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CERAMIC

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TOOLS,

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TECHNIQUES

Volume 17 • Issue 91 Summer 2011

$8.95 U.S. / $10.95 CAN

Alan & Rosemary Bennett’s Creatures of the Sea Acquiring a Space for Your Studio/Gallery • Crystalline Glaze Tests Wood-fire Residencies at Flynn Creek Pottery • Making Clay Baskets New Tools for Fresh Ideas • Interviewing for an Arts Faculty Position

“My studio is on an island.

That’s why I chose an L&L Kiln”

Living on an island is different. One learns to be a general handyman and construction expert, and getting materials and such to and from can be a challenge. When I built my studio I devoted serious research to the types of equipment to install, as there would be no possibility of running down to the local store for parts or special tools. After reviewing all the choices and talking to innumerable users, the name L&L came up more often than any other. I purchased an L&L e23T and have not regretted it for a minute. I assembled the kiln and connected the power, and have not had any problems with it since. It is simple to maintain, comes with a great operator’s manual, and virtually everything that might go wrong with it can be repaired with a screwdriver and a pair of pliers. Guy Zoller, River Water Art Works on Shady Nook Island, riverwaterartworks@gmail.com

L&L Kiln’s patented hard ceramic element holders protect your kiln. 505 Sharptown Rd, Swedesboro NJ 08085 Toll Free: 888.684.3232 Fax: 856.294.0070 sales@hotkilns.com

contents

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SUMMER 2011 Volume 17 • Issue 91 On the cover: Sea Dragon and Ugly Fish [cover inset] by Rosemary and Alan Bennett. Dragon measures 14" x 10" x 6". Story on appears on pages 12-14.

features 12 Sea Creatures Come to Life in Clay Alan and Rosemary Bennett have transformed their affinity for aquatic life into a thriving clay art business, featuring their interpretations of more than 500 different types of fish.

16 Flynn Creek Pottery Potter Nick Schwartz’s vision has evolved into an expanding residency program in California wine country for wood-fire clay artists. Porcupine Puffer by Alan and Rosemary Bennett. Handbuilt stoneware with black underglaze, sprayed glazes and stains, fired to cone 7 in oxidation. Below, left: The newly acquired, gutted, and remodeled Nebraska studio/ gallery of Jess Benjamin. Below, right: Pitcher by Nick Schwartz. 6" x 6" x 15". Wood/salt-fired stoneware from the Flynn Creek Pottery anagama.

31 Acquiring A New Studio Space: What You Need to Know Before You Invest

by Jess Benjamin and Kim Carpenter

contents

Volume 17 • Issue 91

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Clay

SUMMER 2011

An electric kiln misfire results in a surprise halo effect. Discover how on page 24.

departments 7 FROM THE EDITOR Looking for recent news?

9 WHAT’S HOT Clay world news, events, and calls for entries

34 THE GALLERY A selection of unique works by CT readers

42 SLURRY BUCKET Studio-tested tips to save you time and money

44 GREAT GLAZES Don Ellis shares some gorgeous cone 6 formulas

Bill van Gilder’s step-by-step clay project for this issue explores new and creative ways to build baskets from thrown and slab-built parts that utilize eye-catching, stamped patterns. Get started on page 27.

columns 21 AS FAR AS I KNOW “Musings on a Faculty Search” by Pete Pinnell

45 POTTERY CLASSES Where you can learn claywork in your community

48 CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE Goods and services offered especially for clay artists

50 ADVERTISER INDEX A quick reference to find your favorite ceramics suppliers in this issue (be sure to tell them you found them in Clay Times!) 6

24 BENEATH THE SURFACE “Faux Crystal Investigation” by Rachel Sturino

27 TEACHING TECHNIQUES “Basket Forms in Clay” by Bill van Gilder

37 BOOKS & VIDEOS “Art of Play; Discovering the Secret to a Creative Life” review by Steve Branfman

38 TOOL TIMES “New Tools: Fresh Ideas” by Vince Pitelka

43 KILNS & FIRING “Hot Tips from A Pro” by Marc Ward

47 STUDIO HEALTH AND SAFETY “Repeal the Hazardous Art Materials Act?” by Monona Rossol

49 AROUND THE FIREBOX “Pottery Heroes” by David Hendley

Editorial & Advertising: Polly Beach claytimes@gmail.com Circulation Manager: Rachel Brownell ctcirculation@gmail.com Accounts Manager: Nanette Greene clayaccounts@gmail.com Proofreader: Jon Singer Regular Columnists: Steve Branfman, Books & Videos David Hendley, Around the Firebox Pete Pinnell, As Far as I Know Vince Pitelka, Tool Times Monona Rossol, Health & Safety Kelly Savino, Around the Firebox Bill van Gilder, Teaching Techniques Marc Ward, Kilns & Firing Lana Wilson, Beneath the Surface Contributing Writers: Jess Benjamin • Kim Carpenter Nick Schwartz • Rachel Sturino ✦ Printed on 100% FSC-certified and 75% post-consumer recycled paper ✦ Published by: CLAY TIMES INC. Post Office Box 365 Waterford, Virginia 20197-0365 800-356-2529 • FAX 540-338-3229

Toll-free subscription line: 800.356.2529 Clay Times® (ISSN 1087-7614) is published quarterly, four issues per year. Periodicals Postage Paid at Waterford, VA, and at additional mailing offices. Annual subscriptions are available for $33 in the U.S.; $40 in Canada; $60 elsewhere (must be payable in US$). To subscribe, call toll-free 1-800.356.2529, or visit www.claytimes.com. Freelance editorial and photographic submissions are welcome: Please contact Clay Times or visit our Web site for writer’s and photographer’s guidelines.

All rights reserved. The material contained herein is derived from various sources and does not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. All technical material is offered as general information only and should not be acted upon without expert supervision. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

That’s all about to change. As editor & publisher of Clay Times, part of my job has always involved gathering, filtering, and providing you with as much of that information as space allows via our print magazine and our Website. But now that we’ve officially launched our Facebook®, Twitter®, and Linked In® pages online, you can connect with us via your favorite social network(s) to stay current on a daily basis. One of the best things about this opportunity is that you need to connect with CT only one time to “register.” After you “like” Clay Times Magazine on Facebook [www.facebook.com/Clay.Times.Magazine], “follow” us on Twitter [http://twitter.com/#!/ claytimes] or “link” to us via Linked In [http://www.linkedin.com/company/clay-timesmagazine], your clay world news and updates will automatically appear on your own “wall” or network home page until you unsubscribe. Now if social networks simply don’t appeal to you, or you’re a real news-hound yearning to constantly keep abreast of daily art news, you can receive an ever-changing stream of instant art world news updates by subscribing to the Clay Times RSS feed via the link at CT’s home page at www.claytimes.com. RSS is a live service, meaning that instead of a daily or weekly “post” or “tweet,” you will receive real-time global art news updates with a single click to our RSS feed. How easy is that? No daily spam in your e-mail box! No combing through Internet search engines or digging deep into ceramic arts Websites to search for news or find out submission deadlines or dates of your favorite clay events! As I mentioned before, doing that is my job anyway—so now that I have the means to help simplify your busy life as a clay artist, I am committed to doing all the research for you. Here’s some more good stuff: Because we at CT usually receive many more photos and much more information than we can fit into each edition of the print or online magazine, we’re adding a “current issue bonus material” link to the CT Website. You’ll definitely want to check out this online supplement for each new issue, to get additional information on the feature articles and subjects of most interest to you. (For example, this Summer 2011 issue’s bonus content is not to be missed! It features everything from extra images of Alan and Rosemary Bennett’s incredible clayfish

to more of their glaze and slip recipes that wouldn’t fit into this print issue. You’ll also find more of Don Ellis’s glaze recipes, plus enough images of his beautiful work to inspire you to start experimenting with those glazes as soon as possible.) Now here’s even more great stuff: As a clay artist myself, I know that you turn to our magazine not just for the editorial content, but also for the useful information you find on supplies and equipment when you check out the advertisements in each issue. But just like the editorial content, ad space is limited and costly to produce, so each advertiser can only provide a brief amount of information within each of their ads. This, too, is about to change. First of all, in case you aren’t already aware, each online edition of CT now features live instant links from every advertisement, classified ad, class listing, and event listing to the sponsor Website where you can find more complete information. Plus you can share digital editions with friends, students, and classmates because we still offer free global access to anyone with an Internet connection. Better yet, even after subsequent issues are published, each online issue continues to be accessible for free via our digital issue archive page. The sponsor links to those issues remain live, too, for each current Web address. So if you’re looking for information from any previous CT issue since Spring 2010, whether it be editorial or advertising content, you can simply search the digital archives to find it—instantly. What’s more, CT now produces a free opt-in e-mail newsletter for folks who want to receive in-depth updates on useful topics regarding supplies and equipment. Newsletter content may range from an issue on what you need to know when shopping for a potter’s wheel, to another issue devoted to firing tips for different types of kilns. Each edition of the newsletter is e-mailed no more than once per week as topics are generated, so you needn’t worry about daily clutter to your e-mail box. To register to receive your free e-newsletter, log onto www.claytimes.com and click on the “newsletter opt-in” link. Registration also entitles you to occasional bonus updates with important Clay Times announcements, and codes for special CT sales and discounts. So log onto www.claytimes.com now — while you have this page in front of you — to sign up for all the great new services we’re offering. Each one is free and designed to keep you up-to-date and help you save money and time in the studio.

— Polly Beach, Editor

CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2011

magazine

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ver missed a registration deadline for an upcoming clay competition or guest artist workshop because you didn’t find out about it until it was too late? Or are you so busy in your studio, classroom, or on the road selling your claywork that you’ve lost touch with recent important news and developments in the clay world?

Spouting Off I From the Editor

Great News for Clay Artists

CERAMIC ART TRENDS, TOOLS & TECHNIQUES

Hot Stuff I News & Events

z What’s Hot • ceramic art world news • events • • calls for entries •

Benefit Auction " One of the premier craft collecting

PATRICE FLETCHER PHOTO

events in the Southeast, the Annual Benefit Auction of the Penland School of Craft takes place August 12-13 in Penland, North Carolina. This gala weekend in the Blue Ridge mountains features sales of more than 200 works in books, clay, drawing, glass, iron, metals, painting, printmaking, photography, textiles, wood, and other media. The auction offers a great way to support Penland’s educational programs for fine artists. For event details, e-mail: auction@penland.org, call 828-765-2359, or log onto the Website at: http://penland.org/ support/annual_auction

Upcoming Conferences " Keynote speaker Clary Illian will be joined by guest artists Pete Pinnell, Brad Schwieger, Susannah Biondo-Gemmell, and Jen Rogers at the Iowa Clay Conference, to take place September 16-18, 2011 at The Ceramics Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Dan Anderson, Simon Levin, and Tim Pfiffner will also be on hand to lead breakout discussions, and several area galleries will feature simultaneous ceramic art exhibitions. The full conference earlybird registration fee is $120 ($135 after Sept. 4). A bring-your-own-bisque pre-conference soda firing with Brad Schwieger takes place Sept. 15-16, with an early reg. fee of $100 ($120 after Sept. 4). For complete conference details, visit http://www.theceramicscenter. org/iowaclayconference.htm or call 319.365.9644.

" The Clay Connection’s 9th Biennial

and Empty Bowls donations, plus live music and dancing on Friday evening. For complete conference details, scroll through the entire page at www.theclayconnection. org/events/clayconference.html, where you can register online and download a brochure/ registration form. Questions? Call conference director Mike Swauger, a.k.a. “The Kiln Doctor,” at 540.636.6016.

" Washtenaw Community College (WCC) will host Michigan Mud 2011 during the weekend of Oct. 7-8 in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Guest artists offering a full schedule of informative and inspirational lectures, workshops, and demonstrations will include Robert and Gail Piepenburg, Jeremy Brooks, Craig Clifford, Jeri Hollister, Daria Kim, Paul Kotula, Debbie Kupinsky, Nicole Marroquin, Greg Stahly, and Ian Thomas. For complete conference details, log onto: www.michclay. com, or call 248.375.9956.

" Shared Journeys II: A Symposium on Chinese/American Ceramic Art and Education takes place October 14-16, 2011 at West Virginia University, in Morgantown, WV. The three-day event will explore achievements in Chinese ceramics and influences in

the West by examining the legacies and tensions of craftsmanship, pedagogy, philosophy, and social currents that have shaped traditions and transformed ceramic art into the present day. This collaborative journey between NCECA, WVU, and the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute began with the Shared Journeys Symposium held in October, 2008 in Jingdezhen, China. Programming at WVU will include distinguished lecturers, demonstrations, and exhibitions. For further information, e-mail: shoji.satake@mail.wvu. edu. Pre-register online through midnight Oct. 1, 2011 at http://art.ccarts.wvu.edu/shared_ journeys_ii

" Reserve your space today for The Tag Team: Fun with Randy Brodnax & Don Ellis, the 2011 Fall Workshop Weekend at the acclaimed Dan Finch Pottery in Bailey, North Carolina, Nov. 5-6, 2011. This encore workshop event with Randy and Don promises to be an actionpacked, humorous, and intensely informative presentation, with these two very colorful artists co-demonstrating a wide variety of throwing, decorating, and firing techniques. Registration fee of $175 includes lunch both days, plus Saturday evening dinner. Register

CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2011

Mid-Atlantic Clay Conference, featuring demonstrating artists Posey Bacopoulos, Hayne Bayless, and Susan Halls, takes place Sept. 29-Oct. 2, 2011 at the 4-H Conference Center, in Front Royal, VA. This year’s event will begin on Thursday evening with a buffet dinner and the featured artists’ digital image shows. Their claywork demonstrations follow on Friday and Saturday, while additional Friday events includes participant raku and pit-fire mini workshops (advance registration for these is required). The conference will also feature a participant ceramic show, a pot exchange,

Randy Brodnax (l) and Don Ellis—a.k.a. “The Tag Team”—will bring their clay expertise and entertaining workshop antics to Dan Finch Pottery in Bailey, NC for the annual Fall Workshop Weekend Nov. 5-6. The duo were recently photographed above during the 3rd Clay Times Potters’ Cruise to the Caribbean.

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Hot Stuff I Events

continued from previous page

Bruce Dehnert and Kristen Muller Anagama Firing Techniques Firing the Peters Valley Anagama Aug. 10-16 • • •

Rebecca Bafford Arts Management and Marketing June 6-9, 13-16

Kevin Crowe Throwing Large Forms ∙ June 20-25 Shawn Grove Ceramic Sculpture ∙ June 27-30 ∙ July 5-8 Joyce Michaud Porcelain ∙ July 14-17, 20-22 and 25-27 Masters Throwing ∙ Aug. 4-7 East Asian Coil Technique ∙ Aug. 20-21 Hood College Graduate School Art Department (301) 696-3456 n Fax (301) 696-3531 www.hood.edu/ceramics

early for this popular event, which usually draws more than 100 clay artists! For complete workshop schedule and lodging/ camping options, log onto http://www. danfinch.com, e-mail dan.finch@earthlink.net, or call 252.235.4664.

22 for its Nellie Allen Smith 17th Annual National Pottery Competition, to take place Oct. 28–Nov. 21. For details, log onto: www. capefearstudios.com, e-mail: capefearstudios@ yahoo.com, or call 910.433.2986.

" Mark your calendar now for NCECA

Canaan, Connecticut is accepting entries of all craft media through Aug. 26 for its CRAFT USA National Craft Triennial, to take place Nov. 13–Dec. 23. To learn more, log onto: www.silvermineart.org, e-mail: jeffreymueller@silvermineart.org, or call 203.966.9700, ext. 26.

2012, the 46th Annual Conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, to take place March 28-31, 2012 at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, Washington. Among the many guest speakers and artists demonstrating their techniques at the show will be Juan Granados, Brian Kakas, Deborah Schwartzkopf, and Esther Shimazu. Robin Hopper will be delivering the closing lecture. Guidelines to submit your proposals for independent exhibitions and project space, as well as applications for additional programming relative to the conference theme, “On the Edge,” appear along with the most recent event updates at the NCECA Website: www.nceca. net. NCECA has already secured discount accommodations at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel; book your room early, as hotel space always fills up fast! Details on accommodations appear online at: http://www.nceca. net/static/conference_accommodations.php

l a k e

t a h o e

SUMMER ART WORKSHOPS

You can take a workshop anywhere, but there's no place as gorgeous as Tahoe!

CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2011

2011 CERAMICS

6/6-10 6/13-17 6/20-24 6/25-26 6/27-7/1 7/11-15 7/18-22 7/23-24 7-25-29 8/1-5

Other Art Workshops also Offered

CREDIT/NON-CREDIT, INCLUDES LUNCH, HOUSING AVAILABLE 999 TAHOE BOULEVARD, INCLINE VILLAGE, NEVADA 89451

775.881.7588 | sierranevada.edu/workshops

claywork with a book theme are being accepted by Baltimore Clayworks through Sept. 2 for Ceramic Sutra, an exhibition to take place in Baltimore, Maryland Jan. 14–Feb. 26, 2012. To learn more, visit www.baltimoreclayworks.org, e-mail: mary.cloonan@baltimoreclayworks.org, or call 410.578.1919 ext.18.

" Entries of functional ceramic work

Calls for Entries " The Carbondale Clay Center of

" The Greater Denton Arts Council

Carbondale, Colorado is requesting entries of functional and sculptural ceramics, made by hand or machine, that utilize fired-on decals for its Decalicious Juried Invitational, to take place Sept. 2-28. Entry deadline: August 5. To learn more, visit www.carbondaleclay.org, e-mail: k@carbondaleclay.org, or call 970.963.2529.

of Denton, Texas invites artists of all media to submit up to three (3) entries of works weighing less than 75 lbs. each for its Materials: Hard and Soft exhibition, to take place Feb. 3–Mar. 30, 2012 at the Denton Center for the Visual Arts. Entry deadline: Sept. 9, 2011. To download a prospectus, log onto www.dentonarts.com/events/PDF/ MaterialsHS_2012.pdf. For additional show information, e-mail: exhibitions@dentonarts. com or call 940.382.2787.

" The Starbrick Gallery of Nelsonville,

ALLEGHANY MEADOWS LORNA MEADEN MEIRA MATHISON SHUJI IKEDA DOUG BROWE SKEFF THOMAS DIANA FAYT JOHN TOKI JOE BOVA RANDY BRODNAX & DON ELLIS

" Entries of functional and sculptural

are being accepted through Sept. 3 by the Bemidji, Minnesota Community Art Center for its 9th Annual It’s Only Clay Juried Competition and Exhibit, to take place Nov. 4–Dec. 17. Visit www.bcac.wordpress. com, e-mail bcac@paulbunyan.net, or call 218.444.7570 for further details.

Hood College subscribes to a policy of equal educational and employment opportunities.

27th Annual

" The Silvermine Arts Center of New

Ohio is requesting entries by August 6 for its Starbrick Clay National Cup Show 2011 to take place Sept. 25–Oct. 25. Submissions may include cups, goblets, mugs, tea bowls, tea cups, and tumblers. For details, visit www.starbrick.com, e-mail: starbrick@ gmail.com, or call 740.753.1011.

" Entries of functional and sculptural work, primarily made of clay and completed during the past two years, are being accepted through Aug. 12 by the Barrett Art Center of Poughkeepsie, New York for its 3rd Annual National Cup Show. The exhibit will take place Sept. 24-Dec. 17. For additional information, log onto: www.barrettartcenter.org, e-mail: LSpence@ barrettartcenter.org, or call 845.471.2550.

" Cape Fear Studios of Fayetteville, North Carolina is accepting entries of functional and non-functional claywork through Aug.

" The Art Center of Estes Park, Colorado invites clay and multimedia artists to submit up to four (4) entries each to its “Lines into Shapes” 15th Annual MultiMedia Art Competition and Sale, to take place at the art center Oct. 28-Nov. 13. Entry deadline: Sept. 9, 2011. Work must be original and made within the past two years. $15 entry fee/piece. Up to $5000 in prizes will be awarded in 2011, depending on number of entries and level of sponsorship. To download a prospectus, visit www.artcenterofestes.com. For more information, e-mail: lis@artcenterofestes. com or call 970.586.5882.

" The Wayne Art Center of Wayne, Pennsylvania is accepting digital submissions through Sept. 15 of media made after Sept. 1, 2009 for its “Craft Forms

" Entries of student clayworks are being accepted through Sept. 29 for the NCECA National Juried Student Exhibition, to take place March 6–31, 2012 in Seattle, Washington. For details, log onto: http://www.nceca. net/static/NSJE2012.php, e-mail: lganstro@fhsu. edu, or call 866.266.2322.

" Baltimore Clayworks is requesting submissions of “functional and dysfunctional” wares and cups through Oct. 7 for Daily Companions, to take place Mar. 3–Apr. 14, 2012 in Baltimore, MD. For details, log onto: www.baltimoreclayworks.org, e-mail: mary.cloonan@baltimoreclayworks.org, or call 410.578.1919, ext.18.

" The Mendocino Art Center of Mendocino, California is accepting entries of both vessels and sculptures through Oct. 15 for its “To Go” Ceramics Exhibition, to take place Dec. 1–31. To learn more, visit www.mendocinoartcenter.org, e-mail: register@mendocinoartcenter.org, or call 707.937.5818.

" Gulf Coast State College of Panama City, Florida is accepting cup entries through Oct. 21 for its Fourth Annual Cup Show: Form and Function, to take place Dec. 2–21, 2011. To learn more, e-mail pamromin@gulfcoast.edu, call 850.872.3886, or visit www.gulfcoast.edu/ arts/art/gallery/default.htm

" Louisiana State University School of Art in Baton Rouge is accepting cup entries through Oct. 28 for 8 Fluid Ounces 2012: A National Juried Ceramics Cup Exhibition, to take place Jan. 25–Feb. 25, 2012. For details, visit www. glassellgallery.org, e-mail kkrolak@lsu.edu, or call 225.389.7180.

" The Clay Gallery of Ann Arbor, Michigan is

To list your events, clay conferences, calls for entries, exhibitions, or ceramic news items in Clay Times®, please e-mail complete details to: claytimes@gmail.com, or click the events link at www.claytimes.com to fill out an online submission form.

Many Paragon kilns are 2” deeper than competitive models—at no extra charge! Since the top 2” row of bricks are without element grooves, they are more durable than standard grooved bricks during loading.

Free furniture kit with the purchase of a Paragon kiln! For a limited time only, receive a free furniture kit for every glistening, new Paragon kiln that you buy. You will receive a full standard furniture kit of quality cordierite shelves, posts, and kiln wash. For instance, the furniture kit for the TnF-27-3 shown above retails for $450.00 and includes 6 - 26” half shelves; 6 each of 1”, 2”, 3”, 4”, 5”, and 6” posts; and kiln wash. The contents of furniture kits for other models vary depending on the size of the kiln. These are full, standard furniture kits—not smaller promotional kits. And we do not use Chinese furniture substitutes for this promotion. The free furniture promotion runs from May 1 through September 30, 2011. Only 10- and 12-sided Paragon top-loading ceramic kilns qualify for the free furniture. This includes the S, SnF,

Connect with Clay Times online! ®

"LIKE" us on Facebook "FOLLOW" us on Twitter to keep posted with current clay news & events between issues ... then learn more at claytimes.com

The Paragon TnF-27-3 with Adelaide from customer service.

TnF, Janus, and Viking series and the Ovation-22 oval kiln. The furniture, of course, is only part of the bargain. In addition, many Paragon ceramic top-loaders, such as the TnF-27-3 above, offer 2” more interior depth than most competitive models. So you get extra space to load more as a bonus to go with your free furniture. Call or email us for a free color catalog on rugged Paragon kilns. Visit our home page to find an authorized Paragon reseller and to sign up for the free Kiln Pointers newsletter.

2011 South Town East Blvd. Mesquite, Texas 75149-1122 800-876-4328 / 972-288-7557 Toll Free Fax 888-222-6450 www.paragonweb.com info@paragonweb.com

Clay Times

original potter’s T-shirts make claywork more fun :) View & order the full line of designs online at www.claytimes.com

CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2011

accepting entries of utilitarian and sculptural cups through Nov. 1, 2011 for Cups of Fire, to take place Jan. 29–Mar. 3, 2012. For more information, e-mail: ylee4@emich.edu, or call 734.604.7596. To fill out an online entry form, log onto: https://www.callforentry.org. [

This is the furniture kit for our TnF-27-3 (the kiln shown here).

Hot Stuff I Events Hot Stuff I Events

2011” 17th International Juried Exhibition Contemporary Craft. The show, to take place Dec. 2, 2011-Jan. 21, 2012, will be juried by Elizabeth Agro, Curator of American Modern and Contemporary Crafts and Decorative Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art. Entry fee is $40. More than $4,000 in prizes will be awarded. For additional information, log onto: www.craftforms.com, or e-mail karenlouise@ wayneart.com.

Creatures of the deep blue SEA

Scorpion Fish by Alan and Rosemary Bennett. 14" x 13" x 6". Fired to cone 7 in oxidation. Opposite page: Fish School.

alks along the Cohocton River, Laguna Beach, or North Pond; a visit to the Fish Market at Reading Terminal; and frequent snorkeling trips and visits to aquariums continually feed Rosemary and Alan Bennett with new ideas for their sea-creature claywork. “Seeing all the patterns and textures pushes us to come up with new glaze combinations,” Rosemary says. “Lately, ugly fish have been the most fun to do. They have wonderful texture and colors.”

The couple now reside in Bath, New York, where they maintain their home and studio, and snorkel whenever possible at nearby Keuka Lake. Their son Tom, who earned his B.A. in art history from Arcadia University in Philadelphia, occasionally drops by to help them in the studio. Rosemary and Alan use a groggy sculpture stoneware to handbuild the basic body shapes of their clay creatures, marketed in specific lines ranging from reef fish, freshwater fish, and ocean fish to various occasional animals and special projects. Eye sockets are gouged out of the face, and porcelain is then used to form the eyeball additions. For the mouths, sharp porcelain teeth are intricately seated in stoneware gums. Various beards, horns, fins, and spikes are then added to enhance

the monster-like appearance primarily underwater life forms.

the

“The intent is to re-create both the movement and camouflage that these creatures have in nature,” says Alan. The Bennetts bisque-fire their creations to orange heat, then apply a black slip to create a pattern underneath the glaze. A white crawl glaze (see formula on next page) is applied over the black slip by dipping or spraying. Alan notes that the thicker the glaze application, the scalier the fish will appear to be. Next, stains and oxides are oversprayed to create various colors and patterns. Finally, the glaze is scraped off the eyes and teeth with a dental hygienist’s tool, then a layer of Gerstley borate is brushed on in its

CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2011

The Bennetts met more than 30 years ago at Ohio State University, where Alan was pursuing his M.F.A. in ceramics and Rosemary was working on dual B.A. degrees in ceramics and art education. Fate intervened when an instructor asked Alan to teach Rosemary how to make copper red glazes. Already obsessed with fish by that time, Alan saw her sketchbook filled with different octopus renderings. They were married six years later.

“It’s just like fishing in unfamiliar waters: when we use combinations of new glazes, we are often surprised with what we reel in.”

Bennett Clay Fish (continued from previous page) place. To achieve better control when glazing and spraying, the Bennetts often mask the slip and glaze layers with cereal flakes (such as the Raisin Bran® pictured at left). The Bennetts also raku-fire some of their fish, and enjoy working with wax resist patterns when they do so. By mixing wax resist into the raku glaze, intricate dot patterns for fish like trout still

appear well-defined after firing. More Bennett Clay Fish images and a list of their wholesale shows and retail galleries appear online at www.bennettclayfish. com. The Bennetts also post frequent updates to their Facebook page at www. facebook.com/BennettClayFish You may reach them directly via e-mail at: rosemarybennett@ wildblue.net [

Fish Glaze Formula cone 7-9 oxidation Magnesium Carbonate 45% Feldspar G-200 25 20 Mule Team® Borax 15 OM-4 Ball Clay 15 TOTAL 100% This white glaze should be sprayed or dipped (too thick and it will crawl or flake off.) Best on a dark clay body or over dark slip. Handle carefully after glazing: it flakes off easily and shows finger marks. Colors result from Mason® stains and oxides sprayed on top of the glaze.

Fish Stain Overspray cone 7-9 oxidation Calcium Carbonate 10% EPK 25 G-200 Feldspar 15 Mason Stain color* 50 TOTAL 100%

Alan and Rosemary with their Goliath Grouper at Cedar Creek Gallery in Creedmoor, NC.

Son Tom helps with the time-consuming task of spiking a large puffer fish.

*the Bennetts use the following colors:

CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2011

*Soft Green......... Mason Bermuda Green *Bright Yellow .........Mason Bright Yellow (encapsulated for high-firing) *Orange-red..................... Mason Lobster (encapsulated orange-red; can mix with yellow to get various degrees of orange) *Dark Red......................Mason Dark Red (this is the newest red in the Mason line) *Violet ..................................Mason Violet (the newest Violet in the Mason line) *Turquoise......any Mason Turquoise Blue

These stains should be mixed to a fairly watery consistency for spraying. To achieve additional colors, mix or layer the glazes when you spray (i.e., a yellowgreen will result when the Bright Yellow is mixed with the Bermuda Green).

For more of the Bennetts’ formulas & images, log onto www.claytimes.com Frog Fish. Frog Fish. 10" x 6" x 6". Glazed with “Fish Glaze” and “Fish Overspray”. Cone 7 oxidation. 10" x 6" x 6". Fired to cone 7 in oxidation.

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Flynn Creek Pottery Building community and inspiring creativity through the wood-fire process BY NICK SCHWARTZ

hen I was in high school, the hazing and beat ’em up mentality just didn’t make sense. I was uninspired and depressed. Then one day I was led by an art teacher named Jeff Benjamin into a room where he was showing a bootleg reel-to-reel movie from the 1960s, of Shoji Hamada and Bernard Leach processing clay and wood firing. A year later, I found myself in the midst of my senior project: apprenticing with a potter named Louise Harter in a tiny studio in Manhattan, New York. This experience culminated with a firing of a cross-draft wood/salt kiln that Louise and some of her friends had built upstate. Instantly, I knew I had met my new family. As we sipped on tea and sake together and the artists around me shared their stories, I realized that this was the life for me.

Seventeen years later, after traveling all over the world building and firing countless kilns, I now find myself nestled in the hills of northern California, creating an informal wood-fire residency with visiting artists from far and near. We have six kilns and two forges, but for me, the anagama is the “crown jewel.” As we fire for seven to ten days, friends and family come from all over to participate in the celebration and collaboration of food, spirit, and heat. We have built a bread oven on top of the flue; and as we fire, we cook continuously. We are fortunate enough to live in a place where resources are rich and the quality of life is unparalleled. Everyone is welcome, and often neighbors and friends who have nothing to do with clay come by just to stoke or feed the weary. continued on next page

PICTURED: This page: Nick Schwartz, founder of Flynn Creek Pottery, beside a collection of work from a recent firing. All works pictured below and on opposite page were made by Nick and fired in the Flynn Creek anagama. Opposite page, left column, top to bottom: Bottle. 6" x 6" x 6". Stoneware. Translucent Tea Bowl. 3" x 4" x 3". Porcelain. Fire Box Piece. 18" x 18" x 38". Stoneware. Opposite page, right column: Tumble Stack Jug. 12" x 12" x 21". Porcelain.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2011

The Flynn Creek anagama: complete with bread oven at rear and “dancing stone” counter-weights for the doors. A typical firing takes 7 to 10 days.

Flynn Creek Pottery Wood-fire Wadding Recipe Masonry Cream, Mortar Clay, or Fire Clay........... 50 lbs. Rice Hulls or Coarse Sawdust........................ 5 gallons If your firing is expected to be very hot or “fluxy,” add equal parts (about ½ gallon each) of Alumina Hydrate and EPK. Caution: Always wear a Niosh-approved respirator before mixing dry ingredients.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2011

✔ Begin by pouring all dry ingredients into a wheelbarrow. Add water and mix with a flat shovel until it begins to feel and look like clay.

✔ Slowly add more rice hulls or sawdust and test by rolling a snake or ball between your palms. If the wadding holds together nicely, it’s probably ready. If your mix is too crumbly, add more clay and water. ✔ The more rice hulls or sawdust, the easier it is to remove the wadding from your work after firing. ✔ Once your mixture is at the right consistency, slab the wadding onto your wedging table and begin to wedge (it should act just like clay). After wedging, the mix may be stored in two covered 5-gallon buckets. ✔ While wadding your work, think outside the box— you can make great designs!

continued from previous page

As we heat the kiln up over a week, clay and ash begin to interface. [My understanding is that] as the work becomes pyroplastic, particles align themselves with one another and, eventually, with the magnetic poles of the earth; this makes it possible for scientists to discover where certain objects were likely fired. I personally believe that as things inside of the kiln become somewhat molten, they are capable of being influenced by sound and, on some scale, other types of energy. I consider the finished product as a result of everything that occurred at the kiln site during the firing. In other words, the finished product resonates deeply with the human spirit, and speaks of tectonic forces and our relationship with the natural world as well as each other. For me, firing the anagama is a celebration of that which makes us human, and a testimony to our capacity to work together to accomplish great goals.

I have learned through the warmth of the wood kiln, the “unbearable lightness of being” and the necessity to gather with one another to share meals and stories. While attending Eckerd College as an undergrad, I was invited to Japan to be a woodfiring apprentice. Unfortunately, shortly after I arrived, my host artist was arrested and I was shuttled about to various potter families in Mashiko and Shigaraki. I ended up working with an artist named Ida Shoichi, a member of the Japanese avant-garde who used to share a studio with John Cage and Robert Rauschenberg. He was a colorful character and entertained a lot. (His typical dinner attire included wire-rimmed sunglasses, an Armani® fishnet T-shirt, a silk scarf, and a Speedo® bathing suit!) On the weekends, I would go back to Shigaraki to take the midnight shift at the

wood kilns. Once near the warmth of the fire, I was always reminded of how all of this could feed my clay work. My time in Japan and with Ida-san was not only filled with incredible art, but also people and food; life and art were intertwined in a community experience. When I returned to the U.S., I received a private grant to build a community wood kiln and to support myself for a year. I witnessed many people discovering the seduction of the wood-fire process some of whom were brought to tears by the metaphors of the fire and how it related to their own lives. There is something inherently human about gathering around a fire, bellies full, feeling the warmth and comfort, playing music and talking to one another. We know that inside those bricks beautiful things are being created and that when the time is right we will begin the process again for the next fire. Informed by texture and color our senses tell us what is true, that without one another none of this would be possible.

Baskets by Lyla Goldstein, 2010/11 resident artist at Flynn Creek Pottery.

Today, Flynn Creek Pottery has evolved into a residency and visiting artist program which provides studios and housing in a communal setting, and helps to facilitate research in atmospheric kiln firing processes. Recent developments and goals include projects which would involve FCP in producing large-scale collaborative ceramic works to interface with public, wild, and agricultural spaces. This program is being spearheaded by our new co-director, Jessica Thompson. A 2011 graduate of the M.F.A. program at Alfred University, Jessica has brought a fresh sensibility of design and collective vision to our program. With the addition of these large sculptural projects to the making of functional pottery wares, we hope enhance the residency program with an element of work exchange through cooperative production. [

If you have questions about the pottery and its residency program, please e-mail: nickschwartzanagama@gmail.com

Tumblers by Avi Arenfeld, 2010/11 resident artist at Flynn Creek Pottery.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2011

Updates about Flynn Creek Pottery can be found by checking our Facebook page. We also have an older website at www. flynncreekpottery.com with information and images pertaining to the facilities.

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It’s key to be prepared for the interview with a resume highlighting your education & career experience most relevant to the specific job available...

BY PETE PINNELL

my job requires that I use nine different online sites at the University, each of which has its own little idiosyncrasies to keep me on my toes. It’s not that we all have to be experts, or do these things easily (many of us struggle at times to keep up with the onslaught of new technologies), but we have to find a way to do it anyway. When you tell me you can’t handle an online application, you’re actually telling me that you can’t do the job.

The interview panel for a new ceramics professor may know nothing about the field of ceramics!

• Closely read the job listing and all of the instructions. On our job listing, under “How to apply,” was a detailed set of instructions, including the two online locations where the candidate had to fill out forms or provide information. A whole bunch of people took themselves out of the running by completing one portion of the application, and not the other. Also, it was clear from the instructions that this was an online application process, yet we had several applicants ignore that and mail us a packet. Since we are required (by both law and University regulation) to treat every candidate the same, we were unable to consider these applicants. With an electronic application like this, you won’t be doing yourself any favors to contact the search chair and tell him/her that you are uncomfortable with online applications. Being an academic today means that you will constantly have to learn new software, since virtually everything in academia is now handled electronically. I just did a count, and doing

Most academic job listings will have two sections on qualifications for the job: “minimum” and “preferred.” If you don’t meet every requirement in the “minimum qualifications” section, then you won’t be considered for the job, regardless of how strong a candidate you may be in other areas. We purposely put little in this section, and listed most of our preferences in the “preferred qualifications” category, which provided us (and candidates) with a little wiggle room. That said, I should point out that any candidate with all the preferred qualifications will almost always score higher than a comparable candidate who lacks one or more. For instance, our listing said, “Preference will be given to individuals with a record of demonstrable college teaching effectiveness” and, under the “how to apply” section, we provided a method for doing so by asking for “images of student work.” No, these weren’t required, but those who provided no images of student work (or any other evidence of teaching effectiveness) automatically fell behind those who did. I should point out that I’m not an attorney and have no direct knowledge of Federal law, and neither do most faculty members. That’s why all publicly funded institutions have employees who can interpret these laws and provide faculty members with rules and guidelines that comply with the law. So, when these people tell me that a

continued on next page

CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2011

his past school year I was on three search committees—two within Art and one outside of it—and I was witness to yet another search within my department. These experiences, besides being exhausting, gave me the rare opportunity to see searches from both the inside and outside, hear lots of candidate presentations, look at tons of images, and read lots of resumes. Immediately after the process was completed, I sat down with some of my students to talk about the experience, to see what they had learned from meeting the finalists, and also to share what I had learned from the preliminary portion of the search (which was only witnessed by the committee members, of course). It has been many years since I was seeking a job and sitting on the other side of the search table, and I thought it might be helpful to those who may be looking for a job in the future to hear what I learned. These articles aren’t intended to be a complete “how-to” manual on job application; I just thought that I’d share a few of the things I noticed.

Perspectives I As Far As I Know

Musings on a Faculty Search

Perspectives I As Far As I Know

Musings on a Faculty Search (from p. 21) candidate who meets all the preferences must go ahead of a candidate who lacks one or more, then I have to pay attention. Several very accomplished artists hurt themselves in our search by failing to provide us with any evidence that they could teach. • Adjust your resume to make your teaching credentials more apparent. One of my jobs as chair of the search committee was to fill out a very large form in which information was entered for each and every applicant. I had to account for everything we listed in our “minimum” and “preferred” categories, which meant that I had to find that information in the applicants’ resumes. Most applicants listed education first (which is good), but I was surprised how often applicants hid their teaching experience on page 3 or 4, even though they were applying for a teaching position. Also, your resume should specify whether your teaching experience occurred during graduate school, afterward, or a combination of both. I often had to figure it out by looking back and forth between the “education” and “experience” sections on a resume, comparing dates and counting years. If you have teaching experience after graduate school, you should trumpet that experience in your resume.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2011

• Unless you’re applying for a Graphic Design position, don’t get too clever with your resume design. Keep in mind what software might be necessary to open or properly “operate” the document. If you’re not sure, send your resume to a few friends of yours who are outside of art and ask them for their opinions. If they can’t open or navigate your resume, then you need to simplify it, or simply convert it to a cross-platform file type (like a PDF). Please remember that the committee members have to read a lot of these things—you won’t do yourself any favors by making yours difficult to open or read.

• Don’t hide the highlights of your career. If you were selected in an international competition to show your work in China in 2007, don’t assume I’ll notice that fact hidden among all the cup shows you were in during that same year. If we have 100 resumes to read, and they average eight pages in length, you can see how easy it would be for us to miss something important if you don’t bring it to our attention. Find a way to get important career highlights onto page one. This could take the form of an “Awards and Distinctions” section, or, if the event isn’t technically an award (perhaps you were selected to demonstrate or give a talk at an

important conference), then you could have a “notable accomplishments” section. I always laugh when I think about my late mother-in-law, who was only able to tell a story in chronological order, and would get really flustered by any interruption of her narrative or attempts to ascertain the point of a long story. My wife and I used to joke that if a UFO landed in the road in front of her car on her way to town, she’d begin the story by telling us what she had for breakfast (and how she was short on milk), followed by her realization that the car needed washing and how that reminded her that the dry cleaning needed to be picked up, and … After about 20 minutes of this (about the time everyone in the room was dozing off) she would get to the part about the flying saucer landing in front of her car, right in the middle of Highway 183. (“Huh? Did you just say flying saucer? On Highway 183?”) While this habit can be endearing in an elderly relative, it is downright irritating in a resume. Get the UFO on page one, and save the breakfast menu for page 5 (or leave it out altogether). Whether you are applying for a job or a grant, going up for tenure/promotion, or applying for almost anything else in the Arts, the committee evaluating you will be looking for evidence that others in your field have recognized you and your accomplishments. It will always be your job to make sure we (the committee members) find that information, and that we recognize its significance. Generally speaking, few faculty members who sit on a ceramics search committees are in the field of ceramics (more on that in a bit). That means that I, being a potter, might be aware of the significance of “The Morgan National” (I just made that name up). But for the benefit of committee members from outside ceramics, your resume needs to note that it is a juried exhibition (and uses a panel of four noted jurors—list their names), that it only occurs every other year (making it more special), that over 1500 artists applied for the show while only 80 were selected, that it was exhibited at the famed “Morgan Museum of Really Important Art” (located in Major City, USA) and that the exhibition was up during a major conference and was viewed by thousands in your field. All of this information reinforces the fact that your inclusion in this show is a notable accomplishment, and is strong evidence that your work is being “recognized” by professionals in your field. Otherwise, a reader could just as easily assume that The Morgan National was held by Morgan P. National, Jr. at his Barnwood Gallery in

Mugwump Holler, Nebraska, and out of 32 applicants (mostly from Nebraska and South Dakota), Morgan chose to exhibit 29. As a side issue, one largely unnoted phenomenon that has dramatically affected the face of American ceramics over the past 30 years is the make-up of search committees. Only a small percentage of educational institutions in the country have more than one faculty member in any one media discipline. This means that when the only ceramics professor leaves or retires, the search committee to hire the new ceramics professor will likely have no one from the field of ceramics as a member. In addition, because of privacy regulations, the committee members will be unable to ask questions of anyone outside their own membership. These facts affect their decision-making in too many ways for me to go into in this article, but at a minimum you need to understand this: Don’t assume that the committee members know anything about the field of ceramics. They may have never heard of NCECA, Yixing, Iznik, or Mingei, not to mention Voulkos or Hamada. They will know that a particular exhibition, residency, or other experience is noteworthy only if you tell them. So don’t be shy—get that information in your resume. At this point you may be thinking that you don’t have any notable achievements to get onto page one of your resume. That’s OK. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t apply for jobs: a search committee may find your work to be so compelling (and you so charming) that they’ll want to hire you based on your potential alone. If that doesn’t happen, the key is to keep going—to keep making (and exhibiting) your artwork. However, while it’s important for career building to be both tenacious and strategic, we should never lose sight of one important thing—why we make art. For most of us, we started making art because doing so brought us joy and satisfaction, and in the midst of deadlines, financial pressures, and difficult career choices, it’s easy to lose sight of that fact. If art-making never brings you anything but joy and satisfaction, you’ll still have had a terrific life. Next time I’ll discuss what happens if you make it into “the top ten,” and into the job interview process. [ Peter Pinnell is Hixson-Lied Professor of Art at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. You can reach him at ppinnell1@unl.edu or through his Facebook page at www.facebook.com.

“The Tag Team: Fun with Randy Brodnax & Don Ellis”

2011 Fall Workshop Weekend Sat. & Sun. November 5-6, 2011 Dan Finch Pottery • Bailey, North Carolina REGISTER EARLY — SPACE FILLS UP FAST! ) This encore workshop with expert potter favorites Randy Brodnax (TX) and Don Ellis (NM) promises to be an action-packed, humorous, and intensely informative weekend of entertaining throwing, decorating, and firing techniques. ) Registration fee of $175 includes lunch both days, plus Saturday evening dinner. Camping available on-site with restrooms & showers; hotel lodging is just 10 minutes away in Wilson, NC. See complete event details online at: http://www.danfinch.com Questions? E-mail dan.finch@earthlink.net or call 252.235.4664 philippe faraut clay SculptiNG materialS

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Perspectives I Beneath the Surface

Faux Crystal Investigation The use of sintered borax adds an interesting crystalline variable to glaze tests GUEST COLUMN BY RACHEL STURINO

ast year I enrolled in an absorbing class on firing and glaze chemistry under Professor Sana Krusoe of the University of Oregon Ceramics department. Prior to taking this course, I had only been familiar with commercial glazes and rudimentary firing processes, but the intensive structure of the class engrossed me from the start. The program is partly based on student mentors instructing the incoming students. Last year I learned an immense amount from both my mentor and Sana Krusoe, and this year I am a mentor myself. Over the past summer I had been testing a variegated rutile glaze (recipe follows) at cone 10, trying to solve a persistent pinholing issue. However, I abandoned that goal when an error in a programmed electric firing left me with a much more interesting outcome. The kiln was set to fire to cone 10, but turned itself off around cone 5. Not only were my tests fully resolved with no pinholes at this temperature, but they had interesting halos and speckling that was non-existent in my earlier tests.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2011

When mixing this glaze, I had been adding the borax after sieving. Since it is soluble, it normally isn’t an issue. These tests, however, had been dipped immediately after (incompletely) mixing the borax into the sieved glaze, resulting in small clumps of borax on the tile. The same thing happened on my earlier tests, but any effect was basically obliterated by the higher temperatures at cones 8, 9, and 10. At lower temperatures, however, these clumps produced distinct areas of localized melt, spreading outward as multicolored halos in the glaze.

“Now it’s difficult for me to disregard even the most boring glazes because of how potentially beautiful they could be under the right conditions.”

I was interested in replicating this effect, but as borax goes into solution fairly quickly, each batch would have to be mixed immediately before glazing a piece. Another student, Ryan Paxton, suggested we sinter borax to keep it from going into solution. This is a preliminary process where the raw material (borax) is fired to the point of fusion to reduce solubility. We fired samples of borax beginning at cone 022. We found that firing to 015 worked best for our purposes. We separated the sintered borax into different meshes, from a fine powder to

Original glaze applied to stoneware and high-fired to cone 10 resulted in severe pinholing. ¼" pieces, in an attempt to duplicate the original results. The final outcome was good, but unfortunately, the sintered borax does not stay in suspension very well. Because of this, pouring the glaze from small containers generally works better than dipping a piece into a large bucket. Alternatively, the sintered borax can be sprinkled on top of the wet glaze, allowing the size and placement of the borax (and halos) to be controlled. On vertical surfaces, the halos are pulled down and elongated. Since these effects are produced by the concentration of a material with a relatively low melting temperature, pieces of sintered borax very close the bottom of a vertical surface are likely to melt onto the shelf. Since the glaze is fairly stiff, this has not been a problem for me unless the pieces are large and glazed very close to the bottom edge.

I continued to test the glaze at different temperatures in oxidation. While the effects are different, it is fully resolved from cone 6 all the way down to cone 04, making this glaze formula suitable for most terra-cotta and low-fire clays. The halos are less interesting at lower temperatures, but the borax creates an isolated area of clear melt, allowing the terra cotta to show through the glaze. I have primarily tested this glaze in electric oxidation firings, but plan to test it more in reduction firings at similar temperatures. Fired to cone 10 in reduction, this glaze produces a light blue, runny, pinholed result. Cone 9 produced a variegated blue with orange spots where the borax had been. Other coloring agents can be added (in addition to the rutile) to produce different effects, but I have not had the results I desire when removing or reducing the rutile content.

Nepheline Syenite 40.0% Frit 3110 26.7 EPK 13.3 Pearl Ash 13.3 Zinc 6.7 TOTAL 100% add Rutile 13.0% add Bentonite 2.0% + Sintered Borax

While writing this column, I came across an article by John Britt, entitled “Flambe Magic,” addressing this exact topic. He discovered the same crystals in his glazes and explains that it takes more borax to saturate a solution at higher temperatures—so as the glaze cools (like my studio from August to September) the excess borax will precipitate out, forming crystals around particulates in the glaze. I’m sure this new discovery will lead to further experimentation with this glaze, but for now mixing the glaze at the time of glazing or using sintered borax have both provided me with the results I’d like to achieve.

(amount varies)

Sprinkle freshly glazed piece with Sintered Borax before firing (careful not to apply close to bottom edge of vertical pieces, as it may run).

Test fired to cone 9 in oxidation. Note the one large pinhole.

Over the course of the summer, I probably tested somewhere around 100 variations of this glaze, along with others inspired by it. I have tried adding sintered borax (as well as unsieved borax) to a variety of glazes with mixed results. Many fluid glazes develop plain, clear, crazed splotches where the borax clusters were, while more matte and refractory glazes develop interesting craters of localized

melt. Some glazes resolve to the point where the borax is no longer visible but integrated into the glaze. Since the borax itself melts at a fairly low temperature, this technique can be applied to a wide range of glazes. The use of sintered borax adds an interesting variable to the testing of glaze.

Perspectives I Beneath the Surface

A bucket of this glaze had been sitting untouched for about three weeks when I opened it to make more tests. The dissolved borax had crystallized out of solution throughout the glaze. These solid pieces of borax stayed in suspension. If they did not go back into solution, I thought, they could be an answer to the suspension problem I’d been having with the sintered borax.

Faux Crystal Glaze

This group of tests seems to further open up the endless possibilities available to anyone interested in glaze chemistry. It would be interesting to see different base glazes with the addition of rutile and sintered borax. When experimenting with this process, I would recommend the use of mid-range base glazes, as I have frequently experienced pinholing issues with high rutile percentages at cone 10. I will continue to test different glazes to see their reactions to sintered borax and borax precipitate. Even more important to me, these tests have reinforced the equal importance of firing conditions and glaze formulation. Now it’s difficult for me to disregard even the most boring glazes because of how beautiful they could potentially be under the right conditions. [ Editor’s note: Thanks to guest columnist Rachel Sturino for sharing her glaze findings with CT readers, and to regular columnist Lana Wilson for inviting Rachel to do so by offering use of her column space in this issue.

This test was fired to cone 3.

This test was fired to cone 9 in reduction.

Glaze fired to cone 6 with sintered borax.

Glaze applied to terra cotta clay and fired to cone 04.

Glaze applied with the addition of copper carbonate on terra cotta, fired to cone 10.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2011

Surprise result from test in kiln that erroneously shut down at cone 5 instead of intended cone 10.

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Basket Forms in Clay TEXT & PHOTOS BY BILL VAN GILDER

That’s what this project is all about: choosing an object—a basket, in this case—and using several parts of it in our clay work (Fig. 1). We’re going to ‘borrow’ a woven texture and stamp it across the slab floor of one pot, then ‘steal’ a basket-handle attachment design and use it to strengthen our clay handles both physically and aesthetically.

Fig. 1

H Necessary Supplies • (4) 1-lb. pieces of clay • (3) 2½-lb. pieces of clay • (1) 8" or 10" bat • (1) 12" or 14" bat • a throwing sponge • some water • an under-cutting tool • a cut-off wire • a flat, sharp-edged stick • a fettling knife • a corrugated stamp

• a rib tool • a profiled foot rib • a ruler

Me? I’ve recognized that I’ve long been influenced by things like architecture, rusted and paint-corroded surfaces, and common objects made of materials other than clay … like tin ware and other metals, some wooden objects, and glassware, old and new. Additionally, old and contemporary pots have always been serious influences. But the fact that my clay work is influenced by objects made of materials other than clay is very acceptable to me. I tend to borrow (or ‘steal’) the parts of an object that I feel, once they are incorporated into my work, will make it more interesting. Colors, surfaces and textures, scale and proportions, volume, assembling techniques, and finishing details are some of the influences we all might note about an object and integrate into our work.

The container, or wall forms of the project will be, as the photographs show, thrown on the wheel. But they can certainly be totally hand-built, which gives us the possibility of using the stamped woven-texture technique over the whole form (as in Fig. 8).

Throwing and Altering The project starts with your class gathered at your wheel, plus the tools, supplies, and two of the 2½-lb. pieces of throwing clay listed at the beginning of this column. Demonstrate the throwing of two forms for your class: a tall cylinder that flares gradually outward from foot to rim, and a low, wide, bottomless cylinder. Attach your small bat to the wheelhead, attach one of the pieces of clay to the bat, add water, then throw a thickrimmed cylinder, 5" to 6" tall and 6" to 7" in diameter. As you pull the wall upward, stop your fingertips just short of the rim and compress the rim downward just a bit with your thumb tips. This creates a ½" wide rim, which will securely support the basket handle you’ll be attaching later on, so thick is best here. Use your under-cutting tool to remove the excess clay from the outside base area of your form. Or use a profiled foot

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Optional:

ere’s an interesting subject and a short list of questions to kick around with your student potters: Where do our ideas for making things in clay come from? What are we influenced by, and what are the sources of those influences? Why are we aesthetically impressed by specific things? Why not others? These last questions, the why of influences in our work, might best be discussed with a psychiatrist. But the other two questions can lead to some lively classroom discussions. Try them on your class and see where it goes!

In Form I Teaching Techniques

Sources and Influences

In Form I Teaching Techniques

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 7

Fig. 8

Fig. 9

Fig. 10

Fig. 6

Fig. 11

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Fig. 5

rib to round the foot edge (Fig. 2). Then, use your rib tool or the edge of your under-cutting tool to smooth the outside wall. As you press your rib tool against the wall, stretch and expand the form outward, flaring it slightly from foot to rim. When it is smooth, use the pointed tip of your under-cutting tool and add a series of grooved lines, shallow ‘steps,’ or a swirled line to the outside wall … a little something to decorate the wall in a subtle way (Fig. 3). You can, as an additional step, alter the rim and/or the wall of your container at this point. Use two fingertips to pull the rim in opposite directions to oval the opening (Fig. 4) or use four fingertips to square it (Fig. 5). Or slide one fingertip against the inside wall from base to rim, four times equally spaced apart, to square the wall and the rim (Fig. 6). Then use your throwing sponge to carefully clean up your form inside and out; wirecut it from its bat; and set it aside. Now attach your larger bat to the wheel head and, using your other 2½-lb. piece of clay, throw a bottomless cylinder about 3" tall and 10" wide. This form will also need a rim that’s thick and sturdy, so keep that in mind as you pull the wall upward. For the throwing and finishing details of this squat, oval-shaped cylinder, see the July 2008 issue of Clay Times (Vol. 14, Number 4). As described in that ‘Teaching Techniques’ column, you’ll liberally wet the bat inside and around this short thrown form and, using the fingertips of each hand, immediately stretch and pull it into an elongated oval shape (Fig. 7). After some drying time, you’ll securely attach your oval form to a slab floor and neatly finish the wall-to-slab seam. With your tall cylinder form and your short oval now thrown, try, if possible, to force the early drying step of both pots a bit. You’ll want to remove the tacky or sticky surface from them as soon as possible, which allows you to continue your demo in a timely fashion. When the slick wetness of the pots dries away, they’ll be soft, pliable, and at the perfect stage to add a slab base, finish their base edges, and attach handles. When they’ve reached that stage, move your demo from your wheel to a work table, and complete the projects.

Advise your students to finish and finalize the foot area of their pots before adding handles to minimize potential breakage ... and heartache. The easiest way to finish the foot edge of both forms is to hold them gently in your lap and use the side of your thumb to softly stroke and round off the sharp corner. But first, there are a few more steps to go through to create and attach a floor to your elongated oval form. This gives you the opportunity to add a bit of ‘basket’ to the project. Using the last 2½-lb. piece of clay from the list of supplies, roll out a ¼"-thick slab on a clean, dry ware board or large bat. Your slab will need to be at least an inch larger than the outside dimensions of your long oval. Now, decorate the surface of the slab. To accent the basket idea of the project, I use a small, corrugated stamp to neatly and slowly press a basket-weave pattern across the whole slab (Fig. 8). The stamp I use has been cut from a wooden, corrugated texture board (available from the ‘Tools’ page at www.vangilderpottery.com). However, you can make your own corrugated stamp by pressing very soft clay onto a piece of corrugated cardboard, trimming it to a desired size and shape, and then bisque-firing it. Referring again to the previously mentioned 2008 Clay Times ‘Teaching Techniques’ column, attach your oval wall to your textured slab and finish the foot edge. Then, move on to the handle-making step of your demo. The easiest way to make a cool-looking handle for your basket is to use a combination of coiling, altering, and texturing.

Your handle will need to span and gracefully arch over the opening of your basket. As a guide, if your basket rim is 5" across, a handle length of 10", or twice the diameter of your basket’s opening, seems to be about right. Longer or shorter can be OK, too. Having decided how long your basket handle needs to be, use your knife to straight-cut each end.

Attaching Handles Now come the finishing steps—the ones that really turn your clay pot into a basket! First, wet about 4" at the two spots on the rim of your pot where your handle ends will be attached. This creates a sticky, glue-like surface, which will securely hold the handle to the rim. Carefully pick up your handle at each end and flip it upright and over, in one quick motion. Gently place each end onto the sticky areas and press the ends tightly to the rim. Then wet the four sides of the handle from the pot rim upward about 3".

“Archaeology tells us that baskets were made by people before someone stumbled or slipped down a stream bank to discover clay and its potential for making containers. Some of the earliest clay containers do indeed resemble baskets in form. To this day, baskets continue to be an imitated influence within the clay world. So let’s see what influence hand-woven baskets have had — or can have — on you. Let’s go to work!” [

Bill van Gilder has been a full-time potter since the 1960s and teaches pottery-making workshops. He may be reached by e-mail at vangilderpottery@ earthlink.net. His potters’ tool line, van Gilder Tools, is available via the online store at www.vangilder pottery.com.

The Steve Tool

Now share this little, but important visual detail: “OK, here’s your basic basket. But I’d like these handle ends to be more integrated into the form at the rim. So I’m going to add four corner supports, which will both physically and visually strengthen my handle. These corner pieces will definitely add some ‘basket’ to my pot.” Roll out a thin 3" x 10" slab that’s a bit less than ¼" thick. Press your corrugated stamp across the slab, covering it completely with grooved lines. Now use your fettling knife to

Wild Texture on Pottery! One Tool - Many Results www.graberspottery.com Pottery by Sheryl Holstein www.MountainOakPottery.com

CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2011

Using one of the 1-lb. pieces of clay from the supplies list, roll out a 10" to 12" long, fat (1"+) diameter coil. Then, using a wide, flat stick that’s at least 12" long or as long as your coil, press and flatten your coil along its entire length, until it’s about ½" thick. Now press the flat side of the stick against one long side of your coil, and then the other, creating a point along its top surface from end to end. Next, using one of the long, sharp edges of the stick, press a series of long lines into the surface of your coil and use your stamp to add some corrugated texture. A little bit of texture and groovin’ here adds a lot of visual interest to your finished basket (Fig. 9)!

Fig. 12

In Form I Teaching Techniques

cut four 2½" squares from the slab and remove the surrounding excess clay (Fig. 10). Pick up one of the squares carefully and bend it in half, from corner to corner. With some gentle pressure, place and press each corner-shaped slab into position at each side of the handle and onto the dampened rim (Fig. 11). Add the same handle and corner-piece attachments to your second form, and you’re done! (Fig. 12)

Foot Treatments and Handle Making

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Acquiring A Studio Space:

What to Consider Before You Invest BY JESS BENJAMIN AND KIM CARPENTER

Because we artists often identify ourselves with what we make in our studio spaces, buying or renovating a property can be a stressful and emotional experience.

t was dark, depressing, and grimy. It smelled of age. This building hadn’t been properly taken care of: the ceiling was painted black and the walls were covered with decades of old filth. It was probably the last place most artists would consider an ideal studio space.

Spend Ample Time Up Front To Save Money in the Long Run Time is money, as the saying goes. That’s why before I even began looking at properties, I had to question whether I could spend the next several years remodeling a building while continuing to establish myself as an artist.

Renovations are key. No matter how perfect a potential studio may seem, there are always unforeseen repairs. It’s crucial to make a realistic budget for what you can afford each month: not just for mortgage payments, but also what you can reasonably invest in the property over the next several years. For that reason, I wrote a detailed business plan, which helped determine my budget and made it possible to approach banks for a small business loan. It took nine months to write my plan, which included financial details for the immediate future as well as five- and ten-year projections.

continued on next page

CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2011

But underneath all the years of neglect, I uncovered an ideal space for the studio I envisioned. I bought the property in Omaha, Nebraska in 2009. After two years of renovations, I now have an 8,000-s.f. ceramics studio featuring multi-use workspaces, a wood shop, a private gallery, a loading dock, a kiln and clay mixing area, storage space, and sleeping quarters.

Buying a studio space is a daunting and overwhelming experience, one that is just as much a personal investment as a financial one. I’ve now learned several important lessons.

Clay Times Magazine Volume 17 • Issue 91