e-mail is so easy), asking if that would be possible and if he would be around. He was kind enough to agree. I had communicated with Ed by e-mail several times over the past few years, but had never met him in person, so I was looking forward to that as well. I was keen to get going and the weekend did not disappoint. Located on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, Canada’s Banff Centre for Getting back to the adage of the the Arts is a muse-filled venue for artists who wish to stretch themselves artistically. journey, one can hardly imagine a nicer trip in terms of visual power and beauty than are encountered as one leaves the etting there is half the fun. That Alberta plains and enters the Rockies. old adage came to mind sev­ West of Calgary, we drove into the foot­ Geral times as my wife, our hills, past some very impressive scenery youngest daughter and I pointed our and lovely acreage. “A nice area to set car west from our home in Saskatoon, up a pottery,” I thought several times. Saskatchewan, Canada, heading for the Then we were on the Trans-Canada Rocky Mountains. It was the Canadian and soon arrived in Canmore eager for Thanksgiving weekend. Coming early the weekend. in October each year, the holiday is After greeting our friends and set­ always a good time to get away before tling into our accommodations, we all winter sets in for its long, cold, five- to crammed into Harvey’s car and headed six-month stay. to Banff for a tour of the town itself We had contacted friends who live before going to the center. Banff is one in the northern region of British Co­ of Canada’s brightest jewels when it lumbia on the other side of the Rockies comes to tourism. Literally millions of _ ... . ,. xx x and had made plans to spend the week- visitors from all over the world come Ed Bamiling in his Banff studio. , , *« end together at Canmore, Alberta, just each year to this natural wonder on the a few minutes east of Banff. Years ago, eastern slopes of the majestic Rocky in the early eighties, our friends (Harv Mountains. Wherever you go, be it on and Lynne and their young children) the streets, in a shop or on a trail, you

May 1999 61 will hear any one of a dozen or so differ­ The Banff Centre is a multidisci­ time zones, several international bor­ ent languages spoken more often than plinary campus spread throughout a ders and in several languages. The con­ you will hear English. The Japanese and number of architecturally impressive cepts and the projects can, and often the Germans especially have adopted buildings. They are built in a rather do, lead one into areas hitherto not Banff as one of their favorite vacation eclectic mix of styles, all of which fit even considered. Lives, careers and phi­ spots. Rumor has it that a Japanese busi­ well into the landscape and have a lot to losophies have been changed and nessman can bring his whole family over offer anyone who chooses to attend. It honed as a result of spending time at for a week-long holiday while he golfs is not a university or a college in the the Banff Centre. for less than he would have to pay for a normal sense, but rather a place of cre­ Ed Bamiling has had the good for­ round in Tokyo. In addition to the great ative freedom, a muse-filled venue for tune of having been directly involved golfing, these visitors come for the artists who wish to stretch themselves with the center for over ten years, first mountains, the hiking, the skiing, the while having daily contact with others as program assistant in the ceramics de­ shops, the galleries, the first-class lodg­ of like mind. partment before moving to the position ing and the gourmet meals. Artists of all disciplines come here of facilitator, which he still holds. Spend­ The word shibui comes to mind from all over the world to take advan­ ing two and a half hours with him on a whenever I visit the Banff Centre for tage of the creative residencies offered at lovely, sun-drenched autumn afternoon the Arts. Roughly translated, shibui is the center, and the contacts they make in that setting would convert any non­ Japanese for hidden elegance. Elegance can last a lifetime. Joint projects have believer. However, conversion was never may not be the best word here in terms been conceived and started that have an issue, as I had gone through that of what the center is all about, but it is continued far beyond the scope and transformation the first time I set eyes close. It is certainly hidden, however, range of the center. Often, thanks to on the place a dozen years ago. nestled in and amongst the pines above modern communication and travel, His passion shows when Bamiling the town. these projects continue across several speaks about what the ceramics depart-

Paper-clay composition, approximately 24 inches in length, by Ed Bamiling.

Untitled vessel, approximately 30 inches in height, handbuilt stoneware, by Ed Bamiling.

62 CERAMICS MONTHLY A deck lounge is adjacent to the outdoor kiln area,

ment can offer anyone who comes to ties. By mixing up to 30% paper pulp fertile.... Things blossom very quickly,” Banff looking for growth, creative time into the clay, he is able to fire forms that Bamiling observed. and creative space. “To me, that is one a standard clay would not allow. One Many of the participants become so of the strongest aspects of this environ­ large, thick slab piece proved that sim­ absorbed in their projects, collective or ment. We have a context here.” ply by surviving a raku firing. private, there can be a huge adjustment Bamiling, too, has gone through sev­ For Bamiling, the Banff Centre is a when they return to their normal lives. eral stages of growth, and when I asked place for artists to bring ideas, to nur­ This fertile studio environment is not him to show me some of his work, I ture those ideas, and to make them one to easily walk away from. was treated to a haphazard and eclectic grow to completion. It is a place to The time spent with Ed Bamiling at retrospective of sorts. Many of these create undisturbed. It is also a place in the Banff Centre went by all too quickly, pieces were what could be called ab­ which to interact with others in other and while I was driving back to Can- stracted vessels. They spanned several disciplines. The ceramics department is more just a few miles through the moun­ years of growth and experimentation, only one of many disciplines at the Banff tains to the east, I reflected on my visit. and appeared to have been created (as Centre. Others include drama, elec­ The Banff Centre is obviously a place are all good creations) as works in tronic media, music and creative writ­ to stretch oneself artistically, a rare place progress. They progress until at some ing, photography, painting, printmaking where everyone around is also engaged point he feels they are done. and video. All have subsections as well. in intensive creative exploration. Then A major influence on his work is the The informality of the institution is there is the opportunity to be exposed study and appreciation of ancient cul­ another big plus. Everyone comes to to the ideas and concepts of others who tures. For this reason, he has traveled work, but this work is done in the artist’s are on different creative paths and wave­ numerous times to the American South­ own way, in the artists own time. And lengths. To Ed Bamiling, this is what west and to Mexico to immerse himself due to the relative isolation from the makes the place work so well. “The in the old visions and rhythms. outside world and even from one’s own opportunity to discuss, challenge or be Currently, he is working with paper family, the pace of bringing a concept exposed to those differences is what clay, and is obviously enjoying the expe­ to fruition is often highly accelerated. makes Banff so dynamic.” And the set­ rience and the new range of possibili­ “It’s a bit of a hothouse here, very ting isn’t hard to take either. ▲

May 1999 63 A Soulful Sound by Janie Rezner

Janie Rezner playing a triple ocarina.

have sung all my life, having been blessed with a musical mother with i a beautiful voice, who hummed and sang around the house as she worked and as she played the piano. Singing came as naturally to me as breathing. My mother was born in 1893 in the little town of Oquawka, Illinois, where her mother and grandmother had lived their entire lives. I grew up on the out­ skirts of Biggsville (population 200), just 12 miles from Oquawka, where my father farmed the same 160 acres that his father and grandfather had farmed. Everything was small back then; there were 19 in my high-school class, 80 students in the whole school. I sang in a trio in high school. My mother was our arranger. We sang for meetings, wed­ dings, funerals, our own graduation and

for Adlai Stevenson when he came Double ocarina, 7Va inches in height, handbuilt, through town; we sang on local radio saggar fired and waxed. and on the Morris B. Sack’s Amateur Hour (won $75 and a gold watch). I went on to Monmouth College, ator, Sharon Rowell, and spent the next ber. I make double-chambered ocarinas majored in music, married and raised four months learning how to make as well. They, too, are soulful sounding, three children in Iowa, singing all the ocarinas from her. For the past three their two voices weaving in and out. while. I moved to California in 1979, years, I have made them as an artist-in- Using high-fire sculpture mix, I cre­ and went on to earn a master s degree in residence at the Mendocino Art Center. ate a chamber by putting two pinchpots clinical psychology. It wasn’t until about The triple ocarina is finely tuned. together as an egg shape. Placement of five years ago, however, that I first heard The front two chambers play a full scale, the fingerholes does not seem to have a the ocarina, played before a reading at a while the back chamber plays two notes bearing on the tone, and is determined bookstore in Berkeley. I was enthralled and is played with the heel of the hand. by where my fingers rest while holding by this mystical-sounding instrument Thus, one can play three-part harmony. the instrument. The larger the cham­ that plays three tones at once. With my The chambers come together at the bers, the deeper the tone. My ocarinas background in harmonizing, it had a top into a single divided mouthpiece, range in size from 6 to 9 inches in special appeal to me. Through the per­ divided so that the front two chambers height and 7 to 8 inches across. former, I contacted the instrument’s cre­ can be played without the back cham­ While the clay is still moist, I make

64 CERAMICS MONTHLY an aperture on shiny black areas one end of the here and there. Re­ egg; the aperture cently, I’ve been get­ has a sharp slant, ting rich browns or blade, on one and tans with side. A small touches of orange piece of clay and red. with a thin Afterward, they opening (wind­ are scrubbed and way) is fastened Two pinch pots form a sound chamber; double- and triple-chambered tuned for the final above the aper­ ocarinas are joined at the top with a single mouthpiece. time, then waxed ture so that air and polished. The being blown final tuning is through it will hit the blade. This cre­ becue works well) or a saggar in an subtle, and having a good “ear” is essen­ ates the sound. I tune as I work; how­ outdoor raku kiln. I put in copper car­ tial. Slight alterations can be made by ever, I cant blow too much on wet clay; bonate, salt, a little wood and some­ either filing on the inside of a fingerhole, otherwise, the windway will collapse. times a few long grasses wrapped around to lower the tone, or by putting a little Once the form is completed, I burnish the ocarinas for patterning, and start epoxy on the inside, to raise the tone. I the surface to a smooth finish. the fire. I never know what I’ll get, but I prefer to tune the unison notes slightly After a bisque firing, the ocarinas are generally love the results. Sometimes off from each other, creating a wonder­ either fired in a pit (a large Weber bar­ they come out in pink fleshy tones with ful vibration between the notes. ▲

Triple ocarina, 7 inches in height, by Janie Rezner, Mendocino, California; prices range from $450 to $800.

May 1999 65 Slab-built jugs, 15 inches in height, stoneware with brushed slip and glaze decoration, fired in reduction to 1270°C (2318°F), $320 each.

Jill Fanshawe Kato by Ian Wilson

nperturbed by the ruins of the the rim. “This has the feeling of feeling that a pot conveys, but which Ulate Sunday breakfast scattered kokoro. But I sense none of the ‘liv­ in its more specific application to food over my dining table, Jill Fanshawe ing’ quality in that bowl,” she said, as denotes “taste.” At some later point, Kato and her husband Setsuo were she took from a side shelf a long disfa­ we wandered into recipes. (Setsuo’s discussing kokoro, which literally vored container relegated to being a suggestion of stirring dried bonito means heart, but is also a term used catchall for keys, buttons and loose flakes into fried rice is here and now to describe certain aspects of Japa­ change. Her words, descriptive rather confidently vouched for.) nese ceramics. For Setsuo, it conveys than judgmental, endorsed my own Jill Fanshawe Kato is well versed “the makers heart living in the piece,” feelings and elicited the inevitable, in Japanese ceramics terminology, for while Jill believes it to be “the essence gauche and shamefaced explanation after training as a painter at Chelsea of the potter’s being animating the that it was a gift, not a purchase. College of Art in London, she spent crafted clay.” This intriguing conversation con­ four years studying ceramics at the Holding up a Mexican dish, deco­ tinued, meandering around such top­ Musoan Karatsu Pottery School in rated with a somewhat startled-look- ics as the rituals observed by some Tokyo and with the Bizen potter Yosei ing turquoise bird, she traced the Japanese potters when commencing Itaka. She now returns frequently to wobbly blue bands painted around a wood firing and aji, the mood or Japan, not only for biennial exhibi-

66 CERAMICS MONTHLY tions at venues such as Keio Depart­ ment Store in Tokyo and Ryubo De­ partment Store in Naha on Okinawa Island, but also because she wants to renew contact with Japanese potters, and with the practices and concepts of a culture that has a love of domes­ tic pots seemingly woven into the very fabric of its attitude toward liv­ ing and eating. Many who work with clay have attempted to describe its “living” qualities, often noting that the pots that satisfy them most are those made when intuitive comprehension en­ ables the potter to be in dynamic “Mizusashi Lidded Pot,” 8 inches in height, slab-built stoneware water jar, $320.

“Toucan Vase,” 11 inches in height, coil-built stoneware, brushed with slips and glazes, Cone 9, $750.

May 1999 67 harmony with the material. But it is inspirational force, it is truer to say palms and not on the table, which is the more profoundly engrained, more that form precedes color and decora­ more common with Western potters. widely pervasive animism with which tion in the conceptual hierarchy of A remark of mine about the sturdy the Japanese mentality is so deeply at her work. It is the three dimensional­ ring-pull grip on the lid of a mizusashi ease that attracts Fanshawe Kato. ity of ceramics that she finds more (a water container for the tea cer­ She draws inspiration for brushed satisfying than painting. emony) revealed another aspect of slip and glaze decoration from birds, Having trained as a potter in Ja­ her training, for she used to believe fish and other living forms, while pan, Fanshawe Kato has absorbed that, given the scant attention paid gourds found in Brazil have exerted Japanese ceramics standards, and un­ to their making by her Japanese teach­ their influence on certain of her derstandably much of her technique ers, she suffered from a certain “in­ shapes. Although there are times is derived from that country’s ceram­ ability” in shaping handles. (The loop when the painterly instincts assert ics traditions—a cogent example be­ handle is not a part of the Japanese themselves and color has been the ing that she rolls coils between her tradition, having only recently en­

“Blue-eared Vase,” 11 inches in height, coil-built stoneware, brushed with slips and glazes, reduction fired to Cone 9, $140.

68 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Egyptian Birds” and “Stackbirds,” to 13 inches in height, slab- and handbuilt stoneware, fired to Cone 9 in reduction, $320 each, by Jill Fanshawe Kato, London.

tered the ceramics repertoire of that turnabout that one finds a truncated stores are an important strand in the country’s potters.) black circle flecked with white on the cultural life of urban Japan, but ex­ The result has been a deep interest other side of the water holder that hibiting in such a context can be a in precisely this area: a big full-bel- they decorate. tiring business, for precisely two hours lied pot that can be lifted by two During recent years, such decora­ is allowed for setting up the week- curlicues (resembling the unfolding tive elements have become sparser. long show. The number of visitors fronds of a fern); the larger of the There are larger areas of plain color and the buyers’ intensity of focus can pair bending downward from the in the big pieces, so that her jugs and be exhausting for the potter, who is neck extends the line of the rim, while vessels “show more clay.” on full-time duty. the other reaches upward from the Due to space limitations (her She is intrigued that Japanese buy­ shoulder. Her lidded pots often have 14x10-foot studio is in the converted ers find uses for her work so different fan-shaped seashell handles and, in a loft of her London terrace house), from those she intended: ice cream is gently defiant, thumbs-up gesture in she tends to work on “small batches served in wine goblets, sundae bowls favor of nonuniformity and dissimi­ or groups of pots on one theme, are transformed into teabowls and, larity, she will sometimes use a lug which I glaze and fire before going intriguingly, biscuit barrels are pressed on one side of the pot and a scrolled on to the next group.” The pots are into service as water containers for handle on the other. carried down two flights of stairs to the tea ceremony. The decorative elements portrayed be fired in a 9-cubic-foot gas kiln in Her collectors appreciate the figuratively on one side of a vessel are the garden. Bisque firings are to changes they find in the biennial dis­ often recalled in abstract patterning 900°C (1652°F) and reduction glaze plays in Tokyo, for one of the stron­ on the other. Two guinea fowl, a bold firings to 1270°C (2318°F). gest tenets of this potter’s faith is the strutter and a more wary follower, From Fanshawe Kato’s small stu­ determination not to keep repeating are gray with dark spots and are con­ dio, her work goes all over the world, what sells well, this being tantamount tained within a curved white shape but Japan is its most frequent desti­ to embracing “a blindness which con­ so that it is with a sense of color nation. Galleries within department trols the creative forces.” ▲

May 1999 69 More Electric Kiln Copper Reds by Robert S. Pearson and Beatrice I. Pearson

n the November 1997 issue ofCeramics Copper Red Base Glaze 9 gives a very Copper Red Base Glaze 12 IMonthly, we described a series of copper nice red. When prepared with 100 millili­ (Cone 6) red glazes produced in an electric kiln with ters water for each 100 grams glaze, it is Frit 146 (General Color) ...... 30.0% local reduction from silicon carbide. These suitable for dipping, provided the Frit 154 (General Color) ...... 10.0 glazes worked well on a Cone 5 stoneware bisqueware (fired to Cone 04) is held in Custer Feldspar...... 19.0 body, but crazed badly on a Cone 6 porce­ the glaze suspension for a few seconds. Whiting...... 2.0 lain body. As noted in the earlier article, The intensity of the red color varies with Flint...... 39.0 stoneware bodies, even those described as the submergence time of the ware: we have 100.0% “white” firing, are never white enough to found three to four seconds to be about Add: Macaloid ...... 1.0% produce the best reds, and it is often neces­right for porcelain bisqueware. Each user Color Mixture 4 ...... 3.1 % sary to coat the body with a white slip for will need to run a few trials to establish Soda Ash...... 1.0% optimum results. The use of a porcelain optimum submergence time. body avoids this problem. The glazes listed When mixed with 100 milliliters of Copper Red Base Glaze 10 below were developed to fit the Cone 6 water for each 100 grams of glaze, a dip of (Cone 6) porcelain body. approximately ten seconds gives a nice red. Frit 114 (General Color) ...... 34.0 % Base Glaze 13 Copper Red Base Glaze 9 Frit 154 (General Color) ...... 6.0 (Cone 6) (Cone 6) Frit 156 (General Color) ...... 4.0 Frit 114 (General Color) ...... 24.0 % Gerstley Borate...... 6.0 % Gerstley Borate...... 5.0 Frit 154 (General Color) ...... 16.0 Custer Feldspar...... 22.0 Flint...... 51.0 Frit 146 (General Color) ...... 26.0 Gerstley Borate...... 10.0 1000.% Flint...... 50.0 Flint...... 46.0 Add: Color Mixture 4 ...... 3.3 % 100.0% 100.0% A nice red. To use it as a dip glaze, we Add: Color Mixture 4 ...... 3.1 % Add: Color Mixture 3...... 3.1% added 105 milliliters water to each 100 Lavender-purple rather than red. Mix 110 grams glaze and kept the ware in the glaze Copper Red Base milliliters water with each 100 grams glaze Glaze 9 applied suspension for about two or three seconds. to wheel-thrown and dip for about three seconds. porcelain Copper Red Base Glaze 11 bisqueware (Cone 6) Base Glaze 13 (dipped in glaze Frit 114 (General Color) ...... 38.0 % applied to wheel- thrown porcelain batch for three Frit 154 (General Color) ...... 3.0 seconds), fired to bisqueware, fired Cone 6 in an Gerstley Borate...... 9.0 to Cone 6 in an electric kiln. Flint...... 50.0 electric kiln. 100.0% The previously described glazes needed Add: Color Mixture 4 ...... 3.1% Color Mixture 3 macaloid to aid application; however, the Base Glaze 11 yields a very good red. Copper Carbonate...... 6 % inclusion of Gerstley borate made it un­ To use it as a dip glaze, we added 120 Tin Oxide...... 47 necessary to add macaloid to this glaze. As milliliters water to each 100 grams glaze Flint...... 40 before, the frits were obtained from Gen­ and kept the ware submerged for about Ultrafine 10 Silicon Carbide...... 7 eral Color and Chemical, Post Office Box six seconds. 100% 7, Minerva, Ohio 44657. Also, they now Applied to stoneware, the lavender- supply the Ultrafine 10 silicon carbide used Cone 04 bisqued to prepare color mixtures, as well as some porcelain dipped purple is somewhat blued, but over stone­ prepared color mixtures. in Copper Red ware coated with white slip is more red. The composition of the color mixture Base Glaze 11 for Our stoneware and porcelain clays absorb used here is: six seconds, then glaze at different rates, so the stoneware fired to Cone 6 in requires a longer dip time, typically 10 or Color Mixture 4 an electric kiln; even 15 seconds, as compared to 3 to 6 Copper Carbonate...... 5.0% dipping time will vary according to seconds for porcelain. Clearly, a few time Tin Oxide...... 50.0 clay body. trials are needed to determine the best dip­ Custer Feldspar...... 39.4 ping time for any given clay. When using a Ultrafine 10 Silicon Carbide...... 5.6 brush, it is usually necessary to apply four 1000.% coats to develop good color. A

70 CERAMICS MONTHLY

from slides. Juror: Kenneth Trapp, curator-in- Call for Entries charge, the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Insti­ tution. Entry fee: $25. For prospectus, send SASE Application Deadlines for Exhibitions, to the League of Maryland Craftsmen, PO Box Fairs, Festivals and Sales 596, Tracey’s Landing, MD 20779; for further information, telephone (410) 626-1277 or (301) 617-4918, or fax (410) 867-1449. Omaha, Nebraska “Mixed Media” (June 5- 26). Juried from slides (include SASE). Entry fee: International Exhibitions $30 for up to 3 slides; $5 for each additional slide, May 19 entry deadline maximum of 5. Cash awards. Contact Larry Laramie, Wyoming “Third Annual Interna­ Bradshaw, Executive Director, Period Gallery, tional Pottery Show” (June 1-30); this year’s 5174 Leavenworth, Omaha 68106; e-mail theme is potpourri. Juried from actual works; up [email protected], telephone (402) 556- to 5 entries. Cash awards. All works must be for 3218 or fax (402) 554-3436. sale. For prospectus, send SASE to Artisans’ Gal­ May 30 entry deadline lery, 213 S. Second, Laramie 82070. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Three solo exhibi­ June 1 entry deadline tions (September 1999-August 2000), works may Carouge, Switzerland “Prix de la Ville de be mixed media, but clay must be primary me­ Carouge 1999” (October 2-November 28), com­ dium. Juried from 5 slides and resume (include petition theme is the functional teapot; works SASE). No entry fee. Contact the Clay Studio, 139 must be no more than 35 centimeters (approxi­ N. Second St., Philadelphia 19106; or telephone mately 14 inches) in height. Juried from 2 slides (215) 925-3453. plus a short resume (30 lines maximum). Awards: June 1 entry deadline 7500 SFr (approximately US$5000), 1000 SFr East Otis, Massachusetts*A. Garden Party” (July (approximately US$665) and 500 SFr (approxi­ 10-August 15). Juried from slides or photos. mately US$330). For further information, contact Contact Rene and David, Clayground, 436 N. Musee de Carouge, Mairie de Carouge, Case postale, Blandford Rd., Blandford, MA 01008; e-mail CH-1227 Carouge. [email protected] or telephone (413) 269-7449. June 28 entry deadline Springfield, Missouri“Outdoor Sculpture Com­ Iowa City, Iowa “Functional Fire: Wood-fired petition” (July 31, 1999-August 1, 2000), open Cup Show” (September 16-October 3). Juried from to durable media; special interest in lighting, up to 2 slides per entry; up to 3 entries. Jurors: Simon seating, interactive possibilities. Juried from 2-3 Levin and Michael Smith. Fee: $20. For prospectus, slides, a biographical paragraph and a short state­ send SASE to Functional Fire, do Iowa Artisans ment about the work. Fee: $ 10 per entry; no limit Gallery, 117 E. College St., Iowa City 52240; or see to entries. Awards: Six $250 honorariums. Con­ website at www.woodfire.com. tact Sculpture, do Christine Schilling, 1027 S. August 4 entry deadline New, Springfield 65807; e-mail [email protected] , Athens, Ohio “Bead International 2000” (May see website www.commercialclub.com or tele­ 27—September 3, 2000, then touring), open to all phone (417) 862-2272. approaches to beadwork, from jewelry to large- June 8 entry deadline scale sculpture. Juried from slides. For prospectus, Omaha, Nebraska “Realism ’99” Quly 5-26), send SASE to Bead International 2000, c/o Dairy open to works in all media. Juried from slides. Barn, PO Box 747, Athens 45701-0747; down­Entry fee: $30 for up to 3 slides; $5 for each load form from website, www.dairybarn.org or additional slide. Cash awards. Contact Larry telephone (740) 592-4981. Bradshaw, Executive Director, Period Gallery, October 31 entry deadline 5174 Leavenworth, Omaha 68106; e-mail Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada “9th Biennale [email protected], telephone (402) 556- Nationale de Ceramique 2000” (June 9-Septem- 3218 or fax (402) 554-3436. ber 3, 2000, then traveling), open to artists resid­ June 14 entry deadline ing in Canada; artwork must pertain to the theme Helena, Montana “ANA 28, National Juried of “voyage.” Juried from 3 slides of up to 3 works; Exhibition” (August 27-October 31), open to all include a technical description of each work and a media. Juried from slides. Juror: Peter Plagens. written text explaining how the work explores the Cash awards. For prospectus, send SASE to Holter theme of voyage. Entry fee: Can$25. Awards: Museum of Art, 12 E. Lawrence, Helena 59601. Can$8000. For registration form, contact Biennale Burlington, Vermont “Art and the Written nationale de ceramique, 864, rue des Ursulines, Word” (September 17-October24), open to works PO Box 1596, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec G9A 5L9; incorporating text into their design. Juried from e-mail [email protected], tele­ up to 6 slides. Entry fee: $ 10. For prospectus, send phone (819) 691-0829 or fax (819) 374-1758. SASE to Vermont State Craft Center, Frog Hollow on the Marketplace, 85 Church St., Burlington United States Exhibitions 05401; or telephone (802) 863-6458. June 15 entry deadline May 8 entry deadline Los Angeles, California “Absolute T eapot Show” Annapolis, MarylandurY\\t Fine Art of Craft, A (July 3-August 15). $500 to winner. Entry fee National Craft Show” (June 24-July 25). Juried $25. Maximum of 3 slides. Works must exhibit wit, ingenuity, soul and craftsmanship. Works must For a free listing, please submit informa­ be available for sale in gallery at 50% commission. tion on juried exhibitions, fairs, festivals Submit SASE to Parham Gallery, 2847 Armacost, and sales at least four months before the Los Angeles 90064. Telephone (310) 473-5603. event’s entry deadline (add one month for June 18 entry deadline listings in July and two months for those in New Haven, Connecticut “The 31st Annual August). Regional exhibitions must be Celebration of American Crafts” (November 13- open to more than one state. Mail to Call December 24). Juried from slides. For prospectus, for Entries, Ceramics Monthly, PO Box send SASE to the Celebration, Creative Arts Work­ 6102, Westerville, OH 43086-6102, e-mail shop, 80 Audubon St., New Haven 06510. to [email protected] or fax to June 21 entry deadline (614)891-8960. New Canaan, Connecticut “USA. Craft Today ’99” (September 12-October 8). Juried from slides.

72 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 73 Call for Entries

Juror: Jeremy Adamson, senior curator, Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. Entry fee: $25. Cash awards. For prospectus, send SASE to USA Craft Today ’99, Silvermine Guild Arts Center, 1037 Silvermine Rd., New Canaan 06840; or telephone (203) 966-2613. June 30 entry deadline Dexter, Michigan “Out ofClay II” (September 1-October 15). An exhibition of contemporary ceramics juried by Michigan artist/educator Susanne Stephenson. Cash and purchase awards. For prospectus, contact Susannah Keith Gallery, 8099 Main St., Dexter 48130. Telephone (734) 426-0236. Fax (734) 426-0884. E-mail [email protected] . Philadelphia, Pennsylvania “Spaces: Interior, Exterior and Internal” (October 1—31), open to works that explore spatial settings. Work may include other media, but clay must be the primary medium. Juried from up to 4 slides and resume; include SASE. No entry fee. For further informa­ tion, contact the Clay Studio, 139 N. Second St., Philadelphia 19106; or telephone (215) 925-3453. July 1 entry deadline East Otis, Massachusetts “Light ’em Up” (Au­ gust 28—October 3), open to lamps that have clay and/or glass elements. Juried from slides or pho­ tos. Contact Rene and David, the Clayground, 436 N. Blandford Rd., Blandford, MA 01008; e-mail [email protected] or telephone (413) 269-7449. July 6 entry deadline Mesa, Arizona “’99 Cups” (October 12-No- vember 13), open to works (functional or non­ functional) in all media that explore the form, concept or image of the cup. Juried from slides. Juror: Heather Lineberry, senior curator, Arizona State University Museum of Art. Entry fee: $20. Awards: up to $2000 in cash and purchase. For prospectus, contact Galeria Mesa, PO Box 1622, 155 N. Center St., Mesa 85211-1644; e-mail [email protected], telephone (602) 644-2056 or fax (602) 644-2901. October 1 entry deadline Carrboro, North Carolina “Year 2000 Design and Spirit” (January 1-March 31, 2000), open to works in all media; no installations. Juried from 2 slides per entry plus resume and biography (in­ clude SASE); up to 2 entries. Fee: $25 per entry. Cash and merit awards. Send SASE to Green Tara Gallery, 118 E. Main St., Carrboro 27510; or e-mail [email protected]. November 15 entry deadline Lindsborg, Kansas “Aesthetics 2000” (Febru- ary-March 2000), open to works in all media. Awards. For prospectus, send LSASE to Aesthetics, 300 N. Main, Dept. WIA, McPherson, KS 67460.

Regional Exhibitions May 7 entry deadline Boise, Idaho “Creations in Clay” (July), open to past and present residents of Idaho. Juried from slides. Fee: $20. Cash awards. For prospectus, send SASE to Idaho Potter’s Guild, 10550 Hill Rd., Boise 83703; or see website at netnow.micron.net/ - gafergus/ipg. htm. La Crosse, Wisconsin “FISH Tales” (August 1- 30), open to artists residing in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Juried from 2 slides per entry; up to 3 entries. Juror: Fred Stonehouse, artist. Fee: $20. Awards: first place, $1000; plus two $500 prizes. For prospectus, contact the Pump House Regional Arts Center, 119 King St., La Crosse 54601. Continued

/ CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 75 Call for Entries

June 1 entry deadline Lexington, Massachusetts “The State of Clay 1999” (October 5-30), open to former and cur­ rent residents of Massachusetts. J uried from slides. Jurors: Polly Ann and Frank Martin from the 92nd Street Y Art Center, New York City. Fee: $20 for up to 3 entries. For prospectus, send SASE to the State of Clay, Ceramics Guild, Lexington Arts and Crafts Society, 130 Waltham St., Lex­ ington 02421. Portland, Oregon “Handmade Oregon” (Au­ gust 10-September 19), open to works in all media by past and present Oregon residents. Ju­ ried from slides. Juror: Janet Koplos, critic/associ­ ate editor, Art in America. Cash awards. For pro­ spectus, send SASE to Contemporary Crafts Gal­ lery, 3934 S.W. Corbett Ave., Portland 97201; or telephone (503) 223-2654.

Fairs, Festivals and Sales May 7 entry deadline Mexico, Missouri “Clay Days USA ’99” (June 26-27). Juried from slides or photos. Booth fee: $65 for a 10x10-foot space. For further infor­ mation, contact Sandy Prosser, Special Pro­ grams Coordinator, City of Mexico, 300 N. Coal, Mexico 65265; e-mail comex- [email protected], telephone (573) 581- 2100, ext. 49, or fax (573) 581-2305. June 1 entry deadline Manitou Springs, Colorado “Commonwheel Artists 25 th Annual Labor Day Weekend Arts and Crafts Festival” (September 4-6). Juried from 3 slides. Entry fee: $15. Booth fee: $200 for a 10x10-foot space. Contact Commonwheel Festi­ val, PO Box 42, Manitou Springs 80829; or telephone (719) 577-7700. Tampa, Florida “Craftart ’99 Festival” (Octo­ ber 30-31). Juried from 3 slides of work plus 1 of display. Juror: Sandra Blain, director, Arrowmont School of Craft, Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Booth fee: $185; members, $165; fora 12x12-foot space. Awards: over $20,000 in cash and purchase. For application, send large SASE to Florida Craftsmen, Inc., 501 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, FL 33701; or telephone (727) 821-7391. Mason City, Iowa “MacNider Museum Out­ door Art Market of Fine Arts and Creative Crafts” (August 22). Juried from up to 5 slides. Entry fee: $40. Seven cash awards. For further information, contact Charles H. MacNider Museum, 303 Sec­ ond St., SE, Mason City 50401; or telephone (515) 421-3666. June 30 entry deadline St. Louis, Missouri “Historic Shaw Art Fair” (October 2-3). Juried from 3 slides (with SASE). Booth fee: $160 for a 10x10-foot space. Awards: approximately $3500. Contact the Historic Shaw Art Fair, c/o the Shaw Neighborhood Improve­ ment Association, 2211 S. 39th St., St. Louis 63110; e-mail director@shawartfair, see website at www.shawartfair.com. Or telephone Terri McEachern, coordinator, at (314) 851-0996, or (314) 771-3101. July 23 entry deadline Gainesville, Florida “Downtown Festival and Art Show” (November 13-14). Juried from 4 slides (with #10 SASE). Entry fee: $10. For further information, contact Linda Piper, Downtown Festival and Art Show, Sta. 30, PO Box 490, Gainesville 32602; e-mail [email protected] ville.fl.us; see website at www.state.fl.us/gvl/ arts_culture/DFAS.HTML; or telephone (352) 334-5064.

76 CERAMICS MONTHLY

Suggestions From Readers

Moisture-Absorbent Materials Remember that wood, dry paper, card­ board and plasterboard absorb moisture. If you plan to store a piece wet for more than a week, put it on plastic and cover tightly. Do not leave paper (wet or not) exposed because moisture will wick away from the clay, drying in a short time.—Andrew Francis, make full use of the length. Use ½-inch boltswhen my wood-heated studio’s temperature Housatonic, Mass. with washers and nuts; countersink them if cycles up and down. The warmth also facili­ you wish. The result is a portable shelf, tates aging and, though possible, I have yet to Portable Shelf adjustable to any height needed, be it low forexperience unwanted mold or bacteria devel­ Rather than throw out an old ironing a potter’s wheel demo or higher for displayingopment. Wetting down, then covering the board, try screwing a 34xl2x72-inch board pieces while standing and lecturing. bags with plastic, prevents dehydration. (plywood or pine is fine) to the top, so as to There are countless uses for this device. It I also use light bulbs to keep glaze buckets is great for the potter with limited studio from freezing out in the kiln shed and glazing Share your ideas with others. Ceramics space (like me), and it fits nicely in almost allarea (also wood-heated). If the outside tem­ Monthly will pay $10 for each one published. vehicles for travel. You can even paint the perature drops to -30°F or colder, I switch to Suggestions are welcome individually or in whole thing to make it look nice.—Craig a 100-watt bulb for the “cold spell.”—David quantity. Include a drawing or photograph to Fulladosa, Palmdale, Calif. Woof Tomah, Wis. illustrate your idea and we will add $10 to the payment. Mail to Ceramics Monthly, PO Box Wisconsin Cozy Clay Dust Inhibitor 6102, Westerville, Ohio 43086-6102, e-mail I use the heat from a 60-watt light bulb To keep clay dust from exiting the studio to [email protected] or fax to inside a the freezer to prevent frozen clay. It on your feet, place a small carpet in the (614) 891-8960. keeps the clay pleasantly warm during winterdoorway, dampened as needed from a con- SUMMER, FALL, WINTER, SPRING Don't miss a single season of Pottery Making - J. I L L U S T RATED O Ideal for the student, teacher, amateur or professional! • Well-illustrated projects • Tips & techniques from the pros • Easy-to-follow instructions

$15 for 1 year (4 issues) To ORDER: $27 for 2 years (8 issues) Call: 614-794-5890 $36 for 3 years (12 issues) Fax: 614-794-5892 Add $8 shipping/postage differential outside North America. E-mail: [email protected] Canadians add 7% GST. Checks must be payable in US dollars drawn on a US bank. Web site: www.potterymaking.org

78 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 79 Suggestions

tainer by the door. Wiping your feet on the wet carpet removes clay from shoes or bare feet; the wet carpet also prevents clouds of dust arising from the foot wiping. Using a synthetic carpet prevented the moldiness that occurred when I used dis­ carded kitchen towels for this purpose; also, the rubber-backed carpet stays in place and doesn’t rumple up.—Marcia Kindlmanny Guilford, Conn.

Drawing with a Credit Card For texture and pattern, cut old credit card edges with pinking shears, or cut pat­ terns (wavy, half circles, concave and convex, etc.) to draw across wet clay. Experiment with one pattern or texture over another or by drawing the card over underglazes applied to green- or bisqueware.—Nan Murley, Para- dise Valley, Ariz.

Topic Reference Guide I have taught ceramics for almost 30 years, and often use CM for reference material, but trying to quickly locate certain topics in 20 years worth of magazines is next to impos­ sible. I came up with the idea of marking the spine of each issue with colored paper cut into 3/4xl ½-inch pieces; the individual colors rep­ resent different topics. I have nine major topics, including high-fire glazes, low fire and raku, sgraffito, mishima, wax resist and so on. Each issue was surveyed and marked with the corresponding colored papers (a big job given that I had to go back through all those past issues). Some issues have as many as five color markers. The pieces of paper were folded in half and dabbed with a trace of glue, then placed around the spine at a location corresponding to a cardboard index sheet at the end of the row, which indicates all the topics and the colors. A piece of clear packing tape was then placed over the paper on the spine. This not only keeps the marker in place, it also rein­ forces the cover. Now, at a glance, I can locate any issue pertaining to any topic and easily pull it for instructional reference.—Chuck Brasch, Claremont, Calif

Dark Crackle Lines To achieve dark crackle lines on your clear crackle raku pieces, use alfalfa hay. This ma­ terial produces a much thicker and more penetrating smoke than newspaper or saw­ dust. For best results, allow the hot piece to cool in open air (until you hear the glaze crackling) before you place it in the reduction container.—Cary Crim, Columbia, Mo.

80 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 81 of cultural sites. Contact China Ceramic Cultural Calendar Exchange: International Office, Zhou Ying, 14 Courtwright Rd., Etobicoke, Toronto, Ontario, Events to Attend—Conferences, Canada M5L 4B4; e-mail jackson- Exhibitions, Workshops, Fairs [email protected] or telephone (416) 695-3607. England, Wolverhampton July 22-24 “Creating the Yellow Brick Road: An International Confer­ ence,” will look at the way in which brick and clay products are being used by today’s artists, archi­ Conferences tects and landscape architects. Will include key­ note speech by Sir Neil Cossons, director of the Colorado, Denver March 22-25, 2000 “Higher National Museum of Science and Industry; plus Ground,” 34th National Council on Education presentations by Niels Dietrich, Ian Dinnebier, for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) conference, will Wendy James, Ian Kitson, Gwendolyn Leick, include demonstrations, slide presentations, panel Vivien Lovel, David Mach, Esben Madsen, Jamie discussions, exhibitions. Contact Regina Brown, Pickles, Tim Ronalds, Francoise Schein, Michael Executive Secretary, NCECA, PO Box 1677, Stratton, Peter St. John, HenkTrumpie and Kjell Bandon, OR 97411; telephone (800) 99-NCECA. Werner. Fees vary. For further information, con­ Iowa, Iowa City September29—October2“Differ­ tact Dennis Farrell, the School of Art and Design, ent Stokes,” international wood-fire conference. University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton Contact Chuck Hindes, School of Art, University WV1 1SB; e-mail [email protected], see of Iowa, Iowa City 52242; e-mail chuck- website www.wlv.ac.uk/sad/brick/ or telephone [email protected] or fax (319) 335-1774. (44) 19 02 32 19 60. Massachusetts, Boston July 26-30 “Symposium Netherlands, Amsterdam July 13—17 “Ceramic on Native American Ceramics,” focusing on the Millennium,” the 8th international ceramics sym­ Mimbres ceramics and ethnographic Puebloan posium of the Ceramic Arts Foundation, will ceramics from Harvard’s Peabody Museum. Will include over 50 papers presented by educators, include lectures, demonstrations, panel discus­ artists, critics, writers, historians; ceramics re­ sions, master classes and teaching exhibits. Con­ sources fair, film festival, exhibitions. Fee: US$395/ tact Nancy Selvage, Radcliffe Ceramics Program, Dfl 720. Contact Ceramic Arts Foundation, 666 219 Western Ave., Boston 02134; e-mail Fifth Ave., Ste. 309, New York, NY 10103; e-mail [email protected] , telephone (617) 495- [email protected] or fax (212) 489-5168. 8680 or fax (617) 496-9787. Wales, Aberystwyth July 2-4 “International Pot­ Ohio, Dayton June 9-12 “The Second Annual ters Festival” will include demonstrations, lec­ Artists Marketing and Skills Development Con­ tures, hands-on sessions, kilnbuilding and firings, ference” will address such topics as self-marketing exhibitions. Presenters include Peter Beard, Eddie techniques, photo presentation of artwork, think­ Daughton, United Kingdom; Malgorzata Dyrda- ing outside of the box, art and the Internet, etc. Kujawska, Poland; Vilma Henkleman, Nether­ Contact the Artists Marketing and Skills Devel­ lands; Cathi Jefferson, Canada; Kang Hyo Lee opment Conference, do DeEarnest McLemore, and Mikang Lim, Korea; Dainis Pundurs, Latvia; RiverbendArt Center, 1301 E. Siebenthaler Ave., Phil Rogers, Wales; Robert Sanderson and Coll Dayton 45414; or telephone (937) 278-0656. Minogue, Scotland; and Alan Watt, Australia. Australia, Perth July 5-8 “EDGE: Identity and Contact International Potters Festival, Aberyst­ Change,” the ninth national ceramics conference, wyth Arts Centre, Ceredigion SY23 3DE, Wales; will include keynote speeches by Edmund de e-mail [email protected], telephone (970) 62 28 82. Waal, Steven Goldate, Janet Mansfield and Paul Mathieu, plus slide presentations, panel discus­ Solo Exhibitions sions, and demonstrations on sculpture and hand- building, porcelain, paper clay, throwing and deco­ California, Mill Valley June 1-July 3 Christina ration. Also includes tours and a trade fair. Regis­ Bothwell, “Hidden in Full View”; at Susan tration fee: AUS$350 (approximately US$215); Cummins Gallery, 12 Miller Ave. full-time student, AUS$250 (approximately California, Santa Monica May 1-June 1 Cindy US$155); day rate, AUS$100 (approximately Kolodziejski. June 5—July 3 Roseline Delisle; at US$60). Contact the Conference Coordinator, Frank Lloyd Gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave., B5b. PO Box D178, Perth 6840, Western Australia; Georgia, Atlanta through May 29 Adrian Arleo; at e-mail [email protected] , see website at Trinity Gallery, 315 E. Paces Ferry Rd. www.ceramicartswa.asn.au or telephone (892) 98 May 16-July 31 “‘I made this jar...’ The Life and 91 43/fax (892) 98 97 52. Works of the Enslaved African-American Potter, Canada, Ontario, Kingston May 28-30“Reflec­ Dave”; at the High Museum of Art, 1280 Peachtree tions,” FUSION ’99 conference, with guest artists St., NE. Val Cushing and Diane Sullivan. Contact FU­ Georgia, Macon through June £T“Fired by Genius: SION: The Clay and Glass Association, Gardener’s The Ceramics of Pablo Picasso”; at the Museum of Cottage, 225 Confederation Dr., Scarborough, Arts and Sciences, 4182 Forsyth Rd. Ontario M1G 1B2; e-mail [email protected] Iowa, Muscatine through June 27 “The Stone­ or telephone (416) 438-8946/fax (416) 438-0192. wares of Charles Fergus Binns: Father of Ameri­ China, Tongchuan (Xian) May 25-June 17“First can Studio Ceramics”; at the Muscatine Art Cen­ Yao Ware Ceramic Art Conference” will include ter, 1314 Mulberry Ave. lectures/workshops on topics relating to the his­ Massachusetts, Worcester through May 1 Jeff tory of Yao Ware and its current production; tours Oestreich; at Worcester Center for Crafts, 25 Sagamore Rd. For a free listing, submit announcements of Michigan, East Lansing through May 25 Mark conferences, exhibitions, workshops and ju­ Chatterley, “My Portrait in the Snow”; at the ried fairs at least two months before the Mackerel Sky Gallery of Contemporary Craft, month of opening. Add one month for list­ Ann Street Plaza, 217 Ann St. ings in July; two months for those in August. Michigan, Ferndale May 28-June 19 John Gill, Mail to Calendar, Ceramics Monthly, PO Box vessels; at Revolution, 23257 Woodward Ave. 6102, Westerville, OH 43086-6102, e-mail to Missouri, Kansas Citythrough May £Linda Lighton, [email protected] or fax to “Sensuality Is Its Own Reward”; at Morgan Gallery, (614) 891-8960. 412 Delaware, Ste. A. Continued

82 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 Calendar

Montana, Helena May 14—16 Jenn Reed. June 17-20 Julia Galloway, functional pottery; at the Archie Bray Gallery, 2915 Country Club Ave. New Mexico, Santa Fe May 29-31 Katheleen Nez, functional stoneware; at Robert F. Nichols, 419 Canyon Rd. New York, New York through May 29 Nancy Jurs, monolithic figures; at John Elder Gallery, 529 W. 20th St. through May 29 Nancy McCroskey-Hrehov, ce­ ramic mosaics; at Denise Bibro Fine Art, 529 W. 20th St., Fourth FI. New York, Port Chester May 8-31 Sally Aldrich, “Interplay”; at the Clay Art Center, 40 Beech St. New York, Rye Brook through May 8 Grace Powers Fraioli, “Origin,” ceramic sculpture, raku and watercolors; at Caffe Marianacci, 7 Rye Ridge Plaza. North Carolina, Asheville May 7—June 23 Don Davis; at the Folk Art Center, Focus Gallery, Milepost 382 of the Blue Ridge Pkwy. North Carolina, Carrboro May 1—28 Barbara McKenzie, raku and photo-transfer pots; at Green Tara Gallery, 118 E. Main St. North Carolina, Charlotte through May 2“ Will­ iam Li ttler: An 18th-Century English Earth Potter”; at the Mint Museum of Art, 2730 Randolph Rd. through July 4 “Harvey K. Littleton Reflections, 1946-1994”; at the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, 220 N. Tryon St. North Carolina, Seagrove May 1—31 Kathy Steinsberger, unique red earthenware; at Blue Moon Gallery, 1387 NC Hwy. 705, S. Ohio, Canton through May 23 Yih Wen Kuo sculpture; at the Canton Museum of Art, 1001 Market Ave., N. Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh through May 26 Eva Kwong, vases. May 28—July 21 Dale Huffman, pottery. June 25-August 18 James Aarons, “Ge­ ometry”; at the Clay Place, 5416 Walnut St. Wyoming, Laramie May 7-June 1 “Bowled Over—Elegant Floral Raku Abstractions,” bowls, sculpture and jewelry by Tracey Dobbins; at Arti­ sans’ Gallery, 213 S. Second St.

Group Ceramics Exhibitions Arizona,Mesa through May 29“Form and Func­ tion: Contemporary Ceramics”; at Galeria Mesa, Mesa Arts Center, 155 N. Center St. California, Davis through May 2“Clay Show,” site- specific installation by Bean Finneran; at the Davis Art Center Gallery, 1919 F St. through May 29 “ 1999 California Clay Competi­ tion”; at the Artery, 207 G St. through May 30 “30 Ceramic Sculptors”; at John Natsoulas Gallery, 140 F St. through May 31 “Tracking Fire,” wood-fired ware by Masakazu Kusakabe and Marc Lancet; at Pence Gallery, 212 D St. through June 30 Sculpture by Judy Houck, Tony Natsoulas and Laura VanDuren; at JGlenn Gallery, 603 Fourth St. California, Lincoln May 1-22 “Feats of Clay XII”; at Gladding McBean terra-cotta factory. Reservations required; telephone (916) 645-9713. California, Los Angeles June 6—July 10“A Whim­ sical and Functional Ceramic Drinking Cup Com­ petition”; at Earthen Art Works, 7960 Melrose Ave. Connecticut, Guilford through June ^“Ceramics ’99”; at Guilford Handcraft Center, 411 Church St. Delaware, Winterthur through July 1 “Ceramics in Bloom”; at the Society of Winterthur Fellows Gallery. Illinois, Carbondale through May 13 “Clay Cup

84 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 85 tical • Spiritual • Ritual,” ceramic sculpture by Minnesota, Minneapolis through June 12 “Rev­ Calendar Christina Bertoni, Sandy Shaw, Bill Stewart and elations of the African Potter,” historical and more. “Figurative Clay”; at the Society of Arts and contemporary vessels; at Northern Clay Center, Crafts, 175 Newbury St. 2424 Franklin Ave., E. VII”; at the University Museum, Southern Illinois May 11—July 2 “Emerging Artists • Figurative Montana, Helena June 17—August 14 “Annual University at Carbondale. Clay”; at the Society of Arts and Crafts, 101 Arch St. Resident Artist Exhibition,” works by 21 resident Illinois, Chicago May 8—June 20 “Porcelain,” Massachusetts, Harwichport May 28-September artists; at the Archie Bray Warehouse Gallery, works by Sam Chung, Eric Jensen, Gay Smith and (TWorks by Cape Cod Potters Guild members; at 2915 Country Club Ave. Geoffrey Wheeler; at Gallery 1021: Lill Street, the Always and Forever Gallery, 791 Main St. N ebraska, Kearney through July 11 “Rendezvous 1021 W. Lill St. Massachusetts, Ipswich May 1 -June 30 “Garden 99!” works by 29 nationally recognized ceramics Indiana, Indianapolis through May 14 “Clayfest Adornments”; at Ocmulgee Pottery and Gallery, artists and their invited guests, at the Museum of XI,” juried regional exhibition; at the University 317 High St.-Rte. 1A. Nebraska Art, 2401 Central Ave. of Indianapolis, 1400 E. Hanna Ave. Massachusetts, Northampton June 5—27“ Erotica New Mexico, Las Cruces through May 8 “From Maryland, Baltimore May 1-29 “D.C. Clay,” in Ceramic Art,” national juried competition; at the Ground Up XXIII”; at the Branigan Cultural works by 12 sculptors and 5 potters. May 2-30 Ferrin Gallery, 179 Main. Center, Museum of Fine Art, 500 N. Water. “Drawing on Clay—1998”; at Baltimore Clay- Michigan, Midland through June 20 “Michigan New Mexico, Santa Fe May 15-June 12 “From works, 5706 Smith Ave. Ceramics ’98”; at Arts Midland: Galleries and the Ground Up XXIII”; at Santa Fe Clay, 1615 Massachusetts, Boston May 8—July 3 “Mys­ School of the Midland Center for the Arts. Paseo de Peralta. New York, Albany through September 13, 2000 “From the Collections: The Weitsman Stoneware Collection”; at the New York State Museum, Empire State Plaza. New York, Alfred through September 9 “Lost Molds and Found Dinnerware: Rediscovering Eva Zeisel’s Hallcraft”; at the International Mu­ seum of Ceramic Art at Alfred, Ceramic Corridor Innovation Center, Rte. 244. New York, New York through May 1 Works by Keisuke Mizuno, Ann Mortimer and Ken Price. May 6-June 5 Porcelain sculpture by Arnold Annen, Philippe Barde and Shigekazu Nagae; at Nancy Margolis Gallery, 560 Broadway, Ste. 302. through May 30 “Clay into Art: Selections from the Contemporary Ceramics Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art”; at the Metropoli­ tan Museum of Art, Fifth Ave. and 82nd St. May 27—June26“Annual Members’ Exhibition”; at Greenwich House Pottery, 16 Jones St. New York, Syracuse June 26—September 72“Syra- cuse Ceramics Educators”; at the Everson Mu­ seum of Art, 401 Harrison St. North Carolina, Asheville through May 22“Odys­ sey Center Student and Resident Artist Exhibit.” June 4—July 31 “Odyssey Summer Visiting Artist Exhibit,” works by George Bowes, Mark Burleson, Susan Filley, Steven Forbes-deSoule, Terry Gess, Gloria Kosco, Linda McFarling and Jim Whalen; at Odyssey Gallery, 242 Clingman Ave. May 16-June 27 “A Fiery Influence: Cynthia Bringle and Friends,” works by Bringle and former students; at the Folk Art Center, Milepost 382, Blue Ridge Pkwy. North Carolina, Charlotte through May 1 “Clay: Tender Edges,” works by Silvie Granatelli and Mark Shapiro; at Gallery W.D.O., Ste. 610 at Atherton Mill, 2000 South Blvd. Ohio, Athens through May 7“Five Visions: Ce­ ramic Environments,” works by Tre Arenz, Seo Eo, Katherine L. Ross, Antje Scharfe and Steven Thurston; at the Dairy Barn, Southeastern Ohio Cultural Arts Center, 8000 Dairy Ln. Ohio, Canton June 5-July 25 “Ohio Ceramic Showcase”; at the Canton Museum of Art, 1001 Market Ave., N. Ohio, Westerville through June 15 “Clay from Two Rivers: Pottery from New Guinea and Af­ rica”; at Fisher Gallery, Roush Hall, Otterbein College, 1 Otterbein. Pennsylvania, Ephrata May 9—30 “Seventh An­ nual Strictly Functional Pottery National”; at the Artworks, 100 N. State St. Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh through June 23 Jan and Paul Jay, “Reflections of Inner Space”; at the Clay Place, 5416 Walnut St. Rhode Island, Kingston through May 9 “Earthworks: Open Juried Clay Annual”; at South County Art Association, 2587 Kingstown Rd. Texas, San Angelo through June 13 “Different Directions: Coming Together in Clay”; at the San

86 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 87 Calendar

Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, 704 Burgess Street. Vermont, Waterbury Center May 1—31 “Ver­ mont Clay Studio Residents,” sculpture by Lauren Cole and Kathryn Wysokey-Johnson. Exhibition of works by faculty members.June 1—30 “Clay in the Garden, Home and Greenhouse”; at the Ver­ mont Clay Studio, Rte. 100. Virginia, Roanoke through July 11 “Community in Clay: Four Floyd County Potters,” works by Silvie Granatelli, Richard Hensley, Donna Polseno and Ellen Shankin; at the Art Museum of Western Virginia, Center in the Square, 1 Market Square, SE, Second FI. Washington, Seattle May 14—June27 The Wash­ ington Potters Association’s annual exhibit, rep­ resenting over 250 Washington potters, at the Northwest Crafts Center, 305 Harrison, in the Seattle Center. Wyoming, Laramie June 1—30 “Third Annual International Pottery Show”; at Artisans’ Gallery, 213 S. Second St. Ceramics in Multimedia Exhibitions Arizona, FlagstaffMay 28-Sep tember /^“Endur­ ing Creations: Master Work of Native American Art”; at the Museum of Northern Arizona, 3101 N. Fort Valley Rd. Arizona, Mesa June 8—July 10 “The Natural World”; at Galeria Mesa, Mesa Arts Center, 155 N. Center St. Arizona, Tucson through May 15 Three-person exhibition including raku works by Hilarey Walker; at Obsidian Gallery, St. Philips Plaza, Ste. 90, 4340 N. Campbell Ave. California, Carmichael May 25—June 6“ A Differ­ ent Kind of Canvas,” juried exhibition of works by Valley SCULPTURE Artists members; at the Sacramento Fine Arts Center, 5330-B Gibbons. California, Chico May 7-June 13 “1999 ‘All Media’ Juried National Exhibition”; at the Chico Art Center, 450 Orange St., #6. California, Los Angeles May 20—June 5“ Ancient Techniques, Modern Interpretations,” including ceramics by Lyn-Rae Ashley, Max Fuller, Jacqueline Marks, Jan Napolitan and Leonard Rubenstein; at the Gallery of the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, 919 S. Grand Ave. California, Rancho Palos Verdes June 18—July 31 “Palos Verdes Art Center Juried All-Media Exhi­ bition”; at the Palos Verdes Art Center, 5504 W. Crestridge Rd. California, San Francisco June 26-October 77“The Art of Craft: Contemporary Works from the Saxe Collection”; at the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, Golden Gate Park, 75 Tea Garden Dr. Colorado, Boulder June 24—September 1 l“Gt\zs- tial Seasonings: A Loose Interpretation IV”; at Celestial Seasonings headquarters, 4600 Sleepy- time Dr. Colorado, Denver through October 3 “White on White: Chinese Jades and Ceramics from the Tang through Qing Dynasties”; at the Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14th Ave. Pkwy. Colorado, Ft. Collins May 27-July 3 “Craft Art: Five Perspectives,” including ceramics by Michael Carroll and Mitch Messina; at Intimate Gallery, Lincoln Center. Delaware, Wilmington through September 6 “Splendors of Meiji: Treasures of Imperial Ja­ pan”; at the First USA Riverfront Arts Center, 800 S. Madison St. D. C., Washington through September £T“Devi:The Great Goddess,” 120 works of Indian art, including

88 CERAMICS MONTHLY

versary Teapot Show”; at Chiaroscuro Gallery, Prize Show”; at the Federal Reserve Gallery, 600 Calendar 700 N. Michigan Ave. Atlantic Ave. May 1-29“Contemporary Abstraction: Painting, Massachusetts, Northampton through May 31 Sculpture and Work on Paper,” including ce­ “Flora and Fauna”; at Ferrin Gallery, 179 Main St. terra cotta; at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smith­ ramic sculpture by Jun Kaneko; at Klein Art Michigan, Kalamazoothrough May 9 “A Taste for sonian Institution. Works, 400 N. Morgan. Splendor: Russian Imperial and European Trea­ Florida, Orlando May 1-July 11 “Shamans, Gods Indiana, Indianapolis through June 27“Art of the sures from the Hillwood Museum”; at the and Mythic Beasts”; at the Orlando Museum of Americas, 2000 Years of Native American Cre­ Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, 314 S. Park St. Art, 2416 N. Mills Ave. ativity”; at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, 1200 Nebraska, Omaha May 1—22 “Mugs and Works on Georgia, Atlanta June 11—August 13 “A View W. 38th St. Paper ’99”; at Period Gallery, 5174 Leavenworth. from the Garden: Paintings, Drawings, Photogra­ Kentucky, Louisville through May 2 “Ceramics New York, Albany through May 2 “1999 Con­ phy and Installations,” including ceramics by and Textiles,” two-person exhibition with pottery temporary Crafts of New York State Exhibition.” Robin Campo; at the Spruill Center Gallery, by Yerger Andre. “Horsin’ Around.” May 12-July through September 13, 2000 “From the Collec­ 4681 Ashford Dunwoody Rd. 3 “Kentucky’s Best: New Works from Old tions: Treasures from the Wunsch Americana Hawaii, Makawao, Maui May 15—June26“ 1999 Friends.” May 12-July 10“Fifteen Years on Main Foundation”; at the New York State Museum, Hui No’eau Juried Members Show”; at the Hui Street”; at the Kentucky Art and Craft Gallery, Empire State Plaza. No’eau Visual Arts Center, 2841 Baldwin Ave. 609 W. Main St. New York, New York through May 8 “Vessel Illinois, Chicago through May 10 “Tenth Anni­ Massachusetts, Boston through May 2.9“National Language,” ceramics, photography and drawings; at Greenwich House Pottery, 16 Jones St. through May 29 “The Contemporary Figurine.” June 5—August 7 “New Talent,” works in clay, glass and furniture; at John Elder Gallery, 529 W. 20th St., 7th FI. through June ^“Crosscurrents in Asian Art: Mas­ terpieces from New York Collections”; at the Japan Society Gallery, 333 E. 47th St. North Carolina, Asheville through May 9 “Haywood Community College Graduating Stu­ dents’ Exhibition.” “Educational Exhibition: Penland School of Arts and Crafts”; at the South­ ern Highland Craft Guild’s Folk Art Center, Milepost 382, Blue Ridge Pkwy. North Carolina, Carrboro June 1—27 “Garden Party,” including clay turtle sculptures by Blaine Avery; at Green Tara Gallery, 118 E. Main St. North Carolina, Charlotte through May 30“The White House Collection of American Crafts”; at the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, 220 N. Tryon St. May 4-2.9Three-person exhibition including col­ ored porcelain vessels by Thomas Hoadley; at Gallery W.D.O., Ste. 610 at Atherton Mill, 2000 South Blvd. North Carolina, Waynesville May 1-June 70Two- person exhibition including clay fountains, reflec­ tion pools and flower/plant vessels by Karen Stoner; at Twigs and Leaves Gallery, 98 N. Main St. Ohio, Columbus May 2—June 27 “The Best of 1999”; at the Ohio Craft Museum, 1665 W. Fifth Ave. Oregon, Portland through May 2 “Eating Right; Surpassing Function and Changing Rituals. "June 22—August21 “Growing Up with Roy: Exploring American Culture”; at the Contemporary Crafts Gallery, 3934 S.W. Corbett Ave. Pennsylvania, Greensburg July 2-5 “West­ moreland Art Nationals—25 th”; at the Westmore­ land Arts and Heritage Festival, Twin Lakes Park. Pennsylvania, Lancaster through June 13 “Na­ tional Crafts”; at the Lancaster Museum of Art, 135 N. Lime St. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia through May 1 Four- person exhibition with ceramics by Ron Meyers; at the Works Gallery, 303 Cherry St. through May 9“ Domestic Spaces”; at the Philadel­ phia Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th St. Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh May 14—September 8 “Stop Asking/We Exist: 25 African-American Craft Artists”; at the Society for Contemporary Crafts, 2100 Smallman St. Pennsylvania, Youngwood May 30-June 13 “Westmoreland Art Nationals—25th”; at West­ moreland County Community College. Tennessee, Chattanooga through May “1998-99 Sculpture Garden Exhibit”; at River Gallery, 400 E. Second St. Tennessee, Gatlinburg through May 75“Arrow- mont National 1999 Juried Exhibition.” “Arrow- mont School of Arts and Crafts Resident Artists

90 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 91 Commission’s “Arts and Crafts Festival”; at the June 5 “Crafts Fair”; along Jones Street, near Green­ Calendar Miller Library, 2901 Dixwell Ave. wich House Pottery. Georgia, Atlanta June 11—20 “Arts Festival At­ Ohio, Findlay June 12—13 “Arts Festival by the lanta”; at Centennial Olympic Park. Riverside”; at Riverside Park. Exhibition,” includes ceramics by Ole Morten Illinois, Chicago June 4-6 “ACC Craft Show Oregon, Portland May 7-9 “Ceramic Showcase,” Rokvam; at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Chicago”; at Navy Pier. sale ofworks by over 200 Oregon Potters Association 556 Parkway. June 5 andJuly “Belmont/Sheffield Street Festi­ members; at the Oregon Convention Center, 777 Texas, San Antonio June 18-August21 “Abstract val”; along Sheffield Ave. from Belmont Ave. to N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Craft”; at the Southwest School of Art and Craft, Barry Ave. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia through May 2 “The Russell Hill Rogers Gallery. June 12-13 “25th Annual Wells Street Art Festi­ Philadelphia Furniture and Furnishings Show”; Virginia, Arlington through May 24 “Tea for val”; in Old Town, along Wells St. at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Two,” a display of complementary ceramic and Indiana, Indianapolis May 8-9 “29th Annual Texas, Lubbock June 12-13 “Llano Estacado textile works; at Scope Gallery, Torpedo Factory, Broad Ripple Art Fair”; at the Indianapolis Art Wine and Clay Festival”; at the Llano Estacado 105 N. Union St. Center, 820 E. 67th St. Winery, east of 87 on FM 1585. Iowa, Clinton June 19 “Art in the Park”; at Vermont, Waterbury Center May 29—30 “Open Fairs, Festivals and Sales Riverview Park. House and Seconds Sale”; at the Vermont Clay Kansas, Salina June 11-13 “Smoky Hill River Studio, Rte. 100. Alabama, Springville June 4— ^“Summerfest”; at Festival”; at Oakdale Park. Virginia, Manassas through May 2 “Sugarloaf Homestead Hollow. Maryland, Frederick May 7-9 “25th Annual Crafts Festival”; at the Prince William County California, Lincoln May22“Lincoln Clayfest”; at Frederick Art and Craft Festival”; at the Frederick Fairgrounds. Beermann Plaza, Fifth and F sts., downtown. Fairgrounds. Wisconsin, Cambridge June 12—13 “8th Annual California, Pasadena May 15—16 “Showcase of Massachusetts, Worcester May 14—16 “29th Cambridge Pottery Festival”; at West Side Park. Ceramic Art,” sale of works by 45 Southern Annual Crafts Fair”; at the Worcester Center for California artists; at the Elks Club, 400 W. Crafts, 25 Sagamore Rd. Workshops Colorado Blvd. Michigan, Birmingham June 9 “15th Annual California, San Diego June 12-13 “16th Annual Juried Arts and Crafts Show”; at the First United Arizona, Tucson May 15-16 and 22—23 “Tile Indian Fair”; at the San Diego Museum of Man, Methodist Chruch, 1589 W. Maple Rd. Workshop” with Nina Borgia-Aberle. Fee:$340, 1350 El Prado, Balboa Park. Missouri, St. Louis May 7-9“Laumeier Contempo­ includes materials and firing. For further in­ California, Santa Monica June 18-20 “Contem­ rary Art Fair”; at the Laumeier Sculpture Park, formation, contact the Hummingbird House: e- porary Crafts Market”; at Santa Monica Civic 12580 RottRd. mail [email protected] or telephone (520) Auditorium, 1855 Main St. New Jersey, Somerset May 14— 7£T“Sugarloaf Crafts742-3969. Colorado, Boulder May 7-9 “Boulder Potter’s Festival”; at the Garden State Exhibit Center. California, Penryn May 29-31 A session with Guild Spring Show and Sale”; at the National New York, New York May 20—23 “SOFA NYC”; Kathy Koop, Paul Soldner and Peter Voulkos. Guard Armory, 4750 Broadway. at the Seventh Regiment Armory, Park Ave. and Fee: $300; or $375 includes wood firing. For Colorado, Manitou Springs June 19“9th Annual 67th St. further information, contact Rodney Mott (916) Clayfest and Mud Ball”; along Canon Ave. May 29—31, June 5—6Washington Square Outdoor 663-2815. Connecticut, Hamden May 8 Hamden Arts Art Exhibit, on the streets of Greenwich Village. Colorado, Boulder May l4-15S\\dt presentation

92 CERAMICS MONTHLY

Calendar

and workshop with Angela Fina. Fee: $65, in­ cludes lunch on Friday. June 3-6 Castable kilnbuilding workshop with R. Jack McClennen. Fee: $50. Sponsored by the Boulder Potters’ Guild. Contact Caroline Douglas, 1527 North St., Boul­ der 80304; or telephone (303) 447-0110. Colorado, Carbondale June 7-19 “Functional Pots and the Wood Kiln” with Peg Malloy and Diane Kenney. Fee: $550, includes lab fee. August I6-20“Sculptural Forms” with Wesley Anderegg. Fee: $275, includes lab fee. Contact Carbondale Clay Center, 135 Main St., Carbondale 81623; e-mail [email protected], telephone (970) 963-2529 or fax (970) 963-4492. Colorado, Glenwood Springs May 21-23 “Raku Workshop” with Bob Smith. Fee: $200; due by May 10. For further information, contact Glenwood Springs Center for the Arts, 601 E. Sixth St., Glenwood Springs 81601; or telephone (970) 945-2414. Colorado, Steamboat Springs May 1-14 “Pot­ tery: The Good, the Bad... the Ugly” with Jonathan Kaplan. May 16-29 “Form, Surface and Source” with Ted Vogel. Fee/session: $1330, includes some materials, 1 firing, lab fee, lodging and meals. Contact Laloba Ranch Clay Center, PO Box 770226, Steamboat Springs 80477; e-mail [email protected], see website http:/ /cmn.netMaloba, telephone (970) 870-6423 or fax (970) 870-6452. Connecticut, Brookfield May 7-9“S\ip, Surface, Slabs and Turning” with Steve Robison and Kathleen Guss; fee: $295. May 15-16 “S aggar Firing” with Elizabeth MacDonald; fee: $215. May 22-23 Japanese throwing and carving tech­ niques with Peter Callas; fee: $210. Contact the Brookfield Craft Center, PO Box 122, Rte. 25, Brookfield 06804; or telephone (203) 775-4526. Connecticut, West Hartford May 17—28 “Slip- cast Pottery Workshop” with Andrew Martin and Matt Towers. Intermediate through professional. Fee: $865, includes materials and firing. Contact Matt Towers, Hartford Art School, 200 Bloomfield Ave., West Hartford 06117; telephone (860) 768- 4393 or fax (860) 768-5296. D.C., Washington May 15-16S lide presentation and demonstration with Nicholas P. Joerling; fee: $100. Contact Hinckley Pottery, 1707 Kalorama Rd., NW, Washington, D.C. 20009; or tele­ phone (202) 745-7055. Florida, Maitland May 8, 15, 22 “Clay Drum Construction” with Cindy McDowell. Fee: $90 includes materials. Contact Ann Spalding, Maitland Art Center, 231 W. Packwood Ave., Maitland 32751. E-mail [email protected]. Or call (407) 539-2181; fax (407) 539-1198. Maine, Portland May 8 “Celebration of the Cup” with Marian Baker. Limited to 12 participants. Contact Portland Pottery School and Supply, 118 Washington Ave., Portland 04101; or telephone (207) 772-4334. Maryland, Frederick May 14 Slide lecture with Ian Gregory on paperclay sculpture. Fee: $5. May 15—16 “Ceramic Sculpture and Paper Clay” with Ian Gregory. Fee: $145. Contact Hood College Ceramics Program, 401 Rosemont Ave., Frederick 21701; telephone Joyce Michaud (301) 696-3456 or (301) 698-0929. Massachusetts, Stockbridge May 8-9“ Nerikomi: Handbuilding with Colored Clay” with Naomi Lindenfeld. Fee/session: $ 150, includes materials. Contact Interlaken School of Art, PO Box 1400, Stockbridge 01262; or telephone (413) 298-5252. Massachusetts, Williamsburg May 8-10 “Thrown, Handbuilt and Altered Large Forms:

94 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 95 Franklin Ave., E, Minneapolis 55406; or tele­ includes materials and firing. All skill levels. For Calendar phone (612) 339-8007. further information, contact Josh DeWeese, Resi­ Mississippi, Horn Island May 17—21 “Horn Is­ dent Director, Archie Bray Foundation, 2915 land Workshop” includes “Alternative Kiln- Country Club Ave., Helena 59602; e-mail Shape, Scale and Transformation” with Erica building and Firing” with Lowell Baker and [email protected], telephone (406) 443- Wurtz.May 17—23 “Portraits and Self-Portraits in Annette Blocker. Fee: $400. Sponsored by George 3502 or fax (406) 443-0934. Clay: A Sculpting Workshop” with Christopher E. Ohr Arts and Cultural Center, Biloxi. For New Jersey, Layton May 21-25 “Pinch Pots and Gowell; or “Mosaics: Ancient Art Form/20th- further information or prospectus, contact Annette Pit Firing: Ancient Methods for Modern Times” Century Applications” with Tina Gram. For fur­ Blocker: e-mail [email protected], tele­ with Jimmy Clark. Fee: $445, includes lab and ther information, contact Horizons, 108 N. Main phone (228) 436-8607 or fax (228) 436-3641. application fees, firing. May 28-31 “Raku” with St., Sunderland, MA 01375; e-mail Montana, Billings May 10-21 “Form Follows Mike Carroll. Fee: $377, includes lab and applica­ [email protected] or see website Function” with Marcia Selsor, throwing; or “Clay tion fees, firing. Skill requirements vary. Contact www.horizons-art.org or telephone (413) 665- in the Classroom” with Tana Patterson. College Jennifer Brooks, Peters Valley Craft Education 0300/fax (413) 665-4141. credit available. Lab fee/session: $40. Dormitory Center, 19 Kuhn Rd., Layton 07851; e-mail Minnesota, Minneapolis May 1—2 “Shared Sig­ housing available. Contact Summer Session Office, [email protected], telephone (973) 948-5200 or natures and Alternative Surfaces,” hands-on work­ Montana State University-Billings, (406) 657-2203. fax (973) 948-0011. shop with Sana Musasama. Fee: $90; members, Montana, Helena May 13—16 “Understanding New Mexico, Santa Fe May 22—23 “Raku $80. Contact the Northern Clay Center, 2424 Ceramic Glazes” with Pete Pinnell; fee: $150, Kilnbuilding” with Mario Quilles; each student will build a 24x26-inch raku kiln. Instruction in English, Italian and Spanish. All skill levels. Fee: $250, includes materials and firing. For further information, contact Mario Quilles, A.I.R. Studioworks, 3825 Hwy. 14, Santa Fe 87505; e-mail [email protected] or telephone/fax (505) 438-7224 (call first). New Mexico, Taos May 16-22 “Traditional Pueblo Clay” with Sharon Dryflower Reyna. Con­ tact Taos Institute of Arts, 108 Civic Plaza Dr., Taos 87571; [email protected] , see website www.taosnet.com/TIA/ or telephone (505) 758- 2793 or (800) 822-7183. New York, New York May 1—2 “The Lidded Vessel” with Susan Beecher. Fee: $165; members, $150. Contact the Craft Students League, YWCA/ NYC, 610 Lexington Ave., New York 10022; or telephone (212) 735-9731. May 18 Lecture and workshop with Anne Currier. Contact Greenwich House Pottery, 16 Jones St., New York 10014; or telephone (212) 242-4106. New York, Oakdale May 1-2 A workshop with Suze Lindsey; at Dowling College. For further information, contact Cathy Valenza, Islip Art Museum, (516) 224-5402. New York, Port Chester May 21-23 “Ceramic Sculpture and Paper Clay,” workshop and slide lecture with Ian Gregory; fee: $135, includes clay. Contact the Clay Art Center, 40 Beech St., Port Chester 10573; or telephone (914) 937-2047. New York, West Nyack May 23 “Raku-firing Workshop” with Rosemary Aiello. Fee: $75, in­ cludes registration. Preregistration required. Contact Rockland Center for the Arts, 27 S. Greenbush Rd., West Nyack 10994; see website www.rocklandartcenter.org, telephone (914) 358- 0877 or fax (914) 358-0971. New York, White Plains May 5 “Decorative Solutions to Altered Forms” with Suze Lindsay. May 26A session with Robert Mueller. Contact the Westchester Art Workshop, Westchester County Center, White Plains 10606; or tele­ phone (914) 684-0094. North Carolina, Asheville May 21-22 Hand- building and surface decoration with Kathy Triplett; fee: $90, includes lunch. Contact Odyssey Center for the Ceramic Arts, 236 Clingman Ave., Asheville 28801; e-mail [email protected] or telephone (828) 285-0210. North Carolina, Columbia May 23 “Glaze Work­ shop” wtih Linda Boyer. Fee: $50. Contact Po- cosin Arts Pottery, PO Box 690, Columbia27925; e-mail [email protected] or telephone Carol or Gwen (919) 796-2787. Ohio, Kent May 17-28 “Kent Blossom Ceramics Workshop” with Kirk Mangus and visiting artists Bob Brady and Sandy Simon, exploring the ex­ pressive use of handbuilding and throwing tech­ niques to make sculpture and pots. All skill levels. Fee: $696, undergraduate; $737.25, graduate; includes materials and firing. For further informa-

96 CERAMICS MONTHLY tion, contact Becky Summer, Kent State Univer­ http://hal9000.flemingc.on.ca/fa/index.htm, tele­ August29“Rococo to Revolution: European Por­ sity Art Dept., Kent 44242; telephone (330) 672- phone (705) 457-1680 or fax (705) 457-2255. celain from the Hans Syz Collection”; at the 2192 or fax (330) 672-4729. Canada, Ontario, Oakville May 18—28 “Form George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, 111 Pennsylvania, Chester Springs May 21—23 Lec­ Exploration,” forming and surface techniques with Queen’s Park. ture and workshop on wood firing with Ken Steven Heinemann. Intermediate and advanced Canada, Saskatchewan, Ruddell September 8—12 Bichell. Contact Chester Springs Studio, PO Box skill levels. Fee: Can$435 (approximately “SaskTerra Symposium: Prairie Fire 1999” will 329, Chester Springs 19425; or telephone (610) US$290), includes materials. For further infor­ focus on the pleasure and pain of wood firing. Will 827-7277. mation, contact Hugh Douglas-Murray, Sheridan include salt and primitive firings, discussions, and Pennsylvania, Farmington May 21-23 “Throw­ College, School of Crafts and Design: e-mail slide presentations. Fee: Can$185 (approximately ing Pots for Wood Firing” with Kevin Crowe. [email protected], telephone US$125); members, Can$l60 (approximately Contact Touchstone Center for Crafts: e-mail (905) 845-9430 ext. 2589, or fax (905) 815-4043. US$105). Registration deadline: May 31. For [email protected] or telephone (800) 721-0177. Canada, Ontario, Toronto through May 29 Ce­ further information, contact Prairie Fire 1999, South Carolina, Murrells Inlet May 24-28 “Im­ ramics by Steven Heinemann; at Prime Gallery, c/o SaskTerra, Box 145, Meacham, Saskatch­ agery and Colored Clay” with Vince Pitelka. All skill 52 McCaul St. ewan SOK 2V0; e-mail [email protected] or tele­ levels. Fee: $195, plus materials. Contact Lori Leary May 16-June 9 Sarah MacMillan, “Strive: To phone (306) 376-2221. (843) 237-5993, or ArtWorks (843) 235-9600. Turn One’s Hand To,” exhibition of porcelain. England, Bath May 1-2and29-30“V\zy\ng with Texas, Lubbock June 11—13 Slide presentation May 25-August 8 “Toronto Collects: Contempo­ Fire,” two-part workshop with Steve Mills. For and workshop with Todd Camp. Contact School rary Ceramics,” about 60 clayworks.May 26— further information, contact Steve Mills, Bath of Art, Rte. 10, Box 93, Lubbock 79404; e-mail [email protected] or telephone (806) 745-6018. Vermont, Middlebury May 14-16 “Throwing Altered Forms,” slide presentation and workshop with Bonnie Seeman. Fee: $ 198; members, $ 180. May 14 slide presentation, free. Contact Frog Hollow Vermont State Craft Center: e-mail [email protected]; telephone (802) 388-3177. Vermont, Waterbury Center May 15, 16, 22 “Sawdust Firing Workshop” with Elizabeth Ro­ man. Fee: $100. Telephone (802) 244-1126, or see website at www.vermontclaystudio.com. Virginia, Arlington May 21-23 Demonstration by Richard Aerni, includes throwing large vessels and working with single-fired ash glazes; fee: $85. Contact Lee Arts Center, 5722 Lee Hwy., Arling­ ton 22207. [email protected] or telephone (703) 228-5256. Washington, Seattle May 74-I6T“Majolica Work­ shop” with Terry Siebert; fee: $80, includes glazes and firing. Intermediate through professional. Contact Jean Griffith, Director, Pottery North­ west, 226 First Ave., N, Seattle 98109; e-mail [email protected], telephone (206) 285-4421. Wyoming, Laramie May 8 Handbuilding dem­ onstration with Tracey Dobbins. Contact Artisans’ Gallery, 213 S. Second St., Laramie 82070; tele­ phone (888) 616-6409.

International Events Australia, Victoria, Shepparton through May 16 “Sidney Myer Fund International Ceramics Award”; at the Shepparton Art Gallery. Belgium, Brussels May 23-30 “International Bien­ nial of Ceramic Art”; at the Clos des Arts-Anciennes Glacieres de Saint-Gilles. Canada, British Columbia, OsoyoosJune25—27or July 16-18 “Ceramic Handbuilding” with Zeljko Kujundzic. Fee: $125. Contact Zeljko Kujundzic, RR 2, S6 C9, Osoyoos VOH 1V0; or telephone Elizabeth (250) 495-2913. Canada, British Columbia, Victoria May 29—30 “Fired Up! Contemporary Works in Clay,” sale of works by 14 British Columbia potters; at the Metcho- sin Community Hall, 4401 William Head Rd. Canada, British Columbia, Wells August 3-6 “Handbuilding in Clay” with Claire Kujundzic. Fee: Can$205 (approximately US$135), includes materials. Contact Island Mountain Arts, Box 65, Wells VOK 2R0; e-mail [email protected], see website at www.imarts.com, telephone (800) 442- 2787 or fax (250) 994-3433. Canada, Ontario, Burlington May 2-June 15 Two-person exhibition with ceramics by Alexandra McCurdy; at the Burlington Centre for the Arts. Canada, Ontario, Haliburton May 3—8 “Pottery for Beginners” with BarbaraJ. Peel. Fee: Can$212.78 (approximately US$140). Contact Shelley Schell, Haliburton School ofFine Arts, Box 839, Haliburton KOM 1 SO; e-mail [email protected], see website

May 1999 97 Calendar

Potters, Dorset Close, Bath BA2 3RF; e-mail [email protected] . England, Devon June 19—20 “Potters Festival,” will include demonstrations by Billy Adams and Roger Cockram, firings, competitions, pottery exhibition/sale; at Bickleigh Castle. England, Ipswich May 9-22 “Salt Glazing” with Deborah Baynes, handbuilding, throwing, salt glazing and wood-fired raku. Intermediate through professional skill levels. Fee: £620 (approximately US$1015), includes materials, firing, lodging, meals. Contact Deborah Baynes Pottery Studio, Nether Hall, Shotley, Ipswich, Suffolk 1P9 1PW; or telephone (473) 787055. England, London through May 31 “Rare Marks on Chinese Porcelain” exhibition; at Percival David Foundation, 53 Gordon Sq. through Spring Reconstruction of William and Mary’s porcelain gallery with displays of Japanese Kakiemon and Chinese ceramics; at State Apart­ ments, Kensington Palace. May 4-June 18 Vladimir Tsivin, ceramic sculpture; at Galerie Besson, 15 Royal Arcade, 28 Old Bond St. June 11—July 24 Two-person exhibition including ceramics by Gordon Baldwin; at Barrett Marsden Gallery, 17-18 Great Sutton St., Clerkenwell. England, Oxford through May 26 “Town and Country,” two-person exhibition including wood- fired ceramics by Clive Bowen. May 31-June 30 “Summer Holiday,” exhibition including ceram­ ics by Edla Griffiths, Paul Jackson, John Pollex, Sara Robertson, Vivienne Ross, Joanna Still and Zoe Ryan; at Oxford Gallery, 23 High St. England, Stoke-on-Trent May 1-June 20 “Ce­ ramic Contemporaries 3,” juried exhibition of works by emerging artists; at the Potteries Mu­ seum and Art Gallery. France, Provence May 8-15 Handbuilding work­ shop with Adele Goulty. Fee: $625, includes lodg­ ing, breakfast and lunch. All skill levels. Limited to 6 participants. Telephone/fax (33) 494 43 73 52. France, Saint Quentin la Poterie through January 9, 2000 “10 Ans de Ceramique-Passion,” works by 38 ceramists; at Terra Viva Galerie, Rue de la Fontaine. France, Sevres May 4 “Ceramique prestigieuses des Musees d’Art et d’Histoire,” lecture with Claire Dumortier. June 8 “La collection Arnhold de porcelaines de Meissen,” lecture with Maureen Cassidy-Geiger. For further information, contact the Societe des Amis du Musee National de Ceramique, place de la Manufacture, 92310 Sevres; telephone (41) 14 04 20. Italy, FaenzaMay 15—January 2, 2000 “Interna­ tional Exhibition of Ceramics 1999.” “Artisti dal Mondo”; at the International Museum of Ceramics. Netherlands, Delft through June J2Frans Ottink, porcelain tableware; at Gallery Terra Keramiek, Nieuwstraat 7. Netherlands, Deventer through May 5 “Two Pot­ ters from the Provence,” works by Christine Fabre and Dany Jung; at Loes and Reinier, Korte Assenstraat 15. Netherlands, Oosterbeek June 12-August 9 “Keranova II,” works by about 30 ceramists; at Galerie Amphora, van Oudenallenstraat 3. Netherlands, Veghel July 5-10 “Salt Glazing” with G. de Ryk. July 12-17 “Raku and Naked Raku” with C. Teer. July 19-24 “Salt Glazing” with H. V. Alphen. Beginning through advanced skill levels. Fee per workshop session: $ 170. Camp­ ing: $40. Meals: $60. For further information, contact Van Melis, Instituut Pieter Brueghel, Middegaal 25, Veghel; telephone (41) 336 5675 or fax (41) 335 4907.

98 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 99 The problem you describe is called shiver­ shivering from your wares. The first is to adjust Questions ing, and occurs when the expansion of the glaze the body, but the easiest is to adjust the glaze. Answered by the CM Technical Staff is too low for the clay body. Shivering is the However, there is one other area that needs to reverse of crazing, in which the expansion of the be considered, and that is the bisque tempera­ glaze is too high for the clay body. ture and the nature of low-temperature earth­ Q I am making 18-inch platters with white At Cone 05, the glaze is completely melted enware clay bodies. earthenware, bisquedto Cone 04 and decorated and quite fluid. It fits the ware very well. But Most low-temperature white clay bodies are with underglazes and clear glaze, then fired to as the glaze and the clay body cool, the glaze composed of ball clays, talc and perhaps some Cone 05 (slow with holding time 10 minutes). needs to be in slight compression over the PV clay. Red clay bodies at this range are Somehow, the glazes pop off at the edges, here clay body and not in tension. When this com­ problematic also. Vitreous clay bodies are and there, even when the platters are out of the pression is too low or too high, the glaze will difficult to achieve at this low temperature kiln for hours. I read in CM months ago that craze or, in your case, shiver off the pot. This is unless some frit is present in the clay body. someone had a good way to keep this from most readily observed on the rims or edges Suitable eutectics are not possible in this range happening, but I can V locate the information. where the tension of a piece is most obvious. with flint and feldspar. While talc, nepheline Please help.—E.K. There are two general ways to eliminate syenite and wollastonite can be used, the body is still not properly matured. In fact, clay bodies composed of ball clay, talc and PV clay have quite a wide firing range, and even at Cone 04, these bodies are still open and punky. Absorp­ tion is quite high. While Cone 04 may seem to be a high-enough bisque, you might try for Cone 03 to get better maturity. The problem that arises from higher bisque firing is that the water in the glaze slurry is not properly ab­ sorbed and proper glaze thickness is not achieved on the ware. I am assuming from your question that you are using a commercially prepared clay body. So it is advisable to change the glaze if you are making your own glaze. For a low-temperature clear glaze, the usual ingredients are frit, kaolin and perhaps some flint and maybe a feldspar and some suspending agents. You can formulate a low-temperature clear glaze from just frit and kaolin, the kaolin being used for slurry suspension. These glazes need to have a very thin application and exact firing end point. Glazes that are compounded from a blend of frits, some kaolin and a small amount of feldspar and flint will have better application and firing characteristics. By diversifying the ingredients you are using, you can take advan­ tage of each ingredient’s different characteris­ tics and eutectic points rather than just the characteristics of a single material. A good addition to these glazes is some CMC or Veegum for glaze suspension and surface hardness. You may want to add a small amount of Epsom salts solution to obtain addi­ tional suspension. Glaze calculation software easily computes expansion numbers for a given formula, and makes it so you can easily adjust your glaze recipes for proper fit. Where this becomes difficult is in using commercial glazes. Com­ mercial glazes are compounded for brushing multiple coats. There are new dipping clears available, which are, for the most part, frits and kaolin. If you are using either a dipping or brushing clear, you may want to try another manufacturer’s glaze. I would not advise trying to adjust a commer-

100 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 101 Questions

dally prepared glaze, although you can com­ bine equal parts of Clear Glaze 1 from one manufacturer and Clear Glaze 2 from a differ­ ent one to possibly achieve a blended glaze that does not shiver. I would also pay particular attention to the placement of the ware in the kiln. Wide platters heat and cool at different rates. The rims of platters will cool quicker, and are more subject to defects. You may try stilting the platters, but they may warp. You could place the platters in the center of the shelf so that the rims are surrounded by other pots. Loading the kiln in this manner will help to retain heat during the cooling process. If the design of the rim on your piece is sharp or thin, there may not be enough surface for the glaze to adhere both in application as well as in its fired state. Finally, there may be an interface problem between the clear glaze and underglazes. I as­ sume that your underglaze and clear glaze are from the same manufacturer and that your application of the underglaze follows the manufacturer’s instructions. In general, and only “in general,” these materials can be thought of as relatively fool­ proof in that they should work with a great degree of latitude. However, in this case, they may not. It may be wise to consult with the customer service department of your particular glaze manufacturer to see if they know of any problems that have occurred in the past. I would also suggest changing to a low- temperature clay body from another manufac­ turer while keeping your glazing materials and techniques the same. If the problem is rectified, then we can deduce that the clay is the culprit. If the problem is still evident, then it is a glaze- related problem. Shivering and crazing are easy to correct with a well-thought-out testing procedure. Jonathan Kaplan Ceramic Design Group Steamboat Springs, Colo.

Q Why is it that sometimes kiln wash, after a firing, flakes ojfthe shelf, creating uneven humps and the need for lots of new kiln wash, and sometimes (even within the same firing) it stays nice and smooth and needs no attention before the next firing? (I ask this assuming no glaze has dripped and no pot bottoms are stuck.) This variation seems to occur regardless of temperature (bisque, Cone 6, Cone 10), atmo­ sphere, or shelf material (mullite or silicon car­ bide). I use equal parts flint and kaolin.—M.B. The wash recipe you mention is probably the most used and most cursed for the reasons you mention. Many hours have been spent

102 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 103 Questions

scraping, grinding and chipping the white stuff off kiln shelves. Flint and kaolin (and alumina oxide) work as kiln wash because they are highly refrac­ tory—there is no fluxing agent to hold them in a stable matrix on the shelf. Basically, gravity is the glue that keeps them there. Mechanical strength is nil, and as the shelf expands and contracts, any adhesive bonding present is loos­ ened; the result is the flaking and chipping you are asking about. While the wash acts as an effective barrier between the kiln shelf and dripped glaze, it must be completely removed periodically or a very uneven surface results as subsequent coats are added. Moreover, with the potential for flaking, it is not possible to flip the coated shelf if warped. One solution to this problem is to “wash” with a refractory that is easy to apply and wipes off with a damp sponge. While not suggested for messy student firings with unknown glazes that flow with unrestricted abandon, a dusting of alumina hydrate is very effective as a resistant coating. The procedure is to have a plastic wash basin in which to stand the shelf while applying the alumina powder. A thin dusting is all that is required. And be sure to remember to wear a suitable respirator. The time-honored practice of brushing kiln wash on kiln shelves may be a thing of the past, because of new refractory coating technology. Lately, I have been coating all kiln furniture with a commercial refractory that has several remarkable properties. Once coated, they re­ quire no further application. There is no flaking and shelves can be routinely flipped, if desired, with no fear of the coating falling off the underside. Glaze drips are simply popped off with a tap. An additional major advantage is that when this product is applied on all sides and edges of cheap mullite or cordereite shelves, they achieve a higher thermal rating. I am successfully using ¾-inch Thorley cordereites at Cone 10 with no significant warping—and no additional kiln wash. The coating used is made by International Techni­ cal Ceramics of Florida, and is ITC100HT. Many of the larger ceramics supply houses carry this product. Nils Lou Linfield Colege McMinnville, Oregon

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

104 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 105 106 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 107 Comment

Leach’s Circular Logic by John Britt

The writings of Bernard Leach have in­ as the aesthetics of actual living, in which spired potters for decades. Yet his roman­ utility is the first principle of beauty.” tic notions of the potters role in the This is how, after establishing the superi­ modern world are what is holding us ority ofYanagi, Leach introduces the no­ back as the beginning of a new century tion that Utility is the first principle of dawns. Rather than facing the challenges Beauty, because Yanagi has apprehended of adapting to an industrial world of the it with his superior powers of enlight­ 1940s as Leach was, we are faced with the ened vision. Remember, this is the “aes­ added complexities of the digital age. We thetics of actual living.” can no longer cast aside the false assump­ Next, Leach introduces Simple and tions and contradictions inherent in Restrained as the second principle. He Leachs philosophy. If we hope to enter writes: “Here the quality of extravagance the new century with vigor and belief in that is always associated with expensive the veracity of crafts, we must confront art objects is wholly absent, and any sur­ the underlying assumptions that lie rot­ plus of decorativeness is objection­ ting at the base of his outdated vision. able.... Simplicity may be thought of as The primary assumption on which characteristic of cheap things, but it must the entire system balances is that Orien­ be remembered that it is a quality that tals are more sensitive, intuitive and gifted harmonizes well with beauty. That which humans. Leach writes in A Potters Book: is truly beautiful is often simple and “Children play with pebbles with a simi­ restrained....I am told that St. Francis of lar awakening of perception, and Orien­ Assisi advocated what he called ‘Holy tals have lost touch with the fresh wonder Poverty.’ A thing possessed in some man­ of childhood less than we have.” This ner of the virtue of poverty has an inde­ statement is the underpinning of his en­ scribable beauty. Indeed, beauty and tire philosophy. According to Leach, Ori­ humility border upon each other. What entals live in an ego-less manner, much as is so appealing in the art of the people is children who experience the world in a this very quality...beauty accompanied by purer way, and their aesthetic sensibilities the nobleness of poverty.” are more profound. From this, it must So Leach is able to introduce poverty follow that a master of an Oriental tradi­ and spirituality through simple and re­ tion is more sensitive and insightful than strained by bringing in St. Francis of the average gifted Oriental because he is Assisi. The truly beautiful is not only its leader. The things he apprehends are simple and restrained, but becomes vir­ therefore more profound and significant tuous through the introduction of St. than what we perceive because we are less Francis’ notion of holy poverty. But St. in touch with our original mind. This is Francis’ holy poverty referred to material not only the anointing of Soetsu Yanagi wealth, not simplicity of design. So here and his system, but it reinforces Leach’s Leach is able to link poverty of design own superiority, since he has been recog­ with material poverty. The “virtue of pov­ nized as worthy through his inheritance erty” (both in price and form) has an of the title Kenzan VII. Now we can “indescribable beauty.” (It is indeed inde­ move forward directly through the words scribable but, thankfully, Yanagi is there ofYanagi. to apprehend it for us.) St. Francis is also Leach establishes the first principle of the impetus for the notion of humility, his philosophy from the observation of presumably through his monastic vows. the master, Yanagi. He writes that “the And in some way, humility is restrained, amazingly keen eye of the Cha-no-yu which brings us right back to simple and master (Soetsu Yanagi) has discovered in restrained, which is beautiful and useful. these odd, neglected pieces a unique A perfect circle. In Texas, we would call this beauty; for what most appeals to him are guy a genuine genius. The entire system the things originally made for everyday dumped on you in one perfectly illogical use. In brief, Cha-no-yu may be defined paragraph. But wait, there is more.

108 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 109 Comment like beings who act in an egoless manner is a little bit troublesome. I will grant you that at that time in history (1854—1935), Further down, he states: “Thus from this was a pretty easy premise to accept. a Buddhist background, ethically much You see, China had just opened up and akin to the Medieval Christianity on Japan had just ended several centuries of which the Neo-Thomists have based self-imposed isolation. The Orient was their attitudes toward art....” This is still a mysterious place and people as­ where the medieval aspects are intro­ sumed a lot of things for the simple fact duced. The ethics and attitudes toward that not much was known about it. But art of the Westerner Thomas Aquinas are from my recollection of history, these like that of the Buddhists of Japan. Where Orientals that Leach speaks of, the ones the West went wrong was sometime after with the “fresh wonder of childhood” the Medieval period. and the “awakening of perception,” are This is in line with what Richard Wil­ the same imperialist Japanese who were son said in his book Inside Japanese Ce­ colonizing and holding his beloved Kore­ ramics: “Bernard Leach and the other craft ans (also Orientals) as slaves. I presume it revivalists stressed that given the general was this same childlike sense of wonder decline of the crafts in a world of indus­ that induced the Japanese to invade, en­ trial domination, only artist potters,’ in­ slave, torture and kill not only their clos­ dividuals blessed with leadership and est neighbors, like the Chinese, Russians, insight, could save them from extinc­ Koreans, but most of the South Pacific. tion.” So, luckily, Leach and Yanagi How Leach could have neglected this showed up just in the nick of time. The fact is difficult to ascertain. Because this thinking was that by returning to a sim­ was at the same time that Leach was pler time we could correct the horrors taking collecting trips to Korea with that industrialization had levied on the Yanagi. In fact, he had an exhibition of laborer. Then order would be restored. his work, according to Edmund de Waal Now, let’s review: Orientals are intu­ in the book Bernard Leach, St. Ives Artist, itively gifted, mystical and enlightened. “at the gallery the Japanese military au­ Orientals have accepted Bernard Leach thorities had allowed Yanagi to establish as a master of the centuries-old and most in Seoul.” A curious omission. revered tradition of the first Kenzan. En­ The problem with Leach’s logic is that lightened sensitive masters (Leach and Orientals are no more gifted or enlight­ Yanagi) have perceived that utility is the ened than any other human being on the first principle of beauty, and simple and planet earth. They are as ego-filled, as restrained (poverty of expression) is the coarse, as adultlike as any other adults in second principle. any other culture. They are, in fact, merely Simple and restrained are inexorably human, just like the rest of us. Their linked, through St. Francis’ spirituality, aesthetic choices are exactly that—their with the nobleness of poverty (material) aesthetic choices. They are not divined and humility, which returns us to beauty. from a higher authority, as Leach tries to Therefore, the societies where these prin­ intimate. Their aesthetics hold no higher ciples existed are the ones to which we place in the kingdom of beauty than any should aspire; i.e., medieval societies, so­ other mortal’s vision of beauty. cieties where crafts were linked with the Without the superiority of Orientals utility of daily life. These societies were and Yanagi to give Leach’s philosophy free of the industrial devils that separate authority and truth, you could argue to beauty from utility. If we go back to their the opposite conclusion with just as much ethics and principles, guided by the in­ validity: that only things without use are sights of gifted masters (Leach and truly beautiful. Utility may participate in Yanagi), we will be saved from the devils beauty, but true beauty is unrestrained by of industrialism. Sounds pretty good! function. The constraints of utility hinder If you buy that, stop reading and start the free, true expression of form. making some heavy brown cups. Because Leach’s claim to authority as a succes­ this next section is not for you. I repeat, sor to the Kenzan lineage was granted by the next section is not for you. his “apprenticeship” with Kenzan VI. Yet, Now for a little reality therapy. The what we discover from Edmund de Waal original premise that Orientals are child­ is that, “Given Leach’s status as a Western

110 CERAMICS MONTHLY May 1999 111 Comment period also known as the Dark Ages, followed closely by the sink. Simple and H when the Black Death wiped out almost restrained is only one possible expression ■ one half of the population in a two-year of Buddhist aesthetics. We must face the I artist and Kenzan’s as a paid teacher, the period? And this is Leach’s glorious age? fact that the “ethical pot” does not exist. I significance of the transference of this Viewing the Medieval period as the glory There may be ethical potters, but they title after only a year, to someone who days of pottery, when the hand of the are not so by virtue of their profession, could barely speak Japanese let alone fully artist worked in complete unison with only by virtue of their character and con­ comprehend or literally read the allusions the daily needs of the society, and there­ duct. There is no case for the primacy of implicit in the tradition, arouses curios­ fore everyone lived a life of bliss and one category of ceramic expression over ity.” Arouses curiosity? Remember, Leach spiritual harmony, is beyond ludicrous. another. It is temporarily judged by the I studied printmaking and drawing in Lon­ And finally, the Buddhist aesthetic that fashion and values of a particular culture. I don. The only experience he had with Leach so firmly clings to, that of the Rather than looking backward and clay was at a raku party with his aristocrat simple and restrained, is a hollow one. pathetically clinging to a romanticized 1 friends one year prior. Zen is only a small expression of Bud­ notion of a life that never was, it is time A one-year “apprenticeship” that en­ dhism. There are now five schools of to take a hard look at the present and see titles you to be a lineage holder is curi­ Buddhism. For instance, the Tibetan the veracity of crafts as it exists today. No ous, indeed. Lets face it, he bought the Buddhists have many of the same ethics illusions of what was or what could have title. (Even today in martial arts, an Ori­ and beliefs, yet their aesthetics are dia­ been, but what is now. And in doing ental tradition, you don’t even get a sec- metrically opposed to the Zen Buddhists. that, we are rewarded to find that ceram­ ond-degree green belt in one year, let Their art is so highly ornate and filled ics/crafts are alive and well, and constantly alone become a master of the lineage.) with color that it verges on opulent. The evolving as any living thing must do. The hoax that Leach was a true successor most obvious Buddhist principle operat­ There is no need for a patriarchal stan­ to the Kenzan lineage was finally uncov­ ing in Leach’s world is that of “illusion.” dard to protect and keep ceramics alive. ered when he was unable to distinguish The foundation on which Leach built The truth and beauty of the craft need the Kenzan forgeries. his romantic notion is nonexistent. There no philosophical defense. It will continue Leach clearly romanticized medieval is no case for the primacy of Orientals, to survive and flourish as it has for tens of history. Certainly he admired medieval their aesthetics or for Leach’s authority. thousands of years, with or without Ber­ pottery because it was defined by utility. The inherent value of ceramic objects is nard Leach. Nonetheless, the Medieval period was a not dependent upon their utility. If util­ brutal time when poverty and depriva­ ity were the first principle, then the high­ The author John Britt maintains a studio tion were the rule. Wasn’t the Medieval est ceramic expression would be the toilet, in Dallas, Texas.

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