September 1999 1 2 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999

Volume 47

Number 7

Professor Dorothy Bearnson “Multiples,” 15 inches in with a student at the height, by Barbara Diduk; University of Utah. at Nancy Margolis Gallery 60 in New York City. FEATURES 50 40 A Conversation with Elmer Taylor by Rafael Molina-Rodriguez Being a craftsman is about tradition, material and skill 46 A Female Form The Sculpture Techniques of Margaret Keelan by Benny Shaboy 49 Madhvi Subrahmanian Handbuilt forms at Cymroza Art Gallery in Mumbai, India 50 Barbara Diduk and Prue Venables Two-person exhibition of minimalist vessel forms 52 The Calyx Dome by Laurie Spencer Coil building and firing an 18-foot sculpture on site Smoked earthenware vessels by Madhvi Subrahmanian, 56 Ralph Bacerra Mumbai, India. Decorative pots with optically complex surfaces 49 58 Mexico’s Josefina Aguilarby Nancy Jonnum Handmade figures reflecting village life 60 Dorothy Bearnson University of Utah Ceramics Pioneer by David Cox Wood firing “The Calyx Dome” in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 65 Gary Erickson by Andrea Myklebust 52 Colorful abstract sculpture 69 Pottery from the Opal Minesby Graeme Anderson Making a living from clay Down Under 73 Glaze Crawling Causes and Corrections by JeffZamek “Dualidad,” 13 inches in height, earthenware, 75 V. Chin by Gary Erickson, The cover:“Large Untitled Wheel-thrown and carved vessels Minneapolis. Vessel,” 32 inches in height, whiteware, by Ralph Bacerra. 76 Ceramics Monthly Collection Grows 65 Photo: Noel Allum International artists donate their work

September 1999 3 UP FRONT 12 National Competition in Arizona A juried exhibition of functional and sculptural ceramics at Galeria Mesa in Mesa, Arizona

12 Minnesota Annual Editor Ruth C. Butler Local ceramists’ work on view at the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis Associate EditorKim Nagorski 14 Kansas City Art Institute Ties Assistant EditorConnie Belcher Instructors and alumni show at Baltimore Clayworks Assistant EditorH. Anderson Turner III 14 Sculpture at Columbus College of Art and Design Editorial AssistantRenee Fairchild Large-scale sculpture installation and student show Design Paula John Advertising Manager 16 Porcelain Competition in New York Steve Hecker Customer Service Mary R. Hopkins Juried exhibition of functional forms at Esmay Fine Art in Rochester Circulation AdministratorMary E. May 16 Vladimir Tsivin PublisherMark Mecklenborg Ceramic sculpture at Galerie Besson in London Editorial, Advertising and Circulation Offices 18 Erik Bright 735 Ceramic Place Sgraffito-decorated stoneware vessels at the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston Post Office Box 6102 18 National Crafts Competition in Pennsylvania Westerville, Ohio 43086-6102 Juried exhibition at the Lancaster Museum of Art Telephone: (614) 523-1660 Fax: (614) 891-8960 18 Three Women in Clay by Marianne Weinberg-Benson E-mail: [email protected] Sculpture at Trinity Gallery in Atlanta [email protected] 20 Patty Wouters [email protected] Vessels at St. Joseph Galerie in Leeuwarden, Netherlands [email protected] Website: www.ceramicsmonthly.org 22 National Ceramics Competition in California Juried exhibition at Hyde Gallery at Grossmont College in El Cajon Ceramics Monthly (ISSN 0009-0328) is published monthly, except July and August, by The American Ceramic Society, 735 22 Ceramics Invitational in West Virginia by Kevin Oderman Ceramic Place, Westerville, Ohio 43081. Periodicals postage Chinese and American artists at Laura Mesaros Gallery, Morgantown paid at Westerville, Ohio, and additional mailing offices. Opinions expressed arethose of the contributors and do not 24 Christina Bothwell necessarily represent those of the editors or The American Pit-fired sculpture at Susan Cummins Gallery in Mill Valley, California Ceramic Society. 24 Mary Donahue Subscription Rates: One year $26, two years $49, three years Handbuilt vessels at the Window on Gaines Street in Tallahassee, Florida $70. Add $ 12 per year for subscriptions outside North America. In Canada, add GST (registration number R123994618). 24 Warren MacKenzie Receives $40,000 Award Change of Address: Please give us four weeks advance notice. Minnesota potter/educator recognized for contribution to the arts Send the magazine address label as well as your new address to: Ceramics Monthly, Circulation Department, PO Box 6102, 26 Contemporary Ceramics in Holland Westerville, OH 43086-6102. Works by 20 artists at the Keramiekmuseum het Princessehof in Leeuwarden Contributors: Writing and photographic guidelines are avail­ 26 Protecting Artists from Imported Knock-OfTs able on request. Send manuscripts and visual support (photo­ Made in the USA Foundation gathering information to take legal action graphs, slides, transparencies, drawings, etc.) toCeramics Monthly, 735 Ceramic PL, PO Box 6102, Westerville, OH 43086-6102. 26 Justin Novak We also accept unillustrated texts faxed to (614) 891-8960, or Figure sculpture at the Clay Art Center in Port Chester, New York e-mailed to [email protected] Indexing: An index of each years feature articles appears in 28 Blair Meerfeld the December issue. Visit theCeramics Monthly website at Salt-glazed pottery at Margos Pottery and Fine Crafts in Buffalo, Wyoming www.ceramicsmonthly.org to search an index of all feature 28 Karon Doherty, 1941-1999 articles since 1953. Feature articles are also indexed in theArt Index and daai (design and applied arts index), available through public and university libraries. Copies: For a small fee, searchable databases and document delivery are available through The American Ceramic Society’s DEPARTMENTS Ceramic Information Center, PO Box 6136, Westerville, OH 43086; e-mail [email protected] or telephone (614) 794-5810. Also 8 Letters through Information Access Company, 362 Lakeside Dr., 30 New Books Foster City, CA 94404; or University Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106. 78 Call For Entries Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal 78 International Exhibitions use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted 78 United States Exhibitions by The American Ceramic Society, provided the base fee of 82 Fairs, Festivals and Sales $5.00 per copy, plus $0.50 per page, is paid directly to the 84 Suggestions Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 86 Calendar 01923. Prior to copying items for classroom use, please contact 86 Conferences the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, 86 Solo Exhibitions MA 01923; (978) 750-8400. 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4 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999 5

should be allowed to respond. I trust that if I Letters am not allowed to speak in Leach’s defense, CM will allow someone else to do so. I feel sure that Britt’s article must have elicited Noble Poverty? some reaction. In response to John Britt’s commentary There are two principal thrusts to Britt’s (May 1999) on the fallacy of Leach’s philoso­polemic in the May issue: Firstly, that Leach’s phy: John forgot one point. Who says pov­ philosophy is outmoded, and secondly, that erty is noble? Far too many artists and Leach was a charlatan whose appreciation of would-be artists have yet to examine the Oriental ceramics was skimpy and ill- assumed link between art (the creation of thefounded. beautiful, utilitarian or not) and material We must remember that Leach’s A properly. And what’s virtuous about being Potters Book was written in the early half of poor? The problem with this link between this century. If it became such a seminal artistry and poverty is that anyone who work, it was because this was the first practi­ succeeds financially (or cares about financial cal and philosophical treatise on our craft success), those who are true to themselves ever written. Prior to 1920, there were, as far and reject market forces as a consideration inas I know, no studio potters in Britain, in the creation of their art, must struggle. They Europe or in North America, and for most cannot be appreciated. They must like coarse,people “clay” meant either pretty, slip-cast harsh lives, without regard for monetary Wedgwood or Doulton teasets, or house reward, in order that their art be truly pure, bricks and industrial sewer pipes. virtuous, noble and not accorded any value As Michael Cardew wrote in his auto­ until long after they are dead. The problem biography, “It is clear to me that the landing with humility in charging fair prices for your of Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada on the work is that when you think you’re not island of Britain in 1920 was, for craftsman worth it, you drag down the value for those potters, the most significant event of the who do think their skills, labor and creativity 20th century.” are worth recompense. 1 do not think that we can begin to evalu­ Now, because I never researched Leach, ate Leach’s legacy without bearing in mind its you’ll have to tell me—did he die poor? Did historical context. he live poor? It seems to me that anyone as The section of A Potters Book that appears famous as he would have lived rather com­ to provoke Britt’s hostility is the opening fortably. And I’d like to suggest that, to me, chapter. Here, Leach explores topics that virtue is found in acknowledging the talent have forever been a source of discussion and skills you do have; using them, sharing among potters: the definition of beauty and them and accepting their value as if it is the respective value of functional and non­ expressed in what others exchange for your functional pots. These are issues that con­ work—in most cases, money. Money isn’t a tinue regularly to provoke lively exchanges of bad thing. It’s how people thank us for the letters from subscribers to CM. joy they receive from possessing a piece of us, I do not believe that Leach was pontifi­ in a bit of earth, shaped by our hands. cating from on high, but was attempting to Thank you, John Britt, for an outstanding provide signposts in an artistic wasteland. It is critical commentary. surely significant that his opening chapter Michele Drivon, Roslyn, Pa. was entitled “Towards a Standard.” In an age of poorly designed, mass-produced pottery, Provoked he sided unashamedly with the ideals of The Comment section seems to provoke William Morris and extolled the virtue of comment from readers, which is as it should functional, well-crafted, affordable pots for be, and I must admit to being seriously everyday use. provoked by the recent article by John Britt Britt may not subscribe to this philoso­ entitled “Leach’s Circular Logic.” It is phy, but many thousands of potters still do, difficult to respond to a lengthy article withinand I fail to see why “as creatures of this the limits of the Letters section. Obviously, digital age” we can only “enter the new other correspondents have a right to the spacecentury with vigor” by rejecting Leach’s available. But I feel strongly that someone “rotting.. .outdated vision.... ” I am not entirely sure what Britt means In keeping with our commitment to provide by the “digital age.” Chronology does not an open forum for the exchange of ideas seem to be his strong point. No, Mr. Britt, and opinions, the editors welcome letters the medieval period is not the same as the from all readers. All letters must be signed, Dark Ages. You are off by around 500 years. but names will be withheld on request. Mail But this is a minor quibble. to Ceramics Monthly, PO Box 6102, We then come to the second prong of the Westerville, OH 43086-6102, e-mail to attack—Leach’s right and ability to carry the [email protected] or fax to torch and the teachings of his Japanese men­ (614) 891-8960. tor Kenzan. I do not know if Leach gloried in

8 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999 9 Letters Over the years, an illustrious procession her own and, in turn, pass it on to others. Is of potters was drawn to St. Ives: Hamada, it conceivable that a charlatan could have Cardew, Katharine Pleydell-Bouverie, Norah exerted such an influence for so long on such or boasted of the title “Kenzan VII” but I Braden, William Marshall and, as late as a distinguished group of artists? I think not. suspect that in 1920 precious few people in 1959, Richard Batterham. And from North Leach’s thoughts on our craft were writ­ Britain would have been even mildly im­ America came Warren MacKenzie. There ten nearly a century ago and his style may pressed. Like many of his generation, Leach were countless others—some less well-knownseem a trifle dated, but I fear that Britt, in his was a gifted amateur, but it is evident that he and all seem to have expressed an affectionateeagerness to have us cast off “patriarchal” had well absorbed Japanese techniques and indebtedness to their teacher. standards, comes perilously close to throwing traditions. Nor was he content simply to Leach’s son David and grandson John out the baby with the proverbial bathwater. recreate a Japanese-style pottery at St. Ives. Asbecame respected studio potters. When I Nowhere in his article does he offer any we know, he very early on made a fusion of visited John Leach last fall, I met his latest alternative to Leach’s vision, other than to two very distinct traditions: Oriental stone­ apprentice who, when she returns home to urge us vaguely to “take a hard look at the ware and the lead-glazed slip ware of 18th- North Carolina, will doubtless take what she present” and “see the veracity of crafts as it century English village potters. finds of value in the Leach tradition, make it exists today.” I am not sure what, if anything, this means; perhaps he would elaborate. I do feel that if ever there were a time when standards and values were needed, it is precisely now, in this period of societal and artistic free-for-all. No one would suggest that Leach has all the answers, but every page of A Potter’s Book reveals a reverence for clay and for our craft. Britt grudgingly admits that Leach’s book “has inspired potters for de­ cades.” I suggest that it will continue to inspire potters of all sorts long after John Britt has departed the ceramics scene. Alex Robertson, Lakefield, Ont., Canada

Amused I read this persuasive article, persuasive in that all good North Americans are by nature iconoclasts, with some amusement. One thing is clear: without Bernard Leach’s pio­ neer efforts, John Britt would today be either a journalist or a teacher of deconstructionism at some university. Glyn Nicholas, Peterborough, Ont., Canada

Neither Credit nor Blame John Britt’s Comment on Bernard Leach is a sharp criticism of the man. Leach’s wor­ ship of things Japanese at a time when Japan was torturing and killing fellow Asians, as well as Leach’s own countrymen, is hard to understand. No more so than that fans of German culture—especially music—de­ fended it during the Hitler years, insisting German works be played. It is a common enough duplicitous belief that artists create culture, but have no responsibility for it. (In this country, the debate revolves around whether writers of genius whose works incor­ porate racist, anti-Semitic, sexist and ho­ mophobic themes should/should not be allowed in school curricula.) I am not addressing this, nor the other Leach failings Britt details; only that Leach gets more credit than he deserves. He simply had the good luck to have accidental circum­ stance on his side. A Potters Book stands firmly in the Will­ iam Morris tradition. Morris admired the handcrafts and the medieval times in which, Please turn to page 100

10 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999 11 Up Front

National Competition in Arizona “Form and Function: Contemporary Ceramics,” a juried exhibition of functional and sculptural ceramics, was presented recently at Galeria Mesa in Mesa, Arizona. Jurors Sandra Luehrsen and Kurt Weiser selected 37 works by 27 artists. Among the functional works chosen was “5 Lidded Espresso Cups” by Montana potter Jess Parker. “Strength lies in the fluidity of opposites,” Parker says, “of lines and mass, contrac­ Sarah Heimann cups and saucers, 4 inches in height, tion and relaxation, tension and softness, push and pull. Out­ soda-fired porcelain with terra sigillata and glaze. side of the studio, I enjoy the physical challenges and demands Center in Minneapolis. Connole’s work is shaped by the tend­ ing of her first garden and the restoring of her 100-year-old house: “I contemplate how we find knowledge, joy and under­ standing in our everyday activities and how our personal history shapes us,” she explains. “The exchange of understanding and knowledge between people through experiences and memories fascinates me. I try to capture a bit of this exchange in my work by using metaphors and representations of the human figure and animals. Jess Parker’s “5 Lidded Espresso Cups,” 4 inches in height, soda-fired porcelain, $130; at Galeria “The rabbits are representations of the female side of my Mesa in Mesa, Arizona. family; unique and fearless, as well as creatures who boldly feasted on my first pansies last spring,” she continues. “The of being out of doors; running marathons, climbing mountains. trout, quick and agile, represent the male influence in my life. These pursuits require endurance, motion, strength, conserva­ Tied together, they make me whole.” tion, grace and balance. Having grown up in a small town on the coast of Maine, “My pots are made of opposites similar to those demanded Heimann still dreams “of the old captains’ mansions with of physical strength. There exists a subtle tension between pure, servants’ quarters in back, and widows’ walks on top, that I controlled form and something looser, more organic. Ulti­ mately, I want my pots to be graceful, elegant and straightfor­ ward. It’s all about strength and beauty. The pots I make are to be used. Their form and glaze are to be inviting, comfortable to the touch and to complement what is to be contained.” Minnesota Annual Works by Minnesota ceramists Kelly Connole, Sarah Heimann and Maren Kloppmann were featured in the annual “Jerome Artists Exhibition,” on view recently at the Northern Clay

Maren Kloppmann’s “Untitled,” 9 inches wide, porcelain with terra sigillata, $400; at the Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

played in as a child. They were mysterious places to me, filled with objects I was not allowed to touch, soft Oriental carpets and long staircases. “Sometimes all that was left, actually, was the house. The owners sold off most of the contents to afford property taxes,” she notes. “Yet it is those contents, or the sense of the contents, which stays with me and continues to inform my own aesthetic, Kelly Connole’s “Rabbits with Trout,” 18 inches in my sense of richness and elegance.” length, Cone 6 clay with glaze and slips, $400 each. In her work, Kloppmann seeks “the essence of a vessel in its simplicity, [which] lies at the threshold where a horizontal curve Submissions are welcome. We would be pleased to consider meets the vertical plane, where thickness and thinness of edges press releases, artists' statements and photoslslides in con­ define negative and positive space. junction with exhibitions or other events of interest for publi­ “Through crevices, openings and enclosures, through sur­ cation in this column. Mail to Ceramics Monthly, Post Office rounding walls, vaults and curvatures, a container begins to Box 6102, Westerville, Ohio 43086-6102. allude to architectonic space. My interest in vessel forms lies

12 CERAMICS MONTHLY

Up Front Midwest” at Baltimore Clayworks in Maryland through July 24. Along with the works of instructors Victor Babu, Cary Esser, beyond a contemplation of function. I am interested in the Ken Ferguson, David Pier and George Timock, pieces by 19 essence of vessels defined by their linear and volumetric proper­ alumni were selected by curator Helen Otterson (also a KCAI ties. My intent is to extend the idea of functional containment alumnus) for display as well. to that of sculptural presence.” The works on view ranged from functional ware to sculp­ ture. “The devotion these artists exhibit to their medium clearly Kansas City Art Institute Ties pervades their work,” Otterson observed, “and the exhibit Instructors and alumni from the Kansas City Art Institute expresses the unique possibilities and unlimited varieties avail­ (KCAI) were invited to exhibit work in “Departures from the able from clay.” Sculpture at Columbus College of Art and Design “Cooled Matter: New Sculpture,” an exhibition of large-scale installations by Charles M. Brown, New York City and Colum­ bus, Ohio; Sadashi Inuzuka, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Jennifer A.

Garry Williams’ “Genesis,” glazed earthenware with rock, soil, rye grass and lights; from the exhibition “Cooled Matter” at the Canzani Center Gallery, Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio.

Amy Kephart’s “Jar,” 11 inches in height, wheel-thrown porcelain, soda fired to Cone 10; at Baltimore Clayworks in Maryland.

Detail of “Genesis,” by Garry Williams, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Lapham, Chicago; Walter McConnell, Belmont, New York; Katherine L. Ross, Chesteron, Indiana; and Garry Williams, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, was on view recently at the Canzani Center at the Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio. “Each of the six sculptors featured in ‘Cooled Matter: New Sculpture’ demonstrates a refusal to remain inside the bound­ aries that have served, historically, to mark ceramic sculpture as a distinct and separate form of three-dimensional expression and inquiry,” observes Mitchell Merback in the accompanying catalog. “This is not to say that any of them has made the critique of ceramic norms, institutions and discourses the conscious aim of their work; none are interested in posing, as avant-gardists once did, as the gravediggers of tradition. “Nevertheless, their common project of pursuing clay into Maren Kloppmann’s “Double Stack Box,” 5 inches in height, porcelain, residual salt fired. what critic Rosalind Krauss has called sculptures expanded field’ contains within it an implicit critique of every modernist

14 CERAMICS MONTHLY

Up Front the competition; juror Richard Zakin selected 92 works by 39 of those ceramists. A nerikomi porcelain bowl by Petaluma, California, artist orthodoxy, every norm that has been obtained in ceramic Lou Miller was among the works chosen. Handbuilt from sculpture ever since it first had a vanguard to speak of. Out of compatible stained clays, the piece was wet sanded, fired in an an ongoing dialectic of affirmative and critical goals, their work, electric kiln to Cone 3, then finished with wax. seen together, poses a credible challenge not only to the long- acknowledged insularity of ceramic consciousness, but to the Vladimir Tsivin routines of perception and thought that make such a conscious­ Ceramic sculpture by Russian artist Vladimir Tsivin was exhib­ ness possible in the first place.” ited at Galerie Besson in London through June 18. Created Garry Williams, whose installation “Genesis” is shown on between 1989 and 1999 in Russia, Scotland, Wales and the page 14, feels that “sculpture should activate a space so that it United States, the 15 pieces in this show were selected from not only changes the essence of that environment, but also Tsivin’s 1998 exhibition of sculpture at the Museum of Applied allows the audience to experience the work on a very personal Arts of the St. Petersburg State Academy of Art and Design. “In 1992,1 was working in Oregon at the Sitka Center for Art and

Russ Logsdon’s “Untitled,” to 60 inches in height; from the exhibition “Future Tense” at the Acock Gallery, Columbus College of Art and Design, Ohio. basis. Conceptually, I believe public sculpture should be acces­ sible on many levels. The initial attraction or enjoyment of an artworks beauty, aesthetics and form may also become a vehicle to the consideration of complex sociological questions. “In this way, sculpture provides for a multiple layering of meaning,” he concluded, “which can be observed, discovered, contemplated and/or challenged by each viewer based on his individual experience, knowledge and values.” Concurrent with the exhibition of sculptural installations, the college also presented a selection of 30 works in “Future Tense: Ceramics by CCAD Students and Alumni.” Vladimir Tsivin’s “Two Figures,” approximately 19 inches in height, wheel-thrown white stoneware with porcelain slip, sandblasted, made in collaboration with Frank Porcelain Competition in New York Boyden, Oregon; at Galerie Besson, London. “Porcelain ’99,” a juried exhibition of functional forms, was presented recently at Esmay Fine Art in Rochester, New York. Ecology,” Tsivin comments in the accompanying catalog. “My Nearly 60 artists from the United States and Canada entered wife and I were living in a forest reserve on the Pacific shore. The ocean was roaring and humming day and night like a high­ speed train. My studio windows looked into a forest and we had frequent visits from raccoons, deer and elk. Young seals played in the ocean and sometimes we could see fountains along the whales’ migration routes. It seemed that we were in heaven, or on earth before the creation of man. In Oregon, I fired my works for the first time in an anagama, and I still remember that it seemed like a space flight.” After moving into a large new studio in St. Petersburg on the shore of the Baltic Sea in 1993, Tsivin “took refuge in the sea and the sky....I stopped going abroad or responding to letters; I just worked.” In her catalog essay, Marilyn McCully observes that Tsivin s time in Oregon “reinforced the ideas he has about the relation­ ship of nature and place to ceramic sculpture. This is especially Lou Miller’s “Untitled,” 7¾ inches in diameter, handbuilt evident in his increased sensitivity to materials, especially in his colored porcelain, wet sanded, wax finished, $165; at subtle treatment of clay surfaces, on which he creates a dialogue Esmay Fine Art, Rochester, New York. both with the overall form and with the play of light from

16 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999 17 Up Front outside. Tsivins attention to the processes of firing, including his use of wood-fired kilns in Oregon, has resulted in works rich in colors and, for him, new surface effects. “The forms that Tsivin has developed over the years refer to the artist’s study of ancient sculpture from Sumer, Egypt and Greece,” McCully continues. “While Tsivins works sit’ in real space, because of their hieratic postures, they also occupy a timeless world, bringing them closer conceptually to the art that inspired them.” Erik Bright Wheel-thrown stoneware vessels by Rhode Island ceramist Erik Bright were exhibited recently at the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston. Decorated with sgraffito patterns carved through black slip, the vessels are then fired to Cone 8. “Ultimately, the pieces I make are about pattern in relationship to form; the goal

Irina Zaytceva’s “Tea for Two,” 18 inches in height, handbuilt porcelain with overglazes; at the Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Museum of Art.

how firmly these works wield their mediums, and how aware Erik Bright’s “Pinwheel Series III—Sawblades,” they seem of their true direction. 18½ inches in diameter, white stoneware with “Of all mediums, clay seemed to draw inspiration from sgraffito decoration; at the Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, Massachusetts. world craft traditions and to suggest a growing richness of cultural diversity for our country into the millennium,” she being to alter the way in which we see familiar forms through continued. “The teapot invasion suggests renewed interest in the use of design, and the way we think of space,” Bright Japan and our continuing love affair with English tea time. explains. “I attempt to do this by using pattern in terms of an Variations of the teapot genre are boundless and cut across ‘isms’ optical movement and vibration in harmony with the shape and and styles both traditional and contemporary, and sculptural in its movement over the form.” and useful, as seen in the rich narrative porcelain piece by Irina He also is interested in juxtaposing “the inside with the Zaytceva. My hope is that artists, museum staff, visitors and outside of the form to question the perspective or create an collectors who see this exhibit will find a piece to inspire and illusion; often in a larger picture. Are we looking out at the delight them or find one object that provides a contemplative or universe or in at the universe? The challenge of integrating a joy-filled moment leading to a sense of discovery. Elevating the two-dimensional pattern with a three-dimensional form in such possibilities of craft is always the goal.” a way that they work together provides much enjoyment in my Among the 10 artists receiving $200 awards for their work work. Surface design has the ability to flatten a form, but it can were ceramists Irina Zaytceva, Plainsboro, New Jersey, and Betsy also be used to enhance the form in such a way that the two Rosenmiller, Tempe, Arizona. complement each other.” Three Women in Clay National Crafts Competition in Pennsylvania by Marianne Weinberg-Benson The Lancaster Museum of Art in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Have you ever walked into an exhibition space and felt as if you presented its first “National Crafts” juried exhibition through had walked into someone else’s dream? Walking into a recent June 13. From 848 entries by 309 artists from 37 states and show at the Trinity Gallery in Atlanta was just such a surreal Canada, juror Joanne Rapp, founder and former owner of experience for me. “Women Working in Clay” consisted of Joanne Rapp Gallery/The Hand and the Spirit in Scottsdale, work by three unique women with three different visions; the Arizona, selected 115 pieces by 100 artists. common thread was their ability to create powerful sculptures “This exhibition, with its surprises (25% of the entries were that push the boundaries of clay. teapots), was a challenge,” Rapp stated. “It was necessary to As one entered the gallery, the first space was transformed by review all slides three times, separate those works of merit for the haunting work of Barb Doll, which offered a glimpse into two more rounds and then begin to look for national treasures’ her interpretation of the human psyche. Life-sized “dolls,” with or works that asserted individual temperament. Here one asks limp hands, loose joints and lack of legs, symbolized lethargy

18 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999 19 Up Front

Debra Fritts’ “The Passion Keeper,” 66 inches in height, earthenware.

Keeper,” a female figure sits on her mothers antique sewing box, storing away her passions and loves in one of the drawers. In Barb Doll’s “Heart Growth,” 15 inches in height; at Trinity Gallery in Atlanta. another drawer were sketches and impressions on slabs of clay, each connected by an old chain necklace, the end of which dangles from the figure’s fingers. Fritts described this work as an expression of escape, as sewing was an escape for her mother. The objects in the various drawers represent life’s simple celebra­ tions and memories, tucked away to be pulled out and cher­ ished at quiet moments. Patty Wouters Vessels by Brasschaat, Belgium, artist Patty Wouters were exhibited through June 5 at St. Joseph Galerie in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. The exhibited works, “Rocking Antenna Vessels,”

Jeri Hollister’s “Bucking Kawai Tribute,” 25 inches in length, earthenware. and weakness, and I quickly felt a sense of helplessness and resignation to self-inflicted limitations. I could even feel a certain sense of repressed anger. Though obviously addressed from a female perspective, the subjugation of one’s own personal needs to another’s depicted in these works is genderless. The transition into Jeri Hollister’s work was like sliding down a water slide on a hot day in June and landing in a cool pool. From a part of the room that was deep in a warm emo­ tional mist, I was catapulted into an area of crisp, cool power. Hollister’s horses speak vividly of energy, force and the process of clay. These works are testaments to her ability to throw, extrude, cut and reassemble parts to create an animal that for centuries has been revered for its grace and power. Patty Wouters’ “Rocking Antenna Vessel,” approximately The room once again slid into a mist of self-expression as I 10 inches in height, porcelain; at St. Joseph Galerie, approached the silken visions of Debra Fritts. In “The Passion Leeuwarden, Netherlands.

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Up Front were thrown from porcelain, bisque fired, then soaked in iron sulfate to obtain earth colors, and saggar fired. The porcelain sheets intersecting the lids of the vessels were slip cast and carved, then fired to 1250°C (2280°F). “The symbolic ideas that are connected with most of my work can also be remarked in this vessel,” notes Wouters. “The little porcelain sheet in the lid holder has waves that seem to vibrate when you hold it to the light. The graphic lines stand for Communication waves or good vibrations that are sent around the world by rocking the pot.” National Ceramics Competition in California “Viewpoint,” a juried exhibition of 39 clayworks, was presented recently at Hyde Gallery at Grossmont College in El Cajon, California. For this second national competition, juror Judith S.

Tim Mather’s “Ewer,” 7 inches in height, slip-cast and assembled porcelain, wood fired.

Wang Fen’s “Dragon and Phoenix Double-Headed Ewer,” 5 inches in height, and “Carved Bowls,” Yaoware porcelain with celadon glaze.

Jeremy Gercke’s “Soda-fired Urn,” 15 inches in height, wheel-thrown stoneware; at Hyde Gallery, Grossmont College, El Cajon, California.

Schwartz, professor of art and art professions at New York University in New York City, selected functional and sculptural Davin Butterfield’s “Teapot,” approximately 6 inches works by artists from 21 states. in height, stoneware with salt/ash glaze, fired to Cone 10; at Laura Mesaros Gallery, Morgantown, West Virginia. Ceramics Invitational in West Virginia by Kevin Oderman entry to the show, highlighting both the continuities and the Two small cases of Yixing teapots by two Chinese artists flanked contrasts in the exhibition itself. the entrance of the Laura Mesaros Gallery during the presenta­ A stoneware teapot and pitcher by Davin Butterfield (Floyd, tion of the “West Virginia University Ceramics Invitational,” a Virginia) stood in illustrative contrast to the Yixing teapots. large, eclectic exhibition of clayworks by ceramists from China Butterfield’s pots are decorated with subdued, streaky, salt-fired and the United States. The Yixing teapots offered a provocative glazes. The forms are organic, but nothing specific from nature

22 CERAMICS MONTHLY

Up Front

is recalled; instead, the genius of nature appears to have worked through the potter into the forms themselves. The organic seems found rather than willed. At first glance, Tim Mather’s work seemed all contrast to the Yixing ware. His slip-cast porcelain teapot and ewer derive their inspiration from industrial forms. The appearance of these pieces is distinctly mechanical; they look as if they have been welded together out of wonderful finds from a heap of junkyard scrap. But Mather (of the University of Indiana), like the Yixing potters, creates work that feels highly intentional, at least in its construction. What seems less intended is the beautiful glaze, which runs in color from a blush orange to tans and rust; all mottled, it is the palette of an autumn leaf. Here, the organic is in the glaze. To focus on the play of the willed and the accidental, on the organic and the mechanical, was only one way to read this exhibition. But there can be no doubt that the inclusion of the Chinese work casts a fresh light on the contemporary American pottery included in the show. Christina Bothwell “Hidden in Full View,” an exhibition of ceramics by Stillwater, Pennsylvania, artist Christina Bothwell, was presented at Susan Cummins Gallery in Mill Valley, California, through July 3.

Mary Donahue’s "Tall Ego with Iron Shoulders, Swirls,” 15 inches in height, with red slip, burnished, bisque fired, smoked in oak leaves and newspaper; at the Window on Gaines Street, Tallahassee, Florida.

seems a simple process nowadays, with all of our available technology, but it was a magical act in times past, when humans were more trusting of intuition. “It does seem like magic when I rub the damp surface of the piece with a metal spoon or polished stone and watch the clay change from a dull crust to a shiny glowing skin,” she contin­ ued. “Then, in the pit or saggar, the smoke stains the colored clays and blends them seamlessly—satin red to metal black. “There in the glowing coals, simple magic transforms terra cotta to burgundy and pearly black. Smoke curls from the Christina Bothwell’s “Little Sister,” 26 inches in height, clay with wooden box; at Susan Cummins Gallery, openings in the vessels, giving spirit to their forms. This is magic Mill Valley, California. one may sense but need not understand....Science and technol­ ogy are precious gifts we have derived from the human experi­ The exhibited works center on pit-fired figures, which were ence on earth, but...the creation of a pot is more reflective of derived from such influences as 19th-century medical journals intuitive happenings than the reduction of iron in the clay body and human sideshows. Found materials, such as tattered cloth or the preparation of terra sigillata. It is the magic we sense, not or deteriorated wood, were also included to create a sense of the science.” obscured mystery. In her most recent works, Bothwell drapes small ceramic Warren MacKenzie Receives $40,000 Award curtains over boxes of wood to frame figures and landscapes. Stillwater, Minnesota, potter/educator Warren MacKenzie has received the second McKnight Distinguished Artist Award of Mary Donahue $40,000. The award is given annually to a working artist who “Mysteries and Magic,” an exhibition of work by Florida has had a significant impact on the arts in Minnesota over his or ceramist Mary Donahue, was on view recently at the Window her lifetime. MacKenzie was selected for the award by a panel of on Gaines Street in Tallahassee, Florida. “Working with clay is four, who considered over 100 nominations. very ritualistic—the preparation, the calming focus, the timing Since retiring from teaching at the University of Minnesota, of the dance of the craft,” Donahue noted. “Perhaps potters MacKenzie, age 75, has continued to make pots in his studio. were the first magicians, controlling primary elements and “Warren MacKenzies work brings beauty into our daily lives,” creating the forms of nature—a seed pod, a leaf, a shell. This commented Noa Staryk, chair of the McKnight board. “His

24 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999 25 Up Front importers and chain retailers who disregard copyright and customs regulations. The first case presented to the International Trade Commis­ philosophy that a personal relationship exists between the potter sion (ITC) will be against importers who copy the creative work and the person who uses or handles his pots has inspired count­ of American craftspeople without authorization. The ITC can less others.” stop the importation of such copies. In addition, a complaint will be filed with the United States Contemporary Ceramics in Holland Custom Service to strengthen enforcement of current law. “Delta Ceramics—Diversity in Dutch Contemporary Ceram­ According to customs law, all imports must be marked indelibly ics,” an exhibition of works by 20 artists, was on view at the with the country of origin. Keramiekmuseum het Princessehof in Leeuwarden, Nether- To help educate consumers, the Rosen Group (organizers of the Buyers Market) has announced that beginning in the year 2000, all artworks exhibited at its craft shows will be required to be permanently and indelibly labeled “Made in the USA” or “Made in Canada.” All publicity material must also mention the country of origin. For further information about the American Crafts Project, contact Made in the USA Foundation, 1828 L Street, North­ west, Washington, D.C. 20036; or telephone (202) 463-8932. Justin Novak “Bathing in the Sweat of a Faraway People,” an exhibition of ceramic sculpture by Rosendale, New York, artist Justin Novak, was on view recently at the Clay Art Center in Port Chester, New York. While the majority of Novak’s work is raku fired, for this exhibition, he also painted encaustic over the fired surfaces. “The major part of my work in clay concerns itself in some way with the effects of consumer culture on the human psyche,” Novak observes. “The intent is to unveil the deep-seated inter­ nal scarring that results from a relentless manufacture of artificial cravings. “This particular body of work... focuses on the dark, slimy underbelly of the corporate-sponsored empire that reaches into every corner of our lives,” he explains. The works on view take “an unflinching look at the ugly nature of the frills that make our convenient, abundant and indulgent lives possible. The centerpiece of the show, also entitled ‘Bathing in the Sweat of a Faraway People,’ is a portrayal of the inescapable

Veronika Poschl stoneware vessel, approximately 14 inches in height; at Keramiekmuseum het Princessehof, Leeuwarden, Netherlands. lands, through August 15. To guarantee an openminded over­ view, the participating artists were selected by two curators. The artists are from many different backgrounds, and use a variety of techniques to produce their daywork. Both industrial designers and studio artists were represented, as was a range of styles—from conceptual to realism. The exhibition was installed throughout the entire museum, allowing for comparisons and contrasts between the contempo­ rary ceramics and the museums permanent collection. Protecting Artists from Imported Knock-Oflfs The Made in the USA Foundation recently launched the American Crafts Project to protect the rights of artists against imports. In February, representatives of the project interviewed Justin Novak’s “Bathing in the Sweat of a Faraway artists at the Buyers Market of American Craft in Philadelphia People,” 24 inches in height, raku fired, painted with to gather information for the purpose of filing lawsuits against encaustic; at the Clay Art Center, Port Chester, New York.

26 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999 27 Up Front in Buffalo, Wyoming. “Having been born and raised in Colo­ rado, I enjoy incorporating native clays and materials in my work,” Meerfeld says. guilt and complicity we share as consumers of the products “My interest in salt-fired stoneware stems from years of of sweatshops.” studying and collecting historic salt-fired pots from Europe and Novak’s work is influenced by the “imagery I was sur­ North America,” he explains. “Other influences are Asian rounded by in the years that I spent growing up in Rome; the ceramics, and architectural and natural land forms.” emotionally charged use of gesture exemplified by the art of the Meerfeld’s objective “is to unite traditional processes with High Renaissance and Baroque periods continues to inform my contemporary color and form, resulting in a unique statement.” work to this day. The combination of pathos and viscera that has characterized so much Catholic imagery over the ages has Karon Doherty, 1941-1999 always captivated me, and is particularly well suited to this body New Bedford, Massachusetts, artist/educator Karon Doherty of work, with its theme of the sweatshop and the surrounding died June 11 of heart failure. Doherty received a Master of Fine issues of martyrdom and guilt.” Arts degree from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 1981, then taught for various programs in Blair Meerfeld New York City before joining the ceramics faculty at the Uni­ Salt-glazed pottery by Colorado artist Blair Meerfeld was versity of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, in 1988. exhibited through August 31 at Margo’s Pottery and Fine Crafts An active member of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), Doherty served on the board for several years, was named a fellow of that organization in 1997 and demonstrated her playful approach to her work at the 1999 conference in Columbus. About her latest work shown at Dartmouth Gallery in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, Doherty observed: “I make art because I do not know how not to. It doesn’t seem like art; its

Teapot, 10 inches in height, salt-glazed stoneware, by Blair Meerfeld, Saguache, Colorado.

Karon Doherty teapot, 15 inches in height, fired to Cone 04; at Dartmouth Gallery, North Dartmouth, Massachusetts.

just living my life. Decorating and form ideas seem to be always dancing and singing around in my head. “When I go into my formal studio space, sometimes it seems like I’m trying to make art. This is not good. So then I must allow myself to have fun, play and frolic. Sometimes it takes a little work to get the juicy creative ideas to cavort in my head! I Blair Meerfeld wire-handled jars, to 9 inches in height, salt-glazed stoneware; at Margo’s Pottery and Fine want to make art from my heart that has tiptoed through my Crafts, Buffalo, Wyoming. formally educated brain.”

28 CERAMICS MONTHLY

little overwhelming, the information in this New Books book will simplify the process for you.” King starts with a history lesson on archi­ tectural ceramics, followed by an in-depth look at tools and Colour in Clay equipment. He takes by Jane Waller care to offer insights “Today, the world of ceramics has been into what tools have enriched by breaking down barriers which worked best for him separate it from other disciplines. The dull and why. At the same brown pot has been knocked off the shelf in time, he identifies an explosion of painting, sculpture, weaving, what is a “must” for paper clay, metalwork, textiles and so on,” your workshop and notes the author of thiswhat can wait. “Don’t be daunted by the idea nicely illustrated sur­ that you have to buy everything to equip your vey of worlcs in col­ studio right from the start,” he says. “Experi­ ored clay by 50 ment and see how much you actually need European and Amer­ and try to use materials you have on hand.” ican artists. The next three chapters (“Building and “Staining clay bod­ Decorating Techniques,” “Sectioning, Dry­ ies gives the maker the ing, Glazing and Firing” and “Installation”) satisfaction of struc­ include ideas and tips for optimum results. ture and decoration being combined,” Waller“Most potters are inexperienced with the explains. “The practical aspect is enjoyable techniques and materials of installing archi­ because all the processes that involve forming tectural ceramics,” King observes. “Instead of and decorating the pot can be realized to­ being daunted by this process, think of it as gether, step by step, during construction. another form of handbuilding that is a natu­ The emotional content of the pot, too, is ral extension of the work required to make somehow enhanced when coloring or pat­ the piece.” tern go through the body to fuse intimately Appropriately entitled “The Projects,” with the form.” Chapter 5 goes into detail on how to make The text begins with an introduction to and install sinks and pedestals, countertops, commercial stains and metal oxides, then and door and fireplace surrounds. Each project covers appropriate percentages for desired is clearly illustrated with step-by-step photos. results, as well as safe handling. Successive The final chapter offers a colorful gallery chapters include information on mixing ox­ of 80 architectural works by international ides and stains, recipes for clay bodies and contemporary artists. 144 pages, including a slips, economic advice, and effects from a glossary of terms, metric conversion chart, “rainbow” of techniques. Throughout are recommended reading list and index. More examples of different artists’ worlds, along than 350 color photographs. $27.95. Lark with explanations of how these results were Books, 50 College Street, Asheville, North Caro­ achieved. 160 pages, including index and list lina 28801; (828) 253-0467. ofsuppliers. 160 color photos. $50. Trafalgar Square Publishing, Post Office Box 257, The Ceramics of Raquira, Colombia Howe Hill Road’ North Pomfret, Vermont Gender, Work and Economic Change 05053; telephone (802) 457-1911; e-mail by Ronald J. Duncan tsquare@sover. net. “In the millennial old pottery town of Raquira, Colombia, men and women have Architectural Ceramics for the contrasting systems of pottery making: a Studio Potter women’s domestic Designing, Building, Installing craft tradition and a by Peter King men’s semi-industrial, In this well-illustrated, easy-to-follow capitalism-based sys­ guide, Florida ceramist Peter King provides tem,” states the author detailed instruction on producing architec­ of this ethnographical tural features for public and private spaces. study. “The women “Many of the techniques that you’ll read potters work prima­ about in this book were learned from other rily in the countryside potters and adapted for architectural ceram­ and use indigenous ics,” he explains. “Others were developed styles and handwork- specifically to overcome the problems ofwork-ing techniques that have been consistent with ing on an architectural scale. Even if you find local pottery making since before Columbus. the prospect of large-scale ceramic work a They work part time, making traditional

30 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999 31 New Books experienced with the men’s mass-produced duction with planters in recent years, women ceramic work. In the following chapter, he have also moved into figure making, initiat­ covers the history of Colombian ceramics, ing a crossover pattern from traditional roles. cooking pots and water jugs in the hours not then describes Raquira—its ecology, popula­Formerly, all figures were hand modeled, but devoted to domestic tasks. In contrast, the tion, agriculture, organizations, education, after the adoption of mold production in the men’s workshops, which have emerged in etc.—as well as gender and the social organi­1950s, many families began making figures town in the last 50 years, employ a mass- zation of work. in molds. Today, both men and women production approach to making planters, Next, Duncan discusses: figurative ce­ make hand-modeled and mold-made tableware and decorative ware using molds ramics, design and style in pottery vessels, figures....This is one of the few aspects of and potter’s wheels.” production techniques, and the technology Raquira ceramics in which men and women The author discusses the differences be­ of clays and kilns. “Men have historically work in similar styles, but men are still more tween the ceramic making of the women and made figurative ceramics, while women made widely known and celebrated as figure mak­ men, beginning with a look at the various pots to hold food and water,” he says. “How­ers than are women.” techniques used and the economic expansionever, as men have moved into pottery pro­ In the final chapters, he looldecorative arts at the Arkansas Arts Center, in this book/cata- log. “With firings lasting up to nine days, it is clear that the process is often a communal undertaking. Fellow potters and friends bring unfired pots, firewood, food, tents, campers and sleeping bags. All are organized into teams and shifts to fire the kiln, while others supply food and encouragement. The round- the-clock effort is analogous to the in­ tense time of gather­ ing in the harvest.” Printed in con­ junction with the ex­ hibition of the same name, this catalog il­ lustrates works by each of the 28 participating artists. Most listings also include artists’ state­ ments. 72 pages, including artists’ biogra­ phies. 77 color photographs. $25.95, softcover. Arkansas Arts Center, Post Office Box 2137, MacArthur Park, 9th and Com­ merce, Little Rock, Arkansas 72203; telephone (501)372-4000. World Ceramics From Prehistoric to Modern Times by Hugo and Marjorie Munsterberg This well-illustrated historical overview “deals with ceramics as one of the major forms of artistic expression, fully equal to the so-called ‘major media’ of the West—paint­ ings, sculpture and architecture,” explains

32 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999 33 New Books ics. Each chapter also includes photos of men, usually male. Yet the most important ceramics from that particular period. technical innovation in Ancient Near East­ In the section on ceramics of the first ern ceramics during this period, the discovery Hugo Munsterberg. “It portrays creative workhistorical civilizations (2500-1000 B.C.), the of glazes or glasslike in clay from its very beginnings some thirty authors observe: “With the coming of the coatings that fuse to thousand years ago to our period, when this Bronze Age and the development of the greatthe clay during firing, medium has become newly vital.” civilizations in the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates would influence all Each of the 11 chapters covers the work valleys during the third millennium, pottery later pottery.” and artists from a specific period in history, lost its position of artistic dominance in the The authors recog­ such as prehistoric ceramics from the begin­ Near East. In the urban centers that arose in nize the 20th century ning to 2500 B.C.; Greek ceramics, 1000- Egypt and Mesopotamia, architecture, sculp­as “a very creative pe­ 2000 B.C.; Chinese and Mayan ceramics, ture and painting became the major arts, riod in the history of A.D. 500-1000; the century of porcelain, while works made of clay settled into a rela­ ceramics,” and identify Japan as “the country 1700-1800; and postwar American ceram­ tively minor place, practiced by skilled crafts­ with the richest and most varied output in the 20th century, which has achieved greatness both with artist-potters and industrial de­ signers. Traditional as well as avant-garde styles exist side-by-side, from folk pottery to sophisticated tea wares and modern sculp­ ture. Unlike China or Korea, Japan has con­ tinued to have a vital ceramics production. Outstanding potters have enjoyed a position comparable to that of artists in other media.” 191 pages, including suggestions for further reading and index. 193 color photographs. US$45/Can$60. Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson St., New York, New York 10014.

Mapping the Empty: Eight Artists and Nevada by William L. Fox Composed of eight essays on Nevada artists, this book looks at how these artists and their work relate to the land, as well as pos­ sible commonalities among the artists. Among the artists discussed is ceramist Dennis Parks, who lives in Tuscarora (population 12). Parks creates both utilitarian ware and sculpture. He “estimates that perhaps 10% is worth keeping—no matter what year it is, what he’s working on, or what he’s learned from almost four decades of washing his hands in clay and water and fire,” says Fox. “But, characteristically, Parks keeps his fail­ ures hanging on his studio wall, figuring that the successful pieces can’t be reproduced— and are thus a closed matter—whereas the failed ones might lead somewhere.” Adds the author, “What helps set Parks apart isn’t so much the 200-plus pieces [of sculpture] in the upstairs studio as their coex­ istence with the more than 400 utilitarian objects in the gallery next door—the plates and bowls and oil lamps produced at the same time as the studio worlds—and the profound connections that these craft pieces give him to the root of his art and life, and to other people worldng in clay the world over.” 200 pages.

34 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999 35 New Books the Rossiter stretches work on connective tissue and relieve the pain. The second sec­ tion provides step-by- 41 black-and-white and 8 color photographs. step illustrated in­ $34.95. University of Nevada Press, Mail Stop structions for the 166’ Reno, Nevada 89557-0076; telephone techniques used to re­ (877) 682-6657. lieve upper body and lower back pain. Europaische Keramik ’99 After specifying Printed in both German and English, this precautions and limi­ book/catalog was published in conjunction tations, Rossiter ex­ with an exhibition of the same name at the plains how to know if Keramikmuseum Westerwald in Hohr- you're doing the stretches correctly, then Grenzhausen, Germany. In celebration of its describes in detail the various stretches. 232 tenth anniversary, the pages, including an appendix on “The Chal­ show was open for the lenge of Scientific Research” by Ernst von first time to all Euro­ Bezold, and references. 86 black-and-white pean ceramists. (In the photographs; 11 sketches. $15.95, softcover. past, only German art­ New Harbinger Publications, 5674 Shattuck ists were eligible.) Avenue, Oakland, California 94609; to order Works by 933 art­ with VISA or MasterCard, telephone (800) ists were juried into 748-6273. the show. “The num­ ber of the applicants The Fantastic Flowers of Clarice Cliff and the quality of worlds considerably varied A Celebration of Her Floral Designs in the different sectors,” note the five jurors. by Leonard Griffin “Most works submitted were allotted, as With collectors avidly pursuing pottery usual, to the field ‘ceramic sculpture,’ fol­ by British designer Clarice Cliff, several bool« lowed by about half as many in the sector about her life and work have been published ‘ceramic vessel.’ The pleasantly high quality in the past decade. In this latest biography, and the variety of ideas of works submitted bythe author (a collector) describes Cliff as “the young ceramists earns special highlighting. most productive and Despite all predictions to the contrary, these prolific ceramics de­ works impudently and freshly oppose to the signer of her genera­ downfall of ceramics.” tion.” She had little The illustrations are accompanied by brief formal training, but information on the worlts, as well as informa­ “Clarice’s startling art tion about the artist. For the prize winning deco designs are un­ pieces, the jurors offer reasons for their choices. mistakable; her art... 159 pages. 93 color and 9 black-and-white evolved from an everyday appreciation of photographs. 40 DM (20.40 Euro/approxi­ color fueled from nature....Clarice’s floral mately US$22). Keramikmuseum Westerwald, inspiration came from both her vivid imagi­ Lindenstrasse, D-56203 Hohr-Grenzhausen, nation and her love of nature.” Germany. Or Harnusch & Ecker, D-56203 At the age of 17, Cliff began an appren­ Hohr- Grenzhausen. ticeship as a lithographer at A. J. Wilkinson’s; in 1922, she was given another apprentice­ Overcoming Repetitive Motion ship as a modeler. When, in 1927, she came Injuries the Rossiter Way up with the idea to cover some poorly glazed by Richard H. Rossiter with Sue MacDonald pieces of pottery with triangular patterns in Of interest to ceramists suffering from bold colors to help them sell, she began her tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome or neck, career as a ceramics designer. Known as “Bi­ shoulder or back pain, this book aims to teachzarre,” the series was very popular; in fact, the reader “how to chase pain out of your thousands of pieces were shipped out from body for good. Without pills, shots, awkwardthe factory each week. “This established her splints or surgery, you will gain power over as the most prolific ceramics designer of the your pain, using nothing more than natural thirties,” notes Griffin, “and eventually led to healing powers within your own body and itsher name being synonymous with British art connective tissue,” promises Richard Rossiter,deco ceramics.” 120 pages, including a cata­ who developed a series of stretches ten years log of designs, a list of assistant gardeners and ago to relieve his own shoulder pain. bibliography, and glossary. 102 color and 20 The guide is divided into two sections: the black-and-white photographs. $29.95. first explains structural causes for pain, de­ Abrams, 100 Fifth Avenue, New York, New scribes connective tissue, and how and why York 10011.

36 CERAMICS MONTHLY

38 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999 39 40 CERAMICS MONTHLY The following interview took place in as­ come down, and the work, hopefully, Interviewer: Another characteristic of sociation with the presentation of “Pots, ” represents the soul of the maker. your work is the overglaze decoration. an exhibition of stoneware and porcelain Interviewer: Color is an important ele­ Will you describe some of the materials by Elmer Taylor at the Ceramics Gallery ment in your work. You’ve moved away and processes you use? of Cedar Valley College in Lancaster, Texas. from the dark tones of temmoku and Taylor: I brush simple stains over the kaki glazes and iron-bearing clay bod­ glazes—no tricky stuff [see Recipes on Interviewer: You submitted a “crafts­ ies, hallmarks of the Anglo-Oriental tra­ page 45]. My decoration really began mans statement” for your exhibition. dition in which you trained, to a brighter with an interest in writing with a foun­ You obviously prefer tain pen. I have for the term craftsman years written with a to artist. Why? Montblanc Meister- Taylor: Being a stuck. I found a lot craftsman is about of similarity in the tradition, material strokes, the pressure and skill. If what I in making a line. It make fits your has made the evolu­ definition of art, tion of my brush that’s fine. Some of decoration simpler. I the things that seem went through a lot of to define an artist to­ brushes until I found day don’t fit me. I’m the ones I like best. not a liberal Demo­ Bob Hovey makes crat; I do not believe them. I like the way the National Endow­ they feel in my hand ment is a good idea. and the quality of the I enjoy making mul­ stroke they make. tiples of the same In the beginning, forms, and I work I, like everyone start­ within the bound­ ing a new technique, aries of function. threw a lot of pots And I don’t think into the dumpster. function is limiting. Then I figured out to Interviewer: This start simple. I still get body of work appears out a brush and bottle to integrate some of ink to work on de­ subtle changes. In ad­ signs. I’m sure you can dition to the usual el­ “Plate,” 8 inches in diameter, wheel-thrown porcelain, decorated with see that I paddle and ements associated glaze and overglaze stains, fired to Cone 10 in reduction, $35. square a lot of pieces with your pots, I no­ so that I have flat sur­ tice a porcelain clay faces to decorate. body, faceting, stamping, ash glazes and palette of green, blue and violet glazes In tracing the inspiration of the a slight gesture to the forms. Will you and stains over a ground of lighter-col­ brushwork, I can point to my introduc­ comment on this? ored porcelaneous stoneware. tion to Nebraska pheasant hunting and Taylor: The evolution of the pots has Taylor: Good pots don’t have to be the pattern of color in the male pheas­ taken a long time. I think it does for brown. Bernard Leach never stated that ant, and also to my time in Los Angeles many in this arena. It took me ten years red iron oxide is more aesthetically cor­ and all the neon. to find that I didn’t really like making rect than cobalt carbonate. It all has to Interviewer: In your statement for the English knockoffs. I was born and raised do with how it is used. My pots are a exhibition, you mention “repeatedly in Los Angeles, California. My pots reflection of who I am, and all that working with similar forms over a pe­ needed to reflect who I am and what I makes me unique. riod of years.” Is repetitive throwing an have experienced. We as individuals I don’t use anything out of the ordi­ integral part of your way of working? change; the work should mirror this. nary. My glazes are from Daniel Rhodes, Taylor: I throw between 2 and 6 tons of The longer I make pots, the more Byron Temple and David Shaner. Some clay a year. I like the flow of the pots I’m confidence I gain. The more confidence I have used since undergraduate school. making now; my interaction with the I gain, the more my mental barriers Hopefully, I put them to good use. clay and the fluidity of making is regen-

September 1999 41 erating. I do not believe you can think or talk about making good pots. You have to do it over and over. Then, maybe you can make something good. The standard is very high, and I like to notch it up a bit. Interviewer: Let’s talk about your time in England. What years were you there? Taylor: I was in England in 1971 and 1972. I was fortunate at this time to meet many potters who were making strong functional work and to see that all good pots are not alike. Each potter had a style of his or her own, but each worked easily within the parameters of function. The work didn’t allude to func­ tion; it did function. The teapots, casse­ roles and pitchers worked. That was as important, if not more, than the idea that it represented who made it. Interviewer: What impact did your ap­ prenticeship with Michael Leach have on your work? Taylor: The time I spent with Michael Leach still has an influence on my per­ sonal studio work and my teaching. He set a standard that had to be met every day. It didn’t change based on how he felt at any particular moment or to whom he was speaking. It could have been your first day as an apprentice, or your last. The require­ ments were the same. I enjoyed the consistency of the situation. The cri­ tiques were very simple. Either your work was up to standard or not—no discussion, no excuse. For me, it was a time to concentrate and make a lot of pots. I developed a rhythm that runs my studio today. Interviewer: Do you work at school? If so, why? Taylor: Yes, I work at school. This was part of the deal when I came to the University of North Texas (UNT). My situation may be unique, though. I own my own pug mill, wheels, stilts, kiln shelves, etc.—all of the necessary stuff so the students are never put out by me working. I do fire one of the university’s kilns; it is the largest one and is used infrequently by the students. “Large Jar,” 15 inches in height, wheel-thrown stoneware, decorated I have a studio with the graduate with glaze and overglaze stains, fired students. Not everyone wants to be this to Cone 10 in reduction, $175. close to the students. At times, I do feel

42 CERAMICS MONTHLY like a walking resource manual. If I need silence, I don’t have a problem closing the door and putting up a note that reads “Do not disturb.” I have al­ ways felt that I would have had a better idea of what it took to be professionally active if my university teachers had set up a space and worked there on a regu­ lar basis. Interviewer: What is your usual work cycle? Taylor: In the fall, I teach on Tuesday and Thursday. In the spring, I teach on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It has been this way for 16 years. I make pots into the winter until I have a studio full, then I fire. I do this until the end of May when I move to Ketchum, Idaho. I make pots and bisque fire all summer. I haul them back to Texas to glaze, decorate and fire in late August. I’m firing when students are starting the make cycle at the beginning of the new academic year. I find it much easier to push the students to work harder if I have a studio full of work, and they see me working on my non­ teaching days and weekends. Interviewer: How long have you been with the university? Taylor: My first semester teaching at UNT was the fall of 1974. Previous to that, I taught at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. Interviewer: What brought you to Texas? Taylor: I accepted the appointment at UNT because the university had a gradu­ ate program in ceramics. Also, it looked and sounded like an art program want­ ing to expand. Interviewer: What are your current goals for the ceramics program? Taylor: One is to emphasize a solid foundation. We try to have the under­ graduate students become self-sufficient (in regards to clay mixing, making glaze choices and firing their own work) by the end of the second semester. After that, we focus on the development of personal direction. On the graduate level, I keep the “Pitcher,” 12 inches in height, pressure up to produce. Every day is a wheel-thrown stoneware, decorated one-person show. Saturday and Sunday with glaze and overglaze stains, are just two more workdays. fired to Cone 10 in reduction, $45.

September 1999 43 “Bowl,” 5 inches in height, wheel-thrown porcelain, decorated with glaze and overglaze stains, fired to Cone 10 in reduction, $25, by Elmer Taylor, Denton, Texas.

I am asked if I think all of my stu­ Interviewer: Why has UNT ceramics Taylor: At present, the School of Visual dents will be successful in ceramics. I grown when other programs have cut Art has approximately 1700 art majors. expect them to be successful. It is my back? We in clay teach about 10 M.FA. ma­ responsibility to prepare them to go out Taylor: One of the reasons the ceramics jors and 125 undergraduate students. and be more successful than I am. Stu­ program has done so well has a lot to do There are two full-time ceramics in­ dents decide to be successful or not. with the School of Art seeing the value structors, Jerry Austin and myself. Interviewer: What changes have you of a strong crafts program (clay, fiber We think we have a nice facility. The seen in Texas clay? and metals). In particular, Dr. Georgia grads have 24-hour access to individual Taylor: In Texas and around the coun­ L. Gough, who started the clay pro­ studios with central air and heat. There try, programs are less willing to offer a gram, fought the early battles and put a is a substantial undergraduate studio wide range of experiences to students. strong foundation in place. We con­ space. The studios are equipped with 3 Things like mixing clay, using all of the tinue to build on that foundation. mixers, 2 de-airing pug mills, 26 elec­ building techniques and firing are some­ The ceramics faculty has been in­ tric wheels, 3 kick wheels, 10 electric times overlooked or not introduced. Its volved in the governance of both the kilns, 11 commercial gas kilns, a salt hard to believe the number of students School of Visual Art and the university. kiln and a wood kiln—enough to do we run into who do not mix clay or fire. I have found that this involvement has the job of making high-quality clay. I would like to see a return to a paid huge dividends. Many of my ac­ Interviewer: Ceramics involves many stronger foundation of clay-body for­ quaintances at other universities will not forms of expression, including utilitar­ mulation, throwing, handbuilding and take the time to serve on committees in ian ware, decorative vessels, tile making firing. These activities should be taking their art programs or at the university and sculpture. Does UNT ceramics sup­ place not only at the four-year universi­ level, and they wonder why they aren’t port a broad approach to ceramic art? ties, but also at the community colleges. getting funding. There might be a cor­ Taylor: Originally, I thought, because I Of course, Texas is suffering from relation. am a potter and my goal was to support the same grade inflation as the rest of Interviewer: What is the current enroll­ the functional approach, that students the country. A heartbeat and warm ment in the School of Visual Art? How would come to UNT to make pots. I breath is worth a “B” in the eyes of many undergraduate and graduate stu­ find that by not having a departmental most students. dents are there in the clay program? definition of clay, yet having high stan­

44 CERAMICS MONTHLY Recipes

dards, we attract students from all aes­ thetic directions. We expect each student to work very E. T. White Body Laguna Green Glaze hard, produce a lot of work, and that (Cone 10) (Cone 10) the work will improve. Sometimes we Potash Feldspar...... 20 lb Bone Ash...... 9 run into the problem of knowing the 6 Tile Clay...... 50 Talc...... 4 work can be better than the student Ball Clay...... 50 Whiting...... 20 wants it to be. Fireclay...... 50 Potash Feldspar...... 47 We are asked time and again if we Flint...... 7 Edgar Plastic Kaolin...... 20 offer a nurturing environment. All I Fine Grog...... 3 100% can say is that we support hard work. I 180 lb Add: Copper Carbonate...... 3 % think we are more nurturing than the Mixed softish, with a gallon of vinegar Market Blue Glaze realities of life. per mixer load. (Cone 10) Interviewer: A number of UNT ceram­ Dolomite...... 22.16% ics graduates have gone on to teaching David Leach Porcelain Body Whiting...... 4.00 or studio careers. How would you de­ (Cone 10) Potash Feldspar...... 25 lb Potash Feldspar...... 49.88 scribe the current landscape for secur­ Edgar Plastic Kaolin...... 23.96 ing a faculty position or making pots Bentonite...... 5 for a living? Grolleg Kaolin...... 55 100.00% Taylor: It is my opinion that there are a Flint...... 15 Add: Cobalt Carbonate...... 0.50% lot of teaching jobs out there, but few 100 lb Cat Nose Glaze students positioning themselves to land The following glazes are fired to Cone (Cone 10) them. The job market for teaching is 10 at 3 o’clock. Dolomite...... 22.38% there, and schools are looking for sharp Whiting...... 3.50 people who do good studio work. These Temple White Glaze Potash Feldspar...... 48.95 positions are filled by people who can (Cone 10) Edgar Plastic Kaolin...... 25.17 and will teach outside their studio area. Dolomite...... 19.14% 100.00% I have heard about a number of po­ Whiting...... 2.55 Add: Manganese Dioxide...... 0.80% sitions that required a studio area and Potash Feldspar...... 35.70 the ability to teach some aspect of art 6 Tile Clay...... 23.47 Red Blush Overglaze Stain history. If you have an M.F.A. with a Flint...... 19.14 Tin Oxide...... 50 g concentration in clay and the second 100.00% Copper Carbonate...... 50 area is sculpture, which most do, you end up in the stack with all of the oth­ New Blue Glaze 100 g ers. The short stack is the one with (Cone 10) Tan Gold Overglaze Stain those candidates who can teach other Edgar Plastic Kaolin...... 22.16% areas, especially art history. Potash Feldspar...... 45.76 Nepheline Syenite...... 10 g Making a living at pottery takes a Whiting...... 19.27 Rutile...... 50 special personality. It requires a very high Talc...... 3.66 60 g skill level, and most importantly, you Bone Ash...... 9.15 must have something to say through 100.00% Gray Blue Overglaze Stain your pottery. So many potters throw Add: Cobalt Carbonate ...... 0.48 % Cedar Heights Redart...... 10 g with what Dinah Batterham calls “dead Copper Carbonate...... 0.10% Cobalt Carbonate...... 50 hands.” Without the message and the Manganese Dioxide...... 10 interest to communicate to your audi­ Ash Glaze ence, you run out of the one thing that 70 g (Cone 10) sustains—heart and soul. Whiting...... 2.17 Black Overglaze Stain There’s a larger demand for good Wood Ash...... 43.48 pots now than ever before, and one Nepheline Syenite...... 10 g Potash Feldspar...... 43.48 reason is the computer. The longer Cedar Heights Redart...... 10 Edgar Plastic Kaolin...... 10.87 people work behind the machine, the Chrome Oxide...... 60 more they need a link to their human­ 100.00% Manganese Dioxide...... 10 ity—something made by a human hand. Add: Yellow Ocher...... 4.35% 90 g Pottery is a natural. ▲

September 1999 45 A Female Form The Sculpture Techniques of Margaret Keelan by Benny Shaboy

argaret Keelan refers “because you simply raku M;to her ceramic sculp­ each piece separately and take tures as “comments on in­ advantage of the differences terior landscape, alternative in finish.” personalities, memories She accented the lips and and tribal influences.” She the edge of the dress with bases them on the female oxides, then applied a clear form, she says, “to keep crackle to the dress sections them as close to my own (leaving the natural color of self-image as I can.” the clay to show through). The Canadian-born The rest of the coloring on sculptor is currently an as­ the finished sculpture is car­ sistant director of sculpture bon from the reduction. at the San Francisco Acad­ Since the clear crackle emy of Art College. Al­ needs to cool in order to de­ though she has explored velop its characteristic cracks, several different ceramic she removed the dress pieces techniques during the last from the raku kiln first and 26 years, she has become let them sit for a couple of especially interested in low- minutes while she dropped fire surface finishes during the other sections into post­ the 5 years she has been firing reduction chambers. teaching at the academy. The chambers are simply Recently, she has been metal garbage cans filled with combining terra-sigillata finely shredded paper, the accents with raku effects. kind that comes from office Her palette of raku glazes shredders. She likes shredded is purposely limited to a paper because “it gives a more dry patina and a clear even reduction over the body crackle, along with some Me and My Cat,” 20 inches in height, press molded and of clay.” oxide embellishments. handbuilt, with polished terra sigillata, smoked. By trial and error, Keelan Each piece is one of a has learned how to control kind, but she sometimes the darkness of the final makes a press mold of a form so that From that, she made a two-part plaster piece; in brief, the more paper, the darker she can produce variations. What comes mold. When the plaster was dry, she the color. She makes a nest of the paper out of the mold serves mainly as a base. rolled out slabs of a mid-range stone­ in the garbage can, positions the hot She will often cut a piece into sections ware, and pressed them into the mold. piece into it, then replaces the lid quickly before the firing, planning to glue it The resulting figure was similar to once the paper has caught fire. back together afterward. This allows her the original, except that she sliced off Because she lives in a fairly urban to raku the sections individually, some­ the bottom 5 inches. Next, she cut it section of the San Francisco Bay Area, times giving each section a different into sections: the dress, top of the dress she has to move quickly to avoid releas­ treatment. to near the eyes, a “mask” area around ing too much smoke into the air. “You Although her methods vary from the eyes, and the turban. She then ap­ want to make it look like you’re barbe­ piece to piece, the following paragraphs plied an underglaze to the eyes, and cuing or constantly trying to start a detail the production of “Woman with brushed a terra sigillata on the turban, barbecue,” Keelan jokes. Turban 1”: buffing it with a flannel cloth when dry. As a last step, she used a black epoxy First, Keelan formed a female torso During a bisque firing to Cone 04, to glue all the pieces together and to fill about 25 inches in height, keeping the the dress was broken, but that is “the any gaps, cleaning off the excess with features simple and the surfaces smooth. kind of happy accident” she welcomes, rubbing alcohol.

46 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Woman with Turban 3,” 25 inches in height, press molded and handbuilt, with terra sigillata, raku fired.

September 1999 47 Before she started working with raku, On the cat piece, she applied several dousing everything with charcoal bri­ she often designed pieces, such as “Me layers of terra sigillata, some of which quette starter, and lighting. The carbon and My Cat,” explicitly for a terra-sigil- had been mixed with commercial stains from the burning newspaper adds a pa­ lata finish. To make terra sigillata, she for color variety. Since the latter are tina to the clay body that ranges from fills about one-fourth of a quart jar with coarser than the former, she would light gray all the way to black. clay, adds one teaspoonful of defloccu- sometimes apply a layer of plain terra Keelan enjoys exploring the differ­ lant (Darvan or sodium silicate), fills sigillata over the stained variation to ent surface treatments. Although it takes the rest of the jar with water, then shakes allow the color to come through, yet a long time to master a technique, the vigorously. After the solution has settled still develop a good shine. effort is worthwhile, she says, because for about a week, she uses a turkey Once the terra-sigillata pieces have of the richness of the results. She also baster to draw off excess water at the been fired to Cone 010 in an electric likes to experiment “because its a way top, then simply dips her brush into the kiln, extra depth and richness are some­ to identify oneself, a way to see ones fine particles remaining in suspension times added by a technique Keelan calls self grow.” at the top. After the applied terra sigil­ “smoking”—a process that involves lata has dried on the clay, she polishes it holding a sheet of newspaper against The author Benny Shaboy is the editor of with a flannel cloth. the piece with raku tongs, then liberally the artist-to-artist journal studioNotes.

To smoke the interior of this head, charcoal barbecue starter was poured onto newspaper and lit; the burning newspaper was then held against the inner wall of the piece with raku tongs.

“Woman with Turban 1,” 20 inches in height, press molded and handbuilt, with terra sigillata (turban) and crackle glaze (dress), raku fired, by Margaret Keelan, San Pablo, California.

48 CERAMICS MONTHLY Madhvi Subrahmanian

Untitled, 13 inches in diameter, coil-built earthenware with terra sigillata, fired Smoked, coil-built earthenware vessel, to Cone 08, then smoked in newspaper, by Madhvi Subrahmanian, Mumbai, India. 18 inches in height.

“A Vessel and a Container,” a solo exhi­ the form, just as life itself is enriched questioning and searching for the vari­ bition of handbuilt forms by ceramist with every layer of experience.” ous meanings of a container.” Madhvi Subrahmanian, was presented Derived from the functional pot, her After studying for four years with recently at Cymroza Art Gallery in work has moved toward the sculptural Ray Meeker and Deborah Smith at the Mumbai, India. Coil built from earth­ vessel. “The sensuous plasticity of clay Golden Bridge Pottery in Pondicherry, enware, then brushed with terra sigillata is what drew me into the world of ce­ India, she came to the United States in and glazes, Subrahmanians work is typi­ ramics,” she explains. 1989 to earn a Master of Fine Arts cally fired several times (as many as five) “Having started as a functional pot­ degree at the Southern Methodist Uni­ to Cone 04. ter, I have a deep appreciation of the versity in Texas. Some pieces are fired only to Cone rhythm of the wheel and of the simple Having lived in several parts of the 08, then smoked with newspaper in a everyday object. These ordinary inti­ world, Subrahmanian recognizes that tin drum. On these, she enjoys “work­ mate objects have helped me under­ her “work in many ways is the result of ing and reworking the surface, layering stand their potential to express meaning change—the challenge of new oppor­ it with terra sigillatas, glazes, and smoke far beyond their mundane functions. tunities and limitations that comes with firing it several times until it enhances My current body of work is the result of every move and new phase of life.” ▲

September 1999 49 Barbara Diduk and Prue Venables

inimalist sculpture and vessels by American artist Barbara MDiduk and Australian artist Prue Venables were exhibited recently at Nancy Margolis Gallery in New York City. Both artists identify with the Bau- haus style, as is evident in their spare, understated forms. “A search for simplicity and quiet­ ness—an essential stillness—motivates my work,” said Venables. “I have a par­ ticular interest in the making of func­ tional pots, simple objects to be held and used. Such objects provide a life­ time of challenge and excitement.” In Venables’ recent work, “an appar­ ent simplicity conceals the laborious making process. These forms are thrown from porcelain, then gently bent into a new shape while still soft. As the porce- “Black Oval Bowl,” 3½ inches in height, glazed porcelain, $400, by Prue Venables, Australia.

“Three White Jugs,” 4½ inches in height, porcelain, “Black Bottle,” 8 inches high, $400, and “Black $200 each, by Prue Venables. Jug,”5 1A inches high, $275, by Prue Venables.

50 CERAMICS MONTHLY PHOTOS: COURTESY OF NANCY MARGOLIS GALLERY

“Keistamper,” to 56 inches in height, ceramic and metal, $8000, by Barbara Diduk, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

lain retains a memory of all changes, movements must be confident and simple. Timing must be precise, as fired rims and walls frustratingly recall every wobble and meander. “The leather-hard forms are then at­ tached to new hand-rolled bases and slowly dried. Firing is to 1300°C (2372°F) under reduction in a gas kiln. “I enjoy the contradictory nature of these pieces,” Venables continued, “where the sprung tension of the throw­ ing remains clear, but the origins of forms are uncertain.” Arranged in groups on metal stands or on the floor, Diduks vessel abstrac­ tions are suggestive of industrial objects and tools. Surfacing is often restricted to subdued colors (grays and blacks), but some forms are completely covered in gold or silver lusters. ▲ “Copper Still Life,” to 15 inches in height, $3000, by Barbara Diduk.

September 1999 51 The Calyx Dome by Laurie Spencer

lthough I had faced technical the partnership provided a built-in au­ bodies, working out material calcula­ challenges before, none dience of students who could become tions and selecting the exact site, we A seemed as enormous as work­ involved in the building process. were ready to begin. The construction ing through the disaster of “The Calyx With this new dome [see “Imaret” started in late spring with the digging Dome” firing. My father always said, by David Proeber in the February 1990 and pouring of a ring-shaped concrete “Well, you learned something new,” CM], I wanted to create a sculptural, foundation. The dome itself was built whenever I experienced disasters in my organic feel with a larger interior space with large coils of clay rolled on a tex- work, and I had long ago reached the than I had worked with before. The tured board to create a twisted look. We point that, before beginning a new design evolved into a flowerlike form used a clay body made from 35% lo­ project, I would hope, whatever hap­ with the cupola resembling an inverted cally mined red clay, 15% fireclay, 25% pens, that I would not learn anything calyx, the base cup and sepals of a flower. fine sand and 25% grog. A total of over

The concrete and brick foundation was A scale drawing served as a blueprint; to As construction progressed during the hot covered with plastic to prevent absorption ensure exact placement of coils, measure­ summer months, care was taken to uncover of ground moisture during construction. ments were taken from a central post. only one section at a time.

new, but that was not to be the case To enhance this central design, the win­ 10 tons of clay was required to build with “The Calyx Dome.” dows would be the shapes of seeds. the structure, which eventually measured The project began when Daniel I have always thought of my domes 17¾ feet in height and 15 feet in width. Cajamarca, my husband and partner, as meditative spaces that foster spiritual Clay mixing was a grueling activity: and I received the New Forms Regional renewal or transformation. Developing Daniel and I would mix up to 2 tons a Initiative Grant (a program jointly this project on the grounds of a school day in a 100-pound-capacity mixer. funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, prompted me to think of all the stu­ As with previous domes, we followed the Andy Warhol Foundation for the dents who spend their formative years a catenary arch design for strength, and Visual Arts and the National Endow­ in this environment before going out used a wooden internal support struc­ ment for the Arts) to build a clay dome into the world as seeds from a flower. ture during construction. The windows at Holland Hall School in Tulsa, Okla­ Accordingly, I wanted this dome to sym­ were cut out with handsaws when the homa. I was happy about such a part­ bolize new life and transformation. clay was at the soft-leather-hard stage. nership, for the school was interested in After about three months of making Working outdoors has its own set of and supportive of our work. Moreover, small models and designs, testing clay problems: The intense heat of the late

52 CERAMICS MONTHLY summer and early fall created a steam worked for hours in the cold down­ a set of metal panels lined with ceramic sauna under the plastic covering, which pour, building dams with bags of straw fiber that could be screwed together threatened damage with the excessive and mud to divert the river of rain that and taken apart again. moisture of condensation. In addition, was running into this dangerous and To accommodate the increased high winds would occasionally rip open unwanted moat. We feared the worst, height of “The Calyx Dome,” we added the plastic covering, leaving the vulner­ that the base would be irreparably dam­ a kiln section by attaching ceramic fiber able clay exposed to the harsh sun and aged by the high waters; however, our to 6-foot-high metal fencing. The kiln, subsequent premature drying. hard work paid off and the foundation which resembled a tent around the The approach of winter created an remained miraculously free of injury. dome, was suspended by wires and at­ intense pressure to complete the project: From the severe weather problems tached to the scaffolding. Underground we worked through cold mornings and we encountered in November, it be- tunnels were also dug to provide addi-

Inclement weather in November prevented the kiln from drying completely, but it was A metal chute protruded from the stoke necessary to proceed with the firing (before any hard freezes); the base of the kiln was hole; firewood placed on the chute made by buttoning a double layer of fiber blanket to lightweight metal fencing. could be pushed in with a long poker.

chilly afternoons to reach the days goal came evident that the longer the dome tional oxygen for the wood that we before the early dark would settle in. remained unfired, the more it risked would use as fuel. The kiln would be Construction was finally completed in further weather damage; hard freezes stoked through a small opening at the late October, just behind schedule. Then were sure to be next. Although the dome front door of the dome. A long metal the November rains arrived and threat­ had not yet dried completely, we de­ chute and long pokers allowed us to ened never to end. As a result, for a cided to proceed with the firing, forcing place the wood exactly where we wanted time, we averaged opening the plastic it dry in the process. it inside the dome. covering only one day a week for dry­ My firing technique for these domes We started the firing on a Thursday ing. Occasionally, the rainstorms even has evolved over the years. The early evening, putting in only hot coals in managed to unwrap the sculpture, cre­ domes were fired from the inside out by order to dry and preheat the dome. ating the need for more repair work to placing ceramic fiber directly onto the This continued throughout the night the damaged surfaces. clay wall. To allow for more heat on the and all the next day and evening. After On one occasion, a torrential rain exterior, however, I eventually designed allowing 24 hours of drying at 200°F, formed a lake around the dome. We a kind of freestanding temporary kiln— we proceeded to raise the temperature.

September 1999 53 Despite the 24-hour preheat, the clay did not dry The following spring, the upper dome was recreated completely before stoking began in earnest; at about by covering wire mesh with concrete, which was 350°F, part of the upper dome exploded. shaped and carved to match the fired clay.

Several people had come to join in my previous firings had had much down and ended the firing, weak and the firing activities and help stoke the shorter preheats and some sculptures weary. After cooling for two days, the fire. As we began to feed the small fire had even been much wetter when fired, kiln was dismantled, revealing the ex­ inside, the temperature climbed to about this mishap came as quite a shock. We tent of the damage to the dome within; 350°F. All of a sudden, we heard a tre­ decided to try to continue the firing however, we would have to wait until mendous, deep, muffled boom—an un­ anyway, reasoning that perhaps the the cold winter had passed before the mistakable and dreaded sound to anyone dome could be salvaged with some land repair work could begin. who fires a kiln. This was without doubt of repair. Of course, we knew that it After much thought and research, the biggest “boom” sound from clay I would be risky to fire the dome in its we decided to rebuild the missing sec­ had ever heard. Everyone realized im­ broken state, as the remaining top could tion with a fine, colored concrete ap­ mediately what had happened; it was a fall in at peak temperatures. plied over a re-bar and wire-mesh devastating moment. After a few kiln repairs and a clean­ structure. Holes were drilled in the bro­ Fortunately, the explosion was con­ up of the air vents, we were ready to ken wall edges so that re-bar could be tained within the kiln and no one was proceed. The firing then continued epoxied in place. We calculated where hurt. As it was already late, we decided slowly and steadily for an additional the wall should have been, and made to let it cool overnight and inspect the four days. With family and friends stok­ vertical and horizontal re-bar rings to damage the following morning. ing around the clock, we managed to establish the form. Early Saturday, with the light of day reach 2000°F late Tuesday night. The The part of the cupola that had sur­ and the kiln much cooler, we could see kiln began to weaken where it had suf­ vived the explosion (about one-third of that we had lost about half of the upper fered from the explosion, and it was the original) had warped slightly in the dome. There was no doubt that the clay apparent we would not be able to hold firing as additional sections had fallen exploded because of moisture trapped the temperature as we had hoped. during the peak temperature. The new within the thick clay wall. Since all of Slowly, we brought the temperature concrete section therefore had to blend

54 CERAMICS MONTHLY Constructed and fired on the grounds of Holland Hall School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, “The Calyx Dome” is nearly 18 feet tall and 15 feet wide.

with the existing warp. We applied both it were increased tenfold in all aspects. exciting. I was asked one time to name exterior and interior layers of concrete, Yet, the building process provided a tre­ the biggest problem I encountered when shaping them to match the form and mendous learning experience for us all, building domes. That is a question I texture of the original clay. Working and the special challenge of the postfiring cant relate to because I don’t view any through the summer into early fall, we reconstruction came as new territory stage of dome building as a problem, were able to restore the dome to its for me. In addition, the entire process but rather as part of a process that is original design. has suggested a number of ideas for inherently difficult. The challenges and Although “The Calyx Dome” is only future possibilities. difficulties are simply part of that pro­ slightly larger than my previous domes, It is the journey of new discoveries cess and, as my father said, are opportu­ the difficulties of constructing and firing and the unexpected that keep the work nities for learning and growth. A

September 1999 55 Ralph Bacerra

survey exhibition of works made His influences include “the potters who A during the 1990s by California centuries ago decorated the Japanese pal­ artist Ralph Bacerra was featured re­ ace wares of Kutani, Nabeshima and cently at Garth Clark Gallery in New Imari with their masterful use of surface York City. On view was a representative decoration, often inspired by the pat­ selection of Bacerras highly decorated terns on fabrics. His fine-arts affinities chargers, lidded jars and teapots. tend toward optical systems and styliza­ As gallerist Garth Clark observes in tion, a mix of M. C. Escher (without the accompanying catalog, Bacerra is his mechanistic elements) and a dash of “unapologetically a decorative artist.” Andy Warhol. “Large Untitled Vessel,” “His pots are technical and visual 28 inches in height, glazed marvels,” Clark continues. “They go and lustered whiteware. through multiple overglaze firings, steadily reducing temperature as each new layer is applied. This process is slow and complex, and because of the many firings and Bacerras love of tech­ nically challenging forms, the loss rate is high, sometimes as much as 50%. But the results are worth it: hedonistic color, extravagant patterning and opti­ cally complex surfaces. “While his work implies precision and control, this belies his intuitive qualities. The decoration process begins with only rudimentary sketching of the general surface scheme, and after each firing, those guidelines literally go up in smoke. The surface evolves, changing and adapting with each new firing. No­ where does this merging of organiza­ tion and intuition come across more successfully than in the monumental lidded jars from 1998 that are the pri­ mary focus of this exhibition. The de­ sign shifts, floats, emerges and retreats in a miraculous marriage between the tall undulating vessels and the hard- edged geometric composition of the decorative elements. “The work also reflects the man, one who has a paper-thin tolerance for any form of pretension,” Clark concludes. “So his pots have no secret meanings. They carry no messages. They are not deconstructivist, except accidentally so in the kiln. They are not laden with symbol, metaphor or irony....They cel­ ebrate thousands of years of decorative pottery and yet, even though they are not instruments of intellectual inquiry, they are intelligent objects, alive with visual acuity.” A

56 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Tall Lidded Vessel,” 32 inches in height, whiteware, decorated with low-fire glazes and lusters, by Ralph Bacerra, Los Angeles.

September 1999 57 Mexico’s Josefina Aguilar by Nancy Jonnum

he sun was high as we ran for the who is enjoying a growing popularity in cooking pots and incense burners when T1bus. We waved our arms so the the United States, as well as in her own it was not farming season. She and her driver would wait for us. We paid our country. We had just come from her nine brothers and sisters would play fare—5 pesos for the trip back to home studio in the village of Ocatian with the clay, sometimes creating skel­ Oaxaca—and found seats near the back. de Morelos near Oaxaca. The people of etons for the Day of the Dead or Nativ­ “Success sure hasn’t spoiled her,” my this region have been making pottery ity scenes for home altars. husband declared. for centuries. The shady courtyard where she now My husband was talking about Aguilar’s parents and grandparents works is screened from the road by a Josefina Aguilar, a Mexican folk artist were farmers who made large water jars, bright rose-pink wall, with brick arches and a wrought-iron gate. Clay figures are perched above the arches and a lovely orange-flowering poinciana tree shades the entrance. The courtyard is the center of the family’s life, as well as work. While we were there, Aguilar’s daughters-in-law sat painting clay figures while watching television. Completed works were dis­ played on a nearby table. Aguilar’s work is clearly inspired by village life and the things around her.

Josefina Aguilar at her home studio in Ocatian de Morelos.

A self-portrait, approximately 8 inches in height, painted, wood-fired earthenware.

58 CERAMICS MONTHLY The figures are wood fired in a simple kiln made of rock, brick and clay, Flowering trees shade the courtyard

Her figures sometimes carry animals, fruit or flowers. Many times, adults are accompanied by children. Occasionally, she makes a female figure that resembles herself. Lately, she has also been making figures of artist Frida Kahlo. Sometimes, Aguilar draws inspira­ tion from the rites of passage in her village, creating colorful ceramic wed­ dings, religious processions and funer­ als. Lenore Hoag Mulryan has written about Aguilar and other Mexican artists in her book Mexican Figural Ceramists and Their Work. She says that these cre­ ations help to mediate the tragedy of life and death in a society with a high death rate and a short life expectancy. Unlike some Mexican ceramists, Aguilar makes everything by hand, with­ out the use of molds. If she is making a full-skirted female figure, she starts with a cone shape. Other figures begin with Completed figures displayed on a small table inside the courtyard. a cylinder, to which features are added. She is especially concerned about the faces, because the expressions are so im­ Her husband brings the clay from a Most are sold to an intermediary or portant to her. nearby quarry. It is sun dried, ground regaton, who exports them to the United The figures are painted with com­ and sifted. He then mixes it with his States and other countries. Many of the mercial paints. At one time, Aguilar used feet on the concrete floor of the patio. folk artists of Mexico make use of natural pigments, but the commercial The whole family helps with the regatones to sell their ware. This system paints are easier to use. firing, which is done in a simple rock- gives them year-round income, making Though her work has grown in popu­ and-clay, wood-burning kiln. The them much less dependent on unreli­ larity, she and her husband, Jose, prefer firebox is separated from the chamber able tourist traffic. However, Aguilar still to continue as true folk artists. Only the by a metal grate. After a fire is built and sells figures from her workshop as well. immediate family helps with the cre­ allowed to burn until the smoke is gone, And the opportunity to meet the artist ation and decoration of the figures. By the figures are placed in the chamber. and her family is certainly worth the keeping the business small, they are able Wood firing the natural clay gives a 45-minute bus ride from Oaxaca. Suc­ to emphasize quality over quantity. warm brown hue to Aguilar’s figures. cess hasn’t spoiled Josefina Aguilar. A

September 1999 59 Dorothy Bearnson University of Utah Ceramics Pioneer by David Cox

asking where these pots t the opening for had been made, they A “Ceramic Ties,” an were able to locate and exhibition of works by visit numerous small current and former stu­ potteries. The seeds dents of Dorothy sown in California ger­ Bearnson at the Univer­ minated in Virginia. sity of Utah’s Alvin On returning to Gittins Gallery, over 300 Utah, Bearnson com­ students, friends and col­ pleted her undergradu­ leagues were on hand to ate studies at the honor Bearnson for her Dorothy Bearnson demonstrating for students University of Utah, re­ remarkable (more than at the University of Utah. ceiving a bachelor of 50 years) teaching career arts degree in 1943. At at the university. Though now retired had been sown. Thus began the excite­ about this time, she discovered a ceram­ from the position she had held since ment and enthusiasm for daywork that ics shop (a source for all the materials 1946, Bearnson will long be remem­ she shared with literally thousands of she needed to learn about clay and glaze bered by her students as a “gentle and students during her long career in higher on her own) in the Sugar House area of profound influence,” who knew how to education. Salt Lake City. She purchased an elec­ “nurture a student’s creativity.” She “pro­ When Bearnson’s father, a professor tric kiln, assembled a kick wheel from a vided the environment...to explore and of economics at the University of Utah, kit (shipped from San Francisco) and grow in the arts,” fostering “a sense of accepted an appointment at the Uni­ with “20 pounds of moist clay [pur­ community that is enduring.” versity of Virginia for the 1941—42 aca­ chased] in wide-mouth glass jars” set up For Bearnson, San Francisco’s 1939 demic year, she accompanied her a basement studio at home and taught “Golden Gate International Exposition” parents, continuing her studies as a jun­ herself to throw. Thus, the seeds took provided the seminal moment that sub­ ior at the university. She recalls that “a root in Utah. sequently changed her life: a woman man from Pennsylvania came and dem­ Continuing her studies in drawing was throwing at a potter’s wheel. onstrated throwing on a potter’s wheel.” and painting, she received a master of Bearnson (probably 18 at the time) Although formal instruction on throw­ arts degree in 1945 from the University watched Marguerite Wildenhain (then, ing was not offered at the university, of Utah. For further study in ceramics, a recent emigree from Germany via Hol­ Bearnson was permitted to attempt to she went to Marguerite Wildenhain’s land) in rapt fascination. After some learn the process herself. Pond Farm Pottery in Northern Cali­ time, her mother requested that she During their time in Virginia, the fornia for seven summers (between 1947 “come along or we’ll miss the rest of the Bearnsons traveled throughout the and 1964). She also studied with fair.” Reluctantly, Bearnson allowed her­ Southern Highlands, often seeing crocks Kyllikki Salmenhaara at the Arabia Por­ self to be ushered away, but the seeds and churns made by folk potters. By celain Factory in Helsinki, Finland

60 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Porcelain Bowl,” 16 inches wide, with copper red glaze fired to Cone 10 in reduction, by Dorothy Bearnson.

“Stoneware Platter,” 18 inches wide, with trailed glazes on temmoku glaze, by Dorothy Bearnson.

September 1999 61 (1956-57), and with Shoji Hamada at San Jose State College (summer 1963). Upon arriving at Pond Farm Pottery in 1947, Bearnson was “scared to death” of Marguerite Wildenhain. “With jet black eyes and, at times, a rough tongue, she was very strict and formal.” Originally addressed as Mrs. Wilden­ hain by her students, she gradually be­ came Marguerite, a friend. Bearnson remembers Wildenhain as “uncompro­ mising in her honesty.” She credits Wildenhain with helping her develop and refine her self-taught throwing skills and with teaching her “to see form in three-dimensional relationships.” Bearnsons awareness of and fond­ ness for Finnish design and ceramics, coupled with her fathers Icelandic an­ “Thorn Cup,” 5 inches in height, porcelaneous stoneware, cestry, intensified her interest in by Kathy Royster, Claremont, California. Scandinavia and Northern Europe. When she discovered that the Finnish ceramist Kyllikki Salmenhaara was in the United States on a Fulbright Grant, she contacted her; later (1956—57), Bearnson sought and received a Fulbright to study with Salmenhaara and Vaino Kankkunen at the Arabia Porcelain Factory, considered “the larg­ est porcelain factory in Europe.” Salmenhaara provided Bearnson “the impetus toward further experimentation with color” in glazes. From Kankkunen, she “learned to make glazes from scratch, hand grinding hard lumps of raw mate­ rials into fine powder, using a mortar and pestle.” It was during her year in Finland that she “found” herself. Learning that Shoji Hamada would be at San Jose State College during the summer of 1963, Bearnson applied and was accepted as a participant. “I loved Hamada; he was a very honest and sin­ “Garden Tea Service,” to 19 inches in height, cere person with a wonderful sense of by Kerri Buxton and Brad Taylor, Salt Lake City. humor.” Working with him helped her “understand Oriental ceramics and gave balance to the way I looked at things.” Bearnson began teaching at the Uni­ versity of Utah in 1946. Though hired to teach drawing and design, her inter­ est in clay, growing expertise in hand- building and experimentation with high-temperature glazes soon impressed

62 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Sirrus,” 8 inches in height, glazed porcelain, by Greg Smith, Centerville, Utah.

Mavel Frazer, a senior faculty colleague who taught anatomy, sculpture and low- fire coil-built pottery. Frazer, who re­ tired a few years later, asked Bearnson to teach courses on pinching, coiling “Seism,” 11 inches in height, stoneware, by Keven Frazier, and slab building. Bearnson, in turn, Anaheim, California. recruited Ivan Cutler, a professor of ce­ ramic engineering, to teach a course for art students. She attended this class along with the students to gain a technical understanding of ceramics. Initially, her students’ work was sup­ posed to be fired in the university’s kero­ sene-fueled lain, but Bearnson found it time-consuming and difficult to fire, so she regularly transported box loads of student work from the fourth-floor ce­ ramics studio to the electric kiln in her basement and back again. By 1948, the College of Fine Arts had been established under Avard Fairbanks and his graduate assistant, Elbert Porter, who was recruited to help equip a ceramics studio. According to Bearnson, Porter could “build anything out of practically nothing.” He built four treadle wheels, located an old dough mixer for mixing clay, and a used assay furnace for testing high-temperature glaze materials. With the purchase of a “Fish Bowl,” 14 inches square, glazed whiteware, by Lori Mehan, Salt Lake City. large electric kiln, additional wheels and some “scales, sieves and crocks from war surplus supplies,” plus other equip-

September 1999 63 ment borrowed from the university’s ce­ during most of her early professional legacy includes not only well-equipped ramic engineering lab, the ceramics stu­ career, she also exposed her students to facilities, but also a rich and varied pro­ dio was established. the work of many female (as well as gram, offering courses for non-art ma­ After being relocated four times to male) ceramists long before “feminism” jors, as well as courses leading to both various buildings on campus, the stu­ had entered the common lexicon. bachelor and master of fine art degrees. dio is now housed in an art and archi­ As the program developed and en­ Although Bearnson has retired from tecture complex completed in 1970-71. rollments increased, art faculty initially teaching at the university, her work in Thanks to Bearnson’s efforts, the uni­ hired to teach in other three-dimen­ ceramics continues. She speaks of a need versity currently devotes 6500 square sional areas were recruited to teach some for “postgraduate opportunities,” per­ feet of space to ceramics, including sepa­ classes in ceramics. By the early 1970s, haps “cooperatives that would allow stu­ rate throwing, handbuilding and plas­ the need for an additional full-time fac­ dents to continue working and become ter rooms, equipped with 10 kilns, 27 ulty member was apparent. In 1973, established” before facing the economic wheels, a pug mill, a slab roller, a spray once Bearnson had secured approval and burden of equipping their own studios. booth, a ball mill and an extruder. funding for a second ceramics position, She would like to help graduates with Moreover, Bearnson recognized the Marilyn Levine was appointed to the this difficult transition from academia need to develop not only a well- faculty. Richard Notkin replaced Levine to independence. The seeds, sown so equipped facility, but also a strong aca­ for part of 1975, and upon Levines long ago, bore an enduring perennial. demic program. To expose her students return to California in 1977, David to diverse influences, she organized lec­ Pendell joined the faculty. Pendell con­ The author A professor of visual arts tures, workshops and conferences to tinues to share responsibilities for an (ceramics) at Weber State University in bring many important ceramists from expanded curriculum, teaching classes Ogden, Utah, since 1971, David Cox the U.S. and abroad to the university. in mold making, low firing and large- resides and operates the Potworks in Hunts­ As the only woman on the art faculty scale ceramic sculpture. Thus, Bearnson’s ville, Utah.

Dorothy Bearnson’s more than “50 years of mentoring” were celebrated by former and current students in the exhibition “Ceramic Ties” at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

64 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Neon Banda,” 12 inches in height, coil-built earthenware, with Cone 05 glaze.

Gary Erickson by Andrea Myklebust

hrough abstraction, Gary Erickson not previously exist. In the context of furrows; the life cycles of plants in seed, Texamines complicated ideas about Ericksons sculptures, the term abstrac­ flower, fruit and decay; and the textures our lives, and creates a synthesis of form tion can be further modified by the of bark, earth, moss and lichens. “Ger­ in which many meanings are both po­ addition of the word organic, in that mination and growth of plants are small tential and present. Among its many they have their origin, in part, in close miracles—related to the conception and definitions in art, abstraction refers to a observation of natural forms. In fact, birth of a child and the life cycle of concentrated essence of a larger whole, when speaking about his work, Erickson humans from infant child to teen, young a notion that is key to understanding is likely to begin with the description of adult, senior, death. The cycle of plants Ericksons work. a garden. As a boy, his grandparents teaches us lessons about life.” Skillfully manipulated by an artist, extensive gardens and greenhouses were His blending of plant, animal and abstraction permits a conceptual syn­ a favorite childhood destination. landscape forms with a pattern and thesis in which different and even ap­ A native midwesterner, Erickson is rhythm drawn from Latin salsa music is parently contradictory ideas come inspired by the landscape in which he also an essential aspect of the work, together to create something that did grew up—the fertile land raised up in providing a framework by which his

September 1999 65 “Cascara Aureo,” 19 inches in height, coil-built earthenware, with texture glazes, fired to Cone 05.

sculptures evolve beyond their sources spread in the late 1960s. It has its roots work. He finds that the language is rich in the natural world of seed and flower in Afro-Cuban popular and folkloric with nuances, which further enrich his and begin to express larger, archetypal music, and is enhanced by jazz textures,” artwork. “I was reading about salsa the ideas. The music gives the work its mus­ explains Erickson. other night, when I came across the cularity and body, providing an internal Through his work, he seeks “to cap­ word ‘rumbero,’ he says, smiling. “It logic that strengthens the complex, ture the vivid celebration of life, inti­ means ‘one who must dance to live.’ I crusty, twisted and shifting organic macy and sexuality I sense in salsa’s like that.” shapes. The result is a synergistic rela­ rhythmic complexity. My primary con­ The musical link to his sculptural tionship between naturalistic forms and cern is to reveal a universal life force. work can be compared with that of the mathematical, rhythmic structure Ever present in nature, this spiritual en­ early 20th-century sculptors working of musical sound. ergy also exists in other forms that touch within a vocabulary of organic abstrac­ “Salsa is a rhythmically complex my life.” tion. In looking back, analogies can be music with layers of texture and a puls­ Erickson also titles his works in Span­ drawn from the abstract sculptures of ing, percussional beat. The name, which ish as a way to pay tribute to salsa mu­ Jean Arp and Constantin Brancusi, and literally means ‘sauce,’ became wide­ sic, acknowledging its influence on the their lives in an era dominated by the

66 CERAMICS MONTHLY rhythms of early jazz, or the cultural ferent from, these fashionable depictions measures for the vulnerable life inside. context that produced George Gersh­ of the body as a conceptual enigma, “The spiral needs to twist far enough wins “Rhapsody in Blue.” Smooth, sleek victim of disease or survivor of oppres­ and the clay needs to be stretched far sculptures produced at the outset of the sive social structures. enough to express the energy or life- 20th century were evocative of the While created with a visual vocabu­ force within. I will sometimes add emerging modern era, expressions of lary grounded in organic abstraction, knobs, protrusions or spikes to protect faith in technology and progress. Ericksons work eludes glib classification this energy,” he says. The contribution of salsa music to or labeling, and opens itself instead to In a number of Ericksons sculptures, Ericksons work yields sculptures that individual interpretation by the viewer. rounded fingerlike extensions rise from are earthier, faster, more immediately Far from being remote, cool or discon­ muscular coils. In others, deeply cut linked to the natural rhythms of our nected, his sculptures are intensely physi­ grooves alternate with swelling curves biology. While the last decade has seen cal and personal, built at a scale that to create objects that are simultaneously the production of a large number of compels us to interact with them as sensual, sinister and inviting. Many works by many artists based on “the they both attract us and warn us to seem to be in a process of transition, body” as a sort of postmodern social keep our distance. eruption, cracking apart or growing construction, Ericksons sculpture exists Erickson thinks of the threatening through divisionlike cells. Like internal in a plane parallel to, but distinctly dif­ aspects of his sculptures as protective organs, they seem delicate but strong,

“Lazo,” 10 inches in height, earthenware, with texture glazes, terra sigillata and stain washes, fired to Cone 05. Recipes

GarysTexture Glaze (Cone 08-06) Gerstley Borate...... 80 % Titanium Dioxide...... 20 100% Mix thick like whipped cream. Do not screen. A thin application will go brown, while a thick application will crawl and break. Fires golden yellow. Color variations are possible “Remolino Purpura,” 17 inches in height, earthenware with texture glaze, by Gary Erickson, Minneapolis, Minnesota. with the following additions: Light Green Copper Carbonate...... 3 % Dark Green Copper Carbonate...... 5 % Blue part of a larger body of works, yet com­ the piece and work back in time as well Cobalt Carbonate...... 3 % plete in themselves, functioning as tac­ as into the future,” he says. “I build in Black tile metaphors for the processes of the one direction looking for the origin Cobalt Oxide...... 5 % physical world. (seed, pod, act of germination) and then Iron Oxide...... 5 % Intensely textured surfaces are cre­ build in the opposite direction, think­ Mason Black Stain...... 10% ated with slips and glazes, applied in ing of maturation and growth that is layers and multifired to achieve the ef­ yet to come. Starting in the center gives fects that he desires. Sometimes, he the piece energy.” Lanas Chartreuse Moss Glaze works with encaustic, a process that in­ Erickson draws a comparison to this (Cone 06) volves applying liquid wax and pigment way of working from the center to his Gerstley Borate...... 5 % to the fired surface. own position in life. “That near-center- Lithium Carbonate...... 80 Erickson typically works on several point is the perspective of someone at Flint ...... 15 sculptures simultaneously. “The element midlife looking back on youth and 100% of time plays a large part in my studio ahead to aging—reflection in both di­ Add: Chrome Oxide...... 3 % work. Each piece is coil built, one layer rections. When I was starting in ceram­ Tin Oxide...... 7 % upon another, as rings in a tree, record­ ics, I made vessels and always started at Bentonite...... 2 % ing a specific period in time. Each layer the bottom, trying to see where it would of coils is in relationship to the preced­ take me. I eventually felt limited by ing one. Like a garden, my sculptures how each piece started and ended, and Bob Shays Beads Glaze cannot be made overnight...in response became most intrigued by the possibili­ (Cone 06-04) to the clay process, only a few inches of ties for the center, where anything could Borax...... 26.67% spiraling form can be built before leav­ happen.” Gerstley Borate...... 33.33 ing it to dry. Germination, the flowering plant and Magnesium Carbonate.... 33.33 “You cannot force a snapdragon to growing seed, the beat of the music— Flint ...... 6.67 grow faster, just as we should not make all are encompassed by Ericksons ce­ 100.00% children grow up too fast. My ideas ramic sculptures. Yet it is precisely these Add: Zircopax...... 6.67% slowly build and change as the form multiple references that give these works develops. A garden space develops at a their fundamental logic and clarity, as Use 3-10% stains for color varia­ similarly slow pace.” all are metaphors for life in all its com­ tions. He prefers to start at “the center of plicated beauty. A

68 CERAMICS MONTHLY Pottery from the Opal Mines by Graeme Anderson

ow< would you like to dig up your own supply of clay from your backyard, with the possibility of dig­ ging up a year’s wages at the same time, and in the process, create a cool, humid storage area for prepared clay? Lying around on the ground are a lot of waterworn stones, some semiprecious in nature, many smooth enough for burnishing. Perhaps you’d like to pick up pieces of wood of wondrous shapes, worn smooth by the mining process and ideal for potters’ tools. HWhenever you’ve had a hard day dig­ ging, or pugging or too many hours at the wheel, you can go for a swim. The Open cut at Australia’s Lightning Ridge (450 miles northwest of Sydney), pool is nice and warm, supplied from where black opals are found in deposits of high-silica clay. an artesian bore to a depth of nearly 3000 feet. It is very soft, containing plenty of soda and other minerals. The pool is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and there is no charge, so you can ease your aching muscles or warm your cold fingers at any time. It’s a good place to meet with friends and catch up on local gossip.

Waste silt from the puddling operation: mixing the clay with lots of water in old cement agitators; after the clay slurry is poured off, the tailings are examined for opals.

September 1999 69 This is Australia’s Lightning Ridge, world renowned for its black opals. It is located 450 miles northwest of Sydney, near the New South Wales/Queensland border. Surrounded by vast black soil plains, it is situated on low ironstone ridges that attract a fair amount of light­ ning—hence the name. The Ridge also attracts a fair amount of tourists from all over the world, so there’s interest in locally made items from local materials. But I’d better stop before you all down tools and arrive on my doorstep. Now for the downside: The opals are generally found in clay, which was deposited as silt on the bot­ Old train cars from the Sydney urban system serve as Anderson’s residence tom of what was once an inland sea. It (left), studio (middle) and showroom (right). Wood is gathered to fuel an outdoor generally consists of kaolinite, illite and cookstove (chimney pipe at center) and a wood-burning kiln. smectite, with a high silica content, which is the main ingredient of opals. It varies from field to field, in color, salt and silica content. Apart from adding a flux to counter­ act the high silica content for normal stoneware firings, I use the clay dug from my claim (aptly named Anderson’s Folly) as is. It is a sticky clay with 20% shrinkage, so most of my pots are small. If I want to make anything over 9 inches in height, I find it easier to make it in two sections. Flat plates and slabs have a tendency to warp. It is always interesting to experiment with deposits from different areas. Most of my pots are now made with a mix­ ture of three clays. They are blended with rainwater in an old 44-gallon drum set up as a blunger. The clay is fine grained and breaks down easily in water when dry. The slurry is dipped out, sieved (40 or 60 mesh) and mixed with The clay is blunged with rainwater in a 44-gallon drum, dipped out and sieved flux in another homemade blunger. (40 or 60 mesh), then mixed with flux in a garbage-can blunger. The pile beside the drum mixer is sieved waste material. Dried on plaster slabs, it is then pug- milled, wrapped in plastic and stored underground to age for at least three months before use on the wheel. I try to area. This is where a bit of excitement hammers, and blowers to suck the dirt prepare enough to last a year or more; happens—I may find a few nice opals out of the mine into tip trucks. It is after aging, it is a delight to use. in the tailings. There’s not much chance, then mixed with a lot of water in old It is not an exciting job, however, so though, as I only get through half a 6x4 cement agitators, a process called pud­ when I am mixing the clay, I usually trailer of clay a year. And there is a lot of dling. All the clay slurry is washed away, also fill an old bathtub with slurry and clay between opals. and the tailings examined for opals. For am able to remove a lot of excess water In the opal-mining procedure, a lot a 20-cubic-yard truckload of clay, there before adding the flux. The clay mixer of the romance is gone. No more hand may be as little as 5 gallons of tailings. is only emptied when too much coarse digging by candlelight and using a hand- I’ve seen many a truckload processed material settles to the bottom or when I powered windlass. Miners now use gen­ for little, if any, payable opals. I could have changed to clay from a different erators, air compressors and jack- use the slurry for pottery, but I’d not

70 CERAMICS MONTHLY Crystalline-glazed bottle, approximately 6 inches in height, wheel-thrown local clay, reduction fired.

Neriage vases, to approximately 5 inches in height, wheel-thrown and faceted colored clays.

Plate, approximately 8 inches in length, with crystalline glaze using 1- and 2-cent coins for colorant, by Graeme Anderson, Lightning Ridge, Australia.

September 1999 71 know where the clay came from and, as I usually bisque fire in a 4-cubic-foot neriage pots glazed only on the inside, the miners use the artesian water, the gas kiln, and occasionally do reduction as I never know what patterns will salt content would be greatly increased. glaze firings, but most of my glazes are emerge, but rubbing off the surface salts And, of course, any opals would have fired, for convenience, in small (2½- before firing is time consuming. been already extracted! cubic-foot) electric kilns. Sometimes I I live and work alone, and because One analysis of the artesian water do a simulated pit firing in a kiln built my pottery is open to the public nearly showed an equivalent per million (epm) from the tailings and silt from the pud­ every day, I have to put off a lot of tasks of: dling operation. until evening. If someone comes in, HC03' 8.50 I like experimenting, but have had that’s usually it for the day. Many of the 2 so4 - 0.10 mixed successes with glazes. I work tourists don’t just want to buy a pot, Cl 1.85 mainly with commercial materials, but they also want to talk about the Ridge F' 0.03 sometimes add local materials, ashes and and opal mining. I now charge a $2 Ca2+ 0.12 waste metals. Some crystalline glazes entrance fee, refundable with any pur­ Mg2* 0.01 with up to 30% opal clay mixed into chase, so if anyone doesn’t want to buy Na+ 10.50 them have been fabulous. Others have at least a small pot, they aren’t going to K+ 0.03 been “Yuck, why did I bother?” Over take up my time. An analysis of the chemical compo­ 6000 pots, mainly small ones, have gone I’m lucky enough to have done sev­ sition of one clay field showed: into my reject pit. eral things in my life, which a lot of

Si02 66.70 Some of the local clay mixes have a people only dream about doing: a judge/ A1203 21.30 great effect on some glazes. For example, referee in wrestling at world titles and Fe203 0.83 on one clay, a crystalline glaze with co­ Olympic matches, escape from the rat TiO; 0.96 balt turned out brown and the glaze did race of an office job, prospecting, and MnO 0.13 not run at all. Its always interesting to now making a living (albeit low) with CaO 0.15 see what happens with the recipe for a clay. If I had to describe myself, I’d say I MgO 0.63 nice glaze, illustrated in a book or maga­ was a mix of Ratty and Toad from The Na20 0.42 zine, when used on my clay. Wind in the Willows. Ratty thinks there’s K20 0.51 I have found that two local clays, nothing as nice as playing around in P205 0.05 with similar shrinkage and hardness, are boats (clay), while Toad says there’s al­ S03 0.17 good for neriage (wheel-thrown colored ways something new and exciting to LOI 8.95 clay) work. I particularly like faceted chase after (clay and glazes). ▲

Clays from five different areas: the columns represent the various deposits, while the rows indicate firing temperature (top row 800°C [1472°F], center row 1170°C [2138°F] and bottom row 1260°C [2300°F], The crushed clay was fired in unglazed bowls. Fired clays can be mixed with glue, then painted on garden pots or other surfaces for stuccolike decorative effects.

72 CERAMICS MONTHLY f a fired glaze looks like beads of water leaves the glaze, and a soft powdery surface glaze absorption. The ware is too absor­ ion a glass tabletop, you’re looking at forms. Once the water evaporates, the low- bent, causing a thick buildup of glaze. Thick crawling. The same forces of surface ten­ density materials remain “unpacked” or glaze applications are more likely to crack sion acting on beading water can also af­ loose, causing an insufficient bond with upon drying, which can cause crawling. fect fluid molten glaze. Glaze crawling can the clay body underneath the glaze. Often At the opposite extreme, too high a have many possible causes, but in most glazes containing low-density materials are bisque temperature or uneven hot spots cases you can try a few solutions simulta­ difficult to handle and load into a kiln on the bisqueware can cause the glaze to neously to eliminate the problem. without damaging the surface. adhere incompletely, which then results in First, make sure the problem is actually Materials that have excessive shrinkage crawling at the firing stage. crawling and not another defect. The glaze rates, such as Gerstley borate, colemanite, Bisquing problems can be overcome by should have rounded edges where it has soda ash and borax, can hold massive choosing a temperature for the clay body drawn away from the exposed clay body. amounts of mechanical or chemical water. that will allow the glaze to build up uni­ The bared patch can be quite dry or slightlyZinc in a glaze can also cause crawling due formly and to the proper thickness, and by shiny. In extreme cases, beads of glaze may to its shrinkage rate at high temperatures. firing the bisque kiln evenly throughout. have dropped off the pot onto the kiln A glaze material that is overmilled can also Most stoneware clay bodies can be bisqued shelf or other pots. cause crawling due to the increased amountat Cone 06 (1830°F). Porcelain bodies usu­ Crawling occurs when the unfired glaze of surface area that must be made wet for ally require a Cone 04 (1940°F) bisque and the underlying clay body do not build glaze application. due to their high-refractory-clay content. and hold a uniform continuous bond. If a To correct high-shrinkage-glaze prob­ glaze has the potential to crawl, thicker lems, use calcined clay for half the clay Wet Glazes applications will exacerbate the problem. component in the recipe. Another alterna­ Loading ware with wet glazes in a fast- Often the simplest solution is a thinner tive is to use a clay that shrinks less than firing kiln can cause crawling. Some pot­ application. If this does not work, other the original clay component of the glaze. ters will rush to start a firing even though steps can be taken to identify and elimi­ For example, if the original recipe calls for the water has not fully evaporated from nate the problem. ball clay (a high-shrinkage clay), kaolin the glazed ware. Fast heating can cause the might be substituted. Less glaze shrinkage water in the glaze to turn into steam; as it Grease and Dust at this stage can eliminate crawling as the expands, it blows off parts of the glaze. Greasy or dusty surfaces disrupt the firing glaze begins to mature. To avoid this problem, place glazed ware clay body and glaze bond. To avoid dust Often frits can be used (less shrinkage in the kiln when it is dry to the touch, problems, blow any dry particles off green­due to the calcining process) in place of then increase the kiln temperature slowly ware before glazing, and place a cover over Gerstley borate or colemanite. Shrinkage (from 212°F to 1100°F) to drive off me­ the bisqueware immediately after unload­ rates can also be reduced by using the samechanical and chemical water in the glaze at ing from a Jdln. To ensure a grease-free material in a coarser grind. In some situa­ a safe rate. surface, always wash your hands before tions, lesser amounts of the high-shrinkage Applying once-fired glazes by spraying touching green- or bisqueware. material can be used in the glaze. decreases the amount of water needed and Another solution might be to add Vee- reduces the chances of the raw glaze shrink­ Low Density and High Shrinkage gum CER or CMC to the glaze. Both ing and eventually crawling off the pot. Low-density and high-shrinkage-rate materials act as binders, keeping the high- Again, slow heating in the 200°F to 1100°F glaze materials can also cause crawling. For shrinkage and low-density materials to­ ranges will allow any water present in the example, magnesium carbonate, a light gether long enough for the sintering or clay body and glaze to be released safely. fluffy material, has a low density. Bento­ melting process to take hold. nite and other types of clays shrink exces­ Overlapping Glazes sively. Both can contribute to crawling. Bisquing Faults Multiple applications of glaze can cause Low-density glaze materials do not com­ Crawling can occur when the bisque crawling, particularly if the base glaze or pact well on the clay body when the water temperature is not high enough for correct the overlapping glaze dries to a powdery

September 1999 73 condition. When this happens, the me­ occur due to the glaze not bonding prop­ weight of the dry ingredients) to prevent chanical bond between the overlapping erly with the underlying clay body. The the formation of soluble salts. Additive A glazes is compromised. The powdery glaze solution is simple: When glazing thin- Type l,Type 3 or Type 4 (0.06% to 0.25% acts like “ball bearings,” resulting in a walled pots, wait for the first glaze applica­ based on the weight of the dry ingredients) nongripping condition. If the materials that tion to dry completely before applying the will also neutralize soluble salts. are causing the soft or powdery surfaces second glaze. Any changes in solubility, pH levels or cannot be replaced, additions of Veegum Sprayed glazes are also likely to crawl if organic conditions can alter the glaze’s CER or CMC should be used in the base the spraying continues when the first lay­ bonding capacity to green- or bisqueware. glaze or the overlapping glaze, or in both. ers are still wet. As excess water in the glazeExcessive ball milling or grinding of the evaporates, it leaves dry glaze particles glaze can release soluble materials into the Refractory or Dusty Underglaze Washesloosely compacted. To avoid this problem, batch. An increase or decrease in the water Frequently, underglaze stains or metal­ spray glaze until the surface becomes moist,pH levels can develop due to a change at lic coloring oxides are applied to green- or then stop. The glaze should pack or com­ the water source or to the breakdown of bisqueware, then covered with a clear or press itself on the clay body surface, result­raw materials. Glazes stored in the liquid semitransparent glaze; however, some stains ing in a stable bond. state for long periods can develop bacteria and oxides are more refractory than others, If the glaze is sprayed from too far a or mold growth. and do not readily go into a melt, particu­ distance, a dry, dusty, lightly packed glaze To avoid problems introduced by such larly those containing manganese, chrome, layer can develop as well. Check the sprayedchanges, use insoluble glaze materials when cobalt and nickel. Refractory possible, or add acid-based or underglazes will cause the alkaline material to adjust the covering glaze area to crawl glaze water pH level. Adding during the firing. one or two drops of bleach Ferro frit 3195 can be per gallon of glaze can coun­ used to flux or melt refrac­ teract mold or bacterial growth tory washes; try a mix of 60% in the glaze. stain or metallic oxide to 40% Ferro frit 3195 for a Cone High Surface Tension 06 (1830°F) firing. For Cone Glazes that contain large 6 (2232°F), use 70% stain or amounts of alumina, tin or metallic oxide to 30% Ferro any of the zirconium silicate frit 3195. For a Cone 9 opacifiers can have high sur­ (2336°F) firing, mix 80% face tension, causing the fired stain or metallic oxide to 20% glaze to become “stiff” when Ferro frit 3195. Once the frit­ molten. Often, glazes contain­ ted underglaze has dried on A thick coat from overlapping glaze can cause crawling. ing such materials are opaque the raw or bisqued clay, it when fired; some have matt should develop a smooth, surface textures. hard surface that will ensure a stable bond glaze when it is dry by touching or lightly High-surface-tension glazes will con­ with the covering glaze. rubbing; it should not dust off excessively dense or pull into themselves, exposing If the underglaze wash is dusty, crawl­ on the fingers. areas of bare clay. Conversely, a glaze with ing of the overlying glaze is likely to take The raw material makeup of a glaze low surface tension flows out, filling cracks place. To tack down dusty underglazes, recipe determines the amount of water re­ and voids in the underlying clay body. add 0.5% to 2% Veegum CER or CMC quired for successful spraying. In short, To correct, reduce the percentages of binders based on the dry weight of the some glazes need more water for good alumina, tin or other high-surface-tension- underglaze wash; for example, to 100 gramsspraying results, some less. To obtain the producing materials. For the most part, of blue stain, add 2 grams of CMC. Water best results, practice spraying with differ­ however, glaze crawling is not due to high is added until the mixture is a “watercolor” ent concentrations of water to glaze and at surface tension, but to other factors dis­ consistency, then the wet mix is screened varying distances from the clay surface. cussed previously—glaze adhesion, thick­ through an 80-mesh sieve. The binder also ness and raw-material-shrinkage rates. enables the underglaze to flow off the brush Soluble Materials While the causes of glaze crawling can in a smooth motion, preventing the Often found in high-iron earthenware be attributed to several factors, the fired brushstroke from skipping across the clay clays and in fireclays, soluble materials can results are the same. Identifying the specific or bisque surface. In situations where an also cause crawling. As the clay dries, these cause will make the solution much easier underglaze wash is both refractory and soluble salts will leach to the surface, form­to find. When faced with crawling, ask dusty, frit and binders can both be added. ing a fuzzy white layer, which does not these questions: Was the bisque surface disappear in the bisque firing. The glaze dusty or greasy before glazing? Was the Excessive Water Penetration layer will then make insufficient contact glaze loose, dusty or cracked after it had When thin-walled pots are glazed first with the clay body, causing the glaze to dried on the pot? Does the glaze include only on one side, the water in the glaze will mature in “mid air.” high-surface-tension-producing raw mate­ penetrate through the pot wall, causing a Washing or scraping the salt deposits rials? All are conditions that can suggest a damp or wet clay surface on the opposite off the bone-dry or bisqued clay is a waste potential crawling problem. Knowing unglazed side of the pot. If glaze is then of time. Instead, add barium carbonate to where the problem started will bring about applied to the wet surface, crawling can the clay body (0.25% to 2% based on the a faster fix. A

74 CERAMICS MONTHLY V. Chin

Porcelain and stoneware vessels by Seabrook, Texas, potter V. Chin (short­ ened from Vorakit Chinookoswong) were exhibited recently at Archway Gal­ lery in Houston. Inspired by nature, he throws most of the basic forms, but often adds handbuilt elements, such as his signature frogs. “For me to make a pot on the wheel is only the begin­ ning,” Chin observes. “I must go from there and push to the limit of the clay; I must explore the maximum possibili­ ties of the material.” Sometimes the surfaces are carved when the clay is leather hard, “using multiple cuts to achieve sharp edges,” he explains. After a bisque firing, tbfe pots are glazed in layers, first by dipping, then by spraying. Subsequent firings are any­ where from Cone 6 to Cone 9 in a propane kiln. A Porcelain vase, 12 inches in height, wheel thrown, with incising and slip clotting, fired to Cone 9, $250.

Vase from the “Watch Frog Series,” Wheel-thrown porcelain vase, 11 inches 11 inches in height, wheel-thrown in height, with carving and crawled glaze porcelain, with incising, slip dots and fired to Cone 7, $250, by V. Chin (Vorakit crawled glaze, fired to Cone 7, $120. Chinookoswong), Seabrook, Texas.

September 1999 75 Ceramics Monthly Collection GROWS

he Ceramics Monthly collection of sculpture and functional ware Thas grown more international in scope with the addition of 14 pieces from the magazines juried competition organized in conjunction with the 1999 National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) conference. Ex­ hibited last spring in Columbus, Ohio, the “Ceramics Monthly International Competition” featured works by 112 artists from 20 countries. To our delight, 14 of these artists (Sung-Min An, Zivile Bardzilauskaite, Stephen Driver, Daphne Roehr Hatcher, Leroy Johnson, Ralph Johnson, Jim Koudelka, Mark Lueders, Donna McGee, John Albert Murphy, Amy “Diversity,” to 24 inches in height, “Voudoun Vase,” 24 inches in Norgaard, Frank Olt, Pamela Pemberton height, earthenware with wheel-thrown, press-molded and handbuilt underglazes and glazes, single porcelain, with masking-tape-resisted and Sami Rinne) donated their works fired to Cone 2, and mixed media, stains, fired to Cone 6 in oxidation, to the Ceramics Monthly permanent col­ by Leroy Johnson, Philadelphia. by John Albert Murphy, Detroit. lection following the exhibition. An ex­ citing addition to the 350+ pieces acquired by the magazine over the past 47 years, these works are currently on display at the American Ceramic Soci­ ety headquarters in Westerville, Ohio. All of the works selected for the ex­ “Knot 4,” 20 inches in hibition can be seen in full-page color diameter, slab-built in the catalog. To order, send $20 plus earthenware, unglazed, $2 shipping/handling for the first cata­ fired to Cone 04, by log and $1 each additional copy for Pamela Pemberton, Anchorage, Alaska. North American orders ($5 shipping/ handling for the first catalog and $2 each additional copy for international orders) to Ceramics Monthly, Post Office Box 6102, Westerville, Ohio 43086- 6102; credit card orders may also be faxed to (614) 891-8960. ▲

“The Spinning Top,” 12 inches in diameter, jiggered stoneware, with oxides and slips brushed onto damp surface, by Sami Rinne, Kuopio, Finland. “Teapot: Domesticity,” 10 inches in height, wheel-thrown earthenware, with slip and underglazes, and grapevine handle, by Donna McGee, Hatfield, Massachusetts.

76 CERAMICS MONTHLY “Tank,” 41 inches in height, multifired “Brown/Yellow Wienhaus,” 32 inches in height, “The Origin of Life,” 5 inches in stoneware, and mixed media, by Jim slab-built earthenware, with slips, on wooden height, slip-cast porcelain, Koudelka, Portland, Oregon. stand, by Mark Lueders, Philadelphia. by Sung-Min An, Seoul, Korea.

“Wired-Bowl,” 16 inches in diameter, earthenware, wire and wire mesh, with slips, glaze and gold leaf, by Ralph Johnson, “Teapot with Bronze Handle,” Capetown, South Africa. 8 inches in height, stoneware with black slip, salt glazed, wood fired, by Stephen Driver, “Untitled Form 784295,” 18 inches Owensboro, Kentucky. high, porcelain, with commercial glazes, raku fired, by Amy Norgaard, Bloomington, Indiana.

“At the Outset,” 11 inches in height, “Helter Skelter Teapot,” “Number 18 Wall Piece,” 26 inches in handbuilt bone china, with gold 11½ inches high, stoneware, height, wheel-thrown, press-molded luster, by Zivile Bardzilauskaite, wood fired, by Daphne Roehr stoneware, fired to Cone 1-2, by Frank Kaunas, Lithuania. Hatcher, Mineola, Texas. Olt, Oyster Bay, New York.

September 1999 77 October 1 entry deadline Juried from up to 2 slides per entry. Fee: $25 for Call for Entries Los Angeles, California “Teapot Whimsy ’99” up to 3 entries. Juror: Billi R. S. Rothove, gallery (October 16-November 21), open to works in all coordinator, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Application Deadlines for Exhibitions, media. Juried from up to 3 slides. Entry fee: $25. Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Awards: four totaling Fairs, Festivals and Sales Commission: 50%. Send SASE to Parham Gallery, $1600 and additional exhibition contracts. For 2847 S. Armacost, Los Angeles 90064; telephone prospectus, send business-sizeSASE by October 5 (877) 339-6982. to Gallery Director, Central Missouri State Uni­ October 8 entry deadline versity, Art Center Gallery, Warrensburg 64093; Omaha, Nebraska “Winterfest II ’99” (No­ or telephone (660) 543-4498. International Exhibitions vember 1-22), open to works in all media. Juried October 31 entry deadline September 8 entry deadline from slides. Entry fee: $30 for up to 3 slides; $5 Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada “9th Biennale Omaha, Nebraska “Miniature II ’99” (Octo­ each additional slide. Awards. For prospectus, Nationale de Ceramique 2000” (June 9-Septem- ber 2—23), open to works in all media. Juried from send SASE to Period Gallery, 5174 Leavenworth, ber 3, 2000, then traveling), open to artists resid­ slides. Entry fee: $30 for up to 3 slides; $5 each Omaha 68106; e-mail [email protected]; ing in Canada; artwork must pertain to the theme additional slide. Awards. For prospectus, send telephone (402) 556-3218. of “voyage.” Juried from 3 slides of up to 3 works; SASE to Period Gallery, 5174 Leavenworth, Omaha October 15 entry deadline include a technical description of each work and a 68106; e-mail [email protected]; telephone Warrensburg, Missouri “Greater Midwest In­ written text explaining how the work explores the (402) 556-3218. ternational XV” (January 24-February 25,2000). theme of voyage. Entry fee: Can$25. Awards: Can$8000. For registration form, contact Biennale Nationale de Ceramique, 864, rue des Ursulines, PO Box 1596, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec G9A 5L9; e-mail [email protected]; tele­ phone (819) 691-0829; or fax (819) 374-1758. November 8 entry deadline Omaha, Nebraska “Spiritual II ’99” (Decem­ ber 4-26). Juried from slides. Fee: $30 for up to 3 slides; $5 for each additional slide. Cash awards. For prospectus, send SASE to Period Gallery, 5174 Leavenworth, Omaha 68106; telephone (402) 556-3218; e-mail [email protected]. December 17 entry deadline Rochester, New York “Porcelain 2000” (March 3-April 1, 2000), open to functional porcelain forms by artists residing in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Juried from slides. Juror: Val Cushing. Fee: $20 for up to 5 entries. Awards: $2000. For prospectus, send SASE to Porcelain 2000, Esmay Fine Art, 1855 Monroe Ave., Roch­ ester 14618. January 8, 2000, entry deadline Omaha, Nebraska “All Media II 2000” (Feb­ ruary 7-28, 2000). Juried from slides. Entry fee: $30 for up to 3 slides; $5 for each additional slide. Cash awards. For prospectus, send SASE to Period Gallery, 5174 Leavenworth, Omaha 68106; e-mail [email protected]; telephone (402) 556-3218. February 8, 2000, entry deadline Omaha, Nebraska “Contemporary II 2000” (March 6-27, 2000). Juried from slides. Entry fee: $30 for up to 3 slides; $5 for each additional slide. Cash awards. For prospectus, send SASE to Period Gallery, 5174 Leavenworth, Omaha 68106; e-mail [email protected]; telephone (402) 556-3218.

United States Exhibitions September 4 entry deadline Joplin, Missouri “National Contemporary Craft Competitive” (November 12-December 19). Juried from slides. Juror: Sherry Leedy. Awards: first place, $1000; plus others. For prospectus, send SASE to Spiva Center for the Arts, 222 W. Third St., Joplin 64801. September 5 entry deadline Manhattan, Kansas “Clay on the Wall” (Octo­ ber 18—November 5), open to works no larger than 36 inches in any direction and weighing no more than 30 pounds. Juried from up to 5 slides of 5 works. Entry fee: $20. Juror: Bill Hunt. For prospectus, send SASE to Juan Granados, Dept, of Art, Texas Tech University, Box 42081, Lub­ bock, TX 79409-2081. [email protected]; telephone (806) 742-3825; or fax (806) 742- 1971. Or send SASE to Gallery Director, Art Dept., Kansas State University, 322 Willard Hall, Manhattan 66506. Continued

78 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999 79 Call for Entries

September 20 entry deadline Wayne, Pennsylvania “Craft Forms ’99” (De­ cember 3-January 22, 2000). Juried from slides (with SASE). Jurors: Sandra Brownlee, weaver; Alec Karros, adjunct associate professor of ceram­ ics, University of the Arts; and Myra Mimlitsch- Gray, associate professor of metals, SUNY at New Paltz. Awards: over $3000. For prospectus, send SASE to Wayne Art Center, 413 Maplewood Ave., Wayne 19087. September 24 entry deadline Coburg, Oregon “La Petite VII” (November). Juried from slides. Entry fee: $ 10 per slide; $25 for 3. For prospectus, send SASE to Alder Gallery, Box 8517, Coburg 97408; e-mail [email protected]; or telephone (541) 342-6411. October 1 entry deadline Lafayette, Louisiana “National Juried Compe­ tition of Original 2- and 3-Dimensional Art” (March 9-April 25, 2000). Juried from slides. Juror: Serge Hollerbach. Anticipated awards: $6000. Send SASE to NJS, Lafayette Art Associa­ tion, 412 Travis St., Lafayette 70503; or tele­ phone (318) 269-0363. Detroit, Michigan “Incubation” (April), open to emerging clay artists. Juried from up to 20 slides and resume (with SASE). Contact Pewabic Pottery, Attn: Carrie Bennett, 10125 E. Jefferson, Detroit 48214. Carrboro, North Carolina “Year 2000 Design and Spirit” (January 1-March 31, 2000), open to works in all media; no installations. Juried from 2 slides per entry plus resume and biography (in­ clude SASE); up to 2 entries. Fee: $25 per entry. Cash and merit awards. Send SASE to Green Tara Gallery, 118 E. Main St., Carrboro 27510; or e-mail [email protected]. October 13 entry deadline Alexandria, Virginia “Time Will Tell” (No­ vember 24-January 2, 2000), open to works in all media referring to the passage of time. Juried from slides. Fee: $25 for 3 slides. Juror: Wendell Castle. For prospectus, send SASE to Target Gallery, 105 N. Union St., Alexandria 22314; e-mail [email protected]; or telephone/fax (703) 549-6877. October 15 entry deadline El Cajon, California “Viewpoint: Ceramics 2000” (January 24-February 26, 2000). Juried from slides. Fee: $20 for up to 3 entries. Juror: Lloyd E. Herman, craft exhibition curator and museum consultant, Seattle. Awards: $1000, $750, $500. For application, contact Grossmont College Hyde Gallery, 8800 Grossmont College Dr., El Cajon 92020-1799; or telephone (619) 644-7299. November 15 entry deadline Lindsborg, Kansas “Aesthetics 2000” (Febru- ary-March 2000), open to works in all media. Awards. For prospectus, send LSASE to Aesthetics, 300 N. Main, Dept. WIA, McPherson, KS 67460. December 1 entry deadline St. Louis, Missouri*Show Me the Shoe” (Janu­ ary 15-May 1, 2000), open to works in all media relating to the theme of shoes. Juried from slides or photos. Cash awards: $500, $300 and $200. Contact Jean Steck, Assistant Director, City Museum, 701 N. 15th St., St. Louis 63103; e-mail [email protected]; see website www.citymuseum.org; or telephone (314) 231- 2489, ext. 113. December 4 entry deadline Thibodaux, Louisiana “Utilitarian Ceramic National” (opens February 28,2000). J uried from

80 CERAMICS MONTHLY

Call for Entries

3 slides. Juror: Bill Griffith, assistant director, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Tennessee. For entry form, contact Dennis Sipiorski, Nicholls State University, Dept, of Art, PO Box 2025, Thibodaux 70310; e-mail [email protected]; telephone (504) 448-4597; fax (504) 448-4596. December 15 entry deadline New York, New York “Artists on Their Own” (February 24-March 25, 2000), open to artists creating ceramic and ceramic/mixed-media works, and who are presently without exclusive gallery affiliation and not selected for last year’s exhibi­ tion. Juried from slides. Entry fee: $20. For pro­ spectus, send #10 SASE to Jane Hartsook Gallery, Greenwich House Pottery, 16 Jones St., New York 10014. January 1, 2000, entry deadline Los Angeles, California “Erotic Teapot Show II” (February 1-28, 2000). Juried from slides or photos. Entry fee: $15 (with SASE). For further information, contact Parham Gallery, 2847 S. Armacost, Los Angeles 90064; or telephone (310) 473-5603. January 15, 2000, entry deadline Lancaster, Pennsylvania “8th Annual Strictly Functional Pottery National” (April 14-June 11, 2000). Juried from slides. Juror: Ken Ferguson. For prospectus, contact Caroline Henderson, Di­ rector SFPN, Market House Craft Center, PO Box 204, East Petersburg, PA 17520. January 28, 2000, entry deadline Lincoln, California “Feats of Clay XIII” (May 6-28,2000). Juried from slides. Fee: $15/1 entry; $25/2; $30/3. Late entry deadline: February 28, 2000; add $5 onto entry fee. Juror: Catharine Hiersoux. Awards: approximately $9000 in place, purchase and merit awards. For prospectus, send legal-size SASE to Lincoln Arts, PO Box 1166, Lincoln 95648.

Fairs, Festivals and Sales September 15 entry deadline Northridge, California “Fall Fest ’99” (No­ vember 6-7). Juried from 4 slides or photos. Booth fee: $ 100 for a 1 Ox 10-foot space; $75 for an 8x6-foot space. Commission: 10%. For further information, contact Kathy, (818) 993-8481 or e-mail [email protected]. October 15 entry deadline Forest Hills, New York “7th Annual Central Queens Y Holiday Craft Fair” (November 28). Juried from slides and/or photos. For further information, contact Susan Kiok, Central Queens Y, 67-09 108th St., Forest Hills 11375; telephone (718) 268-5011, ext. 233. December 3 entry deadline Gainesville, Florida “ 14th Annual Hoggetowne Medieval Faire” (February 11-13, 2000). Juried from slides. Booth fee: $ 115. For further informa­ tion or application, contact Linda Piper, (352) 334-5064.

For a free listing, please submit informa­ tion on juried exhibitions, fairs, festivals and sales at least four months before the event’s entry deadline (add one month for listings in July and two months for those in August). Regional exhibitions must be open to more than one state. Mail to Call for Entries, Ceramics Monthly, PO Box 6102, Westerville, OH 43086-6102, e-mail to [email protected] or fax to (614) 891-8960.

82 CERAMICS MONTHLY

Suggestions From Readers

Small Drape Molds Are you wondering about what to do with used softbrick, besides whittling a lifetime supply of peephole plugs? Well, since they are easily cut and shaped, you could use them as drape molds to get the perfect fit for the gentle arc of barrette clasps. And, when the clay is ready to fire, the drape mold serves double­ duty by going into the kiln as well.—Van Moore, Sheperdstown, W.Va.

Here Slurry, Slurry, Slurry Do you have lots of slurry and a cat? Many brands of cat litter come packaged in plastic buckets with a handle and a lid. The empty buckets are large enough to hold lots of slurry, yet small enough to move without breaking your back!—Theresa Saint, Austin, Texas

Catching a Lot of Scrap I am always looking for safe, economical ways to keep my studio tidy, as it is located in my basement. Three plastic runners duct taped together provide a sturdy, portable mat (roughly 6 feet square) that can be placed in a messy area to catch the brunt of any scraps that fall to the floor. This can be periodically rolled or folded up, then shaken and hosed off outside. I prefer to keep my mat under my kickwheel to catch trimming scraps.—Carrie Gray-Wood, Arlington, S.D.

Keeping Gaseous A common problem with raku firing is having the small 20-pound propane tank freeze up and stopping the flow of gas. To remedy this, you can switch over to a 100- pound propane tank. It is still small enough to be portable, usually costs about $30 to fill, and will not freeze up as easily.—Cary Crim, Columbia, Mo.

Inexpensive Work Surface An inexpensive portable work surface for miniatures can be made by gluing fabric to a cheap wooden cigar box. The box will hold all the necessary tools and small batches of clay.— Andi Fasinpour, Dayton, Ohio

Share your ideas with others. Ceramics Monthly will pay $10 for each one published. Suggestions are welcome individually or in quantity. Include a drawing or photograph to illustrate your idea and we will add $10 to the payment. Mail to Ceramics Monthly, PO Box 6102, Westerville, Ohio 43086-6102, e-mail to [email protected] or fax to (614) 891-8960.

84 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999 85 Blvd., PO Box 3388, Zanesville, OH 43702- Calendar 3388; [email protected] ; telephone (740) 452-4541; fax (740) 452-2552. Events to Attend—Conferences, Virginia, Front Royal September 30-0ctober 3 Exhibitions, Workshops, Fairs “Third Virginia Clay Conference” will include workshops with David Crane, Kevin Crowe and Silvie Granatelli; plus demonstrations, raku and sawdust firings, and exhibition. Contact Fran Conferences Newquist, Manassas Clay/Tin Barn Pottery, 9122 Center St., Manassas, VA 20110; or telephone Colorado, Denver March 22-25, 2000 “Higher (703) 330-1173. Ground,” 34th National Council on Education Canada, Ontario, Toronto October 7—3 “Interna­ for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) conference. Con­ tional Creators ’99” conference will include pre­ tact Regina Brown, Executive Secretary, NCECA, sentation by figurative ceramist Philip Eglin (on PO Box 1677, Bandon, OR 97411; telephone October 2). Fee: Can$25 (approximately US$17) (800) 99-NCECA. plus GST; students/seniors, Can$15 (approxi­ Florida, Clearwater Beach February 3—4, 2000 mately US$10) plus GST. For further informa­ “CerMATECH 2000—Problem-Solving Work­ tion, contact Jean Johnson, Harbourfront Centre, shop for Production Potters.” For further informa­ (416) 973-4928. tion, contact CerMA, 1100-H Brandywine Blvd., PO Box 3388, Zanesville, OH 43702-3388; e-mail Solo Exhibitions [email protected]; telephone (740) 452- 4541; fax (740) 452-2552. California, BerkeleySeptember25-October30]u\'i3. Iowa, Iowa City September 29-October 2“Differ­ Galloway; at Trax Gallery, 1306 Third St. ent Stokes,” international wood-fire conference. California, San Francisco September 2-October30 Contact Chuck Hindes, School of Art, University Michael Lucero, sculpture; at Dorothy Weiss Gal­ of Iowa, Iowa City 52242; fax (319) 335-1774; lery, 256 Sutter St. e-mail [email protected]. October 19-November27Hsin-Chuen Lin, sculp­ Maryland, Easton October 22-23 “Third An­ ture; at Evolving Space, 536 Pacific Ave. nual Maryland Clay Conference” will include California, Santa Monica September 4—29 Goro slide lecture and demonstrations by Michael Suzuki.October 2-30 Ralph Bacerra; at Frank Sherrill; plus sale of works by Sherrill and con­ Lloyd Gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave. B5b. ference participants. Fee: $50; Academy and Florida, Winter Park September 17-October 31 Clay Guild members, $45; student discounts Barbara Sorensen, “Sculpture as Environment”; at available. Contact the Academy of the Arts (410) the Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Rollins College. 822-0455. Or contact Virginia Perram, Clay Illinois, Chicago through September 3 Jack Earl. Guild president, (410) 745-6496. September lO-October 9 Anthony Caro, ceramic Michigan, Detroit area October 15 “Michigan sculpture. October 15-November 13 Richard Shaw; Mud V,” including demonstrations and slide at Perimeter Gallery, 210 W. Superior St. presentations with Mark Chatterley, Juliana September 4— October 2Suze Lindsay. Ellen Shankin. Clendenin, John Glick, Eva Kwong, Nawal and October 9—November 7 Robin Murphy; at Lill Karim Motawi, Susanne Stephenson, and Jane Street, 1021 W. Lill. White. Sponsored by the Michigan Potters Asso­ Massachusetts, Ipswich September 4-28 Stina ciation. Contact Adele Barres, 1201 Miller, Ann Lindroth. October 2-31 Jane Tocco; at Ocmulgee Arbor, MI 48103; or telephone (734) 663-8269. Pottery and Gallery, 317 High St.-Rte. 1A. North Carolina, Greenville October 5-10 Michigan, Detroit October 9-January 2, 2000 “‘I “Pyrochromatics: An International Symposium made this jar...’ The Life and Works of the En­ on Color in Wood-Fired Ceramics” will include slaved African-American Potter, Dave”; at the lectures, demonstrations, workshops, firings and Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American exhibitions. Contact Susan Nicholls, Wellington History, 315 E. Warren Ave. B. Gray Gallery, School of Art, Jenkins Fine Arts Minnesota, Minneapolis September 17—October Center, East Carolina University, Greenville 21 Norman Holen, “Expressions in Graphite and 27858-4353; telephone (252) 328-6336; fax (252) Clay”; at the Gage Gallery, Augsburg College, 328-6441. 2211 Riverside Ave. Pennsylvania, Erie October 20-23 “Tiles of Erie: September 17— October30]\xn Kaneko; at the North­ Preservation and Possibilities,” eighth annual tile ern Clay Center, 2424 E. Franklin Ave. symposium, will include slide lectures by Susan Missouri, St. Louis September 17-October 31 Russ Kemenyffy, Cleota Reed, Michael Sims and Robert Wrankle, MFA exhibition; at Craft Alliance, Stix Winter; tile-making workshops, demonstrations, Friedman Gallery, 6640 Delmar Blvd. antique/contemporary tile sale, tours. Contact Tile New Mexico, Albuquerque October 1—December 31 Heritage, PO Box 1850, Healdsburg, CA 95448; Mia Blocker, handbuilt stoneware vessels; at Framing telephone (707) 431-8453; fax (707) 431-8455. Concepts Gallery, 5809-B Juan Tabo Blvd., NE. Tennessee, Jackson September 14—17 “Clay in New Mexico, Santa Fe through September25Richard Y2K—Engineering Ceramic Raw Materials” will DeVore, “The Dark Side”; at Bellas Artes, 653 Can­ include seminars on the basics and applications of yon Rd. thermal analysis, control of quality in slurry sys­ New York, Bridgehampton (Long Island) through tems used for slip casting, laboratory control and September 21 Sheryl Zacharia, “Creatures”; at Elaine development in the processes of clay operations, Benson Gallery, 2319 Montauk Hwy. etc.; plus tours of ceramic-manufacturing plants New York, Port Chester September 26—October 24 and mines. Contact CerMA, 1100-H Brandywine Christina Bertoni, “Working from the Midpoint”; at the Clay Art Center, 40 Beech St. Ohio, Youngstown September 12—November 2 For a free listing, submit announcements of “The Stonewares of Charles Fergus Binns: Father conferences, exhibitions, workshops and ju­ of American Studio Ceramics”; at the Butler Insti­ ried fairs at least two months before the tute of American Art, 524 Wick Ave. month of opening. Add one month for list­ Oregon, Lincoln City through September 3 Katy ings in July; two months for those in August. McFadden, stoneware figures, planters and hats. Mail to Calendar, Ceramics Monthly, PO Box September 4—October 1 Jim Kraft, ceramic vessels; 6102, Westerville, OH 43086-6102, e-mail to at Freed Gallery, 6119 S.W. Hwy. 101. [email protected] or fax to Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh through September 15 (614)891-8960. Elvira Finnegan. Everett Sturgeon.September 17—

86 CERAMICS MONTHLY

mon Clay,” works by Philip Cornelius, Patrick September 30-0ctober 30 “International Juried Calendar Shia Crabb, William Catling, Barbara Hashimoto Wood-fire Exhibition”; at the Studiolo Gallery. and Susan Rawcliffe; at Angel’s Gate Cultural Kansas, Manhattan October 18—November5“ Clay Center Gallery, 3601 S. Gaffey St. on the Wall”; at the Kansas State University Gal­ October 13 Glenn Davis; at the Clay Place, 5416 Florida, St. Petersburg September lO-October 30 lery of Art. Walnut St. “Flora and Fauna,” sculpture by 9 artists; at the Maryland, Baltimore September 4-25 “Animalia”; Texas, Dallas September 17-October 23 Marla Florida Craftsmen Gallery, 501 Central Ave. at Baltimore Clayworks, 5706 Smith Ave. Ziegler; at Craighead-Green Gallery, 2404 Cedar Illinois, Chicago October 9—November 7 “Seren­ Massachusetts, Harwichport through September 6 Springs, Ste. 700. dipity: The Magic of Wood-fired Ceramics,” with Works by Cape Cod Potters Guild members; at Wisconsin, Madison October 1-21 Samantha Cot- works by Mark Hewitt, Chuck Hindes, Randy the Always and Forever Gallery, 791 Main St. terill; at Higher Fire Clay Studio, 2132 Regent St. Johnston, Jan McKeachie Johnston and Ben Owen Massachusetts, Lexington October5-30“ The State III; at Gallery 1021, Lill Street, 1021 W. Lill. of Clay”; at the Lexington Arts and Crafts Society, Group Ceramics Exhibitions Iowa, Iowa City September 15-December 75Interna­ 130 Waltham St. tional invitational of wood-fired works; at the Uni­ Massachusetts, Northampton through October 3 California, Lincoln September 3—25“^ oyages and versity of Iowa Museum of Art, 150 N. Riverside Dr. “China Painting Today.” October 9—November 7 Migrations,” sculpture by L. Luis Ortiz, J. Randall September 16-October 3 “Functional Fire: Wood- Ceramics by Paul Dresang, Mark Shapiro and Michael Smith; at the Lincoln Art Center, 540 F St. fired Cup Show”; at Iowa Artisans Gallery, 117 E. Simon; at Ferrin Gallery, 179 Main. California, San Pedro through September 19“Com­ College St. Michigan, Detroit September 10— October30“Body Parts”; at Pewabic Pottery, 10125 E. Jefferson at Cadillac. Michigan, Dexter September 1—October 15 “Out of Clay II”; at Susannah Keith Gallery, 8099 Main St. Michigan, University Center October 4—28 Ce­ ramics by Guy Adamec, John Glick, Craig Hinshaw and Elizabeth Lurie; at Saginaw Valley State University’s Art Gallery. Minnesota, Minneapolis through September 4 “McKnight Artists Exhibition,” works by Judith Altobell, Marina Kuchinski, Jeffrey Oestreich and George Pearlman; at Northern Clay Center, 2424 Franklin Ave., E. New Jersey, Princeton through September 26“¥rom Ritual Simplicity to Imperial Splendor,” 36 Chi­ nese ceramic works; at the Franz Galleries, the Art Museum, Princeton University. New Mexico, Santa Fe September 3-October 1 “New Mexico Clay ’99”; at Santa Fe Clay, 1615 Paseo de Peralta. New York, Albany through September 13, 2000 “From the Collections: The Weitsman Stoneware Collection”; at the New York State Museum, Empire State Plaza. New York, Alfred through September 5?“Lost Molds and Found Dinnerware: Rediscovering Eva Zeisel’s Hallcraft.” September 18—December l6“The Alfred Asia Connection: The Asia Alfred Reflection”; at the International Museum of Ceramic Art at Alfred, Ceramic Corridor Innovation Center, Rte. 244. New York, New York through October 24“Discov­ ering the Secrets of Soft-Paste Porcelain at the Saint- Cloud Manufactory, ca. 1690-1766”; at the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, 18 W. 86th St. New York, Syracuse through September 12 “Syra­ cuse Ceramics Educators”; at the Everson Mu­ seum of Art, 401 Harrison St. North Carolina, Asheville through October2 “Od­ yssey Center Annual Instructor Exhibit”; at Odyssey Gallery, 242 Clingman Ave. North Carolina, Charlotte October 1-29 Ceram­ ics by John Goodheart and Ole Morten Rokvam; at Gallery W.D.O., Ste. 610 at Atherton Mill, 2000 South Blvd. North Carolina, Cornelius October 15—November 17“Earth Connection,” ceramic sculpture by Clara Couch and Alice Ballard Munn; at Christa Faut Gallery, 19818 N. Cove Rd., Ste. E3, Jetton Vil­ lage, Lake Norman. North Carolina, Raleigh September 1-30 Pottery by Gary Fuquay and Randy Hinson.October 1—31 Ceramics by Shar Christman and Walter Marinetti; at Collective Arts Gallery and Ceramic Supply, 8801 Leadmine Rd., Ste. 103. North Carolina, Winston-Salem September 18- March 26, 2000 “Presidential China Exhibit”; at the Gallery at Old Salem, Frank L. Horton Mu­ seum Center, 924 S. Main St. Oklahoma, Stillwater October 22-November 29 “Prairie Fire,” ceramics by Bede Clarke, Keith Ekstam, Kevin Hughes, Howard Koerth, Malcolm

88 CERAMICS MONTHLY E. Kucharski, Jeff Johnston, Lisa Lockman and Marcia Polenberg; at Gardiner Art Gallery, Okla­ homa State University. Pennsylvania, Chester Springs September 10— Oc­ tober 2 “Habit to Ritual: Pots for Living,” juried show of works by 29 artists. “Studio Days ’99,” curated show of works by 15 ceramics artists; at Chester Springs Studio, 1668 Art School Rd. Pennsylvania, Erie October 20-March 5, 2000 “Poems in Clay: Arthur Osborne’s ‘Plastic Sketches’ for the Low Art Tile Works,” exhibition of deco­ rative, low-relief, sculptural clay images produced in the 1880s; at the Erie Art Museum, 411 State St. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia October 1-24 “Red- ware: Tradition and Beyond.” October 1—31 “Spaces: Interior, Exterior and Internal”; at the Clay Studio, 139 N. Second St. Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh September 17—Novem­ ber 10 Denise, Joshua and Nathan Green, “The Green Room”; at the Clay Place, 5416 Walnut St. Texas, Alpine September 5— I7“The First Ever Sul Ross State University Ceramic Invitational,” with works by Lee Akins, Daphne Hatcher, Gary Hatcher, Kevin A. Hluch, Mel Jacobson, Elmer Taylor, Jack Troy and James Watkins; at the Fine Arts and Communications Gallery, Sul Ross State University, East Highway 90. Texas, San Antonio September2-October 7^“The Potters of Mata Ortiz”; at the Southwest School of Art and Craft, 300 Augusta. Vermont, Waterbury Center September 1—Octo­ ber 15“ The Dinner Table.” October 15—November 30 “Recent Transplants,” pottery by Diane Rosenmiller and Nicholas Seidner; at the Vermont Clay Studio, Rte. 100. Virginia, Alexandria through September 27 “Touched by Fire.” September 28—October 25 “Soups, Stews and Other Brews,” functional works by Kiln Club of Washington members; at Scope Gallery, Torpedo Factory, Studio 19, 105 N. Union St. Virginia, Arlington September 13— October23 “Pot­ tery for Pleasure and Use,” works by 15 potters; at Ellipse Arts Center, 4350 N. Fairfax Dr. Virginia, Farmville through September 7#“River of Fire: Potters of the Goochland Anagama,” works by Stephen Addiss, Katie Boltz, Fiona Donaghey- Ross, Randy Edmonson, Scott Meredith and John Williams; at Bedford Gallery, Longwood College. Wyoming, Buffalo September 9—November 12 Ceramics by Tom and Jean Latka; at Margo’s Pottery and Fine Crafts, 26 N. Main. Wyoming, Cheyenne October 6-27“Potters from the Archie Bray Founation”; at the Laramie County Community College, Fine Arts Gallery, 1400 E. College Dr. Ceramics in Multimedia Exhibitions Arizona, Flagstaff through September 19 “Endur­ ing Creations: Master Work of Native American Art”; at the Museum of Northern Arizona, 3101 N. Fort Valley Rd. Arizona, Mesa October 12-November 13 “’99 Cups”; at Galeria Mesa, Mesa Arts Center, 155 N. Center St. Arizona, Scottsdale through September 30 Qztzm- ics, wood, metal and fiber by Arizona artists; at materia/The Hand and the Spirit, 4222 N. Marshall Way. Arizona, Tucson September 18—November 2 “Dia de Los Muertos,” featuring ceramics by Susie Ketchum; at Obsidian Gallery, St. Philips Plaza, Ste. 90, 4340 N. Campbell Ave. California, Oakland through September 11 “Bay Area Sculptors: Group Exhibition V,” including ceramic sculpture by Jane Grimm; at Oakland Museum of California, OMCA Sculpture Court at CityCenter, 1111 Broadway. California, San Diego through 2001 “Folk Art of

September 1999 89 Colorado, Boulder through September 11 “Celes­ Great Goddess,” 120 works of Indian art, including Calendar tial Seasonings: A Loose Interpretation IV”; at terra cotta; at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smith­ Celestial Seasonings, 4600 Sleepytime Dr. sonian Institution. Colorado, Denver through October 3 “White on September 19-January 2, 2000 “The Golden Age Mexico”; attheMingei International Museum, Balboa White: Chinese Jades and Ceramics from the Tang of Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the Park, 1439 El Prado. through Qing Dynasties”; at the Denver Art Mu­ People’s Republic of China”; at the National Gal­ through October 17 “The Art of Craft: Contempo­ seum, 100 W. 14th Ave. Pkwy. lery of Art, East Bldg. rary Works from the Saxe Collection”; at the M.H. Connecticut, New Canaan September 12—October Florida, Tampa through September 30 “National de Young Memorial Museum, Golden Gate Park, 8 “USA Craft Today ’99”; at Silvermine Guild Open Juried Exhibition”; at Artists Unlimited, the 75 Tea Garden Dr. Arts Center, 1037 Silvermine Rd. Channel District, 223 N. 12th St. California, Stanford through September 19“Arthur Connecticut, Westport through September 6 Hawaii, Honolulu throughJanuary 16,2000“ Hawai’i Wesley Dow and American Arts and Crafts”; at Iris “SCENTS and nonSCENTS ’99”; at Signature, and Its People”; at Honolulu Academy of Arts. andB. Gerald Cantor Center for the Arts, Stanford 48 Post Rd., E, at Main St. Illinois, Chicago October 8—January 2, 2000 University. Delaware, Wilmington through September 6 “Arthur Wesley Dow and American Arts and Colorado, Aspen through September 30 “Silence “Splendors of Meiji: Treasures of Imperial Japan”; Crafts”; at Terra Museum of American Art, 666 N. Speaks,” installation exhibition featuring ceramics at the First USA Riverfront Arts Center, 800 S. Michigan Ave. by Nori Pao and Siglinda Scarpa; at Castle Creek Madison St. October 15—November 13 “Masters of Craft”; at Gallery, 715 S. Seventh St. D. C., Washington through September 6“ Devi: The Perimeter Gallery, 210 W. Superior St. Iowa, Sioux City through January 16, 2000 “Im­ ages of Iowa”; at the Sioux City Art Center, 225 Nebraska St. Kentucky, Louisville September 8— October23Dual exhibition with ceramics by Sarah Frederick; at the Kentucky Art and Craft Gallery, 609 W. Main St. Massachusetts, Boston through September 6 “SCENTS and nonSCENTS ’99”; at Signature, Dock Square, 24 North St. Massachusetts, Chestnut Hill through September 6 “SCENTS and nonSCENTS ’99”; at Signature, the Mall at Chestnut Hill, 165 Boylston St. Massachusetts, East Otis through October3 “Light ’em Up”; at the Clayground, 436 N. Blandford Rd. Massachusetts, Mashpee through September 6 “SCENTS and nonSCENTS ’99”; at Signature, Mashpee Commons, 10 Steeple St. Massachusetts, New Bedford October 7-January 9, 2000 “Stop Asking/We Exist: 25 African- American Craft Artists”; at the New Bedford Art Museum, 608 Pleasant St. Massachusetts, Worcester September 17—October 77“Season to Taste”; at the Worcester Center for Crafts, Gallery Gift Store, 25 Sagamore Rd. Missouri, St. Louis September 17—October31 “Tea n’ Trompe: The Influence of Traditional Trompe l’Oeil Teapots on Contemporary Crafts”; at Craft Alliance, 6640 Delmar Blvd. Missouri, Springfield through August 1, 2000 “Outdoor Sculpture Competition”; at the Open Air Sculpture Gallery, Federal Historic District. Montana, Browning through November 13 “16th Annual Summer Sales Exhibit”; at the Museum of the Plains Indian. Montana, Helena through October 31 “ANA 28, National Juried Exhibition”; at the Holter Mu­ seum of Art, 12 E. Lawrence St. Nevada, Reno September 29-October 4 “Wild Women Exhibition and Sale”; at the Nevada Museum of Art, 160 W. Liberty St. New Jersey, Boonton October 1-31 “It’s Raining Cats and Dogs”; at MudWorks, 720 Main St. New Jersey, Loveladiesthrough October 12 Con­ temporary crafts; at the Long Beach Island Foun­ dation of the Arts and Sciences, Craft Gallery, 120 Long Beach Blvd. New York, Albany through September 13, 2000 “From the Collections: Treasures from the Wunsch Americana Foundation”; at the New York State Museum, Empire State Plaza. New York, New York through September 8 “Stop Asking/We Exist: 25 African-American Craft Artists”; at the American Craft Museum, 40 W. 53rd St. New York, Syracuse through September 72 “20th- Century Sculpture from the Collection”; at Everson Museum of Art, 401 Harrison St. North Carolina, Carrboro September 7—October 2 “Celebrating Hispanic Art,” including ceramics by the potters ofMata Ortiz. October5-30“ Autumnal,” including ceramics by Doug Dotson; at Green Tara Gallery, 118 E. Main St. North Carolina, Charlotte September 1—29 “The

90 CERAMICS MONTHLY Nature of Things,” 4-person exhibition including Valley Benefit Craft Auction and Dinner.” Tick­ September 16-18 “Arts of Pacific Asia”; at the 69th folk pottery by Lucien Koonce; at Gallery W.D.O., ets: $35. For reservations or further information, Regiment Armory, Lexington Ave. at 26th St. Ste. 610 at Atherton Mill, 2000 South Blvd. contact Peters Valley Craft Center: e-mail New York, Setauket, Long Island September 18- North Carolina, Waynesville September 25-No- [email protected]; see website www.pvcrafts.org; 19 “Gallery North 34th Annual Outdoor Art vember 2 Three-person exhibition including ce­ or telephone (973) 948-5200. Show”; at Gallery North, 90 N. Country Rd. ramics by Brandon Dodson; at Twigs and Leaves September25-26“ Peters Valley Craft Fair”; at Peters North Carolina, Asheville October 21-24“Craft Gallery, 98 N. Main St. Valley Craft Education Center, Hillside Meadow. Fair of the Southern Highlands”; at the Asheville Ohio, Akron through September 5 “Art at the End New Mexico, Abiquiu October 9—10 “Abiquiu Civic Center, Haywood St. of the Millennium: Contemporary Art from the Studio Tour 99,” studio tours of 40 artists. Maps Ohio, Archbold September 25 “Art and Craft Milwaukee Art Museum,” including ceramic sculp­ are available at area businesses and studios. Festival”; at Sauder Village, State Rte. 2. ture by Robert Arneson; at the Akron Art Mu­ New Mexico, Alcalde October2-3 “Espanola Val­ Ohio, Bowling Green September 11—12 “Black seum, 70 E. Market St. ley Arts Festival”; at the Northern New Mexico Swamp Arts Festival”; downtown. Oregon, Portland through September 19 “Hand­ Community College, Espanola campus. Pennsylvania, Erie October23“Antique and Con­ made Oregon”; at the Contemporary Crafts Gal­ New York, New York September 4—6 and 11—12 temporary Tile Festival and Sale”; at East High lery, 3934 S.W. Corbett Ave. “Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit”; in School, 1001 Atkins St. through October3“The Inquisitive Object: A Bien­ Greenwich Village. Maps are available at the infor­ Pennsylvania, RichboroOctober 15—17 “State nial Review of Northwest Art and Craft”; at the mation booth at University PI. and 8th St.; or Craft Festival”; at Tyler State Park. Oregon College of Art and Craft, 8245 S.W. telephone (212) 982-6255. Texas, Gruene (New Braunfels)October 23-24 Barnes Rd. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia October 10—January 2, 2000 “Worldly Goods: The Arts of Early Penn­ sylvania, 1680-1758”; at the Philadelphia Mu­ seum of Art, Benjamin Franklin Pkwy. Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh through October 10“Sha­ mans, Gods and Mythic Beasts”; at the Frick Art Museum, 7227 Reynolds St. Tennessee, Smithville through September26“F\ir- niture 99: The Circle Unbroken”; at the Appala­ chian Center for Crafts. Vermont, Burlington September 17-October 24 “Art and the Written Word”; at the Vermont State Craft Center, 85 Church St.

Fairs, Festivals and Sales Alabama, Springville October 7-3 “Harvest Festi­ val”; at Homestead Hollow. California, San Diego October 2“Mudfest ’99,” pottery-making contests and sale of ceramics; at Balboa Park. Colorado, Manitou Springs September 4—6 “Commonwheel Artists 25th Annual Labor Day Weekend Arts and Crafts Festival”; at Manitou Springs Memorial Park. Indiana, Columbus September 7#-7i?“Chautauqua of the Arts”; at Mill Race Park. Indiana, French Lick October 16— 77“French Lick Springs Resort Fine Arts Festival”; at French Lick Springs Resort, 8670 W. State Rd. 56. Iowa, Sioux City September 4—5“ Artsplash, Festi­ val of Arts”; at the Anderson Dance Pavilion, on the riverfront. Maryland, Baltimore September24“A Hands-On Affair,” including a live and silent auction of crafts, and hands-on clay activities. Tickets: $75 in ad­ vance. Telephone Baltimore Clayworks, (410) 578- 1919; or see website www.baltimoreclayworks.org. Maryland, Columbia September 11 “Courtyard Ceramics Sale”; at the Columbia Art Center, 6100 Foreland Garth. Maryland, Gaithersburg October 15-17 “24th Annual National Art and Craft Festival”; at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds. Michigan, Detroit October 16 “Annual Raku Party”; at Pewabic Pottery, 10125 E. Jefferson at Cadillac. Michigan, Marshall September 11—12 “Fountain Faire”; at Brooks Fountain, downtown. Missouri, St. Louis October 2-3 “Historic Shaw Art Fair”; the Shaw neighborhood, Near South Side. Nevada, Hawthorne October 2 “Walker Lake Arts Festival”; at Walker Lake. New Jersey, Flemington October 9—10 “Flem- ington Crafts Festival”; at the Flemington Fair­ grounds. New Jersey, Margate September 25—26“ Margate Fall Funfest by the Bay”; along Amherst Ave., on the bayfront. New Jersey, Millville October 2—3 “Festival of Fine Craft”; at Wheaton Village. New Jersey, Peters ValleySeptember 25 “Peters

September 1999 91 Simon. Fee: $125. October23—^Demonstration, Calendar slide presentation and discussion with Linda Christianson. Fee: $100. Contact Hinckley Pot­ tery, 1707 KaloramaRd., NW, Washington, D.C. “The Seventh Annual Texas Clay Festival”; at 20009; or telephone (202) 745-7055. Buck Pottery. Florida, Pensacola October 4-9 “Studio Architec­ Washington, Bellevue September 17—19 “Bellevue, tural Ceramics Workshop” with Peter King and A Showcase of Fine Crafts”; at Meydenbauer Center. Xinia Marin, constructing a full-scale architectural Washington, Spokane October8— 70“Inland Craft piece, tile making and glazing, sink building, plas­ Warnings”; at the Spokane County Fair and Expo ter pouring, and pricing. All skill levels. Fee: $550, Center. includes materials, 2 dinners and breakfast. Con­ West Virginia, near Weston September 3-6“ S tone- tact Peter King or Nancy Lauck Solano, Stonehaus, wall Jackson Heritage Arts and Crafts Jubilee”; at 2617 N. 12th Ave., Pensacola 32503; e-mail Jackson’s Mill, off Interstate 79. [email protected]; see website www.wfic.com/ Wisconsin, Baraboo, Mineral Point, Spring stonehaus; telephone (850) 438-3273; fax (850) Green/Dodgeville October 15-17 “The Fall Art 438-0644. Tour,” visit studios of 43 artists. For brochures, Florida, St. Petersburg September 11—12 Slide contact the Cornerstone Gallery in Baraboo (608) presentation, lecture and hands-on workshop with 356-7805, the Johnston Gallery in Mineral Point Cary Esser and Neil Forrest, making carved (608) 987-3787, and the Jura Silverman Gallery ingreenware molds for tiles. Fee: $ 125; Florida Crafts­ Spring Green/Dodgeville (608) 588-7049. Or see men members, $ 100. Lecture only: $35. Location: website at www.fallarttour.com. Hot Alley Clay Studio, St. Pete Clay Company. Contact the Florida Craftsmen Gallery, 501 Cen­ Workshops tral Ave., St. Petersburg 33701-3703; or telephone (727) 821-7391. California, Berkeley September 25—October 30 A Georgia, Athens September 4—£T“Soda Kilnbuilding session with Julia Galloway. Fee: $40. Contact Workshop” with MacKenzie Smith. Fee: $200. Trax Gallery, 1306 Third St., Berkeley 94710; Contact GOOD DIRT, 510b N. Thomas St., Ath­ e-mail [email protected]; telephone (510) 526-3655; ens 30601; telephone (706) 355-3161. fax (510) 526-0279. Georgia, Atlanta October30—31 “Business Confi­ California, Oakland October Seven-day firing of a dence for Artists: Making the Change from ‘Starv­ 350-cubic-foot anagama with Ryusei Arita. For ing Artist’” with Ricky Frank. Fee: $120; mem­ brochure, telephone Ryusei Arita (510) 652-2525 bers, $ 100. Contact the Spruill Center for the Arts, or fax (510) 540-4842. 5339 Chamblee Dunwoody Rd., Atlanta 30338; Colorado, Snowmass Village September 6-24 or telephone (770) 394-3447. “Hands, Tools, Clay, Fire, Pots: Studio Intensive” Indiana, Bloomington November 6 “Teapots in with Josh DeWeese and Bradley Walters. All skill Miniature,” demonstration/slide lecture with Fong levels. Fee: $790, includes materials and firing. For Choo. Fee: $25; students, $15. Contact Roger further information, contact Registrar, Anderson Meridith, John Waldron Arts Center, 122 S. Wal­ Ranch Arts Center, PO Box 5598, Snowmass nut St., Bloomington 47404; telephone (812) 334- Village 81615; e-mail [email protected]; 3100; e-mail [email protected]. see website www.andersonranch.org; telephone Maine, Monroe September 2— 6 “Wilderness Ad­ (970) 923-3181; or fax (970) 923-3871. venture” with Squidge Liljeblad Davis, hand­ Colorado, Steamboat Springs September 14—22 building, primitive firing, river canoe trip. Con­ Raku workshop with Jim Romberg, investigating tact Starflower Farm and Studios, 941 Jackson form, surface and personal expression in raku. All Rd., Monroe 04951; telephone (207) 525-3593. skill levels. Fee: $695, includes lab fee, some mate­ Maine, Portland September 11 “The Production rials, 1 firing, lodging and meals. For further Studio Potter” with Peter Jones. October 9 “Sculp­ information, contact Laloba Ranch Clay Center, tural Vessels” with Lucy Breslin. October 12 or PO Box 770226, Steamboat Springs 80477; e-mail November 19“Cone 10 Glazes.” October 13“Mask [email protected]; see website at Making” with Amy Schusser; 6-9 P.M. “Kids’ http://cmn.net/-laloba; telephone (970) 870-6423; Mask-Making Workshop” with Amy Schusser; or fax (970) 870-6452. 3:30-5 P.M.; fee: $12. November 73“Tile-making Connecticut, Brookfield September 19“Contracts Techniques” with Melody Bonnema.November for Artists” with Michelle Lester. September 25—26 20 “Cone 06 Glazes.” Fee (unless noted above): “Handbuilding with Slabs” with Robin Johnson. $35. Contact Portland Pottery School and Supply, October 2-3 “Printing with Clay” with Mitch 118 Washington Ave., Portland 04101; or tele­ Lyons. October 9“ done 6 Glazes and Clay Bodies” phone (207) 772-4334. with Jeff Zamek. October 16- /7“Wood/Salt Fir­ Maryland, Baltimore September25—26 “Drawing ing” with Roger Baumann. October 23—24“Slabs, and Painting on Clay” with David Gamble. Fee: Slumping” with Anna Siok. October 30—31 “Col­ $140; members, $120. October 76-77“Innovative ored Porcelain” with Naomi Lindenfeld. For fur­ Handbuilding Techniques” with Lana Wilson. ther information, contact Brookfield Craft Cen­ Fee: $180; members, $160. October 23-24“Clay ter, PO Box 122, Rte. 25, Brookfield 06804; see Monoprinting” with Mitch Lyons. Fee: $140; website, www.brookfieldcraftcenter.org; telephone members, $ 120. November 13—14“ On the Wheel” (203) 775-4526. with Phil Rogers. Fee: $180; members, $160. Connecticut, Guilford September 18-19 “The Contact Baltimore Clayworks: see website Lidded Vessel Workshop” with Susan Beecher. www.baltimoreclayworks.org; or telephone (410) September 20—24 “Primitive Pots” with Melanie 578-1919. Rood Goss. Contact the Guilford Handcraft Cen­ Maryland, Frederick September 16-19 “Throw­ ter, PO Box 589, Guilford 06437; or telephone ing Big Pots” with Svend Bayer. Fee: $265. Octo­ (203) 453-5947. ber 16-17 “Understanding Glazes” with Pete Connecticut, New Canaan September 26 Pinnell. Fee: $115. November 4—7“Kilnbuilding Handbuilding demonstrations with Hayne Bayless; Workshop” with Ian Gregory and Phil Rogers. fee: $90. November 6— /“Searching for Beauty in the Fee: $285. December2-5“Master Throwing Work­ Domestic Landscape,” hands-on workshop with shop” with Joyce Michaud. Fee: $195. Contact Alleghany Meadows; fee: $150. Contact the Hood College Ceramics Program, 401 Rosemont Silvermine Guild Arts Center, 1037 Silvermine Rd., Ave., Frederick 21701; telephone Joyce Michaud New Canaan 06840; or telephone (203) 966-9700. (301) 696-3456; or fax (301) 846-0035. D.C., Washington September 18-19 Demonstra­ Massachusetts, Williamsburg September 26—Oc­ tion, slide presentation and discussion with Michael tober 2 “Portraits and Self-Portraits in Clay: A

92 CERAMICS MONTHLY Sculpting Workshop” with Randi Fein. October 3-9 “Earthenware and Majolica: Terra-cotta Pot­ tery” with Sharon Pollock-DeLuzio.October 9—11 “Tiles: For Large Installations or Small Projects” with Sharon Pollock-DeLuzio. October 11—17“The Multifaceted World of Clay” with Bob Green. “Mosaics: Ancient Art Form/20th-Century Appli­ cations” with Tina Gram. October 17—23 “Por­ traits and Self-Portraits in Clay: A Sculpting Work­ shop” with Christopher Gowell. October 24-30 “Clay Tiles for Large Pieces or Small Projects” with Sharon Pollock-DeLuzio. Contact Horizons, 108 N. Main St., Sunderland, MA 01375; e-mail [email protected]; see website at www.horizons-art.org; telephone (413) 665-0300; or fax (413) 665-4141. Massachusetts, Worcester September 25—26 “The Life of a Studio Potter—Techniques and Philoso­ phies” with Mark Shapiro. November 13-l4“Vessc\s that Pour” with Susan Beecher. Contact Worcester Center for Crafts, 2 5 Sagamore Rd., Worcester 01605; or telephone (508) 753-8183, ext. 3003. New Jersey, Layton September 3—7 “Paper Clay” with Rosette Gault. September 10-14 “Printing with Colored Clay” with Mitch Lyons.Feci ses­ sion: $450, includes lab and application fees. Skill requirements vary. For further information, con­ tact Jennifer Brooks, Peters Valley Craft Educa­ tion Center, 19 Kuhn Rd., Layton 07851; e-mail [email protected]; telephone (973) 948-5200; or fax (973) 948-0011. New Mexico, Taos September 5—11 “Storytellers” with Juanita Dubray. All skill levels. Fee: $395, includes materials. October 4-8 “Knowing Clay: Art of the Earth,” coiling, pinching, slab building, texturing, burnishing, terra sigillata, etc., with Ginger Mongiello. Beginning through advanced. Fee: $405, includes materials. Contact Susan Mihalic, Taos Institute of Arts, 108 Civic Plaza Dr., Taos 87571; e-mail [email protected]; tele­ phone/fax (505) 758-2793. New York, Port Chester September 11 “Smoke Firing” with Jane Perryman; fee: $65. September 25, October 17 or November 13 “Raku” with Rob­ ert Mueller; fee: $60 per session. Participants should bring 6-8 bisqued pieces. October 2 “Heart to Hand” with Christina Bertoni; fee: $85. Contact the Clay Art Center, 40 Beech St., Port Chester 10573; or telephone (914) 937-2047. New York, Rosendale September 18— I.9“The Clay Narrative” with Elyse Saperstein. October2-3“In­ tegrating Form and Surface in the Electric Kiln” with Mary Barringer. October 16-17 “Clay Monoprinting” with Nancy Barch. October23—24 “Simple Mold Making” with Danielle Leventhal. Contact Women’s Studio Workshop, PO Box 489, Rosendale 12471; [email protected]; see website www.wsworkshop.org; telephone (914) 658-9133; or fax (914) 658-9031. New York, White Plains November 10 “Searching for Beauty in the Domestic Landscape” with Alleghany Meadows. November 18 “Nerikomi— Handbuilding with Colored Clay” with Naomi Lindenfeld. Contact Westchester Art Workshop, Westchester County Center, White Plains 10606; or telephone (914) 684-0094. North Carolina, Asheville September3—4“ Wheel- throwing Workshop” with Jeff Oestreich. Fee: $95. Contact Odyssey Center for the Ceramic Arts, PO Box 18284, Asheville 28814; e-mail [email protected]; or telephone (828) 285-0210. North Carolina, Bailey November 6-7 A session with Robin Hopper. Fee: $135. Contact Dan Finch Pottery, (252) 235-4664; or see website www.danfinch.com. North Carolina, Charlotte October 2-3 “Glaze Workshop” with Pete Pinnell. Fee: $95; Carolina Clay Matters Guild members, $80; includes con­ tinental breakfast and lunch. Registration dead­ line: September 15. Contact Bobbie Black, PO

September 1999 93 Gloria Kosco, Katia McGuirk, and Anne and Ed Calendar Nocera. Preregistration required. Contact Tile Heritage, PO Box 1850, Healdsburg, CA 95448; telephone (707) 431-8453; or fax (707) 431-8455. Box 457, Denver, NC 28037; or telephone (704) Pennsylvania, Wayne September 13—16 “Archi­ 483-3246. tectural Ceramics Workshop” with Peter King and November 6- 7“Wheel-thrown Altered and Assembled Xinia Martin. Fee: $400; members, $350. Contact Utilitarian Pottery” with Leah Leitson. Fee: $65. Wayne Art Center, 413 Maplewood Ave., Wayne Location: Clayworks. Limited to 40 participants. 19087; telephone (610) 688-3553. Contact Louise Lawson, (704) 332-3973. Texas, Dallas September 17—19 “Paperclay” with North Carolina, Little Switzerland October 19- Rosette Gault. Fee: $200; members, $150. Con­ 25 Workshop with Lynn Merhige, handbuilding, tact the Craft Guild of Dallas, 14325 Proton, throwing, glazing, raku firing, exploring sculptural Dallas 75244; e-mail [email protected]; or space, form and texture. Beginning through ad­ telephone (972) 490-0303. vanced. Fee: $445, includes materials, firing, lodg­ Texas, Houston October 9—10 Altering and sur­ ing and meals. Contact Rita van Alkemade, Office facing thrown forms with Ron Meyers. Fee: $30; of Continuing and Professional Education, Texas Clay Artist Association members or Univer­ Ringling School of Art and Design, 2700 N. sity of Houston-Clear Lake Art Association mem­ Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34234; e-mail bers, $25; includes lunch. Contact UHCL Art [email protected]; telephone (941) 955-8866; Association, Box 198,2700 Bay Area Blvd., Hous­ fax (941) 955-8801. ton 77058-1090; for further information, tele­ North Carolina, Penland March 12—May 5, 2000 phone (281) 283-3342. “Making Your Own Pots” with Sandi Pierantozzi November 5-6 A session with Susanne Stephenson. and Neil Patterson. Send 5 slides or photos of work Fee: $48. Contact Roy Hanscom, Art Dept., North plus a brief statement explaining your interest in Harris College, 2700 W. W. Thorne Dr., Houston the class. Fee: $4375; includes application fee. Day 77073; telephone (281) 618-5609. students: $2935; includes application fee. Regis­ Utah, Bluff October 2-9 “Ceramics/The Power tration deadline: October 11. Contact Penland of Tradition: A Journey in Clay from Past to School of Crafts, PO Box 37, Penland 28765; Present” with Anita Griffith. Contact Horizons, telephone (828) 765-2359; or fax (828) 765-7389. 108-PN. Main St., Sunderland, MA01375; e-mail North Carolina, Raleigh September 17-72Hands- [email protected]; see website on workshop with Cynthia Bringle. Fee: $96. www.horizons-art.org; telephone (413) 665-0300; Contact the Crafts Center, North Carolina State or fax (413) 665-4141. University, Campus Box 7320, Raleigh 27695- Vermont, Bristol September 10—13 “Experiencing 7320; or telephone (919) 515-2457. the Fire,” with Robert Compton, firing a salt, raku, Ohio, Westerville October 15-16 A session with sawdust, pit, and a climbing multichambered wood- Don Reitz. Fee: $155, includes lunch. Contact fired kiln. Intermediate skill level. Fee: $580, in­ The American Ceramic Society: e-mail cludes materials, firing and meals. For further [email protected]; see website at www.acers.org; information, contact Robert Compton Pottery, or telephone Michael O’Toole, (614) 794-5824. 2662 N. 116 Rd., Bristol 05443; e-mail Oregon, Portland September 18—19 “Ceramic [email protected]; see website Decals” with Rimas VisGirda; fee: $190. Septem­ www.RobertComptonPottery.com; or telephone ber 25 “Copyright” with Haver; 9 A.M.-noon. (802) 453-3778. “Forms of Doing Business and Alternative Dis­ Virginia, Alexandria September 4-5 or 18-19“To- pute Resolution” with Rosenberg; 1-4 P.M. Sep­ temic Clay Workshop” with Linda Thern-Smith. tember 26 “Taxes for Artists” with Davidson; 9 Fee: $145. September 10-12 “Fast Salt Firing” A.M.-noon. “Contracts and Consignments” with with Robert Carlson, handbuilding, throwing, Richter and Conley; 1-4 P.M. Fee for business decorating, 4-6-hour salt firing. Fee: $150. Pre­ workshops: $30/session; or $ 100 for all 4 sessions. registration required. For further information, Contact the Oregon College of Art and Craft, contact Art League Pottery, 105 N. Union St., 8245 S.W. Barnes Rd., Portland 97225; telephone Alexandria 22314; telephone (703) 683-2323; or (503) 297-5544 or (800) 390-0632; or download fax (703) 683-5786. schedule from www.ocac.edu. Virginia, Arlington September 25—26 A session Oregon, Salem September 8 Lecture on salt firing with Warren MacKenzie. October 8-9 A session with Craig Martell. September 18 “Throwing and with Sandy Simon. For further information, con­ Decorating” with Glenn Burris. Fee: $35; SAA tact the Lee Arts Center, 5722 Lee Hwy., Arling­ members, $30. October 1—3 “Salt Firing” with ton 22207; e-mail [email protected]; or telephone Craig Martell; participants should bring at least 6 (703) 228-5256. bisqued pieces (3 cubic feet). Fee: $85; SAA mem­ Virginia, Gainesville September 11 Slide presenta­ bers, $75. October 75-76^‘Raku Firing” with Mike tion and hands-on workshop with Syd Carpenter. and Michele Gwinup; participants should bring Fee: $45. Limited registration. Contact W. R. 4-5 bisqued pieces or 1-2 pieces will be provided. Owens-Hart, PO Box 361, Gainesville 20156; Fee: $85; SAA members, $75. Contact Karl e-mail [email protected]; or telephone Knudson, M. T. Sherman Community Ceramics (703) 754-1307. Center, 1220 12th St., SE, Salem 97302; e-mail Washington, Yelm September 18 “Hands-on [email protected] ; telephone (503) 581-7275; or Raku” with John Harris; participants should bring fax (503) 581-9801. bisqueware. Fee: $60; plus $5 firing fee per pot. Pennsylvania, Erie October 19—20 “Getting from Registration deadline: September 4. All skill levels. the 2 to the 3: Various Approaches to Relief For further information, contact Barbra Kates, Tilework” with Angelica Pozo. Location: Erie Art Architektura, PO Box 1431, Yelm 98597; e-mail Museum’s ClaySpace Studio. Limited space. Con­ [email protected]; or telephone (360) 894-7527. tact Tile Heritage, PO Box 1850, Healdsburg, CA Wisconsin, Rhinelander October 30-31A session 95448; telephone (707) 431-8453; or fax (707) with Paul Soldner. Fee: $50. Contact Treatzie 431-8455. Dali, PO Box 518 Nicolet College Technical, October 19-20and24“Raku: Pressed and Direct” Rhinelander 54501; e-mail [email protected]; with Susan and Steven Kemenyffy. Contact Tile or telephone (715) 365-4556. Heritage, PO Box 1850, Healdsburg, CA; tele­ phone (707) 431-8453; or fax (707) 431-8455. International Events October 23 “Tiles of Erie,” 8 3-hour tile-making workshops with Andy and Eileen Anderson, Austria, Vienna October 12—December 23 “With­ Veronique Blanchard, Erika Bonner, Debra Felix, out Corset—Ceramics of the Wiener Werkstatte

94 CERAMICS MONTHLY 1917-1932”; at the Galerie bei der Albertina, http://hal9000.flemingc.on.ca/fa/index.htm; tele­ Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington. Lobkowitzplatz 1. phone (705) 457-1680; or fax (705) 457-2255. September 29-0ctober 3“The Great Antiques Fair”; Belgium, Brasschaat September25-26“ Making a Canada, Ontario, Stoney Creek September 25-26 at Earls Court 1, Warwick Rd. Mold in Plaster” with Agnes Nagygyorgy; or Discussion and demonstration on functional pot­ October 12-17 and 19-24 “Chelsea Craft Fair”; at “Throwing Very Thin Porcelain” with Astrid tery with Carole Anne Michaelson. Sponsored by Chelsea Old Town Hall, King’s Rd., Chelsea. Gerhartz. November2— ^“Decoration Techniques the Hamilton Potters Guild. Fee: Can$60 (ap­ France, Saint Quentin la Poterie through January for Porcelain” with Peter Lane. November 2—5 proximately US$40); members, Can$50 (approxi­ 9,2000“10 Ans de Ceramique-Passion,” works by “The Magic of Decalcomania” with Giovanni mately US$35). Contact Pat Swartzenburg, 71 38 ceramists; at Terra Viva Galerie, Rue de la Cimatti. For further information, contact Ate­ Randall Ave., Stoney Creek L8G 2K8; or tele­ Fontaine. lier Cirkel, Miksebaan 272, B-2930 Brasschaat; phone (905) 662-6633. France, Treigny through September 5 Exhibition of e-mail [email protected]; see website at Canada, Ontario, Toronto September 7—October2 ceramics by French and Swiss artists; at Maison du http://bewoner.dma.be/atcirkel; telephone/fax Chris Thompson, raku vessels. October 7—30 Chanoine le Chaineau. (3) 633 05 89. Leopold L. Foulem, ceramic and found-object France, Vallauris through October 3 “Picasso, Belgium Torhout October 76-77“Kerathor,” ce­ sculpture; at Prime Gallery, 52 McCaul St. L’Homme au mouton.” “Portanier, un magicien ramics festival; at Groenhove, Bosdreef 5. September 9-January 2, 2000 “Maya Universe,” des couleurs.” “Deux designers a Vallauris: Francois Canada, Alberta, Red Deer through October 8 over 150 ceramic, carved stone and shell artworks; Bauchet and Ronan Bouroullec”; at Musee Na­ “Three of a Kind,” ceramics by Mel Bolen, Charley at the George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic tional Picasso, Musee Magnelli, Musee de la Farrero and Anita Rocamora; at Old Court House Art, 111 Queens Park. Ceramique, place de la Liberation. Gallery, Red Deer and District Allied Arts Coun­ October 13—16 Fusion’s “Pottery and Glass Sale”; Germany, Hohr-Grenzhausen through September cil, 4836 Ross St. at the Barbara Frum Atrium, CBC Broadcasting 5 “European Ceramics ’99—Westerwald Prize”; Canada, British Columbia, Vancouver September Centre, 250 Front St., W. at Keramikmuseum Westerwald, Lindenstrasse. 3-28 Rachelle Chinnery, “Homage to Gwaii Canada, Ontario, Waterloo through November 28 Greece, Island of Evia Autumn Workshops with Haanas”; at the Crafthouse Gallery, 1386 Marilyn Levine retrospective; at the Canadian Alan Bain, handbuilding, throwing, glazing, terra Cartwright St., Granville Island. Clay and Glass Gallery, 25 Caroline St., N. sigillata, kiln design, raku/pit/black/saggar firings, Canada, British Columbia, Victoria October 2-3 September24-25 Aworkshop with Marilyn Levine. reduction stoneware, etc. Instruction in English, Demonstration of neriage (or millefiori) with Fee: Can$100 (approximately US$65) plus GST little French and Greek. All skill levels. Fee/week: Michael Haley and Susy Siegele. Fee: Can$100 Can$7 (approximately US$4.75). Contact the Ca­ £275 (approximately US$435); includes materi­ (approximately US$65), indudes lunch. For fur­ nadian Clay and Glass Gallery, 25 Caroline St., als, firing, trips on island, lodging and meals. ther information, contact Meira Mathison, 650 N, Waterloo N2L 2Y5; telephone (519) 746- Contact Alan Bain, Kalamondi Pottery, 340 05 Pearson College, Victoria V9C 4H7; e-mail 1882; or fax (519) 746-6396. near Limni, Evia. [email protected]; telephone (250) England, Cinencester September 11—October 30“ Ce­ Italy, Faenza through January 2, 2000 “Interna­ 391-2420; fax (250) 391-2412. ramics with a Tale to Tell”; at the Brewery Arts tional Exhibition of Ceramics 1999.” “Artisti dal Canada, Ontario, Haliburton September 27-Oc- Gallery. Mondo”; at the International Museum of Ceramics. tober 2 “Crystalline Glazes” with Barbara J. Peel. England, London through September ^Exhibition of Korea, Kyonggi-do, Ich’on City September 10-19 Intermediate and advanced. Fee: Can$212.78 (ap­ pottery by various artists; at Galerie Besson, 15 Royal “The 13th Ich’on Ceramics Festival”; at Ich’on proximately US$140). Contact Shelley Schell, Arcade, 28 Old Bond St. Ceramics Village. Haliburton School of Fine Arts, Box 839, Haliburton September-]anuary 2000 “A Grand Design: The Mexico, Oaxaca November 8-13 or February 7— K0M 1 SO; e-mail [email protected]; see website Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum”; at the 12, 2000 “Pre-Columbian Wood-Firing Work-

September 1999 95 Calendar

shop,” exploring tumblestack surface firing, sunken chamber reduction firing, stone kiln firing with tannin staining. Fee: US$595, includes materials, lodging, most meals, local transportation and museum entry fees. For further information, con­ tact Eric Mindling/Rachel Werling, Manos de Oaxaca, AP 1452, Oaxaca, Oax., CP 68000, Mexico; e-mail [email protected]; see website atwww.foothill.net/-mindling; fax (52) 95 21 41 86. Mexico, San Marcos December 6—11 or January 24—29, 2000 A workshop with Zapotec master potters, mining and processing clay, handbuilding, decorating with slip, burnishing, quick firing. Fee: US$595, includes materials, lodging, most meals, local transportation, mu­ seum entry fees. For further information, con­ tact Eric Mindling/Rachel Werling, Manos de Oaxaca, AP 1452, Oaxaca, Oax., CP 68000, Mexico; e-mail [email protected]; see website at www.foothill.net/-mindling; fax (52) 95 2141 86. Mexico, Tonal tepee February 28—March 4, 2000 “Tonaltepec Workshop,” digging clay, forming vessels, firing the ancient Tonaltepec kilns, post firing hot staining. Fee: $540, includes materials, lodging, most meals, local transport, museum en­ try fees. Contact Eric Mindling/Rachel Werling, Manos de Oaxaca, AP 1452, Oaxaca, Oax., CP 68000, Mexico; e-mail [email protected]; see website atwww.foothill.net/-mindling ; or fax (52) 95 21 41 86. Netherlands, Amstelveen through September 9 “Cobra Ceramics”; at the Cobra Museum for Modern Art Amstelveen, Sandbergplein 1. Netherlands, Amsterdam through October 10 “Keranova,” works by 36 emerging ceramics artists and designers; at Galerie Vromans. Netherlands, Delft through October 2 Tjok Dessauvage, bowls. October9—November20Marta Nagy, ceramic boxes and objects; at Gallery Terra Keramiek, Nieuwstraat 7. Netherlands, Deventer September 5—October 2 Exhibition of salt-glazed ceramics by Richard Dewar, Francois Gallisaires, Sandy Lockwood, Peter Meanley, Paulien Ploeger, and Franz Ruppert and Eva Muellbauer; at Loes and Reinier, Korte Assenstraat 15. Netherlands, the Hague through September 12 “Pioneers and Terriers, Colenbrander, Ohr and USA Clay Today”; at the Museum het Paleis, Lange Voorhout 74. Netherlands, Oosterbeek September 12—October 11 “In Relation with Nature,” ceramic sculpture and installations by Ingrid Berkens, Ron Meerts and Sandra Mudde; at Galerie Amphora, van Oudenallenstraat 3. Netherlands, Oosterwolde (Fochteloo) Septem­ ber 6—10 “Stoneware and Porcelain Workshop” with Kees Hoogendam, preparing clay, hand- building, throwing, kilnbuilding, firing with gas, oil and wood. Fee: fl 550 (approximately US$305), includes materials, lodging, meals. For further information, contact Kees Hoogendam, de Knolle 3A, 8431 RJ Oosterwolde (Fochteloo); telephone (51) 658-8238. Netherlands, Vlaardingen through September 5 Exhibition of monumental pots by 30 artists; at the Garden of Delight, Zuidbuurt 30. Scotland, Edinburgh October21-January 8, 2000 “Ceramic Contemporaries 3,” works by emerging ceramists from Great Britain and Ireland; at the City Art Centre. Switzerland, Carouge October 2—November 28 “Prix de la Ville de Carouge 1999”; at Musee de Carouge. Switzerland, Geneva through October 4 Ceramics by Philippe Lambercy; at Musee Ariana, Avenue de la Paix 10.

96 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999 97 flow velocity matches the burning speed exactly Questions and the inner flame takes the shape of a well- Answered by the CM Technical Staff defined cone. Flashback is a term used to de­ scribe the condition when burning speed exceeds flow velocity and combustion takes place inside the burner. Symptoms of this problem are Q We are in the process of building a new typically a hollow-tube sound and the burner downdraft kiln, and upon reviewing Frederick begins to glow red. Olsen s The Kiln Book, wefound that you should If we change the primary air-gas pressure, never have the burner orifice above the burner. we affect the flow velocity and the burning Can you explain to us why that statement is made? speed. If air and gas are properly adjusted, the Most of the kilns we know have the burner with the flame’s inner cone is well defined. orifice above the burner.—T.P. What happens when we increase the pri­ This is a common question and the answermary air keeping the same gas pressure? The is: it depends. A homemade atmospheric burnerflow velocity increases and the burning speed with low-pressure natural gas could be a prob­also increases due to the leaner mixture. But the lem if the nozzle is below the orifice (spud) burning speed increases at a faster rate and the firing downward. For low-pressure gas in an ignition point moves closer to the burner head. atmospheric burner, it is recommended to haveThere is a point of maximum burning speed for the burner nozzle above the orifice as Fred any gas that depends on the ratio of gas to air. Olsen suggests in his excellent reference The Natural gas, for instance, burns fastest with a Kiln Book. For high-pressure (1 psi or more) 10% gas-to-air mixture. When the primary air gas, either natural or propane, the orientationis is increased beyond this point, burning speed not so critical, especially if the burner is one thatstarts to slow down. If this happens, you can see is commercially designed and/or powered withthat the flow velocity may be strong enough to a blower. blow the flame off the burner head. It has to do with gravity and flame stability. So, if there is enough pressure to ensure Natural gas is lighter than air, and so is the flame stabilization, the orientation of the burner heated mixture of gas and air; it wants to rise.can If be wherever most convenient. the orifice is above the burner nozzle, the gas Nils Lou and the air mixture will have more resistance Linfield College moving down the burner mixing tube than if it McMinnville, Oregon were positioned on a horizontal plane or with the nozzle above the orifice. More gas pressureQ Some of my mugs and bowls made with the and/or powered air can easily overcome this same clay body get hot in the microwave. What are resistance, but low-pressure gas with inspiratedpossible reasons? —G.M. G. air may not. Most clay bodies can be used in a micro­ Two things affect flame stability: burning wave, providing that the bodies have very low speed and flame velocity. Burning speed is theabsorbency and that metallic lusters, such as speed at which the flame travels back throughgold, platinum, palladium and silver, are not the gas/air mixture. The flame wants to travelused on the ware. The microwaves excite par­ through the mixture back toward the spud orticles on a molecular/atomic level and are easily orifice relative to the forward flow velocity of absorbed by water. It is important that the clay the mixture. body and glaze be balanced, and that the absor­ Flow velocity is the speed of the mixture bency of the clay body be very low so that water moving outward from the spud. It depends onis not present. gas and air pressure, and like any fluid in a pipe, Though it is possible there may be some it has a range of velocities across the diameter heatof transfer from the heated liquid to your the burner. It is faster in the center and slowerware, if there is extreme heat, I would suggest at the sides where the friction of the burner that there is water within the clay and glaze affects it. structure, which will ultimately compromise You can observe this directly as the inner the integrity of the ware. cone indicates where the flame is stabilized. Ron Roy suggests that a good testing method Reasonably complete combustion occurs whento determine whether the piece is microwave safe is to soak the ware for at least 24 hours, then Have a problem? Subscribers’ questions microwave it on high for 10-second increments are welcome, and those of interest to the until the water inside boils. If the pot doesn’t ceramics community in general will be an­ become hot, it is safe to assume that the piece swered in this column. Due to volume, letters may not be answered personally. can be used in the microwave oven successfully. Mail to Ceramics Monthly, PO Box 6102, He also suggests that absorbency tests be run on Westerville, Ohio 43086-6102, e-mail to the ware in question and to aim for 0-1%. [email protected] or fax to You could also consult with the clay body (614)891-8960. manufacturer to find out if the body has been

98 CERAMICS MONTHLY tested for absorbency; but to be absolutely sure, it’s always a good idea to test every single clay body yourself. Jonathan Kaplan Ceramic Design Group Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Q I’m looking for a recipe for a temmoku glaze oxidation fired to Cone 6.1 just took a class where we did reduction firing to Cone 10, and the temmoku glaze turned out sort of red/brown and black. I would like to use it on Lizella clay fired to Cone 5 or 6. Can you help?—K.H. First, you will not find a true representation of a high-fired temmoku glaze at Cone 6 oxida­ tion. The breaking orange is specific to reduc­ tion firing. On the brighter side, I have been working on a Cone 6, food-safe, durable black glaze, and it’s a beauty if I do say so myself. Actually, this glaze has been tested by many on Clayart (the online discussion group), and everyone seems to think it’s fine. In fact, it has been tested at the Alfred University lab and cobalt release is well below safety standards. If the black is not in­ tense enough at 1 % cobalt, it is still safe at 1.5% and 2% (again, tested at the Alfred lab). Ron Roy Black Glaze #3 (Cone 6) Talc...... 5.0% Whiting...... 4.0 Custer Feldspar...... 22.0 Frit 3134 (Ferro)...... 26.0 Edgar Plastic Kaolin...... 17.0 Flint...... 26.0 100.0% Add: Bentonite...... 2.0% Cobalt Carbonate...... 1.0% Red Iron Oxide...... 9.0% I have stipulated Custer feldspar, but the recipe will work equally well with G-200; an­ other frit with matching analysis can be substi­ tuted for the Ferro 3134 as well. Sieve twice through 80 mesh. The expansion of this glaze will fit many Cone 6 bodies, but testing is recommended. My test to make sure it will not break ware is: glaze the inside only of a 6-inch-tall by 3-inch- wide cylinder of the approximate thickness you usually make your pots. Keep the glaze a little thicker than normal. After firing, put it in the freezer for 24 hours. If it’s not cracked at that point, pour in boiling water while it’s still frozen. Do this in a sink in case it cracks. Glazes that survive this kind of testing will do fine in service. Yes, there are many clay/glaze combinations that will do just fine under these conditions, as every mug, teapot and casserole a potter makes should. Ron Roy Ceramics Consultant Scarborough, Ontario

September 1999 99 Letters Continued from page 10

he thought, craftsmanship was at its zenith. (See his News from Nowhere.) In his time, crafts had been torn from the skilled hands of respected master craftsmen, broken up into task-related chunks and assigned to unskilled factory labor. As Morris saw it, delightful home workshops had been replaced by hor­ rible factories, reducing proud, happy crafts­ men to exploited workers, rosy-cheeked apprentices to rachitic, tubercular raga­ muffins. Morris championed the crafts along­ side a personal brand of socialism. He did not foresee that industrialization would bring all workers benefits the 14th century could not even dream of. Morris anticipated the McLuhan dictum that outmoded technologies become art forms. His valiant efforts helped create the artist-craftsman of today. Morris himself was a puzzle to his workers because he insisted on working alongside them, even dying his arms indigo—as they did—when working at a dye vat, then re­ turned to his luxurious upper-middle-class home. Meanwhile, his peers looked down on him for marrying a stableman’s daughter. That Morris was not a prophet, nor that times leap-frogged his vision, invalidates it. Morris died in 1896, but his influence remained huge. By the time Leach came along, Japanese art already had made a great impression on the West. Leach’s influence combined Morris and Japan, and brought this meld to the U.S. When I became a potter just after World War II, my fellow students were of solidly middle-class backgrounds, college graduates or planning to be. At the School for Ameri­ can Craftsmen (1951-1953), there were far more doctors’, professors’, businessmen’s kids, than farmers’ and mechanics’. The Morris influence—with its peaceful ideal­ ism—resonated with us. It wasn’t just the potters but all the craftsmen who dreamt this romantic dream. Haifa century later, with the whole academization of craft studies, the very notion of folk-craftsmen seems startling. In that post-war time, it made sense. Leach deserves neither credit nor blame for the over-importance of Japan in our clay world. When his book appeared, creating the stir it did, the strength of the U.S. dollar, the G.I. Bill and Fulbright Scholarships allowed many potters to study in the Japan Leach had opened, or in Britain with Leach himself. It wasn’t so much Leach as economic circum­ stance that formed men who became college teachers and passed the Japanese influence on. (Similarly, Germany and France had an inordinate, persistent, enduring influence on American writers after World War I, because life there was cheap then.) Leach has been obsolete for quite a while. Deregulation of gas, and the increasing de-

100 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999 101 Letters

mands of agencies, such as the EPA, have made high-temperature, reduction firing disadvantageous to potters. The professors who, inspired by Leach, went to Japan and brought it to us, have retired or will soon. The huge advantages—and challenges—of electric firing are being popularized by people like Richard Zakin. Appreciation of electric kiln masters, such as Lucie Rie, Hans Coper, the Scheiers, Eileen Lewenstein and others, is growing; and every issue of CM and other magazines shows that the somber, mystical Japanese “tradition” is going up in smoke. A Potters Book will survive, not as a textbook, but as a milestone. Lili Krakowski, Constableville, N.Y.

Thanks for Sharing I’m late, but I need to register my vote for the April 1999 issue and its cover! I read CM cover to cover, but this one really gave me a high. The lengthy article with photographs of Brian VanNostrand’s life and work was so very well done, especially the detailed descrip­ tion of his kiln design and firing. I’m grateful to him for sharing his glaze recipes. I’ve found many excellent ones over the years in CM’s pages. Thanks. Patricia A. Coughlin Farmington Hills, Mich.

Silly Linguistics Those suggestions from letter writers about what to call raku are hoity-toity lin­ guistic silliness. Maybe we should call it “the clay formerly known as raku.” Connie Harter-Bagley, East Machias, Me.

Speaking for Themselves Gail Knapp, in her letter, laments the scarcity of “simple potters.” In the same issue (May 1999), the Texas vernacular pots are so strong in form, surface and function that they hardly require verbose explanation or promotion. Uncertain work requires explana­ tion to be convincing. Strong, sure work speaks for itself. As I peddle my own pots at art fairs, I see a number of present-day potters whose pots speak for themselves. They are still here, Gail. They’re just quieter. John Mills, Mayer, Ariz.

Whoops! Despite our “best”efforts, sharp-eyed readers were unwilling to let us relocate one potter or down-size the larger-than-life work of a sculptor included in our June/July/August issue. Studio potter Linda Christianson actually resides in Minnesota (not Montana) as indicated on page 24, and the sculpture by Mark Chatterley shown on page 26 is7V 2 feet (not inches) in height.—Ed.

102 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999 103 104 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999 105 106 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999 107 Comment

Mud, Sweat and Tears by Cliff Glover

Last year was to be a milestone. After ten lapse looked like rotten end grain, pecked years of struggling, I was finally paying and pocked as they were by a shotgun of my bills on time and saving enough projectiles that were once my kiln shelves money to hold me through the spring, and livelihood. I looked over the mess, when my sales usually dip to the same over the next few weeks of my life, then I level as the winter solstice. I had three quickly shut the door and waited for the great Christmas shows lined up, enough depression to hit. extra bisqueware to fill my regular out­ I have always believed that no one can lets, plus a few new wholesale accounts. save you from making mistakes, and that The prospects of a healthy business, and there is a quota of mistakes you must perhaps even a vacation one day, looked endure before achieving some professional good. Then, a week before Thanksgiv­ success. Prior to the explosion, I thought ing, my Idln blew up. I had gotten most of the basics out of the The experience was akin to pumping way. While living in Nevada, I had fired your brakes on black ice, only to see your on one of the coldest days on record so I car and your life slide into oblivion. The could discover ingenious ways to thaw a kiln was firing fine just a half hour be­ frozen propane tank while Cones 9 and fore. Eight of the ten venturis under the 10 stubbornly waited for more heat. On kiln were burning a healthy blue in the the advice of its owner, I had once fired foggy atmosphere, which is so common an electric kiln without relying on the on the Mendocino coast. But when I kiln sitter, only to fall asleep while Cone finally returned to bump up the gas and II was puddling over. I have tried glazing light the middle two venturis, I saw flames raw, so I could witness sheets of Shaner shooting out the sides of the burners, and Red fall off the greenware as it dried. I I knew that a major accident had hap­ have rushed through mixing up a glaze, pened. The realization, the shock, was measuring out different oxides into a half­ enough to throw everything into slow full bucket of virgin whiting. In short, I motion, and I found myself repeating believe if you pot long enough, you’ll almost unconsciously, “Oh no, oh no, oh make all the mistakes that everyone else no...,” as if that mantra would smooth has made in this blood sport. over the queasy, helpless feeling that was As with all mishaps, we try to under­ now my stomach. stand why this happens. Not just the At first, I hoped that maybe only one small why, as in “Why did the flame go pot had exploded, maybe a single shard out, which led to a buildup of gas, which had landed inside a single burner, much led to the explosion?” But the big WHY, like an eight ball finds its way into the as in “Why do you think it happened? side pocket. That’s what I wanted to see. What do you think IT is telling you about But in my heart I knew there was more, your life?” And if you don’t ask yourself that every burner had been filled three that big WHY?, then you can be sure the times over with the shards of my carefully first friend you look to for sympathy will laid pots, and that more damage was ask it for you. waiting for me once I turned off the gas While the better part of me knows I and opened the door. should be looking for some deep message Inside, I saw that the weight of the about the explosion, about the meaning collapsed arch had crushed the top third of life, the lesser part of me wants to get layer of kiln shelves and pots. Four of the out a fly swatter. I know why IT hap­ new, wonderfully thin shelves I had re­ pened. What IT is telling me is that I cently bought to save my back were de­ have to be more diligent about cleaning stroyed. Evidently, the right side of the the burners before each firing. What IT is arch had lifted up about 5 inches, which telling me is that if I drop a piece of allowed 11 rows of K26 bricks to hang in wadding over the edge of a kiln shelf midair before Newton’s law took hold. while loading, I damn well better find it The surface of the bricks that didn’t col­ before I start firing, even if it means tear-

108 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999 109 Comment

ing the whole thing down and starting over. What IT is telling me is that a longer candling may be in order, especially if my pieces are loaded in the kiln soon after glazing. What IT is telling me is to find a job at Safeway. I tried to put the explosion into per­ spective by thinking of all the world trag­ edies that made mine so insignificant. Hurricane Mitch had just torn through Central America, leaving in its wake more misery than anyone could imagine. There were wars in Bosnia, Somalia and the Middle East. But there is a tenaciousness to our own suffering, like pine pitch. You can rub it and rub it, but it just wont come off without mayonnaise. In my case, the lubricant was getting back to work. My friend Pierrot has the same kiln I do, an Olsen 24, so I asked if I could borrow it for a couple of firings before Christmas. I would have understood if he refused, or was reluctant. But instead, he seemed outright glad to let me use it, perhaps figuring that lightning only strikes once. Or perhaps he thought I had actu­ ally learned some esoteric knowledge from my particular rite of passage. “Hey, Pierrot,” I asked, “do you clean your burn­ ers before firing?” Like me, he usually just vacuumed them. I did find that his burners weren’t fit­ ting properly. The intensity of the flames was uneven from burner to burner, so I took off all the venturis and stuck a needle down the jet holes to clean out the cob­ webs and such. Then I loaded the kiln and candled it overnight with the two middle burners on a yellow flame. The next day, I saw that those burners were now firing poorly, and after taking them apart, a few chucks of carbon rolled out onto the concrete slab. I picked them up and showed them to Pierrot, demonstrating my heightened prudence as well as the effects of propane on global warming. Later, I wondered why it happened and wondered whether another incident was lurking around the corner. The chunks of carbon were a prob­ lem not yet resolved. They were a re­ minder of things that could go wrong at any level. As it was, the next firing proceeded without incident. The kiln reached tem­ perature according to schedule and I

110 CERAMICS MONTHLY September 1999 111 Comment A second incident was told by Leslie this chaos was the most beautiful pot I Norton about a student who had a habit have ever seen.” of throwing almost anything that would Although I wish Katz and Norton turned off the kiln before nightfall. I burn into the kiln along with the salt. could have explained why my kiln blew did incur more than the average number “Shoes, banana peels, peanut shells, all up, I appreciated their responses. Now of losses, which under other circumstances sorts of things went into that kiln. But I’ll never use mothballs or road kill for would have sent me back to bed. But one firing I will never forget. It was rain­ reduction. And all that mythology about when they say “everything is relative,” ing and cold, there was a low fog, so you Chinese potters throwing pigs into their they aren’t kidding. At this point, I will­ couldn’t see but about 20 feet. The salt firings to improve their copper reds? Just ingly accepted any crumbs the a bunch of bunk. I’m sure they kiln gods tossed out. didn’t like rebuilding kilns any On the Clayart discussion fo­ As with most potters, I have come to accept more than we do. rum on the Internet, I queried accidents, consoling myself with any silver lining Still, my own kiln explosion others for similar experiences and remains unsolved, and I will have discovered that explosions are not that reveals itself. to live with that. As with most that rare. For the most part, they potters, I have come to accept happen during the initial lighting of the fog was dense coming out of the stack, accidents, consoling myself with any sil­ burners when someone inadvertently lets and it must have been about Cone 8. ver lining that reveals itself. In this case, I too much gas build up inside the kiln “He reaches into an old Styrofoam ice deepened a relationship with another fel­ before ignition. However, there were a chest that was half full of water and pulls low potter who so graciously lent me his couple of interesting exceptions: out an old dead rat. He throws it into the kiln. I learned that many of my glazes Louis Katz related one story about a kiln and BAM, the whole kiln seemed to work fine in an electric kiln, something I student who wanted to reduce the kiln grow, the sag came out of the arch and had not seriously considered before. And with mothballs (napthalene) as it cooled. you could hear things falling over in the I came to accept the possibility that noth­ “The mothballs evaporated and collected kiln (I don’t know why the kiln didn’t ing I could have done would have pre­ until an explosive mixture with air was collapse, but it didn’t). vented the explosion. In the end, I have reached at the top of the kiln, where it “He continued up to temperature and to pick up the broken brick, mortar it was hot enough to ignite,” Katz explained. threw in the salt. When the kiln was back together and try again. “Then it did. The door bowed out. For­ opened, we found the bag wall had col­ tunately, it was a 2-cubic-foot kiln with a lapsed and most of the shelves had been The author Cliff Glover maintains a stu­ softbrick door and lots of holes.” blown over, but right in the middle of all dio in Albion, California.

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112 CERAMICS MONTHLY