4 C eramics Monthly Volume 28, Number 1 January 1980 Letters to the Editor.............................................................................. 7 Itinerary ...............................................................................................13 Answers to Questions..........................................................................17 Where to Show.....................................................................................19 Suggestions ..........................................................................................23 Comment by Charles F. Binns.............................................................25 England’s Alan Caiger-Smith by George and NancyT ettlaufer..................................................33W The National Cone Box Show.............................................................36 West Coast Clay Spectrum..................................................................40 Production Jiggering by Larry Adlerstein...........................................43 Haydenville, A Town of Clay by Deborah Edwards..........................47 Sherry Haxton .....................................................................................52 Dartington Craft Camp by Joseph Mayshark......................................54 1979 Beaux Arts Exhibition................................................................58 Martha Holt: Perceptual Ambiguities .................................................60 Gardens of the Mind by Eva Kwong, with Geoffrey and Patricia Grosshaus............................................63 A Boston Exhibition............................................................................65 Art of the Han...................................................................................... 66 News & Retrospect..............................................................................69 Liquid Latex as Resist by Skip Allen..................................................96 Index to Advertisers............................................................................98 Cover Three red earthenware goblets, approximately 5, 7 and 6 inches in height, tin glazed with on-glaze brushwork, by English potter Alan Caiger-Smith. The form on the right illustrates the reduction-fired copper and silver luster deco­ ration for which Alan is most widely known. This ceramist is the subject of an article beginning on page 33. Publisher and Acting Editor: Spencer L. D avis Managing Editor: William C. Hunt Art Director: R obert L. Creager Copy Editor: Barbara Harmer Tipton Assistant Editor: Carol Lefebvre Hagelee Circulation Manager: Mary R ushley Advertising Manager: Connie Belcher Editorial, Advertising, and Circulation Offices: 1609 Northwest Blvd., P.O. Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. (614) 488-8236 West Coast Advertising Representative: Joseph Mervish Asso­ ciates, 4721 Laurel Canyon, Suite 211, North Hollywood, California 91607. (213) 877-7556 Copyright © 1980 Professional Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Ceramics Monthly (ISSN 009-0328) is published monthly except July and August by Professional Publications, Inc. — S. L. Davis, Pres.; P. S. Emery, Sec.: 1609 Northwest Blvd., Columbus, Ohio 43212. Correspondence concerning subscriptions, renewals and change of address should be mailed to the Circulation Department,Ceramics Monthly, Box12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Second Class postage paid at Athens, u.s.a.Ohio, Subscriptions: One year $12; Two years $22; Three years $30. Add $2 per yearU.S.A. outside The articles in each issue ofCeramics Monthly are indexed in the Art Index. Microfische, 16mm and 35mm microfilm copies, and xerographic reprints are available to subscribers from University Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106. Manuscripts, photographs, color separations, color transparencies, graphic illustrations'and news releases dealing with ceramic art are welcome and will be considered for publication. A booklet is available without cost to potential authors, describing procedures for the preparation and submission of a manuscript. Send manuscripts and correspondence about them to The Editor, Ceramics Monthly,Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. January 1980 5 Letters AFRICAN CRAFTSMEN IN AMERICA that I will “give away” my work. My Every once in a while you have toprices turn are comparable to other potters’ for help in doing something important that work. is larger than one’s own ability to accom­ As for originality, my ceramics are not plish. The idea of African Craftsmen in gimmicky or involved with elements bor­ America still persists, and an organization rowed from others. It is my hope that they has remained intact as a concerted way to can stand on their own, be technically allow all of us to work together on certainsound, functional and reflective of nature. chosen projects. We accomplished the With all these things in mind, I still Ladi Kwali, Michael Cardew, C. Kofi did poorly at the fair. I envy your Pacific Athey tour on a pay-as-you-go theoryNorthwest and location, where you don’t have with great success. A tour of textile peopleto compete with large shipments of “low- turned out to be not so much a financialquality imported trinkets” sold in nearly success although we believe the ideal aimsevery store in the city.Cher Hausing were actually accomplished. Chicago Meanwhile we have gotten together a “Nigerian Crafts” exhibition and a slide,/ MclNTOSH/FASSBINDER ARTICLES sound show. Both are available for loan,It was a pleasure to see the lengthy and on request, to institutions that can ensurepersonalized articles on studio potters in proper security and general interest. Tothe October and November issues. The date the exhibit has been viewed at West­ coverage given Harrison McIntosh and ern Kentucky University; the Oak RidgeJohn Fassbinder gave me a feeling of kin­ Community Art Center, Tennessee; Indi­ ship to the potters and their work. ana University of Pennsylvania; Berea Ron Brandiger College, Kentucky; Dalton Junior College, Lubbock, Texas Georgia; and the Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga. SUBSCRIBERS' COMMENTS We want to continue our dream ofAssuming there are 50% functional pot­ establishing ways to encourage Africanters and 50% funk artists—I’d like to see craftsmen to visit the United States, and 50/50 coverage in each area. If you check would also like to maintain a communi­photos of this past year’s magazines, you cation network whereby American crafts­ will note a tendency toward funk. Func­ men can visit, study, work and learn in tional is a rarity. Let’s face it—-the steady Africa. income is through functional, rarely Certainly I would like to hear any ques­through funk. Jo Helms tions, ideas and proposals for the future Sumner, Wash. of this rather small but vital organization. Charles Counts, President As an Australian receiving your maga­ African Craftsmen in America, Inc. zine for one year I have found it most Rising Fawn, Ga. 30738 interesting. The trend away from tradi­ tional potting shapes in the U.S.A. is a bit CRITIQUE disturbing, but does reflect other ap­ As a potter I feel obligated to giveproaches possible even if one doesn’t wish constructive help and recommendation:to pursue them. don’t put major life-long potters, such as Laurelle Gordon Michael Cardew, in the back of feature Gunnedah, New South Wales articles, hidden as though part of the advertisements. Take out the banal adver­ Along with hundreds of other readers I tisers who use childish, distracting, insin­ like beauty—not the far-out junk that cere methods of focusing attention. Manytries to get passed off as art. Some of that of them use junky, gaudy, splashy stuffand is a terrible waste of clay, time—and cheap tricks instead of being simple and most importantly these days—energy. factual. G. Johnson Pat Lambert Cincinnati Los Alamos, N.M. ERRATA FAIR SALES RESPONSE In my article “Once May Not Be I would like to thank Doug HivelyEnough” for (November), I reversed the taking the time to write (November “Let­ quantities of raw and calcined Albany slip ters”) regarding my experience with a fair. in Metamorphosis Glaze IV. It should However, to clear some things up, I wasread: referred to this particular show by a craft- METAMORPHOSIS GLAZE IV workers’ publication and by a fair sponsor/ (Cone 9, reduction) coordinator. It was not juried. It was held Refire in oxidation between Cones 04 and 5 on a college campus, in the northeastern Whiting .............................................. 10% part of Chicago, complete with food ven­ Nepheline Syenite.............................. 30 dors, entertainment and beautiful forested Albany Slip, raw................................ 10 grounds. Albany Slip, calcined......................... 50 I have been working in clay for ten 100% years and do not consider myself a begin­ Add: Red Iron Oxide........................ 5% ner; if my work was technically poor, I Tin Oxide ............................. 1% would not be exhibiting. Just because I am A switch in the two would make little dif- a new exhibitor in a show does not mean Continued January 1980 7 8 Ceramics Monthly LETTERS ference in the fired quality of the glaze, but calcining the larger quantity of Albany slip aids in the prevention of crawling. And I neglected to mention that in refiring glossy glazes at a lower cone to induce matt surfaces, it is of great impor­ tance that those glossy surfaces be free of any oily residue left by fingers. If I am moving a piece directly into another kiln for immediate refiring, it is handled with a soft