June/July/August 1999 1 2 CERAMICS MONTHLY JunelJulylAugust 1999

Volume 47

Number 6

“Stacked Bowls with Vase,” 21 inches in diameter, by Bobby Silverman; at materia/ The Hand and the Spirit Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona. FEATURES 48 35 Visiting Ryoji Koie by Kelvin Bradford Trailblazing beyond Japanese tradition

39 Formulating Glazesby Richard A. Eppler “Plain View,” 32 inches in Limits for glaze calculation using mole percent height, painted ceramic, by John Woodward; at 43 Billy Ray Mangham by Gary C. Hatcher Riley Hawk Galleries in Humor and pathos in raku sculpture Columbus and Cleveland. 47 Limitless Low Fire 50 Vessels and sculpture at the Brookfield Craft Center, Connecticut 48 Bobby Silverman Stacked bowls and vases evoking floral forms 50 Looking in the Mirror: Aspects of Figurative Ceramics Contemporary sculpture at Riley Hawk Galleries in Ohio 52 Cliff Lee: New Directions by Paul F. Dauer Meticulously carved organic porcelain forms 57 Different for Me by Ken Vavrek Change doesn’t always come easy 60 English Urban, American Rural by Claire Wilcox Contemplating the capacity of pottery to express humanity 65 A Wood-Firing Raku Kiln by Nesrin During A low-tech way to raku anywhere Bottle, 9 inches in height, by Rob Barnard, 68 Castles in Spain by Frangoise Melville Timberville, Virginia. Three approaches to production 60 105 Unusual Pottery Markets by Brad Sondahl Finding new sales outlets Nesrin During describes construction and firing of a 107 Flash Reduction by Heather Young wood-fueled raku kiln, Low-fire lusters Oosterend, The Netherlands. The cover: A pair of 108 A Limp Ice-Cream Box, Stiff Paper, “Yellow Prickly Melons,” 65 to 14½ inches in height, a Couple Pieces of Magic Tape and by Cliff Lee; see page 52. a Sticky Seal to Close the Lid by Dick Lehman Photo: Holly Lee Attention to packaging

June/'July/'August 1999 3 UP FRONT 14 Rachelle Chinnery Coiled and altered stoneware vessels at the Gallery of BC Ceramics, Vancouver Editor 14 Michael Stowell Ruth C. Butler Associate EditorKim Nagorski Ceramic sculpture at Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland Assistant EditorConnie Belcher 14 AnnaJalickee Assistant EditorH. Anderson Turner III Boldly colored vases at Creative Partners Gallery in Bethesda, Maryland Editorial AssistantRenee Fairchild 14 Ron Meyers and Michael Simon DesignPaula John Functional ware at Signature Shop and Gallery in Atlanta Production SpecialistRobin Chukes 16 Artists Survey Advertising ManagerSteve Hecker Research center studies how artists are faring economically Customer ServiceMary R. Hopkins Circulation AdministratorMary E. May 16 Louis Mendez PublisherMark Mecklenborg Work included in the International Juried Show at New Jersey Center for Visual Arts 18 Transformations Through Clay Editorial, Advertising and Circulation Offices 735 Ceramic Place Sculpture by 11 artists at Elements of Art Gallery in Columbus, Ohio Post Office Box 6102 18 Ceramic Treasures Westerville, Ohio 43086-6102 Telephone: (614) 523-1660 Artwork from the Philadelphia Clay Studio’s permanent collection Fax: (614) 891-8960 18 Baltimore Clayworks to Expand E-mail: [email protected] Large building donated to nonprofit arts center [email protected] [email protected] 18 Ceramics and Print Symposium in Hungary by Moira Vincentelli [email protected] Contemporary practices in this former communist country Website: www.ceramicsmonthly.org

20 Yukinori Yamamura Ceramics Monthly (ISSN 0009-0328) is published monthly, Work from residency at the National Academy of Art and Design in Oslo, Norway except July and August, by The American Ceramic Society, 735 Ceramic Place, Westerville, Ohio 43081. Periodicals postage 20 Peter VandenBerge paid at Westerville, Ohio, and additional mailing offices. Figurative sculpture at John Natsoulus Gallery, Davis, California Opinions expressed are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent those of the editors or The American 22 Irene “Niki” Martinelli Ceramic Society. Sawdust-smoked vessels at la Bottega d’Arte di Umberto d’Arceto in Rome Subscription Rates: One year $26, two years $49, three years $70. Add $ 12 per year for subscriptions outside North America. 22 Katherine McLean In Canada, add GST (registration number R123994618). Clayworks from a series presented at Foster/White Gallery in Seattle Change of Address: Please give us four weeks advance notice. 24 A Workshop with Linda Christianson by Anita Wetzel Send the magazine address label as well as your new address to: Ceramics Monthly, Circulation Department, PO Box 6102, New ceramic art program established at women’s art center Westerville, OH 43086-6102. 24 The Senator S Potter by Jerry and Jenni Davis Contributors: Writing and photographic guidelines are avail­ able on request. Send manuscripts and visual support (photo­ Reflections on 17 years of making pottery for John Glenn graphs, slides, transparencies, drawings, etc.) to Ceramics Monthly, 28 Mark Chatterley 735 Ceramic PL, PO Box 6102, Westerville, OH 43086-6102. Stoneware sculptures at Mackerel Sky Gallery in East Lansing, Michigan We also accept unillustrated texts faxed to (614) 891-8960, or e-mailed to [email protected] 26 Walter Donald Kring, 1916-1999 Indexing: An index of each years feature articles appears in the December issue. Visit theCeramics Monthly website at www.ceramicsmonthly.org to search an index of all feature articles since 1953. Feature articles are also indexed in theArt Index and daai (design and applied arts index), available DEPARTMENTS through public and university libraries. 8 Letters Copies: For a small fee, searchable databases and document 28 New Books delivery are available through The American Ceramic Society’s Ceramic Information Center, PO Box 6136, Westerville, OH 74 Call For Entries 43086; e-mail [email protected] telephone (614) 794-5810. Also 74 International Exhibitions through Information Access Company, 362 Lakeside Dr., 74 United States Exhibitions Foster City, CA 94404; or University Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb 78 Fairs, Festivals and Sales Rd., Ann jArbor, MI 48106. 80 Suggestions Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal 86 Calendar use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted by The American Ceramic Society, provided the base fee of 86 Conferences $5.00 per copy, plus $0.50 per page, is paid directly to the 86 Solo Exhibitions Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 88 Group Ceramics Exhibitions 01923. Prior to copying items for classroom use, please contact 89 Ceramics in Multimedia Exhibitions the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, 94 Fairs, Festivals and Sales MA 01923; (978) 750-8400. The code for users of the Trans­ 95 Workshops actional Reporting Service is 0009-0328/97 US$5.00 + $0.50. Back Issues: When available, back issues are $7 each, includes 97 International Events shipping and handling; $10 each outside North America. 100 Questions Postmaster: Send address changes to Ceramics Monthly, PO Box 115 Classified Advertising 6102, Westerville, OH 43086-6102. Form 3579 requested. 118 Comment: Copyright © 1999 Lower-case art, Teacups and Jackson Pollock by Delia Robinson The American Ceramic Society 120 Index to Advertisers All rights reserved

4 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/July/August 1999 5

are as relevant today as they were then. I can’t Letters help but believe that many people berating Leach personally are merely jealous of his immense influence and stature because we are Circular Logic a culture that reacts to personality rather than The alternative to having a strongly ar­ to the content of someone’s ideas. ticulated viewpoint is to do what you like— William Gebben, Colfax, Wis. everything is okay. The problem with a passive attitude is it isn’t interesting; it Hardly Thriving doesn’t give you anything to bounce your Since John Britt began his Comment own ideas off of. Leach’s vision isn’t a reli­ (“Leach’s Circular Logic,” May 1999) by gion—you have to believe in it. Rather, takeblaming Bernard Leach’s erroneous view of from it what speaks to you. the Japanese aesthetic for “holding us back,” But to reject Leach’s philosophy based onI expected him to go on to suggest how we his personality is a very shallow and contem­could accomplish creating a higher regard for porary reaction. He was a man with flaws. ceramics. Instead, his essay was simply an Those flaws make the story more interestingattack on Leach’s views and an attempt to set to analyze in the context of his times. But tous straight about Buddhism and the true trash all he wrote, or did, because of his Oriental character. personal failings is like throwing the baby out I would hardly agree that ceramics and with the bath water. crafts in general are thriving in the U.S. Leach’s, Hamada’s and Yanagi’s aestheticThey exist, certainly, and are valued by some. descriptions of beauty based on Zen Bud­ But by and large, ceramists are not greatly dhist philosophy, William Blake’s mysticism,appreciated or supported by the art world, a reaction against the industrial revolution, the public or the government at any level. and the influence of William Morris are Compare crafts’ situation in the U.S. and much richer and broader than the author oftheir place in, say, Australia, where there are “Leach’s Circular Logic” (CM, May 1999)art schools that teach both art and craft in would have us believe. He’s criticizing Leachalmost every city. To narrow the discussion for holding in high esteem traditional usefuldown to ceramics, regular Australian citizens objects at a time they were threatened by buy handmade pottery to use every day on rapid industrialization. His criticism of Leachtheir tables, and there are proportionately is unfair. more lively ceramics shows and competitions The author himself, Mr. Britt, claims an across the country. I would have to work equal argument could be made that functionhard to blame crafts’ sorry state of affairs in inhibits beauty, but he doesn’t have the the United States and its relative health in rigorous or interesting argument to back upAustralia on Bernard Leach. this supposition. Is he talking about sculpture Joan Rothchild Hardin, New York City or about pots that allude to function but don’t work? Look in the ceramics magazinesNot Amused and galleries and tell me that we are being In my nearly 30 years of reading Ceramics held back by Leach’s standards. Monthly, I have read some amazingly stupid Leach wasn’t as narrow aesthetically as and ignorant writings, but the Comment on he’s made out to be. Leach isn’t strictly an pages 108, 109 and 110 of the May issue has orientalist. He talked of medieval pottery, hit a new low. Perhaps this was merely a late pre-Columbian pottery, and basically spokeApril Fool’s Day joke? It was not amusing. I about valuing the tradition of pots in all am deeply offended that anyone would write cultures before it is lost. He had great abilitiessuch a thing. as a draftsman. He was a gifted poet and I have thrown pots at the Leach Pottery in writer. Though he was ambitious, he vigor­St. Ives, made pottery in Japan and attended ously promoted his ideas. Basically, Leach’sart school in Beijing, China. I first talked ideas are summed up by seeing the healthy with Bernard Leach in 1973, when I was beauty where life, art and spirituality are allhaving a great deal of trouble firing an oil- connected through culture. Maybe today weburning kiln in Oregon. He asked, “Alex, view this as romantic. why are you burning oil in the forests of When it comes down to it, Leach’s ideasOregon?” He said this in what was for him an unusual and affectionate way. In keeping with our commitment to provide Janet Leach, Bernard’s wife and a dear an open forum for the exchange of ideas friend, passed away a couple of years ago. and opinions, the editors welcome letters Thankfully, she didn’t stumble on the May from all readers. All letters must be signed, 1999 issue. but names will be withheld on request. Mail Alex Majeski, Krakow, Wis. to Ceramics Monthly, PO Box 6102, Westerville, OH 43086-6102, e-mail to Just a Phase [email protected] or fax to I very much enjoyed the May Comment (614) 891-8960. by John Britt. I believe what he has stated is

8 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/July/August 1999 Letters

very true: “Orientals are no more gifted or enlightened than any other human beings on the planet.” Let’s get real. The worship of Oriental ceramics is childish. A child will be fascinated with anything new and subsequently the new/weird/different becomes more valuable than what is familiar. This is an erroneous phase of childhood as true maturity often brings one back to fully appreciate the familiar. I believe this childish phase is what Leach was going through when he propagated the worship of Oriental ceramics. C. Brinkman, Alexandria, Va.

Show Examples After John Britt’s written tirade against Leach, Yanagi, et al (Comment, May 1999), it would be interesting to see examples of his own daywork in support of his beliefs. Hal Riegger, Gridley, Calif.

A wood-fired porcelain covered jar by John Britt was shown on page 36 of the March 1999 issue.—Ed.

A New Century Dawning? John Britt's Comment, “Leach’s Circular Logic,” made me wonder, as I read it, whether CM editors published it more for readers’ reaction to its content and conten­ tiousness than for (any) literary credibility. Whether so or not, I succumb, albeit I will react mostly to the “logic” employed and leave others to respond to the “message,” which wanders randomly and uses the same circular logic Britt decries in the article; (it) makes outrageous assertions based on un­ founded, out-of-context statements, and demonstrates poor expository writing. In his opening paragraph, Britt attempts to lay the groundwork for his contention that Bernard Leach and his “philosophy of craft” is, “holding us back as the beginning of a new century dawns.” I must ask, how, exactly, are “we” being held back, and from what? Britt’s use of the pejorative seems de­ signed to persuade us that Leach’s “vision” is outdated. He demands that “we must con­ front (Leach’s) underlying assumptions that lie rotting(my emphasis). Are “we” all swimming in a sea of Mingei-itis unable (unwilling) to face the digital reality of the new millennium? Most confusing is Britt's statement, “We can no longer cast aside the false assumptions and contradictions inherent in Leach’s phi­ losophy.” Am I missing something here? Doesn’t he want us to do exactly that? Britt (the genuine genius) treads a peril- Please turn to page 110

10 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/July/August 1999 11

Up Front

Rachelle Chinnery Coiled and altered stoneware vessels by Canadian artist Rachelle Chinnery were exhibited recently at the Gallery of BC Ceramics in Vancouver, British Columbia. Working on a kick wheel, Chinnery begins each piece with a 3-inch-square base, coiling and throwing up to about 3 feet in height. The walls are then altered and pierced. When the piece is leather hard, she scrapes back layers of clay, and dusts copper oxide over the surface. “I’ve always loved the feel of stone,” she says. “Its the tactile experience that keeps

Michael Stowell’s “Yellow Prong,” approximately 6 feet in height, glazes and milk paint; at the Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland.

great Pacific Northwest,” he explains. “Irony and humor are apparent in both exaggerated form and bold coloration.” Anna Jalickee Rachelle Chinnery’s “Epiphany,” approximately 23 inches Boldly colored vases by Anna Jalickee, Silver Spring, Maryland, high, stoneware, oxidation fired to Cone 4; at the Gallery of were exhibited recently at Creative Partners Gallery in Bethesda, BC Ceramics, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Maryland. Jalickee describes her vases as a combination of me in this craft....I want my work to be geological, not quite fully transformed from base material to finished product.” Chinnery is inspired by Jomon pots of Japan: “The Jomon forms are so strong. Making an innovative piece in this era is the result of so much historical information, but what influenced those neolithic potters? Their creativity had a purity of source that I can’t even begin to imagine. My work is a synthesis of my life in this age and in this part of the world. My aim is to make pots that reflect geological reverence coupled with historical resonance.” Michael Stowell An installation of ceramic sculpture—the culmination of a residency at the Oregon College of Art and Craft—by Minne­ sota artist Michael Stowell was presented recently at the school. “An exploration of the complex beauty of what are often seen as Anna Jalickee vases, to 16 inches in height, slab-built opposing realms,” his large-scale figurative and organic forms earthenware, with low-fire glazes; at Creative Partners Gallery in Bethesda, Maryland. (ranging from 6 to 8 feet in height) were coil built in sections. Surfacing encompassed glazes, lusters, terra sigillata and, on classical and contemporary forms, asymmetrically balanced and “Yellow Prong” (shown above right), milk paint. finished with everyday life images—people, dogs and nature— “My recent work responds to the dynamic terrain of the taken from her sketchbook.

Submissions are welcome. We would be pleased to consider Ron Meyers and Michael Simon press releases, artists' statements and photos/slides in con­ Functional ware by Georgia potters Ron Meyers and Michael junction with exhibitions or other events of interest for publi­ Simon was exhibited recently at the Signature Shop and Gallery cation in this column. Mail to Ceramics Monthly, Post Office in Atlanta. Meyers throws and alters his forms, bisque fires them Box 6102, Westerville, Ohio 43086-6102. in an electric kiln, applies a transparent glaze, then fires them in

14 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/July/August 1999 15 Up Front combined response rate for the two studies was 30% (2275 artists responding). The survey found that while about 40% of artists have a a gas kiln. “I like to show the clay body,” he says. “The glaze is college degree and 38% have a graduate degree, almost 62% to enhance the form underneath. My idea is not to control the earn less than $30,000 in gross individual income per year clay but to flow with it, to act more intuitively. I enjoy the (including income from other jobs); 45% earn less than $3000 processes involved in making clay pieces, and I like best the end from their art alone. Just 3% of artists earned over $60,000 products that somehow reflect those processes.” from their art in the past year. Simon works on small groups of similar pots at one time— Only 26%-30% earned the majority of their income from throwing several different groups one day, then finishing and art in the previous year; still, over 80% list the career of artist as decorating with oxides and slips the next day. All his ware is most important to them, and 89% consider themselves profes­ single fired in a salt ldln. “The structuring and proportioning of sional artists. the pot’s form are the areas for which my intuition is triggered; Unlike other countries, the United States has no accepted standards for the status of artist. Although 65% in Study One and 62% in Study Two do not want to be certified in the way that lawyers, doctors and CPAs are, 74% in Study One and 79% in Study Two would find a handbook of “fair practices and standards for artists” useful. Three-fourths of the artists own computers and just about the same say that technology has affected the production of their art. About half use electronic media in the creation of their art; one-fourth advertise and market their work. Most artists have some type of insurance; nevertheless, 14% in Study One and 16% in Study Two do not obtain routine health care. With a mean age of 41, between 55% and 59% in both studies have retirement plans. The survey also shows that artists are very involved in their community: 61% in Study One and 65% in Study Two volun­ teered; 43% in Study One and 50% in Study Two performed community service. And, in the last two years, 89% in Study One and 87% in Study Two voted in federal elections; 87% in Study One and 84% in Study Two in state, and 81 % in Study Ron Meyers’ “Lidded Jar with Frog,” 10 inches in height, wood fired; and Michael Simon’s “Persian Jar with Fish,” One and 78% in Study Two in local elections. In Study One, 14 1/2 inches in height, salt fired; at the Signature Shop 79% are registered Democrats; in Study Two, 76%. and Gallery, Atlanta. Louis Mendez the areas for which I have the deepest feeling,” he explains. “I “Watershed Spirit,” a sculpture by New York City artist Louis have attempted to keep my work in a constant state of evolu­ Mendez, was the only ceramic work exhibited in the 1999 tion, though the process of change is admittedly slow and “International Juried Show” at the New Jersey Center for Visual gradual. The choices I have made in attempts to attain a more Arts in Summit, New Jersey. Selections were made from slides specific expression include the color, texture and density of the by Lisa Dennison, deputy director and chief curator of the clay; the shape, proportion and scale of the pot form; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. specific treatment of the surface; and the temperature and Mendez produced this sculpture in the summer of 1998, atmosphere of the fire. These are my tools, my language.” when he participated in the first of three summer sessions at the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts near Newcastle, Maine. Artists Survey Working in this “bucolic setting,” he handbuilt the piece from Economically, today’s artists are doing about the same as a prestamped slabs of a clay body made from local brick clay. At decade ago; they are highly educated and computer literate, are Watershed, “a low-temperature clay that covers the hill behind involved in their communities, and are planning for retirement. the studio building was supplied free to wortahop participants,” These findings come from a study conducted in 1997 by the Mendez explained. “It was dug and milled, then mixed with Research Center for Arts and Culture at Columbia University grog and other clays.” School of the Arts, in which almost 8000 artists in 4 United Watershed Sculpture Body States cities—Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York and (Cone 01) San Francisco—were polled on such issues as income, educa­ tion, time spent on work, health care, pension, insurance, plus Nepheline Syenite ...... 5 % North American Fireclay...... 25 contributions the artist makes to society. Watershed Brick Clay...... 50 A follow-up to a 1988 survey titled “Information on Artists,” Grog ...... 15 the 1997 survey was conducted in two separate studies: for Red Iron Oxide ...... 5 Study One, 4000 artists’ names and addresses were obtained 100% from the same organizations used in 1988; for Study Two, 3700 artists’ names and addresses were acquired from new organiza­ “This body worked very well for slab and coil building,” he tions, with a special emphasis on those who represented artists continued. “The openness of the clay was especially practical, from varying race, ethnicity or cultural backgrounds. The given the relentless monsoon weather we were experiencing and

16 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/'July/August 1999 17 Up Front Gallery in Columbus, Ohio, concurrent with the 33rd NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts) confer­ ence. The human figure was the inspiration for several of the the difficulty in getting work to dry. An important project, born works on view, including “Tactile Communication” by Ceil of necessity, was building a communal drying box, using many Leeper-Sturdevant, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Through heat lamps and fans to speed drying.” figurative imagery, she “explores the relationships among For color, the sculpture was brushed with slips, “forming people. [The result] is a conversation fueled by friendships color areas unrelated to the surface design. This represented a and travels, a visual diary narrated with an evolving personal new direction in my surface treatment of sculpture. I had vocabulary of images. “I believe,” she says, “that many people today are searching through figurative images for spiritual guidance. Some ancient people thought that icons were alive and had spiritual power. My own work is inspired by these ancient beliefs and images.” Ceramic Treasures “Hidden Treasures from the Clay Studio’s Permanent Collec­ tion” was on view through May 30 at the Clay Studio in Phila­ delphia. Currently in storage, the collection includes over 200

Sam Chung’s “Casserole,” 7 inches in height, soda-fired porcelain; at the Clay Studio, Philadelphia.

Louis Mendez’s “Watershed Spirit,” 40 inches in height, pieces, reflecting the history of both the organization and the slab-built terra cotta with matt glazes; at the New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, Summit. artists associated with it. Included are worlcs donated by resi­ dents, fellowship recipients, exhibiting artists, international previously used only monochrome glazes or slips to introduce guest artists and collectors. contrasting color and/or highlight textural patterns. After firing the piece, I softened and enhanced the surface by applying a Baltimore Clayworks to Expand wax patina.” On April 27, Deborah Bedwell, executive director of Balti­ more Clayworks, accepted the gift of the historic Provincial Transformations Through Clay Ho use; which includes a 70-space parking lot, from Douglas W. Ceramic sculptures by 11 artists were presented in the Leathersdale, chairman and CEO of The St. Paul Companies. exhibition “Transformation Through Clay” at Elements of Art Founded in 1980, Baltimore Clayworks is a not-for-profit art center located in the Mt. Washington neighborhood of north­ west Baltimore, Maryland (see CM, February 1984, page 33). “We are simply overjoyed and overwhelmed by the The St. Paul Companies’ generosity! It is wonderful for Baltimore Clayworks to have a neighbor who so clearly shares our commitment to the community and to education,” stated Bedwell. The Provincial House, a stone house dating from 1883 and encompassing roughly 6000 square feet, is located directly across the street from Baltimore Clayworks and will more than double the center’s size. Ceramics and Print Symposium in Hungary by Moira Vincentelli Ceil Leeper-Sturdevant’s “Tactile Communication,” Hungary during the 1970s was a dominated country, a commu­ 33 inches in height, extruded or handbuilt and hollowed, with terra sigillata; at Elements of Art Gallery in nist state controlled by the oppressive hand of the Soviet Union. Columbus, Ohio. The rich cultural heritage and artistic traditions survived in spite

18 CERAMICS MONTHLY

Up Front screen and computer-generated imagery. Some sought to create a relationship with their new environment and to say something about the place. For instance, Paul Mason, whose work is of decades of cultural isolation when people’s ability to travel shown here, drew on historical imagery, setting tiles into a abroad was curtailed and their creativity policed. However, wooden framework reminiscent of specimen boxes in old communist regimes have always recognized the power of art to science museum displays. support the state and to educate the people, hence there was a The tiles were printed with botanical or anatomical drawings special sympathy for the “arts of the people.” or snippets of scenes from World War I. Past and present, life About 25 years ago, a number of cultural institutions were and death, were the themes of Mason’s work, so it seemed established to promote folk and cultural arts—among them, fortuitous when, on the first day, Mason found the skeleton of a ceramics. Within the baby bird on the pathway to his workspace. The form was relatively safe context of immediately incorporated into the piece. peoples culture, they As was seen during the two-week symposium, the combina­ permitted an expression of tion of print and ceramics, traditionally associated with mass cultural identity, and a production and popular culture, has been reappropriated for the degree of international new artistic aims of irony and allusion so central to contempo­ exchange and experimen­ rary art practice. tation. Sadly, most of these organizations have disap­ Yukinori Yamamura peared as state funding Japanese artist Yukinori Yamamura recently completed a period dried up after the fall of of work and study at the National Academy of Art and Design communism. The Interna­ tional Ceramics Studio at Kecskemet has survived, however, in large part thanks to the astute leadership and entrepre­ neurial skills of the direc­ tor, Janos Probstner. The studio is located in a monasterylike complex of buildings arranged around grassy courtyards punctuated by Idlns of all varieties and ceramic sculptures of every type. There are now over 3000 pieces, made by visiting Paul Mason’s “Dogs of artists who normally work War IV,” approximately there for some months, in 24 inches in height, the studios collection. photo-silk-screened tile panels set in wood. “Hot off the Press 2,” a symposium on ceramics and print, was a new departure for the studio. Sixteen ceramists from several coun­ Yukinori Yamamura’s “Texture Object III,” approximately tries who use print techniques were invited to work together, 100 inches in height; at Radhusplassen, Oslo, Norway. but they only had two weelts. The goal was to create enough work for two exhibitions, one in Kecskemet and one in in Oslo, Norway, which culminated in the installation of Budapest. Although everyone had brought some completed “Texture Object II” and “Texture Object III” (above) in Oslo. work, it was no small achievement that two fine shows were According to Yamamura, the texture of clay fascinates him: open by the end of the fortnight. “Strong form and soft wet clay texture. Vivid color and antique Some of the participants had planned their work carefully, texture. I hope to express not only the passage of time but also knew what they wanted to achieve and brought the vital materi­ something contemporary, especially at the turn of the 20th als with them. Others treated the invitation as an opportunity century, through my works. to experiment, try out new techniques or incorporate novel “I would like to express something new and old at the same imagery. There were forays to local print workshops, art shops time,” he concludes. “I always try to represent the contrast of and china stores, rendering exciting finds and new products to things between yesterday and today, today and tomorrow. I try out. The flea markets in Hungary are famous, and they, too, believe my works should reflect myself today.” wielded objects and inspiration. All the artists love the layered meanings produced in the secondhand image or the borrowed Peter VandenBerge motif. Visual and verbal games abound in their work. Ceramic sculpture by California artist Peter VandenBerge was The print technology could range from the low-tech of the exhibited recently at John Natsoulas Gallery in Davis, Califor­ potato print and the lino cut to the high-tech of photo-silk- nia. Often based on characters from the past, his busts resemble

20 CERAMICS MONTHLY

Up Front d’Arte di Umberto d’Arceto in Rome. Disliking glazes, Martinelli uses oxides, metals and burnishing to enhance the surfaces of her work. Sawdust firings complete the cycle. “Once [it has been] torched, I become apprehensive, and it’s a battle to fight the urge to douse the drum with water,” she admits. “When impatience, my number-one foe, can no longer be held off, I go for the gloves and wrench my creation from the smoldering sawdust. I’m still playing around with the addition of various combustibles and sulfates to arrive at exciting effects, and although I’m not there yet, I still enjoy the remnants of the smoke and fire.” Katherine McLean “Lessons from the Garden,” a series of clayworks by artist Katherine McLean, was presented recently at Foster/White Gallery in Seattle, Washington. With ideas drawn from McLean’s gardening experiences, these works explore the influ­ ence of nature and the essence of color, she says. They are

Peter VandenBerge’s “Hostess,” 43 inches in height; at John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, California. Easter Island heads. Most are coil built, then surfaced with “mixed and matched” underglazes to create earthtone pigments. Irene “Niki” Martinelli Sawdust-smoked vessels by Irene “Niki” Martinelli, Rome, Italy, were featured in “Colors and Forms,” on view at la Bottega

Katherine McLean’s “Poppies Bow Their Heads with Pleasure,” 20 inches in height, with glazes and lusters; at Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, Washington.

handbuilt from a low-fire white sculptural body, with added details created from press molds. To avoid warping, slow drying is required. White Sculpture Clay Body (Cone 04) Nepheline Syenite ...... 100 lb Edgar Plastic Kaolin ...... 150 Greenstripe Fireclay...... 250 Kentucky Ball Clay (OM 4) ...... 350 Flint ...... _50 900 lb

Add: Fine White Grog ...... 120 lb “I aim to keep the work as loose as possible, while trying to make it less fragile,” she explains. “I don’t want it to be precious; rather, 1 aim for a more gestural and loosely sculpted result. I like strong edges, rather like line drawings. I try to let the clay speak for itself with smooth, sensuous surfaces or edges gritty Irene “Niki" Martinelli’s “Short Circuit,” 8 inches in height, and sharp.” handbuilt raku clay with copper oxide wash and clear Frequently, she creates a three-dimensional work that is glaze; at the Bottega d’Arte di Umberto d’Arceto, Rome. presented in relief on a wall piece. Most glazes are transparent;

22 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/July/August 1999 23 Up Front And then she kicks slowly in two directions, a dance, to thin a purposefully thick lip where the spout is going to be. She makes the wheel an integral part of her body. McLean uses them in a painterly fashion, sometimes layering Christianson’s approach worked well with WSW’s organizing several for specific results. She also uses various stains. philosophy—hands-on experiences in a small group setting. “My work springs from drawing and painting. I enjoy the play between the soft gestural lines drawn into the clay and the The Senator’s Potter development of detail and pattern as the subject moves out of by Jerry and Jenni Davis the frame into a fully three-dimensional form.” It started out as a typical day. Everyone up at 7 A.M., Idds and wife hurrying to ready themselves for their various destinations, A Workshop with Linda Christianson leading to those wonderfully peaceful, quiet moments after the by Anita Wetzel house empties of everyone but me, and I can sit for that second Ninety miles from the heart of New York City, halfway up the cup of coffee and reflect a little before taking on another day of Hudson River, a new workspace for ceramists has been estab­ clayworldng. As I made my way to the basement studio to lished. Centered in a historic farming community, surrounded wedge the day’s allotment of clay, this “typical” day was inter­ by woodlands and marshlands replete with birds and peepers, rupted by a phone call that brought with it the beginning of a the Womens Studio Workshop (WSW) has offered facilities and programming in printmaking, paper making, photography and book arts (it is the largest publisher of hand-printed artists’ books in the United States) since the mid 1970s. With the renovation of a 1500-square-foot space, WSW developed its clay program in 1998. The ceramics program got off to a great start this past winter with a workshop with Mon­ tana potter Linda Christianson. Christianson invested WSW’s space with her expansive philosophy, individual technique and brown-earth aesthetics. She began the workshop with her own daily warm-up: “Make

Jerry Davis mugs, the first of 17 orders from Senator John Glenn for Christmas gifts for his staff.

17-year relationship with one of our nation’s true heroes, Senator John Glenn. The call came from the office of Ohio Designer Craftsmen (ODC). Being a member of ODC has various benefits, including the opportunity to have slides of your work on file in the gallery for prospective buyers to look through. On this occasion, it was Annie Glenn, the senator’s wife, who had seen my work. She wanted an Ohio artist to design the Christmas presents that would be given out to the people who worked in her husband’s Washington office. That first order for 100 mugs was a memorable event in more ways than one. Through a series of phone calls to discuss the design to be used, and sketches of several possibilities sent for Annie’s approval, the design was chosen. The first John Glenn Christmas mug would have a round medallion with a descending dove. Arched above the central dove design would Linda Christianson finishing a bowl during a workshop at be the words “Merry Christmas,” and below it would say the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, New York. “Annie and John Glenn, 1981.” The only remaining decision to be made before going into four cups.” Working steadily, she makes over 1400 cups a year; production pertained to the glaze decoration. Would they like that’s at least 28,000 over the past 20 years, give or take a few. the dove to be the same color as the mug (earthy brown tones) She then shifted to the participants’ concerns as the focus for or should I glaze the dove white? A sample of each was re­ the workshop; they posed questions and she came up with some quested, made and sent, and a week later I got my answer. The exercises to address them. For example, “How do you make dove would be the same color as the rest of the mug, the decid­ handles?” Make every kind of handle—throw a slab handle on ing factor being politically based rather than artistically deter­ the floor then press it against the wall for texture, pull one, coil mined. It seemed that a white glaze would call too much one, cut one, attach them every place possible in order to stretch attention to the dove, which some might misconstrue as an the possibilities in your mind. antiwar statement. Her nature is to go thoughtfully, which could be character­ For the next 12 years, mugs were ordered each October for ized as slow. She kicks the wheel slowly It is all that is necessary. December delivery, in time for the office Christmas party.

24 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/July/August 1999 25 Up Front was suc^ a to shake his hand once again, this time as an established artist. During these past 17 years, the John Glenn Christmas order, in addition to the great honor it has been for us, has provided funds for everything from Christmas toys to college textbooks to a brand-new guitar for me. I don’t know if the Glenns will need to give out as many Christmas gifts in the future, but if they do, I hope to remain “the senator’s potter.” Mark Chatterley Ceramic and bronze sculptures, as well as paintings, by Michi­ gan artist Mark Chatterley were on view through May 25 at

Senator John Glenn with Ohio potter Jerry Davis.

Designs changed each year—bells, stocldngs, trees, angels, candy canes, holly leaves, stars, candles, etc. But after a set of 12 had been collected, and the senator was still winning one election after another, it was decided that a change would be nice. That year a candle holder was designed for the occasion, followed by cookie plates for the next four years. Christmas of 1998 brought with it much excitement and sentiment. With Senator Glenn’s historic return to outer space, and the year being his last in the Senate, I knew that a special commemorative gift would be needed. Would they like me to try to reproduce and incorporate onto the plate the logo that had been designed for the space flight? No; instead, they de­ cided to keep the gift focused on the senator’s years in office. So the 1998 John Glenn Christmas order was for a plate inscribed with “U.S. Senate, 1974-1998” and the usual “Annie and John Glenn,” along with several cutout stars strategically placed around the rim of the plate. Throughout my years of association with the Glenns, I spoke to Annie many times over the phone to discuss each year’s Mark Chatterley’s “Mobile Patterns,” 7½ inches in height, designs, but a face-to-face meeting had never taken place. When handbuilt, high-fired stoneware; at Mackerel Sky Gallery, the senator came to Dayton on December 17, 1998, to rededi- East Lansing, Michigan. cate a piece of the Wright Flyer that he had taken with him on his space flight, my wife, Jenni, insisted we brave the cold and Mackerel Sky Gallery in East Lansing, Michigan. Chatterley’s join the crowd at Carillon Park with the hopeful anticipation of larger-than-life-size hollow stoneware sculptures are handbuilt, actually meeting the couple. using no armatures. All are subsequently finished with a high- I reminded my wife that I had already met Senator Glenn fired “lava” glaze. years ago. When I was a junior in high school, I won a first- place award, along with a $500 scholarship, at the Midwest Walter Donald Kring, 1916-1999 Ceramics Association Show, and it was astronaut John Glenn The Reverend Doctor Walter Donald Kring, a Massachusetts who handed me my award and shook my hand. Besides that, I potter and a founder of the Worcester Center for Crafts, died felt like I knew Annie from all of our telephone conversations. on January 15; he was 82. Kring became interested in Oriental But Jenni (forever the optimist!) insisted we at least try to pottery while a student at Harvard Divinity School. When he meet the Glenns, and called the Washington office to see if our became minister of the First Unitarian Church in Worcester, meeting could be officially arranged. Unfortunately, it was too Massachusetts, he built a large brick kiln behind his parsonage. late for that, but the secretary encouraged us to go, and told us Throughout his career in the ministry, he maintained his which staff members to look for in the crowd. At the ceremony, interest in wheel-thrown stoneware and conducted a significant we were lucky enough to talk to all the right people as we amount of research on high-fired reduction glazes, notably waited for the Glenns to appear. We met Annie as soon as they celadons and copper reds (see “Taking the Uncertainty Out of arrived, and after the senator’s speech, Jenni and I were escorted Copper Reds” in the February 1987 CM and “ Acres of onto the floor, where I was introduced to him as “his” potter. It Celadon” in the May 1990 CM).

26 CERAMICS MONTHLY

trompe l’oeil ever made, the result of more New Books than three years of sweat, toil and obsession. It is also a symbolic route of escape for Ah Leon from the confines of the precious Yixing Beyond Yixing tradition of 4-inch-high teapots with which The Ceramic Art of Ah Leon he began his career but which he found to be “Earth and fire make wood. This curiousincreasingly limiting and suffocating as his equation is one part in the alchemy of ceram­career expanded.” ics artist Ah Leon, who coaxes Taiwan’s local In the final essay, Claudia Brown, art stoneware clay into history assistant professor at Arizona State works that trick the University and Asian art research curator at eye and strike viewers Phoenix Art Museum, looks at the history of as unlikely, sometimes Yixing ware in China, and its admirers in exquisite, wooden ob­Europe and America. 144 pages, including jects,” comments edi­ an appendix on the making of “Bridge” by tor David Wible in Jan Stuart, selected exhibition history, bibli­ one of four essays com­ography, chronology and suggested readings. prising this nicely illustrated book on the 116 color and 62 black-and-white photo­ work of Taiwanese ceramics artist Ah Leon.graphs; 5 sketches. $50, plus shipping. Pub­ “From a delicately poised tree branch and alished by Purple Sands. Distributed by The Ameri­ rugged, spike-ridden railroad tie—both of can Ceramic Society, PO Box 6136, Westerville, which double as teapots—to an expansive, Ohio 43086-6136; see website unvw.acers.org. rambling installation of a broken-down bridge, his works fuse more than simply Portuguese Palissy Ware materials. Ah Leon mingles intangibles as A Survey of Ceramics well, crossing from East to West, from pastfrom to Caldas da Rainha, 1853-1920 present, vessel to installation, from traditionsby Marshall P. Katz of mainland China to experiments of In 1853, Portuguese ceramist Manuel postmodern Taiwan.” Cipriano Gomes Mafia established the first In her essay, Jan Stuart, curator of the 66-Palissy ware factory in Caldas da Rainha. foot-long “Bridge” installation at the Smith­“During the next 30 years, the Caldas ceram­ sonian Institution in Washington, D.C., tallcsics industry, steeped in the Bernard Palissy about Ah Leon’s life and career. Entering thetradition and spearheaded by Mafia, grew National Academy of Arts in Taipei in 1972,rapidly and spawned a group of talented he majored in surrealistic painting. After artists to energize their growing enterprises,” finding it difficult to make a living as a observes Katz in this well-illustrated history. painter, however, he began making func­ “Yet, surprisingly, the tional pottery, discovering a particular inter­ Palissy revival did not est in Yixing teapots. Today, “functional spread to any other ce­ pottery vessels still remain in Ah Leon’s rep­ ramics centers in Por­ ertoire as ‘bread and butter,’ but since the late tugal; it remained 1980s, he has increasingly embraced sculp­ exclusive to Caldas.” ture as his metier,” notes Stuart. “In Ah After an overview Leon’s new style, his teapots took the form of of the life and career tree trunks, branches, and railroad ties. Al­ of Bernard Palissy, the though still functional in theory, their im­ French ceramist who became renowned for pressive size and weight negated their purposehis rustic ware depicting pond life in natural­ as vessels and transformed them into what isticAh settings, the book briefly describes Por­ Leon calls ‘sculpture with teapot features.’ tuguese and Caldas da Rainha ceramics, then His series of wood-inspired teapots exhibitsdiscusses a the works of nine Portuguese artists rare degree of technical virtuosity in the who created Palissy-style ware. idiom of trompe I’oeil, while also offering The first artist to create Palissy ceramics, playful commentary on the fundamental Manuel Mafia’s “adaptations of Palissy ware question of what a vessel is.” differed markedly from the works of his Garth Clark, director of Garth Clark French counterparts,” notes Katz. “In his hands, Gallery and the Ceramic Arts Foundation inthe characteristic Palissy theme—life as found New York City, describes Ah Leon’s work in a tranquil pond—gave way to images of a within a “historical context from a Westernfierce struggle for survival, usually between viewpoint.” According to Clark, ‘Bridge: Il­snake and lizard. This subject became so lusion in Clay’ (1997) was his most ambi­popular that it was copied by nearly every tious work to date. “The work achieved manysubsequent 19 th-century Caldas ceramist and things at once. It is arguably the most monu­came to dominate the output of many Portu­ mental and mesmerizing work of ceramic guese Palissy followers.” Continued

28 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/July/August 1999 29 New Books da Rainha (1850-1920); a description of analysis. “The purpose of this study,” Schreiber faience, clays and compositions; past and explains, “is to analyze in depth the tech­ present price comparisons; makers’ marl^s;niques used in forming each of the major glossary; bibliography; and index. 159 colortypes of Attic decorated vases produced, from While Mafra used traditional Palissy im­ early black-figured ages (shells, fish, frogs, moths, beetles, etc.)photographs; in 1 sketch. $75. Hudson Hills through the decline in his work, he also “incorporated a new ele­ Press, 122 East 25th Street, Fifth Floor, New York, New York 10010-2936. red-figured vases (610 ment into his designs—musgo, or moss. Where to 390 B.C.).” his French contemporaries usually arrangedAthenian Vase Construction The text is sepa­ naturalistic elements around rustic ponds, rated into two parts: Mafra often placed his creatures on a bed ofA Potter’s Analysis by Toby Schreiber The Basics and The thick green moss, using a more-than-2000- Vases. The first part year-old Egyptian technique of pressing wet This well-illustrated study of ancient Greekprovides detailed descriptions of each aspect clay through a sieve.” 140 pages, including a pottery by a practicing potter focuses on of the processes used in making Athenian chronology of Palissy-style ceramics in Caldas production processes, as well as technical pottery, beginning with clay origin, compo­ sition and preparation. Forming techniques are also covered. Each topic is illustrated by photos and line drawings to visually explain how the pots were and can be made. Similarly, “Part 2 describes, in alphabeti­ cal order, how 24 major types of Attic vases, many with subtypes and variations, would have been produced. Each vase shape is pre­ sented through photographs of intact vases, followed by a description of their construc­ tion techniques.” 296 pages, including ap­ pendixes on silhouettes of vase shapes, terminology, mouth types, foot types and handle types. 542 black-and-white photo­ graphs and line drawings. $70. J. Paul Getty Museum, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite500, Los Angeles, California90049-1682; telephone (310) 440-6795. Glazes for the Craft Potter New Edition by Harry Fraser “Interest in the craft of pottery— a unique blend of art and science—has grown steadily for most of this century....Harry Fraser, in choosing to concentrate on glazes, has tack­ led a most intriguing and often baffling area,” writes British potter Michael Casson in the foreword to this book. Indeed, there is a wealth of information here for the artist/ potter to glean; however, American readers should take into account that this is written from a European per­ spective and that some terminology and safety regulations dif­ fer from that of the United States, particu­ larly in regard to the use of leaded frits. Fraser begins with historical information about glaze, then goes on to explain basic glaze chemistry, how heat affects glazes and calculations for recipe development. He also describes the preparation of glaze batches, as well as how to apply, fire, test and correct defects. Care is taken to explain the various

30 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/July/August 1999 31 New Books likely to trap the unwary, [and] open doors to those who seek to better their business prac­ tices, increase their incomes and protect their ways one can succeed with his or her own art. Knowing when it is advisable to consult glaze recipes. with a lawyer can itself be a great asset.” Included are two new chapters covering The topics discussed include copyrights, safety precautions to take when working withelectronic rights, moral rights, contracts, hazardous materials, plus a chapter devotedunique art and limited editions, reproduc­ to sample recipes for raku, low-fire and high- tion rights, sales by fire glazes. 150 pages, including appendixes galleries and agents, on precautions, low-solubility testing, acid- publishing contracts, resistance testing, the borax method of test­ studios and leases, ing metallic compounds, Brogniart’s formula taxes, employees, for dry matter content as a liquid, tempera­ grants and public sup­ ture equivalents of cones, temperature con­ port for the arts, the version chart, the common elements of artist as a collector, and ceramics and their oxides, glaze oxides and how to avoid or re­ introductory raw materials, a table of chemi­solve disputes with clients. Samples ofvarious cal and physical constants, and a list of suppli­legal contracts are provided throughout the ers of ceramic materials throughout the book as well. 277 pages, including appen­ world. 14 color photographs, and 64 black- dixes on artists’ groups and organizations for and-white photographs and drawings. $25, the arts, national service organizations, re­ softcover; plus shipping and handling. The gional arts organizations, and state and juris­ American Ceramic Society, Post Office Box dictional arts agencies; selected bibliography; 6136, Westerville, Ohio, 43086-6136; see and index. 10 black-and-white photographs. website at www.acers.org. $ 19.95, softcover.Allworth Press, 10East23rd Street, Suite 210, New York, New York 10010; Treasures of the Creative Spirit see website at www.allworth.com or telephone An Artist’s Understanding of Human (800) 491-2808. Creativity by Robert Piepenburg What Every Potter Should Know “As human beings, we are visionaries filledAnswers & Solutions to Common with imagination. We are also intimately Pottery Problems blessed with the sub­ by JejfZamek jective presence of our Basically a compilation of articles that spirit, and our spirit, appeared over the past decade in Ceramics like the eye of a hurri­ Monthly, this guide “is meant to help potters cane, is the inner eye understand the basic theories involved in of self,” observes au­ daywork and to offer small pieces of some­ thor/ artist/educator times unrelated information to help solve Robert Piepenburg in common problems.” this book about “our Divided into five sections, it covers busi­ spiritual treasures and ness practices (including how to buy supplies how they form the and avoiding selling functioning bridges between our being hu­ problems), properties man and our being creative.” of clay bodies, proper­ Divided into three sections—spirit and ties of slips and glazes creativity; treasures of the spirit (such as (including corrections vision, integrity, truthfulness, self-esteem, for common prob­ etc.); and living life creatively—the book lems) , safety in the stu­ focuses on “our capacity to be creative and to dio, and basic recipes give expression to our imagination even when for clay bodies and the details of its existence are unknown to us. ” glazes, ranging from 192 pages. $12.95, softcover.Pebble Press Cone 06 to Cone 9. 222 pages, including Inc., 24723 Westmoreland, Farmington Hills, glossary and index. 37 color and 126 black- Michigan 48336-1963. and-white photographs. $27.95, softcover; plus $3.25 shipping/handling. Krause Publi­ Legal Guide for the Visual Artist cations, 700 East State Street, Iola, Wisconsin by Tad Crawford 54990-0001; distributed by JejfZamek, Ce­ “Artists should never feel intimidated, ramics Consulting Services, 6 Glendale Woods helpless or victimized,” observes the authorDrive, of Southampton, Massachusetts 01073; this updated and revised guide, which is [email protected]; telephone (413) 527- intended to alert “the artist to issues that are7337; fax (413) 529-2574.

32 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/July/August 1999 33

Visiting Ryoji Koie by Kelvin Bradford

first met Japanese potter Ryoji Koie speak to the student, who indicated I ln 1997. I had gone to Japan for an would soon be meeting some other stu­ exhibition of my work at the New dents who had also been touched by Zealand Embassy in Tokyo, and went Koie. The use of the word “touched” to see an exhibition of work by Kanjiro was interesting, as it was spoken almost Kawai at Asuka Gallery While I was with reverence. there, the owner showed me a book on On arrival, I was introduced to a Koie and offered to arrange a meeting. I doctoral student from Chile, and an­ had no prior knowledge of Koie, but other from Switzerland, as well as Koie s the range of his work impressed me, assistants. We all sat down around an and I immediately accepted. open fire and had a bit of an interna­ I left Shibuya in Tokyo at 10 A.M. tional conference. All of these people and on arrival in Nagoya telephoned had obviously been influenced greatly the Koie workshop before catching the by Koies philosophy, and the respect train to Ena. When I arrived at the that they accorded him was obvious. station, I was met by Koie, who I recog­ Unlike many Japanese masters, Koie nized from his pictures in the book I is extremely open in discussion, and I had seen. I was immediately impressed soon realized that many of his ideas by the warmth of his greeting and his would be controversial within Japan. joviality. He was accompanied by a stu­ He is very much a trailblazer, and con­ dent from the United States. stantly confronts officialdom. The drive to Koies workshop took Around the workshop, there were about 40 minutes. We traveled up into notes written mainly in English and the mountains, through tunnels, along Ryoji Koie cooking for guests sketches that had been left by visitors at roads overlooking manmade dams. Dur­ at his studio. various times. This particular structure ing the drive, I had the opportunity to had been built about four years earlier

June/July/August 1999 35 Approaching Koie’s kiln shed and studio,

when Koie decided to move his studio guests and a huge area (in which there is with various types of clay, throwing, from Tokoname into the mountains at a small collection of pottery) that is glazing, decorating, arranging the work Kamiyahagi to escape from the con­ used for sleeping accommodations for in the Idln and the firing) and pushes stant pressures of a potter with such a large groups. them to the limit. The scope of the high profile. Next door is the kiln shed, which work in the studio was enormous, from The workshop has two levels: down­ contains three large gas kilns; one has a clay faces to traditional Oribe ware. stairs, at one side of the entrance, is a massive blower or afterburner and will After my tour of the workshop, Koie traditional open fire with a flue-style fire to around 1600°C (2900°F). There decided he wanted a pasta dinner, and chimney, a kitchen, a long table for are also a large number of electric kilns our entire group traveled some two meals (it also extends and doubles in (mainly computerized top loaders), racks hours to a restaurant, returning about 1 area for clay preparation), toilet facili­ for the pots and a large pug mill. In A.M. Some pots were then decorated ties, a shower and a Japanese-style bath. between the kiln shed and the work­ with a white slip, which I would later At the front, there is an office and li­ shop is a covered area for storing clay discover is a particular favorite of Koie s, brary with sliding doors, then an area and glaze materials. then it was time for a game of Japanese with drying racks and recycled clay. Two In conversation, it soon became ob­ chess with his assistant. I was tired, and oil burners run 24 hours a day in the vious that Koie identifies closely with went to bed. When I awoke the next cool season, keeping the air very dry. the earth, no matter what style of work morning, it was to the sound of a moun­ There are three electric wheels and a he produces. He has the rare ability to tain stream. The location is truly idyllic, Leach-style kick wheel, as well as a tra­ be able to succeed with both very tradi­ if not convenient. ditional kick wheel. Koie uses plaster tional and very contemporary ideas. He Koie is a professor at the Aichi Uni­ bats extensively. At the back is the Koie has a great love for the wheel and cer­ versity of Fine Arts, which is located sleeping room. tainly has a preference for round forms near Nagoya, at least a 90-minute drive Upstairs is by way of the usual steep when throwing; however, he will not be from his studio. The family home is in staircase without handrail. There are two restricted in any way. He experiments Tokoname, a further 90-minute drive rooms, each about 12-feet-square, for with all processes (including working from the university. He regularly com-

36 CERAMICS MONTHLY Water jar, approximately 8 inches in height; exhibited at Keio Department Store in Tokyo.

June/July/August 1999 37 The last time I visited Koies studio, which was in October 1998, there had been considerable change. There was a new steel roof covering one third of the kiln room, the open fire was being re­ constructed and new racks built in front of the electric wheels, which now num­ ber four. There were two new assistants, with a third about to commence. Two students from Korea had come for a two-week period, and a student from the United States arrived on the last day of my stay. Most of the work being produced was traditional Oribe or high-fired raku. This involves removing the pieces from the front of a large gas kiln at 1250°C (2282°F) and plunging them into com­ bustibles. The pieces are removed only Sake cup, approximately 3 inches in height, Oribe-glazed stoneware. from the front of the kiln because of the difficulty of the operation. The heat is quite intense. When I asked why high- fire raku, I was told that the iron color produced is superior. Koie was to open an exhibition in Mino the day after I arrived, and one kiln was still firing. The show was to include high-fired raku, and Oribe- and Nezumi-Shino-glazed ware. The Nezumi-Shino was still in that last kiln; the firing was so late, the kiln was fast cooled by the injection of air from a huge blower system. Koie left for the university at 9 A.M. The pieces were unloaded at 11 A.M. and taken to the gallery. Koie arrived there at 1 P.M.; with his wife, the selec­ tion was made and all the pieces priced just before the exhibition opened at 5. The dynamics of Koie s work have been responsible for the most dramatic Sake cup, approximately 4 inches in height, Nezumi-Shino-glazed stoneware. change in my approach to making. While my style of work is totally unre­ mutes between all three places, some­ nated in sake or be extremely hot, but lated, I have endeavored to inject spon­ times on a daily basis. Often he leaves always delicious. taneity and energy into the making the family home at midnight, arriving Although he has an incredibly busy process as a result of my visits to his at the workshop in the early hours of schedule (including working visits to workshop. I will always think of Koie as the morning, which is why he usually the United States, England and Austra­ a person who believes in living life to its begins working in the studio around 11 lia), Koie enjoys company. He enjoys fullest, a magnetic personality who has A.M. and goes late into the evening. sitting around the fire with a group of a genuine interest in students, a mod­ There are two major meals a day: guests, informally eating and drinking. ern-day genius with a passion for clay lunch and dinner. Koie is an excellent Visitors constantly arrive even though chef and enjoys cooldng for others. One his wortahop is so remote; its a 25- The author New Zealand potter Kelvin of his favorite ploys is to say, “Try this,” minute walk to the nearest village, which Bradford (see “Seashell Fuming' in the as he offers a guest a bottle of exotic- is so small I could not find an interna­ January 1998 CM) has visited Ryoji Koie looking picldes. They will either be mari­ tional telephone. several times in the past two years.

38 CERAMICS MONTHLY Formulating Glazes by Richard A. Eppler

t once was common practice for pot­ computer programs on the market to­ silica, alumina and zircon in the time lters to use low-fire glazes containing day, this is as easy as using weight ratios. while the ware is in the hot zone of the lead oxide. Today, this is no longer fea­ Lets proceed from some very familiar firing kiln, the amount of refractory sible for a studio potter or a small pro­ concepts, and go from there to those oxides must be limited to 75 mole per­ duction pottery in the United States. It that are more subtle. cent. For gloss glazes, these two limits is just too expensive to install all the are compatible. For satin and matt facilities needed to handle lead oxide Melting Oxides glazes, the alumina requirements of the safely and to dispose of any wastes that The alkalis, Na20 and K20, are the matting crystals lead to the need for are contaminated with lead oxide. For­ most powerful melting oxides available; higher alumina content and lower silica tunately, recent advances in glaze-mak­ however, they also substantially increase content. For a satin glaze, the silica level ing technology have made it possible the thermal expansion of glazes. This should be 60 to 62 mole percent. For a to formulate aesthetically interesting, property alone creates the limits on al­ matt glaze, the silica level should be 57 leadless glazes for most studio situations.kali use for almost all applications. I to 59 mole percent. First, a word about firing conditions: always recommend that glazes to be fired These limits apply to glazes fired at More fluxing materials are available as at Cone 06 contain no more than 7 to 8 Cone 5 and lower. At higher tempera­ the firing temperatures are raised. At mole percent. Glazes to be fired at Cone tures, both the total refractory oxides Cone 1 or higher, high-quality leadless 1 should be limited to 5 to 6 mole and the silica contents are increased lin­ glazes are readily produced, but at Cone percent. Glazes to be fired at Cone 4 early as the heat work is increased. At 02, care is required to formulate a qual­ should be limited to 4 to 5 mole per­ Cone 6, the silica content should be 68 ity leadless glaze. At Cone 06, the sur­ cent. Glazes for high-firing bodies to 70 mole percent for a gloss glaze, and face quality and durability of leadless should be limited to 2 to 4 mole per­ the total refractory oxides should be 79 glazes leave a lot to be desired. Firing at cent. Gloss glazes should be formulated to 80 mole percent. At Cone 8, the Cone 6 is an excellent compromise be­ close to the maximum levels. On the silica content should be 72 to 74 mole tween a high-enough temperature to other hand, satin and matt glazes should percent for a gloss glaze, and the total achieve a good-looking leadless glaze, be formulated at lower concentrations. refractory oxides should be 82 to 83 and a low-enough temperature to main­ Boron oxide is a uniquely useful ma­ mole percent. tain a good range of stable colors. terial, as it is both a glass former and a Alumina is an important constitu­ melting oxide; however, in excessive ent of most glazes. In glazes containing Formulation quantity, boron oxide leads to gassing either boron oxide or alkaline earths, as Now lets talk about glaze formula­ during the firing, producing pinholes most glazes do, alumina serves to sup­ tion. There are several ways to express a in the glaze. The amount of boron ox­ press phase separation and subsequent formula. First, there is the recipe, which ide that can be safely added decreases crystallization. On the other hand, the tells us what raw materials to blend rapidly as the heat work in firing in­ solubility of alumina in glazes is lim­ together; a recipe is needed to mix the creases. At Cone 06, the maximum bo­ ited. If that solubility is exceeded, crys­ glaze, but is useless for understanding ron oxide addition is 17 mole percent. tals appear. Thus, there is an optimum it. Next, we might tabulate the amounts At Cone 1, the maximum boron oxide alumina concentration for maximum of the various oxides in the fired glaze in addition is 4 to 5 mole percent. At glaze clarity; this optimum amount is weight percent. A better way is to tabu­ Cone 4, the maximum boron oxide ad­ only slightly affected by the firing con­ late the relative numbers of molecules dition is 3 mole percent. At Cone 6, the ditions, increasing slightly as the heat of each of the oxides; this is called the maximum boron oxide addition is 2 work increases. The optimum is 5.5 to mole percent, and corresponds most mole percent. At Cone 8, little if any 6 mole percent at Cone 06; 7 to 8 mole closely with the properties of the fired should be used. percent at Cone 1; 7.5 to 8.5 mole glaze. A fourth method of tabulation is percent at Cone 4; 8 to 9 mole percent the Seger or unit formula, which is simi­ Refractory Oxides at Cone 6, and 9 to 10 mole percent at lar to the molecular tabulation, differ­ Silica is the framework of glazes. Al­ Cone 8. ing only by a constant factor for a given most all glazes contain more silica than For satin and matt glazes where crys­ glaze. For high-fire glazes (above Cone all other oxides combined. Hence, a tals are desired, the alumina concentra­ 5), unit formula is equivalent to mo­ minimum silica level is needed to main­ tion can be modestly increased; however, lecular formula, but at low fire the ad­ tain the glaze structure. For gloss glazes, the lower silica concentrations discussed vantages of the unit formula disappear. the level of silica should be 66 to 68 previously have the effect of lowering One does not have to be a math­ mole percent. the alumina solubility, so that substan­ ematical genius to use molecular for­ On the other hand, if the glaze is to tial increase in alumina concentration is mulas. With the glaze-calculation melt, and dissolve the refractory oxides not required.

June/July/August 1999 39 Alkaline Earths earths. As before, up to 4 mole percent defect-free production. The second step A discussion of the alkaline earths can be strontia; the balance, calcia. is selection of appropriate raw materials calcia, strontia and baria has been left to Magnesium oxide is one of the most to yield a defect-free glaze. this point because the melting behavior refractory oxides known; however, it is There are several reasons why raw of the alkaline earth materials is some­ a powerful flux in high heat work glazes material selection is not a trivial consid­ what complex. The melting points of above Cone 6. It also has deleterious eration. The first is melting and/or dis­ alkaline earth raw materials are suffi­ characteristics: it promotes knife mark­ solution rate. During the time when ciently high that they must be dissolved ing of glazes, and its principal raw ma­ the glaze is at the high temperature, all rather than melted. However, once dis­ terial source, talc, produces gassing underthe various raw materials must either solved, the alkaline earths lower the vis­ most firing conditions. Thus, addition melt or dissolve. That time may be as cosity of the molten glaze and increase of magnesia beyond that added as im­ short as two to ten minutes in a fast-fire the dissolving power of the melt. Thus, purity in raw materials used for other operation. Even for slow firing, the time at firing conditions severe enough to oxides is not recommended. is only one to six hours. dissolve the alkaline earths at an appro­ Zinc oxides behavior in glazes is Second, the glaze-melting process re­ priate rate, they function as fluxes, while rather complex. Below Cone 02, it is leases large quantities of gas, which must at lower heat work they are essentially inert. Above Cone 02, it dissolves at a be eliminated during the firing process. inert. For calcia and strontia, the heat reasonable rate and acts as a flux. When Obviously, raw materials that release sub­ work at which the dissolving rate be­ used in small quantity along with other stantial amounts of gas on heating must comes appreciable is about Cone 01. fluxes, it helps to produce a smooth, be minimized. Also, the space between For baria, it is somewhat higher— defect-free surface; however, like boron the particles in the dried-but-not-fired around Cone 2. oxide, adding too much zinc oxide at a glaze alone amounts to over 40% of the The principal alkaline earth used in given heat work will lead to pitting and total volume; hence, to minimize pin­ higher-firing glazes is calcium oxide, a blistering. Therefore, use of zinc oxide hole defects, there is need to maximize common and inexpensive material. at higher heat work must be limited. the temperature at which seal-over oc­ Strontium oxide is similar in behavior Moreover, zinc oxide behaves as a low- curs. In addition, unmelted particles of to calcia. Its use is related to the obser­ grade opacifier, as concentrations above silica and other refractory materials must vation that a glaze with more than one 5 mole percent may cause crystalliza­ be eliminated, as they provide an an­ alkaline earth has better properties than tion of zinc-oxide-containing phases. chor for gas. one with a single oxide in higher quan­ Finally, zinc oxide has profound ef­ A third important factor is particle- tity. While barium oxide is considerably fect on the color of several ceramic pig­ size distribution. If too coarse, the raw more refractory than the other alkaline ments. Therefore, use of more than 0.5 material may not melt or dissolve in the earths, it has some of the toxicity prob­ mole percent should be a conscious, time available. But if too fine, agglom­ lems associated with heavy metals, and deliberate decision. When the decision eration may become a problem. The its use is not recommended. to prepare a zinc-oxide-containing glaze optimum particle size in most cases turns As alkaline earths are the last of the is made, the following limitations ap­ out to be less than 325-mesh material major ingredients to be discussed, their ply. Zinc oxide should not be used in free of submicron particles. recommended concentrations are par­ glazes fired below Cone 02. At Cones 1 tially determined by the requirements through 4, the zinc oxide concentration Refractories that the sum of all concentrations equals should be limited to 4 mole percent. At In discussing the behavior of the vari­ 100 mole percent. Nevertheless, some Cone 6, the zinc oxide should be lim­ ous raw materials during glaze matura­ observations are in order. At Cone 06, ited to 3 mole percent; and at Cone 8, tion, it is useful to group them with the goal should be to avoid the use of it should be limited to 2 mole percent. those with similar properties. First, we alkaline earths completely, as they are The best known use of zirconia is as have the refractories—materials with inert and do not contribute to the glaze the principal component of opacifiers. high-melting points and inertness, with structure. For gloss glazes at Cones 1 to For that use, it is desirable for the zircon great resistance to degradation either 6, the total alkaline earths will usually to remain as a separate crystalline phase. thermally or chemically. Refractory ma­ be 15 to 18 mole percent. At Cone 8, While the solubility of zirconia in most terials come in two categories: the plas­ they will decline to 12 to 15 mole per­ glazes is low, it is not zero. Up to 0.4 tic and the nonplastic. cent due to the increase in silica and mole percent zirconia may be added to Plastic raw materials can be mixed alumina required at that high heat work. a glaze without inducing crystallization. with a little water to produce a deform­ Of this, up to 3 or 4 mole percent can Addition of this limited amount of zir­ able mass that can be easily worked to a be strontia; the balance, calcium oxide. conia is desirable and recommended, as desired shape. They work because their For satin and matt glazes, the lower it will tend to raise the gloss and im­ molecules can attract and loosely bond silica content will permit substantially prove the alkaline durability. to water molecules. Hence, they have higher alkaline earth additions. Satin value in glazes as suspending agent. glazes may contain up to 25 mole per­ Raw Materials The most common such materials cent alkaline earths; matt glazes may Identification of the oxides is only are the clays. There are three important contain up to 28 mole percent alkaline the first step in formulating a glaze for classes of clay: kaolin, ball clay and

40 CERAMICS MONTHLY montmorillonite. Produced mostly in Calcined alumina is even slower melt­ Thus, they are usable as a primary melter Georgia in the U.S., kaolins are very ing than flint. Hence, it is not recom­ in glazes firing at Cone 1 or higher, and pure, white-burning clays. They are of­ mended for use in glazes. Alumina can be used as a secondary melter as low ten used in concentrations up to 10% hydrate yields up its water of hydration as Cone 02. The potash feldspars do in glazes to provide suspension. During at around 300°C (570°F), and is much not melt effectively until a temperature the firing process, they first lose their finer in particle size than calcined alu­ around 1150°C (2100°F) is reached. water of hydration at temperatures at mina; 2-3% can be used in glazes fired Thus, at Cone 1, soda feldspar is 500°-650°C (930°-1200°F). After­ at Cone 2—4 or higher. Better sources of preferred to potash feldspar. On the ward, the remaining material is an alu- alumina, beyond that added by materi­ other hand, at Cone 8-10, potash feld­ minosilicate of moderate refractoriness. als that contribute alkali oxides, are cal­ spar is preferred because the very high In firings at Cone 4 or above, they cined kaolin and pyrophyllite. Calcining viscosity serves to prevent runoff from can be used without risk. In lower firing kaolin removes the water of hydration vertical surfaces. conditions, the amount that can be used so that it doesn’t contribute shrinkage A related material is nepheline syen­ depends on the soak time available. on firing. It also converts iron oxide ite. This alkali aluminosilicate is a eu­ Glazes that are soaked for one hour or impurities to hematite, which can be tectic mixture of nepheline and feldspar. more can contain 6-8% kaolin at Cone removed by magnets. Pyrophyllite is a It is a more powerful melter than the 1, and 3-4% at Cone 02. For fast-fire similar material, except that the silica- feldspars, and yields a lower melt vis­ operations, kaolin is not recommended to-alumina ratio is higher; up to 10% cosity; however, nepheline syenite has a for Cone 1 (or less) clear gloss glazes; can be used at as low a temperature as higher alkali content than feldspar, so however, limited amounts (3—4%) can Cone 1 fast fire. that less can be used in achieving a be used in opacified, satin and matt Zircon has a solubility in glazes of given alkali content. glazes, where residual unmelted mate­ about 5% at high temperature, and 2- Another related material is musco­ rial may not be noticeable. 3% at room temperature. Thus, it has vite mica. Although its alkali is potash, Ball clays (produced mainly in Ken­ an important use as an opacifier. More­ and it has a higher alumina-to-silica tucky and Tennessee) are a less pure over, it dissolves in a molten glaze only ratio than feldspar, it is at least as pow­ family of clays that are darker burning, with great difficulty, so the amount erful a melter as soda feldspar. Also, it but offer superior suspending power. added should be limited to 1% at Cone has a higher alumina-to-silica ratio. Because of the color problem, only the 2 and to 0.75% at Cone 1 fast fire. Thus, combinations of feldspar and most white-burning grades should be Titania behaves similarly in that it mica can be used to adjust the alumina- considered. Their behavior on firing is has a high-temperature solubility of to-silica ratio. similar to the kaolins. about 10%, and a low-temperature solu­ The lithium minerals, spodumene Finally, montmorillonite clays, often bility of about 5%. Quantities of 2-3% and petalite, are also powerful melters. called bentonite or hectorite, are a group can be added to glazes without difficulty.They are effective at temperatures as of hydrous clays produced largely in low as 1000°C (1832°F). They can be Wyoming. Their great virtue is that they Fluxes considered whenever lithium oxide in are about five times as effective in sus­ The second important group of glaze the glaze formula is appropriate. pending glazes as other clays. Hence, materials are the fluxes. They are used The other important class of melters even when used alone, 2% is sufficient to provide the glue that fuses the vari­ is the frits, which are premelted and to provide adequate suspension. ous raw materials into a single solid shattered glass of various compositions. The nonplastic refractories, such as mass. They form a glass that is powerful They are used primarily to provide ele­ alumina and silica, are very high melt­ enough to dissolve the refractory ingre­ ments, such as boron oxide, that do not ing and very resistant to dissolution. In dients in the short time that the glaze is have any water insoluble raw materials. glazes fired at high temperatures, sub­ molten. Like the refractories, there are As they are glasses, they begin to soften stantial amounts of these materials can two important types of fluxes. First, thereat temperatures of 500°C (932°F) to be dissolved in the molten glaze. At are the melters—those materials that 700°C (1292°F). Thus, if care is not lower firing temperatures, their use must will melt or soften (in the case of frits) taken in the choice of frit, the glaze may be severely limited. and provide the initial liquid phase at seal the body before it has given up all Quartz (flint) is dissolved readily in the firing temperature. of its contained air. The result will be glazes fired to Cone 5 or higher. Glazes One such material is feldspar, which blisters and similar gaseous defects. fired at Cone 8—10 may contain as muchis an alkali aluminosilicate mineral (pro­ The softness of a frit can be judged as 20-30% flint without difficulty. On duced in North Carolina and in South by its glass temperature, which is a prop­ the other hand, in firings at lower tem­ Dakota). Most partially fritted glazes erty reported by the frit manufacturers peratures, it is difficult or impossible to contain substantial quantities of this ma­ for their products. For a glaze firing at eliminate residual unmelted silica. Thus, terial. The melting properties of the feld­ Cone 06, the glass temperature of the at Cone 4, the amount of flint in the spars, and the viscosity of the resulting frit(s) used should be about 530°C glaze batch should be limited to 8— melt, depend somewhat on the soda to (986°F) or higher. For a glaze firing at 10%, and at lower temperatures, it potash ratio. The soda feldspars melt Cone 1, it should be about 600°C should not be used. effectively at about 1100°C (2010°F). (1112°F) or higher. For a glaze firing at

June/July/August 1999 41 Cone 3 or 4 or more, it should be about use is that it yields its water of hydra­ and once applied, assist in preventing 665°C (1229°F) or higher. tion at approximately 1100°C, so it is runoff from vertical surfaces. Two of Unfortunately, many of the ceramics very difficult to use talc in glazes fired at the best known are tetrasodium pyro­ supply houses do not carry a good sup­ Cone 1 without producing bubble de­ phosphate, commonly called TSPP, and ply of frits, especially the harder frits fects. At least Cone 3 is required to be sodium tripolyphosphate, which is the suitable for firing at Cone 3 or higher. safe in using talc in a glaze. active ingredient in Calgon in some Of particular usefulness are the frits Zinc oxide is attacked and dissolved states. In others, the environmental named P-4K47 and P-930 by Pemco; in molten oxides at reasonable rates at laws have forced potters to buy so­ F-300 and F-38 by Fusion Ceramics. temperatures above approximately dium tripolyphosphate from chemi­ Locating a suitable source is well worth 1050°C. Once dissolved, it helps to cal supply houses. A third (less the effort. lower viscosity and increase the dissolv­ powerful) deflocculant is sodium nitrite, The other category of fluxes includes ing power of the melt. Hence, zinc ox­ a meat preservative. those materials that do not have low ide can be used in glazes to be fired at The clays that were discussed as part melting points, but are readily attacked Cone 04 or higher. of the glaze formulation also affect the by molten oxides at firing temperatures, batch behavior, providing suspension and once dissolved, contribute to the Preparation of the solid particles; however, unless reactions forming the final product. The first step in the preparation of the glaze is to be applied to a wet body, The most effective material in this glazes is to convert the weighed-out pow­the amount of suspending ingredients category is wollastonite. At tempera­ ders into a form that can be applied to and binders should be limited. If too tures above 1050°-1100°C (1922°- the ware. Usually, this is done by add­ much is used, the unfired glaze will 2012°F), wollastonite is readily attacked ing the powders to water, forming a crack during drying. Suitable clay addi­ by molten oxides. Once dissolved, it slurry. Unfortunately, it is rare for a tions are 2% bentonite or 6-10% ka­ lowers the viscosity of the melt, making mixture of minerals and ground frit sus­ olin or ball clay, or 1% bentonite plus it more aggressive in dissolving other pended in water to be usable as is, par­ 3-5% kaolin or ball clay. ingredients. At Cone 1 and higher, sub­ ticularly with any degree of reproduc­ Once weighed out, the glaze must stantial quantities can be used. Gloss ibility. The behavior of the slurry is be thoroughly mixed. The best mixing glazes can contain up to 10%. Satin influenced by the particle sizes and is carried out in a ball mill. The latter and matt glazes, where residual shapes of the various components, and also provides some particle size reduc­ unmelted material may even be desired these flow properties change with time. tion. Up to a point this is desirable, but to lower the gloss, may contain up to In order to control coating thickness overgrinding must be avoided. If the 30%. Lower firing gloss glazes require and evenness over the ware, additives slurry is too fine, drying cracks will de­ limitation on the wollastonite content. are required to control settling, wetting velop, leading to crawling defects. At Cone 03, the wollastonite should be and bonding to the ware, drying time, For glaze batches that are not milled, limited to 8%, and at Cone 06, it should prevention of drying cracks and pro­ it is important to use raw materials of not be used. vide adequate green strength for han­ appropriate particle size. Frits should be The principal alternative material to dling the glaze when loading the kiln. less than 200 mesh, and raw materials wollastonite is whiting or calcium car­ Unfortunately, most additives affect should be less than 325 mesh. bonate. It has similar behavior and limi­ more than one property, and are some­ After mixing, the glaze batch should tations, although at one to two cones what dependent on the details of the be allowed to stand for 24 hours in higher firing temperature. One reason process equipment used in preparing order to give the additives time to work. is the additional flint required to bal­ and applying the glaze. Thus, several To conclude this discussion of what ance the silica content of wollastonite. trials are usually required to find a suit­ is needed for successful glaze formula­ In addition, calcium carbonate yields able combination for a given situation. tion, lets recap the steps: First, a proper 44% of its weight as gaseous carbon Once that combination of additives is oxide formula must be selected. Then, dioxide at approximately 900°C found, it will usually work for all the raw materials must be chosen that will (1650°F). The overall glaze must there­ glazes applied at that location. melt or dissolve in a time frame coinci­ fore be formulated to assure that the Binders are added to keep the dried- dent with the time the glaze is in the seal-over temperature is above 900°C. but-not-fired glaze on the ware while hot zone of the firing kiln. The melting Thus, uses of substantial quantities are the ware is transferred to the firing kiln. must not begin before sufficient time limited to glazes firing above Cone 3, The most commonly used binder is so­ and temperature elapse to allow the gas and limited quantities of 3—4% to glazes dium carboxymethylcellulose, com­ produced by the maturing of both the firing at Cone 1 or above. Dolomite is monly called CMC; 0.25% to 0.5% is glaze and the body to escape. When similar in behavior to calcium carbon­ usually sufficient. appropriate allowances are made, a de­ ate, and often substituted for it in glazes Deflocculants are salts that act to fect-free glaze will result. where MgO can be tolerated. disperse the powders in the glaze batch, Another alternative material is talc. retarding the rate at which they settle The author Richard A. Eppler, Ph.D., is It is the principal residual source of MgO out. They also help to make the glaze president of Eppler Associates, a ceramics in glazes. The major limitation to its flow easily over the ware on application, consulting firm in Cheshire, Connecticut.

42 CERAMICS MONTHLY Billy Ray Mangham by Gary C. Hatcher

iku, wood firing and salt glazing After the viewer is caught, the work’s R:are similar in that the process can true essence begins to be revealed. This obscure content, making process the duality of humor and pathos is seen only element existent in the work. These clearly in his “fool” series, comprised of methods of process domination only clownlike busts that are strikingly comi­ work if there is content in the form, cal. Upon closer inspection, the viewer which needs enhancement by the pro­ sees short haiku-like verse on the backs, cess. Bringing form, content and pro­ which signal the “fool” is caught in a cess into balance is the dance all clay web of his own making. Mangham in­ artists struggle to perform. terprets the “fool” as one who stands Content transcends process in the outside of reality and time, and com­ raku works of Texas artist Billy Ray ments on events witnessed. The viewer Mangham. Mastery of the firing and wades into the shallow water enticed by glazing processes is evident, but all ele­ humor, then realizes that this work is ments are considered and all are brought far deeper. into harmony. He may make it all look The son of a hard-working oil com­ easy, but easy living has been far from pany man, Mangham was born on a the truth for Mangham. Underneath hot July day in 1945 in the small west the amiable persona is a highly evolved Texas town of Phillips. He grew up ethos that provides humor as well as living in an oil-company house near power to his work. Billy Ray Mangham transferring a eight other families. According to A 30-year pursuit of communicat­ glowing hot truck sculpture to a trash Mangham, “All of the families were fairly ing deep metaphysical and societal truths can for postfiring reduction. uneducated oil field 'rednecks’ except via art has been his quest. The playful for the Olds family.” first appearance of the work is the hook. Willeta and Gene Olds made a dif­ ference in Billy Ray’s life. Willeta taught art at the junior high school and Gene was a rock hound, tinkerer and maker of things. It was at their house, which was filled with exciting junk, and in Willetas ninth-grade art classes that he found a toehold for a life in art. Their generosity in helping him work with tools and his imagination to make wooden toys provided the core for the playful raku sculptures of today. The seeds of art were sown by Willeta and Gene Olds, but it would be many years before Mangham would be able to orchestrate his life and direct his en­ ergy to the realization of his own cre­ ative voice. In 1964, he started playing rock and roll. “I played rhythm and blues in honky-tonks in Amarillo dur­ ing the week, and teen dances all over the panhandle, Oklahoma and New Much of his work begins as a thrown cylinder, which becomes the body Mexico on weekends. I was supposed for cubist figures, school buses and trucks. to be going to college but ended up flunking out.”

June/July/August 1999 43 “Koshare Bank,” 20 inches in height, wheel thrown and handbuilt, bisqued, glazed and raku fired.

44 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Poultry Cult Figure,” 42 inches in height, wheel thrown and handbuilt, raku fired. Then came a four-year tour of Ja­ pan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Hawaii and the Philippines, courtesy of the U.S. Navy. “Vietnam was hot in ’67 and ’68 and I was in serious danger of the draft, so I joined the Navy.” After completing his travels with the military, he met John Daniel, a sculp­ ture professor at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. Daniel guided Mangham back to the art track that Willeta and Gene Olds had started him on. Throwing himself completely into creating sculpture, he experimented with every material avail­ able: wood, welded steel and plaster, but it was when he touched clay that his life took on a true direction. At the time, the university had no clay department, so his pursuit of clay led him to San Jose State University in California, where Herbert Sanders and James Olevera were his professors. This is where Mangham was first introduced

“Big Wheel Raku with Found Objects,” 28 inches in height, wheel thrown and handbuilt, raku fired.

June/July/August 1999 45 the partnership was dissolved and I moved on to Austin.” Having completed an M.F.A. at Stephen F. Austin, Mangham was of­ fered the position of potter-in-residence at the Laguna Gloria Art Museum. It was at this time the Leach-Hamada ap­ proach to working began to lose his interest. After ten years of looking at earth tones, he began to crave color. The transition from earthy colors to bright raku took several years. Most of his works begin with a thrown bullet shape, which becomes the body for cubist figures, school buses and trucks. The parts are frequently as­ sembled with ungalvanized finishing nails inserted into clay seams at the leather-hard stage. The clay body is one that has almost no shrinkage, and crack­ ing is rarely a problem. Each piece is then bisqued to Cone 08, glazed and raku fired to Cone 05. This is close to the temperature limit that these works can be fired without the nails melting. The primary glaze is a 50:50 mixture of Gerstley borate and nepheline syenite; it is combined with stains or commercial low-fire glazes to produce various colors. When asked what the core of his work is, Mangham responded, “I am continually seeking answers to why I have chosen this path. I am working with two assumptions now. First, clay enables me to focus, concentrate and pay attention. Paying attention and be­ “Gator Krewe with Mascot,” 38 inches in height, wheel thrown ing in the present make me truly alive. and handbuilt, bisqued, glazed and raku fired, by Billy Ray Mangham, “The second reason I have chosen San Marcos, Texas. this path with clay is that it connects me to the memory and history of our species. As a culture, we seem to have to raku. “Once a year we had a great Nacogdoches. The quick firing process lost values and direction that are impor­ ‘raku-fest’ on a beach north of Santa of raku gave way to pursuit of the Leach- tant to our survival. When I touch clay, Cruz. Hundreds of pottery students Hamada path. “We made high-fire pots I reconnect with the memory and his­ from local colleges gathered for four or for the masses. We built our own house, tory of our species.” five days, camping and firing in a giant tried to grow our own food and made party. It was a raku experience in the functional pots, using ash glazes. Our The author Gary C. Hatcher is a studio truest sense of the word.” cry was ‘back to the land.’ We worked potter and an assistant professor of art at After completing a B.FA. at San Jose very hard trying to make the dream the University of Texas at Tyler; articles State University, Mangham and two come true. We had little money, busi­ about Gary and wife Daphnes work ap­ friends, Ralph Fulton and Ruth ness acumen or skill, but we had a dream peared in the April 1987 and the June Richards, set up a pottery shop back in and were not afraid to work. In the end, 1996issues ^Ceramics Monthly.

46 CERAMICS MONTHLY Limitless Low Fire

“Noah’s Other Ark,” 35 inches in length, low-fire clay and glazes, by Linda Huey, Alfred Station, New York.

he advantage of working with low- Tfire ceramics is “that there are lim- idess possibilities for full self-expression. Low fire says to the artist, ‘Dream big; you are free,’” remarked Lynn Peters, curator for the recent exhibition “Low Fire: Limitless Possibilities” at the Brookfield (Connecticut) Craft Center. Low fire allows for technological sim­ plicity, Peters continued. “This gives a freedom to creativity that is a response to the materials, and facilitates growth and development as an artist. It can be immediate; it can be predictable; it can be painterly. “Low fire also allows for complexity, [which] gives an accessibility to layering in both form and imagery, using mul­ tiple techniques and going as far as you want to go with color and form. It can be intricate; it can be surprising; it can be figural.” Including both vessels and sculpture, the works in this show were selected to “represent a cross section of what is pos­ sible with low fire.” ▲

“Entwined,” 10½ inches in height, handbuilt and carved red earthenware, with red terra sigillata, burnished, single fired to Cone 08 in oxidation, by Erik Johanson, Tinton Falls, New Jersey.

June/July/August 1999 47 Bobby Silverman

roupingsr of stacked bowls with \vases by Louisiana artist Bobby Silverman were featured through March 31 at Materia/The Hand and the Spirit in Scottsdale, Arizona. For the last few years, Silverman has been concerned with “how a functional object, such as a vessel, can articulate an abstract idea. Nature has been the foundation of this investigation. Specifically, I take differ­ ent kinds of forms, such as bowls and vases, and by stacking them together in aG harmonious repetition, I am able to suggest imagery similar to the way that nature gives bloom to a delicate flower. “Color is also an important aspect of this illusion. It is not merely used as a “Stacked Bowls with Vase,” 6 inches in height, porcelain with Red Glaze 89290 and Yellow Glaze 89291 from the Netherlands branch of Johnson Matthey Company; in the U.S., minimum orders of 200 kilograms will be filled by Johnson Matthey, 498 Acorn Lane, Downington, Pennsylvania 19335; (610) 838-3200. “Stacked Bowls with Vase,” 16 inches in height, porcelain with Amanda’s Green Glaze (30% Whiting, 35% Kona F-4 Feldspar, 15% Kaolin and 20% Flint, plus 0.5% Chrome and 10% Zircopax), fired to Cone 10 in reduction, by Bobby Silverman, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

naturalistic device, but rather as a way ity was designed, the Dutch govern­ experiments that yielded exciting results. of infusing the work with an emotional ment was determined that the studio I modified my approach in several im­ content that gives every stacked piece a and equipment be the most sophisti­ portant ways. First, I began mixing col­ unique value. cated, technologically state-of-the-art. ors and paying closer attention to the “While the work begins here, there “The staff, who number 17, are relationship of the stacked forms. I then are other layers of information to syn­ equally knowledgeable in every facet of shifted their proportions and scale in thesize. I am, for example, fully aware ceramic production. Remarkably, they order to loosen the symmetry, and cre­ of the history of my medium and how have deconstructed the ceramic process ate something that evokes images closer the potters of the Chinese Song, Ming to the extent that anything is possible— to those of a flower. and Qing dynasties, as well as those of a very different mindset than the limi­ “For the first time, I used commer­ the Korean Koryo dynasty, dealt with tations we, as individuals, normally have cial glazes from Europe that enable the these very same issues. In addition, I to deal with. However, what was most eye to penetrate below the surface. The seek a formal integration between the exciting was the opportunity to work work was initially fired to Cone 10, material, process and idea so that, like a with painters, designers, sculptors and then the low-fire commercial glazes were flower, my work seems intimate, sug­ other artists from other disciplines. applied with a spray gun with the nozzle gestive and believable.” “In this atmosphere, risk taking and turned down so that the glaze built up With prices ranging from $2600 to the challenging of conventional ideas slowly. If I put too much glaze on the $3400, the pieces shown in Arizona are was the norm. What mattered was that piece or had too much coming out of from a series begun in the spring of the material was appropriate to the idea. the spray gun, the glaze started to move 1998, when Silverman was an artist-in- It was very refreshing and liberating to down the surface. residence at the European Ceramics be a ceramics artist taken seriously by “With this method, I have attained a Work Center in s’Hertengenbosch, other artists, and never have to deal greater level of satisfaction, as there is a Netherlands. “The center provides an with the tired art vs. craft issues. fusion of form and surface that allows opportunity for artists to work in clay “In this spirit of unlimited possibili­ the work to more closely represent the for up to three months. When the facil­ ties, I undertook a number of technical natural world around me.” ▲

June/July/August 1999 49 Looking in the Mirror Aspects of Figurative Ceramics

s “an ever-present visual bench­ mark: age-old, but potentially Ai always new to those passion­ ately challenging the familiar,” the hu­ man figure remains a viable context for “the exploration of physical, emotional and psychological issues by contempo­ rary artists,” according to Gail M. Brown, curator of the invitational “Looking in the Mirror: Aspects of Figu­ rative Ceramics.” Presented at Riley Hawk Galleries concurrent with the NCECA (National Council on Educa­ tion for the Ceramic Arts) conference in Columbus, Ohio, and now in Cleve­ land through June 6, the show includes works by 35 artists at various career stages—“mature, mid-career and emerg­ ing makers; therefore, a range of vo­ cabulary of both the familiar and the unexpected. “In varied techniques, of diverse moods, personal symbols and disparate scale,” Brown observed, “these artists address issues of human connections and missed connections; heartfelt at­ “I Shadow,” 40 inches in height, $1900, by Andy Nasisse, tempts at self-awareness and growth; Athens, Georgia. appreciation of time and memory frag­ ments; observation of the social and ecological worlds; and awareness of and commentary on contemporary culture, religion, history and the monumental condition of‘being human.’ They offer a visible dialogue grounded in the fa­ miliar: taking risks, sharing ideas and emotions out loud.” ▲

“Pool,” 51 inches in length, stained clay and water, $2000, by Susan Low-Beer, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

50 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Step,” 29½ inches in height, handbuilt, “Stacked Party Hat,” 38 inches “Noir,” 50 inches in height, clay brushed with glaze and terra sigillata, $4500, in height, $1800, by Thomas Bartel, with mixed media, $9800, by Arthur by Adrian Arleo, Lolo, Montana. Meadville, Pennsylvania. Gonzalez, Brooklyn, New York.

“Penelope’s Dilemma (Blue Series II),” 18 inches in length, earthenware with low- fire copper-blue glaze, $1800, by Andrea Gill, Alfred, New York.

June/July/August 1999 51 Cliff Lee: New Directions by Paul F. Dauer

encil thin, a tube of porce­ element. What was previously Plain rose from the wheel in a functional lip became repre­ a rural Pennsylvania studio, sentational lotus leaves, in ef­ culminating in a bulbous, fect, defining the essence of soon-to-be-sculpted flower the vessel as a sculptural form. bud. The erotic symbolism of Meticulously formed and this creative climax to an artist s carved leaves enclose the ves­ metamorphosis was apropos. sel, except for the narrow ap­ Over a period of two days, erture at the tip of the tubular Cliff Lees work underwent a stem, which terminates as a dramatic redirection. A prac­ delicate lotus blossom. The titioner of traditional ceramic leaves of the lotus previously vessel throwing, glazing and imprisoned on the vessel sur­ carving, Lee has constantly face have assumed the same been driven by a perfection­ natural fluidity of the lotus ist ethic. The absolute sup­ stems as they weave around pression of the accidental, the shoulder and assert them­ rejecting the Japanese peas­ selves as sculptural elements. ant aesthetic, was motivated The lotus stems carved on the by a purist Chinese philo­ surface remained to correlate sophical pursuit of essence. the vessel body to its sculp­ In his daywork, Lee often tural apex and identity. mimics natural forms, most re­ Cliff Lee unloading a glaze kiln at his studio The advantage of the natu­ in Stevens, Pennsylvania. cently gourds. That mimicry ral theme of the lotus leaf is may have conceptual roots in that any slumping in firing the Yixing style, but departs in scale, boo vase with sensuous intertwined lo­ accentuates the forms. Though at odds clay and glazing. Much of this work has tus leaves, stems and flowers, resting on with Lees demand for precision and revolved around experiments, juxtapos­ his carving bench, Cliff struggled over a control, use of the fluctuating rim profile ing the vessel form and carved decora­ two-year gestational period with cap­ is at least a tolerance of the characteris­ tion. In the peach vessels, for example, turing the essence of the lotus, both tic of the medium and the subject. While the decoration is purely surface accent realistically and conceptually. Periodic other artists welcome the accidental in to the underlying form; the peaches, forays of research into Asiatic art, docu­ the creative process, Lee has struggled leaves and twigs rise from the surface of mented by an array of treatises and cata­ to achieve control and predictable out­ and embrace the vessel. Most success­ logs, reinforced his comprehension of comes. The new direction represented ful, perhaps, but rarely executed are his the lotus symbolism. in the lotus forms may be a maturation open cabbage bowl forms. More typical During that midwinter weekend, the in this aspect as well. What previously are closed cabbage forms in which the lotus concept emerged like a butterfly was a defect to his critical and demand­ vessel and the surface decoration merge from its chrysalis to reveal what may be ing eye is now potentially a liberation, to create a unified whole. a dramatic maturation of Lees style. or at a minimum, a rationally accept­ Recently, Lee has been exploring a The carved lotus decoration of his ear­ able element of the creative process. new, but Asiatic-founded motif, that of lier experiments was liberated from the The break with established themes the lotus. Inspired by a tall, carved bam­ vessel surface to emerge as a sculptural and forms extends to the vessel stands

52 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Lotus Vase,” 11½ inches in height, wheel-thrown, carved and applied porcelain, with blue-green celadon glaze, high fired in reduction, 1998.

June/July/August 1999 53 “Spherical Jar with Dragon Lid,” 8½ inches in height, wheel-thrown and handbuilt porcelain with lava glaze, 1993.

featured in some of Lees work. With the exception of an early thematic ex­ periment, this element has served his­ torically as a mere pedestal, an extension of the vessel foot, to elevate and accen­ tuate the vessel. Only in the cabbage vessels were the stands carved in the shape of cabbage leaves, which inte­ grated with the whole work. The sculptural role of the pedestals can be traced to a “Pueblo” series begun during a residency in Santa Fe, New “Yellow Lava Sphere Mexico, in the mid 1980s. The raku- Vase on an Adobe fired porcelain constructions simulated Pedestal,” 18 inches in adobe and were linear in contrast to the height, wheel-thrown curvilinear vessel components of these porcelain vessel with lava glaze, on handbuilt combinations. Clearly a sculptural ex­ and raku-fired porcelain ercise, complete with tiny ladders in base, 1995. some instances, the pedestals were dis-

54 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Lotus Vase on a Pedestal,” 10½ inches in height, wheel-thrown and carved porcelain, with blue-green celadon glaze, high fired in reduction, 1999.

June/July/August 1999 55 crete identities from the vessels they sup­ fostered further experimentation, with Over the years, Lee has carefully and ported. In this, the “Pueblo” series rep­ the vessels now perched off-center. The painstakingly practiced his craft. His resented two ends of the ceramic result is an energizing resonance be­ studied diligence allows him to cap­ spectrum of styles but made no effort to tween the mass of the vessel and its ture and replicate the essence of merge or even affect one another except placement on the pedestal. The vessel celadon and imperial yellow glazes to by proximity, and in the case of the and pedestal now are fundamentally a an extent not evidenced since ancient pedestal, by function. compositional entity. China. His stewardship of celadon has As the lotus theme evolved, Lee reas­ The consequence of the emergence taught him the necessity for the pur­ serted the functional role of the pedes­ of Lee s new theme is a redefinition of est components to ensure a predict­ tals that the “Pueblo” experiments his work. Now clearly more sculptural, able outcome. Distilled water is used recognized, but with more vigor and it integrates the vessel while still stop­ in all his closely guarded glaze recipes to vitality. Now elongated, the pedestals ping well short of pure sculpture. In so ensure desired results—the translucent extend well beyond the perimeter of the doing, it has abandoned any pretense of pale blue-green celadons and clear vessels that they support. The pedestal vessel functionality. Although his ex­ bright yellows. Their consistency at­ is now more than a stage for the vessel. quisitely thin-necked vessels, including tests to his mastery of the art. The Its decoration is a unifying extension of the prickly twisted-stem melon shapes, continuous testing and evolution of the vessel, allowing refinement of the could not seriously be considered as vi­ themes, most recently manifested by lotus theme. This departure from the able vases, at least they retained a tradi­ the lotus forms, attest to his integrity precise symmetry of past stands has also tional vessel composition. and growth as an artist. A

“Leaf Prickly Melon,” 14 inches in height, wheel-thrown “Spherical Vase,” 14 inches in height, porcelain with oil-spot and carved porcelain, with celadon glaze, 1998. glaze, 1999, by Cliff Lee, Stevens, Pennsylvania.

56 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Genesis Bop,” 20 inches in height, handbuilt and extruded stoneware. Different for Me by Ken Vavrek

Change is usually necessary and sometimes even good, but it doesn’t al­ ways come easy. I’ve gone through sev­ eral changes in my work since I left graduate school in 1965. The duration of these aesthetic explorations has var­ ied in length. When one direction started to run thin, I always hoped there would be a new one, with lots of room to roam, to replace it, as exploration heightened my enjoyment of working in the studio. For 20 years, 1975 to 1995, my work was based on Southwest landscape. This source manifested itself in many kinds of objects, including sculptures, vessels and wall forms. The vessels started as figures in a landscape but eventually became mesas on landscape bases, a for­ mat that has engaged my fascination repeatedly over the years. I particularly Ken Vavrek at his studio in Hilltown, Pennsylvania, liked the connection these mesa vessels retained with utilitarian pottery.

June/July/August 1999 “Windfall,” 63 inches in length, glazed stoneware.

Nevertheless, despite my attraction venating source of inspiration for many sculptural dimensions. The pictorial ap­ to the vessel format, my wall works years. Over those years, my images proach severely constricted negative or became my primary consideration. They stretched the concept of landscape to real open space. assumed several variations of form, rang­ the nth degree. The landscape plane I found, when I began sketching form ing from gridded assemblages of sculp­ and horizon line were buffeted in com­ ideas in clay, rather than starting with a tural tiles to handbuilt, manipulated plex space and form manipulations. drawing, that the pictorial nature of the slabs formed into low-relief landscapes. Eventually, I felt myself pulled to­ work became less pervasive, while the The tile works were particularly styl­ ward pure abstraction. The landscape development of the side views favoring ized, while the relief pieces incorpo­ was limiting, and I found myself push­ a more sculptural perspective became rated varying degrees of abstraction ing against this limitation. Despite my more integral. This didn’t happen over­ either within loose rectilinear formats awareness of this issue, I found it hard night, as I continued to move back and or free-floating irregular shapes. to make such a radical break with my forth from clay sketches to drawings. The early works were limited by the history and poked around at it for sev­ The pictorial approach, however, re­ size of my kiln, approximately 20x40 eral years without producing a conse­ mained dominant. How can you deny inches. In 1981, I developed a tech­ quential change. the importance of the frontal view when nique for assembling sections into larger What hindered me from making this you are looking at a piece on the wall? images, allowing me to move beyond apparently simple move? For one thing, One cant, and I haven’t. my kilns limitations. This development I think it was my habit of drawing pre­ A genuine “breakthrough” contin­ provided me the means to explore a liminary sketches of pieces I would later ued to elude me, but I could tell that whole variety of landscape composi­ construct. I would inevitably draw a sketching directly in clay was taking tions that were simply not available receding plane or put in a horizon line. me in the right direction. Then one to me in the smaller format (see Ceram­ As much as I was inspired by the can­ day in 1995, it happened. I designed a ics Monthly, March 1983). yon lands for deep relief, the pictorial or piece that, despite its horizontal lines, This new-found freedom was a reju­ frontal nature of the works limited the existed outside the concept of land-

58 CERAMICS MONTHLY scape. I felt liberated by this more In place of coloring the drawings, I pure kind of abstraction. began to paint the bisqued sketches. In retrospect, it seems quite simple. Now, instead of using the color to de­ The breakthrough piece was designed pict landscape, I use color to heighten in clay—very roughly. I cut rectilinear the spatial qualities and the interrela­ pieces of leather-hard clay and pushed tionship of form. The experience of some folded coils of soft clay into them. moving from one side of the piece to It was conceived as a dimensional com­ the other is enhanced by the color. position. Nevertheless, a thread to my What would I have thought about history, a certain kind of “mysterious all this angst around “change” when I space” that was the underlying impor­ was a graduate student in 1965? Con­ tant issue to me in the landscapes, re­ sidering that I had at least three major mained intact. themes represented in my graduate At this point, the clay sketches took show, movement between ideas was so on another role, which had previously easy then, I would probably have been served by my drawings. When it laughed at the thought that there’s any came time to glaze my “landscapes,” difficulty in changing. I didn’t know the color in the drawings would guide from “personal history.” my glazing decisions. But the sides of Years later, I’ve come to know other­ the sculptures aren’t seen in the draw­ wise. One’s history has a tendency to ings, so the coloration for those areas slow things down, despite the sense was extemporaneously developed as the that time is speeding by. But the glazing proceeded. With the clay change is made now and I’ve begun sketches, coloration could be explored this leg of the artistic journey with from all directions. renewed anticipation. ▲

“Portal,” 12½ inches in height, glazed stoneware, by Ken Vavrek, Hilltown, Pennsylvania.

June/July/August 1999 59 English Urban, American Rural by Claire Wilcox

n 1935, art critic Herbert Read wrote Architecture is about people and use, plurality of mass-produced objects is Iin What Is Revolutionary Art? that “ar­ and pots are about people and use. Do­ rarely seen, however, as a failing, or lack chitecture is a necessary art.” Is pottery mestically, they stand in opposite ratio in our lives. The loss of the unique and a necessary art? Both have been con­ and scale to the human form, architec­ handmade is not grieved for, nor is the stants in human life since ancient times. ture dwarfing it and at times acquiring lost dynamic between interior and ob­ Both buildings and pottery endorse and a “canonical value.” Pots, however, are ject in what potter and writer Edmund contain space. Both share the same subjugated to the human form, at its de Waal describes as “the gap of under­ means by which they are understood service. As domestic objects within the standing between makers and architects” and become familiar to us. domestic scale of rooms, pots simply in the postwar craft world. In the cultural theorist Walter provide smaller, differentiated interiors The experience of architecture is a Benjamins words from The Work of Art for that which we value. simultaneous, collective one, from both in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Clay vessels are to hand scale and, outside and in. The building is actually “Buildings are appropriated in a two­ like the imprint of the potter that clings entered into. The private, domestic space fold manner: by use and by percep­ to them, receive their benediction and experienced from within by habit, rou­ tion—or rather, by touch and sight.” rebirth in the hands of the user. What is tine, is an incubator for personal lives, Even more importantly, pottery and ar­ left of all the movement and motion of thought, isolation. When it succeeds, chitecture share the same method of their making is still, patient, reanimated architectural space and its decoration being known. As Benjamin states, “tac­ only with drinking and pouring, wash­ reinforce our sense of ourselves; it dis­ tile appropriation is accomplished not ing and emptying, breaking and bury­ turbs only when it jars, or brutally im­ so much by attention as by habit.” ing. The degeneration of craft work and pacts upon us. Pottery, too, reinforces

“Triangular Dish,” 16 inches in height, wheel thrown and “Rounded Dish,” 23 inches wide, wheel thrown and assembled red stoneware, fired to Orton Cone 7, £400 assembled red stoneware, fired to Orton Cone 7, £550 (approximately US$644), by Julian Stair, London. (approximately US$886), by Julian Stair.

60 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Hexagonal Uaddy," 6 inches in height, wheel-thrown and assembled red stoneware, fired to Orton Cone 7, £350 (approximately US$564), by Julian Stair.

our sense of ourselves. Handmade or significance diminishes with its reduced Pottery, like architecture, has a meta­ not, it possesses a familiarity, even a scale, down to the size of an egg cup, physical capacity, and when a pot is reassuring lack of novelty—a pot is felt which would be thought ludicrous if it good, this matters more than its useful­ to be known, even before it is held or had aspirations of great solemnity. ness. Esther Leslie observed in a lecture used. It exists in multiples, there will be Its hard for a cup to be epic. And yet given at the University of East Anglia, more, there have been more. our experience of living is felt through “Crafted objects, specifically the pot, The space in which it is contained, our daily physical contact with artifacts. provide a model of authentic experi­ however, the architecture of room, build­ Each component in our daily lives cre­ ence, the experience of a person im­ ing, is singular, at least from the out­ ates a fragment of our whole experience printed onto the objects that he or she side. If a furnished building is a series of of existence; grit in the eye, a flower in brings into being.” interiors within interiors, the smallest the hand, to be reassembled as the sum Pottery is tangible and hard, but also, and the last a cup to hold liquid or a pot of our reality. A careful, beautiful cup as a mode of expression, powerful. As to hold flowers, then this cup or pot is has social significance; it clarifies our Herbert Read wrote in The Meaning of the most intimate of contacts. The im­ sensations of experience and re-experi- Art, it is “at once the simplest and the pact of such an object and its potential ence until it breaks or is put away. most difficult of all arts. It is the sim­

June/July/August 1999 61 Covered jar, 8½ inches in height, wheel-thrown stoneware, with white slip and clear glaze, wood fired in an anagama, £400 (approximately $644), by Rob Barnard, Timberville, Virginia.

plest because it is the most elemental; it “unfinished” edges, pocked surfaces, im­ ent, you do not feel them so; indeed, this is the most difficult because it is the ages not necessarily of the edifice of imperfection itself becomes a form of most abstract.” culture, order, discipline, but the darker perfection. Beauty does not necessarily side of life. spell perfection of form.” The Pots He quoted D. T. Suzuki, “hoping Barnard s pots are also sensuous, plas­ The works shown by American pot­ that people might realize that there was a tic, statuesque, have delicacy, a pottery ter Rob Barnard and British potter Julian philosophy behind my sloppy tech­ not so much of reason but of compas­ Stair at Shillam + Smith 3 in London nique.” Suzuki wrote, “Disregard of form sion for fallibility. He reminds us of the are satisfying, desirable, sure. They also results when too much attention or em­ real state of human affairs, not the im­ chart thought—through the sensory, phasis is given to the all importance of age we construct of ourselves, and he collective means of physical touch, sight, the spirit. When you would ordinarily takes, in part, responsibility for it. use—about human aspirations, their expect a line or a mass or a balancing In contrast, Stairs pottery is a pot­ own and a collective idea of the poten­ element, you miss it, and yet this very tery of reason. It possesses a formal co­ tial of human beings. In Barnards case, thing awakens in you an unexpected feel­ herence, structural vividness, clarity of this might be said to be about human­ ing of pleasure. In spite of shortcomings function. His pots are about aspirations ity, frailty, asymmetry, expressed by or deficiencies that no doubt are appar­ to the ideal, what humans can be, that

62 CERAMICS MONTHLY they are worthwhile. His interest in for­ to establish work that was thrown, wood Shattered Traditions mal issues, elegance and balance has as fired, rough to the touch and darkly In his first public lecture in London its ideal the balance of the emotion with obscure in an American ceramics scene in 1877, William Morris expressed his the intellect. His work is that of an that was celebrating glaze and funk must utopian vision of the regenerative and idealist in pursuit of the unattainable, have been a hard one. Even his newer nurturing powers of decorative arts to and therefore engaged in the most hu­ white work is hardly more accessible, “make our streets as beautiful as the man of all activities, to reason, apply despite the sensuality of its glaze. woods, as elevating as the mountain­ logic, build and construct in a con­ Similarly, why did Stair push away a sides; it will be a pleasure and a rest, and scious state of human awareness. successful career in porcelain pots and not a weight upon the spirit to come The writer and dealer in cubist art, bowls to make domestic wheel-thrown from the open country into a town; Daniel-Henri Kahnweiler, suggested stoneware—a radical move at a time every man’s house will be fair and de­ that “architecture and ap­ cent, soothing to his mind plied art realize in space and helpful to his work; these basic forms (cube, all the works of man that sphere and cylinder), which we live amongst and handle we always demand in vain will be in harmony with na­ of the natural world.” But ture, will be reasonable and Stair’s surfaces are not beautiful: yet all will be straight lines, his planes and simple and inspiriting.” angles not engineered. Morris looked to the There is a residue, an ele­ decorative arts to provide ment that reinforces the solace to the inhabitants tremulousness of the human of an increasingly indus­ form, appreciated by touch. trialized landscape. Despite modernism, this concept Urban and Rural of the power of the deco­ “A rationalist to his Lon­ rative arts to calm and in­ don fingertips,” as reviewer spire, and bring people Margot Coatts once de­ closer to creative beauty is scribed Julian Stair, he has something that remains lived all his life in cities—in with us in our dreams of Bristol, Los Angeles and craft, evening classes and London for the last 20 years, interiors, particularly in re­ with studios in Brixton and lation to pottery. The 19th- now Camberwell. The son century idea of retreat from of parents who were both the harshness of the indus­ painters, he was imbued trialized environment and with an atmosphere of criti­ the alienation of city dwell- cal discourse from the ers, into an idealized cradle. His father was part preindustrial past, with of the St. Ives community dignity of labor and unself- in Cornwall in the 1950s consciousness, created a and ’60s, and mixed with Bottle, 10 inches high, stoneware with white slip and clear glaze, melancholy litany for the such artists as Patrick wood fired, £300 (approximately US$483), by Rob Barnard. 20th century. Heron, Roger Hilton and Barnard and Stair do Bernard Leach. nothing to console this In contrast, Rob Barnard was brought when the nonfunctional vessel and ce­ litany. Unique, distinct, difficult, they up in Kentucky, and ran away from ramic sculpture were dominant? challenge the reassuring aura of Will­ school to the marines, and to Vietnam. From urban, complex London, Stair iam Morris’ idealistic vision, and have His subsequent ceramics education took went to the middle of rural Virginia, no relationship to the unknown, humble place in college in Japan, where he re­ renting a gray washed wooden house. potter of Bernard Leach, the dominant mained for several years. An amalgam Knowing hardly anyone apart from figure of studio pottery, and Soetsu of American and Japanese culture, “be­ Rob Barnard, he began producing a Yanagi, the leader of the Japanese folk tween points,” as he described it, his range of tableware with a unity of craft movement. Theirs is a pursuit based work is appreciated in Japan in a way in intent and of process. Lying behind on a material consciousness: the hand s which it perhaps can never be elsewhere. the repetition of cup after cup lay a experience of raw matter. Their work Why did Barnard return to rural deeper sense of a connection between has purposefulness, discipline and of America and build a cabin in the middle past form, rational thought and the mod­ course beauty, and it remains within of the woods in Virginia? The struggle ern condition. the “known” forms of historic pottery,

June/July/August 1999 63 Stair and Barnard’s argument for pottery is not only made in their work, but is spoken for in their writing. Each taught himself to write, another struggle by lamplight, with the dark­ ness of the critical consensus outside. They argue that pottery has the ca­ pacity to express humanity through sight, touch, thought. Nostalgia and reassurance are their last priorities. Their pots speak to us in a form and shape that we can understand, but make us question the nature of art and pot­ tery itself To own a pot is not necessar­ ily to understand it. The dialectic of pots is a complex one, their very famil­ iarity, which we know by “habit,” lulls us into an affirmation of regeneration, that we are at one with the spirit of the potter, and our own pasts, by their con­ nection to the earth, which they are a conduit of. Today, Morris’ ideal does not exist, if it ever did. Making pottery is difficult enough, in the wake of such impos­ sible idealism and the corollary of the potter as a modern anachronism. Both potters believe that theirs is in fact a living, evolving language, as they need to in order to make their preoccupa­ tions worthwhile. As individuals, Julian Stair and Rob Barnard share a profound isolation, whether that of the wood dweller, work­ ing in silence, miles from the nearest mall, or the urban dweller, cycling Vase, 9 inches in height, wheel-thrown stoneware with white slip and clear glaze, amidst the fumes and grime of Cam­ wood fired, £350 (approximately US$564), by Rob Barnard; shown in the exhibition berwell to a cavernous Victorian ware­ “English Urban, American Rural” at Shillam + Smith 3 in London. house. From different locations, with different nationalities, lives, they found a shared strength and tenacity of pur­ from bowls to jugs to lidded jars. The Instead of reassuring, they can dis­ pose, and some of the same faiths, in certainty of their pot-throwing is the start­ turb. Their beauty is often a severe one. the past forms of pottery and the means ing point from which they take off into A plate that scrapes, a dark form, an of making work, even a shared language the uncertainty of intellectual inquiry. austerity and blinding purity, a swelling between the divide of 4000 miles, ur­ Can their work profoundly influence form with tiny budlike arms, a cup and ban London and rural Virginia, a Euro­ our lives? Surely this is something more saucer so deep and dark it seems like a pean modernism and a Japanese/ than familiarity, is simply another route pool of bitterness itself. Salvation from American aesthetic. Differentiated and for questioning ourselves, like any other modern alienation may come from craft, isolated by a shared purpose in some­ art form. To Walter Benjamin, the hand but even craft can shock; these pots thing so particular and exotic, they are was an essential metaphor. “Salvation express gloom and uncertainty, as well determined to prove that pottery, like includes the firm, apparently brutal as celebration and exultation. architecture, to return to Herbert Read, grip.” The handmade in Stair and Pottery translates their understand­ is a necessary art. Barnards work is fluent, unique, the ing of experience, as solace, and its coun­ antithesis of the mass-produced object, terpart, despair. Their work is informed The author A graduate of the ceramics but “brutal,” radical in its content, by darker sources, from the experience program at Camberwell School of Art, uncompromising for the receiver who of war and the anguish of a first child’s Claire Wilcox is the assistant curator for expects pots’ tradition, convention, death in a series of dark funerary jars, 20th Century Dress at the Victoria & attractiveness, reassurance. unembellished and final. Albert Museum in London.

64 CERAMICS MONTHLY A Wood-Firing Raku Kiln by Nesrin During

exel is a small Dutch shelves. After this level­ Tisland on the North ing course, a couple of Sea. It is an island of sand rows are laid in a dimin­ dunes, natural lakes, sheep, ishing circular pattern. I tourists, wind and rain. In also partially close the top these quiet surroundings, of the kiln with broken I have been making ce­ shelves, leaving a central ramics for over 20 years. hole to function as a Some of my work is wood chimney. fired in a simple, self-built I fire this kiln (alone raku kiln. It is simple be­ or with the help of stu­ cause it is actually made dents) with scrap wood. of stacked bricks and sized The wood should be dry to fit what I’m planning and thinly split. I start to fire (sometimes I start with some newspaper and firing small objects, then thinly split wood. aggrandize the kiln by add­ The fire is well fed in ing another one or two the beginning in order to rows of bricks for the big­ get the bricks to tempera­ ger objects). ture, but after the first These kilns are built load is done, I fire with wherever I want them to less wood and rake the stand, taking into consid­ fallen ash from under­ eration the direction of the neath the grate to ensure wind. The day after I’ve Nesrin During removing a pot from a wood-fired raku kiln the fire has enough oxy­ finished firing, I put away loosely constructed from brick. gen to burn well. the bricks, out of sight un­ Because the kiln is so der a roof or in a shed to keep them dry Depending on the size of the lain loosely stacked, I can easily create new until the next firing. shelf (its going to diagonally span the openings in between bricks to manipu­ A typical kiln is built from about 50 walls), I lay two courses of bricks to late the flames toward a certain direc­ porous insulating (not concrete) bricks, establish the back and side walls. Upon tion, causing interesting effects on pots. a square kiln shelf (size depending on these the grate is placed so that the The pots intended to go into the what I want to fire), a metal grill for a ashes can fall through. (My iron grate next firing are placed on top of the kiln grate, a piece of sheet metal, and some was salvaged from a dump; one could to dry. When the glaze on the pots broken shelf pieces. It takes about 45 also use a kitchen stove grate, which inside the kiln is shiny and molten, I minutes to build, and fires to about would last a few firings). Then another remove a few bricks from one side of 900°C (1650°F) in about 45 to 60 min­ two rows of bricks are laid, and the kiln the top to facilitate taking the pots out; utes for the first firing; thereafter, every shelf placed diagonally so that the walls the pots are then placed in a metal bin load takes 15 to 20 minutes (one can support three corners. A piece of sheet containing sawdust. see the glaze melting, the pots shining iron (which was also salvaged from the The glaze is a simple: alkali-borate in the flames, from the top of the kiln). dump; one can also use a piece of angle- frit (70%) with kaolin (30%). With To begin, I level the surface with a iron) across the front of the kiln sup­ additions of 0.5% to 3% iron oxide, layer of dirt; it will also protect what is ports the fourth corner. this gives very beautiful pinks and beneath (concrete, for example, can Because some of the bricks in the grays (pink to pomegranate red in oxi­ crack with the heat). I look at the direc­ following course will stand on the kiln dation, and gray to black in reduc­ tion of the wind and accordingly build shelf, I have to raise the others to the tion). Additions of 2% to 3% copper the firemouth to receive the wind. same height with pieces of broken carbonate yield apple green in oxida-

June/July/August 1999 65 Two courses of bricks are laid to establish the back and side After another course of bricks, a sheet of iron is laid across walls, then an iron grate positioned on top. the firemouth to support the fourth corner of a kiln shelf.

Because some of the bricks in the following course stand on The kiln fires to about 900°C (1650°F) in 45 to 60 minutes, the kiln shelf, pieces of broken kiln shelf are used as levelers. while pieces for the next firing preheat on top.

When the glaze on the pots inside is molten, a few bricks are removed from one side of the chamber to facilitate removal of the pots for postfire reduction in sawdust.

66 CERAMICS MONTHLY Wood-fired-raku vessel, approximately 6 inches in height, handbuilt, with poured glazes.

tion and bordeaux red in reduction. Other oxide combinations, such as iron and copper, or iron and manganese, are also good. The amount of crackle depends on the type of clay used and the handling. After taking the piece out of the kiln, if you keep it in the air for a minute or so before putting it in the reduction con­ tainer, you’re bound to get more craz­ ing, especially on a smooth surface. If the surface is rough, you’re more likely to get iron oxide “bleeding,” producing thousands of little dots and giving the piece a rocklike appearance. Building such a kiln requires very little in materials, and fuel for firing is equally economical. Because it is a wood firing, there is bound to be some oxida­ tion and some reduction at the same time. The resulting variation in surfaces gives beauty and individuality to the work. Not every piece comes out well, but some are really wonderful. ▲ Handbuilt vessel, approximately 6 inches in height, with iron-spotted raku glaze, reduced in sawdust, by Nesrin During, Oosterend, Netherlands.

June/July/August 1999 67 Decorated plate, approximately 12 inches in diameter, by Oni, circa 1983.

any years ago, when I lived and shop. I would watch Oni, old Juans M made pots in Nijar, Spain, I de­ young granddaughter, as she spontane­ cided to no longer mix and use the local ously decorated the many plates thrown clay because of lime blowouts and lack by her father and grandfather. These of equipment. Instead, I used to go Castles in Spainplates were first dipped in a kaolin slip, regularly to the village of Alhabia in the by Franchise Melville then Oni would engrave a design of Alpujarra foothills and buy clay from geometric flowers, fish, peacocks or Juan Castellon and his son-in-law, whatever else might come into her head. Manuel Gonzalez, who had their work­ Province and a fine white one from Next, iron, cobalt, copper and manga­ shops at the top of the town, at the end Cordoba are now used instead of the nese washes would be used to highlight of a tortuously narrow street apdy named rough local clay. A modern pug mill has the designs before glazing. Calle Alfarerias—roughly translated as replaced human feet and the wheels are Other pieces were decorated in the Street of Potteries. A neighboring street motorized. The raw lead has been re­ same way, but I liked Onis plates best was called Calle Horno, which means placed with fritted lead glazes, and the of all. They were all signed on the Kiln Street. Alhabia is, and always has wood kilns replaced with propane-fired front—the three letters of her name, been, a village of folk potters. car kilns. What has not changed is the short for Antonia, merging into the rest Some 30 years ago, these potters still style of the pottery and the care that is of the design. dug their own clay and wedged it with put into its production. their bare feet. They would then single When I first went to Alhabia to buy The Alhabia Potters fire raw-lead-glazed ware in wood-fu- clay from La Bisbal some 15 years ago, Last year, I decided to return to eled kilns. A relatively smooth red earth­ the Gonzalez Castellon family still sold Alhabia to see if Juan or his son-in-law enware body from La Bisbal in Girona their work out of their taller or work­ and granddaughter were still working.

68 CERAMICS MONTHLY Juan Castellon had been a cantarero, one who could throw very large water vessels in one piece, and was actually able to throw dozens of them at one sitting. He would even travel to Nijar, several miles away, and throw cantaros for potters there, so that they could decorate and fire them as their own. I could not remember exactly where the Alhabia potteries were situated, al­ though I knew they were at one of the highest points of the village. Whenever my son, who was driving, asked the way, we were told with a gesture to go “up, up,” and that Juan, now in his late seventies, no longer works, but would most likely be seen on the street. His granddaughter Oni had married years ago, and no longer decorated plates, The local clay is no longer used and propane kilns have replaced wood kilns in but there were still many family mem­ Alhabia, but traditional forms and designs prevail. bers carrying on the craft. We drove up through the narrow streets until we came to the potteries, stopping at an open door. It was not old “Yes,” said Gaby, “its much easier only one I could see lying around. There Juans workshop but the one just above. that way, and we fire almost every day.” was indeed no trace of crazing. And I could see a young man inside with a “Do you get crazing like the Nijar then I looked more closely at the de­ small child in his arms. potters? I suppose you’re using the same sign—engraved fish, filled in with col­ After the brightness of the white­ fritted lead glaze.” ored slip, leaving the natural red clay washed walls and houses of the village, “We do, but there’s no crazing. They outlines showing through the kaolin base it took a moment for my eyes to be­ bisque too low. I bisque at 1000°C slip; geometrical borders; and a stylized c ome accustomed to the somewhat dark (1832°F) and glaze at the same tem­ flower petal in the center of the plate. interior, but soon I could clearly see perature.” The whole design was very similar to pots everywhere in various stages of pro­ I picked up a glaze-fired plate, the what I myself used to do in Nijar, as was duction. Piled one on top of the other, the technique. Not that this was a on a shaky table near the door, were copy—just a natural evolution from the two terra-cotta pieces, expressive sculp­ geometrical designs incised through slip ture scenes of men and half-wild of ancient Iberian pottery of which so Andalusian dogs. much has been excavated in southeast­ “Who made these?” I asked, after ern Andalusia and Valencia. introducing myself. Many of Gaby’s small pitchers and “I did,” said the young man, shyly, bowls had not been dipped in kaolin as if ashamed of himself for indulging slip at all. It was a different clay body, a in such things. His name was Gabriel, white earthenware. Gaby for short, and he was Juan “Is that clay from Manises?” I asked. Castellon’s grandson. And then I re­ “No, it’s from the Rambla de membered. He had been a boy in his Cordoba, but it’s a very similar body,” grandfathers workshop when I went said Gaby, “much easier to decorate, there to buy clay. quicker too. We have to make so much All around me, I could see pots and stuff now to supply the retailers.” plates, pitchers, bowls. In one corner on “Well, I still prefer the red clay my­ the floor were dozens of mold-made self.” white earthenware trays, already slip- “Yes, we still use it a lot, for plates Gabriel (Gaby) with a member of the decorated, but not yet glazed. next generation of the Alhabia potters. and for those little sculptures too. But “Do you fire twice now?” I asked, we can’t use the white stuff for those. looking at a fairly large propane-fueled And apart from those rectangular trays, car kiln in the center of the workshop. we still do everything on the wheel.”

June/July/August 1999 69 Yes, I thought, like potters all one had taken to making molded over the world, they love their pots exclusively, and had to­ work and are not out to make tally mechanized his once a fortune. They work long artisanal business. His stuff hours for little money, but sells, of course, and is cheaper the craft or trade, or maybe than the Alhabia pots. “But,” one should call it art, is in said Manuel, “People all over their blood. I hope that one recognize quality when they day I shall return to Alhabia see it. My pots have clean, and see Gaby’s daughter slip- finished feet without drips, decorating plates and signing and they don’t craze. We make them just as her Aunt Oni a good living here without go­ used to do, while her father ing to extremes.” throws pots at the wheel and con­ He was right. The Alhabia pot­ tinues making cantaros like his ters no longer wood fire; they have grandfather Juan and father Manuel. car kilns and pug mills. They make At the giftstore at the bottom of the lots of pots and fill lots of orders. They town, we looked at the plates hanging Wheel-thrown white earthenware plate, no longer sell pots direct from the work­ on the wall, as well as pitchers, mugs approximately 12 inches in diameter, shop, and have owned the downtown and bowls on shelves. I even saw cantaros with oxide washes and fritted lead glaze. store for the past eight years. They live on one shelf. I went up to the counter, comfortably without slaving at their behind which stood a middle-aged man trade. Their pots and plates are still in­ with a friendly, vaguely familiar face. dividually decorated by various family “Please may I take some photos of “I’m Manuel Gonzalez. I used to sell members, each of whom signs his work Gaby’s plates?” I asked, politely. you clay years ago. When you lived in right on the glazed surface, where it is The man’s face broke into a wide Nijar. Remember?” visible to all who care to look, without grin. “Don’t you remember me?” he “Yes, yes, of course. Am I ever dumb!” being obtrusive. asked. I showed Manuel and the rest of his “Well, not really.” I have a terrible family the January 1998 issue ofC

70 CERAMICS MONTHLY In addition to wheel-thrown vessels, Sophie Cuendet produces interlocking sculptures that are reminiscent of Spanish arched doorways and castles.

The ware is mostly wheel thrown bisque fired to 950°C (1742°F) and with some altering and handbuilt addi­ reduction fired to 1280°C (2336°F). tions, often in the form of insects. For Lusters are fired to 870°C (1598°F) in this, Sophie uses a porcelaneous white heavy reduction. stoneware body or a light pinkish buff Sophie and Juan used to sell their colored stoneware, both imported from work directly from their home, as well Limoges, France. She has both an elec­ as at fairs and marketplaces, but they tric and a kick wheel, but seems to recently acquired a shop in the old part prefer the kick wheel. of the village of Nijar. It has two stories For her interlocking sculptural pieces, and a basement, which Sophie uses as a she uses a refractory body from Manises, school for children who wish to pursue Spain. Its fired color is that of the land art and craft in general. She teaches itself. Most of these sculptures are ar­ them to use different media—includ­ chitectural in form and can be assembled ing papier mache, fabrics and found in different ways. They are reminiscent objects, such as shells, natural cactus of Spanish arched doorways and castles. fibers and driftwood. These small classes Very often, small human figures are help to increase income in the ofF-sea- Architectonic sculpture, approximately placed in front, giving an impression of son when tourists are scarce and the 20 inches in height, slab built from a refractory body from Manises, great scale. store itself is closed to the public except by Sophie Cuendet. Some sculptures are partially glazed on weekends and holidays. or burnished, others remain unglazed Sophie finds herself influenced and so that the texture and natural colors inspired in her own work by the use of (reminiscent of the surrounding Span­ mixed media with the children, although ish landscape) can be appreciated. her greatest inspiration appears to be Their average height is about 50 cen­ her surroundings—a land of light and timeters, about 20 inches. sharp contrasts, eroded ocher sierras, Both the pots and sculptures are cloudless skies and stunted trees.

June/July/August 1999 71 Rosemary Capes Simplicity is the key to her working middle of the workshop. While Rose­ Like Juan and Sophie, Rosemary habits. She uses very basic materials for mary constructed her first two kilns, a Capes, originally from England, lives in her glazes, such as potash feldspar, catenary arch and a sprung arch, this semidesert surroundings in the prov­ quartz, whiting, borax, lithium car­ kiln was acquired through a grant re­ ince of Almeria. Multicolored mesem- bonate, kaolin, dolomite, zirconium ceived from the province. She single brianthemums creep over eroded silicate and bentonite. For colorants, fires to 1260°C (2300°F) in about 14 limestone rocks, whose color, form and she uses a little cobalt oxide and a lot hours, going into light reduction from texture are mirrored in both Sophies of red iron oxide. “Blue always sells,” 1100°C (2012°F) up. and Rosemary’s work. she smiles. In addition to wheel throwing func­ I first met Rosemary over 20 years There is a trapdoor in the floor, which tional ware, Rosemary also handbuilds ago. She was selling pots from a table leads to a large, dank storage area for a wide selection of birds and animals, set up on Almeria’s main avenue. Struck her clay. Lack of humidity can be a such as hoopoe birds, goats and tor­ by the obvious Leach influence present problem for potters in southern Spain. toises. These are mostly unglazed, col­ in her functional ware at the time, hav­ Clay can dry out very quickly, which is ored only with slips and oxides. ing lived in St. Ives myself as a teenager, probably one of the reasons that Rose­ These creatures make excellent gar­ I stopped to talk. I didn’t see her again mary prefers to glaze bone-dry rather den ornaments and after many years until the spring of 1998. than at the leather-hard stage. out in the Spanish sun, they become Rosemary has lived near the town of She does quite a lot of experimental weathered and seem to really form part Vera for 25 years. The name of her glaze work, making line-blends of dif­ of the landscape, as do Sophie’s gate­ house and studio is La Romera, which ferent chemicals and firing test pieces ways and castles. means rosemary in Spanish. Prior to along with normal loads. One result of For all these potters, the common moving to Spain, she spent four years experimentation is a slip to which she thread is the land as well as the people studying ceramics in her native England, adds salt in varying quantities. She fires that surround them—ocher tones, warm then apprenticed for five months with a few of these small, salt-slipped pieces surfaces, desert, sky and sea. All are Michael Leach. “He was a little hard to along with the rest, yielding some most present in their work. get along with as a person,” she says, attractive results. Castles in Spain? Wishful thinking? “but I did learn a lot from him.” Her 18-cubic-foot kiln stands in the Who knows? ▲

In addition to producing a wide variety of functional ware in the Leach tradition, Rosemary Capes makes birds and animals for the garden.

Rosemary Capes in her studio showroom.

72 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/July/August 1999 73 e-mail [email protected] ; tele­ Call for Entries phone (819) 691-0829; or fax (819) 374-1758.

Application Deadlines for Exhibitionsy Fairs, Festivals and Sales United States Exhibitions June 8 entry deadline Omaha, Nebraska “Realism ’99” Quly 5-26). Juried from slides. Entry fee: $30 for up to 3 slides; $5 for each additional slide. Cash awards. Contact International Exhibitions Larry Bradshaw, Executive Director, Period Gal­ June 28 entry deadline lery, 5174 Leavenworth, Omaha 68106; e-mail Iowa City, Iowa “Functional Fire: Wood-fired [email protected]; telephone (402) 556- Cup Show” (September 16-October 3). Juried 3218; or fax (402) 554-3436. from up to 2 slides per entry; up to 3 entries. June 12 entry deadline Jurors: Simon Levin and Michael Smith. Fee: $20. Worcester, Massachusetts*Season to Taste” (Sep­ For prospectus, send SASE to Functional Fire, c/o tember 17-October 17), open to salt and pepper Iowa Artisans Gallery, 117 E. College St., Iowa City shakers in all media. Juried from 3 slides. No entry 52240; or see website at www.woodfire.com . fee. For prospectus, send SASE to Worcester Cen­ July 8 entry deadline ter for Crafts, Gallery Gift Store, Att: Melissa Omaha, Nebraska “Abstraction ’99” (August Figuerido, Worcester 01605; telephone (508) 753- 2-23). Juried from up to 3 slides (with SASE). Fee: 8183, ext. 3005. $30; $5 for each additional slide. Cash awards. June 14 entry deadline Contact Larry Bradshaw, Executive Director, Pe­ Helena, Montana “ANA 28, National Juried riod Gallery, 5174 Leavenworth, Omaha 68106; Exhibition” (August 27-October 31), open to all e-mail [email protected], telephone (402) media. Juried from slides. Juror: Peter Plagens. 556-3218 or fax (402) 554-3436. Cash awards. For prospectus, send SASE to Holter August 4 entry deadline Museum of Art, 12 E. Lawrence, Helena 59601. Athens, Ohio “Bead International 2000” (May Burlington, Vermont “Art and the Written 27-September 3, 2000, then touring), open to all Word” (September 17-October 24), open to works approaches to beadwork, from jewelry to large- incorporating text into their design. Juried from scale sculpture. Juried from slides. For prospectus, up to 6 slides. Entry fee: $ 10. For prospectus, send send SASE to Bead International 2000, do Dairy SASE to Vermont State Craft Center, Frog Hollow Barn, PO Box 747, Athens 45701-0747; down­ on the Marketplace, 85 Church St., Burlington load form from website www.dairybarn.org ; or 05401; or telephone (802) 863-6458. telephone (740) 592-4981. June 15 entry deadline October 1 entry deadline Los Angeles, California “Absolute T eapot Show” Los Angeles, California “Teapot Whimsy ’99” (July 3-August 15). Juried from up to 3 slides. (October 16-November 21), open to works in all Entry fee: $25. 50% commission. Send SASE to media. Juried from up to 3 slides. Entry fee: $25. Parham Gallery, 2847 Armacost, Los Angeles Commission: 50%. Send SASE to Parham Gallery, 90064; telephone (310) 473-5603. 2847 S. Armacost, Los Angeles 90064; telephone June 18 entry deadline (877) 339-6982. New Haven, Connecticut “The 31st Annual October 15 entry deadline Celebration of American Crafts” (November 13— Warrensburg, Missouri “Greater Midwest In­ December 24). Juried from slides. For prospectus, ternational XV” (January 24-February 25,2000). send SASE to the Celebration, Creative Arts Work­ Juried from up to 2 slides per entry. Fee: $25 for shop, 80 Audubon St., New Haven 06510. up to 3 entries. Juror: Billi R. S. Rothove, gallery June 21 entry deadline coordinator, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, New Canaan, Connecticut “USA Craft Today Gatlinburg. Awards: four totaling $1600 and ad­ ’99” (September 12-October 8). Juried from slides. ditional exhibition contracts. For prospectus, send Juror: Jeremy Adamson, senior curator, Renwick business-size SASE by October 5 to Gallery Direc­ Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. Entry fee: $25. tor, Central Missouri State University, Art Center Cash awards. For prospectus, send SASE to USA Gallery, Warrensburg 64093; or telephone (660) Craft Today ’99, Silvermine Guild Arts Center, 543-4498. 1037 Silvermine Rd., New Canaan 06840; or October 31 entry deadline telephone (203) 966-2613. Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada “9th Biennale June 30 entry deadline Nationale de Ceramique 2000” (June 9-Septem- Dexter, Michigan “Out of Clay II” (September ber 3, 2000, then traveling), open to artists resid­ 1-October 15). An exhibition of contemporary ing in Canada; artwork must pertain to the theme ceramics juried by Susanne Stephenson. Cash and of “voyage.” Juried from 3 slides of up to 3 works; purchase awards. For prospectus, contact Susannah include a technical description of each work and a Keith Gallery, 8099 Main St., Dexter 48130; written text explaining how the work explores the telephone (734) 426-0236; fax (734) 426-0884; theme of voyage. Entry fee: Can$25. Awards: or e-mail [email protected]. Can$8000. For registration form, contact Biennale Philadelphia, Pennsylvania “Spaces: Interior, nationale de ceramique, 864, rue des Ursulines, Exterior and Internal” (October 1-31), open to PO Box 1596, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec G9A 5L9; works that explore spatial settings. Work may be mixed media, but clay must be the primary me­ For a free listing, please submit informa­ dium. Juried from up to 4 slides and resume tion on juried exhibitions, fairs, festivals (include SASE). No entry fee. Contact the Clay and sales at least four months before the Studio, 139 N. Second St., Philadelphia 19106; event’s entry deadline (add one month for or telephone (215) 925-3453. listings in July and two months for those in July 1 entry deadline August). Regional exhibitions must be East Otis, Massachusetts “Light ’em Up” (Au­ open to more than one state. Mail to Call gust 28-October 3), open to lamps that have clay for Entries, Ceramics Monthly, PO Box and/or glass elements. Juried from slides or pho­ 6102, Westerville, OH 43086-6102, e-mail tos. Contact Rene and David, the Clayground, to [email protected] or fax to 436 N. Blandford Rd., Blandford, MA 01008; (614) 891-8960. e-mail [email protected] or telephone (413) 269-7449. Continued

74 CERAMICS MONTHLY

Call for Entries

July 2 entry deadline Tampa, Florida “National Open Juried Exhi­ bition” (August 6-September 30). Juried from slides (with #10 SASE). Entry fee: $25; members, $18. Awards: $1000 best of show, plus purchase awards. For further information, contact Artists Unlimited, 223 N. 12th St., Tampa 33602; or telephone (813) 229-5958. July 6 entry deadline Mesa, Arizona “’99 Cups” (October 12-No- vember 13), open to works in all media (func­ tional or nonfunctional) that explore the form, concept or image of the cup. Juried from slides. Juror: Heather Lineberry, senior curator, Arizona State University Museum of Art. Entry fee: $20. Awards: up to $2000 in cash and purchase. For prospectus, contact Galeria Mesa, PO Box 1622, 155 N. Center St., Mesa 85211-1644; e-mail [email protected] ; telephone (602) 644-2056; or fax (602) 644-2901. August 30 entry deadline Boonton, New Jersey “It’s Raining Cats and Dogs” (October 1-31), open to works depicting cats and dogs. Juried from 5 slides or photos. No entry fee. Send SASE to MudWorks, 720 Main St., Boonton 07005; or telephone (973) 316-0902. September 1 entry deadline Philadelphia, Pennsylvania “2000 NICHE Awards” (works of finalists to be displayed Febru­ ary 2000 at the Philadelphia Buyers Market of American Craft), open to artists who produce work for craft galleries and retail stores. Juried from slides. Jurors: Deborah Bedwell, executive director, Baltimore Clayworks; Jon F. Clark, chair of craft department and area head of glass, Tyler School of Art; Deborah First, chair, fibers depart­ ment, Savannah College of Art and Design; An­ drew Glasgow, director of Programs and Collec­ tions, Southern Highland Craft Guild; Mark Leach, director, Mint Museum of Craft + Design; Ellie Miller, Miller Gallery, New York City; Mira Nakashima-Yarnall, designer/vice president, man­ ager, George Nakashima Studios; Penny Potter, arts education coordinator, Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Arts and Culture, Baltimore; Jacqueline Rice, professor of ceramics, Rhode Island School of Design; and Gary Roskin, gem- stone editor, Jewelers * Circular Keystone magazine. Contact the Rosen Group, 3000 Chestnut Ave., Ste. 300, Baltimore 21211; see website at www.rosengrp.com ; telephone (410) 889-2933; or fax (410) 889-1320. September 4 entry deadline Joplin, Missouri “National Contemporary Craft Competitive” (November 12-December 19). Juried from slides. Juror: Sherry Leedy, Leedy Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Cash awards. For prospectus, send SASE to George A. Spiva Center for the Arts, 222 W. Third St., Joplin 64801. September 5 entry deadline Manhattan, Kansas “Clay on the Wall” (Octo­ ber 18-November 5), open to works no larger than 36 inches in any direction and weighing no more than 30 pounds. Juried from up to 5 slides of 5 works. Entry fee: $20. Juror: Bill Hunt. For prospectus, send SASE to Juan Granados, Dept, of Art, Texas Tech University, Box 42081, Lub­ bock, TX 79409-2081. For further information, e-mail [email protected]; telephone (806) 742- 3825; or fax (806) 742-1971. Or send SASE to Gallery Director, Art Dept., Kansas State Univer­ sity, 322 Willard Hall, Manhattan 66506. September24 entry deadline Coburg, Oregon “La Petite VII” (November).

76 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/July/August 1999 77 Call for Entries

Juried from slides. Entry fee: $ 10 per slide; $25 for 3. For prospectus, send SASE to Aider Gallery, Box 8517, Coburg 97408; e-mail [email protected]; or telephone (541) 342-6411. September 27 entry deadline Wayne, Pennsylvania “Craft Forms ’99” (De­ cember 3—January 21, 2000). Juried from slides. Jurors: Sandra Brownlee, weaver; Alec Karros, adjunct associate professor of ceramics, Univer­ sity of the Arts; and Myra Mimlitsch-Gray, asso­ ciate professor of metals, SUNY at New Paltz. For prospectus, send SASE to Wayne Art Center, 413 Maplewood Ave., Wayne 19087. October 1 entry deadline Carrboro, North Carolina “Year 2000 Design and Spirit” (January 1-March 31, 2000), open to works in all media; no installations. Juried from 2 slides per entry plus resume and biography (in­ clude SASE); up to 2 entries. Fee: $25 per entry. Cash and merit awards. Send SASE to Green Tara Gallery, 118 E. Main St., Carrboro 27510; or e-mail [email protected] . October 13 entry deadline Alexandria, Virginia “Time Will Tell” (No­ vember 24-January 2, 2000), open to works in all media referring to the passage of time. Juried from slides. Fee: $25 for 3 slides. Juror: Wendell Castle. For prospectus, send SASE to Target Gallery, 105 N. Union St., Alexandria 22314; e-mail [email protected] ; or telephone/fax (703) 549-6877. November 15 entry deadline Lindsborg, Kansas “Aesthetics 2000” (Febru­ ary—March 2000), open to works in all media. Awards. For prospectus, send LSASE to Aesthetics, 300 N. Main, Dept. WIA, McPherson, KS 67460.

Fairs, Festivals and Sales June 30 entry deadline St. Louis, Missouri “Historic Shaw Art Fair” (October 2-3). Juried from 3 slides (with SASE). Booth fee: $160 for a 10x10 space. Awards: ap­ proximately $3500. Contact the Historic Shaw Art Fair, c/o the Shaw Neighborhood Improve­ ment Association, 2211 S. 39th St., St. Louis 63110; e-mail director@shawartfair; see website at www.shawartfair.com ; or telephone Terri McEachern, coordinator, at (314) 851-0996, or (314) 771-3101. July 23 entry deadline Gainesville, Florida “Downtown Festival and Art Show” (November 13-14). Juried from 4 slides (with #10 SASE). Entry fee: $10. For further information, contact Linda Piper, Downtown Festival and Art Show, Sta. 30, PO Box 490, Gainesville 32602; e-mail [email protected]— ville.fl.us; see website at www.state.fl.uslgvl/ arts_culturelDFAS.HTML; or telephone (352) 334-5064. August 15 entry deadline Guilford, Connecticut “Artistry—A Holiday Festival of Craft” (November 6-December 23). Juried from 5 slides. Entry fee: $10. Commission: 50%. For prospectus, send SASE to Artistry, Guilford Handcraft Center, PO Box 589, Guilford 06437. For further information, telephone (203) 453-5947. September 15 entry deadline Northridge, California “Fall Fest ’99” (No­ vember 6-7). Juried from 4 slides or photos. Booth fee: $ 100 for a 10x 10-foot space; $75 for an 8x6-foot space. Commission: 10%. For further information, contact Kathy, (818) 993-8481 or e-mail [email protected].

78 CERAMICS MONTHLY

Of course, this is not practical if I want to Suggestions do sgraffito through the stains. In that case, I From Readers use beeswax applied with a tool normally used to make Ukranian Easter eggs. The wax protects the stains, dries immediately, can be Repairing a Crack readily seen and doesn’t smudge. This tool Repairing a cracked piece using two-partcan be purchased at any crafts or hobby store epoxy? Try warming the piece in the oven forthat supplies the wax for decorating Easter ten minutes or so. The heat will pull the -VeraPoinschuk, Toronto, Ont., Canada epoxy in and seal the crack. Simply heat the piece, apply the epoxy and reheat.—Mike Polishing Terra Sigillata Knox, Lacrosse, Wis. Make an effective pad for polishing terra sigillata by wrapping a sponge (one of the Fluid Forms rounded yellow ones works great) in a soft Nice fluid forms can be produced in cloth or chamois. Gather the cloth and tie. A slump molds made by stretching or suspend­polishing pad is very easy to hold.— Margaret ing canvas between an upside-down chair, Patterson, Atlanta stool or table legs. By varying the degree of suspension, deep or shallow forms can be Trimming Shield made.—Andrew Francis, Housatonic, Mass. Use a child’s plastic snow sled (the flexible kind that can be rolled up like a carpet) Planning Designs wrapped around the wheel head or posi­ When planning the designs to be carved tioned inside the splash pan to keep trim­ into greenware, I prefer using a watercolor mings from falling to the floor.—Ester Lkeda, pencil. The design can be sketched in colorManhattan, Kans. and corrections made in seconds. The whole surface can then be smoothed with a rib Smooth Hard-to-Reach Clay Seams before carving, and the pigments will burn offA pointed eraser tip at the end of a pencil in the firing.—Andi Fasinpour, Dayton, Ohio can be used to smooth narrow, hard-to-reach clay seams. For an extra-fine point, sharpen Tile Patterns the eraser head by cutting with a razor blade.— To create unusual handcut tiles, locate a Birgitta Peterson, Freeport, Me. frame shop with a computer mat cutter. Framers have books of appropriate shapes Great Hand Mixer (fan, irregular, Gothic) programmed into By using a ¾-inch-diameter PVC pipe for their computers. You simply establish the a handle, you can extend a coiled-wire egg perimeter measurements (e.g., 12x24 inches)beater to stir glazes while standing without and ask for backboard, which is cheap, or bending over.— John Nester, Elmhurst, III. marred mat board. The total cost is under $5. Spray the resulting mat-board template withEven Height acrylic sealer for use as a uniform, quick guideTo cut cylinders with even heights or to cutting tiles from slabs.—Sandra K. Tesir,uniformly trim slip-cast ware, mount an Huntsville, Ala. X-acto blade on a block of wood, then move it around each piece.—Marcia Misiorski, No More Smudges Marlborough, Mass. To avoid smudging of stains painted on majolica base glaze, I fire the majolica-glazedSave Your Hands pieces to Cone 018—020 before applying theSlide pipe insulation over the handle of decoration. Although the glaze is not ma­ your pug mill and tape it in place. It saves your tured at this temperature, it does provide a hands when doing a lot of pugging.—Jeffrey stable surface for decoration. This is done T. James, Kettering, Ohio only when I want detailed painting and layers of color to create depth. Wedging Colored Clays My wedging table has a 1-inch lip on 3 Share your ideas with others. Ceramics sides so that I can slide in a canvas-covered Monthly will pay $10 for each one published. board from the front. By replacing boards Suggestions are welcome individually or in when switching to different clays, I avoid quantity. Include a drawing or photograph to color contamination while wedging. —Diane illustrate your idea and we will add $10 to the Heart, Brewster, Mass. payment. Mail to Ceramics Monthly, PO Box 6102, Westerville, Ohio 43086-6102, e-mail Easy Clean-Up to [email protected] or fax to Cut the long sleeves from old T-shirts or (614) 891-8960. sweatshirts, and pull them over your arms

80 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/July/August 1999 81 The humidity in conj unction with gravityresult will be a shiny copper.—Cary Crim, Suggestions pulled the dust to the wet paper. When I wasColumbia, Mo. finished, the paper and dust went neatly into when throwing. Makes clean-up a breeze andthe garbage.—Mary Cay, Denver, Colo. Vacuuming Electric Kiln Elements saves your clothes.— BobbiBassett, Carlisle, Pa. An effective tool for vacuuming electric Blue-Black Raku Glazes kiln elements can easily be made by drilling a Less Dust To achieve blue-black effects in a raku hole through the center of a small, dense As an apprentice in a shop that made slip-firing, use Cone 06 fritted glazes saturated foam, plastic or rubber ball and inserting a cast ware, my job was to clean mold lines andwith black copper oxide and cobalt carbon­straw. A flexible straw will angle down into sand. Even though I wore a mask and some­ate. Simply fire the glazed piece to tempera­the element channels best. times gloves, I was bothered by the clay dust.ture, remove from the kiln and allow to cool Just use suction to hold the ball onto the I solved the problem by placing a newspaperin the air for about 60 seconds before puttinghose of any vacuum cleaner.— Andi Runt, under the banding wheel and misting it withit in a reduction container. This will yield a State College, Pa. water. Whenever the newspaper began to deep blue/black finish. If you put the glaze in dry, I would mist it again. the reduction container immediately, the Use for Small Shavings I bisque fire my shavings and small scraps if they have interesting shapes. These can then be colored with underglazes and used to enhance the surfaces of sculptural works.— Suzanne McCrady, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Smooth Cutting When piercing or cutting clay, dip an X-acto knife in WD40 for a smoother cut.— Lynn Seydel, Silver Spring, Md.

Hole Punchers Small plastic straws (from fast-food places such as McDonalds) make excellent hole punchers for newly formed to leather-hard teapot strainers, colanders, etc.—Kevin Lylis, Rio Grande, Ohio

Clear Impressions To make clear impressions using rubber stamps or metal type in moist clay (not yet leather hard), try lightly dusting the stamp with cornstarch to avoid sticking.— Amy Duvendack, Toledo, Ohio

Altering Rims An interesting effect can be achieved by cutting the rims of thrown pots with a coiled wire (about 1 to 2 hours after throwing). Recenter the pot on the wheel head and rotate slowly while cutting. You can hold the wire steady or move it back and forth as the wheel turns.—Rachel Euting, Fairway, Kans.

Sponging There are about a dozen soft, round, foam applicators in a package of makeup sponges. I found them in the cosmetic department in a supermarket for about $2 per package. They are about ½ inch thick, and work better for smoothing than any sponge I’ve gotten from a ceramics supply store.—Margaret Hahn, Way land, Mass..

Creating Press Molds and Stamps I use buttons with interesting patterns and textures to create molds and stamps: First, clay is rolled into balls and slightly flattened.

82 CERAMICS MONTHLY

Suggestions

Next, I spray the button with a cooking spray (such as Pam), then press it slowly and evenly into the clay. When I remove the button, I have a perfect negative. Once they are bisque fired, I can use the negative molds for sprigged decoration or to then make a positive stamp for impressions. In this manner, I’ve been able to develop intricate patterns, no matter what clay body is used for the mold.—Kim Hohlmayer, Catawba., Ohio

Pantyhose Release Don’t throw away those old pantyhose! They come in very handy when handbuilding larger vessels. Simply slip a hose leg over a tube or other support form, with the hose opening at the top, then build, using coils or slabs, around the form. When the piece is nearly leather hard, the support form can be easily removed by pull­ ing it out from the top. The pantyhose will collapse when the form is removed from the vessel, and can be reused again!—Ann Rismiller, Kettering, Ohio

Alphabet Pasta Use uncooked alphabet pasta to press letters for names or words into clay, then simply leave in place to burn out during bisque firing. The impressed lettering can then be accented by brushing with stains or underglazes, and wiping excess off the surface with a damp sponge.—NanMurley, Paradise Valley, Ariz.

Proper Shelving When designing your studio space, build shelves to match the height of the interior of your kiln, then as work is produced, stack it using wareboards and bricks. With this sys­ tem, you’ll always know when you have enough to fill the kiln and you’ll never have to measure to make sure everything fits.—David Hooker, Spartanburg, S.C.

Bamboo Tools An old bamboo lawn rake can become the source for numerous small tools; for instance, the angled blade that cuts off7extra clay at the base of wheel-thrown forms. A pair of tin- snips or pruning shears can be used to remove a tine of the rake; then the end of the tine can be cut at the desired angle and the edge sharpened with sandpaper (medium grit first, then use fine). Bamboo holds an edge better than other wooden tools and cuts very cleanly, slicing clay away neatly, without distorting the wet form.—Marcia Kindlmann, Guilford, Conn.

84 CERAMICS MONTHLY

full-time student, AUS$250 (approximately Calendar US$155); day rate, AUS$100 (approximately US$60). Contact the Conference Coordinator, Events to Attend—Conferences, PO Box D178, Perth 6840, Western Australia; Exhibitions, Workshops, Fairs e-mail [email protected] ; see website at www.ceramicartswa.asn.au ; or telephone (892) 98 91 43/fax (892) 98 97 52. England, Wolverhampton July 22-24 “Creating the Yellow Brick Road: An International Confer­ Conferences ence,” will look at the way in which brick and clay products are being used by today’s artists, archi­ Colorado, Denver March 22-25, 2000 “Higher tects and landscape architects. Will include key­ Ground,” 34th National Council on Education note speech by Sir Neil Cossons, director of the for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) conference. Con­ National Museum of Science and Industry; plus tact Regina Brown, Executive Secretary, NCECA, presentations by Niels Dietrich, Ian Dinnebier, PO Box 1677, Bandon, OR 97411; telephone Wendy James, Ian Kitson, Gwendolyn Leick, (800) 99-NCECA. Vivien Lovel, David Mach, Esben Madsen, Jamie Iowa, Iowa City September 25?—October 2 “Differ­ Pickles, Tim Ronalds, Francoise Schein, Michael ent Stokes,” international wood-fire conference. Stratton, Peter St. John, HenkTrumpie and Kjell For further information, contact Chuck Hindes, Werner. Fees vary. For further information, con­ School of Art, University of Iowa, Iowa City tact Dennis Farrell, the School of Art and Design, 52242; e-mail [email protected] or fax University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton (319) 335-1774. WV1 1SB; e-mail [email protected]; see Massachusetts, Boston July 26-30 “Symposium website www.wlv.ac.uk/sad/brick/ ; or telephone on Native American Ceramics,” focusing on the (44) 19 02 32 19 60. Mimbres ceramics and ethnographic Puebloan Netherlands, Amsterdam July 13-17 “Ceramic ceramics from Harvard’s Peabody Museum. Will Millennium,” the eighth international ceramics include lectures, demonstrations, panel discus­ symposium of the Ceramic Arts Foundation, will sions, master classes and teaching exhibits. Con­ include over 50 papers presented by educators, tact Nancy Selvage, Radcliffe Ceramics Program, artists, critics, writers, historians; ceramics re­ 219 Western Ave., Boston 02134; e-mail sources fair; film festival; exhibitions. Fee: US$395/ [email protected], telephone (617) 495- Dfl 720. For further information, contact Ce­ 8680 or fax (617) 496-9787. ramic Arts Foundation, 666 Fifth Ave., Ste. 309, Ohio, Dayton June 9-12 “The Second Annual New York, NY 10103; e-mail [email protected] ; Artists Marketing and Skills Development Con­ or fax (212) 489-5168. ference” will address such topics as self-marketing Wales, Aberystwyth July 2-4 “International Pot­ techniques, photo presentation of artwork, think­ ters Festival” will include demonstrations, lec­ ing outside of the box, art and the Internet, etc. tures, hands-on sessions, kilnbuilding and firings, For further information, contact the Artists Mar­ exhibitions. Presenters include Peter Beard, Eddie keting and Skills Development Conference, c/o Daughton, United Kingdom; Malgorzata Dyrda- DeEarnest McLemore, Riverbend Art Center, Kujawska, Poland; Vilma Henkleman, Nether­ 1301 E. Siebenthaler Ave., Dayton 45414; or lands; Cathi Jefferson, Canada; Kang Hyo Lee telephone (937) 278-0656. and Mikang Lim, Korea; Dainis Pundurs, Latvia; Tennessee, Smithville June 77-I9“Furniture 99: Phil Rogers, Wales; Robert Sanderson and Coll The Circle Unbroken, Continuity and Innova­ Minogue, Scotland; and Alan Watt, Australia. tion in Studio Furniture” will include workshops Contact International Potters Festival, Aberyst­ and panel discussions on all craft media, including wyth Arts Centre, Ceredigion SY23 3DE, Wales; ceramics. Location: Appalachian Center for Crafts. e-mail [email protected] ; telephone (970) 62 28 82. Contact the Furniture Society, Box 18, Free Union, VA 22940; e-mail [email protected]; see Solo Exhibitions website www.avenue.org/ArtslFurniture; tele­ phone (804) 973-1488; or fax (804) 973-0336. California, Los Angeles through August 15“ Eliza­ Virginia, Front Royal September 30-0ctober 3 beth Catlett Sculpture: A 50-Year Retrospective,” “Third Virginia Clay Conference,” will include works in terra cotta, bronze, wood, marble and workshops with David Crane, Kevin Crowe and stone; at the California African American Mu­ Silvie Granatelli; plus demonstrations, raku and seum, 600 State Dr., Exposition Park. sawdust firings, and exhibition. Contact Fran California, Mill Valley June 1—July 3 Christina Newquist, Manassas Clay/Tin Barn Pottery, 9122 Bothwell, “Hidden in Full View”; at Susan Center St., Manassas, VA 20110; or telephone Cummins Gallery, 12 Miller Ave. (703) 330-1173. California, San Francisco June 3-30 Jean-Pierre Australia, Perth July 5-8 “EDGE: Identity and Larocque sculpture; at Dorothy Weiss Gallery, Change,” the ninth national ceramics conference, 256 Sutter St. will include keynote speeches by Edmund de August5-17Bonita Cohn, “Anagama Mama”; at Waal, Steven Goldate, Janet Mansfield and Paul Ruby’s Clay Studio and Gallery, 552A Noe St. Mathieu, plus slide presentations, panel discus­ California, Santa Monica through June 1 Cindy sions, and demonstrations on sculpture and hand- Kolodziejski. June 5-July 3 Roseline Delisle; at building, porcelain, paper clay, throwing and deco­ Frank Lloyd Gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave., B5b. ration. Also includes tours and a trade fair. Regis­ Georgia, Atlanta through July 31 “‘I made this tration fee: AUS$350 (approximately US$215); jar...’ The Life and Works of the Enslaved Afri­ can-American Potter, Dave”; at the High Mu­ For a free listing, submit announcements of seum of Art, 1280 Peachtree St., NE. conferences, exhibitions, workshops and ju­ Georgia, Macon through June £T“Fired by Genius: ried fairs at least two months before the The Ceramics of Pablo Picasso”; at the Museum of month of opening. Add one month for list­ Arts and Sciences, 4182 Forsyth Rd. ings in July; two months for those in August. Iowa, Muscatine through June 27 “The Stone­ Mail to Calendar, Ceramics Monthly, PO wares of Charles Fergus Binns: Father of Ameri­ Box 6102, Westerville, OH 43086-6102, e- can Studio Ceramics”; at the Muscatine Art Cen­ mail to [email protected] or ter, 1314 Mulberry Ave. fax to (614) 891-8960. Maryland, Frederick July 12-28 Ken Bichell,

86 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/July/August 1999 87 July 23-August 22 Frank Willett; at Santa Fe Aarons, “Geometry”; at the Clay Place, 5416 Calendar Pottery, 323 S. Guadalupe St. Walnut St. New York, New York through June 77 Jennifer Lee; Texas, Lubbock through June 20 Ashlyn Anne at James Graham and Sons, 1014 Madison Ave. Gomez, “Simple Offerings”; at the ARTary Gallery. wood-fired pottery, “The Flames”; at Hodson North Carolina, Asheville through June 23 Don Vermont, Waterbury Center August 1—31 Fred Gallery, Hood College, 401 Rosemont Ave. Davis; at the Folk Art Center, Focus Gallery, Johnston; at the Vermont Clay Studio, Rte. 100. Michigan, Ferndale through June 19 John Gill, Milepost 382 of the Blue Ridge Pkwy. Virginia, Alexandria through June 20 Joan C. vessels; at Revolution, 23257 Woodward Ave. North Carolina, Charlotte through July 4“ Harvey Kasprzak, “A Twist of Raku”; at Target Gallery, Missouri, St. Louis August 6-29 Mary Henderson; K. Littleton Reflections, 1946-1994”; at the Mint Torpedo Factory Art Center, 105 N. Union St. at the Craft Alliance, 6640 Delmar Blvd. Museum of Craft + Design, 220 N. Tryon St. Washington, Kirkland July 8—August 8 Sandra Montana, Helena June 17—20 Julia Galloway, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia through June 5 Rob­ Zeiset Richardson; at FosterlWhite Gallery, 126 functional pottery. July 15-18 Jess Parker, func­ ert Turner, “Selected works: 1965-1999”; at HelenCentral Way. tional pottery; at the Archie Bray Gallery, 2915 Drutt: Philadelphia, 1721 Walnut St. Washington, Seattle June 3-27Anne Hirondelle; Country Club Ave. June 4-27 Linda Cordell, “lotus eater,” the Evelyn at Foster/White Gallery, Pioneer Square, 123 S. New Mexico, Santa Fe July 1—31 Richard Garriott- Shapiro Foundation Fellowship recipient; at the Jackson St. Stejskal, “Medical Anomalies and Curiosities,” Clay Studio, 139 N. Second St. stoneware sculpture; at Guadalupe Fine Art and Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh through July 21 Dale Group Ceramics Exhibitions Sculpture Garden, 403 Canyon Rd. Huffman, pottery. June 25-August 18 James Arizona, Scottsdale June 1-30 Ceramics by new gallery artists, including Susan Beiner, John Rohlfing and Eric Van Eimeren; at materia/The Hand and the Spirit, 4222 N. Marshall Way. California, Bel Air through July 2 “Containers for Ideas; Form and Content in Clay,” works by Philip Cornelius, Patrick Shia Crabb, Karen Koblitz and David Roesler; at Marjorie & Herman Platt Gallery and the Bornstein Gallery, University of Judaism, 15600 Mulholland Dr. California, Davis through/une30SculpturebyJudy Houck, Tony Natsoulas and Laura VanDuren; at JGlenn Gallery, 603 Fourth St. California, Los Angeles June 6—July 10 “A Whim­ sical and Functional Ceramic Drinking Cup Com­ petition”; at Earthen Art Works, 7960 Melrose Ave. California, Sacramento through June 11 “Wall- works II,” ceramic sculpture by Bill Abright, George Esquibel, Mimi Fogg Fong, Andy Jacobs, Annabeth Rosen, Teiko Sasser and Yoshio Taylor; at SMUD Art Gallery, SMUD Customer Service Center, 6301 S St., off 65th St. California, San Francisco June 22—August 28 Functional ceramics by Teresa Chang, Mary Law, Hsin-Chuen Lin and Jan Schachter; at Evolving Space, 536 Pacific Ave. Colorado, Glenwood Springs throughJuly9“V\i- ture Primitive: Contemporary Ceramics at the Millennium,” with works by Steven Branfman, Jonathan Kaplan, Biz Littel, Vince Pitelka and Craig Rench; at the Colorado Mountain College Foundation Gallery, 831 Grand Ave. Connecticut, Guilford through June ^“Ceramics ’99”; at Guilford Handcraft Center, 411 Church St. Delaware, Winterthur through July 1 “Ceramics in Bloom”; at the Society of Winterthur Fellows Galleiy. Illinois, Chicago through June 20 “Porcelain.” “The 24th Annual Spring Show”; at Gallery 1021: Lill Street, 1021 W. Lill St. Massachusetts, Boston through July 2 “Emerging Artists • Figurative Clay”; at the Society of Arts and Crafts, 101 Arch St. through July 3 “Mystical • Spiritual • Ritual,” sculpture by Christina Bertoni, Sandy Shaw, Bill Stewart and more. “Figurative Clay”; at the Soci­ ety of Arts and Crafts, 175 Newbury St. Massachusetts, Harwichport through September 6Works by Cape Cod Potters Guild members; at the Always and Forever Gallery, 791 Main St. Massachusetts, Ipswich through June 30 “Garden Adornments. ” July 3-August 31 “Studio Pottery”; at Ocmulgee Pottery and Gallery, 317 High St.- Rte. 1A. Massachusetts, Northampton June 5-27“ Erotica in Ceramic Art. ” July 1—August 15 “20th Anniver- saryTeapotExhibition.”v4ugust27-October3“China Painting Today”; at Ferrin Gallery, 179 Main. Michigan, Midland through June 20 “Michigan Ceramics ’98”; at Arts Midland: Galleries and School of the Midland Center for the Arts.

88 CERAMICS MONTHLY Minnesota, Minneapolis through June 12 “Rev­ functional/decorative pottery; at Scope Gallery, “Drawings on Clay,” works by Russ Block, George elations of the African Potter,” historical and Torpedo Factory, Studio 19, 105 N. Union St. Pobuda and Natalie Watland; at Alexander House, contemporary vessels. June 26—July 24 “NCC Virginia, Roanoke through July 11 “Community 1131 Wisconsin River Dr. Faculty and Student Exhibition”; at Northern in Clay: Four Floyd County Potters,” works by Wisconsin, Woodruff June 1—30 “Ceramics Be­ Clay Center, 2424 Franklin Ave., E. Silvie Granatelli, Richard Hensley, Donna Polseno tween Friends,” works by Russ Block, George Montana, Helena June 17—August 14 “Annual and Ellen Shankin; at the Art Museum of Western Pobuda and Natalie Watland; at Howard Young Resident Artist Exhibition”; at the Archie Bray Virginia, Center in the Square, 1 Market Square, Medical Center. Warehouse Gallery, 2915 Country Club Ave. SE, Second Fl. Wyoming, Laramie June 1-30 “Third Annual Nebraska, Kearney through July 11 “Rendezvous Washington, Seattle through June 27 Works by International Pottery Show”; at Artisans’ Gallery, 99!” works by 29 ceramists and their guests; at the Washington Potters Association members; at the 213 S. Second St. Museum of Nebraska Art, 2401 Central Ave. Northwest Crafts Center, 305 Harrison. New Mexico, Santa Fe through June 72“From the Wisconsin, Cambridge June 11—13 “Sixth An­ Ceramics in Multimedia Ground Up XXIII”; at Santa Fe Clay, 1615 Paseo nual Cambridge Invitational,” works by Richard Exhibitions de Peralta. Aerni, Carl Erickson, Heerspink and Porter, Cary New York, Albany through September 13, 2000 Hulin, Nick Joerling, Jim Kemp, Diane Kenny, Arizona, Flagstaff through September 19 “Endur­ “From the Collections: The Weitsman Stoneware Maren Kloppman and George Lowe; at the Cam­ ing Creations: Master Work of Native American Collection”; at the New York State Museum, bridge Historic School, 212 South St. Art”; at the Museum of Northern Arizona, 3101 Empire State Plaza. Wisconsin, Port Edwards July 16-August 31 N. Fort Valley Rd. Continued New York, Alfred through September 9 “Lost Molds and Found Dinnerware: Rediscovering Eva Zeisel’s Hallcraft”; at the International Mu­ seum of Ceramic Art at Alfred, Ceramic Corridor Innovation Center, Rte. 244. New York, New York through June 5 Porcelain sculpture by Arnold Annen, Philippe Barde and Shigekazu Nagae; at Nancy Margolis Gallery, 560 Broadway, Ste. 302. through June 18 “The Alfred Asian Connection: The Asia Alfred Reflection”; at the Taipei Gallery, McGraw-Hill Bldg., 1221 Avenue of the Ameri­ cas, Second Fl. through June 26*Annual Members’ Exhibition”; at Greenwich House Pottery, 16 Jones St. July 15-October24“Discovering the Secrets of Soft- Paste Porcelain at the Saint-Cloud Manufactory, ca. 1690-1766”; at the Bard Graduate Center for Stud­ ies in the Decorative Arts, 18 W. 86th St. New York, Syracuse June 26—September I2“Syra- cuse Ceramics Educators”; at the Everson Mu­ seum of Art, 401 Harrison St. North Carolina, Asheville through June 27 “A Fiery Influence: Cynthia Bringle and Friends,” works by Bringle and former students; at the Folk Art Center, Milepost 382, Blue Ridge Pkwy. June 4-July 31 “Odyssey Summer Visiting Artist Exhibit,” works by George Bowes, Mark Burleson, Susan Filley, Steven Forbes-deSoule, Terry Gess, Gloria Kosco, Linda McFarling, Jim Whalen. Au­ gust 12—October 2 “Odyssey Center Annual Instruc­ tor Exhibit”; at Odyssey Gallery, 242 Clingman Ave. Ohio, Canton June 5—July 25 “Ohio Ceramic Showcase”; at the Canton Museum of Art, 1001 Market Ave., N. Ohio, Westerville through June 15 “Clay from Two Rivers: Pottery from New Guinea and Af­ rica”; at Fisher Gallery, Roush Hall, Otterbein College, 1 Otterbein. Pennsylvania, Lancaster June 25-July 11 “Pacific Tides: The Influence of the Pacific Rim on Con­ temporary American Ceramics”; at 9 W. Grant St. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia June 4-27“ Made at the Clay Studio,” works by guest artists; at the Clay Studio, 139 N. Second St. Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh through June 23 Jan and Paul Jay, “Reflections of Inner Space”; at the Clay Place, 5416 Walnut St. Texas, Ingram July 18-August 14 “Origins in Clay”; at the Hill Country Arts Foundation, 507 Hwy. 39. Texas, San Angelo through June 13 “Different Directions: Coming Together in Clay”; at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, 704 Burgess Street. Vermont, Waterbury Center June 1—30“ Clay in the Garden, Home and Greenhouse.” July 1-31 “Karen Karnes and Friends,” exhibition curated by Karen Karnes of works by 22 ceramists; at the Vermont Clay Studio, Rte. 100. Virginia, Alexandria through June 28 “Ceramic Madness.” June 29-August2 “Christmas in July,”

June/July/August 1999 89 Calendar

Arizona, Mesa June 8-July 10 “The Natural World”; at Galeria Mesa, Mesa Arts Cetner, 155 N. Center St. California, Carmichael through June 6“ A Differ­ ent Kind of Canvas,” juried exhibition ofworks by Valley SCULPTURE Artists members; at the Sac­ ramento Fine Arts Center, 5330-B Gibbons. California, Chico through June 13 “1999 ‘All Media’ Juried National Exhibition”; at the Chico Art Center, 450 Orange St., #6. California, La Jolla July 3—August 2.9“Teapot 10” at Gallery Alexander, 7850 Girard Ave. California, Los Angeles through June 5 “Ancient Techniques, Modern Interpretations,” including ceramics by Lyn-Rae Ashley, Max Fuller, Jacque­ line Marks, Jan Napolitan and Leonard Ruben- stein; at the Gallery of the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, 919 S. Grand Ave. July 10—August 22 “Absolute Teapot Show”; at Parham Gallery Fine and Exotic Teapots, 2847 S. Armacost Ave. California, Oakland through September 11 “Bay Area Sculptors: Group Exhibition V,” including ceramic sculpture by Jane Grimm; at Oakland Museum of California, OMCA Sculpture Court at CityCenter, 1111 Broadway. California, Rancho Palos Verdes June 18-July31 “Palos Verdes Art Center Juried All-Media Exhi­ bition”; at the Palos Verdes Art Center, 5504 W. Crestridge Rd. California, San Diego through 2001 “Folk Art of Mexico”; at the Mingei International Museum, Balboa Park, 1439 El Prado. California, San Francisco June 26-October 17“The Art of Craft: Contemporary Works from the Saxe Collection”; at the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, Golden Gate Park, 75 Tea Garden Dr. California, Stanford July 13-September 19“ Arthur Wesley Dow and American Arts and Crafts”; at Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for the Arts, Stanford University. Colorado, Aspen July 30-September 30 “Silence Speaks,” installation exhibition featuring ceram­ ics by Nori Pao and Siglinda Scarpa; at Castle Creek Gallery, 715 S. Seventh St. Colorado, Boulder June 24-September 11“ Celes­ tial Seasonings: A Loose Interpretation IV”; at Celestial Seasonings, 4600 Sleepytime Dr. Colorado, Denver through October 3 “White on White: Chinese Jades and Ceramics from the Tang through Qing Dynasties”; at the Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14th Ave. Pkwy. Colorado, Ft. Collins through July 3 “Craft Art: Five Perspectives,” including ceramics by Michael Carroll and Mitch Messina; at Intimate Gallery, Lincoln Center. Connecticut, Westport July 1—September 6 “SCENTS and nonSCENTS ’99”; at Signature, 48 Post Rd., E, at Main St. Delaware, Wilmington through September 6 “Splendors of Meiji: Treasures of Imperial Ja­ pan”; at the First USA Riverfront Arts Center, 800 S. Madison St. D. C., Washington through September 6“Devi:The Great Goddess,” 120 works of Indian art, including terra cotta; at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smith­ sonian Institution. Florida, Orlando through July 11 “Shamans, Gods and Mythic Beasts”; at the Orlando Museum of Art, 2416 N. Mills Ave. Georgia, Atlanta June 11—August 13 “A View from the Garden: Paintings, Drawings, Photogra­ phy and Installations,” including ceramics by Robin Campo; at the Spruill Center Gallery, 4681 Ashford Dunwoody Rd. Continued

90 CERAMICS MONTHLY

Massachusetts, Chestnut Hill July 1-September 6 North Carolina, Carrboro June 1-27 “Garden Calendar “SCENTS and nonSCENTS ’99”; at Signature, the Party,” including clay turtle sculptures by Blaine Mall at Chestnut Hill, 165 Boylston St. Avery; at Green Tara Gallery, 118 E. Main St. Massachusetts, East Otis July 10-August 15 “A North Carolina, Southport July 1-31 National Hawaii, Honolulu July 20-January 16, 2000 Garden Party.” August 28-0ctober 3 “Light ’em juried exhibition of two- and three-dimensional “Hawai’i and its People”. July 22-August22“Art­ Up”; at the Clayground, 436 N. Blandford Rd. work; at Franklin Square Gallery, Associated Art­ ists of Hawai’i 1999,” juried exhibition; at Hono­ Massachusetts, Mashpee July 1-September 6 ists of Southport. lulu Academy of Arts. “SCENTS and nonSCENTS ’99”; at Signature, North Carolina, Waynesville through June I0Two- Hawaii, Makawao, Maui through June 26“ 1999 Mashpee Commons, 10 Steeple St. person exhibition including clay fountains, reflec­ Hui No’eau Juried Members Show”; at the Hui Missouri, St. Louis August 6-29 “Student-Fac- tion pools and flower/plant vessels by Karen Stoner. No’eau Visual Arts Center, 2841 Baldwin Ave. ulty Exhibition”; at Craft Alliance, 6640 Delmar July 17-August I.9Two-person exhibition including Illinois, Chicago July 16-September 3 Jack Earl; at Blvd. pottery by Judith Duff; at Twigs and Leaves Gallery, Perimeter Gallery, 210 W. Superior St. Missouri, Springfield July 31-August 1, 2000 98 N. Main St. July 25-August22 “Walking on Hell’s Roof/Gaz- “Outdoor Sculpture Competition”; at the Open Ohio, Columbus through June 27 “The Best of ing on Flowers,” including ceramic sculpture by Air Sculpture Gallery, Federal Historic District. 1999”; at the Ohio Craft Museum, 1665 W. Chris Garofalo, Kelly Kessler and Alan Lerner; at Montana, Helena June 2-August 13 “Mini­ Fifth Ave. Gallery 1021: Lill Street, 1021 W. Lill. treasures,” invitational including ceramics by Rudy Oregon, Portland June 22-August 21 “Growing Indiana, Indianapolis through June 27“Art of the Autio; at Holter Museum of Art, 12 E. Lawrence. Up with Roy: Exploring American Culture.” Au­ Americas, 2000 Years of Native American Cre­ Nebraska, Omaha June 5-26 “Mixed Media.” gust 10-September 19 “Handmade Oregon”; at ativity”; at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, 1200 July 5-26“Realism ’99”; at Period Gallery, 5174 the Contemporary Crafts Gallery, 3934 S.W. W. 38th St. Leavenworth. Corbett Ave. Iowa, Iowa City June 4-July 5 “Garden Topics: New York, Albany through September 13, 2000 Pennsylvania, Greensburg July 2-5 “West­ Vases, Fountains, Sculpture and Garden Inspira­ “From the Collections: Treasures from the Wunsch moreland Art Nationals—25th”; at the Westmore­ tions”; at Iowa Artisans Gallery, 117E. College St. Americana Foundation”; at the New York State land Arts and Heritage Festival, Twin Lakes Park. Iowa, Sioux City July 15-January 16, 2000 “Im­ Museum, Empire State Plaza. Pennsylvania, Lancaster through June 13 “Na­ ages of Iowa”; at the Sioux City Art Center, 225 New York, New York through June 6 “Cross­ tional Crafts”; at the Lancaster Museum of Art, Nebraska St. currents in Asian Art: Masterpieces from New 135 N. Lime St. Kentucky, Louisville through July 3 “Kentucky’s York Collections”; at the Japan Society Gallery, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh July 29-0ctober 10 Best: New Works from Old Friends.”through July 333 E. 47th St. “Shamans, Gods and Mythic Beasts”; at the Frick 10 “Fifteen Years on Main Street”; at the Ken­ through September 8 “Stop Asking/We Exist: 25 Art Museum, 7227 Reynolds St. tucky Art and Craft Gallery, 609 W. Main St. African-American Craft Artists”; at the American Pennsylvania, Youngwood through June 13 Maryland, Annapolis June 24-July 25“The Fine Craft Museum, 40 W. 53rd St. “Westmoreland Art Nationals—25th”; at West­ Art of Craft, A National Craft Show”; at the MFA June 5—August 7 “New Talent”; at John Elder moreland County Community College. Gallery on the Circle and the Mitchell Gallery. Gallery, 529 W. 20th St., 7th FI. South Carolina, Charleston through July 3 “In Massachusetts, Boston July 1—September 6 North Carolina, Asheville July 4-August 29“An­ Pursuit of Refinement: Charlestonians Abroad, “SCENTS and nonSCENTS ’99”; at Signature, nual Members’ Exhibition: Closures”; at the Folk 1740-1860”; at the Gibbes Museum of Art, 135 Dock Square, 24 North St. Art Center, Milepost 382, Blue Ridge Parkway. Meeting St. Continued

92 CERAMICS MONTHLY

Wyoming, Buffalo June 17-August31 “Earth and June 12-13 “16th Annual Indian Fair”; at the San Calendar Light Structures,” with salt-fired stoneware by Diego Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado, Balboa Blair Meerfeld; at Margo’s Pottery and Fine Crafts, Park. 26 N. Main. California, Santa Monica June 18-20 “Contem­ Tennessee, Smithville June 17-September 26“ Fur­ porary Crafts Market”; at Santa Monica Civic niture 99: The Circle Unbroken”; at the Appala­ Fairs, Festivals and Sales Auditorium, 1855 Main St. chian Center for Crafts. Colorado, Beaver Creek August 14-15 “Beaver Texas, San Antonio through June 5 “Endeavors: Alabama, Springville June “Summerfest”; at Creek Arts Festival 11”; at Beaver Creek Resort. All-School Exhibition.” June 18-August 21 “Ab­ Homestead Hollow. Colorado, Evergreen August 21-22 “33rd An­ stract Craft”; at the Southwest School of Art and California, Laguna Beach July 4-August 29 “Fes­ nual Evergreen Arts Festival”; at Heritage Grove Craft, Russell Hill Rogers Gallery, Navarro Cam­ tival of Arts 1999”; at 650 Laguna Canyon Rd. Park. pus, Navarro and Augusta sts. California, Palo Alto July 10-11 “Palo Alto Clay Colorado, Manitou Springs June 19 “9 th Annual Washington, Bellingham July 10-August23“\9t\\ and Glass Festival”; at the Palo Alto Arts Center, Clayfest and Mud Ball”; along Canon Ave. Annual Northwest International Art Competi­ 1313 Newell Rd. Colorado, Vail July 10-11 “Vail Arts Festival tion”; at the Whatcom Museum of History and California, San Diego June 12-13 Annual sale of 16”; at Lionshead. Art, 121 Prospect St. works by members of the San Diego Potters’ Connecticut, Guilford July 15-17 “The 42nd Wisconsin, La Crosse August 1—30“ FISH Tales”; at Guild; at the Spanish Village Art Center, Balboa Annual Guilford Handcraft Exposition”; on the Pump House Regional Arts Center, 119 King St. Park. Guilford Green. Georgia, Atlanta June 11-20 “Arts Festival At­ lanta”; at Centennial Olympic Park. Illinois, Chicago June 4-6 “ACC Craft Show Chicago”; at Navy Pier. June 5 and July “Belmont/Sheffield Street Fes­ tival”; along Sheffield Ave. from Belmont Ave. to Barry Ave. June 12-13 “25th Annual Wells Street Art Festi­ val”; in Old Town, along Wells St. August 14-15 “ 18th Annual Northalsted Market Days”; in Lakeview, along Halsted St. from Belmont to Addison. Illinois, Evanston August 27-29 “15th Annual American Craft Exposition”; at the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion, Northwestern University, Lin­ coln St. Illinois, Galena July 17-18“ 28th Annual Galena Arts Festival”; at Grant Park. Iowa, Clinton June 19 “Art in the Park”; at Riverview Park. Iowa, Mason City August 22 Outdoor art market of fine arts and crafts; at Charles H. MacNider Museum, 303 Second St., SE. Kansas, Salina June 11-13 “Smoky Hill River Festival”; at Oakdale Park. Maryland, Baltimore June 4-5 “Seconds Sale”; at Baltimore Clayworks, 5706 Smith Ave. Maryland, Frederick June 5-6“Frederick Festi­ val of the Arts”; at Carroll Creek Linear Park, downtown. Massachusetts, West Springfield June 18-20 “ACC Craft Show West Springfield”; at the East­ ern States Exposition. Michigan, Ann Arbor July 21-24 “The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair”; downtown, in the South University area. Michigan, Birmingham June 9 “15th Annual Juried Arts and Crafts Show”; at the First United Methodist Church, 1589 W. Maple Rd. Michigan, Livonia June 12—13 “23rd Annual Arts Festival”; at Greenmead Historical Village. Missouri, Mexico June 26—27“Clay Days USA ’99”; at 900 S. Jefferson. Montana, Helena July 15-August 14 “Resident Artist Scholarship Fund Silent Auction”; at the Archie Bray Warehouse Gallery, 2915 Country Club Ave. New Hampshire, Newbury August 1—9 “65th Annual League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s Fair”; at Mt. Sunapee State Park. New York, Cazenovia August 21-22 “Syracuse Ceramic Guild’s 19th Annual Pottery Fair”; at Stone Quarry Art Park, Rte. 20. New York, Chautauqua July 9-11 and August 13-15 “Crafts Festivals ’99”; at Bestor Plaza, Chautauqua Institution. New York, New York June 5 “Crafts Fair”; along Jones Street, near Greenwich House Pottery. June 5-6 Washington Square Outdoor Art Ex­ hibit, on the streets of Greenwich Village. New York, Syracuse June26-27“Clay Group IV’s

94 CERAMICS MONTHLY 11th Annual Garden Party”; at May Memorial form, surface and personal expression in raku. All mation, contact Hinckley Pottery, 1707 Kalorama Unitarian Universalist Society, 3800 E. Genesee St. skill levels. Fee: $695, includes lab fee, some Rd., NW, Washington, D.C. 20009; or tele­ North Carolina, Asheville June 5“ Clay Day”; at the materials, 1 firing, lodging and meals. For further phone (202) 745-7055. Folk Art Center, Milepost 382, Blue Ridge Pkwy. information, contact Laloba Ranch Clay Center, Georgia, Athens September 4-6 “Soda July 15—18 “Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands”; PO Box 770226, Steamboat Springs 80477; e-mail Kilnbuilding Workshop” with MacKenzie Smith. at the Asheville Civic Center, Haywood St. [email protected] ; see website http:/ Fee: $200. Contact GOOD DIRT, 510b N. Tho­ Ohio, Findlay June 12-13 “Arts Festival by the /cmn.netMaloba; telephone (970) 870-6423; or mas St., Athens 30601; telephone (706) 355-3161. Riverside”; at Riverside Park. fax (970) 870-6452. Idaho, Sun Valley July 16-18 “Handbuilding Oregon, Salem July 16-18 “Salem Art Fair and Connecticut, Danbury July 10 “Journey with a with Passion” with Marjolaine Renfro. For fur­ Festival”; at Bush’s Pasture Park, Mission and Clay Artist” with Joy Brown; fee: $75, includes ther information, contact Boulder Mountain High sts., SE. materials and firing. Contact Wooster Commu­ Clayworks, PO Box 3725, Ketchum, ID 83340; Pennsylvania, Lancaster July 29-August 1 “53rd nity Art Center, 73 Miry Brook Rd., Danbury see website www.bouldermtnclay.com ; telephone State Craft Fair”; at Franklin and Marshall College. 06810; telephone (203) 744-4825. (208) 726-4484 or fax (208) 726-7183. Texas, Lubbock June 12—13 “Llano Estacado D.C., Washington September 18-19Demonstra­ Kentucky, Harrodsburg July 10-14 “Sculpting a Wine and Clay Festival”; at the Llano Estacado tion, slide presentation and discussion with Clay Bust Using a Live Model” with John Jensen; Winery, east of 87 on FM 1585. Michael Simon. Fee: $125. October 23-24 Dem­ fee: $350. July 17-18,24-25“Raku” with Wyman Vermont, Waterbury Center July 30-August 2 onstration, slide presentation and discussion with Rice; fee: $300. August 2-6“1l\iz Nature of Clay” “Karen Karnes and Friends,” exhibition and sale Linda Christianson. Fee: $100. For further infor­ with Marty Huehner; fee: $350. For further infor- of works by 23 potters; at the Vermont Clay Studio, Rte. 100. Washington, Bellevue July23—25“Pacific North­ west Arts Fair”; at Bellevue Square, corner of N.E. Eighth and Bellevue Way. West Virginia, near Weston September 3—6 “Stonewall Jackson Heritage Arts and Crafts Jubi­ lee”; at Jackson’s Mill, off Interstate 79. Wisconsin, Cambridge June 12—13 “8th Annual Cambridge Pottery Festival”; at West Side Park. Wisconsin, Madison July 10-11 “41st Annual Art Fair on the Square”; downtown, around the state capitol building. Wisconsin, Sheboygan July 17-18 “29th Annual Outdoor Arts Festival”; at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 608 New York Ave.

Workshops California, Oakland October Seven-day firing of a 350-cubic-foot anagama with Ryusei Arita. For brochure, telephone Ryusei Arita (510) 652-2525 or fax (510) 540-4842. California, San Diego June 7 £-7.9 Slide presenta­ tion and demonstration with Scott Young. Work­ shop fee: $40; members, $35. Slide presentation is free. For further information, contact Ceramic Art­ ists of San Diego, do 4259 Feather Ave., San Diego 92117; or telephone John Conrad, Mesa College, (619) 627-2610. Colorado, Boulder June 3—6Castable kilnbuilding workshop with R. Jack McClennen. Fee: $50. Sponsored by the Boulder Potters’ Guild. For further information, contact Caroline Douglas, 1527 North St., Boulder 80304; or telephone (303) 447-0110. Colorado, Carbondale June 7—19 “Functional Pots and the Wood Kiln” with Peg Malloy and Diane Kenney. Fee: $550, includes lab fee. August 16—20“Sculptural Forms” with Wesley Anderegg. Fee: $275, includes lab fee. Contact Carbondale Clay Center, 135 Main St., Carbondale 81623; e-mail [email protected] , telephone (970) 963-2529 or fax (970) 963-4492. Colorado, Glenwood Springs June 26—27A ses­ sion with Robert Piepenburg. Fee (before June 15): $200; after June 15, $225. For further infor­ mation, contact Glenwood Springs Center for the Arts, 601 E. Sixth St., Glenwood Springs 81601; tele­ phone (970) 945-2414. Colorado, Snowmass Village September 6—24 “Hands, Tools, Clay, Fire, Pots: Studio Intensive” with Josh DeWeese and Bradley Walters. All skill levels. Fee: $790, includes materials and firing. For further information, contact Registrar, Ander­ son Ranch Arts Center, PO Box 5598, Snowmass Village 81615; e-mail [email protected]; see website www.andersonranch.org; telephone (970) 923-3181; or fax (970) 923-3871. Colorado, Steamboat Springs September 14—22 Raku workshop with Jim Romberg, investigating

June/July/August 1999 95 New Mexico, Albuquerque to Santa Fe August Calendar 28-September 4 “Clay into Spirit” with Anita Griffith. For further information, contact Hori­ zons, 108 N. Main St., Sunderland, MA 01375; mation, contact Open Ground, 681 Roye Ln., e-mail [email protected] ; see website Harrodsburg 40330; e-mail [email protected] www.horizons-art.org ; telephone (413) 665-0300; or telephone (606) 375-2411. or fax (413) 665-4141. Maine, Monroe September 2-6“Wilderness Ad­ New Mexico, Santa Fe July 22 Slide lecture with venture” with Squidge Liljeblad Davis, Frank Willett, “Celebrating 50 Years at the Wheel.” handbuilding, primitive firing, Allagash River Free. For further information, contact Santa Fe canoe trip. Contact Starflower Farm and Studios, Clay, 1615 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe 87501; tele­ 941 Jackson Rd., Monroe 04951; or telephone phone (505) 984-1122. (207) 525-3593. New Mexico, Taos September 5—11 “Storytellers” Maine, Portland September 11 “The Production with Juanita Dubray. All skill levels. Fee: $395, Studio Potter” with Peter Jones. October 9“Sculp­ includes materials. Contact Susan Mihalic, Taos tural Vessels” with Lucy Breslin. November 13 Institute of Arts, 108 Civic Plaza Dr., Taos 87571; “Tile-making Techniques” with Melody e-mail [email protected]; telephone/fax (505) Bonnema. Fee/session: $35. For further informa­ 758-2793. tion, contact Portland Pottery School and Supply, New York, Highland Lake August 23-30 “Get­ 118 Washington Ave., Portland 04101; or tele­ ting Fired Up IV” with Bill Shillalies, anagama phone (207) 772-4334. and raku firing. Fees vary. Deposit due July 30. Massachusetts, Somerville June 4 Slide presenta­ For further information, contact Bill Shillalies, tion of Native American ceramics with David (516) 796-4498. Orser. No fee. June 5 and 12 Demonstration and New York, Port Chester June 25“ Handbuilding” hands-on sculpture workshop with Randy Fein. with D. Hayne Bayless. Fee: $65. For further Fee: $120; members, $60. June 6 “For the Gar­ information, contact the Clay Art Center, 40 den,” sculpture workshop for children with Jenni­ Beech St., Port Chester 10573; or telephone (914) fer Thayer. June 13and 27 High-fire glaze work­ 937-2047. shop with David Orser .June 18, 25, July 9 and 16 New York, Rosendale September 18—19 “The “Friday Night Workshop Series” with Carole Ann Clay Narrative” with Elyse Saperstein. October 2— Fer, focusing on techniques and forms. Fee: $20 3 “Integrating Form and Surface in the Electric per session; $70 for all 4. July 25 “A Day to Play Kiln” with Mary Barringer. October l6—17“C\zy with Clay” with Melissa Black and Jennifer Thayer. Monoprinting” with Nancy Barch. October 23— Fee: $25. Contact Mudflat, 149 Broadway, 24“S imple Mold Making” with Danielle Leventhal. Somerville 02145; telephone (617) 628-0589 or Contact Women’s Studio Workshop, PO Box 489, fax (617) 628-2082. Rosendale 12471; [email protected] ; see website Massachusetts, Williamsburg September 26—Oc­ www.wsworkshop.org; telephone (914) 658-9133; tober 2 “Portraits and Self-Portraits in Clay: A or fax (914) 658-9031. Sculpting Workshop” with Randi Fein. October Ohio, Columbus July 5—16 A session with Ban 3-9“Earthenware and Majolica: Terra-cotta Pot­ Kajitani, colored clay and slip techniques in throw­ tery” with Sharon Pollock-DeLuzio. October9-11 ing and handbuilding. Fee: $750. Contact Colum­ “Tiles: For Large Installations or Small Projects” bus College of Art and Design, 107 N. Ninth St., with Sharon Pollock-DeLuzio. October 11—17 Columbus 43215; or telephone (614) 224-9101. “The Multifaceted World of Clay” with Bob Ohio, Westerville October 15-16A session with Green. “Mosaics: Ancient Art Form/20th-Cen- Don Reitz. Contact The American Ceramic Soci­ tury Applications” with Tina Gram. October 17— ety: e-mail [email protected]; see website at 23 “Portraits and Self-Portraits in Clay: A Sculpt­ www.acers.org; or telephone Michael O’Toole, ing Workshop” with Christopher Gowell. Octo­ (614) 794-5824. ber 24-30 “Clay Tiles for Large Pieces or Small Pennsylvania, Wayne September 13—16 “Archi­ Projects” with Sharon Pollock-DeLuzio. Contact tectural Ceramics Workshop” with Peter King Horizons, 108 N. Main St., Sunderland, MA and Xinia Martin. Fee: $400; members, $350. 01375; e-mail [email protected] ; see Contact Wayne Art Center, 413 Maplewood Ave., website at www.horizons-art.org ; telephone (413) Wayne 19087; telephone (610) 688-3553. 665-0300; or fax (413) 665-4141. Texas, Lubbock June 11-13 Slide presentation Mississippi, Jackson July 30-August 6 “The and workshop with Todd Camp. For further EBU at Tougaloo,” traditional Nigerian information, contact School of Art, Rte. 10, Box handbuilding techniques with Winnie Owens- 93, Lubbock 79404; [email protected]; Hart. Fee: before June 15, $260; after, $350; or telephone (806) 745-6018. includes registration fee. For further informa­ Vermont, Bristol September 10-13 “Experienc­ tion, contact Registrar, Tougaloo Art Colony, ing the Fire,” with Robert Compton, firing a salt, Tougaloo College, PO Box 578, Tougaloo, MS raku, sawdust, pit, and a climbing multicham­ 39174; e-mail [email protected]; see website bered wood-fired kiln. Intermediate skill level. at www.Tougaloo.edu/artcolony ; telephone Fee: $580, includes materials, firing and meals. (601) 977-7839; or fax (601) 977-0837. For further information, contact Robert Compton New Jersey, Layton September 3-7^ Paper Clay” Pottery, 2662 N. 116 Rd., Bristol 05443; e-mail with Rosette Gault. September 10-14 “Printing [email protected] ; see website with Colored Clay” with Mitch Lyons. Fed ses­ www.RobertComptonPottery.com ; or telephone sion: $450, includes lab and application fees. Skill (802) 453-3778. requirements vary. For further information, con­ Virginia, Gainesville September 11 Slide presen­ tact Jennifer Brooks, Peters Valley Craft Educa­ tation and hands-on workshop with Syd Carpen­ tion Center, 19 Kuhn Rd., Layton 07851; e-mail ter. Fee: $45. Limited registration. Contact W. R. [email protected] ; telephone (973) 948-5200; or Owens-Hart, PO Box 361, Gainesville 20156; fax (973) 948-0011. e-mail [email protected]; or telephone New Mexico, Abiquiu June 2-6 A session with (703) 754-1307. Sandy Simon, throwing and handbuilding with Washington, Seattle June 4 Slide lecture with porcelain. Fee: $170-$ 185. Meals and lodging: Terry Siebert. Fee: %A. June 5— 6T“The Chemistry, $180. Location: Ghost Ranch. Contact Pat Application and Firing of Majolica Glaze,” hands- Stalgren, PO Box 2049, Tijeras, NM 87059; or on workshop with Terry Siebert. Fee: $95. Con­ telephone (505) 281-2643. tact the Seward Park Art Studio, 5900 Lake Wash-

96 CERAMICS MONTHLY ington Blvd., S, Seattle 98118; or telephone (206) 722-6342. Washington, Yelm June26—27“Smoke and Fire” with Joe Brecha and Barbra Kates, decorating surfaces with pit, naked raku and horsehair firing. Fee: $120; plus $5 firing fee per pot. Registration deadline: June 5 .July 31 “25 Years of Techniques: Constructing Large Vessels” with John Harris. Fee: $55. Registration deadline: July 13. August 14—15 or 17-18 “Architectural Ceramics” with Peter King. Fee: $175; or for both sessions, $325. Registration deadline: July 23. September 18 “Hands-on Raku” with John Harris; participants should bring bisqueware. Fee: $60; plus $5 firing fee per pot. Registration deadline: September 4. All skill levels. For further information, contact Barbra Kates, Architektura, PO Box 1431, Yelm 98597; e-mail [email protected]; or tele­ phone (360) 894-7527.

International Events Belgium, Brasschaat July 5-10 “Throwing on the Wheel” with Winny Weerts; or “Modeling Human Figures” with Agnes Nagygyorgy. August 23-27 “Pottery Making for Advanced” with Don Davis; or “Paper Clay and Firing a Paper Kiln” with Patty Wouters. September 25—26 “Making a Mold in Plaster” with Agnes Nagygyorgy; or “Throwing Very Thin Porcelain” with Astrid Gerhartz. Novem­ ber 2—4 “Decoration Techniques for Porcelain” with Peter Lane. November 2-5 “The Magic of Decalcomania” with Giovanni Cimatti. Contact Atelier Cirkel, Miksebaan 272, B-2930 Brasschaat; e-mail [email protected]; see website http:// bewoner.dma.be/atcirkel; or telephone/fax (3) 633 05 89. Belgium, Zulte through June 2d Takeshi Yasuda, “Reactivating the Senses”; at Centrum Goed Werk, Moerbeekstraat 86. Canada, Alberta, Red Deer August 25-October 8 “Three of a Kind,” ceramics by Mel Bolen, Charley Farrero and Anita Rocamora; at Old Court House Gallery, Red Deer and Distric Allied Arts Council, 4836 Ross St. Canada, British Columbia, Osoyoos June25-27or July 16—18 “Ceramic Handbuilding” with Zeljko Kujundzic. Fee: $125. Contact Zeljko Kujundzic, RR 2, S6 C9, Osoyoos V0H 1V0; or telephone Elizabeth (250) 495-2913. Canada, British Columbia, Vancouver, Granville Island through June 3 “Coming Undone,” ceram­ ics by Tessa Windt; at the Gallery of BC Ceram­ ics, 1359 Cartwright St. Canada, British Columbia, Victoria October2—3 Demonstration of neriage (or millefiori) with Michael Haley and Susy Siegele. Fee: Can$100 (approximately US$65), includes lunch. Contact Meira Mathison, 650 Pearson College, Victoria V9C 4H7; e-mail [email protected] ; telephone (250) 391-2420; fax (250) 391-2412. Canada, British Columbia, Wells August 3—6 “Handbuilding in Clay” with Claire Kujundzic. Fee: Can$205 (approximately US$135), includes materials. Contact Island Mountain Arts, Box 65, Wells V0K 2R0; e-mail [email protected] ; see website atwww.imarts.com; telephone (800) 442- 2787; or fax (250) 994-3433. Canada, Ontario, Burlington through June 15 Two-person exhibition with ceramics by Alexandra McCurdy; at the Burlington Centre for the Arts. Canada, Ontario, Haliburton September27-Oc- tober 2 “Crystalline Glazes” with Barbara J. Peel. Intermediate and advanced. Fee: Can$212.78 (ap­ proximately US$140). Contact Shelley Schell, Haliburton School ofFine Arts, Box 839, Haliburton K0M 1 SO; e-mail [email protected] ; see website http://hal9000.flemingc.on.ca/fa/index.htm; tele­ phone (705) 457-1680; or fax (705) 457-2255.

June/July/August 1999 97 France, Sevres June 8 “La collection Arnhold de Calendar porcelaines de Meissen,” lecture with Maureen Cassidy-Geiger. For further information, contact the Societe des Amis du Musee National de Canada, Ontario, Toronto through June 9 Sarah Ceramique, place de la Manufacture, 92310 Sevres; MacMillan, “Strive: To Turn One’s Hand To,” telephone (41) 14 04 20. exhibition of porcelain, through August #“Toronto France, Treigny June 14—September 5 Exhibition Collects: Contemporary Ceramics,” about 60 of ceramics by French and Swiss artists; at Maison clayworks. through August 29 “Rococo to Revolu­ du Chanoine le Chaineau. tion: European Porcelain from the Hans Syz Col­ France, Vallauris July 4-September 3 “Picasso, lection”; at the George R. Gardiner Museum of L’Homme au mouton.” “Portanier, un magicien Ceramic Art, 111 Queen’s Park. des couleurs.” “Deux designers a Vallauris: Francois Canada, Quebec, Val-David July 24—August 15 Bauchet and Ronan Bouroullec”; at Musee Na­ “10001 Pots,” works by over 120 ceramists; at tional Picasso, Musee Magnelli, Musee de la Galerie Val-David, 2435 de l’Eglise St. Ceramique, place de la Liberation. Denmark, KoldingJuly 3-August 1 Ceramics and Germany, Hohr-Grenzhausen through September sculpture by Heidi and Aage Birck; at Museet PA 5 “European Ceramics ’99—Westerwald Prize”; Koldinghus. at Keramikmuseum Westerwald, Lindenstrasse. England, Devon June 19—20 “Potters Festival,” Ireland, Belfast July 9-August 8 “Ceramic Con­ will include demonstrations by Billy Adams and temporaries 3,” juried exhibition of works by Roger Cockram, firings, competitions, pottery emerging artists; at the Ormeau Baths Gallery. exhibition/sale; at Bickleigh Castle. Ireland, Dublin July 17—18 Demonstration and England, Hertfordshire August 6-8 “Fifth Na­ lecture on handmade tiles and low-fire surface tional Pottery and Ceramics Festival”; at the decoration with Karen Koblitz. Contact Hazel Hatfield House. Cullen: e-mail [email protected] or fax England, London through June 7#VladimirTsivin, (353) 8726827. ceramic sc\i\\>xmc.June23—July23 Dame Lucie Rie, Italy, Faenza through January 2, 2000 “Interna­ pottery. July 28-September 9 Exhibition of pottery; tional Exhibition of Ceramics 1999.” “Artisti dal at Galerie Besson, 15 Royal Arcade, 28 Old Bond St. Mondo”; at the International Museum of Ceramics. June 11-July 24 Two-person exhibition including Italy, Gubbio June 19—July 77 “From the Earthl ceramics by Gordon Baldwin; at Barrett Marsden Dalla Terra,” exchange exhibition featuring works Gallery, 17-18 Great Sutton St., Clerkenwell. by Italian artists Paolo Biagioli, Mario Boldrini, England, Oxford through June 30“ S ummer Holi­ Andrea de Carvalho, Donatella Fogante, Luca day,” exhibition including ceramics by Edla Leandri and Virginia Ryan, and American artists Griffiths, Paul Jackson, John Pollex, Sara Robert­ Tetsuji Aono, Keiko Fukazawa, Phyllis Green, son, Vivienne Ross, Joanna Still and Zoe Ryan; at Karen Koblitz and Gifford Myers; at the Palazzo Oxford Gallery, 23 High St. dei Consoli. July 15—18“ Art in Action”; at Waterperry House, Netherlands, Amsterdam July 2-18 “30 Norwe­ near Wheatley. gian Contemporary Ceramics Artists”; at Gallery England, Stoke-on-Trent through June 20 “Ce­ Arti et Amicitiae, Rokin 112. ramic Contemporaries 3,” juried exhibition of Netherlands, Delft through June 12 Frans Ottink, works by emerging artists; at the Potteries Mu­ porcelain tableware. August 21-October 2 Tjok seum and Art Gallery. Dessauvage, bowls; at Gallery Terra Keramiek, France, Burgundy July 5-9“ Figurative Sculpture Nieuwstraat 7. Workshop” with Nicole Crestou; fee: 1600 fr Netherlands, Deventer July 11-31 Ceramics by (approximately US$260). July 11—15 “Throwing Andrea Hylands, David Miller, Annette Wandrer and Decoration Workshop” with Dauphine and Takeshi Yasuda; at Loes and Reinier, Korte Scalbert; fee: 1650 fr (approximately US$265). Assenstraat 15. July 16-19 “Glazes Workshop” with Jean-Marie Netherlands, Leeuwarden through August 15 Foubert; fee: 1400 fr (approximately US$225). “Delta Ceramics: Diversity in Dutch Contempo­ July 21—24 “Sculpture Workshop” with Brigitte rary Ceramics”; at Keramiekmuseum het Prin- Sabatier; fee: 1430 fr (approximately US$230). cessehof, Grote Kerkstraat 11. July 26—30 “Raku Workshop” with Brigitte Netherlands, Oosterbeek June 12—August 9 Sabatier, includes slide presentation on Columbian “Keranova II,” works by about 30 ceramists; at kilns; fee: 1700 fr (approximately US$275). Au­ Galerie Amphora, van Oudenallenstraat 3. gust 2-6“Oriental Techniques Workshop” with Netherlands, Oosterwolde (Fochteloo) Septem­ Dauphine Scalbert; fee: 2100 fr (approximately ber 6—10 “Stoneware and Porcelain Workshop” US$340). August 9-14 “Massage and Modeling with Kees Hoogendam, preparing clay, hand- Workshop” with Annie Deruelle-Lombard and building, throwing, kilnbuilding, firing with gas, Dauphine Scalbert; fee: 2490 fr (approximately oil and wood. Fee: fl 550 (approximately US$305), US$403). August 16-21 “Modeling and Firing incudes materials, lodging and meals. For further with Sawdust Workshop” with Dauphine Scalbert information, contact Kees Hoogendam, de Knolle and Estelle Duperrin; fee: 2490 fr.August 23—28 3A, 8431 RJ Oosterwolde (Fochteloo); telephone “Coil Pots and Sculptures” with Olivier Fernandez; (51) 658-8238. fee: 2230 fr (approximately US$360). Contact Netherlands, Veghel July 5—10 “Salt Glazing” T erres Est-Ouest, Le Manoir/89560, Lain, France; with G. de Ryk. July 12-17 “Raku and Naked e-mail [email protected] ; telephone (38) 645 Raku” with C. Teer. July 19-24 “Salt Glazing” 2774; or fax (38) 645 2765. with H. V. Alphen. Beginning through advanced France, Dieulefit through June 73“Mecanofolie,” skill levels. Fee/session: $170. Camping: $40. ceramic sculpture by Jean Fontaine; at Maison de Meals: $60. For further information, contact la Terre, Parc de la Beaume. Van Melis, Instituut Pieter Brueghel, Middegaal France, Paris July 2-4“ Journees de la Ceramique,” 25, Veghel; telephone (41) 336 5675; or fax sale of works by over 80 ceramists; at the Place St. (41) 335 4907. Sulpice. Netherlands, Vlaardingen June 12-September 5 France, Saint Quentin la Poterie through July 1 Exhibition of monumental pots by 30 artists; at “Corps et Ames,” works by Dominique Friedrich. the Garden of Delight, Zuidbuurt 30. through January 9, 2000 “10 Ans de Ceramique- Spain, Argentona (Barcelona) August 4-8 “Inter­ Passion,” works by 38 ceramists; at Terra Viva national Ceramic and Pottery Fair”; along the Galerie, Rue de la Fontaine. main streets.

98 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/July/August 1999 99 Questions Answered by the CM Technical Staff

Q I glaze my pots with a different glaze color on the rims, so I dip the piece into the second glaze, but can ’t avoid the <(plop ” the vacuum bubble makes when taking the pot out of the glaze, leaving an undesirable spot of lighter glaze in one part of the inside, and sometimes little dots all over. Can you give me any suggestions for avoiding that?—-J.N. Would that all glaze application problems were this easy to solve! To avoid the “vacuum bubble,” as you call it, when you immerse the pot in the glaze bucket, hold it so that the rim goes in at a slight angle. When you are ready to remove the piece from the glaze, take it out slowly, again at an angle so that the air bubble escapes, rather than pulling it up straight, which causes the plop of undesirable glaze on the inside. This is an all-too-common problem that is easily rectified by changing the angle by which the piece is inserted and removed from the glaze bucket. Jonathan Kaplan Ceramic Design Group Steamboat Springs, Colo. Q Fm just getting started learning raku and Tm wondering about a few things. What is the best thing to reduce the pots in? So far, Tve used newspaper, but Tve heard of people using straw or dung. What would the advantages be to using something like that?Is there a special way to reduce the work that I should know about? Do you have a reliable glaze base that you could recommend? Why is it that raku work is not considered food safe? If you have any other information about the process that you could share, it would be greatly appreciated.—I. S. Here is everything you ever wanted to know about raku and weren’t afraid to ask. What’s the best thing to reduce the pots in? Combustibles for reduction are usually what is available. I don’t think dung is appropriate because it is more of a fuel. Like thicker pieces of wood, it burns slowly. I prefer straw for the marks it leaves on the surface in contrast to flat black areas of my designs. Dried leaves are good but smoke is thick and prohibited in some places. You need something that will create enough smoke to affect your glazes and reduce the clay body, but need not create heavy smoke. I recommend: coarse sawdust, straw, newspaper and grass clippings. Beware of fine sawdust because the lighter finer particles can be drawn

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

100 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/July/August 1999 101 Questions

up when the lid is opened and may spontane­ ously combust in your face. I think you may have read about using dung for sawdust/saggar firings. Horse dung is a good additive to dung and sawdust firings, as it adds a richer black, which is thought to be due to higher nitrogen in the horse’s digestive tract, compared to a cow’s. I think it depends on what either has been eating. (Horse-urine-treated sawdust for saggar firings is supposed to create greater color variation; see the October 1994 Ceramics Monthly, page 40.) For copper matts, some people like to let a little air into the reducing chamber during the cooling, say 5 minutes into the process. Open for a minute and shut again. This is thought to give brighter colors. Sometimes it works and sometimes not. There are many glazes that are reliable but nothing is ever certain in raku. I have been using the following: Dry Alligator Copper Matt Bone Ash...... 2parts Gerstley Borate...... 4 parts Nepheline Syenite...... 1 part Copper Carbonate...... 1 part 8 parts Mix small amounts to use immediately. Red/Bronze Copper Luster Gerstley Borate...... 50.0% Frit 3134 (Ferro)...... 50.0 100.0% Add: Tin Oxide...... 5.1 % Copper Carbonate ...... 5.6% There are many more raku glaze recipes in books and previous CM articles. For example, see Ceramics Monthly, May 1997, page 42. Also, try checking out databases on the web! Why is raku not food safe? The American firing process associated with the term “raku” is a fast low-fire technique requiring a thermal- shock-resistant clay body, usually a very open body, which is porous, absorbent to food and liquid, and thus promotes bacterial growth. Some people put sealers on surfaces to elim inate the porosity, but I prefer to think of raku as an art form and leave it at that. I do seal/spray the surface with an acrylic medium to keep re­ oxidation of the copper colors from occurring. The American version of the raku firing process is fun and a good learning experience for beginning students. It is widely variable and thus retains the allure of the original Zen ap­ proach to the aesthetic of happy accidents. It is wide open for experimentation, but always carries with it the uncertain. I prefer to raku in very cold weather because the colors seem more interesting; however, I do raku all year round. Have fun! Marcia Selsor Professor of Ceramics Montana State University-Billings

102 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/July/August 1999 103 104 CERAMICS MONTHLY Unusual Pottery Markets Ly Brad Sondakl

m about to embark on a major dutifully brought a box of samples. The Isales display in our local grocery store. stand was just what you might imag­ Some of my more ardent patrons might ine—a weathered shed along a highway. wrinkle their noses a bit at the thought “Hey, those are great,” Tony said. of such a mundane outlet, but I find it “How much do you want for the box?” invigorating and amusing. After all, its I protested that they were just a step up from the Squirrels Nest, a samples, but he was happy to haggle for craft boutique in a garage that features them. So I sold the lot, and might have wooden bean spoons resembling a lad­ taken more to him, but I didn’t go that der (to assist in letting the gas out). And way again for quite a while. this is just the latest in a life of unusual At this same time, I was trying to pottery markets. market from our home, which was 25 I’ll preface my stories with a confes­ miles from the nearest town. It goes sion: I hate finding new sales outlets. without saying that sales were not stu­ There are so many factors to be consid­ pendous. My wife and I were living ered—for example, having to judge if there rent free in exchange for answer­ sales will be adequate, whether the staff ing the telephone for a camp accessible will be professional and honest in pay­ only by boat. ment, and even whether the shop will This remote camp proved to be still be in business in six months. Of­ our next successful and un­ ten, galleries selling pottery are on the usual market. In the sum­ fringe of the business area. I’m frequently mer, about 500 people pleased to find parking right next to the per week attended front door, but this does not necessarily the camp, with portend well for future sales. nothing but a Then there is always the possibility small bookstore of rejection that lurks in the background. (in which I Hey, would I be an artist if I wasn’t was invited to sensitive? Approaching a new gallery sell pots) to brings back all the angst of faculty cri­ vent their tiques in college, of asking for a first buying urges date, not being able to find your locker upon. Soon I on the first day of school. So gutless was sending wonders like me tend to grasp the bird every pot I at hand rather than floundering around could make. in the bushes. There were I thought I’d hit bottom when I several other un­ agreed to bring some pots to Tony’s usual aspects to this Fruit Stand. True to the principles of arrangement, the first cowardice just elaborated, it wasn’t even being that I preferred my idea to sell there. My father-in-law arranged the “showing” while buying some fruit. This wasn’t even a local fruit Glazed stoneware bottle, stand (200 miles away). It turned out approximately 10 inches in that I did have to go by it later, so I height, wheel thrown in parts.

June/July/August 1999 105 Coffee mugs, wheel-thrown stoneware, with blue on black glaze decoration, by Brad Sondahl, Nezperce, Idaho.

selling on consignment, as I would re­ mer market takes care of a lot of winter mission since I’m a regular customer, ceive a greater share of the selling price. output. Nevertheless, in the interest of but that would not make sense in the This was fine with the bookstore own­ diversity, I still like to have some con­ long run for either of us, so I insisted on ers, but to cut down on bookkeeping, signment shops. That’s where the craft a fair percentage. they just paid my whole share when the boutique and grocery store enter in. The one thing I have learned through pots were received. This made sense to People who know you are much more all the years of marketing pottery is that them, since most of the pots were gone likely to become customers than all those it has to be convenient for Americans to within a week. “birds in the bush.” Living in a town of buy. Convenience and location are the Another unusual aspect was that all 500 or less, one soon Imows most of keys to selling anything. the pottery was shipped via boat, after one’s neighbors, and some of them are For years, I did a large craft show in which it was loaded onto a bus for a 10- eager to become customers. The goal the biggest town near us and built up a mile trip into the mountains. It was an then is to remove sales impediments, large customer base there. I no longer exotic and romantic way of doing busi­ such as selling from the house. I believe do that craft show, but wanted to main­ ness, although in reality it also meant a there is a psychological barrier to enter­ tain contact with those customers. I fair amount of breakage in shipping. ing houses for sales—which is one rea­ offered them all kinds of incentives to The end of the arrangement was un­ son garage sales are not living-room sales.come to our gallery about 31 miles away, usual as well. Due to camp policies, our Of course, this barrier goes both ways— but nothing worked. Now, I rent a con­ job terminated after two years, so we every time someone would call up want­ ference room in a hotel there, which moved to a new location, but I still sold ing to buy pots, I’d rush about furiously has turned into my best show ever. most of my pots through the camp. making things look decent. That’s why, Convenience is indeed key to suc­ Then the new people who came to run when a neighbor wanted to open a ga­ cessful sales. To this I would add cre­ the bookstore adopted the policy of rage boutique, I was ready to leave the ative marketing and openness to new “buying local.” Our new location did selling to her. After six months, she also opportunities. Behind everything, of not qualify as local, so I lost a good ran up against the house “barrier” and course, is thoughtful design and careful share of my business overnight. This decided to call it quits. That’s how my crafting. Given all these, you can suc­ shows that diversification is as good an pots ended up at the grocery store. Be­ ceed in finding buyers for your work. idea for potters as for stock portfolios. cause they had been good sellers and I My next sales location was an out­ was gone for the summer, she persuaded The author A frequent contributor to side kiosk on the main street of a small the grocer to sell them for a while. Sales Ceramics Monthly (see his Comment ar­ lake town in Idaho. By making pottery have been as good as at any gallery. ticle “Young Upstarts and Old Stick-in- easily accessible, sales were brisk (see This grocery store is a small “mom the-Muds” in the December 1998 issue), “Finding Your Niche” in the June/July/ and pop” operation. The owner even Brad Sondahl maintains studios in August 1996 CM). Having a great sum­ offered to sell my work without com­ Nezperce and Spirit Lake, Idaho.

106 CERAMICS MONTHLY Flash Reduction by Heather Young

fter I had worked for a long pe­ Blue-Gold Glaze Ariod with small children in a nurs­ (Cone 06) ery school and succumbed finally to Barium Carbonate...... 1.69% “little kid syndrome,” the dance of life Borax...... 8.44 led me to working with clay (perhaps a Colemanite...... 69.20 little easier to control?) and lustered sur­ Cornwall Stone...... 15.19 faces achieved with a “flash reduction” Frit 54 (Pemco) ...... 4.22 firing process. Potash Feldspar...... 1.26 My studio is in the peaceful and 100.00% beautiful Ojai Valley, and the windows Add: Bismuth Subnitrate...... 1.69% look out on the native growth of the Copper Sulfate...... 0.84% California high desert country. Through Silver Nitrate ...... 0.84 % them, I can see the brilliant purple and orange of bougainvillea, as well as my For a stronger blue, add ½ teaspoon glaze kiln. commercial blue stain per liquid cup. Working on a wheel is, as has been Over the Blue-Gold, I often pour a often said, a self-centering process. Af­ thin coat of this simple frit-based glaze: ter dancing to small drums in the nurs­ Frit Glaze ery school for some years, I have opened (Cone 06) a universe of self-discovery and devel­ Frit 25 (Pemco)...... 80% opment to myself. Kaolin...... 20 I use a smooth low-fire clay and pri­ 100% marily high-alkaline glazes. I usually be­ Add: Bismuth Subnitrate...... 2% gin by sketching a basic design, Copper Carbonate...... 1% experimenting with curves in juxtaposi­ “Yo,” 10½ inches high, earthenware, tion. As I translate the drawing to three- with reduced luster. Caution: Handle these three recipes with dimensional form, spaces and shadows care; avoid all skin contact. become integral aspects, as does the time To fire, I heat the kiln with just the for reflection between the intense phases pilot for about an hour, then use all of developing the form and applying four burners to reach Cone 06 in about the glazes. 4½ hours. At that point, I turn off the The glazing process begins with a gas and let the kiln cool to 1300°F. The poured application of a commercial burners are then relit and all openings crackle glaze and a Cone 06 firing. A closed to fire in reduction for 15 min­ second glaze application and subsequent utes. I then let the kiln cool to 1000°F “flash reduction” firing produce the lus­ on pilot only (to keep from oxidizing), ter effects. before turning the gas off. Various metallic salts and oxides are What goes on in the kiln is won­ used to color the following glazes, which drous. I never took chemistry in school, are mixed in a blender: but have found success by following the advice of another Ojai Valley ceramist, Noyes Copper Blue Glaze Otto Heino, to simply “go with the (Cone 06) flow of the clay.” A Whiting...... 2.0% Zinc Oxide...... 7.0 Frit 25 (Pemco)...... 31.0 Frit 54 (Pemco)...... 44.0 Ball Clay...... 16.0

100.0% “Elegance,” 9 inches in height, wheel- Add: Cobalt Carbonate ...... 0.5% thrown earthenware, with reduced luster, Copper Carbonate...... 2.0% by Heather Young, Ojai, California.

June/July/August 1999 107 A Limp Ice-Cream Box, Stiff Paper, A Couple Pieces of Magic Tape and a Sticky Seal to Close the Lid by Dick Lehman

fter you make a retail sale to a end-roll” packaging: good recycling and phone (occasionally, a toll-free num­ A customer, how do you package mentality and really quite adequate stiff ber!). Some of the nicest gift boxes (even your work, and why? paper to protect from most bumps and in the kraft variety) have a foil stamp in For many of us in the contemporary knocks. So wrapped, these purchases copper or gold, setting off the com­ studio pottery tradition, packaging de­ are sometimes put into a standard new monness of the box, with a classy, leg­ cisions are among the most difficult that (not reused) paper sack purchased from ible hot-stamp image. we face in the marketing arena—shy of Sam’s Wholesale Club, or some coun­ And very occasionally, I have made a the advertising decisions through which terpart. Occasionally, the sack has been purchase that caused me to wonder we sweat, in an effort to attract custom­ rubber stamped to remind me from whether the packaging may have actu­ ers to our business locale in the first whom I made the purchase. ally cost me more than the pot: silk- place. We attempt to keep our prices A step down from all of these is the fabric-wrapping, inside a handmade affordable; at the same time, we are potter who, some years back, appar­ drawstring bag, or a handmade wooden painfully aware that every dollar we ently recycled some carpet padding from box with or without the fabric treat­ spend in packaging and presentation a local dumpster. Carpet padding is a ment just mentioned. translates into about $2 worth of retail wonderfully safe packing material. But My most memorable purchase with price increase. While we try to keep the it would have been a much more satis­ respect to packaging? My treasure was customer in mind, we must measure fying transaction (for me, anyway) if, in wrapped in rice paper, which was dollars against image, inflation against his dumpster diving, he had chosen car­ wrapped in fabric, which was in a cus- the reverence and assurance that come pet padding from someone whose dog tom-printed-marbled cardboard box, from receiving a purchase in exquisite had been housebroken. which was wrapped with handmade rice wrapping and packaging. We have all (hopefully) experienced paper, which was nestled inside a hand­ If you are like me, you likely have the step up from this: nicely printed, made wooden box, which was tied with experienced a vast range of packaging custom-made paper bags, perhaps in a ¾-inch-wide silk ribbon, which was cov­ decisions made by retailers when you color other than kraft brown, inside of ered in gorgeous wrapping paper, then are on the purchasing end of the ex­ which purchases are nestled in tissue or bubble wrap, and placed inside a first- change. The same goes for pottery pur­ even some first-time-use bubble wrap time-use shipping box that arrived by chases: I have been at arts and crafts (secured with something other than next-day-air from a foreign country. fairs where potters simply handed me masking tape.) Of course, for each of these choices the piece with no wrappings/packaging Handled, custom-printed paper bags along the packaging spectrum, there are whatsoever (“gee, we ran out of sacks are the next step up, in my experience. good (legitimate and defensible) rea­ about an hour ago”) and muttered barely These sacks sometimes contain tissue- sons for choosing any of these options— a “thanks.” Other times, I have been wrapped pots snuggled inside pur- except, perhaps, those of the misguided handed a pot in a recycled sack, with no chased-by-the-pallet cake boxes. A half dumpster diver. Fancier, pricier and other packaging/insulation. step up from this (which receives a half more extravagant do not necessarily I have visited several Mingei-sota- point extra credit in the grand scheme translate to “better.” Our choices are style potteries where the “help yourself” of things) would include a custom-de­ driven by our location, our customers/ mentality prevails: affordability is trans­ signed rubber stamp imprint (by hand, market, our product price range, our lated into “please don’t bother me...you of course) on the box...smudges op­ style of work, our competitors, our in­ can wrap your purchase in my old news­ tional. (Add one full extra point, if the dividual sensibilities, our profit margin, papers and place it into the grocery sack rubber stamp matches the seller’s busi­ our marketing experience, our aes­ that my neighbors collect for me”; and ness card.) thetic—the list goes on. oh, by the way, “here’s the cash I have also purchased pots that were Each of us must find a way of pack­ box...make your own change...we trust packaged in well-made, securely con­ aging that “fits” us, our budget, and you to be honest.” structed gift boxes. Sometimes they are most importantly, perhaps, that fits our I have also experienced what many stock boxes; sometimes they are printed customers. Occasionally, we will pick of us recognize as the “newsprint-butt- with the potter’s business name, address up subtle hints from customers regard-

108 CERAMICS MONTHLY ing the propriety of our choices. Other type ice-cream cakes are packaged, the times, their comments will hit us over heap of paper in the bottom, the bottle the head. Such was the case of the letter wrapped in the same stiff paper—not that I received many years ago from a even the tissue you would get when buy­ customer who had visited my studio on ing an ordinary cup and saucer. A couple a Saturday, and made a purchase. And of pieces of magic tape and a sticky seal while I was not personally at the studio to close the lid. Finally, the box depos­ when he arrived, had I been there, his ited into a brown paper sack similar to experience, sadly, would most likely have those used at the grocery store. been no different than that which he There is no doubt in my mind which here recounts. of the two treatments the majority of cus­ To receive the full force of this letter, tomers would prefer. As to the dijference be sure to read it with a stiff English in cost involved, does one really care? accent. And, if you do not sense the I now have a dilemma. The bottle is caustic edge that this letter intends (al­ intended as a giftfor my Japanese friend though somewhat mellowed by his high who will be visiting the U.S.A. at the regard for my work and his sincere wish end of this month. Should I repackage it that my studio had done a better job by in the materials that were used for the him with regard to packaging), return Bizen vase? No, I guess it more appro­ to its beginning and start reading all priate to break with the tradition of a over again. neatly wrapped gift, and just hand it to him unadorned. Dear Mr. Lehman: At the moment, it stands in my curio I visited Goshen and your gallery last cabinet and is an object of pleasure to Saturday; March 9th, with the sole pur­ me. I will certainly have to visit Goshen pose of purchasing an example of your again in the very near future. saggar-fired porcelain. I believe I have Yours sincerely, obtained a fine example, and am very R. f. Addicott pleased with it. On the other hand\ I would like to offer a suggestion, which While one may or may not agree would give customers like myself who with Mr. Addicott s suggestions and con­ are not experts in the field of pottery, clusions, over the years, this letter has more a feeling of having obtained a served well as a reminder of just how unique piece of art, a treasure, rather important packaging decisions can be. I than an object of utility. have kept it at the very front of my Let me contrast the situation with correspondence file, where I must see it that of a couple of months ago, when each time I file a letter. visiting a store in Okayama with a Japa­ I have always been grateful that Mr. nese friend. We had traveled a consider­ Addicott took the time to write to me. able distance by taxi to obtain an Difficult as it was to receive and read his example of Bizen pottery. It was his letter, it has really been a gift to me. I wish that I would do him the honor of always think of it when making con­ accepting a gift both unique and of scious determinations (and not merely beauty. The saleslady showed us a num­ decisions by default) about how I send ber of choice pieces. My friend selected purchases on their way. two for me to choose the one that gave And, oh yes, if you are wondering: I me the greatest pleasure. The decision no longer have the limp ice-cream cake was made, the gift was swaddled in a boxes. I have both stiff paper and tissue piece of cloth, lowered into a cloth bag paper. For some pieces, I have hand­ of fine material, put into a white wooden made drawstring bags. And for those box of exquisite construction, and the who wish to purchase them (as Mr. whole finally lowered into a fitting car­ Addicott did on his very next visit), I rier bag. As I left the store to get on the have handmade wooden boxes (at no train, I was in possession of a treasure. small expense, I might add), but then The reverence in the way it was handled for some, “Does one really care?” and the manner in which it was pack- aged gave assurance. The author A frequent contributor to Well, I guess you must know what is Ceramics Monthly, Dick Lehman main­ to follow: the limp cardboard box of the tains a studio in Goshen, Indiana.

June/July/August 1999 109 Letters published by The American Ceramic Soci­ ety). Glazes mature and fuse to become a Continued from page 10 vitreous substance because one or more of the components in the recipe melts (or promotes ous path as he wanders from St. Francis to sintering) and provides a solvent for the Buddhism to Yanagi with statements and remainder of the solids. assumptions written with imprecise premise In stoneware glazes, feldspars or in bits and pieces taken with little note of feldspathoids have this function. To state philosophical or historical context. But with otherwise may mislead those who do not subtle consistency, Britt manages to scavengehave a deeper knowledge of our physical and vilify an icon of our (his) craft, demoniz­world. I make the following suggestion to ing a concept (and Leach) no thinldng personpeople who do not believe me. Those who would see as an obstacle to his or her personalbelieve an intimate mixture of oxides of the growth. In his day, Bernard Leach was a correct proportions will melt should select powerful influence; that he remains so for the calcium system and formulate a mixture some is no threat to us or to our craft. of oxides for the eutectic at 1170°C, the Kenzan VII was an advocate of simple, hon­lowest on the chart line. Lime, silica and est craftsmanship. John Britt’s importuningalumina are all readily available. The recipe that we regard him and Soetsu Yanagi as you need is calcium oxide 23.3%, aluminum fearsome devils and threats to our “belief inoxide 14.6% and silicon dioxide 62.1%. It’s the veracity of crafts” (?) is patent nonsense.not a hard task to calculate a recipe that uses I do regard poor writing, presented with whiting, quartz and aluminum hydrate, the the CM imprimatur, as an insult to crafts­ three most readily available glaze chemicals manship and intelligence. That is fearsome,that become the oxides you need about indeed. 900°C, especially if there is one of those glaze Nils Lou, Willamina, Ore. programs in your computer. Mix thoroughly and fire at Orton Cone 8, say 1250°C. Now Common Ground Update substitute wollastonite for whiting and what Good news! As of April 22, there are 121 is the result? I would be interested to know countries participating in the Common what sort of a glaze you get. Will you confirm Ground World Project [see Letters in the the results I observed? November 1998 issue]. For ceramics artists, it seems probable The support from potters around the most complex eutectics occur between 650°C globe has been terrific. Things are mostly and 800°C, when cooling is slow enough to falling into place. We have clay coming frompromote both equilibrium and crystallization about two-thirds of the countries, but the lastin systems that contain potassium and/or third will be the most difficult and, it is nowlithium andlor sodium. I believe this is why clear, the most expensive. Shipping from a anagama firings are so successful. But that’s developing country can easily run over $100. another story. Recently, we decided to reduce the amount Ivor Lewis, Redhill, South Australia of clay needed to 1 kilo of dry local clay from each of the remaining nations. We hope thisRising from the Ashes will help expedite and simplify the process. A few weeks ago, a fire tore through the We want to represent all people and all Everglades and burned more than 2000 acres. nations in this special millennial event. TheMy entire studio was totally destroyed. All clay community of the world is making this that survived was the metal frame of my happen. If you plan to visit any developing Soldner potter’s wheel. Fortunately, my nations this summer and would like to help,insurance information was off site. please let us know immediately by e-mailing The day before the cleanup crew arrived, I [email protected] . collected bucketsful of burned studio ash. Neil Tetkowski, New York City When I get my new studio built and am throwing again, I plan to use these ashes as a That Necessary Eutectic glaze on a new series of pots. For me, it’s the Though I would support Pete Pinnell in potterly thing to do. the solutions he offered to E.G. for adjusting Rinny Ryan, Naples, Fla. the fusion point of a glaze (January 1999 Questions), there is no need to invoke the Keep Them Coming presence of a eutectic as a necessary construct As nearly as I can recall, I have been that makes melting occur. On the wall in writing checks to Ceramics Monthly to renew front of me are three charts, all available frommy subscription for nearly 30 years, and that The American Ceramic Society. They illus­ loyalty has been well earned. My work as an trate phase equilibrium diagrams of the CaO,artist-potter has undergone many changes, Si02, A1203; Na02, SiO2, A1203; and K20, but through them all CM has managed to Si02, Al203 systems, and I regard them as stimulate, provide practical information and essential tools (as I do my copy of Phase keep me abreast of work done by others in Diagrams for Ceramists by Levin, et al., also the field. I even read and make use of the

110 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/July/August 1999 111 Letters

ads—something I can’t say about any other publication I read. Thanks for remaining an informative, literate and aesthetically pleasing publication. Keep them coming. Barbara Perrin, East Lansing, Mich.

By the Numbers 1. Each piece pictured should have info as to firing (i.e., reduction or oxidation), cone used and, when applicable, the glaze used. 2. Most of us in cities have to use electric kilns. Please publish more info on firing in electric kilns and glazes for oxidation. 3. Articles on using prepared glazes—we do not all make our own. 4. More work, fewer profiles—it’s free advertising unless they give useful information. 5. Squabbling and excessive criticism is boring. Betty Herschman, Los Angeles

Dismay and Disgust Canceled my CM subscription after the March 1999 issue. No words can describe my dismay and disgust at this “art.” I have totally lost all desire to throw and create beautiful things. Why bother? Elaine Burger, Shirley, W. Va. All Things Though there will always be those purists in either functional production pottery or the cutting-edge, one-of-a-kind “art for art’s sake” potters, it all adds to our own indi­ vidual experience. I love this magazine for what it is—all things to all clay artists. Linda Derossett, Clarksville, Tenn. Misplaced Decimal There is a misplaced decimal point for an ingredient in a recipe published as part of my suggestion for a solution to majolica white dotting [April 1999]. As printed, the Epsom salts addition for Ballingham Majolica White Base reads 2%. This should be amended to read 0.2%, or two-tenths of one percent. Also, after I sent in the suggestion, I discovered than an addition of 1 teaspoon tin oxide to the Ballingham Majolica Overglaze greatly increases the brilliancy of the color, especially when applied thinly. Tim Ballingham, Tucson, Ariz. Caption Correction Thanks so much for publishing the photo of one of my tile panels on page 22 of the April 1999 issue; unfortunately, the caption described a different piece. It should have read: “Ginkgoes in Relief,” 30 inches in height, extruded and carved, fired to Cone 6, framed in wood, $650. Renee O 'Connor, Ocean Park, Wash.

112 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/July/'August 1999 113 114 CERAMICS MONTHLY ]unel'July/August 1999 115 116 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/July/August 1999 117 Comment

Lower-case art, Teacups and, Jackson Pollock by Delia Robinson

The lecture hall was hot and dark and pedestal at the MoMA, which histori­ overcrowded. Though I wasn’t quite in cally has been an intensely ART: UPPER REM sleep, I was steadily drifting in that CASE, anti-teacup sort of venue. direction. My eyes would squint open Foolish me. I recently took a special just long enough to take in a slide and trip all the way to New York City just to then ease shut. Powerful words like “para­ visit the MoMA in hopes of seeing tea­ digm” and “didactic” saturated the air. cups, bowls and plates. Not one was in The lecturer, an art historian, was de­ sight, unless you count a painting called scribing the old “salon-style” museums “The Tea Cup.” Perhaps it was naive of that had paintings stacked from floor to me to expect my lower-case passions to ceiling and “dead alligators hanging next be exhibited in the premiere modern art to an Albrecht Durer.” museum, but it was having a Jackson I was wondering if in today’s muse­ Pollock retrospective. ums pottery was considered the curato­ Jackson Pollock, you say. What has he rial equivalent of a “dead alligator,” but to do with pottery? It is startling for many the lecturer had moved on. She contin­ people to learn that this inarticulate, in­ ued tracing the steps leading up to the novative painter, remembered by anec­ contemporary museum with its clean, dotes of drunk and disorderly behavior well-lit spaces and neutral walls. These, culminating in his violent death, had also she said, endorse the “predominant myth been a potter, a painter of plates, perhaps of our time,” the notion of liberal hu­ even teacups. Until his paintings began manism, of free will, of the autonomous to sell, whatever income he managed to viewer. The individual is alone, undis- eke out was in part from selling his pot­ tracted in relation to the object, which is tery through a small Manhattan gallery. also alone, stripped of any former use Pollock learned to throw at a free work­ and placed on a pedestal. One on one, the shop at the Henry Street Settlement autonomous viewer studies the object. House. As early as 1934, before he ever Struggling with the demanding lan­ poured or dribbled paint on a canvas, he guage, I suddenly heard my favorite word. was dribbling and pouring colors onto It is a plain utterance, not accustomed to porcelain plates. Was this a sissy thing for being discussed in the same breath as such a brawling, manly man to do? what a painter friend calls “ART: UPPER From people’s reaction when they hear CASE.” Pottery, he says, is “art: lower that Jackson Pollock made pottery, I sus­ case.” My favorite word refers to a piece pect many people equate “ceramics” with of pottery, the lower-case teacup. Even candy dishes delicately painted in forget- when printed upper case as TEACUP, it me-nots by blue-haired old ladies. This remains modest and refuses to be bam­ genteel vision of pottery as a pastime, boozled. A teacup on a pedestal remains “china painting,” has no doubt helped a teacup. keep contemporary pottery from its right­ So what was this lovely little word ful place in the great American muse­ doing in this imposing lecture? The art ums. Whatever the thinking, it seems historian was saying that the Museum of significant that Pollock’s retrospective did Modern Art had mounted a 1940 exhi­ not include this portion of his creative bition in which everyday objects were output. He was sanitized. put on display. An ordinary teacup had The walls were an uncluttered beige, been put on a pedestal under a spotlight beer was not served, and the only piece of as if it were a piece of art. Each piece had pottery was a small stoneware sculpture, a label revealing the price and the names not included in the catalog and placed to of local stores selling it. The show was a be overlooked. Perhaps that one sculp­ big success, as it allowed the museum ture was meant to represent his entire visitors to practice the fine art of shop­ ceramic output, but please note that it ping. More significantly, it was possibly was an abstract sculpture. That is as close the only time a teacup was put on a to ARTUPPER CASE as clay can get, as

118 CERAMICS MONTHLY June/July/August 1999 119 Comment duced can only be quenched by too much pots were suspect. Currently, nonfunc­ beer. This world of guy pottery has its tional work is more acceptable than func­ own folldore, stories of untamed macho tional, porcelain is better than stoneware, opposed to a plate, bowl or teacup, whose men working at kick wheels adapted from and stoneware is better than earthenware. functionality might disturb the legend of automobile machinery, or raku firings that Pottery is more acceptable when made by the swaggering Westerner in cowboy bootsproduced more smoke than the burning a foreigner (Picasso) than an American making great art. forests of Brazil. And breakfast is beer, a (Pollock), and guy pots are better than Where did the notion come from, that natural match for the Pollock myth. old-lady pots. pottery is a polite, mild, even effete craft? The hours Pollock spent whooping it “But,” you say, “a thaw is in the air.” It The facts say otherwise. There is nothing up outside of societal bounds fascinated is true that several major museums have dainty about clay. It is heavy and messy the public. In the selling of art, hype and had exhibitions of contemporary pottery. and hard to work. Every step has strin­ legend are golden marketing assets. In And certain pots, especially those that go gent requirements. Only by ignoring re­ selling Pollock, is pottery too functional, beyond function, are sneaking into key ality is one able to sideline pottery as just too unglamorous to mention in conjunc­ museum collections. an amusement for Sunday painters. Of tion with painting? Should an action hero Does this mean that pottery has gained course, such hobbyists do exist. Their admit that he paints plates? in stature since the apotheosis of a teacup creations, often with such quirky subject Perhaps Pollock, to stay “in charac­ at the Museum of Modern Art in 1940? matter as bugs painted on ready-made ter,” himself devalued his pottery, and One would hope so. If only the MoMA dessert plates, can be found at any yard the MoMA curators only followed his had included just one vessel by Pollock in sale. My objection is that their work rep­ lead. After all, this was a man who, for a its immense exhibit, we could rejoice that resents “ceramics” to much of the public. photo shoot, replaced his tweeds with pottery had made it into the ART: UP­ The polar opposite to this prim no­ blue jeans because they better suited his PER CASE category. But the facts remain tion of ceramics is the relatively recent bad-boy image. Unfortunately, there is harsh. When it comes to museums, most phenomenon of “guy pottery.” The walls no evidence that his approach to pottery functional potters are still being escorted rebound from boom-box rhythms and went beyond the strictest decorum, but I off the premises like hoboes crashing a the raucous shouts of hairy men, or personally am convinced Pollock would fancy party. Jackson Pollock, the potter, women as the case may be, yanking raw have wanted to be a guy potter. But would is just the latest to get the bums rush. clay into art. Pots weighing tons are lifted that have gotten his work shown? by chains and cranes from glowing fire As everyone knows, curators have long The author A frequent contributor to Ce­ pits. The acrid smoke and the reek of had an uneasy time with pottery. Ancient ramics Monthly, Delia Robinson resides in sweat are asphyxiating; the thirst pro­ pots were always acceptable but modern Montpelier, Vermont.

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