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Ceramics Monthly (ISSN 0009-0328) is published monthly, except July and August, by The American Ceramic Society, 735 Ceramic Place, Westerville, Ohio 43081; www.ceramics.org. Periodicals postage paid at Westerville, Ohio, and additional mailing offices. Opinions expressed are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent those of the editors or The Ameri­ can Ceramic Society. subscription rates: One year $32, two years $60, three years $86. Add $25 per year for subscriptions outside North America. In Canada, add 7% GST (registration number R123994618). back issues: When available, back issues are $6 each, plus $3 shipping/ handling; $8 for expedited shipping (UPS 2-day air); and $6 for shipping outside North America. Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. change of address: Please give us four weeks advance notice. Send the magazine address label as well as your new address to: Ceramics Monthly, Circulation De­ partment, PO Box 6136, Westerville, OH 43086-6136. contributors: Writing and photographic guidelines are available on request. Send manuscripts and visual sup­ port (slides, transparencies, etc.) to Ceramics Monthly, 735 Ceramic PI., Westerville, OH 43081. E-mail unillustrated texts to [email protected] or fax to (614) 891-8960. indexing: An index of each year's feature articles appears in the December issue. You may also visit the Ceramics Monthly website at www.ceramicsmonthly.org to search an index of article titles and artists' names. Feature articles are also indexed in the Art Index, daai (design and applied arts index) and other services available through pub­ lic and university libraries. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or per­ sonal use beyond the limits of Sections 107 or 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law is granted by The American Ceramic Society, ISSN 0009-0328, provided that the appropriate fee is paid directly to Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rose­ wood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923, USA; (978) 750-8400; www.copyright.com. Prior to photocopying items for edu­ cational classroom use, please contact Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. This consent does not extend to copying items for general distribution, or for advertising or promotional pur­ poses, or to republishing items in whole or in part in any work in any format. Please direct republication or special copying permission requests to the Senior Director, Publications, The American Ceramic Society, 735 Ceramic PI., Westerville, OH 43081, USA. postmaster: Please send address changes to Ceramics Monthly, PO Box 6136, Westerville, OH 43086-6136. Form 3579 requested.

Copyright © 2004 The American Ceramic Society All rights reserved

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 2 Ceramics Monthly November 2004 3

NOVEMBER 2004 / Volume 52 Number 9

features

38 Evan Jones' Meditations on the Teapot by Rev. Phillip Carr-Jones A prodigal potter returns to clay in a big way—making large-scale, site-specific teapots monthly methods Copper-Tubing Handles by Evan Jones

42 Angel Garraza by Alicia Fernandez Spanish sculptor explores the concepts of duality and balance using black and white clays 45 Don Pilcher Rienvented Georgette Ore and the Rascal Ware Story by Linda Hillman

50 Hal Riegger Retrospective by Gregg Allen Lindsley Exhibition encompasses career of an influential raku pioneer with Hal Riegger: Teacher and Friend by Steven Branfman

54 Western Waves in Oklahoma by Andrew Phelan V'Lou Oliveira blends West Coast funk with Japanese pop-culture kitsch in witty nonfunctional work

58 Sid Oakley: A North Carolina Legacy by Kathy watts A potter's legacy lives on through the works of those he inspired

62 The Lucky Accident by Nesrin During German artist employs a unique approach to trompe I'oeil ceramics monthly methods Layering Surfaces for Depth and Volume 66 Shaped Clay 2004 A National Juried Exhibition of High School Ceramics by Errol Willett

70 Jitka Palmer's Narrative Vessels by Jim Weaver Doctor-tumed-potter uses painterly technique to depict scenes from everyday life

cover: Left: Large teapot, 28 inches (71 centimeters) in height, wheel-thrown earthenware, with post-firing rusted-iron- particle finish and copper handle. Center: Teapot, 14 inches (36 centimeters) in height, wheel-thrown stoneware, with copper handle. Right: Small teapot, 9 inches (23 centimeters) in height, wheel- thrown stoneware, with copper handle, by Evan Jones, Boca Raton, Florida; see page 38. Photo: Michiko Kurisu.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 5 departments

1 0 letters from readers

14 upfront reviews, news and exhibitions

28 answers from the CM technical staff

34 suggestions from readers 36 Tip of the Month: Clay Density Measurement

72 call for entries 72 International Exhibitions 72 United States Exhibitions 72 Regional Exhibitions 72 Fairs, Festivals and Sales 76 new books 82 calendar 82 Conferences 82 Solo Exhibitions 84 Group Ceramics Exhibitions 86 Ceramics in Multimedia Exhibitions 90 Fairs, Festivals and Sales 92 Workshops 96 International Events 102 classified advertising 104 comment The Fine Line by Thomas Turnquist 104 index to advertisers

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 6 Ceramics Monthly November 2004 7

“virtual tour” courtesy of Diane Creber. She an infancy. It is enriched in every direction. letters captured the feel of the place as I remember There are new people, new ideas, new it, and I learned a few things about House’s techniques, and it is all inspirational. A Virtual Studio Tour career and perspective that I didn’t know. Mary J., San Diego, CA I used to live in southeastern Ontario. On Thanks to Ms. Creber for an interesting several occasions, I had the opportunity to and engaging article. Thanks to Ceramics Overdue Thanks visit Harlan House’s place in Lonsdale [see Monthly for publishing it. It has been 15 years since the death of my “Harlan House,” September 2004 CM]. He David Schlesinger, Yachats, OR husband, Daniel Rhodes. I think of him is indeed a fine potter, and it was always a everyday and am grateful for the love and pleasure to tour not only his showroom and The Growth of Ceramics guidance he brought into my life. I’m sure studio but his house and grounds as well. Pottery has taken off and has grown away there are others he deeply touched in their Now that I live on the West Coast, I was from what it was in the 1950s, ’60s and lives and work. surprised and pleased to be able to take a ’70s, which by comparison [to today] was As I was going through papers collected through the years, I pulled a huge box of letters out of my basement. I sat in tears for a day and a half reading all the good wishes and wonderful words given to me at that horrible time. I regret very much not writ­ ing each and every one of you long and loving letters. I’ll have to plead numbness, anger and confusion as my excuse for not being in touch with you. Please forgive me and consider this a long overdue thank you. A few days before the aneurysm, Dan said to me, “I’ve only scratched the surface of what I want to do.” Let that comment be our inspiration to continue working in this field. Let us know that a thing of beauty lasts forever. Marybeth Coulter (Rhodes), Greeley, CO

Air Safety Solution In response to Jeff Zamek’s article [“Cobalt on Trial,” JunelJulylAugust CM], and many others, I have to suggest a potential solution to many studio health problems: Get a spray booth. It can perform the same function as a low-pressure booth in a germ- research situation. Use it for any process that involves airborn particles—spraying glazes, grinding pots, weighing and mixing glazes, transferring ingredients between containers—anything that produces dust. Turn it on and the airborn particles go into a filter andlor out of the studio. I located a great booth for $400 (cheap, for what it will do). A spray booth should be one of the first pieces of studio equipment purchased. Tim Eberhardt, St. Louis, MO

National Snafu On page 20 of the October issue, we mis­ takenly stated that potter Martina Lantin is Welsh. She is, in fact, a U.S. citizen who is married to an Englishman.

In keeping with our commitment to providing an open forum tor the exchange of ideas and opinions, the editors welcome letters from all readers; some editing tor clarity or brevity may take place. All letters must include the writer’s full name and address. Mail to Ceramics Monthly, 735 Ceramic PI., Westerville, OH 43081; e-mail to [email protected] or fax to (614) 891-8960

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 10

upfront

15 Double Vision by Mason Riddle Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

16 San Francisco Clay and Glass Festival Fort Mason Center's Festival Pavilion, San Francisco, California

16 Washington Craft Show Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC

18 Toe River Studio Tour Yancey County, North Carolina

18 David Collins Heeschen Gallery, Meadville, Pennsylvania

20 Gordon Baldwin Gallerie Capazza, Nangay, France

20 Jack Rosenberg Lizan Tops Gallery, East Hampton, New York

20 Anne Hirondelle Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle, Washington

22 Two Forms of Thought Wedge Gallery, Asheville, North Carolina

24 Ceramic Sculpture in New Mexico LewAllen Contemporary in Santa Fe

24 Chris Gum, 1952-2004

Top left: Patti Warashina’s “In the Shadow of a Silent Attack,” 19X23 inches, watercolor on paper, 1995.

Top right: Patti Warashina’s “High Balls,” 35 inches (89 centimeters) in height, clay with underglaze, glaze and enamel, wire, 2003.

Above left: Cindy Kolodziejski’s “Cat Skull,” 19X19 inches, graphite on paper, 2004.

Above right: Cindy Kolodziejski’s “Paisley Histopathology,” 10 inches (25 centimeters) in height, earthenware, wood, chrome support, 2003.

Right above: Tony Hepburn’s “Signature,” 45 inches (114 centimeters) in width, clay, wood shelf, 1998.

Right below: Tony Hepburn’s “Untitled (Signature),” 60x80 inches, conte crayon and charcoal on Stonehenge paper, 1998. review:Double Vision by Mason Riddle

“Double Vision,” an exhibition on view recently at the Northern most rigorously intellectual. Hepburn extends Zuccaro s line of thought Clay Center in Minneapolis, illuminated the fact that many artists by stating “drawing is the projection of the artists intelligence in its work successfully in more than one medium. By featuring the two- least discursive form.” Thus, the shortest path from the conception to dimensional works on paper and the three-dimensional sculptures the materialization of an artist’s idea is the act of drawing. of artists Ed Eberle, Tony Hepburn, Cindy Kolodziejski, Akio And Hepburn is largely right. A drawing is the most immediate Takamori and Patti Warashina, the show deftly explored the simi­ manifestation of an artist’s idea. “With a drawing, the artists idea is larities, differences and interconnections between the two media in a visually completed very quickly, it doesn’t get polluted,” he states. single artistic practice. The exhibition presumed that the artists were While the graphic arts have joined the ranks of painting and recognized more for their ceramic sculpture, but suggested that their sculpture in the minds of the art historian, critic, collector, auction paintings, prints and drawings warranted similar attention. By ex­ house and public, Double Vision proffered that works on paper and hibiting their works on paper along with their sculpture, Double ceramic sculpture are not commonly observed as the two sides of the Vision shed light on how each artists aesthetic practice varies or is same aesthetic coin. However, finding a historical context for the two like-minded when working in two significantly different disciplines, media coexisting within one artistic practice is not difficult. One and how each artist lives this dichotomy if, in fact, one exists. needs only to turn to Matisse and Picasso for two celebrated examples To the casual observer, the creative chasm dividing works on of artists who painted, drew and worked with clay, and even drew on paper and ceramic sculpture may seem wide. But for the five Double the clay’s surface. In the same essay, Hepburn also perceptively points Vision artists, the gap is minimal. Moving back and forth between out: “There is almost a metabolic fit between the act of drawing and two media is a common if not natural event. However, what does the working of clay. To draw on clay has been an impulse that has vary from artist to artist is the role that two-dimensional work plays been documented for 35,000 years.” within their larger oeuvre: do they view their works on paper as So why are ceramics and the graphic arts rarely spoken of in the discrete works of art, or part of the larger process of making their same breath? Perhaps it is because ceramic sculpture is a bold proposi­ three-dimensional works? The answer is as varied as their individual tion that is largely about dimension, scale, process and form. Works artistic practices. on paper, a more intimate exercise on the creativity scale, are an Historically, works on paper have taken a secondary role to other altogether different impulse. Or maybe this disconnect between the media. In fact, it was not until the early 20th century that prints and two media is the last hiccup of an aesthetic hangover that deemed the drawings began to be viewed by the public as more than the graphic arts as subservient to others. handmaiden to the other arts. Of note is Picassos premiere exhibi­ What Double Vision demonstrated was that ceramic sculptors do tion in Paris, in 1903, that featured not only his paintings, but also draw, make prints or paint on paper, and not just as preliminary several pastel drawings. This deliberate presentation of both media, sketches for their three-dimensional work. Their works on paper side by side, was still a rather uncommon practice in the early 20th initially may serve that purpose, but often they ultimately exist as century, yet it signaled that the graphic arts had arrived as an distinct bodies of work, or works that thematically or stylistically autonomous mode of artistic expression. echo the related three-dimensional objects. For these artists, drawing More than a century after Picassos first exhibition, the intellec­ is unequivocally a part of the larger strategy of their artistic practice. tual segregation of disciplines seems naive, since it is now widely Kolodziejski, Takamori and Warashina all identify their ceramic understood that line drawing, critical to all of the graphic media, is work as their primary focus. For Eberle, drawing is a very close also the foundation of most if not all artistic activity. Prehistoric second. However, these artists do not view their two-dimensional minimalist cave drawings, incised Greek vase paintings, Albrecht works as secondary or insignificant: it is simply that theyare different. Diirer’s complex etchings, and even children’s drawings are rooted in Only Hepburn views both media as “analogous.” When he moves linear composition. One has only to refer to such 16th-century back and forth between sculpting and drawing, “the two activities artists as Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci to recognize the impor­ feel the same.” tance of works on paper to their larger, more public body of work. Kolodziejski, Takamori and Eberle all draw or paint onto the By the late 19th century, artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas, surfaces of their ceramic sculptures. Warashina does so less often and Gauguin, Cezanne, Matisse and Picasso were attaching increasing Hepburn rarely draws on his three-dimensional work. With the importance to their prints and drawings. exception of Warashina’s sculpture, their three-dimensional work is In his essay “Some Thoughts on the Nature of Drawing,” Double interconnected with the images defining their two-dimensional work. Vision artist Tony Hepburn corroborates this historical perspective For example, the precise and detailed images painted on by citing the Italian Mannerist painter, draughtsman, and theorist, Kolodziejski’s sculptures are the result of an elaborate drawing process Federico Zuccaro. In 1607, Zuccaro posited that drawing should be where the artist explores how a two-dimensional image is transferred elevated to a metaphysical activity, for drawing is the artist at his onto a three-dimensional surface. The works on paper allow

Ceramics Monthly November2004 15 upfront while striving to create pots that have life and vitality. I love having the opportunity to fire in a wood kiln and make special work for that— usually porcelain, which takes advantage of the ash and heat.” Ronalee Herrmann and Alfred Stolken have been creating pots Kolodziejski to clarify her ideas and more fully understand how her together since 1983. Herrmann throws and sometimes alters or adds images work. Other drawings are finished works executed after a sculp­ sculptural elements to the work, and Stolken glazes with crystalline, ture is completed. Hepburns drawings reflect the psychology and physi- celadon and other glazes. “We are dedicated to experimentation and cality of his sculptures, suggesting continuous but autonomous stages in innovation, with the eternal optimism it seems only potters possess,” the same aesthetic process. Of the five artists, Warashina sees the greatest they stated. “We continually research a variety of materials that promote separation between her two- and three-dimensional works, even though and affect crystallization. ... In addition, we are challenged by issues both are figurative and obliquely narrative. Almost all of us draw. The urge to make images, to keep our hand and our mind occupied is innate, whether we are waiting for someone in a restaurant, sitting in an underwhelming lecture, or talking on the telephone. It is widely known that Frank O. Gehrys first drawing for the Guggenheim Bilbao was nothing more than an energetic drawing on a cocktail napkin. Ultimately, the ability and desire to draw is a critical element in the ceramic sculpture of the five artists in Double Vision. The creative tension between line and form heightens the visual impact of their work, giving it depth and allowing it to resonate on multiple levels. To view collectively their works on paper and ceramic sculpture was an informative experience, a private invitation to the evolution of their creative process. Mason Riddle is the director of the Goldstein Museum ofDesign at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis/Saint Paul. An extended version of this article appears in the catalogue of the Double Vision exhibition, pub­ lished by Northern Clay Center; www.northernclaycenter.orgsee .

San Francisco Clay and Glass Festival The “San Francisco Clay and Glass Festival” will take place November 13—14 at Fort Mason Centers Festival Pavilion. Hosted by the Associa­ tion of Clay and Glass Artists of California, the festival will feature both decorative and functional works by members.

Ronalee Herrmann and Alfred Stolker’s vase, 10 inches, (25 centimeters) in height, wheel-thrown, carved porcelain with crystalline glaze, fired to Cone 12. beyond craftsmanship and concerned with artistic growth. Since 1983 our work has undergone change—both in technique and expression— but our goal remains: to create beauty in form, surface and decoration.”

Washington Craft Show The Washington Craft Show will take place November 19-21, at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. Now in its 17th year, the show will feature 185 artists from across the United States, including 28 artists working in clay. Each year a new jury panel selects the featured artists on the basis of technical skill, quality of workman­ Jan Schacter’s “Soup Tureen,” 10 inches (25½ centimeters) in height, wheel-thrown ship and originality of design. In 2004, artists for the show were selected and altered stoneware, with extruded handle and blackened stainless steel ladle, fired to Cone 10 in reduction, $200; at the San Francisco Clay and Glass Festival. from approximately 1000 applicants. Featured artists include both recognized masters and emerging artists. Works are featured in 12 “I enjoy making pots for everyday use,” stated Portola Valley, Cali­ media: basketry, ceramics, glass, fiber (decorative and wearable), furni­ fornia, artist Jan Schacter. “Each pot is a subtle variation of a form, ture, jewelry, leather, metal, mixed media, paper, and wood. usually thrown in a series. I am a perfectionist (as much as the process Artist Nicholas Bernard is inspired by the art of ancient cultures. His allows) and am constantly in search of the perfect surface and ideal form recent body of work is an exploration of classical forms and their

Ceramics Monthly November2004 16 Ceramics Monthly November 2004 17 upfront

Mary Whitesides’ “Fence post,” to 2 inches (5 centimeters) in height, handbuilt earthenware, with slips and underglazes, fired to Cone 03, $28; in the Toe River Studio Tour, Yancey County, North Carolina. tains to study and to work full time as an artist. The Penland School of Crafts has been the focal point of my training. Nature continues to inspire me.”

David Collins Works by Pennsylvania ceramics artist David Collins will be on display at the Heeschen Gallery in Meadville, Pennsylvania, November 5-27. Collins’ pots are based on the literary concept of intertextuality— the notion that all texts contain traces of a vast array of pre-existing texts. He says his teapots “propose the concept of ‘interobjectality.’” Instead of being comprised of individual words like a literary text, his teapots are composed of different forms—spout, handle, lid—that, Nicholas Bernard’s vessel, 13 inches (33 centimeters) in height, wheel-thrown when arranged in a certain manner, form a complete piece. white earthenware with colored slips, stains and oxides, fired multiple times to Cone 03, $400; at the Washington Craft Show, Washington, D.C. manipulation. “The forms . . . with their lack of pretense, incredible craftsmanship and technical virtuosity have been the standard for thou­ sands of years and have inspired me to emulate the work,” Bernard explained. “As a contemporary ceramics artist I am pushing the bound­ aries of what was done in the past—the past by which I am humbled and enthralled.”

Toe River Studio Tour More than 100 fine artists and craftspeople, including approximately 30 artists working in clay, will participate in the Toe River Studio Tour, December 3-5. The free, self-guided tour takes place about an hour north of Asheville, North Carolina, in the Toe River watershed. Ex­ amples of tour participants’ work will be on display at the Toe River Arts Council’s gallery in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, five weeks in advance of the tour. An artists’ reception will be held on December 3, from 5-8 p.m. at the gallery. “I handbuild pottery and sculpture one piece at a time because what I love best is the rhythm I feel when I work with clay,” stated Burnsville, North Carolina, ceramics artist Mary Whitesides. “I believe that each David Collins’ “Line, Function, Teapot #7,” 15 inches (38 centimeters) piece evolves from its own rhythm and that my job is to find that pulse in height, handbuilt stoneware with wash, engobes and crackle glaze and make it visible. I am inspired by nature’s depth of color and with copper carbonate, fired to Cone 04, with copper wire and aluminum, rich textures. $450; at the Heeschen Gallery, Meadville, Pennsylvania. “Art has always been my passion, but not always my profession— “Using the concept of interobjectality to include not only other having trained first in music, then in multimedia. I left my job in teapots but all objects, I produce multimedia teapots that are mutations computer software in 1996 and moved to the North Carolina moun- and permutations—hybrids that immediately challenge our traditional

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 18 upfront classical forms and proportions, Rosenberg has been working with lusters in his latest body of work. “By using a diverse range of shapes—ritual and spiritual narrative habit to classify and organize,” Collins explained. “The signifiers that I tendencies, architectural and structural edifices, biomorphic totems and use are not always concise. These pieces are not to be simply read or pillars—and responding to those froms with a diversity of modern deciphered, but experienced. As a result, these pieces tend to de-center interpretations of ancient finishes, I allow myself a broad spectrum on or test the constructs of our own expectations of what a teapot is or which to converse,” explained Rosenberg. should be.”

Gordon Baldwin Works by Shropshire, England, artist Gordon Baldwin are on view through December 12 at Galerie Capazza in Nan^ay, France. Baldwin’s works combine sculptural form with abstract painterly marks. He was initially trained as a painter although his subsequent career as a ceramist spans a period of more than 40 years.

Jack Rosenberg’s “Quatricle III,” 22 inches (56 centimeters) in height, wheel-thrown stoneware with in-glaze reduction luster; at the Lizan Tops Gallery, East Hampton, New York. Gordon Baldwin’s “Double Vessel,” 48 centimeters (18 inches) in height, handbuilt buff earthenware with slips, engobes, stains and oxides, fired multiple times; at Galerie Capazza, Nangay, France. “Technically, I am predominantly drawn toward wheel-thrown shapes that, through manipulation and assembly techniques, sometimes be­ “The role I take is ‘artist as explorer’ with the vessel as my basic come other than what they were,” he continued. “I am presently structure (like the structure of a Haiku),” stated Baldwin. “Each piece exploring and creating variations of surfaces with reduction firing and begins out of a strange compulsion to take a certain action. I suppose post-firing techniques to approximate the effects of weathering and the compulsion comes from things heard, things seen, things read, corrosion, and the effects of this aesthetic on the intended narrative.’’ things drawn and previous work. I usually work in series, constructing by the traditional method of coiling, discovering the piece as I proceed. Anne Hirondelle It is an intuitive process carried on without analytical thought. The New works by Port Townsend, Washington, artist Anne Hirondelle piece is made when the resonances are right (for me). . . . The surfaces were on view recently at the Francine Seders Gallery in Seattle. The are dealt with weeks or months later. A lot of staring at the piece is show included two- and three-dimensional works from Hirondelle’s involved—a sort of thoughtless gaze until there is a necessity for action.” recently completed “Outurn” series, as well as a preview of two new bodies of work. Jack Rosenberg In the “Outurn” series, Hirondelle veered from her vessel-making Pottery by East Hampton, New York, artist Jack Rosenberg was on view tradition and chose to create sculpture and focus on formal issues. She recently at the Lizan Tops Gallery in East Hampton, New York. Using oriented the pieces vertically rather than horizontally—in essence mov-

Ceramics Monthly November2004 20 Ceramics Monthly November2004 21 upfront Stamps employs nontraditional surface techniques such as encaus­ tics, rubber paints, epoxies and acids to create his abstract sculpture. “I am interested in how the mind collects and recalls certain images and ing them from the tabletop to the wall. Rather than glazing the work, memories and, in turn, creates a sense of history and self,” he explained. she sanded and sealed the pieces after firing, creating an opaque, matt “My work demonstrates how I organize, experience and relegate mean­ finish for the white stoneware. ing to specific acts and objects. My work objectifies, manipulates and abstracts various contexts of the body’s matter. Certain images and surfaces resonate in my mind and find their way into my pieces. Past experiences and emotions find their way into my work but the content is coded and hard for me to even interpret.”

Anne Hirondelle’s “Outurn 28,” 12 1 /2 inches (32 centimeters) in diameter, stoneware; at Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle, Washington. “I am thinking more abstractly, working more intuitively,” she explained. The resulting forms have a sensual organic presence tem­ pered by Hirondelle’s rigorous formal sensibility.

Two Forms of Thought “Two Forms of Thought,” an exhibition of ceramic sculpture by Indiana artist Hunter Stamps and North Carolina artist Jason Weatherspoon, was on display recently at the Wedge Gallery in Asheville, North Carolina.

Jason Weatherspoon’s “Whole Out,” 30 inches (76 centimeters) in height, gray stoneware, pit fired with rock salt, copper carbonate and cat food; at Wedge Gallery, Asheville, North Carolina. Weatherspoon also uses alternative additives—such as cat food and rock salt—when he pit fires his handbuilt sculpture. “These forms are a

Hunter Stamps’ “Enfolded Arch,” 16 inches (41 centimeters) direct, intuitive response to the ceramic medium,” he stated. “Handbuilt in height, ceramic and steel. from slabs, these hollow vessels react to gravity and my counterbalance

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 22 upfront of the objects weight, creating an upward dynamic, similar to the growth patterns of seeds and plant life. I contrast this early lifelike form with a pit-fired surface, evoking both the beginning and end of the PHOTO (GW): WENDY MCEAHERN creative cycle.”

Ceramic Sculpture in New Mexico Ceramic sculptures by David Joy and Gretchen Wachs were recently on view in “Form 4 : New Work in Ceramics and Glass” at LewAllen Con­ temporary in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Joys vessels are characterized by simplicity in form combined with a complexity in surface, and often

David Joy’s “Split Orb,” 24 inches (61 centimeters) in height, handbuilt porcelain, saggar fired; at LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, New Mexico. glazes, created herself from natural pigments, in abstract compositions over deep textural markings in the surfaces.

Chris Gum 1952-2004 Oregon potter Chris Gum died at his home on June 29. Gum was a board member of the Oregon Potters Association and Ceramics Show­ case in Portland, Oregon, as well as Local Clay and Clayfest in Eugene. He recieved his B.A. in Arts Education at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. While at Oregon State, he took his first pottery classes and began making pots seriously. In the early 1980s, Gum received his M.F.A. from the University of Oregon, in Eugene, where he taught until 1984. He then dedicated himself to being a self-employed potter for about 20 years. Gum was best-known for using 100 percent local materials and was considered a glaze expert by potters in the

Gretchen Wachs “Cylindrical Vessels,” to 28 inches (71 centimeters) in height, northwestern United States. His interest in local materials grew out of carved clay, brushed with glazes. his study of Oregon geology during his undergraduate and graduate studies. He collected his materials from riverbanks and road cuts all over combine handbuilding techniques with modern manufacturing pro­ western Oregon. cesses. He evokes landscaped surfaces with his orbs and double-walled bowls. Wachs is inspired by nature images, including birds and vegeta­ Submissions to the Upfront column are welcome. We would be pleased to consider press releases, artists’ statements and original (not duplicate) slides or transparencies in conjunction with exhibitions or other events of tion. Working predominantly with large vessels, she brushes bright interest for publication. Mail to Ceramics Monthly , 735 Ceramic PI., Westerville, OH 43081.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 24 Ceramics Monthly November2004 25

answers The answer to your question is not so much in the resulting clay body may lack the necessary the pressing procedure, but in the makeup of your plasticity that is needed to make the clay flow From the CM Technical Staff clay body. The problem most likely stems fromoptimally the under the pressure of the press. fact that your clay body is very nonplastic. The Baird press uses metal dies and has an Q We make clay flowerpots, bird baths and Shale clays are derived from the weathering of operating pressure of 1-2 tons. The Ram press uses many other items. We use primarily natural shale igneous rocks, much the same as the many other gypsum die materials and operates at a much (Queenston Shale) as a raw material. We slip cast, higher pressure. The fact that the metal dies re­ use a hydraulic Ram press with plaster molds, clay materials we use. However, shale clays tend to and a hydraulic Baird press with metal molds for be nonplastic and very sandy. They are typicallymove no water from the clay body may play some saucers. Our problem is with the latter. The used in the manufacture of bricks and are used in role in the cracking of your ware. It could also be saucers appear perfect once they are formed, conjunction with plasticizers and other clays for that the design of the ware or the tooling itself may but when they dry there is considerable crack­ ing. We have as much as 50% breakage. What ease of extrusion or pressing. While the color and not allow for adequate compression at the rims of can we do to decrease this percentage?—T.S. cost of the shale clay may be quite advantageous,the saucers. I would suggest that you run some trials with various amounts of ball clays added to your clay body to obtain the plasticity necessary. Ball clays are a necessary addition to most clay bodies. In the case of hydraulic pressing, they allow the body to flow better under pressure. It might also help to screen the shale clay prior to mixing to remove some of the sandy material. My guess is that you will find the cost savings you experience by using shale clay, when compared to the high failure rate, is not a savings after all. Jonathan Kaplan Ceramic Design Group Steamboat Springs, CO

Q I use a Cone 6-8 white oxidation glaze I found in your publication in the mid 1990s:

White Glaze (Cone 6-8) Dolomite...... 19.48% Gerstley Borate...... 12.99 Custer Feldspar...... 38.96 Silica (Flint)...... 28.57

100.00% Add: Zinc Oxide...... 12.99 %

I add 1% blue stain and 2% green stain. Re­ cently, I have had a lot of pinholes and blisters with this glaze. I bisque fire at Cone 06, which takes about 10 hours. The best results for the glaze firing is at Cone 5, halfway to Cone 6. This takes between 12 and 14 hours, depending on the condition of my elements at the time. How can I get rid of the pinholes and blisters?—EJ. First, I should warn you that this glaze is short of silica and alumina, so it will change color when it comes into contact with acidic foods. Leave a lemon slice on it for 24 hours at room temperature and you will see what I mean. The discoloration that you see means that the cobalt and copper in the stains will leach into acidic foods. The reasons for pinholes can be many. Zinc oxide has a reputation for causing pinholes. When it is reduced, it loses oxygen and the pure zinc metal

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 28

answers

boils, pushing gas through the glaze surface. You need to make sure there is enough oxygen getting into the kiln during the firing to avoid reducing the atmosphere. This can be done by leaving a peep­ hole open or installing a kiln vent. In order for either of these methods to work properly, there needs to be a supply of fresh air coming into the kiln room. Leaving a door or window open should suffice. Since the glaze is deficient in both silica and alumina, it could simply be overfiring. It could also be cooling too quickly, which leaves an insufficient amount of time for the pinholes and blisters to heal. Holding the temperature (soaking) at the end of the firing may keep the glaze in a molten state long enough to heal over the pinholes and blisters. Your firings are long enough, but if you are using an iron-bearing clay and it is getting reduced during the bisque firing, then the reduced iron could be overfiring the clay, causing it to outgas at the end of the glaze firing. If the pinholes are still there after the glaze is refired, then this is a possible cause. Make sure there is plenty of replacement oxygen during your bisque firings, particularly after red heat is reached. This will allow organic matter to burn off without reducing the atmo­ sphere and, therefore, the iron in the body. I have taken the liberty of reformulating your glaze to make it stable. It may not look the same, but it will be a better liner glaze for food. Mix a 500- gram test batch to see how it looks before mixing a larger batch. RR Adjusted White Glaze (Cone 6-8) Dolomite ...... 7 % Gerstley Borate...... 15 Custer Feldspar ...... 44 EPK (Edgar Plastic Kaolin) ...... 5 Silica (Flint) ...... 29 100% Add: Zinc Oxide ...... 4% It would also be possible to reformulate this glaze using a frit for the boron content. This may be necessary when Gerstley borate is no longer available. Ron Roy Ceramics Consultant Brighton, ON, Canada

Have a problem? Subscribers’ questions are welcome! Those of interest to the ceramics community in general will be answered in this column. Mail your questions to Ceramics Monthly, 735 Ceramic PI., Westerville, OH 43081; e-mail to [email protected]; or fax to (614) 891-8960.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 30

O-Gun. This was used to blow rug cleanerlsuds Glaze Snafu Chuck suggestions onto the carpet. These can still be found in Finished pots that have glaze flaws but are From Readers second-hand stores. They make fantastic spray otherwise symmetrical shapes make great chucks systems for your glazes. for footing leather-hard greenware. I save a variety of sizes and shapes that would otherwise Casting Tip be thrown out, to use when trimming other The addition of 1 tablespoon of talcum pieces. For example, I use a bowl on which the powder to 1 gallon of casting slip will allow more interior glaze has lots of pinholes to trim and foot pourings in a mold in a given period of time, shapes with rounded tops, including those and the clay body will set more quickly. More thrown as closed forms. I make use of scraps of fluid slip can be used and will release more packing foam to hold the piece in the chuck. easily.—Max Shaw, Silverdale, WA The picture below shows how this works. A Grinding Solution I have found my 41/2-inch angle grinder to be far more versatile and easier to use than my bench grinder for grinding the bottoms of my I bought one of those older vacuums for $8 pots. I can hold the grinder in one hand while and a Suds-O-Gun attachment for $1.69 and holding the pot in the other hand. Replacement now have a fabulous spray system. (Well actu­ disl

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 34 Ceramics Monthly November 2004 35 suggestions out a neck, I leave the piece of foam intact and Even Raku Reduction invert the pot on top of it. In either case, I Many people who do post-firing reduction center the pot in the chuck as you would are faced with the “frontlback” problem. The foam (1) prevents the greenware from sticking to normally, then trim the pot. side facing the combustible material can have the glaze on the chuck, and (2) prevents the The packing foam usually creates enough beautiful flashing and the opposite side can be chuck from leaving dents or impressions on the friction to hold the piece being trimmed in place dull. I have developed a simple solution. I spread surface of the pot being trimmed. If the piece I without the need for a clay donut. It also helps out a sheet of newspaper, place my combustible am trimming has a neck or a knob on top, I cut support the weight of the piece evenly without material on it, fold it over and staple the edges an “x” shape in the center of the packing foam damage to the shoulder or neck of the pot. The closed. When placing my pot in the reduction just wide enough to insert the neck through it packing foam can be wiped off and re-used many chamber, I lay the stapled paper and combus­ and still allow the shoulder of the pot to rest times, and no clay residue is left on the chuck tibles over the top. The pot receives more even securely on the rim of the chuck. If the piece has since it comes in contact only with the foam.— reduction with wonderful flashing on all sides. I a smooth rounded top or has only a rim with­ Carole Fox, Dayton, OH now use this technique regularly with depend­ able results.—Peggy Stasi, East Setauket, NY

Tip of the Month

Clay Density Measurement Most studio potters who have their clay made specially for them don’t have pen­ etrometers to measure the ideal density of their clay—and they have all had difficulty in communicating this to those mixing the clay. What does “soft” or “stiff’ or “throwing consistency” really mean? These are subjec­ tive terms. One potter’s throwing clay is soft mush to another. I have come up with a way to find an accurate number corresponding to the specific softness or stiffness of your clay. I call it the Cohen Clay Consistency (CCC) test, which will provide a CCC number. Weigh out exactly 1000 grams of your perfect clay and roll it into a sphere. Stand in a standard doorway (80½ inches tall) and place a clean piece of paper at your feet. Touch the ball of clay to the top of the doorway and let it drop onto the paper. Measure in millimeters the diameter of the flattened face of the dropped clay. Do this three times and average the results to get an accurate CCC number.

This will produce a measurement that can be reproduced in any studio. You may even be able to talk your supplier into mixing your clay using this measurement system.

Congratulations to Michael Cohen of Pelham, Massachussetts. Your subscription has been extended by one year!

Share your ideas with others. Previously unpublished sugges­ tions are welcome individually or in quantity. Ceramics Monthly will pay $10 for each one published. Include a drawing or photograph to illustrate your idea and we will add another $10 to the payment. Mail to Ceramics Monthly, 735 Ceramic PL, Westerville, OH 43081, e-mail to [email protected]; or fax to (614) 891-8960.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 36

Evan Jones Meditations on the Teapot by Rev. Philip Carr-Jones

Over two decades had passed since Evan Jones studied with Jack Troy at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. Now, Jones was ask­ ing Troy to critique his new work. The old anxiety welled up. Jones felt 19 again, sporting long, lamb- chop sideburns, flooded with anxious silence as he awaited his mentor’s critique. Troy was often quite frank. He braced for his response, though some­ what more confident than the last time he experi­ enced his feedback. He was an adult now, after all. He was eager to show his latest work not sim­ ply to display his recent accomplishments but to get needed insight. Gifted mentors are not only able to do the work themselves, they perceive the essence of the work. They articulate effectively, in substantive terms, so that direction and motiva­ tion result. Troy is such a person. “I think you should look at where the handles join the pots,” offered Troy. “My eyes stop there. They shouldn’t.” For Jones, chance and pluck were the origins of his entry into clay. At the end of his first term at Juniata, a writing instructor suggested he check out the pot shed, a rusty Quonset hut on the edge of campus. A student was laying out bricks with someone who appeared to be a laborer. The la­ borer turned out to be Troy, who quickly ended the meeting, returning to his bricks, and saying over his shoulder, “Come back in your senior year.” Jones shot back, “Our new curriculum al­ lows us to take an independent study with whom­ ever we want.” His courage rising, “I want to take an independent study in ceramics.” Troy stopped Evans Jones with a group of his teapots. stacking bricks. At this point, the freshman hadn’t a clue about why he wanted to take such a course. They spoke a Oakland, California, to Monticello, New York, to Miami, Florida, few minutes more, during which the neophyte was informed how By the time he left in 1983, he was married and managing a to pronounce “kiln” and that pottery isn’t baked. “Bring back a painting crew of 15. Settling in Miami, he developed a painting good proposal tomorrow and I might sign it,” Troy said. Since firm specializing in faux finishing, gilding and marbleizing. Seven then, clay has become Jones’ medium of choice for experiencing years later, life was dog-and-cat, sales-and-receivables. Clay was a the nature of beauty. For Jones, the process of creating ceramic distant memory. His wife wasn’t even aware that he had once work becomes a metaphor for the question: what is beauty? made pottery. Jones is, in his heart, an aesthete. After graduating from Juniata, College reunions can be dangerous. Affairs of the heart can he stopped making pots completely and went on to study medita- unexpectedly disrupt a formerly straight path. In Jones’ case, tion and Eastern religion. His quest for beauty was focused more visiting the anagama kiln at Troy’s home during a 20th reunion in directly toward spirituality. He lived in a meditation community 1996 was his life’s interruptive. While the rest of the ceramics for seven years, including two in India. They had no need for world might have been keeping up, Jones’ reintroduction to wood- potters, but they did need painters. So, he painted buildings from fired pottery was spectacular. Troy’s,Wood-Fired Stoneware and

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 39 Porcelain had just been published. It all came back: The small worth showing, some tangible expression of quality that spoke wood-fired kiln Jones had built during his independent study, his from life experience and a coalescing of lessons and values learned. course textbooks{Japanese Pottery by Herbert Sanders andTamba The painting business provided no small influence in what has Pottery by Daniel Rhodes). At a dinner party for alumni, after a become a defining aspect of Jones’ work: scale. Large architectural question from a former academic advisor, he responded, “No, I pieces were conceived for the places he was painting. The humid­ don’t think I’ll make pots again. That was a different time in my ity of southern Florida made various techniques for throwing life.” But the inspiration was only postponed. large forms problematic and time consuming. Throwing in sec­ The only pottery in Jones’ home at that time was from IKEA, tions helped and afforded the necessary flexibility to juggle the so he brought back several of Troy’s pots. A week after returning demands of his business and personal life, because pieces could be home, he pulled employees at the painting business off their jobs made over a longer period of time. Studio time became a noctur­ to clear out half of the warehouse. “What the hell are we doing nal activity, especially for firings. here, boss?” They found themselves intermittently pugging bar­ Other considerations of scale proved daunting: bats must be rels of clay and lifting 200-pound vases into kilns. With a new pot upwards of 36 inches in diameter and must be heavily varnished shop set up, Jones made calls to people he hadn’t spoken to in to reduce warping, raw light bulbs strung at different heights decades. He saved his call to Troy for last. Troy was a bit surprised helped the drying process, and scale drawings were soon needed by his impulsiveness and more than deflated when his former for shaping. With each section weighing 30 pounds, a 120-pound student asked what the difference was between flint and silica. form over 3 feet tall cannot easily be reshaped. The transition “Evan, flint is silica.” The conversation ground to a rather sudden from immediate spontaneity to embedding inspiration into sketch­ end. No further call would be made until there was something ing meant no less creativity, but rather a shift, a reframing of the creative process in forethought. The tension be­ tween freedom and discipline, finding the coop­ erative, complimentary aspect of each to the other, became central to the making of larger works. It was also more effective to evolve forms through drawing on paper rather than on the wheel by trial and error. The pots were getting larger in diameter, but were still only 35 inches tall when fired. The patios of the homes being painted could use 40- to 50-inch pieces. As the teapots reached 20 gallons, the clay handles became difficult to manage. The act of pulling a 6-foot- long handle is not just sensual, it is downright erotic. Forget about Demi Moore in GhosP, film this and it’ll get banned in Boston. Late in 1998, Jones received a note from Troy inviting him to send several pieces to Juniata for an exhibition commemorating 30 years of ceram­ ics at the college. Jones sent a piece borrowed from his parents from his freshman year, a teapot made during an apprenticeship at Jugtown Pot­ tery in Seagrove, North Carolina, and several recent pieces with cold finishes. Jones was com­ bining painted, gilded and other metallic finishes on fired clay forms, usually planters or vase forms of larger sizes. Jones spoke with Troy before the exhibition opened. “I could tell from his com­ ments of my work that he thought the forms were well conceived,” recalled Jones. “But when I asked what he thought of the finishes, he replied, ‘I’m not sure about that. I’m going to go back tomorrow with my sunglasses to look at them

Teapot, 26 inches (66 centimeters) in height, stoneware, with carbon trap again.’” Those finishes weren’t part of Troy’s vo­ Shino glaze, fired to Cone 11 in reduction, by Evan Jones, Boca Raton, Florida. cabulary; but they were part of Jones’.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 40 By the summer of 2001, Jones was spending less and less time in the studio. Something had to change and, as fate would have it, MONTHLY Troy called again and invited Jones to attend a wood firing at his methods anagama. Jones threw and bisque fired a truckload of pots, packed up and said good-bye to his family for three weeks. Copper-Tubing Handles The experience of letting go of the demands of his business by Evan Jones was intensified by the adjustment to the deliberate, slow pace of a wood firing. At the end of the first full day at the kiln site, with Pulling handles measuring 8 feet in length is not practi­ five people working, less than half the kiln was loaded. He was cal. Larger lengths require segments and post-firing pin concerned with the absurdly slow process. “I was thinking that assembly, compromising the graceful uninterrupted curve. there was no way this can possibly make money.” Each pot was Copper tubing, however, is light and maleable under heat. carefully placed to get the optimum result from the flames. The There is a dizzying array of flexible, rigid, stranded, pieces were sometimes placed and then re-placed and then dis­ solid and hollow copper tubing in various diameters. cussed and then placed again. And then there were the intermi­ They vary in wall thickness according to specified refrig­ nable clay cookies being stuck on the bottoms. It drove him crazy. eration, electrical, plumbing or gas standards. “I live in a hustling business environment that measures every­ The most malleable thing for profit,” he said. “Time for labor is estimated and allot­ pipe kinks easily, flattens ted, overhead calculated and assigned, materials budgeted. But by out and hardens quickly the time the kiln was loaded, and the firebox lit, a change had after initial working. occurred in my perspective. The rhythm of stoking the wood, Quickly heating the cop­ feeding that huge fire dragon, hearing the flames roar and smell­ per pipes to red heat with ing the intense reduction was mesmerizing. I felt a profound sense an acetylene torch and al­ of quiet and peace, a connection to the firing process that I had lowing them to cool slowly lost over the years. By the end of the five-day firing, I was sorry to makes them pliable, ca­ see the firebox sealed. While the kiln cooled for six days, I threw pable of bending to a tight pots and fired a Cone 10 reduction gas kiln. Both kilns unloaded radius without major dis­ the same day—better than Christmas. It was the first time I had tortions. The annealed experienced a high-fired kiln since graduating college.” copper is soft enough to He returned to firing Cone 10 stoneware and porcelain through flatten between the thumb post-baccalaureate courses at the Florida Atlantic University in and finger so careful han­ Boca Raton. Until the anagama firing, ceramics for Jones had dling is a necessity. been largely a monastic pursuit—he worked entirely alone. The Combining various di­ solitary path emphasized reaching inward to resolve form and ameters of tubing produces design conflicts. After the anagama firing, questions of purpose, a more hand-wrought ef­ Teapot, 58 inches (147 centimeters) intent, meaning and value were posed in an entirely different, if fect, as does the ease with in height, earthenware with Cone 04 not confrontational, manner. which copper accepts iron/copper glaze fired in oxidation. Reflecting upon conceptual and installation art, Jones began chemical patina and distressing. The result is a handle to embrace a new playfulness, as well as grouping concepts. The that is in harmony with the fired piece. A honeycomb jig Morikami Museum in nearby Delray Beach offered a culminating is fashioned to hold each of the pipes—up to 15 per environment. In the early part of the 1900s, a sizeable Japanese handle. The jig is slowly twisted to create a roping effect. farming community developed in southern Florida. One of the A second heating is required for the copper rope to be founders, George Morikami, donated 200 acres of land to Palm arched to the proper radius and final shape. Completed Beach County. Inside the museum, there is an authentic teahouse handles are connected either directly to the pot with large and traveling exhibitions of Japanese art and culture. The grounds silicon bronze bolts and nuts, or to thick copper plate hold a 16-acre Japanese garden designed and built by Hoichi straps that are bent to fit the ceramic form and attached Kurisu, a contemporary master in Japanese garden design. There with bolts and nuts. are several distinct styles of gardens at the museum. Since Jones To add variation and complexity to the appearance of found the gardens to be inspirational, and spent time meditating the handles, copper electrical grounding wire, either solid there, it only seemed fitting that an installation of Jones’ teapots, or stranded, wraps the handles at locations along its representing several phases of his ceramics life, take place among curve. This detail provides allusion to the twine wrapping the gardens. The images in this article were taken during that of rush handles on classic Asian teapots. exhibition. For Jones, the future is now open for more challenge, Completed handles are either left to weather and oxi­ reflection, creativity and, of course, meditation. dize naturally or patinated chemically.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 “Mentiras (Lies),” 50 centimeters (20 inches) in length each, 2002. Angel Garraza by Alicia Fernandez

Angel Garraza is faithful to the union between form and matter, prominent characteristic in Garraza’s work is an important expression and mud. Defining a personal language, with visual reflection on duality. He generates a relationship between two qualities and tactile properties, the sculptor affirms the vitality of individuals, expressing an interest in human relations. The forms’ his work. He continually searches for the essence and the wealth encounters happen naturally, with simplicity and without strate­ of matter. Exploring and discovering its innate characteristics is gies. Their presence is voluntary and the elements engage in a his daily challenge. “My work has a somewhat rigid component dialog—facing each other or merging with one another. and structure. The clay—because of the way it can be manipu­ Recently, Garraza has been creating works with fewer conces­ lated, because of its expressive value—offers many possibilities sions to the pictorial and is more focused on combining the and permits an open dialogue with the structure of the work,” possibilities of the white and black clays. There is a progressive explains Garraza. purification marked by the certainty of the balance, the harmony Garraza’s work emphasizes two common characteristics. One of the parts and the rigor of the classic sculptor. This allows him characteristic is sequential modulation of the composition. Form, to obtain clean, white forms, as well as the volume and weight of color and order interact naturally. Constructing the surfaces in the black forms. modular intervals, Garraza plays with the vision, causing a certain When encountering the sculpture of Garraza, one perceives instability in opposition to the static power of the wall. Another the poetic sense that accompanies most of his works. Exposed in

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 42

“Vinculo (I Tie),” 4.6 meters (15 feet) in length, black and white clay.

the titles or insinuated in the parts, the feeling expressed sug­ gests proximity, relations, complicity or distances. Those em­ braces, encounters and unions vindicate a sensible space, a place of echoes where it is possible for peace, love and life to exist. Thanks to the capacity of the artist to combine matter and thought, he obtains works that transmit lived emotions, sensa­ tions and moments. The three pieces that compose the series “Si Levantra la Cabeza (If it Raised its Head),” are spirals that finishlbegin in the center, occupied by a head, either protruding from or in­ truding into the center. One is white, one is black and one is both. A light, rhythmical vibration produced by the artist’s hand crosses the surfaces of these works. They are the tracks of the process, the memory of the work and the registry of the hand. As French philosopher Henri Focillon wrote, “The hand is action: it takes, it creates, and sometimes, thinks.” Memory, or perhaps the passing of time, is also a theme in “Vinculo (I Tie),” a large-scale wall piece. The development of two parallel lines, with a crossed roll form, are superimposed. The two united and parallel routes suggest a dual relation of coexistence. The piece is structured in two parts whose exact symmetry and continuity is only interrupted by the abrupt shock of color between the white and the gray silver. This resistance is also present in the “Inalados,” made up of two equal parts separated by the difference of color. Again duality and modulation is a distinctive element of the work.

“Inalados,” 130 centimeters (51 inches) in height, black and white clay, Excerpted from a catalog published in conjunction with an 2001, by Angel Garraza, Mungia Vizcaya, Spain. exhibition at Galeria Sargadelos in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 44 Covered bowl, 12 inches (30 centimeters) in height, wheel-thrown porcelain, with porcelain applique.

DON PILCHER REINVENTED Georgette Ore and the Rascal Ware Story by Linda Hillman

What do you do when you’ve studied with the greats—Shoji ’70s and ’80s,” says close friend and potter Tom Turner, “Don Hamada, Otto and Vivika Heino, Norm Schulman, Robert Pilcher was one of the dominant ceramics artists in the Midwest, Archambeau, and Ralph Bacerra; when you’ve had a long and making huge stoneware pots and beautiful porcelain pots with successful career as a teacher yourself; when you’ve gained na­ incredible glazes. He had it all—material, process, form.” Then tional acclaim as a ceramics artist, then scrapped it all out of he was gone. frustration; when you’ve struggled with personal demons and In 1989, Pilcher met and married Linda Meyer, a senior come out intact; when you’ve met and married a woman who one researcher in reading and development for children. She would day wants to know why, if you were such a big shot in clay, yousee notices or calls for work or invitations to exhibitions coming don’t make any pots for her? If you’re Don Pilcher, you reinvent in and gathered that he had been someone in the ceramics world, yourself—this time as the enigmatic Georgette Ore. You redis­ so she began asking him to make her a few pots. He had little of cover your potter’s soul. You’re on fire with ideas, and you’re his own work. “My husband’s a potter, but he’s never made me a having the time of your life. pot,” she’d say, and every time it came up, he’d say that he’d given In 1986, Don Pilcher gave up pots and turned his studio up that life, given up those pots, and that he’d never go back toward sculpture. He sold his kick wheel and started teaching again. Years later, she convinced him to throw again and he design instead of ceramics, which he had taught since 1966, at the transformed his sculpture studio into one for ceramics. But, as the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He’d been there since saying goes, “you really can’t go home again,” and Pilcher struggled completing graduate school at the Rhode Island School of De­ with where this work might lead. sign. His personal life had gotten complicated and there seemed After a few hundred pieces, Pilcher had his skills back and nowhere to go with the handsome, perfectly thrown work that could make the exquisitely potted elegant Chinese forms for had become his trademark in the world of ceramics. “In the ’60s, which he had been known. But he wasn’t excited enough to show

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 45 them to anyone. He needed to reach beyond these comfortable whole, complete, engaging statements, using a modest series of forms and figure out a body of work that could hold his interest. means—the wheel, the wily fingers and these many years of skill Through his love of challenge, complexity, writing, throwing, and practice? That’s the journey that keeps me interested.” manipulating, glazing, pondering ceramics history, and down­ Pilcher recalls that there was a concept required at Chouinard right fun, he began creating Rascal Ware. Art Institute in Los Angeles, one of his alma maters, which stuck “These are pots about ideas,” Pilcher says, “ideas that honor in his memory. “Your reach must be greater than your grasp.” what it is to put the clay on the wheel and spin it in space.” One That is, the most ambitious outlook on life would be to do of the things he asks himself is whether he can make something something you hadn’t done before. From that, Pilcher extrapo­ that no one else has made before. It sets the bar high, but it’s not lated that the artists with the most courage were the ones who impossible. He says, “It has to connect to you. You have to dealt with the question, “What can I do today ?’ reinvent yourself, and that’s hard work. It takes intellect. It’s Now he’s potting, writing and feeding his imagination. The cerebral work.” literary side of this work is Pilcher’s story. Autobiographically told The challenge for Pilcher in reinventing himself is the same as through three voices—Georgette Ore, Junior Bucks and Pilcher— it always is for creative people: continuing to make honest, aes­ it’s gentle, humorous, deeply honest truth. To spin his web a bit thetically ambitious pieces that are engaging. Mihaly further, he published photos of Georgette’s pieces photographed Csikszentmihalyi, documenter of the practices of highly creative in the context of a head of hair. He did this for several months people, notes that to keep enjoying something one has to increase before he released a full autobiography on this debonair, but its complexity. Pilcher has given himself this challenge. The keen fictitious potter, Ms. Ore. professional can look at his bowls and realize that you don’t see In this incarnation, Pilcher has decided to do things differ­ this very often. With the glaze drips for feet, he’s pared away a lot ently. He wants Rascal Ware to produce interest, but he says he of the things that usually enhance and sell a product—in this case, has no other goal for it than to test his own imagination. “Basi­ a nicely trimmed foot, a beautifully turned and articulated rim— cally,” he says, “thisproject is a body of work based on a fictional both things he’s done before. The complexity reveals itself with a narrative, which is actually my autobiography sprinkled with a closer look. few gems from the life of an American original, George Ohr. The Pilcher wonders, “Can I make these pieces on the wheel so point is to apply the essence of Ohr but not his particulars.” when they come off, without benefit of foot or rim, they are “It’s Pilcher dreaming again,” says Norm Schulman, Pilcher’s former Rhode Island School of Design teacher. “If it’s not his dream works, it’s his daydream works. He’s playing with us, trying to get us to commit to saying what this is about. He’s putting us on, as would George Ohr. As I see it, this is not a comeback for Don; it’s a con­ tinuum. The only thing he’s come back to is clay. He’s still teaching design through his work.”

Rascal Ware: What Is the Story? I interviewed Pilcher at his Champaign, Illinois, studio. At one point he said, “I’m going to throw one of these Ore bowls so you can see what’s involved.” We moved from the house through a garden to his absolutely im­ maculate, spotless, two-year-old studio. Looking at these luscious, undulat­ ing, asymmetrical shapes in Pilcher’s workspace forming tableaux on his shelves, worktable, everywhere, I quickly take notes as he throws one of Georgette’s pieces for me. (He usually throws and manipulates four at a time “Rascal Ware Bowl,” 8 inches (20 centimeters) in diameter, wheel-thrown and altered porcelain. in about one-and-a-half hours, he says,

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 46 but then his mind starts to wander.) He muses on the questions he’s answering in this body of work. “I’m at the point in my life where I can ask myself, ‘If I could make anything, what would I make?’ I’ve answered that question and I’m only making what I want to right here, right now. I have chosen to explore Georgette’s story, Junior Bucks’ story—my story—through Rascal Ware. Pushing my imagination and my material, I’m comfortable working things out through Georgette. “This new work may answer a question that continues to plague me: ‘How do we explain the ubiquitous Asian influence on potters in the United States?’ I can’t solve this quite yet, but if an American potter such as Georgette wanted to make a new body of work that had no Asian influence, what would she reference? European pots—Miro, Picasso? Indigenous Native American pot­ tery? The face jugs of Chester Hewell or Lanier Meaders? The hill pottery of Ben Owen I? I can’t imagine making anything like these because each of their shadows is so long. But George Ohr? Well, maybe. He was an original American potter.” The studio exhaust fan is banging and Pilcher talks as he throws. What he’s done today is make a deeper waist in the pot than usual. I note that he throws very dry. He’s considered waiting for the forms to set up a little before he manipulates them, but has decided against this. He touches this one immediately after throw­ ing, making conscious, cavernous, erotic movements on every side. Knowledgeable potters and viewers will know how dry, how “Rascal Ware Vase,” 9 inches (23 centimeters) in height, well thrown the piece must have been to take this much distortion wheel-thrown and altered porcelain. and still stand up. Each of the pot’s profiles is different—one does not predict another. Schulman looks at these Ore bowls and says, “This lumpy twisted form, you look at it and you begin to see things. It’s like clouds. If you don’t turn off to it, you see figures, faces, nipples, toes. It’s an exquisite piece of throwing. You don’t do all that to porcelain unless you know how, and unless you have a very special clay body. He tortures the daylights out of these pieces, but they still have amazing integrity. It’s not a haphazard thing he is doing—it’s beautifully executed.” Pilcher says that, though his fingers are wily, they are always the same size. In order not to get redundant images, he made clay “fingers” of different sizes to make different moves and to shift the scale ever so slightly. The idea of using clay to form clay is nicely resonant. For every “in” there is an “out” but some outs have no ins, making a Bach-like variation-on-a-theme statement. “I have a streak of Peck’s bad boy in me and a wicked sense of humor that I never found an outlet for in ceramics. Suddenly here it was! I was asking myself, ‘Now that I’ve got the work, how am I going to show it? How will it be received?’ So I sent a piece of Rascal Ware along with Georgette’s artist’s statement to a number of my colleagues and to several galleries. You should see the responses! David Rago of Rago Arts does secondary reselling of American Arts and Crafts movement pots at very upscale prices. “Rascal Ware Vase,” 10 inches (25 centimeters) in height, He has bought and will auction probably $1 million worth of wheel-thrown and altered porcelain. George Ohr’s pieces. Well, David Rago acknowledged receipt of his Ore bowl and said he’d be happy to auction it off!

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 47 “Tom Turner, a potter I admire, said he was blown away by the “So what’s important about Georgette? That’s a good question, pot Georgette sent him, and even more so by the writing describ­ but let me substitute a word—meaningful—and I can give a ing it by Georgette herself. He also quipped that George Ohr is better answer. We need to ask what is meaningful about her lucky he didn’t have to deal with me or Georgette! Tom told me because I’m not sure it is important work, but it is meaningful to that our old friend, Tim Mather, who teaches ceramics at the me. It’s given me the opportunity to go back and successfully University of Indiana, Bloomington, said, ‘No one should be able answer that other question: Can I sit down and do something I to have this much fun!’ I am so lucky. have never done before? “I also sent a piece to The Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art in “And then the bonus question: Will this project find a life Biloxi, Mississippi, and ironically, I got it back. It seemed ironic outside my studio where people in the field might recognize it as to me because George Ohr had once sent quite a bit of work to a having some kind of value? Will it start other conversations?” museum for a show. They chose a couple of pieces and sent all the In an exhibition at Terra Incognito Studios and Gallery, Pilcher rest back. Ohr was so angry that he told them to send everything planned a “Rascal Ware Smorgasbord” where he presented each back, which they did. Well, the museum in Biloxi had kept pot in some well-known ceramic surface treatment and firing Georgette’s piece for a month and then wrote that their acquisi­ method that he’s worked in during his career. tions committee had rejected it. The letter thanked me for my I ask whether Pilcher is fomenting a revolution in the clay offer of a genuine Georgette Ore, and said that if I had a genuine world. He replied, “No it’s not a revolution; it’s more a temper George Ohr, they’d accept that instead. When you’re doing com­ tantrum. I don’t expect to convert anybody. Once you’re a tenured edy that is also deadly serious, you’re throwing people very com­ professor, to speak your mind is really not very bold, but it’s what plicated stuff. you need to do. When I was at the university, I used to do that. A “I have to say this. Georgette’s pots are not for everybody. To lot of times I was a pain in the ass, but many times I was right. I the people throwing and trimming clay, making pots and selling don’t think that I converted anyone. to the public, what I’m talking about here is ivory-tower bull. “I would like to be well thought of in the contributions I’ve They are ideas, concepts, attempts that no self-respecting studio made, but unpredictable in what comes next. It’s a challenge potter who’s got to put stuff out there for the public could ever because I have been known for making substantive, aesthetically indulge in. They don’t have time for that. It looks dumb, stupid, beautiful work. To come in with this stuff, people may think I’ve like a waste of talent and a waste of time. gone off the deep end. But that’s fine. I’ve got a lovely wife; my “My former student, Dave Toan, once said, ‘You’ve always kids are up and on their own; I have a wonderful home; I have my made pots about ideas.’ He’s right. This is just more of that. It’s health so far as I know; clay that works; kilns that fire. also about intent, motives, and why, when you’ve made one kind “This other life of service work that Linda and I have makes of work for so long, would you make work like this? Is it only a Rascal Ware real playtime stuff. We are court-appointed special late-career adjustment? I’m calling it an adjustment because I advocates for juveniles. We’re in court with serious cases of ne­ have made my clay carefully since 1958. That’s 45 years. I was aglect and abuse, drugs, sexual assaults—grizzly stuff that’s as real careful worker. Now I am nearly reckless. Whatever I’d hoped to as it can be. Making Rascal Ware is the bright side and the balance prove or to express in the early days, I did as well as I cared to do it of the court activity because after spending three hours trying to and as long as I cared to do it. Now I’m just looking for fun.” get an eleven-year-old out of jail, what is it to come in here and Pilcher admits that George Ohr beat him to making an Ameri­ photograph a pot and send it out? So it is in this context that can pot without Asian influence by 100 years, but ultimately he Rascal Ware is the sunny core of my life. says, “The value of this work is personal: It gives substance to my “I am where I am now because I continue to look for new own imagination.” ideas. It becomes a habit. What I like most about the field is its If the personal value of the Rascal Ware project is individual complexity. There are lots of art forms, but ceramics requires as creativity—the successful expression of his own imagination in a complex a set of skills, knowledge, experience, persistence and way that is personally satisfying—he is not sure that the function flexibility as I know.” of his bowls or their aesthetic content are going to connect with Pilcher is not hopeful about the future of handmade pottery in people as strongly as their hook, which is, getting people to ask America. In his opinion, the culture is becoming more and more “What is Pilcher doing?” disconnected with things that really count. Things that are ur­ He’s treating clay as plastic—heated and malleable—in re­ gent, rather than important, drive us. People’s attention spans sponse to a line in the movie The Graduate, where the character have become hopelessly short. The population is no longer Benjamin is told that the future is in plastics. This line stuck reflective. It’s reactive. “Who do you want as an audience for your because Pilcher saw the film at about the same time he made the art?” he asks rhetorically. “Reflective people, I say to myself, and decision to go into ceramics. It made him wonder if he had gone yet I know that everything about our popular culture stimulates into the right business. Now he says he never knew what a fringe reactive response.” field he had chosen. “Potter is right up there with horse-shoer. When viewers encounter Georgette’s Rascal Ware, will they They’re important, but there aren’t a lot of them. see how very dry and agile the throwing was? How the glaze

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 48 “Rascal Ware, Late Afternoon at the Nude Beach,” wheel-thrown and altered porcelain, unfired, by Don Pilcher (Georgette Ore), Champaign, Illinois.

droplets become the bowl’s foot? How the rim was lovingly work, he is raising serious questions about issues facing the thought­ touched? Will a trained eye see how Pilcher intentionally ad­ ful contemporary potter. Rather than being ivory-tower bull, they dressed the Iga and Bizen aesthetic (not form—his potting will are concerns regarding the viable future of making pots. What can always be thin) in a European rather than an Asian way? Will they pots be besides the humble pot we have come to romanticize and note that some of these pots look scorched, not because bundles love? Where is the American aesthetic? What do pots (as material of straw were packed among the pots during firing, but because of culture) made in the 21st century tell us about 21st-century his attention to glaze application? Will the viewer reflect on the Americans? Who are the new Don Pilchers—those who push the questions Pilcher is addressing? Will they see him as courageous? limits of what a pot can be but stay true to the essence of a pot? Val Cushing, a potter who received one of Georgette’s bowls in Where are the necessary technical and historical foundations be­ the mail, sums it up: “There has not been a lot of humor and wit ing laid in the education of new potters (not clay workers or in American ceramics since the days of Arneson, Gilhooly, Baldwin ceramics sculptors, but potters)? Will young new potters know and a few others. As I read Georgette’s artist statement and held and respect what came before? this beautifully made bowl in my hands, I was puzzled. It was Pilcher’s personal questions—dealing with the complexity that obviously made by a sophisticated and highly skilled potter, but working with clay offers; the ideas that these pots propagate; and who wrote the clever spoof on one of America’s icons? Who also the dreams that they might spin—in addition to questions stimu­ would have been fully capable of doing the same sort of thing lated by his intellect, keep him acutely challenged as he reinvents himself? When I realized who this really was I laughed and himself. He is reaching way out there—greater than his normal thought, ‘Welcome back Don Pilcher.’ His previously striking grasp—and he and Georgette Ore, Junior Bucks, Mosley Bunkham ceramics have, in recent years, been in a kind of silent period, but (a new hire) are having a great time doing it! his talent, humor and insight are very much with us again.” And yes, he is with us again. Aside from Pilcher’s off-handed the author Linda Hillman is a freelance writer and studio potter manner of dealing with queries concerning the value of Georgette’s living in Chicago.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 49 Hal Riegger Retrospective By Gregg Allen Lindsley

It is rare indeed when a lifetime of work in any discipline is 1952. He discovered an account of Japanese raku practices by assembled for viewing. It is even more rare to be able to view a Warren Gilbertson in an old (February 1943) issue of the Ceramic body of work that reflects nearly all the works produced in that Abstracts and the Bulletin of the American Ceramic Society. After discipline around the world today. Such an event will take place reading about the technique, Riegger built a small kiln and began November 27-December 30 at TRAX Gallery in Berkeley, Cali­ firing. His first attempts met with limited success, but he became fornia, when raku pioneer Hal Riegger will be honored with a increasingly involved and, in 1958, taught raku for the first time retrospective show featuring a lifetime of work. at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine. Riegger, a gentle giant of a man, brought a rigorous discipline To say his was an ordinary life of clay and academia would be to the study of raku, a study that, for him, began in the spring of to grossly misstate the facts and underestimate the man. After

“Pot with Necklace,” 16 inches (41 centimeters) in height, handbuilt, with red and white slip, 2001. Bowl, 16 inches (41 centimeters) in diameter, wheel-thrown stoneware, with glaze, and trailed and brushed slip decoration, 1947.

earning his bachelors degree at Alfred University and completing his resident work on his masters degree at Ohio University in 1939, his pottery life was both interrupted and enhanced by World War II. Riegger was a conscientious objector, morally opposed to war, a stance he attributes to the education he received at the School of Organic Education in Fairhope, Alabama, where students were allowed to pursue their own interests in their own time, which allowed their deepest interests and abilities to come naturally to the surface. World War II conscientious objectors were organized into work camps and were required to pay to stay there. Riegger was assigned to a camp in northwestern North Dakota, where he helped organize a pottery program for the men in the camp. The program gained national attention for the quality of the work produced, and an exhibition of assignees’ work toured veteran’s hospitals to encourage physical therapy. Riegger’s work over the years has influenced everyone who has worked making raku. It is a tribute to his rather shy and unassum­ ing nature that he feels he really hasn’t influenced anyone. Others

disagree. Former student, Yolanda Samuels, remembers how tak­ Teabowl, 31 /2 inches (9 centimeters) in height, ing classes from Riegger at the California College of Arts and red clay, raku fired, 2000.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 51 Crafts in 1956 changed her entire outlook on clay. “I started my things of fired clay made for the ceremony. All other work is not clay career working with Marguerite Wildenhain, and her ap­ raku, but done in the raku style. “I don’t like much of what is proach was very strict. Hal, on the other hand, had us experi­ being made in the name of raku today. It’s too loud; it hits you in menting with everything. He was so open, it was like I could the face. Raku pots should be quiet. You should have to search finally be really creative.” them out,” he said. “In fact, I don’t think a person with a big ego Berkeley potter and TRAX gallery collaborator Robert Brady could make a raku pot. remembers his first meeting with Riegger. “I was very impressed “People come to see me make raku,” Riegger said. “There with Hal, his work, house and lifestyle. Hal lived very simply, really isn’t much to see. You pull the pieces out of the kiln, put it in sawdust, cover it with a can, and walk away. Then you come back later and there is the pot. People are so disappointed. They think there should be some kind of party going on! “In American ceramics his­ tory,” said Riegger, “raku fol­ lowed stoneware, and became an alternative to stoneware’s earthy color palette because bright, lustrous colors could be obtained. The exciting finishes obtained have led to people grabbing any old pot and put­ ting glaze on it with no thought to how the glaze fits the pot.” Riegger noted that post­ firing reduction was not part of Japanese raku. So where did the reduction come from? Herbert H. Sanders, in his Plate, 9 inches (23 centimeters) in width, with brushed and trailed glaze, World of Japanese Ceramics, ex­ raku fired, 2003, by Hal Riegger, Gridley, California. plains that, when the clay was somewhere between a Zen Bhuddist and Shaker sensibility. He bisqued in a wood or charcoal kiln, the clay was reduced in did not surround himself with more than he needed. His ward­ certain areas. These spots of reduction remained in the clay, under robe was very simple; khaki shorts, white tee shirts and work the glaze, when they were glaze fired. These pots were highly shoes. His pots were much the same—beautiful, simple volumes, sought after and greatly prized. economically made. They were very light and struck a chord with Riegger’s asymmetrical shapes show a quality of freedom and my own sensibilities.” abandonment. Pots made this way show a quality that is human. A traditionalist when it comes to raku, Riegger’s study of the He believes that smaller is more powerful. For instance, a black Japanese tea ceremony, the purpose of the teabowls and the method glaze applied to a pot with just a spot of luster makes for a strong of their making, helped him to realize that he had a deep affinity and beautiful piece, as opposed to a loud, brightly colored piece. for Japanese culture and an innate understanding of what was At the age of 91, Riegger is still making raku ware. The behind the making of ceremonial ware. exhibition at TRAX is a fitting tribute to the rigorous yet free and His exposure to, and assimilation of, Japanese raku has led creative spirit that embodies his life. him to believe that the creation of raku without an underlining For more information on this and other exhibitions at TRAX understanding of why a piece is made lacks the human intent Gallery, seewww.traxgallery.com . which makes work come alive. This is an attitude that was rein­ forced by his days in the camp. the author Gregg Allen Lindsley is a studio potter in Whispering For Riegger, raku refers to those pieces made specifically for Pines, California, a ceramics instructor at Mendocino College and a the tea ceremony, and executed with the precepts appropriate to board member of the Potters Council.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 52 Hal Riegger: Teacher and Friend by Steven Branfman

I first saw raku in 1974 as a graduate student at Rhode Island School Of Design (RISD). My introduction was less than elegant. In fact, it was crude. A few students were huddled around a small kiln with the door half open. They were reaching in with long-handled tongs and removing pots in a most haphazard, random fashion. One of them asked, “are they ready?” Another replied, “I have no idea.” Within their dubiousness was an excitement and spontaneity that attracted me. Alas, RISD was focused on high firing. If I wanted to pursue raku, I was on my own. To the library I went and there I found Raku: Art And Technique by Hal Riegger. That night I read it cover to cover. The highlighted passages and notes left in the margins by previous readers spoke volumes to the book’s importance and influence. The next day I bought a copy of my own. That book became my bible and Riegger became my teacher. Riegger taught me about the origins of raku, its intent and the philosophy that surrounds it. He taught me about clay, glazes and kilns. I learned the difference between crude and primitive. He had a profound influence on my work and my eventual decision to pursue raku exclusively. Fast forward to 1989 when I was writing a book on raku. Where better to begin than with the person whose book started my career. Finding Riegger wasn’t difficult, despite the fact that his name and identity had all but vanished from the clay scene. I telephoned him, and there began a friendship that I wish had begun sooner. We spoke by phone, then by letters as his hearing began to fail, and then, one day, I received an e-mail. This 80-something was not one to sit idly by as technology whizzed past. At first we talked about clay and pots and, of course, raku. Soon, conversation included experience, family, friends, accomplishments, delights and disappointments. We exchanged gifts and artifacts. I learned of the people with whom he’d crossed paths and soon realized how important an individual he was (not through his boast­ ing or even suggestion). He criticized me and I questioned him. I took it as a badge of honor when I learned that at a workshop he used a small vessel I had given him as an Plate, 9 inches (23 centimeters) in height, white clay, example of a misguided application of raku. As the years went with brushed and trailed red slip, raku fired, 2002. by, our friendship grew, our bond became stronger, and our respect for each other greater. Our conversations became fo­ plaque recognize his lifetime devoted to clay and celebrate his cused on purpose, life and legacy. formidable contributions to the history of American ceram­ At 91 years of age, Hal is presenting workshops, making ics. I was proud to accept it on my friend’s behalf. His quiet, pots and exhibiting work. Vanished from the clay scene? Only humble approach to his work and life are the very personal in the sense of the worthless vanity crucial to others. A new qualities that delayed this honor for so long. raku facility was recently built at his alma mater, The New Someone asked me recently when I last saw Hal. “I’ve seen York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in New him only in pictures,” I replied. You mean you’ve never met? York, and named in his honor. A presidential citation and Hardly—we met 30 years ago when he was my teacher.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 Western Waves in Oklahoma by Andrew Phelan

with a strong Native American representation. More recently, these have combined with still another, very contemporary, tradi­ tion of nonfunctional ceramics and, for the past quarter century, there has been a strong presence in the state emanating from the direction of the West Coast. That presence is embodied in California native, but longtime Oklahoma resident, V’Lou Oliveira. Oliveira is one of those artists who maintain traditions by expanding them. She has significantly shifted the focus of ceramics in Oklahoma toward the West Coast clay tradition. With her longtime commitment to pop art and popular culture, dating back to her time in graduate school, Oliveira’s work has consistently focused on the icono- graphic imagery of popular culture. She has varied her focus during her career, but has always come back to seeking and finding her inspiration in objects of popular culture, such as pink flamingo lawn decorations, Chia Pets and other forms of kitsch. Educated at California State University, Humboldt (B.A.) and the University of Washington (M.F.A.), Oliveira came to Okla­ homa in 1977, following a short stay in Texas. She has been teaching at the University of Oklahoma ever since, and has built a reputation in the region as both a teacher and artist. V’Lou Oliveira prepares to glaze a plate in her studio. Oliveira’s witty, nonfunctional pieces reflect her California heritage and her education under Howard Kottler, Patti Warashina and Robert Sperry. She began breaking away from the functional Oklahoma is a young state, less than a century old, but it has a tradition in ceramics early in her career. “While I started out as a long tradition of excellent ceramics artists. Native Americans, potter, I was never very good at it. I did some slip casting as an populating the area prior to statehood, had a rich ceramics tradi­ undergraduate, and then slab building in graduate school.” One tion stretching back to approximately A.D. 1000, and examples of the first shows she entered was an invitational exhibition of of that period found in sites such as the Spiro Mound in eastern teapots, where she decided to submit an entry that would poke Oklahoma give eloquent testimony to the rich and varied wares fun at the concept—a “Teapot Cutout.” For a few years, she produced under a highly developed, sophisticated social struc­ explored this and other equally outrageous interpretations of ture. However, within a few decades of the opening of the Indian teapots. Following the teapot series, still working within the Territories in 1880, European settlers began to appear in what confines of a flat plane, she embarked on a series that investigated would soon become the state of Oklahoma. Among the early various states in ceramic format. 20th-century ceramics artists who became influential were John Shifting gears in the late ’90s, Oliveira began a series of non­ Frank and Roger Corsaw. Their impact on the state and the functional vessels and brightly decorated plates and platters. When region was remarkable, and the state developed a thriving group one of her dogs died, she made a crematory urn in the dog’s image of potters and ceramics artists working in a variety of styles and and then embarked on making a series of these urns that doubled traditions, combining functional pottery in the English tradition as containers for dog biscuits. Decorated with scenes from the

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 54 happy life that faithful Fido led, these containers were designed to bring back the happy memories. She sent the resulting works to the “Art Show at the Dog Show” in Wichita, Kansas. However, these failed to elicit much interest. “Every­ “Teapot Cutout,” 12 inches one thought the idea was sick,” Oliveira recalled. Nonetheless, drawing on the (30 centimeters) in height, slab-built dog concept, she began working with dog motifs. Following the urn series, she white earthenware, with underglaze began a series of plates and platters also using dog imagery. These met with a pencil and glazes, fired to Cone 06. more favorable response and she received an award for “Robo Dog.” The iconoclastic, witty, sardonic approach that has become a hallmark of Oliveira’s career continues to be reflected in her current work and is not only a result of her own creative personality, but also reflects her aesthetic heritage. Oliveira worked as Kottler’s graduate assis­ tant shortly after he moved into the “funk” scene. While the tradition he had learned at the Ohio State University and Cranbrook did not completely disappear, it manifested itself through the use of unorthodox images, nontraditional materials and a distinct lack of functionality. Oliveira embraced that vision and it has contin­ ued to be a fundamental motivating factor in her work. She begins with a sketch or drawing and plans the design of each piece prior to begin­ ning work on the final piece. “I did a lot of printmaking and drawing in undergraduate school, so I feel most comfortable in making my images on paper and then transferring them to clay.” Describing herself as “nontechnically oriented,” Oliveira is much more interested in the end result, and will appropriate techniques from nonceramic fields. This attitude was rein­ forced by both Warashina and Kottler. For the last few years, her work has focused on brightly decorated wall pieces with painted and incised decorations and similarly decorated large platters. The platters are rolled out on a slab roller, draped over a mold, then put on a potter’s wheel for the addition of a thrown foot. These results have references to mid-20 th-cen- tury popular culture. Visit her house and you will discover the source for her current work— mass-produced Japanese-export ceramics from the pre-World War II era. These “The Lonestar State,” 168 inches (427 centimeters) “trinkets,” individually decorated in bright, painterly glazes, are slip-cast dogs, in length, slip-cast white earthenware, with cast cats, bunnies, etc., and are displayed by the dozens on numerous shelves. and altered edge bricks, fired to Cone 06. She says the three dogs with which she shares her house are “insane,” but her passion for the dogs, as well as for the Japanese pop-culture motifs, are reflected in many of her new plates.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 55 She traces her interest in the pre-World War II Japanese- easily discernable in her work and Warashina began exhibiting export ceramics to Kottler. “He would drag me along when he “funky” pottery shortly after Autio’s stint. went antiquing. He was always looking for pieces to add to his Oliveira’s work is usually made with one of two clay bodies— now-famous art-deco Noritake collection. He was quite obsessive Trinity Ceramics’ White Modeling Clay or Armadillo Clay’s Long­ about collecting, so we went out looking very often.” Not only horn Red. These bodies give her the ability to achieve the bright has Oliveira been collecting these pieces for years, but she has luscious colors she uses. devoted considerable time to researching them. She recently gave Consistent with the iconoclastic approach that has character­ a presentation on the topic at a conference on popular culture in ized her entire career, she uses commercial glazes. She fires her Albuquerque, New Mexico. In this age of appropriation, it is bisqueware to Cone 05, then keeps her glaze firings in the Cone interesting to note that the Japanese, in producing this export 06-07 range, in order to keep the brilliance of the colors. ware, adapted images from Czechoslovakian and German ceram­ She ruefully mentioned that, with some of the new health and ics and then exported them back to the West. safety concerns, she has been having problems getting colors she Oliveira’s time studying with Warashina and Kottler coincided likes and, unfortunately, a number of her favorite colors have with a period of great fecundity and rethinking of the ceramics disappeared. However, she has proven to be enormously resource­ tradition. However, while the connection to a long tradition ful in the past and it seems certain that she will find the means appears tenuous, it does survive. Warashina studied (albeit briefly) necessary to fulfill her creative visions as they develop. with Shoji Hamada, the legendary Japanese traditional ceramist, What lies in the future for Oliveira is unclear, but almost during his five-week visit to the University of Washington in certainly her incisive wit and appreciation for underappreciated 1963. That same year, however, Warashina drew greater inspira­ aspects of popular culture will lead her in directions uniquely tion from her exposure to Rudy Autio, who filled in for Sperry personal. We will be richer for her efforts. while he was on sabbatical in Japan. Autio’s influence is more V’Lou Oliveira can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].

“Robo Dog,” 20 inches (51 centimeters) square, drape-molded and carved “Deco Japan Terrier” with commercial dog figurines, 19 inches (48 centimeters) terra cotta with glaze, $500. in diameter, drape-molded and carved terra cotta with glaze, $500.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 56 “La Petite Chien, Fifi,” 20 inches (51 centimeters) square, drape-molded and carved terra cotta with glaze, $500, by V’Lou Oliveira, Norman, Oklahoma.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 57 SID OAKLEY: A North Carolina Legacy By Kathy Watts

It doesn’t seem right for the rocking chair to sit empty in front of the wide brick fireplace at Cedar Creek Gallery. For more than three decades, customers and craftspeople alike came to expect to see Sid Oakley there, cradling his cup of coffee, ready to talk about pots, paintings, politics or career paths. A respected North Carolina potter and painter, and a mentor to artists and craftsmen across the Southeast, Oakley died in January 2004. Through his gallery, nestled in the woods out­ side Creedmoor, North Carolina, Oakley gave many potters a place to not only hone their skills, but also to sell their work. Ben Owen III, Michael Sherrill, Brad Tucker and Don Davis knew Oakley well. He critiqued them, challenged them and listened to them. All four have followed their own creative paths, but Oakley influenced each of them along the way.

Ben Owen III In the early 1960s, Oakley visited Ben Owen Ill’s grandfa­ Sid Oakley, 1932-2004 ther, master potter Ben Owen, who worked at Jugtown Pottery for 36 years before opening his own shop, Old Plank Road Pottery. “Sid had an interest in clay, and he really saw the style and design my grandfather was working from, which was more of an Asian influence,” Owen III said. “His early years in clay were inspired by that, so he would come down here frequently. “I think the way Sid had an eye for form and design, looking at the shapes and working with porcelain and really refining the designs he was doing—he showed the market what good crafts were.” Cedar Creek was one of the first galleries of its kind in North Carolina, offering first pottery and then a wide array of fine crafts. Oakley promoted artists who might not have been widely known, Owen III said, and he also set aside a room for the Museum of American Pottery that educated people about the history of the craft. Vase, 51 /2 inches (14 centimeters) in height, porcelain During Owen Ill’s exhibition in April 1994, he was dem­ with crystalline glaze, fired to Cone 11, by Sid Oakley. onstrating how to throw pots outside the gallery. Oakley had always been fascinated with candlesticks, a signature form Owen’s grandfather had made and one which had always chal-

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 58 “Sea Biscuit,” 16 inches (41 centimeters) in diameter, stoneware, carved, salt glazed, by Ben Owen III, Seagrove, North Carolina.

lenged Oakley. “Sid came up and said, ‘Ben, I want you to make Sherrill said. “We pulled pots out of boxes—functional salt-glazed one of those candlesticks for us. Now slow down, don’t do it so pots. Sid always liked the traditional, functional things. fast. I want to see how you’re doing all these different things with “He bought my pots when I was hungry. [For] those of us who your fingers,”’ Owen III recalled. Then Oakley went into his were trying to survive, he was a Godsend; he was one of the ones studio and tried it himself. “He returned later and said, ‘You who kept us alive year round. He would buy in the winter time know, that really worked a lot better for me after I saw you make when he had to borrow money to do it.” it. No matter how old you are, there’s always something you can Sherrill sold work at Cedar Creek for about 20 years, until his learn—whether you’re starting out as a beginning potter or you’ve work became too expensive for Oakley’s gallery. Though their been at it 20 or 30 years.’” paths didn’t cross as often, Sherrill still stopped by a couple times a year to talk with Oakley, who was always ready to talk pots and Michael Sherrill to critique him. “Sid was the most honest read I had,” he said. Michael Sherrill still remembers the exact words Oakley said “He was willing to listen, almost like a good professor. He was when they met for the first time at the Fredericksburg Craft Fair looking out for your best interest.” in 1978. Sherrill was 24 years old, and the craft show was a reach Sherrill admired Oakley for knowing his buyers, which ranged for him at that time. from educated professors in nearby universities and the Research “He [Oakley] walked up and said, ‘So you’re from North Triangle Park to country folks who grew up on nearby farms. Carolina. I didn’t think anything good came from North Caro­ “I think he was very sawy,” Sherrill said. “He spent most of his lina. I really like your pots. I’d like to carry them in my shop,”’ time sitting in the chair drinking coffee. He wanted to interact

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 59 with people. His material was clay and paint, but his real material was the human factor—interacting with people. He was probably better at that than anything else.”

Brad Tucker When Brad Tucker met Oakley in 1980, the elder potter had just been commissioned by the Smithsonian to produce a series of his crystalline pots for its catalog. Oakley set Tucker up in a corner of his studio and gave him a wheel with an agreement that he could stay six weeks, and then they’d re-evaluate. Tucker is still at Cedar Creek today, throwing the traditional, functional pots that Oakley loved. “I didn’t have anything,” Tucker said, adding that Oakley shared that same generosity with friends and strangers alike. “I can remember going to shows. There would be these sad people who hadn’t sold anything. Sid would trade or give something. I think he genuinely liked to do that. It made him feel good, and I think he felt a certain amount of responsibility.” When Tucker needed a bigger studio, Oakley said, “Well, let me build you a studio.” “He took out a napkin,” Tucker said. “He always used to design on a napkin.” When Tucker drew out his dream of a 500-square-foot studio, Oakley said, “That’s not big enough. If you’re going to spend the money to do it, it might as well be a bigger studio.” Oakley was also generous with his time, talking with people about what was important to them. In the beginning, Tucker said the two would meet at the shop every morning and sit outside to talk about pots. Oakley loved to quote Matisse: “Superfluous detail encroaches upon the essential.” This quote really rang true for Tucker.

Don Davis Don Davis met Oakley at Penland School of Crafts in 1974. Davis had just finished graduate school at Rhode Is­ land School of Design and was looking for a place to work. Oakley was taking a class there that summer and offered Davis space at his studio. “I had no money,” Davis said, and Oakley would not let him pay for the propane gas he used for firing his work. Oakley taught Davis a valuable lesson early on. When Teapot, 10 1 /2 inches (27 centimeters) in height, wheel-thrown and handbuilt Davis asked him for an advance, Oakley declined, but he porcelain, with glazes and oxides, by Don Davis, Johnson City, Tennessee. talked with Davis about how much time he was spending in his studio on his work. “I got very ticked off for a couple months,” Davis admit­ ted. “It ended up being a very good lesson: you make the choices; you’re the one who’s responsible.” He said that at that stage in his career, he could have slipped into and accepted the cycle of poverty that sometimes accompanies potters. A studio potter since 1974, Davis is now an associate professor at East Tennessee State University.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 60 Plate, 12 inches (30 centimeters) in diameter, stoneware, with ash glazes, fired to Cone 10 in a gas kiln, by Brad Tucker, Creedmoor, North Carolina.

“His enthusiasm for all things creative was immediately obvious,” Davis said. “He was effusive with praise when he saw positive direction in my work, and he was equally willing to tell me when he did not. “He always would talk to me about folk pottery and traditional work being simple. In later years, I began to understand what he was talking about—the purity of pots.” Davis, who never was a traditional potter, learned he had to let the purity of form come through in his own way. “I didn’t always agree with him, but that was fine,” he said. “There was an enormous amount of common purpose and empathy. Sid was absolutely and utterly unique. I will always see that mischievous, intelligent twinkle in his eyes. He did have a particular sense of speaking that was really endearing and funny. I can still see him talking to me about very simple, honest forms. ... It is hard to get used to the world without Sid.” the author Kathy Watts is a writer in Oxford' North Carolina, and is currently writing a biography of Sid Oakley.

“Elma’s Weed,” 16 inches (41 centimeters) in height, porcelain with abraded glaze, with lamp-worked glass and forged-steel armature, by Michael Sherrill, Hendersonville, North Carolina.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 61 The Lucky Accident by Nesrin During

“Still Jar,” 61 centimeters (24 inches) in height, handbuilt stoneware “ifjar,” 48 centimeters (19 inches) in height, handbuilt stoneware with slips, wood fired to 1350°C (2460 F) in a noborigama. with slips, wood fired to 1350°C (2460°F).

Martin McWilliam started making pottery in England in the thin boxes, out of which emerge a bowl or a jar opening. The back second half of the 1970s on a kick wheel, true to the Leach and front sides of these objects are autonomous. tradition and the Asian philosophy. Now, more than 20 years McWilliam is playing tricks on our perception of what is and later, he lives in Germany and makes trompe l‘oeil objects from what is not. Objects that appear to have depth and volume are slab-built stoneware. McWilliam calls them “pots in essence.” His almost flat, and those that seem to be flat have depth. subject matter is still the bowl and the jar. His works look like The art of trompe 1‘oeil in ceramics is well known. A worn vessels from a distance, with depth and volume, but up close, leather suitcase, a tin of spilled paint with a paintbrush, a weath­ they’re almost flat. They are “virtual pots.” That is to say, pots that ered piece of wood that’s a teapot, all very cleverly done. Their exist according to their nature, rather than their function. Even virtue lies in imitation, creating from clay the appearance of though these pots are not meant to contain, they do have cavities, another material, so the eye is fooled into seeing leather, wood or solely for our perception. whatever the chosen material may be. This is not the case with His recent work goes a step further into the realm of optical McWilliams trompe 1‘oeil. He doesn’t want to imitate another illusion. One could describe these pieces as double-walled, flat, material. He is content to show clay as clay, revealing the qualities

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 62 “Palast Bowl,” 65 centimeters (26 inches) in length, handbuilt stoneware with slips, wood tired to 1350°C (2460°F).

“ibowl,” 68 centimeters (27 inches) in length, handbuilt stoneware with slips, wood fired to 1350°C (2460°F).

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 63 of clay—dry, cracked surfaces and muted earth colors. In order to achieve this, he fires his work with wood. His “virtual” work started about ten years ago. All by a won­ derful, lucky accident! While making a slab vase with different front and back neck openings, he cut two front pieces, and joined them. He immediately recognized the possibility of something new and exciting. For the past ten years, McWilliam has been busy handbuilding his pot images. First with slabs, then coils for more organic forms, and now once more with slabs. Creating modern work based on old ceramics tra­ ditions, McWilliam feels very lucky. He feels that, with this work, he’s paying his tribute and respect to the world of ceramics in his own way. McWilliam begins his pieces by drawing the shapes two dimensionally on paper. Back and front differ somewhat. Then he cuts out templates. Nowadays, with his new double-walled shapes, there’s also an inside and an outside template. With the templates, he can play around and see how they stand as three-

“Three Sway,” 70 centimeters (28 inches) in width, stoneware with slips, dimensional objects. wood fired to 1350°C (2460°F). McWilliam was born in South Africa in 1957, but moved to southern England at the age of nine. He attended Bournemouth Art School, and then Dartington Pottery Workshop for two years. After his studies, he traveled and worked in potteries in Swit­ zerland, France, Greece and Japan, which helped him develop his sense of craftsmanship and his aesthetic of assymmetrical pots. In 2002, for a ten-year retrospective exhibition in Oldenburg, Germany, McWilliam reproduced the forms he has been making over the past decade, but left them only bisque fired, with their kaolin surfaces left pure white. The quiet, stark-white images have impressed and pleased him. Perhaps this is yet an­ other path? “What I am looking for in my work lies in its own essential beauty,” McWilliam said. “Beauty seems to be subjective, difficult to define, control or repeat— something to do with chance, coincidence. My meth­ ods are as simple and direct as possible, so chance has “Decade Bsway,” 65 centimeters (26 inches) in width, stoneware with kaolin space to surprise. This leads me between my will and slip, bisque fired, by Martin McWilliam, Sandhatten, Germany. that of the material. The objects show the idea of simple bowls and jars of a tradition that has given me a lifelong fascination, but they take it into another space of the mind.” For further information on the work of Martin McWilliam, see www.martin-mcwilliam.de.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 64 Twice per year, McWilliam once-fires his work with oak in the noborigama he built.

MONTHLY methods Layering Surfaces for Depth and Volume

McWilliam uses a German Westerwalder stoneware, to which The pieces are left unglazed and are fired in a 6-cubic- he adds up to 50% grog (0.1-0.3mm). He imprints texture meter (65-cubic-foot) two-and-a-half-chamber noborigama, using thin sheets of plastic or cloth. Combs, knives and which he fires with oak cut-offs from a coffin factory. He scrapers are also useful. McWilliam applies coats of kaolin doesn’t aim for runny ash effects, but likes dry surfaces, slips, made of 20—40% kaolin and feldspar, onto the clay reminiscent of ancient-looking weathered walls of long ago. slabs. He also sprinkles dry clay, oxides and often cobalt frit Therefore, he packs his work with strategy. Pieces, up to 1.5 (frit being safer to sprinkle than oxides) onto the wet slip. meters (5 feet) tall, stand in the middle of the chamber on The next step is to dry the surface with a blowtorch. The the ground. When side stoking, wood falls directly on them, slabs are then “pushed and rolled out into the template,” covering them under embers. This direct contact with burn­ McWilliam says. “At this point, there are so many variables ing wood creates carbon trapping and patterning. Small pieces that could give no end of possibilities—the thickness of the are fired on shelves in the front and back of the chambers. slab, slip and powder, the structure of the template. A lot can The kiln is fired twice a year. It takes about three days to be done for the preparation of the rims so that, when the two reach 1250-1350°C (2280-2460°F). Because the pieces are halves are brought together, they sit nicely and look like an not bisque fired, they are preheated for 24 hours. After edge. Slowly, over the next few days, the edges are lifted and 1000°C (1830°F) is reached in the front, side stoking of the supported so the halves look like flat dishes. When they are first chamber starts. This continues for 8-16 hours, until firm enough, I stand them up and press the edges together Cone 9 is reached. The second chamber takes 6-8 more after scratching, wetting and preparing them with soft clay. I hours to reach temperature. The kiln then cools for three give the final details and fitting of the inside slabs a great deal days. The salt he places in small pots among the ware records of time.” the passage of flames, giving a special richness.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 65 "Shaped Clay 2004" A National Juried Exhibition of High School Ceramics By Errol Willett

“Candis,” 14 inches (36 centimeters) in height, handbuilt “Heroine,” 36 inches (91 centimeters) in height, handbuilt earthenware, unglazed, fired to Cone 04, by Kevin McCullough, earthenware, with stains and paint, fired to Cone 04, while a junior at Ridgewood High School, Ridgewood, New by Kodi Tidd, while a junior at Pioneer High School, Jersey; Best in Show award winner. Yorkshire, New York; second-prize award winner.

Can you remember the ceramic pieces you made in high school? I’m not sure, but I was astonished at how many public high If they didn’t fall into one of the two most forbidden ceramics schools in the area had full-time ceramics teachers. classroom categories (smoking implements or ashtrays), they may The national juried high school show “Shaped Clay 2004,” have been lost in the sea of similarly lumpy first attempts at the named after the 37-year-old Shaped Clay Society (ceramics stu­ potter’s wheel. When fantasies from the movie Ghost collided with dents’ club at Syracuse University) is my attempt to find and hard work and the 50-minute class period, what actually happened? showcase great high-school ceramics students, teachers and pro­ The one year that I taught ceramics at the high-school level, grams nationwide. I was already impressed with what I saw hap­ my success was measured purely on how much of the clay landed pening in the Syracuse area and wanted to add something to the in the kiln and not on the walls. The young men and women clay community in this area. The exhibition is curated and orga­ whose works were shown recently at the Everson Museum of Art nized by members of the Shaped Clay Society. in Syracuse, New York, have taken it to the next level. The competition is juried from slides and has a six-week run at In Syracuse, there is a thriving ceramics community at the the Everson Museum in the spring. The show gives out $1500 in high-school level. This could be due to the legacy of Adelaide prizes and produces a full-color poster showing each accepted Alsop Robineau and the Arts and Crafts Movement in Syracuse— work. In this year’s show, 56 pieces were selected from 558 entries

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 66 “Creamer and Sugar Set,” 6 inches (15 centimeters) in height, wheel-thrown stoneware, with glaze, fired to Cone 9, by Katherine Hogle, while a junior at East Syracuse-Minoa High School, East Syracuse, New York.

“Treasure Boxes,” to 5 inches (13 centimeters) in height, slab-built porcelain, with stains, by Denise Castro, while a junior at Holton-Arms High School, Bethesda, Maryland; honorable mention award winner.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 67 Untitled, 17 inches (43 centimeters) in height, “Platter,” 22 inches (56 centimeters) in diameter, wheel-thrown earthenware, with slips, tired to Cone 04, by white stoneware, wood fired, by Shane Drew, while a senior Devynn Birx-Raybuck, while a junior at Holton- at Charles Wright Academy, Tacoma, Washington. Arms High School, Bethesda, Maryland.

representing 26 states. We sent out 5500 applications to high schools, but alas, some applications still did not reach the right teacher or school. Each run of the show reaches a broader audience. The jury was comprised of Debora Ryan, curator at the Everson Museum; a student representative from Syra­ cuse Unviersity’s Shaped Clay Society and myself. The slides were juried blind without any information regard­ ing the student, teacher or school. It was no easy task to select the show, but after several grueling rounds, the field was narrowed to the space available at the museum. The response from visitors to the Everson was fre­ quently that they didn’t realize it was a high-school show. They mistook the show to be part of the permanent collection. There is a mature and honest quality to many of the pieces and an ease of technique that is surprising at this level. Kevin McCullough’s “Candis,” a middle-aged seated female figure with a powerful sensitivity and attention to detail won Best in Show ($500 prize), narrowly edging out Kodi Tidd’s dark and spiky female-headed vessel “Heroine,” ($300 prize). All of the young ceramists in the show deserve a lot of credit, but I would be remiss if I did not mention the mentors who have inspired them. I cannot name all the teachers who nurtured this show into being, but several “Ode to Hay Bailer,” 31 inches (79 centimeters) in height, handbuilt earthenware, with stains, sand, fired to Cone 04, by David Smith, stand out due to the quantity and quality of their stu­ while a senior at Pioneer High School, Yorkshire, New York. dents’ entries.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 68 Margo Klass who teaches ceramics at the Holton- Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland, had the most en­ tries to the show and the most pieces accepted from any single school. Her influence in the use of delicate slab work, expressive line and volume, and strong black-and- white decoration was evident in her students work. Pioneer High School ceramics teacher Scott Losi from Yorkshire, New York, also dominated this year’s show. Five of the eight prizes went to his students who had nine pieces in the show. His students work all shared a raw, visceral and soul-searching narrative style. The students of Richard Shemonsky at Parkland High School, Allentown, Pennsylvania, had a range of work that is not easily categorized, but which showed great care for materials and subject matter. Irina Okula teaches at Governor Dummer Academy in Byfield, Massachusetts, and appears to be passing on expert advice on handbuilding vessels, as well as deco­ rating, burnishing and black-firing terra sigillata. It’s amazing to me what these and many other teach­ ers do despite overfilled classrooms and limited resources. I look forward to seeing what is coming out of their classes in 2006. “Bleached Barbie,” 9 inches (23 centimeters) in height, the author Errol Willett teaches ceramics at Syracuse Uni­ handbuilt and cast earthenware, with paint, mixed media, fired to Cone 04, by Courtney Mattison, while a senior at San versity in New York. For more information on “Shaped Francisco University High School, San Francisco, California. Clay 2006, ” e-mail him at errolwillett@earthlink. net.

“Deserted,” 7 inches (18 centimeters) in diameter, stoneware, with glaze, fired to Cone 9 in reduction, by Chris Clements, while a junior at Coronado High School, Coronado, California.

“The Shell,” 14 inches (36 centimeters) in height, slab- built earthenware, fired to Cone 04, by Ji Young Lim, while a junior at the Kent School, Kent, Connecticut.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 69 “Hackney Downs,” 38 centimeters (15 inches) in height, coiled and pinched red earthenware with slips, stains, oxides and clear glaze, £450 (US$822). Jitka Palmer was destined from an early age to be an artist. Had she not discovered clay as a schoolgirl, she would certainly have found another outlet. She grew up in Czechoslovakia during the 1960s and ’70s. When it came time to enter a university, she needed to make a career choice. “My parents wanted me to pursue medical studies,” she said, “so I did, qualifying as a doctor of medicine at Masaryk University, Brno, in 1984.” The following academic year, she taught human anatomy there. “A year later,” Palmer explained, “I married an Englishman, moved to London and left medicine behind to become a ceramics artist.” She completed the ceramics program at Croydon College of Art and Design in 1987 and received a British Craft Council grant in 1990 to set up a studio. Her small vessels are wheel thrown, while the larger ones are coil built. She works in red earthenware, be­ cause she likes the effect she achieves when the color of clay shows in her work. Palmer’s pieces are narratives “Slavonic Dances,” 40 centimeters (16 inches) in height, coiled and pinched based on stories and themes, and she prefers to work on a red earthenware with slips, stains, oxides and clear glaze, £480 (US$877). series of pieces linked by a central theme. “I draw on my personal experiences, past and present, to capture the spontaneity of ordinary human life.” Her narratives generally begin on the outside of the vessel and are completed on the inside, and she attempts to create a visual tension between the two surfaces. “Some­ times the outside depicts the real world while the inside is an imaginary world,” she said. Palmer’s figures are painted in quick, broad strokes with finer details left to the viewer’s imagination. She uses colored slips mixed with oxides and stains to achieve the desired effect. Before the pieces are initially fired, she outlines the figures and other important elements using the pointed end of a paintbrush. This results in a raised surface along the edges of the outlines and exposure of the red clay beneath the slip. Once fired, her works are covered with a clear glaze and fired again to produce a high gloss. Palmer keeps a sketchbook where she records images of people she sees while going about her daily activities. She uses the sketches to help her remember particular faces and situations. “I look at them when I need a spark,” she explains. “I like to sketch people at work, using their tools.” When preparing images for her ves­ sels, Palmer draws and paints on large sheets of paper “Florence,” 42 centimeters (17 inches) in height, coiled and pinched red using ink, dry pastel and watercolor. She sometimes earthenware with slips, stains, oxides and clear glaze, £500 (US$914), makes clay “sketch bowls,” where she experiments with by Jitka Palmer, Bristol, England. ways to convert flat images to curved surfaces. “I enjoy painting on the curved surfaces,” she says, “since I be­ lieve it is more challenging and the images are often more dramatic.”

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 71 February 1, 2005, entry deadline R. Brown, associate professor of art history, Kansas call for entries Iowa City, Iowa "Forms and Shapes: Narrative State University and Juan Granados, ceramics pro­ Vessel" (June 2005), open to thrown or handbuilt fessor at Texas Tech University. Fee: $20 for 3 Deadlines for Exhibitions, Fairs and Festivals vessels using storytelling in myriad techniques. entries; $25 for 4; $30 for 5. Awards: $2500. For See call for entries online at www.ceramicsmonthly.org Juried from slides. Juror: Dan Anderson. Fee: $35. prospectus, send SASE to TTU School of Art, Clay For prospectus, send SASE to AKAR, Attn: Forms on the Wall, Attn: Joe Arredondo, Box 42081, and Shapes prospectus, 4 S. Linn St., Iowa City Lubbock 79409; see www.landmarkarts.org ; or International Exhibitions 52240; see www.akardesign.com ; or telephone telephone (806) 742-1947. (319) 351-1227. February 14, 2005, entry deadline November 30 entry deadline March 31, 2005, entry deadline Carbondale, Illinois "The Clay Cup X" (March 28- Kecskemet Hungary "First International Triennial Sarreguemines, France "Fifth International May 3, 2005), open to ceramic works addressing of Silicate Arts" (March 13—April 3, 2005). Juried Ceramics Competition: A Set of Three Plates" (June the cup. Juried from slides. Juror: Virginia Scotchie. from 6 images (slides, photographs or digital). Fee: 2005), open to functional ceramics. Juried from Fee: $25 for up to 3 works. Awards: $2500. For 5000 HUF (US$25). Contact International Triennial slides. Awards: grand prize, €3800 (US$4668); prospectus, contact Clay Cup X, the School of of Silicate Arts, Kapolna u. 11, H-6000 Kecskemet; young ceramist award, €1500 (US$1221); series Art and Design, Southern Illinois University, e-mail [email protected] ; see www.kitsa.org ; or tele­ award, €1500. Contact Musee de la Faience, Carbondale 62901-4301; or e-mail Dyan Green phone (36) 76 486 867. 17 rue Foincare, Sarreguemines F-57200; e-mail [email protected] . December 1 entry deadline [email protected]; see March 4, 2005 entry deadline McAllen, Texas "2005 Earth, Wheel and Fire, Inter­ www.sarreguemines-museum.com ; or telephone Kent, Ohio "Fifth Annual National Juried Cup national Juried Ceramics Exhibition" (February 19- (33) 3 87 98 93 50. Show" (April 26-June 11,2005). Juried from slides. April 3, 2005). Juried from up to 4 slides. Juror: Juror: Renee Fairchild, assistant editor, Ceramics Juan Granados, ceramics professor at Texas Tech United States Exhibitions Monthly and Pottery Making Illustrated. Fee: $20. University. Fee: $20. Awards. Commission: 70%. Contact Gallery 138, 138 E. Main St., Kent Contact Billy Ritter, International Museum of Art & November 15 entry deadline 44240; e-mail [email protected] ; or telephone Science, 1900 Nolana, McAllen 78504; e-mail Englewood, Colorado "National Juried Art Exhibi­ (330) 672-9772. [email protected] ; seewww.imasonline.org ; tion " (February 19-March 27,2005), open to two- April 1, 2005 entry deadline telephone (956) 682-1564, ext. 123; or fax (956) and three-dimensional works. Juried from slides. Bemidji, Minnesota "It's Only Clay" (July 1-21, 686-1813. For prospectus, send SASE to Juried Art Show, 2005). Juried from slides; up to 3 entries. Fee: $25. December 14 entry deadline Museum of Outdoor Arts, 1000 Englewood Contact Bemidji Community Arts Council, Baltimore, Maryland "Ceramic Art Competition," Pkwy., Ste. 2-230, Englewood 80110; or see 426 Bemidji Ave., N, Bemidji 56601; e-mail in Conjunction with NCECA (February 24-March www.moaonline.org. [email protected] ; see www.bcac-mn.org ; or 24, 2005). Juried from slides or photos. Jurors: January 10, 2005, entry deadline telephone (218) 444-7570. Ron Lang, ceramics department chairman, Mary­ Lancaster, Pennsylvania " 13th Annual Strictly Func­ land Institute College of Art and Adelaide Paul, tional Pottery National" (April 23-May 22, 2005). Regional Exhibitions ceramics artist. Fee: $35 for up to 3 entries; $5 Juried from slides. Juror: John Glick. For prospec­ each additional entry. Awards. For prospectus, tus, send business-size SASE to Market House Craft November 19 entry deadline send SASE to Gallery International, 523 N. Charles Center/SFPN, PO Box 204, East Petersburg, PA Columbus, Ohio "Wings, Tails, Hooves and Scales: St., lower level, Baltimore 21204; see 17520; see www.art-craftpa.com/sfpnapp.html ; An Art Exhibition Celebrating Animals" (February www.galleryinternational.com ; or telephone or telephone (717) 560-8816. 24-27,2005), open to residents of Illinois, Indiana, (410) 230-0561. January 14, 2005, entry deadline Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennes­ December 17 entry deadline Fort Myers, Florida "First Annual Florida Teapot see, West Virginia or Wisconsin. Juried from slides. Gresham, Oregon "Mt. Hood Community College Show" (March 13—April 16, 2005), open to fun, Juror: Mary Gray, director, Ohio Arts Council's Alumni Exhibition" (January 5-26, 2005), open to functional or funky teapots in all media. Juried from Riffe Gallery. Fee: $20. Awards: $500. Contact all media. Juried from actual work. Commission: up to 2 slides. Fee: $25. Contact Joan Houlehen, A. Melissa, Ohio Veterinary Medical Association, 75%. Contact Pat Barrett, Visual Arts Center Houberbocken, Inc., PO Box 196, Cudahy, Wl 53110; 3168 Riverside Dr., Columbus 43221; see Gallery, Mt. Hood Community College, 26000 or telephone/fax (414) 481-4000. www.mvcinfo.org ; or telephone (800) 662-6262 S.E. Stark St., Gresham 97030; e-mail January 15, 2005, entry deadline or (614) 486-7253. [email protected] ; telephone (503) 491-6075 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania "Color: Five African Ameri­ or (503) 491-7309; or fax (503) 491-6949. can Artists" (May 20-August 20, 2005), open to Fairs and Festivals January 23, 2005, entry deadline African American artists. Juried from 6 slides. Fee: Vara'zdin, Croatia "International Festival of $25. Contact the Society for Contemporary Craft, November 22 entry deadline Postmodern Ceramics 2005" (August 28-October 2100 Smallman St., Pittsburgh 15222; see Gainesville, Florida "19th Annual Hoggetowne 30, 2005). Juried from CD-ROM or photos of up to www.contemporarycraft.org ; or telephone (412) Medieval Faire" (January 29-30 and February 4-6, 2 works. Awards. Contact Kerameikon, Croation 261-7003. 2005), open to all media with medieval theme. Ceramic Association, 13 Krizaniceva, Varad'zdin Cambridge, Massachusetts "Cambridge Art Juried from up to 5 slides/photographs, including 42000; e-mail [email protected] ; see Association National Prize Show" (May-June 1 of booth. Contact Linda Piper, City of Gainesville www.kermeikon.com ; telephone (385) 42 211 2005). Juried from slides. Juror: Joseph Thomp­ Department of Cultural Affairs, Hoggetowne 227; or fax (385) 42 210 450. son, director, Massachusetts Museum of Con­ Medieval Faire, Sta. 30, PO Box 490, Gainesville January 24, 2005, entry deadline temporary Art. Fee: $25 for up to 3 entries. 32602; e-mail [email protected] ; see Frederick, Maryland "In Flux: Graduate Students Awards. For prospectus, send SASE to Cambridge www.gvlculturalaffairs.org ; or telephone (352) and Alumni of Hood College Ceramics Program" Art Association, 25 Lowell St., Cambridge 334-5064. (March 2—April 3, 2005), open to alumni or gradu­ 02138; e-mail [email protected] ; or see December 18 entry deadline ate students of Hood College, and past partici­ www.cambridgeart.org . Guilford, Connecticut "Guilford Handcraft pants of the ceramics program or Joyce Michaud's February 1, 2005, entry deadline Exposition (EXPO 2005)" (July 14-16, 2005), open workshops. Juried from slides. Juror: Jack Troy. Chicago, Illinois " 16th Annual Teapot Show: On the to all craft media. Juried from 5 slides. Fee: $35. Fee $15 for up to 3 entries. Awards. For further Road Again" (April 3-May 15, 2005), open to fun, Late entry deadline: January 15, 2005. Late fee: information and prospectus, contact Hood Col­ functional or funky teapots in all media. Juried from $55. Contact Karen Michaels, Guilford Handcraft lege, Ceramics Program, 401 Rosemont Ave., up to 2 slides. Fee: $25. Contact Joan Houlehen, A. Center, 411 Church St., PO Box 589, Guilford Frederick 21701; e-mail [email protected]; see Houberbocken, Inc., PO Box 196, Cudahy, Wl 53110; 06437-0589; e-mail [email protected] ; www.hood.edu/academiclart/hodson ; or tele­ or telephone/fax (414) 481-4000. see www.handcraftcenter.org ; or telephone (203) phone Karen (301) 696-3456. February 11, 2005, entry deadline 453-5947. Guilford, Connecticut "Ceramics 2005" (June Lincoln, California "Feats of Clay XVIII" (April 23- January 15, 2005, entry deadline 12—July 23, 2005), open to North American May 22, 2005). Juried from slides. Juror: Rodney Cambridge, Wisconsin "Cambridge Pottery Festi­ ceramics artists. Juried from 2 slides. Juror: Chris Mott. Fee: $15 for 1 entry; $25 for 2; $30 for 3. val and U.S. Pottery Games" (June 11-12, 2005). Gustin. Fee: $35 for up to 3 entries. Awards: Awards: $26,000. For prospectus, send #10 SASE Juried from 4 slides. Fee: $25. Booth fee: $250. $1000. For prospectus, contact Guilford to Lincoln Arts, 580 Sixth St., Lincoln 95648; or see Awards: free booth or juried in for next year's Handcraft Center, 411 Church St., Guilford www.lincolnarts.org . games. Contact Peggy Klingbell, 10135 Prov-Neap- 06437; e-mail [email protected] ; Lubbock, Texas "Clay on the Wall: 2005 Clay Swan Rd., Grand Rapids, OH 43522; e-mail see www.handcraftcenter.org ; or telephone National" (April 16-June 24, 2005), open to wall- [email protected] or [email protected] ; (203) 453-5947. mounted ceramics. Juried from slides. Jurors: Glen or telephone (419) 832-0687. Continued

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 72

call for entries

January 21, 2005, entry deadline Croton-on-Hudson, New York "Clearwater's Great Hudson River Festival" (June 18-19, 2005), open to fine crafts and art. Juried from 5 slides. Booth fee: $300; with tent, $350. Contact Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Attn: Crafts, 112 Little Market St., Poughkeepsie, NY 12601; e-mail [email protected] ; or telephone (845) 454- 7673, ext. 123. April 1, 2005, entry deadline Verona, New Jersey" 19th Annual Fine Art and Crafts at Verona Park" (May 14-15, 2005), open to all handcrafted work. Juried from 4 slides. Booth fee: $295 for 10x12-foot space. Contact Rose Squared Productions, Inc., 12 Galaxy Ct., Hillsborough, NJ 08844; e-mail [email protected] ; see www.rosesquared.com ; telephone (908) 874-5247; or fax (908) 874-7098. May 1, 2005, entry deadline Cranford, New Jersey "17th Annual Spring Nomahegan Park Fine Art and Crafts Show" (June 4-5, 2005), open to all handcrafted work. Juried from 4 slides. Booth fee: $295 for 10x12-foot space. For further information, contact Rose Squared Productions, Inc., 12 Galaxy Ct., Hillsborough, NJ 08844; e-mail [email protected] ; see www.rosesquared.com ; telephone (908) 874-5247; or fax (908) 874-7098. Montclair, New Jersey "17th Annual Spring Brookdale Park Fine Artand Crafts Show" (June 18- 19, 2005), open to all handcrafted work. Juried from 4 slides. Booth fee: $295 for 10x12-foot space. For further information, contact Rose Squared Productions, Inc., 12 Galaxy Ct., Hillsborough, NJ 08844; e-mail [email protected] ; see www.rosesquared.com ; telephone (908) 874-5247; or fax (908) 874-7098. August 1, 2005, entry deadline Upper Montclair, New Jersey "22nd Annual Fine Art and Crafts at Anderson Park" (September 17-18, 2005), open to all handcrafted work. Juried from 4 slides. Booth fee: $295 for 10x12-foot space. For further information, contact Rose Squared Productions, Inc., 12 Galaxy Ct., Hillsborough, NJ 08844; e-mail [email protected] ; see www.rosesquared.com ; telephone (908) 874-5247; or fax (908) 874-7098. September 1, 2005, entry deadline Cranford, New Jersey "17th Annual Fall Nomahegan Park Fine Art and Crafts Show" (October 1-2, 2005), open to all handcrafted work. Juried from 4 slides. Booth fee: $295 for 10x12-foot space. Contact Rose Squared Produc­ tions, Inc., 12 Galaxy Ct., Hillsborough, NJ 08844; e-mail [email protected] ; see www.rosesquared.com ; telephone (908) 874- 5247; or fax (908) 874-7098. Montclair, New Jersey "Seventh Annual Fall Brookdale Park Fine Art and Crafts Show" (October 15—16, 2005), open to all handcrafted work. Juried from 4 slides. Booth fee: $295 for 10x12-foot space. Contact Rose Squared Produc­ tions, Inc., 12 Galaxy Ct., Hillsborough, NJ 08844; e-mail [email protected] ; see www.rosesquared.com ; telephone (908) 874- 5247; or fax (908) 874-7098.

For a free listing, submit information on juried events at least four months before the entry deadline. Add one month for listings in July; two months for August. Regional exhibitions must be open to more than one state. Mail to Call for Entries, Ceramics Monthly, 735 Ceramic PI., Westerville, OH 43081; submit online at www.ceramicsmonthly.org/submissions.asp e-mail [email protected] or fax (614) 891-8960

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 74 Ceramics Monthly November 2004 75 knives, shoes, soap—were made in thatched that have continued to this day including: orga­ new books cottages and sold in local markets __ Making a nizing skilled labor in one of the world’s earliest life as a potter was difficult. When Josiah was factories; encouraging employee loyalty by of­ Wedgwood nine, his father died, bankrupt. Life’s prospects fering long-term contracts that included health The First Tycoon for the youngest son—small and sickly—were insurance and pension plans; and changing the by Brian Dolan not inviting.” notion of shopping by using showrooms and “Josiah Wedgwood was born on July 12, Wedgwood defied the odds and amassed a traveling salesmen. 1730, the 12th child in a family of struggling fortune that was the equivalent of $100 million Organized into chronological periods of sig­ potters in a small village in the hills 100 miles in today’s currency. His empire stretched from nificance in Wedgwood’s life, the book traces his north of London,” writes Brian Dolan in the England to Russia to the United States. steps to fortune, from his experimentation and preface of this biography of Josiah Wedgwood. Wedgwood combined rationality with bold ex­ discovery of his pure “He grew up surrounded by families who lived perimentation, revolutionizing the business white (creamware) glaze by their crafts. Everyday items—butter cups,model of his time with a series of innovations to his commissions for Queen Charlotte and Catherine the Great. Also includes a Wedgwood family tree and a chart that compares currency of 1760 to today’s dol­ lars. 320 pages including footnotes, bibliography and index. 25 black-and-white images. US$24.95/Can$36. ISBN 0-670-03346-4. Penguin Group (USA) Inc.; 375 Hudson St. New York, NY 10014; e-mail [email protected]; see www. us.penguin, com; telephone (212)366-2275.

Discovery Fifty Years of Craft Experience at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts Edited by Carl Little “Haystack alters where you are,” writes former Haystack faculty member Robert Turner. “Both extraordinary place and people make it a trans­ forming experience for many. Teaching a num­ ber of sessions brings one close to central experiences encountered by students of all ages. ... I recall vividly a one-day project con­ cluding a ceramics session. The students grouped in pairs, selected a poem, and together translated it into a three-dimen­ sional form .... The quiet excitement of the sequential viewing and comments was memo­ rable. The variety of cre­ ative solutions could not have been conceived and accomplished days before. Such attributes of respect and caring grow in the supportive environment that char­ acterizes Haystack.” Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine, celebrated its 50th Anniversary with the publication of this book, which features a collection of essays written by former Haystack faculty and students, including 16 ceramics

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 76 Ceramics Monthly November 2004 77 new books Organized seasonally, the book details the yearly routine at Whichford, which begins with new designs in autumn and culminates with the artists. Each narrative is accompanied by a photo preparation for the Chelsea Flower Show. of the artist’s work. The book also includes a 176 pages including introduction, plant chronology of Haystack, a faculty list and his­ lists, index and acknowledgements. 200 color torical photographs. 188 pages. 100 photographs. $29.95. ISBN 1-57076-273-2. black-and-white photographs. Softcover, $26.95. Trafalgar Square Publications, PO Box 257, ISBN 0-89101-106-4. Published by University ofHowe Hill Road, North Pomfret, VT, 05053; Maine Press, 126A College Ave., Orono, ME see www.trafalgarsquarebooks.com; e-mail 04473. Distributed by Haystack Mountain School [email protected]; telephone (800) 423-4525 or of Crafts, PO Box 518, Deer Isle, ME 04627; (802) 457-1911; or fax (802) 457-1913. e-mail registrar@haystack-mtn. org; telephone (207) 348-2306; or fax (207) 348-2307. Ceramics from Islamic Lands by Oliver Watson The Magic of Clay Published as a catalogue of the al-Sabah by Adalucia Quart Collection in Kuwait—one of the few collec­ This book provides an introduction to clay tions in private hands, and intended for beginners and/or educators seeking one that is well able to por­ a teaching tool. The colorful illustrations and tray the unfolding story of clear text make it especially suitable for children. Islamic pottery over its “Throughout this colorful book the pages thousand-year history— portray the love and respect the authorlillustra- this well illustrated book tor has for the material,” states the editor, includes informative essays Fernando Quan. that cover the study and The book begins with information on the collecting of Islamic pottery over the past 100 geological formation and the chemical makeup years, and traces its history. of clay, and includes clear explanations of the “For me, as for many other devotees, ceram­ various methods ofwork- ics is one of the most characteristic and singular ing with the material. It of all Islamic arts,” states Sheikh Nasser Sabah al- also addresses safety con­ Ahmad al-Sabah in the preface. “The enormous cerns and provides illus­ output, the chronological range, the staggering trations of tools used in series of technical and decorative innovations, the clay studio and defi­ the diversity of regional types and styles, the nitions of clay terminology. 34 pages. 32 color combination of precision and earthy expres­ illustrations. $18.95. ISBN 0-9742956-0-4. sion—all these and yet more characteristics con­ Cholita Prints and Publishing Co., PO Boxtribute to making the ceramics of Islamic lands 8018, Santa Fe, NM 87504-8018; e-mail among the greatest in the world.” enditaprints@comcust. net; telephone (505)982-5473.This book provides detailed descriptions of over 400 individual objects—most of Flowerpots which have not been previously published— A Seasonal Guide to Planning, grouped in geographical and chronological Designing and Displaying Pots sequence. 512 pages. 921 color photographs. by Jim Keeling $65. ISBN 0-500-97629-5.Thames & Hudson, As both a potter and a gardener, Jim Keeling, Inc., 500 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10110; founder ofWhichford Pottery in Warwickshire, e-mail [email protected]; see England, combines practical horticultural skills www. thamesandhudson USA. com; telephone with visual appreciation of (212) 354-3763; or fax (212) 398-1252. the plants as well as the pots. The book weaves 1000 Tiles together the art of pot Ten Centuries of Decorative Ceramics making with the process Edited by Gordon Lang of planning and planting For centuries, decorative tiles have adorned container gardens. Each the most exquisite as well as the most humble of chapter begins with de­ structures. From Mesopotamian to Postmodern tails on the creation of pots along with details on examples, each tile or tile plate in this book is historical and cultural influences on designs. presented with a profile describing its origin,

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 78 Ceramics Monthly November 2004 79 new books history, symbolism and decorative motifs. In addition, information on techniques such as firing, glazing and dust pressing is provided. Editor Gordon Lang, a specialist in ceramics who has worked for Sotheby’s for 17 years, has arranged this book by period and style, making it easy to research tiles from any era or movement. 320 pages including bibliogra­ phy, glossary, index and resource section with tips for building a collection. 1000 color photographs. Softcover, $29.95. ISBN 0-8118-4235-5. Chronicle Books LLC\ 85 Sec­ ond St, Sixth FI, San Francisco, CA 94105; see www.chroniclebooks.com; telephone (415) 537- 4200or (800) 722-6657; or fax (415)537-4460.

Living the Artist's Life A Guide to Growing, Persevering and Succeeding in the Art World by Paul Dor re 11 “For many artists, their profession is a mys­ terious calling, away to create something unique while rebelling and living outside society, yet never losing sight of the need to move society,” writes Murray Dessner, painter and professor at the Pennsylvania Acad­ emy of Fine Arts, in the foreword to this guide­ book. “Most artists must persevere against enor­ mous odds in pushing their talent forward. For many, there are no rules or guidelines in the silence of the studio—and, more terrifying, no audience.” Author Paul Dorell discusses topics ranging from how to photograph your work to inspira­ tion, self doubt and depression. He also ad­ dresses myths about the art business and offers advice on choosing where to live, getting com­ missions, how to get your work into galleries and what to do once your work is in a gallery. 174 pages including foreword and bibliogra­ phy. 33 color photographs. Softcover, $16.95; ISBN 0-9749552-0-5. Hardcover, $23.95; ISBN 0-9749552-1-3. Hillstead Publishing, 4741 Central, #213, Kansas City, MO 64112; see www.hillsteadpublishing.com; e-mail hillsteadpublishing.com; telephone (816) 841-0276.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 80 Ceramics Monthly November 2004 81 sions," includes lectures, classes and collection tours. December 1, 2004-March 31, 2005 Jun Kaneko; at calendar Class instructors include Yo Akiyama, Rob Barnard, Bentley Projects, 215 E. Grant St. Ryuichi Kakurezaki and MakotoYabe. Fee: $395; 1 day, Conferences, Exhibitions, Workshops, Fairs Arizona, Scottsdale November 2-30 Bobby $155; includes registration. For further information, Silverman; at Bentley Gallery, 4161 N. Marshall Way. See calendar online at www.ceramicsmonthly.org contact Harvard Ceramics Program, 219 Western Ave., California, Gualala through December 31 Ceramic Boston 02134; see www.fas.harvard.edu/~ofa/ sculpture by Jim Danisch; at Stewart Kummer Gallery, Conferences programs/ceramics; telephone (617) 495-8680; or fax 39102 Ocean Dr. (617) 496-9787. California, Pomona through December 11 "In­ Arizona, Yuma February 24-26, 2005 "The 26th Minnesota, Minneapolis December 2-5 "Art and ferno: The Ceramic Art of Paul Soldner"; at the Ameri­ Yuma Symposium," includes slide presentations, lec­ Commitment Symposium," includes lectures, discus­ can Museum of Ceramic Art, 340 S. Garey Ave. tures, demonstrations and exhibitions. Ceramics lecture sions and exhibitions. Free. For further information, California, San Francisco through November 24 with Gina Freuen. Contact Neely Tomkins, 78 W. Sec­ contact Kelly O'Brien, West Bank Arts Quarter, E211 "From the Ground Up: Sculpture by Francisco 'Pancho' ond St., Yuma 85364; e-mail [email protected] ; see Regis Center for Art, U of MN, 405 21st Ave., S, Jimenez"; at Thacher Gallery, University of San Fran­ www.yumasymposium.org ; telephone (928) 782-1934; Minneapolis 55455; e-mail [email protected]; see cisco, 2130 Fulton St. or fax (928) 782-5934. http://artandcommitment.umn.edu ; or telephone (612) California, Santa Monica through November 13 Georgia, Atlanta October 5-8, 2005 "Growing 624-4109. Adrian Saxe; at Frank Lloyd Gallery, 2525 Michigan Creativity. .. Continuing the Journey," Society of Craft Wales, Aberystwyth July 1-3, 2005 "Tenth Interna­ Ave., B5b. Designers annual conference. For further information, tional Ceramics Festival," includes demonstrations, lec­ California, Venice through December 10 Rupert contact SCD Headquarters, PO Box 3388, Zanesville, tures, firings and exhibitions by 14 presenters. Contact Spira; at clay, 226 Main St. OH 43702-3388; e-mail [email protected] ; see Sophie Bennett, International Ceramics Festival, Connecticut, Manchester through November www.craftdesigners.org ; telephone (740) 452-4541; or Aberystwyth Arts Centre, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, 26 Betty A. Gerich, "Face Value"; at Exposure, 111 fax (740) 452-2552. Ceredigion SY23 3DE; e-mail [email protected] ; see Main St. Maryland, Baltimore March 16-19, 2005 "Center­ www.internationalceramicsfestival.co.uk ; telephone (44) Florida, Dunedin through November 7 Ira Burhans, ing: Community, Clay and Culture," 39th annual con­ 1970 622 882; or fax (44) 1970 622 883. "New Works in Stoneware"; at Clay and Paper, Inc., 350 ference of the National Council on Education for the Hungary, Kecskemet March 1-25,2005 "The Sound Main St. Ceramic Arts (NCECA). See www.nceca.net ; or tele­ of Clay IV, Ceramic Musical Instrument Symposium." Florida, Winter Park through January 9, 2005 phone (866) 266-2322 or (303) 828-2811. Contact Steve Mattison, International Ceramics Studio, "Sculpting Nature: The Favrile Pottery of L. C. Tiffany"; Maryland, Ocean City March 11-13, 2005 "Clay, Kapolna str. 13, Kecskemet H-6000; e-mail at the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, Fire and Sand: Pit Firing on the Beach," pre-NCECA [email protected] ; see www.icshu.org ; or telephone (36) 445 N. Park Ave. conference including workshops, exhibitions, sales and 76 486 867. Georgia, LaGrange through November 5 Tim demonstrations. Presenters include Ron Artman, Nicole Taunton, "Telling Tales, A Personal Mythology"; at Beauchemin, Alan Burslem, Ramon Camarillo, Jim Hill Solo Exhibitions Lamar Dodd Art Center, 302 Forrest Ave. and Ernie Satchell. Fee: $ 195; Clay Guild of the Eastern Hawai'i, Honolulu through January 2, 2005 "Paula Shore members, $ 170; students, $ 100. Contact Univer­ Arizona, Carefree November 20, 2004-January Winokur: Transcending Memory—Ceramic Sculpture"; sity of Maryland Eastern Shore, Continuing Education, 10, 2005 Nick Bernard; at Andora Gallery, 7202 E. at Contemporary Museum, 2411 Makiki Heights Dr. 13801 Coastal Hwy., Ocean City 21842; e-mail Carefree Dr. Illinois, Chicago through November 25 "Michael [email protected] ; or telephone (410) 250-1088. Arizona, Phoenix through June 30, 2005 "Virgil Corney and Michael Wisner, Watershed Residents"; at Massachusetts, Boston November 5-8 "Japanese Ortiz—Le Renaissance Indigene"; at the Heard Mu­ Lillstreet Art Center, 4401 N. Ravenswood Ave. Ceramics, Cultural Roots and Contemporary Expres­ seum, 2301 N. Central Ave. November 12-December 22 Noemi Marquez, "Re-

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 82 Ceramics Monthly November 2004 83 Texas, San Antonio November 11,2004-January 9, Illinois, Chicago through November 19 "Implicit calendar 2005 Catherine Lee; at Southwest School of Art & Craft, Plasticity"; at School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 300 Augusta. Betty Rymer Gallery, 280 S. Columbus Dr. Washington, Seattle November 5-28 David through November 25 "Watershed Residents"; at cent Sculptures"; at Dubhe Carreno Gallery, 1841 S. Kuraoka; at Francine Seders Gallery, 6701 Greenwood Lillstreet Art Center, 4401 N. Ravenswood Ave. Halsted St. Ave., N. Illinois, Oak Park through November 30 "Within Illinois, Geneva November 1-30 Mike Melody, November 13, 2004-April 17, 2005 "Mountain Traditions," Chris Powell and Tom Turner; at Terra "Wood-Fired Pottery." December 1-31 Mary King, Dreams: Contemporary Ceramics by Yoon Kwang-Cho"; Incognito Studios and Gallery, 246 Chicago Ave. "Decorated Porcelain Pottery"; at Down to Earth Pot­ at the Seattle Asian Art Museum, 1400 E. Prospect St. Indiana, Ft. Wayne November20, 2004-January 9, tery, 217½ S. Third St. December 2-23 Michaelene Walsh; at Grover/ 2005 "Cup: The Intimate Object III"; at Charlie Cummings Indiana, Fort Wayne through November 73 Charlie Thurston Gallery, 309 Occidental Ave., S. Clay Studio, 4130 S. Clinton St. Cummings, "Indelible"; at Charlie Cummings Clay Stu­ Washington, Tacoma through December 12 "Look Iowa, Cedar Rapids through January 9, 2005 "The dio, 4130 S. Clinton St. Alikes: The Decal Plates of Howard Kottler"; at the Naked Truth: International Juried Wood-Fire Exhibi­ Indiana, Indianapolis November 19-28 Barbara Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Ave. tion"; at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, 410 Third Zech, "We Kept a Happy Time"; at Bodner Studios Ave., SE. Gallery, 1200 S. Madison Ave. Group Ceramics Exhibitions November 19-December 31 "30x5"; at AKAR, 4 S. Iowa, Iowa City November 7-75Maren Kloppmann; Linn St. at AKAR, 4 S. Linn St. Alabama, Birmingham through February 6, 2005 Iowa, Mt. Vernon through November 7 "Cornell Massachusetts, Brockton through December 26 " 18th-Century English Ceramics from the Catherine H. Alumni Wood-Fire Exhibition"; at Cornell College, 600 Allison Newsome; at Fuller Craft Museum, 455 Oak St. Collins Collection"; at Birmingham Museum of Art, First St., W. Michigan, Grand Rapids through November 21 2000 Eighth Ave., N. Kentucky, Louisville through December31 "Asian- Tom Bartel; at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arizona, Tempe through January 8, 2005 "Wit and American Ceramics"; at Kentucky Museum of Arts + Arts, 41 Sheldon Blvd., SE. Wine: A New Look at Ancient Iranian Ceramics from the Design, 715 W. Main St. Minnesota, Minneapolis November 14-December Arthur M. Sackler Foundation"; at the Ceramics Re­ Maryland, Baltimore through November 13 Mat­ 30 Installation by Lisa Marie Barber; at Northern Clay search Center, Arizona State University Art Museum, thew Metz and Linda Sikora. November 20-December Center, 2424 Franklin Ave., E. corner of Mill Ave. and Tenth St. 23 "Winterfest 2004"; at Baltimore Clayworks, 5707 Mississippi, Biloxi through January 29, 2005 "On California, Gualala through December31 "Six Pot­ Smith Ave. the Midway: George Ohr at the Fairs"; at the Ohr- ters by the Sea II, An Annual Event. . . God Willing"; at Massachusetts, Boston November 11, 2004-Janu­ O'Keefe Museum of Art, 136 G.E. Ohr St. Stewart Kummer Gallery, 39102 Ocean Dr. ary 23, 2005 "Our Cups Runneth Over"; atthe Society Mississippi, Natchez November 5-25 Yerger Andre, of Arts and Crafts, 175 Newbury St. "New Work with Crystalline Glazes"; at Burns Pottery, Michigan, Ann Arbor through November 5 "Tran­ 209 Franklin St. sitions/Translations: Innovations in Clay," works by Dan Montana, Helena through December 31 Anderson, John Goodheart, Tony Hepburn, Sadashi " Frances Senska: A Life in Art; at Holter Museum of Art, Inuzuka and Judith Salomon; at GalleryOne, Wash­ 12 E. Lawrence St. tenaw Community College, 4800 E. Huron River Dr. New Jersey, Surf City through November 10 Stone­ Michigan, Detroit through November5 "Teapots"; ware by Debbie Williams; at m. t. burton gallery, 1819 at Pewabic Pottery, 10125 E. Jefferson Ave. Long Beach Blvd. Michigan, Petoskey through December 22 "Cre­ New York, Beacon November 27, 2004-January 9, ations in Clay: The Kellogg Legacy Continues," works by 2005 "Tony Moore: Wood-Fired Sculpture"; at Van Stanley Kellogg and grandson, Eric Strader; at the Brunt Gallery, 460 Main St. Petoskey Museum, 100 Depot Ct. New York, New York through November 20 David Missouri, Kansas City November 5-27 "Canadian Furman; at gallery 221, 221 E. 88 St. Potters Show"; at Red Star Studios, 821 W. 17th St. November 18, 2004-January 8, 2005 Vivienne Foley; Montana, Helena November 18-December23 "Holi- at JG | Contemporary / James Graham & Sons, 1014 BRAY Exhibition"; at the Archie Bray Foundation, 2915 Madison Ave. Country Club Ave. New York, Port Chester through November20 Dirk Montana, Missoula November 5-24 "Archie Bray Staschke; at the Clay Art Center, 40 Beech St. Foundation—Past and Present Residents"; at the Clay North Carolina, Chapel Hill through November 21 Studio of Missoula, 910 Dickens. “Oil Jar” by Jordan Taylor; at Laura Craig Galleries, Andrew Linton, "Salt Fired: Functional and Sculptural." Nebraska, Lincoln December 4, 2004-February 6, November 27, 2004-January 15, 2005 Celena Christos Scranton, Pennsylvania. 2005 "Ceramic Continuum: Fifty Years of the Archie Hodgers, "Textures in Clay"; at Green Tara Gallery, Bray Influence"; at Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Uni­ 1800 E. Franklin St., #18b Eastgate. California, Los Angeles through November 19 versity of Nebraska-Lincoln. Ohio, Canton November 26, 2004-February 26, "Asian Connections"; at the Lee & Lee Gallery, 3130 New Hampshire, Manchester through December 2005CurtisBenzle, "Porcelain"; attheCanton Museum Wilshire Blvd. 5 "New Hampshire Institute of Art Ceramics Biennial of Art, 1001 Market Ave., N. through November 20 "Clay and California"; at 2004"; at the New Hampshire Institute of Art, 148 Ohio, Columbus through November30 Jeanne Otis. Freehand Gallery, 8413 W. Third St. Concord St. December 3-January 31 Charlotte Gordon; at Sherrie California, Venice December 11, 2004-January 3, New Jersey, Closter November 7-28 "Potter's Gallerie, 937 N. High St. 2005 "Holiday Show"; at clay, 226 Main St. Gold: Wood-Fired Ceramics," works by Kenton Baker, Pennsylvania, Cambridge Springs November 6- Colorado, Steamboat Springs November 12,2004- Roger Baumann, Pascal Chmelar, Brooke Evans, Beverly 28 John Shedd; at Stonewall Gallery at the Campbell January 9, 2005 "The Slip-Cast Object"; at the Eleanor Fisher, Jane Herold, Tony Moore, Tim Rowan, Willi Pottery Store, 25579 Plank Rd. Bliss Center for the Arts at the Depot, 1001 13th St. Singleton and Jack Troy; at the Belskie Art Museum, Pennsylvania, Meadville November 5-27 David Connecticut, New Haven through April 16, 2005 280 High St. Collins; at Heeschen Gallery, Market Sq. "Light from the Age of Augustine, Late Antique Ceram­ New Jersey, Newark November 26, 2004-August Pennsylvania, Philadelphia through November 14 ics from North America"; at Knights of Columbus Mu­ 14, 2005 "Earthen Elegance: African Vessels from the Ayumie Horie. Paul Kotula; at the Clay Studio, 139 N. seum, One State St. Newark Museum Collection"; at the Newark Museum, Second St. D.C., Washington through April 24, 2005 "Iraq and 49 Washington St. through March 6, 2005 "The Poetry of Clay: Work by China: Ceramics, Trade and Innovation"; at Arthur M. New Mexico, Santa Fe through November 17 Toshiko Takaezu"; at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Sackler Gallery, 1050 Independence, Ave., SW. Kowkie Durst, Beth Lo and Emily Schroeder. through 26th and Parkway. Florida,Coral Gables November 2-24 "Anderson November27 "Election 2004: The State of the Union." Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh November 5-December Ranch is at UM"; at the University of Miami's New December 3-31 "The Next Generation"; at Santa Fe 29Tom Turner, "Attention to Detail"; atthe Clay Place, Gallery, 1210 Stanford Dr. Clay, 1615 Paseo de Peralta. 5416 Walnut St. Florida, St. Petersburg through January 2, 2005 New York, Alfred through November 12 "Pon­ Texas, Brownsville through November 5 Fred " Marvels of Maiolica: Italian Renaissance Ceramics from dered Resource—Personal Collections of Anne Currier, Spaulding; at the University of Texas Brownsville, the Corcoran Gallery of Art Collection"; atthe Museum Andrea and John Gill, Wayne Higby, Walter McConnell, Richardson Art Gallery, 80 Fort Brown. of Fine Arts, 255 Beach Dr., NE. and Linda Sikora"; at the Schein-Joseph International Texas, Houston through November 14 "Bill Dennard: November 5-December 31 "Unearthed: A 55-Year Museum of Ceramic Art, NY State College of Ceramics Retrospective 1947-2003"; at the Houston Center for Tribute to the Ceramic League of Miami"; at Florida at Alfred University. Contemporary Craft, 4848 Main St. Craftsmen, 501 Central Ave. New York, Port Chester December 2-18 "Annual November 1-29 Brad Schwieger; at North Harris Georgia, Atlanta through November 20 "Serve Members' Show"; at Clay Art Center, 40 Beech St. College, 2700 W. W. Thorne Dr. This"; at MudFire Gallery, 1441 Dresden Dr., Ste. 250. North Carolina, Asheville through December 13

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 84 Ceramics Monthly November 2004 85 calendar

"The Butter Dish"; at the Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts, 236 Clingman Ave. North Carolina, Charlotte through February 27, 2005 "North Carolina Pottery: A Restless Tradition." through June 26, 2005 "Porcelain American Style." through July 17,2005 "Pottery American Style"; at Mint Museum of Art, 2730 Randolph Rd. November 1-31 "Art and Food"; at RedSky Gallery, 4705 Savings PI., Ste. 108. North Carolina, Pineville November 5, 2004-Janu- ary 31, 2005 "Funk-tion National"; at Stretch Gallery, 10726 Pineville Rd. North Carolina, Raleigh through November 28 "Flora, Fauna, Fossils, Crystals and Clay," works by Bruce Gholsen and Samantha Henneke; at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, 11 W. Jones St. North Carolina, Seagrove through November 13 "Carolina Clay Matters Pottery Guild Exhibition." through January 29, 2005 "Santa Elena's 16th-Century Spanish Kiln Exhibition"; at the North Carolina Pottery Center, 250 East Ave. Ohio, Kettering November 1-December 17 "Earth in Balance, A Regional Clay Competition"; at Rosewood Gallery, 2655 Olson Dr. Ohio, Toledo through February 13, 2005 "18th- and 19th-Century English Transferware"; at the Toledo Museum of Art, 2445 Monroe St. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia through November 14 "On the Wall," works by Syd Carpenter, Scott Chamberlin, Jim Melchert, Judy Moonelis, James Shrosbee, Deborah Sigel, Charles Timm-Ballard and Paula Winokur; at the Clay Studio, 139 N. Second St. Pennsylvania, Scranton through November24 "Ru­ dimentary Spectrum: An Exploration of Elegantly Unre­ fined Ceramic Materials," works by Svend Bayer, Will Singleton and Jordan Taylor; at Laura Craig Galleries, 307 Linden St. Texas, Houston November 20-December 31 "An­ nual Holiday Show"; at Houston Potters Guild Shop & Gallery, 2433 Rice Blvd. Texas, Waco through Decmber 24 "Three Paths: Ceramics by Richard Aerni, Ellen Shankin and Tom Turner"; at Martin Museum of Art, Baylor University, 1401 S. University Parks Dr. Virginia, Richmond through February 27, 2005 "Fancy Rockingham Pottery: The Modeller and Ceramics in 19th-Century America"; at the University of Rich­ mond, Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature, Boatwright Memorial Library, Richmond Way. Virginia, Staunto through November 7 "Amazing Clay, Too"; at the Staunto/Augusta Art Center, 1 Gypsy Hill Park. Virginia, Vienna November 12-December31 "Con- tinuity-Tradition-Relationship: A Quest for Beauty in Everyday Pots," works by Michael Hunt, Shawn Ireland, Will Ruggles and Douglass Rankin, and Liz Sparks; at Earth and Fire, 144 Church St., NW. Washington, Seattle through February 13, 2005 "Glaze, Pattern and Image: Decoration in Chinese Ce­ ramics"; at the Seattle Asian Art Museum, 1400 E. Prospect St.

Ceramics in Multimedia Exhibitions Arizona, Carefree November20, 2004-January 10, 2005 Exhibition including ceramics by Hideaki Miyamura; at Andora Gallery, 7202 E. Carefree Dr. Arizona, Tucson through November 19 "Democ­ racy in America: Political Satire Then and Now"; at the Arizona State University Art Museum, Mill Ave. and Tenth St. California, La Jolla through December 15 "Tenth Annual Menorah Show"; at Gallery Alexander, 7925-A Girard Ave. California, Los Angeles through December5 "Com­ ing of Age in Ancient Greece: Images of Childhood from

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 86 Ceramics Monthly November 2004 87 Mississippi, Biloxi November 12-December 31 calendar "Tenth George E. Ohr National Arts Challenge"; at the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum, 136 G.E. Ohr St. Missouri, St. Louis November 5-December 24 "40th the Classical Past"; at the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1200 Annual Holiday Exhibition"; at Craft Alliance, 6640 Getty Center Dr. Delmar Blvd. December 19, 2004-April 3, 2005 "The Arts and New Jersey, Clinton through January 9,2005 "Out­ Crafts Movement in Europe and America, 1880-1920: rageous Home"; at Hunterdon Museum of Art, 7 Lower Design for the Modern World"; at the Los Angeles Center St. County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. Nevada, Reno December 5, 2004-January 6, 2005 California, San Francisco through January 2, 2005 "enlighTEN"; at Wilbur D. May Museum, Rancho San "Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya"; at Legion of Honor, Rafael Regional Park, 1595 N. Sierra St. Lincoln Park, 100 34th Ave. New York, Buffalo through January 2, 2005 "Craft through January 31, 2005 "Dovetailing Art and Life: Art Western New York 2004"; at Burchfield-Penny Art The Bennett Collection"; at the San Francisco Museum Center, Rockwell Hall, Buffalo State College, 1300 of Craft+Design, 550 Sutter St. Elmwood Ave. Colorado, Denver through December 19 "Heaven New York, New York through January 16, 2005 and Home: Chinese Art of the Han Dynasty from the Sze "Asian Games: The Art of Contest"; at the Asia Society, Hong Collection." through January 23, 2005Tiwanaku: 725 Park Ave. Ancestors of the Inca." through December 31, 2005 through February 25, 2005 "DesignMrt: Functional "New Classics"; at the Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14 Objects from Donald Judd to Rachel Whiteread"; at the Ave. Pkwy. Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum, D.C., Washington through February 6, 2005 "Pal­ 2 E. 91st St. ace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Victoria and Albert November 27-December 14 "Holiday Craft Show Museum"; at the National Gallery of Art, Sixth St. and Celebrating Women's Creativity"; at Pen and Brush, 16 Constitution Ave., NW. E. Tenth St. through February 20, 2005 "The Tea Ceremony as North Carolina, Charlotte through November 13 Melting Pot." through June 26, 2005 "Luxury and "Four Voices from the Mountains," including ceramics Luminosity: Visual Culture and the Ming Court"; at the by Terry Gess and Lisa Stinson. November 16-December Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, 12th St. 31 "The Language of Wood," including wood-fired and Independence Ave., SW. ceramics by Terry Inokuma, Hanako Nakazato, Hiroshi through March 20, 2005 "Asia in America: Views of Ogawa and Malcolm Wright; at W.D.O., a contempo­ Chinese Art from the Indianapolis Museum of Art." rary craft gallery, 214 N. Tryon St., Hearst Plaza, Ste. 1. through April 24, 2005 Cai Guo-Qiang, "Traveler: through December 4 "Ancient Egyptian Art for the Reflection"; at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1050 Afterlife"; at Mint Museum of Art, 2730 Randolph Rd. Independence, Ave., SW. through January 30, 2005 "The Nature of Craft and Florida, Ormond Beach November 5-December31 the Penland Experience." through April 17,2005 "Speak­ "Florida Craftsmen's 50th Anniversary"; at Ormond ing Volumes: Vessels from the Collection of the Mint Beach Memorial Art Museum, 78 E. Granada Blvd. Museums"; at the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, 220 Hawai'i, Honolulu through January 2, 2005 "Cher­ N. Tryon St. ished Possessions: A New England Legacy"; at the North Carolina, Raleigh November 20, 2004- Honolulu Academy of Arts, Henry R. Luce Gallery, 900 S. January 15, 2005 "Fine Contemporary Craft, National Beretania St. Biennial Juried Exhibition"; at Artspace, 201 E. Davie St. through January 2, 2005 "Clay, Glass, Wood, Metal: Ohio, Canton November26,2004-January 16,2005 Selected Works from the Collection of the Contempo­ "Designing Craft I: Collecting forthe New Millennium," rary Museum," including ceramics by Robert Arneson, Museum of Arts and Design traveling exhibition; at the Stephen DeStaebler, Robert Turner, Adrian Saxe and Canton Museum of Art, 1001 Market Ave., N. Peter Voulkos; at the Contemporary Museum, 2411 Oregon, Coburg November 23, 2004-January 23, Makiki Heights Dr. 2005" La Petite XII, 2004"; at Alder Gallery, N. Willamette Illinois, Chicago through February 13,2005 "Machu at Pearl St. Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas"; at the Field Oregon, Portland through December 31 "Shared Museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr. Legacies: Contemporary Crafts and the WPA"; at the Kentucky, Louisville November 6-December 31 Contemporary Crafts Museum & Gallery, 3934 S.W. "Holidazzle"; at the Kentucky Museum of Arts + Design, Corbett Ave. 715 W. Main St. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia through December31 Louisiana, New Orleans through January 16, 2005 "Libations: Wine and Tea in East Asia." through January "The Convivial Art of the Cocktail"; at the New Orleans 2, 2005 "African Art, African Voices: Long Steps Never Museum of Art, 1 Collins Diboll Cir. Broke a Back"; at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th Maryland, Baltimore December 4, 2004-March St. and the Pkwy. 20, 2005 "American Fancy: Exuberance in the Arts, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh through January 15,2005 1790-1840"; at the Maryland Historical Society, 201 W. "Perchance to Dream," including ceramics by Kosmas Monument St. Ballis, Christina Bothwell, Mark Chatterley, Christine Maryland, Frederick November 17-December 19 Federighi, Jiri Lonsky, Louise Radochonski, Tim Roda and "Expressions: Faculty Exhibition," including ceramics by Allan Rosenbaum; at the Society for Contemporary Philip Berneburg, Kevin Crowe, Susan Nayfield Kahn, Craft, 2100 Smallman St. Nan Martin and Joyce Michaud; at Hood College, Hodson Pennsylvania, Wayne December 3, 2004-January Gallery, 401 Rosemont Ave. 20, 2005 "Craft Forms 2004, Tenth Annual National Massachusetts, Boston through November 18 Juried Exhibition and Sale of Fine Contemporary Crafts"; "Stone and Ceramics, Abstracted," including ceramics at Wayne Art Center, 413 Maplewood Ave. by Michael Gustavson; at L'Attitude Gallery, 218 Tennessee, Nashville through November 13 "De­ Newbury St. signing Craft I: Collecting for the New Millennium" Massachusetts, Cambridge December 1, 2004- Museum of Arts and Design traveling exhibition; at June 30, 2005 "Imazighen: Beauty and Artisanship in Cheekwood Museum of Art, 1200 Forest Park Dr. Berber Life"; at the Peabody Museum, Harvard Univer­ Texas, Houston through January30,2005 "Patrons sity, 11 Divinity Ave. Choice: The Silver Anniversary of the Museum Collec­ Massachusetts, Concord November 13-30 "Paral­ tors"; at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Audrey lel Lines," including ceramics by Warren MacKenzie; at Jones Beck Bldg., 5601 Main St. Lacoste Gallery, 25 Main St. Vermont, Shelburne through November 13 "The Michigan, Detroit November 12-December 31 Beauty of Usefulness: Inspiration from Japanese Tradi­ "Earthy Treasures"; at Pewabic Pottery, 10125 tional Crafts," including ceramics by Jeanne Bisson, Jan E. Jefferson. Cannon, Tim Rowan, Jeff Shapiro, Ikuzi Teraki and

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 88 Ceramics Monthly November 2004 89 calendar

Malcolm Wright; at Shelburne Craft School, Gallery on the Green, 54 Falls Rd. Wisconsin, Racine through March 6, 2005 "The Artist Responds: Albert Paley and Art Nouveau"; at the Racine Art Museum, 441 Main St. Fairs, Festivals and Sales Arizona, Carefree November 5-7 "12th Annual Carefree Fine Art and Wine Festival"; downtown, Easy and Ho Hum sts. Arizona, Phoenix November 13-14 "Spanish Mar­ ket"; at the Heard Museum, 2301 N. Central Ave. California, North Hollywood November 21-22 "32nd Annual Pottery Sale"; at Cahuenga School of Pottery, 5622 Cahuenga Blvd. California, San Francisco November 13-14 "Asso­ ciation of Clay and Glass Artists' Annual San Francisco Clay and Glass Festival"; at Fort Mason Center, Herbst Pavilion, Moraga and Montgomery sts. Connecticut, Hartford November 12-14 "Sugarloaf Crafts Festival"; at the Connecticut Expo Center, 265 Reverend Moody Overpass. Connecticut, New Haven November 6-December 24 "Celebration of American Crafts, 36th Annual Exhi­ bition and Sale of Fine Contemporary Crafts"; at Cre­ ative Arts Workshop, 80 Audubon St. Connecticut, South Windsor December 4-5, 11- 12 "29th Holiday Open Studio"; at Greenleaf Pottery, 240 Chapel Rd. Connecticut, YanticNovember20 "Annual Meiklem Kiln Works Pottery Sale"; at Meiklem Kiln Works Clay Studio, 139 Yantic Rd. D.C., Washington November 19-21 "17th Annual Washington Craft Show"; at the Washington Conven­ tion Center, 801 Mount Vernon PI., NW. Florida, Gainesville November 6-7 "23rd Annual Downtown Festival and Art Show"; downtown. Florida, Inverness November 6-7 "Citrus County Festival of the Arts"; around the Courthouse Sq. Florida, Lake Buena Vista November 12-14 "29th Annual Festival of the Masters"; downtown Disney. Florida, St. Petersburg November 5-December 31 "Florida Craftmens' Holiday Show 2004, Home for the Holidays"; at Florida Craftsmen, 501 Central Ave. Georgia, Roswell December 3-5 "Works in Clay Show and Sale"; at the Roswell Visual Arts Center, 1355 Woodstock Rd. Georgia, Winder November 13-14 "Harvest of Arts Judged Show and Sale"; at Georgia Piedmont Arts Center, 150 E. Athens St. Hawai'i, Honolulu November 20-December 18 "Pacific Handcrafters Guild Presents: Holiday Exhibition and Sale"; at ARTS at Marks Garage, 1159 Nuuanu Ave. Illinois, Oak Park December 5 "20th Century Art and Design Auction"; at John Toomey Gallery, 818 North Blvd. Indiana, Bloomington November 5-6 "Local Clay Potters' Guild Holiday Pottery Show and Sale"; at St. Mark's Methodist Church, 100 N. Hwy. 46 Bypass. Maryland, Baltimore December 4-23 "Holiday Ex­ travaganza"; at Baltimore Clayworks, 5707 Smith Ave. Maryland, Gaithersburg November 18-21 and December 10-12 "Sugarloaf Crafts Festival"; at Mont­ gomery County Fairgrounds, 16 Chestnut St. Massachusetts, Boston December 3-5 "Crafts at the Castle 2004"; at Park Plaza Castle, Columbus Ave. and Arlington St. Massachusetts, Worcester November 26-27 "The 22nd Annual Festival of Crafts"; at Worcester Center for Crafts, 25 Sagamore Rd. Michigan, Farmington Hills November 6-7 "30th Annual Holiday Art Fair"; at Oakland Community Col­ lege, Bldg. H, Orchard Lake Rd. Minnesota, Minneapolis November 5-7 "Art At­ tack 2004"; at the Northrop King Bldg., 1500 Jackson St., NE. Continued

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 90 Ceramics Monthly November 2004 California, San Jose November 13 "Japanese Throw­ calendar ing Techniques" with Yosuke Koizumi. Fee: $40, in­ cludes materials. Contact Clay Planet, 1240 N. 13th St., San Jose 95112; see www.clay-planet.com ; or tele­ November 14-December30 "Holiday Exhibition and phone (800) 443-2529. Sale"; at Northern Clay Center, 2424 Franklin Ave., E. Colorado, Steamboat Springs November 13-14 Mississippi, Natchez November26-27 "Open House "Ceramic Sculpture: Concept and Technique" with Ri­ Exhibition"; at Burns Pottery, 209 Franklin St. chard Notkin. Fee: $250. Scholarships available. Contact Missouri, Kansas City December3-5 "Annual Holi­ Beth Banning, Steamboat Springs Arts Council, PO day Sale and Tour"; at Red Star Studios, 821 W. 17th St. Box 774284, 1001 13th St., Steamboat Springs Montana, Missoula December 3-20 "Annual 80477; e-mail [email protected] ; see Holiday Expo"; at the Clay Studio of Missoula, 910 www.steamboatspringsarts.com ; telephone (970) 879- Dickens St. 9008; or fax (970) 879-4434. Nevada, Reno December2-4 "Wild Women Artists Connecticut, Canton November 14 "Crystalline Three-Day Sale"; at Wilbur D. May Museum, Rancho Glazes" with Tim Scull. Fee: $200, plus clay. Contact San Rafael Regional Park, 1595 Sierra St. Canton Clay Works lie, 150 Cherry Brook Rd., Canton New Jersey, Morristown December 10-12 "Holi­ 00019; see www.cantonclayworks.com ; or telephone day Crafts at Morristown"; at Morristown Armory, (860) 693-1000. Western Ave. Connecticut, Guilford February 5-6, 2005 Workshop New York, Mt. Kisco November5-7 "Hudson River with Chris Gustin. Contact Guilford Handcraft Center, 411 Potters' Show and Sale"; at the Northern Westchester Church St., Guilford 06437; see www.handcraftcenter.org ; Center for the Arts, 272 N. Bedford Rd. or telephone (203) 453-5947. New York, New York December 3-5 "Holiday D.C., Washington November 6-7 "Pots for Crafts Park Avenue"; at the Seventh Regiment Armory, Home Use" with Will Ruggles and Douglass Rankin. Park Ave. Fee: $140. Contact Hinckley Pottery, 1707 December 10-12 "Holiday Crafts New York I." Kalorama Rd., NW, Washington D.C. 20009; see December 17-19 "Holiday Crafts New York II"; at www.hinckleypottery.com/workshops/m-workshops.htm ; Columbia University, Alfred Lerner Hall, Broadway and or telephone (202) 745-7055. 144th St. Florida, Melbourne December 6-10 "Raku Work­ New York, Rochester December 3-4 "Genesee shop, " hands-on workshop with Steven Forbes-deSoule. Pottery's Annual Holiday Craft Sale"; at Genesee Pot­ Fee: $375; members, $350. Contact Museum School, tery, 713 Monroe Ave. Museum of Arts and Science, Melbourne 32935; e-mail North Carolina, Charlotte November27-28 "Open [email protected] ; or telephone (321) House: Celebrating Artful Lifestyle and Art of Gift Giv­ 254-7782. ing"; at Green Tara Gallery, 1800 E. Franklin St., #18b Florida, Orlando November 12 Demonstration with Eastgate. Austin Lindsey. November 15 Demonstration with Su­ North Carolina, Marion November 20 "18th An­ san Vey. November 16 Demonstration with Kim nual Appalachian Potters Market"; at the McDowell Lemonakis. November 17 Demonstration with Jonah High School gym, 600 McDowell High School Rd. Levy. November 19 Demonstration with Steve Fasen. North Carolina, Mitchell and Yancey Counties November 22-23 Demonstration with Cheryl Tall. Fee: December 4-5 "Toe River Studio Tour." For further $50. Fee (unless noted above): free. Contact Mike information, see www.toeriverarts.org . Lalone, Dr. Phillips High School, 6500 Turkey Lake Rd., North Carolina, Winston-Salem November 19-21 Orlando 32819; e-mail [email protected] ; ortelephone "Piedmont Craftsmen 41st Fair"; downtown, Fifth and (407) 355-3200, ext. 2203. Cherry sts. Florida, West Palm Beach January 15-16, 2005 Ohio, Columbus November 14-December23 "Gifts "Thrown and Altered Majolica" with Posey Bacopoulos. of the Craftsmen"; atthe Ohio Craft Museum, 1665 W. January 24-28, 2005 "Expressive Approaches to the Fifth Ave. Human Form" with Adrian Arleo. February 5-6, 2005 Pennsylvania, Philadelphia November 4-7 "28th "High Energy Clay" with Don Reitz. February 28-March Annual Craft Exhibition and Sale"; at the Pennsylvania 4, 2005 "Site-Specific Architectural Sculpture in Ceram­ Convention Center, Exhibit Hall D, 12th and Arch sts. ics" with Robert Harrison. March 12-13, 2005 "Assem­ November 26, 2004-January 2, 2005 "Gifted: The blage in Clay: Playing with the Parts" with Jim Koudelka. Clay Studio' Annual Holiday Exhibition"; at the Clay Contact the Armory Art Center, 1700 Parker Ave., West Studio, 139 N. Second St. Palm Beach 33401; see www.armoryart.org ; or tele­ Rhode Island, Providence November 5-7 "The phone (561) 832-1776. Fifth Annual Providence Craft Show"; at the Rhode Georgia, Athens November6-7Demonstration with Island Convention Center, 1 Sabin St. Linda Christianson. Fee: $115. Contact Good Dirt Ce­ Tennessee, Jackson December 3 "Annual Christ­ ramic Center, 51 OB N. Thomas St., Athens 30601; mas Pottery Sale"; at Student Union Building, Union e-mail [email protected] ; see www.gooddirt.net ; University, 1050 Union University Dr. or telephone (706) 355-3161. Hawai'i, Maui February 18-20,2005 "Clay + Spirt," Workshops handbuilding workshop with Thomas Kerrigan. Fee: $386; members, $326; includes materials and lab fee. California, Mendocino November 6-7 "A Body of Contact Hui No'eau Visual Arts Center, 2841 Baldwin Work: Figure in Clay" with Richard Garriott-Stejskal. Ave., Makawao, Maui 96768; e-mail November 13-14 "Porcelain Wheel Throwing" with [email protected] ; or telephone (808) 572-6560. Paul Stein. Contact Mendocino Art Center, 45200 Little Illinois, Chicago November 6-7 Slide lecture and Lake Rd., PO Box 765, Mendocino 95460; see demonstration with Michael Corney, Michael Wisner www.mendocinoartcenter.org ; or telephone (707) 937- and/or Mark Shapiro. Fee: $30; $50 for both; $75 for all 5818 or (800) 653-3328. three. November 13-21 "Tumblestack2004," wood-fire California, Ojai January 7-9, 2005 Workshop with workshop with Ken Bichell. Fee: $290, includes firing and Tom Turner. Fee: $175; includes breakfast. Contact glazes; participants should bring bisqueware. All skill Dusti Pelow, Massarella's Firehouse Pottery & Gallery, levels. Contact Lillstreet Art Center, 4401 N. Ravenswood 109 N. Montgomery St., Ojai 93023; e-mail Ave., Chicago 60640; e-mail chrisplummer@lillstreet. com; [email protected] ; or telephone (805) see www.lillstreet.com; or telephone (773) 769-1527. 646-9453. Illinois, Oak Park November 13-14 Workshop California, Rancho CucamongaNovember 13 Work­ with Steven Hill. January 22-23, 2005 Workshop with shop with Greg Richards. Fee: $35; at the door, $45; Geoffrey Wheeler. Fee/session: $125. Contact Terra includes lunch. Contact Crispin Gonzalez, Chaffey Col­ Incognito Studios and Gallery, 246 Chicago Ave., Oak lege, 5885 N. Haven Ave., Rancho Cucamonga 91737; Park 60302; see www.terraincognitostudios.com ; or or telephone (909) 941-2776. telephone (708) 383-6228. Continued

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 92 Ceramics Monthly November 2004 93 calendar

Maryland, Baltimore November6-7 "Wheel Explo­ ration and Design," hands-on workshop with Andy Shaw. January 8-9, 2005 "One Thin Wall," demonstra­ tion with Beth Cavener Stichter. January 14-18, 2005 "Generating Ideas: Making Pottery Personal," five-day, hands-on workshop with Peter Beasecker. Fee: $310; members, $290. March 13-14, 2005 "NCECA Pre- Conference Workshop, Endless Variations: Functional Four on the Floor" with Malcolm Davis, Steven Hill, Jeff Oestreich and Lynn Smiser Bowers. Fee: $180, includes breakfast and lunch. Fee (unless noted above): $180; members, $160. Contact Baltimore Clayworks, 5707 Smith Ave., Baltimore 21209; e-mail [email protected] ; see www.baltimoreclayworks.org ; or telephone (410) 578-1919. Maryland, Frederick November 6-7 "Eastern Coil" with Joyce Michaud. Fee: $150. November21 "Potter's Roundtable." Free. January 6-9, 2005 "Master's Throwing" with Joyce Michaud. Fee: $245. March 11, 2005 "On the Wheel and Almost Round," lecture with Jack Troy. Free. Contact Hood College, Ceramics Pro­ gram, 401 Rosemont Ave., Frederick 21701; see www.hood.edu/academic/art ; or telephone (301) 696-3456. Massachusetts, Stockbridge November 6-7 "Raku Intensive Weekend" with Sandy Miller. Fee: $210, in­ cludes materials. Contact IS183, Art School of the Berk- shires, 13 Willard Hill Rd., Stockbridge 01262; see www.is183.org ; or telephone (413) 298-5252. Massachusetts, Worcester November 13-14 "A Weekend with Mark Shapiro." Fee: $225. Contact Worcester Center for Crafts, 25 Sagamore Rd., Worces­ ter 01605; e-mail [email protected] ; see www.worcestercraftcenter.org ; telephone (508) 753- SI 83; or fax (508) 797-5626. Minnesota, Bemidji April 13-14, 2005 Workshop with Bob and Cheryl Husby at Bemidji State University. Fee: $35. Contact Bemidji Community Arts Council, 426 Bemidji Ave., N, Bemidji 56601; see www.bcac-mn.org ; or telephone (218) 444-7570 or (218) 755-3736. Missouri, Kansas City November 7-8 Workshop with Walter Ostrom. February 5-6, 2005 Workshop with Bede Clarke. For further information, contact Red Star Studios, 821 W. 17th St., Kansas City 64108; e-mail [email protected] ; seewww.redstarstudios.org ; or telephone (816) 474-7316. New Jersey, Lodi November 6 "Raku Firing" with David Hughes. Fee: $120. November 20 "Yoga Tech­ nique for the Potter" with Peggy Clark and Tammi Starck. December 4 "Figurative Sculpture" with Louis Mendez. December 11 "Holiday Bisqueware Decora­ tion" with Audrey Jones. Fee (unless noted above): $90. Contact David Hughes, the Clay Education Center at Ceramic Supply, 7 Rte. 46 W, Lodi 07664; e-mail [email protected] ; or telephone (973) 340-3005. New Mexico, Ojo Caliente November28-December 2 and/or December 12-16 "Ojo Micaceous Clay Work­ shop" with Felipe Ortega. Fee: $1399, includes materials, lodging, breakfast and 2 evening meals, spa treatments, and archaeological field expedition. All skill levels. Contact Debi, Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs, 50 Los Banos, PO Box 68, Ojo Caliente 87549; e-mail [email protected] ; see www.ojocalientespa.com ; or telephone (800) 222- 9162, ext. 834. New York, New York November 6 "Flower Tile Box" with Rebeca Nevarez. Fee: $140; members, $125. November 13and20 "Christmas Ornaments" with Ellen Day. Fee: $95; members, $80. Contact Jeri Wagner, Craft Students League, YWCA-NYC, 610 Lexington Ave., New York 10022; e-mail [email protected] ; see www.ywcanyc.org/csl ; or telephone (212) 755-4500. November 18-19 "Handbuilt Pots" with Bruce Winn. January 24-28, 2005 "All About Function and Utility" with Val Cushing. Contact 92nd Street Y Art Center, 1395 Lexington Ave., New York 10128; see www.92y.org ; or telephone (212) 415-5500.

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 94 Ceramics Monthly November 2004 95 Texas, San Antonio November 6 and 13 "Raku," calendar hands-on workshop and lecture with Billy Ray Mangham. Fee: $155. Limit of 12 participants. November 13 "Mak­ ing Professional Quality 35mm Slides" with Richard December 2 "An Evening with Eva Zeisel." Free. Kline. Fee: $60; members, $54. Limit of 12 participants. February 12-13, 2005 "Porcelain Sculptural Vessels," March 19, 2005 Slide lecture with Shuji Ikeda. Free. with Ellen Day. Fee: $235; members, $220; includestour Contact Southwest School of Art & Craft, 300 Augusta, of Ruth Duckworth exhibition. Contact Museum of Arts San Antonio 78205; see www.swschool.org ; or tele­ & Design, 40 W. 53rd St., New York 10019; see phone (210) 224-1848. www.madmuseum.org ; or telephone (212) 956-3535. Texas, Waco November 10 Demonstration work­ New York, Port Chester November 6-7 "Portrait shop with Richard Aerni. Free. Contact Paul McCoy, Busts" with Dirk Staschke. Fee: $175, includes model Baylor University, 1401 S. University Parks Dr., Lewis fee. November 14 "Monthly Raku" with Denis Licul. Art B Idg., Rm. 168, Waco 76706; e-mail Participants must bring 6-8 small bisqued pieces. De­ [email protected] ; or telephone (254) 710-4415. cember 7 "You Can Handle It" with Graham Yeager. U.S. Virgin Islands, St. John December 13-19 Fee: $75. December 9 "What a Stretch: Handbuilding week-long hand-on workshop; or December 17-19 Using Porcelain" with Alison McGowan. Fee: $75. Feb­ demonstration workshop. Instructor: Steven Branfman. ruary 5-6, 2005 Workshop with Joan Bruneau. Contact Fee: $630; weekend, $205. Contact Gail Van de Bogurt the Clay Art Center, 40 Beech St., Port Chester 10573; or Jill Hale, Maho Bay Clay Works, PO Box 523, St. John or telephone (914) 937-2047. 00831; see www.mahobayclayworks.com ; e-mail New York, Rochester November 19, December 3 [email protected]; or telephone (340) and 10 "Precious Metal Clay 3" with Elizabeth Agte. Fee: 776-6226. $65; members, $60. November 20-21 "Noborigama Vermont, Bennington January26-30, 2005 "Clay: Wood Firing" with Michael Carroll. Fee: $130; members, Beyond the Object" withSadashi Inuzuka and/or "Hand­ $105. Contact Margie Slinker, Genesee Pottery, GCAE, building" with Suze Lindsay at Bennington College. For 713 Monroe Ave., PO Box G, Rochester 14607; e-mail further information, contact North Country Studio [email protected] ; see www.geneseearts.org ; or Workshops, PO Box 875, Hanover, NH 03755; see telephone/fax (585) 271-5183. www.northcountrystudioworkshops.org ; or telephone New York, White Plains November 12 "Whistles, (603) 795-2889. Rattles and Bells" with Connie Sherman. Fee: $55. Virginia, Appomattox November 13-14 Workshop Contact Lisa Mariotti, Westchester Art Workshop, with Jack Troy. Fee: $160; students, $75; includes lunch Westchester County Center, 196 Central Ave., White and one dinner. Contact Cub Creek Foundation, Rte. 1, Plains 10604; or telephone (914) 684-0094. Box 483, Appomattox 24522; see www.cubcreek.org ; North Carolina, Asheville February 18-19, 2005 or telephone (434) 248-5074. "K-12 Educators Workshop." Fee: $75. Limit of 40 West Virginia, Huntington November5-7 "Hand­ participants. For further information, contact Odyssey building Functional Pottery," hands-on workshop with Center for Ceramic Arts, PO Box 18284, Asheville Gail Kendall. Fee: $225; members, $195; teachers, 28814; e-mail [email protected] ; see $ 165; students, $ 120; includes materials, breakfast and www.highwaterclays.com ; ortelephone (828) 285-0210. lunch. Contact Matt Carter, Huntington Museum of North Carolina, Columbia February 17-20, 2005 Art, 2033 McCoy Rd., Huntington 25701; e-mail "Cabin Fever Reliever V," includes "Handbuilding [email protected] ; see www.hmoa.org ; or telephone with Clay" with Sandi Pierantozzi and "Wheel-Thrown (304) 529-2701, ext. 21. Vessels" with Neil Patterson. Fee: $430, includes registration, lodging and meals. Contact Pocosin International Events Arts, PO Box 690, Columbia 27925; e-mail [email protected] ; see www.pocosinarts.org ; or Brazil, Vuritiba through November 10 Norma telephone (252) 796-2787. Grinberg; at the Alfredo Andersen Museum, Mateus Oklahoma, Norman December 4-5 Hands-on por­ Leme St., 336. celain workshop with Mary Louise Carter. Fee: $105, Canada, Alberta, Calgary through November 18 includes registration; participants must bring 2-3 small Suzanne Ashmore and Margaret Sundstrom; at the leather-hard pieces. Limit of 20 participants. Contact Croft Gallery, 2105 Fourth St., NW. the Firehouse Art Center, 444 S. Flood, Norman 73069; Canada, British Columbia, Vancouver November see www.normanfirehouse.com ; or telephone (405) 4-29 Judy Weeden, "Partners: Metaphors for Human 329-4523. Relationships." December3-31 "Seasonal Traditions"; Pennsylvania, Philadelphia November6 "A Potter's at the Potters Guild of British Columbia, 1359 Cartwright Walking Tour of the Philadelphia Museum of Art" with St., Granville Island. Claire Rodgers. Fee: $45; members, $40. January 23, Canada, Ontario, Burlington through November 7 2005 "Extruder and Decorative Stamping Techniques" "Burlington Potters Guild Annual Juried Exhibition." with Candy Depew. Fee: $65; members, $60. February through December 19 "Recent Acquisitions 2003." 11 (lecture), 12-13,2005 "Handbuilding Functional Pots" through February 16, 2005 "Quietly Convincing"; at with Sandi Pierantozzi. March 11 (lecture), 12-13, 2005 Burlington Art Centre, 1333 Lakeshore Rd. "Porcelain: The Plasticity of a Line" with Alleghany Canada, Ontario, London November21-28 "Made Meadows. April9 "Fun Glazing Techniques" with Doug to Comfort, Cups of Kindness from Across Canada"; at Herren. Fee: $65; members, $60. April 23 "Coloring Jonathon Bancroft-Snell Int., 355 Wellington St. Outside the Lines" with Rain Harris. Fee: $65; members, Canada, Ontario, Ottawa through November 17 $60. May 13 (lecture), 14-15, 2005 "Functional Excess" Andrea Piller; at Lafreniere & Pai Gallery, 13 Murray St. with Julia Galloway. Fee (unless noted above): $205; Canada, Ontario, Toronto through November 7 members, $195; lectures, $5. Contact the Clay Studio, Wendy Walgate; at new gallery, 55 Mill St. 139 N. Second St., Philadelphia 19106; see through December 24 "STUFF—Ingenuity and Cri­ www.theclaystudio.org ; telephone (215) 925-3453; or tique"; at the Harbourfront Centre, York Quay Gallery, fax (215) 925-7774. 235 Queen's Quay W. Tennessee, Austin January 28 (lecture), 29-30, through January 23, 2005 "Picasso and Ceramics." 2005 "Thrown and Altered Work with Majolica Sur­ November 6 "Picasso and Ceramics Symposium." Fee: face" with Linda Walker. Fee: $130; lecture, free. Con­ Can$80 (US$62); members, Can$60 (US$46). Novem­ tact Clayways Pottery Studio and Gallery, 5442 Burnet ber 21 "Picasso and His Enduring Appeal," lecture with Rd., Austin 78756; e-mail [email protected]; see Mary Bartow. December 70"Is Picasso the 20th Century's www.clayways.com ; or telephone (512) 459-6445. Seminal Ceramics Artist," lecture with Leopold Foulem; Texas, Houston November 12-14 Demonstration at the University of Toronto Art Centre, 15 King's with Brad Schwieger. Fee: $50. Contact Roy Hanscom, College Cir. Art Dept., North Harris College, 2700 W. W. Thorne Dr., November 25-December 24 "Tea Party Five"; at Houston 77073; or telephone (281) 618-5609. Prime Gallery, 52 McCaul St. Continued

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 96 Ceramics Monthly November 2004 97 calendar

Canada, Quebec, Montreal November 2 5-Decem- ber 31 "Christmas Show"; at the Canadian Guild of Crafts, 1460 rue Sherbrooke W, Ste. B. Denmark, Middelfart through December 5 Large- scale works by Nino Caruso, Claude Champy and J 0rgen Hansen; at Denmark Keramikmuseum—Grimmerhus, Kongebrovej 42. England, Alston, Cumbria through November 6 "Copper Red Porcelain," Eddie and Margaret Curtis; at Stokoe House Ceramics Gallery, Market PI. England, Bath through November 13 Porcelain by Emmanuel Cooper. November 22-December 23 Raku and stoneware by Anna and Sarah Noel; at Beaux Arts Bath, 12/13 York St. England, Bovey Tracey, Devon through November 7 "Elemental Insight," including ceramics by Tim Andrews, Jenny Beavan, Tony Lattimer and Sonia Witts. November 6-December 1 Amanda Popham. December 4, 2004-January 5, 2005 Two-person exhibition includ­ ing ceramics by Taja; at the Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Riverside Mill. England, Frome, Somerset November 5-27 John Lee; at Enigma Contemporary Art and Crafts, 15 Vicar­ age St. England, London through November 13 Chun Liao. November 19, 2004-January 10, 2005 Ceramic sculp­ ture by Sara Radstone; at Barrett Marsden Gallery, 17-18 Great Sutton St. through February 5, 2005 "Making It Yours: Ceram­ ics." November 18,2004-February6,2005 "Beauty and the Beast: New Swedish Design"; at Crafts Council Gallery, 44a Pentonville Rd. November 5-27 "A Selection of Ming and Qing Porcelain"; at Eskenazi Ltd., 10 Clifford St. November 5-December 24 Alan Caiger-Smith; at Contemporary Applied Arts, 2 Percy St. England, Oxford through January 8, 2005 "1000 Years of Jingdezhen Porcelain"; at the Ashmolean, Beaumont St. England, Sherborne through November 13 Stone­ ware by Phil Rogers; at Alpha House Gallery, South St. France, Mont Beuvray through November 14 Alain Vernis; at the Celtic Civilization Museum, Bibracte. France, Nangay through December 12 Two-person exhibition including ceramics by Gordon Baldwin; at Galerie Capazza, Grenier de Villatre. France, Saint Quentin la Poterie through Novem­ ber 14 "Natures," including ceramics by Anne Bulliot. through January 8, 2005 "Art of the Bowl." December 5, 2004-January 8, 2005 Anna Lambert, "Animals"; at Terra Viva Galerie, rue de la Fontaine. France, Sevres through December 20 Jean Derval; at Mus£e National de Ceramique, Place de la Manufacture. Germany, Hamburg November 26-December 12 "North German Annual Arts and Crafts Fair"; at Mu­ seum fur Kunst und Gewerbe, Steintorplatz. Germany, Heidelberg through November 28 "2xPorcelain," Arnold Annen and Karin Bablok; Hans- Bockler-Str. 1 Germany, Hohr-Grenzhausen through January 6, 2005 "Westerwald Prize 2004." November 7, 2004- January 11, 2005 "Kurouemon Kumano—The Bear of Echizen";at Keramikmuseum Westerwald, LindenstraBe. Italy, Faenza through November 7 "Jiki, Japanese Porcelain between East and West from 1610 to 1760." "Italian Ceramics from XV to XIX Century for the 'Italian Maiolica Corpus' by Gaetano Ballardini"; at the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza, Via Campadori 2. Italy, Tuscany May 13-30, 2005 One-week hands-on handbuilding workshop with Denys James; one-week hands-on terra sigillata workshop with Giovanni Cimatti. Fee: US$3625, includes airfare, lodging, lunch, materials and tours. Deposit due: December 1, 2004. Contact Denys James, Discovery Art Travel, 182 Welbury Dr., Salt Spring Island, British Columbia V8K 2L8 Canada; e-mail

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 98 calendar

[email protected] ; see www.denysjames.com ; or telephone (250) 537-4906. Jamaica, Trelawny April 22-30, 2005 "Jamaica: Making Pottery" with Doug Casebeer, Randy Johnston, Jan McKeachie Johnston and David Pinto. Contact Ander­ son Ranch Arts Center, PO Box 5598, Snowmass Village, CO 81615; see www.andersonranch.org ; or telephone (970) 923-3181. Japan, Gifu through December 5 "Mino Ceramics Now." through January 16, 2005 "New Direction of Japanese Ceramic Art." through March 4, 2005 "Mod­ ern Ceramics of Italy" and "Modern Ceramic Design— Forms of White Vessels." December 21, 2004-March 27, 2005 "Utsuwa, Utsuwa and Utsuwa"; at the Mu­ seum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu, 4-2-5 Higashi- machi, Tajimi-shi. Japan, Osaka through December 12 "The Birth of Goryeo Celadon, Early Goryeo Celadon and Its Develop­ ments. " "The Beauty of Celadon, Yue Ware." December 18, 2004-April 12, 2005 "Persian Ceramics and Bronze from Takada Collection"; at the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1-1-26 Nakanoshima, Kita-ku. Laos, Luang Prabang, Ban Chan January 15-Feb- ruary 2, 2005 Hands-on workshop, including throwing/forming methods and wood firing an underground, scorpion-shaped earthenware kiln with Denys James and the local potters from Ban Chan pottery village. Fee: US$3163, includes airfare, materi­ als, firing, lodging, some meals, tours and excursions. For further information, contact Denys James, Discovery Art Travel, 182 Welbury Dr., Salt Spring Island, British Columbia V8K 2L8 Canada; e-mail [email protected] ; seewww.denysjames.com ; or telephone (250) 537-4906. Mexico, Michoacan January 22-31, 2005 "Indig­ enous Clay." Workshop includes forming, firing and visits to eight pottery villages. Fee: $1495-$ 1895; includes lodging, most meals and local transportation. Contact Eric Mindling: e-mail [email protected] ; or see www.manos-de-oaxaca.com . Mexico, Oaxaca March 6-16, 2005 "Indigenous Clay," includes forming and firing techniques, and tours. Fee: $1215—$ 1500; includes materials, some lodging and meals, and local transportation. Contact Eric Mindling: e-mail [email protected] ; or see www.manos-de-oaxaca.com . Netherlands, Amsterdam through November 13 Raku by Tjok Dessauvage; at Galerie Carla Koch, Prinsengracht 510 sous. through November 17 Anne Ausloos. November 20, 2004-January 9, 2005 Angel Garraza; at Galerie De Witte Voet, Kerkstraat 135. Netherlands, Arnhem November 6-December 12 Peggy Wauters; at Galerie Keramaikos, Oranjestraat 121. Netherlands, Delft through November 20 Porcelain by Jas/MV. through December 11 Raku by Susanne Silvertant. November 27, 2004-January 8, 2005 "Dark Days of Delft." December 18, 2004- January 29, 2005 Evelyn van Baarda; at Terra Keramiek, Nieuwstraat 7. Netherlands, Deventer through November 6 Slipware by Catherine Vanier; at Loes &. Reinier, Korte Assenstraat 15. Netherlands, Leeuwarden through December 24 "Colored Porcelain"; at St. Joseph Galerie, Frederik Ruyschstraat 10. Switzerland, Geneva November 25, 2004-March 28, 2005 "Portugese Ceramics from the 17th and 20th Centuries"; at Musee Ariana, 10, Ave. de la Paix.

For a free listing, submit announcements at least two months before the month of opening. Add one month for listings in July; two months for those in August. Mail to Calendar, Ceramics Monthly, 735 Ceramic PI., Westerville, OH 43081; submit online at www.ceramicsmonthly.org/submissions.asp e-mail [email protected]; or fax to (614) 891 -8960

Ceramics Monthly November 2004 100 ceramics montniy Novemper iUU4 102 Ceramics Monthly November 2004 103 Comment theI fine lineby Thomas Turnquist

Collecting and researching studio pottery has delicate distinctions seem to beyond many We also have ceramics instructors who been a passion of mine since the early 1980s. ceramic artists. The inability to be aware of are not aware of the fine line. Instructors The quest for great pots and interesting ce­ this situation dooms the potter from ever with dozens of years of teaching behind them, ramics artists has taken me from the East reaching inward and clutching the very es­ who are unable to convey pottery’s sophisti­ Coast to the West Coast. My travels have sence of clay’s potential. Great pots are a cation and nuances, should leave teaching to allowed me to meet and converse with some function of thought, spirit, and consistency. those who understand and care deeply about of America’s most talented, and in some cases, The sector of the public that may be in­ students. Those in the classroom standing in the better-known clay figures. I have learned terested in clay needs to be aware of clay’s front of students must not shortchange any much and have much more to experience wonder and potential. How can a potter who student but must lead the charge for growth and savor. does not know what a great pot should be and true learning. The salient reality for me is the that educate the public in general or a buyer in Ceramics students must be given a com­ there is a very fine line between a good pot particular? Someone new to clay must be plete history of clay. The history of ceramic and a great pot. The line is so fine that it is exposed to vessels that are aesthetically cor­ art must be conveyed along with the techni­ sometimes difficult to discern. However the rect and worthy of possessing. What is an cal aspects of clay and glazing. line does exist that separates an excellent aesthetically correct vessel? In my opinion, it Ceramic art in America will not endure at piece of work from something quite ordi­ is a creation that has good form and has a a high level unless educators and potters reach nary. Breath-taking vessels are a very small surface treatment that fits the form. A great and struggle for the real meaning of clay. portion of what is created. The fine line is vase is one that would be diminished by This meaning of clay is contained in an equa­ subjective to some degree, but a line of sepa­ further changes. Clay artists who care little tion that includes art history, clay history, ration is a reality. about the soul of clay are challenged in their technical knowledge, imagination, exposure I have come to the conclusion that many ability to convey what clay should or can be.to superb work in clay, joy and struggle. studio potters do not know that a fine line Yes, clay does have a soul—a soul composed Ceramic art can be an arena filled with won­ does indeed exist between a very mediocre of wonder, tradition, alchemy, skill, surprise, der and light. That is what it should be and vase and a superb presentation. Nuances and and endless joy. will be if educators convey zest and light.

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