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Sandy Culp’s Trompe L’oeil Buying A New Pug Mill One Year Later Ceramic Artists Rebuild After Hurricane Katrina Weighing the Risks of Manganese Exposure Discovering Glazes: Simplified Techniques
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September/October 2006 • Volume 12, Number 5 Andrew Brayman demonstrates decal application during a joint Arrowmont workshop with Jane Shellenbarger. For details, see page 51. sandy culp photo
features 34 Real Art: An Interview with Sandy Culp Sandy Culp discusses her transition into the clay world and her fascination with nature and trompe l’oeil.
38 Limited Resources Cuban artists utilize some unusual recycled materials to create their clayworks.
41 Survival of the Artist One year later—ceramic artists share their stories of rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina’s wrath.
Bronze Beauty by Sandy Culp. 8" x 7". Lizella clay and stoneware with oxides, underglazes, and glazes, fired to cone 6 in oxidation. Story appears on page 34.
46 Buying a Pug Mill Learn about the different types and styles of pug mills before you make your purchase.
51 The Yin and Yang of Pottery Making Jane Shellenbarger and Andrew Brayman share their contrasting styles in a two-week workshop.
56 Rustic Antiquity The secret to Mark Gordon’s textural forms: his wonder clay.
60 Pots from Nature Norman Holen sketches forms from the world around him to serve as designs for his pots.
exhibits 14 “Dreams and Memories” Pucker Gallery hosts its 39th Annual Fine Choices Exhibition.
20 Elements of Architecture Wood-fired clay sculpture inspired by architectural themes is displayed in North Carolina.
Baluster Jug by Phil Rogers. Temmoku with pellet decoration. 12¾" tall. One of several works by various artists featured in this year’s “Fine Choices” exhibition. To see more, turn to page 14.
®
contents
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contents
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TIMES
Clay September/October 2006 • Volume 12, Number 5
Platter made with recycled materials by Dunieski Lora. For more, turn to page 38.
departments
columns
11 EDITOR’S DESK
23 AS FAR AS I KNOW
CT launches new student image gallery at claytimes.com Web site ...
“Discovering Glazes” by Pete Pinnell
27 BENEATH THE SURFACE “Mud Mamas III” by Lana Wilson & Janis Mars Wunderlich
13 YOUR WORDS Letters from our readers
16 WHAT’S HOT Clay world news, events, and calls for entries
Bay Crafts was located in center of the area depicted by this photo before the devastating force of Hurricane Katrina. Story appears on page 41.
55 GREAT GLAZES
31 TEACHING TECHNIQUES “Fluting Wet Pots” by Bill van Gilder
65 TOOL TIMES
Formulas you can use
60 THE GALLERY
On the cover:
A selection of new works by CT readers
Fruit Cup DuJour by Sandy Culp. 10" x 10" x 10". Stoneware with oxides, underglazes, and glazes, fired to cone 6 in oxidation. Photo by Bart Kasten.
73 POTTERY CLASSES Where to learn claywork in the United States and Canada
79 SLURRY BUCKET TIPS Save time and trouble with these studio-tested tips & techniques
“Tools to Maintain Your Studio” by Vince Pitelka
67 KILNS & FIRING “Instruments for Measuring Temperatures” by Marc Ward
68 STUDIO HEALTH & SAFETY “Manganese Exposure” by Monona Rossol
71 BOOKS & VIDEOS
80 CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE
“The Yixing Effect: Echoes of the Chinese Scholar” review by Steven Branfman
Goods and services especially for clay artists
82 AROUND THE FIREBOX “Baby Steps” by Kelly Savino The Axner New Wave de-airing pug mill is capable of pugging 600 lbs. of clay per hour. Our guide to buying pug mills starts on page 46.
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Editor & Art Director: Polly Beach editorial@claytimes.com Circulation Manager: Rachel Brownell circulation@claytimes.com Advertising Manager: Karen Freeman advertising@claytimes.com Accounts Manager: Nanette Greene accounting@claytimes.com Production Assistant: Jenna McCracken claytimes@aol.com Proofreader: Jon Singer Office Assistant: Ingrid Phillips Editorial Intern: Jamie Bussey Editorial Intern: Mac Ward 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: K.T. Anders • Rick Berman • Jamie Bussey Norman Holen • Catherine Merrill Jenna McCracken • Mac Ward Published by: CLAY TIMES INC. 15481 Second St. • PO Box 365 Waterford, Virginia 20197-0365 (540) 882-3576 • FAX (540) 882-4196
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Clay Times® (ISSN 1087-7614) is published bimonthly, six issues per year. Periodicals Postage Paid at Waterford, VA, and at additional mailing offices. Annual subscriptions are available for $30 in the U.S.; $36 in Canada; $55 elsewhere (must be payable in US$). To subscribe, call toll-free 1-800-356-2529, or visit www.claytimes.com.
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Freelance editorial and photographic submissions are welcome: Please contact Clay Times or visit our Web site for writer’s and photographer’s guidelines. POSTMASTER: Address service requested. Send address changes to: Clay Times, PO Box 365, Waterford, VA 20197-0365. Copyright © 2006 Clay Times, Inc. 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.
by POLLY BEACH
S
ummer is over, so now seems to be the perfect time to put out a plea for image submissions of student works. We recognize the importance of giving exposure to your student works and educational ceramics programs, so we’re designing a new section of the Clay Times Web site specifically to showcase your works at www.claytimes.com. Check it out! To submit your images to be viewed on our Web site, please e-mail them along with your name, student program information, and description of the work to: claytimes@aol.com, or send them on disk to Student Works, Clay Times, PO Box 365, Waterford VA 20197. [
Spouting Off I Editor’s Desk
Back to School...
Pictured: Terminal by Max Rain. Ceramic and wood with shoe polish. One of the student works featured at the many school exhibitions during the California Conference for Ceramic Art (CCACA) earlier this year.
CLAyTIMES·COM n September/October 2006
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Teacher’s Debate Pete Pinnell’s article about criticism (Clay Times, May/June 2006) is informative, but unfortunately not as illustrative as it could be. Discussing art criticism without adequately defining terms does an injustice to the topic and may lead his audience to faulty conclusions. While careful in the explanation of precedent, he gives short shrift to the term, ‘aesthetics.’ I am not aware of any definition of aesthetics as “the stuff that artists really like to talk about: shape, form, mass, void, color, texture, proportion,” or “how things look.” And I’ve recently checked, just to be sure. Rather, a more familiar definition of the term is “having to do with beauty; pertaining to beautiful appearances,” or from another source, “sensitive to or appreciative of art or beauty.” The Web-based Wikipedia defines the term in the following way: “Aesthetics is both the study of beauty and the properties of a system that appeal to the senses, as opposed to the content, structures, and utility of the system itself.” With this definition one can definitely say that the “stuff” of artists, referenced by Pinnell, is not aesthetics, but simply the building blocks from which the subject of aesthetics, i.e., beauty, is created. It is important to recognize and understand this distinction. Mr. Pinnell additionally confuses the discussion by stating, “the judging of aesthetics can never be completely objective …”
If the attributes of Pinnell’s aesthetics are essentially the objective components of art, then what is it in the judging of aesthetics that he says “can never be completely objective?” We can objectively calibrate the color of a digital display but to calibrate aesthetics, especially when the focus of attention may be beauty, is another question altogether.
So it is in this particular sense (a concern for, or interest in, beauty) that aesthetics would appear never to be objective. The problem lies in the appearance of subjectivity in all things beautiful. This is borne out by the general acceptance of the bromide “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” This hackneyed phrase says nothing about beauty and ascribes a sense of relativism and subjectivity to a term that practically no one disputes or questions. But is this really so? Is the only truth about beauty that it is wildly subjective, relative, or objectively unmanageable? And, further, that no group of individuals can agree on that which may be beautiful? Having seen a few sunsets with a wide variety of individuals in various locales around the world, I don’t have any doubt as to the answer to that question. Obviously, there can be considerable agreement upon what is beautiful and, by contrast, what is ugly or grotesque. But since there is much confusion about the definition of the word aesthetics, why throw in more pesky words like beauty to roil the muddied waters even further? However, and not surprisingly, just as there is a genuine definition of aesthetics, there is a definition for the term beauty. One short one that I use in my classes to stimulate discussion is this: “Beauty is that which pleases the senses and exalts the mind.” Another is: “The quality that gives pleasure to the mind or senses and is associated with such properties as harmony of form or color, excellence of artistry, truthfulness, and originality.” It is worthwhile to note the relationship between Pinnell’s discussion of a critique and this definition of beauty. According to Pinnell, harmony of form/color relates to “how things look,” excellence in artistry relates to “how things are made,” truthfulness relates to “what the art means,” and originality relates to “precedents.” This later definition of beauty succinctly embodies all
four points Pinnell makes in his discussion of a critique. Imagine that. Seemingly to buttress his discussion, Pinnell further describes art critics who simply “don’t tend to discuss the aesthetic nature of art, preferring to spend their time on content and precedents.” This is not surprising since so many contemporary artists and critics don’t understand the concept of aesthetics/beauty, deride it, ignore it, or commit these errors in combination. That is certainly lamentable and gives cause to question such a critic’s discussion of artwork. In his discussion for a critique, Pinnell merely tap-dances around the concept of beauty—and that is a shame. Aesthetics is a term with a specific meaning, invented by an 18th-Century German educator/philosopher. His name was A.G. Baumgarten. It is not a bad word. It is not an ugly word. Don’t be afraid of it. Use it in a critique sometime. You might just get an interesting discussion. Kevin A. Hluch • Montgomery, Maryland
Thank You Thank You! for including one of my pots in John Britt’s article on art centers (Clay Times, July/August 2006). I like the mag’s new ‘look!’ Keep up the great work—always so much good info I look forward to pouring over! Thanks again! Lauren Bellero • Red Bank, New Jersey
Corrections • Alicia Ross deserved photo credit for the images published with the article on Todd Leech (Clay Times, March/April 2006). We regret the omission. • The “Books & Videos” column, by Steven Branfman, was listed incorrectly in the table of contents (Clay Times, July/August 2006). The correct title of the column is “Clay: The History and Evolution of Humankind’s Relationship with Earth’s Most Primal Element.” — Editor [
CLAyTIMES·COM n September/October 2006
By virtue of his own description, aesthetics emphasizes “shape, form, mass, color,” etc. But these attributes are the objective elements of art. Certainly we can all agree that a geometric figure with four right angles and four equal sides is a square. We may not all agree, however, that a square is beautiful. For example, one may prefer an oval over a square.
Whether art students, art professors, artists, or critics appreciate or understand it or not, aesthetics, by definition, is an inquiry into the nature of beauty. This, at the very least, should be understood and not obscured by inaccurate or impromptu definitions.
Spouting Off I Letters
Your Words
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Hot Stuff I On Exhibit
Fine Choices 2006
T
he Pucker Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts recently held its 39th “Fine Choices: Memories and Dreams” exhibition. For nearly four decades, the annual exhibit has featured a wide range of art that “engages both the spirit and the mind.” Pieces in the show were created by a wide variety of artists, all with different styles, media, and cultural origins. On display were ceramic works by Brother Thomas, Phil Rogers, Ken Matsuzaki, Tutsuzo Shimaoka, and Shoji Hamada, among others. [ Punchong Dish by Kang Hyo Lee. 17½" x 17½" x 3½".
CLAyTIMES·COM n September/October 2006
Yohen Shino Water Container by Ken Matsuzaki. 6½" x 8" x 8". Natural ash glaze.
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Honan Temmoku Vase by Brother Thomas. 11" x 8" x 8".
Bottle by Hideaki Miyamura. 15" x 6" x 6". Cobalt blue crystalline glaze on porcelain.
Big Lidded Jar. Onda Yaki. 20¼" x 13½" x 13½". Punchong Bottle by Sung Jae Choi. 11¾" x 7" x 7".
Hot Stuff I On Exhibit
Flying Trapeze, rectangular vase by Fance Franck. 8¾" x 8" x 6". Porcelain with celadon glaze.
b C
What’s Hot
ceramic art world news • events • calls for entries
Conferences ‰
The College of Arts and Letters and the Ceramics Area of Northern Arizona University will host an international wood firing conference October 11-14 in Flagstaff, Arizona. The conference will focus on the wood firing process as it relates to ceramic art, as well as celebrate 21 years of the two Tozan kilns built by Don Bendel and Yukio Yamamoto. Panel discussions will be held beginning on October 12. Pre-conference activities will include wood firings from October 3-11. Participants may bring as much bisque ware as desired. Kilns will be unloaded October 15. The conference is limited to 250 people. The cost of both the pre-conference activities and the conference is $175. To register, visit www.nau.edu/ceramics. For more information, e-mail Jason.Hess@nau.edu or telephone (928) 523-2398.
‰ The 22nd Alabama Clay Conference will take place February 2-4, 2007 at the University of North Alabama campus in Florence, AL.
CLAyTIMES·COM n September/OctOber 2006
The annual conference will feature lectures, exhibitions, and demonstrations by artists Linda Arbuckle, Sandra Blain, Bill van Gilder, and Lisa Orr.
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Pre-registration for the conference is $110 through December ($45 for students). On-site registration will be $135 ($55 for students). For more information, visit www.alclayconference. org or write to 1809 N. Wood Ave., Florence, AL 35630.
Art Sales ‰ The “Gala in the Garden” art sale/gala raises funds for the Southwest School of Art and Craft education programs. A preview will take place October 4 from 5:30-7:30 pm, and
the sale will be held on October 5 starting at 6 pm. The event takes place at 300 Augusta, in downtown San Antonio, Texas 78205. For more information, e-mail publicrelations@ swschool.org or telephone (210) 224-1848, ext. 328.
‰ Peninsula Potters presents the 2006 Peninsula Potters Sale and Studio/Gallery Tour at Blue Hill Peninsula and Deer Isle, Maine. The sale runs October 6-9 from 10 am-4 pm, and features more than 22 potters in 14 studios and galleries. The event draws hundreds of visitors and showcases porcelain, teapots, wood-fired works, and sculpture. Other highlights include kiln openings and demonstrations, as well as following the progress of a Noborigama kiln—a two-chamber, climbing, wood-fire kiln at Pitcher Masters Studio Gallery. To find out more, e-mail kokkola@localnet.com or call (207) 348-5681.
Trips ‰
Horizons of Amherst, Massachusetts, will host two fall “Discover America” trips: “Southern Utah: Our Great American Outback” and “Red Rock Territory: The Grand Four Corners.” Both run from October 7-14 and include ceramic workshops with Hopi potter, Jean Sahme. For more information, visit www.horizons-art.com, e-mail horizons@ horizons-art.com, or phone (413) 367-9200.
Workshops ‰ The educational outreach program, organized by Florida Craftsmen, is hosting a sound sculpture workshop with Brian Ransom. The workshop is being held at Eckerd College and is open to beginner through advanced students. The workshop takes place September 23, from 10 am-4 pm.
Ransom will conduct a slide lecture and hands-on demonstrations with sound sculptures. Participants can expect to form one to three complete sound sculptures by the end of the workshop. Workshop capacity is 20 participants, and the fee for non-members and/or non-students is $45. For Florida Craftsmen members and/or students, the fee is $35. To learn more, call (727) 821-7391.
‰ Pottery Northwest celebrates 40 years of clay in Seattle, Washington with a series of events including slide talks and workshops with the Gang of Eight on September 8-10. The Gang of Eight includes Frank Boyden, Paul Soldner, Beth Cavener-Stichter, Tip Toland, Doug Jeck, Akio Takamori, Jamie Walker, and Patti Warashina. Inaugural events for the celebration include an open house on September 2-3 from 10 am to 5 pm, and an opening reception at the Northwest Craft Center on September 7 for an exhibition of works by alumni and current residents, starting at 6 pm. The celebration will conclude with a ritual firing at dusk on September 10. For more information, find Pottery Northwest online at www.potterynorthwest.org or call (206) 285-4421.
New Director Announced ‰ The Archie Bray Foundation has announced that Steven Young Lee will join its staff as new resident director in January, 2007. Lee will work alongside current director Josh DeWeese starting in September of this year. Archie Bray is located on the grounds of the former Western Clay Manufacturing Company at 2915 Country Club Ave., Helena, Montana 59601. To learn more, visit www. archiebray.org, e-mail jill@archiebray.org, or call (406) 443-3502, ext. 13.
‰ “Objects d’Art: An Invitational Exhibition” takes place at the Celadon Gallery in Water Mill, New York, September 8 through October 2. An artists’ reception will be held September 10 from 11 am to 1 pm. The exhibit will feature work by national and international artists Hong-Ling Wee, Betsy Smith, Nancy Robbins, and Mae Mougin. Functional ceramics with strong sculptural components will be on display. Celadon Gallery is located at 41 Old Mill Rd., Water Mill, New York 11976. For further details, call (631) 726-2547.
‰ The Burchfield-Penney Art Center, supported by the Sylvia L. Rosen Endowment, is hosting Craft Art Western New York 2006, the Center’s tenth biennial exhibition devoted to the celebration of works in clay, fiber, glass, metal, and wood. The exhibition will be on display from September 16 through January 7, 2007. A preview reception for the artists, their guests, and members of the Center will be held on September 16 from 6-8 pm. The Art Center is located on the campus of Buffalo State College in Buffalo, New York. For more information, e-mail burchfld@buffalostate.edu or telephone (716) 878-4143.
‰ “Covering the Surface,” an exhibition featuring the work of Tom and Elaine Coleman, will be held at Xiem Gallery in Pasadena, California through October 21. The show concludes with a joint workshop on October 22 at Xiem Studio from 10:30 am-4:30 pm. The Colemans have been working in clay for almost 40 years. Tom’s use of texture and color results in surfaces that reflect his interest in the landscape of Nevada, where they make their home. Elaine’s work explores a preoccupation with the experience of daily life in an arid environment.
‰ The fourth juried exhibition, “Craft Houston 2006: Texas,” runs until October 1 and is hosted by the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. The exhibit features contemporary crafts from 29 artists throughout Texas, and is free to the public. The Houston Center is located at 4848 Main St., in the Museum District, and is open
Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am-5 pm, and Sunday, 12-5 pm. For more information, visit www.crafthouston.org, call (713) 529-4848, or e-mail abby@theprboutique.com.
‰ The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Craft Show presents its 30th annual exhibition and sale November 2-5. Hosted by the museum’s craft show committee and its women’s committee, the show will be held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. The event attracts 25,000 people and includes 195 artists from the United States. Twenty-six artists from Finland will also exhibit and sell their work. The show offers an opportunity to meet artists and provides an online auction of selected works.
Ceramic Ranch!! Located in Las Vegas, NV Workshops & Classes ✺
September 23 & 24, 2006
Patrick Horsley
A public preview will be held Wednesday, November 1 from 6-9 pm. Ticket prices vary. For more information, visit www.pmacraft show.org or call (215) 684-7930.
Patrick will be focusing on: ✺ Two-piece vase forms and lidded jars (thrown and slab built).
‰ “4 High Fire Potters,” an exhibition hosted by Red Star Studios Ceramic Center in Kansas City, Missouri, will feature works by Doug Casebeer, Peter Olsen, Hide Sadohara, and Lynn Smiser Bowers through September 30.
✺ One and two-piece bowls
and teapots with extruded parts.
Lynn Smiser Bowers, originally invited to show her painterly porcelain, invited three other potters to add variety to the exhibit. Though they represent diversity in vision, methods, and choice of materials, all of the artists in the exhibition produce high-fired, functional pottery.
✺ Cone 6 reduction clay &
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✺ Wholesaling and marketing
of your work.
The center is located at 821 West 17th St., Kansas City, MO 64108. For more information, visit www.redstarstudios.org.
✺ A slide show from Patrick
‰ Douglas Dawson’s West Loop Gallery in Chicago presents “Ukhamba: Masterworks of Zulu Potters,” on display from November 4 through December 22.
Patrick will be sharing 4 days of information packed into 2 days. Fee $225.
Ukhamba, or beer fermentation and serving vessels, reflect traditional African potting traditions that are now either compromised or extinct among the Zulu tribe. What most distinguishes Zulu beer vessels from other African pots is the surface treatment. The exhibition features twenty-five masterworks that demonstrate the originality and appeal of Zulu vessels. The Gallery is located at 400 North Morgan at Kinzie, Chicago, IL 60622, and is open Monday through Friday, 10 am-5:30 pm, and Saturday, 10 am-5 pm. For more information, visit www.douglasdawson.com or call (312) 226-7975.
✺
Horsley covering 35 years of work.
✺
November 8 - 12, 2006 60 cubic foot train wood fire kiln building with Don Bendel and Tom Coleman. Fee $250. For more information on workshops & classes please contact: Amy Kline Phone: 702-987-3023 Cell: 702-845-1715 Email: potterywest@cox.net
Pottery West
5026 N. Pioneer Way Las Vegas, NV 89149 Phone: 702-987-3023
✺
CLAyTIMES·COM n September/October 2006
Xiem Gallery is located at 1563 N. Lake Ave., Pasadena, CA 91104. For more information, call (626) 394-2842, or visit www.xiemclay center.com.
Las Vegas, NV
Hot Stuff I News & Events
Ceramics Exhibitions
1PUUFSZ 8FTU
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Hot Stuff I News & Events
Calls for Nominations September submissions deadline
‰ The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) is accepting nominations for the position of Director at Large. The DAL is a three-year position and requires various responsibilities, including aspects of conference and program planning. Nominations are also being accepted for the following annual awards: Honorary Membership to the Council, Fellow of the Coun-
cil, the Excellence in Teaching Award, and the Outstanding Achievement Award. All nominations should be mailed or e-mailed by September 15. To find out more, e-mail susanf@nc.rr.com or call (919) 933-9117.
October submissions deadline
‰ NCECA is also requesting nominations for its Emerging Artist program. The program is intended to give early career artists who show exceptional promise the opportunity to present their work to an international
audience at the NCECA Annual Conference. Nominations are welcomed from professionals in the field of ceramics; also, artists may self-nominate with the support of two professionals. Residents of the United States as well as international NCECA members are eligible for nomination. Nominees may not be students and may not have previously received major recognition for their work. Applications must be submitted online by October 2. For more information, visit www.nceca.net/ conference/eartists.html.
Calls for Entries September submissions deadlines
GLAZES INC.
Introducing our new Low-Stone 900 Series colors. We’re coming out with 36 brand new colors for our most popular low-fire glaze line. As always they are lead-free and dinnerware safe. Each color will work with the existing colors to create new layered effects. Watch this space for pictures of the other 18 new colors and some great new layering ideas.
‰ “Mixed Messages,” an exhibition sponsored by the Target Gallery, is accepting submissions from all artists in the United States and abroad. Entries must be comprised of two or more materials/media. The show is being juried by Veena Singh, owner of Sansar Gallery in Bethesda, Maryland, and will take place from December 6, 2006 to January 14, 2007. The entry fee is $30 for three images (slide or CD); entry deadline is September 29. For a prospectus, send an SASE to Target Gallery, Torpedo Factory Art Center, 105 North Union St., Alexandria, VA 22314. For more information, visit www.torpedofactory.org, e-mail targetgallery@torpedofactory.org, or call (703) 838-4665, ext. 4.
CLAyTIMES·COM n September/October 2006
‰ “Craft Forms,” the 12th Annual International Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Craft, is accepting entries for its 2006 exhibit scheduled to take place December 1, 2006 through January 24, 2007. Gretchen G. Keyworth, director and chief curator of Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Massachusetts, will jury the show.
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929 to 932 P.O. Box 874 Lewiston, NY US 14092-0874
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Phone:(800)970-1970 or (416)747-8310 Fax:(416)747-8320 www.spectrumglazes.com info@spectrumglazes.com
Entries are open to all professional artists working in clay, fiber, glass, metal, wood, and/or mixed-media crafts. All work must be original and created within the last two years. Artists may submit up to two entries. Applications must be postmarked by September 26; entry fee is $25. More than $3,000 in prizes will be awarded to artists. Mail submissions to the Wayne Art Center, 413 Maplewood Ave., Wayne, PA 19087. For further details, visit www.wayneart. org, e-mail info@wayneart.org, or telephone (610) 688-3553.
November submissions deadline
‰ The 4th World Ceramic Biennale 2007 Korea International Competition is accepting applications until October 6. Artists may submit works for two different categories: ceramics for use, and ceramics as expression. The competition is open to all individuals. There is no theme for the show and there are no size restrictions. Individuals or groups may submit a maximum of three entries, regardless of category. A grand prize of $55,000 will be awarded to one artist per category.
‰ The University of Dallas Regional Ceramics Competition in Irving, Texas is now accepting submissions. An exhibition will be on view from January 27-March 4, 2007.
Applications are available via the Curatorial Department of the World Ceramic Exposition Foundation (WOCEF), and may be found online at www.wocef.com. For details, email cebiko@worldceramic.or.kr.
The competition is open to artists 18 years or older currently residing in AR, CO, KS, LA, MO, NM, OK, or TX. Val Cushing will serve as the juror.
Submission deadline is November 1, 2006; entry fee is $25 for up to three entries. All works must be original and completed within in the past two years. Clay must be the dominant material in all work submitted, and submissions must be in the form of 35 mm slides. For more information and a prospectus, send an SASE to the University of Dallas, Haggerty Gallery, U-Dallas Regional, 1845 East Northgate Dr., Irving, TX 75062, or visit www.udallas.edu. [
Hot Stuff I News & Events
October submissions deadlines
‰ Applications for the 2007 Artisphere International Arts Festival of Greenville, South Carolina are now available online. The deadline for submission is October 20. The festival is scheduled to take place April 20-22, 2007. For more information, e-mail mary@greenvillearts. com or call (864) 271-9398. ‰ “Ink and Clay 33,” sponsored by the W. Keith and Janet Kellogg University Art Gallery of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, is accepting submissions through October 30. An annual competition established in 1971, the exhibit is scheduled to take place from January 18 through February 24, 2007.
For additional information, call (909) 869-4302, visit www.csu pomona.edu/~kellogg_gallery, or e-mail pemerrill@csupomona.edu. The gallery is located at 3801 West Temple Ave., Pomona, CA 91768.
CLAyTIMES·COM n September/October 2006
“Ink and Clay” will feature prints and drawings, ceramic ware, and clay sculpture. The call is open to all artists in the Western States, including AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, ND, NM, NV, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, and WY. A virtual catalog will be published and mounted on the gallery’s Web site.
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Hot Stuff I On Exhibit Dwelling #3 by Bill Griffith. 11" x 12" x 7". Slab-constructed stoneware, anagama/wood-fired.
CLAyTIMES·COM n September/October 2006
Key Stone 2 by Steve Sauer. 44" x 10". Five-day wood-fired stoneware.
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#1 by Al Tennant. 29" x 9" x 18". Stoneware with porcelain inlay. Ritual Vessel Awaiting Light by Judith Dove. 19" x 14" x 9". Wood-fired stoneware.
Hot Stuff I On Exhibit
Elements of Architecture Shino Basket by Jan McKeachieJohnston. 18" x 6". Wood-fired stoneware.
Upside Downtown by Nina Hole. 20" x 8¾" x 10¾". Wood-fired stoneware.
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The exhibit is being held in conjunction with the residency of Danish clay artist Nina Hole, and also features her sculptural work as well as her drawings. Images of various works selected for the show appear on these pages. [
Currents by Joy Brown. 34" x 57". Wood-fired stoneware.
CLAyTIMES·COM n September/October 2006
he works of 13 internationally recognized wood-fire potters from the United States and Canada will be featured as part of “Architectural Echoes in Clay” September 19 through November 10 at two western North Carolina venues. The Center for Craft, Creativity, and Design in Hendersonville, NC, and Appalachian State University’s Katherine Smith Gallery in Boone, NC will host the show, curated by Judith Duff and featuring ceramic art inspired by architectural themes.
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CLAyTIMES·COM n September/October 2006
There are two rules you’ll have to follow if you want to better understand glazes. First, you must mix, apply, and fire a lot of different glazes; and second, you must pay close attention to the results. by PETE PINNELL
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n my previous column, I described the differences between primary and secondary research, and the value of each. In this column, I promised I’d provide some simple methods for doing your own useful, primary research with the intent of learning more about glazes and glaze materials, and finding some new glazes of your own.
My second rule for learning about glazes is that you have to pay attention to the results. Most of us only do this partially: we take a close look at the test tiles that look good, but tend to ignore the ones that don’t look good. If you want to learn, you have to pay equal attention to the “bad” tests, since they provide at least as much useful information as the “good” ones. I put the words good and bad in quotations because that’s how
OK, enough sermon—let’s start mixing. A great way to learn about materials is through the direct substitution of one material with a similar material. Sometimes just the small chemical or geological difference between two materials can radically change the fired quality of a glaze. A good example of this is when we change the clay content in a high-fire celadon: a change from one brand of kaolin to another can cause the color of a celadon to shift dramatically from blue to green. This is the kind of result that one can’t find or predict by looking at recipes or reading books, but only by making the substitution and firing it. Glaze rooms contain a large and confusing number of materials, but these can be more easily understood if they are divided into categories. In fact, all these materials can fit into just a handful of categories, and within each category we can substitute all or part of a material and almost always get interesting, informative results. Here are the basic categories that are represented in most glazes:
• Alkalis • Alkaline Earths1 • Boron • Alumina • Silica The fluxes we need for the glaze are mostly found in alkali sources, such as feldspars; and alkaline earth sources, such as whiting and dolomite. Boron is required in most medium-fire and almost all low-fire glazes, and is contained in complex materials like Gerstley borate and frit. Alumina and silica are found in clay, and most glazes contain at least some clay—both to provide these oxides and to keep the wet glaze in suspension. Because many glossy glazes require more silica than is found in these other groups, we often also add quartz (“flint”) to the glaze. These five categories are what make up almost all base glazes, to which we add colorants and opacifiers. I’ve written about colorants and opacifiers in the past,2 so in today’s column I’ll stick with the materials in base glazes. Potters use feldspars (and other feldspathic materials) as sources of sodium,3 potassium, and lithium. These materials also contain sizeable amounts of alumina and silica. The materials I’ve listed on the following page each provide differing percentages of sodium and potassium, though you can substitute equal amounts of any of these materials for any of the others. I’ve listed these in ascending order of their fluidity at high temperatures, with the least fluid on top and the most fluid at the bottom.
CLAyTIMES·COM n September/October 2006
There are two rules you’ll have to follow if you want to better understand glazes. The first is that you must mix, apply, and fire a lot of different glazes; and the second is that you must pay close attention to the results. As for the first, the only way to learn about the qualities of the raw materials is to get your hands dirty. I’ve taught a number of glaze classes over the years, and I’ve found that watching others mix glazes is a poor substitute for doing it myself. Yes, I learn a lot by looking at all the tests the students generate, but that’s like eating the meal without doing any of the cooking: it appeals to the gourmand in me, but it doesn’t make me a better cook. If I want to improve my cooking, I need to get out of the dining room and into the kitchen.
fired tests are often described; but the reality is that all tests are good because they all provide information. A “bad” test tile tells us what doesn’t work, and taken together with other “bad” tiles, they can tell us why they don’t work—a very important and powerful piece of information. When we combine enough of these conclusions, we can begin to understand materials enough to get the results we want on a consistent basis.
Perspectives I As Far As I Know
Discovering Glazes
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giffingrip.com
Like potassium and sodium, lithium is also an alkali and is found in similar materials, which also contain alumina and silica. The two sources most commonly used are petalite and spodumene, with spodumene being the more active of the two. These materials don’t usually work alone as an alkali source in a glaze, but can produce very interesting qualities when either of them is substituted for part of the feldspar content in a glaze. Besides altering color and texture, these will tend to make a glaze a bit more craze-resistant. The second major category in glaze materials is the alkaline earth fluxes. Potters use four different ones: calcium, magnesium, barium, and strontium. Any of the materials containing these can be substituted—in whole or in part—for any of the others, often with very nice (but surprisingly different) results. Here is a list of materials, along with the oxides they provide: • Whiting (calcium) • Wollastonite (calcium and silica) • Bone Ash4 (calcium and phosphorus) • Magnesium Carbonate (magnesium) • Dolomite (calcium and magnesium) • Talc (magnesium and silica) • Strontium Carbonate (strontium) • Barium Carbonate5 (barium)
Boron is used in many glazes, and is especially useful in mid-range and lowfire temperatures, since it both lowers the maturation temperature of a glaze and also helps the glaze work over a longer firing range. Boron is found in raw materials like Gerstley borate, Colemanite, Gerstley substitutes, and
Almost every glaze has some clay in it, such as EPK (a kaolin) or OM-4 (a ball clay). As mentioned above, clay is the ingredient that prevents the glaze from settling out like a rock. It also provides the alumina and silica needed to make a glaze durable and practical. Substituting one clay for another can give nice results and also helps you learn what qualities each clay brings to a glaze. Following is a list of clays that can be used in glazes. I’ve listed them with the most pure clays at the top, descending to the least pure (or most complex, depending upon how you look at it) at the bottom. I’ve offered these because they’re all commonly available—but don’t let that limit you! Any clay available to you can make an interesting test, including the one you may have dug in your own yard. • Grolleg China Clay • Edgar Plastic Kaolin (EPK) • Tile #6 Clay • Helmer Kaolin • Ball Clay (any) • XX Sagger • Foundry Hill Creme • Goldart • Fire Clay (any) • Redart • Alberta Slip As for our fifth category, silica, there isn’t a great deal of variation among the different brands of silica that are commercially available, so there isn’t much use in substituting one for another.
You could always try different meshes of silica, and potters sometimes find this useful. But more is usually learned by varying the amount of silica in a glaze rather than the brand or mesh size. You’ll notice that I haven’t listed any of the results you might expect to get when you make these substitutions. In the case of primary research, this might taint the process by causing you to favor one thing over another. Instead, it is better for you to do these kinds of things blind and find your own conclusions. Even better, find another potter to partner with and run parallel tests so the two of you can compare your results and conclusions. It’s always useful to have another pair of eyes whenever we’re looking at new information and attempting to draw conclusions. Next issue—more on glaze testing. [
Footnotes 1 We borrow the terms alkali and alkaline earth from chemistry, and specifically from groupings in the periodic table of elements. If you’re unfamiliar with these terms, Wikipedia provides an excellent, simple overview: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodic_table_of_ elements. 2 See “Coloring Outside the Lines,” Clay Times, May/June 2003, p. 21, 55; and “Coloring Further Outside the Lines,” Clay Times July/ August 2003, p. 21, 29. 3 For you sticklers, potters only use the oxides of these materials, and not the simple elements. Because everything we use is an oxide, we don’t bother writing (or saying) it constantly—just assume it’s there. 4 I prefer the synthetic version to the natural—it doesn’t spoil in the bucket, like natural bone ash, which often contains a little residual organic matter. 5 It should go without saying that if you include barium carbonate in a glaze, you should take care to use it safely, and not apply it to food-contact surfaces.
Pete Pinnell teaches at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has been a potter for many years and has numerous exhibitions and workshops to his credit. You can reach him with comments or questions at ppinnell1@unl.edu.
CLAyTIMES·COM n September/October 2006
As with lithium, it often works better to use two different oxides from this category, so you might want to try substituting just half of the material already in the glaze. For instance, if the glaze contains 20% whiting, you might try it with 10% whiting and 10% strontium carbonate.
many commercial frits. Because all insoluble sources of boron are a complex mixture of many oxides, each brings with it a wide range of qualities. As with the others, you can try substituting any of these sources for any other, in whole or in part. Another very interesting substitution is to use a boron source in place of part of the alkaline earth materials that are listed above. This isn’t as crazy as it sounds, since most boron sources contain a fair amount of calcium or other alkaline earth. There are myriads of commercial frits available, as well as a number of Gerstley borate substitutes that appeared when Gerstley started to run out. You can try any of them, but please be aware that you should avoid any that contain lead, for obvious healththreatening reasons.
Perspectives I As Far As I Know
• PV Clay (Plastic Vitrox) • Cornwall Stone • Custer Feldspar • G-200 Feldspar • Kona F-4 Feldspar • Nepheline Syenite
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by GUEST COLUMNIST JANIS MARS WUNDERLICH
This is the third article in a series on parenting and working in clay. Janis Wunderlich, a mother with five children, is well known for her figurative sculptures. She is thoroughly committed to her family and her work, a balancing act she discusses in this column. In the next issue of CT, she will share her glazes and techniques. — Lana Wilson
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had my first baby at 21—before I went to grad school; and my second after grad school. I didn’t have a studio at that point. I just took over a little corner of the dining room, and had a used kiln in the garage. When my children were very small and wanted to be held constantly, I would put them in a baby backpack and just carry them around and let them watch me do sculpture. I would even (I’m not kidding) tie toys on my head to keep them occupied! All through undergrad and grad school, my teachers made us enter shows, so I had a large file of rejects. We would almost brag about how many rejects we had. We had to apply to shows. We all began to realize it is OK to be rejected. It was three years before I got into a show (I felt like kissing the feet of the juror who let me in)! I figured if I really liked the juror’s work, he/she might like mine.
I obviously don’t produce nearly the quantity of art I did while in school or back when I had a smaller family. But I find that I am more willing now to enjoy the process. I’m not afraid to invest
Now I have five children between the ages of 2 and 14 years old, and I am still into clay. My spouse is very supportive and understanding of my need to be an artist. He has a demanding job away from home so during the daytime, it’s just me and my kids and my art. Even though my husband doesn’t help during the day, there are certain things he does that help me beyond words: He doesn’t complain when his shirts and pants are wrinkly; he doesn’t expect a clean house or perfect meal when he gets home; and when he arrives home, he immediately gets involved by helping with the kids, and dinner, and more. I have an established, structured routine to my day. My husband and I both exercise before our kids even wake up. Then the kids get up (all of them pop up around 7 am or earlier) and everyone is gone to school or work by 7:45. That leaves me and my two youngest children, my almost 2-year-old and my 5-year-old. We finish breakfast, get dressed, and tidy up the house a little. Then the girls watch their favorite show (DORA!) on TV, which gives me an hour of “clean-hands” studio work like computer/paperwork/ calendar work/Web site stuff. After their show we read and play, then eat lunch and I take my 5-year-old to preschool. It’s now timed perfectly so that my baby will fall asleep as I play relaxing music
on the ride home. She takes a 60- to 90minute nap, and that is when I go into high production in the clay studio. My studio is in a room attached onto the family room of our house, so I’m within listening distance of my sleeping baby, yet I can still work. This is my most productive time of day for art making—it is amazing what I can do in two full hours without interruptions! If my baby does wake up, she joins me. And if my older daughter doesn’t have preschool, she works with me in the studio, too. I have a kid’s workspace set up for them, and they’ll play in clay all day if I let them. By 4 pm, my kids are all home from school, so my art window is over. Now it is time for piano lessons, after-school activities, sports, homework, and housework. Then we have dinner, activities, and bedtime. Sometimes—if I’m lucky— I get to squeeze in a tiny bit more art time at night. If I have a big deadline, I’ll bring my banding wheel up to the kitchen: I have a little spot on the counter where I’ll stay up late and work on a sculpture. My parents do not live close by, but if I am teaching a workshop or traveling for art, they sometimes help with the kids. I have two brothers who live nearby, and they also help if I’m really behind. If I am up against a deadline, our 14-year-old daughter will play with all her siblings so I can get a little more time. But that is it: no nannies, nor housekeepers, nor anything fancy. My subject matter has been family, motherhood, and womanhood ever since I touched clay. That’s all I’ve
CLAyTIMES·COM n September/October 2006
Now that I have five children and life is so full, I don’t take as many risks as I did in grad school. I work with a more manageable scale (20"-30") than I used to. I also handbuild now instead of slip-casting and all that bulky, technical, messy stuff I did when I was working on my M.F.A. I fire lower because I’m paying the electric bills now instead of grad school tuition. I live in a little suburb where I can’t set up a high-fire kiln in my yard. I don’t have a big studio, so I only mix a few glazes and don’t do much glaze experimenting because I would have to give up my limited work time to do it.
the time in one sculpture to make it just right. My average turnaround for a big sculpture is one or two per month. I think I’ve improved the quality and craftsmanship of my work. I have just a limited time to dedicate to art, so I make sure I’m working on a piece that I like and that won’t fall apart. Usually, I’m quite happy with it when it’s all done.
Cup by Janis Mars Wunderlich.
Perspectives I Beneath the Surface
Mud Mamas III
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Perspectives I Beneath the Surface
thought about for the past 16 years! I got married right after my freshman year of college, and took my first clay class right after that, so clay has really been my instrument to record all of my struggles, failures, and triumphs in parenting. I probably have 200 sculptures out there that are visual journal entries on parenting. I feel like I’m doing a good job when my kids know that they are more important to me than my art is. I don’t ever want them to feel like I can’t be there for them or help them because I’m too busy with my art. If I have a big show or a nasty deadline coming up, it is really hard for me to leave my studio for those “simple things,” but I have to do it to keep my sanity. I have to keep a balance. Even the way I handbuild has evolved to fit my frequent comings and goings with my claywork. Early on in my clay career, I decided that I would put my family first, even if it means not having the greatest sculptures in the world. Parenting teaches you a lot of humility. Flexibility is also key: I need to be able to find a way to somehow fit my artwork into my routine. I don’t think I am particularly talented, nor do I have a great ability with technique; yet I do spend a lot of time with the material.
I don’t get to do my art, I get depressed. I feel like my art is my medication. I’m an introvert. I have been to the art museum once in the past three years. I keep thinking that when my kids get older, I will have time to do things. I keep pressure on myself on purpose. I say ‘yes’ to all good show opportunities that I possibly can, and I say ‘no’ when I know it is going to overstress my family. That pressure (the pressure that a gallery or museum is expecting a piece from me) keeps me going some days when I’m feeling frustrated with the whole mom/art thing. I think to myself, “Someone out there needs me to finish this sculpture!” As silly as that sounds, it keeps me going. If I had to choose between family and art, I would be out of balance. My art would be about nothing without my family, and I think I’d be a really highstrung, depressed mom without time for this creative expression! There are a lot of hard parts. It is very difficult to know I must drop my clay tools at any given moment to take care of kids, even if I’m in “the art zone.” I have to be very careful with glaze ingredients and keep some things way up high and out of reach. My studio gets so dirty from my kids working in there— they tend to drop half of their clay on the floor. They also like to dump underglazes out, make messes on the wheel, and not clean up afterward. My youngest daughter likes to “help me” with my sculpture, so it definitely takes enormous patience and flexibility to do what I do. Again this week, she climbed up on the kitchen counter and squashed up one of my works in progress. Incidentally, I’ve gotten really good at repair surgery!
“If I had to choose between family and art, I would be out of balance.”
CLAyTIMES·COM n September/October 2006
—Janis Mars Wunderlich
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Since I am constantly around my kids, they serve as the imagery that feeds my ideas. I get a lot of bad days. My kids are cranky, or I am tired. Just the other day, I went out for a moment and my youngest sat on my sculpture and then used slip to paint over it! I realized I could make a big deal out of it, but decided not to. I simply fixed it. Unfortunately, though, the next morning she got up early and “worked” more on it, really ruining it. So much for two weeks of my work—now gone. My art is therapy for me. I need to have a voice, and I can express my emotions. If
Another reality is that I have to give up all of my free time to clay. I don’t have time to read artsy books or magazines, or shop for artsy clothes. I don’t get time to organize my studio or my house, so things tend to be a bit unkempt. Little details, like keeping track of library books and scrapbook pictures, are things I give up. I also have to be very careful not to overdose on too many activities
for my kids. The older kids do piano and one sport per season; the younger kids choose one extra thing at a time (like gymnastics or ballet, but not both at the same time). In the summer, they spend a lot of time playing together in the backyard, which is right next to my studio. (When I have a big deadline coming up, I’ll buy a fresh bag of play sand and a few new matchbox cars, and that buys me an enormous amount of time!) I have to get used to everything taking me twice as long as it should. Even as I type this, there’s a Strawberry Shortcake movie going on in the background to keep Emma happy, and my youngest is doing some sort of Olympic sport all over me. I’ve had to give up being a perfectionist! I used to be the sort of person that had to do everything “over-the-top,” perfectly, especially art: I had to have the best, most detailed work in every show. I used to always send the maximum amount of work, and always say ‘yes’ to every show. Now I’m happy with the minimum. Often, I’m late getting work to shows, or I don’t quite meet my goals because a kid gets sick, or something comes up. So to be really successful, I have to start way in advance for any deadline. I also have to say ‘no’ to a lot of shows that I would really love to do. I know I can’t bite off more than I can chew. And I have to be realistic when I set goals for myself. I’ve had my share of no sleep and cranky babies. There are times when I sculpt one-handed, with kids on my lap or in my arms, singing goofy songs to keep them happy, or letting them squish little clay worms into my sculpture, just so that I can make my sculpture time happen. I look back on these times fondly, because they really do go by quickly. Pretty soon the kids are off to school, and then the house is quiet. I have to achieve a healthy balance, or it doesn’t work for anyone. I can tell very easily in my life when I’ve got it right and when it needs adjustments. [ Lana Wilson is a handbuilder from Del Mar, California. She gives frequent workshops and is the author of Ceramics: Shape and Surface. Her Web site is www.lanawilson. com. She is very interested in your thoughts on this series of columns on parenting and clay. E-mail her at lana@lanawilson.com.
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CLAyTIMES·COM n September/OctOber 2006
Wet Fluting by BILL van GILDER
Necessary Supplies • (1) 3-lb. ball of throwing clay • a bat • water and a small sponge • a rib tool • an under-cutting stick • a fluting tool • a cut-off wire
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ollowing on the heels of my ‘Fluting Methods’ column in the previous issue of Clay Times, this column describes a more immediate decorating technique: fluting the pot when it’s partially made and wet on the wheel. It’s a project that will cause students to hone in on organizing the making steps of their thrown forms. Thickness, neatness, and fluid tool use are the controlling factors. Again, you’ll need to have the basic throwing tools on hand, plus a fluting tool and a lump of well-kneaded clay.
THE TOOL Each hard metal fluting tool has two bladed end-shapes. One is rounded
So gather the class around your wheel, attach a bat to the wheelhead, and center your lump of clay.
THE FORM Open the lump with an average floor thickness—a bit less than ½". This is a project that will have its foot edge visually softened and rounded at the leatherhard stage. No tool trimming later, so no extra floor thickness is needed. The wall of your cylinder will need to be thrown with a ½" cross-section. As with fluting at the leather-hard stage you’ll be cutting deeply into the wall, so an ample wall thickness is essential. As you complete the pulling-up, use a fingertip or the small, rounded end of a rib to push a curved groove into the base area of the form. This indent creates a sharp-cornered edge at the bottom of
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The rounded and pointed ends of the fluting tool.
the straight wall, which is where the fluting tool work will begin. Finally, rib the wall as straight and flat as possible [Fig. 1]. Now, move your fingertips to the top of the form and collar it inward about ½"—but still big enough to allow you to slide your hand into the pot. Start the collaring move 2" below the rim. This move does three things: It creates a distinct sharp corner at the top of the straight wall; it begins to define the sloping shoulder area; and it also sets up the neck of your vase, which will be pulled, thinned, and defined further after the fluting step. Remove the water from the inside of the form. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a soggy bottom. And no one wants a soggy bottom, right?
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CLAyTIMES·COM n September/October 2006
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for concave flute cutting. The other is pointed and intended to create a convex or humped-shaped flute on leather-hard pots. But with this project you’ll be using both end-shapes in a similar way—pulling them up and into the wall of your pot to create two different grooved shapes.
In Form I Teaching Techniques
Stretching the Surface
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