October 1989 1 William C. Hunt....................................... Editor Ruth C. Butler.......................... Associate Editor Robert L. Creager ............................ Art Director Kim Schomburg ...................Editorial Assistant Mary Rushley...................Circulation Manager Mary E. Beaver................ Circulation Assistant Jayne Lohr.........................Circulation Assistant Connie Belcher ................ Advertising Manager Spencer L. Davis.................................Publisher Editorial, Advertising and Circulation Offices 1609 Northwest Boulevard Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212 (614) 488-8236 FAX (614) 488-4561 Ceramics Monthly (ISSN 0009-0328) is pub­ lished monthly except July and August by Professional Publications, Inc., 1609 North­ west Blvd., Columbus, Ohio 43212. Second Class postage paid at Columbus, Ohio. Subscription Rates: One year $20, two years $36, three years $50. Add $8 per year for subscriptions outside the U.S.A. Change of Address: Please give us four weeks advance notice. Send both the magazine address label and your new ad­ dress to: Ceramics Monthly, Circulation Of­ fices, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Contributors: Manuscripts, photographs, color separations, color transparencies (including 35mm slides), graphic illustra­ tions, texts and news releases about ce­ ramic art and craft are welcome and will be considered for publication. A booklet de­ scribing procedures for the preparation and submission of a manuscript is available upon request. Send manuscripts and cor­ respondence about them to: The Editor, Ceramics Monthly, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Telecommunications and Disk Media: Ceramics Monthly accepts articles and other data by modem. Phone us for transmission specifics. Articles may also be submitted on 3.5-inch microdiskettes readable with an Apple Macintosh™ computer system. Indexing: An index of each year’s articles appears in the December issue. Addition­ ally, articles in each issue of Ceramics Monthly are indexed in the Art Index', on-line (com­ puter) indexing is available through Wilson- line, 950 University Ave., Bronx, New York 10452. A 20-year subject index (1953- 1972), covering Ceramics Monthly feature articles, Suggestions and Questions col­ umns, is available for $1.50, postpaid, from the Ceramics Monthly Book Department, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Copies and Reprints: Microfiche, 16mm and 35mm microfilm copies, and xero­ graphic reprints are available to subscrib­ ers from University Microfilms, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106. Back Issues: When available, back issues are $4 each, postpaid. Write for a list. Postmaster: Please send address changes to Ceramics Monthly, Box 12448, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Form 3579 requested. Copyright © 1989 Professional Publications, Inc. All rights reserved 2 Ceramics Monthly October 1989 3 4 Ceramics Monthly V olume 37, Number 8 • October 1989 Feature Articles Three Views on Dinnerware Demand for dinnerware that is aesthetically pleas­ ing as well as utilitarian has broadened From Monastery to Studio: the market for studio production. In the Bruno La Verdiere, An Autobiography .................................................... 22 portfolio beginning on page 43, three potters, whose works were featured in a A Vietnamese Pottery Village by Virginia Gift....................................... 29 recent dinnerware national, discuss their ideas and concerns. Betsy Brandt .........................................................................................34 Gauguin’s Ceramics A colorful figure, Celebrations of an Institutional Potter by Jim Connell............................35 whose free-spirited life often attracted more attention than his art, Paul Gau­ Gauguin’s Ceramics .............................................................................38 guin counted on ceramics to pay the bills when his paintings didn’t sell; page 38. Clear Glazes/Celadons for Cone 6 and 10 by Harold, J. McWhinnie.. 42 Portfolio: Three Views on Dinnerware ................................................43 Tips from the Flame Learn how New Mexico potter Bruce Robinson modified Point of Departure by Patricia Glave........................................................ 44 his wood-burning kiln for greater fuel The Function of Dinnerware by Andy Martin............................................. 46 efficiency, better temperature control and Dinnerware as Metaphor by Dick Lehman ................................................. 48 superior flashing; page 81. Tips from the Flame by Virginia Pike......................................................81 Flashes of Luster by Terry Hutchinson..................................................... 83 Departments Letters ........................................... 6 Suggestions ...................................54 Where to Show ............................. 10 Questions ...................................... 12 New Books ................................... 56 Itinerary ......................................... 14 Classified Advertising .................. 86 Comment: Our Turf by Nancy Frommer LaPointe................ 18 Index to Advertisers ..................... 88 News 8c Retrospect -*** . Record Price for Ken Price Cups ................ 59 Women/Paint/Earth ...................................... 69 Celebrations After three years support­ OSHA Ruling Awaited ................................ 59 Paul Stein ..................................................... 70 ing himself as a studio potter, Jim Con­ Swiss Biennial.............................................. 59 Lucy Breslin................................................. 70 nell realized that ultimately he is an “insti­ Vivika and Otto Heino ................................. 59 Sally Chapman/Carolyn Wagner................. 72 tutional” potter, a product of the system, Larry DesJarlais........................................... 60 Maria Simon ............................................... 72 and that he would like to be a part of that Mark Ferri.................................................... 60 Harrison McIntosh ....................................... 74 system. Far from limiting creativity, “there Linda Shusterman/Alan Willoughby.. 62 David Schirm ............................................... 74 is a freedom in schools you don’t find in Pamela Young .............................................. 62 Show of Hands Series .................................. 74 your own studios”; page 35. Tom Suomalainen ........................................ 63 Best of Ohio Design..................................... 76 The Ancient Southwest Michigan Ceramics ’89................................ 76 Bruno La Verdiere with works The cover by Susan Shoobe ..................................... 63 Japanese Influences ..................................... 76 in progress and “Lake Shore Guardian,” New York Benefit ........................................ 66 Elyse Saperstein........................................... 78 left, solid stoneware to 9 inches thick, stained black. His story about the major Ronald Baron .............................................. 66 Len Eichler................................................... 78 influences he encountered on the path J. M. Cohen/Vaughan Smith ........................ 66 Patti Warashina............................................ 87 from a monastery to his own private stu­ Juan Granados............................................... 68 Robert Turner............................................... 87 dio begins on page 22. Photo: Joseph Levy. Richard Burkett ............................................ 68 McKenzie Smith ......................................... 88 October 1989 5 We, too, would like to publish high-quality magazine should not attempt to promote Letters accounts of the potters you mention, and want new to styles unless these represent the high see these good people recognized as they deserve. standard of skill which all potters inherit as Accomplishing this involves active cooperation a legacy (and a burden) from the past. Our by the artists in question, experienced authors ultimate critical assessment is in the form interested in them, and access to all the associated of our subscription renewal—real money! color transparencies and black-and-white photos Some issues quite frankly don’t justify it. Generation Gap which help make an article visually worthy of its Bronwyn and Tony Clarke Although we are recent subscribers, we subject. As any of our successful authors will tell Bawley Point, New South Wales have studied years of past issues. [But] I you, that’s not a very easy thing to do. Dale Australia have one large objection. I’m really tired of Haworth just accomplished this for Warren reading about new kids, Japanese and Eng­ MacKenzie in our last issue, although we ve been Masters of Disguise lish potters, etc., when there are some won­ talking to Dale and others for years about an We in Dallas discovered a new use for derful older potters that CM never gives article on Warren. Tom Turner is currently work­our back issues of Ceramics Monthly. You credit to. For example: ing on an article prospect for Harding Black. might like to try this too. Ishmael Soto of Fredericksburg, Texas, The problem is further complicated by the does wonderful work, and is so interesting strong preference expressed by our subscribers for to talk to. first-person accounts in order to hear the story, the Harding Black of San Antonio, Texas, is technical information, the evaluations,