Issuu

CERAMIC

ART

TRENDS,

TOOLS,

AND

TIMES

Clay

TECHNIQUES

22ND ANNUAL

Strictly Functional Pottery National

Volume 21 • Issue 99 WINTER / SPRING 2015

APRIL 11-19 IN MACON, GA

FIRED WORKS 10th Anniversary Celebration Show & SalePreview Preview All About Wax: What You’ll Need to Resist HOW-TO PHOTO SERIES, PART 2

Large-Scale Clay with Peter King & Xinia Marin What Makes Pottery So Special? Marc Ward’s Wise Words on Relocating Your Gas Kiln

PLUS: It’s here! The glaze book you’ve been waiting for ...

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Leanna Carlson Digs Her Canadian ‘Angel Clay’

“Some days I’m standing up, some days I’m sitting down when I throw. So being able to adjust the height of the legs in nuanced ways is a real advantage... I also love the large aluminum builtin splash pan. It gives me something very stable to lean my body into as I’m throwing. It gives me extra stability and a little extra strength.”

Steven Hill

powerful tough innovative

ergonomic smooth value Visit skutt.com/video/hill CLAYTIMES·COM n AUTUMN/WINTER 2013

to see video of Steven discussing the ergonomics of throwing.

calls for entry at

December 2014

2014-2015 Virtual Clay (TM)

Online Talks at the

vanguard of the field in partnership with the 92nd Street Y

February 3 Deadlines

CLAYTIMESÂ·COM n WINTER / SPRING 2015

Multicultural Fellowships International Residencies Undergraduate Fellowships Graduate Fellowships

1-21-2015 2-11-2015 3-4-2015 4-8-2015

Namita Gupta Wiggers Tom Sachs Michael Strand Bill Strickland

Learn more at 92Y.org/virtualclay

49th ANNUAL CONFERENCE OT THE NATIONAL COUNCIL ON EDUC ATION FOR THE CER AMIC ARTS

MARCH 25th-28th, 2015 REGISTER TODAY AT WWW.NCEC A.NET!

contents

TIMES

Clay

WINTER / SPRING 2015 Volume 21 • Issue 99 Cover photo: Earthenware Watering Can by Nick Moen of Asheville, North Carolina. 9" x 10" x 3½". Cover inset photo: Red and Black Lidded Jar by Colby Sweetser of Huntington, West Virginia. Cone 6 stoneware; 9½" x 6" x 6". Both works were recently on display in the 22nd Strictly Functional Pottery National exhibition. Story begins on page 14.

features ➤ 24 Building the Gulf Breeze Arch, Part 2 of 2 Peter King concludes this series on basic techniques for handbuilding large-scale architectural art with clay slabs and additions. [Note: Peter’s wife and ceramics partner, Xinia Marín, is pictured in many of the photos in this article and in Part One (CT Vol. 20, issue 98). Part One failed to properly credit Xinia as Peter’s ceramics partner; nor did it note her experience as a former ceramics professor at the University of Costa Rica. Peter King holds a phD in Fine Arts.] ➤ 31 Fired Works 10th Anniversary Show & Sale

Echoes Centuries of Georgia Folk Pottery 2015 marks the 10th Anniversary of Fired Works, the Macon Arts Alliance’s annual festival promoting the rich history of claywork in Georgia and the Southeast. Take a sneak peek into this year’s special 10-day event, thanks to the Macon Arts Alliance (who arranged CT’s advance tour of the venue and nearby folk potteries).

Detail, completed Gulf Breeze Arch installation.

➤ 40 Leanna Carlson’s “Angel Clay” Born and raised in a part of Canada with a solid tradition of pottery making, Leanna Carlson has staked her claim to a local vein of clay she now digs, throws, and wood-fires on a regular basis.

exhibit ➤ 14 Strictly Functional Pottery National No matter how you slice it, a hunk of clay yields so many possibilities when placed in the hands of different people! Check out the inspiring variety of functional works selected by juror Christa Assad for SFPN’s recent annual showing of utilitarian clayworks. Mug by Dawn Dishaw, featured in the 22nd Annual SFPN Show.

contents

TIMES

Clay WINTER / SPRING 2015 • Volume 21 • Issue 99

Triple Blossom Vase by Debra Oliva, Okemos, MI. Cone 8 stoneware; 6" x 12" x 1".

departments

columns 18 AS FAR AS I KNOW

9 EDITOR’S DESK “Pardon the Interruption ...”

“What’s So Special About Pottery?” by Pete Pinnell

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

28 GREAT GLAZES Recipes from the fine new book, GLAZE: The Ultimate Ceramic Artist’s Guide to Glaze and Color

21 BENEATH THE SURFACE Trophy Server by Chris Pickett of Helena, MT. Cone 6 white stoneware; 8" x 14" x 8".

29 STUDIO HEALTH AND SAFETY

34 THE GALLERY

“All About Wax” by Monona Rossol

A selection of unique works by CT readers

37 TOOL TIMES

42 CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE

“The Most Popular Tools” by Vince Pitelka

Goods and services offered especially by and for clay artists

43 BOOKS & VIDEOS “Pottery Making 101” three reviews by Steve Branfman

46 THE SLURRY BUCKET Reduce, Reuse, Save $

45 KILNS & FIRING

47 POTTERY CLASSES Where you can learn clay- Large Wire-Cut Bowl by Ben Culbertson of Shippensburg, work in your community PA. Cone 10 porcelain; 14" x 15½" x 15½".

50 ADVERTISER INDEX Welcome to the new advertisers in this issue! (As always, please let them know you found them in Clay Times!) 6

“Dealing with Procrastination” Part 2 by Lana Wilson

All works pictured on this page were featured in the 22nd Strictly Functional Pottery National (SFPN). Turn to page 14 to view more images from the show and find out how to enter your work to be considered for this year’s exhibition.

“Relocating Your Gas Kiln” by Marc Ward

49 AROUND THE FIREBOX “No Regrets” by David Hendley

Earline Green’s clay spirit quilts on display in the Dunbar Lancaster-Kiest Branch Library in Dallas, Texas.

A Texas potter makes 1,300 pound quilts with her Paragon Dragon As a child, Earline Green made hand-stitched quilts with her grandmother Mama Freddie. Earline spent more time quilting with the older ladies than she did playing with children her own age. Her early experiences with the lively quilters taught her a life-long love of artwork. Earline’s other grandmother, Mama Ginger, taught her advanced quilting patterns. Later this influenced the design of Earline’s stoneware quilt tile mosaics displayed in the entrance of the Paul Laurence Dunbar Lancaster-Kiest Library in Dallas, Texas. For that project, Earline fired 284 white stoneware tiles—all in her faithful Paragon Dragon. “The Dragon's design and controls are perfect for firing large flat pieces,” said Earline. “The digital programming controls provide a consistent firing environment that eliminated cracks and warpage in this project. “During tile production, I fired my Dragon two or three times a week for four to six weeks at a time. I expected and received excellent results with each firing.” Contact us today for more information on the exciting Dragon kiln. Ask about the easy-open switch box hinged at the bottom. Call us for the name of your local Paragon distributor.

Earline Green with her Paragon Dragon front-loading kiln. This kiln is becoming a favorite with potters. It is easy to load, heavily insulated, and designed to reach cone 10 with power to spare.

Join the Clayart pottery forum here: lists.clayartworld.com

Constantly looking for better ways to make kilns

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

I remember when my siblings and I would argue over who got to use the dial-up telephone — you know, the one device that used to served the entire family. (At one point we had just the economy ‘party line’ service, meaning we had to share our phone time with other entire families, too.) It seems like just yesterday there was no fax, no online, no home computer. Sure, there were computers ... but they were gigantic, room-sized monsters found only in the most hi-tech of buildings.

Now we’re all being invaded by the endless streams of texts, popups, chimes, ringtones, e-mails, snapchats, tweets, instagrams, junk mail, etc. ... It’s so incredibly

I check for new e-mail but am saddened to find a dozen new messages that don’t belong there [I don’t take Viagra!] When will it stop? I try spam filtering and then, after hours have passed, I realize I’ve made no progress on my main job: producing this magazine. Sure, some things have become easier for magazine publishers. We don’t have to scan photos or color correct the images that go with the stories, which actually used to take several days for each issue. We are glad we don’t have to typeset the stories anymore. “Paste-up” is an outdated term, yet I remember quite vividly doing what the apps now refer to as “cutting and pasting” in a much more literal fashion: with slick sheets of typeset paper pulled from a roll, scissors, a large board, and roller filled with hot wax. Speaking of wax, that reminds me: Monona tells us “All About Wax” this issue [and no, I do not want my eyebrows waxed. Do they really look that bad, or is the nail technician just trying to make an extra buck?] Focus. Breathe. Unplug. Throw a pot! Yes, Clay Times is online, too — but the choice is yours: You can read it in print, underneath a tree [or in a box, with a fox] or view it on your tablet or iPhone. Clay Times works everywhere, no matter what the distractions. BTW — please check out our NEW IMPROVED Website at claytimes.com ... then click on the link to tell us what u think! Thx ;)

— Polly Beach, Editor

[

Clay magazine Editor & Publisher: Polly Beach

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 Marc Ward, Kilns & Firing Lana Wilson, Beneath the Surface Proofreader: Jon Singer Contributing Writers: Peter King • Paul Leathers ✦ Printed on 100% FSC-certified and 75% post-consumer recycled paper ✦ Published by: CLAY TIMES, LLC P.O. Box 17139 • Amelia Island, FL 32035

Toll-free subscription line: 800.356.2529 Clay Times® (ISSN 1087-7614) is published quarterly, four issues per year. Periodicals Postage Paid at Burlington, VT. Annual subscriptions are available for $33 in the U.S.; $40 in Canada; $60 elsewhere (must be payable in US$). Digital subscriptions are just $20 worldwide. To subscribe, call toll-free 1-800.356.2529, or visit www.claytimes.com. Freelance editorial and photographic submissions are welcome: Please contact Clay Times or visit our Website for writer’s and photographer’s guidelines. POSTMASTER: Address service requested. Send address changes to: Clay Times, PO Box 17139, Fernandina Beach, FL 32035. Copyright ©2015 Clay Times, LLC. All rights reserved. The material contained herein is derived from various sources and does not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. All technical material is offered as general information only and should not be acted upon without expert supervision. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

Questions? Comments? Please e-mail us! Editorial: claytimes@gmail.com Advertising: clayaccounts@gmail.com Circulation: ctcirculation@gmail.com Website: www.claytimes.com

CLAYTIMES·COM n WINTER / SPRING 2015

If you were a kid away from home and you needed to reach mom or dad, you used someone else’s land line. If you were at home doing your homework, and your friends tried to call, your parents would simply tell them you were unavailable.

It happens all day, every day, at any time of the day or night. There’s no getting away from that cell phone or laptop or tablet. Help! I don’t have time for this stuff!

Spouting Off I Editor’s Desk

Hold on, all you techno-geeks — I’m trying to work, here! Please stay out of my computer; leave the rest of my equipment alone, too! Can’t we have just a bit more time before we are all forced to upgrade, or download, or do whatever it is we need to do to be more efficient and compatible with the rest of the world?

distracting, I wonder how anyone gets anything done anymore?

echnology is advancing so rapidly these days, I can barely think straight. Whenever I learn a new computer program or download the latest app to my iPhone, I know it’s just a matter of time before a newer, faster, more efficient product will edge its way into the mainstream. Again, I will be prompted to stop whatever I’m doing, to recall a forgotten password, to download a new program, which commands me to quit all my open programs or apps.

TIMES

Pardon the Interruption...

CERAMIC ART TRENDS, TOOLS & TECHNIQUES

The besT in conTemporary american funcTional ceramics

2015 CALL FOR ARTISTS SANdrA TOrrES OJAi, CA

✷

2014 BEST OF SHOW

2015 JUROR

Matt LOng

ONLINE APPLICATION

Applications must be submitted online by June 1, 2015 or by midnight June 10 with a late fee. For more information and the 2015 SFPN application:

www.strictlyfunctionalpotterynational.net Call for further information: 717-509-7547 Exhibit is held at Kevin Lehman’s Pottery at 560 S. Prince Street in downtown Lancaster, PA.

2015 EXHIBIt DatES

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• ceramic art world news • events • • calls for entries •

Conferences

‰ The 30th Alabama Clay Conference, sponsored by the Alabama Craft Council, takes place Feb. 26-28 in Birmingham, AL. Featured guest presenters will include Nick Joerling, Patti Warashina, and Peter Rose. For full details, log onto www.alclay conference.org or call 205.999.1698.

‰ The 2nd Bunting Ceramics Symposium also takes place Feb. 26-28, in conjunction with the above conference, at the Birmingham Museum of Art. This year’s event, “Clay @ Play,” will focus specifically on irony, humor, and whimsy in the ceramic arts. Featured speakers are Kathy Butterly and Glen Brown, along with several others. Free admission. For complete details, visit http://www. artsbma.org/event/the-secondbunting-ceramics-symposium/

‰ The 10th Annual Fired Works Regional Ceramics Exhibition and Sale takes place April 11-19 in Macon, GA. Sponsored by the Macon Arts Alliance, the weeklong event will be headquartered in Macon’s Central City Park, about 90 miles south of Atlanta. Fired Works will feature more than 6,000 pieces of pottery by 65 ceramic artists from Georgia and the Southeast. Interactive opportunities will include clay workshops for children & teens, “Cocktails and Clay” for adults, “Pottery Roadshow” appraisals,

artist talks, demonstrations, and more. Visit www.firedworks macon.com for complete details (and see the preview article on pages 31-33 of this CT issue). ‰ The 27th Annual California Conference for the Advancement for Ceramic Art (CCACA) takes place May 1-3 in Davis, California. The event will feature demonstrations, lectures, and 45 major shows of sculptural ceramic work including the annual 30 Ceramic Sculptors show and the California Clay Competition. For complete details of the event, sponsored by the John Natsoulas Center for the Arts, log onto www. natsoulas.com/ccaca-2015, or call 530.756.3938. ‰ The CLAY Festival 2015 takes place July 29-Aug. 2 in Silver City, New Mexico. Hands-on workshops, a juried exhibition, the CLAYfest Market, tours, and demonstrations are among the various scheduled activities. For complete details, log onto www. CLAYfestival.com

Calls for Entries ‰ Baltimore Clayworks is accepting online submissions through Feb. 13 for Putting the Pieces Together: An Exhibition to Address What is Broken, a show continued on next page

CLAYTIMES·COM n WINTER / SPRING 2015

‰ The Randolph Arts Guild will hold its 28th Annual North Carolina Potters Conference Mar. 6-8 in Asheboro, NC. Featured guest presenter is Sandy Simon; guest artists include Hasu Yoshitaka, Fuku Fukumoto, and Peter Hamann. For complete details and online registration, visit http:// www.randolphartsguild.com/ events/potters-conference-2015/ or call 336.629.0399.

‰ Lively Experiments, the 49th Annual Conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, (NCECA) takes place March 25-28 at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, RI. Concurrent clay exhibitions, a resource hall of commercial vendors and educational institutions, plus expert discussions and demonstrations by accomplished clay artists highlight the agenda for this annual blockbuster convention of clay people. This year’s keynote speaker is Dr. Frederick Douglass Opie; closing lecturer is Jack Troy; and demonstrating artists are Linda Christianson, Gustavo Pérez, Kristen Morgin, and Matt Wedel. Visit www. nceca.net for advance program details and registration information.

Hot Stuff I News & Events

✷

What’s Hot

Hot Stuff I News & Events

What’s Hot (continued from previous page) of mosaic works, to take place May 16 through July 4. Entry fee is $30 for up to five digital images. Sarah McCann will curate. To apply, visit www.baltimoreclayworks.org/ exhibition and click on the “future exhibitions” link.

The Fulwood

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CLAYTIMES·COM n WINTER / SPRING 2015

Kissimmee River Pottery

Stangl Factory 12 Mine Street Flemington, NJ 08822 908.237.0671 riverpots @ earthlink.net www.riverpots.com

‰ MUG Shots VII: The National Juried Cup Exhibition 2015 is accepting entries through Feb. 17 of functional and nonfunctional ceramic cups completed within the past two years. $30 entry fee for first work; $5 for additional applications. Juror is Brian Harper. To apply, visit luxcenter.org or juriedartservices.com, or call 402.466.8692 for additional information. ‰ The Art League of Lincoln, in partnership with Blue Line Arts, will be holding their annual America’s ClayFest III Art Show and Competition at Blue Line Arts Gallery in Roseville, CA. Formerly known as the Feats of Clay show held at Gladding McBean Clay Manufacturing Co. in Lincoln, the show carries forward a rich history of more than 25 years. Entries for two concurrent exhibitions are being accepted through Feb. 27. Casey O’Connor will jury the “Student Division” show, to be hosted by the Art League of Lincoln at their Art Center Gallery. Entry fee: $25 for up to three works. Tip Toland and Peter Held will jury the “Open Division” show, to be held at Blue Line Arts Gallery in Roseville, CA. Fee: $40 for up to three entries. Complete submission details for both shows, to take

place Apr. 17-May 30, are posted at www.americasclayfest.org. To learn more, call Mike Daley at 916.209.3499, or e-mail: mdaley@americasclayfest.org ‰ The Guilford, Connecticut Art Center is accepting 3D submissions from U.S. artists through March 16 for Teapots, Vessels, Flagons & Flasks, to take place May 15-June 14. Hayne Bayless will jury the show, which will focus on pourable containers. Entry fee is $25 for three digital images submitted via e-mail to gallery@guilfordartcenter.org. For complete details, visit www. guilfordartcenter.org, or telephone 203.453.5947. ‰ The Workhouse Arts Center of Lorton, Virginia is accepting submissions through May 6 for its 2015 Clay National, to take place Aug. 1-Sept. 13. Juror: Anne Currier. Entry fee: $30 for three digital images of work made primarily with clay by U.S. artists. For more information, call 703.584.2982 or log onto www. workhouseceramics.org and click on the “Clay National 2015” link. ‰ The Kansas City Clay Guild Tea Bowl National 2015 is accepting U.S. artist entries through May 8 for its juried exhibition of teabowls, both traditional and non-traditional. Entry fee: $30 for up to three 9" or smaller works reflecting the theme of the show (tea bowls, not just bowls) and completed within the past two years. Each piece will be for sale at $200 or less at the show, to open August 28 in Kansas City, Missouri. Further details can

‰ Artists living within a 150mile radius of Las Cruces, New Mexico are eligible to apply by Feb. 27 for participation in Here and Now Regional Exhibition, to be held at the Las Cruces Museum of Art. Joy Miller will curate the show via review up to six digital images from each artist. Entry is free! For more information, log onto http://www.las-cruces.org/ departments/community-andc u l t u ra l - s e r v i c e s / m u s e u m system/museum-of-art/ submissions or call 575.541.2221. ‰ The Arvada Ceramic Arts Guild is accepting submissions through May 22 for Out of Round, its ceramic

exhibition that will open June 26 in Arvada, Colorado. Entry fee: $30 for three digital images. Jurors are Marie Gibbons and Bob Smith. To learn more, call 303.423.0448, visit www.arvadaceramicarts org, or e-mail info@arvada ceramicarts.org. ‰ The Silver City, New Mexico CLAY Festival is accepting ceramic entries through June 17 for its CLAY in the Garden exhibition, to take place concurrently with its July 30Aug. 2 festival. Sheila Menzies will jury the show, to feature garden-themed ceramic works made on or after Jan. 1, 2014. Entry fee: $40 for three images. For more information, visit www.clayfestival.com.

‰ The Academy of Fine Arts in Lynchburg, Virginia is now accepting entries through July 15 for The National Juried Bowl Show: The Battle of the Bowls, to take place Oct. 2-27. Ellen Shankin will jury this year’s event, open to all interpretations of the ceramic bowl. For more information, call 434.846.8499 or log onto www.the battleofthebowls.com. To register, click the “application” link. [

Hot Stuff I News & Events

be found at www.teabowl national.weebly.com.

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

CLAYTIMES·COM n WINTER / SPRING 2015

22nd Annual

Strictly Functional Pottery National

Cruets and Vase Set by Shana Salaff, Ft. Collins, CO. Porcelain; cone 6 oxidation. 6" x 20" x 4".

F CLAYTIMES·COM n WINTER/SPRING 2015

rom more than 1,200 entries of ceramic works made by hundreds of U.S. potters, juror Christa Assad selected 116 pieces to represent the best in contemporary American functional ceramics for the 2014 Strictly Functional Pottery National (SFPN).

The event opened with a gala reception hosted by Kevin Lehman’s Pottery in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to allow paying guests the first opportunity to view the exhibition and purchase works featured in the show. Music, food, and a gallery “walk and talk” were included in the admission price of $15. The exhibition alone, which was free to the public, ran from Sept. 20 through November 1, 2014.

Now approaching its 23rd year, the Strictly Functional Pottery National originated at, and is presented by, the Market House Craft Center, affiliated with the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen. It is a nonprofit, educational, volunteer organization dedicated to quality crafts and craftsmanship. SFPN is co-chaired by Amy Burk and Kevin Lehman of Lancaster, PA.

in Lancaster, PA, from Sept. 26Oct. 31, 2015.

Plans for the 23rd annual show are now underway. Entries are being accepted until midnight on June 1. Entries received between June 2-10 will be also be considered, but will be assessed a late fee. Porcelain artist Matt Long will serve as the juror for this year’s show, scheduled to take place again

Questions? E-mail Kevin Lehman at Kevin@klpottery.com, or call him at 717.509.7547. [

For complete details on the application process for the 2015 exhibition, please visit www.strictly functionalpottery.net. There you may also view photos of all works from the complete 2014 exhibition, as well as featured works from recent years’ shows.

Turn to pages 16-17 to view more images from the 2014 SFPN Exhibition...

Wood-fired Serving Platter by Jeremy Wallace, Baltimore, MD. 3" x 15" x 15".

Sake Set with Tray by Yoshi Fuji, Baltimore, MD. 6" x 9" x 5".

CLAYTIMESÂ·COM n WINTER/SPRING 2015

Post-industrial Urn by Mark Rigsby. 12" x 7" x 7".

Vase with Jelly by Colleen Gallagher, Shelton, WA. 12" x 6" x 4".

22nd Strictly Functional Pottery National (continued from pages 14-15)

Shino Lidded Vessel by Gregory Jahn & Nancy Halter. 7½" x 7" x 7".

CLAYTIMES·COM n WINTER / SPRING 2015

Cookie Jar by Bill Wilkey, Columbia, MO. 16" x 7" x 6".

1616

Serving Bowl by Veronica Watkins, Maryville, MO. 5" x 14" x 12".

Vase by Zachary Shaw, Somerville, MA. 8" x 3" x 3".

Sunflower by Lee Middleman, Portola Valley, CA. 6" x 10" x 10".

Square Tea Bowl by Jonathan Glabus, Lombard, IL. 3" x 3" x 4".

CLAYTIMES·COM n WINTER / SPRING 2015

Mug by Shawn O’Connor, Minot, ME. 4" x 4" x 3".

Cups and Caddy by Sarah German, Austin, TX. 8" x 7" x 7".

Perspectives I As Far As I Know

What’s So Special About Pottery? BY PETE PINNELL

very art form has its own distinct, salient characteristics. From photography to dance, teachers and practitioners alike need to understand what these characteristics are to better understand their field, evaluate quality, and to know when “new” work is truly new. If you look back at the critical writing in ceramics that appeared just a few decades ago (1970s and ’80s), you might think that pottery was a junior form of sculpture, sharing the same goals and characteristics, but in a sort of light, watered-down way. It’s only with time that our field has gradually begun to understand other things about pottery that are important and, to some degree, unique.

CLAYTIMES·COM n WINTER / SPRING 2015

Ceramics is just one of seven studio art disciplines that we teach at my university, so most students will only take one ceramics course while earning an art degree. For this reason I think it’s important in that class for me to teach about things that are important to pottery. Otherwise, one could easily assume that the only thing that’s unique to ceramics is that we use clay. Here are a few points that merit discussion.

Like other visual artists, potters enjoy working with composition and content. Potters are very concerned with the formal, visual, compositional aspects of our art. We actively engage with form, texture, color, pattern, balance, and all of the other compositional elements and principles of art.

Likewise we are now thinking about content: what pottery can mean, suggest, or imply. The work of potters like Richard Notkin and Grayson Perry has certainly raised everyone’s awareness of the ability of pottery to carry overt meaning. At the same time, many of us are also interested in the implicit, embedded content that pottery can carry, especially when you think about pottery as having both an artistic and a social aspect.

Pottery is visual and intellectual, but can also be tactile. Content and Composition are important aspects of our work, but we probably approach them in a slightly different manner than other visual artists do. For one thing, pottery is inherently tactile: we assume that the viewer will touch the object. Certainly our eye can see things that our skin cannot (I don’t know what the color purple feels like), but touch can reveal information that is invisible to the eye. Ultra-fine sandpaper has a velvety look, but not a velvety feel. Besides that, touch communicates at a much more basic level than vision: this is why we describe the things that impact us the most as having touched us. The ability of the viewer to touch the artwork allows the potter to explore this form of communication in a way that purely visual artists cannot.

We don’t just look at pottery, we experience it.

Pottery is experiential. Much of the time we assume that the viewer will interact with the object and will incorporate it into one of life’s events or processes. This both allows and encourages the viewer to spend more time with the object and to give it different consideration. It also means that the viewer may sometimes interact with the object while not consciously paying attention to it. This is actually a good thing, as a lot of the quieter, subtler messages (in both art and life) are only audible during quiet moments. Spending a lot of time with an object makes that possible. According to one study, the average museum attendee spends less than 30 seconds in front of each work of art. One of the great things about pottery is that the viewer might potentially spend hours with the object in a single day.

With pottery, the viewer can collaborate with the artist. Of course, interaction can occur on many levels with pottery. It may simply mean using a pot in an ordinary way, such as drinking coffee from a cup. This act doesn’t require much esthetic decisionmaking from the user. On the other hand, pottery forms with which the viewer can serve, display, or present are an inherent invitation for artistic collaboration between the potter and the viewer. A vase, for instance, can be a complete artistic statement that stands on its own, or it can encourage the viewer take to part in a collaborative artistic venture. Pottery is one of the few art forms today

Utility can be both practical and aesthetic. Throughout much of the 20th century, the self-described fine arts world consciously kept its distance from the events and process of life. To take part in a life event was to risk becoming craft (that most lowly and despised class of objects). Art wanted to talk about life (often politics and other social issues), but not to actually take part in it. Throughout this time, utility (the ability of objects to play an active role in life) was seen as simply a limitation: an impediment to creativity. Ceramic artists who chose to make non-functional objects were lauded as transcending function. The implication was that utility was like a bad habit that one had to learn to overcome before one could make real art.

Pottery is at home everywhere, but especially at home.

Scale is relative, with pottery and everything else. Artwork is generally viewed at different distances, and complex artwork may require the viewer to view it at a variety of distances in order to completely understand and appreciate the object. Generally speaking, artwork can be viewed at five distances: intimate (arm’s length), personal (within a few feet), social (within about 12 feet), public interior (large rooms) and public exterior (outdoors). Largescale artwork was all the rage in the second half of the 20th century and much of contemporary artwork is still intended (by the artist) to be viewed in larger spaces and at a greater distance. By contrast, we are comfortable bringing pottery into our personal and intimate spaces. One distance isn’t better than another; each offers opportunities for an artist. It’s good to be mindful of this and consider how we can turn scale to our advantage. Otherwise potters can fall into the trap of thinking that bigger is

better, and that their work needs to be large, imposing, and impressive in order to have impact. Scale is relative, of course: a jumbo shrimp can fit comfortably in the palm of your hand and a massive diamond is still almost invisible. A large pot is usually only large in the context of other pots and the domestic setting: a big pot may be smaller than a tiny human. When thinking about scale, it’s useful to consider what ideas or qualities you want to communicate and how you can best accomplish that.

With pottery, then is also now. Human beings evolved into their modern form while making pots, and pots evolved along with us. Pottery has always played a role in human existence because the storage, preparation, and serving of food and drink are so central to life — not just for human survival, but for the full enjoyment of life, especially the social life of people. It’s not surprising, then, that pottery has been an artistic focus for most cultures and has always enjoyed the creative attentions of countless people. Combine this with the essentially permanent nature of ceramic materials and you can see why potters have such a rich and fascinating history to draw from. Pottery connects us to the basic humanity of other people, past and present. Not surprisingly, potters today are comfortable drawing from and learning from the past, both as a source of visual inspiration as well as for the insights into basic human nature that we can draw by viewing the practices of other cultures.

Potters love process and materiality. I probably don’t have to mention that most potters develop a lifelong

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What this viewpoint failed to note is that utility provides a potentially powerful vehicle for both expression and communication. That’s why the Japanese tea ceremony isn’t simply a slow and inefficient way to get a hot drink. The general term “utility” encompasses an astoundingly wide range of actions and activities, so to even lump all of these into one category seems like a stretch. It’s good to remember that even activities as mundane as the making and serving of tea can be the basis for a beautiful and sophisticated art form.

Because of this connection to life, pottery is inherently domestic. Yes, pottery has always found its way into museums, palaces, board rooms, and gardens, often in the form of heroically-sized versions of ordinary pots (there will probably always be a market for giant vases as long as there are grand hotel lobbies). Still, most pottery has both a scale and a utilitarian reference that places it comfortably in a domestic setting. This is true of pottery intended for contemporary homes as much as the historic pottery that was intended for the homes of emperors and kings. As such, pottery is usually intended to communicate with the viewer in a closer, more intimate setting than most other contemporary art.

Perspectives I As Far As I Know

that is openly welcoming of such collaboration between the artist and the viewer. The best potters are mindful of this and thoughtfully approach their decision-making with this collaboration in mind.

Perspectives I As Far As I Know

What’s So Special About Pottery? (continued from previous page)

fascination with clay and with the processes that we use to form it. The materiality of fired ceramic is also of great interest to most potters. Together, these twin fascinations play an important role in what we make, and the qualities that we enjoy seeing in fired work. While a strong interest in the richness of process and materials is undergoing a resurgence in a number of disciplines (especially painting and photography), it has always played a part in the life of pottery. It’s ok for potters to love clay and want to explore the potential of the material. However, we should also be willing to step back at times to discuss what we’re achieving with our explorations, and not be blinded by the sheer beauty of the materials we can create.

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This list could go on for a lot longer, and each of the items I’ve mentioned deserves to be discussed in much more detail. My goal here is simply to provide a brief and incomplete list of things that potters should be aware of when thinking about (and evaluating) their pots. Besides that, I would be failing as a teacher of ceramics if a student could leave my beginning course believing that the most important thing they learned is that you can make things by coiling, pinching, and building with slabs. Sometimes we get so tied into the practical aspects of our field, we forget to mention the really important things ... and we won’t know what the important things are unless we periodically step back and think about it.

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What else would you add to this list? [

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Footnote:

1. “Spending Time on Art” by Jeffrey K. Smith and Lisa F. Smith, Empirical Studies of the Arts, Volume 19, Number 2 / 2001. Pages 229-236

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Peter Pinnell is Hixson-Lied Professor of Art at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. E-mail him at ppinnell1@unl.edu or contact him via his Facebook page at www.facebook.com.

PART 2 OF 2

I interviewed clay people about their procrastination issues for these two columns, then proceeded to procrastinate heavily before completing the first column (!) This second column includes three more interviews, summarizes some interesting Website info on procrastination, and offers links to some of the most helpful Websites, featuring Jerry Seinfeld’s system to avoid procrastination ... Bill Griffith, Assistant Director of Programs at Arrowmont, Tennessee “I can say I am never going to procrastinate again, and then I do. In my early years at Arrowmont I procrastinated because of a lack of confidence. Now in later years I finally really know the mechanics of things, so I can slide a little and make it all work. I used to procrastinate from fear and now I procrastinate some from confidence that I know what needs to be done. Early on it was daunting to plan a conference but now I don’t worry as much. I do put off doing my taxes because it is boring.

Alex Irvine, Sculptor and Tile Muralist “I have made strides in not procrastinating since art school. It was just ridiculous in art school. I put so much off and I have gotten a lot better. I do still procrastinate working on my Website. Things I like to do like pressing tiles and making molds I can do endlessly and not procrastinate. But the thing I put off most of all are bills and taxes. I generally do things at the last minute. I have been really good and bad about that. I am especially organized and get all my ducks in a row when I am excited about something. One thing I avoided too much was testing glazes for acid rain resistance

One thing I have learned is I can’t procrastinate on applying for new public art projects because I need to have the next project lined up when the one I am working on ends. I have learned that the hard way.” Anthony Schaller, Owner Schallergallery.com “I don’t go nuts anymore when artists are late. I figure it is part of the beast. I have dropped artists who drove me so nuts with not sending work so I had to stop working with them. What drives me to procrastinate is bookwork and taxes. I plan shows in spurts and get things ready. I think I procrastinate on communications with the artists. Then some things just sort

“What drives me to procrastinate is bookwork and taxes.” — Anthony Schaller

for an outdoor mural in Asheville that I did with Kathi Triplett. I was about to glaze and install and I still hadn’t tested for acid rain. Someone said to definitely test the glaze I was planning to use. The glaze substantially changed overnight from the acid in the lemon slice placed on top of the fired glaze.

[ & the rest of us! ]

of happen. There was the artist who forgot a show. I had the postcards made and he was one of the people in the show and he totally forgot so that ended our relationship. It is frustrating when you ask an artist for a bio or a résumé and you never get it. continued on next page

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I think the reason I procrastinate in my artistic life is because I can’t procrastinate in my administrative job at Arrowmont. I simply have to get all the teachers hired. Sometimes I put off having a social life because in some ways I am creating the whole programming for the school and it feels like a lot of pressure.”

BY LANA WILSON

Perspectives I Beneath the Surface

Dealing with Procrastination

Perspectives I Beneath the Surface

Procrastination, cont. Now I am solving some of my procrastination issues by hiring the right people. If they are good employees I have to get things done so they can do their part to help me out. So I hire people who excel in abilities that I don’t have. We all sort of know what we aren’t good at ... if you are an introvert, then hire an extrovert who can handle sales and talking. The tasks now are getting physical space to look better and retooling the Website and stationery in font and colors. I am not good at doing all of that so I am going to talk to my Website company and they will review it and come back to me with solutions. What happens to me with procrastination is that I am so interested in what is next with my gallery that I procrastinate at collecting on old bills.

Procrastination is not my worst disease. There are galleries that have closed because owners were procrastinators or poor business people, or because it is a hard business to be a clay gallery. I don’t waver and I chose a path and I have stayed on it. I stick with artists I like. Here is where I really procrastinate: my own life. I have talked about it with older successful people, and they all say they wished they had lived more and had more fun.” Now here is the Website where you can learn about Jerry Seinfeld’s technique to solve procrastination: http://lifehacker.com/281626/jerryseinfelds-productivity-secret It’s fun and worth reading. If you want more details, see http://lifehacker.com/5886128/howseinfelds-productivity-secret-fixed-myprocrastination-problem

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Following is a summary of solutions I’ve compiled from many different Websites, with my own comments (in parentheses). Much of this information is derived from: fluentbrain.com/blog/13-effectivesolutions-to-procrastination/

✔ 1. Start with the “Small Edible Chunks” theory. Strong and repeated advice says to not look at the huge job and tackle it; instead, break it down into edible, doable, small steps. If you do one small step, it helps you to do another. Tim Pychyl of Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, who wrote The Procrastinator’s Digest, says,

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Do be realistic about how much you can get done in a defined amount of time. Don’t undermine yourself by expecting to get a huge amount done in a short time. Perfectionism, or no breaks, or no rewards, or extreme expectations, undermine your progress. Instead, reward your progress with short, fun, positive, or constructive “little celebration” rewards.

✔ 2. Review why you are doing the task. Why did you choose to do this? Does it help your personal or professional life? Coach yourself into being inspired to get on with it.

✔ 3. Do the most difficult job when your willpower and energy are high. (One artist I interviewed works best at night. I work best in the morning.)

✔ 4. Make a daily plan. (It helps me to have one to three of the day’s most important tasks uppermost in my mind. That prevents the wandering

✔ 5. Learn from other people’s successful strategies. The Website: http://www.lifehack. org/articles/productivity/overcomeprocrastination-once-and-for-all.html offers many suggestions.

sort of cringed and wondered if this was the beginning of an arrogant man talking, but he followed up with, “I have had a lot more failure than you!”) • Don’t work to a frazzled or exhausted version of yourself. Rest or take breaks when needed. • If you seem terribly stuck, get help. Have someone look at your pots, or even send images of your work to a clay friend and discuss your work with him/her on the phone or via e-mail. Maybe plan to take a one-

“Perfectionism, or no breaks, or no rewards, or extreme expectations, undermine your progress ...” Here are a few of my favorites: • The bigger motivation picture involves looking at your whole life. What do you want out of life? Take about half an hour to write down all your goals in the following areas: career, education, relationships, money, health, spiritual, and leisure. Next, choose only ten of the areas you have selected. Now squish it down to five and try to get down to three. • This next step seems harsh, but stick with me here: Delete from your to-do list anything that doesn’t relate to your top three to five goals. • Remember, failure is really just a learning experience. (I recall my favorite story about a famous fiber artist. He was speaking to a packed audience. At the opening of the presentation, he leaned into the microphone and asked, “Do you know the difference between you and me?” The audience

or two-week course at a great art camp for adults! Lo and behold—a Website for artists worth checking out: http://skinnyartist.com/5-strategiesartists-can-use-to-overcomeprocrastination/ Now for the “game” part of this column: First, choose the procrastination solutions that would make the most sense for each person’s interview. Next, choose the solutions that would help you the most. Select just one or two for starters. [ In the spirit of full disclosure, Lana serves on the board of Penland School and shows her work at Schaller Gallery. Lana Wilson may be reached at lana@lanawilson.com. Her Website for workshop info. and images is www. lanawilson.com.

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Figure out when you work best, and do the hard tasks at your peak time. Help yourself out here by getting enough sleep (I improved dramatically one time by going to bed extra early. I was much better at tackling the writing the next day.) Eat healthy food, exercise, and take breaks.

procrastination of doing one more tertiary job, or reading another e-mail. In a typical day, I would hope to start with the most difficult thing, and by the afternoon, do the easier things.)

Perspectives I Beneath the Surface

“Progress fuels motivation, so it’s priming the pump.”

Building the Gulf Breeze Arch Conclusion of a two-part step-by-step series on Architectural Ceramics BY PETER KING

Draw Tool

Box Building

To frame and refine the opening of the arch, we used our draw tool technique. I borrowed this from the plaster forming methods of the now almost extinct craft of formed-inplace plaster molding. I later found that a profiled draw tool was also used in industrial architectural ceramics long ago. To make a profile, we cut ¼" luan to the desired shape, and build up the area to be profiled with strips of slab. By making the built up areas only slightly thicker than the shape to be profiled, we can easily “draw” this down to the desired finished contours (Figs. 2021, opposite page).

To create larger rectangular or irregular relief areas (in this case, a nesting turtle, waves, shells, and a sailing ship), we stand up walls on the base slab following the previously drawn lines. These slabs are also 1" thick and are precut to the width necessary to achieve the desired relief. When calculating this relief, we deduct the thickness of the 1" slab to be used to cap these walls and create the finished surface. When spanning areas larger than 3 or 4 inches, we install interior walls to support the top slab. All of these walls are thoroughly sewn together. The seams are filled using coils or strips of slab. The entire built-up surface is then scraped and smoothed (Figs. 26-32).

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Tube Form

Handbuilding a piece of pottery by wrapping a slab around a cardboard tube is something we all learn as beginners. We have created a system refining this technique to create all kinds of relief, but we use it primarily for building columns both freestanding and attached to a base slab. For the Gulf Breeze Arch we used it to create a live oak and a sabal palm (the state tree of Florida). Instead of cardboard tubes we use scraps or PVC pipe. Unlike cardboard, they can be reused indefinitely. We have numerous diameters, and we use the size we need for any given project. To make attached column shapes, in this case tree trunks, we drape a cut-to-width slab over a section of PVC pipe, elevate this by resting it on two strips of wood (2x4s work fine; Figs. 22-23), drop and remove

Holes

Pictured above: front and back views of the completed Gulf Breeze Arch

this pipe (Fig. 24), and replace it with a pipe of slightly smaller diameter. We carry this now semi-circular slab to our base slab, position it (Fig. 25), and remove the pipe. We affix these clay tubes to the base slab by thoroughly sewing and filling the seam. We then decorate this tube relief accordingly. In this case, we added pieces of slab to create the oak and palm tree surfaces.

Such relief building creates hollow, enclosed spaces, so it’s important to make holes for the expanding steam to escape during the early heating phase of firing. This is when the clay is in its weakest state, and the heated steam is powerful. A needle tool hole will do, but we usually punch 1½" holes in the base slab using a scrap of sink drain pipe. These holes serve to create cement pegs when a piece is cemented to a wall (Fig. 33). Sprigging Press-Molded Relief For a number of years we only hand-worked the surfaces of our architectural projects, creating textures with lace, burlap, and pieces of clay stamps with scrapers. text continued on page 26

Fig. 20

Fig. 23

Fig. 21

Fig. 24

Fig. 22

Fig. 25

Fig. 28

Fig. 29

Fig. 26

Fig. 30

Fig. 27

Fig. 33

Fig. 31

Fig. 34

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Fig. 32

Clay Times Magazine Volume 21 • Issue 99