Ceramics Monthly Feb98 Cei029
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February 1998 1 2 CERAMICS MONTHLY February 1998 Volume 46 Number 2 Wheel-thrown and slab-built porcelain dish with wax- and latex-resisted glaze decoration by Lynn FEATURES Smiser Bowers. 30 In My Own Backyardby George (Kim) Ellington 48 Continuing a Southern pottery tradition 36 Lasting Impressions by Collin D. Rosebrook Large-scale forms with impressed decoration A forgiving clay body allows Collin Rosebrook with Rosebrook’s “Not Set in Stoneware” Recipes to produce disks up to 39 Making Craft to Make Art 4 feet in diameter. Musings on Production Day by Cynthia Spencer 36 42 Jana Bednarkova by Douglas Kenney Sculpture incorporating Western and Eastern influences 43 Talking Tradition A Conversat" on Boundaries by Stacy Snyder 45 EmBODYment by Dorothy Joiner Exhibition of figurative sculpture 48 A Working Historyby Lynn Smiser Bowers A reflection on influences and aesthetic concerns 53 Brad Schwieger by Samantha Moore McCall Salt- and soda-fired stoneware vessels with Surface Effects by Brad Schwieger Rowantrees director Laura Paddock preparing 61 Rowantrees Potteryby Andrew Phelan local materials for glazes Founding of a coastal Maine art pottery by grinding with a mortar and pestle. 61 “Lumbering On” by Allan Rosenbaum; shown at Connell Gallery in Atlanta. The cover: “Teapot” by Ohio artist Brad Schwieger; see page 53. 45 Photo: Steve Paszt. February 1998 3 UP FRONT 12 Arkansas Arts Center Receives Besser Collection Includes American and British ceramics of the past decade EditorRuth C. Butler 12 Earthworks Associate EditorKim Nagorski Juried exhibition of ceramic objects by Rhode Island artists Assistant EditorConnie Belcher 14 Ceramics and Print Editorial AssistantElaine Jebsen Works decorated with printed imagery at Harriet Green Gallery in London Art Director Randy Wax 14 Homage to R. Mutt Production SpecialistRobin Chukes Toilet art at Garth Clark Gallery in New York City Advertising ManagerSteve Hecker 14 50th Faenza Ceramics Competition Circulation AdministratorMary R. Hopkins Juried international in Faenza, Italy Circulation AdministratorMary E. May 16 Southern California Historical Survey Publisher Mark Mecklenborg Clayworks from the past 50 years at Long Beach Museum of Art Editorial, Advertising and Circulation Offices 18 Alexis Nichandros Moyer 735 Ceramic Place Chair forms at Scharrffenberger Gallery in Philo, California Post Office Box 6102 Westerville, Ohio 43086-6102 18 18th-Century Flower Vessels Telephone: (614) 523-1660 Planters and vases at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto Fax: (614) 891-8960 20 Fifth Annual Teapot Exhibition E-mail: [email protected] Works from North America and China at Craft Alliance in St. Louis [email protected] Sculpture Workshop with El Natan Abramov by Liz King [email protected] 20 [email protected] Press-molded slab sculpture Website: www.ceramicsmonthly.org 22 Patty Maly Brightly glazed vessels and wall forms at BonaKeane Gallery in Portland Ceramics Monthly (ISSN 0009-0328) is published monthly, except July and August, by The American Ceramic Society, 735 22 Ropes of Fire Ceramic Place, Westerville, Ohio 43081. Periodicals postage Bizen ware at the National Ceramics Museum, Sevres, France paid at Westerville, Ohio, and additional mailing offices. Opinions expressed are those of the contributors and do not 24 Eunice R. Miller necessarily represent those of the editors or The American Raku masks at Walter Art Center in Tulsa Ceramic Society. 24 Nesrin During Subscription Rates: One year $26, two years $49, three years Coil-built vessels at Art Gallery Het Posthuys in Texel, Netherlands $70. Add $ 12 per year for subscriptions outside North America. In Canada, add GST (registration number R123994618). 24 Contemporary Texas Clay by Marla Ziegler Change of Address: Please give us four weeks advance notice. Works by 24 North Texas artists at Dallas Visual Arts Center Send the magazine address label as well as your new address to: Ceramics Monthly, Circulation Department, PO Box 6102, 26 Teapots and Pitchers Show Westerville, OH 43086-6102. Invitational at Blue Spiral 1 in Asheville, North Carolina Contributors: Writing and photographic guidelines are avail 26 Margaret Fetzer, 1906-1997 able on request. Mail manuscripts and visual support (photo graphs, slides, transparencies, drawings, etc.) toCeramics Monthly, 735 Ceramic PL, PO Box 6102, Westerville, OH 43086-6102. We also accept unillustrated texts faxed to (614) 891-8960, or DEPARTMENTS e-mailed to [email protected] Indexing: An index of each year’s feature articles appears in 8 Letters the December issue. Feature articles are also indexed in the 28 Video Art Index and daai (design and applied arts index), available 68 Call For Entries through public and university libraries. 68 International Exhibitions Copies and Reprints: Searchable databases and document 70 United States Exhibitions delivery are available through Information Access Company, 70 Regional Exhibitions 362 Lakeside Dr., Foster City, CA 94404; and through Univer 70 Fairs, Festivals and Sales sity Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106. 76 Suggestions Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal 80 Calendar use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted by The American Ceramic Society, provided the base fee of 80 Conferences $5.00 per copy, plus $0.50 per page, is paid directly to the 80 Solo Exhibitions CopyrightClearance Center, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 82 Group Ceramics Exhibitions 01923. Prior to copying items for classroom use, please contact 86 Ceramics in Multimedia Exhibitions the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, 88 Fairs, Festivals and Sales MA 01923; (508) 750-8400. The code for users of the Trans 89 Workshops actional Reporting Service is 0009-0328/97 US$5.00 + $0.50. 92 International Events Back Issues: When available, back issues are $7 each, includes 94 Questions shipping and handling; $10 each outside North America. 99 Classified Advertising Postmaster: Send address changes toCeramics Monthly,VO Box 102 Comment: 6102, Westerville, OH 43086-6102. Form 3579 requested. Copyright © 1998 I Am Not an Artisan by Derek Marshall The American Ceramic Society 104 Index to Advertisers All rights reserved 4 CERAMICS MONTHLY February 1998 5 Mark Zamantakis and his noborigama kiln is without doubt the most innovative prob- Letters and pottery studio in Fairplay, Colorado (see lem-solver I’ve met in my years in the field, the November 1997 CM). Mark and his wife and continues to astound those around him Jo share information and friendship freely. In with his many creative accomplishments. Comment Rebuttal fact, Mark shares his kiln with our commu Just wanted to set the record straight. Kevin Hluch’s Comment article in the nity here in Park County and with interested RichardAemi, Bloomfield, N.Y. January 1998 CM asked that craft and art be persons worldwide. required to meet an aesthetic standard of Since 1975, the Zamantakis’ noborigama Required Reading beauty. This has often been the case through has been fired through the efforts of scores of The article by Mel-san (Mel Jacobson) in out history and tends to produce an enor people with a variety of expertise and intensi the December issue of CM was superb—a mous volume of work that is impressive ties of interest. It has become a much antici delight to read. He is right. Form is the technically yet empty of inspiration. Fortu pated annual late-June event for many of us: leading element in ceramic design, and his nately, a few artists will meet the standard of Tom Forte of the Clay Pigeon Gallery in pots pictured in the article are exquisite and the day and also astonish the viewer. Denver, which represents Mark’s pottery; exemplify the point. This article should be Today’s climate is different. It lacks the Jerry Thiel of Ft. Morgan, Colorado; Gary required reading for most of the other potters very requirements Hluch yearns for. Bear in and Ronna Tyson of Manhattan, Kansas. whose work is pictured in that issue. mind the price we pay for that lack: we are Cloyde Snook has had workshops at the kiln Harold Hart, Okemos, Mich. sometimes left bewildered, standing in front with potters from Adams State College in of rubbish. Alamosa. Angelo Garzio has also had his Worth the Subscription We live in an age where an artist is free to students from Kansas State University in As a beginner in my second year of train roam to any style—ancient, old, new or volved in firings. ing, I appreciate articles about glazes, aesthet futuristic—and assemble a work. Bear in In recent years, my wife, Carolyn, and I ics and history. The best article of 1997 was mind the payofF we receive with this free have participated in the firings. We met Mel Jacobson’s semiautobiographical descrip dom: we are sometimes astonished at the Mark and Jo when they came into our tion of his apprenticeship with Uchida-sensei. unprecedented originality of thinking in an Shawnee Mission Gallery several years ago It would have been enough to experience artist’s work. and we have attended this annual event ever such training vicariously as I did, but the I would like to address directly a few of since. I have experienced a special joy in pearls of wisdom strewn through that article Hluch’s comments: helping to split the wood just right. alone are worth my year’s subscription. “Numerous tomb relics from many cul The noborigama kiln of Mark and Jo William W. Thayer, Pasadena, Calif. tures show that craftspeople (Did artists even Zamantakis has brought people together in exist then?) made pots, necklaces, textiles, Park County, Colorado, from all over the Look It Up baskets and other objects that were essential world. We thank you, Mark and Jo. Contrary to popular opinion, form does to the community....” We must be aware that Vincent and Carolyn Lee Tolpo, Shawnee, Colo. not follow function. Form follows forlorn these tombs included the work of artists, hope.