focus Monthly design is not a dirty word

Heather Mae Erickson designs for ambiguous function focus design is not a dirty word

February 2008 $7.50 (Can$9, E6.50) www.ceramicsmonthly.org

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 1 Monthly

Publisher Charles Spahr Editorial [email protected] telephone: (614) 895-4213 fax: (614) 891-8960 editor Sherman Hall associate editor Jennifer Poellot Harnetty assistant editor Brandy Agnew technical editor Dave Finkelnburg Advertising/Classifieds [email protected] telephone: (614) 794-5834 fax: (614) 891-8960 classifi[email protected] telephone: (614) 794-5866 advertising manager Mona Thiel advertising services Jan Moloney Marketing telephone: (614) 794-5809 marketing manager Steve Hecker Subscriptions/Circulation customer service: (800) 342-3594 [email protected] Design/Production production editor Cynthia Conklin design Paula John Editorial and advertising offices 600 N. Cleveland Ave., Suite 210 Westerville, Ohio 43082 Editorial Advisory Board Linda Arbuckle; Professor, Ceramics, Univ. of Florida Scott Bennett; Sculptor, Birmingham, Alabama Tom Coleman; Studio Potter, Nevada Dick Lehman; Studio Potter, Indiana Meira Mathison; Director, Metchosin Art School, Canada Bernard Pucker; Director, Pucker Gallery, Boston Phil Rogers; Potter and Author, Wales Jan Schachter; Potter, California Mark Shapiro; Worthington, Massachusetts Susan York; Santa Fe, New Mexico Ceramics Monthly (ISSN 0009-0328) is published monthly, except July and August, by Ceramic Publications Company; a subsidiary of The American Ceramic Society, 600 N. Cleveland Ave., Suite 210, Westerville, Ohio 43082; www.ceramics.org. Periodicals postage paid at Westerville, Ohio, and additional mailing offices. Opinions expressed are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent those of the editors or The American Ceramic Society. The publisher makes no claim as to the food safety of published glaze recipes. Readers should refer to MSDS (material safety data sheets) for all raw materials, and should take all appropriate recom- mended safety measures, according to toxicity ratings. subscription rates: One year $34.95, two years $59.95. Canada: One year $40, two years $75. International: One year $60, two years $99. back issues: When available, back issues are $7.50 each, plus $3 shipping/handling; $8 for expedited shipping (UPS 2-day air); and $6 for shipping outside North America. Allow 4–6 weeks for delivery. change of address: Please give us four weeks advance notice. Send the magazine address label as well as your new address to: Ceramics Monthly, Circulation Department, P.O. Box 2107, Marion, OH 43306-8207. contributors: Writing and photographic guidelines are available online at www.ceramicsmonthly.org. indexing: Visit the Ceramics Monthly website at www.ceramicsmonthly.org to search an index of article titles and artists’ names. Feature articles are also indexed in the Art Index, daai (design and applied arts index). copies: Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use beyond the limits of Sections 107 or 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law is granted by The American Ceramic Society, ISSN 0009-0328, provided that the appropriate fee is paid directly to Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923, USA; (978) 750-8400; www.copyright.com. Prior to photocopying items for classroom use, please contact Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. This consent does not extend to copying items for general distribution, or for advertising or promotional purposes, or to republishing items in whole or in part in any work in any format. Please direct republication or special copying permission requests to the Publisher, The Ceramic Publications Company; a subsidiary of American Ceramic Society, 600 N. Cleveland Ave., Suite 210, Westerville, Ohio 43082, USA. postmaster: Send address changes to Ceramics Monthly, P.O. Box 2107, Marion, OH 43306-8207. Form 3579 requested. Copyright © 2008, The Ceramic Publications Company; a subsidiary of American Ceramic Society. All rights reserved.

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Ceramics Monthly February 2008 2 Tom and Elaine Coleman, “The beauty of firing in a Geil Kiln.”

Geil/Coleman – 3-Day Kiln Firing Workshop Saturday, Sunday, & Monday – May 17, 18, 19 2008 Location: Geil Kilns 7201 Clay Ave., – Huntington Beach, – California 92648 Cost: $250.00 per person Space is limited to 40 participants Call 800-887-4345 and reserve your spot today! Model DL-18F

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 3 Ceramics Monthly February 2008 4 february 2008 / Volume 56 Number 2

Monthly focus design

32 Thinking Through Design by Susan York Artist residency centers and design companies open dialog between artists and industry.

36 The Role of the Mold by Andrew Martin Andrew Martin discusses the boundless creative and conceptual potential of the mold. monthly methods Servitude and Loss by Tom Spleth 40 Heather Mae Erickson: Separate by Design by Glen R. Brown Not easily classifed, Heather Mae Erickson’s work proves that art, craft and design are not mutually exclusive, and offers a compelling glimpse of what may lie ahead for studio ceramics.

44 Parafunctionality by Tony Hepburn In choosing the works for the Scripps College 63rd Ceramic Annual, Tony Hepburn pondered the role of the artist/designer/architect in the 21st century. features

47 Tatsuzo Shimaoka 1919–2007 by Mason Riddle The ceramics community reflects on the loss of a master. 50 The Strong Silent Type Michael McCarthy’s Quiet Craftsmanship by Scott Norris A New England artist creates pots that are understated, yet flled with vigor. recipes Cone 10 Glazes 54 The Timeless Elegance of Harrison McIntosh by Judy Seckler Clean form and crisp graphic designs recall a mid-twentieth-century aesthetic that is both subtle and graceful. 58 Talc and Asbestos: 36 What We Know and What We Don’t by Jeff Zamek How safe are the talcs we use? Here, we take a closer look and discuss alternatives to talc in the studio. recipes Low-Fire Clay Bodies mineral analysis Texas Talc and NYTAL HR 100

cover: Appetizer platter with spoons, 17½ in. (44 cm) in diameter, slip-cast and thrown porcelain with underglaze and Alfred white glaze, 2007, by Heather Mae Erickson, Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 44 vania; page 46. Photo: Ken Yanoviak. 54

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 5 departments

8 from the editor

10 letters from readers

14 answers from the CM technical staff

16 suggestions from readers 16 Tip of the Month: Household Clay Drying

18 upfront reviews, news and exhibitions 30 click and collect pay a virtual visit to the galleries in this issue 62 call for entries 62 International Exhibitions 62 United States Exhibitions 66 Regional Exhibitions 66 Fairs and Festivals 70 book review Craft in America, by Diana Lyn Roberts 72 calendar 72 Conferences 72 Solo Exhibitions 73 Group Ceramics Exhibitions 74 Ceramics in Multimedia Exhibitions 74 Fairs, Festivals and Sales 75 Workshops 80 International Events 86 classified advertising 87 index to advertisers 88 comment 21 Why the Y? by Robert Silverman

online www.ceramicsmonthly.org current features, expanded features, archive articles, calendar, call for entries and classifeds special listings Gallery Guide Where to see ceramics in the U.S. and abroad Residencies and Fellowships Full listing of professional-development opportunities

26 26

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 6 Ceramics Monthly February 2008 7 from the editor by Sherman Hall

I love home improvement shows. Not the Now, the word design means a lot of place—improving upon the design of the extreme variety, though—not the wreck-an- things depending on the context. If you take objects in our lives. If we are not actively entire-house-and-build-a-new-one-in-a-day your definition from some of those cable designing the objects we make, then we are type, but the kind that takes you through television shows I just mentioned, it can simply making mudpies. the decision-making process with the home mean rearranging the furniture and painting And let’s not forget a very important owners, builders, architects, designers and the walls—but that’s not what we’re talking partner of design that is particularly suited decorators. I want to know about the guts of about here. We are talking about a given to ceramics: experimentation. Yes, there the house and how a problem can be solved need, problem, shortcoming, etc., that can are those “happy” kiln accidents we love in an elegant, efficient, aesthetically sensi- be made better by the intentional, focused to praise, which conveniently remove the tive manner. I don’t even necessarily like the application of human intellect—arriving blame—and the responsibility—for our finished product sometimes, but I do enjoy ultimately at a better mouse trap, an object results from us and attribute it to some kind seeing the planning and the process unfold. that better serves a human need. of “magic” in the process. But what I mean That said, so many seem to jump over the Whether you are making an object of is that starting without a complete plan can process and just show the results. These are utility or an object of concept, getting it sometimes provide information we didn’t usually hosted by an overly perky television into physical form requires the intellectual even know we were looking for. Such experi- personality and their scripts are peppered act of designing as well as the physical act ments are not likely to yield the final answer with phrases like “splash of color” and “focal of making. And I think it’s fair to say that to our questions, but they make it possible point.” Some of these should just be called the most successful examples of design in for us to return to our design problems with home change shows. handmade ceramics are where the two are new information. The authors and subjects For me, whether it’s a house or a mug executed in harmony with each other; one of our focus articles this month (beginning (I’ve been making a lot of mugs lately), it’s does not necessarily dictate the other. on page 32) understand this distinction, an issue of intent and purposfulness. Why We all love the ceramic process, and we and have very specific ideas for what design does something need to be changed, and all love the objects that result from that means and what it might mean to the future how do specific changes actually make it process, but in ceramics there is so much of studio ceramics. I’d like to think of it as a better? I bet you can guess, if you read the to learn about the technical side of creating “studio improvement” issue. front cover or contents page of this issue, that we often get caught up in technique to that what I’m getting at here is the basis of the point of losing sight of the reasons and object design. motivations for making objects in the first

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 8 Ceramics Monthly February 2008 9 letters e-mail letters to [email protected]

Stirred to Agreement at Columbus College of Art & Design I suppose it’s glaringly obvious, but the (CCAD) in Columbus, Ohio, Manning emerging artist “Mini Blunger” [see Suggestions, Novem- was so taken with the common “ideal” clay call for entry ber 2007] is also great for whipping up formula: Al2O3•2SiO2•2H2O, that he had mini (and not-so-mini) batches of paper it permanently tattooed in large typogra- In May 2008, Ceramics Monthly will clay. We’ve found it to be very useful in re- phy around his wrist. “It’s a great conver- feature the works of emerging clay artists. pairing broken greenware. We’ve also used sation starter,” says Manning. “Everyone Those actively pursuing a career in ceram- the same one for glaze and slip for three outside of ceramics wants to know what it ics for less than ten years are eligible. To be years and find that, although the blade means, and people in the field know im- considered, submit up to five professional- tends to shrink a little as time passes, this mediately that I must be a potter or a clay quality digital images (300 ppi resolution does not seem to decrease its performance. supplier. Plus it says something about my on CD, plus a full-size color print of each Ian Hodge, Tuakau, New Zealand lifetime commitment to ceramics.” Man- image), with complete descriptions of works, ning, who soon heads for another round full contact information including e-mail, Taking Ceramics Seriously of army training and then to a third tour artist’s statement and résumé to Emerging James Manning, Jr. takes his ceram- of duty in Iraq won’t have to worry about Artist, Ceramics Monthly, 600 N.Cleveland ics seriously—really seriously. A student the language barrier with his new tattoo, Ave., Suite 210, Westerville, OH 43082. Do not submit materials in binders or folders. Emailed submissions and submissions of more than five images will not be considered. Materials will be returned only if a padded en- velope with appropriate postage is included. Arrival deadline: February 22. Do you know an emerging artist? Do they need a nudge? Pass this along and help them get the recognition they deserve.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 10 Ceramics Monthly February 2008 11 letters since everyone who knows chemistry and clay, regardless of language, will under- stand his universally recognized formula. And he thinks it might help him strike up a conversation with an Iraqi potter. After his tour of duty, he plans to resume his ceramic education at CCAD. Bill Hunt, Delaware, Ohio

Keeping the Functional Faith To author Lyla Kaplan: My name is Rachel Levy, I’m 22, and a ceramics major at the University of Central Florida. We had an assignment to choose one article to write about, out of every article ever written for Ceramics Monthly, and I chose your article “Down to Earth” [March 2006 CM]. It was such an inspiration to me! It can be really competitive in a college setting, trying to develop one’s own sense of style. While everyone else in my class are doing beautiful, sculptural pieces, I’ve never felt the need to do that. Sometimes I feel that I am forced into making vases that will just sit on someone’s mantel or jars that will never hold anything inside of them. I’ve sometimes felt crazy on cri- tique days when I show a few bowls and cups while other people are showing giant, beautiful vases. On occasion, it makes me feel inferior. Your article has helped me get over that in a major way. I’ve always had a connection to nature and tried to bring that into my art. After I graduate, I have a dream to open up my own shop/cafe, in which everyone will eat and drink from lovely little mismatched dinnerware, and I can watch people pick out their favorite mug from a shelf of fifty different types of mugs. I’ve always liked to make my pottery with a certain food or drink in mind. Recently, I have felt very depressed and discouraged about my pot- tery, and the ideas I have, but your article has given me a new confidence and a boost to keep on going. I just thought you’d like to know that. Thank you so very much. Rachel Levy, Orlando, FL

Correction In “Setting up Shop,” by Sanam Emami, (page 34 of the January issue), we men- tioned that Woodstock, New York, potter Meg Oliver’s clay path led her through graduate school. Oliver actually has two undergraduate degrees. As she put it; “I went to Alfred to get an ‘F.’ for my ‘B.A.’” We’re sorry for jumping to conclusions. Ceramics Monthly February 2008 12 Ceramics Monthly February 2008 13 answers From the CM Technical Staff e-mail technical questions to [email protected]

Q When I fre red, black and yellow iron oxide When your fire any of these three compounds size than black iron oxide. In my observation yel- they all look very similar, a reddish brown with in oxidation all react with the oxygen in the kiln low ochre is even finer yet. If you are using iron little variation between the three. I had hoped and emerge from the firing as the ferrous oxide, in a glaze where you do not want any iron specs the three would have variety in their colors. I fre thus producing the same coloring effect on your oxidation to Cone 4. Thanks for any information then a fine form of the iron may be helpful. On you can give me on this.—C. J. A. glaze. Only contaminants that may be in the the other hand, if you desire iron specking to show, raw oxides, or the amount you use, will change black iron oxide may be just the ticket. The only difficult part of responding to your your glaze color. Third, as is possible with most mined materials, question is keeping it brief enough. It would be It is important to consider three points about some iron oxides come with contaminants, which possible to write a book about iron oxides! the various iron oxides: can affect glaze color. The percentage of actual iron The reason you see very little difference in the First, each of these materials will deliver a dif- oxide in something labeled “red iron oxide” can be color of your various iron oxides is because the ferent amount of iron from the same amount of as low as 60%. The best way to deal with this is firing is altering these compounds. While they material by weight, so use care with the amount to ask your supplier for an analysis of the material are different colors when you buy them as raw if you substitute one for the other. On a gram- you are purchasing. Even then, it is always advis- materials, after the firing they are all the same. for-gram basis pure black and red iron oxides able to test a small batch every time you order new Red iron oxide is the naturally occurring have about the same effect. Unless you are very materials to make sure that the new batch causes ferrous form of iron oxide and has a theoretical fussy, the slight difference in their strengths will no adverse effects in your glaze batch. chemical formula (which assumes absolutely pure not be as noticeable as the effect of particle size. Some inexpensive sources of red iron oxides material) of Fe2O3. Black iron oxide is the ferric However, yellow ochre is weaker in iron than the contain other heavy metals like manganese, which form of iron oxide and has slightly less oxygen per more common red and black iron oxides are. If can affect glaze color. Some iron oxide sources also unit of iron. That’s what causes it to be black in you substitute pure yellow iron oxide for one provide relatively dilute iron oxide. It is always its raw state. It has a theoretical chemical formula of the other iron oxides, use about 10% more a good idea to ask your raw material vendor for of Fe3O4. Yellow iron oxide (also known as yellow yellow iron oxide by weight to obtain the same an analysis of your iron oxide. You should at least ochre) is ferrous iron oxide with a water molecule amount of iron. look at the percent iron present. attached. It has the theoretical chemical formula Second, the particle size of iron oxides varies Dave Finkelnburg, Pocatello, ID

Fe2O3•H2O. Actual analysis will vary. widely. Red iron oxide is generally finer in particle Technical Editor, Ceramics Monthly

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 14 Ceramics Monthly February 2008 15 suggestions e-mail suggestions to [email protected]

What’s Your Angle? Recently, I’ve been using a cake decorating tip of the month stand that turns and tilts for glazing pieces with a lot of three-dimensional detail. It has a ridged Household Clay Drying rubber surface on the top so the work doesn’t During my first year of pottery classes, I found myself trying a number of the available clays slide off, and it will support fairly decent-sized to learn of their traits and qualities. I saved my scraps and kept them in separate buckets of pieces. It has three tilt angles which make water at home. I don’t have a plaster surface to dry out the recycled clays, so I improvised. Pictured is a plastic sweater storage box with wood shavings in the bottom. To keep the shavings in place I use an old retired dish towel, or pieces of old sheets. On top of that I have a piece of canvas to contain the wet clay. That makes it very simple to lift the clay and roll it up when it’s ready to be bagged for future use. If the clay is getting ready to bag and I do not have time to deal with it just then, I simply put the lid on the box for a day or two. After the clay is removed, the shavings underneath dry out and are ready for the next batch. I use a clean canvas for each clay type, especially the white ones, to avoid contamina- tion of color or texture. A note indicating clay type is taped to each bucket, then moved with the clay as it dries so I always know what clay I’m working with. I hose off the canvas outside over a bush or under a thirsty tree. That keeps our plumbing free of clay. The wood shavings go on the compost pile. it easier to see and access the undersides of sculptural and raised details. It also has a lock Congratulations to Heather to keep it from turning. The stand costs about Bartmann of Fort Collins, Colo- ten dollars at hobby shops, or as always you can rado. Your subscription has been find them online. Just search for “tilting cake extended by one year! stand.”—Debora Meltz, Newton, NJ

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 16 Why 2 women in remote Montana have fired only Paragon kilns since 1972 Pioneer Pottery near Roscoe, Montana is so isolated that bears come right up to the studio and smudge the windowpanes with nose prints. The sound of the East Rosebud River flowing past the red two-story building breaks the silence. Janet Hero Dodge and Julie Dickinson began Pioneer Pottery in 1972. They converted a horse stable built in 1910 into their busy pottery studio. Janet and Julie planned to fire with propane; in the meantime, they bought a Paragon square K-6H electric kiln. But they were so satisfied with the Paragon that they never converted to propane firing. Over the years they just bought more Para- gons and have been firing them ever since. “The glazes I developed for the electric firings had the softness and subtlety I had hoped for with propane,” said Janet Hero Dodge. “So I never quite got around to building that gas kiln. “In 1978 we added a Paragon K-6HS square kiln so we could glaze fire back to back when nec- essary. This allowed us to move pots steadily through the firing cycle and fill special orders quickly. In 1980 we added a square Paragon K-6A to our kiln collection. All the kilns are still func- tional.” Janet and Julie fire their glazes to a flattened cone 9. At this temperature, their matte glazes soften and absorb iron from the clay. “Some of Julie Dickinson and Janet Hero Dodge. Pioneer Pottery the glazes are quite bright for electric firing,” said has been firing Paragon kilns since the studio opened in 1972. Janet. “We’ve been real happy with our Paragons. They’ve held up well and produced good results.” We offer a wide selection of top and front Have they been reliable? “Quite.” loading kilns. Call 800-876-4328 or visit www.paragonweb.com for a free catalog and the “You can’t deny that gas firing is exciting,” name of the Paragon dealer near you. said Janet. “But as a production potter who also does my own specialty pieces, I need the reliability The Paragon Dragon of electric, which is more reliable than gas be- front-loading kiln is becom- cause you have fewer variables. And I like the fast ing a favorite with Potters. It is easy to load, heavily insu- turnover I can have with the electric kilns. If I get a lated, and designed for special order that I have to get out fast, I don’t cone 10. have to wait to fill up a big gas kiln. “I use a copper barium glaze,” Janet said, “and part of the reason I started doing that is I had less control over it. So I get some of that same ‘I won- der what I’m going to get when I open it’ feeling.” The Paragon kilns of today are built with the 2011 South Town East Blvd. same dependability as the kilns Janet and Julie are Mesquite, Texas 75149-1122 using. Since their Paragon kilns have worked The switch box on most 800-876-4328 / 972-288-7557 Paragon top-loading kilns Toll Free Fax 888-222-6450 faithfully for so many decades, imagine what your hinges at the bottom for next Paragon will do for you. easy access. www.paragonweb.com [email protected]

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 17 upfront reviews, news and exhibitions

18 Multiplicity: Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture by Diana Lyn Roberts Southwest School of Art and Craft, San Antonio, Texas 20 Clay on the Wall: 2007 Clay National by Matthew Kangas Landmark Arts, Texas Tech University School of Art, Lubbock, Texas 21 potPOURri: Pots That Pour Clay Art Center, Port Chester, New York 22 New West Coast Design: Contemporary Objects San Francisco Museum of Craft+Design, San Francisco, California 24 Don Reitz: Hands on the Goddess Armstrong Gallery, Pomona, California 24 Kellogg Johnson Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico 24 Val Cushing The Artisan Gallery, Northampton, Massachusetts 26 Drawing With/In/On Clay Olive DeLuce Fine Art Gallery, Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, Missouri 26 Ceramic Sculpture: Fire and Ash Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, Massachusetts 28 Rina Peleg: Dust to Dust Rhonda Schaller Studio, New York City 30 From the Ground Up XXII Las Cruces Museum of Art, Las Cruces, New Mexico

Top: Marek Cecula’s “Interface Set IV,” each element 9 in. (23 cm) in height, vitreous china, gold, wood, 2001. Middle: Kay Hwang’s “Generation II,” dimensions variable, each element 8 in. (20 cm) in diameter, ceramic, 2001/2002. Bottom: Shawn Busse’s “Metronome,” dimensions variable, ceramic, cast iron, 2001.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 18 Juana Valdes’ “The Journey Within,” dimensions variable, each element 4 in. (10 cm) in height, porcelain, 2005; at Southwest School of Art & Craft, San Antonio, Texas. review: Multiplicty: Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture by Diana Lyn Roberts

“Multiplicity” is a concise, coherent and visually striking ex- The tactile nature of the elements is contradicted by the precision hibition. Comprised of eight to ten pieces (depending on the and delicacy of placement, and the fragility of the rods themselves: venue), the show focused on works made from a multitude disturbing this perfection would be purely destructive. of finely crafted ceramic elements. It’s simple in a way: when Shawn Busse’s “Metronome” exploits the opposite extreme: intelligent artists take many small, identical (or nearly so) ob- cold, hard, industrial porcelain violins rest in casketlike, cast-iron jects and configure them in certain ways, compelling patterns, cases arranged on individually suspended, morguelike slabs. Here, shapes and associative responses emerge from the repetition of the mass production of consumer goods defies the nature of the form. In this sense, and as a collection of provocative, effective object itself: no strings, no resonance or warmth of tone, only artworks, the show is very success- a printed barcode to differentiate them; the ful. Where it fails is the somewhat anti-Stradivarius. overdrawn curatorial positioning Marek Cecula’s “Interface Set IV” also expounded in the accompanying plays with the impersonal manufactured catalog, which overcomplicates multiple. Like a set of medical models, five the ideas presented so eloquently glazed porcelain blocks with a human ear in the exhibition. molded into the center of each are displayed Organized by the Rubin Cen- such that the inner canal, pierced through ter for the Visual Arts at the in descending diameter from piece to piece, University of Texas at El Paso, lines up with the next. If one peers through Multiplicity opened at the Port- at the right height, one can see through to land Art Center in Portland, the final canal. Cecula is interested in making Oregon, before embarking on a sculpture that appears more utilitarian than Texas tour at the Rubin Center, sculptural. Yet the work is clearly intended the San Angelo Museum of Fine to engage the viewer physically, both in the Arts, Landmark Arts in Lubbock, act of leaning over to look through, and by and the Southwest School of Art the fact that one is peering through a series & Craft in San Antonio. Curators of human ears. Denise Pelletier’s “Purgáre,” dimensions variable, Kate Bonansinga, Director of the porcelain, mixed media, 2006. Many of the works are abstract and Rubin Center, and Vincent Burke, formal in nature. “Same But Different” by Associate Professor of Ceramics at UTEP, set themselves an am- Gregory Roberts presents a minimalist, wall-mounted circle of bitious goal. Looking broadly at the many U.S. artists working dark, dome-shaped objects (page 20). Jeanne Quinn’s “Porcelain in this vein, they successfully narrowed the field to eight artists Curtain” suggests a three-dimensional, jewelry-like Rorschach test with different perspectives and working methods, and selected [see Ceramics Monthly, February 2007, page 24]. representative works that fit together in a remarkably beautiful, Kay Hwang’s “Generation II” is comprised of several hundred pared-down show. nearly identical objects protruding from the wall in variable pat- Most of the works move away from the handmade precious terns and densities. The vaguely phallic white forms are individu- object, with the exception of Bean Finneran’s elemental “Red ally ambiguous, but the occasional bloody red tip gives them a Core” (page 20). An obsessively precise, radial stack of thin, por- sinister, violent potential that is, nonetheless, intriguing in its celain rods of intensely saturated red rests on a low white pedestal. accumulated abstraction.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 19 upfront

Then there’s the added metaphor of multiplicity of meaning. Juana inserted into the wall to form a sort of large-scale, embossed drawing. Valdes’ “The Journey Within” is comprised of 75–100 small white It was also one of the few works in the show that came anywhere close porcelain folded paper boats, placed directly on the floor in a flowing, to the “architectural scale” incorporating the viewer, the pedestal-free organic pattern. Valdes is sensitive to the multiplication of form and “manipulation of space” the curators discuss as being a major trend in contemporary ceramic installation art. The question that begs to be asked is why ceramic installation art is so different from other media? Multiplicity of form is not unique to clay. Yet when those forms are clay, according to the curators, it references the whole history of American ceramics: from the industrial revolution and the Arts and Crafts Movement, to the post-war U.S. Studio Craft Movement, the influence of Japanese folk pottery and postmodern installation art. They also reference the theories of Alfred North Whitehead, Soetsu Yanagi and Donald Judd. Don’t quite buy it? Me neither. The curators provide a useful and valid overview of the history of ceramics as a fine art Installation view: Bean medium, but they seem to force the connec- Finneran’s “Red Core,” 25 in. (63 cm) in diameter, tions. Clay has always been an easy material for low fire clay, glaze, acrylic quick, multiple, mass production—whether it’s stain, 2004.Gregory industrial toilets or cheap, low-fire utilitarian Roberts’ “Same But Different,” 80 in. ware handthrown by the thousands in primitive (203 cm) in height, glazed potteries. Multiplicity tends toward the cooler, stoneware, honeycomb less expressive aspect of ceramics, to more intel- ceramic, epoxy, 2004. lectualized objects and industrialized processes, toward installations and “environments” in the postmodern mold. It’s not really the medium at content: one boat seems like a child’s toy while, in her words from issue, it’s the perception and prerogative of the artists. Clay just happens the catalog, “…twenty boats becomes a regatta, a hundred boats is to be an expedient medium—and an effective one, at that. an invasion and a thousand an exodus.” the author Diana Lyn Roberts is a Texas-based art critic and frequent The inevitable variation from venue to venue plays a subtle role contributor to Ceramics Monthly. in Multiplicity’s overall effect. Comparing the San Angelo and San Antonio installations with the catalog images, different relationships Clay on the Wall: 2007 Clay National evolved between works, their interaction with the space and, to some The following was excerpted from Matthew Kangas’ juror’s statement: degree, the arrangement of the works themselves. The fact that all of the works in “Clay on the Wall,” the 2007 Texas Denise Pelletier’s “Purgáre” is an elaborate mobile/stabile of slip- Tech University competitive exhibition, at Landmark Arts of the Texas cast replicas of various medical purging devices, joined and suspended by irrationally looped, draped and cantilevered copper and rubber tubing. Reconfigured at each venue, it was sometimes fully suspended and sometimes, as at the Southwest School, attached to the wall. In all cases, the overall effect was of a large-scale, elegant drawing in space, a three dimensional diagram of medical paraphernalia full of interpre- tive possibilities. Breast pumps, bedpans and other objects, some of them altered, take on an ambiguity of purpose: urinals with elongated spouts could be ancient oil lamps; arterial “spouts” emerge from a hu- man heart-shaped pump of another purpose. The paradoxical formal elegance of such devices interacts with the visceral, body-fluid reality (and potential revulsion) associated with them. Unfortunately, not all of the works traveled. Bean Finneran’s “White Cone,” a beautifully fragile, spiky pile of thin ceramic rods, and Jeanne

Quinn’s “Suspended” were only at select venues. And this was a disap- Mari Ogihara’s “Fancy,” 16 in. (40 cm) in height, porcelain, glaze, decals and pointment: Suspended combined cotton swabs and glaze-beaded pins metal foiling, 2007.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 20 The collapse or disappearance of nature has inspired artists of all stripes to comment, warn and reminisce about our imperiled environment. Shannon Sullivan’s “Strands” treat nature as manipu- lated and compartmentalized, just the way we experience nature in cities. Sullivan’s microview focuses on plastic-encased cellular views of growing things. Abstraction in contemporary ceramics has survived and outlived 20th-century modernism, but is still indebted to pioneering artists who rejected the realistic representation so associated today with

Dryden Wells’ “Horse Spiral,” 9 in. (23 cm) in height, Jingdezhen porcelain, 2007.

Tech University School of Art in the College of Visual and Perform- ing Arts (www.landmarkarts.org), are mounted on the wall is not as important as the various themes that are represented: the figure (which includes human and animal); nature; symbol and sign; installation art; and abstraction. Although the range of subjects and themes was much wider among the 153 artists who entered over 500 examples of their work, the 45 artworks by 43 artists fall into these categories. Their entries were both Shannon Sullivan’s “Strands,” 20 in. (50 cm) in height, clay resin and Plexiglas™, 2007; at Landmark Gallery, Texas Tech University School of Art in the College of the best-looking and Visual and Performing Arts, Lubbock, Texas. the most interesting in terms of subject postmodernism. Besides Ogihara’s prizewinning “Fancy,” an amazing matter and content. work that overlaps figurative, natural and abstract categories, there is Much contemporary a variety of approaches that is both encouraging and promising. American ceramic Make of them what you will, my selections for this year’s Clay sculpture in the on the Wall are also meant to provoke the viewer’s responses. I have present moment is assembled aspects of the figure, nature, symbol and sign, installation facing competing art and abstraction. With individual artworks blurring and overlap- factors of tradition ping categories, the viewer may begin to construct his or her own and innovation. The opinion. With that in train, appreciation, meaning and judgment most effective artists are sure to follow. among them—like the author Matthew Kangas is a Seattle-based independent art critic the artists in Clay and curator who has written extensively about ceramics. on the Wall—man- age to reconcile potPOURri: Pots That Pour materials and ideas “potPOURri: Pots That Pour,” a national invitational exhibition without tipping the featuring pouring pots by 83 artists, will be on view February 2–23

Roland Shaw’s “Yo, Yo #1,” 27 in. (69 cm) in height, scales too far in at the Clay Art Center (www.clayartcenter.org) in Port Chester, clay, wood, wire, rubber and moose hair, 2007. either direction. New York. (continued)

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 21 upfront

“The word potpourri, which happens to contain the words works about pouring, will pack the galleries, revealing the breadth of ‘pot’ and ‘pour,’ is defined as ‘a mixture of miscellaneous things,’” technique, style and function that the field of ceramics has to offer. said program director Leigh Taylor Mickelson. “This exhibition potPOURri will make us think about our daily rituals, encouraging will definitely be a mixture, but of pouring vessels. Pitchers, ewers, us to use handmade pots for our pouring practices in the kitchen, as gravy boats, cruets, creamers and more, as well as non-functional well as at the table.”

New West Coast Design: Contemporary Objects “New West Coast Design: Contemporary Objects” will be on display through April 28 at the San Francisco Museum of Craft+Design (www.sfmcd.org) in San Francisco, California. The exhibition includes new work and projects by more than fifty California, Oregon and Washington designers and studios. “Ted Cohen and I have a strong interest in ceramics as curators and exhibition designers,” said co-curator Kathleen Hanna. “More

James Aarons’ “Part Way,” 20 in. (50 cm) in diameter, wheel-altered-slab-built earthenware, with glaze, underglaze and glaze pencil; at San Francisco Museum of Craft+Design, San Francisco, California.

personally, Ted is also interested as a collector, and I feel that contem- porary American ceramics is my strongest area of expertise as I am a potter, as well as historian and teacher of the subject. Thus, we gave a lot of time and thought to our search for clay objects to include in New West Coast Design. “We were looking for original work that displayed strong technical ability and integrated smoothly into contemporary interiors for which

Top: Brian Taylor’s “Yellow Pitcher,” 12 in. (30 cm) in height, thrown and altered with layered glaze, fired to cone 6. Bottom: Matt Hyleck’s “Bourbon Bottle,” 11 in. (28 cm) in height, thrown stoneware with shino and wood ash glazes. Fired to cone Christina Corbin’s “Zinc,” 17 in. (43 cm) in diameter, thrown earthenware with 10 in reduction, cork; at the Clay Art Center, Port Chester, New York. sgraffito optical pattern.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 22 Ceramics Monthly February 2008 23 upfront many of the other works in the exhibition are destined. There is a exciting. I think of these sculptures as three-dimensional drawings that lot of extraordinary figurative clay sculpture accomplished currently will be visually transformed by the long, six-day wood firing. Placing on the West Coast, but in the realm of functional or functionally the sculptures in the kiln so that each will receive the best use of the referenced work we found that James Aarons and Christina Corbin ash and flame to create color and markings that are appropriate to were producing pieces that perfectly suited our purpose. each piece is a challenge.” “Using the smoothest low-fire white clay body available, Chris- tina Corbin throws forms, assembles pieces, paints underglazes and Kellogg Johnson carves a scraffito design. To further enhance color and texture, the New work by Kellogg Johnson was on view recently at Gerald Peters fired pieces are waxed with a wood sealer. Aarons is also working with Gallery (www.gpgallery.com) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. low-fire clay and surfaces which he labors over to create the smoothest “Johnson has long been drawn to the vessel form as the essence of possible canvas for his intricate free-hand one-of-a-kind glaze pencil ceramic art,” said gallery representative Karen Rogers. “Instinctively drawings. Both artists are creating elegant forms enhanced by very aware of the depth of meaning within our ancient human engage- personal surface design.” ment with ceramics, he has evolved an archaeological metaphor in his work. He builds large-scale vessels and takes them through a physically Don Reitz “Don Reitz: Hands on the Goddess,” will be on view through March 1 at Armstrong’s Gallery (www.armstronggallery.net) in Pomona, California. “The current work of the legendary Don Reitz captures the voluptuous depth of fresh clay and the breathless intensity of fire in forms of comfort and wholeness,” said gallery director Julie Gibbs.

Kellogg Johnson’s “Interlocking Pod Vessel,” 14 in. (35 cm) in height, ceramic, bronze; at Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

arduous and hazardous process of firing and finishing with the result that his pieces already appear to be artifacts of great antiquity. Stained and scarred, burned and blemished and sometimes even broken and repaired, they seem as if they had lain in the earth for millenia, relics of some long-forgotten ancient pottery—except, perhaps, the great clay jars called ‘pithoi’ found in the labyrinthine storage magazines of the Palace of Minos.”

Val Cushing Recent work by Val Cushing will be on view through March 9 at The Artisan Gallery (www.theartisangallery.com) in Northamp- ton, Massachusetts. “I aspire to make pottery that is both beautiful and useful,” said Don Reitz’s “Wood-fired Jar,” 15 in. (38 cm) in height, ash deposit on clay body Cushing. “I place as much emphasis as I can on the sensuous qualities composed of Laguna Soldate 60, Laguna WSO, grog and red art, wood fired, 2007; at Armstrong’s Gallery, Pomona, California. of a pot. I do this mainly by the use of color, form and surface textures that are as stimulating to see as to touch. The goal is to make use “Evident in this grouping of new works is a masterful surrender be- more pleasurable. All of my work, whether pottery or vessels, employs tween maker and material.” various references and influences that help direct the visual dynamics. “Although the sculptures are basically slab and cylinder construc- But nature, above all else, is my primary source. I think about how tions, I want them to retain the freedom and plastic quality of the and why things look as they do. I make drawings from nature, from clay,” said Reitz. “The combination of free form slabs and rigid cylin- the landscape, from growing things and from my thoughts about ders that have been cutout, punched-in and unwound is tremendously them–something coalesces from all of this and becomes a piece. The

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 24 Ceramics Monthly February 2008 25 upfront

Juror Anna Calluori Holcombe, Director of the School of Art and Art History at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, chose works that interpreted the theme of drawing with, in or on clay, and awarded a Juror’s Choice Award to Erin Furimsky’s

Val Cushing’s “Serving Tray,” 20 in. (50 cm) in diameter, thrown porcelain with modeled handles, apple ash glaze with lavender matte on handles; at The Artisan Gallery, Northampton, Massachusetts. work is most successful when interesting ideas are executed with the best possible skill and craftsmanship.”

Drawing With/In/On Clay “Drawing With/In/On: Clay,” a regional juried exhibition, was on display recently at the Olive DeLuce Fine Art Gallery on the campus of Northwest Missouri State University (www.nwmissouri.edu) in Maryville, Missouri. This was the first juried ceramics show held at Northwest Missouri State University.

Top: Erin Furimsky’s “Pearl,” 13 in. (33 cm) in height. Bottom: Kelli Sinner’s “Plates with Railroad Tracks,” 1.5 in. (3.8 cm) in height, stoneware; at the Olive DeLuce Fine Art Gallery, Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, Missouri.

wall-hanging piece, “Pearl”. Other artists included in this exhibi- tion were Joe Madrigal, Jason Burnett, Harris Deller, Kelli Sinner, Nancy White, Laina Seay, Laura O’Donnell, Margaret Biddle, Scott Lykens, Diane Rose Dailing and Fumi Yasukochi. Artists applied to the call for entry with a wide variety of interpretations of the theme of the show, responding to the statement, “…using the ideas, processes and subjects of drawing as an activity, impulse or tool for communication.”

Ceramic Scupture: Fire and Ash “Ceramic Scupture: Fire and Ash,” an exhibition of unglazed wood- fired sculpture, curated by Lucy Lacoste, of the Lacoste Gallery in

Jason Burnett’s “How Housewives Make Babies (Rachel and Diane),” Concord, Massachusetts, was recently on display at the Fuller Craft 20 in. (50 cm) in height. Museum (www.fullercraft.org) in Brockton, Massachusetts.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 26 Ceramics Monthly February 2008 27 upfront

Joy Brown’s “Tsunami,” 37 in. (94 cm) in height, wood-fired stoneware.

“This exhibition explores the sculpture of seven ceramics artists who use the richness of woodfire to bring to life abstract sculptural form,” said Lacoste. “Joy Brown, Chris Gustin, Karen Karnes, Don Reitz, Tim Rowan, Jeff Shapiro and Malcolm Wright were selected because of the strength and power of their ceramic sculpture and their range of creative wood-firing techniques as a means to fulfill

Karen Karnes’ “Untitled,” 6 in. (15 cm) in height, wood-fired stoneware.

and give a rich and varied surface. Ceramic Sculpture: Fire and Ash demonstrates the contribution of ceramics to the discipline of sculp- ture and how the form is enhanced by the wood-firing process.”

Rina Peleg: Dust to Dust “Rina Peleg: Dust to Dust” was recently on view at Rhonda Schaller Studio (www.rhondaschallerchelsea.com) in New York City. “I make white fragments, hints of things long gone that once were Tim Rowan’s “Object #12 (nine sectional),” 19 in. (48 cm) in height, wood-fired stoneware; at the Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, Massachusetts. much more than what remains, each one embodying a secret utility lost forever,” said Peleg. “Each piece invokes a memory, of a role in a their vision. As with all techniques, woodfiring is a tool that allows past life, reconstructed and imagined. My ‘Paleo-Tool’ series contains the artist to take traditional elements to new levels to create contem- a vision of what remains of a people who fight for identity, for aware- porary works of art. ness of their own humanity, and win.” “The abstract ceramic sculptures in this exhibition reference na- Each piece in the Paleo-Tool series is crafted by hand. Peleg uses ture, human form, architecture and machinery. They can convey a the slab roller to create the slabs, then she cuts the shapes by hand sense of movement and emotion. The wood-firing process produces and lays them out to dry. Once they are leather hard, she works on surfaces that accentuate the forms, bring out the texture of the clay the final shape, so that the edges are sharp like a knife. When they

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 28 Ceramics Monthly February 2008 29 upfront

are dry, pending the final ceramics with an underlying theme centered on surface. From silk- work, she either dips screening on porcelain tiles, to vivid electric-fired teapots, to the nice the small paleo tools in earthen qualities of pit-firing with banana peels and chilis, works rich terra sigillata, or, for the in surface had a home in this exhibition. Groupings of other themes large paleo tools she uses came into play under that broad umbrella—human and animal ele- Duncan crackle glaze ments, organic components, and geometric and architectural forms CR800. The handles are were all highlighted. Though the work greatly ranged in scale, firing, found objects such as and technique, From the Ground Up demonstrated harmony through hammers, baseball bats, diversity, further revealing the expanding scope of the ceramic field. brooms and old tools from flea markets and Submissions to the Upfront column are welcome. We would be pleased to consider press releases, artists’ state- ments and images in conjunction with exhibitions or other events of interest for publication. Images should be second hand stores. high-resolution digital on CD, or original (not duplicate) slides or transparencies. Mail to Ceramics Monthly, 600 N. Cleveland Ave., Suite 210, Westerville, OH 43082.

Rina Peleg’s “Small Paleo- Tool” series, dimensions variable, clay, found object; at the Rhonda Schaller Studio, click and collect New York City. pay a virtual visit to the galleries in this issue From the Ground Up “From the Ground Up XXIII,” a regional juried exhibition of Armstrong’s Gallery, Pomona, California works by artists from the Rocky Mountain states, was on display www.armstronggallery.net recently at Las Cruces Museum of Art (www.las-cruces.org) in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The exhibition featured works by 26 artists The Artisan Gallery, Northampton, Massachusetts from five states. www.theartisangallery.com “From the Ground Up XXIII gave the communities of southern Clay Art Center, Port Chester, New York New Mexico a lovely slice of the caliber of work that is taking place www.clayartcenter.org in both national and global levels in contemporary ceramics,” said juror Miranda Howe. “My focus in selecting work for this show was Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, Massachusetts to exemplify a cross-section of functional, sculptural and installation www.fullercraft.org Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico www.gpgallery.com Landmark Arts, Texas Tech University School of Art, Lubbock, Texas www.landmarkarts.org Las Cruces Museum of Art, Las Cruces, New Mexico www.las-cruces.org Olive DeLuce Fine Art Gallery, Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, Missouri www.potterynorthwest.org Rhonda Schaller Studio, New York City www.rhondaschallerchelsea.com San Francisco Museum of Craft+Design, San Francisco, California www.sfmcd.org Southwest School of Art and Craft, San Antonio, Texas www.swschool.org

Marie Weichman’s “Incubation,” each pod 7 in. (17 cm) in height, porcelain, latex, urethane; at the Las Cruces Museum of Art, Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 30 Ceramics Monthly February 2008 31 Thinking Through Design by Susan York

Above and left: “Drip Dry Dishes,” stoneware, by Jess Giffin and Jim TerMeer. The design was created using 3D computer modeling and patterns were output using rapid prototyping technology. A RAM press was used for production.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 32 Two versions of “Happy Prince Candelabra” (from the Oscar Wilde story title), by KleinReid. These pieces function as a three-part sculptural object when the removable ceramic candle is in place, or as a candelabra when a wax candle is used instead.

In the United States, the mass production of cast ceramics began dishes. “Drip-Dry Dishes” originated from the question, “What around 1840, but it was not until 1939 that the Hungarian potter- would a dish look like that had to work without a dish rack?” The turned-designer, Eva Zeisel, taught the first industrial design class designers wanted to get outside of the usual system of dish racks and for ceramics here at Pratt Institute in New York. Since then, contem- dishwashers. In explaining design systems, TerMeer said, “A system porary design has morphed from mass-production techniques into is not only the set but also all of the things you need to make it the current experiments with mass customization made possible by work (a set of dishes, cabinets, dishwasher).” CAD/CAM (Computer-Aided Design/Manufacturing) technologies. In the design process, Giffin and TerMeer discovered that Contemporary ceramic practices in design companies and artists’ changing one aspect of the forms—how the dishes sit on the coun- workshops bridge both of these worlds. ter—changed how they could be used. “The dish shows you how it Christie Wright, a designer who studied ceramics at the Cran- wants to stand, to dry,” said TerMeer. “Getting them so that they brook Academy of Art, and design at the Design Academy Eind- will drip dry turns out to be making them balance and making hoven in the Netherlands, describes how she sees the difference them sit right, but also not making them too over engineered. If between sculpture and design: “For design I start with a question; you look at the dishes, the sprigs are a very simple “Y” shape; an the answer to someone else’s question. For sculpture I start with a outgrowth of the cup. It was the minimum amount that it would personal answer to my own question. When I studied design I was take to stand a cup up.” asked what I wanted the client to experience. In design you strip Because TerMeer is a designer and not a ceramist, his method of to the essence, to the pure idea so that you can make an object creating the prototypes for the project used state-of-the-art design and—bam!—somebody has to get it right away.” Wright’s Geisha tools. A visiting designer in the Designed Objects program at the Phone (see “Parafunctionality,” by Tony Hepburn, on page 40) is School of the Art Institute of Chicago, TerMeer began by drawing a conceptual design of a cell phone turned inside out. It alludes to the shapes in a 3D CAD (Pro/ENGINEER) program. The drawings function (gold luster circuits were designed in consultation with were then transferred to an SLA (stereolithography) rapid prototype an engineer and could theoretically conduct electricity) but is not machine that used ultraviolet cured resin to form the dish. Based functional. She uses clay’s properties—durability, tactility, versatil- on the cross-sectional slice of his 3D CAD file, the laser melted ity—to redefine and find a contemporary vision for the material. and dropped thin layers (.003–.006-inch-thick) of plastic resin, “I want to leave the viewer with 75% of the information and the gradually building it into a 3D form. Once the forms were made, other part I want them to be curious about.” the designers worked with a small-run manufacturer who produced Designer Jim TerMeer also studied design in Eindhoven and the RAM pressed, stoneware prototypes. founded Giffin’Termeer with printmaker, Jess Giffin. They do not The European Ceramics Work Centre (EKWC) in the Neth- work in clay regularly but have collaborated on a series of small erlands provides a place for designers like TerMeer and Wright, as ceramic design projects, including screen-printed tiles and ceramic well as artists and architects who want to explore the technical and

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 33 Left and below: “Flip Over Bowls,” 15 in. (38 cm) in diameter, stoneware, by Sasja Scherjon. These bowls were created using the same mold but the bowl below was flipped over onto a convex form after it was released from the mold.

artistic possibilities of ceramics. A renowned international workshop, Sasja Scherjon, an Amsterdam artist and designer, was the first the center hosts about fifty artists from all over the world annually, to participate in the EKWC Design Project. An artist by training, providing studios and apartments to twelve participants at a time. Scherjon received a commission for 100 vases and taught herself The EKWC has had an important influence on the field of ceramics how to make molds. She produced the forms herself though she because it has extended the scope and practice of the medium by would never do it again. “If I wanted to work in series production, providing state of the art technical assistance and research coupled I knew I had to go to industry. The director of [the Dutch ceram- with an atmosphere that “anything is possible.” The center has also ics factory] Cor Unum thought he could use a creative bulldozer invited renowned artists and designers like Tony Cragg, Anish Ka- like me,” she said, laughing. She designed vases for the factory that poor and Hella Jongerius (see page 42) into this environment. “It’s were awarded a medal at the international ceramic competition in good to have artists and designers here who know nothing about Faenza, Italy. ceramics,” says Marc Kohlen, EKWC workshop advisor in reproduc- During her three residencies at the work center, Scherjon created tion and digital techniques. “They are always pushing the medium vessels, architectural column components and tiles carved with a to its limits, creating a new language of ceramic images.” Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine. Her working method More than half of the participants have little or no experience differed from most designers because it did not try to solve a problem in ceramics, so the staff is highly skilled in mold making and other posed by the client. She worked in the intersection between art and de- reproduction techniques, as well as clay body and glaze formulation sign, ultimately creating a product for industry or architecture but her and computer-controlled kiln firing. But it is the design process was decidedly an artist’s. Her close emphasis on research and experimentation that sets collaboration with architects the work center apart from other residency pro- and graphic designers cre- grams. Like a laboratory, the staff is encouraged to ated a cross fertilization conduct research through their daily jobs but also that enlarged the scope in their own professional lives (as many of the staff of her projects. members are ceramists) for as-yet-undiscovered possibilities in ceramics. Former workshop head, Anton Reijnders compiled much of this research into the book, The Ceramic Process published by Penn Press.

The EKWC’s Design Project was implemented in 1997 in an effort to bring designers to the workshop. Part of this effort was the Dutch Souvenir Project in 2003, an effort to come up with an alternative to the ubiquitous windmills, clogs and tulips sold in the Netherlands as souvenirs. The objects created by the 41 invited artists and designers from all over the world included “H2Olland,” pictured to the right. It is a water droplet holder with a map showing the origin of the water, by Peters & Kleem.

CeramicsCeramics Monthly Monthly February February 2008 2008 34 34 focus design

For the “Flip Over” bowl, which has verti- cal cones pushing toward and away from the Design Online viewer, Scherjon used RAM process technology (soft clay pressed into molds using air pressure). Porous hoses imbedded in the mold released Christie Wright: www.elastichome.com the form. The RAM process worked especially Giffin/TerMeer: www.giffintermeer.com well on this piece as it used the same mold for European Ceramics Work Centre: www.ekwc.nl both the convex and concave iterations of the Dutch Souvenir Project: www.ekwc.nl/ds2 bowl, simply flipping it onto a convex form Raising the Curve: Designer Eva Zeisel: www.npr.org (search on Zeisel) either with the cones up or down. Each mani- Sasja Scherjon: www.sasjascherjon.nl festation provided a shift in perspective from KleinReid: www.kleinreid.com inside to outside or vice versa. Although mass customization is considered to be computer aided, Scherjon customized Flip Over without Royal Tichelaar Makkum: www.royaltichelaar.com. This is the oldest company (est. in the aid of CAD/CAM technology. the early 1570s) in the Netherlands. Its roots are in brick making, but it now produces the James Klein and David Reid’s design designs of architects, designers and artists. Hella Jongerius, Marcel Wanders and Jurgen work originated with clay as they received Bey worked with the factory to create new decoration methods with tin glazing (faience). their M.F.A. degrees in ceramics at Alfred Fragiles: www.die-gestalten.de/fragiles/objects. This is a curated collection of ceram- and Cranbrook. In their design and produc- ics and glass. A project of the German company, dgv, best known as a publisher of design tion studio, KleinReid, they create original books, Fragiles was unveiled in December, 2007, at Design Miami. Work was created by an international array of sixty artists and designers, including Arne Quinze, Charles porcelain vases, lamps, teapots (designed in Krafft, Wendy Walgate, Christie Wright/Elastichome and KleinReid. collaboration with Eva Zeisel) and sculptural Droog: www.droogdesign.nl. This groundbreaking Dutch design collective has influ- forms. Reid says their work “is about the love enced a generation of international designers. Droog means ‘dry’ as in the dry wit, wry of the material: porcelain. As opposed to sense of humor and unadorned qualities characterized by the pieces they exhibit. A coming out of school as a designer, I learned key figure in Droog, Hella Jongerius (www.jongeriuslab.com), combines contemporary design a little backwards. It’s very much about industrial and traditional influences. In a 2005 interview with designmuseum.org in being tied to the material and less about being London, Jongerius said, “For me a designer is a maker, it’s like ping-ponging between trained as a designer.” the head and the hands.” “I don’t do anything different from a pot- Stain: www.woodlondon.co.uk/wood_pages/graduate.html. This is a set of a teacups ter,” Klein says. “How I make my art work designed to improve through use. Designed by British designer, Bethan Laura Wood, the interior surface of the cup is treated so that the more the cups are used, the more they hasn’t changed since I was a studio sculptor. stain and a pattern is revealed. Over time, they build up an individual pattern dependent We’re just making things out of clay. It’s very on the way the user drinks tea. universal.” Klein and Reid collaborate closely Rehabilitated Dishware: www.sarahcihat.com. Sarah Cihat buys old dishes from second- on each design, beginning with an idea for a hand stores and reinvents them by reglazing and refiring them. Billed as “an exercise in series that is developed as they work back and sustainability that reincarnates existing products,” Cihat recycles old dishes by painting forth to finalize the concept and shape. Once a their surfaces with her own designs. detailed drawing is completed, very little usu- Heath Ceramics: www.heathceramics.com. Founded in the mid-1940s by Edith Heath, ally changes as Klein translates it into Hydrocal this is one of the few remaining mid-century potteries still in existence. Designs of via turning or casting. “Once I start making it,” tableware and tile from nearly every decade remain in production. he says, “I’m just making it. I know it doesn’t sound very romantic, but I think the romance is in the design process.” In designing “StillLife,” the artists made a seemingly disparate It has been nearly seventy years since Zeisel began teaching list of everything they wanted to make. Reading Oscar Wilde Americans industrial design. In a 2005 interview with NPR, Zeisel helped them bring some of these objects together by inspiring spoke of one of her first jobs where she was supposed to make them to design what they imagined would go onto a gentleman’s identical vases. “And the only thing I did was to make them too desk: books, stemmed vases, a candelabra, a handkerchief, an big or too small. And after a while the owner of the shop decided apple. Up to this point Reid and Klein had only created func- that, although I cannot make them the same, I can make them very tional forms but their mentor, the renowned designer Eva Zeisel, different. So I became a designer that way.” inspired them to put beauty first and function second in the StillLife series. Zeisel sees her work as a gift to the user. This idea the author Susan York is a member of Ceramics Monthly’s editorial helped the artists realize that they could mix their functional advisory board. She was in residence at the EKWC in 1997, and she forms with sculpture. teaches sculpture at the College of Santa Fe in New Mexico.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 35 The Role of the

by Andrew Martin

As makers we all “design.” Since the word design is a noun, a verb and an adjective it relates to conception, planning and the description of both the process and result. Design is not something we talk about much as ceramists, in part it seems, because making things in clay is done as a direct experience and expression, while design always appears as a step removed from the making process. Design takes place as object (noun) and action (verb) simultaneously in the conceptual process. I can design a “design” in my head, fly through processes, visuals, glazing options, and then conceptualize a piece in a matter of moments, but it is not yet communicated in the world of the senses in which others can participate. As visual artists we make our expressive communication primar- ily through the sense of sight, while not excluding the others. That communication must have a means for it to pass to others. There must be a plan for that conceptual idea (or design) to manifest. One must find and use the right means of expression. To make the concept full, right, and true involves thousands of decisions to turn a conceptual design into an object. Martin has devised a template system for designing forms for mold making. See photographs on the following pages for more detailed explanations. Working at a potters’ wheel, the decisions of the design process are done as unified tactile, kinesthetic and visual activity. The deci- sions made while working on a potters wheel—make it taller, give experience, there is an unconscious motion to match to pleasurable the belly more volume, leave this alone, emphasize or elaborate this and successful patterns and eschew others. Within the realm of art, or that, etc.—are elements of visual design occurring in a moment- there is the tendency to duplicate patterns that exist or are known to-moment activity. In this making process, the results of the actions, or experienced as standards of aesthetics. decisions and observations are nearly immediate. Clary Illian quoted Bernard Leach as saying, “Followers of The word “design” is one that too often is interpreted to mean movements are always more doctrinaire than those that lead the the reduction of elements toward the minimal. Design must be movement” It would seem that he was commenting on “schools” of appropriate whether it is minimal or maximized. As makers, or thought and action that grow up behind leaders of movements—the designer-craftsmen-artists, we have the choice and opportunity tendency to match the pattern of the leader. to minimize or maximize elements to what is appropriate for the While visiting Paul Soldner, he pointed to pots he made as a design, but from where does the sense of “appropriate” emanate, student of Peter Voulkos and said, “I call those ‘pots under the and why? influence.’” So for a time, he matched the pattern of Voulkos and Human beings and human brains are pattern-matching mecha- then moved on to a more personal expression. But how does one nisms. That is how we learn: by imitation. Once a pattern appears as get to that more personal expression?

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 36 focus design

of the resulting pieces would most resonate with the maker, and why? Once one grasps this essential mechanism and understanding, it must be embraced. While this resonance can be most intimate and familiar, it can also be uncomfortable since it may exist outside existing patterns that are familiar and under- standable to others. For example, several elements comprise early life experiences that I resonated with and have come forward in the work. The mineral and butterfly collection at the local natural A series of templates that define the various sections of a covered jar are glued together, filled with clay, and history museum and the geological forma- scraped to the appropriate profile with a custom-made rib. With this system, the form can be altered in several ways at every step in the design process. tions in the Rocky Mountains imprinted sensibilities of shape, form, color, contrast in texture and surface, balance, asymmetry and incongruity. There were also projects involv- ing paper cut-outs. It has been easy to identify these elements as they entered my work. Later, seeing Minoan pots in Crete and Isnik tiles in Istanbul exposed me to a sense of form, decoration, color and beauty that was so primal that afterward it seemed as though I had just found my eyes and hands n s: O livi e r R olli Nick Elias— I llustratio photos: and a means to use them to make pottery. Ken Ferguson used to ask, “What do you do when the (creative) well runs dry?” “Find the source of the water,” was my reply, and that is what happened in Crete and Istanbul. Slip casting had been a part of my working cycle in conjunction with throwing on the wheel. Eventually, I dedicated myself fully to understating every aspect of pottery through the use of molds. It was an exploration of the language, molds, pottery, use, form, decoration, color, lids, feet, spouts, glazes, all rooted in bringing to life work that resonated every interest of butterflies, minerals, strange colors, water, plants, use, celebration, food, environment, ambience and…. Design has “Ode to a Persian Mood,” 14 in. (36 cm) in height, slip-cast porcelain, fired in an electric kiln to Cone 7. to include or entertain all these elements in a necessary regurgitation of beauty. While I Each individual inherently is wired differently, filters stimuli dif- may not use all of these elements, to exclude any of them might ferently, and consequently manifests a different expression. Beyond exclude the essential component of the communication. that, understanding in detail the internal wiring and filtering pro- When I begin to design new pieces, rarely do I start with a for- cesses is the in-depth examination that follows the initial successes mal idea. Rather it is a notion, yet often it’s not even that. I begin and pattern-matching tendency of the human learning process. One to fold and cut paper shapes and either leave them symmetrical or could try every kind of ceramic process of forming, glazing and fir- cut them further and reassemble them in random configurations. ing. What would be common to them all, based on this understand- Sometimes just a section of a cutout is extrapolated for further ing of “wiring and filtering?” It is an evaluation of the objective forms elaboration. From a few dozen cutouts, very few of the shapes to uncover the sources in the maker that generated them. Which will suggest a form. Paper cutouts allow a drawn line to be carried

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 37 into space, forming an outline of the resulting form. Further, it allows for an abstract and unforeseen result to occur while in the design process. Depending on the scale of the cut-out shapes, different forms are possible. If it is short, a plate is possible; if it’s made wider, a serving platter; if taller, a bowl; if it has a lid and a foot, the bowl becomes a casserole; and if very tall, a vase could result from the shape. A photocopier is used to reduce and enlarge the shapes. Then I make a visual evaluation of the possible forms. I draw in space with my hands and fingers to begin to sense the scale, mass, volume and space of the pot. Should it be plumper, have a wider foot, or be exaggerated in this or that manner? Templates are made from the cut-outs and assembled in an armature on which to form the prototype in soft clay. Always watching to see what I could not see before each moment, new choices arise, subtleties of form play until the prototype is a finished facsimile of the “Essential Diversion,” 9½ in (24 cm) in height, slip- finished pot. cast porcelain, fired in an electric kiln to Cone 7. The mold is a tool like the potters wheel, both of which have inherent Throughout the process I am looking opportunities and limitations. My ideas forward and backward to see if there is about pots are generally forms that are a complimentary form suggested by the irregular and out of round. Molds are evolving prototype. How will the mold useful in making pots in quantity and be made most simply? And I begin to see with a reasonable weight. Yet it is ideas decoration and glazing possibilities and that have driven my choice of molds and make notes and drawings about these op- slip casting rather than the technology tions. All the while watching, observing itself. So the making of the mold, like and always anticipating magic. It occurs every other part of the process, is always when I am no longer thinking but simply made appropriate to the prototype, moving from instincts, notions and the making as few pieces as possible. This “source” pouring through. has lead me to make innovations with molds, simply because I Glazing options are always temporary, mutable, inconclusive required the process to be as simple as possible, even if it has to and ever varying. I wait until some notion of the surface appears. be complex to work correctly. Sometimes it is weeks of walking around the studio looking at

Complex forms can be made from simple templates, and variations on a theme can be explored by altering the templates, the relationship between the templates, or the rib profile used to finish the contours. Other elements, such as handles and spouts can be cast separately and added as needed, but it is a good idea to “fit” the models before making the molds.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 38 focus design

Servitude and Loss by Tom Spleth

Mold making is a lot like printing lithographs. The process is indirect and arcane with much attention given to detail. One can make multiples and there is a great latitude for the expression of ideas and feelings. I am not much interested in design problems, but rather, I use molds as a tool to make a certain kind of object. The mold is a conversion device that changes heavy, solid models made of stone, wood and plaster into translucent, nearly weightless porcelain objects. Left: An original plaster form is used to create a waste mold, the working interior When I work, I travel from the general to the more specific. M o nthly Meth od s surface of which is refined and cast with plaster. Middle: A positive plaster I begin in chaos and end in less chaos but there will always be model is cast from the waste mold and is further refined until the final form is some chaos—the objects are quite abstract. I pour the watery determined. Right: From the model, a production mold is made that is used to plaster out of its pail onto the floor in a large flat fluid puddle. slip cast porcelain. In the time plaster takes to set—eight or ten minutes—I shape the progressively resistant material into a solid vertical form with trowels, scrapers and files. This act is akin to dancing with a partner that is constantly changing. As the plaster sets and becomes more intractable, I become more assertive and my actions are more dramatic. It is a clash of wills—my forms are made in confrontation with the material. At the end, I leave the field of battle in the presence of something that is new for me. The completed object catches a particular bit of information, about light, about the figure, about the ineffable, that is set apart and thereby revealed. It is as if I name things without using words. I then begin to transform this wet, white, weighty plaster form by wrapping it with a mold. A mold is a complex, multipart thing that carries information. Where the object of desire resides therein, one can only find a void. The mold Shown here are four views of the same piece, rotated 90° in each view. In discussing has no more than a temporary association with form both at these and other ceramic forms he makes, Penland, North Carolina, artist Tom Spleth its inception and its conclusion. A mold produces the object explains: “These objects are ceramic objects and as such they have great fragility, which affects their metaphoric message. In the kiln, they are subject to the highest and is forgotten, unseen, discarded. It is a metaphor for temperatures my formulations can endure and their fluidity in the heat affects their servitude and loss. form. They are hollow and they are open at the top so they always refer to pottery, the Mold making requires discipline, attention, linear thought vase and the history of ceramics. I keep the tops open so that one may see down into processes, an emotionally flat affect and a monastic devotion the translucency and see the thickness of the wall of the piece. I am very comfortable with the idea that my work is an extension of the history of ceramics.” to the appropriate technologies. It is purely mechanical—the creative act has passed. When I make molds, I lose myself as I suspend ordinary interactive behavior with friends and loved ones. It is a necessary waste of time and that is its cost.

bisqueware. At other times, multiple solutions may appear in Bringing everything to the design and making process is essential to quick succession. the artistic statement and to the aesthetic experience of the viewer. To Molds are a language. As with any language you can write a techni- minimize the “design” would both deprive delight in the making process cal manual or write poetry. I have always felt that the cold technicality and deprive the viewer/user enjoyment in the resulting “performance.” of plaster and molds is not a limitation to them being used to express the lyrical notions of beauty that grow from the odd alchemy of my the author Andrew Martin lives and works in Los Angeles, California, “wiring and filtering.” The role of the mold in design is a supporting and is the author of The Essential Guide to Mold Making & Slip one, but ideas are the script by which it must act. Casting (Lark Books, 2006).

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 39 Heather Mae Erickson: Separate by Design by Glen R. Brown k Yanovia Ken photos:

Appetizer platter, 17½ in. (44 cm) in diameter, slip-cast porcelain with Alfred white glaze, fired to Cone 6, 2007.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 40 focus design

The current dynamic between contemporary American studio ceramics and the field of design has received relatively little critical attention, in contrast to the more prominent (and contentious) relationships of ceramics to the categories of art and craft. Unlike these, design has been widely regarded as an obvious concern of industry rather than the studio. Consequently, when American studio ceramics is discussed, traits such as utility are frequently subject to binary logic: e.g., ceramic objects that embrace physical function perpetuate the craft tradition and those that eschew it relate to contemporary art. Consideration of design, however, complicates the picture considerably, not simply by introducing a third category but, more importantly, by increasing those instances in which ab- solute categorization is clearly inappropriate and classification itself comes to seem terribly artificial. While there is nothing deliberately rebellious about Heather Mae Erickson’s practice as a ceramist, she is well aware that her focus on utilitarian forms on the one hand and her reliance largely upon molding techniques on the other separates her work from much of contemporary American studio ceramics. Not likely to be described as a sculptor, given the nature of her pieces as tablewares, she is equally unlikely to be classified as a potter or craftsperson. After all, many of those who are adamant about such definitions have voiced the opinion that craft objects must unequivocally be produced by hand. Molding techniques, despite their labor-intensiveness and demand for attention to physical detail are often viewed as detached and mechanical, and consequently many American ceramists dismiss mold-made work categorically from consideration as craft. Erickson is familiar with these convictions regarding craft, and she is equally versed in the discourse surrounding ceramic art. She learned to throw on the wheel as a crafts-ceramics un- dergraduate student before earning her graduate degree at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, one of the finest environments in the country for exploring the conceptual potential of ceramics as contemporary sculpture. At Cranbrook under the mentorship of Tony Hepburn, she gradually ceased to think of herself as a potter, though she lost none of her interest in the utilitarian ap- plication of her work. She sought a clean and precise aesthetic in her functional pieces, which at the time embraced a range of pastel colors and fluid forms with walls as thin as she could fashion them on the wheel. After a memorable critique with visiting artist Marek Cecula, however, she began to contemplate the use of molding techniques in order to achieve the formal qualities that she desired. Following conferral of her M.F.A. in 2004, Erickson spent three months at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Mon- tana, where she began experimenting with molding under the informal tutelage of fellow resident Susan Beiner. The results of her initial foray into mold making were encouraging, though

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 41 Dinnerware set, 13 in. (33 cm) in width, slip-cast porcelain with Alfred white glaze, fired to Cone 6, 2007.

far from polished. A visit to Richard Notkin’s nearby studio, with its designer. Conceiving of her work as essentially a studio practice, orderly archive of precisely fashioned molds, provided a paragon to she has preferred to maintain control over every detail from initial strive for and reinforced her desire to master the techniques neces- inspiration to final firing. She does not in the least fit the stereotype sary for producing highly refined slip-cast work. Having received of the designer who dislikes sullying his or her hands through physi- a Fulbright Research Award to study at the University of Art and cal labor. At the same time, her practices reflect many intriguing Design in Helsinki, Finland, later that year, Erickson decided to use parallels with industrial design. the opportunity to develop her mold-making skills. In Europe, where studio ceramics and design have long been When she arrived in Finland she was gratified to find that the more closely allied, Erickson’s work would be unlikely to raise many majority of ceramics students at the university were routinely pro- eyebrows. In recent years a number of European studio ceramists ducing plaster models and molds with the full encouragement of have turned their attention to industry and even begun providing the faculty. One night each week Matti Sorsa, a mold maker from designs for porcelain factories such as Sèvres. Their activity has the adjoining Arabia porcelain factory, visited the studios to render largely involved the formation of a dialog between studio ceramics advice. Erickson took advantage of all that this expert had to offer. and industry rather than the abandonment of one for the other. The Some of the most successful products of this technical assistance consequences have been twofold: on the one hand, the influence of were complex u-shaped porcelain cups cast in a one-piece dropout studio ceramics has prompted some industrial designers to soften mold. In homage to the Helsinki winter, Erickson glazed the upper product uniformity and explore a greater range of forms, and, on portions of these white “Finnspired” vessels with an icy pale blue the other, some studio ceramists have given new consideration to concocted from a stain retired from the Arabia factory’s inventory. the potential of industrial techniques for creative expression. Ironically, despite the proximity of the factory, Erickson never Erickson can easily relate to the latter group. While she professes visited its facilities during her residency at the university and gave strong affinities for the handmade object, she believes that a great little consideration to the applicability of her designs to an industrial deal can be learned from industry in terms of both process and con- context. Although her works are clearly amenable to manufacture ceptualization. If the prospect lay within her power, she would seek as uniform multiples and she is intrigued by the thought of their to change the educational system for ceramics in the United States being reproduced in unlimited numbers, she has not yet stepped in order to place a much stronger emphasis on the role of design. At back from the production process to assume the exclusive role of the same time, she acknowledges that inherent obstacles exist to any

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 42 focus design such transformation, not the least of which is the relative lack of an American ceramic dinnerware industry. It is no wonder that, with few immediate prospects of collaborating with or intervening in industry, American students of studio ceramics tend overwhelmingly to develop allegiances either to the craft tradition or to contemporary art. For Erickson, art, craft and design are not mutually exclusive categories, and therefore one should feel entirely free to draw routinely upon the strengths of each in order to produce the highest quality work. Ordinarily she begins her process from the perspective of a sculptor, carving a solid chunk of plaster with rasps, refining the details increasingly in order to create as perfect a prototype as possible. Although the objects that she creates are ultimately utilitarian, in her working process the forms follow function only in the most general sense. “It’s easy to get stuck on the idea of a cup or a bowl,” she suggests. “I don’t really think Appetizer platter with spoons (detail), 17½ in. (44 cm) in diameter, slip-cast and thrown about that anymore. I just think about a container, and it can porcelain with underglaze and Alfred white glaze, 2007. be any shape or size that I want it to be.” This method of designing permits the user a great deal of latitude in determining the specific purpose that each object will serve. Moreover, although most of Erickson’s pieces are conceived as units within larger groups, usually with a plate underlying and unifying them, the compositions are open to rearrangement by the user. This formal flexibility is important to Erickson, not only because it permits a greater versatility in terms of the utilitarian potential of her work but also because she conceives of her forms as more meaningful when engaged in performance than when viewed as static tableaux. In fact, it is in terms of performance that design exerts the strongest influence over Erickson’s work. While a given container may serve variously as a cup, a bowl or a spoon, it is always designed to be easily accessed and em- ployed, as well as to complement other elements within the “Finnspired 1,” 18 in. (46 cm) in width, slip-cast stoneware with blue glaze fired to Cone 8, composition aesthetically. and white glaze fired to Cone 6, 2005. The potential for utility is of paramount concern to Er- ickson because of the conceptual tension that it introduces to her work. Despite the energy of her forms—the dynamic of crisply defined vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines and the sharp contrasts of the planes that these define—any vi- sual dissonance inherent to individual pieces is resolved into a perfect harmony at the level of the group. Conceptually, however, a certain ambiguity, even a willful indeterminate- ness, remains. Contemplating a single container or even the larger group, one tends naturally to question its purpose. A certain frustration arises when no obvious answer presents itself. Clearly designed for use, Erickson’s works at the same time resist any easy digestion of design. In her pieces, design is deliberately both obtrusive and ambiguous, consequently drawing attention to itself as object of inquiry. Although this kind of inquiry has been overshadowed in American studio ceramics by those now-tired questions concerning art and craft, Erickson’s work provides an intriguing glimpse of what Dessert compotes, individual pieces to 7 in. (18 cm) in length, slip-cast porcelain with Alfred may well be things to come. white glaze, fired to Cone 6, 2007, by Heather Mae Erickson, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 43 Parafunctionality* by Tony Hepburn

* parafunctionality—curious or eccentric objects, outside the world of conventional design, that unintentionally embody provocative or poetic qualities that most product “Ceramic Cell Phone: Geisha,” porcelain with lusters, 2004, by Christie Wright. designs seldom achieve.—Anthony Dunne

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 44 focus design

In selecting works for the “Scripps College 63rd Ceramic Annual” exhibition, Tony Hepburn focused on makers and objects that encourage a dialog between the worlds of ceramics and design. The following is excerpted from his catalog essay published in conjunction with the exhibition. For information on the 64th Scripps College Ceramic Annual, which is on view now, visit www.scrippscollege.edu./williamson-gallery.

Much has been written about how ways of categorizing human activity are being challenged and how we realign ourselves on a daily basis. This realignment requires a certain kind of creativity or willingness to embrace uncertainty. Huge institutions, which are embedded in categorization, will resist change at all costs and simply cannot afford to let this kind of uncertainty happen.

In the art world, major museums, art schools “Criss Cross,” 2005, by Marek Cecula and Daga Kopala, Modus Design. and specialized art galleries protect the faith: Don’t mess with dogma. Any mongrelization weakens the species. wants it all, and who can blame him? With the right use of technology, But information sharing has returned on the technological com- he can have a piece made by rapid prototyping, while his CAD program mon ground that we all inhabit: the digital, the net, the blog. Either is working out some details, and he is throwing pots on a wheel. New all art practice is now marginalized or it is all mainstream. We are now technology is not for everyone, but it has the potential to impact even unsure of the ground we inhabit, which is simultaneously liberating the way we conceive of artistic expression. In the 1960s, George Kubler and terrifying. It is, I would suggest, a good place for art, architecture proposed another model that is still impossibly current: and design to be. Let us suppose that the idea of art can be expanded to embrace On a recent visit to London, a young graduate student at the Royal the whole range of man-made things, including all tools and College of Art gave me his business card, which stated his practice: “Ce- writing, in addition to the useless, beautiful and poetic things ramics, sculpture, functional ware, 2D design, 3D design.” This man of the world. By this view of the universe, man-made things simply coincide with the history of art. It then becomes an urgent requirement to devise better ways of considering every- thing man has made? Unfortunately, one of the self-imposed limits of Kubler’s thesis—interpretation based on appearance—has not been respected in the last fifty years. What objects are has been saddled, in many corners, with what they are about or what they mean. The impor- tance given to “content” has deprived both the maker and the viewer of the most direct point of entry, the thing itself. We have lost the ideal articulated by the French poet Paul Valery, “To see is to forget the name of the thing one sees.” Industrial designer and researcher An- thony Dunne coined the term “parafunc- tionality” to refer to those “curious or

“Telephone,” 2005-2006, by Shannon Goff.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 45 eccentric objects, outside the world of conventional design, that important as ‘high’ culture...I try not to invent new forms at all...I unintentionally embody provocative or poetic qualities that most confront the beauty of tradition with the beauty of the banal.” product designs seldom achieve.” He describes objects that cause Many of these ADAs also realize the importance of negotiating us to reflect on our relationship to technology, recognizing that the with so-called real-world conditions for their products to float into artifacts that people interact with have an enormous impact the culture: Shannon Goff engaged with the Kohler Co., on how we think. which manufactures commercial plumbing fixtures. Art/design/architecture has used the following Marek Cecula founded a design firm in Poland and steps to evolve ideas: the maquette (usually for created a distribution network in North America, as sculpture), the model (usually for designer architec- did Barbara Schmidt, head designer for Kahla Por- ture), or the prototype (usually for design). These celain in Germany. Jongerius makes a similar point, products allow the artist/designer/architect (ADA) “Finally I succeeded in persuading the Makken to question, knock down walls, or better, blur some company to make the design. It was a real upheaval lines. The framework of deconstructive theory, as to them. I admire the company for applying their stated by Jacques Derrida, is that “Questioning high standards of care and attention to making is not something we do on the way to knowing. a product that clashes with their perfectionist Questioning itself is the highest form of know- culture.” Various strategies have been used by ing.” So do we look instead at the gallery as a all these participants to avoid the problems “test site?” Another term Dunne has applied and dangers of playing the “end game.” to objects is the “genotype,” in which the Residency programs around the world “genes” are more important than ap- have become places where ADAs can pearance. In the context of design, step aside from the usual studio the conceptual model as genotype habits of produce/exhibit/mar- rather than prototype could allow ket/sell and envision new roles it to function more abstractly for themselves. For want of a by deflecting attention from better word, they are “retreats” the aesthetics of construction and much has come of them to the aesthetics of use. Most of that has changed the ceramic the ADAs represented here have landscape. Several of the par- no primary loyalty to ceramics. ticipants in [the Ceramic An- Their stories clearly present a nual 2007] exhibition have more complex understanding resided at the European Ce- and engagement. Two of these ramic Work Centre in Hol- ADAs, Hella Jongerius and land, an ideal environment Christie Wright, have connec- created by Xavier Toubes and tions with the Dutch group Anton Reijnders in the late known as Droog Design, 1980s. What is significant is organized in the mid-1990s. that both established ADAs As design historian Renny Ra- and younger ones have been makers described their work: drawn to these environ- They take their inspiration ments, I believe as a way to from what is meaningless, test themselves, the question anonymous, everyday, neu- being, “can I maintain prac- tral. They accept or recycle tices in several disciplines si- the existing. They copy, they multaneously?” The hallowed quote. They capture the qual- ground of “the studio” gives ity of the inferior. Products are way to collaboration on many allowed to wear out and fade levels, from technical help, away. They think more of low shared use of equipment, and style than high style. interaction between peers. Jongerius has stated, “You have to be fully aware of what is going on Long-neck bottle, porcelain, packing in the world. Street culture is just as tape, 2002, by Hella Jongerius.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 46 Tatsuzo Shimaoka 1919–2007

by Mason Riddle

Tatsuzo Shimaoka, recognized internation- ally for his simple, utilitarian pots, died on December 11, 2007 in Mashiko, Japan, a picturesque town 160 kilometers north of Tokyo, where he had lived and worked since 1946. He was a leading proponent of the Mingei, or folkcraft, philosophy and aesthetic, a movement founded in 1926 by the writer- philosopher Yanagi Soetsu (1889–1961) and his closest friends, the potters Shoji Hamada (1884–1978) and Kanjiro Kawai (1890–1966). Yanagi authored The Unknown Craftsman, the “bible” of Japanese folkcraft. Mingei celebrates the humble artisan and a Mingei pot clearly expresses its utilitarian purpose; its inherent beauty derives from the fact that it is an object of daily life. “When I was lost as to what to do in the future, Yanagi’s theory of beauty and Mingei was like fertile rain on barren soil,” said Shimaoka in a lecture at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) in March of 2001. The revered potter, a small elegant man with a quick smile and warm, welcoming eyes, was in the Twin Cities as the Northern Clay Center’s 2001 Regis Master, the first overseas artist recognized in the Center’s distinguished series, which began in 1997. Shimaoka is known for his handbuilt square plates and jars, as well as his wheel- thrown vases, jars, bowls, platters and lidded boxes, many of which bear his signature rope-impressed inlay technique called Jomon

Holding one of his signature rope-impressed vessels, Tatsuzo Shimaoka is shown here standing at the firemouth of a four-chambered climbing kiln at his studio in Mashiko, Japan, in 1992.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 47 Zogan, in which a braided cotton or silk cord is rolled over the sur- 1936. Here, he encountered Yanagi’s theory on beauty and works face of a leather-hard pot. For this, he modified an ancient Japanese by Kawai, Hamada and others that vivified Mingei’s inherent beauty Jomon (8000–200 B.C.E.) earthenware pottery technique and made and spiritual power. The importance of the well-crafted, simple it his own. He was also influenced by Korean Yi Dynasty mishima utilitarian pot, made from indigenous materials became clear to him. (inlaid slip) ware. His pots were mostly fired in his five-chambered, He also internalized the central supposition of Mingei philosophy wood-fired climbing kiln and, depending on their placement, that “the craftsperson lives a healthy life, has a healthy mind, and is emerged from the firing with a more coarse, gritty organic surface always sincere in the pursuit of utility.” Only then will the craft be or a more refined, precisely marked surface. Some are embellished “blessed by Tariki (the Buddhist philosophy of the Other Power)… with abstracted brushwork, often in high-keyed tones of red, green and have true beauty, what Yanagi called beauty with the ‘eternal and yellow. now.’ This is what Mingei is.” “The final process of firing is the stage that is never completely “With my mind decided, I visited Hamada, an alumnus from under my control,” he explained. “I mainly fire pinewood (which my college, in the summer of my freshman year,” he continued. is hard to control) in my climbing kiln (which is again hard to “Hamada worked comfortably in the mountains of Mashiko with control) and wholeheartedly receive the blessings of the great power great confidence and concentration. His figure was towering. I was of nature.” luckily granted an apprenticeship with him after graduation. He Shimaoka’s prodigious talent and venerable reputation is rooted told me that the basis of ceramics is the wheel and advised me to in relatively humble origins and evolved over more than sixty years learn how to throw pots on the wheel while in school. I did as I of dedicated work. He was born in 1919 in Atago, Minato Ward, was told…” After being posted in Burma during the Pacific War [World War II], Shimaoka moved to Mashiko with his family. From 1946–1949 he apprenticed with Hamada, who had established his kiln in 1924, and eventually became his primary deshi (student). From Hamada, Shimaoka learned how to use the natural clays and unrefined glazes and enamels from the potter-farmer traditions of Mashiko, with its fifteenth- and sixteenth-century thatched-roof, timbered structures. It was at this time he became more aware of the British potter, Ber- nard Leach (1887–1979) and his 1940 book A Potter’s Book, with essays by Yanagi and Michael Cardew. According to Shimaoka, Hamada would teach his apprentices to “leave aside all that had been studied, and to start with a new slate. Handmade work is not to be learned by intellect but with the body,” he related in his MIA lecture. “Technique is not to be taught but to be ambitiously acquired.” Following his apprenticeship, he taught at Tochigi Prefectural Ceramic Institute, returning to Mashiko to establish his own kiln in 1954. A looming challenge was to develop his own aesthetic, one visibly different than that of Hamada but still within the Mingei tradition. Warren MacKenzie (b. 1924) who lives and runs his pottery Tea ceremony bowl, approximately 5 in. (13 cm) in diameter, in Stillwater, Minnesota, first met Shimaoka in 1974, when he with cobalt and copper oxide over hameke slip. traveled with Shimaoka’s friend, Minneapolis–based potter Taeko Tanaka, and his students Michael Norman, Wayne Branum and in downtown Tokyo. His father was a kumihimo (braided silk cord) Randy Johnston, to Mashiko. [On a parallel path as Shimaoka, artisan who, along with his mother, ran a small shop employing MacKenzie apprenticed with Bernard Leach at his St. Ive’s pottery several kumihimo artisans. He credits this early experience of be- from 1950–1952. He first met Hamada and Yanagi at Leach’s pot- ing immersed in a craft environment for “wanting to create with tery in 1952 and immediately identified with the Mingei movement, his hands.” making its philosophy central to his professional and personal life.] In 1939 he entered the Tokyo Institute of Technology and, after MacKenzie recounts a story told by Shimaoka: After establishing studying extensively in the department of ceramics, he decided to his pottery near that of his teacher’s, Hamada would visit Shimaoka become a potter. “However, I had no idea of what kind of potter after each firing. He always told his former apprentice that his pots I wanted to become,” he said. “I only had vague ideas of what I were very good and then leave. It was always the same response. wanted to become.” Shimaoka knew he must establish his own independent aesthetic At about this time, Shimaoka visited the Nihon Mingeikan (Japan path, but how? It was not until he developed his impressed rope Folk Crafts Museum) in Komaba, Tokyo, that was inaugurated in and white slip-glaze technique that Hamada responded after one fir-

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 48 ing, “You have now found your own voice.” Shimaoka was delighted but noted, in his MIA talk, that Hamada cautioned him not to “concentrate on one technique, because the pursuit of a single process would lead to a monotonous stereotype. One must always experience the happiness of creation.” MacK- enzie also notes that Shimaoka was Hamada’s “best deshi” and that he gave Shimaoka his best slab-building artisan when he started his own pottery. MacKenzie recounts Shimaoka’s generous nature. “Shimaoka and Hamada were so open and generous with their time,” empha- sized MacKenzie. “He was generous with his communication, inviting us to his home and showing us his work. He assumed the gener- ous practice of Hamada, taking on students and apprentices in his pottery to learn about the Mingei philosophy.” In 1978, Shimaoka toured the United States and stopped in Minneapolis to visit Taeko and MacKenzie and did a demonstration at the University of Minnesota, where MacKenzie taught. Concurring, Johnston (who apprenticed with Shimaoka in 1975) states, “Shimaoka saw his role to repay the debt to Hamada for taking him on, so he too takes on students to pass on the Mingei tradition.” In 1962 Shimaoka was recognized with the Japan Folk Crafts Museum Award and in 1980 received the Tochigi Prefecture Cultural Merit Medal. In 1996 he was named a “Holder of an Important Intangible Cul- tural Asset,” translated as a Living National Treasure of Japan. After Hamada, he is only the second to be honored in the area of Folk Craft Pottery. “The spirit of Mingei has always been the backbone of my work,” he Small yohen vase, 6½ in. (17 cm) in height, thrown feldspathic clay, with rolled-rope stated. “Hamada said you should never have impressions over faceting, inlaid with slip, and fired on its side supported by clay-filled shells. to sell yourself to the public. No matter how far in the countryside you work, if your work is healthy, sincere and good, then the public will come to you.” Looking at Shimaoka’s pots, there is a tangible, compelling “Shimaoka’s work developed and gained an increasing richness connection between the maker’s hand, the materials and the pot, a as he aged,” comments MacKenzie. “Ultimately, the work was quite connection that reveals not only Shimaoka’s vision but also Mingei. different from Hamada’s, a very personal style. He broke away, a Looking at a group of Shimaoka’s pots on a low table after a recent thing which is very difficult to do.” firing in Mashiko, there is reason to believe that the master’s work In his lecture, Shimaoka explained “Hamada was an individual emanates the Other Power, too, in a new guise, conveying the Mingei artist with a strong originality who fully accepted the essence of philosophy itself. beauty in folk pottery which implies the Other Power…” He also noted, “My works, made with great effort combined with the the author Mason Riddle lives in Stillwater, Minnesota, and writes on art, sanctification of nature, become beautiful works that exceed my architecture and design. She met Mr. Shimaoka in 2001 during his trip to ingenuity as an individual.” the Twin Cities and traveled to Mashiko in 2005 to visit his pottery.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 49 Th e St r o n g Si l e n t Ty p e Michael McCarthy’s Quiet Craftmanship by Scott Norris

Canister set, to 12 in. (30 cm) in height, thrown white stoneware with Temmoku glaze and Cushing Black Slip, wood/salt fired to Cone 10.

A small porcelain bowl, with a pale celadon glaze and walls that are an exactness that seems almost neoclassical in nature. Perhaps what translucent in the light, is the first bowl I use every day. Made by McCarthy sees as rigidity is instead the clarity of a skilled potter with Michael McCarthy, the bowl is shaped by four evenly-spaced thumb a questioning mind, willing to test every aspect of a pot repeatedly, prints pressing outward below the rim. The distortion is subtle, secure in the belief that the result will be satisfactory, no matter yet it transforms the bowl from a round object into something how long the process may take. It is unlikely that pots that look approaching, but not quite reaching, a square. The bowl hovers improvisational will result from such an approach, yet in the best of between regularity and irregularity, delicate in appearance, and worlds McCarthy’s methods can lead to a complex grace, like that comfortable in my hand. While McCarthy sometimes describes his of the porcelain bowl, or the unpretentiousness that characterizes work as “rigid,” the bowl’s unlikely blend of unpredictability and all of his work. restraint makes it anything but that. Born in 1974 in Albany, New York, McCarthy points to a 1995 McCarthy is a thoughtful and deliberate potter. Every pot in visit to Greece as the key event in his early development as a potter. his studio is carefully considered and produced again and again, While in Greece he encountered the so-called “pots of necessity,” with patient editing eliminating all unnecessary details, leading to ancient utilitarian vessels used in food preparation and storage,

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 50 including oil jars so large that they towered above him. Low-fired and unadorned, the functional Greek pots impressed him deeply, overshadowing the experience of seeing the better-known black figure and red figure vases prized by historians and collectors. It is tempting to see a kinship between the Greek pots and McCarthy’s own work, insofar as both are comprised of minimally decorated objects that rely on form and usefulness to hold our interest. Indeed, for McCarthy, form is the most important consideration in judging a pot’s success. This characteristic sets him apart from his primary teacher Mark Shapiro, a potter who, although equally given to the detailed analy- sis of form, nevertheless infuses his work with additional meaning through intensely linear, weblike and calligraphic decorations. In contrast, McCarthy’s only embellishments are horizontal bands or ridges that occasion- ally encircle his pots, generally highlighting a change in shape, or the point at which handles are attached. McCarthy became Shapiro’s apprentice in 2000 and spent three years as his assis- tant, while also devoting long hours to his own projects, guided by Shapiro’s exacting teaching methods and style of working. He became skilled in the use of Shapiro’s large, anagama-style kiln, while also studying Shapiro’s pots assiduously, as well as the work of Michael Simon, Sam Taylor, Linda Sikora and others. Through the years, Mc- Carthy has consistently demonstrated an ability to absorb ideas without also absorb- ing idiosyncrasies, maintaining a steadiness and single-mindedness that parallel the unflustered pace he brings to the making of his own work. An extended residency at Altos de Chavon in La Romana, Dominican Repub- lic, in 2005 rivaled his 1995 trip to Greece in importance. Isolated from family and friends, lacking the ability to speak or under- stand Spanish, and sometimes overwhelmed by the country’s withering light and heat, McCarthy shared studio space with a group of highly skilled Dominican throwers who made decorative garden pots from local clay. The Dominican clay, a rough, reddish Top: Teapot, 5 in. (12 cm) in height, thrown porcelain, with Rutile B-1 Glaze, wood/salt fired to Cone 10. substance filled with particles and minerals, Bottom: Cannister set, to 12 in. (30 cm) in height, thrown white stoneware had long been assumed to be earthenware. with Rutile B-1 Glaze, wood/salt fired to Cone 10. The local potters fired at low temperatures,

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 51 avoided glazes, and decorated with house paint afterward. Perhaps what McCarthy sees as rigidity McCarthy found the clay fascinating, but his first experi- ments with glazing and firing the clay produced pots that is instead the clarity of a skilled potter shattered as they cooled. In examining the shards afterward, with a questioning mind... McCarthy noticed that the clay had remained porous while being fired. Diverging from the local tradition, he began firing the clay at high temperatures in a small, rarely used kiln on the property, treating it as stoneware rather than earthenware. In response, the clay proved to be a reliable high-fire clay, holding glazes well, and serving as a vigorous, useful body that adapted readily to a variety of purposes. Through the years, covered jars and casseroles have formed an important part of McCarthy’s output, despite the fact that the day-to-day use of such pots ended decades ago. McCarthy’s development of these seemingly archaic objects reflects his interest in pots he sees as “endangered” or “extinct,” as well as his hope to re-establish an everyday role for pots of this kind. Most of his covered jars are large pots with handles, often squat and oval in shape. Without evok- ing historical prototypes directly, they present themselves as handsome variations of the storage jars used centuries ago. But recent pots expand on this language, including teabowls and tumblers that flare outward gently before contracting sharply just above the foot, with the sober preci- sion of modernist Scandinavian glassware designers like Kaj Franck or Goran Hongell. Some of the tumblers are formed from white porcelain, with thin bands of brilliant Mason stains highlighting the termination of the form above the foot. For McCarthy, the stains provide an opportunity to explore vivid industrial colors in the context of a wood- burning kiln, while simultaneously recalling the luminous shades he experienced in the Dominican Republic. It is unclear whether McCarthy’s recent movement toward modernism is an experiment only, not to be continued, or if it represents an ongoing progression in the reductive tone of his work through the years. Certainly, McCarthy’s introspective, substance-over-style philosophy speaks to the modernist ethos at its best, while also reflecting the historical role of functional craft throughout the centuries, an approach seemingly rooted in the same impulses that fuel his interest in anonymous prehistoric pottery. McCarthy works in a restored nineteenth-century mill in Cummington, Massachusetts. The studio’s broad windows overlook a stream, with meadows and farmland beyond. Cummington sits a few hundred yards from a busy road that spans the state from east to west, but a high stone ridge blocks the highway from sight and sound. While cars speed by just beyond the ridge, long minutes pass before anyone ventures down Cummington’s main street. The town is si- lent, particularly during the winter, and it is easy to imagine it as little different now as a century ago. In this setting, visitors might anticipate finding pottery Pitcher, 12 in. (30 cm) in height, thrown white stoneware with Yellow Salt Glaze, wood/salt fired to Cone 10. that reveals nostalgia for New England’s rural past. Yet there is no nostalgia in McCarthy’s work. “I am excited to be a

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 52 member of the clay community,” he wrote in 2006, “but am aware of the responsibil- recipes ity of craftsmanship and innovation in a timeless art. In the end, I am left with the Cushing Black Temmoku satisfying challenge—how will I contrib- Cone 10 Cone 10 ute?” McCarthy’s words express excitement Barium Carbonate...... 9 .9 % Barium Carbonate...... 2 .9 % tempered by responsibility, satisfaction Talc ...... 15 .8 Whiting...... 15 0. Nepheline Syenite ...... 9 .9 tempered by challenge, and a belief in in- Custer Feldspar ...... 49 .1 Albany Slip...... 64 .4 EPK Kaolin...... 6 .9 novation amended by the requirements of 100 .0 % Silica (Flint)...... 26 .1 craftsmanship. Rather than nostalgia, the 100 0. % words are characteristic of a mind prone to Add: Chrome...... 3 .9 % Manganese Dioxide...... 1 .7 % Add: Red Iron Oxide...... 9 .8 % deliberation, and attuned to the task of cre- Cobalt Oxide...... 1 .7 % Zinc Oxide...... 2 .9 % ating pots that are understated, poised and Bentonite...... 1 .5 % Bentonite...... 2 .5 % slow to reveal themselves. Yet McCarthy’s excitement is vivid in the precisely defined Hillix Green Glaze Rutile B-1 details of his pots, a crispness that lends a Cone 10 Cone 10 refreshing vigor to what is otherwise quiet Whiting...... 19 .1 % Dolomite...... 15 .1 % and patient work. Nepheline Syenite ...... 39 .7 Whiting...... 11 3. EPK Kaolin...... 11 .1 G-200 Feldspar ...... 30 .7 Michael McCarthy is represented by Silica (Flint)...... 30 .1 EPK Kaolin...... 16 .0 Ferrin Gallery (www.ferringallery.com) in 100 .0 % Silica (Flint)...... 26 .9 Pittsfield, Massachusetts. 100 0. % Add: Copper Carbonate...... 0 .8 % Copper Oxide...... 3 .9 % Add: Bentonite...... 2 .0 % Three-handled jar, 16 in. (40 cm) in height, thrown Bentonite...... 2 .2 % Yellow Iron Oxide...... 2 .0 % stoneware with Temmoku Glaze and Cushing Black Slip, wood/salt fired to Cone 10, by Michael McCarthy, Zircopax...... 1 .0 % Goshen, Massachusetts. 1% Copper Glaze Cone 10 Talc ...... 7 .0 % Whiting...... 23 3. F-4 Feldspar...... 7 .9 G-200 Feldspar ...... 15 .4 Ball Clay...... 23 .3 Silica (Flint)...... 23 .3 100 0. % Add: Copper Carbonate...... 1 .0 % Bentonite...... 2 .0 %

Yellow Salt Cone 10

Dolomite...... 23 6. % Nepheline Syenite ...... 71 6. OM-4 Ball Clay...... 4 .8 100 0. %

Add: Zircopax...... 17 .9 % Red Iron Oxide...... 1 1. % Bentonite...... 4 .7 % To 10,000 grams, add half cup muriatic acid

Tile 6 Slip Cone 10 Bentonite...... 6 % Tile 6 Kaolin...... 94 100 %

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 53 Th e Ti m e l e s s El e g a n c e o f

by Judy Seckler

At 93, Ha r r i s o n McIn t o s h Sh o w s Fe w Si g n s o f Sl o w i n g Do w n .

Large blue and black vase, 20 in. (50 cm) in height, thrown ceramic, 1998.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 54 Harrison McIntosh has worked nearly everyday in his Claremont, California–based studio, producing his one-of-a-kind pieces for more than fifty years. Only recently has he cut back from his rigor- ous schedule for health reasons. However, in true McIntosh style, he hopes to be back in his studio before too long. McIntosh’s art is a stirring cluster of vessels with near-perfect proportions. His influences include Swedish and classical Greek pottery, Japanese print work, Asian architecture and patterns in nature. His garden serves as another source of inspiration. The trees and shrubbery, such as pines and bamboo, provide an endless supply of intersecting textures. His sophisticated pieces put him in a select club of master craftsmen with a distinct California aesthetic. “Some would say I’m in a rut, but I’m refining ideas of forms that continue the same idea,” McIntosh says. Viewing his extensive body of work, one of his chief explorations has been the subtleties of form. His work radiates with intelligence and emotion. “He makes a pot as he would a piece of sculpture,” says his Paris–born wife, Marguerite McIntosh, an artist in her own right. A McIntosh piece is recognizable by its smooth surface, sensuous proportions and use of repetitive vertical, twisting lines and graphic shapes. The artist describes his style as a “contrast of hardness and softness of forms and graphics.” The line work is etched into the dry clay surface and then filled in with a colored engobe. His palette is usually subdued, consisting of one or two colors, which gives his pieces a quiet dignity and character. His understanding of modern architecture and the fundamentals of modern design is evident in all of his work. When his parents were interested in building a home, he guided them to hire Richard Neutra to design it in Silver Lake, California, an area that was populated then by many of the city’s up-and-coming artists. His work takes on even greater significance considering that McIntosh has become accustomed to a life of diminishing eyesight. Over the last sixteen years, he has endured the onset of glaucoma and macular degeneration, undergoing six surgeries to stabilize his vision. As a result, bright spotlights have been installed in his studio to assist him during his workday. While the loss of vision has not kept him out of the studio, it has increased the time it takes to complete a piece. In the beginning, McIntosh worked with red Cone 5 stoneware clay and later used buff-colored clays fired to Cone 5. It was largely a creative decision to use the kiln in this way because he liked the Lidded vessel (tan and black), 20½ in. (52 cm) in height, thrown stoneware, 2000. qualities that could be achieved at this temperature. From Marguerite Wildenhain’s summer classes at Pond Farm clay trimmings and water that are then poured through a 60-mesh in 1953, McIntosh learned new throwing techniques. Wildenhain screen. Slips are applied by brush, stippled with sponges or used to believed pieces should be thrown thin with minimal need for trim- fill incised lines, a technique known as mishima. ming. However, McIntosh strayed from this practice, refining his For more than fifty years, McIntosh has shared a unique part- forms by trimming. Never a fast worker, he produces five to eight nership with fellow ceramics artist Rupert “Rummy” Deese. The pots at a time so that the majority of trimming can be done all at two men met while students at Scripps College in 1949. They have once when the clay is leather hard. Metal ribs, which he used to cut shared a studio ever since. Together, they bought a second-hand gas from tin cans, are used to refine thrown forms, as well as to trim. kiln that they still use today. Work hours are divided up between the He began using Japanese brushes to apply wax resists and studio mates; McIntosh works mostly in the mornings, while Deese engobes. For surface decoration, he creates colored slips from occupies the evenings. However, they both load the kiln together. combinations of cobalt, copper, iron or manganese oxides with dry Depending on the kind of pieces, once a week or once a month a

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 55 Tan and black lidded jar, 12 in. (30 cm) in height, thrown ceramic, 1998.

bisque firing and a glaze firing are done. The partners also keep dinnerware. McIntosh designed architectural tile for the company a kiln log, which is useful in tracking the results of pieces. Deese from time to time. gives all the credit for their longevity to McIntosh, saying, “He’s a He was also a consultant designer for the Metlox Manufactur- remarkably fine man because of his temperament. There’s never been ing Company in Manhattan Beach, California, in the mid fifties. a cross word between us. He’s a born diplomat.” However, according Between 1970 and 1980, McIntosh and his wife enjoyed a fruitful to McIntosh, it helps that Deese is quite adept at keeping the kiln relationship with the Japanese–based Mikasa company. Together, running in excellent condition. they designed crystal dinnerware on location in Germany and then While Deese has mainly supplemented his ceramic work with in Japan during the summers. teaching, McIntosh has been more comfortable focusing on studio McIntosh’s evolution as an artist was cobbled from an array of work. However, he has occassionally accepted commercial design educational influences without extensive formal training. A mu- work. Deese was employed by the Glendale firm Interpace Inter- seum in a public park in Stockton, Calfornia, gave McIntosh his national Pipe and Ceramics Corporation, for twenty years, creating first exposure to fine art. He and his brother showed great aptitude

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 56 in painting and drawing, winning a number of art competitions sponsored by the museum. When his brother received a scholarship in 1934 to attend the Art Center College of Design, then located near downtown Los Angeles, McIntosh tagged along, working at the school’s offices and taking classes. When the classes ended, he In his own words worked in a gallery, had a job carving picture frames, and took a In 1999, Harrison McIntosh’s reflections on his life ceramic class with Glen Lukens at USC in 1940. and career as a ceramist were taped by the National A draft notice during WWII interrupted his studies in 1943. Archives of American Art at The Smithsonian After serving, he took a job with the Pioneer Flintcoat Company, Institution in Washington, D.C. The conversations a manufacturer of roofing materials and assorted asphalt products. were transcribed and can be viewed by visiting This seemingly random detour found McIntosh in the company’s www.archivesofamericanart.si.edu/oralhist/ laboratory developing color formulas for rock granules used in mcinto99.htm. The extensive dialoge, which asphalt roofing. This exercise proved to be a great training ground includes insights by Marguerite, is a panoramic for developing custom glazes later on. sweep of McIntosh’s evolution. The 103-page With the help of the G.I. Bill, he later resumed his ceramic path transcript is an inspiring and entertaining read. at Claremont College. He also drew inspiration from other ceramic pioneers of the era such as Richard Petterson at Scripps College in 1948 and Bernard Leach, who gave a legendary workshop at Mills College in 1950. In the eight decades McIntosh has practiced his craft, he remains modest about his accomplish- ments, which include works in the collections of 37 museums around the world. In a profile of McIntosh written for the 1969, “Objects: USA,” an exhibition at The Smithsonian Institution’s Johnson Collection of Contemporary Crafts, the artist perhaps best explained his ongoing relation- ship with clay when he said, “This simple mate- rial can help man find his way toward the serene beauty needed to keep all in perspective.”

McIntosh is represented exclusively by the Frank Lloyd Gallery in Los Angeles, California; www.franklloyd.com.

In April 2007, McIntosh’s work became part of the permanent collection of the new Claremont Mu- seum of Art (www.claremontmuseum.org) in Clare- mont, California. The museum is the culmination of twenty years of work and planning by Marguerite, the museum’s founding president. She and various art professionals wanted a regional stomping ground for the area’s best-known artists and artists around the world, as well as a source of creative inspiration, education and discovery for generations to come. the author Judy Seckler is a contributor to Ceramics Monthly, and a Los Angeles based freelancer who writes about art, architecture and design.

Untitled covered jar, 10 in. (25 cm) in height, thrown stoneware, 1992, by Harrison McIntosh, Claremont, California.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 57 Talc and Asbestos:

Talc has made headlines over the past 12 months, none of them posi- First the Basics tive. As a source of magnesium, an important flux in clay bodies and Talc has a long history of use in ceramics, having been incor- glazes, talc is useful to ceramic artists. But there have been inquiries porated in glazes as far back as the Tang Dynasty (618–907 A.D.). into whether or not some talc is harmful to human health. What we On a commercial scale, talc is used in dinnerware, paper, rubber, are presenting here are the facts as we know them to this point. insecticides, roofing materials and food additives. This “silky” soft

powder is basically a hydrated magnesium silicate (3Mg0•4Si02•H20) found in metamorphic rock in layered deposits. It is formed by the pressure and heat of volcanic action on ancient sea beds. Different alteration routes can produce changes in mineralogical composition, color and crystalline structure. Trace amounts of iron, sodium, cal- cium and potassium can also be present depending on the geologic formation, which can result in not all talcs being interchangeable in a clay body or in a glaze formula.

The Controversy Last year the Connecticut Department of Public Health and Education advised schools in the state to stop using art clays that might contain talc having asbestos-like minerals. That directive was Talc is a powdered form of steatite, or soapstone. The image above is a typical example. It is refered to as soapstone, because of its tendency to feel slippery. apparently aimed at a talc mined in the state of New York and sold This quality is often evident in the powdered form. by R.T. Vanderbilt Company, Inc. under the trade name NYTAL®

Talc in Clay Bodies

In low temperature clay bodies (Cone 06–04), in conjunction enough vitrification to the clay body. An increase of the existing with silica, talc causes a melting action, enabling the clay feldspar to achieve the same vitrification is also possible. In salt body to shrink and become dense and stronger in the firing. or soda fired clay body formulas talc actually has a negative The glaze is then brought under slight compression and the result by eliminating the gloss surface texture and traditional resulting stable clay/glaze fit prevents crazing, a fine network “orange peel’ effect on the fired clay surface. Whereas talc has of lines in the glaze. Talc is also used as a major component in been used in raku clay body formulas for its ability to increase some Raku clay bodies, offering thermal shock resistance due thermal shock resistance, many non-talc stoneware clay body to its low rate of thermal expansion. Talc at high temperatures formulas can be fired to raku temperatures. (Cone 6–10) acts as an auxiliary flux in conjunction with primary Numerous low temperature clay body formulas (Cone fluxes such as feldspars, yielding a dense, vitreous clay body. 06–04) can eliminate talc by using a high percentage of low It can also bleach iron in reduction fired clay bodies to a light temperature, high iron content clays such as Cedar Heights brown/red color. Redart. In white clay body formulas small percentages of frit will increase vitrification and glaze fit. As with any raw material Options for Non Talc Clay Bodies substitution testing is always recommended. The potter can In stoneware formulas (Cone 6–10) talc can function as a also rely on the non talc moist clay bodies which many ceramics fast-acting flux in conjunction with feldspars. In some instances supply companies have developed for low, medium and high talc can be removed with the corresponding feldspar supplying temperature moist clays.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 58 What We Know and What We Don’t by Jeff Zamek

100 HR. This talc has been used in many clay bodies, particularly those fired at low temperatures, and also sold as a raw material for formulating into glazes. Soon after the Connecticut action, the Art and Creative Materi- A Comparison of Talcs als Institute, Incorporated (ACMI) announced it, “…has required In the sidebars throughout this article are the member manufacturers using Nytal talc, if any, to reformulate results from our comparison of NYTAL 100 HR and their products within six months to replace such talc with suitable Texas talc. This is just one of many talcs that can be alternatives” (see www.acminet.org). At about the same time, the used as a substitute, depending on the individual Laguna Clay Company, the largest U.S. manufacturer of packaged requirements of the potter (see “Other Talcs” on moist clay bodies, announced it was using only a Texas talc and no page 61). Texas talc has been used by large ceramics Nytal in any of its products. suppliers in low, medium and high temperature clays As far as we can tell, there is significant disagreement regarding for many years and has an excellent performance the toxicology and possible health risks to artists or potters using history, which makes it an ideal choice for a substitute. Nytal, or clays or glazes formulated from raw materials that include Excavated stockpiles of talc are tested and certified it. This disagreement is likely to persist for some time. quarterly by independent commercial laboratories A New Jersey jury’s verdict in 2006 that Nytal talc was respon- for the presence of asbestos fibers. This testing has sible for the lung cancer death from mesothelioma (caused by asbes- shown no asbestos fibers in this talc. tos) of a potter who mixed glazes using Nytal is one example. In a deposition given before he died the potter reported several different ways he could have come in contact with asbestos, such as asbestos

Handling Characteristics While working with any moist clay can be a fairly subjective experience, some general impressions can be used for evaluation. The #2 Low-Fire White clay body on page 60 was used to mix both bone-dry clay samples shown to the left. The sample on top was mixed using Texas talc, and the sample on the bottom was mixed using the same percentage of NYTAL HR 100. The difference in color between the two samples is due to organic material in the Texas talc, which burned out upon firing. The fired color of both bodies can be seen on page 61. Both samples were similar in plasticity, and dry shrinkage (5%) and Cone 06 fired shrinkage (7.5%) rates were similar for both samples. A low-fire white slip-casting clay body using Texas talc performed the same in all aspects as the same slip-casting formula using NYTAL HR 100.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 59 recipes Talc in Glazes

Low-Fire Clay Bodies Talc provides a convenient source of magnesium and silica #1 Low Fire White which upon cooling forms magnisum silicate crystals causing (Cone 06–04) opaque matt glaze surfaces. When used in high percentages Texas Talc...... 50 % along with ceramic metallic oxides it can mute their color. For Custer Feldspar ...... 10 example, glazes containing cobalt are sensitive to higher levels Thomas Ball Clay...... 40 100 % of talc resulting in a mauve or lavender purple fired color. When used in high percentages talc is refractory and aids in #2 Low Fire White developing opacity and matte surface textures. (Cone 06–04) Texas Talc...... 60 % Options for Non Talc Glazes Wollastonite...... 4 Tennessee No . 1 Ball Clay...... 36 The following glaze materials contain either magnesium

100 % and/or silica, magnisum carbonate (MgC03), and flint

This is the clay body used in the tests presented (Si02). Some frits and dolomite (CaC03•MgC03) also contain here on raw properties, handling properties magnesium but they are combined with other oxides so they and color response . Texas Talc and Nytal HR won’t work as a one for one substitution in glaze formulas. 100 were substituted on a one-to-one basis As a general rule, if a glaze contains less than 5% talc, the talc by weight . can be removed with no change in the glaze color or texture. #3 Low Fire Red At low levels, talc functions as a secondary flux in the glaze, (Cone 06–04) bringing primary fluxes such a feldspars or frits into a melt. Texas Talc...... 20 % However, when removing higher levels of talc from a glaze Cedar Heights Redart...... 60 formula, a glaze-calculation software program is a valuable Hawthorne Bond Fireclay (35x). . . . .20 tool in supplying the accurate ratios of magnesium and silica 100 % to the reformulated glaze. Mineral Analysis Texas Talc Talc ...... 90 % Predominately limestone ...... 10 % Source: The American Talc Company, Van Horn, Texas sion submitted to the OSHA docket in 1990, i.e., the data do not NYTAL HR 100 indicate that the workers exposed to talc at this facility are at risk Tremolite...... 40 % for developing asbestos related pneumoconiosis.” More information Talc ...... 30 % is available at http://www.rtvanderbilt.com/nytalc.htm. Serpentine...... 20 % In conflict with Dr. Boehlecke’s findings is the assessment of Dr. Anthophyllite...... 10 % Source: R.T. Vanderbilt Company, Inc. Woodhall Stopford, Assistant Clinical Professor, Community and Family Medicine at Duke University, and Consulting Toxicologist to ACMI. He states that Nytal talc contains fibers that are similar to those seen in asbestos, that the fibers would be expected to be durable (not break down in the lungs) and that over exposure to these asbestiform fibers would be expected to be associated with risks similar to those associated with exposures to other asbestiform pads he cut and gave to customers, house demolition, spackling fibers, including asbestos. He further noted, however, that such used before 1977 and cutting of transite (composed of 12% to 50% over exposure situations would only be expected to occur with asbestos and cement and produced before the 1980s) boards. uncontrolled exposures to Nytal talc in the powdered form and Briefly, R.T. Vanderbilt argues that while its talc contains some would not be expected to be seen when working with liquid slips fibers which resemble asbestos in form, the chemical composition of or moist clays containing this type of talc. For more information, the fibers is such that, “…they do not have any of the toxicological see http://duketox.mc.duke.edu/recenttoxissues.htm. properties of asbestos.” The company cites Dr. Brian Boehlecke, In announcing its requirement for ACMI members to eliminate director of the University Employee Health Clinic at the University NYTAL from their products, the institute said it was acting, “as a of North Carolina, who reviewed the pulmonary status of Vander- result of conflicting information and possible consumer confusion bilt talc workers. Dr. Boehlecke wrote, “The medical surveillance from reports of asbestos in ceramic clays in Connecticut schools, results at this time (to Jan. 2001) continue to support the conclu- not from safety concerns….” Ceramics Monthly February 2008 60 Glaze, Underglaze and Slip Response The same clay bodies used in “Handling Characteristics” on in an electric kiln. They were identical in color response and page 59 were used for this test. For both clay bodies, colored intensity on both clay bodies. The commercial glazes applied to slips were applied to the leather-hard test bars, then bisque the bisque tiles and fired to Cone 06 matched in transparency fired to cone 010. The results were similar in color and texture and surface texture on both clay bodies. The underglaze and in both clay bodies, and the results can be seen on the top test glaze results can be seen on the test bars on the bottom of bars in the image below. Commercial underglaze colors and the images below. Both test used identical commercial slips, glazes were applied to bisque-fired bars and fired to Cone 06 underglazes and glazes.

Texas Talc NYTAL 100 HR

The precise motivation for the Connecticut directive regarding talc was apparently the result Other Talcs of asbestos surveillance which allegedly found Commercially available talcs are mined in several locations throughout traces of the mineral related to school clay pro- the United States. However, not all talcs are alike, due to different grams using low-fire clay bodies containing Nytal. conditions that altered the rock from which they are formed. Depending R.T. Vanderbilt claims that one problem with this on the talc used, it can alter verification in a clay body, modify handling testing is that there is potential for contamination characteristics and change the fired color of the clay. Listed are several of the sample from many sources. talcs containing no asbestos. All but the CERAMITALC are relatively R.T. Vanderbilt’s view is NYTAL 100 HR is fine—88 to 92% by weight will pass through a 200 mesh screen. harmless to people. Other reasonable and prudent Pioneer 2882 is a Texas talc that is low in calcium. 98% can pass people disagree. In this case, what should a ceram- 200 mesh. ics artist do? Frankly, each of us is going to have TDM-92 is mined from the same trend of talc as Pioneer 2882. to consider the facts and make our best informed Pioneer 4388 is a West Texas talc that fires white. decision. What we can tell you, based on the Sierralite is a refractory talc mined in Montana. It has a high research and testing presented inthe accompany- alumina and low flux content. ing sidebars, is that IF you choose to avoid using Pioneer MB-92 is mined in Texas, and 27% is calcined at 1800° F. Nytal, or any talc—for whatever reason—accept- Ceramitalc HDT is a coarse blended talc with high thermal expansion and able substitutes are readily available. The sidebar low moisture expansion and is good for use in dry press operations. to the right is a good place to start. Jeff Zamek will be leading a breakout session with more information on talc at the the author Jeff Zamek is a ceramics consultant who 2008 NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts) conference lives in Northampton, Massachussetts. For more in Pittsburgh, PA. For more information on the conference, see www.nceca.net. information, go to www.fixpots.com. Ceramics Monthly February 2008 61 call for entries Deadlines for Exhibitions, Fairs and Festivals Submit online at www.ceramicsmonthly.org

international exhibitions 1–September 30), entries accepted from Tallahassee 32306–1140; [email protected]; November 1–February 4. Juried from digital. www.mofa.fsu.edu/combinedtalents.html; February 1 entry deadline Contact International Ceramics Festival Mino, (850) 644-3906. Michigan, Adrian “The North American Executive Committee Office, Ceramics Park February 15 entry deadline Ceramic Cup Show” (March 10–21). Jur- Mino, 4-2-5 Higashi-machi, Tajimi City, Gifu New York, Brooklyn “Ceramics at Work” ied from digital and slides. Fee: $5/entry. Prefecture 507-0801; [email protected]; (March 19–April 25), open to functional Juror: Andy Brayman. For prospectus, www.icfmino.com; 0572-25-4111. ceramic work. For an application, send SASE visit www.studioangelico.com; or send February 14 entry deadline to Gloria Kennedy Gallery, 111 Front St. SASE to Paul McMullan. Ceramics De- Florida, Tallahassee “23rd Annual Com- Gallery 222, Brooklyn 11201; gloria@gkart. partment, Siena Heights University, 1247 bined Talents: The Florida International” com; www.gkgart.com/application/ceramic- E. Siena Heights Dr., Adrian 49221; (August 25–September 28), open to all media. satwork.pdf; (718) 858-5254. [email protected]. Juried from digital and slides. Jurors: FSU Col- February 29 entry deadline February 4 entry deadline lege of Arts faculty. Fee: $20 for two entries. New York, Hudson “Art Biologic” (May Japan, Gifu Prefecture “8th International Awards: $1500. Contact Jean Young, FSU 3–24), open to all interpretations of the Ceramics Competition Mino, Japan” (August Museum of Fine Arts, 530 W. Call, 250 FAB, concept art biologic, figurative artwork of human beings is prohibited. Juried from digital or slides. Fee: $30. For prospectus, visit www.slowart.com/prospectus/biologic.htm. Contact Slow Art Productions, Art Biologic, 123 Warren St., Hudson 12534. April 15 entry deadline New York, Huntington “Alpan International 2008” (August 30–September 26), open to all media. Juried from digital, slides or prints. Fee: $30 for three entries; $5 for additional entries. Juror: Phyllis Braff, president of the International Association of Art Critics. Contact Alpan Gallery, 2 W. Carver St., Huntington 11743; [email protected]; www.alpangallery.org; (631) 423-4433.

united states exhibitions

February 1 entry deadline California, Lincoln “Feats of Clay XXI” (April 26–May 25), open to artists working in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Juried from digital and slides. Entry fee: $20 for one entry; $25 for two; $30 for three. For prospectus, send SASE to Lincoln Arts, 580 6th St., Lincoln 95648; www.lincolnarts.org; (916) 645-9713. February 4 entry deadline Illinois, Chicago “19th Annual Teapot Show” (April 1–May 13), open to functional, fun or funky teapots. Juried from digital and slides. Fee: $25 for two entries. For prospectus, send SASE to Joan Houlehen, A. Houberbocken, Inc., PO Box 196, Cudahy, WI 53110; fax (414) 481-4000. Texas, San Angelo “17th San Angelo National Ceramic Competition” (April 18–June 22), open to artists in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Fee: $20 for three images. For prospectus, visit www.samfa.org. Contact Karen Zimmerly, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, Ceramics Competition, One Love St., San Angelo 76903; [email protected]; (325) 653-3333. February 8 entry deadline Massachusetts, Worcester “Petal Pushers” (March 13–April 6), open to craft works that bring the outdoors in and pay hom- age to Mother Nature. Juried from digital and slides. Fee: $30. For more information, visit www.worcestercraftcenter.org. Contact Candace Casey, Gallery Director, Worcester Center for Crafts, 25 Sagamore Rd., Worces- ter 01609; [email protected]; (508) 753-8183. February 13 entry deadline New York, New York “Eight National Juried Exhibition” (May 19–June 14), open to any media except video. Juried from digital or slides. Fee: $40. Juror: Magdalena Dabrowski, Special Consultant, Metropolitan Museum

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 62 Ceramics Monthly February 2008 63 call for entries of Art. Contact Ceres, 547 W. 27th St., 2nd 2–June 30), open to teapots no larger than March 1 entry deadline Fl., New York 10001; www.ceresgallery.org; ten inches in any dimension. Juried from North Carolina, Charlotte “Teapot Forms (212) 947-6100. digital. Juror: Fong Choo. Fee: $35 for two 2008: A Juried Exhibition” (June 13–Au- February 15 entry deadline entries. Awards: $500. Contact Craft Alli- gust 13). Juried from digital and slides. Florida, Sarasota “3rd Annual National ance, Infusion 10×10, 6640 Delmar Blvd., St. No entry fee. Contact Heather Andreas, Juried Exhibition” (April 16–May 10), open Louis 63130; [email protected]; Red Sky Gallery, 1244 E. Blvd., Char- to any traditional medium. Juried from www.craftalliance.org; (314) 725-1177, lotte 28203; [email protected]; digital and slides. Juror: Elaine D. Gustafson, ext. 323. www.redskygallery.com; (704) 377-6400. Curator of Contemporary Art at the Tampa New York, Syracuse “Shaped Clay 2008” March 3 entry deadline Museum of Art. Fee: $25. For prospectus, visit (April 19–May 18), open to high school Virginia, Norfolk “18th Annual Mid-At- www.kbutlergallery.com. Contact Katharine ceramics. Juried from digital and slides. Butler Gallery, 1943 Morrill St., Sarasota lantic Art Exhibition” (April 25–June 8), Awards: $1500. For an application, e-mail open to all media. Juried from digital and 34236; (941) 955-4546. [email protected]. Contact Errol Willett, February 15 entry deadline slides. Awards: $2400. For prospectus, visit Syracuse University, Comstock Art Facility, www.d-artcenter.org. Contact d’Art Cen- Missouri, St. Louis “Infusion 10×10” (May Syracuse 13244. ter, 208 E. Main St., Norfolk 23510; (757) 625-4211. March 7 entry deadline Texas, Houston “Twenty-Fifth Juried Open Exhibition” (May 1–June 5), open to all media. Juried from digital or slides. Fee: $30; mem- bers, $25. Juror: Sally Sprout. For prospectus, visit www.visualartsalliance.org. Contact Ann McBride, 2807 Triway Ln., Houston 77043; [email protected]; (713) 939-1444. Virginia, Waynesboro “Transforming the Elements: Earth, Water, Fire and Air” (May 15–June 25), open to all fine craft media that creatively articulates a connection to the elements. Juror: Mark Newport, Cranbrook Academy of Art. Fee: $25. For prospectus, visit www.artisanscenterofvirginia.org. Contact Artisans Center of Virginia, PO Box 452, 801 W. Broad St., Waynesboro 22980; [email protected]; (540) 946-3294. March 20 entry deadline North Carolina, Creedmoor “Cedar Creek Gallery National Teapot Show VII” (June 7–September 7), open to all media. Juried from digital, slides or photographs. Awards: $2000. For prospectus, contact Jennifer Dolan, [email protected]; (919) 528-1041. March 28 entry deadline New Jersey, Surf City “Jersey Shore Clay National 2008” (May 24–June 23), open to pottery and ceramic sculpture. Juried from digital and slides. Juror: Dan Hammett. For prospectus, send SASE to JSCN 2008, M. T. Burton Gallery, 1819 N. Long Beach Blvd., Surf City 08008; [email protected]; www.mtburtongallery.com. Virginia, Harrisonburg “2008 Juried Mul- timedia Art Exhibition” (June 1–29), open to all media. Juried from prints. Fee: $30. Jurors: William Bennett, Jerry Coulter and James Crable. Contact Anne Finlayson, VMRC Art Exhibition Director, 1491 Virginia Ave., Harrisonburg 22802; [email protected]; www.vmrc.org/artexhibition; (540) 564-3400. April 1 entry deadline Colorado, Carbondale “Carbondale Clay National IV: National Juried Exhibition” (June 2–30). Juried from slides. Fee: $30 for three entries. Juror: Jeff Oestreich. Contact Carbondale Clay Center, 135 Main St., Car- bondale 81623; [email protected]; www.carbondaleclay.org; (970) 963-2529. April 5 entry deadline New York, New York “26th Annual Juried Exhibition” (July 10–August 2), open to all media. Juried from digital or slides. Fee: $40 for three images; $5 for additional images. Juror: Joan Young, Associate Curator, Solo- mon R. Guggenheim Museum. For applica- tion, visit www.pleiadesgallery.com. Contact Ceramics Monthly February 2008 64 SHIPPINGFREE Ceramic Arts WHEN YOU ORDER ONLINE (US ONLY) Handbook Series

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Ceramics Monthly February 2008 65 call for entries

Pleiades Gallery, 530 W. 25 St., 4th Fl., New slides. Fee: $30 for three entries. Juror: regional exhibitions York 10001; (646) 230-0056. Jim Koudelka. For prospectus, send SASE April 15 entry deadline to Hannah Fisher, The Clay Studio of Mis- soula, 1106 Hawthorne Unit A, Missoula February 20 entry deadline Kent, Ohio “8th Annual Cup Show” (May California, Davis “2008 California Clay 13–June 7). Fee: $20. Juror: Ted Vogel, Assis- 59802; [email protected]; www.theclaystudioofmissoula.org. Competition” (April 25–June 6), open tant Professor in Art, Lewis and Clark College. to California artists. Juried from digital. Contact Anderson Turner, Director of Galler- December 31 entry deadline Juror: Sandy Simon. For prospectus, visit ies, Kent State University, School of Art, PO Missouri, St. Louis Call for Solo/Collabora- www.artery.coop. Box 5190, Kent 44242; [email protected]; tive Installation Artists Proposals. For more March 1 entry deadline http://dept.kent.edu/art/galleries; (330) information, contact Craft Alliance, Attn: Ex- 672-1379. Texas, Houston “Craft Texas 2008” (May hibitions Coordinator, 6640 Delmar Blvd., St. 24–August 17), open to artists residing in August 1 entry deadline Louis 63130; [email protected]; TX working in clay, fiber, glass, metal, wood Montana, Missoula “Soda National IV” www.craftalliance.org; (314) 725-1177, and found/recycled materials. Apply online (November 7–28). Juried from digital or ext. 323. at www.callforentry.org. Contact Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, 4848 Main St., Houston 77002. fairs and festivals

February 1 entry deadline Massachusetts, Lincoln “23rd Annual Art in the Park Festival and Sale” (June 8). Entry fee: $25; entry fee is waived for members. Booth fee: $150. For prospectus, visit www. decordova.org/decordova/membership/ artparkapp.html. Contact Art in the Park, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, 51 Sandy Pond Rd., Lincoln 01773. February 3 entry deadline Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh “49th Annual Three Rivers Arts Festival” (June 6–22). For prospectus, visit www.artsfestival.net. Contact Sonja Sweterlitsch, Three Rivers Arts Festival, 937 Liberty Ave., Pittsburgh 15222; [email protected]; (412) 281-8723, ext. 26. February 29 entry deadline Pennsylvania, Lancaster “Long’s Park Art & Craft Festival” (August 29–September 1). Apply online at www.longspark.org. Contact Long’s Park Amphitheater Founda- tion, PO Box 1553, Lancaster 17608-1553; [email protected]; (717) 735-8883. February 29 entry deadline Wisconsin, Madison “50th Annual Art Fair on the Square” (July 12–13). Con- tact Madison Museum of Contempo- rary Art, 227 State St., Madison 53703; [email protected]; www.mmoca.org. March 1 entry deadline Kansas, Salina “Smoky Hill River Festival Four Rivers Craft Market Show” (June 13–15), open to traditional and contemporary craft and folk art. Awards: $1800. Contact Salina Arts and Humanities Commission, PO Box 2181, Salina 67402; [email protected]; www.riverfestival.com; (785) 309-5770. Kansas, Salina “Smoky Hill River Festival Fine Art/Fine Craft Show” (June 14–15), open to all media. Awards: $7900; $100,000 Art Patron Program. Contact Salina Arts and Humanities Commission, PO Box 2181, Salina 67402; [email protected]; www.riverfestival.com; (785) 309-5770 Michigan, Kalamazoo “57th Annual KIA Art Fair” (June 7). Entry fee: $25. Exhibit fee: $125. For application, visit www.kiaarts.org; or contact Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, 314 S. Park St., Kalamazoo 49007; (269) 349- 7775, ext. 3100. March 15 entry deadline Oregon, Portland “Art In The Pearl Fine Arts and Crafts Festival 2008” (August 30–September 1). Applications accepted beginning January 1. Contact Art In The Pearl Festival, PO Box 5906, Port- Ceramics Monthly February 2008 66 COMING Ceramic Arts SOON Handbook Series

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Ceramics Monthly February 2008 67 call for entries land 97228; [email protected]; www.artinthepearl.com; (503) 722-9017. March 21 entry deadline Arizona, Prescott “22nd Annual Spring Fes- tival of Fine Arts and Fine Crafts” (May 10–11), open to fine arts and crafts. Juried from three photos of work, plus one of booth. Jury fee: $20. Single booth fee: $285. Shared booth fee: $355. Contact Vivian Lucchesi, Mountain Artists Guild, Inc., 228 N. Alarcon St., Prescott 86301; www.mountainartistsguild.org; (928) 445-2510. April 15 entry deadline Washington, Bellevue “Bellevue Arts Mu- seum ArtFair” (July 25–27). Apply online at www.zapplication.org. Contact Bellevue Arts Museum, 510 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue 98004; www.bellevuearts.org. May 1 entry deadline Illinois, Skokie “Skokie Art Guild 47th Annual Art Fair ‘08” (July 12–13). Juried from slides or photos. Fee: $125; members, $100. For prospectus, e-mail [email protected]. Con- tact Skokie Art Guild, 6704 N. Trumball Ave., Lincolnwood, IL 60712; www.skokienet.org; (847) 677-8163. New Jersey, Cranford “Spring Nomahe- gan Park Fine Art and Crafts Show” (May 31–June 1), open to all arts and crafts. Juried from slides/photos of work, plus one of booth. Booth fee: $325 for 10×12-foot space. Contact Rose Squared Productions, Inc., 12 Galaxy Ct., Hillsborough, NJ 08844; www.rosesquared.com; (908) 874-5247. New Jersey, Verona “Fine Arts and Crafts at Verona Park” (May 17–18), open to all arts and crafts. Juried from slides/photos of work, plus one of booth. Booth fee: $325 for 10×12-foot space. Contact Rose Squared Productions, Inc., 12 Galaxy Ct., Hillsborough, NJ 08844; www.rosesquared.com; (908) 874-5247. June 1 entry deadline New Jersey, Montclair “Spring Brookdale Park Fine Art and Crafts Show” (June 14–15), open to all arts and crafts. Juried from slides/ photos of work, plus one of booth. Booth fee: $325 for 10×12-foot space. Contact Rose Squared Productions, Inc., 12 Galaxy Ct., Hill- sborough, NJ 08844; www.rosesquared.com; (908) 874-5247. September 1 entry deadline New Jersey, Cranford “Fall Nomahegan Park Fine Art and Crafts Show” (October 4–5), open to all arts and crafts. Juried from slides/ photos of work, plus one of booth. Booth fee: $325 for 10×12-foot space. Contact Rose Squared Productions, Inc., 12 Galaxy Ct., Hill- sborough, NJ 08844; www.rosesquared.com; (908) 874-5247. New Jersey, Upper Montclair “Fine Art and Crafts at Anderson Park” (September 20–21), open to all arts and crafts. Juried from slides/photos of work, plus one of booth. Booth fee: $325 for 10×12-foot space. Contact Rose Squared Productions, Inc., 12 Galaxy Ct., Hillsborough, NJ 08844; www.rosesquared.com; (908) 874-5247. October 1 entry deadline New Jersey, Montclair “Fall Brookdale Park Fine Art and Crafts Show” (October 18–19), open to all arts and crafts. Juried from slides/ photos of work, plus one of booth. Booth fee: $325 for 10×12-foot space. Contact Rose Squared Productions, Inc., 12 Galaxy Ct., Hill- sborough, NJ 08844; www.rosesquared.com; (908) 874-5247. Ceramics Monthly February 2008 68 Ceramics Monthly February 2008 69 book review Craft in America: title currently touring the country. The concept of works and inter- Celebrating Two Centuries American craft, as a project and living tradition, views with artists; of Artists and Objects is by nature culturally and philosophically diverse. plus other useful It requires a breadth of knowledge, understanding resources. The book edited by Jo Lauria and Steve Fenton and expertise that, unfortunately, isn’t quite up to is lavishly illustrated Book Review by Diana Lyn Roberts par in the present volume. with historical pho- Tackling the history and living traditions of The book is part of a larger initiative, ten years in tos of pioneering American craft is no easy task, particularly if the aim the making, to “start a conversation about the crafts people and places, is to provide an accessible overview for the general, and to elucidate their importance to our twenty- and beautifully re- uninitiated public. What the authors of Craft in first-century culture,” explains Carol Sauvion, ex- produced images of America achieve is a well-designed, gorgeously ecutive director of Craft in America in the forword. both historical and illustrated and ambitious book to accompany the It’s an ambitious project with an excellent website contemporary ob- PBS television series and the exhibition of the same featuring excerpts from the PBS series; biographies, jects. Additional resources include a well-organized bibliography, a listing of craft centers and schools, and a listing of museums that focus on craft and decorative arts. As a general survey, Craft in America presents a fairly thorough overview of relevant traditions, institutions and social shifts that lead up to contemporary craft. Part One, “Communities of Culture,” focuses on historical, ethnic and regional traditions, with a particularly good look at Shaker, Quaker, Amish and Mennonite sensibilities. Part Two, “Communities of Craft Teaching,” offers an overview of the origins and impact of some of the most important teaching institutions, schools and residency programs. Part Three takes a relevant look at contemporary craft and the “New Studio Crafts Movement,” ad- dressing the major media and some of the issues, trends and artists associated with them. There’s an excellent essay by the project’s consulting art histo- rian, Jonathan Leo Fairbanks, curator emeritus of decorative arts at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It’s a concise, focused and literate distillation of all the ideas and trajectories presented in the book. Too bad it’s at the end. The problem with Craft in America is that, quite frankly, it’s poorly written. The text is uneven with clichéd, awkward prose occasionally peppered with clear, focused passages. Platitudes like, “Art is defined by movements, but craft defines life,” (p.277) betray a superficial understanding of the concepts. More problematic are the cultural gener- alizations, especially in reference to socio-historical contexts. In particular, there is a dangerous lack of ethn—graphic knowledge, especially in regard to African, Native American and Japanese aesthet- ics—not to mention politics. To be fair, it would take a team of scholars, astute wordsmiths and a few good editors to make something of this scope work. That’s exactly what I wanted –not so academic that it undermines the humanism of the subject, but scholarly enough to discuss ethnic, historical and spiritual aspects with authority and clarity. Craft in America doesn’t quite deliver, despite its many merits. 320 pages including list of craft centers and schools, and list of museums that show crafts, design and decorative arts. 305 color photographs. Hardcover, $60. ISBN 978-0- 307-34647-6. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publish- ers, Random House, Inc., 280 Park Ave. (11–13), New York, NY 10017; www.clarksonpotter.com; or tel 1-800-726-0600. 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Artists: Gerald and Kelly Hong www.potterscouncil.org • 866-721-3322

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 71 calendar Conferences, Exhibitions, Workshops, Fairs submit listings at www.ceramicsmonthly.org

conferences Skeels. Contact Bellevue Community College, Minnesota, Minneapolis February 29–April 3000 Landerholm Circle SE, Bellevue 98007; 4 Kelly Connole, “Where the Sky Meets the Alabama, Tuscaloosa February 8–10 “23rd [email protected]; (425) 564-2632. Earth”; at Augsburg College, Christensen Center Alabama Clay Conference,” includes lectures, Art Gallery, 2211 Riverside Ave. exhibitions and demonstrations by Ching-Yuen, solo exhibitions Missouri, Kansas City through February Jason Briggs and Curtis Benzle. Fees: $160; 2 Michael Baxley; at Red Star Studios, 821 W. student rates available. For more information, Arizona, Scottsdale February 14–25 “Jen- 17th St. visit www.alclayconference.org. nifer Moquino: Birds, Bees and Butterflies”; at New York, Alfred through March 21 Jeffrey Maryland, Baltimore February 21–23 “Syn- King Galleries of Scottsdale, 7100 Main, #1. Mongrain; at Schein-Joseph International Mu- ergy I: Moving Forward/Looking Back,” includes Arizona, Tempe March 15–August 2 “Syn- seum of Ceramic Art, NYSCC, 2 Pine St. panels and seminars with Robert Dancik, Jeffrey thetic Reality: Susan Beiner”; at Arizona State New York, New York through February Lloyd Dever, Kathleen Dustin, Carol Duval, Tim University Art Museum, 10th St. and Mill Ave. 2 “Anna Siok: A Magical Habitat.” February McCreight and Cynthia Tinapple. For more California, Pomona through February 23 13–March 15 Barry Bartlett; at Greenwich House information, visit www.npcg.org. “Ohr Rising: The Emergence of an American Pottery, 16 Jones St. Michigan, Jackson March 12–14 “Jackson’s Master”; at AMOCA, 340 S. Garey Ave. North Carolina, Seagrove through February Three Days of Clay,” includes presentations through March 1 “Don Reitz: Hands on the 29 “Wood Fired Elegance: The Work of Donna by Bill van Gilder. For more information, visit Goddess”; at Armstrong’s Gallery, 150 E. 3rd St. Craven”; at North Carolina Pottery Center, www.ellasharp.org. California, San Francisco through February 250 E. Ave. North Carolina, Asheboro March 7–9 “21st 2 Robert Brady; at Braunstein/Quay Gallery, 430 Ohio, Columbus February 3–March 30 Annual North Carolina Potters Conference: Three Clementina. “Christina Bothwell: Invisible Realities”; at Ohio Women, Three Countries, Three Ways of Work- California, Santa Monica through February Craft Museum, 1665 W. 5th Ave. ing with Clay,” includes presentations with Jane 2 “Satoru Hoshino: Ceramic Sculpture”; at Frank Ohio, Springfield through February 23 Hamlyn, Mary Law and Robin Best. For more in- Lloyd Gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave., B5b. Stephen Hill; at Springfield Museum of Art, formation, visit www.randolphartsguild.com. Florida, St. Petersburg March 7–May 10 Jun 107 Cliff Park Rd. Virginia, Sweet Briar May 30–June 1 Kaneko; at The Arts Center, 719 Central Ave. Oregon, Portland through February 2 Betsy “Community of Fire,” includes panels and Illinois, Chicago through March 1 “Barbara Wolfston; at Butters Gallery, 520 NW Davis, presentations with Svend Beyer, Robert Comp- Hashimoto Retrospective”; at Dubhe Carreño, 2nd Fl. ton, Kevin Crowe, Stephen Driver, Victoria 1841 S. Halsted St. Pennsylvania, Chester Springs February Hansen, Mark Hewitt, Micki Schloesingk and Kansas, Overland Park February 3–March 18–March 29 Ruth Borgenicht; at Chester Springs Jack Troy. Fee: $395; after March, $425. Con- 30 “Remembering Beauty: The Ceramic Work Studio, 1671 Art School Rd. tact Kevin Crowe; [email protected]; of Victor Babu”; at Kansas City Jewish Museum Pennsylvania, Philadelphia February www.kevincrowepottery.com; (434) 263-4065. Foundation Epsten Gallery, 5500 W. 123rd. 1–March 2 Munemitsu Taguchi. Alison Reintjes. Washington, Bellevue February 17 “CLAY- Massachusetts, Northampton February March 7–30 Kurt Anderson. David Garrett, SPEAK,” includes slide presentations with 1–March 9 Val Cushing; at The Artisan Gallery, “Who Says Words With My Mouth?”; at The Patti Warashina, Eric Nelsen and Kathleen 162 Main St. Clay Studio, 139 N. 2nd St.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 72 Texas, Lufkin February 14–May 30 David California, Irvine through February 23 Flanery, Kathy Mommsen and Mike Helke. March Hendley, “Pots and Process”; at Museum of East “Ceramics 2008”; at Irvine Fine Arts Center, 7–April 27 “Exquisite Pots: Six Degrees of Col- Texas, 503 N. 2nd St. 14321 Yale Ave. laboration.” “Bountiful Visions: Juliane Shibata Washington, Bellevue February 12–April California, Pomona through February 23 and Eva Kwong”; at Northern Clay Center, 2424 19 “Eden Revisited: The Ceramic Art of Kurt “Other Mad Potters: A Corollary Exhibition to Franklin Ave. E. Weiser”; at Bellevue Arts Museum, 510 Bel- Ohr Rising,” works by Steve Horn, Lisa Orr, Don Missouri, Kansas City February 1–March 1 levue Way NE. Pilcher and Mary Roehm. March 8–May 3 “Into “Dynamic Ceramic Duos: Couples Who Share the Woods: A Fiery Tale,” works by Fred Olsen, a Love For Clay”; at Red Star Studios, 821 W. group ceramics exhibitions Peter Callas, Jeff Shapiro, Chris Guston, Takao 17th St. Okazaki, Catherine Hiersoux and John Balistreri; Montana, Missoula February 1–27 “Wood Alabama, Northport February 8–28 “1000 at AMOCA, 340 S. Garey Ave. Fire 2008”; at Clay Studio of Missoula Gallery, Lbs. of Alabama Clay”; at The Kentuck Center, Florida, West Palm Beach March 6–April 5 1106 Hawthorne Unit A. 503 Main Ave. “Mad Hatter’s Tea Party Exhibition”; at Armory New Mexico, Santa Fe through Febru- Arizona, Scottsdale through February 9 Art Center, 1700 Parker Ave. ary 2 “The Seven Deadly Sins.” February “Up, Up and Away: The New Native American Maryland, Baltimore through February 23 8–March 8 “RED”; at Santa Fe Clay, 1615 Paseo Super Hero”; at King Galleries of Scottsdale, “Another Cup?”; at Baltimore Clayworks, 5707 de Peralta. Smith Ave. 7100 Main, #1. New York, New York through February Arizona, Tempe through April 26 “The Massachusetts, Cambridge March 31–June 30 “A Taste of Power: 18th Century German 11 “Fragile Diplomacy: Meissen Porcelain for Figurative Impulse: The Diane and Sandy Besser European Courts”; at The Bard Graduate Center, Collection”; at Arizona State University Art Porcelain for the Table”; at Harvard Art Uni- versity Museums, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Studies in Decorative Arts, Design and Culture, Museum, Tenth St. and Mill Ave. 18 W. 86th St. Arkansas, Fayetteville through February 32 Quincy St. 15 “Ceramic Objects/Conceptual Material”; at Massachusetts, Concord through February New York, Port Chester February 2–23 University of Arkansas, Ceramics Program, 116 10 “Intimate and Universal Stories”; at Lacoste “potPOURri: Pots that Pour”; at Clay Art Center, Fine Arts Center. Gallery, 25 Main St. 40 Beech St. Arkansas, Little Rock February 8–March Massachusetts, Dedham through February North Carolina, Charlotte through April 20 30 “Innovation and Change: Great Ceramics 8 “Three Potters: Mark Shapiro, Karen Swyler “Made in China: Export Porcelain from the Leo from the Permanent Collection of the Ceram- and Steven Branfman”; at Foster Gallery, Noble and Doris Hodroff Collection”; at Mint Museum ics Research Center, Arizona State University and Greenough School, 10 Campus Dr. of Art, 2730 Randolph Rd. Art Museum”; at Arkansas Art Center, 501 E. Minnesota, Minneapolis through February Ohio, Springfieldthrough February 23 “The Ninth St. 24 “2008 Jerome Artists Exhibition,” works by Contemporary Ceramic Collection from the California, Claremont through April 6 Donna Flanery and Peter Jadoonath. “Jerome Canton Museum of Art”; at Springfield Museum “Ceramic Annual 2008: 64th Scripps Ceramic Artists in Retrospect: Reflections on 17 Years of of Art, 107 Cliff Park Rd. Annual”; at Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Ceramic Artists Project Grants.” “Fogelberg and Pennsylvania, Philadelphia February Scripps College, 11th and Columbia Sts. Red Wing Artists Exhibition,” work by Donna 1–March 2 “Beyond Tradition: Yixing Teapots.”

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 73 calendar group exhibitions

March 7–30 “The Bird: Homage to Brancusi”; Washington, Kirkland February 15–March 1050 Independence Ave. SW. at The Clay Studio, 139 N. 2nd St. 29 “Clay? II”; at Kirkland Arts Center, 620 Florida, West Palm Beach through Febru- Texas, Lubbock through February 17 “Clay Market St. ary 23 “Master Artist Workshop Exhibition”; at on the Wall: 2007 Clay National”; at Texas Armory Art Center, 1700 Parker Ave. Tech School of Art, Landmark Arts, 18th St. ceramics in multimedia Massachusetts, Brockton through May 4 at Flint Ave. exhibitions “The Society of Arts and Crafts Winners 1994– Virginia, Richmond through June 29 “Ce- 2006”; at Fuller Craft Museum, 455 Oak St. ramic Portraits: Selections from the Georganna Arizona, Tucson March 15–May 3 “ Mary Minnesota, Minneapolis February 24–May Yeager Johns Collection of Royal Doulton Charac- Fischer, Susan Gutt, Talya Baharal and Terri Lo- 25 “Arts of Japan: The John C. Weber Collec- ter Jugs”; at Lora Robins Gallery of Design from gan,” including ceramics by Mary Fischer; at Ob- tion”; at Minneapolis Institute of Art, 2400 Nature, University of Richmond Museums. sidian Gallery, 4320 N. Campbell Ave. #130. 3rd Ave. S. Washington, Bellevue February 12–March D.C., Washington through February 24 New Mexico, Santa Fe February 1–May 11 12 “The Nature of Growth”; at Bellevue Com- “Wine, Worship and Sacrifice: The Golden Graves “Flower Power: A Subversive Botanical Exhibi- munity College, 3000 Landerholm Circle SE. of Ancient Vani”; at Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, tion”; at New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe’s Plaza at 107 W. Palace Ave. New York, Corning through February 1 “Clay and Glass Invitational 2007,” including ceramics by Ron Hand, Matt Jacobs, Jill Lawley, Missy McCormick, Lynn Munns, Steve Schaeffer and Tara Wilson; at Atrium Gallery of Corning Community College, 1 Academic Dr. New York, New York through March 9 “Cheers! A MAD Collection of Goblets”; at Museum of Art and Design, 40 W. 53rd St. March 7–July 6 “Rococo: The Continuing Curve, 1730–2008”; at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, 2 E. 91st St. North Carolina, Chapel Hill through Febru- ary 16 “Lydia Thompson and Michael Barringer,” including ceramics by Lydia Thompson; at Somer- hill Gallery, 3 Eastgate, E. Franklin St. North Carolina, Charlotte through April 20 “Made in China”; at Mint Museum of Art, 2730 Randolph Rd. North Carolina, Hendersonville February 5–May 9 “Blue Ridge Residencies”; at Center for Craft, Creativity and Design, 1181 Broyles Rd. Ohio, Columbus February 3–March 30 “Nature/Culture: Artists Respond to their En- vironment,” including ceramics by Kim Abeles and Susan Beiner; at Ohio Craft Museum, 1665 W. 5th Ave. Oregon, Portland through March 23 “The Living Room”; at Museum of Contemporary Craft, 724 Northwest Davis St. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia March 3–April 27 “Borgenicht and Pontz: Collaboration Link- ing Metal and Clay”; at Crane Arts Bldg., 1400 N. American St. Philadelphia, Pittsburgh through March 30 “Recollection: An Obsession with Collect- ing and Craftsmanship,” including ceramics by Richard Hirsch; at Pittsburgh Glass Center, 5472 Penn Ave. Texas, Houston February 22–May 4 “Craft in America: Expanding Traditions”; at Houston Cen- ter for Contemporary Craft, 4848 Main St. Wisconsin, Racine through March 30 “Feel- ing Groovy! Texture in RAM’s Collection”; at Racine Art Museum, 441 Main St. fairs, festivals and sales

Arizona, Tempe February 23–24 “7th Annual Self-Guided Ceramic Studio Tour.” For more information, visit www.asuartmuseum.asu.edu/ ceramicsresearchcenter/studiotour08.htm. Arizona, Tubac February 6–10 “The Tubac 49th Annual Festival of the Arts”; at the Tubac Village. California, San Francisco March 8–9 “Contemporary Crafts Market”; at Fort Mason, Festival Pavilion. For more information, visit www.craftsource.org. California, Santa Monica February 22–24 “Santa Monica Arts Festival”; at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 1855 Main St.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 74 Connecticut, Hartford March 28–30 “Sugar- Center, PO Box 500, Mountain View 72560; California, San Diego March 8–12 Work- loaf Craft Festival”; at Connecticut Expo Center, [email protected]; (870) 269-3851. shop with Sandi Pierantozzi and Neil Pat- 265 Reverend Moody Overpass. California, Mendocino February 23–24 terson. Fee: $465. Contact Jackson Gray, D.C., Washington April 10–13 “26th Annual “Encaustic Workshop Using Fiber and Other Clay Artists of San Diego, PO Box 22524, Smithsonian Craft Show”; at National Building Materials on Ceramics” with Meredith Dal- San Diego 92192; [email protected]; Museum, 401 F St., NW. glish. Fee: $170. For more information, visit www.clayartistsofsandiego.org; (858) 270-3828. Georgia, Macon April 18–27 “Fired Works”; www.mendocinoartcenter.org. Contact Men- California, Sunnyvale February 2–3 “China at Central City Park, downtown Macon. For more docino Art Center, 45200 Little Lake Street, PO Painting with Water-Based Mediums” with information, visit www.maconarts.org. Box 765, Mendocino 95460; [email protected]; Paul Lewing. Contact Judy Lee, Orchard Valley Iowa, West Des Moines February 9–10 (800) 653-3328. Ceramic Arts Guild, PO Box 71046, Sunnyvale “HeArtFest”; at Valley West Mall. California, Ojai February 2 “Ventura County 94086; [email protected]; www.ovcag.org; Maryland, Baltimore February 22–24 “32nd Potters’ Guild Workshop” with Malcolm Davis. (866) 841-9139, ext. 1075. Annual American Craft Show”; at Baltimore Fee: $70; members, $50. Contact Diana Farrell; California, Walnut Creek February 24 Convention Center, One W. Pratt St. [email protected]; (805) 643-2418. “Carving Pots” with Lynne Meade. Fee: $85. Maryland, Gaithersburg April 4–6 “Sug- arloaf Crafts Festival”; at Montgomery County Fairgrounds, Maryland, Timonium April 25–27 “Sug- arloaf Crafts Festival”; at Maryland State Fairgrounds. Michigan, Novi April 18–20 “Sugarloaf Art Fair”; at Rock Financial Showplace. New Jersey, Morristown March 16–18 “Crafts at the Morristown Armory”; at Morristown National Guard Armory, 430 Western Ave. New Jersey, Somerset March 7–9 “Sugarloaf Crafts Festival”; at Garden State Exhibit Center, 50 Atrium Dr. New Mexico, Albuquerque March 7–9 “Rio Grande Arts and Crafts Festival”; at Expo NM, State Fairgrounds. For more information, visit www.riograndefestivals.com. New York, New York March 27–30 “Red Dot New York”; at Park South Hotel, 122 E. 28th St. March 27–30 “Bridge Art Fair New York 2008”; at The Waterfront, 222 12th Ave. March 27–30 “Made in Clay: Annual Benefit Sale”; at Greenwich House Pottery, 16 Jones St. March 28–31 “International Asian Art Fair”; at Park Ave. Armory, Park Ave. at 67th St. North Carolina, Creedmoor April 4–6, 12–13 “40th Annual Spring Pottery and Glass Festival”; at Cedar Creek Gallery, 1150 Flem- ing Rd. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia February 15–17 “Philadelphia Alternative Craft Show”; at Hilton Garden Inn, 10th Fl., 1100 Arch St. South Carolina, Columbia March 2–4 “Craftsmen’s Classic Arts and Crafts Festival”; at SC State Fairgrounds, Cantey and Ellison Bldgs., 1200 Rosewood Ave. Texas, Lubbock April 17–20 “Lubbock Arts Festival”; at Lubbock Memorial Civic Center, 1501 MacDavis Ln. Virginia, Chantilly March 23–25 “Crafts- men’s Classic Arts and Crafts Festival”; at Dulles Expo Center, South Hall, 4320 Chantilly Shopping Center. Virginia, Richmond March 9–11 “Crafts- men’s Classic Arts and Crafts Festival”; at Richmond Raceway Complex, Exhibition and Commonwealth Bldgs., 600 E. Laburnum Ave. workshops

Arizona, Tucson March 14–15 “Relief Tiles” with Stephani Stephenson. Fee: $90. Contact Jan Bell, Southern Arizona Clay Artists; [email protected]; www.sa-clayartists.org; (520) 326-6709. Arkansas, Mountain View April 12–15 “Creating Pots for a Wood-Burning Kiln” with Judi Munn. Fee: $200; additional material fee based on clay use. April 16–20 “Firing a Wood- Burning Groundhog Kiln” with John Perry and Judi Munn. Fee: $265. Contact Ozark Folk

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 75 calendar workshops

Contact Walnut Creek Civic Arts, Arts Educa- tion: Ceramics, 1313 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek 94531; [email protected]; www.arts-ed.org; (925) 943-5846. Colorado, Denver February 16 “Exquisite Cups” with Annie Chrietzberg. Fee: $75, clay not provided. Contact Annie Chrietzberg, Earth to Annie; [email protected]; www.earthtoannie.com; (303) 241-1191. Connecticut, Kent Mid-March “West Afri- can Vessels” with Barbara Allen. “Smoke Fire Resist” with Barbara Allen. May 3–4 Workshop with Jack Troy. Contact Nancy Magnusson; [email protected]; (860) 309-8267. Florida, St. Petersburg February 15–16 “Centered in Clay.” Contact St. Petersburg Clay Company, 420 22nd St. S., St. Peters- burg 33712; [email protected]; www.stpeteclay.com; (727) 896-2529. Florida, West Palm Beach February 9–10 “Pouring Vessels: New Forms/New Surfaces” with Richard Burkett. Fee: $300. February 23–24 “Generating and Assembling Pottery Forms” with Sanam Emami. Fee: $325. March 8–9 “Ornately Functional: Form and Surface” with Kristen Kieffer. Fee: $325. March 29–30 “Surface Surplus” with Erin Furimsky. Fee: $325. Contact Armory Art Center, 1700 Parker Ave., West Palm Beach 33401; www.armoryart.org; (561) 832-1776. Georgia, Decatur February 16–17 “Function Gets Expressive” with Leah Leitson. March 8–9 “Making Pots Inside Out and Upside Down” with Kari Radasch. Fee: $245. April 12–13 “Attention to Detail” with Jeff Oestreich. May 3–4 “Raku Spectacular” with Steven Branfman. Fee: $245. May 16 “Sculptural Teapots and Handbuilding” with Richard Notkin. May 17–18 “A Plethora of Handbuilding Techniques” with Richard Notkin. Fee (unless noted above): $135. Contact MudFire Clayworks, 175 Laredo Dr., Decatur 30030; [email protected]; (404) 377-8033. Georgia, Macon April 26 “Bringing the Ce- ramic Surface to Life” with Andy Nasisse. Fee; $75. Contact Heather Davis, Macon Arts, 486 First St., Macon 31201; [email protected]; www.maconarts.org; (478) 743-6940. Georgia, Roswell January 19–20 Dem- onstration workshop with Meredith Brickell. February 2–3 Demonstration workshop with Jayson Lawfer. Fee per session: $130. Contact Debra Fritts, Roswell Art Cen- ter West/Clay Collective, 1355 Woodstock Rd., Roswell 30075; [email protected]; www.roswellclaycollective.com; (770) 641-3990. Georgia, Watkinsville February 9–10 “Plaster Mold Making Instruction and Demo” with Tom Spleth. Fee: $135, includes lunch. Contact Nancy Green; [email protected]; (706) 769-5659. Maryland, Frederick February 7–10 “Mas- ters’ Throwing” with Joyce Michaud. Fee: $300. February 16–17 “Slip-Cast Porcelain from Original Modeled Plaster Molds” with John Albert Murphy. Fee: $185. March 1–2 “Chinese Brushwork” with Xiaosheng Bi. Fee: $175. March 6–9 “Chinese Yixing Teapots” with Hui Wang and Zhengzhong Zhang. Fee: $300; yixing clay available for additional fee. April 17–20 “Masters’ Throwing II” with Joyce Michaud. Fee: 300. April 12–13 “Eastern and Western Techniques in Trimming” with Kristin Muller. Fee: $175. Contact Hood College, Ce- ramics Program, 401 Rosemont Ave., Frederick 21701; www.hood.edu/academic/art; (301) 696-3456.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 76 Ceramics Monthly February 2008 77 calendar workshops

Massachusetts, Brockton February 9 “Glaz- ing Techniques” with Steve Murphy. Fee: $65; members, $50. Contact Fuller Craft Museum, 455 Oak St., Brockton 02301; www.fullercraft.org; (508) 588-6000. Montana, Missoula March 8–9 “Ce- ramic Figure” with Kicki Masthem. Con- tact Hannah Fisher, The Clay Studio of Missoula, 1106 Hawthorne Unit A, Missoula 59802; [email protected]; (406) 543-0509. Nevada, Las Vegas February 2 “Master Throwing Class” with Tom Coleman. Fee: $120. February 14–17 “Throwing Techniques and Crystalline Glazing” with Xavier Gonzalez. Fee: $400. February 23–24 “Thrown and Altered Pots” with Ellen Shankin. Fee: $200. April 19–20 “Functional Pots: Handbuilding Forms with Slabs” with Sam Chung. Fee: $490, includes lodging. May 3–4 “Handbuilding the Human Form” with Patti Warashina. Fee: $490, includes lodging. May 26–31 “Function, Sculpture and Market- ing” with Bill van Gilder. Fee: $1270, includes lodging. Contact Pottery West, 5026 N. Pioneer Way, Las Vegas 89149; [email protected]; www.potterywest.com; (702) 987-3023. New Jersey, Lincroft February 6 “Precious Metal Clay: Artistic Ring.” Fee: $85. Contact Thompson Park Creative Arts Center, Monmouth County Park System, 805 Newman Springs Rd., Lin- croft 07738; www.monmouthcountyparks.com; (732) 842-4000, ext. 4343. New York, New York May 19 “Mosaics” with Eddie Dominguez. Fee: $400. Contact 92nd St. Y, Lexington Ave. at 92nd St., New York 10128; www.92y.org; (212) 415-5565. New York, Port Chester February 2–3 “From Start to Finish” with Phil Rogers. Contact Clay Art Center, 40 Beech St., Port Chester 10573; www.clayartcenter.org; (914) 937-2047. New York, White Plains February 19–21 “Symbiosis in Sets” with Todd Wahlstrom. Tuition: $144. Contact Westchester Art Work- shop, 196 Central Ave., White Plains 10606; (914) 606-7500. North Carolina, Brasstown February 3–9 “Beginning Portraits in Clay” with Mike Lalone. February 17–23 “Handbuilding Plates and Trays” with Mary Kay Botkins. February 24–March 1 “Kitchen Pots for Baking and Serving” with Mary Dashiell. Fee (unless noted above): $478. Contact John C. Campbell Folk School, One Folk School Rd., Brasstown 28902; www.folkschool.org; (800) 365-5724. North Carolina, Charlotte February 23–24 Workshop with Mark Hewitt. Fee: $115. Contact Carolina ClayMatters Pot- tery Guild, 5008 Glenbrier Dr., Charlotte 28212; [email protected]; www.carolinaclaymatters.org; (704) 537-9248. North Carolina, Durham February 23–24 “Susan Filley: Form and Finish.” Fee: $140. Con- tact Claymakers, 705 Foster St., Durham 27701; [email protected]; www.claymakers.com; (919) 530-8355. Ohio, Cleveland April 12–13 “Paperclay” with Graham Hay. Fee: $210. Contact Orange Art Center, 31500 Chagrin Blvd., Pepper Pike, OH 44124; www.orangeartcenter.org; (216) 831-5130. Ohio, Springfield February 2–3 Workshop with Stephen Hill. Contact Charlotte Gordon, Springfield Museum of Art, 107 Cliff Park Rd., Springfield 45504; [email protected]; (937) 325-4674. Pennsylvania, Chester Springs March 15 Workshop with Ruth Borgenicht. Contact Ches-

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Ceramics Monthly February 2008 79 calendar workshops ter Springs Studio, 1671 Art School Rd., Chester Springs 19425; [email protected]; www.chesterspringsstudio.org; (610) 827-7277. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia February 23–24 “Pots as Nouns–Function as Content” with Alec Karros. Fee: $210; members, $195. Contact The Clay Studio, 139 N. Second St., Philadelphia 19106; www.theclaystudio.org; (215) 925-3453. Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh March 15–18 “Woodfire Kiln Building Workshop” with Dale Huffman, Justin Rothshank and Eric C. Wolf- gang Knoche. Fee: $195. Contact Justin Roth- shank, Union Project; [email protected]; www.unionproject.org/ceramics. South Carolina, Edgefield February 8–9 Workshop with Mark Hewitt. Fee: $75. Contact Gary Clontz, Piedmont Technical College, 506 Main St., Edgefield 29824; [email protected]; www.ptc.edu/pottery; (803) 637-9616. Texas, Houston February 23–24 “Attention to Detail” with Tom Turner. Contact Karen Fiscus, C.A.M.E.O., PO Box 131032, Houston 77219; [email protected]; www.cameohouston.org Virginia, Amherst February 9–10, March 8–9, April 12–13 “Weekend Throwing Work- shops” with Kevin Crowe. Fee: $300, includes lodging, meals and materials. Contact Kevin Crowe, Tye River Pottery, 1289 Falling Rock Dr., Amherst 24521; [email protected]; www.kevincrowepottery.com; (434) 263-4065. Washington, Edmonds March 29–30 “Busi- ness of Crafts Weekend Workshop” with Pamela Corwin and Manya Vee. Fee: $190. Contact Business of Crafts, [email protected]; www.businessofcrafts.com; (800) 969-0869. West Virginia, Huntington May 2–4 “The Process is Everything: Working with Ed Eberle.” Fee: $225; members, $195; teachers, $165; stu- dents, $120. Contact Brad Boston, Huntington Museum of Art, 2033 McCoy Rd., Huntington 25701; [email protected]; www.hmoa.org; (304) 529-2701. international events

Australia, New South Wales, Mittagong April 18–21 “Sturt Woodfire 2008.” Contact Sturt Woodfire 2008, PO Box 34, Mittagong NSW 2575; [email protected]; 61 2 4860 2080. Belgium, Brussels through March 1 Rafael Pérez and Tjok Dessauvage; at Puls Contemporary Ceramics, Kasteleinsplein 4, pl. Châtelain. Canada, British Columbia, Burnaby Feb- ruary 23–24 “Direct from Down Under” with Robert Baron. Fee: $84.80 (US$86.20); quote barcode 146897. March 6–8, 12 “Wood-firing” with Robert Barron. Fee: $318 (US$323); quote barcode 146898. Contact Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, 6450 Deer Lake Ave., Burnaby, B.C. V5G 2J3; [email protected]; (604) 205-3042. Canada, Ontario, Burlington through Feb- ruary 17 “Toronto Potters Guild”; at Burlington Art Centre, 1333 Lakeshore Rd. Canada, Saskatchewan, Saskatoon through February 3 “Dimensions 2007”; at The Saskatchewan Craft Council and Gallery, 813 Broadway Ave. Denmark, Skaelskor through Febru- ary 30 “Network 2007”; at International Ceramic Research Center, Guldagergard Heilmannsvej 31A. England, Leeds through April 30 Jane Black- man; at the Craft Centre & Design Gallery, City Art Gallery, The Headrow. Ceramics Monthly February 2008 80 Ceramics Monthly February 2008 81 calendar international events

England, London through February 17 “Out of the Ordinary: Spectacular Craft”; at the V&A, Cromwell Rd. through March 13 “Neil Brownsword: Poet of Residue”; at Galerie Besson, 15 Royal Arcade, 28 Old Bond St. February 29–March 2 “Ceramic Art London”; at Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore. England, Surrey, Nutfieldthrough February 29 “Select,” including ceramics by Nicola Malkin and Matthew Chambers; at The Grace Barrand Design Centre, 19 High St. England, West Country May 25– June 6 “Pottery and Archaeology Tour of UK SW.” For more information, visit www.portmoodytravel.com. Contact Alan or Gillian McMillan, Port Moody Travel, 2214 St. George Street, Port Moody, British Co- lumbia, V3H 2G2 Canada; [email protected]; [email protected]; (604) 937-7696. England, Worcester March 1–30 “New Pots and New Pastel Paintings for Spring”; at The Gallery at Bevere, Bevere Ln. France, Sarreguemines through March 10 “Café, Thé, Chocolat...”; at Musée de la Faïence, 17, rue Poincaré. Germany, Frechen through February 10 “One Century of Ceramics”; at Stiftung Kera- mion-Zentrum für moderne und historiche Keramik Frechen, Bonnstraße 12. Italy, Florence March 7–June 8 “China: At the Court of the Emperors–Unknown Masterpieces from Han Tradition to Tang Elegance”; at Palazzo Strozzi, Piazza Strozzi. Italy, Fondi March 4–15 “Medieval Town–Ital- ian Maiolica Decorative Art Workshop,” includes day trips to Rome and Vietri. Fee: $1899, in- cludes lodging, most meals and materials. May 27–June 7 “Medieval Town–Italian Maiolica CONE THREE CERAMIC Workshop,” includes day trips to Rome and Vietri. Fee: $1899, includes lodging, most FORMULAS meals and materials. For more information, visit John W. Conrad www.gotuzzoworkshops.com. Contact Gotuzzo Workshops, PO Box 2003, Newport Beach, CA 92659; [email protected]; (714) The 1950’s to 1980’s popular fi ring was 600-9535. C/10–11, late 1980’s lowered to C/6, and Jamaica, Falmouth April 25–May 3 “Work- now considering fi ring at C/3. It appears ing in Jamaica: Ceramic Vessels and Pottery” that fi ring costs, and less wear and tear of with John Neely, Alleghany Meadows, Doug the kiln and furniture, contribute to lowering Casebeer and David Pinto. Fee: $2850 for single costs. C/3 cannot compare to C/11 reduc- tuition. Contact Doug Ellis, Anderson Ranch tion, but for most ceramics C/3 is a notable Arts Center, 5263 Owl Creek Rd., Snowmass Village, CO 81615; [email protected]; fi ring temperate at the bottom of the stone- www.andersonranch.org; www.jamaicaclay.com; ware/porcelain temperature range. Tests (970) 923-3181. have been done and the following was found: Laos and Angkor Wat, Cambodia February zinc crystals, saturated metallic, breaking 2009 “Village Pottery Experience,” includes work rutile, tomato red, Temmoku, chrome pink and fire with village potters. Limit of 12 persons. and red, copper reds, transparent and bright Contact Denys James, Discovery Art Travel, 182 clear, and bright colors in glazes; vitrifi ed clay Welbury Dr., Salt Spring Island, British Colum- bodies; variety of clay, engobe, and glaze col- bia, Canada V8K 2L8; [email protected]; ors using stains and metallics; and individually www.denysjames.com; (250) 537-4906. Morocco, Marakesh, Ouarazate, Zagora, made stains and engobes. Over 600 formulas Merzouga and Casablanca November 8–27 tested and 150 glazes, engobes, clay bodies, “Ceramics and Cultural Excursion,” includes and stains formulas given with illustrations Berber traditional pottery, adobe architecture and and color photographs of samples. tile art in Southern Morroco. Limit of 12 persons. Contact Denys James, Discovery Art Travel, 182 92 pages. 8 ½ x 11 softback. Welbury Dr., Salt Spring Island, British Columbia V8K 2L8 Canada; [email protected]; $23.00 www.denysjames.com; (250) 537-4906. contact your dealer Myanmar (Burma), Mandalay, Bagan, Inle Lake, Yagon January–February 2009 “Burma: Falcon Company Ceramics and Cultural Excursion,” includes POB 22569 – San Diego, CA 92192 pottery making and firing in traditional villages, cultural and historical tours. Limit of 12 persons. Contact Denys James, Discovery Art Travel, 182

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 82 Ceramics Monthly February 2008 83 calendar international events

Welbury Dr., Salt Spring Island, British Columbia V8K 2L8 Canada; [email protected]; www.denysjames.com; (250) 537-4906. Netherlands, Amsterdam through Feb- ruary 13 “Into a Walk Into Time,” works by Anton Reijnders and Netty van den Heuvel; at Galerie De Witte Voet, Annemie Boissevain, Kerkstraat 135. February 2–March 2 Kayoko Hoshino; at Galerie Carla Koch, Veemkade 500. Netherlands, Deventer through February 16 Sigrid Grote and Ulfert Hillers. February 24–March 22 Luk Versluys ; at Loes and Reinier International Ceramics, Korte Assenstraat 15. Netherlands, Leeuwarden through March 9 Anne-Marie van Sprang, “Hanging and Stand- ing.” through April 7 “Turkish and Dutch Ceram- ics.” through May 4 Johan van Loon, “A Life’s Work 05”; at Princessehof Ceramic Museum, Grote Kerkstraat 11. Philippines, Iloilo City February 4–April 24 “35 Years On”; at University of the Philippines, Visayas Art Gallery. Republic of China, Beijing, Xian, Yix- ing, Suzhou and Shanghai May 13–27 “Ceramic Art Tour of China” with Xiaosheng Bi. Fee: $3600. Contact Hood College, Ceram- ics Program, 401 Rosemont Ave., Frederick, MD 21701; www.hood.edu/academic/art; (301) 696-3456. Republic of China, Hong Kong through February 7 “China Blues: Ceramic Work by Caro- line Cheng”; at Hong Kong Pottery Workshop, Fringe Club, 2 Lower Albert Rd. Republic of China, Shanghai through February 20 “Ceramics from the Archie Bray Foundation”; at The Pottery Workshop c2 Gal- lery, 2nd Fl., 220 Taikang Lu. South Korea, Gyungsangnam-do through March 30 “The Shin Sang Ho Exhibition”; at Clayarch Gimhae Museum, 358, Songjeong-ri, Jilye-myeon Gimhae-si. Switzerland, Geneva through February 11 “Jean-Claude de Crousaz: Céramique”; at Musée Ariana, Ave. de la Paix 10. Turkey, Istanbul, Cappadocia and Ankara September 18–October 9 “Turkey Ceramics Excursion,” includes hands-on workshops including handbuilding, colored porcelain and decals with Mehmet Kutlu and Erdogan Gulec. September 22–26 Workshop with Mehmet Kutlu. Limit of 12 persons. Contact Denys James, Dis- covery Art Travel, 182 Welbury Dr., Salt Spring Island, British Columbia V8K 2L8 Canada; [email protected]; www.denysjames.com; (250) 537-4906. Wales, Cardiff February 29–April 20 “Dining In”; at The Makers Guild in Wales, Craft in the Bay, The Flourish, Lloyd George Ave.

All-Occasion Gift Idea Soldner Clay Mixers by Muddy Elbow A subscription to Ceramics Monthly makes Manufacturing an ideal present for any special occasion. We’ll announce your gift with a hand- some greeting card in your name. Simply fill in the subscription blank in this issue, mark it “Gift,” and tell us how you want the card signed. Or fill it out online at www.ceramicartsdaily.org. If the recipient is already a subscriber to Ceramics Monthly, we will be happy to extend the current subscription. [email protected] soldnerequipment.com 310 W. 310 4th 67114 • KS Newton, 281-9132 (316) Phone/Fax

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 84 Ceramics Monthly February 2008 85 classified advertising

Ceramics Monthly welcomes classifieds in the following categories: Buy/Sell, Employment, Events, Opportunities, Per- Seeking Resident Studio Potter, Berea College sonals, Publications/Videos, Real Estate, Rentals, Services, Travel. Accepted advertisements will be inserted into the Ceramic Apprenticeship Program. Responsibilities first available print issue, and posted on our website (www.ceramicsmonthly.org) for 30 days at no additional charge! include: working with apprentices, active studio See www.ceramicsmonthly.org/classifieds.asp for details. production of utilitarian ceramics for wholesale/retail market, assisting program director in maintaining large well-equipped facility, teaching one course per Travel Are you interested in selling your collec- tion? I am interested in purchasing collections year. Requirements: MFA, BFA or equivalent; experi- ence with studio approach to functional tableware. HAWAII—COME PLAY IN THE CLAY ON THE of contemporary American and/or British studio Studio space/materials provided. Kilns currently BIG ISLAND! EARTH MATTERS Pottery Studio is pottery. Individual pieces are fine as well. E-mail available: gas reduction, electric, salt, wood, raku. an Alternative Vacation Destination for Clay Lovers [email protected]. One-year post with renewal potential, starts August and Adventurous Travelers. Located at the Most 2008. Application deadline: February 22, 2008. Send Southern Point in the USA. Raku/Volcanoes/Yurts/ San Diego, CA - 60 shuttle kiln, returned to brick application letter, résumé, 20 slides/digital images Beaches. www.earthmatterstravel.com; e-mail form. Fire backs, K23, K26, posts, shelves and (jpg on CD), and three recommendation letters to [email protected]; (808) 939-7510. Greg and burners. North Star 24” slab roller. Two shimpo Tina Gebhart, Ceramic Apprenticeship Program, Gail Smith. LIVE ALOHA. wheels, 70’s. 5X8 Wells Cargo Trailer. Dark gray ProPanel display, walls and pedestals. Crafthut CPO 2162, Berea College, Berea, KY 40404. Inqui- Ceramics in Hungary. July 30–August 23, Canopy. 760-729-3565. ries: (859) 985-3849. Berea College is a four-year 2008. Study ceramics with Joe Bova and Brad undergraduate liberal arts institution located on the Schwieger at the International Ceramic Studio in Venco de-airing pugmill “Mark II” stainless steel. western foothills of the Appalachian Mountains (Lex- Kecskémet, Hungary. Undergraduate and gradu- NE Pennsylvania. $1200. Call (570) 594-6245; or ington, 45 minutes; Cincinnati/Louisville, 2 hours). ate credits in art, art history, and ceramics offered. e-mail [email protected]. The College’s mission includes special commitments www.finearts.ohio.edu/education-abroad/index.htm; to the Appalachian region, interracial education, and Or contact Brad Schwieger by e-mail at Magazines for sale: Studio Potter: #1–18; Ceramic serving students of limited financial resources. Full [email protected]; or telephone (740) Arts and Perception: #8–32; American Ceramics: tuition scholarships and labor program involvement 593-1673. #1–14. $8 each, postage included. Ceramics have long been distinctive features of a Berea edu- Monthly: back to the 50’s. $5 each, postage included. cation. For more information about Berea College, Craft & Folk Art Tours. Bulgaria, SW Balkans, Ro- (520) 323-2293; [email protected]. see http://www.berea.edu. Berea College, in light mania Winter Festival, Chiapas (Mexico), Morocco, of its mission in the tradition of impartial love and South Africa, Central Asia, Burma, India. Small, Gary Hootman: Kiln Opening and Pottery social equality, welcomes all people of the earth to personalized groups. CRAFT WORLD TOURS, 6776 Sale. Wednesday, March 12, 2008, at 6 P.M. PST, learn and work here. Warboys Rd., Byron, New York; (585) 548-2667; Vasefinder.com will be launching a kiln opening and www.craftworldtours.com. sale for wood fire potter Gary Hootman of Swisher, Part time Pottery Assistant wanted in New Jersey. Iowa. Please visit http://vasefinder.com/events.html Wages depend on skills. Studio use included. Skill Ghana: 3-week indigenous clay and cul- for more information. demo required. Can earn Rutgers University Col- tural structured tour. Lodging and studio fa- lege Credits. Please contact Debra Betancourt, cilities offered. Independent project proposals Employment 43 Hunt Rd., Somerset, NJ 08873; or email welcome. www.studiomateceramics.com; e-mail [email protected]. [email protected]. Studio Assistant: Full-time position with furnished RESIDENCY Large studio space with new wheels, OVERSEAS CERAMIC WORKSHOPS & TOURS 3-bedroom house provided. Assist in all aspects slab roller, wood, gas, salt and electric kilns. As- —TURKEY, Istanbul and Cappadocia: Sept. of studio and gallery operation. Salary based on sistantships available. Visit Cub Creek at NCECA, 19–Oct. 9, 2008 Workshops with Mehmet Kutlu experience and throwing proficiency. Please contact (434) 248-5074 or email [email protected]. and Erdogan Gulec. MOROCCO Nov.8–27, 2008 Karen Mickler, Yellow Branch Pottery, (828) 479- Events Berber traditional pottery, adobe architecture, tile 6710; e-mail [email protected]. art in Southern Morocco. BURMA, Myanmar: Jan 21st Annual North Carolina Potters Conference, /Feb 2009 Ancient potteries; Mandalay; Yangon; 100 Summer jobs—2008. Teach ceramics, Asheboro, North Carolina. March 7, 8 and 9, Inle Lake; Bagan temples. LAOS & ANGKOR WAT, jewelry, painting, drawing, crafts, photography, 2008. Jane Hamlyn (UK), Robin Best (AUL) and Feb. 2009. OAXACA, MEXICO, Nov. 2009. Small, batik, etc. 50 private summer camps—New Mary Law (US): “Three Women, Three Countries, culturally sensitive groups using local translators York, Pennsylvania, New England. You choose! Three Ways of Working Clay.” Register online at and experts. Discovery Art Travel, Denys James, Arlene Streisand. Free Professional Recruitment. www.randolphartsguild.com. Canada; (250) 537-4906; www.denysjames.com, www.summercampemployment.com; (800) 443-6428; Tom Turner’s Pottery School. For details, [email protected]. e-mail [email protected]. see www.tomturnerporcelain.com; or call (828) 689-9430. Buy/Sell Resident Potter: Established Gallery connected to studio. Gas-reduction stoneware, wheel and slab. Opportunities VanHo de-airing pugmill and extruder. Model Full time, furnished apartment, use of all facilities, Create ceramic handprints for children and VHNL320. Twin stainless steel augers; 5HP220V salary. Beautiful north Georgia mountains, close to pets. Profitable • Flexible • Fun • Easy to Learn! 1 phase motor; dies and extension tube. Serious major North Carolina and Georgia pottery centers. We can show you how. Step-by-step instruction, inquiries only. (570) 729-7946. Contact: Cindy Angliss; www.hickoryflatpottery.com; business and marketing plan. 34 years experience. (706) 947-0030. Mitchfield clay for sale (also known as Auman Pond) www.pawprintsmb.com; (800) 808-8615. from historical Seagrove, North Carolina. Shipping available to any area. Minimum 4-ton load. Contact Seeking Ceramics Production Manager for ce- Pottery West in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pottery Arthur at Kim’s Pottery Clay (336) 873-7317; (336) ramics section of a traditional arts school and craft classes: 6 weeks of classes and open studio time, 963-5143; (336) 963-5149. business development centre in Kabul, Afghanistan. $150. Attend as many classes as you’d like during Stimulating environment with a chance to contribute the 6 weeks. Studio fees, $25, includes 25 lb of Bluebird 440 de-airing pugmill. Very good con- to the revival of Afghan arts and economics. For clay, glazes and firing (Cone 10 gas reduction). For dition. Contact Don at (623) 707-6341, Flagstaff, more information, please see job opportunities at: information and directions, call Amy Kline at (702) AZ. $1200. http://turquoisemountain.org/. 987-3023; www.potterywest.com.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 86 Kent, Ohio “8th Annual Cup Show” May 13– June Available for rent or sale early 2008: Home and Master Kiln Builders. 26+ years experience de- 7. Juror: Ted Vogel, Assistant Professor in Art, studio. 10 secluded acres, 2000-sq.-ft. passive signing and building beautiful, safe, custom kilns Lewis & Clark College. Entry deadline April 15. solar home. 3–4 stall barn, fenced pasture and for universities, colleges, high schools, art centers Fee $20. For prospectus, contact Anderson Turner, woods. Beautiful Bucks County, 1.5 hours from and private clients. Soda/salt kilns, wood kilns, raku Director of Galleries, Kent State University, School New York, 1 hour from Philadelphia. Thriving kilns, stoneware kilns, sculpture burnout kilns, car of Art, PO BOX 5190, Kent, Ohio 44242-0001; artist community, tourist area. (215) 766-7887; kilns and specialty electric kilns. Competitive prices. [email protected]; dept.kent.edu/art/galleries; [email protected]. Donovan. Phone/fax (612) 250-6208. (330) 672-1379. Services Design services, molds, models, tooling for slip Pubs/Videos casting, jiggering, hydraulic pressing. Samples PotteryVideos.com – DVD’s with Robin Hop- Accept credit cards in your ceramics retail/whole- and small production quantities. Ceramic De- per, Gordon Hutchens and Graham Sheehan. sale/home-based/Internet and craft-show business. sign Group, Jonathan Kaplan; (303)909-5488; Video Workshops for Potters at all levels of ex- No application fee. No monthly minimum. No lease www.jonathankaplanceramics.com. perience. Choose from 21 titles. 800-668-8040; requirement. Retriever/First of Omaha Merchant [email protected]. Processing. Please call (888) 549-6424. Rentals Tom Turner’s 2-day workshop, 4-disc DVD set. To order, see www.tomturnerporcelain.com; or call Ceramics Consulting Services offers technical Midwest Clay Guild, Evanston, Illinois. Studio (828) 689-9430. information and practical advice on clay/glaze/kiln space, 24-hour access, gas and electric kilns, faults and corrections, slip casting, clay body/glaze parking. (847) 475-9697 or (847) 492-8102. Real Estate formulas, salt glazing, product design. Call or write 6000-sq.-ft. turnkey pottery and gallery in Fort for details. Jeff Zamek, 6 Glendale Woods Dr., Wayne, Indiana. Thriving classes and membership, Southampton, MA 01073; (413) 527-7337; e-mail We’re online! [email protected]; or www.fixpots.com. private studio space, well-equipped studio. 2-bed- room apartment. Large gallery space. $210,000. There is always something new happening at Custom Mold Making—Increase your productivity Call (260) 241-1532; or e-mail [email protected]; www.ceramicartsdaily.org. Updated daily, our and profits with quality slip-casting molds of your www.claylink.com/sale. popular designs! Petro Mold Co. offers a complete website includes tips and techniques for the 575 sq. ft. Gallery located 60 miles NE of Pittsburgh. range of mold-making services, including sculpt- studio, artist profiles, archives of past content, 740 sq. ft. apartment, paved parking lot, terraced ing and 3-D models, master and case molds, and as well as resources for finding ceramic activities garden, 900 sq. ft. studio, attached kiln shed, gas salt production mold manufacturing to thousands of and opportunities near you. And don’t forget to kiln. $175,000.00. Email [email protected]; or satisfied customers. Visit www.custommolds.net; sign up for the newsletter and your free gift! call (814) 257-9879. or call (800) 404-5521 to get started.

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Ceramics Monthly February 2008 87 Comment why the y? by Robert Silverman

After teaching at the university level for par with the best college programs—not bad Morgin’s and John Byrd’s merger of mixed twenty years, I have accepted a position as for a community art school! media and clay. But everyday pottery and director of the ceramics program at New But what drew me to the Y was more the vessel seem stuck in a state of perpetual York’s 92nd Street Y. Those who know me than its impressive pedigree. Community reverence for the traditions established by will not be surprised to learn that the deci- education itself interests me. Recently I have Shoji Hamada and Bernard Leach a half- sion to relinquish tenure, summers off and thought a lot about the state of ceramics, and century ago. I am continually amazed that free studio space in favor of teaching the ceramics community is so hesitant at a community art school was easy. I I am continually amazed that the to embrace technology and the indus- have always tried to challenge myself trial applications that other art fields (and my students) to not be satisfied ceramics community is so hesitant employ so effortlessly. The marriage with what is comfortable, to embrace to embrace technology and the of art and industry offers so many change. This process of self-reflection industrial applications that other opportunities to affect society—the has served me well over the course of work of Marek Ceckula’s Modus De- my career, and now it has led me to art fields employ so effortlessly. sign is a prominent example of this as the 92nd Street Y. are websites like DesignBoom, Core I grew up in a Brooklyn home full of beau- it seems to me that the isolated and rarefied 77 and Domus—but the ceramics commu- tiful Persian rugs, Chinese porcelain vases academic community has become stale and nity has not seized those opportunities. We and other antique decorative objects made tired. Ceramic sculpture has continued to in the clay world should be working with the from silver, glass and wood. My mother and push boundaries by investigating and em- ceramic industry to design new objects—not grandmother would scour thrift stores and bracing interdisciplinary approaches; some leaving that work to industrial designers who antique shops to find the most elegant and of the most inventive examples are the early have no experience with clay. refined objects. But it was not until I found photographic work of Tim Roda, who uses Community education has the potential myself in a study abroad program in Japan ceramics as props; Ken Price’s use of paint to be at the vanguard of this change by in 1976, that I saw for the first time how as the surface for his sculptures; and Kirsten opening up students and artists to fresh ordinary people used beautiful ideas. Interdisciplinary courses handmade objects in their daily that incorporate ceramics and lives. This changed my life. 3D modeling, public art, indus- Back in the States, my aca- trial design, photography and demic studies completed, I began printmaking—both “live” in the formal training as an artist. I classroom and through distance earned a B.F.A. and an M.F.A. learning—are just of a few of and taught at several different the things that can help attract institutions before accepting a a wider and more varied student tenure track position at Louisi- population. While a number of ana State University in 1991. I innovative academic institutions was fortunate to teach talented offer some of these classes, the undergraduate and graduate stu- non-profit world the Y inhabits dents, but in time found myself (with little endowment) is sup- thinking about a change in direc- ported primarily by its students’ tion. This summer, I made it. tuition and therefore must be So why the 92nd Street Y? quick to reinvent itself to meet Their ceramics program has the ever changing needs of the an impressive history. A virtual community and its various con- Who’s Who of contemporary stituencies. The 92nd Street Y ceramics artists has taught there, welcomes these ideas. That’s why including Chris Gustin, Jim I’m here—to reinvigorate a great Makins, Warren McKenzie and program at an institution that Betty Woodman. Teachers of this thrives on fresh ideas and new stature and a strong curriculum approaches, and to reinvigorate have enabled the program to myself, as an artist and an educa- maintain a level of excellence on The author instructs a student in his new gig at the Y. tor, in the process.

Ceramics Monthly February 2008 88