art
trends,
tools,
and
®
TIMES
Clay
techniques
Volume 14 • Number 5 September/October 2008
Terri Kern’s
Earthenware with a Painterly Flair Featured Project: Making Altered Pots and Lids Five Great Guidelines for Writing Glaze Recipes “All Fired Up!” Expo’s 60+ Ceramic Shows in Westchester County, NY Retiring Baby Boomers Find New Life in Clay Peter Jansons and his Prince Edward Island Dunes Gallery & Cafe $ 7.50 U.S./$9 CAN
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CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008
3
contents
®
TIMES
Clay
September/October 2008 Volume 14, Number 5
Pottery plays a major role at Peter Jansons’ Dunes Studio Gallery and Cafe. Turn to p. 36.
Charles Behlow Photo
features 32 Terri Kern’s Painterly Flair for Earthenware Vibrant colors and active designs bring this Cincinnati artist’s world of fantasy to life.
36 Peter Jansons: 21st Century Renaissance Man A visit to Brackley Beach in Prince Edward Island, Canada, reveals his 18,000-sq.-ft. facility, offering a feast for the eye as well as the palate.
41 Clay, Art, History, and Design Joe Campbell begins this series with a discussion of the basic elements and principles of design that guide any medium, and how to be conscious of them.
44 Ceramics with Seniors Retiring baby boomers discover how claywork can provide a new sense of fulfillment. Midnight Landscape by Terri Kern. 9" x 4". Earthenware.
on exhibit 18 All Fired Up! 60+ venues will feature works by 600+ clay artists in Westchester County, NY this fall.
56 Sierra Nevada College Visiting Artists A summer of inspiring Lake Tahoe ceramics workshops culminates with this exhibition.
Ceramic works by Randy Brodnax (l) and Arthur Gonzalez in the Sierra Nevada College gallery.
5
September/October 2008 • Volume 14, Number 5
departments 9 YOUR WORDS Readers offer their feedback & opinions
11 SLURRY BUCKET TIPS Save time and trouble with these studio-tested tips and techniques.
13 WHAT’S HOT Clay world news, events, and calls for entries
23 GREAT GLAZES Here some great cone 6 oxidation recipes from The Ceramic Review Book of Clay Bodies & Glaze Recipes.
50 THE GALLERY A selection of unique works by CT readers
59 POTTERY CLASSES Where you can learn claywork in the U.S. & abroad
63 CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE Goods and services offered especially for clay artists On the cover: The Secret Keeper, earthenware plate by Terri Kern. 11" x 5" x 4". Photo by Jay Bachemin. Inset photo: Jar by Michael Corney, part of “All Fired Up!” Exposition.
6
®
contents
TIMES
Clay
John Teti is among the rising number of inspired individuals who are taking up claywork as they transition into retirement. Story begins on page 44.
columns 21 AS FAR AS I KNOW “Writing Out Recipes: Five Guidelines We Could All Follow” by Pete Pinnell
25 BENEATH THE SURFACE “The Guadalupe Arch” by Lana Wilson
28 TEACHING TECHNIQUES “Making Altered Pots & Lids” by Bill van Gilder
49 KILNS & FIRING “A Few Words About Expert Firing Advice” by Marc Ward
53 TOOL TIMES “Tools for Handbuilding” by Vince Pitelka
55 STUDIO HEALTH AND SAFETY “Grindwheels Again” by Monona Rossol
62 BOOKS & VIDEOS “Searching for Beauty” review by Steve Branfman
65 AROUND THE FIREBOX “The Power of Yes” by Kelly Savino Pictured at left, top to bottom: Ceramic works by Jacqueline Wilder, Kristin Pavelka, and Charles Birnbaum are among more than 600 pieces to be featured in the “All Fired Up!” Exposition in Westchester County, New York this autumn.
“Pots seem to throw themselves on these wheels” —Robin Hopper
Ask a potter who owns one.
Photo by Judi Dyelle
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I do want to respond to his July/August 2008 Clay Times article, entitled, “Creative Thinking.” When I read his opening quote by Pearl S. Buck, I had one of those “dumbstruck” moments when I realized someone felt exactly as I did, but was articulate and driven enough to put their feelings into words. I am middle-aged and have been making [clay] work since I was seven. Recently, I have been doing a lot of thinking about just why it is that I make large-scale ceramic sculpture or for that matter, why I bother to make work at all. You can’t store large-scale sculpture under the bed, in the attic, or in that spare closet in the hall—and selling everything I make is a dream I don’t even bother to have.
Find out full details of the spectacular 2009 Clay Times Potters’ Conference in the Caribbean by logging onto the Web site at www.claytimes.com/cruise.html — But Hurry—Registration Closes October 31!
Ideal Autos for Potters I have been thinking about the question that [David] Hendley posed in [his] article, “One Word: Plastics” (July/August 2008 Clay Times). To wit: “It has always been hard for potters to decide what kind of car to drive.” I should think that there must be a car with a name that could settle this conundrum. As a driver/clayologist for Clay People, in Richmond CA, I see many cars in the course of a day. The first art-related car was the Ford Focus, perfect for the photographic arts. Then I saw an Infiniti, but that does not seem to fit this line of thinking—oh, wait, conceptual arts. There are a lot of Accords in the greater Bay Area, which seem to work for social practices artists. Ah, here is one that works for clay artists, even if somewhat difficult to afford: the Mercedes Kompressor. This would be best for tile artists and/or kinetic sculptors. Our musician friends could drive an Echo. Then there is the Geo Prism, great for glass artists. After a couple of days of deliveries, I finally saw the mythical-seeming “potter’s vehicle:” an older Sentra, with the letter ‘a’ tragically ripped off in some washing mishap, so now it phonetically sounds like “Center.” Or one could add a couple of spaces, and a place a picture of a pot ... Bill A. Lassell, Oakland, CA Correction In the “Tea Bowls, Teabowls” article appearing in our July/August 2008 issue, actual exhibition venues should have been listed as follows: Asian Influences Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA, Mar. 1-21, 2008 (an NCECA Concurrent Exhibition); and Ch’i Contemporary Fine Arts, Brooklyn, NY, June 12-July 7, 2008. We regret the error. Polly Beach, Editor [
Clay magazine
Editor & Art Director: Polly Beach claytimes@gmail.com Circulation Manager: Rachel Brownell ctcirculation@gmail.com Advertising Manager: Janie Herdman claytimesads@gmail.com Accounts Manager: Nanette Greene clayaccounts@gmail.com Proofreader: Jon Singer Office Assistant: Ingrid Phillips 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 • Joe Campbell Victoria Clayton • Collin Taylor Published by: CLAY TIMES INC. 15481 Second St. • PO Box 365 Waterford, Virginia 20197-0365 540.882.3576 • FAX 540.882.4196 Toll-free subscription line: 800.356.2529 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. 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 © 2008 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.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008
I am a professor, and make a great living doing that. My wife and family camp and hike all over the world. I now have two grandchildren, and could just as well sit out the rest of the game and enjoy myself. So why bother? Every summer, the other professors do other things, but invariably I am up at 5 or 6 a.m., start drinking good coffee, read my Bible, pray, and then it’s to the studio for a full day of making. Why? I am far from the “tortured artist” model, even though I will confess I am often borderline ‘emotionally unstable.’ I am ... 50, balding, overweight, and broken down from years of banging clay into forms—but for what? I have a show or two a year and get into a sculpture tour here and there, have some articles published in clay magazines ... for what? At this moment, 8 a.m. in my studio listening to NPR [and sipping] good coffee, with three large works started just behind me, I am taking time to respond to an article on art—but for what? Why? I’ll let someone who is better at words than I explain: “By some strange, unknown, inward
Aaron Lee Benson, Jackson, TN
®
I want to begin this letter by saying that I have the utmost respect for Mr. Pinnell, his work, and his knowledge in the ceramics field. I regularly use his glaze formula, Pete’s Gold Shino, in my own studio.
urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating.” —Pearl S. Buck
Spouting Off I Your Words
Creative Thinking
TIMES
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ceramic art trends, t oo l s & t e c h n i q u e s
9
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Looking for for helpful helpful studio studio tips? tips? Got Got some some to to share? share? This This is is the the place... place... Looking Another Chamois Strategy
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Sieving Made Easy have found found that that the the easiest easiest way way to to force force glaze glaze through through aa sieve sieve is is by by II have using a stencil brush. The brush is easier to hold onto than a rib, and using a stencil brush. The brush is easier to hold onto than a rib, and the bristles bristles allow allow you you to to get get into into the the corners corners of of the the sieve. sieve.They’re They're also also the easy on on the the screen screen materials, materials, and and come come in in different different sizes, sizes, too. too. easy Debbie Lewis, Lewis, Asheboro, Asheboro, NC NC Debbie
Try these these great great texturing texturing tools tools in in the the studio studio or or classroom: classroom: Try 0URCHASE aA wooden, WOODEN patterned PATTERNED rolling ROLLING pin PIN from FROM aA kitchen KITCHEN or OR •s Purchase restaurant supply supply store. store . restaurant •s #ONSIDER TRADING A MUG OR TWO FOR SHEETS OF EMBOSSED WALLPAPER Consider trading a mug or two for sheets of embossed wallpaper from your your local local paint/wallpaper paint/wallpaper store. store. from
Readers Readers Share Share II Tips Tips & & Techniques Techniques
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,OCAL hardware HARDWARE stores STORES usually USUALLY sell SELL pre-packaged, PRE PACKAGED narrow NARROW 1"-long LONG •s Local springs that that can can be be stretched stretched and and used used to to create create linear linear patterns patterns in in springs SLABS !LSO TRY LENGTHS OF PLASTIC hGUTTER GUARD v 4HIS WIDE MATERIAL slabs. Also try lengths of plastic “gutter guard.â€? This 6"-wide material < CAN BE USED TO PRESS A DIAMOND SHAPED UNIFORM PATTERN INTO SLABS can be used to press a diamond-shaped, uniform pattern into slabs. [
Sendus usyour youruseful usefulclay claytip tipor ortechnique techniqueto toshare sharewith withour ourreaders. readers.IfIfit’s it’spublished, published,we’ll we’llsend sendyou youaaClay ClayTimes Times Send T-shirt. Mail your tips (and T-shirt size) to: The Slurry Bucket, c/o Clay Times, PO Box 365, Waterford, VA 20197. T-shirt. Mail your tips (and T-shirt size) to: The Slurry Bucket, c/o Clay Times, PO Box 365, Waterford, VA 20197.
Cruise the Caribbean with Clay Times Jan. 11-18 with Tom & Elaine Coleman, Susan Filley, Bill van Gilder and Xavier Gonzalez!
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oin CT AND WORLD CLASS presenters Tom and Elaine Coleman, Susan Filley, Bill van Gilder, and Xavier Gonzalez during demos at sea as they share their expertise in WHEEL THROWING HANDBUILD ing, carving and decoration, crystalline glazing and firing, and more. They’ll also offer evening slide shows and sales of their pots, and are ready to answer all of your questions! Set sail from sunny Miami, &LORIDA ON A NIGHT CRUISE TO BEAUTIFUL 3AN *UAN 0UERTO Rico and Virgin Islands ports of St. Maarten and St. Thomas! All are famous for their crystal clear waters and WHITE SAND BEACHES WORLD class snorkeling, fabulous shopping, and local art.
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ceramic art world news • events • calls for entries
Hot Stuff I News & Events
What’s Hot Conferences ‰ The International Sculpture Center will present Sculpture in Public: Part 2, Public Art from Oct. 2-4 at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The conference will offer special exhibitions, panel discussions, and a trade fair, along with a keynote address by sculptor and installation artist Jaume Plensa. Plensa’s work will also be the subject of a major exhibition at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. For online registration and complete conference details, log onto www.sculpture. org, or call 202.234.0555. ‰ Advance registration will remain open through Oct. 31 for the second annual Cruisin’ for Clay Potters Conference in the Caribbean, to take place Jan. 11-18, 2009. Sign up now to beat next year’s mid-winter blues with an incredible week of fun in the sun and clay presentations by Tom & Elaine Coleman, Susan Filley, Bill van Gilder, and Xavier Gonzalez on board Royal Caribbean’s “Freedom of the Seas” cruise ship. Destinations include San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands ports of St. Thomas and St. Maarten, with Miami, FL port of departure. For full details and registration materials, log onto www.claytimes.com/cruise.html, or contact Clay Times, PO Box 365, Waterford, VA 20197; 800.356.2529; claytimes@gmail.com.
‰ The Wayne Art Center of Wayne, Pennsylvania is accepting digital and slide submissions through Sept. 19 for Craft Forms 2008, to take place Dec. 5, 2008–Jan. 22, 2009. Standard entry fee is $40; just $30 for online submissions. For more information, contact Wayne Art Center, 413 Maplewood Ave., Wayne, PA 19087; www.wayneart.org; www.craftforms.com.
‰ 2009–2010 Solo, Collaborative, or Curated Exhibition Proposals, to be juried from digital submissions at no charge, are being accepted through Sept. 19 by Castle Gallery, The College of New Rochelle, 29 Castle Place, New Rochelle, NY 10805. For full details, contact Katrina Rhein, Director, at 914.654.5423; krhein@cnr.edu; www.cnr.edu. ‰ News broadcaster Morley Safer will be jurying works from digital and slide entries received by Sept. 29 for In the News, an exhibition open to work by women artists, interpreting or relating to historic or current events. Entry fee is $50; members, $40 for three images. To request a prospectus, log onto www.penandbrush.org, or contact In the News, The Pen and Brush, 16 E. 10th St., New York, NY 10003; 212.475.3669; info@ penandbrush.org. ‰ Digital and slide entries are being accepted through Sept. 30 for Life’s Unique Journey, open to all media and to take place Nov. 18–Dec. 30. Entry fee is $25. To obtain a prospectus, log onto www.northwest
culturalcouncil.org, or contact the Northwest Cultural Council, 500 N. Hicks Rd., Suite 120, Palatine, IL 60067; 847.991.7966; nwcc@ northwestculturalcouncil.org. ‰ The 5th World Ceramic Biennale 2009 Korea (CEBIKO) International Competition is accepting digital and slide entries through Sept. 30 for its exhibition, to take place Apr. 25–June 21, 2009 in Icheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea. There is no entry fee. Contact World Ceramic Exposition Foundation, Icheon World Ceramic Center, Curatorial Dept., 467-020, San 69-1, Gwango-dong, Icheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea; tel. (82) 31 631 0580; cebiko@gmail.com; www.wocef.com. ‰ NICHE Magazine is accepting digital entries through Sept. 30 for the 2009 Student NICHE Awards Competition, open to all craft media and to take place Feb. 13–16, 2009. Entry fee is $15. For additional information, contact Melissa Becker at NICHE Magazine, 3000 Chestnut Ave., Suite 300, Baltimore, MD 21211; 410.889.2933 ext. 224; melissab@ rosengrp.com; www.americancraft.com.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008
Calls for Entries
Outgoing President George W. Bush is the subject of this tile mural by Richard Notkin, on exhibit as part of the Westchester Arts Council’s “All Fired Up” ceramics exposition beginning in October.
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Hot Stuff I News & Events
Dan Finch Pottery 2008 Fall Workshop
Family Affair! Featuring Dan, Justin, & Kathryn Finch. Enjoy a weekend of multiple points of view with Finch Family Potters. The threesome will share their techniques and talents and a
CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008
southern-style barbeque. Enjoy!
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Registration: $150 Saturday and Sunday, November 1 and 2, 2008. To register, please call (252) 235-4664 or e-mail dan.finch@earthlink.net
‰ Digital entries are being accepted through Sept. 30 for In Progress, a multimedia exhibition to take place Oct. 20–Nov. 14. Entry fee is $25 for three entries. To obtain a prospectus, visit http://arthurbutcherartgallery. googlepages.com/home, or contact Concord Ceramic Arts Association, Concord University, Campus Box 50, PO Box 1000, Athens, WV 24712; 304.384.5351; ceramics@concord.edu. ‰ NEXT: The Invitational Exhibition of Emerging Art is accepting digital entries of all media through Oct. 1. Entry for this Feb. 2009 exhibition is free. For information, contact Drew Leshko, West Collection, Oaks, PA; 610.804.7794; drew@westcollection.org; www. westcollection.org. ‰ Juror Elaine Levin is accepting digital and slide entries of all media through Oct. 1 for 5" x 5" x 5," to take place Dec. 11, 2008Jan. 11, 2009. Entry fee is $35; $3 additional per slide. For details, contact Target Gallery, Torpedo Factory Art Center, 105 N. Union St., Alexandria, VA 22314; 703.838.4565 ext. 4; targetgallery@torpedofactory.org; www. torpedofactory.org. ‰ The 2009 NCECA Regional Student Juried Exhibition, to take place Jan. 24–Apr. 11, 2009 in Tempe, Arizona, is accepting digital entries through Oct. 1 from current undergraduate and graduate students in the states of AZ, CA, CO, KS, NE, NM, NV, OK, TX, and UT. Geoffrey Wheeler and Michaelene Walsh will jury the show, for which there is no entry fee. For complete details, log onto www.nceca.net.
sity Galleries, Yue-Kong Pao Hall of Visual and Performing Arts, 552 W. Wood St., West Lafayette, IN 47907; 765.494.3061; cdmartin@ purdue.edu. ‰ The Feast: About Food, Made from Food, Including Food is accepting digital and slide entries through Oct. 15 for its multimedia show, to take place Feb. 2–Mar. 5, 2009 in Pittsburg, Kansas. Entry fee is $20. To obtain a prospectus, log onto www.pittstate.edu/ art, or contact Pittsburg State University, 1701 S. Broadway, Pittsburg, KS 66762; tel. 620.235.4303; sbowman@pittstate.edu. ‰ The Clay Mix of Fresno, CA is accepting Solo Exhibition Proposals through Oct. 15. For more information, contact the Clay Mix, 1003 N. Abby St., Fresno, CA 93701; 559.485.0065; info@clay-mix.com; www. clay-mix.com. ‰ The International Festival of Postmodern Ceramics: Nature as Adventure, to take place Mar. 6–Apr. 4, 2009 in Croatia, is accepting free digital and photo submissions through Oct. 30. To learn more, contact Kerameikon, Croatian Ceramic Association, Krizaniceva 13, 42000 Varazdin, Croatia; info@kerameikon. com; www.kerameikon.com. ‰ The Beaumont Art League National is accepting digital or slide entries through Oct. 31 for its Mar. 1–31, 2009 event. Entry fee is $35. For details, contact BAL National, 2675 Gulf St., Beaumont, TX 77703; 409.833.4179; bal-dana@gtbizclass.com; www.beaumont artleague.org.
‰ The Unbreakables: A Juried Ceramic and Glass Exhibition open to California clay and glass artists, is accepting entries through Oct. 1. Fee is $25 for three entries. For full details, contact Cabrillo Gallery, 6500 Soquel Dr., Aptos, CA 95003; 831.479.6308; www.cabrillo.edu/services/artgallery.
‰ Solo and Collaborative Installation Artist Proposals are being accepted through Dec. 31 by the Craft Alliance, Attn: Exhibitions Coordinator, 6640 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63130; 314.725.1177, ext. 323; exhibitions@craftalliance.org; www.craft alliance.org.
‰ The Perfect Fit–Shoes Tell Stories is accepting digital entries through Oct. 3 from all craft media, for its show to take place June 6, 2009–Jan. 3, 2010. Entry fee is $10. To learn more, contact the Fuller Craft Museum, 455 Oak St., Brockton, MA 02301; 508.588.6000; www.fullercraft.org; www.callforentry.org.
‰ Juror Gail Brown is accepting entries from students and under-represented emerging craft artists through Nov. 3 for its 2009 Lydon Emerging Artist Program (LEAP) Award, to take place Sept. 4–12, 2009. Entry fee is $10; an honorarium of $3000 will be awarded. For details, contact the Society for Contemporary Craft, 2100 Smallman St., Pittsburgh, PA 15222; 412.261.7003, ext. 17; www.contempo rarycraft.org; gallery@contemporarycraft.org.
‰ Urban Legends & Rural Myths is accepting free digital and slide entries of all media through Oct. 10 for its exhibition to take place Mar. 9–Apr. 26, 2009. Elizabeth K. Mix will jury the event. To obtain a prospectus, log onto www.purdue.edu/galleries, or contact Craig Martin, Director, Purdue Univer-
‰ Artists in AL, FL, LA, MS, and TX not presently represented in New Orleans are invited to submit digital images through Nov. 10 for the 2nd Annual Gulf-South Regional
‰ The 75th Crocker-Kingsley: California’s Biennial is requesting digital entries from California residents through Nov. 15 for its exhibition, to take place Jan. 10–Feb. 6, 2009. Michael Bishop will jury the show; entry fee is $40 for three works. To learn more, contact Allison Henley at the Crocker Art Museum, 216 O St., Sacramento, CA 95814; ahenleyreed@cityofsacramento.org; www.crockerartmuseum.org/kingsley.
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Contemporary Art Exhibition. The show takes place Jan. 3–Feb. 28, 2009; entry fee is $25 for four images. For a prospectus, log onto http://becagallery.typepad.com, or contact BECA Gallery, Bridge for Emerging Contemporary Art, 527 St. Joseph St., New Orleans, LA 70130; 504.566.8999; beca gallery@gmail.com; www.becagallery.com.
‰ The Regional Juried Ceramic Competition of Irving, Texas is accepting digital submissions through Nov. 15 for its show, to take place Jan. 20–Mar. 6, 2009. Entry fee is $30; Dick Hay will serve as juror. For information, contact University of Dallas, Art/Ceramics Regional, 1845 E. Northgate Dr., Irving, TX 75062; 972.721.5319, hammett@udallas.edu; www.udallas.edu/art/regional.cfm. ‰ Juror Patti Warashina is accepting international digital and slide entries through Nov. 26 for the International Cup show to take place Feb. 6–28, 2009. Entry fee is $20 for one entry; $25 for two entries. For additional details, contact The Clay Studio of Missoula, 1106 Hawthorne St., Unit A, Missoula, MT 59802; 406.543.0509; info@ theclaystudioofmissoula.org; www.theclay studioofmissoula.org.
‰ The Craft Alliance of St. Louis, Missouri is calling for solo and collaborative installation artist proposals through Dec. 31. For complete details, contact the exhibitions coordinator at the Craft Alliance, 6640 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63130; 314.725.1177 ext. 323; exhibitions@craft alliance.org; www.craftalliance.org.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008
‰ The State of Clay 6th Biennial Exhibition, to take place Mar. 30–Apr. 25, 2009 in Lexington, Massachusetts, is accepting digital submissions through Dec. 5 at a fee of $30 for three entries. Jim Lawton will jury the show. To learn more, contact Lexington Arts and Crafts Society, 130 Waltham St., Lexington, MA 02421; 781.862.9696; lacs. lexington@verizon.net; www.lexingtonma. org/lacs.
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Hot Stuff I News & Events
Ceramics Exhibitions ‰ Respite, to feature works by Barrie Gross, Patricia Majorel, and Eric Steppling, will be on view Sept. 17–30 at Ruby’s Clay Studio and Gallery, 552A Noe St., San Francisco, California. ‰ Chris Miller solo exhibition takes place through Sept. 26 at The Schein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art, Alfred University, Alfred, New York.
‰ Cut, featuring works by Robert Briscoe, Marty Fielding, Steve Godfrey, Sequoia Miller, Warren MacKenzie, Jess Parker, Kristin Pavelka, Brad Schwieger, and Stacy Snyder, takes place through Sept. 26 at Red Lodge Clay Center, 123 S. Broadway, Red Lodge, Montana. ‰ Dinner Party: Works for the Table takes place through Sept. 27 at Red Star Studios, 821 W. 17th St., Kansas City, Missouri.
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‰ The Lillstreet International takes place through Sept. 28 at Lillstreet Art Center, 4401 N. Ravenswood, Chicago, Illinois. ‰ Environmental Ceramics: Art in Living Spaces takes place through Sept. 28 at Kent Island Federation of Art, 405 Main St., Stevensville, Maryland. ‰ 30 Special Edition Pots takes place through Sept. 30 at Maine Potters Market, 376 Fore St., Portland, Maine. ‰ Clayfest 2008 takes place through Oct. 3 at Basile Center, Herron School of Art and Design, 735 W. New York St., Indianapolis, Indiana. ‰ Sergei Isupov, Androgyny takes place through Oct. 4 at Ferrin Gallery, 437 North St., Pittsfield, Massachusetts. ‰ Compositions: Abstract and Figurative Sculpture, to feature works by Jorie Berman, Naomi Dalglish, Mary Fischer, Erik Haagensen, Asia Mathis, Holden McCurry, and Pandra Williams, takes place through Oct. 4 at MudFire Gallery, 175 Laredo Dr., Decatur, Georgia. ‰ 5 Objects, to feature works by Stephen Heywood, Brian Jensen, and Lai Montesca, takes place through Oct. 5 at Celadon Gallery, 41 Old Mill Rd., Water Mill, New York. ‰ Firing Partners: Stonepool Pottery, featuring works by Mark Shapiro, Michael McCarthy, Daniel Garretson, Maya Machin, and Emmett Leader, takes place Sept. 13–Oct. 12 at Ferrin Gallery, 437 North St., Pittsfield, Massachusetts. ‰ Soaring Voices: Contemporary Japanese Women Ceramic Artists takes place through Oct. 18 at Crocker Art Museum, 216 O St., Sacramento, California.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008
‰ SAC Artist Awards Exhibition takes place through Oct. 19 at Society of Arts and Crafts, 175 Newbury St., Boston, Massachusetts.
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‰ The Crystalline Spectrum, A Journey from Student to Master takes place Sept. 27–Oct. 22 at Tyler Gallery, Northern Virginia Community College, 3001 N. Beaureagard St., Alexandria, Virginia. ‰ Texting: Print and Clay takes place through Oct. 24 at Pewabic Pottery, 10125 E. Jefferson Ave., Detroit, Michigan. ‰ Handle with Care takes place Sept. 12–Oct. 25 at Pelham Art Center, 155 Fifth Ave., Pelham, New York.
Jake Allee Earns 2008 Clay Times “Excellence in Teaching” Award
‰ Surface, Form, and Substance, featuring works by Debra Fritts, Ovidio Giberga, Susan Kemenyffy, Eva Kwong, Jeffrey Nichols, and Lana Wilson, takes place Sept. 25–Oct. 31 at AMACO/Brent Contemporary Clay Gallery, 6060 Guion Rd., Indianapolis, Indiana.
Congratulations to Jake Allee, professor of ceramics at Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas, for achieving the Clay Times 2008 Excellence in Teaching Award! His prize: a free trip on our 2009 Clay Times “Cruisin’ for Clay Potters Conference in the Caribbean” in January! To find out how you can take part in the conference cruise, visit www.claytimes.com/cruise.html.
‰ Artful Drinking Vessels takes place Oct. 3-Nov. 1 at Pottworks Gallery, 3765 Lincoln Rd., Hamilton, Michigan.
Hot Stuff I News & Events
‰ Three Dimensions of Expression: Sculptural Clay, featuring works by Joe Bova, Victor Spinski, and Roy Strassberg, takes place through Oct. 26 at Craft Alliance in the Loop, 6640 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri.
‰ World Ceramics: Transforming Women’s Traditions takes place Sept. 19–Nov. 2 at Northern Clay Center, 2424 Franklin Ave. E., Minneapolis, Minnesota. ‰ Ceramic Expressions takes place Oct. 2–Nov. 2 at Blue Door Artist Association at Yonkers Riverfront Library, 1 Larkin Pl., Yonkers, New York. ‰ Platters and Pourers takes place through Nov. 6 at Baltimore Clayworks, 5707 Smith Ave., Baltimore, Maryland. ‰ The Artful Tabletop takes place Oct. 6-Nov. 16 at Lyndhurst Mansion, 635 S. Broadway, Tarrytown, New York. ‰ Terra Forma: Perspectives in Clay takes place Oct. 13–Nov. 22 at Westchester Community College, Fine Arts Gallery, 75 Grasslands Rd., Valhalla, New York. ‰ Owen/Owens: A Family History in Clay is on view through Nov. 29 at the North Carolina Pottery Center, 250 E. Ave., Seagrove, North Carolina. ‰ Warren MacKenzie: Legacy of An American Potter takes place through Nov. 30 at Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, 4848 Main St., Houston, Texas.
‰ All Fired Up! Salt Wares: 1700s to 2008 takes place Oct. 5–Jan. 3, 2009 at the Rye Historical Society, Square House Museum, 1 Purchase St., Rye, New York. [ To list your clay conferences, calls for entries, exhibitions, and ceramic news items in Clay Times, please e-mail details to: claytimes@gmail.com, with “What’s Hot” in the subject line.
Highwater Clays’ new Web store:
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‰ Confrontational Ceramics takes place Oct. 3-Dec. 13 at Westchester Arts Council, 31 Mamaroneck Ave., White Plains, New York.
Yeah, it’s something like that.
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Pictured on this page (clockwise from top right): Works by Kathryn Finnerty, Keith Renner, Joe Pintz, Novie Trump, Lynn Ainsworth, Jason Briggs, and Jury Smith. Pictured on opposite page (clockwise from top left): Works by Janis Mars Wunderlich, Jessica Broad, Karen Thuesen Massaro, and Dave Eichelberger.
“All Fired Up!” Exposition Opens Oct. 3 in NY State Sixty venues throughout Westchester County, New York will join together to present “All Fired Up! A Celebration of Clay in Westchester,” from October 3 to November 30, 2008. This consortium project is being organized by the Westchester Arts Council and the Clay Art Center, with a steering committee of eight cultural institutions. All Fired Up! will include parallel exhibitions at museums, multi-art centers, library- and college-based galleries, and alternative sites. Together, they will host regional, national, and international works of art that explore the breadth and depth of ceramic expression, from
folk arts to fine arts, both historic and contemporary. Core components of the celebration will include curator’s talks and panel discussions at exhibition sites, with additional events including a panel discussion on contemporary ceramic arts, a symposium, and skill-based and specialized workshops for ceramic artists. Educational activities will include a teacher institute, family/kid introductions to workshops, artist residencies, and kiln instruction for teachers. For complete event details, log onto www.allfiredup.info, or call Leigh Mickelson at 914.937.2047. [
Introducing Clay Art Glazes
To learn about our Raku, Cone 5/6 and Crystalline glazes visit:
CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008
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Five Guidelines We Could All Follow by PETE PINNELL
I
’m a “dump cook.” I may start with a recipe, but my natural instinct is to treat it as a starting point for improvisation. I enjoy playing in the kitchen and following any impulse that happens to strike me. Because of this, the quality of my cooking is admittedly uneven. When I happen to get it right, my very supportive wife will suggest I write down what I did “so we can have it again,” which really means “so you’ll stand a better chance of making something edible.” A couple of years ago, I really nailed some beef stew—it was good, really good. At the prompting of my family I wrote the recipe down and Julie put it in her recipe book. Yesterday I made that dish again, and noticed that the recipe was rather odd. I’d written it for me—that is, I’d written it out assuming that I would be the only one to ever use it to cook this dish. For instance, I didn’t include celery, carrots, or potatoes in the recipe, even though I always put them in beef stew. Why bother writing it down if I know I’m going to do it anyway? I was also really vague on certain details. For instance, my recipe calls for “½ medium onion.” It doesn’t tell me what kind of onion (white, yellow, red, Vidalia, etc.—I used yellow) and it doesn’t tell me how to prepare the onion (chop fairly fine and sauté in olive oil until it begins to caramelize).
I’ve been thinking about recipes lately because of an e-mail I received from my friend, Jon Singer1. Jon is a perfectionist (in a good way) and he wrote to complain about some of the odd and unfortunate recipe-writing habits of our fellow
In an attempt to reform our standards and practices a bit, I’ve combined Jon’s list with mine and assembled this list of five guidelines for how we might improve the way we write our recipes.
(like Kona F-4) work, though the glaze takes on a different look. This leads me to my second guideline: 2. But don’t be more specific on materials than is necessary! Specificity is good if it’s actually necessary. Otherwise, I think a generalized term (such as “whiting”) is just fine.
1. Be specific about materials. If you e-mail me and ask for my clear glaze recipe (and I happen to be in a hurry), you might get back something like this: Feldspar Whiting Kaolin Silica
25 20 20 35
The problem with my recipe (as written) is that it tells me a lot more than it tells anyone else. For instance, living in Nebraska, it makes sense that I’d use Custer Feldspar, which is mined right next door in South Dakota and costs little to ship. But how would you know which feldspar to use? Alternately, I could write it out like this: Custer Feldspar Duramite Whiting Grolleg China Clay Sil-Co-Sil Silica, 90-micron
25 20 20 35
This is better, but in some ways just as bad. Does it have to include Duramite brand calcium carbonate? Well, no—that just happens to be what I have in the studio. Any finely ground, reasonably pure calcium carbonate (“whiting”) will do. How about the Sil-Co-Sil? No, other brands of finely ground quartz will also work. As for the Feldspar, it doesn’t have to be Custer: G-200 (or other potassium feldspar) will work fine. Even soda spars
Interestingly to me, when I provide a more complete recipe for this glaze, Grolleg is the material that experienced potters are probably most likely to alter, substituting EPK or some other kaolin/ china clay (they’re two names for the same thing, by the way). Yet, the use of Grolleg might be the real secret for why this is such a beautiful, clear glaze. Grolleg has a very low level of titanium dioxide contamination, so this glaze can have a fresh, bluish-clear color over a porcelain body. Of course, you don’t know any of that because I didn’t provide any title or description for the glaze. I also didn’t tell you what those numbers represent (i.e., percentages). Let’s start over and write it the way I should:
Pete’s Clear Cone 9-11 Reduction (Best on a Grolleg porcelain body, where it turns a beautiful transparent blue-green with a high-gloss finish. It has good durability and glaze fit.) Custer (or Potash) Feldspar Whiting Grolleg China Clay Silica Total
25% 20 20 35 100%
Now, there’s a lot more I could tell you about his glaze, but I think this is sort of a minimum amount to get started.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008
That’s one of the problems with a lot of recipes—mine and everyone else’s. We tend to leave out the “obvious” things that other people might not think are obvious.
potters. I tend to not get as apoplectic about these things as Jon (I’ve been a teacher for too long), but I agree with many of his preferences.
Perspectives I As Far As I Know
Writing Out Recipes
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Perspectives I As Far As I Know
Writing Out Glaze Recipes 3. Write the recipe in the form of a percentage (i.e., the recipe should add up to 100). If nothing else, this makes it easy to compare one glaze with another, or spot odd or unusual proportions. It also makes it easy to convert the recipe to any size of batch. If the numbers in the recipe add up to something random (1,749.66), you’ll have to do a lot of altering before you can make anything other than a 1,749.7 gram batch. When I was new to ceramics, I did what every excited new student does: I collected a notebook full of glaze recipes. On my birthday one year, the guys I lived with all chipped in and bought me a calculator (they were expensive in the ’70s). I was playing with my new toy (I’m easily amused) and decided to take all my glaze recipes to percentage. In the end, I was shocked to find that I actually had only about three different recipes in my entire notebook. Sure, they used different names for some materials, or added different colorants or had slightly different percentages, but they were essentially just three different glazes. I never would have known that if I’d left them in the random formats in which they’d been published.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008
4. Don’t call for greater accuracy than is necessary (or even possible).
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I have to laugh a bit whenever I see a recipe call for something like Custer Feldspar, 31.364%. Even if you have access to a scale that’s accurate enough to weigh this out, you needn’t bother. The plain truth is that most of our raw materials are truly raw materials: they are mined, screened, bagged, and shipped just as they come out of the ground. While the companies do these things as carefully as possible, the materials can still vary a surprising amount from bag to bag. If you look at the preceding recipe for Pete’s Clear, you’ll notice that it not only is rounded to whole numbers, but that it’s also rounded to the nearest 5%. This recipe came about because I liked the look of the classic Qing Dynasty, Chinese clear porcelain glaze. I found several similar analyses, converted them to unity formulas, and then used those to construct a recipe.
Like most calculated recipes, it was specific to the tenths of a percent. While still a student, I rounded this to the nearest whole percentage and found it was unchanged. When I got out of school I couldn’t afford a gram scale, so I tried rounding this (and many of my other recipes) to the nearest 5%, so that I could weigh out a bucket of it in my cheap pound scale (at the rate of 5% equals 1 lb., you can mix a 20-lb. batch, which is just right for a five-gallon bucket). What I found is that a surprising number of my glazes easily made this transition and were essentially unchanged. There are exceptions, of course, especially with colorants. Cobalt (as either the oxide or the carbonate) is extremely potent, and differences of a tenth of a percent are easily distinguishable. Likewise, the amount of copper in a copper red can be very finicky and must often be measured in the tenths of a percent. Of the ingredients that one might encounter in a base glaze, the ones that usually demand a fine degree of accuracy are lithium carbonate and bone ash. Otherwise, I’ve yet to run into a base glaze that can’t be rounded to the nearest half of a percent, and it isn’t a stretch for most glazes to be rounded to the full percent. Don’t believe me? Weigh out two 500-gram batches of glaze, one rounded and the other specific. Mix each the identical way in a kitchen blender, dip your test tiles in, and fire. You probably won’t be able to tell the difference. 5. Separate the base glaze from the additions, such as colorants, opacifiers, or materials added to improve application, such as bentonite. Have the base recipe add up to 100%, with additions listed as percentages above 100. OK, I’m well aware that many potters (including Jon) disagree with me on this, some quite vehemently. It’s true that colorants and opacifiers affect a lot more than color and opacity. Some colorants are also potent fluxes and can drastically alter maturing temperatures and viscosity. Others can have a strong effect on glaze fit and durability. When I calculate the unity formula for a glaze, I’ll sometimes include colorants to see how they might change things. Still, in the recipes themselves, I like to separate the additions from the base glaze ingredients for a number of reasons.
For one, I like taking the base recipe to 100% because this convention allows us to easily compare base glazes with each other. You can learn a great deal about glazes from these comparisons, and you can easily spot duplications. I often find that “new” glaze recipes are simply old friends with different additions (masquerading under new names). If you really want to understand how colorants and opacifiers affect a glaze, then work a little extra step into your glaze mixing routine. Each time you mix a glaze, do your mixing and screening of the glaze without any colorants or opacifiers, and dip a few test tiles into it. Next, mix your colorants in a kitchen blender with enough water to allow thorough blending. After you’ve dipped the tiles in the base, just pour the colorant mix through a screen and into the batch. The wet colorant mix will easily blend with the base, so you won’t need to rescreen the whole batch. You’ll not only learn more about your glaze, the blending will also do a better job of mixing your colorants. (This is how I prevent specking from iron or cobalt, for instance). My other reason for preferring this convention comes from my experience as a teacher. When a glaze is in this format, there is a strong implication that the existing colorants aren’t the only ones a person might use, which tends to encourage students to develop other variations. After all, if a base glaze makes one terrific color, it will almost certainly produce others that are just as interesting. Finding new colors from an existing glaze is also a great first step toward formulating one’s own glazes. Well, those are my preferences. If you’d like to add to my list or comment on my druthers, please send me an e-mail. If there’s enough interest, I’ll do a future column on the topic. [
Footnote: 1. Jon Singer does research in a number of fields, and is funded by the Joss Research Institute. Peter Pinnell is Hixson-Lied Professor of Art at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. You can reach him at ppinnell1@unl.edu.
by Sylvia Hyman
F-4 (Soda) Feldspar Kaolin/EPK Whiting Talc Silica Lithium Carbonate TOTAL add Rutile add Cobalt Oxide add Bentonite
37% 9 9 18 19 8 100% 0.6% 2.0% 2.0%
Transparent Base Glaze • Cone 6 Ox. by Barbara Tipton
Kona (Potash) Feldspar Gerstley Borate Whiting No. 6 Tile Clay Silica TOTAL
40% 15 15 15 15 100%
Smooth Ivory Matte • Cone 6-7 Ox. by John Chalke
Nepheline Syenite Whiting Zinc Oxide Kaolin Silica TOTAL add Vanadium Pentoxide
56.8% 11.8 10.9 18.9 1.6 100.0% 5.8%
All recipes are given in percentages (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.
Jan. 11-18
Clay Times “Cruisin’ (the Caribbean) for Clay” Ph: (540) 882-3576 • www.claytimes.com
March 20-22
Goggleworks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA www.pacrafts.org
April 8-11
NCECA (VANGILDER TOOLS), Phoenix, AZ Ph: toll free (866) 266-2322 • www.nceca.net
May 31-June 12 Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer lsle, ME www.haystack-mtn.org July 20-24
Sierra Nevada College, Incline Village at Lake Tahoe, NV www.sierranevada.edu/workshops • Ph: (775) 881-7588
Sept. 11-13
Greater Lansing Potters’ Guild, Haslett, MI
Sept. 27-Oct. 3 Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN Ph: (865) 436-5860 • www.arrowmont.org
Ceramics Studios, Guilds, Universities, Colleges: To schedule a van Gilder workshop call 301.416.2970 or e-mail: vangilderpottery@earthlink.net
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All of the above recipes are reprinted from Clays and Glazes, The Ceramic Review Book of Clay Bodies and Glaze Recipes, Third Edition, with permission from Emmanuel Cooper, Editor. To order it or learn more about this book, which features more than 900 recipes for clays and glazes, visit the Web site at www. ceramicreview.com/publications.asp, or contact Ceramic Review, 25 Foubert’s Place, London, England W1F 7QF.
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DONNA OTTER PHOTO
by LANA Wilson
project in the clay studio for almost four months. There they produced 162 golden rays of light, a 36-inch-high flaming heart, a 36-inch-wide mosaic rose, and hundreds of pieces of colored tile shapes. On site, Alejandro Cruz Franco was hired to help work the often 12-hour days during the summer to mount about five rays a day. The longest rays were four feet long and were heavy when filled with concrete.
Perspectives I Beneath the Surface
The Guadalupe Arch
Alejandro and Nicolaidis installed the 46 largest ones first. Go ahead—start counting those hours and days! On July 28, 2002, as they were installing the rays, they looked up and saw a long cloud in the sky, almost perfectly echoing the Virgin’s figure, in the inner negative shape of the arch. This experience offered great encouragement.
During construction of the arch, an inspiring cloud formation in the sky appeared to echo the interior silhouette depicting the Virgin of Guadalupe.
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Endowment for the Arts awarded Nicolaidis a small grant through the Border Art Workshop program. As the grant only covered start-up costs, Nicolaidis herself had to continuously foot the bills as the project progressed.
The community leader, Hortensia Hernandez, and the residents loved the design Nicolaidis presented. After three years of applications, the National
Part of the grant called for student involvement, so just outside San Diego at Southwestern College, Nicolaidis and student volunteers worked on the
She contracted with Armando Munoz, experienced in large-scale figural constructions, to build the metal and concrete structure that would form the Arch. She also accepted his advice to increase the height to 20 feet. She readily admits she had no idea how enormous her commitment would be in money and time.
Even though so much work had been completed, Nicolaidis realized she needed to hire a regular worker besides the volunteers. She was teaching four days a week and then preparing and traveling on Fridays to work on the Arch for 10 to 12 hours a day on weekends. So Ignacio Rojas—a.k.a. “Nacho”— was hired for the next three months. Together they brought the scaffolding to the top of the arch, which rose up 20 feet from the ground.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008
fter only two visits to Maclovio Rojas, a very poor border community in Tijuana, Mexico, Judith Nicolaidis accepted the casual offer to start a ceramics program there. Women founded the community in 1987 and, in spite of its poverty, they had built a Women’s Center, an Art Center, and a Community Center. Nicolaidis, a full-time ceramics professor, had done figurative sculpture work that celebrated the feminine. So she decided to use the Virgin of Guadalupe, a nurturing, well-loved saint considered to be the Patron Saint of Mexico, as inspiration for the project.
Although Nicolaidis worked alone on a number of days during that summer, volunteers from both sides of the border worked to place the mosaic tiles. Occasionally, even passers-by joined in the process. Nicolaidis found that after she established the main design on the Arch, she had to forget control and let the volunteers pattern and install the tile. She was excited to see their work because she felt their mosaic patterns were much more vibrant than if she had done all of it herself or exerted tight control over the process. By Thanksgiving, 2002, the mosaic tile work was complete up to the shoulders of the Arch.
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CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008
Perspectives I Beneath the Surface
Finally they were ready to install the flaming heart at the top of the Arch. For Nicolaidis, the flaming heart serves as a symbol of passion—spiritually, physically, emotionally, and intellectually. Now it seemed like an improved system to install the heart was needed. So Edgar Rose of Tijuana, an engineer who volunteered to film a documentary of the project, helped design a better system to install the heart. Marco Antonio Cruz was the next hired helper, who worked until the Arch was complete. Together they built up the concrete form at the top of the Arch and filled the heart with concrete. Then volunteer help dwindled dramatically, as enthusiasm was low for working while high on ladders or scaffolding. Yet by the end of May, Nicolaidis and Cruz finished the central part of the Arch. At this point, Nicolaidis thought the hard work was over and that building the surrounding platform and benches for the Arch would be much easier. But she and Edgar Rose discovered that the foundation was minimal, and design modifications were needed to deal with future stability and rainwater drainage. Nicolaidis became depressed for a solid week! Here was another huge component of the project that she didn’t know much about. Yet Rose, with his engineering knowledge, helped her figure out what needed to be done and how to tie it all to the base of the Arch.
They worked 14 hours on the day of the big concrete pour for the platform surrounding the Arch. All the concrete was mixed and poured by hand, as electricity and running water were not available at the site. By the end of June, 2003, Nicolaidis had repeatedly opened her wallet, and hired labor and a few volunteers (no tall ladders to avoid) until the concrete platform and benches were complete. With donated tile and stone, the walkway through the Arch was
The walkway through the Arch, along with the benches and platform surrounding this monumental project, were decorated with donated tile and stone. Note the shadow cast by the Arch, depicting the silhouette of the Virgin Saint of Guadalupe. completed. Finally, on knees that will never be the same, they tiled the benches and rest of the platform. On August 16, 2003, 16 months after the project had begun, the Guadalupe Arch was complete.
Looking back, Nicolaidis wonders how she managed to do such a huge project. But she says she is ready to do more. [
The local Catholic priest blessed the Arch on “Guadalupe Day,” December 12. Two more celebratory dedications were held with rituals, flowers, music, and food. These culminating events included 100 people from Mexico and California, and included the residents of Maclovio Rojas and their children.
Judith Nicolaidis may be reached via e-mail at: jnicolaidis@cox.net. To see more images of the Arch, visit the Web site at www. judithnicolaidis.com. Columnist Lana Wilson is a passionate handbuilder whose work may be seen at www.lanawilson.com. She may be reached via e-mail at: lana@ lanawilson.com.
CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008
Then Paulino Garcia Avalos joined in, who helped build curved wooden forms, made metal rings, and cut and tied plenty of rebar. He and Nicolaidis built the metal structure running through the base of the arch, and tied it to the outside ring. Next, they poured the concrete for the shaped exterior ring of the platform and the high center section. Nicolaidis bent and placed the curved rebar to form the benches. One day Garcia Avalos told her it was the first time he had ever worked on a construction site with a woman.
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In Form I Teaching Techniques
A Thrown and Handbuilt Project
Making Altered Pots & Lids by BILL van GILDER • PHOTOS BY CHARLES HOFFACKER
Necessary Supplies • one 2-lb.-8-oz. weight of clay (for the pot) • one 1-lb. weight of clay (for lid) • one 8-oz. weight of clay (for handles) • one 8" or 10" bat • a stiff rib tool • an undercut tool • a small sponge and water • a cut-off wire • a fettling knife • a rolling pin • two ¼" thick wooden sticks • a rasp or edge-rounding tool Optional: • a short 1" diameter wooden dowel • a sheet of embossed wallpaper
CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008
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s described in my previous Clay Times column, altered pots have become an interesting and important part of the student’s learning curve. “What else can I do to this round pot?” is a question often heard in the classroom. “Put a lid on it” is a great answer … and here’s the project: a two-step, thrown-andhandbuilt lidded container (Fig. 1). This lidded pot is a variation of the oval dish made in my previous Clay Times column, but when making this project, the emphasis is on the rim and the lid— not the floor or feet. The container part of the project is thrown, and a gallery
1 (or ledge) is created at the inside rim. When leather-hard, the pot serves as the ‘mold’ for making the lid. The shaped lid is formed by slumping a thin clay slab into the pot to create a perfect fit. It’s basically a two-step project: first throw the container and add side-handles, then create the lid and knob, and trim the lid to fit the container. Begin by preparing the 2-lb.-8-oz. piece of clay listed in the Necessary Supplies list. This piece of clay will be used to throw the container. Gather the throwing tools and supplies, move them to the wheel, and attach an 8"- or 10"-diameter bat to the wheelhead.
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Throwing the Container Throw a 7"- to 8"-wide cylinder, leaving a thick roll of clay at the rim. Immediately split this fat rim to form an interior gallery ledge (or refer to my column in the Nov./ Dec. 2005 Clay Times issue to learn how to roll a thinly thrown rim inward to create a gallery ledge).
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