January 1997 1 2 CERAMICS MONTHLY January 1997 Volume 45 Number 1 David Leach decorating pots at his studio in Bovey Tracey, England. 31 FEATURES 31 A Conversation with David Leach by Gary Hatcher Prizewinning traditional carved and smoke-fired jar by Tammy Garcia. 39 Tammy Garcia by Gail Molnar Pfeifer 39 43 George McCauley by Peter Held 47 In Celebration of Utilitarian Clay 52 California Clay Competition 54 Neoclassical Raku by Robert Hasselle 56 A Potter’s Look at Tradition by Makoto Hatori 60 Making, Marketing and Malaise by Andi Moran Nesting stoneware bowls by Chris Staley: from Arrowmont’s “Utilitarian Clay: Celebrate the Object.” 47 Rethinking marketing The cover:Montana artist methods by Andi Moran. George McCauley; see page 43.Photo: Craig Sharpe. 60 January 1997 3 UP FRONT 10 Free Summer Workshops Listing 10 Record Auction Prices Editor Ruth C. Butler 10 New ACC Executive Director Named Assistant EditorKim Nagorski Art Director Randy Wax 10 Clay Symposium in South Korea by Katharine Shepard Circulation ManagerMary R. Hopkins 12 Tal Shofman-Schejter Assistant Circulation ManagerMary E. May Advertising ManagerConnie Belcher 14 North Carolina Crystalline Publishing ConsultantSpencer L. Davis 14 Rum, Salsa and a Clay Appetite by Joel Bennett PublisherMark Mecklenborg 16 The Tulip Vase Editorial, Advertising and Circulation Offices 16 A Video Archive for the Crafts by Emma Maiden 735 Ceramic Place Post Office Box 6102 18 Clay on the Wall Westerville, Ohio 43086-6102 18 JeffSchmuki Telephone: (614) 523-1660 Fax: (614) 891-8960 18 Erik Bright E-mail: [email protected] 20 Student Judaica Exhibition [email protected] [email protected] 20 Gregory Roberts 20 Margaret Keelan Ceramics Monthly (ISSN 0009-0328) is published monthly, except July and August, by the American Ceramic Society, 735 20 Claudi Casanovas Ceramic Place, Westerville, Ohio 43081. Periodicals postage paid at Columbus, Ohio. 22 Peg Malloy and Jill Manos Subscription Rates: One year $24, two years $44, three years $60. Add $10 per year for subscriptions outside the U.S.A. In 22 The Arts of China Canada, add GST (registration number R123994618). Change of Address: Please give us four weeks advance notice. 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Postmaster: Send address changes to Ceramics Monthly, Post 92 Classified Advertising Office Box 6102, Westerville, Ohio 43086-6102. Form 3579 94 Comment: requested. who Am Us, Anyway? by Jonathan Kaplan Copyright © 1997 The American Ceramic Society 96 Index to Advertisers All rights reserved 4 CERAMICS MONTHLY January 1997 5 hollow handles that liquid flows into are not and markets them for as much money as is Letters considered food safe, because the design doesreasonably possible. That’s it. Beyond that, not allow them to be cleaned properly with­ who cares anyway? out a sterilizer. As for the dead horse (function versus Scared by Big Words? Consumers are trusting. They depend aesthetics)—again, who cares? I personally What a wonderful thing it is to be able to upon us to make a safe product. In this age ofprefer form follows function and the beauty look forward to the arrival of my issue of slipshod plastic, we should be proud to do so.of simplicity and a finely crafted (oh-oh Ceramics Monthly—yes, even now that I live It is the lack of professional ethics, igno­ artisted) piece. But it’s a big world out there, out here in the sticks of beautiful rural Japan.rance and indifference to consumer safety baby. It would sure be a shame if everybody Over the past years, and doubtlessly into that is the cause of government intervention.did the same stuff, liked the same stuff. I subsequent centuries of CM, the Art Army Ask the potters of California what regulationswouldn’t give 2<t for about half the stuff I see will continue to lob grenades into the Craft we can expect if we continue to reject com­ in the magazine but somebody’s selling it and camp, and Crafts will continue to scald Arts mon sense. somebody else is buying it, I guess. So goody with boiling oil. How I love the creativity of It is inane to throw one’s reputation as a for everybody. Hopefully, everyone can find a such conflict! reliable professional into the dust in a mad niche and be a part of the whole. I can’t help but notice, however, how dash for the almighty dollar; one merely bites Lisa Brown, Dallas often people use the word “psychobabble.” that hand that feeds by making unsafe vessels Besides being a silly word that is used way for food use. Stamp Action too often, too many people use it to make Cheryl Roe, Houston, Tex. I hope this isn’t being overly critical of blanket statements that vilify and disqualify Lili Krakowski’s letter (October 1996 issue), everything that is put forward in artists’ More How-To but I can’t fathom why she didn’t make statements. Granted, the next time I see yet How about more detailed instructions by stamps from clay, as opposed to inferior foam another piece called “Reliquary 4.3,” com­ potters on how they accomplished interestingrubber. I really believe if you are going to plete with twigs, feathers and 18K gold wire, effects on their pieces? The how-to’s are teach kids to be ceramists, you should use the and whose photograph is accompanied by yetimportant to me. real thing—clay—with proven stamp meth­ another paragraph bursting with such tidbits Joan Haber, Santa Barbara, Calif. ods. How else will the kids learn the basics? as “painterly” and “juxtaposition,” I may be I must have made a few thousand stamps tempted to scream “trite” or “complacent.” Glaze Weight by now, which I utilize in combinations to But not “psychobabble.” This may be a crazy request, but I would create designs in making ceramic jewelry. It I’m beginning to wonder if the people really love it if the glaze recipes were con­ does take skill to make complex design who keep saying “psychobabble” are just not veyed in weight, rather than percentages. I’mstamps, but simple forms are a snap to make capable of really looking at what is put forth lost trying to “convert.” Thanks. in clay and can be used repeatedly in various as Art, to try to apprehend what is being Dara Churchwell, Sacramento, Calif. combinations to make even more stamps that said—or not, as the case may be. Certainly are more complex. there is Bad Art, but there sure are some tiny With amounts listed as percentages, anyone I’ve used everything from Thanksgiving little minds in the Crafts camp, scared away can adapt a recipe to suit individual needs turkey bones to petrified fish scales, to watch- by big words, maybe. simply by directly substituting the unit of mea­ bands and mason tools, to create clay stamps. Incidentally, I’m a potter. I’m not an sure (grams, ounces, pounds, etc.); for example, The possibilities are endless. artist. But I know some—even had dinner in a recipe that calls for 25% kaolin, you might My best stamps are made of porcelain with a few the other night. measure out 25 grams of kaolin. Just be sure to fired to Cone 6. Clay with grog tends to Alfred Eberle, Maizuru, Japan use the same unit of measure throughout, and make lousy stamps because they’re over- when making a larger batch, multiply the porous and too rough. I’ve tried using foam Steal the Best amount for each ingredient by the same num­ rubber and Styrofoam, but it tends to make As an industrial designer, it is important ber (25 X 100for a 10,000-gram batch).—Ed. the clay stick in such an unpleasant way and to me to perform a competitive analysis of it doesn’t achieve the results I get with porce­ similar products in a design project. This Stuff lain stamps. If you use inferior items to teach allows me to position the new product in I have really enjoyed this year’s subscrip­the children, the kids may become disen­ terms of styling, features and performance.