CERAMIC
ART
TRENDS,
TOOLS,
AND
®
TIMES
Clay
TECHNIQUES
Volume 19 • Issue 96 SUMMER 2013
Carol Long Essence of Fluidity Are You Making What You Really Want? Calculating Your Kiln Footprint A Modified Tile Press Bruce Beasley: 50-Year Sculptor The Spirit of Ceramic Design
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CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2013
Cover photo: Bubble Gum Tree Bottle by Carol Long of St. John, Kansas. 7" x 8". Wheel-thrown stoneware with clay additions, slip-trailed decoration, and commercial glazes. Fired to cone 5 in an electric kiln.
®
contents
TIMES
Clay
Summer 2013 Volume 19 • Issue 96
Cover inset photo: Detail of slip trailing by cover artist Carol Long, who also made the Caterpillar Vase pictured below.
features 14 Carol Long: Essence of Fluidity Original, organic, and mesmerizing, the ceramic works of Midwestern clay artist Carol Long offer refreshing reassurance that maybe it hasn’t all been done before.
30 Making A Simple Tile Press After years of putting up with with a tile press that left much to be desired, potter Linda Stauffer found she could easily modify a commercial arbor press to make tile production a breeze. The first step is removal of the disk it’s supplied with (pictured on the commercial press above) ...
32 The Self-Serve Pottery Kiosk
41 From Bowls to Boats William Shinn shows how extruder dies can be used to create model boats that actually float.
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Adam Paulek takes the home studio practice of “serve-yourself pottery” to a new level — in local retail establishments.
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®
contents
TIMES
Clay SUMMER 2013 • Volume 19 • Issue 96
departments
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21 AS FAR AS I KNOW
9 EDITOR’S DESK Inspiration: Where Do You Find It?
“Imagine This” by Pete Pinnell
11 WHAT’S HOT
25 BENEATH THE SURFACE
Clay world news, events, and calls for entries
“Bruce Beasley: 50 Years” Part 1 of an interview by Lana Wilson
33 GREAT GLAZES Karin Givon shares a few favorite formulas
29 KILNS & FIRING “Calculating Your Kiln Footprint” by Marc Ward
34 THE GALLERY A selection of unique works by CT readers
37 TOOL TIMES
40 SLURRY BUCKET Studio-tested tips to save you time and money
“New Tool Finds” by Vince Pitelka
45 POTTERY CLASSES
43 STUDIO HEALTH AND SAFETY
Where you can learn claywork in your community
“New Pictograms for Materials Safety Labeling” by Monona Rossol
48 CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE Goods and services offered especially for clay artists
47 BOOKS & VIDEOS “The Spirit of Ceramic Design” review by Steve Branfman
50 ADVERTISER INDEX Find your favorite ceramics suppliers in this issue (please tell them you found them in Clay Times!)
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columns
Pictured on this page, from top to bottom: Spider Mum Jardiniere, Sunflower Longbird Canteen, and Longbird in a Bubblegum Tree by cover artist Carol Long.
49 AROUND THE FIREBOX “Keeping it Real” by Kelly Savino
THERE’S A FINE LINE BETWEEN PRICELESS AND WORTHLESS.
Artist Hiroshi Ogawa’s Oregon studio — destroyed by fire, 2003
What would you do if you lost your work, your tools, your images, and a lot more to a fire? Oregon potter Hiroshi Ogawa had always thought of fire as an ally, until his studio burned to the ground. CERF+ can help you learn how to protect your career from crossing that fine line. CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2013
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CERAMIC ART TRENDS, TOOLS & TECHNIQUES
®
magazine
TIMES
Clay Editor & Publisher: Polly Beach
Regular Columnists:
“My Flex Slider is here and my students are loving it. Thanks for taking the time to get it right.” Charlotte Greenblatt Canyon Pottery Malibu
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 Marc Ward, Kilns & Firing Lana Wilson, Beneath the Surface Proofreader: Jon Singer Contributing Writers: Mark Cole • Karin Givon • Carol Long William Shinn • Linda P. Stauffer ✦ Printed on 100% FSC-certified and 75% post-consumer recycled paper ✦ Published by: CLAY TIMES INC. Post Office Box 100 • Hamilton, VA 20159 TEL 800-356-2529 • FAX 540-338-1765
Toll-free subscription line: 800.356.2529 Clay Times® (ISSN 1087-7614) is published quarterly, four issues per year. Periodicals Postage Paid at Hamilton, VA, and at additional mailing offices. Annual subscriptions are available for $33 in the U.S.; $40 in Canada; $60 elsewhere (must be payable in US$). Digital subscriptions are just $20 worldwide. To subscribe, call toll-free 1-800.356.2529, or visit www.claytimes.com.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2013
Freelance editorial and photographic submissions are welcome: Please contact Clay Times or visit our Website at www.claytimes.com for writer’s and photographer’s guidelines.
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The Flex Slider III™ For off-centered, asymmetrical, and plain old wonkey pots.
calls for entry at
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.
Questions? Comments? Please e-mail us! Editorial: claytimes@gmail.com Advertising: clayaccounts@gmail.com Circulation: ctcirculation@gmail.com Website: www.claytimes.com
Where Do You Find Yours?
S
ummer’s here and it’s beach time! What a great chance to soak up inspiration from the seashore, with its endless variety of textures, shapes, and colors.
beauty of marine life. From fish, birds, and plants to everchanging cloud formations and fluorescent colors of the sunset, the offerings of the seashore continue to impress, inspire, and amaze me long after my beach trip has ended.
Spouting Off I Editor’s Desk
Inspiration:
In This Issue
From the foamy bubbles of the tide to the coarse granules of sand, each texture and pattern leaves me hungry for a hunk of clay to play with. I find myself yearning to impress seashells, fossils, and seaweed into that wonderful, malleable material, to see how I might discover new ideas for surface decoration.
I love to photograph and capture the impressions made by patterns of the wind along the ocean sand, the fluidity of the ocean waves as they continuously morph and lap against the shoreline, and the
While cover artist Carol Long lives nowhere near the seashore, she’s been impressed and inspired by nature in her native Kansas habitat. Her unique and diverse body of work pictured throughout this issue is strikingly original, derived almost solely from her own personal experience, imagination, and inspiration. Her story begins on page 14. Speaking of inspiration, Pete Pinnell covers it well in his “Imagine This” column on pages 21-22, and Lana Wilson’s interview with 50-year sculptor Bruce Beasley offers his own insights as to what has made his career as a clay artist so successful. See pages 24-27. Wish I could preview the rest of the great stuff in this issue, but I’ve run out of space. Suffice it to say you will be inspired, informed, and intrigued. Enjoy! — Polly Beach, Editor [
CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2013
Sand dollars and starfish are among my favorites. Oceantumbled rocks serve as excellent tools for burnishing. Pieces of sea glass can be embedded into clay forms for beautiful, colorful accents to the fired surface. A seemingly infinite selection of seashells offers stamps for surface decoration, as well as wadding for pots in salt, soda, and wood firings.
Ever made a boat out of clay? Turn to pages 41-42 to see how Bill Shinn uses various shapes of extruder dies to yield the parts for handbuilt boat vessels. (Yes, some of them actually float ...)
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WEEKEND, ONE-WEEK AND TWO-WEEK WORKSHOPS
CLAY 2013
A Tile and A Vessel
A Juried Exhibit
2013 INSTRUCTORS: LINDA ARBUCKLE • CURTIS BENZLE • NICHOLAS BIVINS • MARGARET BOHLS & SUZE LINDSAY • SUNSHINE COBB • ANDRÉA KEYS CONNELL • SUSAN FILLEY & LEAH LEITSON • DEBRA FRITTS • MEAGAN CHANEY GUMPERT • JASON HESS • NAN JACOBSOHN • SARAH JAEGER • KATHY KING • JENNY MENDES • BRIAN NETTLES • RONAN KYLE PETERSON • ANGELICA POZO • JUSTIN ROTHSHANK • PAUL ANDREW WANDLESS
Juror:
Christy Johnson Director of American Museum of Ceramic Art Visit our web site for information
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CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2013
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• ceramic art world news • events • • calls for entries •
Conferences
‰ The Silver City CLAY Festival takes place August 2-4 in Silver City, New Mexico. This annual celebration of clay, its history, and its cultural impact offers locals and visitors the chance to experience artist workshops and sales, lectures, demonstrations, films, archaeological tours, and various social activities. The festival intends to foster an entrepreneurial spirit that engages businesses, artists, and the global community in a unified enthusiasm for clay, leading to rural economic sustainability. For complete event details, visit www. clayfestival.com
‰ Join more than 100 potters from the mid-Atlantic region for The 10th Biennial Mid-Atlantic Clay Conference, to take place Oct. 3-6 at the scenic 4-H Conference Center in Front Royal, Virginia. Programming will include demonstrations by Nick Joerling, Joy Tanner, and Jim Sankowski, plus a new array of hands-on workshops and demos. To learn more about the event, e-mail: conference@theclayconnection. org, or log onto the Website at www. theclayconnection.org ‰ “Material World,” the 48th Annual Conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, takes place March 19-22, 2014 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Conference activities will be held at Milwaukee’s Delta Center at 400 W. Wisconsin Ave.,
and co-headquarters hotels include the Hilton Milwaukee City Center at 509 W. Wisconsin Ave. and the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee at 333 West Kilbourn Ave. According to NCECA, “Material World” will be dedicated to “the investigation of the complex ways that materials acquire meaning through the things that we make and those that surround us in our daily lives. Exhibitions and programs will expand on traditional definitions of fine and decorative arts, craft and design in the context of the 21st century.” For up-to-date info on developing details and conference programming, visit www.nceca.net
Calls for Entries ‰ The Kiln Studio and Gallery of Fairhope, Alabama is accepting digital submissions through August 1 of cups and saucers no larger than 6" in any dimension for “The Demitasse: A Cup and Saucer” to take place Oct. 4-31, 2013. Fee: $20 for two entries. For details, e-mail thekilnstudio@ yahoo.com, visit www.thekiln studio.com, or call 251.517.5460. ‰ Shine On Brightly of Asheville, North Carolina is accepting digital submissions of ceramic cremation containers through August 2 by artists from AL, AR, FL, GA, LA, MD, MS, NC, SC, TN, TX, VA, and WV for “Remains to be Seen: An Out of the Box continued on next page
CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2013
‰ Demonstrating clay artists including Bede Clarke, Israel Davis, Margaret Bohls, and TJ Erdahl will converge in Cedar Rapids, Iowa September 20-22 for the second biannual Iowa Clay Conference. The event will be opened with a keynote address by Clay Times columnist Pete Pinnell, who will also participate in break-out discussions with many of the presenters and additional guest artists. Also slated for the event are wood firing pre-conference workshops, a bus tour of several area ceramic exhibits, vendor tables, participant mug exchange, and more. For full details, visit http://www.theceramics center.org/ICC_register.htm
‰ “HANDBUILT”: Demonstration, Inspiration, Conversation — A Handbuilding Conference to Benefit the Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF+) takes place Sept. 20-22 at the Montgomery County Community College in suburban Philadelphia, PA. This event will feature demonstrations by guest artists including Clay Times columnists Lana Wilson and Vince Pitelka as well as Chandra DeBuse, Mitch Lyons, and conference organizer Sandi Pierantozzi. For complete conference information and registration details, visit: www.sandiandneil.com
Hot Stuff I News & Events
What’s Hot
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Hot Stuff I News & Events
What’s Hot (continued from previous page) Look at Cremation Containers.” The show will take place Oct. 3-Nov. 12, 2013. Entry fee: $20. To learn more, e-mail info@shineon brightly.com; log onto www.shineon brightly.com; or call 828.348.0455. ‰ The Firehouse Art Center of Norman, Oklahoma is accepting digital submissions through
August 9 of work made of at least 75% clay for “Clay,” to take place Sept. 13-Oct. 21, 2013. Fee: $25 for one entry; $10 for each additional entry (up to 3 total). For more information, e-mail info@ normanfirehouse.com; log onto www.normanfirehouse.com; or call 405.329.4523.
NCECA Seeks K-12 Program Proposals for 48th Annual Conference in Milwaukee, WI • March 19-22, 2014 Proposal Deadline: October 2, 2013 THEME: “Material World”
ELIGIBILITY
NCECA seeks a diverse group of presenters that will appeal to conference attendees involved in K-12 education. Proposals for NCECA’s K-12 programming strand may incorporate content and discussion on best practices, arts integration, curriculum or program design, and/or other contemporary issues in K-12 education. Students (Undergraduate, Post-Bac, Graduate), Studio Artists, Educators (K-12, Community College, University), Gallerists, Curators, etc. are all encouraged to apply!
Everyone is eligible EXCEPT for those who participated in the program in Houston, Texas during NCECA 2013. Participation is generally limited to only one presentation.
PURPOSE AND FORMAT OF PRESENTATIONS The purpose of NCECA’s K-12 programming room is to share, promote, and discuss ideas, techniques, and practices for those involved or interested in K-12 education.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2013
The presentation format is open to the presenter’s discretion (i.e. lecture, discussion, short demonstration, etc.), and should fit within a 30-, 60-, or 90-minute time slot. Proposed topics and discussions should utilize the full time requested.
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The K-12 room will be have a laptop, LCD projector, and screen. In addition to lecture, panel, and discussion-based presentation formats, hands-on demonstrations and practice may be possible to accommodate. The room will not be outfitted with ceramics equipment or materials unless arranged for by the presenter.
Accepted presenters are eligible to receive a complimentary conference pass provided they are or become NCECA members at the time of acceptance. No other compensation is available for K-12 presenters. Presenters must understand that they are providing content as a service to the field. By accepting the invitation to present, presenters’ acknowledge NCECA’s rights to document their presentations and make available for publication presentation and written materials presented during the conference. APPLICATION PROCESS Presenters should prepare a thorough description of what the presentation entails (200 to 400 words) that includes the names of all presenters, the format for the presentation, and a very brief and thought-provoking description of 50 words for possible use in the Conference Program Guide. Topics should be developed to appeal to K-12 educators in private schools, public schools, community centers, home school, and/or other educational frameworks. Presenters should expect to take questions from the attendees, and plan for a 5-15 minute reflection time at the conclusion of their presentation.
Apply online at:
http://nceca.net/app/applications/k12_entry
‰ Cape Fear Studios of Fayetteville, North Carolina, is accepting digital submissions through August 23 of functional ceramics for its “19th Annual Nellie Allen Smith Juried Pottery Competition,” to take place Sept. 27-Oct. 22, 2013. For details, e-mail brooksel@mind spring.com; log onto www. capefearstudios.com; or call 910.433.2986. ‰ Studio 550: Community Art Center of Manchester, New Hampshire is accepting digital submissions of functional ceramics through August 28 for its “1st Annual Cup Show and Sale,” to take place Nov. 8-Dec. 30, 2013. Fee: $30 for three entries. To learn more, e-mail gallery@550arts. com; log onto www.550arts. com/opportunities; or call 603.232.5597. ‰ The Art Students League of Denver is accepting applications from Aug. 30Nov. 27, 2013 for “TABLE: The Fine Art of Dining,” a national juried exhibition dedicated to the presentation of functional ceramic art, focusing on the fine art of dining. Julia Galloway will jury the show, slated for February 8-9, 2014. Featured will be place settings, serving vessels and platters, and dinner table décor. To apply, log onto www.CallforEntry.org; or e-mail Shelley Schreiber at s.schreiber@asld.org for more information. ‰ The Local of Goshen, Indiana is accepting digital submissions through Sept. 1 of functional and sculptural ceramic cups for “The Cup: An Interpreted Object,” to take place Nov.
‰ The Ceramics Annual of America in San Francisco, California is accepting digital submissions of ceramic work through Sept. 1 for its “4th Ceramics Annual of America,” to take place October 18-20, 2013. For details, e-mail ceramics annual@gmail.com; log onto www.ceramicsannual.org; or call 530.756.3938. ‰ The Wayne Art Center of Wayne, Pennsylvania is accepting digital submissions of clay, fiber, glass, metal, wood, and mixed media through Sept. 12 for “Craft Forms 2013,” to take place Dec. 6-Jan. 25, 2014. Fee: $40. For details, e-mail karen louise@wayneart.org; log onto www.craftforms.org; or call 610.688.3553. ‰ Digital submissions of functional and sculptural ceramics are being accepted through Sept. 13 for “The 4th International Ceramics Biennial — Reflection,” to take place Oct. 4-25, 2013 at the Halcyon Art Gallery of the Swope Art Museum in Terra Haute, Indiana. Fee: $30 for 3 entries. For details, log onto: www. halcyonartgallery.com; e-mail raychenhalcyon@gmail.com; or call 207.807.8799.
‰ “Craft Hilton Head 2013” is accepting slide submissions of 2D and 3D fine art through Sept. 15 for its upcoming annual exhibition, to take place in Hilton Head, South Carolina from Dec. 5, 2013-Jan. 18, 2014. Entry Fee: $40. To learn more, log onto www.naturaledgeart.com; e-mail: curt@naturaledgeart.com; or call 770.480.9574.
Hot Stuff I News & Events
1-Dec. 2, 2013. Fee: $20 for two entries; $25 for three entries To learn more, e-mail thecup. interp@gmail.com; visit www. localgoshen.com; or call 989.330.4072.
‰ Bradley University of Peoria, Illinois is accepting digital submissions through Nov. 15 for its “4th Biennial Central Time Ceramics” show, to take place Feb. 27-Mar. 28, 2014. Eligible applicants include Central time zone residents age 18 and older of AL, AR, FL, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, MO, MS, MN, NB, ND, SD, OK, TN, or TX. Artists who live in Central time zone regions of Canada or Mexico are also eligible. Fee: $30 for 3 entries; $50 for 5 entries. To learn more, visit: art.bradley.edu/bug; e-mail ezellefrow@bradley.edu; or call 309.677.2989 ‰ The Ceramics Guild of the Arts and Crafts Society of Lexington, Massachusetts is accepting digital submissions through Jan. 10, 2014 from current or former residents of Massachusetts for its next annual State of Clay Exhibition, to take place May 3-June 1, 2014. Entry fee is $35 for three entries. For further details, log onto www.stateofclay. com; e-mail thestateofclay@gmail. com; or call 781.862.9696. [ CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2013
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.
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Essence of F luidity
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Large Vase with Longbirds and Wisteria. 22" x 15".
Carol Long draws inspiration for her intricate claywork from botanical life, art noveau, and life outside her Kansas studio.
BY CAROL LONG
I
have been working as a ceramic artist for more than 30 years. I maintain a studio and gallery on my farm in central Kansas. I am very passionate about clay, and feel that it is important for me to focus all my energy in my studio. Consequently, I spend countless hours there to keep from having to get behind the wheel of a tractor. CLAYTIMES¡COM n SUMMER 2013
I am constantly captivated by the fluidity of clay. I draw inspiration from a variety of places: botanical life, art nouveau, life outside my studio window. When I am seeking inspiration I try not to look to
Pink Flower Box. 5" x 5".
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Carol Long achieves her delicate designs by the use of metal-tipped bottles filled with slip. Each piece is brushed with an iron wash after bisque firing to achieve a “toasty warmth,” and is then decorated with colored glazes and a clear glaze overspray.
other ceramic artists. Rather than remaking someone else’s work, I try to keep my inspirations pure. I typically look to birds, insects, plants, trees, flowers, and things of that nature. Of course there is nothing new under the sun, but I feel that my creative process flows better if I don’t set boundaries. My forms are always based on the vessel. As I form a vessel I have an idea of what the subject matter will be and alter the vessel in ways to accentuate the vividness of that subject. I use a mid-range, lightcolored cone 5 clay body to make my forms through a variety of methods. Vessels are often a combination of thrown, extruded, altered, and pulled forms. Once each piece is formed, I sliptrail detailed images on the surface of the piece. The piece is then allowed to dry so I can bisque fire.
Upholstered Lidded Jar with Claw Feet. 6½" x 8½".
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Once the vessel is at the bisque stage, I stain its surface with an iron oxide wash to create a look of depth and toasty warmth. I carefully glaze all the tiny details. All my glazes are commercial mid-range Laguna, Coyote, and Amaco Glazes. Once the details are glazed in color, I over-spray the entire piece with various white to beige glazes, then oxidation fire each piece to cone 5 in an electric kiln. Carol Long maintains a clay studio in St. John, Kansas. She may be reached via e-mail at: clongpottery@gmail.com
Upholstered Pink Bottle with Claw Feet. 6½" x 6".
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About the Artist: Carol Long draws influence from plant and animal life and is fascinated by the small complexities of the micro aspects of nature. Her work continues to evolve as she experiments with new ways of expressing the tiny beautiful and intrinsic qualities of nature that we often take for granted. Carol’s work has been featured at the Strecker-Nelson Gallery in Manhattan, Kansas. Her work can also be found at Bella Luz in Wichita, Kansas, as well as the Courtyard Gallery in Lindsborg, Kansas. She has a booth each year at the Outdoor Living Show (formerly known as the Wichita Garden Show) in Wichita. Her most recent work is always available on her Website at http:// longpottery.com Born in 1965, Carol was raised on a farm in Stafford County, Kansas. The farm having been homesteaded in the 1880s had, by the time of her childhood, matured with enormous trees and a thick shelter belt. In these wooded areas she explored and found a connection with nature, developing a full appreciation of plant and animal life. Her mother also had an interest in art, and often took Carol to art museums.
Upholstered Bottle with Daisies. 5" x 5".
Carol often felt a need to express herself by bringing her imagination to life. She remembers as a child using one of her father’s cattle syringes filled with mud to draw structures in the driveway. In high school, she excelled in art. She credits her teacher, prominent Raku artist Sheldon Ganstrom, for helping to spark her interest in ceramics. After high school she attended Barton County Community College, where she was always drawn to the ceramics lab. She has studied under Glenda Taylor, Linda Ganstrom, and Steve Dudek. CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2013
Carol has now taken on two studio apprentices, Mark Freeman and Bambi Freeman. She is thrilled with the new energy in her studio and looks forward to new venues and future expansion. [ Pictured, opposite page: Top: Poppy Book. 3" x 4". Bottom: Black Envelope Vase. 11" x 23". Poppy Box. 5" x 5".
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CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2013
Ahhh...there’s nothing like that new MIXER smell!
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call or email for a demo video Soldner Clay Mixers by Muddy Elbow Manufacturing phone/fax (316) 281-9132 conrad@southwind.net 310 W. 4th • Newton, KS • 67114 www.soldnerequipment.com
Imagine This “Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment ...”
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ith your permission I’d like to take your imagination for a walk. In modern parlance this might be called an envisioning exercise, but I would tend to just call it daydreaming. Please bear with me. Imagine it’s ten years from now. You have a good place to make your work, your artwork has been developing well, and you’re very happy with how your career has been building. One day you get an e-mail from the owner of a major gallery — your dream gallery — asking you to have a one-person show. “Yes, of course,” you answer. You spend the better part of a year preparing work for the show. This is, after all, the most important exhibition of your career. You’re ready when the deadline arrives, and all of the work is shipped to the gallery. When it arrives at the gallery, the owner excitedly calls to tell you that the work is incredible — even nicer than she had expected.
So, here are my questions. What did you see there — what artwork did you just see in that imaginary gallery? Did it look like what you’re making now, or was it an improved version of your current work? What does it mean if you saw a work that’s completely unlike what you’re making now? These may be irrelevant questions: perhaps your work doesn’t even belong in a gallery. Still, I get the sense that many artists are holding back a secret dream; a body of work that they wish they were making rather than the work they’re actually making. It may have nothing to do with working hard enough. There may be any number of reasons why they’re not making (or even attempting to make) their dream artwork. In 1932, the humorist Robert Benchley wrote a short essay entitled, “How to Get Things Done.”1 It’s a funny little piece (you can easily find it online) in which Benchley makes a very insightful observation: “Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment.” Benchley
then describes how he assigns himself a task that he must get done (writing a newspaper column) and leverages that to successfully answer some letters, put up a bookshelf, clip some articles, and get a haircut. The only thing that he doesn’t actually do is write the newspaper column. I regularly see this trait among my students — even my better students. I call it the Benchley Syndrome. They work hard, but not in a way that addresses the issues that they should really be working on. As a teacher, I’m very hesitant to interrupt someone who is working hard. I figure that if they’re working that hard, then they must be onto something. But that isn’t always the case. The avoidance can take many forms, and all look like real work. Some students struggle with endless technical questions: forever tweaking clay bodies, testing glazes, and searching for the perfect firing cycle. Some focus on skill building: developing amazing capabilities and amassing a wide range of techniques. Others skip between different kinds of artwork, exploring one idea for a while, then merrily skipping on to another idea as soon as they run into difficulty. Some put off exploring a new idea because they need to stay focused on continued on page 22
CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2013
On the day before the opening you fly to the exhibition city and the gallery owner picks you up at the airport. “Would you like to see the installation?” she asks. Of course! She drives you to the gallery and you enter the building through a back door, walking into a large, dark room. With a click she turns on
the lights and you look around the gallery. It’s beautiful — it’s exactly what you had been hoping for. In fact, it’s the show that you always dreamed you would have.
BY PETE PINNELL
Perspectives I As Far As I Know
Are You Making What You Really Want?
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Perspectives I As Far As I Know
Imagine This (from page 21) meeting the next deadline. Still others will suddenly remember an overdue Art History paper, or throw themselves into repairing equipment or preparing for their teaching. All of these things are valid kinds of work and all can be valuable, if not essential, to being a successful ceramic artist. Yes, even skipping around a bit between different kinds of work can help you compare ideas or just keep fresh. That said, none of this work is helpful if it’s preventing you from developing the work that you secretly wish you were making.
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Fear probably plays a part, of course. Sometimes ideas are just too important, too sacred, or simply too private to chance showing to other people. And sometimes you may just want to develop an idea without having to think about how you’re going to explain it in a critique. There are any number of reasons why we might not try to make the work that we really want to make.
would never have dreamt of if you were just sitting around looking for a great ‘art idea.’” 2 I completely agree with Chuck. There’s no replacement for hard work and consistent effort. Being a successful artist requires the same kind of bluecollar dedication as the person who clicks into work with a time clock and is paid by the hour. Yes, most of the time we need to pay attention to the details and thoughtfully make those countless small decisions that occur when we’re working hard and being productive. This process is the backbone of creativity. However, we also need to take time to dream and to pay attention to those dreams. Dreaming is important for artists because it can tell us more about the real destinations we’re trying to reach — even the destinations that we may not be admitting to ourselves. Once we discover our true destination, then all that hard work can help us get there, rather than getting in the way.
Every successful artist has a voice — an identity. Most artists don’t decide this — they discover it. We find our identities in bits and pieces. We don’t make one big decision, but instead make countless small decisions ... and it’s the sum of these numerous decisions that leads each of us to the realization of who we are as an artist.
So, when the light goes on in that gallery — the gallery of your dreams — what do you hope to see there?
In an interview with painter Joe Fig, the artist Chuck Close said, “Inspiration is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work. And the belief that things will grow out of the activity itself and that you will — through work — bump into other possibilities and kick open other doors that you
2. Inside the Painter’s Studio by Joe Fig; Princeton Architectural Press, 2009. [
Footnotes: 1. “How to Get Things Done: One Week in the Life of a Writing Man” by Robert Benchley, published in the Chicago Tribune on February 2, 1930.
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.
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Bruce Beasley:
50-Year Sculptor — AN INTERVIEW BY LANA WILSON —
An extremely successful sculptor is interviewed in this column on Bruce Beasley’s 50-year career.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2013
Beasley, born 1939, started at Dartmouth College and then transferred to the University of California at Berkeley. In 1961, while in his last year of art school at Berkeley, he was in a show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Just one year later, the museum acquired a sculpture of his for their permanent collection, making Beasley the youngest artist with work in the museum’s collection. He also worked for Peter Voulkos doing casting and welding. In 1963, Beasley’s sculpture Prometheus LL was bought by the Guggenheim Museum in New York, and his work Daedalus was acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Beasley was chosen as one of eleven sculptors to represent the U.S. at the Biennale de Paris; his piece Icarus won the Purchase Prize, and became part of the French National Collection. In 1964, at age 25, he had his first New York solo show. In 1968, after exhaustive research, he was able to make acrylic castings up to four inches thick. Later he was approached by prominent oceanographers to cast an all-transparent bathysphere, which he was able to make. The impressive list goes on. Look at www.brucebeasley.com for pictures and more info.
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In a 1993 interview with Marlena Donohue, Beasley stated, “I feel my process has a life of its own. I discover the piece as I create it. I find it as I work rather than having a preconceived notion in my head. In this I feel close to the spontaneity of abstract expressionism. When I speak of ‘evolving out of the process,’ I am not speaking about the process of casting or welding bronze. I am speaking about the process of arranging and manipulating the shapes and space.” Later in the interview he said, “I want my work to create the sense of space as a palpable entity through which masses and volumes cut, reside, and move. I see space not as dead air but as an entity that actually responds to the forces being placed on it by shape. I see shape and space as holding each other, avoiding each other, pressing on each other. These evocations have a very rich array of expressive and emotional possibilities. If a sculptural protuberance simply extends in space, you produce one kind of experience in the viewer. There is a very different emotional and kinesthetic effect if that same huge extension conveys the sense that it invades or grabs or contracts the space around and in it. This feeling can only be created if I am seeing space as a dynamic entity and not empty air, and if I am really asking myself what volume, mass, and gravity really mean both logically and emotionally.”
Perspectives I Beneath the Surface
Oceanus by Bruce Beasley. Opposite page: Spokesman.
outside of class. I don’t know what got into me, but I asked if I could do five three-dimensional pieces instead. It was a revelation. Doing those five pieces made me realize there was a way to use my hands, eyes, and spirit all at the same time. So I decided to be a sculptor. If you saw those pieces today you would not say they showed any great talent, but I had found my path in life. UC Berkeley and Cranbrook were the only two schools at that time that had more than one sculptor on the faculty. My parents, quite reasonably, wanted me to finish at Dartmouth and then go to grad school at UC Berkeley. But I was in a hurry and instead I just transferred to Berkeley. I didn’t feel I was majoring in sculpture; I felt I was a sculptor. Sculpture was the only thing that had ever felt completely right for me. There was no question that it was the path I would take. Sculpture was like being introduced to a language that I didn’t realize I already knew. The visual language of shape expressing human emotions was completely natural to me. continued on next page
CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2013
Wilson: What drew you to art in the beginning? Beasley: As a teenager I made pretty serious hot rods. I went to a big city high school that had both trade and college tracks. I confused everybody by taking shop classes as well as the college track. That was a time when the world was pretty much divided between the people who used their brains and the people who used their hands. If you used your brains you weren’t supposed to get your hands dirty and if you used your hands you weren’t supposed to be using your brains. I thought that was a lousy world view. I wanted to find a way to use my hands and my brains. I went off to Dartmouth College, following the advice of counselors, to study rocket engineering since that seemed like a professional extrapolation of hot rodding. I quickly realized that rocket engineers spent their time in cubby holes with slide rules and did not really get to make things. It was an exciting time. I was discovering life, love, literature, and art. I took a drawing class for which the final exam was 20 drawings
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Perspectives I Beneath the Surface CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2013
Upthrust by Bruce Beasley.
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Wilson: What was your experience at Berkeley? Beasley: I had two teachers who influenced me a great deal: Sid Gordon and Peter Voulkos. They were very different as men and as artists. I was greatly influenced by Sid Gordon’s art and work ethic. He was an example of a deeply involved and serious artist. If Sid was a river, then Pete Voulkos was a volcano, very exciting to be around, but dangerous and distracting. The most important thing I learned in working for Pete is that I was not Pete and that I had to find my own path. Pay attention to yourself. What works for you is your path. Wilson: You had high success before you even finished art school at Berkeley. Beasley: Success in art school is not a predictor of how you will do in your career
after art school. I realized right away that Steven DeStabler and I were the most serious students. In the 1960s the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art had a series of open competitive exhibitions. In 1961 the juror was Dorothy Miller, Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the NY Museum of Modern Art. She gave me a prize in the show and then saw my work in a gallery in Los Angeles and acquired one for their permanent collection. Then the next year I was included in their seminal exhibition, “The Art of Assemblage.” Wilson: With this sterling success I am wondering if you have had any fallow periods? Beasley: Of course I’ve had fallow periods. The question is not whether you have fallow periods but how you deal with them when they happen. In art school you have teachers who are there and constantly encouraging you, but young artists need to expect to be alone in
a studio without anyone giving encouragement. When I can’t make good sculptures I make bad sculptures. I don’t finish or show them, but I keep working. New ideas come out of working. Bad work can eventually yield good work. When work is not going well some people stop because they can’t deal with failure, so they get scared and stop. So if I make shitty pieces I just keep working, with the faith that there will be eventually be good pieces. I find there are two kinds of fallow periods. The first is when pieces are not turning out well but I am still interested in the visual ideas. When it is
not going well in this kind of time I look inward. The second kind of fallow period is when I am not quite as interested in the work itself, and then I look outward. Wilson: You encompass the Chinese saying that “Creativity is perseverance through to completion” and what the painter Alice Neel said, “You know what it takes to be an artist? Hypersensitivity and the will of the devil. To never give up.” [ Lana Wilson may be reached at lana@lanawilson. com. Her Website for workshop info and images is www.lanawilson.com.
Raptor by Bruce Beasley.
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“For the last 20 years I have been glaze-firing all my work in a wood-fired kiln,” said David. “I enjoy the excitement of the firings, and my friends and customers like the random fire flashings and ash deposits. “What they don’t know is that every piece is first fired in my Paragon electric kiln. While accidental and chance effects can enhance a wood firing, consistency is the key to successful bisque firings.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2013
“For those firings, my Paragon has delivered reliable and consistent results year after year. It practically fires itself, giving me more time to make more pots.”
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The Paragons of today are even better than the early ones. The digital 12-sided TnF-27-3 shown at right is only 22 ¼” deep for easier loading. Lift the lid effortlessly with the spring counter-balance. Enjoy the accuracy
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David and Karen Hendley with their ancient Paragon A-28B. It has fired about 20,000 pieces of bisque. The Hendleys run Old Farmhouse Pottery in Maydelle, Texas.
and convenience of the Orton controller. To learn more, call us or visit our website for a free catalog and the name of the Paragon dealer near you. Sign up for the Kiln Pointers newsletter. Constantly finding better ways to make kilns.
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Shop Talk I Firing
It might not be what you’d expect ...
Calculating Your
Kiln Footprint OK
... it’s going to be a numbers kind of article. No heavy math, though. When I work with folks to determine burner requirements, one of the primary factors I consider is the cubic footage of the kiln — not stacking space, but the total interior volume. (After all, the whole kiln does need to get fired!) A more precise way would be to measure the weight of the fired ware and furniture, and use that number to compute heat loss through various kiln materials. But the vast majority of my customers don’t have those types of figures, and I find it easier to just use cubic footage of the kiln. Then, depending on the end temperature, length of firing time, and what kind of kiln materials, I come up with a BTU-perhour-per-cubic-foot number. It’s pretty straightforward. Unfortunately, there is one problem I always need to watch out for in this collection of information: GIGO. (That’s the ole acronym that stands for “Garbage In, Garbage Out.”) If you have the wrong numbers going into the formulas, you will always end up with wrong numbers for the answers. The wrong numbers I hear most frequently involve kiln dimensions. So, I’m asking my questions and I come to the ones about the total interior measurements. I know the kiln is made from hard brick and the customer wants to fire to cone 10 in 12 hours. I ask, “How wide is the kiln?’’ “It’s about 30 inches,” they respond. To a math guy like me, the word “about” always gets my attention.
Now we get to the goal of this wandering article: to provide you with an easy way to determine the footprint of your kiln. Here’s a list of numbers that would normally be found as the interior dimensions of your kiln in inches: 18, 22.5, 27,
31.5, 36, 40.5, 45, 49.5, 54, 58.5, 63 ... you get the idea. Now, the above measurements need to correspond to something. That something is your shelves. The kiln is built and designed around the shelf layout. So, if you have (2) 12" x 24" shelves, you know your kiln will be 27" deep. The shelves won’t fit in a 22.5" space, and a 31.5" space just adds extra bricks and space to the kiln. The width of the kiln is not as clear-cut. But, if you are using bag walls and firing from the side, back, or front, just add 15 inches to your shelf footprint for the width. Where does that number come from? There is 4.5" on either side for your flame troughs (9" total). Then you have your bag walls that are probably 2.5" each (5" total). Add a half-inch between the shelf and bag wall on either side, and you come up with 15 inches. Our 24-in. shelf plus 15 inches totals 39 inches. The closest [multiple of 2.5"] number we have is 40.5". So now we’ve calculated our footprint: in this example, it would be 40.5" x 27". I’ve thrown a lot of numbers at you, but they are important. Remember our GIGO reference above. If you size your combustion system around guessed at or incorrect numbers, you’re setting yourself up for the “Garbage Out” [GO] part of GIGO. Take your time devising your plan, then stick to it. Remember, your combustion system is going to be sized to your kiln dimensions. Over the past few decades, I’ve received phone calls complaining about slow-firing kilns that were designed to fire faster. After some questions and answers, I hear the explanation: “Oh, we had some extra bricks, so we made the kiln a little bigger.” What might appear as “a little bigger” can actually be a significantly larger change, on a cubic foot basis, than one might think. The number 36 is 20% larger than the number 30, but a 36" cube is more than 70% bigger than a 30" cube. Again, take your time coming up with your kiln plan ... and then stick to it. [
Marc Ward is owner and operator of Ward Burner Systems, PO Box 1086, Dandridge, Tennessee 37725. He invites you to sign up for his free newsletter, and can be reached by phone at 865.397.2914 or through the online catalog and Website at: www. wardburner.com.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2013
“So, you cut bricks on every corner?’’ is my next question. This is because, to me, 30 inches is not a viable number. This says to me that the kiln is not yet built and our potter has just started drawing out some basic ideas and does not have an accurate plan. If you are using standard bricks, the footprint of your kiln (the width and length) will be in increments divisible by 4.5 inches, which is half a brick (9" x 4.5" x 2.5" [or 3"]). Thirty inches is not evenly divisible by 4.5". That means this potter plans to cut bricks, or has funky bricks, or really just hasn’t thought this through. It’s almost always the latter.
BY MARC WARD
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