Here`s - Ceramic Arts Daily

Transcription

M O N T H L Y
Jason Green’s
structure of surface
focus architectural ceramics
NOVEMBER 2007 $7.50 (Can$9, E6.50)
www.ceramicsmonthly.org
Ceramics Monthly November 2007
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M O N T H L Y
Publisher Charles Spahr
Editorial
[email protected]
telephone: (614) 895-4213
fax: (614) 891-8960
editor Sherman Hall
associate editor Jennifer Poellot
editorial assistant Brandy Agnew
technical editor Dave Finkelnburg
Advertising/Classifieds
[email protected]
telephone: (614) 794-5834
fax: (614) 891-8960
[email protected]
telephone: (614) 794-5866
advertising manager Mona Thiel
advertising services Debbie Plummer
Marketing
telephone: (614) 794-5809
marketing manager Steve Hecker
Subscriptions/Circulation
customer service: (800) 342-3594
[email protected]
Design/Production
production editor Cynthia Conklin
design Paula John
Editorial and advertising offices
735 Ceramic Place, Suite 100
Westerville, Ohio 43081
Editorial Advisory Board
Linda Arbuckle; Professor, Ceramics, Univ. of Florida
Scott Bennett; Sculptor, Birmingham, Alabama
Tom Coleman; Studio Potter, Nevada
Dick Lehman; Studio Potter, Indiana
Meira Mathison; Director, Metchosin Art School, Canada
Bernard Pucker; Director, Pucker Gallery, Boston
Phil Rogers; Potter and Author, Wales
Jan Schachter; Potter, California
Mark Shapiro; Worthington, Massachusetts
Susan York; Santa Fe, New Mexico
Ceramics Monthly (ISSN 0009-0328) is published monthly,
except July and September, by The American Ceramic Society, 735 Ceramic Pl., Suite 100, 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 American
Ceramic Society.
The publisher makes no claim as to the food safety of published
glaze recipes. Readers should refer to MSDS (material safety data
sheets) for all raw materials, and should take all appropriate recommended safety measures, according to toxicity ratings.
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contributors: Writing and photographic guidelines
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indexing: Visit the Ceramics Monthly website at
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artists’ names. Feature articles are also indexed in the Art Index,
daai (design and applied arts index).
copies: Authorization to photocopy items for internal
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Copyright © 2007, The American Ceramic Society. All rights reserved.
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NOVEMBER 2007 / Volume 55 Number 9
M O N T H L Y
29
Changing Spaces
Seven artists who work and think big share their approaches to clay
on an architectural scale.
30
Jason Green Providence, Rhode Island
32
Fred Spaulding Arlington, Texas
34
Ian Dowling Margaret River, Western Australia
36
Berry Matthews Plattsburgh, New York
38
Ole Lislerud Oslo, Norway
40
Clare Twomey London, England
42
Bruce Breckenridge Madison, Wisconsin
44
Brick as Metaphor by Michael Morgan
Using brick as an archetypal symbol, a sculptor
investigates humankind’s effect on the natural world
and nature’s effect on the manufactured.
monthly methods More than a Block of Clay
features
48
A Reasoned Approach by Katey Schultz
North Carolina potter Emily Reason’s work is based in ritual,
history and—well—reason.
monthly methods On the Surface
52
Junya Shao: Yixing and Beyond by Glen R. Brown
Blending traditional Yixing training with contemporary Western
influences, Junya Shao creates a globally eclectic aesthetic.
monthly methods Building on Tradition
56
The MFA Factor: Volume 3
This month we bring you a glimpse into the Ohio University
graduate program in ceramics in our continuing series, The MFA Factor.
48
cover: “Oscillation #3,” 29 in.
(74 cm) in height, press-molded
terra cotta, slip, glaze, 2007,
by Jason Green, Providence,
Rhode Island; page 29.
52
56
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departments
8
from the editor
10
letters from readers
12
answers from the CM technical staff
16
suggestions from readers
16
Tip of the Month: Mini Blunger
18
upfront reviews, news and exhibitions
26
click and collect
pay a virtual visit to the galleries in this issue
60
call for entries
60
60
62
62
International Exhibitions
United States Exhibitions
Regional Exhibitions
Fairs and Festivals
64
new books
66
calendar
66
66
68
70
70
74
78
Conferences
Solo Exhibitions
Group Ceramics Exhibitions
Ceramics in Multimedia Exhibitions
Fairs, Festivals and Sales
Workshops
International Events
84
classified advertising
87
comment
Friendship and Influence by Dick Lehman
88
index to advertisers
22
online
current features, expanded features, archive articles, calendar, call for entries and classifieds
special listings
2008 Gallery Guide
Where to see ceramics in the U.S. and abroad
Residencies and Fellowships
Full listing of professional-development opportunities
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from the editor
When I was going to go to art school, my
Dad got that look in his eye—the look
Dads get in their eye when their sons
want to go to art school; the one that says,
“What have I done wrong that makes
you want to go to art school? How have I
failed you?” This look was followed by a
painfully visible panicked search for something else that might be substituted for art
school—something I might accept in its
place. His brain was clearly reaching out
in all directions, trying to locate the pacifier of a career that might make me forget
about the thumb of art school. Perhaps the
kid hasn’t completely thought this through.
Maybe there is something he might consider
that would offer at least the possibility of
financial security.
I should explain that my father grew
up in a place called Malta, Idaho. To call
it farm country is generous. It’s tough
even to grow potatoes there. My Dad can
draw, build things, envision the creation of
objects and come up with a plan for bringing those objects into reality. In truth, his
talents in these areas had a lot to do with
why I wanted to go to art school. But he
by Sherman Hall
never once considered art school; not for
himself and not for his kids. “What about
engineering?” he would ask. “You would
still be making things, as well as a living.
Or architecture—just take a few classes,
see if you like it.” He was concerned that
a B.F.A.—in ceramics, of all things—was
the Malta, Idaho, of college degrees.
He was not about to go back there after
working so hard to better his situation,
and he wasn’t about to help one of his
kids move there. The checkbook was
closed, unless I planted my academic feet
on more fertile soil.
Well, plant my feet I did, and I dug them
in, and I took out loans and I went to art
school—for ceramics, damn it. And he dug
his feet in, too, and I never got a dime from
him for school. It wasn’t all that dramatic, of
course; we just never spoke of it again. And I
think we both preferred it that way.
Now, many years later, he is happy with
my choice, as am I, and we can discuss it
in grown-up terms. He sees that I found
fertile ground, and I understand his concern more fully now than I could have
when I was just setting out in a course of
study. I can even picture myself going back
and trying to talk some sense into that
punk of a kid who couldn’t see the similarities between engineering or architecture
and ceramics.
I suppose this issue, with its focus on architecture, is my way of doing that, albeit a
bit sideways. Instead of talking that kid out
of ceramics and into architecture, we will be
pointing out the ways in which the ceramic
sensibility overlaps with architectural concerns, what special considerations need to
be made in terms of scale and technical
processes. We’ve asked several ceramics artists who work at the architectural scale what
it means to them to approach ceramics this
way, why they went this direction with their
work, and what advice they might have for
a kid who is trying to decide between art
and architecture (well, maybe not that last
part—not in so many words). Read our
focus articles, which begin on page 29, and
decide whether or not you want your kid to
go to art school.
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letters
e-mail letters to [email protected]
As we close in on the end of 2007, and re- are helpful and supportive as I try to find
flect back on the year, we thought it would be my path in the clay world.
nice to share some of your anonymous thoughts
• I enjoy reading
from a recent survey:
about successful
functional potters,
Potters Love to Work
particularly the
• I enjoy articles like “Lisa Hammond:
review of “Warren
Intuited Grace,” by Phil Rogers, in the
MacKenzie: LegaAugust/September issue. I am in my second
cy of an American
career, going for an M.A. in ceramics, and
Potter,” by Mason
articles about other artists who are working
Riddle, and “Lisa
in a style similar to the one I am developing
Hammond, In-
tuited Grace,” by Phil Rogers, in the August/September issue. Mostly, I am always
looking for inspiration for my next pot.
• I enjoyed the article about working potters in the June/July issue. I am not a potter,
but a beginning collector and these articles
helped me look deeper into the artists work
and see more. I also just enjoyed hearing
their thoughts about lifestyle/work choices.
The Geek Factor Is Alive and Well
• In the June/July issue I was most interested in “The Many Faces of Iron,” by Dr.
Carol Marians. I
fire at cone 6, and
I feel the cooldown period of a
firing is important.
The article had
suggested several
different cooling
rates to try to see
how the glazes I
use will react.
• “How Glazes Melt,” by Dave Finkelnburg, in the August/September issue,
had a “gotcha” lead-in, with a nice follow-through. It was good information in
an entertaining format that let me enjoy
getting smarter.
Horizons Are Meant To Be Expanded
• I am enjoying the series on graduate
schools [The MFA Factor], because even
though I’m fifty, I still consider grad
school. The work is interesting, as are the
brief profiles of instructors. Only your
mag—of any publications—is delivered to
me in NOLA steadily. Thanks for keeping
me in touch with my top interest.
• Although I have
no current access
to a soda kiln, I
love and admire
soda fired work. I
found the illustrations in “Of Place
and Purpose: Gay
Smith’s Artistic
Evolution,” in
the April issue,
luscious, and I appreciated the comments
about Smith’s approach.
Let Us Have It
We love to hear what you like and, believe it
or not, we love—well, we like—to hear what
you don’t like. E-mail your thoughts and comments to [email protected].
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answers
Q
From the CM Technical Staff
Please, could someone tell me how to
make plaster bats that fit on the wheel
head without screws? I would like to make
some for myself that will exactly fit my
wheel head. Thank you.—W. R.
Here’s a simple way to make plaster
throwing bats that do not depend on bat
pins to secure them to the wheel head:
The first step is to obtain some plastic
buckets. You can buy them from the paint
or cleaning department of a hardware
store. Usually, these are in the neighborhood of 7–10 inches in diameter.
Make sure they have a flat bottom. Get
at least 10–12 buckets. You can always
re-use them in the studio or keep them
just for making bats. It’s a good idea to
make the bats slightly smaller than your
wheel-head diameter; this makes them
easier to remove.
Mixing Plaster: To the right is a chart
with the appropriate measurements for
weighing out #1 Pottery Plaster and
water, depending on the diameter of bats
you want. These measurements are based
e-mail technical questions to [email protected]
on a thickness of 1 inch, so if you want
thicker bats, you will need to multiply
the measurements to accommodate the
added thickness. For instance, if you want
a 10-inch-diameter bat, but you want it
1½-inches thick, you would multiply the
amount of plaster and water by 1.5, giving
you 4.125 pounds of plaster and 3 pounds
of water. These ratios are based on using a
water to plaster ratio of 70 to 100; what is
referred to as a consistency of 70.
If you wish to make a dozen 10inch-diameter bats 1-inch-thick, just
multiply the weights by 12, so that you
will then have 33 pounds of plaster and
24 pounds of water.
Casting bats: Line up your twelve
buckets. To mix correctly, sprinkle the dry
plaster into the water, making sure not to
splash, and let it slake in for 1½ minutes.
Mix it thoroughly for an additional 1½
minutes, then pour an equal amount
into each bucket. Tap each bucket to level
the surface and move any entrapped air
bubbles to the top surface.
(continued)
mixing #1 pottery plaster
diameter
(in.)
plaster
(lbs)
water
(lbs)
6
1.00
0.70
7
1.50
1.00
8
1.75
1.25
9
2.25
1.50
10
2.75
2.00
11
3.30
2.30
12
4.25
3.00
13
4.75
3.25
14
5.25
3.75
15
6.00
4.25
16
7.50
5.25
17
8.75
6.13
18
9.25
6.50
20
11.00
7.75
Note: Plaster is a gypsum product that contains silica. It is necessary to wear a NIOSH
(National Institutes of Safety and Health)
approved respirator when mixing plaster,
and to work in a well-ventilated area.
New:
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*Cone 10 *24”×24”×31.5” tall with 10.5 cubic feet.
*Easy-loading, front-opening kiln with drying shelf under the firing chamber.
(for drying ceramics only—not for general storage)
*Three-year warranty, including elements.
*Patented clean air exhaust option to reduce color cross-contamination.
*Turns off automatically to slow cooling and reduce breakage.
*Multibank insulation—4” thick walls for superb slow cool down and highenergy efficiency. (3” brick plus 1” high-efficiency block insulation on walls)
*Excellent for all ceramics, including porcelain and handmade sculptures.
*Kaowool rope door seal to prevent door air leaks.
*Symmetrical elements to assure uniformity front to back.
*Elements are balanced for great temperature uniformity top to bottom.
*Five automatic firing programs covering a wider range of applications than
competitive kilns.
*Optional electronic control, with six-segment sculpture firing program, replaces
two-segment fast-fire program.
*Optional simple Firemate control is also available—automatically fires kiln
using a pyrometric cone in shutoff and replaces electronic control shown in
photo above. Call (775) 884-2777 or please visit www.cressmfg.com.
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answers
Plaster cures by exothermic reaction,
meaning it gives off heat. For bats of this
thickness, this reaction should take about
15–20 minutes, during which time it will
heat up and then begin to cool down
again. Once it is cool, you can remove
the bats from the bucket molds.
Demolding the bats: There is no
need for any mold release as plaster will
not stick to the smooth plastic bucket
interior. There is a slight draft angle
upwards in these commercial buckets,
so after the plaster sets up just turn the
bucket over, place a thick sponge or heavy
cloth underneath to catch the bat and
avoid breaking it, then push gently on
the center of the bucket bottom. The
plaster should come out easily. Use a
Surform® file or rasp to take the sharp
edge off of the plaster and dry the bats
for a week before using them.
Using plaster bats: It is very simple
to adhere these to a wheel head. Remove
the bat pins, if any, or simply put a
pinned bat on the wheel head so you
have a flat surface. Roll out a clay coil
about the thickness of your thumb and
place it on the wheel head in a circle the
approximate diameter of the bat. Attach
the ends together and throw the coil to
make a flat ring about 1–2 inches across;
leave the center clear. Using a stick tool,
make a groove from the outside of this
flattened coil to the inside. This is an air
vent that will allow easy removal of the
bat. Score the surface of this ring with a
serrated rib. Moisten very slightly, and
then place the plaster bat on top. Thump
it down with your fist, and you are ready
to throw. The trick to having the plaster
bat stick securely is to use very little water
to adhere the bat to the clay ring. Keep
the clay moist, and it can last for a full
day of throwing.
To remove the bat, gently insert a
wooden tool and carefully pry upward.
I have made a few tools from old bicycle
tire levers for removing plaster bats. The
new plastic tire levers also work very well
and do not damage the plaster.
Caring for plaster bats: Keep them
clean, avoid using sharp metal tools on
the throwing surface, and stack them
vertically for storage.
Jonathan Kaplan
Plinth Gallery
Denver, CO
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Why 2 women in
remote Montana
have fired only
Paragon kilns
since 1972
Pioneer Pottery near Roscoe, Montana is so
isolated that bears come right up to the studio
and smudge the windowpanes with nose prints.
The sound of the East Rosebud River flowing past
the red two-story building breaks the silence.
Janet Hero Dodge and Julie Dickinson began
Pioneer Pottery in 1972. They converted a horse
stable built in 1910 into their busy pottery studio.
Janet and Julie planned to fire with propane; in
the meantime, they bought a Paragon square
K-6H electric kiln. But they were so satisfied with
the Paragon that they never converted to propane
firing. Over the years they just bought more Paragons and have been firing them ever since.
“The glazes I developed for the electric firings
had the softness and subtlety I had hoped for with
propane,” said Janet Hero Dodge. “So I never
quite got around to building that gas kiln.
“In 1978 we added a Paragon K-6HS square
kiln so we could glaze fire back to back when necessary. This allowed us to move pots steadily
through the firing cycle and fill special orders
quickly. In 1980 we added a square Paragon K-6A
to our kiln collection. All the kilns are still functional.”
Janet and Julie fire their glazes to a flattened
cone 9. At this temperature, their matte glazes
soften and absorb iron from the clay. “Some of
the glazes are quite bright for electric firing,” said
Janet. “We’ve been real happy with our Paragons.
They’ve held up well and produced good results.”
Have they been reliable? “Quite.”
“You can’t deny that gas firing is exciting,”
said Janet. “But as a production potter who also
does my own specialty pieces, I need the reliability
of electric, which is more reliable than gas because you have fewer variables. And I like the fast
turnover I can have with the electric kilns. If I get a
special order that I have to get out fast, I don’t
have to wait to fill up a big gas kiln.
Julie Dickinson and Janet Hero Dodge. Pioneer Pottery
has been firing Paragon kilns since the studio opened in
1972.
We offer a wide selection of top and front
loading kilns. Call 800-876-4328 or visit
www.paragonweb.com for a free catalog and the
name of the Paragon dealer near you.
The Paragon Dragon
front-loading kiln is becoming a favorite with Potters. It
is easy to load, heavily insulated, and designed for
cone 10.
“I use a copper barium glaze,” Janet said, “and
part of the reason I started doing that is I had less
control over it. So I get some of that same ‘I wonder what I’m going to get when I open it’ feeling.”
The Paragon kilns of today are built with the
same dependability as the kilns Janet and Julie are
using. Since their Paragon kilns have worked
faithfully for so many decades, imagine what your
next Paragon will do for you.
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2011 South Town East Blvd.
Mesquite, Texas 75149-1122
800-876-4328 / 972-288-7557
Toll Free Fax 888-222-6450
www.paragonweb.com
[email protected]
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suggestions
e-mail suggestions to [email protected]
Now You’re Cooking
While browsing in my local gourmet
cooking equipment store, I ran across a set of
rubber rings for rolling pins. They are designed
to roll dough to perfect thickness for cookies,
pie crusts, etc. Included in the package were
four sets of color-coded rings with thicknesses
of 1⁄16, 1⁄8, ¼ and 3⁄8 inches that you slip onto
both ends of the rolling pin. They keep the
rolling pin off the rolling surface by resting on
these rings, and they provide consistent thickness for dough, as well as clay slabs. This is a
lot easier than messing with wooden shims of
various thicknesses.—M. Christine Breedlove,
Mount Desert, ME.
tip of the month
Mini Blunger
I am pretty lazy about blunging, and because of an arthritic condition, stirring little batches
of cement-hard slip becomes quite wearisome very quickly. I recently found a wonderful device
to help me do this: an immersion blender—one of those handy-dandy drink mixers that has
a wee, tiny little blade and generates a tremendous amount of agitation while turning fruit
into puréed smoothies. It only costs about $10. It’s easy to clean and thoroughly works over
the most gloppy, dried-out glazes and slips. Just add some water to the dried slip or glaze and
very handy,
very fast,
very sharp!
Goober Grabber
I keep a foam paintbrush with the rest of
my trimming tools. When I trim foot rings,
small bits of clay always tend to gather inside
the foot ring, getting in the way of my trimming. It’s annoying to have to stop the wheel
to clean them out, especially when the foot
ring is particularly deep. The foam brush has
enough grab to sweep them out without my
having to stop the wheel.—Kathy Sandberg,
Plymouth, MI
whiz away! The device draws quite a suction on the bottom of a container, so be advised that
a sturdy container is necessary. And the tiny blades are very sharp, so be careful!
To clean the device, simply place the stirring mechanism into a container of clean water
and whiz away! Any residual glaze or slip can be wiped off with a damp sponge. What used
to take me twenty minutes now takes about three minutes. Happy blunging!
Congratulations to Lisa Reiser of Greenwich, New Jersey.
Your subscription has been extended by one year!
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upfront
reviews, news and exhibitions
18
Marianne Desmarais
by Matthew Kangas
Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, Washington
19
Voices from the Pacific Rim
Platt and Borstein Galleries, University of Judaism,
Bel Air, California
22
Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show
Pennsylvania Convention Center,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
22
Annie Turner
Royal Birmingham Society of Artists,
Birmingham, England
24
Washington Craft Show
Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.
24
State of Clay
Lexington Arts and Crafts Society,
Lexington, Massachusetts
26
Domestic Deities
Garth Clark Gallery, New York City
Top: “Cubes,” 15 in. (38 cm)
in length, porcelain.
Middle left: “Susurus,” 48 in. (122 cm)
in height, porcelain and raw clay.
Middle Right: “Stacked Cubes,”
8½ in. (22 cm) in height, porcelain.
Bottom: “Six-by-Six Grid,” 6 in.
(15 cm) in height, porcelain.
All works by Marianne Desmarais.
All photos by Richard Nicol.
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“Three by Three Grid,” 3½ in. (9 cm) in height,
porcelain, by Marianne Desmarais. Photo: Richard
Nicol. All images courtesy of Kirkland Arts Center.
review:
Marianne Desmarais
by Matthew Kangas
Five sculptures by New Orleans–based artist Marianne Desmarais were on display recently at Kirkland Arts Center
(www.kirklandartscenter.org) in Kirkland, Washington, as part of
a larger group show entitled “Traces,” which was curated by Julie
Custer. Desmarais’ work, made of porcelain and other materials,
demonstrates how varied her approaches can be, even while sticking
to a basic geometric unit, the open-sided cube, as a sculptural building block. Placement, positioning, support and site are considered
by the 35-year-old artist as she creates her assemblages of openwork porcelain cubes and, in one case, cubes within cubes.
“Susurus” (all works were made in 2007), the sole site-related piece, appears to be a series of fourteen irregular porcelain
polygons randomly spilling off a wall onto a pile of raw clay on
the floor. Is it a pun on the earthy origins of porcelain? Or a
satire on the ordered regularity of the rest of her work? Unique
within the grouping, Susurus sets the stage for Desmarais’
other explorations of how porcelain can act as a structural
module in art—and architecture (Desmarais is also a full-time
practicing architect). Her graduate degree at Cranbrook was
in architecture and ceramics; her prior degrees at Tulane also
concentrated on architecture.
“Six-by-Six Grid” could be a building maquette with its six
“stories” and cubes-within-cubes seen in its interior. Obviously
built from within and added to over each successive “floor,”
Chinese nested boxes also come to mind. Six-by-Six Grid sits on
a pedestal, the least original of the artist’s solutions to placement
and support.
“Stacked Cubes” and “Three-by-Three Grid” are both wallmounted, gently butting out from the gallery’s pristine white
wall. The former recalls Montréal Expo architect Moshe Safdie’s
Habitat apartment project, irregularly placed, individual dwelling
units that alternate angled and parallel positions among the opensided cubes. The delicacy and fragility of the hand-built porcelain
outlines of each cube bring us back to art, leaving architectural
references behind, and remaining closer to a sculptural object
that may be perceived in one glance. Three-by-Three Grid clings
to the wall with its Rubik’s cube appearance and exposed, upper
fretwork. Some shifting or sagging of the individual elements
is due to their paper understructure (before being coated with
porcelain) and to the precarious firing process.
“Cubes,” six further white configurations on a long shelf, is
the most conceptual and promising of the sculptures. Although
every element uses the open-cube idea, each is somehow dismantled or deconstructed and can be read from one end to the
other, beginning with a whole, plain cube and ending with a fully
unraveled version, its sides splayed out. The small scale hypnotizes
the viewer, but never veers toward the preciousness common to
most diminutive porcelain sculptures.
Desmarais is building on prior precedents of minimalism, to
be sure (see Sol Lewitt), but her use of porcelain instead of painted
white steel gives everything a warmer, more tactile, handmade
feeling that undercuts the severity of historical minimalism without sacrificing the virtues of abstraction, in this case, the repeated
geometric module.
Cubes takes up the least space, yet somehow, with its insistence
on each shape being so different from the others, raises bigger
possibilities and is the most satisfying treatment of the central
formal idea.
the author Matthew Kangas is a Seattle–based independent art
critic and curator, who has written extensively about ceramics.
Voices from the Pacific Rim:
Asian American Ceramists
by Judy Seckler
“Voices from the Pacific Rim” didn’t just speak about a culture
or cultures; it resonated with multiple layers of meaning. The
exhibition, which was on view recently at the Platt and Borstein
Galleries at the University of Judaism (http://culture.uj.edu) in
Bel Air, California, attracted an animated crowd of 150 people
at its opening on an early Sunday afternoon in June.
Guest curator Elaine Levin assembled the work of eight topflight ceramists (Patrick Shia Crabb, Keiko Fukazawa, Joanne Hayakawa, Mary Ichino, Yoochung Park Kim, Eleanor Komai, Porntip
Sangvanich, Joan Takayama-Ogawa) pushing the boundaries of
their art while exploring “the fusion between cultural background
and heritage and the American experience.”
(continued)
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examined beauty, and whereby Joanne Hayakawa and Yoonchung Park
Kim explored the conceptual. And finally, Fukazawa, Joan TakayamaOgawa and Crabb straddled both worlds.
It requires the utmost skill to combine the aesthetic with the didactic and in this exhibition, three artists made it work. Japanese–born
Fukazawa creates huge ceramic towers, crawling with recognizable
cultural references. Fish, “Maneki Neko” good luck cats, frogs, apple
sections and Japanese amulets swirl across the slick, red surface of the
cylinder “Double Happiness.” Fukazawa playfully shows how symbols
of her culture have become overexposed and prone to commercialization and consumerism.
Fukazawa’s other series included bisque-fired plates covered with
graffiti from smashed pieces. She collaborated with juvenile inmates
who decorated the shards with oil-based markers preserved with
polyurethane. While the smashed pieces mirrored the broken lives
of the inmates, the explosive energy and color of the reassembled
piece signified a new beginning. It was a winning collaboration.
Mary Ichino’s “Let the Devil Wear Prada,” 17 in. (43 cm) in height,
stoneware with low-fire glaze decoration, sawdust fired.
“The gallery’s diminutive space made the display of 39 works a
challenge,” said Levin. Her choice was to put as much distance between the towering works of Keiko Fukazawa and Patrick Shia Crabb,
while creating an intriguing view for outside strollers. Yoonchung
Park Kim’s glacial landscape had to be positioned next to the nearest
outlet, while the multi-piece teapot sets of Porntip Sangvanich were
crowded against one wall.
Despite the physical constraints of the room, the exhibition registered as a satisfying mix where Mary Ichino, Sangvanich and Komai
Left: Joanne Hayakawa’s “Bouquet,” 32 in. (81 cm) in height, porcelain, metallic
oxides and luster, 2005; Right: Joanne Takayama-Ogawa’s “Sustained Beauty,”
thrown earthenware with china paints and luster, beads, zirconium, pearls, 2007.
Joan Takayama-Ogawa’s work also benefits from a generous use
of color. Few ceramists today are better than Takayama-Ogawa at
weaving powerful political and social commentary within an elegant
Asian visual vocabulary. In her “Made in Pasadena” series, snails,
ladybugs, flies and beetles perch on ceramic teacakes sitting on the
most exquisitely decorated dessert plates. But without menacing
insects, a discussion of decadent consumption versus real hunger
falls flat of emotion.
“Strange Beauty” and “Sustained Beauty” represented another
Takayama-Ogawa series based on unconventional forms topped with
an abundance of jeweled surface decoration. In her world, “beautiful
forms are stories well told” and there’s no argument there. She changed
direction completely with “Racial Profiling,” a hard-hitting commen-
Keiko Fukazawa’s “Nothing Lasts Forever,” 27 in. (68 cm) in diameter, bisquefired plate with shards of broken pieces, decorated with oil-based markers.
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unconventionally as paint on canvas. However, the technique made a
bigger impression than the work. Meanwhile, Kim takes clay, normally
a warm, porous material and imbues it with the cool spirit of Alaskan
glaciers. Nature seeps through the textured cones surrounded by glass
pebbles, as well as her smaller sculptures.
Whether each ceramist has embraced his or her cultural roots
or buried them, the gallery was transformed for better into the
liveliest of conversations.
the author Judy Seckler is a contributor to Ceramics Monthly and
a Los Angeles-based freelance writer who writes about art, architecture
and design.
Philadelphia Craft Show
The 31st annual Philadelphia Museum of Art (www.philamuseum.org)
Craft Show will take place November 8–11 at the Pennsylvania ConPorntip Sangvanich’s “Oval Tea Set of Two,” 19 in. (48 cm) in width, extruded and
handbuilt earthenware, fired to cone 06, luster fired to cone 019, 2006, $4000.
tary on Japanese–American relocation camps. The sadness is wrapped
up in a sleek, woodlike box accessorized with barbed wire.
In the work of Ichino, the message becomes subverted to style
and technique, where each artist integrated elements of traditional
Japanese clothing for a strikingly different effect. Traditionally robed
Japanese women are painted on Ichino’s contemporary-style vessels
titled “Let the Devil Wear Prada” or “Un Bel Di—Pinkerton?” The
past runs smack into the present as Ichino’s works capture “shibui or
undefined elegance,” she said. A few of her vessels were dominated by
Japanese textile patterns with cord and bamboo details, emphasizing
the feminine.
Nearby, the sleek, geometric shapes of Sangvanich’s tea sets couldn’t
have been more different. There were no overt historical references
in her work, just a confident use of design and color and a sense of
craftsmanship that makes all the asymmetrical sections of the tea sets
relate to one another in a satisfying way.
The conceptual musings of Hayakawa and Kim moved the farthest
away from their cultural roots. As painter Julian Schnabel caused a stir
when he introduced his plate paintings, Hayakawa has introduced clay
Sharon Brush’s “Hindi Samovar,” 22 in. (56 cm) in height, handbuilt stoneware
with layered slips and oxide washes; at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft
Show, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
vention Center in Philadelphia. This exhibition and sale of contemporary American craft includes 195 craft artists from the United States,
selected from more than 1,380 applicants. Also, for the first time in
the history of the Craft Show, a group of 26 artists from Canada will
be exhibiting and selling their work. In addition, a new emerging artist
category will showcase the work of several artists new to the field.
Annie Turner
“River,” an exhibition of new works by London, England, artist
Annie Turner, will be on display November 6–December 1 at the
Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (www.rbsa.org.uk) in Birming-
Yoonchung P. Kim’s “Melting Out,” 13 in. (33 cm) in height, stoneware with melted
glass; at Platt and Borstein Galleries, University of Judaism, Bel Air, California.
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by the Ceramics Guild, the show began in 1996 to celebrate the wide
spectrum of the most current and innovative work created by established and emerging ceramists from within Massachusetts, as well as
those with former ties to the state.
Juror Chris Gustin chose 83 pieces from a total of 288 entries
submitted by 104 ceramists. Gustin picked work that he felt expressed
Annie Turner’s “River Spoons,” to 15 in. (39 cm) in length, red grogged clay
impressed with found objects, with black and white porcelain slips; at Royal
Birmingham Society of Artists, Birmingham, England.
ham, England. In addition to her ceramic forms, the exhibition will
feature Turner’s photographs, which create context and a sense of
place for the ceramic forms.
Turner takes her inspiration from the ordinary workings of the
River Deben in Suffolk, England, with its flowing channels, mud
flats, sluice gates and nets. Feathers, fossilized fragments of shark’s
teeth and salty tide lines are observed and recorded in Turner’s series
of Meander Bowls and Eddy Spoons. Man-made objects noticed over
the course of long walks and detailed investigations of the shorelines
take sculptural form in this series.
Washington Craft Show
Twenty-five ceramics artists, representing a spectrum of styles, will be
among the 190 contemporary craftspeople gathered at the twentieth
Top: Monica Ripley’s honorable mention-winning dinner plates, 10 in. (25 cm)
in diameter, thrown and altered porcelain, fired to Cone 10, $50 each. Bottom:
Steven Roberts’ merit award-winning white teabowls, 3¹⁄₂ in. (9 cm) in height,
thrown porcelain, soda fired to Cone 10, $100/pair.
a range of different materials, concepts and techniques. The resulting exhibition features a mix of contemporary sculpture, functional
pottery, tile work, wall pieces, tableware and decorative work made
by 49 artists.
In his statement Gustin said, “With the application process requesting digital images rather than slides, it was a delightful process,
having days, rather than hours, to sit alone and look at images on
the computer, taking time to consider the work that was so carefully
Jack Earl’s “Sometimes,” 24 in. (61 cm) in height, ceramic;
at Sherrie Gallerie, Columbus, Ohio.
Jerilyn Virden’s “Split Trough,” 19½ in. (50 cm) in height, handbuilt, glazed and
sandblasted earthenware; at Washington Craft Show, Washington, D.C.
annual Washington Craft Show. The show takes place November
30–December 1 at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.craftsamericashows.com
or call (203) 254-0486.
The State of Clay
“The State of Clay,” a biennial juried exhibition of ceramic artwork,
was recently on display at the Lexington Arts and Crafts Society
(www.lexingtonma.org/LACS) in Lexington, Massachusetts. Hosted
Ryan Greenheck’s coffee set, 6¹⁄₂ in. (16 cm) in height, thrown porcelain with overglaze,
fired to Cone 10; at Lexington Arts and Crafts Society, Lexington, Massachusetts.
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presented. There was a tremendous amount of creative energy in the
work, even in the quietest of pieces, and what emerged from this selection process was some eighty or so pieces that, for me, represent a
breadth of forms and ideas that do indeed speak to the versatility and
creative expression found in Massachusetts, our state of clay.”
Domestic Deities
“Domestic Deities: The Figurine in Art” was on display through
August 3 at Garth Clark Gallery (www.garthclark.com) in New York
City. The exhibition, which was the last public exhibition for the
gallery, examined the niche genre within figurative sculpture today,
exploring conflicting values in class and aesthetics.
“Porcelain figurines from the eighteenth century provided a
domesticated figurative sculpture for the court at the hands of gifted
Laszlo Fekete’s “National Salt Cellar,” 16 in. (41 cm) in height, porcelain, 1996;
at Garth Clark Gallery, New York City.
at childbirth, self-mutilation, consumerism, sexual mutation, genetic
engineering, religion and nationalism through the seemingly nonthreatening medium of the figurine.”
sculptors like Meissen’s Johann Joachim Kändler and
Nymphenburg’s Franz Anton Bustelli,” stated Clark.
“They were costly objects,
crafted with exquisite detail
and care. By comparison,
the figurine today, with a
few high-end exceptions like
the sugary but svelte works
from Lladro, has become
populist; a dime-store product, cloying and sentimental
expression of kitsch. Collections of antique figurines are
valued and reflect discernment, but contemporary
figurines, often produced by
Andrew Livingstone’s “Auto-materiality” and
Disney and others as promodetail (top), 5 ft. (1.5 m) in height, ceramic
tional devices, are dismissed
and mixed media, 2006.
as poor taste.
“It is exactly this contrasting polarity between the palace and the
cottage, between refinement and vulgarity, between respectability
and dismissal that makes this genre such a rich human landscape
to explore, satirize and transform. This group of figurine-inspired
works by artists from around the world consists of tough sculptures
subject-wise. Clear-eyed to the point of brutality, these artists look
Submissions to the Upfront column are welcome. We would be pleased to consider press releases, artists’ statements and images in conjunction with exhibitions or other events of interest for publication. Images should be
high-resolution digital on CD, or original (not duplicate) slides or transparencies. Mail to Ceramics Monthly,
735 Ceramic Pl., Suite 100, Westerville, OH 43081.
click and collect
pay a virtual visit to the galleries in this issue
American Museum of Ceramic Art,
Pomona, California
www.ceramicmuseum.org
Garth Clark Gallery, New York City
www.garthclark.com
Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, Washington
www.kirklandartscenter.org
Lexington Arts and Crafts Society,
Lexington, Massachusetts
www.lexingtonma.org/LACS
Platt and Borstein Galleries, University of Judaism,
Bel Air, California
http://culture.uj.edu
Royal Birmingham Society of Artists,
Birmingham, England
www.rbsa.org.uk
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Changing
SPACES
Even if you work on a small scale,
it helps to think BIG.
Seven artists who think—and work—big
share their motivations, insights, tips and opinions
about what it means to work with clay
on an architectural scale.
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Jason H. Green
Providence, Rhode Island
The Foundation
My pursuit of architectural concerns, and architectural ceramics
in particular, grew from inquiry into the relationships between
objects, physical spaces, time and memory. I have always been interested in the triggers that initiate recollection and how memories
are often tempered by the mutable characteristics of the architectural spaces we once inhabited. My father built houses when I was
growing up, so I have spent a lot of time seeing the layering of skin
on skeleton that occurs during the construction process.
As a visiting artist at Watershed Center for the Ceramic
Arts—once a functioning brick factory—I discovered a pile of
old wooden molds used for making a variety of brick and decorative moldings. I used these molds briefly, and then began making
my own using both plaster and wood components. Having also
made several visits to Boston Valley Terra Cotta, a company that
restores and renovates terra cotta façades, I had a good idea of
the techniques involved in the production of larger and more
sculptural architectural terra cotta. Boston Valley Terra Cotta also
had an immense “graveyard” of fragments taken from buildings
during the restoration process. These fragments were like complete sculptures, each telling its history with the chipped, caked,
cracked and crazed surfaces that had
developed over time.
of the self, the body and the ambient characteristics of the spaces.
The interactive experience also gave the sense of discovering the
past in the present.
Still interested in questioning the relationships between surface,
architectural space and memory, I later began making flat, square
If money and space were no object...
Most of my work is placed in private domestic
spaces or temporarily in gallery exhibitions. While
it is rewarding that individuals develop an intimate
connection to a piece over time, I hope to have the
opportunity to collaborate on the design of a space
that would more fully integrate my work. Much
artwork is added onto architectural space, after the
design is set. It would be great to see more collaboration between artists and architects during the
initial stages of design.
The Work
The first artwork I made that was
directly related to architecture
started when I transformed existing
spaces by covering the walls with a
skin of thin clay spread on fabric.
At that time, I was interested in
making work that invited viewers
to become direct participants. This
body of work concluded with a
series of rooms that were lined with
a veneer of unfired porcelain and
bone china. The quiet whiteness
of the spaces was illuminated with
hand-held lanterns that provided
a limited but focused envelope of
perception. Without the lanterns,
light filtering through small cracks
in the thin walls became visible as
eyes adjusted. The rooms were experienced in time as senses heightened,
resulting in a more acute awareness
“Wall #4” and “Wall #5,” to 97 in. (246 cm) in length, press-molded terra cotta with slips and glazes, 2006.
This installation took place at Fosdick-Nelson Gallery, School of Art and Design, New York State College
of Ceramics at Alfred University, Alfred, New York.
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“Alternate #2,” 27 in. (68 cm) in width, press-molded
terra cotta with slip and glaze.
stoneware tiles with surfaces cast from a
mold taken from embossed wallpaper. As
with the clay-lined rooms I built, this work
did not intend to refer to a specific space
but was meant to recall “spaces past”—the
ones we grew up in and have an intimate
connection to. As my pieces grew in size, and
my arrangements of tile deviated from the
square, they also began to elicit recollections
of architectural ruins. The modular nature
of my pieces allows multiple configurations
while suggesting they are fragments of
something larger and more expansive. Often
my pieces also suggest that they may have
once functioned as aqueducts or gutters
with meandering channels directing the
movement of liquids. The nesting of cavities and protrusions also recall the curves of
the body while the thick slip and glaze are
like stretched skin. The fluidity of dripping
glazes, now frozen in time, bring to mind
the force of gravity and the aspects of chance
inherent in the firing process.
INSPIRATION FROM INDUSTRY
My process is borrowed and adapted from the outmoded methods used
by the architectural ceramics industry of the past. My molds also have a
common origin: a wood box used for making brick. This has evolved to
a modular system of plaster inserts that are placed inside of adjustable
wood coddles.
After making rough plaster molds from foam placed in the wood
coddles, I carve the plaster to make convex curved forms. From this
positive convex form I make another mold, giving me a concave negative.
My system now includes positive (convex) and negative (concave) plaster
forms that can be arranged in a variety of ways. This system provides
a fluidity that is not always common when using molds and invites
structured improvisation into the process.
After my tile is pressed it is left in the mold to dry to a leather-hard
state overnight. If the design of the piece is going to incorporate a
patterned surface, I use embossed wallpaper to transfer a thin layer of
slip onto the surface of the tile when it is bone dry.
Many of my pieces have large drips of glaze on their lower edge. I
use about a half inch of silica sand on my kiln shelves to catch the drips
and also glue on 1½-inch handmade terra cotta stilts to raise the tiles
above the shelf. I fire all of my work to the 04–03 range in a square
electric kiln, and frequently refire pieces if I am not satisfied with the
initial results.
Dealing with the weight of my larger wall pieces can be challenging.
To distribute weight, I attach plywood to the wall that is just smaller
than the piece itself. This plywood backing has aluminum angle brackets
mounted to it, and each bracket has adjustable leveling bolts that the
tiles hang on. The tiles also have a lip on the back edge which prevents
them from slipping forward. These backing plates are made individually
to make it simple for others to install the pieces.
MONTHLY METHODS
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Fred Spaulding
Arlington, Texas
The Foundation
From the beginning, the dynamic plasticity of clay forming (especially on the potter’s wheel) drew me in and eventually caused
me to question how larger dynamic forms could be created with
small, particle-like units such as bricks. How could such a structure
interact in the wider community? The simple process of stacking
one object on top of another, together with a desire to explore the
possibilities of such a basic activity provided the initial interest
in architecture and the world of buildings. The wide variety of
shapes and rich surface textures of commercially manufactured
ceramic materials, as well as their initial association with permanent structures also interested me. I asked myself what kind of
structures are possible? What wider cultural or perceptual issues
are connected to this activity?
I would like to do a large collaborative
structure in which a large number of people
(like everyone at NCECA) would come
together and build a component (or pile,
more likely). It would be the composite of
all their efforts and ideas in one temporary
structure that disappears when everyone
takes someone else’s piece home.
The Work
As a whole, the work has become a growing and changing collection
that reforms in a sequence of spaces over time. I am inspired by the
fluidity of built environments where old buildings are torn down
and new ones replace them; where modes of transport, media and
physical structure blend in a dynamic collage of material, image
and structure. I am fascinated by the activity of gathering parts and
building. I am experimenting with simple structural systems that
combine ready-made units, balancing the physical forces of gravity,
compression, tension and friction.
Out of the activity of building, questions and connections
enriched the exploration and conditioned the physical resultant
structures and the way they interacted with spaces over time.
What can a brick signify? The quintessential unit, a word, text or
a moment in time. I don’t have a background in architecture but
the questions that architects such as Frank Gehry, Peter Eisenman
and Thom Mayne ask of their work also inspire me.
My work does not generate income on an annual basis. Any
profits from specific projects are used to support further projects
that don’t have financial support.
I haven’t worked with architects as my work has been an
individual exploration in building and questioning the variety of
ways that the activity interacts with a wider community. I have
had assistance from others in moving materials but, in almost all
cases, I have to place each unit myself to assure the balance of the
overall structure.
“Brickhead,” 8 in. (20 cm) in height, brick with screen prints in black
glaze on majolica, fired to Cone 05, custom and ready-made decals,
china paint, fired to Cone 018. Brickhead was made in Denmark and
has been shown both alone and in larger structures.
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Structure completed in
Encinal, Texas, at the Encinal
Art Center, 10 ft. (3 m) in
height, by Fred Spaulding,
Arlington, Texas. In recent
years, Spaulding has made
some components for the
structures, but most of them
are found objects from all
over the world.
BOUND TOGETHER
My own process of building has focused on brick and clay flu liners. These materials carry the
richness and variety of ceramic fired surface, as well as the potential for accumulated mass.
I use a banding system that squeezes the ceramic material together and makes it possible
to solidify a structure temporarily. The banding also expands the versatility of ceramic material
to make tall, thin stacks and brick lentils possible.
I also use a low fire black glaze to print on top of a majolica base. On top of the print I
use overglazes, china paint and decals to add layers of visual information to the surface of
the structural units. This connects them more directly to places, memories and ideas about
language and information transfer. The screens are made with simple window screen frames
from the building supply store together with an open 86 mesh nylon screen. I take a lot of
photographs in cities (from New York to Bangkok) as raw material for the screened and
decal images.
MONTHLY METHODS
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Ian Dowling
Margaret River, Western Australia
The Foundation
I first became interested in architectural ceramics when I met Nino
be architecturally sized commissions. This is part of a current
Caruso (Italy) briefly and had a first-hand look at some of his
program of experimentation and development.
achievements and techniques. This led me to use modular methods
Working with Architects
to build larger work. I admit I wanted to find an outlet for my
explorations in modular arrangements. The ability to get a wholeI have worked directly with architects twice. Both projects had fixed
of-body response from large artwork that encompasses any viewer
budgets but I had two different experiences. first in 2003/4, I collabowithin its realm of influence was part of this.
rated on a new tertiary education campus. The architect had prepared
I have tended to think most about the movement of visitors
locations and some preconceived possibilities. This was a very gentle
through a place and how their view of my work changes as they
introduction to my responsibilities as an artist providing public art.
move. My main aim is to positively enhance the viewer’s experience
Once I presented some options and we had agreed on the way forof the space that contains the work, either as a first-time visitor, a
ward, I produced detailed designs for the dimensions, prototype tiles
regular passer-by or most importantly for those who work or live
(in polystyrene) and began production. After color testing, glazing
within the space.
and final firings, I tested the position arrangements and made some
Most large ceramic artworks end up being part of a supporting
adjustments. All I had to do was to present boxes of code-numbered
wall, one face visible. As with many other artists’ work, I use the
tiles to an experienced tiler and stand back and watch it happen. This
physical nature of the clay to push
project was done on a design-proits texture into the room, catching
duce-and-supply basis, which was
light and creating shadows. With
perfect for me.
this approach, the use of a lot of
In 2004/5, the second project,
I would like to work on a ceramics-in-water
variant color shades is redundant
a city administration building,
project, experiencing modular arrangements visand can work against the success
meant close contact with all
ible through water, either from within or without.
of the work. In outdoor work, the
players involved. The basis for
For an added touch, tidal movement, perhaps in
direction of sunlight (i.e. time of
this was design, produce, supply
a Northern West Australian protected bay, would
day) is critical and is considered
and install. I worked closely with
expose the work differently at different times.
in the design. Sometimes the
the main architect, his interior
architect has also considered this
designer, the engineer, the project
when providing a wall.
Setting aside the problems of vandalism, ceramic material
works well when exposed to the elements. Glazes, unless heavily
lustered will maintain their color for many decades. I use a blend
of clays that vitrify in my firings absorbing too little moisture to
be frost prone, although my experience is limited here because
most of the projects have been close to the coast where frost is
not a problem.
To help resist vandalized breaks, any hollow cast tiles in unsecured areas are filled with a rubberized cement mix to make
the tile virtually solid. Even if there are cracks, no dangerous
shards are produced.
The amount of income my architectural work generates is
different each year. Since I began in earnest, it has been up to
two thirds and as low as ten percent. Not included in this, I now
“Flowform,” 8 ft. (2.5 m) in diameter, 2006. This piece is an arrangement of
also use some of the same techniques to produce independently
“saddle” forms around the inside of a large concrete pipe and is a reference to
hung wall work, in effect miniatures or maquettes of what could
water flow studies.
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manager (also an engineer), contracted steel fabricators and so on.
The budget set had to cover any unforeseen problems in installation. If the builders had any expenses because of my installation, I
had to reimburse them.
Taking on this job and working closely to other people’s deadlines
and requirements (as all building workers do) put me under more
stress than I would like. Much of the budget was spent on the installation, and on the (relatively) well-paid associated professionals.
There’s no doubt that had I worked out my hourly rate it would have
been barely on par with a laborer’s rate. If I had used contractors
to do the installation, there would have been no profit at all, so my
building experience was very valuable. Despite all of this, it was the
most important and satisfying art project I’ve undertaken.
The most difficult challenge I have encountered in working with
ceramics on an architectural scale, was making and installing six
columns of cast blocks on concealed steel pipe for “Saddle Grove” at
the City of Bunbury Civic Administration Building. Each column
is unique but related using a common variant of a “saddle” form
and each set of saddle forms twists to a different degree as it rises to
the 7-meter ceiling. While the scale created difficulties, these were
managed, and the hardest part was coordination of installation with
the progress of the building program.
My advice to those who are interested in architectural ceramics
would be to work alongside the makers who are doing the work you
admire. Closer interaction with people with strong ideas can go a
long way. First, it helps to become more familiar with design processes, materials, methods of production and installation. Second, it
builds confidence to be able to take on large projects and complete
them with all relationships intact.
DEEP REPETITIONS
Because I work in repeated modules, industrial
production techniques, like slip casting, suit my
process best. I also return to wheel-thrown pieces for
some large pieces. I have yet to use press-molding
process, but expect to soon.
Most tile forms are three dimensional, with
30–70mm depth. They are cast from polystyrene
models that have been hot-wire cut in two or more
directions. An experienced plaster worker Christian
Zimmer (Perth, Western Australia) has taken over
mold making for the more complex forms and all
slip casting production continues in my studio.
I blend stoneware and earthenware to get
vitrifying bodies around Orton Cone 6. Glazes are
usually dry to satin in finish. Although a well-fitted
gloss finish would strengthen the final product,
reflection interferes with the textural definition.
I prefer to make strong forms to work at the
highest vitrification I can, while still keeping a
low sheen.
MONTHLY METHODS
“Saddle Grove,” 21 ft. (6.5 m) in height, 2006, City of Bunbury
Civic Administration Building, Bunbury, Western Australia.
Integrated with the space, Saddle Grove’s tall climbing
format draws viewers to look up and enjoy the luxurious
volume used by the architect, the patterns in the ceiling and
the light coming through tall windows. Movement by the
viewer, even a few centimeters, gives a change in the visual
relationship of the many modules on the six columns.
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Berry Matthews
Plattsburgh, New York
The Foundation
In college, I took three art history classes in modern architecture.
This was the start of my interest in architecture. As a student, I read
The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard, and discovered another
way to think about architecture—to consider the feelings that were
evoked by different interior spaces.
In the sense that architecture defines space, my work is architectural. The work developed architecturally as I thought about space
and how I experience it.
ate. I have always used cheap and readily available materials and
processes so that I can afford to make my work.
At present, I am collaborating on work with Katy Flammia, a
Boston architect. We plan to make prototypes of small, modular,
weighted clay pieces that will hang at varying angles to and from walls
and ceilings for use in both architecture and art installations.
My advice for anyone starting out: think big, plan carefully,
give yourself time for mistakes and figure out the most direct way
to do what you want.
The Work
Each fall for four years I drove across the country to study ceramics with
Paul Soldner in southern California. The drive made me aware of the
open space of the plains. I also noticed how light changed in the dry air
west of the Rockies. In the vast empty areas that I crossed and recrossed,
My dream would be to build a large burning
piece on a frozen lake.
there were many fences. They followed the curve of the land, focusing
my attention on the line of fencing undulating across the landscape.
This experience stayed in my mind and eventually surfaced in
the work. I use fencing and fill each space in the fence with small
pieces of clay. In the process of creating an interior space in a gallery,
I noticed how the small hanging clay pieces moved when I walked
through the space. By pushing the air, I created enough movement
to cause the pieces to move. The movement of the pieces made a
slight sound. Their shadows on the wall also moved. This phenomenon made me aware of how I interacted with the space, and also
made me very aware of my physical presence in the space.
These installations take a room with solid walls and create within
it a sense of space that is more fluid. The “walls” I create are made
of thousands of small hanging pieces of clay that have small spaces
between them. This creates a fragmented sense of what is on the
other side. There is a contradiction in the work. I make large spaces
from small parts. The walls have movement and are porous. The
clay, a material that is normally strongly controlled by gravity, is
thin and almost insubstantial.
I do not earn any part of my income from this work. The pieces
are temporary installations and, if anything, cost me money to cre-
“White Space,” 7 ft. (2.1 m) in height, at the Clay Studio, 2001. For the
opening, accumulated broken pieces were scattered on the floor of the central
corridor. When visitors walked through it created the sound of clay breaking—a
difficult sound for clay lovers to hear!
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POWER IN NUMBERS
“Firewalk,” (above and right)
6 ft. (1.8 m) in length, Banff
Center for the Arts, Banff,
Canada, 2002. This was an
interactive performance piece
in which viewers were invited
to light the structure. Each of
the hanging clay pieces was
dipped in parafin with wicks
running diagonally across
the surfaces. The process
lasted approximately an
hour and a half.
I use 20,000–30,000 small clay pieces in
each installation. To make them I mix five
gallon buckets of low-fire deflocculated
slip that I pour out on plaster slabs, grid
off, cut, and, while still pliable, I bend the
top of each piece into a hooking curve.
They are stacked on boards and, when
stiff, loaded into the kiln, as they are too
fragile to handle when dry. They are fired
once to Cone 04.
What I find most challenging in the work
is that I never have enough time during
installation to get all the details to work
as cleanly as I want. As I install my work, I
always find places that need specially sized
pieces made for them. This is impossible to
do before the installation goes up and there
is never sufficient time during installation
to fabricate the necessary new pieces.
MONTHLY METHODS
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Ole Lislerud
Oslo, Norway
The Foundation
The work of Jun Kaneko has always been an inspiration for me, and
reflect on. The ceramic tiles on a wall of a building create a skin, a
as a young artist, I started my career by working with arches and
canvas, a surface that basically combines the two. The art becomes
columns. After seeing the tiles of Robert Rauschenberg, at Otsuka
the architecture and the architecture becomes the art.
Ohmi in Japan, I understood that this was an area in which I could
The Work
experiment and develop.
I have always been interested in contemporary architecture and
My work concerns understanding and exploiting the possibilities
have many friends who are architects. There is a basic difference
of digital technology together with something as old fashioned as
between working alone in a studio towards an art exhibition and
clay. Digital photography, Photoshop, three-dimensional computer
working in a team relating to a number of people
to create an architectural project. One has to be
able to communicate with architects, understand
the basics of architecture, be able to deal with
I would like to collaborate with one of
engineers and builders, handle budgets and stick
the worlds leading architects—Herzog and
to the schedule. Lastly, there is the pressure of not
de Meuron, Renzo Piano, Liebeskind. All of
being able to see the work complete before it is in
these have collaborated with artists dealing
place, at which point it is too late to change. To
with ceramics.
understand and grasp the change from a model or
sketch to the full scale requires experience and a
unique understanding of scale.
It is challenging and enriching to work with architects who
are interested in art. In my opinion, the differences between these
occupations at one level is not so different. In this context, it is
important for both parties to keep their integrity, but at the same
time, to think of the art and the architecture as a whole, to create
something that is unique. Working across occupational borders
leads us away from closed sightedness in our own work and opens
up to create new perspectives.
One of the most difficult challenges in working with this material
is determining how it can withstand tough weather conditions—
wind, rain, snow, ice, pollution and so on—over time. Besides the
conceptual issues, the great characteristics of ceramics in public
spaces/architecture are color and texture. No other material can
create such subtle and spectacular visual dimensions as clay. And
that is why it is worth the challenge.
One of the most important aspects of my work is to find the synthesis of concept and material in relation to a specific architectural
project. In my opinion, the challenge of art in architecture deals
not only with the questions of space and scale but the search for
content. Ceramic art does not only have to have a decorative role
concerning architecture but it can also give architecture a human
dimension, in creating an identity.
Developing subject matter with political, social or cultural references, simultaneously provides the building with a visual focal point
“Chartulla,” approximately 20 ft (6 m) in height, installed at the corporate
that gives a site specific identity, and gives the viewer something to
headquarters for Norske Skog in Oslo, Norway.
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“Huaxia Arch,” 16 ft. (5 m)
in height, with silk-screened
and brushwork decoration,
installed in an international
ceramic sculpture park,
Foshan, China.
programs and silk-screen printing have provided new ways of manipulating the ceramic surface and have given the opportunity of
developing a new aesthetic. Above all, this technology has helped
develop compositions for large-scale projects.
Another aspect of my work is the search for contemporary
relevance. Ceramics will forever be associated with traditional folk
art, crafts, functional ware and so on, but ceramic art is also a part
of the contemporary international art scene, where ideas are given
preference over materials and technique. Working on large-scale
architectural projects has given me the opportunity to bridge the
gap that exists between the different art forms.
The focus of contemporary architecture concerning materials is
steel and glass—not ceramics. It is here that artists working in clay
have a challenge and must create new ideas and initiate contact with
architects to renew their interest in ceramic surfaces. This is a challenge I have faced for two decades. With the development of digital
technology and clay it has been possible to create new interesting
shapes and also incorporate images on a large-scale based on the
module system in architecture.
My main interest has been walls—façades and interior walls using silkscreen and brushwork on ceramic surfaces. The large-scale
porcelain tiles (1×3 meters), produced in Jingdezhen, have given a
new perspective to my approach because the modular system creates
a completely new grid system and a new visual appearance.
Ole Lislerud teaches at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts
(www.khio.no), which has a strong focus on architecture and ceramics.
THE DREAM TEAM
I have a dream team of professional people who
I work with on a project basis. Large-scale architectural projects demand professional people at
all levels, and issues with deadlines are always
a major factor. We have worked together as a
team for more than twenty years. My dream
team consists of:
• A computer technician who helps me with
3-D programs to visualize my ideas and produce
all the digital work
• A silkscreen technician who makes all the
films, screens and prints at a porcelain factory
in Norway
• A professional photographer who also travels with me on international projects
• An architect friend and an engineer who
are advisors
• A lawyer who takes care of contracts and
problems that might arise
• A contractor who mounts all my tile work,
wherever it is
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Clare Twomey
London, England
The Foundation
I do not have an architectural background other than being observant of what it is to be inside a building and understanding its
influence on the human condition. In the work that I have been
undertaking over the past twelve years, architectural concerns have
progressively grown to take a larger focus. This has been influenced
by the spaces I have been invited to work with. The relationship
comes from collaboration with the curators making the invitations.
Also, as an artist working with architectural spaces and architectural
histories, I form and direct this relationship. Within the architectural
projects I have undertaken, space is a highly significant aspect but
the narratives within the architecture have the most direct influence
on my contribution to a space.
It is the sense of narrative of the buildings that gives purpose or
reflection to the work I make as a response. The work’s role is not
independent of the building, it’s a larger part of the dialog of the
building. The scale of the work that can be made in an architectural
context is vital to my sense of ambition in scale and envelopment
of the audience.
I think I am working on my dream projects! I
believe that each project I am doing is the next
step forward for me. I ask a lot of my partnerships,
museums, collaborators and funders—and money
never is the object.
The Work
Last year, I worked on a vast project for the world-famous Great
Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. I was commissioned and completed an artwork for the new international entrance atrium. The
work consisted of 2000 objects placed in a vast composition over
two 6-story walls of the entrance atrium. I did not directly work
with the architects but did meet with them as part of the planning
process for the delivery of the work.
The experience of working with the largest healthcare provider
in the U.K. was a merry dance of red tape and mass committee
approval for every step of the project’s development. All of these
things were vital, but it was a very different procedure than working
with a gallery such as the Victoria and Albert Museum or the Tate.
This relationship required me to transform my skills as an artist into
those of a business negotiator and defender of the project’s focus.
The artwork was handled very well by the coordinator within the
National Health Service (NHS) arts project, and we saw the work
delivered to the vision we had set out. When the entrance atrium
was open by Prince Charles in November 2006, the artwork and all
signage had been happily executed with the support of the nurses,
patients and cleaners, who I had consulted regarding continued use
and relevance to the building function.
It is very rare that I would work by myself on the projects
that I undertake. They are on a large scale of units, or, in the
Great Ormond Street Hospital commission, 6 stories in height, 2000 polyurethane
casts of children’s toys. The commission for Great Ormond Street Hospital
developed out of a work called “Heirloom,” which Twomey installed at the
Mission Gallery in Swansea, Wales. Heirloom was made up of 2000 porcelain cast
domestic objects. The hospital commission was made in polyurethane to meet all
the hospital requirements for health and safety.
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Dream the best
dream of what
[a large-scale project]
could be and don’t
believe anything less
will do. If you believe
this your client will
come on the
ride with you.
—Clare Twomey
case of Great Ormond Street Hospital, use materials out of my
specialist scope.
For the 4000 blue birds made for the Victoria and Albert Museum installation piece in September 2006, I had a group of assistants
to help with mold making, casting and fettling. When working with
this scale of a project I had a great deal of labor-intensive work to
undertake. At the start of each major project, I take on assistants and
train them for that particular job because it is vital that the skills I
wish to use are used. This is the integrity of craft skills within my
practice. I do not feel I have to make each object, but they must be
made with the skills that are true to my philosophy.
TEST FOR SUCCESS
The most useful technique that I use in the studio
to plan for large projects is tests and calculations of
units that help me to visualize the final proposal.
This is vital, as it is nearly impossible to meaningfully
understand the final project until you are working
in the space at installation. By making tests and
calculations alongside experience of previous spaces,
one can contemplate fully the aim of the final work.
But flexibility in the final destination is the key to
truly fulfilling a successful project.
MONTHLY METHODS
In “Trophy,” a 2006 collaboration with
Wedgwood, Twomey filled the cast courts of
the Victoria and Albert Museum with 4000
Jasper bluebirds. The birds created a three
dimensional landscape for visitors to walk
within. The mystery with the birds’ arrival
contrasted with the audience’s choice
to take one from the vast collection.
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Bruce Breckenridge
Madison, Wisconsin
The Foundation
My preoccupation with space certainly was not nurtured in any
form by my education. I have never taken a course in ceramics nor
did I ever have a course in sculpture or three-dimensional design. In
1964, while living in New York City, I stopped making paintings and
started working three dimensionally, initially employing minimalist
sensibilities. Shortly thereafter, the work not only became ceramic,
but got more complex and played off semi-recognizable objects.
That work introduced me to my major preoccupation, which has
consumed me for the past forty-some years. I call this preoccupation
“dislocation of space.” Simply put it is this: I set up a framework of
space that appears to have fairly sound logic and then just when the
viewer thinks he or she has “it” figured out, I change all the logic
mostly by introducing a totally illogical space change. This is best
witnessed in the work that employs geometric/architectonic imagery.
That framework underlies the recent wall tiles that were completed
at Urban Clay in Los Angeles employing the digital glaze process
and recognizable imagery.
When I lived in Paris I spent a good deal of time
in the Musée de L’orangerie. The configuration of the
space in the L’orangerie’s two galleries intrigued me.
The two rooms, with their subtle elliptical spaces
mostly lit by the natural light of skylights, were in a
kind of stasis between the two walls. The space had
slightly bedraggled potted plants, which added to
its warmth and mystery. This was before the place
was totally gutted and made to look like a “real” gallery—all bright and white. I would love to do a piece
in an environment like the old L’orangerie that would
cover the walls from floor to ceiling with tile employing both digital imagery and painted objects.
“Huntington Park #24,” 66½ in. (169 cm) in width, digitally glazed tiles, 2003.
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The Business
I have a palpable distrust of the “business” of architecture. While, socially, I like most architects, most firms are
thinking about cost per square foot. I find architecture to
be almost exclusively about space so the cost concerns go
against my thinking.
In the business of making art—if it is a business—I have
never worked for anyone. All of the major and therefore expensive work was completed through research grants. Some
pieces have been purchased by corporations. My digitally
glazed public art pieces were composed and realized at Urban
Clay in Huntington Park, California, a production studio for
artists interested in creating large-scale murals.
The Work
The digitally glazed wall pieces were conceived as painting
scale—a more intimate scale than the monumental scale one
usually works with when conceiving larger public murals.
When I use the term “intimate scale,” it seems to me, that
successful public art has a tendency to encompass the human
body. By that, I mean that one either concretely or psychologically experiences the whole piece.
Like the wall pieces, the three-dimensional pieces employ
the same rationale with the additional “confusion” of images
taken out of context. For example, house shapes, geometric
elements, letters and other basic shapes are incorporated in
a way that is designed to increase this “dislocation” as pattern morphs into landscapes and urban scenes. Like the wall
pieces, these employ disparate images that are intentionally
arranged taking each of those images out of context and
hopefully creating a fractured whole. These pieces define
space in a very different way than the public pieces I referred
to above and are more like traditional ceramic space, which
is mostly “hand” scale. Some pieces defy this stricture, as I
am reminded of walking into a gallery at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art and having my space activated by a Fabergé
egg that was located in the center of that gallery. Which, of
course, is an example of the viewer being taken over by that
phenomenon of psychological space.
“House of Home,” 65 in. (165 cm) in height, ceramic, 2006.
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“Silo,” was built for a residential client north of
Omaha, Nebraska. This was Morgan’s first project
to take on the scale of architecture.
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Brick As
Metaphor
by Michael Morgan
I first started using brick from Baggerage
Brick while studying for my B.A. in ceramics
at Wolverhampton Polytechnic in England. I
knew I wanted to make sculptural ceramic
objects, but was bothered by the usual small
scale, and a sense that these objects rarely
appeared to have relevance to a place. Wolverhampton itself was somewhat down-at-heal
at the time, and this fueled my imagination.
I would spend much time walking along its
canal paths, fascinated by the disused brick
factory hulks that were returning to a natural
state. When the brick is seen crumbling back
into the earth, a concrete connection can be
made between these two substances. That
was more than twenty years ago. Since that
time, I have worked as a resident artist at The
Clay Studio in Philadelphia, and received my
M.F.A. from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the town where I now live and continue
to work with brick.
I have come to regard the brick as an
archetypal symbol, a thing that can make the
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“Keraunos Wall Extension,” (two views), 1996. This work consists of the patio, four columns, railings and a grill.
It was a private commission completed over a two-year period and is located at 1908 C Street in Lincoln, Nebraska.
unlimited world manageable, taken as it is from the earth’s most
elemental substance, yet pressed into a ridged geometry. I view
my work as vibrating between these two states; man’s effect on the
natural world, nature’s effect on the manufactured. I am always in
the process of developing a visual language to express this fairly
simple notion.
This is achieved through a variety of techniques that depend on
the specific location and the job at hand. One method that I used
on a sculptural tower just north of Omaha, Nebraska, called “Silo”
speaks of a connection between the raw earth and the built environment. The bricks were wetted down, then punched, jumped on or
hit with branches. In this way each brick became a testament to a
fleeting moment that was held forever like a fossil.
They were later cut with a spackling knife and torn. This had the
effect of partially bringing the clay object back to its brick state, so
that it was not merely an amorphous mass. It also gave the sculpture
a sense of movement, creating high contrasts of light and shade as
the relentless Midwestern sun moved across it. This project was a
collaboration between Lincoln artist, Larry Roots, architect David
Johnson and myself.
On a trip back to my hometown of Portsmouth, while walking
along the beach, I picked up a small pebble that had once been a
brick. It caused me to ponder how many tides had worn it down.
We all know the basic dimensions of a brick, so it was evident how
much it had diminished. I felt, as a manufactured object, it could
say something about time and our own mortality. It became the
inspiration behind “Tide Clock” in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, and
a sculpture I created to commemorate the extensive brickyards along
the Hudson River at Haverstraw, New York, consisting of a circle of
seven columns and seating for three. Both structures had, as their
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primary form, brick, boulder-like formations
that related strongly to the water. In fact, for the
Haverstraw project, I utilized water-smoothed
brick that I salvaged from the ample deposits
along the river for a path.
Sometimes, if a project is large enough,
simply laying the unaltered brick up in an
unconventional way can produce an organic
effect. I employed this method when making
“Keraunos Wall,” which treated a whole garden
as a sculpture. I would scour the “bone pile” at
the local brickyard (unfortunately not possible
now) for bloated and clinker bricks. All parts of
this piece were viewed as growing entities, with
the S-shaped spiral as the central theme.
Coming to brick through a background in
ceramics, and actually for eleven years previously
to that through a career in gardening, I feel I
have a strong visceral sense of brick as earth.
Its natural for me to create organic forms using
this modular unit. Another effect that this craft
background has had on my work is that I am
mainly interested in making functional or semifunctional sculpture. It’s a challenge to make
something that is functional yet truly sculpture
at the same time. This aspect can beckon the
viewer to touch or use the work, helping to
demystify the art and allowing them to relate
to it in a very real way. “Cer,” for example, is a
sculptural seating area in a park, with columns
containing planters. Over the past ten years this
park has become a study aid for a local school’s
visual spatial learning program, and has lead to
my making open-ended sculptural walls for the
children’s outdoor classroom.
The brick’s cultural heritage is unequivocal.
I find it, therefore, an intriguing material with
which to execute art. If our assumptions are
subverted, the sculptural brick object has the
ability to be used metaphorically for itself.
MORE THAN A BLOCK OF CLAY
Often my work takes the form of free-standing sculptural objects, such
as columns or chairs. A working plan for something like this typically
starts with stacking the bricks up in the basic form.
Rough carving is first carried out with a series of spackling knives. Then
I use a 1-foot piece of 1-inch-diameter dowel with a hoop of packing-case
steel secured at the end with a hose clamp. This invaluable idea was given
to me by Colorado brick sculptor Ken Williams. I then use rasps to smooth
the surface. A really smooth finish is achieved with a metal rib.
Sometimes (as with “Here #3” and “Human Landscape”), I wet down
an area of the piece with a wet rag and leave it for a few days. This
allows me to alter this area by hitting it. With these two pieces, I also
added porcelain slip and red and black iron oxide and green glass in
some indentations, then salt fired them. Adding color in the green state
allows it to be fully integrated into the surface texture.
The work is disassembled, numbered and left to air dry for four weeks,
then fired in a gas kiln to Cone 6. I have also wood-fired some work in
an anagama kiln near Omaha. Generally, it is best if the bricks are in a
cooler part of this kiln.
The bricks are delivered to the site, where I assemble them, usually
with the help of one assistant. I like to use a brown mortar so that the
joints don’t jump out, but create a more unified form.
Ultimately, no project gets completed without a lot of help from others,
so just to mention a few: Doug Dittman, Gary Gregg, Rick Haney, Lew
Kirk, Omaha Clay Works, Mike Pleskac, Larry Roots and Andy Witkowski
have been instrumental in many projects.
MONTHLY METHODS
For further information about Michael Morgan
and his work, see www.michaelmorgan.net.
Right: Detail of “Silo,” by Michael Morgan, Lincoln,
Nebraska. See full image of the piece on page 44.
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A
REASONED
Approach
by Katey Schultz
Emily Reason’s work is based in ritual, history and—well—reason.
“Production pottery is a hard thing to explain,” says Emily Reason,
now in her second year of residency as a production potter at the
Energy Xchange in Burnsville, North Carolina. “There’s a rhythm
in production that allows me to explore an idea, like working in a
series. The creativity shows itself in the shapes of the pots and how
I address surface design.”
But before Reason even touches the clay, she attunes herself to
other rhythms in her life and in the natural world to help set the
stage for her production work. Her ritual begins by going on a long
run every morning near her home at the base of the Black Mountains, a spur chain off the Blue Ridge in North Carolina. This ritual
informs her pottery as much as any technique she employs. “It’s
really important for me to have a balance of doing things outside
the studio—stuff that’s good for my body and good for my brain,”
she explains. “I can be present with my work when everything else
is taken care of. When I’m running, I get into a meditative space. I
Serving bowl, 10 in. (25 cm) in diameter,
thrown, carved and dotted porcelain, fired
to Cone 10 in reduction, 2007, $160.
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notice the changing tones and colors with the seasons. I notice new
When the opportunity arose to enroll in a two-month concenflowers blooming. This finds its way directly into my work.”
tration at Penland School of Crafts working solely in porcelain,
Most notably, this particular way of seeing the natural world
Reason leapt at the chance. Under the guidance of Silvie Granatelli
shows itself in the celadon glazes Reason makes in her studio. She
and Leah Leitson, she experimented more with surface design,
tries to make her blue like the sky, green like the grass, turquoise
using slip trailing, carving and brush-working techniques. “I also
reminiscent of lichen speckled across a rock, and she describes her
had to relearn how to treat the clay since I had never worked with
black as “rich and velvety, like the night.” By using the landfillporcelain before,” she recalls. “I stuck with it because I felt the
methane-gas-fueled kiln at Energy Xchange, Reason reduces her
brighter surface of porcelain was going to let me do what I wanted
overall impact on the very environment from which she takes such
to do with glazes.”
inspiration. The harmony she has achieved between her inspiraAlthough she insists she is still an emerging potter, a lot can be
tion and production using green methods nicely parallels themes
said for Reason’s surface design, which relies heavily on repeated
of harmony from the Sung Dynasty (960–1270 C.E.) pottery of
carving and dotting techniques that invite the glazes to pool. The
China that Reason studied as a student abroad.
overall effect is a smooth, evenly toned form that simultaneously
A majority of the artwork that emerged from the Sung culture
has texture, diversity and invites a certain measure of awe. “Surreferenced the classics of the Confucian tradition, serving a moral
face design is a process,” Reason contends. “Carving and dots are
purpose particularly through the use of
monochrome glazes. Such refined tones
glazed over nearly flawless forms echoed
spiritual teachings of harmony and
serenity. Not surprisingly, the pottery
was popular among the masses for its
functionality, and within the palace for
its decorative capabilities.
“I spent the summer of 2001 in China, touring the country, visiting colleges
and observing production studios on the
large, small and family-run scales,” says
Reason. “Their craft has developed over
such a long period of time, it’s difficult
for an American like me to fathom. I was
drawn specifically to porcelain pottery
from the Sung Dynasty because their
methods for working in porcelain are
much different than ours.”
When Reason returned from China
to complete her degree at West Virginia
University (WVU), her affection and
respect for the potter’s lifestyle had
deepened. “I learned to be detached
from the pots so I could see how, if I
just kept working at it, that would make
[the work] better. I started to value this
process as a learning experience, not
a loss.”
While she did earn herself a solo
show at Zenclay after graduating, Reason still felt her own voice in clay was
yet to emerge. As she explains, “I knew
I was committed to functionality, durability and craftsmanship…I thought
a lot about the way I use things and
Small jar, 10 in. (25 cm) in height, thrown and carved porcelain, fired to Cone 10 in reduction, 2007, $132.
how that dictates the size and shape
All of Reason’s work is fired in a landfill-methane-gas-fueled kiln in the Craft Studios at Energy Xchange,
of a pot.”
Burnsville, North Carolina. For more information, see www.energyxchange.org.
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Teapot, 8 in. (20 cm) in height, thrown and slip-dotted porcelain, fired to Cone 10 in reduction, 2007, $135.
meditative for me because the work is repetitive and gives me a
sense of creating order.”
Over time, the voice that emerged as Reason’s own paid allegiance to her travels in China and her work as a production potter
at WVU through her affinity for elegant forms and her commitment
to functional pots. “Now, a lot of my work has started to come together at Energy Xchange, but there’s a long road ahead,” she says.
“Potters need a supportive craft community. We are very fortunate
at the Energy Xchange because people are so excited about our
green methods that they want to support all aspects of the program,
including the artists and artwork.”
Energy Xchange began almost ten years ago near the YanceyMitchell county line in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Their mission
is to demonstrate the responsible use of landfill gas as an energy
source for small enterprise in craft and horticulture, and to meet
local energy needs. They do this by harvesting methane gas generated on a 6-acre landfill, becoming the first organization of its kind
to use methane for such purposes.
In addition to the Energy Xchange Gallery, Reason sells her work
at the Crimson Laurel Gallery (www.crimsonlaurelgallery.com) in
Bakersville, North Carolina, at various other galleries across the
country, as well as retail and wholesale shows.
For more information about Emily Reason and her work, see
www.emilyreason.com.
Be sure to check out the December issue of CM for an article on
Energy Xchange, as part of our focus on Sustainability.
the author Katey Schultz writes from her home in Fork Mountain,
North Carolina. Her current projects include a series of essays about
female artists and a collection of memoir vignettes about adolescence.
To learn more, see http://katey.schultz.googlepages.com.
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Reason carves and slip trails her surface designs.
The textures she creates are enhanced by the use
of celadon glazes. She adorns the pot’s surface at
the leather-hard stage.
Reason’s homemade carving tool was modeled
after a tool used to create carved patterns on Chinese
Yaoware pottery. The L-shaped blade, set in a
bamboo handle, is used to create a pleated pattern of
lines. For Reason, carving lines is a rhythmic motion
that achieves even, consistent marks. The corner of
the L, carves into the leather-hard clay, making the
deepest part of the recessed line. The tool is effective
in achieving a line with depth, allowing the glaze to
vary as it pools in the deepest part of the line.
Slip-trailing bulbs and plastic bottles, such as
hair-dye bottles with variously sized tips are used to
create a dotted surface. Using her porcelain slurry,
Reason sieves the clay to a yogurt consistency to make
a thick slip. Dots of slip are squeezed onto the pot’s
surface with the bulb, much like decorating a cake.
Both the carved lines and sharp tips of the dots are
smoothed and softened with a damp sponge.
MONTHLY METHODS
ON THE SURFACE
Salt and pepper shakers, 5 in. (13 cm) in height, thrown, carved and dotted porcelain, fired to Cone 10 in reduction, 2007, $65; by Emily Reason, Burnsville, North Carolina.
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Junya Shao:
Yixing and Beyond
by Glen R. Brown
“Red and Black,” 3¹⁄₂ in. (9 cm) in height, slab-built Yixing Zisha clay. Shao patiently paddles the work to achieve the smooth, flawless surface.
The Yixing stoneware aesthetic, not merely a distinct facet of ceramics
history, but also a vibrant influence on a living tradition, has become
increasingly familiar in North America over the past fifteen years.
The success of Yixing–inspired teapots by prominent ceramists such
as Richard Notkin and Pete Pinnell, both of whom traveled to China
in the 1990s, no doubt played an important role in popularizing the
aesthetic here. New exchange programs, residencies and tours have
since provided opportunities for scores of American potters to visit
and even work for extended periods in the factories and studios of
Yixing. Evidence of such experiences has surfaced in subsequent pottery and sculpture, and recent exhibitions such as the ASU Ceramics
Research Center’s “Beyond Boundaries: The Yixing Influence on
Contemporary American Ceramics” indicate that perhaps something
on the order of a movement has begun to form in this country.
This burgeoning movement has, in part, drawn impetus from
the activities of contemporary Yixing master potters such as Junya
Shao, who, since 2002, has presented more than thirty workshops
and lectures at universities and art centers across the country. Over
the same period, her work has appeared in exhibitions at nearly two
dozen venues nationally, among them the Clay Studio in Philadelphia
and Baltimore Clayworks. Something of an aesthetic ambassador,
Shao epitomizes the contemporary Yixing ceramics artist, employing her mastery of traditional handbuilding techniques to explore
infinite formal variations on the functional teapot. In terms of in-
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novative design and superiority of handling, her works represent
the elevated artistic counterpart of the standardized molded Yixing
teapots commonly available at import stores and gourmet shops
in this country.
Born into tradition, Shao was raised by potter parents in Yixing,
which today rivals Jingdezhen for status as China’s most important
center of ceramics production. The city boasts a palpable ceramics
personality: brawny, dusty and clay-colored. Having passed her
childhood in an environment where a significant percentage of
the population is employed by the ceramics industry and stack
upon stack of roofing tiles, endless rows of colossal stoneware vases
and, above all, dark, smoking, Dickensian kilns are prominent
ornaments, Shao seemed inevitably bound for a career in ceramics. In 1992, at the age of 18, she apprenticed for a year and a
half with a production potter who taught her to mold teapots in
conventional forms. After achieving facility with this technique,
she acquired traditional handbuilding skills under the tutelage of
a recognized master.
Much is made of the astounding abilities of Yixing master
potters to produce highly complex and flawless forms with a
minimum of simple tools. Such skills are especially evident in the
monochromatic trompe l’oeil style of representational vessel that,
as a type, has decended from Ming flower and Qing fruit-shaped
Yixing teapots. In these works, which today are fashioned to represent everything from tree stumps to tennis shoes, an astonishing
expertise in articulating detail accounts for much of the visual
impact. In such tour-de-force pieces, technical ability is tendentiously showcased, often eclipsing the broader elements of design.
In other varieties of contemporary Yixing teapots, such as those
that revive the simple, pear-shaped or depressed-sphere forms of
the seventeenth-century, technique is intentionally understated in
order to heighten the composure of form. Technique, in fact, is
obvious in such pieces only when its failure disturbs the smoothness of surfaces or the serenity of symmetry.
While Shao is a versatile potter and has mastered both traditional forms and trompe l’oeil representation, her most distinctive
body of work since 1996 has comprised inventive compositions
in which the main impulse has been the resolution of problems
in design. The spirit of exploration in these comparatively freewheeling teapots derives less from Shao’s training at Yixing than
from her subsequent study at the Jingdezhen Ceramics Institute
and, most importantly, from her work with the ceramic sculptor
Luo Xiaoping, who is now her husband. After studying with
Luo for three years—during which she acquired a knowledge of
art history and skills in drawing, painting, sculpture techniques
and design—Shao was prepared to develop her own forms, participating in what has become a distinctive contemporary Yixing
“Neatly Round Teapot,” 5 in. (12 cm) in height, slab-built Yixing Zisha clay.
After paddling the body of the teapot into a perfectly symmetrical form, Shao
attaches handle and spout, and applies several coats of slurry of Zisha clay
in various colors. She then smooths and burnishes the surface of the pot.
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“Long Neck Teapot,” 5 in. (12 cm)
in height, slab-built Yixing Zisha clay.
Shao uses several applications of Zisha
slurry in varying colors to decorate her teapots.
“Geometric Shape Teapot,” 4¹⁄₂ in.
(11 cm) in height, slab-built Yixing Zisha clay.
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BUILDING ON TRADITION
Shao perpetuates tradition by handbulding her works
from thinly rolled slabs of Yixing Zisha clay, which are
patiently paddled into the smooth shapes that constitute
the bodies of her vessels. The majority of her works
are based on a sphere which has seemingly been sliced
in half or at the lower quarter to create a flat base,
faceted on the sides, or depressed into the squat form
of a beach pebble. On this central, hollow element,
Shao deploys a lateral succession of functional parts:
handle, knobbed lid and spout. These parts, which can be
ribbonlike, tubular or globular, tend either to reinforce
the geometry of the body or to contradict it dramtically.
Sometimes angular parts are joined to a faceted body
and curved forms are matched to a rounded body, but
in other instances, the compositions are created through
a combination of angular and curved or rounded and
faceted elements. These variations, together with a wide
range in proportions between parts, have given rise to
an array of distinctly different teapots.
MONTHLY METHODS
tendency to employ time-honored techniques and materials in new
and diverse ways.
An important variable that adds diversity to Shao’s works is
color, an element that has infiltrated the recent work of many Yixing potters. Although precedents for relatively bright color exist
in seventeenth-century Jun-glazed Yixing teapots and nineteenthcentury pieces decorated in famille-rose enamels, the majority of
contemporary Yixing teapots incorporate color only sparingly and
in fairly subdued hues that recall the basic triad of Zisha (purple
sand), Banshanlu (cream-white) and Zysha (red) clay that has been
excavated near Yixing for centuries. Shao’s palette is limited to slips
in the rose brown of zisha, red, black, olive green and ochre. Applied
in multiple layers that are carefully smoothed to create a continuous,
flawless surface, her slips generally define broad, clearly demarcated
shapes. Occasionally, however, she applies color as accent spots, or
even to create the complicated inlaid “cracked ice” pattern of some
traditional wares.
In as much as Shao’s forms retain some aesthetic characteristics of
conventional Yixing teapots, they could reasonably be described as
manifestations of a distinctly Chinese sensibility. At the same time,
since 2000 Shao has spent half of each year in the United States,
primarily in Arizona, and has naturally responded to elements that
she associates with traditional aspects of Western design. The fact that
her teapots are not obvious hybrids of these two sources of inspiration indicates the degree to which her bicultural experiences have
attuned her to a sense of design that has, since the latter part of the
twentieth century, belonged to a globally eclectic aesthetic. It also
reveals the extent to which we as viewers have become accustomed to
that design. Shao’s work feels contemporary not because it forsakes
tradition but because it references aspects of disparate traditions to
create forms that are at once familiar and innovative. The Yixing
aesthetic remains firmly embodied in her work, but like Shao herself,
it has significantly expanded its horizons.
Above: Shao meticulously crafting a more
traditional Yixing teapot in her Gilbert,
Arizona, studio.
Left: “Triangular Form Teapot,” 9 in.
(23 cm) in height, slab-built Yixing
Zisha clay, 2006; by Junya Shao,
Gilbert, Arizona.
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THE
MFA FAC TOR VOLUME 3
In Volume 3 of this series, we profile another one of the top graduate-study
programs in ceramics as rated by U.S. News and World Report.
Ohio University
The Ceramics area at Ohio University offers an inclusive environment where traditional and nontraditional
forms of ceramic making are equally fostered, and
emphasis is put on a conceptual awareness and rigor
within the making process.
Program Details
• 3-year program
• 75–80 applicants per year, 3 accepted
• All students selected are provided with
financial support in the form of tuition waivers, assistantships and associateships.
OU
[faculty]
Brad Schwieger holds an M.F.A.
from Utah State University and has
been teaching at Ohio University
for seventeen years. Schwieger has
conducted workshops and lectured
across the United States, Europe
and Asia. He has been an artist
in residence at the Archie Bray
Foundation for the Ceramic Arts and
Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts.
Right: “Architectural Still Life,” 16 in.
(41 cm) in height, thrown and altered
stoneware with multiple glazes,
salt fired, nichrome wire, 2006.
Highlights of the Facilities
brad schwieger
joe bova
• 350–400 square feet of private studio
space for all graduate students (approximate size)
• Indoor kiln facility, which includes 6 electric and 2 gas kilns
• Outdoor kiln facility, which includes 15 gas
kilns (2 salt, 4 soda, 1 raku), 6 wood kilns (1
salt, 1 soda), 2 manual electric kilns
• More than 30 wheels, 2 slab rollers
• Stocked and ventilated glaze and clay mixing areas with 3 clay mixers, 2 slip mixers,
ball mill, glaze spray booth
• Sandblaster
• Miscellaneous tool room, which includes
welding equipment, oxy-acetylene torch
and brick saw
• Main library includes wide selection of
ceramic books and publications
• Aesthetic technology lab, interdisciplinary
computer and new media lab
Joe Bova earned his M.A. at the University of New Mexico and has been at OU for
seventeen years. He has been a visiting artist at many schools including New York
State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, the University of Georgia’s Cortona
Italy Program, Haystack Mountain School of Craft and Penland School of Crafts, and
was a resident artist at the International Ceramics Studio in Kecskemet, Hungary.
Above: “Spitting Monkey Teapot,” 7 in. (18 cm) in height, handbuilt white stoneware
and porcelain, fired to Cone 10, with overglaze colors, fired to Cone 018, 2007.
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After receiving undergraduate degrees in England and
the Netherlands, Alex Hibbitt came to the states and
earned her M.F.A. at the New York State College of
Ceramics at Alfred University. She has been teaching
at OU for four years and her area of concentration is
installation and mixed media. Left: “Out of Place,” 12
ft. (3.6 m) in height, porcelain, fired to Cone 5, paint.
Far right: Detail of “Out of Place” installation.
alex hibbitt
Chuck McWeeny has been a professor at OU for 24
years and is also the dean of the College of Fine Arts.
He earned his M.F.A. at the University of Oklahoma
and specializes in handbuilt ceramics, slip casting
and installation. McWeeny has exhibited his work
nationally and internationally in more than sixty group
shows and twelve solo exhibitions. Left: “20 Plates,”
66 inches in length, press-molded earthenware with
engobe printing, welded steel.
chuck mcweeny
robert “boomer” moore
Robert “Boomer” Moore has been an instructor and technician at
Ohio University for eight years. Moore earned his M.F.A. from Utah
State University in Logan in 1999. He was a fellow at the Archie Bray
Foundation in Helena, Montana, in 1995, and he is represented by Red
Lodge Clay Center Gallery in Red Lodge, Montana; Iota Gallery in Dallas,
Texas; and V2 Gallery in Lubbock, Texas. Right: “No, No, No!!!”
26 in. (66 cm) in height, slip-cast whiteware, press-molded
indigenous Ohio clay, cast recycled glass, 2007.
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THE
MFA FAC TOR
VOLUME 2
OU
[grad students]
1 Liz Zacher
4 Nicholas C. Bivins
My primary reason for coming to OU was
the genuine interest that the professors
expressed in my work and my ideas. OU
focuses on both craft and concept, and I
found that appealing. There is an emphasis
on creating strong artists in this program,
not just strong ceramics artists. Along with
the intellectual rigor and diversity of the
program, it was apparent that the professors
have a true dedication toward their students.
After completing my undergraduate
degree at The University of Hartford,
I worked as a ceramics instructor and
studio assistant at the Canton Clay Works
in Canton, Connecticut. I then spent two
years as a resident artist at The Archie Bray
Foundation in Helena, Montana. The time
between undergrad and grad school was
very important in developing my ideas and
studio practice. It also helped me gain an
understanding of working and living as an
artist outside of an academic setting.
When looking for graduate schools, I looked
carefully at the faculty, what type of work
is currently being made there, and what the
recent graduates were doing.
Coming out of undergrad my work had
potential, but I just needed time and a
critical environment to develop it. It was very
important for me to go somewhere new and
expand my vocabulary. I feel I continued to
grow as an artist by changing situations and
facing new challenges. After graduate school,
I really want to make my work. I like the idea
of teaching, being involved in the academic
environment and the moderate financial
comfort that provides, but I am most
interested in becoming a professional artist.
I see this time as an opportunity to really
push the work forward, experiment and try
new things. This type of method leads to
a very raw finished product, which is not
ready to be shown. However, as I get closer
to graduating I will become more active in
exhibiting my work.
2 Elissa Cox
I decided to attend OU because the faculty
supports and encourages their graduate
students in their studio and professional
careers equally as strong while at OU as in
postgraduate life.
After I received my B.F.A., I accepted a postbaccalaureate position at the University of
Colorado in Boulder. Having the opportunity
to be a post-baccalaureate student prepared
me not only in my portfolio but also in my
mindset when pursuing graduate school.
After graduate school I plan on maintaining
a very active studio, along with teaching in
higher education. During my time at OU, I
have been in several solo, group and juried
shows. I think it is important to keep your
resumé up to date, while realizing that the
main priority is to be actively engaged and
focused on graduate studio work.
3 Hiroe Hanazono
I chose the graduate program at OU
because of its great reputation and faculty,
as well as the other grad students, who
are very professional, responsible and
supportive. Also, many alumni are very
active and successful in the ceramics field.
The program offers a full scholarship and
opportunities to teach. I wanted to further
develop my work and concept, to find my
voice and give myself the opportunity to
teach in the future.
I have another year of grad school and that’s
what I’m concentrating on right now. I have
many options after I finish and when the time
comes I will decide which way I want to go.
5 Joe Davis
My main reason for choosing OU was that I
wanted to study with Brad Schwieger. Several
close friends, who know Brad well, were
convinced that we would work well together.
The reputations of Chuck McWeeny and Joe
Bova also influenced me. In addition, the kiln
pad, with its plethora of kilns, was also a big
draw. We have pretty much any and every
firing option available here.
After undergrad, I wanted to learn firsthand
what making and selling work was all about,
so I took thirteen years in between. Also, I
was not hungry for grad school right after
undergrad. I figured that I should be burning
for that experience, and have some clearly
defined goals in applying to programs. This
time between undergraduate and graduate
school was absolutely invaluable for me.
My exhibition record before graduate school
was a strength in my C.V. When Brad called to
tell me that I was accepted to OU, he asked if
I was truly willing to give up the galleries and
shows for a while to focus on the development
of my work. My answer was (hell) yes! So, for
the first two years at OU, I stepped it down a
notch. In the third year, I kicked back into gear
with applying to juried shows.
6 Mike Jabbur
Ohio University has a strong reputation for
developing and strengthening concepts,
while maintaining a high level of technical
prowess. OU also provides the opportunity
to teach while earning a degree, and helps
its students to find teaching positions
around the country after graduate school.
I took three years between undergrad and grad
school. This period gave me time to develop
a strong portfolio capable of getting me into
a more select graduate school. The time also
provided me with the life experience outside of
college that has proven essential to my work.
While I am still unclear of my post-graduate
school goals, I am interested in pursuing
residencies, teaching at the college/university
level, and, primarily, in establishing a career
as a studio artist. While in school, I have
pursued participation in juried exhibitions, but
on a fairly limited basis, concentrating more
on my academic studies.
7 Andrea Keys
The most important things for me
when looking into graduate school were
community, faculty and diversity of student
work. OU surpassed all of my desires.
The faculty and students are unbelievably
dedicated to the program, and it shows in
the caliber of work that is coming out of OU.
In between undergraduate and graduate
school, I spent some time at the Clay Studio
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was a
special student at LSU for a year and a half.
As a special student I was able to continue
making art in a nurturing environment and,
in working with the graduate students, I was
able to understand better what I wanted out
of a graduate program. When I applied to
graduate school, I knew I was ready.
After graduation I plan on pursuing my artistic
career through teaching at a university and
showing my work as much as possible.
During graduate school my focus is not on
showing my work. I find that when my focus
is on showing, it inhibits my experimentation.
Graduate school should be an opportunity to
try things that you wouldn’t normally have
the opportunity to try.
8 Tannaz Farsi
I was a nontraditional student entering
undergraduate school. I had operated a pottery
studio that sold work through wholesale and
retail venues. Considering my experience,
I decided to continue with graduate school
directly after undergraduate school.
My reasons for coming to OU had to
do primarily with the stellar faculty.
They challenge the idea of material and
concept within a very supportive working
environment. This support is also apparent
in the upkeep of a great facility, and
professional development in the form of
pedagogy and artistic practice.
During my time at OU, I have had several
solo shows, as well as group shows, but my
focus has been on the development of work
toward a thesis exhibition.
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call for entries
international exhibitions
November 1 entry deadline
New York, New York “Small Rays of Hope and Fragments of a Larger Idea” (December 6–20). Juried from
digital. Fee: $45 for three images. Awards: $250, $500.
For prospectus, e-mail [email protected].
Contact Rhonda Schaller Gallery, 547 W. 27th St., Suite
529, New York 10001; www.rhondaschallerchelsea.com;
(212) 967-1338.
New York, Hudson “Emerging Artists 2008” (March
7–31, 2008). Juried from digital and slides. Fee: $35 for
four images; $5 each for additional entries. For prospectus, visit www.slowart.com/prospectus/ea2008.htm.
Deadlines for Exhibitions, Fairs and Festivals
Contact Limner Gallery, Emerging Artists 2008, 123
Warren St., Hudson 12534; [email protected].
December 1 entry deadline
New Jersey, Summit “22nd International Juried
Show” (February 8–March 21, 2008), open to all media.
Juried from digital and slides. Juror: Carter Foster, Curator of Drawings for the Whitney Museum of American
Art. Fee: $35. For prospectus, visit www.artcenternj.org.
Contact Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, 68 Elm St.,
Summit 07901; [email protected].
Minnesota, St. Paul “Second Biennial Concordia
Continental Ceramic Competition” (January 24–February 20, 2008), open to residents of Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico and the United States.
Submit online at www.ceramicsmonthly.org
Juried from digital and slides. Jurors: Marko Fields,
Kate Maury and Keith Williams. Fee: $25 for three
entries. Awards: $1000 as well as numerous purchase
awards. For prospectus, send SASE to Keith Williams,
Art Dept., Concordia University, 275 Syndicate St. N,
St. Paul 55104; or e-mail [email protected].
California, Mission Viejo “Big Fish, Small Pot 3:
Third International Small Teapot Competition and
Show” (February 25–March 20, 2008), open to
small teapots. Juried from digital and slides. Fee:
$40 for three entries. Awards: over $5000. For prospectus, send SASE to Teapot Competition, Saddleback College Art Gallery, 28000 Marguerite Pkwy.,
Mission Viejo 92692; [email protected];
http://gallery.saddleback.edu.
February 1, 2008 entry deadline
New York, Brooklyn “Ceramics at Work” (March
1–April 25, 2008), open to functional work. For an application, send SASE to Gloria Kennedy Gallery, 111 Front
St. Gallery 222, Brooklyn 11201; [email protected];
www.gkgart.com/application/ceramicsatwork.pdf.
Japan, Gifu Prefecture “8th International Ceramics
Competition Mino, Japan” (August 1–September 30,
2008), entries accepted from November 1–February
4, 2008. Juried from digital. Contact International
Ceramics Festival Mino, Executive Committee Office,
Ceramics Park Mino, 4-2-5 Higashi-machi, Tajimi
City, Gifu Prefecture 507-0801; [email protected];
www.icfmino.com; 0572-25-4111.
united states exhibitions
California, El Cajon “Viewpoint: Ceramics 2008”
(April 7–24, 2008). Juried from slides. Fee: $30 for three
images. Contact Grossmont College Hyde Art Gallery,
8800 Grossmont College Dr., El Cajon 92020-1799;
www.grossmont.edu/artgallery; (619) 644-7299.
Missouri, Union “Dolls” (January 14–February
18, 2008), open to work that interprets the concept
of the doll. For more information and a prospectus,
visit www.eastcentral.edu/acad/depts/ar/; or e-mail
[email protected].
Tennessee, Murfreesboro “12×12 A Small
Works Show” (February 4–22, 2008), open to all
work that does not exceed 12” in any dimension.
Juror: Dave Hickey. Juried from digital. Fee: $30
for three entries. Contact Lori R. Nuell, Gallery
Director, Art Dept. Box 25, Middle Tennessee State
University, Murfreesboro 37132; [email protected];
www.mtsu.edu/~art/12x12/; (615) 898-2505.
Minnesota, Elk River “Arts in Harmony ‘08” (February 4–March 28, 2008), open to all media. Juried from
digital, photographs and slides. Jurors: Lin NelsonMayson and Paul Benson. Fee: $18 for first entry; $10
for second entry; $6 for each additional entry. Contact
Elk River Area Arts Alliance, 1170 Main St., Elk River
55330; [email protected]; www.elkriverart.org;
(763) 441-4725.
Texas, Denton “40th Annual Visual Arts Exhibition” (April 10–May 29, 2008). Juried from digital
and slides. Juror: Nic Nicosia. Fee: $35; members $30
for three images. For prospectus, send SASE to Visual
Arts Society of Texas, PO Box 1281, Denton 76202;
[email protected]; www.vastarts.org.
Oregon, Portland Call for Exhibition Proposals for
2008–2009. Contact Arthur DeBow, Oregon College
of Art and Craft, Hoffman Gallery, 8245 SW Barnes
Rd., Portland 97225; [email protected].
January 4, 2008 entry deadline
Colorado, Carbondale “Clay Tablets: Text and Images in Clay” (February 1–29, 2008), open to sculptural
and functional ceramics that incorporate text with images. For prospectus, e-mail [email protected].
Contact Carbondale Clay Center, 135 Main St., Carbondale 81623; www.carbondaleclay.org.
Ohio, Rocky River Call for Solo and Small Group
Exhibition Proposals for 2008–2009. Contact River
Gallery, Attn: Gallery Manager, 19046 Old Detroit
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call for entries
Rd., Rocky River 44116; [email protected];
www.rivergalleryarts.com; (440) 331-8406.
California, Lincoln “Feats of Clay XXI” (April
26–May 25, 2008), open to artists working in the
United States, Mexico and Canada. Juried from digital
and slides. Entry fee: $15 for one entry; $25 for two;
$30 for three. For prospectus, send SASE to Lincoln
Arts, 580 6th St., Lincoln 95648; www.lincolnarts.org;
(916) 645-9713.
March 1, 2008 entry deadline
North Carolina, Charlotte “Teapot Forms 2008: A
Juried Exhibition” (June 13–August 13, 2008). Juried
from digital and slides. No entry fee. Contact Heather
Andreas, RedSky Gallery, 1244 E. Blvd., Charlotte 28203;
[email protected]; www.redskygallery.com; (704)
377-6400.
regional exhibitions
Indiana, Indianapolis “Interpretations of the
Figure 2007” (February 18–March 14, 2008), open
to residents of IL, IN, KY, MI and OH. Jurors: Dept. of
Art and Design Faculty, University of Indianapolis. Fee:
$20 for three entries. Contact Art and Design, 1400 E.
Hanna Ave., Indianapolis 46227; http://art.uindy.edu;
(317) 788-3253.
Arizona, Tucson “Abstractions” (March 1–23,
2008), open to artists residing in AZ, CA, CO, NM, NV
TX and UT. Juried from digital. Fee: $15 for three entries;
$5 for each additional entry. Contact Deborah Tansey,
Mountain Shadow Gallery, 3001 E. Skyline Dr., #109,
Tucson 85718; [email protected];
www.mountainshadowgallery.com; (520) 577-6301.
California, Pomona “Ink and Clay 33” (March 20–
May 3, 2008), open to residents of AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID,
MT, ND, NM, NV, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA and WY. Juried
from digital and slides. Jurors: Darrel Couturier and Mark
Steven Greenfield. Fee: $20. Contact Kellogg Art Gallery,
California State Polytechnic University, 3801 W. Temple
Ave., Pomona 91768; [email protected];
www.csupomona.edu/~kellogg_gallery.
Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh “Echoes from the Rustbelt:
An Exhibit of Cleveland and Pittsburgh Artists” (March
19–April 10, 2008), open to artists living within 150
miles of Cleveland, OH and Pittsburgh, PA with work
that addresses the long history of the steel industry
on the city. Juried from digital and proposals. Fee:
$15. Contact Northern Ohio Clay, 3821 Highland Rd.,
Cleveland, OH 44111; [email protected];
(216) 579-9263; (216) 523-1387.
West Virginia, Morgantown “The Four States Ceramic Exhibition” (March 3–April 11, 2008), open to
residents of MD, OH, PA and WV. Juried from digital
and slides. Jurors: Bob Anderson and Shoji Satake.
Fee: $15 for three entries. Contact ZENCLAY Studio
and Galleries, 2862 University Ave., Morgantown
26505; [email protected]; www.zenclay.com; (304)
599-7687.
California, Davis “2008 California Clay Competition” (April 25–June 6, 2008), open to California artists.
Juried from digital. Juror: Sandy Simon. For prospectus,
visit www.artery.coop.
Texas, Houston “Craft Texas 2008” (May 24–August 17, 2008), open to artists residing in TX working
in clay, fiber, glass, metal, wood and found/recycled
materials. Houston Center for Contemporary Craft,
4848 Main St., Houston 77002. Apply online at
www.callforentry.org.
fairs and festivals
Maryland, Bethesda “5th Annual Bethesda Fine
Arts Festival” (May 10–11, 2008), open to fine arts
and crafts. Juried from digital and slides. Application
fee: $30. Booth fees: $400–$800. Contact Bethesda
Fine Arts Festival, c/o Bethesda Urban Partnership, 7700 Old Georgetown Rd., Bethesda 20814;
[email protected]; www.bethesda.org; (301)
718-9651.
Wisconsin, Cambridge “17th Annual Cambridge
Pottery Festival and U.S. Pottery Games” (June 14–15,
2008). Juried from digital and slides. Jury fee: $25.
Entry fee: $275. Contact CPF, PO Box 393, Cambridge
53523; www.cambridgepotteryfestival.org.
Kansas, Salina “Smoky Hill River Festival Four Rivers Craft Market Show” (June 13–15, 2008), open to
traditional and contemporary craft and folk art. Awards:
$1800. Contact Salina Arts and Humanities Commission,
PO Box 2181, Salina 67402; [email protected];
www.riverfestival.com; (785) 309-5770.
Kansas, Salina “Smoky Hill River Festival Fine Art/Fine
Craft Show” (June 14–15, 2008), open to all media.
Awards: $7900, $100,000. Contact Salina Arts and
Humanities Commission, PO Box 2181, Salina 67402;
[email protected]; www.riverfestival.com;
(785) 309-5770.
April 15, 2008 entry deadline
Washington, Bellevue “Bellevue Arts Museum
ArtFair” (July 25–27, 2008). Apply online after November 15 at www.zapplication.org. Contact Bellevue
Arts Museum, 510 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue 98004;
www.bellevuearts.org.
May 1, 2008 entry deadline
Illinois, Skokie “Skokie Art Guild 47th Annual
Art Fair ‘08” (July 12–13, 2008). Juried from slides
or photos. Fee: $125; members, $100. For prospectus, e-mail [email protected]. Contact Skokie Art
Guild, 6704 N. Trumball Ave., Lincolnwood, IL 60712;
www.skokienet.org; (847) 677-8163.
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new books
Slipcasting
Second Edition
by Sasha Wardell
Originally published in 1997, this second
edition of Slipcasting has been updated to include
color photographs and a revised and expanded
chapter on individual approaches by a new group
of well-known, contemporary artists.
Best known as one of the most widely used
industrial ceramic techniques, slipcasting has
become increasingly attractive to individual artists
and craftspersons. Part of the Ceramics Handbook
series, this book is a practical guide for those interested in the technique. It
contains more than one
hundred color illustrations, diagrams and slip
formulas. Aside from
the introductory text
for each chapter, which
explains what will be
covered in the chapter,
much of the text is carried
over from the first edition. 144 pages including
preface, acknowledgments, introduction, appendix,
glossary, bibliography, suppliers and index. 100
color photographs. Softcover, $27.50 (£18.00).
ISBN U.S. 978-0-8122-1998-2. ISBN U.K.
978-0-7136-7672-3. Published in the U.S. by University of Pennsylvania Press, 3905 Spruce St., Philadelphia, PA 19104-4112; www.upenn.edu/pennpress;
[email protected]; Published in the U.K.
by A&C Black, 38 Soho Sq., London, W1D 3HB;
www.acblack.com.
A Simple Life
A Story of Sid Oakley
by Kathy Norcross Watts
This book is part biography and part diary. It tells
the story of a friendship that grew between the late
Sid Oakley and the author as she documented his
story. When she first began to meet with Oakley,
he gave her a directive she wasn’t sure if she could
meet. He shared with her the story of Mildred, a
little girl who was sent home from his childhood
school because she was
black. She was then sent
away from the white family
she had been born into,
and Oakley never saw her
again. He had never forgotten Mildred and asked
Watts to find her. A Simple
Life chronicles not only
Watts’ search for Mildred,
but also gives insight into
Oakley’s generous and compassionate nature and
the impact he had on her.
150 pages including acknowledgments, prologue and list of resources. Softcover, $16.95. ISBN
978-0-6151-4476-4. Published by Winterberry Press,
4440 Winterberry Ridge Court, Winston Salem, NC
27103; [email protected]; or tel (919)
691-4451.
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calendar
Conferences, Exhibitions, Workshops, Fairs
conferences
Alabama, Tuscaloosa February 8–10, 2008 “23rd
Alabama Clay Conference,” includes lectures, exhibitions and demonstrations by Ching-Yuen, Jason Briggs
and Curtis Benzle. Fees: $135; after December 30,
$160; student rates available. For more information,
visit www.alclayconference.org.
Arkansas, Fayetteville January 31–February
2, 2008 “Crafting Content: Ceramic Symposium
2008,” includes panel discussions and lectures with
Tanya Batura, David East, Jeannie Hulen, Nicholas
Kripal, John Perreault, Jeanne Quinn and Benjamin
Schulman. Contact Jeannie Hulen, University of
Arkansas, 116 Fine Arts Center, Fayetteville 72701;
[email protected]; http://art.uark.edu/ceramics/info;
(479) 575-2008.
Illinois, Chicago November 2–4 “SOFA Chicago
2007,” includes lectures and exhibitions. Festival
Hall, Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave., Chicago, IL
60611; www.sofaexpo.com; [email protected];
800.563.7632 or 773.506.8860.
Maryland, Baltimore February 21–23, 2008
“Synergy I: Moving Forward/Looking Back,” includes
panels and seminars with Robert Dancik, Jeffrey Lloyd
Dever, Kathleen Dustin, Carol Duval, Tim McCreight
and Cynthia Tinapple. For more information, visit
www.npcg.org.
Virginia, Sweet Briar May 30–June 1, 2008
“Community of Fire: Getting It Right...Passing
It On,” includes speakers Svend Beyer, Robert
submit listings at www.ceramicsmonthly.org
Compton, Kevin Crowe, Vicky Hansen, Mark
Hewitt, Micki Schloesingk and Jack Troy. Contact Kevin Crowe; [email protected];
www.kevincrowepottery.com; (434) 263-4065.
solo exhibitions
Arizona, Tempe through January 6, 2008 “Following the Rhythms of Life: The Ceramic Art of David
Shaner”; at Ceramics Research Center, ASU Art
Museum, NE corner of 10th St. and Mill Ave.
California, Berkeley through November 18 Tim
Rowan, “Wood-fired Clay.” November 23–December
24 Sandy Simon, “Expressions in Green and White”;
at TRAX Gallery, 1812 5th St.
California, Los Angeles through December
30 “Eva Zeisel: Extraordinary Designer at 100”;
at Los Angeles Craft and Folk Art Museum, 5814
Wilshire Blvd.
California, Pomona December 8–February 23,
2008 “Ohr Rising: The Emergence of an American
Master”; at AMOCA, 340 S. Garey Ave.
California, San Francisco November 14–27
Paul Wisotzky; at Ruby’s Clay Studio and Gallery,
552A Noe St.
Delaware, Wilmington through November 4
Dale Shuffler, “Symbiosis”; at Delaware Center for
the Contemporary Arts, 200 S. Madison St.
Florida, West Palm Beach November 8–December
22 “Christine Federighi: Sphere of Influence”; at
Armory Art Center, 1700 Parker Ave.
Illinois, Chicago through November 5 Ruth
Borgenicht, “Forrestal Village”; at Dubhe Carreño,
1841 S. Halsted St.
through December 1 Georgette Ore, “Rascal Ware”;
at I-Space Gallery, 230 W. Superior #2.
Illinois, Glencoe November 2–30 Sussi Goldstien;
at Gallery 659, 659 Vernon Ave.
Indiana, Indianapolis through November 16
Linda Arbuckle, “Majolica Tradition”; at Brickyard
Ceramics and Crafts, 6060 Guion Rd.
Massachusetts, Boston through November
26 “The Sacred Deed: The Art of Brother Thomas
(1929–2007)”; at Pucker Gallery, 171 Newbury St.
Massachusetts, Northampton through November 18 Sequoia Miller; at The Artisan Gallery,
162 Main St.
Minnesota, Marshall through December 1
Craig Edwards, “Anagama: Out of the Ancient
Furnace”; at Marshall Area Fine Art Center Gallery,
109 N. 3rd St.
Missouri, Kansas City November 1–December
1 Linda Christianson; at Red Star Studios, 821 W.
17th St.
through November 10 Jun Kaneko; at Sherry Leedy
Contemporary Art, 2004 Baltimore Ave.
Missouri, Sedalia through January 27, 2008 Peter
Callas, “Sparks”; at Daum Museum of Contemporary
Art, 3201 W. 16th St.
New Jersey, Clinton November 18–January 6,
2008 “Shellie Jacobson: Clay and Paper”; at Hunterdon Museum of Art, 7 Lower Center St.
New York, New York through December 1 Eva
Hild; at Nancy Margolis Gallery, 523 W. 25th St.
November 9–December 21 Stacy Cushman; at
Jane Hartsook Gallery, Greenwich House Pottery,
16 Jones St.
North Carolina, Raleigh through December 20
“Making the Mold, Breaking the Mold: The Art of
Tom Spleth”; at Gregg Museum of Art and Design,
NC State University, 3302 Talley Student Center,
2610 Cates Ave.
North Carolina, Seagrove through November
24 Hitomi Shibata, “Hitomi’s Farewell.” November
30–March 28, 2008 “Wood Fired Elegance: The
Work of Donna Craven”; at North Carolina Pottery
Center, 250 E. Ave.
North Dakota, Grand Forks through January
20, 2008 “Warren Mackenzie: Legacy of an American Potter”; at North Dakota Museum of Art, 261
Centennial Dr.
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calendar
solo exhibitions
Ohio, Columbus November 9–December 3 Jack
Earl. December 1–31 John Balistreri; at Sherrie Gallerie, 694 N. High St.
Ohio, Zanesville through January 1, 2008 “The
Hand of Toshiko Takaezu”; at Zanesville Art Center,
620 Military Rd.
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia November 2–December 2 Naomi Cleary, “New Work”; at The Clay
Studio, 139 N. 2nd St.
December 7–January 26, 2008 Karen Shapiro; at
Works Gallery, 303 Cherry St.
Pennsylvania, Scranton through December 14
“Ceramics of Jack Troy”; at Suraci Gallery, Marywood
University, 2300 Adams Ave.
South Carolina, Rock Hill through November
23 Shane Mickey; at Gallery at Gettys, 201 E. Main
St., Suite 207.
Texas, Houston through November 24 Wesley
Anderegg, “Exit Stage Left”; at Goldesberry Gallery,
2625 Colquitt.
Washington, Seattle through November 10
Kensuke Yamada, “Yamadaville”; at Catherine Person
Gallery, 319 Third Ave. S.
group ceramics exhibitions
Alaska, Anchorage through December 30 “From
the Fire: Contemporary Korean Ceramics”; at Anchorage Museum of History and Art, 121 W. 7th Ave.
Arizona, Surprise November 9–January 6, 2008
“Annual All Arizona Ceramic Exhibition”; at West
Valley Art Museum, 17420 N. Ave. of the Arts.
California, Davis through December 1 Lisa
Clague, Patrick Dullanty and Arthur González; at
John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 First St.
California, Half Moon November 7–December
5 “Three Women Artists: Patricia Dailey, Kendra K.
Davis and Becky Maddalena”; at Coastal Art League,
300 Main St.
California, Los Angeles through January 27, 2008
“Zulu Fire: Ardmore Ceramics from South Africa”; at
Craft and Folk Art Museum, 5814 Wilshire Blvd.
California, Pasadena through November 24
“Clay: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth”; at Xiem Clay
Center, 1563 N. Lake Ave.
California, Pomona through November 24 “Form
and Imagination: Women Ceramic Sculptors”; at
AMOCA, 340 S. Garey Ave.
California, San Francisco November 28–January
10, 2008 “Holiday Show and Sale”; at Ruby’s Clay
Studio and Gallery, 552A Noe St.
California, Santa Barbara through November 10
“Figurative Connections,” works by Laura Langley
and Nina de Creeft Ward; at The Arts Fund Gallery,
205C Santa Barbara St.
D.C., Washington through November 4 “Parades:
Freer Ceramics,” installed by Gwyn Hanssen Pigott;
at Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Jefferson Dr. at 12th St., SW.
through November 15 “Moieties,” works by Nila
Kagan, Elizabeth Kendall and Judit Varga; at Cross
Mackenzie Ceramic Arts, 1054 31st St. NW.
Georgia, Decatur through November 17 “Asheville in Atlanta 2007,” works by William Baker, Kyle
Carpenter, Emily Reason and Akira Satake. December
1–23 “MudFire Holiday Pottery Show”; at MudFire
Gallery, 175 Laredo Dr.
Illinois, Chicago through November 8 “Naked
Clay”; at Artisan Gallery at Woman Made, 685
Milwaukee Ave.
through November 17 Bean Finneran and Julie
York; at Perimeter Gallery, Inc., 210 W. Superior St.
Illinois, Glencoe December 7–31 “Off the Wall,”
works by Layana Portugal, Sussi Goldstien, Vicki
Schwartz-Minded, Pamela Louik, Calvin Saravis and
Leslie Pommerance; at Gallery 659, 659 Vernon Ave.
Illinois, Oak Park through November 14 Karl
Borgeson and Robert Briscoe; at Terra Incognito
Studios and Gallery, 246 Chicago Ave.
Indiana, Fort Wayne through November 4 “Innovation and Change: Great Ceramics from the Ceramics
Research Center, ASU Museum Collection”; at Fort
Wayne Museum of Art, 311 E. Main St.
Indiana, Indianapolis through November 16
“Majolica Tradition”; at AMACO/Brent Contemporary
Clay Gallery, 6060 Guion Rd.
Indiana, Lafayette through November 17 “Fifty
American Potters: From the Ceramics Collection of
Bruno and Mary Moser”; at Art Museum of Greater
Lafayette, 102 S. 10th St.
Iowa, Iowa City through November 2 “New
Work: John Neely, Steve Hansen and Jim Gottuso.”
November 16–December 7 “30 x 5 2007,” works by
thirty artists; at AKAR, 257 E. Iowa Ave.
Kansas, Lawrence through November 28 “National Juried Ceramics Exhibition”; at Lawrence Arts
Center, 940 New Hampshire.
Louisiana, Lafayette through December 29 “Survey of Newcomb Pottery”; at Paul and Lulu Hilliard
Art Museum, University of Louisiana at Lafayette,
710 E. Saint Mary Blvd.
Maine, Portland through November 30 “Tankards
and Beer Steins”; at Maine Potters Market, Pottery
Cooperative, 376 Fore St.
Maryland, Baltimore through November 10
“RED.” November 17–December 22 “Winterfest
2007”; at Baltimore Clayworks, 5707 Smith Ave.
Maryland, Bethesda through November 3 “Hand
and Wheel: Purposeful Pots,” works by Mary Bowron
and Jill Hinckley; at Creative Partners Gallery, 4600
East West Hwy.
Massachusetts, Brockton through January 6,
2008 “Ceramic Sculpture: Fire and Ash,” works by
Joy Brown, Chris Gustin, Karen Karnes, Don Reitz,
Tim Rowan, Jeff Shapiro and Malcolm Wright; at
Fuller Craft Museum, 455 Oak St.
Massachusetts, Concord through November
12 “Form + Abstraction,” works by Pete Beasecker,
Josephine Burr, Anne Currier, Lynn Duryea, Steve
Heinemann, Mark Pharis, Tim Rowan, Mary Roehm
and Karen Swyler; at Lacoste Gallery, 25 Main St.
Massachusetts, Northampton through December 31 “The Tea Party Revisited: Focus on Function”;
at Pinch, 179 Main St.
Michigan, Detroit through December 31 “Albert
Kahn & Pewabic Pottery”; at Pewabic Pottery, 10125
E. Jefferson Ave.
Michigan, Kalamazoo through November 25
“Silk Road to Clipper Ship: Trade, Changing Markets
and East Asian Ceramics”; at Kalamazoo Institute of
Arts, 314 S. Park St.
Michigan, Royal Oak November 10–December 15
“Steeped in Tradition” 20th Annual Teapot Exhibition;
at Ariana Gallery, 119 S. Main St.
Minnesota, Minneapolis through November 4
“Eat With Your Eyes.” “Panoramic Fusion: Nicolas
Darcourt and Jonathan Bridges”; at Northern Clay
Center, 2424 Franklin Ave. E.
Missouri, Maryville November 5–December 7
“Drawing with/in/on clay”; at Olive DeLuce Fine
Arts Gallery, Northwest Missouri State University,
800 University Dr.
Missouri, St. Louis through November 24 “90*
Teapots (*more or less)”; at Xen Gallery, 401 N.
Euclid Ave.
Montana, Helena November 16–December 22
“Archie Bray Holiday Exhibition and Sale,” works
by Jennifer Allen, Renee Audette, Birdie Boone,
Nicolas Darcourt, Donna Flanery, Steven Young Lee,
Paul Maseyk, David Peters and Brian Rochefort; at
Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, 2915
Country Club Ave.
Montana, Red Lodge through December 2
“Focused Function”; at Red Lodge Clay Center,
123 S. Broadway.
New Mexico, Santa Fe through November
24 “Collaborative Vessels,” works by Jean-Pierre
Larocque, Tony Marsh and Sun Koo Yuh. “For the
Table.” November 30–December 29 “Atmospheric
Pots,” works by Wayne Branum, Suze Lindsay, Will
Ruggles and Douglas Rankin; at Santa Fe Clay, 1615
Paseo de Peralta.
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calendar
group exhibitions
New York, Brooklyn November 1–December
15 “Encore +,” works by Cindy Billingsley, Steven
Grimmer, Gloria Kennedy, Robert Leland, Dale Lerner,
Rene Murray, Sam Scott and Etta Winigrad; at Gloria
Kennedy Gallery, 111 Front St. Gallery 222.
New York, Cazenovia through November 17
“Bowled Over”; at the Chameleon Gallery, 53
Albany St.
New York, Hudson through November 24 “A
Show of Heads”; at Limner Gallery, 123 Warren St.
New York, New York November 15–February
11, 2008 “Fragile Diplomacy: Meissen Porcelain for
European Courts”; at The Bard Graduate Center,
Studies in Decorative Arts, Design and Culture, 18
W. 86th St.
New York, Port Chester November 3–24 “Home
Again: CAC Past Residents”; at Clay Art Center, 40
Beech St.
North Carolina, Asheville through January 19,
2008 “Breaking New Ground: The Studio Potter and
Black Mountain College”; at Black Mountain College
Museum and Arts Center, 56 Broadway.
through January 13, 2008 “Western North Carolina
Pottery: The Rodney Henderson Leftwich Collection”;
at Folk Art Center, MP 382 Blue Ridge Pkwy.
North Carolina, Creedmoor through November
18 “A Rich History: 40 Years of Cedar Creek Resident
Artists”; at Cedar Creek Gallery, 1150 Fleming Rd.
North Carolina, Seagrove through November 24
“Johnston and Jones,” works by Daniel Johnston and
Mark Jones. November 30–March 28, 2008 “Sixteen
Hands: Neighbors to the North,” works by Silvie
Granatelli, Richard Hensley, Donna Polseno, Ellen
Shankin and Stacy Snyder; at North Carolina Pottery
Center, 250 E. Ave.
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia through November 24 “Danish Ceramics”; at Works Gallery, 303
Cherry St.
November 2–December 2 “Matt Metz and Linda
Sikora: New Work.” “Gifted: The Clay Studio’s Annual
Holiday Exhibition.” December 7–30 “Gifted Too!”;
at The Clay Studio, 139 N. 2nd St.
Texas, Lubbock December 1–February 17, 2008
“Clay on the Wall: 2007 Clay National”; at Texas Tech
School of Art, Landmark Arts, 18th St. at Flint Ave.
Texas, San Antonio through November 4 “Multiplicity: Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture,” works
by Shawn Busse, Marek Cecula, Bean Finneran, Kay
Hwang, Denise Pelletier, Jeanne Quinn, Gregory
Roberts and Juana Valdes; at Southwest School of
Art and Craft, 300 Augusta.
Virgin Island, St. Thomas through November 25
“FireWorks: A Caribbean All Clay Show”; at Tillett
Gallery, 4126 Anna’s Retreat.
Wisconsin, Belleville through November 21
“New Work by Bacia Edelman and Andree Valley”;
at Zazen Gallery, 6896 Paoli Rd.
ceramics in multimedia
exhibitions
Alabama, Birmingham through December 30
“Alabama Folk Art”; at the Birmingham Museum of
Art, Young & Vann Bldg., 1731 1st Ave. N.
Alabama, Huntsville through November 4 “The
Red Clay Survey: 2007 Exhibition of Contemporary
Southern Art”; at Huntsville Museum of Art, 300
Church St., S.
California, San Diego through January 27, 2008
“Craft in America”; at Mingei International Museum,
1439 El Prado.
California, San Francisco through January 13,
2008 “The Diane and Sandy Besser Collection”; at
the de Young Museum, Golden Gate Park.
California, San Jose November 2–December 23
“ACGA Holiday Exhibition and Sale”; at Art Object
Gallery, 592 N. 5th St.
California, San Rafael November 7–December 6
“Conscious Concepts: Master Annual Exhibition of
Baulines Craft Guild,” including ceramics by Bonita
Cohn, Susannah Israel, Catherine Merrill, Bev Prevost
and Jan Schachter; at ArtWorks Downtown Gallery,
1337 4th St.
California, Ventura through November 25 “Art &
Soul: Arte y Alma”; at Museum of Ventura County,
100 E. Main St.
Colorado, Denver through January 6, 2008 “Artisans and Kings: Selected Treasures from the Louvre”;
at Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14 Ave. Pkwy.
Massachusetts, Brockton through January 6, 2008
“Pulp Fiction”; at Fuller Craft Museum, 455 Oak St.
Minnesota, St. Paul through November 10
“Landscape/Earthscape,” including ceramics by
Samuel Johnson; at The Grand Hand Gallery, 619
Grand Ave.
Nebraska, Lincoln through November 2 “The
Art of Fine Craft Regional Juried Exhibition”; at Lux
Center for the Arts, 2601 N. 48th St.
New York, Long Island through November 12
“Point of Departure”; at Dean Project, 45-43 21st St.
New York, New York November 8–March 9, 2008
“Cheers! A MAD Collection of Goblets”; at Museum
of Art and Design, 40 W. 53rd St.
New York, White Plains through December 7
“Westchester Art Workshop 2007 Faculty Exhibition”;
at Westchester Art Workshop, 196 Central Ave.
North Carolina, Charlotte through December
2 “Point of View IV: Windgate Charitable Foundation”; at Mint Museum of Craft and Design, 220
N. Tryon St.
Ohio, Columbus November 11–December 23
“Gifts of the Craftsmen”; at Ohio Craft Museum,
1665 W. Fifth Ave.
Pennsylvania, Wayne November 30–February
1, 2008 “Craft Forms 2007”; at Wayne Art Center,
413 Maplewood Ave.
Pennsylvania, West Chester November 9–December 8 “Down to Earth”; at The Arts Scene, 530
E. Union.
Vermont, Bennington through November 17
“Complementary Visions: Greg Winterhalter and Ray
Bub”; at Bennington Museum, 75 Main St.
fairs, festivals and sales
Arizona, Prescott November 23–24 “Prescott
Area Arts and Humanities Council Open Studios.”
For more information, call (928) 443-9723.
California, Norwalk December 2 “Annual Student Art Sale”; at Student Center, Cerritos College,
11110 Alondra Blvd.
California, Palo Alto November 10–11 “Orchard
Valley Ceramic Arts Guild’s 2007 Art in Clay Sale”;
at Lucie Stern Community Center, Ballroom, 1305
Middlefield Rd.
California, San Diego November 10–11 “San
Diego Potters Guild Sale”; at Balboa Park’s Spanish Village.
November 23–25 “5th Annual San Diego Arts
Festival”; at San Diego Convention Center, 111 W.
Harbor Dr.
California, San Francisco November 24–25,
December 1–2 “The Women’s Building 29th Annual
Celebration of Craftswomen”; at Herbst Pavilion, Fort
Mason Center, Buchanan St. and Marina Blvd.
California, Santa Monica November 2–4 “Contemporary Crafts Market”; at Santa Monica Civic
Auditorium, 1855 Main St.
Colorado, Longmont November 8–11 “The Boulder Potters’ Guild Holiday Sale”; at Boulder County
Fairgrounds, Nelson and Hover Rds.
Connecticut, Hartford November 9–11 “Sugarloaf Crafts Festivals”; at Connecticut Expo Center,
265 Reverend Moody Overpass.
Connecticut, Middletown November 24–December 15 “52nd Annual Exhibit and Sale”; at Wesleyan
Potters, 350 S. Main St.
Connecticut, South Windsor December 1–2, 8–9
“Greenleaf Pottery 32nd Holiday Open Studio”; at
Greenleaf Pottery, 240 Chapel Rd.
Connecticut, Westport November 17–18 “32nd
Annual Westport Creative Arts Festival”; at Staples
High School, 70 N. Ave.
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D.C., Washington November 30–December 2
“2007 Washington Craft Show”; at Washington
Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place NW.
Florida, St. Petersburg November 17-18
“CraftArt 2007”; at St. Petersburg Coliseum, 535
4th Ave. N.
Florida, Sarasota November 30–December 2 “The
American Craft Show”; at Sarasota Bradenton International Convention Center, 8005 15th St. E.
Georgia, Decatur November 23–December 23
“MudFire’s 5th Annual Holiday Studio Sale”; at
MudFire Gallery, 175 Laredo Dr.
Georgia, Watkinsville December 1–2 “Wolf
Creek Pottery Sale: 3 Potters, 5 Dogs and 2 Gates”;
at Wolf Creek Pottery, 1500 Tappan Spur Rd. For more
information, visit www.brookecassady.com.
Indiana, Bloomington November 2–3 “Local
Clay Potters’ Guild 10th Annual Holiday Pottery
Show and Sale”; at St. Mark’s Methodist Church,
100 N. Hwy. 46 Bypass.
Indiana, Indianapolis November 17–18 “19th
Annual Winterfair”; at Indiana State Fairgrounds.
Kentucky, Covington November 23–25 “29th
Annual Winterfair”; at Northern Kentucky Convention Center, One W. Rivercenter Blvd.
Maine, Portland December 14–16 “16th Annual
Holiday Sale”; at Portland Pottery and Metalsmithing
Studio, 118 Washington Ave.
Maryland, Annapolis November 17–18 “Annapolis Pottery Trail.” For more information, visit
www.pottersguildofannapolis.com/potterytrail.
Maryland, Gaithersburg November 16–18
“Sugarloaf Crafts Festival”; at Montgomery County
Fairgrounds, 16 Chestnut St.
Massachusetts, Boston November 2–4 “21st
Annual Christmas Festival”; at Seaport World Trade
Center, 200 Seaport Blvd.
November 29–December 2 “Crafts at the Castle”;
at Hynes Convention Center, Exhibit Hall B, 900
Boylston St.
Minnesota, Champlin November 3 “Fall Arts and
Crafts Show”; at Champlin Park High School, 109th
Ave. and Douglas Dr.
Minnesota, Minneapolis November 2–4 “Art
Attack 2007”; at Northrup King Building, 1500
Jackson St. NE.
Mississippi, Jackson December 1–2 “Chimneyville
Crafts Festival”; at Mississippi Trade Mart. For more
information, visit www.mscraftsmensguild.org.
Missouri, Kansas City December 7–9 “Annual
Holiday Sale”; at Red Star Studios, 821 W. 17th St.
Missouri, St. Louis November 24–25 “Annual
Fall Student/Faculty Craft Sale”; at Craft Alliance,
6640 Delmar Blvd.
New Mexico, Albuquerque November 30–December 2 “8th Annual Rio Grande Arts and Crafts Festival Holiday Show”; at Expo NM–State Fairgrounds,
Manuel Lujan Exhibit Bldg.
New Mexico, Santa Fe November 11–12 “Eighth
NMPCA Contemporary Clay Fair”; at Santa Fe
Women’s Club, 1616 Old Pecos Trail.
New York, New York November 29–December 1
“Artworks Holiday Exhibition”; at West Side YMCA,
5 W. 63 St.
November 30–December 2 “Crafts at the Cathedral”; at Synod House, 1047 Amsterdam Ave.
New York, Stony Brook November 10–11 “12th
Autumn Art and Craft Festival”; at Stony Brook
University Sports Complex Arena.
New York, Syracuse November 30–December 2
“Holiday Art and Craft Spectacular”; at New York
State Fairgrounds.
North Carolina, Charlotte November 2–4 “The
American Craft Show”; at Charlotte Convention
Center, 501 S. College St.
North Carolina, Colfax November 3 “4th Annual
Southern Heritage Pottery and Folk Art Show”; Girl
Scout Learning Center, 1203 Frances Daily Ct.
North Carolina, Greensboro November 2–4
“Holiday Market.” November 23-25 “Craftsmen’s
Christmas Classic Arts and Crafts Festival”; at
Greensboro Coliseum Complex, Special Events Center,
1921 W. Lee St.
North Carolina, Marion December 1 “21st
Appalachian Potters Market”; at McDowell High
School, 334 S. Main St.
North Carolina, Raleigh November 23–25 “Carolina Designer Craftsmen 38th Annual Fine Craft and
Design Show”; at Exposition Center, North Carolina
State Fairgrounds, 1025 Blue Ridge Rd.
North Carolina, Winston-Salem November
17–18 “Piedmont Craftsmen’s 44th Fair”; at Benton
Convention Center, 301 W. Fifth St.
November 29–December 2, December 6–9 “Deck
the Halls: A Sale of Fine Arts and Crafts”; at Sawtooth
Center for Visual Arts, 226 N. Marshall St., Suite D.
Ohio, Cleveland December 8–9 “Cleveland By
Hand”; at I-X Center, One I-X Center Dr.
Ohio, Columbus November 3–4 “Offinger’s
Handcrafted Marketplace”; at Ohio Exposition Center,
Celeste Center, 717 E. 17th Ave.
November 29–December 2 “31st Annual Winterfair”; at Ohio Exposition Center, Ohio State
Fairgrounds, 717 E. 17th Ave.
Oregon, Medford November 16-18 “Clayfolk
Pottery Show and Sale”; at Medford Armory, 1701
S. Pacific Hwy.
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia November 8–11
“Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show”; at Pennsylvania Convention Center, 1101 Arch St.
South Carolina, Columbia November 16–18
“Craftsmen’s Christmas Classic Arts and Crafts Festival”; at SC State Fairgrounds, Cantey and Ellison
Bldgs., 1200 Rosewood Dr.
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South Carolina, North Charleston November
9–11 “Craftsmen’s Christmas Classic Arts and Crafts
Festival”; at Charleston Coliseum, Convention Center,
5001 Coliseum Dr.
Texas, Dallas December 7–9 “The Randy Brodnax Show”; at Sons of Herman Hall, 3414 Elm St.
at Exposition.
Texas, Denison November 3–4 “Denison
2007 Fall Art Tour.” For more information, visit
www.smalltownbigart.com.
Virginia, Blacksburg November 9–11 “YMCA
Craft Fair 2007”; at University Mall. For more information, visit www.vtymca.org.
Virginia, Chantilly November 9–11 “14th Annual Northern Virginia Christmas Market”; at the
Dulles Expo Center, South Hall, 4368 Chantilly
Shopping Center.
December 7–9 “Sugarloaf Crafts Festival.”
January 25–27, 2008 “Sugarloaf Crafts Festival”;
at the Dulles Expo Center, 4320 Chantilly Shopping Center.
Virginia, Leesburg December 1, 8, 15, 22 “7th
Annual Winter Sale”; at Glenfiddich Farm Pottery,
17642 Canby Rd.
Virginia, Richmond November 1–4 “22nd Virginia Christmas Show”; at The Showplace Exhibition
Center, 3000 Mechanicsville Turnpike.
Virginia, Virginia Beach November 23–25 “26th
Annual Virginia Beach Christmas Market”; at Virginia
Beach Convention Center, 1000 19th St.
workshops
Arizona, Tucson November 10, 17 “Sculpting the
Human Head and Shoulders” with Jim Jones. Fee:
$70. Contact Jan Bell, Southern Arizona Clay Artists;
[email protected]; (520) 326-6709.
California, Mendocino November 10–11
“Memory Masks” with Gina Lawson-Egan. November
17–18 “Inventive Imagery: Wheel Throwing with
Image Transfer” with Forrest Lesch-Middleton. Fee:
$175; members, $150. Contact Mendocino Art
Center, 45200 Little Lake St., Mendocino 95460;
www.mendocinoartcenter.org; (707) 937-5818.
California, Santa Clara November 2–4 “Portrait
Sculpting Workshop” with Philippe Faraut. Fee: $450.
Contact Clay Planet, 1775 Russell Ave., Santa Clara
95054; www.clay-planet.com; (408) 295-3352.
California, Sunnyvale February 2–3, 2008 “China
Painting with Water-Based Mediums” with Paul Lewing. Contact Orchard Valley Ceramic Arts Guild, PO
Box 71046, Sunnyvale 94086; [email protected];
www.ovcag.org; (866) 841-9139, ext. 1075.
Connecticut, Middlebury November 3 “Thrive
Not Merely Survive: Marketing for Studio Professionals” with Bruce Baker. Fee: $75. November 10–11
“Throwing Ovals and Squares” with Jules Polk. Fee:
$154. Contact Frog Hollow, One Mill St., Middlebury
05753; www.froghollow.org; (802) 388-3177.
Georgia, Decatur November 9–11 “Dreaming
in Clay with Metal” with Lisa Clague. Fee: $295.
Contact MudFire Clayworks, 175 Laredo Dr., Decatur
30030; [email protected]; (404) 377-8033.
Illinois, Chicago November 17 “Akio Takamori
Workshop.” Free lecture to follow workshop. Contact
Lillstreet Art Center, 4401 N. Ravenswood, Chicago
60640; [email protected]; www.lillstreet.com;
(773) 769-4226.
Illinois, Oak Park November 3 Workshop with
Robert Briscoe and Karl Borgenson. Fee: $100.
Contact Terra Studios and Gallery, 246 Chicago Ave.,
Oak Park 60302; www.terraincognitostudios.com;
(708) 383-6228.
Indiana, Lafayette November 2–4 Workshop
with John Glick. Fee: $80; students, $40, includes
guest lecture by Dick Lehman, “Japanese Influence
on American Ceramics: A Personal Narrative.”
Contact Art Museum of Greater Lafayette, 102 S.
10th St., Lafayette 47905; www.artlafayette.org;
(765) 742-1128.
Kansas, Hays November 8–9 “Patti Warashina
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workshops
Workshop.” Fee: $100. Contact Linda Ganstrom;
(785) 628-4273.
Maine, Portland November 6 Kiln Repair with
Portland Pottery. Fee: $25. November 10 “Pouring Vessels and Glaze Formulas” with Woody
Hughes. Fee: $60. Contact Chris Bruni, Portland
Pottery & Metalsmithing Studio, 118 Washington
Ave., Portland 04101; www.portlandpottery.com;
(207) 772-4334.
Maryland, Frederick November 2–4 “Ceramic
Sculpture and Paper Clay,” with Ian Gregory. Fee:
$300. November 8–11 “Properties of Glaze,” with
Phil Berneburg. Fee: $300. November 17–18 “Plates
and Platters” with Joyce Michaud. January 12-13,
2008 “Electric Kiln” with Phil Berneburg. Fee (unless
noted above): $175. Contact Hood College, Ceramics Program, 401 Rosemont Ave., Frederick 21701;
www.hood.edu/academic/art; (301) 696-3456.
Missouri, Kansas City November 3–4 “Pots: Ideas
and Inspiration” with Linda Christianson. Contact Red
Star Studios, 821 W. 17th St., Kansas City 64108;
www.redstarstudios.org; (816) 474-7316.
New Jersey, Lincroft November 7 “Precious
Metal Clay Workshop: Dangling Bracelet.” Fee: $85.
Contact Thompson Park Creative Arts Center, Monmouth County Park System, 805 Newman Springs Rd.,
Lincroft 07738; www.monmouthcountyparks.com;
(732) 842-4000, ext. 4343.
New Jersey, Demarest December 8 “Precious
Metal Clay Jewelry” with Susan Kasson Sloan. Fee:
$115. Contact The Art School at Old Church, 561
Piermont Rd., Demarest 07627; [email protected];
www.tasoc.org; (201) 767-7160.
New Mexico, Santa Fe November 10–11 “Carving
with Wax and Water” with Ryan McKerley. Fee: $200.
Contact Santa Fe Clay, 1615 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe
87501; [email protected]; www.santafeclay.com;
(505) 984-1122.
New York, New York November 4 “Raku Firing.” Fee: $100. December 9 “Clay Silver.” Fee:
$125. Contact Katonah Art Center, 131 Bedford Rd.,
Katonah 10536; [email protected];
www.katonahartcenter.com; (914) 232-4843.
New York, Port Chester November 10–11 “Ceramic Sculpture and Paper Clay” with Ian Gregory.
Fee: $180. January 12–13, 2008 “Landscape and
Texture” with Matt Hyleck. Fee: $180. January 23–25,
2008 “Handbuilding Colorful Masks, Animals and
Figures” with Lynn Ainsworth. Fee: $250. Contact
Clay Art Center, 40 Beech St., Port Chester 10573;
[email protected]; www.clayartcenter.org;
(914) 937-2047.
North Carolina, Bailey November 3–4 “Architectural Ceramics for the Studio Potter” with Peter
King. Fee: $175. Contact Finch Pottery, 5526 Finch
Nursery Ln., Bailey 27807; [email protected];
www.danfinch.com; (252) 235-4664.
North Carolina, Brasstown October 28–November 3 “Mud-made Fun: Getting a Spin on the
Potter’s Wheel” with Andrew Stephenson. November
4–10 “The Potter’s Wheel for Beginners” with John
Dodson. November 11-18 “The Wonderful Effects of
Wood Firing” with Rob Withrow. Fee: $649. December
2–8 “Whimsical, Handbuilt Clay Birdhouses” with
Mark Wingertsahn. January 6–12, 2008 “Pitchers
and Tumblers” with Mark Peters. Fee: $524. January
13–19, 2008 “Advanced Wheel Throwing: Following
Hunches, Taking Risks” with Kevin Crowe. Fee: $524.
January 20–27, 2008 “Tricks of the Trade” with Susan
Vey. Fee: $748. Fee (unless noted above): $442.
Contact John C. Campbell Folk School, One Folk
School Rd., Brasstown 28902; www.folkschool.org;
(800) 365-5724.
North Carolina, Charlotte February 23–24, 2008
Workshop with Mark Hewitt. Fee: $115. Contact
Carolina ClayMatters Pottery Guild, 5008 Glenbrier
Dr., Charlotte 28212; [email protected];
www.carolinaclaymatters.org; (704) 537-9248.
North Carolina, Durham January 5–9, 2008
“Technique and Content: Coil Building Large Figurative Ceramic Sculpture” with Adrian Arleo. Fee: $215.
Soldner Clay Mixers
by Muddy Elbow Manufacturing
EASY. A slowly revolving
concrete tub forces clay through
a stationary plough bar, turning,
blending and spatulating the
mixture to a throwing
consistency in minutes
call or email for a demo video
310 W. 4th • Newton, KS • 67114
Phone/Fax (316) 281-9132
[email protected]
soldnerequipment.com
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workshops
Contact Claymakers, 705 Foster St., Durham 27701;
[email protected]; www.claymakers.com; (919)
530-8355.
North Carolina, Winston-Salem November 3
“Light Up the Holidays” with Brenda Moore. Fee:
$65; members, $45. Contact Sawtooth School for
Visual Art, 226 N. Marshall St., Suite D, Winston-Salem
27101; www.sawtooth.org; (336) 723-7395.
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia November 3 “Terra
Sigillata” with Jerry Bennett. Fee: $135; members,
$125. November 17–18 “Studio Techniques” with
Linda Sikora and Matthew Metz. February 23–24,
2008 “Pots as Nouns–Function as Content” with Alec
Karros. Fee (unless noted above): $210; members,
$195. Contact The Clay Studio, 139 N. Second St.,
Philadelphia 19106; www.theclaystudio.org; (215)
925-3453.
Pennsylvania, Scranton November 17–18 “Expressive Pots” with Jack Troy. Contact Marywood
University Art Galleries, 2300 Adams Ave., Scranton
18509; [email protected]; (570) 348-6278.
South Carolina, Edgefield February 8–9, 2008
“Visiting Potters Series” with Mark Hewitt. Fee: $75.
Contact Gary Clontz, Edgefield County Center, 506
Main St., Edgefield 29824; www.ptc.edu/pottery;
(803) 637-9616.
Wisconsin, Fish Creek November 5, 7 “Folk Art
Inspirations in Clay: Platters and Bowls” with Renee
Schwaller. Contact Peninsula Art School, 3900 County
F, Fish Creek 54212, [email protected];
www.peninsulaartschool.com; (920) 868-3455.
international events
Australia, Adelaide through December 9 Emma
Varga, “The Story About Red”; at Jam Factory, 19
Morphett St.
Australia, Gulgong November 23–January 28,
2008 Susie McMeekin; at Cudgegong Gallery, 102
Herbert St.
Belgium, Ghent November 30–December 4
“Lineart”; at Flanders Expo, Hall 1, Maaltekouter 1.
Canada, Alberta, Calgary through December 31
“Telling Tales: A Celebration of the Narrative in Contemporary Studio Ceramics, Glass and Sculpture”; at
Dashwood Galleries, 100 Seventh Ave., SW #203.
Canada, British Columbia, Surrey through
December 16 “Ceramics, Ethics and Technology:
Materials, Method and Modernism”; at Surrey Art
Gallery, 13750-88 Ave.
Canada, British Columbia, Vancouver November 1–December 2 Sharon Reay, “Book Ends”;
at The Crafthouse Gallery, 1386 Cartwright St.,
Granville Island
Canada, Nova Scotia, Halifax November
23–25 “Neocraft Conference,” includes lectures
and round-table discussions on crafts and modernity. Fee: $150; students, $75; after October
26, $200; students, $100. Contact Dr. Sandra
Alfoldy, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design
University, 5163 Duke St., Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J
3J6; [email protected]; [email protected];
www.neocraft.ca; (902) 494-8306.
Canada, Ontario, Burlington through November
4 Ken Gangbar, “Objects in Clay.” “Celebrations
in Clay.” November 17–February 17, 2008 “Toronto
Potters Guild”; at Burlington Art Centre, 1333
Lakeshore Rd.
Canada, Ontario, Port Hope through November 8 Darren Emenau; at A.K. Collings Gallery, 41
John St.
Canada, Ontartio, Toronto through January 20,
2008 Gertraud Möhwald; at the Gardiner Museum,
111 Queen’s Park.
Canada, Ontario, Waterloo through November
11 Maurice Savoie, “Pharos.” Don Mayard, “Falling in Pieces.” through January 13, 2008 “Yuichiro
Komatsu: Spatial Juncture”; at Canadian Clay and
Glass Gallery, 25 Caroline St. N.
through November 10 Kayo O’Young; at Harbinger
Gallery, 22 Dupont St. E.
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CONE THREE CERAMIC
FORMULAS
John W. Conrad
The 1950’s to 1980’s popular firing was
C/10–11, late 1980’s lowered to C/6, and
now considering firing at C/3. It appears
that firing costs, and less wear and tear of
the kiln and furniture, contribute to lowering
costs. C/3 cannot compare to C/11 reduction, but for most ceramics C/3 is a notable
firing temperate at the bottom of the stoneware/porcelain temperature range. Tests
have been done and the following was found:
zinc crystals, saturated metallic, breaking
rutile, tomato red, Temmoku, chrome pink
and red, copper reds, transparent and bright
clear, and bright colors in glazes; vitrified clay
bodies; variety of clay, engobe, and glaze colors using stains and metallics; and individually
made stains and engobes. Over 600 formulas
tested and 150 glazes, engobes, clay bodies,
and stains formulas given with illustrations
and color photographs of samples.
92 pages. 8 ½ x 11 softback.
$23.00
contact your dealer
Falcon Company
POB 22569 – San Diego, CA 92192
Canada, Québec, Montréal through November
3 Marco Savard. through November 10 Carol Rossman; at Canadian Guild of Crafts, 1460 Sherbrooke
St. W., Suite B.
through January 13, 2008 “Getting Together:
Ceramics from Manitoba and Québec”; at Musée des maîtres et artisans du Québec, 615, ave.
Sainte-Croix.
Chile, Santiago January 2008 “Soda and
Wood Kiln Firing Safari” with Doug Casebeer and
Marilo Pelusa Rosenthal. For more information,
visit www.chileanceramicworkshop.com. Contact
Marilu Pelusa Rosenthal, Curaumilla Arts Center;
[email protected]; 56 2 321 6886.
China, Shaanxi, Fuping November 5–9 “2007
ICMEA Conference.” For more information,
visit www.flicam.com. Contact ICMEA (International Ceramic Magazine Editors Association), Fuping Pottery Art Village, Fuping, Shaanxi 711700;
[email protected].
Denmark, Copenhagen through November 17
Malene Müllertz. November 23–December 22 Lone
Skov Madsen and Turi Heisselberg; at Galleri Nørby,
Vestergade 8.
through November 3 Steen Ipsen; at Drud & Køppe
Gallery–Contemporary Objects, Bredgade 66.
Denmark, Skaelskor through December 9 Paul
Scott, “Image: Ceramics and Motif.” December
15–February 30, 2008 “Network 2007”; at International Ceramic Research Center, Guldagergard
Heilmannsvej 31A.
England, Birmingham November 6–December 1
Annie Turner, “River”; at Royal Birmingham Society
of Artists, RBSA Gallery, 4 Brook St., St. Paul’s.
England, Devon, Bovey Tracey November
17–December 31 “Gifted.” December 8–January 15,
2008 Terry Sawle and Blandine Anderson; at Devon
Guild of Craftsmen, Riverside Mill.
England, Leeds November 3–January 19,
2008 “Collect,” works by Duncan Ross, Gabriele
Koch, Morgen Hall and Walter Keeler; at the
Craft Centre & Design Gallery, City Art Gallery,
The Headrow.
England, London through November 1 Karen
Karnes. November 14–December 14 Ewen Henderson
and Graham Sutherland; at Galerie Besson, 15 Royal
Arcade, 28 Old Bond St.
November 5–7 “Transfer: the Influence of China on
World Ceramics.” Fee: £70 (US$140). Contact Elizabeth Jackson, Percival David Foundation of Chinese
Art, 53 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PD.
England, Mid Sussex, Ditchling November
17–18 “Contemporary Craft Show.” For more information, visit www.thesusssexguild.co.uk.
England, Swansea November 10–December 29
Lowrie Davies; at Mission Gallery, Gloucester Place,
Maritime Quarter.
England, West Sussex, Near Arundel November
11–December 23 “Christmas Collection”; at Forge
Gallery, The Street, Walberton.
England, West Sussex, Midhurst December 1–2
“Contemporary Craft Show”; at Midhurst Grammar
School, N. St.
England, Worcester November 3–24 “From
the Same Earth,” works by Lisa Katzenstein, Craig
Underhill and Emily Myers; at The Gallery at Bevere,
Bevere Ln.
England, York November 3–January 20 “The
Christmas Collection”; at the Pyramid Gallery,
43 Stonegate.
France, La Borne through November 19 JeanNicolas Gérard. November 24–January 6, 2008 “Noël
à la Borne”; at Centre de Création Céramique de La
Borne, 18250 Henrichemont.
France, Le Fuilet through December 31 “Potières
et poteries de Kalabougou”; at La Maison de Potier,
2, rue des Recoins.
France, Paris through December 9 Edmée Delsol.
Yves Mohy; at Galerie Capazza, 18330 Nançay.
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France, Saint Germain en Laye November
11–December 8 “Jean Francoise Delorme, Anita Perez
et Beatriz Trepat: Terres Tropiques”; at Anagama
Gallery, 29 rue du Vieil Abreuvoir.
France, Saint Quentin La Poterie through November 11 Pierre Dutertre, “Flora.” through January
6, 2008 “200 Bols D’Exception.” December 2–January
6, 2008 Stéphanie Raymond. Caroline Chevalier; at
Galerie Terra Viva, 14 rue de la Fontaine.
France, Sarreguemines through March 10, 2008
“Café, Thé, Chocolat...”; at Musée de la Faïence,
17, rue Poincaré.
France, Sèvres through January 14, 2008 “Au
service de l’Empereur: Le Service iconographique
antique du Cardinal Fresch”; at Musée National de
Céramique, Place de la Manufacture.
France, Treigny through November 11 “Coup
de Pouce”; at Association des Potiers Créateurs de
Puisaye, Le Couvent.
Germany, Berlin through November 4 “Refinement and Elegance: Royal Porcelains from the
Beginning of the19th Century”; at Schloss Charlottenburg–Neuer Flügel, Spandauer Damm 10-24.
Germany, Frechen through February 10, 2008
“One Century of Ceramics”; at Stiftung KeramionZentrum für moderne und historiche Keramik Frechen, Bonnstraße 12.
Germany, Goettingen through November 11
“Keramik: Anne Bulliot, Loul Combres, Daphne
Corregan, Philippe Dubuc, Agathe Larpent, David
Miller, Sylvie Piaud and Sandra Zeeni; at Galerie
Rosenhauer, Konrad-Adenauer-Str. 34.
Germany, Kapfenberg through November
11 “5th International Biannual of Ceramics”; at
Stadtgemeinde Kapfenberg, Kulturezentrum,
Mürzgasse 3.
Italy, Fondi March 4–15, 2008 “Medieval
Town–Italian Maiolica Workshop,” includes day
trips to Rome and Vietri. Fee: $1899, includes
lodging, most meals and materials. May 27–June 7,
2008 “Medieval Town–Italian Maiolica Workshop,”
includes day trips to Rome and Vietri. Fee: $1899,
includes lodging, most meals and materials. Contact Gotuzzo Workshops, PO Box 2003, Newport
Beach, CA 92659; [email protected];
www.gotuzzoworkshops.com; (714) 600-9535.
Myanmar (Burma), Mandalay, Bagan, Inle
Lake, Yagon January 14–February 2, 2008 “Burma:
Ceramics and Cultural Excursion,” includes pottery
making and firing in traditional villages, cultural and
historical tours. Limit/session of 12. Contact Denys
James, Discovery Art Travel, 182 Welbury Dr., Salt
Spring Island, British Columbia V8K 2L8 Canada;
[email protected]; www.denysjames.com;
(250) 537-4906.
Netherlands, Delft through November 3 Hanneke Giezen. November 10–December 8 Susanne
Silvertant. December 1–31 “The Dark Days of Delft”;
December 15–January 12, 2008 Philippe Dubuc; at
Terra Delft, Nieuwstraat 7.
Netherlands, Deventer through November 10
Gilbert Portanier. through November 15 Jean-François
Fouilhoux. November 23–December 20 Inke Lerch and
Uwe Lerch. November 25–December 29 “Japanese
Ceramics in Deventer”; at Loes & Reinier, Korte
Assenstraat 15.
Netherlands, Leeuwarden November 18–April
7, 2008 “Turkish and Dutch Ceramics”; at Princessehof Leeuwarden, Grote Kerkstraat 11.
Portugal, Aveiro December 8–25 “VII Biennial
International Artistic Ceramic Exhibition–Aveiro
2007”; at Parque de Exposições de Aveiro.
Switzerland, Carouge through November 11
“City of Carouge Prize 2007 International Ceramics Competition: A Pitcher”; at Musée de Carouge,
Place de Sardaigne 2.
Wales, Ceredigion, Aberystwyth November
2–January 19, 2008 James and Tilla Waters; at
Aberystwyth Arts Centre, University of Wales,
Aberystwyth, Penglais Campus.
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events
Tom Turner’s “FIFTH Studio Show and
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ITALY WORKSHOPS—MAIOLICA—MEDIEVAL
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pubs/videos
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Cappadocia: 9/11–10/2/2008, workshops with
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Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation
Publication Title: CERAMICS MONTHLY. Publication number 00090328. Filing date: October 1, 2007. Published monthly, except July and
September; ten times per year. Annual subscription price: $34.95. Office
of Publication: 735 Ceramic Place, Westerville, Franklin County, Ohio
43081-8719. Publisher: Charles Spahr, 735 Ceramic Place, Westerville,
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or holding 1% or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages or other
securities: none.
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months:
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b) Paid/requested circulation
1) Paid/requested mail subscriptions ........................................ 22,941
2) Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors,
counter sales and other non-USPS paid distribution ............. 4,438
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d) Free distribution by mail, samples, complimentary
and other free copies ..................................................................... 347
e) Free distribution outside the mail ................................................... 328
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g) Total distribution ....................................................................... 28,054
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i) Total ......................................................................................... 31,382
Percent paid /requested circulation....................................................98%
The actual number of copies for single issue nearest filing date:
a) Total number of copies (net press run) ..................................... 29,796
b) Paid/requested circulation
1) Paid/requested mail subscriptions ........................................ 21,991
2) Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors,
counter sales and other non-USPS paid distribution ............. 4,194
c) Total paid/requested circulation ................................................ 26,185
d) Free distribution by mail,
samples, complimentary and other free copies .............................. 330
e) Free distribution outside the mail ..................................................... 71
f) Total free distribution ...................................................................... 401
g) Total distribution ....................................................................... 26,586
h) Copies not distributed ................................................................. 3,210
i) Total ......................................................................................... 29,796
Percent paid /requested circulation....................................................98%
I certify that the statements made by me above are correct and complete.
Charles Spahr, Publisher
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Comment
friendship and influence: part I
by Dick Lehman
In 1992, I spent three weeks in Japan with They all complimented us on our response; be an amazing gift from Mr. Inoue. Clearly
the intention of visiting a variety of potters, they said that they understood.
we had been treated to a set of experiences
ceramic sales galleries and museums. While
I felt confused and more than a little put- that we would never have been able to forour schedule had a significant amount of out. But what happened the next day was a mulate for ourselves. And in hindsight, it is
flexibility, there was one immovable object: I real lesson and, in many ways, was the single clear to me that Mr. Inoue had gone to no
told my traveling companion and interpreter, most important day of my trip to Japan.
small effort in order to shower these rich and
Georgia Leichty, that the only absolutely nonAs it turned out, Inoue san did know unlikely experiences on a family friend and
negotiable day of the three weeks was the day everyone in Tokoname. An amazing day her unknown tag-along, American potter. In
that I had arranged to meet some potters in unfolded: We were taken to meet Yoshiharu the intervening years, I have come to better
Tokoname. These appointments could not be Sawada, a leading ceramic art critic (and the understand Mr. Inoue’s kindness.
changed! She agreed.
When I returned to the States,
Part of our travels (before
I sent a thank-you note to Mr.
going to Tokoname) took us to
Inoue. To my surprise, he wrote
Nagoya. There we met up with
back (in English) and included
Mr. Jyotaro Inoue, a 77-year-old
the gift of a lovely museum catalog
friend of Georgia’s family. Mr. Indocumenting a recent ceramics exoue asked what travel plans we had
hibition he’d visited. In turn, after
and where we were going. Upon
some months, I sent Mr. Inoue
hearing of our interest in pottery
the gift of one of my pots. And
and our plans to visit Tokoname,
here began an unlikely friendship
he replied, “I will take you there.
that has lasted now for more than
I grew up there. I know everyone
fifteen years.
in Tokoname!”
On a later visit to the United
I reminded Georgia of the inStates, to be installed as Japan’s
violability of my appointments in
Governor-Elect for the InternaThe author with friends Mr. and Mrs. Inoue in Nagoya, Japan, 1999.
Tokoname. After our three polite
tional Kiwanis organization, Mr.
refusals (and what I believe to be an almost man who wrote the book about Tokoname for Inoue made a point to invite me to visit
imperceptible elbow to his ribs by Mrs. In- Kodansha Press). The day-long trip Mr. Inoue him in Indianapolis. There, he cleared his
oue) Mr. Inoue no longer persisted, and we had planned for us included stops at a mu- schedule, and provided an interpreter for
thought that was the end of it.
seum, galleries and the Tokoname Ceramic what turned out to be a four-hour long visit.
However, the evening before our train trip Institute’s impressive collection of ancient Mr. Inoue’s subsequent visits to the States
to Tokoname, at 10:00 p.m. the P.A. system Tokoname ware—great huge pots nearly have resulted in our spending many hours
in the youth hostel called out Georgia’s name, 1000 years old. Mr. Sawada introduced us together. He has shared his consuming pasasking her to come take a phone call. I met to two of the area’s most prominent ceramic sion for Japanese ceramics and has recounted
Georgia in the lobby. It was Mrs. Inoue on the artists, Josan Yamada (who later went on to his father’s and his uncle’s careers in ceramics.
phone telling us that Mr. Inoue had arranged be designated a Living National Treasure), He always brought gifts of pots and catalogs.
everything as promised, but that SHE would and Mikio Oosako (who, it was said, was on I shared with him the progress of my own
be coming to meet us at the train station the the same trajectory, but who died suddenly work, exhibitions and writing. (He now, most
next morning to take us for a day of visits that from a stroke just a few years later). The visit likely, has the largest Japanese collection of
Mr. Inoue had arranged. This was a complete to Mr. Yamada included a trip to his kiln, Lehman-yaki pottery.)
surprise. (How had she even found out where some time in his showroom, and a participaOur conversations, in person and through
we were staying!?) I reminded Georgia of tory tutorial in tea-making. Mr. Oosako, for correspondence, have branched out naturally
how important my plans were to me; that his part, had pulled out all the stops for the to issues of family, our joint love of gardening,
the appointments were made, that we had elder Mr. Sawada and his American visitors: our shared political concerns, and our hopes
people expecting to house and feed us in just a three-hour dining experience that was for peace between nations. In one of his rea few hours—in short, that I wasn’t willing unparalleled in all my time in Japan. The cent letters he reflected on what it means to
to change my plans.
meal started with sake in Mr. Oosako’s fine him to have lived through the atomic bombGeorgia reminded me that to refuse the hand-made sake cups, which sat upon elev- ings of World War II. Mr. Inoue is steadfastly
direct request of an elder Japanese woman enth-century Kamakura–era shard “saucers,” committed to a peace position, and says he
would be the height of rudeness—absolutely and ended with gifts of pots, viewing some believes that the way to build world peace,
unconscionable—and that we would need to of Oosako san’s personal ceramic collection, is to nurture it, one relationship at a time.
respond in “the Japanese way,” which meant and a studio tour.
Building relationships with foreigners, and
that we would call all our hosts that evening,
What initially appeared to be intrusive, particularly with Americans, has constituted
explaining honestly what had just happened. thoughtless, and a little bossy, turned out to a significant portion of his adult life. And I
87
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Comment
continued from page 87
suspect, now in retrospect, that Inoue san’s gift
of friendship to me is part of his larger umbrella
of relationship-building. Somehow Mr. Inoue
has concluded that the people of America are
better and more well-motivated than their
government may have been. We, I hope, have
learned the same lesson about the Japanese. Mr.
Inoue has learned and demonstrated a kind of
forgiveness and peace-making that we might
hope all the world could emulate.
Over the years, Inoue san has attended
many ceramics exhibitions. One of his habits
has been to purchase a catalog from each of
these shows and send it to me (and for those
of you who have not seen Japanese “catalogs,”
I should mention that they are often fullcolor books—some with their own ISBN
numbers—and of the highest quality). In so
doing, Inoue san has increased my ceramic library to enviable proportions; a vast resource
to which I’d never have had access, had it not
been for his kind and unlikely friendship. He
has become a kind of teacher for me, and in
the best sense, he has afforded me a course of
continuing education through not only the
catalogs but through our relationship, which
continues to today.
I returned to Japan in 1999 for several
exhibitions of my own work. Learning of my
upcoming visit, Mr. Inoue made sure to come
to the exhibitions, but also invited me to join
him at his home for several days. He shared
with me his collection of both his father’s and
uncle’s ceramic works. By the end of one evening, we had dozens of palomia-wood boxes
scattered all around the receiving room—pots
everywhere, stories attending almost every
one of the pots, and later the pleasure of
handling each pot a final time as we packed
it in its box and tied its silk cord.
And once again, Inoue had planned a
handful of visits to important potters. To
my great surprise, he was able to negotiate
not only a visit with a Prefectural (State)
Living Treasure, but also with a current
Living National Treasure, Mr. Takuo Kato.
The visit with Takuo Kato was one of those
magical moments that Mr. Inoue and I will
always remember. But that is another story,
for another time.
In Japan it is very difficult for “common folk” to arrange visits with artists of
this stature and recognition. Their status
confers upon them (unfortunately) a relative inaccessibility that is similar to that of
famous people everywhere. These visits to
such important ceramics artists attest to Mr.
Inoue’s commitment to our relationship.
When some of my Japanese friends learned
of my visit with a Living Treasure, they were
astonished. One said, “Why, I could live a
whole life trying to visit him and never get
there. How did you do it?” Well, Mr. Inoue
is how I “did it.” But I suspect that, even
now, I do not fully comprehend the network
of social obligations and indebtednesses
that were “activated” by the arrangements
for these visits.
This article contains excerpts from Lehman’s
presentation at the exhibition “Fifty American
Potters—From the Collection of Bruno and
Mary Moser,” which is on view through November 17, at the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette,
in Lafayette, Indiana.
index to advertisers
Aardvark Clay & Supplies ................. 14
ACerS Books ..................................... 86
Aftosa .................................................. 2
Alpine Kilns & Equipment .................. 82
Amaco and Brent ................ Cover 2, 11
Amer. Museum of Ceramic Art .......... 21
Anderson Ranch................................ 76
Armory Art Center ............................. 77
ASU Art Museum ............................... 69
Axner Pottery ............................. Cover 3
Clayworld............................................. 8
Continental Clay ................................ 71
Cornell Studio Supply ........................ 84
Coyote Clay & Color .......................... 62
Creative Industries ............................ 79
Cress Mfg. ......................................... 12
Bailey Pottery............................. 1, 9, 17
Baker Univ. - Cone Box Show ........... 76
Bamboo Tools .................................... 82
Bennett Pottery .................................... 7
BigCeramicStore.com ....................... 78
Bracker’s Good Earth Clays .............. 64
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Clayworks Supplies ...........................
74
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Del Val Potters Supply .......................
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Kiln Doctor, The ................................. 64
L&L Kiln Mfg. ....................................... 4
L&R Specialties ................................. 76
Laguna Clay ................. 25, 71, Cover 3
Larkin Refractory Solutions................ 79
74
85
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Mastering Cone 6 Glazes ..................
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Shakerag Workshops ........................78
Sheffield Pottery ................................ 83
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Skutt Ceramic Products............. Cover 4
Smith-Sharpe Fire Brick Supply ........ 16
Soldner Clay Mixers .......................... 76
Spectrum Glazes ............................... 60
Speedball Art Products ..................... 23
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Tucker’s Pottery .................................
63
81
72
71
U.S. Pigment Corp. ........................... 81
Univ. of Pennsylvania Press............... 73
Venco................................................. 71
Vent-A-Kiln ......................................... 80
Ward Burner Systems ........................ 70
Wholesalecrafts.com ......................... 69
Wise Screenprint ............................... 64
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Ram Products .................................... 14
Rockland Colloid ............................... 78
Insulating Firebrick ............................ 77
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Here`s - Ceramic Arts Daily

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here - Ceramic Arts Daily