Paul Donnelly Technical: Firing Faster Spotlight: Heather Mae Erickson Glazes: Glossy Transparents and Color-Friendly Clear

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Toll Free: 800-431-6067 or 845-339-3721 Fax: 845-339-5530 www.BaileyPottery.com Email: [email protected] february 2014 1 2 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 3 new 13 fabulous monthly glazes added to our line of Editorial [email protected] telephone: (614) 794-5869 amazing cone 6 glazes fax: (614) 891-8960 editor Sherman Hall managing editor Jessica Knapp associate editor Holly Goring administrative specialist Linda Stover technical editor Dave Finkelnburg online editor Jennifer Poellot Harnetty Advertising/Classifieds [email protected] telephone: (614) 794-5834 fax: (614) 891-8960 classifi[email protected] telephone: (614) 794-5843 advertising manager Mona Thiel advertising services Jan Moloney Marketing telephone: (614) 794-5809 marketing manager Steve Hecker audience development manager Sandy Moening Subscriptions/Circulation customer service: (800) 342-3594 [email protected] Design/Production production associate Erin Pfeifer design Boismier John Design digital design specialist Melissa Bury Editorial and advertising offices 600 Cleveland Ave., Suite 210 Westerville, Ohio 43082 Publisher Charles Spahr Editorial Advisory Board Linda Arbuckle; Professor, Ceramics, Univ. of Florida Serving potters since 1975! Scott Bennett; Sculptor, Birmingham, Alabama Dick Lehman; Studio Potter, Indiana Quality Products! Excellent Service! Great Prices! Meira Mathison; Director, Metchosin Art School, Canada Phil Rogers; Potter and Author, Wales Visit our web site to see many exciting new products Jan Schachter; Potter, California Mark Shapiro; Worthington, Massachusetts www.tuckerspottery.com 1-800-304-6185 Susan York; Santa Fe, New Mexico Ceramics Monthly (ISSN 0009-0328) is published monthly, except July and August, by Ceramic Publications Company; a subsidiary of The American Ceramic Society, 600 Cleveland Ave., Suite 210, Westerville, Ohio 43082; www.ceramics.org. Periodicals No other oval kiln can match postage paid at Westerville, Ohio, and additional mailing offices. Opinions expressed are those of the contributors and do the features of the Cone Art not necessarily represent those of the editors or The American Ceramic Society. The publisher makes no claim as to the food safety of pub- BX4227D Oval ! lished glaze recipes. Readers should refer to MSDS (material safety data sheets) for all raw materials, and should take all appropriate recommended safety measures, according to toxicity ratings. The original true cone 10 kiln subscription rates: One year $34.95, two years $59.95, three years $89.95. Canada: One year $49, two years $89, since 1982 three years $135. International: One year $60, two years $99, three years $145. back issues: When available, back issues are $7.50 each, 32% less plus $3 shipping/handling; $8 for expedited shipping (UPS 2-day air); and $9 for shipping outside North America. Allow HEAT LOSS 4–6 weeks for delivery. change of address: Please give us four weeks advance notice. Send the magazine address label as well as your new address to: Ceramics Monthly, Circulation Department, P.O. Box 2.5” brick 15699, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5699. contributors: Writing and photographic guidelines plus 1” are available online at www.ceramicsmonthly.org. insulation indexing: Visit the Ceramics Monthly website at Double Wall www.ceramicsmonthly.org to search an index of article titles and Construction artists’ names. Feature articles are also indexed in the Art Index, daai (design and applied arts index). copies: Authorization to photocopy items for internal • Massive 16.5 cubic feet. or personal use beyond the limits of Sections 107 or 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law is granted by The American Ceramic • 3.5” thick walls Society, ISSN 0009-0328, provided that the appropriate fee • 4” thick lid and floor. is paid directly to Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923, USA; (978) 750-8400; • Patented lid lifter. www.copyright.com. Prior to photocopying items for classroom • Element in floor for more use, please contact Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. This consent does not extend to copying items for general even firing distribution, or for advertising or promotional purposes, or to republishing items in whole or in part in any work in any format. • 3 zone Bartlett control at no Please direct republication or special copying permission requests extra charge to the Publisher, The Ceramic Publications Company; a subsidiary of The American Ceramic Society, 600 Cleveland Ave., Suite 210, • Sectional design so easy to move Westerville, Ohio 43082, USA. postmaster: Send address changes to Ceramics Monthly, P.O. Box 15699, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5699. Form 3579 www.coneartkilns.com requested. Copyright © 2014, The Ceramic Publications Company; a subsidiary 1-800-304-6185 of The American Ceramic Society. All rights reserved. www.ceramicsmonthly.org

4 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org $10 0 AM AC O ® g la z e r e b a t e

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www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 5 contentsfebruary 2014 volume 62, number 2

editorial

8 From the Editor Sherman Hall 10 Letters exposure 12 Images from Current and Upcoming Exhibitions reviews 42 Out of Necessity: Contemporary Ceramics Interventions A group exhibition at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia, explores the ways contemporary ceramic artists are addressing a complex range of issues. The show includes work by A. Blair Clemo, Sin- Ying Ho, Mathew McConnell, Adam Shiverdecker, Linda Sikora, and Stan Welsh. Reviewed by Owen Duffy techno file

60 Firing Faster by Dave Finkelnburg Sure it’s a little nerve racking to load weeks, maybe even months, worth of work into the kiln and then mess around with your tried-and-true firing schedule. But once you test the options for a faster and more efficient firing, you may find yourself with a little more time and a bit more money. tips and tools

64 Repurposing Tools by Marty Jones and Don Kopyscinski All potters know that their hands are the best tools they have. And what about those old kiln elements, the ones you just can’t seem to throw away? Here’s a few new ideas to use the tools right in front of you. resources 77 Call for Entries Information on submitting work for exhibitions, fairs, and festivals. 78 Classifieds Looking to buy? Looking to sell? Look no further. 79 Index to Advertisers spotlight 80 Intersections 14 Heather Mae Erickson talks about the ways studio ceramics and the design world inform one another.

6 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org clay culture

20 Pottery from Poland by Jenna Makowski In the Polish town of Boleslawiec, where pottery has been produced since 1380 CE, the tradition is still going strong.

24 Reclaimed Iron Oxide by Skip Sensbach Iron oxide is a common material to most ceramic artists. Out in the environment, it can crop up in rivers that are exposed to coal mine drainage, and cause problems in the ecosystem. Several groups are working to reclaim this material, cleaning the rivers and providing the collected iron oxide for sale to artists to fund future projects. studio visit 26 Nicholas Bernard, Scottsdale, Arizona Bernard has built a studio that’s easy to access, a great benefit for customers from the city, but provides all of the solitude, space, and inspiration of the desert landscape. features

30 Reversing the Flow: European Designers in China by Heidi McKenzie Two European artists have set up shop in Jingdezhen, China, and are producing and selling work in major cities in China as well as across Europe.

36 Adding to the Story: The Work of Martina Lantin by Katey Schultz Martina Lantin tells stories with her vessels. Each cup, bowl, plate, and installation is a confluence of ideas about function, ornament, and technology.

46 Paul Donnelly: A Foundation in Contrast by Glen R. Brown Contrasts provide the foundations for Donnelly’s utilitarian forms. The contrasts combined in most pieces—vibrant color next to a bright white, smooth and textured or perforated surfaces, and forms that are handbuilt or wheel thrown mixed in with those that are slip cast—provide variety for the maker and user alike.

50 Ben Jackel: Use Only in Case of Emergency by Kathleen Whitney Pulled out of context, the safety devices we all tend to overlook—fire hydrants, sprinklers, stand pipes, fire hoses, emergency horns, and the like—become both beautiful abstracted forms and reminders of both the threats we face and the things we’ve invented to hopefully solve those problems if they arise.

55 The Implications of Function by Jeremy Randall Drawn to the wear and use of everyday objects that surround him, Jeremy Randall adds a patina that alludes to the past onto the surfaces of his functional pots, allowing the user to be both in the present and the past at the same time. glaze

25 Cone 10 Opaque Gloss Coal Ash Glaze by Skip Sensbach

66 Low-Fire Slip and Color-Friendly Glaze Recipes by Martina Lantin 68 Cone 6 Transparent Glossy and White Glaze Recipes, Cone 6 Casting-Slip Recipe by Paul Donnelly

55 cover: Paul Donnelly’s pitcher set, wheel-thrown porcelain, oxidation-fired, wood base, 2011.

www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 7 from the editor respond to [email protected]

Well, what can we say about new developments in a field as old as kind of design approach forge their own path to a great extent, finding ceramics? Luckily, quite a lot. It would seem that the age of the field opportunities to observe and study and produce in factory or other is not as much a determining factor in development as the fact that large-production environments. It could even be said that they need to most of Earth’s crust consists of ceramic materials! Some might also be more creative in their career and training choices, because in many remind us that studio ceramics as a vocation and avocation is such a ways they need to invent their own artistic education. Let’s face it, being relatively new development that we should expect new models at a pace an artist—whether making functional items or strictly aesthetic—is a more rapidly than we do. Really, there is no reason to expect that new bit of a hustle if you really want to make it work as a livelihood. Those developments in ceramics will ever stop; its capacity for adaptation to attempting to bridge two creative approaches that have not embraced new applications is what draws many of us to it in the first place. I one another for quite some time—and are only now coming back think this is true whether we’re talking about ceramics in art or science. together in a meaningful way, on a meaningful scale—could be said Both are based on experimentation and exploration. And any number to have forged a new way forward for many makers. of other fields can’t escape overlapping and intersecting with ceram- There are many educational institutions that have embraced ics: space, batteries, armor, museum conservation, electronics, energy, industrial technology in their ceramics departments—some strictly transportation, medicine (and the list could go on forever). for purposes of creative exploration on an individual scale, and some Okay, so maybe that’s old news to some of you (perhaps many for intentionally embracing industrial techniques and companies to of you), and maybe you’ve found your own groove of exploration bring an additional group of professional possibilities to their students. that will occupy you for years—perhaps the rest of your life—and Regardless, it cannot be said that studio-ceramic education today is an you really don’t want to move in another direction in the studio or endeavor in anachronism. I find this to be encouraging, particularly explore different societal or cultural applications for ceramics. But I because many of these programs also include traditional pottery mak- refuse to believe that means you’re totally uninterested in finding out ing, sculpture, and ceramic history in conjunction with CNC milling how others use this amazing material. In this issue, we devote a bit machines and 3D printers. of attention to the intersection of the traditional individual ceramic In this issue, among our usual fare, we will talk about the approach studio and design. I know I’ve mentioned here before that design is an to ceramic design some have taken, and look at the resulting work so activity we all engage in on a regular basis, but here I really am talking you can make up your own mind. We start with “Reversing the Flow: less about the verb and more about the noun that is the professional European Designers in China,” by Heidi McKenzie (p. 30), in which designation of a person who works from a brief (a problem-solving she relates the endeavors of two Scandanavian designers who chose assignment, which can be self-imposed), sometimes working directly to set up shop in the center of China’s porcelain factories. This is not with materials, sometimes not. This type of design historically has uncommon for companies (it’s what the town is designed for), but it’s been, at least in the minds of studio artists, tied most closely to indus- still relatively new for individual makers. Luckily a residency program try, since it endeavors to solve problems for large numbers of people built to take advantage of what Jingdezhen has to offer gave them a in an efficient man- leg up. Read their story, and see if perhaps there is inspiration there ner. And this means you did not expect. And don’t miss the Spotlight this month, where (again, in the minds we discuss this intersection of design and studio ceramics with a maker of studio clay folk) who has explored this cross-pollination both academically and person- mass production. ally. Heather Mae Erickson is one of the makers and educators laying Well, not so fast. the foundation for a new (renewed) collaborative approach between There are many op- the studio and the factory. The key is to recognize the advantages and portunities for artists disadvantages of both, and take what you need from each to make to work directly with the work you really want to make. Sounds pretty darn creative to me. industry to produce ware that retains the quality and aesthetics of handmade objects, but they are not nec- This is the product of a 3D printing design essarily obvious (they competition hosted by Figulo Corporation. An certainly are not the architect named Ronald Rael designed it, and it’s a great example of design opportunities norm). Most ceramic open to anyone. artists embracing this Sherman Hall

8 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 9 letters email [email protected]

A New Low Submission Guidelines I’m left scratching my head after reading over Clay as a Cultural and Phenomenological CM looks great and I look forward to get- the “Transitioning Environments” section In Material,” I found the photos more visually in- ting it every month! I would like to write an the January edition of Ceramics Monthly. I triguing. However, the written account of his article on a potter I visited while in Hungary. don’t mind artwork that’s odd or disturbing or work came across as pretentious and verbose, Are there any guidelines or outlines I should that challenges my sense of aesthetics, but I do as if it had been written by someone who had follow? I have photographs and some video. mind when I can’t even begin to comprehend spent way too many years in graduate school. It was a gift to spend the day with this potter, what an artwork is about without reading the Amorphousness and tessellation? Fecundity and I think he would be an excellent subject accompanying explanation by the artist. Gail and morphology? What? I don’t see the con- for CM. Thanks and happy 2014! Heidel’s “Urban Flux” installation is a case in nection between the words and the artwork. Lauren Brockman, Raleigh, North Carolina point. Ostensibly, she is exploring issues of Worst of all was “Change and Adaptation” by Lauren, I realize your letter was not necessar- community, architecture, and gentrification, Jessica Kreutter, which featured books, glasses, ily meant for publication, but we get questions but I never would have guessed that from the and other ordinary objects caked in mud. This like this so often that I thought it would be a photos of her work. Even after reading the has to be a new low for Ceramics Monthly. good way to remind everyone of where to find text, I’m confused, and I’ll bet I wasn’t the only While I look forward to every new issue of the our guidelines and requirements for sending reader baffled by her so-called self-portrait magazine, I really do expect better from CM. content to Ceramics Monthly. Simply go to consisting of a box of hardware. If Ms. Heidel Please, as an antidote to this nonsense, next www.ceramicsmonthly.org and click on the “Sub- really wants to communicate about her subject time show us something beautiful, uplifting mit Content” link on the right-hand menu. You’ll matter, perhaps she should find another way. or inspiring. Thank you. find everything from image requirements to specs Moving on to Del Harrow’s “Investigating Elizabeth Shriver, Coralville, Iowa for all of our departments and features.—Ed.

monthly emerging artist 2014call for entry The May 2014 issue of Ceramics Monthly will feature work by emerging clay artists Ceramic artists, both US and international, who have Arrival deadline: been actively pursuing a career in ceramics for less than ten years, are eligible to apply. February 17, 2014

To be considered, please submit the following: Mail to: • Up to five high-resolution digital images (300 ppi) on a CD Ceramics Monthly, Emerging Artist • Full-size color print of each image 600 N. Cleveland Ave., Suite 210 • Complete caption information for each image Westerville, OH 43082 • Contact information including email address • Artist statement and résumé Do you know an emerging artist? Submissions arriving after the deadline, emailed submissions, and Do they need a nudge? submissions containing more than five images will not be considered. Submitted materials will not be returned. Due to the volume Pass this along and help them get of entries, no phone calls please. the recognition they deserve.

10 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org Bailey Gas and Electric

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Direct: (845) 339-3721 Fax: (845) 339-5530 thewww.ceramicsmonthly.org Difference. february 2014 11 exposure for complete calendar listings see www.ceramicsmonthly.org

12 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org 1 Anna Collette Hunt’s The Wollaton Stag, 20 in. (51 cm) in diameter, ceramic, slab built with sprig molding, sgraffito, inlay, stamping, slip, glazes, and lusters, 2012. Photo: Chris Webb. “Made with Love,” at The Craft Centre and Design Gallery (www.craftcentreleeds.co.uk) in Leeds, United Kingdom, through March 15. 2 Gillian Parke’s Imari Peacock vase, 12 in. (5 cm) in height, ceramic, 2013. Photo: Charlie Evergreen. 3 Andrew Avakian’s vessel, 18 in. (7 cm) in height, terra cotta, terra sigillata, underglaze, sand blasted, oxidation fired, 2012. “Southern Hospitality,” at Baltimore Clayworks (www.baltimoreclayworks.org) in Baltimore, Maryland, through February 22. 4 Julia Galloway’s pitcher, 11 in. (28 cm) in height, porcelain, 2013. 5 Hide Sadohara’s teapot, 6 in. (15 cm) in height, porcelain, 2013. 6 Val Cushing’s pitcher, 163⁄8 in. (46 cm) in height, stoneware, 1990s. Gift of Lee Baldwin. “Pour,” at Schein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art (ceramicsmuseum.alfred.edu) in Alfred, New York, February 6–March 28.

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www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 13 exposure

1 Karen Thuesen Massaro’s, Spoon Sticks, 7 in. (18 cm) in length, porcelain, glazes, overglaze, enamels, 2008–2010. Photo: Paul Schraub. “Embellished Surface: Image and Pattern on Clay” at Robert Wright Gallery. (gallery.clcillinois.edu) in Grayslake, Illinois, February 28–April 6. 2 Jonathan Mess’ Reclaim No. 7, 14 in. (35½ cm) in height, various reclaimed ceramic materials, 2013. Photo: Kate Mess. 3 Jonathan Mess’ Reclaim No. 2, 10 in. (25 cm) in height, various reclaimed ceramic materials, 2013. Photo: Kate Mess. “Reclaim: Jonathan Mess,” at Greenwich House Pottery (www.greenwichhouse.org/gh_pottery) in New York, New York, through February 15.

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1 Sake ewer, Japan, Kansai region, Kyoto-related kiln, stoneware with enamel glazes, 19th century, Edo period. “Charles Freer and the Arts of Japan,” at Freer Gallery of Art (www.asia.si.edu) in Washington, D.C., through February 9. 2 Freshwater jar in the shape of a bucket, Kyoto, Japan, stoneware with white inlay under celadon glaze, lacquered wooden lid, 1800–1850, Edo period. “Korean Style in Japanese Ceramics,” at Freer Gallery of Art (www.asia.si.edu) in Washington, D.C., through February 9. 3 Pippin Drysdale’s Tanami Mapping II, 5½ in. (14 cm) in diameter, porcelain, 2011. “The Vessel, The Object,” at Kunstforum Solothurn (www.kunstforum.cc) in Solothurn, Switzerland, through February 8. 4 Left: Sigrid Grote’s vessel, 15 in. (38 cm) in height, grogged stoneware. Right: Ulfert Hillers’ vessel, 10 in. (26 cm) in height, grogged stoneware. “Sigrid Grote and Ulfert Hillers Studio Ceramics from Bremen,” at Loes and Reinier International Ceramics (www.loes-reinier.com) in Deventer, the Netherlands, through February 22.

16 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org “Many generations of Shimpo wheels, many generations of potters.”

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www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 17 exposure

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1 Matthew Eames’ Fluid Construct #4, 22 in. (56 cm) in height, porcelain, handbuilt and extruded parts, fired to cone 10, 2013. “Matthew Eames: Constructive Criticism,” at Carbondale Clay Center (www.carbondaleclay.org) in Carbondale, Colorado, February 7–28. 2 Adrian Saxe’s Ewer Jawgasm, porcelain, stoneware, glazes, lusters, found objects, 1994. “White Gold: The Appeal of Lustre,” at Racine Art Museum (www.ramart.org) in Racine, Wisconsin, February 9–June 1. 3 Toshiko Takaezu’s Star Series, installation view, 1999–2000. Collection of the Racine Art Museum. Photo: Michael Tropea. “Magic Mud: Masterworks in Clay from RAM’s Collection,” at Racine Art Museum (www.ramart.org) in Racine, Wisconsin, February 2–May 4.

18 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org

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www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 19 clay culture pottery from poland by Jenna Makowski Can you imagine a town where pottery has been made since the year 1380 CE? Natural resources, tenacity, innovation, and a following in Western Europe and the US mean that the occupation is still alive and well in the Polish town of Boleslawiec.

The factory is cavernous, with industrial pipes lining the ceiling Exiting the firing rooms, I pass heaps of ruddy, dense, globular and snaking down the walls. Grungy-wheeled trolleys and shelves clay. Leftovers, my guide explains, and evidence that the town’s eco- stacked a storey high crowd the corners. A worker in heavy boots nomic foundation depends on seemingly infinite natural resources. and thick overalls pushes past, balancing a tray of muted, unfired A few miles away, at Boleslawiec’s eastern outskirts, the Bobr River pottery on his palm like a waiter carries plates. I flinch as he brushes provides rich deposits of clay that have been excavated for centuries. by; he doesn’t. The glazed, chocolate-brown pitchers from 18th-century kitch- I am standing in the warehouse of Manufaktura pottery factory, ens that now populate the Boleslawiec Museum of Ceramics more alongside room-sized train kilns full of pots. Though 20-year-old closely resemble earthy clay hues than the pottery sold in the town Manufaktura is a newer producer in Boleslawiec—a provincial today. By the early 1900s, local potters shifted from simple glazes to town in southwest Poland with six major pottery factories and florid decorations painted with sponge stamps. The earliest design 40,000 residents—the craft is not. Written records indicate that from the time period, a cobalt-blue circle-and-dot pattern known as the town has been producing pottery since 1380 CE. the peacock pattern, is traditionally associated with Polish pottery.

20 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org 2

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1 A group of oversized pitchers and cups with traditional peacock pattern designs welcomes people to Boleslawiec. 2 A potter uses a jigger to create plates at the Manufaktura Pottery Factory in Boleslawiec. 3 A worker adds dry greenware to the shelves of a train kiln car in preparation for a bisque firing. 4 A potter specializing in surface decoration adds stamped dots to the raw glazed surface of a plate.

In fact, life-sized pitchers and matching peacock-dotted cups blink the handmade ware to other imported ceramics that are mass at visitors from the main road leading into Boleslawiec, an official produced. Puckett and Trevino’s business had been hard to find welcome to Miasto Ceramiki, the Town of Ceramics. at first, up a rural, barely-two-lane road unfurling through green, In the painting room, just before the stoneware’s final, 2000°F hilly vistas; unexpected landscape in central Maryland. They sell firing, an potter spins a bowl on a turntable. Pressing a small foam the pottery out of a climate-controlled addition to their home— stamp around its perimeter, she creates a chain of circles. I watch their “twin-plex.” “I think people…appreciate the artwork and the her hand closely. It barely moves, yet, within seconds, a string of history…” Trevino pauses, and Puckett finishes her thought. “And pigment appears around the entire bowl. She stops momentarily, it’s functional! It’s like buying a fine painting you can actually use.” switching to a smaller stamp. With a flick of the wrist, she sends The two began importing ware from Boleslawiec in 1997, the table spinning again and, with barely perceptible movement, after Trevino returned from a five-year stint at an army base in fills each circle with a tinier dot—a bull’s eye, all around the bowl. Germany, near the Polish border, where she first learned about the pottery. They started exhibiting at craft shows in the US, selling The US Market out within hours. Now, they order a 40-foot shipping container A number of businesses import Boleslaweic pottery for sale in the of inventory annually. “When that semi-truck delivers, oh boy, US. “Handmade Polish pottery is like an addiction,” according do they get stressed driving up that road!” Trevino laughs. “And to Holly Trevino, who, along with her twin sister, Jenny Puckett they’re wondering where the loading dock is!” She points at the has imported and sold the pottery through their company Twins driveway, where chickens peck around the basketball hoop. “We Polish Pottery for a decade. have just two hours to unload it all…the kids come out to help, While sitting between shelves stacked with as much pottery as and dad—he’s 83—he helps us do inventory.” some factory stores in Boleslawiec contain and sipping coffee from Twins Polish Pottery is one of the largest direct importers of a peacock-dot mug, Trevino explains that their customers prefer Polish pottery on the East Coast. They ship nationally, but it’s the

www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 21 clay culture

tery,” noted Trevino. “I asked why, and she said it was too expensive.” Though the prices of Polish pottery have risen since the 1990s, especially as the Polish currency, the zloty, strengthens, the mysterious absence of pottery from Polish kitchens—and from the collective memory of the Polish diaspora abroad—is more likely entangled in the complexities of history. History Boleslawiec’s market square is surrounded by flat, round-roofed buildings that dominate the Silesian landscape across southwest Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic. The Baroque-styled facades have been renovated since the large-scale destruction of WWII, wrought by bombs and massive human uprooting. Prior to the war, Boleslawiec was called Bunzlau, a Prussian town with a majority German 5 population. Key figures in the town’s pottery his- 5 Finished mugs and creamers showing a variety of the primarily blue and white tory include Johann Gottlieb Altman, who began patterns accented with reds and greens, created on Boleslawiec pottery. manufacturing products of white clay conducive for colorful decoration; Dr. Wilhelm Pukall, the first loyal regulars who keep them motivated. “We are one-on-one with director of the Professional School of Ceramics in 1897; and Carl customers,” Trevino explains. “It’s such a treat when customers Werner, who introduced floral motifs. come up the hill.” At war’s end, borders were re-drawn and the Bunzlau residents were exiles in a Polish town now called Boleslawiec. Most were The Heritage Connection/Disconnect pushed out, leaving behind homes, cemeteries, and ruined pottery Though her store’s motto is, “You don’t HAVE to be Polish,” factories. The annexed land drew Polish refugees from borderlands Jeanette Kirk was first drawn to Polish pottery via an interest also in flux further east, largely present-day Ukraine. in her father’s Polish heritage. “I’ve tried to incorporate a bit of By 1946, as the former Bunzlau potters relocated to East Ger- Poland,” Kirk explains of her small store, It’s Polish Pottery in many, Polish pottery professor Tadeusz Szafran began re-opening Cleveland, Ohio, a proud move from the antique mall where she the Boleslawiec factories. Artisans like Izabela Zdrzakla and Alicja first began. “The magnet seems to be the old map of Poland on Szurminska contributed to the craft’s revival—now called Polish my wall! [Customers]…show me where they’ve traveled or where pottery—over the coming decades. their relatives are from.” As a fourth-generation American of Polish decent, I’d been Balancing Creativity and Nostalgia surprised to learn that Poland had a national craft in pottery. I Though Polish pottery is marketed as an old world folk art, its wasn’t alone. Trevino and Puckett orchestrated their first pottery evolution—like its history—is dynamic. Drawing on traditional exhibit in Michigan, amidst a large Polish community. As Trevino designs, factories employ potters and designers with an eye toward remembers, “We had to explain to everyone what [Polish pottery] the influence of market trends and changing tastes. Magdalena Ga- was and how it was made. Nobody knew about it.” zur, a designer, graduate of the Wroclaw Academy of Fine Art, and A relative newcomer to the American market—a post-Cold recent artist-in-residence at Manufaktura, designs with different War phenomenon—Polish pottery began making trans-Atlantic audiences in mind. “We tend to sell more traditional designs to the voyages primarily in the 1990s. Discovered by army families like US, but now [we] want…to try something more contemporary,” Trevino’s, busloads from Germany poured in as factories found she says. Although she is unable to reveal more about the factory’s eager markets in the newly opened west. upcoming line of pottery, she adds, “It might work in Germany!” More surprisingly, though, is that beyond its niche market Just like the twins, who know their customers who travel up stronghold in the US and Germany, Polish pottery seems rare the hill, the Boleslawiec potters know theirs—keeping a historical in Poland. In the year I lived in Wroclaw, the regional capital craft relevant by walking the line between tradition and modernity. of Lower Silesia and only an hour away from Boleslawiec, I had never seen locally made pottery in a kitchen or store. Neither the author Jenna Makowski is a writer, editor, and blogger who lives had Trevino. Once, she and her sister were invited to an potter’s and works in the Washington, D.C. area. To read more of her writing, home. “I noticed in her kitchen that she didn’t have any pot- visit jennagmakowski.com.

22 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org February 22 – March 23, 2014 The 2014 NCECA Ceramic Arts Invitational flowMilwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Artist: Lauren Mabry Artist: Ryan LaBar

www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 23 clay culture reclaimed iron oxide by Skip Sensbach One organization in Pennsylvania is turning an environmental hazard associated with coal mining into a usable resource while cleaning up waterways.

Iron is a common element that is found in most of the ceramic ma- ecosystems. These waterways are usually colored yellow and orange, terials we use. From clay to glazes, we come in contact with iron on which is caused by the chemical relation between the iron-rich a daily basis, usually in the form of iron oxide. Iron is a useful and discharge and oxygen. The resulting iron oxide particles color and important element in forming the color of our clays and glazes as affect everything in the waterway, including rocks, trees, plants, well as in some instances acting as a flux. For many ceramic artists, and wildlife that frequent these sites. This contaminated water, in the need to add iron oxide to clay and glazes usually ends up with a essence, creates a biological dead zone. phone call to a clay supplier to order several pounds of the material. There are treatment solutions that can benefit not only the local The iron oxide is then shipped, possibly traveling over many miles environment but also ceramic artists. Robert Hughes is the execu- before arriving at the studio. However, for artists who live in an tive director of the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned area that has a history of mining, a more environmentally friendly Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR), a public, non-profit organization source of iron oxide might be in your own back yard. located in Ashley, Pennsylvania. Hughes and the EPCAMR have While iron is desirable for the formation of color in ceramics, been working on solutions to this problem since 1996. Accord- it is not desirable in our local environments. Acid mine drainage ing to Hughes, one of the processes they use to clean the water is (AMD) is a source of water pollution that plagues areas that have to create a “passive” treatment system. This consists of the mine old or existing mines. Northeast Pennsylvania has a rich history water flowing through a device that injects oxygen into the water of coal mining and even though most of the mines are no longer before it goes into a containment pond. The oxygen speeds up the in operation, our area is left with the residual effects; water con- chemical reaction and the iron particles are deposited as sludge at taminated by iron. The iron enters the environment either through the bottom of the pond. The water then drains off into the first bore holes, drilled to relieve mine water pressure, or through rain treatment cell where further oxygenation takes place and wetland and melting snow run-off seeping through leftover culm material. vegetation helps trap the particles. The water then flows to another According to information published by the Earth Conservancy, basin where the remaining iron particles are removed. the environmental effects are devastating to local stream and river The clean water is then released back into the environment. What is left behind is an iron oxide sludge that is collected and dried into a packed yellow powder. The powder is then sifted, ground down, and baked to enhance the color of the oxide, which can range from yellow and orange to a deep red. The EPCAMR then sells this material to artists for a variety of uses. For a ceramic artist, this powder is an excellent source of iron oxide, which can

1 One of three Solomon Creek AMD boreholes that flow out of the mines in an artesian way, with water being aerated as it reaches the surface causing iron hydroxides to drop out into the stream bottom. The borehole is 42 inches in diameter. 2 Looking downstream from the Solomon abandoned mine drainage (AMD) borehole’s discharge where it comes into the confluence with the Solomon Creek’s main stem, parallel to the Sans Souci Highway, behind Leonard’s Auto Tags in Hanover Township, Pennsylvania, 2 Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.

24 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org 3 4

3 Espy Run AMD Treatment System wetlands area. Iron hydroxides are settling to the bottom of the ponds where it is eventually excavated and returned to the EPCAMR office for drying and processing into iron oxide pigment. The Espy Run AMD discharge is in the Espy Run sub-watershed of the Nanticoke Creek, in Hanover Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. 4 One of the second constructed AMD Treatment ponds where all the iron has been removed from the Phase II AMD Treatment System, providing an excellent wildlife and habitat area. It is located along Dundee Road, and treats the Askam AMD Borehole discharge that drains into the Nanticoke Creek in Hanover Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. be incorporated into glaze and clay recipes. The organization tests this iron oxide to ensure the chemical purity, thus it is free of other potentially dangerous metals like aluminum, cadmium, and arsenic. I have been using this source of iron oxide for several years by substituting it for commercially purchased iron oxide. Direct substitution works in most glazes with the AMD iron oxide providing iron spots in the glaze that are comparable to those formed in glazes made with the commercially obtained iron oxide. Recently, I have been adding the local iron oxide to a coal ash glaze recipe I found in The Potters Complete Book of Clay and Glazes by James Chappell. The original glaze recipe calls for Redart clay, which we substituted in our tests with Goldart clay, and yellow ochre, which we replaced with rutile. The cone 10 glaze fires to a nice green hue with iron spotting throughout the glaze. Where the glaze breaks over the edges, it produces a warm cream to yellow. What intrigues me most about this glaze is that it uses the by-products of both heating with coal and what has been Mug glazed with Coal Ash glaze with added AMD iron oxide on the top half, and Coal Ash glaze with added left over from the mining industry. Together, these ingredients make a glaze that cobalt oxide on the bottom. has a regional identity. The impact that the ceramic process has on the environment has always been a concern for me. I realize that not everything can be obtained locally, but by using local resources in my work, I’m able to lessen the impact I have on the environment. Using AMD iron oxide eliminates my need to have this material shipped over Opaque Gloss Coal Ash Glaze Cone 10 long distances and helps clean up contaminants that affect the waterways in my area. By obtaining the material from the EPCAMR, I also help continue the work Coal Ash ...... 20.80 % Magnesium Carbonate. . . . . 1.22 Mr. Hughes and his organization have started, because the money raised through Whiting...... 21.90 the sale of this material goes into other environmental projects at other local sites. Custer Feldspar ...... 32.30 If you live in an area affected by the mining industry, I suggest looking into local Goldart clay...... 3.15 organizations that might be working to clean these sites up as a source of ceramic OM4 ...... 8.43 material. If a local source is unavailable, you may want to try the colorant produced Silica ...... 12.20 by the EPCAMR. They can be contacted through their website, www.EPCAMR.org. 100.00 % Add: Rutile...... 1.63 % the author Skip Sensbach is an artist and teacher living in Dallas, Pennsylvania. He is the AMD Iron Oxide...... 4.06 % owner of Green Dog Pottery, and teaches at Marywood University and Misericordia University.

www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 25 studio visit Nicholas Bernard Scottsdale, Arizona

Just the Facts Studio I built my studio in 1989, behind my home in Scottsdale, having just shut my “produc- Clay tion” company down after six up and down years. I jettisoned the employees, landlords, custom earthenware mixed by Laguna Clay tax man, and the rest. The 1200-square-foot building is bright, airy, and perfect for one Primary forming method person who works seven days a week. After 23 years, it’s like your favorite pair of boots, throwing broken in and super comfy. Primary firing temperature The space is growing and used organically. The big table is used for display during oxidation in a gas kiln to cone 03 and studio shows, then pots move to shelving so I can drop a seamless backdrop and shoot electric firing to cone 04 pictures. If I need the table saw, same thing, it’s right there under the removable tabletop. Favorite surface treatment The porch showroom didn’t exist until 2008, the back spray area didn’t exist until 2010. slip texture with layers of sprayed frit- The throwing area is the only place that has been reasonably static since 1989. Even that ted colored slips and oxide washes has been upgraded with damp boxes and a wedging table. Favorite tools The studio I have now is the result of a process of becoming more competent and small metal rib more confident. The skills to design and execute what you see here has taken 30 years as a professional. Add school and the rest, and it’s close to 40 years. To pay for all of it means that the work needs to be viable, and it needs to sell every day nationally. As time progresses, you get to make more pots and make them better; to joyfully get up every day, run to the studio, continue to improve, and keep paying attention to every detail. It’s great to have the freedom, and after all this time, the skills and confidence to do exactly what I want.

26 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org Paying Dues (and Bills) Mind As a teenager, I worked as an apprentice for two different potters Traveling, when possible, gets me out of the rut that is so easy to on the East Coast. I then moved to Arizona and received a BFA dig. Learning to play guitar, building things, playing with other from Arizona State University in 1981. I was an artist-in-residence materials, and doing other creative stuff helps me to re-energize for the Tempe Public Schools for two years, which gave me a free and revitalize, and always leads to the next step when the regular place to work right out of school. When that ended, I rented my work is losing momentum. When things aren’t fun, I walk away first studio with another artist. From 1981–95 the pots were raku and wait until it is. Every aspect of the work deserves my full at- and saggar fired. I sold my personal and production-company work tention and respect. through wholesale shows and galleries until 1995. Then, I did a When I started out, there was no Internet. We shot slides and one-year stint managing a moving company, after that, five years looked at magazines, can you imagine? It’s great to see virtually in Chicago building and running another production pottery. everything going on in our little ceramics world, and the rest of During my time in Chicago, I became a reasonably competent it, with a click of the mouse. In the office, I spend a lot of time woodworker/carpenter, as making my own pots didn’t fit into the looking at gallery exhibitions online, and YouTube videos of classic program. Those and other skills have been a huge help over the rock and roll on a big monitor at full volume. Satellite radio in years in building new kilns, expanding the studio, and endless the studio keeps me company with baseball games, audio books, other projects that make the studio a destination for collectors, and blues for 45 plus hours a week. Office work adds another 10 students, and the curious. Upon returning from Chicago in 2001, to 15 hours. I shoot and process all the pictures for my website, a new evolution began. In 2009, a grant from the Arizona Com- galleries, and clients. I also update the website as often as possible mission for the Arts was the catalyst for the development of this with new images, studio news, and the occasional online show. I current body of work. make, handle, pack, ship, and sell the work myself. I have, however,

www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 27 turned my yard work over to a trusty helper; this concession has I’m very fortunate to be in a place that can support those kinds spared my aging body, and improved my work beyond measure. of retail numbers, it has however taken years of very concentrated effort to make it happen. The personal touch in the studio, one on Body one with customers in a beautiful environment has allowed me to Making pots and all of the related activities are truly hard on the continue to work every day. My marketing strategy is to make the body. I train 5–7 days a week with weights and also run on an best pots I can. A professional presentation either in the studio or elliptical machine. Being strong is the best way to avoid injury. online is essential; “build it, and they will come.” Being honest, Having health insurance has always been a priority. When cash reliable, and drama free are very important too. flow and revenue was higher and more people depended on me, Tourists, locals, and people who just get lost all end up in the I also carried disability insurance. Even with a high deductible studio eventually. My little handmade sign at the end of the driveway it’s expensive, but being uninsured is not an option. Anything is has been very effective. I also do one publicized studio sale for the better than nothing. holidays, and I’m a host site for Arizona State University’s Ceramic Research Center studio tour. The rest of the new visitors come from Marketing being invited to the studio at the two outside shows I do, and from Selling and marketing is so different than it used to be. Going to people bringing their friends. wholesale and retail events nationally used to be viable. I’ve stopped I always ask people to add their email address to my list wherever traveling all over the country and placed “parental controls” on ZAPP I am so they will get invitations to future events. These connections and JAS, the online clearing houses for show applications, limiting and contacts form the basis for the business that I have. My website myself to just two applications a year. I’ll do only two street fairs, if and a fairly large web presence also widen the audience for my work. I get in, and focus the rest of my energy on consignment galleries and studio clientele. Juried and other national invitational shows Most Important Lesson provide anticipation and amusement, new entries for the resume, a Unfortunately nothing is easy; there are constant disappoint- little exposure and additional sales during the year. I use an online ments. Fortunately, and most importantly, the work keeps grow- email service to keep commercial and private clients up to date with ing and is more than challenging. Every day there are successes new work and studio events. The wholesale business for my kind of and little victories that keep me going back to the studio. Doing work and price points is pretty much gone. Ironically, when I started all the work, and paying attention to the details with patience in 1981, all I did was consignment. Now, 40% of revenue comes is very satisfying. from consignment galleries, 10% wholesale, 10% from shows, and 40% from the studio/website. www.nbernard.com

28 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 29 Reversing the Flow European Designers in

China by Heidi McKenzie

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For centuries China exported its highly sought after blue-and-white porcelain wares to Europe. Ships used to find their way through the waterways to Jing- dezhen (formerly named Changnanzhen, which translates to China Town) to load their vessels to return to countries such as Sweden and Holland (now part of the Netherlands). Today this historically-rooted chine de commande of the 18th and 19th centuries has come full circle—and Europe is export- ing designers to China to design and produce ceramic wares in Jingdezhen. Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province, China is arguably “the industrialized world’s workshop” and claims its status as the porcelain capital of the world. Agnes Fries and Carola Zee are two ceramic designers who have recently set up shop in China in order to design, create and/or produce their wares. Fries hails from Stockholm, Sweden, and Zee’s hometown is just outside Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Both women trained in the Scandinavian modernist school, and both are managing to translate their creative capacity into a viable business proposition in Jingdezhen, China. Fries and Zee became acquainted with the potential available in the Sculpture Factory in Jingdezhen through their multiple, self-directed artist residencies at The Pottery Workshop—a fully resourced ceramic artist residency that hosts up to

1 Agnes Fries’ Bottino Vases, slip-cast porcelain, glaze. 2 Agnes Fries working in her studio in the Sculpture Factory in Jingdezhen. 3 View of color tests and samples in Agnes Fries’ Jingdezhen studio. 4 Ting Dynasty (Agnes Fries and Max Wang) Zodiac cups, slip-cast porcelain, glaze, overglaze transfers of paper-cut inspired designs. 4

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5 Agnes vases, to 11 in. (30 cm) in height, designed by Agnes Fries for Normann Copenhagen, slip-cast and hand-painted porcelain. 6 One of the artists who works with Agnes Fries adding the surface decoration to an Agnes vase. 7 Agnes Fries’ Jingdezhen Papercut plate, slip-cast porcelain, overglaze transfer of a paper-cut map of Jingdezhen. 8 Carola Zee in her studio in Jingdezhen, pictured with carafes and glaze tests in the background. 9 Carola Zee’s Unique carafes, to 11 in. (29 cm) in 6 height, slip-cast colored porcelain, glaze.

twelve international residents at a time. I was one such resident houses in total 1300 workers including a national ceramic art mas- last spring when Zee befriended me with the kind of hospitality ter, two Jiangxi Provincial ceramic art masters, 36 high-standard of spirit that would almost seem out of place in North America, craftsmen, and over 400 other craftsmen, each highly skilled in and later introduced me to Fries upon her arrival. Indeed, there is their respective and specific trades. a built-in camaraderie amongst ceramic artists in Jingdezhen, and In China there is an emphasis on fostering expertise in a spe- I came into contact with artists from all walks of life practicing all cialized area within the ceramic industry. Fries and Zee emphasize means of production. The Pottery Workshop (TPW) in Jingdezhen the importance of this distinction between East and West: whereas is surrounded by hundreds of small, independent craftsmen and students of the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute (JCI) are encouraged artists located within what is known as the Sculpture Factory in an to master the art of copying, Westerners are raised to find and pro- eastern suburb, six kilometers outside the city center. The Sculpture mote their own voice. Design is an emergent field in China relative Factory is about 361,000 square feet (110,000 square meters) and to the West. Craftsmanship and reproduction remain the dominant

32 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org industry drivers; however, shifts are beginning to take place. These shifts were more than evident at the highly inventive fourth-year students’ year-end exhibitions I attended at JCI last spring. Zee trained at the Willem de Kooning Academie in Rotterdam and is primarily a self-taught ceramic artist. Fries completed both her undergraduate and graduate degrees at The Danish Royal Aca- demic of Design in Denmark. One of the issues that both artists negotiate in their work is finding the right balance between the clean, minimalist aesthetic associated with their cultural milieus, and the extravagant, often ornate nature of the decorative Chinese porcelain tradition. Fries notes that “minimalism is not the issue.” She goes on to explain that “people want to make sure they are buying something special,” and with that in mind she and Zee focus on creating exclusive work of exceptional quality, and pay attention to the all aspects of the production spectrum, from the online or retail shopping experience, the packaging, the branding, and of course the integrity of the work itself. After three years working at TPW and adjusting to the culture and language, Fries set up a design shop within the Sculpture Factory two years ago. Sweden, although leaders in design innovation (with the obvious example of IKEA) is experiencing a dearth of studio artists working with clay and Fries finds the absence of communal collegiality problematic back home. (Ironically, both Sweden and 8 the Netherlands have established porcelain brands, formerly locally

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produced, that have now been outsourced and are being produced off-shore in countries such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, and China—where labor and production costs are attractively low.) Fries interprets her unique aesthetic as “Danish Modernism inspired by Ming dynasty.” She believes that the benefits of living and working within the intensively creative microcosm of the Sculpture Factory fosters her own creativity in ways that would be impossible to replicate in her home country. In her words, “Instead of sitting behind my computer at home to figure something out, I just go around town.” For Fries, Chinese culture, “always gives my work a little twist.” Fries recently teamed up with Taiwanese-based knowledge maker, Max Wang to form Ting Dynasty—a company dedicated to working collaboratively with local craftsmen to both raise the quality of serial production and the awareness of the people behind the production. Fries’ Zodiac line draws its inspiration directly from the ancient Chi- 10 nese practice of paper-cutting. Applied with overglaze transfers, Fries’ designs are produced on porcelain mugs and are currently available in Jingdezhen, Shanghai, and Beijing, China; Taipei, Taiwan; Geneva, Switzerland; and various locations in Sweden. Whereas Fries is primarily a designer, Zee positions herself as a designer-maker. This hybrid identity enables her to oversee the 10 Carola Zee’s Unique cups, slip-cast colored porcelain, glaze. process from design, through production, packaging and distri- 11 A local Jingdezhen worker transporting Carola Zee’s wares bution. Zee employs two local assistants who work to support from kiln to studio. 12 A car-kiln stack of Carola Zee’s work, pictured before and after the glaze firing. 13 Carola Zee’s her label Aleph line that ships from Jingdezhen to wholesalers in Gradient vases, slip-cast porcelain, glaze. 14 Carola Zee’s Beijing and Shanghai. She is also working with a business partner studio in the Sculpture Factory, Jingdezhen. 15 Carola Zee’s studio, with slip-casting molds in the foreground, works in in Washington, D.C. to expand her penetration of the European progress on the shelves in the background. and North American marketplace. Zee started at TPW in 2008

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and the next year decided to go it alone, setting up shop in rented Her Unique series exploits 15 studio space within the Sculpture Factory. She now spends up to Chinese slip-casting pro- seven months of the year in China. duction but each piece has Zee explains another fundamental difference in East/West a hand-made dent, and they come in mix-and-match pastel color methodology, “In Jingdezhen ceramic artists master one shape, palettes—something that you don’t see often in Asia. and instead of changing the shape as they create new works, they Both artists have fully embraced the transnational as a lifestyle express new ideas through painting or carving differently. That and as a framework for doing business within the ceramic industry. same shape lasts for hundreds of years.” Western designer/makers As trail blazers, Zee and Fries are two of a growing collective of in China alter that equation by changing the shape and the decora- Western designers/producers in Jingdezhen who are forging in- tion at the same time with each new design line. novative ways of working and making in an increasingly dynamic Zee’s Gradient Mountain series incorporates the idea of traditional global marketplace. Chinese painting that expresses the beauty of the country’s landscape in a contemporary and modern way. Zee explains that her design is the author Heidi McKenzie is an artist and writer living in Toronto, “a dialog between cultures: this is what you do, this is what I do.” Ontario, Canada. To learn more, visit http://heidimckenzie.ca.

www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 35 Adding to the Story The Work of Martina Lantin by Katey Schultz

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1 Installation of Plates, 42 in. (1.1 m) in height, earthenware, slips, glazes, 2013. Photo: Kathryn Gremley. 2 Large vase with quatrefoil decoration, 11 in. (28 cm) in height, wheel-thrown and altered earthenware, slip, glaze, 2013. 3 Six-stem flowerbrick, handbuilt and extruded earthenware, slip, glazes, 2013. Photo: Kathryn Gremley.

Ceramic artist Martina Lantin is writing stories. Whether you are reds, greens, and yellows move thinly across the exposed cut on sipping from one of her small mugs, serving from a wide-mouthed the rim of a bowl, the curve of a handle, or the lip of a pitcher. bowl, or encountering an installation of dinner plates, it’s evi- Beneath this, a chocolate-toned, deep rust clay reveals itself. Across dent that each lip, layer, and line of Lantin’s work evolves from most surfaces, gestural dots, smears, drips, and thick lines hint at a confluence of ideas about function, ornament, and technology. objects from nature, some deliberately forming repeated or cropped Like the tiny commas and periods that transform sentences into patterns inspired by historically reoccurring geometric motifs. stories, her historically based design features are transformed by Like any good story, there is a crafted structure beneath the graphic presentation, turning everyday objects into components surface details, and Lantin is a serious advocate of her earthenware of a larger narrative. clay body, which she calls “chocolate porcelain.” “Historically, the The story Lantin seeks to tell is something she calls the “nostal- tin glaze and the white slip that advanced in Islamic ceramics were gia of the future.” “While my work refers to the past,” Lantin says, strategies to disguise the rough earthenware body that they had “I seek, if possible, to make objects that are deeper than the pop of available locally in order to imitate the fine porcelains that were pattern and color.” To achieve that depth, Lantin first looks to the coming from the east,” Lantin says. “The history of the material past: early English porcelain and cream ware, Italian Renaissance is a big part of the story for me. The earthenware was disguised majolica, and Persian slipware. “I have a copy of a shape book to look like the valuable and coveted porcelain.” Playing with that (catalog) from Spode, a company in Stoke-on-Trent, England, from disguise, Lantin’s work relies on technology to mask her chocolate the 18th century, that shows the forms they produced. I used this porcelain, while her intentional decision to leave the mark of the as a jumping off point and revisit it when I have a block in the handmade forces us to look at what history has deemed more or studio,” Lantin says. Creamy white slip with hues of earthy blues, less valuable art over time.

www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 37 But Lantin’s work is not strictly paying homage. Her historical and deep blues and grays on the walls make the white, wooden references offer a respectful nod to the past, as she simultaneously table and luster-white slips appear illuminated from within. And moves forward by presenting her work in provocative installations yet we are meant to gather there; to celebrate, converse, and find of call and response. Family Dinner features six round, creamy nourishment. Hall of Standing is informed by the past, calls us white dinner plates and nine matching snack plates arranged in into the present moment, and propels us forward into reaction. a geometric pattern against a wall. The wall is covered in hand- So begins our “nostalgia of the future,” where viewers are screened, bright red wallpaper with alternating deep gray and moved by history, technology, and design to write the stories of black circular or triangular patterns. The plates appear to be their own futures. Whether Hall of Standing makes us feel warmed arranged lengthwise, drawing the eye from top to bottom; while and invited by its quiet, spacious installation or intimidated by the wallpaper draws the eye left to right. Remove a plate for use, its dark undertones and appearance of “perfect” domesticity, and the pattern is disrupted. Remove another for a guest, and the there’s no denying the power of the work. According to Lantin, pattern changes yet again. Swap several plates and create a new that’s her desired impact. “Each gesture—from the making to the geometry, altering the entire experience and setting up the next installation of a piece—is a component in the story and in that new encounter for whoever greets the work. The more each piece way becomes a part of the narrative…I then imagine the power in the dinner set is used—removed, replaced, re-set—the longer of the viewer to take the objects further…At a certain point, all the story of these objects becomes, connecting the threads of the of my work aspires to be an object of reflection and reaction.” past to the future Lantin is so determined to move toward. Other works by Lantin that are similar in nature include Rear Likewise, in Hall of Standing, a set of platters is installed against Wall and, more recently, Installation of Plates, which focus less on a backdrop of hand-printed wallpaper featuring silhouettes of hu- mood or stage-setting and more on patterns and repetition. “I man teeth and ghostly, floating silverware to suggest eating. The was interested how various surface treatments of the same motif details of the installation—from floor to ceiling to mantelpiece— would appear over the wide spread of the plates,” Lantin says. are thoroughly considered. Dark lighting casts dramatic shadows, While each individual plate functions aesthetically and in terms of

38 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org 5

6 7

4 In the Making: Rear Wall, 8 ft. (2.4 m) in height, earthenware, toner-resist transfer, slip, glaze, luster, 2009. Photo: Mathieu Léger. 5 Bowl pair, to 6¼ in. (16 cm) in diameter, wheel-thrown and altered earthenware. Photo: Kathryn Gremley. 6 Platter with multiple decoration, 11½ in. (29 cm) in length, wheel- thrown and altered earthenware, slip, glaze, 2013. 7 Luster mug and saucer, 4 in. (10 cm) in height, thrown and altered earthenware, slip, glaze, 2011.

use, together the pieces command a different kind of connection. work, we react, and we choose one above all the rest (or, perhaps Viewers can’t help but compare and contrast, finding repeated lines several). But Lantin, who studies phenomenological philosophers or colors as they dance between positive and negative space. Of such as Martin Heidegger, would say that this is actually the object course, the plates are meant to be used…but they’re also meant to acting upon us. invite viewers to do what Lantin calls “invade the composition.” Throughout history and time, preferences and biases develop. By selecting one plate over another, taking it home, and adding Patterns repeat and break down. Technology advances and fails. it to your own collection of varied objects, the story grows. At “I’m interested in that history,” Lantin says, “the history that first glance, we appear active in this experience: we encounter the lives behind the objects—in the distance—as well as the history

www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 39 of an object’s own construction…the actions I took in making it, the layers of surface it contains…and the way it may be integrated with what is already in someone’s home.” As each idea unfolds, so a page is turned; a story advancing, plate by plate. In 2014, Lantin will show new work in “Art of the Pot” in Austin, Texas. This may include work inspired by her recent research into the movement of motifs and technology between Turkey and Iran during the 14th and 15th centuries.

8 Family Dinner, 8 ft. (2.4 m) installed, hand-screened wallpaper, earthenware, slip, glaze, 2011. 9–10 Hall of Standing, room is 17 ft. (5 m) in length, earthenware, slip, glaze, luster, wood, hand- screened paper, 2011. Installed at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Brattleboro, Vermont. Photos 8–10: Jen Morris. The use of earthenware, veiled in white slip, is linked to European porcelain mania during the Baroque era—but as it occurred in the Near East. Camouflaging their ruddy earth with an opaque coating—whether with slip or glaze, the potters strove to imitate the fine porcelain that made its way west along the Silk Road. Inspired by this history, both Family Dinner and Hall of Standing echo the forms and traditions of ornament central to this phenomenon. 11 Side plate with blush, 8¼ in. (21 cm) in diameter, wheel-thrown and altered earthenware, slip, glaze, 2103. Photo: Kathryn Gremley.

40 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org 11

Lantin has also been short listed for the Raphael Founder’s Prize, Appalachian Center for Craft in Smithville, Tennessee. Learn more awarded by the Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh, at www.mlceramics.com. Pennsylvania, which includes an exhibition from April 11 until August 23. the author Katey Schultz has written over 50 essays featuring artists and their creative processes. Her first book of short stories, Martina Lantin studied ceramics at NSCAD University in Nova Flashes of War, was published by Loyola University Maryland Scotia, Canada and is currently professor of ceramics at Marlboro in 2013 and recently awarded Book of the Year in Literary Fic- College in Vermont. Her work has been exhibited at numerous gal- tion. Learn more about her writing and her services to artists at leries in the US and Canada. In 2014, she will teach a class at the www.kateyschultz.com.

www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 41 Out of Necessity Contemporary Ceramic Interventions by Owen Duffy

42 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org

Necessity Contemporary Ceramic Interventions by Owen Duffy

1 Sin-Ying Ho’s One World, Many Peoples No. 1, In a Dream of Hope No.1, In a Dream of Hope No. 2, to 5 ft. 9 in. (1.8 m) in height, porcelain, hand- painted cobalt pigment, high-fire underglaze decal transfer, glaze, 2010.2 Exhibition view. Foreground: A. Blair Clemo’s Endless Urn, porcelain, gold luster, wood, 2013. 3 Mathew McConnell’s What it Means to Move, dimensions variable, earthenware with bone charcoal and graphite, 2013.

Ostensibly, “Out of Necessity (Contemporary Ceramic from across the field of ceramics, including A. Blair Clemo, Interventions)” at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond Sin-Ying Ho, Mathew McConnell, Adam Shiverdecker, (http://visarts.org) in Richmond, Virginia, offers viewers Linda Sikora, and Stan Welsh. an engaging survey of ceramic art’s more recent innovative Upon entering the gallery, viewers are greeted by Ho’s developments. However, after further investigation, the show three, human-sized porcelain vessels, One World, Many Peo- cohesively demonstrates the potential of clay—a humble ples No.1, In a Dream of Hope No.1, and In a Dream of Hope material with a rich tradition and history—to address a No. 2. Their ornate surfaces are gingerly hand-painted with comprehensive range of present-day global issues. Curated cobalt pigment—a technique popularized in Ming Dynasty by Jason Hackett, an assistant professor of craft and material China. Ho’s work deviates from tradition when one examines studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, Out of Neces- the surface details in greater depth. The wrought patterns sity assembles several prominent and emerging individuals reveal themselves to be a surreal mixture of foliage; cacti,

www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 43 4

4 Adam Shiverdecker’s The Banquet of the Leviathan, dimensions variable, nichrome, porcelain, earthenware, oxides, glaze, steel, 2009–13. 5 A. Blair Clemo’s Mantelpiece, porcelain, gold luster, wood, 2013. 6 Stan Welsh’s Mustang, ceramics and mixed media, 2010.

ambiguous fruit trees, and lily pads effortlessly commingle on the objects’ exteriors. Silhouettes of people, filled with the phrase “one world, many peoples” in several languages or images of stock market reports, appear amongst the vessels’ flora. When read as a whole, these works could allude to the tensions between the honored past and the disruptive socio- economic interconnections of the global present. Adroitly installed opposite of Ho’s vibrant pieces is Mathew McConnell’s foreboding, What it Means to Move. McConnell’s earthenware sculptures are coated with a patina of bone charcoal and graphite, thus providing them with a 5 weighty and serious presence. At first glance, the arrangement may appear to be delightfully haphazard and random, but each object, according to McConnell’s statement, references another work of art, be it that of a modern master or the artist’s own. Consequently, one can identity such familiar forms as Brancusi’s Endless Column and a Mesopotamian ziggurat. The elongated installation and presentation of What it Means to Move allows its diverse visual components to act like a segue- ing flow of discordant information. Thus, questions about the relationships between the individual elements are sure to playfully arise as viewers make their way from one end of the 6 display to the other. Somewhat like surfing the web, one is able

44 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org to navigate the work’s apparently random visual information. What it Means to Move conveys a palpable level of currency, especially considering contemporary society’s over-infatuation with the digital and its vast, arbitrary flows of data and images. In the adjacent room, one encounters the work of A. Blair Clemo and Stan Welsh, who both wryly utilize the histories of specific ceramic objects to engender a broader political dialog. For instance, Welsh deploys porcelain figurines in such works as Yonder and Mustang to interro- gate a subject’s present-day relationship 7 with the natural world. The lone cloaked figure ofMustang confronts a black void of oil enamel paint, which is conjoined to a photograph of rippling, gleaming water, which is adorned with a found emblem of the legendary Ford muscle car. Bearing the works’ materials and subject matter in mind, Mustang subtly insinu- ates the all-too-frequent human caused oil catastrophes that plague environments throughout the world. In a similar approach, Clemo implements and alters the decorative urn to engage commodity culture in Mantelpiece and Endless Urn. A striking focal point of the gallery, the inverted monumentality of Endless Urn alludes to the relative use-value of material things. Several shellacked terra-cotta 8 urns are amassed vertically, paradoxically 7 Installation view of works by Linda Sikora. 8 Linda Sikora’s Faux Wood Group (group detail), to 9.5 supported by an ionic column’s plaster in. (24 cm) in length (teapot), stoneware, polychrome glaze, wood/oil/salt fired, 2012. capital. By literally turning these classical pieces upside down, Clemo alludes to the urn’s historical transformation, from ritual object to flowerpot to thematic relevancy coheres with the work of Clemo, Ho, McCo- work of art. Likewise, the lustered porcelain urns in Mantelpiece nnell, and Welsh. In several ways, then, Sikora’s stoneware Faux complicate attributions of “handmade” and “mass produced.” Wood Group and porcelain jar seem entirely out of place in Out of Made from press molds, the urns honestly express their process Necessity. However, the pottery’s laborious glazes and skilled con- of serialized fabrication; yet they each evince personalized char- struction ultimately serve as a reminder of ceramic art’s important acteristics created by the artist’s hand. Clemo has consciously left histories and thriving traditions. These histories and traditions, it flashing from the mold seams and other overt imperfections on should be noted, are all referenced by the more unconventional each trophy-like work, but their golden handles (or lack thereof) interventions of Clemo, Ho, McConnell, and Welsh. facilitate a clever conversation about how Mantelpiece was made. Out of Necessity thoughtfully showcases how contemporary Sikora’s meticulously glazed pottery and Shiverdecker’s ambi- artists are appropriating, reconfiguring, transmuting the long- tious installation, The Banquet of the Leviathan, round out Out of standing traditions, tropes, and techniques of ceramic art. In Necessity in the gallery’s back room. Shiverdecker presents viewers tandem with Hackett’s considerate curation, such veterans to the with a wonderfully absurd proposition by imagining what would ceramic world as Ho, Sikora, and Welsh have proven themselves occur should an entire military be thrust underwater. The decaying once again, while the emerging talents of Clemo, McConnell, skeletons of a modern militaristic arsenal, including submarines, and Shiverdecker have demonstrated their potential in the field. jet planes, a drone, and a tank, are suspended alongside half- crumbling/half-finished amphorae. When one considers America’s the author Owen Duffy is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Art bellicose 21st-century foreign policy, The Banquet of the Leviathan’s History at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia.

www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 45 Paul Donnelly: A Foundation in

by Glen R. Brown

46 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org Snow, which can reduce the intricacies of a meadow to a gently undulating plane and the myriad needles of a pine bough to Paul Donnelly: A Foundation in a single hemisphere of white, is perhaps the most effective natural tool for abstracting hints of elemental order from the tremendous complexity of nature’s own features. Snow evokes an impression of purity and transcendence through precisely the means that we recognize in a Brancusi marble: form is simplified in terms of color and surface, and the mind is implicitly transported through the sensation of clarity to a higher level of awareness. Perhaps it is natural to respond with interest to the melting of snow, the retreat of the clarity of abstraction into diminishing patches of white and the increasing emergence of the irregularities of the world. The uniformity and the diversity, witnessed together, suggest in tangible form the ties in reason between the ideal and the particular, theory and praxis, the envisioned and the real. For ceramist Paul Donnelly, the revelatory properties of melting snow became the focus of a reductive, contemplative aesthetic as he tramped the woods of Upstate New York as a graduate student at Alfred University. Drawn particularly to the abrupt demarcation between beds of snow and the surfaces of streams, where ice extended in sheets that mimicked in their ripples the moving waters below, he began recording his expe- riences in photographs. While these have never served as direct sources of the formal arrangements in his ceramic works, the 2

1 Pitcher, wheel-thrown porcelain, glaze, oxidation fired to cone 6. 2 Platter, wheel-thrown porcelain, oxidation-fired to cone 6, 2010. 3 Vase with tray, wheel-thrown and slip-cast porcelain, glaze, oxidation-fired to cone 6, with wood base, 2011.

www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 47 experience of framing images through the camera’s viewfinder and good china. Those times left their mark on me. They’re something weighing the effectiveness of the potential compositions exerted that I gravitated toward in my earlier work, and something that a formative influence over the distinctive style that he practices as I still think about.” a maker of functional objects. Decisive transitions between pure The act of arranging functional wares in logical and visually white and color, uniformity and texture, opacity and translucence effective compositions has become as important to Donnelly as the are the hallmarks of that style and the formal means of conveying capacity of those objects for use. Since 2009, soon after he began the conceptual content of Donnelly’s work. teaching at the Kansas City Art Institute, he has explored the Although the trio of colors that Donnelly favors is readily associ- strategy of linking vessels to trays as a means of controlling spatial ated with the amber gold of fallen leaves, the bright green of growth relationships and inciting visual dialog between parts. His model in in early springtime, and the frigid blue of water glimpsed through ice, this respect has been as much the still life as the place setting, since his palette was not devised simply in response to nature. The green, the arrangements are intended to carry meanings that extend well for example, was as much a product of his attraction to Song and beyond the ordinary compass of the table. Some of these mean- Ming dynasty celadons as it was an effective signifier of the organic ings are intuitive but others are the consequences of reflection on world. The vibrancy of his palette is important to Donnelly, since specific issues such as the relationship between manufactured and his colors must hold their own visually against areas of white-glazed handmade objects. “On a philosophical level things are shifting porcelain that can be dazzling. The consistent intensity is, in other and the craft movement is being redefined,” Donnelly observes. words, necessary to an aesthetic that hinges on the dynamism between “Some makers are moving more toward automatic techniques, but equals. It is also significant to the kinds of metaphors that Donnelly’s there are people who are rejecting that and working mostly with works evoke on the conceptual level, especially those involving rela- the handmade in the craft realm. I’m interested in both.” tionships between experience of particulars and reflection on ideals. This dual interest was already evident in the earliest of works in Despite an interest in and attention to the ways in which his Donnelly’s current style. His platters, bowls, and cups—partly snow works ignite thought, Donnelly is a maker of functional objects and white and partly suggestive of dried grass, winter streams, or new consequently directs his energies as much toward the effectiveness vegetation—appear to have been hump-molded or slip-cast but were of utility as toward the elaboration of conceptual content or the in fact thrown on the wheel and carved by hand. The precision of the development of abstract representation. In this respect the domestic fluted elements was intended both to conjure the lines of nature and interior trumps nature as a guide to forms, and the relevant expe- to reference design, particularly the kind of Modernist architectural riences upon which Donnelly draws predate his graduate school design that rejected ornamental appendages. “One of the things that days. “I grew up sitting around the dining room table where we was important to me was that the decorative aspect was physically ate as a family,” he recalls. “My mother was somebody who set the within the work as part of the structure of the object,” he explains. table, particularly for special occasions. She would take out the “It wasn’t just on the surface but was part of the slab.”

48 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org 4 Flower brick, slip- cast porcelain and glaze, oxidation fired to cone 6, 2010. 5–6 Cup and saucer, wheel-thrown and handbuilt porcelain, glaze, oxidation fired 5 to cone 6.

Retaining in principle this outlook on decoration but loosening his strictures in actual practice, Donnelly has produced a series of flower bricks based on the rectangular format popular in 18th century England and the Netherlands. To create these works he employs an adjustable plaster mold to slip cast the brick itself as a smooth, five-sided box. Inverting this open form and using a tool fashioned from a section of copper pipe, he cuts a series of circular holes into 6 the top. The tray into which the brick is set, formed with a recess deep enough to serve as a reservoir for water, is also the product of slip casting. Both tray and brick are finished with sprigged texture. “I carve striations into slabs of plaster in my studio,” Donnelly explains. rulers, T-squares, and calipers to make circles, those sort of things. “Once those are dry, I can pour liquid slip out onto the slabs. The I’d cut the sides so that the piece was exactly square. I’d basically irregular edge of the sprig is formed however the slip ends up on the draw a blueprint for everything, and then I’d come back, measure slab. I let the clay do what it’s going to do.” everything out to that exterior square, and cut the circles on the The flower bricks, which tend to be uniform in color, are indica- interior. That brought more architectural features into the work.” tive of the influence of architecture on Donnelly’s style, not simply Since discovering the advantages of CAD software and CNC because the irregularly shaped, striated patches suggest remnants milling, Donnelly has turned largely to computer technology to of stucco, partially exposed lathing, or fresh applications of mortar manufacture his trays in wood, to which he applies multiple layers laid down with a notched trowel, but also because Donnelly uses of glossy auto paint in order to create waterproof surfaces and al- drafting tools to plan the recesses in which the bricks are set. The lude to the traditional Japanese lacquer ware forms that inspired the precision of this aspect of the process is obviously distinct from compartmentalized format. The trays are fitted with porcelain insets the fortuitous aspects of pouring slip to form the striated sprigs. that embrace dishes and flower frogs. Although both are made by “That’s where the nature and architecture contrast comes out,” hand, the former openly acknowledge that fact, sometimes through Donnelly asserts. “In the Flower Bricks, it stems from process. In obvious traces of the fingers. The latter, however, give the impression the finished pieces I really only see the architectural aspect in the of having been slip-cast. The distinctions between the appearance underlying form. It’s this strict, tight, rectangular thing, but the of the hand-modeled and the precision of the mold-made in these sprigging is more like nature.” elements echoes the kinds of contrasts that arise between organic In other works the tray, now a prominent element in Donnelly’s irregularity and architectural precision, the richness of color and the repertoire, has become key in setting up relationships between spartan blankness of white, the infinitude of the abstract and the vessels that serve as signifiers of such oppositions as nature and concreteness of the particular: the kinds of contrasts, in other words, architecture, and handwork and the new technologies available for that provide the foundation of Donnelly’s art. forming objects in clay. The ceramic trays in Donnelly’s cup sets are thrown as disks on the wheel then cut, altered, and reassembled. the author Glen R. Brown is a professor of art history at Kansas State “Now I use Rhino software,” he explains, “but before I was using University in Manhattan, Kansas.

www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 49 Ben Jackel Use Only in Case of

Eby Kathleenmergen Whitney cy

50 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org 3

1 NY Standpipes with Spikes, 26 in. (66 cm) in length, 2012. 2 Emergency Horn, 8 in. (20 cm) in height, 2011. 3 Ruby St., 28 in. (71 cm) in height, 2011. 4 SF Hydrant, 32½ in. (83 cm) in height, 2011. All works are handbuilt using Laguna B-3 Brown clay, with a polished beeswax coating. All photos courtesy of L.A. Louver gallery, Los Angeles, California.

First you see them, then you don’t, all those objects you pass things you hope not to have to use and that you hope will solve a by every day and don’t notice; they hide in plain sight on street problem. Because they are isolated from the environment where corners, in parking structures and public spaces. They fall under they ordinarily would be, Jackel’s sculptures become exotic; more the radar of observation because they’re small, placed below eye than imitations of the functional. It doesn’t quite matter that you level or stuck in corners. They’re often symbols of catastrophe, to don’t know anything about them; the point is that they are both be touched by people trained to handle them. These half noticed mysterious and beautiful. things, safety devices such as fire extinguishers, stand pipes, pres- A good builder and a good artist have a lot in common; they sure releases, hydrants, are background dwellers, there only in both construct items that exhibit craftsmanship and employ an case of an emergency. This topic is part of Ben Jackel’s subject economy of means. These similarities explain the appearance of matter; the objects inspired the title of his 2012 exhibition at L.A. Jackel’s work. He photographs the safety devices and uses the im- Louver gallery in Los Angeles, “Zero Percent Contained,” a term ages like blueprints, sizing them up approximately to their original used to describe a fire that firefighters can’t control. His hydrants scale. While his pieces replicate existing structures, the translation and other objects symbolize hope in a negative way; they are from metal to clay changes the nature and meaning of those objects.

www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 51 Instead of the remote quality of the industrial objects they are based on, they have the warmth and intimacy of the handmade. His work process transforms the fabrication methods of metal casting and tooling originally used to create the objects that inspire him. He carves his work from clay and bolsters it with invisible supports of wood, brass, and steel. Jackel’s forms are not identical to their sources; a close look finds the imperfections that humanize and animate them. Many of his surfaces retain the marks of carving. Although each of Jackel’s sculptures has shared characteristics, each has its own distinct persona. To Jackel, craft and imagery is a single element; his technical ability is astonishing. His precision, choice of imagery and attention to detail have been influenced by three ceramic sculptors; Richard Notkin, his UCLA graduate school professor Adrian Saxe, and Ken Price. All the work is made from Laguna’s B-3 Brown clay; he coils, carves, and smoothes it. Jackel has a die he’s designed for his extruder that produces coils approximately one by two inches thick with a groove at the bottom to facilitate attachment; he’s also invented a tool that scores a curved surface before applying slip. He uses an electric kiln, soaking the pieces for some time before bringing them to temperature; firing takes about a week. The majority of his work is fabricated as separate sections. There is no instance in which the protruding ceramic elements carry their 5 own full weight. Each section has threaded sleeve inserts fitted into drilled holes that allow the insertion of concealed threaded rods. These rods are bolted to walnut wood plates hidden in the interior; the pieces can be separated but the joints are invisible and seamless. Many of his pieces hang from or are attached to wood inserts; they’re suspended from the wall without revealing how they are supported. He uses an epoxy that matches the brown/black clay to fill cracks and anchor parts to each other. Jackel surfaces his finished work with a thin layer of beeswax, polished to a matte glow. Wrapped Firehose and Navy Hose feature flat, rolled-up hoses and bulbous regulator or coupler elements. The hoses were made from thin slabs cut into long rectangles that were then folded over. There are two elements; the hoses, valves, and pipes are one piece, only the nozzles are separate. The nozzle of Wrapped Firehose hangs from the hose like a phallus. The hose part of Navy Hose appears animated, the loops of hose swinging free, as if they’ve just been used and rehung. Jackel’s Hydrant series is his most humorous; each object is unique and singular. Each has distinct characteristics, from the detailing of the breast-like hose nozzles to the incised flutings of their columnar barrels. All the chains are ceramic and mimic darkly rusted steel. Each hydrant is typical of a locality; S.F. Hydrant is stripped down and minimal, Ruby Street (a hydrant located near his grandfather’s house in Oak Lawn, Illinois) is far more florid, detailed with three nozzles of different sizes and a central band. The Large-Headed Hydrants, each with a different number of nozzles, represent three different generations, distinguished by the amount of wear each displays. This wear is indicated by carving marks and the worn looking surfaces of nuts and bolts. The titles refer to the 6 unusual length of the pointy valves at the top.

52 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org Because the objects mimic something that per- forms a task, it’s difficult to describe them without also describing their function; Jackel’s Standpipe series illustrates this point. N.Y. Standpipes, N.Y. Standpipes with Spikes, Garrison, and Triple Stand- pipe depict a type of interior or exterior hydrant built into or adjacent to multi-story buildings. N.Y. Standpipe and N.Y. Stand Pipes with Spikes are minimal—pipes with paired nozzles at right angles to each other and to the main pipe. The spiked standpipes have a bar meant to discourage people from sitting or standing on them. Garri- son and Triple Standpipe are the most spectacular of the series with their numerous nozzles and curvaceous, complex structures. Garrison is one of the most complex of Jackel’s pieces; the turret- like nozzles and upright valves make the piece resemble a weapon. The way it hangs off the wall, combined with its slight sheen, make this object that’s meant to save lives vaguely threatening. The title, Garrison, is a kind of play on words; Garrison is the name of a friend of Jackel’s who passed away prematurely, and, as a noun, the word is defined as “a group of soldiers defending a town or fortress.” Jackel found this six-headed defense mechanism in a high-rise building in downtown Los Angeles. Sea Strainer and Pipe Hose are derived from pipe-style hydrant systems and have multiple parts. Because of the way large sections are connected to the smaller, more delicate appearing pipes, it’s

5 Navy Hose, 32½ in. (83 cm) in height, 2012. 6 Wrapped Firehose, 24 in. (61 cm) in height, 2012. 7 Garrison, 3 ft. 4 in. (1 m) in height, 2012. 8 Sea Strainer, 6 ft. 3½ in. (1.9 m) in height, 2013. 8

www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 53 Large-headed Hydrants: Youth, Middle-age, Elder, to 34 in. (86 cm) in height.

difficult to believe that these objects are ceramic. Both sculptures Art recognizes actuality in its own idiosyncratic way; aside from are screwed to the wall through ceramic versions of metal fastening being a version of reality, Jackel’s work is also social commentary. straps. Because they are so thin, narrow and graceful, they have an His work reflects philosopher Gilles Deleuze’s notion that the air of fragility belied by the sturdiness of their structure and con- duplication of existing forms is a means of allowing accepted ideas struction. Sea Strainer is a type of maritime fire extinguisher that to be “challenged and overturned.” Jackel’s commentary calls at- strains seaweed from ocean water when in use. The pendulous lower tention to issues of denial, disbelief, and skepticism and is meant coupling is the location for the hose. Pipe Hose has a valve perpen- to retake territory we’ve banned from consciousness or surrendered dicular to the nozzle. As with all his other pieces, none of the sections to the digital. The idea “zero percent contained” encompasses more of these two sculptures carry their own weight; they are buttressed than a hypothetical fire that can’t be put out. Jackel’s sculptures and held together internally in ways that make breakage unlikely. symbolize powerful forces beyond our control; the replications of Emergency Horn is one of Jackel’s simplest and most ornamental existing forms underscore those forces’ potential destructiveness. pieces. It represents a somewhat old-fashioned alarm, a type that He lives and works in Los Angeles, a city constantly threatened has often been replaced by electronic sensing devices. It resembles by disasters: earthquakes, high winds, pollution, and fire. We a twisted trumpet and its elegance seems at odds with the noise Angelenos take for granted that we are protected in case of an it might produce. emergency, but can’t identify the safety devices, how they work, In the world where the original objects are found, these objects or where to find them. Jackel pursues the open question—how far are painted some attention-getting OSHA-required color that can the factors of action and survival be stressed so their reality makes them easy to find. Hydrants have different colors that give is recognized in a useful way? His sculpture lets us identify these firemen certain bits of information, standpipes may be yellow; the remote and oddly beautiful objects; unnoticed devices that detect, original objects that inspired Garrison and Emergency Horn were alert, and defend. bright red. The uniform dark brown, with its neutral beeswax coating marks Jackel’s objects as art, far removed from function. the author Kathleen Whitney is a sculptor and writer living in Los As a group, they both reflect and pervert reality. Angeles, California.

54 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org

by Jeremy Randall

Clockwise from top: Corrugated Plate, Lidded Tank, Barn Salt Cellar, and Flat Stack Vase. All are earthenware with terra sigillata, crackle slip, copper oxide wash, steel carpet tacks, and nichrome wire. All photos: Sarah Panzarella.

www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 55 In life and in the studio, I am drawn to the patina of use and and some have patterns on both the front and the back. They are the implications of function. I can trace these interests to the made out of a heavy, slightly flexible plastic and hold up very well objects that surrounded me when I was a child, and can follow to repeated use. For my purposes, they create a surface that shows those objects as they have found a place in my own adult life. The how objects and building materials weather over time and use. iron-oxide wash on an early-American primitive pine cabinet with Scale is also important. When I add the textured slabs to the close to 175 years of use, the early-American, blue milk-painted base slab of the vessel (3), I consciously consider the vertical and blanket chest worn bare around the edges, or my grandfather’s horizontal planes of the piece, then determine how the texture hammer, the handle smooth from years of use. These objects feel can make the viewer’s eye want to move around it (see figure 5). comfortable, both to hold and touch as well as to live with. This As I secure the side pieces to the base and the trim pieces to is the desire that I have for my pots. The information that can be finish the rim, it is important for me to make sure the seams and received from using handmade objects and living with them can the edges are not straight and true (4). I don’t want to overwork be rich and fruitful and at the same time quiet and contemplative. them and risk the possibility of losing the reference to a used object Working with slabs allows me to create surfaces that can be that contains a sense of history (6). The roughness that remains primed with textural information, and then move from flat surface will also catch the stains that are applied after the bisque firing. to form almost instantly. The soft leather-hard qualities of the clay While researching industrial and construction references, I allow for immediate construction of the piece without having to spent time in the hardware store looking for bits that could be used wait for things to stiffen. This sheet material is also closely related in my pots. Rather than adding more texture that might clutter the to the materials that I love to look at as inspiration. The corrugated surface, I found that standard steel carpet tacks could be pressed steel walls of a grain silo, for instance, are incredibly thin in relation into the surface and remain intact after the firing because I fire to to the structure, but the space that is created is voluminous and a temperature that is lower than the melting point of steel. I add beautiful. The textures that I use are derived from various found them to places where seams come together as they may even help mats and commercial surfaces, collected over the years as I cross to secure the construction (8–9). The other non-clay material that paths with them. I have even pulled over while driving in order to I add to the pot is nichrome wire. The wire adds to the shifting pick up an old dish mat that was lying in the middle of the road. scale of the pot while also adding to the reference of material like I have enjoyed creating surface texture for years and have used it corrugated steel, roofing material, or barn wood (10–11). Both on countless pots. of these materials also help to break the plane of the rectangles and the repeated textures. Forming Used Objects When building my vessels, I start with a dialog on the surface be- Developing a Weathered Surface tween the front and the back of the piece. The plastic mats, made I have always steered away from traditional glazes for my pots. I for a sink or for the floor a car are pressed into fresh rolled and cut- want the exteriors to allude to the layered surfaces that I reference, to-size slabs (1–2). The mats generally have a pattern on one side and a glassy shine has never really seemed right. Using terra sigillata

1 2 4

1–2 A plastic textured mat and a brayer are used to develop the surface of slabs. 3 Slightly stiffened slabs are joined to a base slab to form the vessel. 4 Seams are left rough with the slab edges exposed to reference a used object.

56 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org 5

6 7

5 The texture varies from horizontal to vertical orientations in order to add variety and move the viewer’s eye around the vessel. 6 Seams are secured and edges are left visible rather than blended together to retain the qualities of construction. 7 Extruded trim pieces are added to finish the rim.

has filled a number of my goals, and provides a new vocabulary Building the Surface with Terra Sigillatas of surface and color. Firstly, to apply it properly, I have to touch I apply the terra sigillata to bone dry pieces. This is a great way for each curve and crack of the piece, becoming fondly reacquainted me to semi-seal the clay without having to use a glaze. My terra with every detail of all my pots. This surface material and its ap- sigillata (3½ pounds of water mixed with 2 tablespoons of sodium plication are ancient, most known for their use on the surfaces of silicate and 14 pounds of OM4 Kentucky Ball Clay) is mixed with pottery from ancient Rome and Greece, and extremely simple to a ratio of approximately 1 cup of sigillata to 1 tablespoon of stain make, leading to a simpler studio practice. and sieved if necessary. I increase the amount of stain if I desire a The colors I use are Mason commercial ceramic stains, mixed more intense color. The sigillata should be the consistency of thin into a jar of terra sigillata to the desired intensity, applied at the milk. I apply it to the pot in broad strokes using a hake brush bone dry state with a soft brush, and burnished with a plastic bag (12) and burnish the freshly coated area with a plastic grocery bag stretched over my finger. The surface obtained is soft and waxy, stretched over my fingers just after the sheen has disappeared (13). much like the surface of an eggshell or semi-gloss latex paint…or I choose my colors based on contrasts and the ability of the better yet, milk paint. This surface quality remains after bisque, and combinations to add visual interest for the viewer (14). I like the because it is smooth and somewhat shiny, the copper oxide wash I way it references traditional milk-paint—milk mixed with pigment use to patina the surface, when applied after bisque, wipes off the and washed over wood—surfaces often used in early American surface easily. The copper then fumes during the firing and adds furniture and having a soft satin sheen. After the surface and the halos around the texture, lending a sense of uncertainty to every pot itself, which has absorbed water from the terra sigillata, have firing. Finally soda ash washes and selected sculpture/texture glazes dried, the piece is ready for the bisque firing (15). help to bring my surfaces closer to the constructed and weathered I want my pots to be used so I add a black liner glaze to the surfaces that I am referencing. interior. For a finishing on the exterior, I apply a copper oxide wash,

www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 57 8 9 10 11

12 13

14 15

8–9 Steel carpet tacks are added to both secure the seams and reference construction material. 10–11 Nichrome wire is used to reference hardware and to break the plane of the pot’s flat, level rim.12 Broad strokes of terra sigillata are applied using a hake brush. 13 Just as the surface sheen has disappeared, the surface is burnished with plastic stretched over a thumb or finger.14 Contrasting colors are added for visual interest. 15 The finished pot, ready to be bisque fired. After the bisque firing, a liner glaze is added to the interior and a copper oxide wash is applied and removed from the exterior.

brushed on to cover the entire exterior then brushed off, leaving the author Jeremy Randall earned his MFA in ceramics from the Uni- a residue of copper material within the textures and grooves. The versity of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. He currently lives in Tully, New remaining copper will fume and give an overall sense of history York, where he owns and operates his studio. He is a visiting instructor and wear. of studio art at Cazenovia College, and an adjunct professor of art at Upon completion, the sources of reference are embedded into Syracuse University. To learn more, visit www.jeremyrandallceramics.com. the piece, quietly reminding the user of things and places that they may have seen. This nostalgia is a trigger. It brings a person back To see Jeremy demonstrating these techniques and more, check out his Ceram- while at the same time allowing them to be present, in time and ic Arts Daily DVD, Slabs, Templates, Textures, & Terra Sigillata, available space, with the pot. at ceramicartsdaily.org/bookstore/slabs-templates-texture-terra-sigilatta.

58 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org WEEKEND, ONE-WEEK AND TWO-WEEK WORKSHOPS

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www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 59 techno file

faster firing by Dave Finkelnburg The firing cycle for most ceramics consumes hours—if not days—of time. It is the longest single process in almost every ceramic studio. However, many people believe that the firing time is fixed and cannot be changed. This is not true. Over the past several years, ceramic manufacturers have reduced their firing times to one sixth of what used to be normal, simply by changing their thinking about the kiln.

A student once asked me, “what’s the best way to fire our kiln?” temperatures most heat transfer is by radiation. Hot gas molecules give “That’s easy,” I said. “Fire for best results and least cost! “Okay, Okay,” off infrared rays that travel in straight lines in all directions and give up he grinned. “What way is that?” “Well,” I countered, “It probably won’t their heat to objects in their path. be as slow a firing as you think. Fast firing saves fuel. It’s that simple. In a kiln how do I tell how hot or cool it is inside? That’s easy. You Results? That’s complicated.” can see it! Besides a pyrometer, you can see the kiln temperature, I went on to explain that I occasionally fire to cone 10 in a small gas approximately, by the color of the kiln interior. If the kiln interior seen updraft kiln in just under four hours. The load is functional glazed bisque through a peephole is dark or black, little radiant heat is being given ware made from a high-quality porcelain and is fired on ½-inch thick off. Once the kiln reaches dull red heat, significant amounts of infrared mullite shelves. Firing time is from lighting the burners to shutting them off. rays are coming off the kiln interior. As the kiln temperature rises Why so fast? Because I like the results and I don’t like tending the kiln the interior will look more orange, then yellow, and finally approach any longer than I have to. Besides, I don’t like paying the gas bill for a white, each change indicating a hotter temperature.* firing that uses more fuel than it has to. I had to confess, the speed is also about three times as fast as I was Firing Cycle taught to fire, and about three times as fast as most sources suggest firing, How fast is “fast?” A reasonable starting point for most functional ware even if only to cone 5 or 6. To achieve a short firing cycle I had to learn is on the order of 300°F (167°C) per hour heating and cooling rate. Thick about the process and the testing of the kiln, the ware, and the glazes. or non-uniform ware may need to be fired more slowly. On the other end of the scale, industry routinely fires tile from room temperature to What You See and What You Don’t peak and back to room temperature in well under an hour! Heat is transferred by conduction and radiation. At low kiln temperatures This assumes, of course, that all parts of the ware are dry. It is very most heat transfer is by conduction. Hot gas molecules in the kiln touch reasonable to “candle,” or heat a kiln load at a very low rate for an hour the ware, shelves, posts, and kiln lining, heating them all. At high kiln or two to ensure it is dry. The energy used is minimal.

Kiln Heating Rates

2500 D E B 2000

1500 C

1000 Temperature, °F

500

0 0:00 2:24 4:48 7:12 9:36 12:00 14:24 16:48 19:12 21:36 0:00 2:24 Time

The chart above shows the time versus temperature plots for four firings. Line B and line C are (theoretical) conservative heating rates suitable for most ceramic work that is less than 1-inch thick, in an open stacked kiln, with a more rapid but still moderate cooling rates. Line D is a conservative firing 3 schedule for uniform ware ⁄8-inch thick or less, open stacked, with faster firing after organics and sulfur compounds are burned out. Note that just by speeding up the firing after cone 012 the firing is shortened by 2½ hours! Line E is a firing schedule only suited to thin ware or open clay bodies with an open stack with kiln furniture and kiln capable of taking the fast firing rate and consequent thermal shock. Note that the firing time is reduced by 9 hours. 1 Fuel consumption will be about half that of the firing in line D and ⁄3 that of line B.

60 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org Heating Rate Limit Insulating fire brick falls between these extremes. I’ve gotten 40 cycles firing at up to 600°F (333°C) per hour How fast is fast enough to fire? Anyone in the ceramic 2385°F 15:30 white heating rate. I do cool at roughly half that rate because I industry will say “fast enough” is as fast as absolutely cone 10 have lost some of my ware to dunting with faster cooling. possible without increasing the rate of ware losses or As with all things, test, test, test! unacceptably increasing the rate of wear on the kiln furniture and lining. 2235°F pale yellow Kiln Furniture What causes loss rates to increase as firing time is14:30 cone 6 Traditional cordierite-mullite kiln furniture is relatively shortened? Simply put, greater thermal stresses occur in the inexpensive, rugged, heavy, and suitable for fast firing. ware (and in the kiln furniture and kiln lining, by the way). Cordierite has very low thermal expansion so shelves, posts, The slower ware is heated, the more uniform thermal and setters of approximately 50% cordierite are able to resist expansion is between the outside of the ware and the 2010°F thermal shock quite well. center of the ware. However, when fast firing, the outside yellow 13:00 Cordierite-mullite kiln furniture with alumina added is may be growing at the rate of the kiln temperature but the cone 02 suitable at somewhat higher kiln temperatures. Check the center of the ware can be lagging well behind. The greater manufacturer’s heat rating carefully because kiln furniture the temperature difference, the more damage will occur. 1785°F compositions differ significantly. 11:30 orange Silicon carbide shelves and posts are much lighter and Ware cone 06 stronger but may be less resistant to the thermal shock Imagine a kiln loaded with a complex, non-uniform shape. that comes with fast firing. At least one US vendor strongly Perhaps a sculpture with sections ranging from one inch recommends not heating nitride-bonded silicon carbide 1 thick to ⁄8 inch thick. Such a shape will obviously be difficult faster than 275°F (153°C) per hour until 1000°F (556°C) is to fire without cracks. The firing speed will have to be slow 1485°F reached. Thinner silicon carbide shelves are apparently less cherry red enough to allow the thickest section to be heated uniformly. 9:30 cone 013 resistant to thermal shock. Next, imagine a kiln loaded only with small, simple, uniform shapes, say tiles of exactly the same size and 1260°F Kiln Loading thickness. These can probably be fired to temperature 8:00 full red heat A densely loaded kiln can hold a lot of ware, but this sort of quite rapidly and successfully. cone 019 loading requires a longer firing schedule. Both conduction Now imagine a third load which is a mix of the sculpture and radiation occur readily at the outsides of the kiln shelves, from the first load and tile from the second load. How fast where heat has access to the load. However, kiln gases can that load be fired? No faster than the sculpture can circulate poorly through a dense stacking and slow heating handle, of course. The most difficult piece to fire successfully 810°F first hint of or an extended soak or both are required to maintain a in the entire load will always determine the firing speed. 5:00 red visible uniform temperature throughout the kiln. in dim light Firing Greenware Can I Fire Too Fast? Whether glaze or bisque firing, if greenware is what you are If the difference between the temperature of the outside starting with, the heating cycle should be the same. Heat of a piece of ceramic ware in a kiln and the temperature at a moderate rate until free water and bound water are of the center of the piece is too great, it can crack. If this driven off, and carbon and sulfur compounds are burned happens during the heating cycle, it’s because the outside off. With relatively light ware, no thicker than ¼-inch, that is expanding faster than the inside of the ware. If the crack is pretty much done at full red heat. From that point on, a occurs during cooling, it’s called dunting, and the reverse is faster heating rate can be used. the case—the center is hot, the outside is cool. Dunting should never happen in an adequately insulated Firing Bisque Ware kiln. If it’s a problem, firing down—running burners, burning If the kiln load is composed of ware that already has fuel or turning on the heating elements enough to slow the free and bound water driven off, and carbon and sulfur rate of cooling is necessary. Usually, simply closing up the burned out of the body, the firing time can be shortened peep holes, and also vent and burner ports, if any, is sufficient dramatically. The remaining limit to firing speed is presented to hold heat in the kiln and allow it to cool slowly. The most by the ware’s shape, uniformity and thickness, and the common cause of dunting is not poor insulation but opening glazes being used. peeps or vent and burner ports or even a door to cool the Glazes formulated from frits and clay can usually be fired kiln faster, and cooling so fast that thermal shock dunts pots. faster with good results than glazes formulated entirely Whether a crack occurs during heating or cooling is pretty from raw materials. This kiln heat color chart easy to tell by looking closely at the fracture. If the crack corresponds has a sharp edge, it occurred in cooling. If it cracked during The Kiln to the heating, the edge will be somewhat to very much rounded. temperatures When it comes to firing faster, not all kilns are created of line B on equal. Kilns insulated with refractory fiber, either board or page 60, and *Protect your eyes! Always use protective glasses or goggles with lenses shows the blanket, at the “hot” face (interior of the kiln) can be fired of #5 welding glass or higher when looking into a kiln. This will color of the protect your eyes from hot kiln gases which may escape from the peep, at very high heating rates without hurting the kiln. Hard kiln interior and from red heat on, to protect your eyes from long wavelength brick kilns, however, must be heated slowly or the brick will at different radiation. These rays will penetrate all the way to the back of the temperatures. spall and crack with any but very moderate heating rates. 0:00 inside of the eyeball and cause permanent damage.

www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 61 One Week for Inspiration Throughout the Year!

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www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 63 tips and tools repurposing tools Potters can sometimes get in rut and think of their tools only one dimensionally. Here’s a new look at some common, yet often forgotten tools.

Handy Measuring Tool by Marty Jones Before I discovered that my hand was the best tool I owned, I used rulers, calipers, and whatever tool I had within reach that was the appropriate length for what I needed at the moment. When I was making a series of vessels, I got tired of looking for, picking up, (then setting down in the wrong place), the implement I needed to make sure my proportions were always the same with each subsequent vessel. I realized that, stuck to the end of my wrist, was a ready made measuring device. By using knuckle joints, wrinkles, creases or folds, or a combination of these, I could place my hand at the appropriate spot and instantly know if my dimensions were on or off. For example, if I am making coffee cups and I know that 1 2 I want the mouth to be 3 inches across, the distance from 1 Using the distance of my finger to determine the diameter of the opening of a cup. the top of my ring finger (and no other finger) to the fold 2 A photocopy of my hand, measured and labeled with the dimensions of each part of the wine glass. A separate photocopy can be made for each form. of skin at the second knuckle is the same length (1). I just hold this across the mouth of the cup. It didn’t take long for me to realize that once I decided the necessary This is especially helpful when making more complex forms dimensions for a particular piece, I would forget what those dimensions were such as a wine glass with a stem where I need to measure by the next time I needed to make more of the same vessel. So I made several the foot, the height and diameter of the glass and stem, and photocopies of my hand and made notes as to the necessary dimensions of the mouth. That’s five different measurements needed. This each different pot (2). I tacked this note up by my wheel and I simply look tool is always there. There is nothing to pick up or put down. up when I need the dimensions for any given piece.

Kiln Element Stilts by Don Kopyscinski 3 Used kiln element coils saved after from the trash and are cut into strips to The next time you change elements in your electric be used as stilts under plates and bowls. kiln, save some of the old ones to use as stilts. 4 Lay each set of coils above the ones I cut the used coils into straight sections about below (similar to how you stack kiln posts and kiln shelves when you load for 4½ inches long (3). You may choose a different stability and strength). Many plates or length, depending on the pots you intend to stack. platters may be stacked in this manner. These small coils make great plate stackers for bisque firing while helping you save space in the kiln. When placed above the coils in the previous layer, the weight is transferred to the kiln shelf. In 3 addition, the coils provide space for air to circulate around the plates. I have fired stacks of plates up to ten high with no incident (4). These coils can also be used for nesting bowls or sets that may not be completely dry. They provide a bit of spacing to improve air circulation, which will facilitate the escape of moisture in the early stages of the bisque firing. The coils may be used over and over in subsequent bisque firings. 4

Send your tip and tool ideas, along with plenty of images, to [email protected]. If we use your idea, you’ll receive a complimentary one-year subscription to CM!

64 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 65 recipes

low-fire slip & glaze by Martina Lantin Martina Lantin, whose work is featured in an article on page 36, shares her low-fire slip and a great glaze recipe for making both transparent and opaque glazes.

After making a form, I add the surface decoration, starting with incising patterns into the clay before or after the white slip is applied. I also introduce lines into the compositions through a combination of wet applications such as toner resist transfer, slip trailing, and mono printing. I fire a slow bisque to cone 05 and a fast glaze (both set kiln programs) to a hot cone 03.

WHiTE SLIP FOR EARTHENWARE WOODY HUGHES BASE GLAZE Cone 06 to 02 Cone 04 Nepheline Syenite ...... 15% Gerstley Borate ...... 26.0 % Talc ...... 15 Lithium Carbonate...... 4.0 Ferro Frit 3124 ...... 10 Nepheline Syenite ...... 20.0 Ball Clay ...... 40 Ferro Frit 3124 ...... 30.0 EPK Kaolin...... 20 EPK Kaolin...... 10.0 100 % Silica ...... 10.0 100.0 % Colorant additions vary, altering in intensity depending on the desired color, and Add: are often mixed by eye rather than by per- Dark Green: Copper Carbonate . . 4.0% centage. Add powdered stains or coloring Pink: Red Stain...... 1.5% oxides into the wet slip mixture. Opaque: Titanium Dioxide. . . . 7.5%

1 Yellow-handled mug, 4 in. (10 cm) in height, wheel-thrown and altered earthenware, slip, glaze, 2011. 2 Installation of Plates (detail), 3 ft. 6 in. (1.1 m) in height overall, earthenware, slips, glazes, 2013. Photo: Kathryn Gremley.

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www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 67 recipes

cone 6 glazes by Paul Donnelly Paul Donnelly, whose work is discussed on page 46, shares his cone 6 oxidation glaze recipes.

White (altered from Val Cushing’s 72 base) Cone 6 Dolomite...... 3.96 % Gerstley Borate ...... 11.88 Whiting...... 13.86 Nepheline Syenite ...... 23.76 EPK Kaolin...... 6.93 Silica ...... 39.61 100.00 % Add: Tin Oxide...... 3.96 % Zinc Oxide...... 1.98 %

Bates Clear 1 Cone 6 Barium Carbonate...... 8.0 % Gerstley Borate ...... 18.0 Whiting...... 8.0 Minspar 200 Feldspar . . . . . 35.0 EPK Kaolin...... 10.0 Silica ...... 21.0 100.0 % Add: Yellow: Mason stain #6404 Vanadium 3.0 % Green: Mason stain #6271 Mint. . 1.5 % Blue: Mason stain #6363 Sky Blue. . 1.0 % All work is fired in oxidation to cone 5½–6, generally around 2210°F. I always use a cone to determine when the glaze has 2 matured. The Bates clear base can be very runny when fired in an electric kiln on a preset mode, which is typically 30°F hotter.

Clay body: Laguna WC-617 #16 Grolleg porcelain Cone 6

Tom Spleth Porcelain Casting Slip Cone 6 Custer Feldspar ...... 18.00 % OM4 Ball Clay ...... 8.00 Pyrotrol ...... 12.00 Grolleg Kaolin ...... 30.00 Opticast Kaolin...... 12.00 Silica ...... 20.00 3 100.00 % 1 Cup and saucer, wheel-thrown and handbuilt porcelain, White glaze, Bates Add: Water ...... 37.00% Yellow glaze, oxidation fired, 2010.2 Cup and saucer, wheel-thrown and handbuilt Darvan 7...... 0.35% porcelain, White glaze, Bates Green glaze, oxidation fired.3 Platter, wheel-thrown oxidation-fired porcelain, White glaze, Bates Blue glaze, 2010.

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www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 71 presents Handbuilding and Surface Techniques with Jeremy Randall

In this installment of the Ceramic Arts Daily Presents Video Series, Jeremy Ran- Slabs, Templates, Texture & Terra Sigillata NEW dall presents the handbuilding and decorating processes he employs to create his vibrant, architecturally inspired vessels. Beginning with his slab building ceramic artsdaily technique, Jeremy demonstrates how he uses texture and asymmetry to refer- LOW ence aging industrial and agricultural structures. He explains his tar paper presents template system—including a bonus feature on using tar paper templates to sketch in three dimensions—which allows for a bit of control in form, but also PRICE leaves room for alteration. Jeremy also covers the addition of nonclay materials 2-Disc Set! such as steel tacks and nichrome wire to not only strengthen the work structur- ally, but as a reference to his aesthetic influences. Finally, Jeremy walks step by Slabs, Templates, step through making, using, and troubleshooting terra sigillata, as well as his glazing and finishing techniques. Texture, & Terra Sigillata – Jennifer Poellot Harnetty, Managing Editor, ceramicartsdaily.org Handbuilding and Surface Techniques Shaper with Jeremy Randall

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Jeremy Randall lives in Tully, New York, where he co-owns and operates a studio with his wife Sarah Panzarella. In addition to being a studio potter, Jeremy is Visiting Professor of Art at Cazenovia College, and an Adjunct Professor of Ceramics at

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76 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org call for entries deadlines for exhibitions, fairs, and festivals

international theme of music. Juried from digital. Fee: Juried Show” (May 2–June 6) open to Adler. Contact Susan Stark-Johnson, LUX $30 for 3 entries, $10 for each additional contemporary ceramic work. Juried Center for the Arts, 2601 N. 48th St., exhibitions entry. Contact Monica Leap, Studio 550 from digital. Fee: $35 for 3 entries. Lincoln, NE 68504 ; [email protected]; February 3 entry deadline Community Art Center, 550 Elm St., Man- Juror: Garth Clark. Contact Katherine www.luxcenter.org; 402-466-8692. California, Pomona “Big Fish Small chester, NH 03101; [email protected]; Spencer Carey, Creative Arts Workshop, July 15 entry deadline Pot VI” (April 12–June 3) open to teapots www.550arts.com/programs/artist-residency; 80 Audubon St., New Haven, CT 06510; Virginia, Lynchburg “The National composed primarily of clay. Juried from 603-232-5597. [email protected]; www. Juried Bowl Exhibition” (October 3–27) digital. Fee: $50 for 3 entries. Juror: February 2 entry deadline creativeartsworkshop.org/html/classes. open to all interpretations of the bowl. Guangzhen Zhou. Contact Dr. Tony Florida, Jacksonville “The UNF Na- html; 203-562-4927. Juried from slide or digital. Fee: $30 for Huntley, American Museum of Ceramic tional Juried Ceramics Exhibition” (March March 14 entry deadline three entries. Contact David Emmert, Art, 399 North Garey Ave., Pomona, CA 4–April 18) open to original work primar- New York, Syracuse “Syracuse Arts ACHS ART, 139 Lancer Ln., Amherst, VA 91766; [email protected]; 949- ily made of clay completed within the and Crafts Festival” (July 25–27) open 24521; [email protected]; 582-4401; www.bigfishsmallpot.com. last three years. Juried from digital. Fee: to work of all media. Juried from digital. www.thebattleofthebowls.com; 434- February 10 entry deadline $30 for up to three entries. Juror: Bede Fee: $25. Contact Bethany Holbrook, 946-2898. California, Roseville “America’s Clarke. Contact Trevor Dunn, University Downtown Committee of Syracuse, ClayFest” (April 18–May 31) open to of North Florida, 1 UNF Dr., Jacksonville, 572 S. Salina St., Syracuse, NY 13202; regional exhibitions clay work. Juried from digital. Fee: $40 FL 32224; [email protected]; [email protected]; February 11 entry deadline for up to three entries. Jurors: Ray Gon- www.unfceramics.com; 904-620-3960. www.syracuseartsandcraftsfestival.com; California, Pacifica “Left Coast An- zalez and Candice Groot. Contact Mike February 7 entry deadline 315-470-1962. nual Juried Exhibition 2014” (April 11– Daley, Art League of Lincoln, 580 6th St., Virginia, Lynchburg “Academy of April 1 entry deadline May 18) open to all fine art visual media. Lincoln, CA 95648; [email protected]; Fine Arts National Juried Art Exhibition” New Hampshire, Manchester “SHIFT: Juried from digital. Fee: $15 per entry. www.all4art.net; 916-209-3499. (April 4–26) open to original painting, The Art of the Bicycle” (May 4–June 15) Juror: Jenny Gheith. Contact Sanchez Art March 10 entry deadline sculpture, drawing, printmaking, fiber, open to work addressing the theme of Center, 1220-B Linda Mar., Pacifica, CA Indiana, Terre Haute “Contem- glass, ceramics, wood, metal, and mixed bicycles. Juried from digital. Fee: $30 for 3 94044; [email protected]; 650- porary Ceramics International Bian- media work completed in the last three entries, $10 for each additional entry. Con- 355-1894; www.sanchezartcenter.org. nual—Clay and Context” (April 3–26) years. Juried from digital. Fee: $30 for tact Monica Leap, Studio 550 Community open to functional, non-functional, three entries. Juror: Elise Schweitzer. Art Center, 550 Elm St., Manchester, NH fairs and festivals and sculptural clay work. Juried from Contact Ted Batt, Academy of Fine Arts, 03101; [email protected]; www.550arts. February 24 entry deadline digital. Fee: $30 for three entries. Juror: 600 Main Street, Lynchburg, VA 24504; com/programs/artist-residency; 603- Pennsylvania, Lancaster “Long’s Park Ray Chen. Contact Ray Chen, Swope [email protected]; 434-528- 232-5597. Art and Craft Festival” (August 29–31) Art Museum/Halcyon Art Gallery , 25 3256; www.academyfinearts.com. April 18 entry deadline open to fine arts and crafts. Juried from digital. Fee: $35. Contact Sue Savage, South 7th St., Terre Haute, IN 47807; February 16 entry deadline Colorado, Carbondale “Aisthesis: [email protected]; 207-807- Long’s Park Art and Craft Festival, Illinois, Chicago “25th Anniversary Carbondale Clay National IX” (June 8799; www.halcyonartgallery.com. 630 Janet Ave., Ste. A-111, Lancaster, Teapot Show Exhibition” (April 6–May 6–June 27) open to clay work. Juried PA 17601-4541; [email protected]; March 17 entry deadline 18) open to teapots of all media. Juried from digital. Fee: $20 for one or $25 www.longspark.org; 717-735-8883. Ohio, Athens “Art We Use” (June from digital. Fee: $30 for 2 entries. Juror: for up to three entries. Jurors: Sanam 20–September 7) open to work of all Joan Houlehen & Mary Bock. Contact Emami and Del Harrow. Contact Jill March 1 entry deadline media. Juried from digital. Fee: $40 Joan Houlehen, A. Houberbocken, Oberman, Carbondale Clay Center, Pennsylvania, Oaks “Sugarloaf for three entries. Jurors: Craig Nutt, Inc., PO Box 196, Cudahy, WI 53110; 135 Main St., Carbondale, CO 81623; Crafts Festival” (March 14–16). Juried Jennifer Poellot Harnetty, and Paul W. [email protected]; 414-481-6265. [email protected]; 970-963-2529; from digital or slides. Fee: $20 per www.carbondaleclay.org. season. Contact Lorrie Staley, Sugarloaf Richelson. Contact Courtney Kessel, The February 23 entry deadline Dairy Barn Arts Center, Box 747, Athens, April 22 entry deadline Mountain Works, 19807 Executive Tennessee, Clarksville “Figuratively OH 45701; [email protected]; Park Cir., Germantown, MD 20874; Speaking National Juried Exhibition” Illinois, Oak Park “Coffee, Tea or.?” www.dairybarn.org; 740-592-4981. [email protected]; 800-210-9900; (May 8–July 13) open to human figural (May 17–June 18) open to ceramic drink- ing vessels. Juried from digital. Fee: $30 for www.sugarloafcrafts.com/becomeex.html. April 30 entry deadline work. Juried from digital. Fee: $35 for up to 3 entries. Juror: David Toan. Contact March 1 entry deadline New Mexico, Silver City “A Tile up to two entries. Juror: Ruth Crnkov- David Toan, Terra Incognito Studios and and A Vessel” (July 31–August 4) open ich. Contact Terri Jordan, 200 South New Jersey, Somerset “Sugarloaf Gallery, 246 Chicago Ave., Oak Park, IL to ceramic vessel and tile submissions Second St., Clarksville, TN 37040; Crafts Festival” (March 21–23). Juried 60302; [email protected]; by artists residing in the US, Canada, [email protected]; from digital or slides. Fee: $20 per www.terraincognitostudios.com; 708- and Mexico. Juried from digital. Fee: www.customshousemuseum.org; 931- season. Contact Lorrie Staley, Sugarloaf 383-6228. $30 for 1 entry; $35 for 2 entries; $40 648-5780. Mountain Works, 19807 Executive for 3 entries. Juror: Nawal Motawi. May 9 entry deadline Park Cir., Germantown, MD 20874; February 23 entry deadline Missouri, Kansas City “KC Clay Guild [email protected]; 800-210-9900; Contact Jessie Thetford, Silver City Ohio, Kent “14th Annual National Clay Festival, PO Box 2383, Silver City, Teabowl National 2014” (August 29– www.sugarloafcrafts.com/becomeex.html. Juried Cup Show” (March 13–April 5) September 19) open to non-traditional March 1 entry deadline NM 88061; [email protected]; Juried from digital. Fee: $20 for up to www.clayfestival.com; 575-538-5560. and traditional teabowls made of clay Maryland, Gaithersburg “Sugarloaf two entries. Juror: Jake Allee. Contact An- not exceeding 9 inches in any direction Crafts Festival” (April 11–13). Juried June 30 entry deadline derson Turner, Downtown Gallery, Kent and made within the last two years. from digital or slides. Fee: $20 per Belgium, Andenne “BCA 2015” State University School of Art, 141 E. Main Juried from digital. Fee: $30. Jurors: season. Contact Lorrie Staley, Sugarloaf (May 24, 2015–June 7, 2015). Contact St., Kent, OH 44240; [email protected]; Delores Fortuna and Bill Farrell. Contact Mountain Works, 19807 Executive Omar Bouchahrouf, Cultural Center http://galleries.kent.edu; 330-676-1549. Susan Speck, KC Clay Guild, 200 W Park Cir., Germantown, MD 20874; of Andenne, Rue Malevé 5, Andenne, March 1 entry deadline 74th St, Kansas City, MO 64114; 913- [email protected]; 800-210-9900; Namur 5300 Belgium; 003285843640; Illinois, Chicago “Art and the Urban 384-1718; [email protected]; www.sugarloafcrafts.com/becomeex.html. [email protected]; Garden” (April 25–June 1) open to all me- www.kcclayguild.org. March 1 entry deadline www.biennaledelaceramique.be. dia. Juried from digital. Fee: $15. Contact May 31 entry deadline Maryland, Gaithersburg “Sugar- united states Jess Mott Wickstrom, Lillstreet Art Center, Nebraska, Lincoln “MUG Shots: Na- loaf Crafts Festival” (April 4–6). Juried 4401 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, IL tional Juried Cup Exhibition” (April 4–May from digital or slides. Fee: $20 per exhibitions 60640 ; [email protected]; 773-769- 31) open to original clay functional and season. Contact Lorrie Staley, Sugarloaf February 1 entry deadline 4226; www.lillstreetgallery.com. non-functional interpretations of the cup Mountain Works, 19807 Executive New Hampshire, Manchester “Per- March 7 entry deadline completed in the last two years. Juried Park Cir., Germantown, MD 20874; fect Pitch: Music Inspired by Art” (March Connecticut, New Haven “Con- from digital. Fee: $30 for first entry; [email protected]; 800-210-9900; 10–April 30) open to work addressing the temporary Ceramics: 2014 National $15 each additional entry. Juror: Ted www.sugarloafcrafts.com/becomeex.html.

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78 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org index to advertisers

92nd St. Y...... 70 Clayworld...... 63 L & L Kiln...... 69 Potters Council...... 74 Continental Clay...... 71 Larkin...... 73 Aardvark...... 73 Santa Fe Clay...... 76 Coyote Clay...... 63 LHUCA...... 70 ACerS Books...... 72, 76 Sheffield...... 75 Cress...... 79 Adamah...... 71 MassArt...... 62 Shimpo...... 17

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Bracker’s...... 73 Haystack...... 74 Olympic Kilns...... 67 van Gilder...... 76 Buckeye Ceramic...... 62 Herring/SlabMat...... 76 Original Hi Roller...... 71 Ward...... 63 Highwater Clays...... 72 Ox-Bow...... 63 Carolina Clay...... 76 Watershed...... 75 Chinese Clay Art...... 72 Idyllwild Arts...... 70 Paper Clay...... 76 Xiem...... 59 Classifieds...... 78 PCF...... 76 Clay Art Ctr/Scott Creek...... 65 K-12 Natl Ceramic Fdn...... 70 Peter Pugger...... 9 Zanesville Prize...... 2

www.ceramicsmonthly.org february 2014 79 spotlight intersections

Ceramics Monthly: In your experience, how do studio ceramics and design overlap or inform one another? Heather Mae Erickson: As a ceramic designer, my focus is on craftsmanship, design, concept, and aesthetics. My background in crafts at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania provided me with technical skills and an understanding of materials. Through study in a highly conceptual program at Cranbrook Academy in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, I also found an interest in different approaches to materials, which is inspired by design processes and aesthetics. Some designers choose not to participate in the final fabrication process of their designs. They create working models, but are not always aware of the limitations of the actual materials. Because of my background in both fields, I develop projects through my knowledge of materials, and employ strategies of design, art, craft, and architecture to inform my work. I view high-touch making and thinking through the making process as the key to my work. The materials and processes drive me to further explore the potentials and limits. While doing Fulbright research at Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland, I was introduced to other avenues in ceramic education and varying approaches to clay, plaster, design, craft, and art. Aalto no longer stresses teaching the potters’ wheel, though they exist in the studio for students’ use. Training at Aalto’s design program has evolved to highly skilled work on the plaster wheel and other plaster/mold making techniques. These tools lost popularity at most American educational institutions approximately twenty years ago. I have been striving to revive the plaster wheel, jiggers and jollies, ram presses, and pressure casters. Why negate such amazing tools? Both old and new methods are important to my work and that of many of my peers. Students are excited to learn these techniques, which they never knew existed Many ceramic programs still do not embrace new technologies such as digital fabrication. I enjoy pushing the boundaries of design and craft and being at the forefront of breaking down the fence between the two.

Photo: Blanca Guerra 80 february 2014 www.ceramicsmonthly.org Spectrum Glazes Continuing to lead the way.

Cone 5 Semi-Transparents and Celadons

1461 1462 1463 1464 1465 1466 Onyx Rainy Cerulean Moroccan Light Celadon Day Blue Celadon The newest additions to our glaze lineup are twelve mid-range Semi- Transparent glazes. These are the perfect complement to detailed ware and offer a wide-range of color offerings with a focus on the many faces of Celadons in an electric oxidation environment.

1467 1468 1469 1470 1471 1472 Spring Bottle Mimosa Cranberry Orchid Watermelon Green Green

SPECTRUM GLAZES INC. ● CONCORD, ONT. PH: (800) 970-1970 ● FAX: (905) 695-8354 ● www.spectrumglazes.com ● [email protected] Share your story... FireBox 8x6LT • 8”x 8” x 6” Chamber • Ramp/Hold • Shelf Kit Included • Preset Programs • 2 Year Warranty Ceramics • Easy Storage Glass Metal Clay ...win this kiln

We are completely overhauling our website and we want to feature YOU! After all, who knows more about how Potters use our kilns than Potters.

All entries will win something, and one lucky Potter will bring home the FireBox 8x6 LT. Go to the link below or scan the QR code for details on how to enter.

http://skutt.com/potter/fun-stuff/contest

For more information on Skutt Kilns or to find a distributor, visit us at www.skutt.com or call us directly at 503.774.6000