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Volume 16 • Issue 87 SUMMER 2010
C E L E B R AT I N G 1 5 Y E A R S • 1 9 9 5 - 2 0 1 0
3rd Annual Mata Ortiz Pottery Exhibition The Woodcut Method: Achieving Raised Images On Tiles & Slab Work Inspirational Works From “Art of the Pot” Step-by-step Project: Making a Barrel Vase
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contents
TIMES
Clay
SUMMER 2010 Volume 16 • Issue 87 Cover photo: Mata Ortiz vase by Hector Gallegos, Jr. Cover inset photo: Mata Ortiz vase by Juan Quezada. Pictured on this page, left: Mata Ortiz olla by Cesar Navaretti (story on p. 14). Center: Result of Gordon Harrison’s raised imagery technique (p. 27). Right: Just-fired bricks are inspected at Sycamore Pottery (p. 43).
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exhibits
features
14 Mata Ortiz Pottery: An Ancient Tradition Lives On
27 Raised Imagery: A Foolproof Method
Armstrong’s Gallery in Pomona, California offers its third annual exhibition of these extraordinary Mexican works, rich in style & heritage.
Alaskan potter Gordon Harrison offers his stepby-step technique for achieving consistently perfect, raised designs with his own wood-cut templates.
43 Putting America Back to Work 32 Art of the Pot The 7th Annual Austin Invitational Utilitarian Ceramics Exhibition showcases works designed for daily use.
Ren and Pam Parziale of Sycamore Pottery in Kearneysville, WV, lend a hand (and kiln space) to help a struggling local brick company get back on its feet.
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Volume 16 • Issue 87
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contents
TIMES
Clay
SUMMER 2010
departments
columns
9 YOUR WORDS
17 AS FAR AS I KNOW
An inspired reader offers artistic encouragement ...
“From Chawan to Skyphos: Thinking About Drinking” by Pete Pinnell
11 WHAT’S HOT Clay world news, events, and calls for entries
21 BENEATH THE SURFACE “Bernadette Curran, Part 2” Interview by Lana Wilson
13 GREAT GLAZES Basic ‘Clear Glossy’ and ‘Black Glossy’ formulas for firing to cone 6 in oxidation
23 TEACHING TECHNIQUES “Making A Barrel Vase” by Bill van Gilder
34 THE GALLERY
31 KILNS & FIRING
A selection of unique works by CT readers
“Kiln Burner Valves: What’s the Difference?” by Marc Ward
42 SLURRY BUCKET Studio-tested tips to save you time and money
37 BOOKS & VIDEOS “Techniques Using Slips” review by Steven Branfman
45 POTTERY CLASSES Where you can learn claywork in your community
39 TOOL TIMES “Tools Outside the Trade: Some Interesting Tools from Non-clay Sources” by Vince Pitelka
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
49 AROUND THE FIREBOX Ted Adler’s vase (at top) and Jennifer Allen’s plate (directly above) — just two of several beautiful works featured during this year’s “Art of the Pot Exhibition and Sale” in Austin, Texas. To see more works from the show, turn to page 32, or log onto www.artofthepot.com.
“Using What You Have Left” by David Hendley
Clay Times Presents
“A New Decade of Clay” ®
N at i o n a l J u r i e d C e r a m i c s S h o w Co-sponsored by Sierra Nevada College, Northstar® Resort, and Clay Times® Magazine
Opening Reception September 18th from 6pm-8pm at Northstar-at-Tahoe™ Resort, Lake Tahoe “Clay Day” Events | September 18th
Juror: Richard Shaw
- Pottery Olympics - Kids Activities - Demonstrations - Free Drawing for a Skutt Kiln
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- $25 for up to three entries ($15 for students) - Cash awards and many other prizes - Discounted lodging packages including retail, food and beverage available through Northstar® Resort
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Editorial & Advertising: Polly Beach claytimes@gmail.com Circulation Manager: Rachel Brownell ctcirculation@gmail.com
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’m enclosing a plaque that was inspired by Kelly Savino’s 2009 “Keep the Faith” Clay Times article, as well as excerpts from a letter explaining to plaque recipients what this is all about. Two days before Christmas in 2002, my designing and sculpting job went to China. Because of my age at the time (49) and my remote location, I felt the best option was to get back to making my own artwork. Fortunately, I had a lot of my own designs ready to produce for tile. Our little studio has done very well, but (along with many other studios) this economy has us scrambling and more determined to “make it.” Ms. Savino’s timely article was a real boost.
Accounts Manager: Nanette Greene clayaccounts@gmail.com
M.F.A. in Ceramic Arts The M.F.A. and Graduate Certificate in Ceramic Arts provide students with skills and knowledge from which to build a strong aesthetic direction. Catherine White Slip Decoration • July 17-18 Ann Hobart and Michael Cohen Holdahl Ceramic Decoration • July 19-30
Spouting Off I Your Words
To the Editor
CERAMIC ART TRENDS, TOOLS & TECHNIQUES
Phil Berneburg Understanding Pottery Glazes • July 31-Aug. 1 Properties of Clay • Sept. 18-19
Proofreader: Jon Singer
Joyce Michaud Masters’ Throwing • Aug. 5-10 Glaze Application • Aug. 21-22 Porcelain • Aug. 25-Dec. 15 East Asian Coil Technique • Aug. 28-29 Photographing Ceramics • Sept. 11-12
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
Visit Hood’s website for more information. Hood College Graduate School Art Department (301) 696-3456 n Fax (301) 696-3531 www.hood.edu/ceramics
Contributing Writers: Gordon Harrison Ren Parziale
Hood College subscribes to a policy of equal educational and employment opportunities.
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Baby sea turtles seem to be the perfect example of getting through difficulties. They have to run a gauntlet of obstacles and predators just to have a chance at life [especially now, with the Gulf oil spill...] A lot of people have helped me along the way and now is a good time to remember them as well. I am especially grateful for all those who have shared their techniques, wisdom, knowledge, and encouragement in the past. These hard economic times won’t last forever. Keep the faith, and whenever possible, buy products made in America! Let me say I was obviously inspired by the timely article; and Clay Times is the only magazine I subscribe to! I enjoy others, but Clay Times is a better investment when you’re wanting to learn ceramics. Please keep up the great work! — John Beasley Medicine Bluff Studio • Cincinatti, Ohio
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After reading Kelly Savino’s article, I thought it would be great if there was something made in the U.S. that I could send to my friends and people who I knew were in need of some support and encouragement. I couldn’t find anything that said what I wanted, so I decided to make it myself.
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Limited ONLINE REGISTRATION now open for the 2011 post-NCECA Clay Times “Cruisin’ for Clay” Conference at Sea!
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Depart Tampa, Florida following NCECA conference closing on Saturday, April 2 • Cruise to Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico • Return to Tampa on Thursday, April 7 • Guest Artists: Tom & Elaine Coleman • Randy Brodnax • Don Ellis
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Conferences ‰ “Cruisin’ for Clay,” the acclaimed Clay Times Potters’ Cruise Conference to the Caribbean, will take place again next year— immediately following the 2011 NCECA Conference in Tampa, Florida. Back by popular demand, this 5-night event will be held on board Royal Caribbean’s ‘Radiance of the Seas’ cruise liner and will feature informative demos and presentations by some of the nation’s most highly acclaimed clay artists including Tom and Elaine Coleman, Randy Brodnax, and Don Ellis. The ship will depart the port of Tampa at 5 p.m. Saturday, April 2, setting sail for Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico, and will return on the morning of Thursday, April 7.
‰ The First European Woodfire Conference will take place Sept. 2-5, 2010 at the Bröllin Castle in Fahrenwalde, Germany. Featured artists will include Lowell Baker, Paul Davis, Karin Flurer-Brünger,
Stefan Jakob, and Owen Rye. For full details, visit www.woodfire.net or email markus@woodfire.net. ‰ The Anoka-Ramsey Community College Art Department will host its Masters of Ceramics Symposium 2010 on Sept. 9 and 10 at the college’s new Fine Arts Center in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. The symposium, entitled “Minnesota Ceramics: An Evolving Legacy,” will feature demonstrations and slide shows by guest artists Sam Chung and Julia Galloway. Also planned is a forum during which educators will discuss current topics, trends, and the future needs of academic ceramic arts programs. A discussion on Minnesota’s vibrant ceramic craft history will feature panelists including Randy Johnston, Marcia Anderson, and Mary Swartout. For further information, call 763.433.1307; e-mail CeramicSymposium@anokaramsey.edu; or log onto www.AnokaRamsey.edu. ‰ NCECA’s Critical Santa Fe, featuring Glen Brown, Garth Clark, Gabi Dewald, Tanya Harrod, Dave Hickey, Janet Koplos, Donald Kuspit, Paul Mathieu, and Raphael Rubenstein, will take place Oct. 27-30 at La Fonda on the Plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico. For further details, call 866.266.2322; log onto www.nceca. net; or e-mail office@NCECA.net. ‰ Figurative Association: The Human Form in Clay takes place Oct. 27-30 at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Guest artists will include Tom Bartel, Robert Brady, Lisa Clague, Debra Fritts, Arthur Gonzalez, Anne Drew Potter, Beth Cavener Stichter, Tip Toland, and Janis Mars Wunderlich. To learn more, call 865.436.5860 ext. 26; log onto www.arrowmont.org; or e-mail info@arrowmont.org. Calls for Entries ‰ Is your work ready to be featured on the cover of Clay Times? That’s the grand prize to be awarded to the winner of the upcoming Clay Times “A New Decade of Clay 2010” exhibition, to take place September 17-October 16, 2010 at TM the beautiful Northstar-at-Tahoe resort in Truckee, California. Additional cash awards and prizes will be offered, including the chance for a ceramics scholarship to Sierra Nevada College at Lake Tahoe’s Incline Village, Nevada. Juror: Richard Shaw. Entry fee: $25 for up to three entries (digital preferred). Submission deadline extended to: July 23. For prospectus and complete details, log onto: www.sierranevada. edu/clay. ‰ The San Joaquin Potter’s Guild of Modesto, California, is accepting entries through August 1 for Hands in Clay 2010, to take place August 3– September 4, 2010. For more information, please call 209.634.3653, e-mail info@ sanjoaquinpottersguild.org, or visit www.sanjoaquinpottersguild.org.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2010
All conference activities will take place while the ship is at sea, so you’ll have plenty of time to relax and explore when the boat is docked. Better yet, your travel expenses to and from Tampa, our departure port, will already be covered by your NCECA conference budget! Registration is now open online at www.claytimes.com, but hurry! As of press time, space for just 65 registrants remains open on a first-come, first-served basis!
• ceramic art world news • events • • calls for entries •
Hot Stuff I News & Events
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What’s Hot
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Hot Stuff I News & Events
‰ The Art Center of Estes in Estes Park, Colorado is accepting entries through Sept. 10 for Lines Into Shapes, a national juried exhibition to feature fine pottery and sculpture, among other multimedia art works. The exhibition takes place Oct. 29-Nov. 14, 2010. $5000 in awards will be offered. Up to four entries are allowed at $15 per entry. For full details, call 970.586.5882, e-mail lis@artcenterofestes.com, or view the prospectus online at: www. artcenterofestes.com.
To view additional “What’s Hot” listings, please visit www.claytimes.com.
‰ Entries are being accepted through Aug. 30 for the 2011 NCECA Biennial at The Tampa Museum of Art. For a prospectus, visit NCECA. net/Exhibitions. Jurors: Glen R. Brown, Julia Galloway, and Arthur Gonzalez. Submissions should be provided online through the Juried Art Service at http://www.juriedartservices.com/. Artists may enter up to two works, with two views per artwork. [
To list your clay conferences, calls for entries, exhibitions, and ceramic news items in Clay Times, please e-mail the complete details to: claytimes@gmail. com, with “What’s Hot” in the subject line, or visit www.claytimes.com and click on the “What’s Hot” link to fill out an online submission form.
ODYSSEY CENTER FOR CERAMIC ARTS 2010 SUMMER WORKSHOPS
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Porcelian Pots for Service SILVIE GRANATELLI • June 14-18
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The Misunderstood Extruder HAYNE BAYLESS • June 28-July 2 Japanese Aesthetics JOHN DIX • July 9-10 FIGURE: form + content CRISTINA CORDOVA • July 12-16 Gamble’s Low-Fire Clay Adventure DAVID & TRACY GAMBLE • July 19-23 Narrative Ceramics JAMES TISDALE • July 26-30
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Clear Glossy Glaze Cone 6 Oxidation (best when applied thinly)
G-200 Feldspar Ferro Frit #3134 EPK Silica Wollastonite Talc
20% 20 20 19 15 6 TOTAL
Readers Share I Glaze Recipes
Great Glazes
100%
Black Glossy Glaze Cone 6 Oxidation
Custer Feldspar Whiting Talc EPK Silica Ferro Frit #3134
22% 4 5 17 26 26 TOTAL
add Cobalt Carbonate add Red Iron Oxide add Bentonite
100%
1% 9% 2%
CLAYTIMES¡COM n SUMMER 2010
Each formula is provided in percentage (by weight). Results vary with clay bodies and firing conditions; always test first to be sure you’re happy with the results. To mix a glaze batch to store in a 5-gallon bucket, multiply each percentage ingredient by 50 grams (for a half-bucket with room for dipping) or 100 grams (for a very full bucket). It is the responsibility of the user to have glazes tested for stability. [
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Third Annual Exhibition & Sale
Mata Ortiz Pottery An Ancient Tradition Lives On ...
Pictured, this page: Above: Untitled by Diego Valles. Mata Ortiz pottery, handbuilt with found clay; low-fired.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2010
At right: Untitled Olla by Oscar Quezada. Mata Ortiz pottery, handbuilt with found clay, low-fired. 7" x 7½" diameter.
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Pictured, opposite page: Above: Untitled by Salvador & Virginia Baca. Mata Ortiz pottery, handbuilt with low-fire found clay; 4" x 3½" diameter. Below: Untitled by Olga Quezada. Mata Ortiz pottery, handbuilt with found clay, low-fired. 9" x 7" diameter.
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rmstrong’s Gallery in Pomona, California is now featuring its third annual Mata Ortiz exhibition and sale, on view through October 9. The Mata Ortiz art movement continues to expand as new artists have learned the developed techniques of their ancestors.
Mata Ortiz is a small village in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, less than 150 miles from the United States/Mexican border. This unique art movement started with one man by the name of Juan Quezada. As a young boy, Quezada became fascinated with pottery after finding ancient pottery pieces and potshards from the Casa Grandes civilization in northern Chihuahua, Mexico. He began experimenting with local clays and colors made from local minerals. In 1976 Quezada was discovered by an American anthropologist, Spencer MacCallum, and soon gained worldwide recognition for his art. Mata Ortiz pots are hand-built without the use of a potter’s wheel. The shaping, polishing, and painting of the clay is entirely done by hand, often with tiny brushes made from children’s hair. Terra sigillata, a refined, thin liquid slip, is used for the painted decoration elements. It can be burnished with a soft cloth or smooth rock to achieve a shine ranging from a smooth, silky luster to a high gloss.
Armstrong’s Gallery is located at 150 East 3rd St., Pomona, California. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and every second Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Receptions for the exhibition on the Pomona Second Saturday Art Walk will take place September 11 and October 9 and will run from 6 to 9 p.m. These events are free to the public. [
CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2010
The ancient pottery traditions of this region have been refined and adopted by the artists of Mata Ortiz. Their ollas incorporate elements of contemporary design and decoration, reflecting each potter’s distinctive use of the low-fire clay in creating breathtaking works of art. The talented artists of Mata Ortiz have developed and created their own individual style in making these astonishing pottery pieces. The phenomenon of Mata Ortiz encompasses a unique cultural expression, economic need, and artistic freedom, producing an unexpected but extraordinary artistic movement in that small community. Today, collectors come from all over the world to visit the small village and to acquire the miraculous pottery of Mata Ortiz.
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5/19/10 10:22:10 AM
BY PETE PINNELL
I
f you ask the wrong question, you’ll get the wrong answer. At least that’s what I tell my students about searching for pottery images on the Internet. To illustrate my point, try this exercise: do an Internet image search (using your favorite search engine) on the word “cup.” What do you find? When I do this search, what I mostly get is a bunch of uninteresting, contemporary, industrially made cups, usually with saucers. Yawn. So, if you are a beginning ceramics student and I give you an assignment to come up with imaginative “drinking vessels,” then your search won’t provide much inspiration. We know that drinking vessels have a long, rich, complex, and imaginative history, so how do we find images that reflect this? The simple answer is that we must ask the right question(s), and then we’ll find the right answers. You’ll notice that I say questions, not question. Because the history of drinking vessels is so rich and complex, and because it so closely tracks almost all of human creativity and diversity, it stands to reason that we need to search under many different terms in order to find what’s actually available on the Web.
Before we start, I should mention that there probably isn’t a single search term on Earth that won’t bring up some sort of sexual image on the Internet. If you want to avoid these images (or need to in order to keep a school or employer happy), please make sure you keep the “SafeSearch” function enabled on your browser.
Within the ceramics realm, you can find interesting results by adding a material descriptor like porcelain, china, bone china, stoneware, earthenware, or terra cotta. Materials associated with specific cultures (like fritware). places (like Zisha), or manufacturers (like creamware or ironstone) will tend to bring up more specific groupings of images. Adding the name of a particular forming process to the word cup, either with or without a medium, will bring up more specific examples. Carved, thrown, molded, hand-built, turned, and cast will all narrow searches in a productive way. Similarly, adding the name of a firing process will narrow the search in another way. Try woodfired, soda-fired, salt-fired, reduction-fired and oxidation-fired (with or without the hyphen, as the results are slightly different). Most of what you find will be contemporary work, since museum sites are less apt to use these terms than contemporary practitioners. Specific glaze names are also useful, especially historically significant Asian examples like celadon (often misspelled as celedon), temmoku (tenmoku), chun (jun),
or shino. Because these and other nonWestern terms are spelled in a variety of ways, it should be mentioned that alternate spellings will usually yield different results. Not to leave out European history—there are wonderful examples to be found with searches on faience, delftware, and maiolica (not to mention the historically unique, but contemporaneously confused Majolica, which is sometimes also referred to as Victorian Majolica). You’ll be surprised what a different result you get by just adding the name of an alternate (non-ceramic) material, such as a metal. In fact, just adding the word metal to cup will yield nice results and some very nice design ideas. Metals have qualities very different from ceramic bodies, so artists have historically approached these materials with a different set of assumptions, and potters can find a lot of wonderful ideas by looking at metal drinking vessels. You can alternately add the names of the individual metals from which cups have historically been made, such as copper, silver, gold, bronze, brass, pewter, iron, steel, and tin. Each of these searches will provide results different from metal. Because artists working in metals also produce solid objects, the term hollowware (as either one or two words) is commonly used to denote utilitarian objects in the metals world—what we (potters) call pots. Searching on hollowware and cup will return a variety of metal drinking vessels. Sometimes adding another descriptor (such as a forming method) to the name of the metal will provide different results as well. For instance, cast, raised, spun, or hammered will give really interesting results, since these processes are more commonly used with hand-made objects. Gadroon is a great term, and is the name of a band of ornament (such as might be found on architecture, or on vessels, especially ones made from silver). Search on the words gadroon and cup, and you’ll find an image of a pretty amazing ivory goblet.
continued on next page
CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2010
Why am I only talking here about cups? Well, we have to start somewhere, and the drinking vessel is one of the most fundamental utilitarian forms, and drinking is one of the most fundamental human acts. In future columns, I may well extend this topic with a list of successful search terms for other utilitarian forms (most likely pouring vessels and storage vessels), but for now it’s all I can do to shoehorn the narrower topic of drinking vessels into two columns.
We’ll start our search with the word cup. (By the way, for the rest of this article I’ll place all search terms in italics to make them easier to spot). The word cup has been around for at least 1000 years, having first appeared in print circa 1000CE. Like most old words in the English language, it has been spelled a number of ways, including cuppa, cuppe, cupe, coupe, cowpe, coppe, cope, coop and cupp (and those are probably just the ones that I used in high school, given that I’m not much at spelling). Cup is such a common word and we apply it to so many different types of objects that it’s not surprising that our search engines don’t give us exactly what we want. They don’t know if I’m looking for ancient Near Eastern drinking vessels or crotch protection for a Tai Kwon Do class. The answer, then, is to give the browser clues: other information that we can add to cup, so it will find the images that we want.
Perspectives I As Far As I Know
From Chawan to Skyphos: Thinking About Drinking
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Perspectives I As Far As I Know
Thinking About Drinking (from p. 17)
Speaking of ivory, organic materials have also been used to make cups. Ivory, bone and horn all have all been used, and wooden cup will bring up nice examples from around the world. It’s not surprising that cups for use on sailing vessels were traditionally made of MI & CT ad, 4-29-10 wood, and there have been some really nice examples brought to light in the last few decades with the archeological recovery of old shipwrecks.
Stone has been used to make cups in the past, and there are some wonderful historical examples out there. In particular, there are many jade cups in museum collections, both because jade is beautiful and durable, and also because it was long believed in Asia that jade would change its color in the presence of poison, which would have provided a useful little insurance policy for despotic rulers, (if it were only true). Besides
Win a kiln in the Paragon video contest All qualifying video entries will be featured on Paragon’s website
Paragon is giving away thousands of dollars in prizes! Send us a video about you and your Paragon kiln. Actually, you don’t even have to own a Paragon to enter. The video contest is open to anyone (except Paragon distributors and dealers) who owns a Paragon kiln, fires a friend's Paragon, or attends classes that use Paragon kilns. All qualifying videos will receive exposure at Paragon’s website, including a link to your website. Even if you don’t win, you still get the publicity. Suggested video ideas: Show a Paragon kiln at your school, the students who load it, the pieces fired in it, and your teacher. Show your studio and studio surroundings.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2010
Tell a story. How has a Paragon kiln and your art changed your life?
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Show how you made something interesting with your kiln. Talk about what you learned. The contest ends midnight, August 31, 2010, Central Time. Please read the contest rules at www.paragonweb.com before submitting your video.
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searching on stone and cup, you can also find nice examples with jade, malachite, nephrite, steatite, and chlorite. Cups are often designed for specific beverages and described in those terms. Anyone heard of a coffee cup, for instance? While many of these objects are pretty uninspiring, you can find better results by a search on particular kinds of coffee cups, like demitasse. Tea, sake, wine, beer, ale and just about any other beverage you can think of will tend to have particular drinking vessels associated with them, though sometimes cup isn’t the best search term. For instance, mead cup won’t bring up very much of interest (mostly soccer teams vying for a prize of that name), but mead horn will bring up some really terrific objects. Soup cup will bring up forms that are adapted for that food. Sake was traditionally served in a wooden box cup, known as a masu; like the measuring cup, it is also a standard of measurement, with a volume of 180 ml (6 fl oz). Speaking of interesting drinks, eighteenth-century pirates drank a mixture of rum, sugar, spices and whatever else they had around that was known as bumbo. (It sounds like the kind of thing I drank on the Clay Times Caribbean cruise a couple of years ago. I don’t know if the pirates had special cups for this stuff, but I hope they had little paper umbrellas!) Specific kinds of cups can also be associated with important occasions. A Kiddush cup is used in the Shabbat, as well as other Jewish holidays. The Ciborium is used by Roman Catholics (and other faiths) to celebrate Holy Communion. Even the generalized religious cup will turn up a range of results. Specific cups are associated with a variety of secular celebrations as well: the term wedding cup will bring up many two-handle examples, as will trophy cup, winner’s cup, Christening cup, and loving cup. Ceremonial cup will generate some surprisingly interesting results. Sometime a cup is defined by what it won’t do: a mustache (or moustache) cup won’t get your mustache wet. And, how about the saucer? Cup and saucer go together like, well, you know. Those terms together generate over a million hits, so this is an area that’s definitely made for narrowing with the use of a descriptor or two: choose from almost any we’ve already listed. Indicators of time can also narrow things down nicely: adding ancient, old, or
Visual indicators, whether purely descriptive (such as heavy, light, large, tall, fat, thin, small) or qualitative (beautiful, pretty, attractive, ugly, awkward, weird) or terms that fall in between (delicate, fragile) can be added to cup to bring up a wide range of results. Interestingly, comfortable and cup tends to bring up bras and athletic supporters, but comfortable and mug will bring up drinking vessels. Descriptors that are specific to pots will also work well with cup, like footed or handled (as in twohandled, though I find that a number isn’t necessary). Apropos of nothing, the word cup did not become associated (in print) with the brassier until 1938, while its use as protection for one’s private parts (in an athletic contest) dates from 1914* (thank you Oxford English Dictionary for those little tidbits).
Is your work ready for the Clay Times cover? ®
Enter the Clay Times national juried show, “A New Decade of Clay 2010”—Your work could earn you a cover story in the magazine and participation in the Sept. 2010 group exhibition at Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort ... plus a potential ceramics scholarship to Lake Tahoe’s Sierra Nevada College! Juror: Richard Shaw. Details online: www.sierranevada.edu/clay TM
built for life It’s more than a slogan
Perspectives I As Far As I Know
antique to a search that produces too many results can help narrow it down.
As part of quality control, Daryn Montgomery uses a dynamometer to check torque, wheel speed and amperage load.
You must be getting pretty tired of the word cup by now, and obviously there are many, many other words that are used for particular drinking vessels. In my next column I’ll delve into the numerous other names that we, as well as cultures around the world, have used for specific drinking vessels. Cup just barely scratches the surface, and the best is yet to come. [
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CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2010
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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* Interestingly, the first written record of this use is from the Lincoln (Nebraska) Daily News Dec. 9, 1914: “It is hereby agreed upon that both contestants shall wear a cup to protect themselves from fouls.”
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Failures, growth in her work, and potting with a baby on her back will be discussed in this column on Bernadette Curran. This is the second of three articles on her work. The next and final article will discuss how she creates those flashes of orange in an electric kiln and will offer glaze formulas.
Wilson: I have had a lot of failures lately—well, I always have— but I am wondering about your failure rate and how you handle them. Curran: The percentage of failures in a kiln load is sporadic but somewhat predictable. Any time I am testing a new glaze or firing a new form, the failure rate is higher. My failures are higher
in the wintertime because forced heat makes for uneven drying (one of the reasons I prefer to work wet and quickly). I handle failures by repeating them, silly me! Sometimes I just don’t want to believe that it really failed until I have four cracked horse trays staring back at me on my shelves. Then I attempt to change one variable at a time until I work it out. There are unresolved failures, as well, that I revisit from time to time.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2010
Platter by Bernadette Curran. Wheel-thrown porcelain; drawn images with multiple-glazes, electric-fired to cone 6.
Perspectives I Beneath the Surface
Bernadette Curran
PART TWO OF A SERIES BY LANA WILSON
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Perspectives I Beneath the Surface CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2010
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Bernadette Curran (continued from previous page) Wilson: How have you handled having a baby and working in clay? Do you get babysitters at all? What advice do you have for artist parents of young children? Curran: We have not had babysitters. Finley is, I guess you could say, connected to my hip. He comes to the studio with me. My goal each week is to get to the studio at least three days for four hours. Some weeks are very productive, other weeks end before we have even set foot in the studio. Sometimes the teething is too bad to subject my studio mate to it and other times, Finley and I are just having too much fun together at home. I had to figure out by experience that babies don’t understand deadlines, kiln schedules, wholesale orders. Once I relaxed about expectations, we have both become much happier folk. The advice I would give to other parents is the advice that was given to me. Enjoy your baby while he is a wee one; try not to perceive this time as time lost in the studio because the studio will always be waiting for you. So I make pots when I can. In the meantime, I embrace the motto “leave them wanting more.” With each new developmental stage of my baby, there is a joy and challenge in the studio. I thank my studio mate Lindsay for being so understanding of this third little studio mate who doesn’t pay rent. She said a wonderful thing to me one day that was exceptionally touching. She said she couldn’t remember what it was like before Finley came along, that I was such a natural mother making my pots that it seemed that he had always been with us. It was so kind to hear because there are many days that I feel like a gerbil spinning on a wheel and nursing its young, getting nowhere. I also must mention that I feel very blessed to be able to stay home/ take my child to work with me. I am blessed to have a husband who can support us and use his vacation days to watch the baby while I teach workshops.
Wilson: There is a question you like to ask artists ... Curran: Yes, I like to ask artists, “What would you be if you were not a visual artist?” The two answers that come for me are a professional dancer (yet another avenue for personal expression), or a statistician. I like probabilities; I don’t know why. Wilson: How do you go about growing with your work or changing it? I do want to add here that when I had young kids, just getting stuff made was it. Curran: Right now, I am just trying to focus on what I know. The need to be direct and efficient with my time is change enough. Gone are the days when I could sit and stare at a form in multiple views and reconstruct it until I overworked it. I giggle about how wasteful it all seems now. I don’t suppose I ever consciously thought about how to go about changing my work; the work changed out of necessity because I desired something new, a new rhythm, a new animal character, or a new approach. Sometimes I secretly wish I were a handbuilder. However, no matter how many times I have tried it, I always seem to return to the wheel for that starting point. How do I go about growing? I take risks. Keep in mind my risks may or may not be defined as a risk to someone else. I seldom like to share a new idea verbally before I try it. I would rather make it and then get feedback. There is always something lost in translation when I describe something I would like to make. I guess I grow by doing rather than by discussion. A side anecdote from when I was a little girl, which may be a good example of how I grow: The first time I jumped off a diving board into the deep end, I had this extreme fear and desire to jump in all at once. I didn’t want the pep
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talk about how I could swim and the ladder was close and how it would be fun. When I leaped, it came from within and that’s how I grow. It may not happen often or when I want it to, and often I am unaware that it even occurred. What I have noticed in the past 12 months since my son was born is that my work is getting physically smaller: tiny dishes, tiny cups, and little animals. My present studio work is influenced by my son’s tiny socks; his little fat hands; his small tablespoon portions of food. There is the need to work quickly and finish pieces in the same hour. I find working small is perfect for that. The drawings on the surface have become even quicker—raw in so many words. I re-draw and re-draw the animals I know because there is no time for inventing new ones. They have become real characters that keep reappearing, moving from cup to cup with a costume change here and there. I love this freedom to repeat without guilt. How many ways can a rat hold his tail? Well, in animation, thousands of positions. The drawn line is what remains new each time. We talk about the potter’s mark and now since I hold my son in a carrier while I work he has been known to leave his mark on my cups. While I am working on them, he will thrash about to touch my tool, the cup, the clay—and to my delight, the mark is usually wonderful, better than I could do. So I keep the so-called mishaps. [ Lana Wilson is happy to respond to your e-mails. You may reach her at: lana@ lanawilson.com. To view her new work and workshop schedule, visit her new Web page at: www.lanawilson.com.
Making a Barrel Vase TEXT & PHOTOS BY BILL VAN GILDER
In Form I Teaching Techniques
Going Sideways
Necessary Supplies • (1) 2-lb. or 2-1/2 lb. piece of clay • (1) 1-lb. piece of clay • (1) 8-oz. piece of clay • a rib tool • a fettling knife • calipers • a cut-off wire • a trimming tool • a ruler
Fig. 1
• a small sponge and water Optional: • a hole-cutter • a sprig foot-mold • a small bat
“There’s nothing new — nothing that hasn’t been made before.”
That’s what this column is about: putting your spin on a very old idea … making a ‘cask’ or barrel vase (Fig. 1).
• Make the base, or floor, of your barrel at least ½" thick. This thickness will be necessary as you trim the base later.
It’s a multi-piece project that involves rearranging and combining several thrown and handbuilt parts. This project also offers plenty of room to get really creative as you plan and assemble the pieces.
• You can throw your barrel on a small bat, or use a rib to skim the wet slip from the outside wall and then lift your finished form from the wheelhead with dry hands.
Throwing the Parts Gather the necessary supplies listed in the box above and, with your class around you at your wheel, use the 2- or 2½-lb. piece of kneaded clay to throw a barrel-shaped, closed form. There are a few details and options to keep in mind as you begin:
• Shape the form with the widest point at its center, when viewing it from base to rim. Be sure to leave some extra clay at the top of the form (Fig. 2). That’s the clay that you’ll use to ‘close off’ your barrel.
• One last important thing to watch for as you open the clay: pull up the wall and close off your barrel. The diameters of the base and closed-off top area will need to be the same. So, center and open your clay with the inside floor ½" thick and about 3" wide. Pull the clay straight upward until you’ve achieved a ¼" wall thickness from top to bottom. As you pull the wall up, keep the rim diameter
CLAYTIMES·COM n SUMMER 2010
We’ve all probably heard this at one time or another as it often comes up in potterconversations. My response? “Yeah, but it’s the individual ‘spin’ we put on it that makes it ‘ours.’ It’s how we interpret an old idea that makes it new again.”
Do a bit of research and you’ll find this form made by potters in ancient Asia, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Europe, and by American crock-makers. The barrel form has been turned into teapots, pitchers, flasks, hot water bottles and chicken bakers. It’s a very interesting shape when placed sideways, and there are very few limits to what we potters can do with it.
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