Clay Times Magazine Volume 15 • Issue 83

ceramic

art

trends,

tools,

and

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TIMES

Clay

techniques

Volume 15 • Issue 83 September/October 2009

What’s New in Clay Tools • Carbon Trap Raku Cone 6 Iron & Crocus Martis Red Glaze Recipes Studio Tips from the Sierra Nevada Workshop Pros Step-by-step Baking Dish Project • “Handbuilt” Show Dick Lehman & Claudia Reese Interviews

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TIMES

Clay

September/October 2009 Volume 15 • Issue 83 On the cover: Selected images from 17th Annual Strictly Functional Pottery National.

Center: Altered Orange Bowls 2 by John K. Oles.

6" x 7" x 7". Anagama-fired porcelain.

Inset, top: Copper Lidded Jar by Scott Cooper.

5" x 4" x 4". Salt/soda-glazed stoneware.

Inset, bottom: Corked Bottle by Chris Lively.

9" x 5" x 3". Reduction-fired porcelain.

features 32 Carbon Trap Raku Atlanta potter Rick Berman shares his technique for creating striking black-and-white designs with raku-style firing in a sawdust-filled saggar.

34 Conversations: Dick Lehman The final interview in our series by Joe Campbell takes an in-depth look at the various events and influences that have helped shape the career of this Indiana clay artist.

38 25th Anniversary Tips from the Summer Workshop Masters at Sierra Nevada College

Carbon Trap Bottle by Rick Berman.

As the program marks a quarter-century of outstanding summer workshops, this year’s leaders offer useful suggestions for various aspects of claywork.

46 A Few Words About Juries Greg Seigel shares his tongue-in-cheek thoughts and observations on the jurying process for acceptance into established art fairs and exhibitions.

14 2009 Strictly Functional Pottery National 30 Handbuilt National Exhibition

Richard Shaw leads a recent workshop on making ceramic decals at the campus of Sierra Nevada College at Lake Tahoe.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

exhibits

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contents

®

TIMES

Clay September/October 2009 • Volume 15 • Issue 83

departments 9 YOUR WORDS Readers share disastrous firing experiences ...

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

23 GREAT GLAZES Crocus Martis Red for Cone 6 Oxidation

42 THE GALLERY A selection of unique works by CT readers

50 SLURRY BUCKET Tips you need to know when firing a bisque kiln

53 POTTERY CLASSES Where you can learn claywork in your community

56 CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE Goods and services offered especially for clay artists

58 ADVERTISER INDEX A quick reference to find your favorite ceramics suppliers in this issue (be sure to tell them you found them in Clay Times!)

6

Above: Spiky Nesting Set by Angela Cunningham. 3" x 8" x 8"; cone 10 oxidation-fired stoneware.

Top right: Salt and Pepper Set with Tray by Cheyenne Rudolph. 5" x 8" x 5". Cone 6 oxidation-fired stoneware.

Both works are featured in the 2009 Strictly Functional Pottery National—see story, pages 14-17.

columns 19 AS FAR AS I KNOW “A Bushel of Tomatoes”

by Pete Pinnell

23 BENEATH THE SURFACE “Claudia Reese”

by Lana Wilson

25 TEACHING TECHNIQUES “A Baking Dish Project with Thrown Handles”

by Bill van Gilder

41 KILNS & FIRING “A Breath of Fresh Air”

by Marc Ward

45 BOOKS & VIDEOS “The Potter’s Studio Clay and Glaze Handbook” review by Steve Branfman

47 TOOL TIMES “What’s New in Pottery Tools” by Vince Pitelka

51 STUDIO HEALTH AND SAFETY “Carbon Monoxide from Electric and Gas Kilns”

by Monona Rossol

57 AROUND THE FIREBOX “High School Reunion”

by David Hendley

• I trusted a large amount of work done by me and a friend to a clay store. The manager didn’t know enough about it to be working there, evidently, because she over-fired all the pieces. Some melted to the shelves, some just melted, some turned horrible colors, and most were ruined. It broke my heart.

Wendy Ward, Georgetown, CA • When firing my 12-cubic-foot gas kiln, I failed to notice a gap at the top of the door.

At about cone 3, I saw the opening and put a rope of wet clay across the top of the door.

You can imagine the popping mess inside and out—several pots were damaged.

Unfortunately, not all the pots were mine.

Margaret Lindhorst, Aurora, CO • My worst disaster is mixing an entire bucket of glaze which had been tested and having it not work like I imagined after mixing a big batch.

Judy Shreve, Alpharetta, GA [

magazine

Editorial & Advertising: Polly Beach claytimes@gmail.com Circulation Manager: Rachel Brownell ctcirculation@gmail.com

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• Without a doubt, seeing clumps of glaze collected on the bottom of a pot, and trying to grind it away only to make it worse, and then ending up trashing the whole thing!

Phyllis Green, North Myrtle Beach, SC

Clay

TIMES

Clay Times asked: What’s the most disastrous event you’ve experienced during a kiln firing?

Spouting Off I Your Words

Reader Remarks

ceramic art trends, t oo l s & t e c h n i q u e s

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: Rick Berman Joe Campbell Greg Seigel 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 $33 in the U.S.; $40 in Canada; $60 elsewhere (must be payable in US$). To subscribe, call toll-free 1-800.356.2529, or visit www.claytimes.com.

Correction The above image was improperly credited in “The Gallery” section of the July/August 2009 Clay Times. The photo caption should should have read as follows: “Wild Flower Platter.

22" x 22" x 4". Handbuilt stoneware; cone 10 reduction-fired. Donald Penny, Little River Studio, Hahira, GA 31632. E-mail: dpenny@ windstream.net.” We regret the error.—Editor [

POSTMASTER: Address service requested. Send address changes to: Clay Times, PO Box 365, Waterford, VA 20197-0365. Copyright © 2009 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 2009

Freelance editorial and photographic submissions are welcome: Please contact Clay Times or visit our Web site for writer’s and photographer’s guidelines.

9

ceramic art world news • events • calls for entries

Clay CERAMIC

ART

TRENDS,

TOOLS,

AND

TECHNIQUES Vol. 12 No. 6 5 November/December 2006

®

TIMES

Hot Stuff I News & Events

What’s Hot Otto Heino’s Yellow Glaze: The Legend Lives On Spray Equipment for Ceramic Slips & Glazes Deborah Shapiro’s Secrets to Eye-catching Pots & Displays Dynamite Formulas for Crystalline Glazing

‰ Creating a New Craft Culture takes place October 15-17 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Contact American Craft Council, 72 Spring St., New York, NY 10012; www.craftcouncil.org/ conference09.

Mixed Media: Jan Jacque Joins Clay with Wood

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Marc Lancet Leads Tahoe’s Sierra Nevada College to a New Beginning

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CLAYTIMES·COM n MAY/JUNE 2009

Otto Heino 1915-2009

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sentations by Frank Giorgini, Suze Lindsay, and Gay Smith. Contact The Clay Connection, PO Box 3214, Merrifield, Virginia 22116-3214; conference@ tel.

540.636-6016; theclayconnection.org; www.theclayconnection.org.

‰ We are sad to report that Otto Heino, widely recognized as a master clay artist by the ceramic community worldwide, died in July of acute renal failure. He was 94.

Financially successful for reformulating a coveted yellow Chinese glaze with his wife Vivika, who died in 1995, Heino continued as an active clay artist for the remainder of his lifetime. Clay Times was pleased to feature Heino as cover artist of our November/ December 2006 issue, which explored his career in great detail. The full article may be accessed via the Clay Times Web site at www.claytimes. com. An exemplary influence to clay artists everywhere, Heino will be missed by us all.

Conferences ‰ The 8th Biennial Mid-Atlantic Clay Conference takes place Oct. 1–4 in Front Royal, Virginia, with pre-

‰ Pottery from 2 Perspectives with Ellen Shankin and Donna Polseno takes place Oct. 23-25 at the Workhouse Arts Center/Lorton Arts Foundation, 9517 Workhouse Way, Lorton, Virginia. For complete details, visit www.workhousearts.org; call 703.584.2982; or e-mail dalemarhanka@lortonarts.org.

‰ Entries open to tiles 15 × 15 x 5 cm are being accepted through Nov. 30 for the Fourth International Ceramic Tile Triennial, to take place April 15– June 15, 2010 in Santiago, Dominican Republic. For details, call the Igneri Foundation at 809.531.0164; visit www.elit-tile.net; or e-mail thimop@ elit-tile.net. ‰ Entries of small teapots are being accepted through Dec. 11 for Small Fish, Large Pot IV: 4th International Small Teapot Show and Competition, to take place Feb. 11–Mar. 11, 2010 at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, CA. For details, call 949.582.4401, visit http://gallery.saddleback.edu, or e-mail thuntley@saddleback.edu.

‰ Network 2009: Symposium will take place Nov. 3-Dec. 16, 2009 and Jan. 5-February 17, 2010 in Skælskør, Denmark. Contact Ane Fabricius Christiansen, Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center, Heilmannsvej 31 A, 4230 Skælskør Denmark; tel. 45.5819.0016; ceramic@ceramic.dk; www.ceramic.dk.

‰ U.S. clay artists may submit entries through Jan. 18, 2010 for The Third Biennial Contemporary Clay: 2010. The exhibition will take place May 14-June 26, 2010 at the Art Center in Grand Junction, Colorado. Entry fee: 1/$15, 2/$25, 3/$30. For a prospectus, call Camille Silverman at 970-243-7337 ext. 6; visit www.gjartcenter.org; e-mail csilverman@gjartcenter.org; or send your SASE to The Art Center, 1803 North 7th, Grand Junction, CO. For juror insights, google “Pete Pinnell: Thoughts on Cups.”

Calls for Entries

Ceramics Exhibitions

‰ Entries are being accepted through Nov. 12 for participation in the 48th Beaumont Art League National exhibition, to take place Mar. 1–31, 2010 in Beaumont, Texas.

For details, call 409.833.4179, visit www.beaumontartleague.org, or email bal-dana@gtbizclass.com.

‰ Featured Artist works by Sam Chung are on exhibit through Sept.

30 at Red Lodge Clay Center, 123 S. Broadway, Red Lodge, Montana. ‰ Dire-Rama Wildlife on the Ledge, featuring works by Julianne Harvey, takes place through Sept. 30 at Mari-

Work clean. Play dirty.

‰ Containers for the Intangible, featuring works by Bryan Hopkins, takes place through Sept. 26 at the Clay Art Center, 40 Beech St., Port Chester, New York. ‰ Summer of Love: Fall in Love with Something Beautiful is on exhibit through Oct. 4 at the Dowstudio Showroom, 19 Dow Rd., Deer Isle, Maine.

Hot Stuff I News & Events

posa Gallery, 3500 Central Ave., SE, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

‰ New Work by Mark Yasenchack takes place Sept. 12-Oct. 5 at River Gallery, 19046 Old Detroit Rd., Rocky River, Ohio. ‰ Who Lives in Greenwich Village?, featuring works by Andy Brayman and Ayumi Horie, and New Amsterdam at 400: Celebration of Dutch Ceramics, both take place through Oct. 8 at Greenwich House Pottery, 16 Jones St., New York, New York. ‰ Drink: Functional Forms for Every Libation and the Second Annual Lillstreet National both take place Sept. 14-Oct. 11 at the Lillstreet Art Center, 4401 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, Illinois. ‰ Making Faces: An Exhibition of Face Jugs is on display Sept.

17-Oct. 15 at the North Augusta Municipal Building, Georgia Ave., Augusta, Georgia.

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‰ In Between, featuring works by Kelly Connole and Beth Lo, takes place Sept. 18-Oct. 17 at the Carleton College Art Gallery, 1 N. College St., Northfield, Minnesota.

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‰ Featured Artist works by John Glick, and Recent Ceramics, featuring works by Dan Anderson and Richard Notkin, are on exhibit Sept. 25-Oct. 15 at AKAR, 257 E. Iowa Ave., Iowa City, Iowa.

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Hot Stuff I News & Events

‰ Clay and Light, featuring works by Jordan Taylor, takes place Sept. 10Oct. 18 at Mahady Gallery, Marywood University Art Galleries, 2300 Adams Ave., Scranton, Pennsylvania. ‰ Soaring Voices: Contemporary Japanese Women Ceramic Artists takes place through Oct. 18 at the Crocker Art Museum, 216 O St., Sacramento, California. ‰ Wichita National All Media Craft Exhibition 2009 takes place through Oct. 18 at the The Wichita Center for the Arts, 9112 E. Central, Wichita, Kansas. ‰ 17th Annual Strictly Functional Pottery National takes place Sept. 26-Oct. 25 at Kevin Lehmans Pottery, 560 S. Prince St., Lancaster, Pennsylvania. ‰ Clay Mentors II, featuring works

by Patsy Cox, Cameron Crawford, Tom Decker, Craig Easter, Susanne Kuebler French, Bob Kizziar, Garrett Masterson, Una Mjurka, and Monica Van den Dool, takes place through Oct. 31 at Clay Mix, 1003 N. Abby St., Fresno, California. ‰ Ceramic Constructions, featuring works by Russel Wrankle, takes place Oct. 2-31 at Plinth Gallery/ Ceramic Design, 3520 Brighton Blvd., Denver, Colorado.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

‰ Precision, featuring works by Nathan Youngblood, takes place Oct. 15-22 at King Galleries of Scottsdale, 7100 Main St., #1, Scottsdale, Arizona.

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‰ OCAC Artist-In-Residence Exhibition takes place Oct. 1-25 at the Oregon College of Art and Craft, 8245 S.W. Barnes Rd., Portland, Oregon. ‰ Collecting, Creating, Connecting, featuring works by Liz Zlot Summerfield, takes place through Oct. 31 at Crimson Laurel Gallery, 23 Crimson

Laurel Way, Carolina.

Bakersville,

North

‰ The Self and Beyond, featuring works by Dana Major Kanovitz, is on exhibit through Oct. 31 at Wexler Gallery, 201 N. Third St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ‰ We Believe in Some Thing, featuring works by Roxanne Jackson, takes place through Nov. 1 at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2400 Third Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minnesota. ‰ Remonstrations from the Iconic Rustbelt: New Works by William Brouillard takes place through Nov. 1 at Canton Museum of Art, 1001 Market Ave N., Canton, Ohio. ‰ The State of Clay takes place Oct. 8-Nov. 5 at Newport Potters Guild, 302 Thames St., Newport, Rhode Island. ‰ Recent Ceramics, featuring works by Naomi Dalglish and Michael Hunt, takes place Oct. 16-Nov. 6 at AKAR, 257 E. Iowa Ave., Iowa City, Iowa. ‰ Skin, featuring works by Thomas Schmidt, takes place Sept. 11-Nov. 7 at Dubhe Carreño Gallery, 118 N. Peoria St., 2nd Floor, Chicago, Illinois. ‰ New Work by Stephanie Craig and Todd Leech takes place Oct. 10-Nov. 7 at River Gallery, 19046 Old Detroit Rd., Rocky River, Ohio. ‰ Revisiting Traditions: Illuminating Our Times, featuring works by Emmett Leader, takes place through Nov. 8 at The Bennington Museum, 75 W. Main St. (Rte. 9), Bennington, Vermont. ‰ 2009 Regis Masters, featuring works

by Ron Meyers and Patti Warashina, is on view Sept. 25-Nov. 8 at the Northern Clay Center, 2424 Franklin Ave. E, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

‰ Traffic Patterns, featuring works

by Kathy Erteman, takes place Oct. 22-Nov. 19 at Greenwich House Pottery, 16 Jones St., New York, New York.

‰ The Perfect Fit: Shoes Tell Stories is on exhibit through Jan. 3, 2010 at the Fuller Craft Museum, 455 Oak St., Brockton, Massachusetts. ‰ Gifts from the Earth takes place Nov. 30, 2009-Jan. 3, 2010 at Scope Gallery, The Torpedo Factory, 105 N. Union St., Alexandria, Virginia.

‰ New Work by Harrison McIntosh takes place through Nov. 28 at the American Museum of Ceramic Art,. 340 S. Garey Ave., Pomona, California.

‰ The Renwick Craft Invitational 2009 takes place through Jan. 3, 2010 at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Pennsylvania Ave. at 17th St., NW, Washington, DC.

‰ Plinth Gallery Artists 2009, to feature works by Peter Saenger, Amanda Jaffe, Suzanne Kane, Dan Anderson, Conner Burns, Russel Wrankle, and Kevin Snipes, takes place Dec. 4-28 at Plinth Gallery, 3520 Brighton Blvd., Denver, Colorado.

‰ Masters of Mid-Century California Modernism, including ceramic works by Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman, is on exhibit through Jan. 10, 2010 at the Mingei International Museum, Balboa Park, 1439 El Prado, San Diego, California.

‰ Porcelain Umbrella Wall Installation, featuring works by Ann Mortimer, takes place through Dec. 31 at the Gardiner Museum, 111 Queen’s Park, Toronto, Canada.

‰ Bigger, Better, More: The Art of Viola Frey takes place through Jan. 10, 2010 at the Gardiner Museum, 111 Queen’s Park, Toronto, Canada.

‰ Inspiration and Ingenuity: American Stoneware takes place through Dec. 31 at Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, 325 W. Francis St., Williamsburg, Virginia. ‰ Taking Shape: Ceramics in Southeast Asia takes place through Jan. 1, 2010 at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 1050 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC.

September 2009 Kevin Crowe Multichambered Wood • Sept.

12-13: ARTS 502 – Kiln East Asian CoilFiring: Technique May 2, 9 and 16 • Sept. 19-20: ARTS 520 – Photographing Ceramics Throwing Large Forms: July 6-11 October 2009 Pamela Theis • Oct. 8-11: ARTS 530 – Kiln Technology Alternative Kilns and Firings: May 29-31 Parents and Children Joyce Michaud • Oct. ARTS 511Technique: – Properties of June Clay 6-7 East24-25: Asian Coil • Oct. Ceramic 30-Nov. 1:Sculpture: ARTS 599AAJuly – 18-30 Finding Ideas and Giving Them Life in Clay Masters’ Throwing: August 6-9 Glaze November 2009Application: August 29-30 • Nov. 5-8: ARTS 531 – Wood Firing Antonio Mendez • Nov. 12-15:Sculpture: ARTS 521 – Properties of Glaze Portrait August 21-23 and 28 Visit Hood’s Web site for more information.

Hood College Graduate School Art Department (301) 696-3456 n Fax (301) 696-3531 www.hood.edu/ceramics Hood College subscribes to a policy of equal educational and employment opportunities.

‰ Collection Focus, featuring works

by Michael Lucero, takes place Sept. 20-Jan. 17, 2010 at the Racine Art Museum, 441 Main St., Racine, Wisconsin. ‰ New and Novel 2009: Recent Gifts to RAM’s Collection is on exhibit through Jan. 17, 2010 at Racine Art Museum, 441 Main St., Racine, Wisconsin. ‰ Bright Abyss, featuring works

by Robert Sperry, takes place Oct. 10-Jan. 31, 2010 at Bellevue Arts Museum, 510 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, Washington. [

To list your clay conferences, calls for entries, exhibitions, and ceramic news items in Clay Times, please e-mail the complete details to: claytimes@gmail.com, with “What’s Hot” in the subject line, or visit www.clay times.com and click on the “What’s Hot” link to fill out a submission form online.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

‰ Out of the Fire: Clay & Glass from ACGA takes place through Jan. 2, 2010 at the Falkirk Cultural Center, 1408 Mission Ave., San Rafael, California.

M.F.A. in Ceramic Arts The M.F.A. and Graduate Certificate in Ceramic Arts provide students with skills and knowledge from which to build a strong aesthetic direction.

Hot Stuff I News & Events

‰ New Work, featuring works by Chris Gustin, takes place Oct. 16Nov. 15 at the Sherrie Gallerie, 694 N. High St., Columbus, Ohio.

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2009 Strictly Functional Pottery National

Corked Bottle by Chris Lively. 9" x 5" x 3". Porcelain fired to cone 10 in reduction. Winner of Clay Times purchase award.

Egg Tray by Susan Kennedy. 2" x 10" x 6". Soda-glazed stoneware.

Square Stacked Jar by Shadow May. 15" x 6" x 6". Porcelain electric-fired to cone 6.

14

S

ome of the best work in contemporary American functional ceramics will be on display September 26 through October 25 during the 17th Annual Strictly Functional Pottery National®.

This year’s show will be preceded by an opening reception on September 25. Held during the spring in previous years, the new autumn exhibition dates and late spring application deadline make it more desirable for academic jurors to come to Lancaster, PA just when their semesters or quarters are ending.

Platter by Doug Jeppesen. 2" x 13" x 13". Wood-fired.

The 2009 application deadline was June 10 instead of immediately after the holidays, as in previous years. A survey among jurors and participants found this new timing to be better for all concerned. The new “call for entries” date also allowed students to enter work from the current school year. Other ceramic artists benefit by the later date because they won’t be caught short after holiday sales.

An additional benefit to the date change is the new availability of SFPN applications at NCECA, the national clay conference held in March/April each year.

The SFPN Web site at www. strictlyfunctionalpotterynational.net has further information about the show. Visitors have the opportunity to view the past five exhibitions all year long.

Images of several works in the 2009 SFPN appear on pages 1417 of this issue of Clay Times. [

Trio by Lisa Pedolsky. 4" x 11" x 4". Cone 04 terracotta fired in oxidation.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Juror for the 2009 SFPN is Pete Pinnell, Clay Times “As Far As I Know” columnist and Professor of Art and Art History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Pinnell is well known as a teacher, lecturer, writer, and juror. His work in clay has been shown in numerous books and journals, and in exhibitions worldwide.

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Untitled 2: In-tangibles by Tristyn Bustamante, Undergraduate, Northern Arizona University. 12" x 15" x 9".

Small Plate Set by Susan Dewsnap. 1" x 8" x 8".

Soda-glazed stoneware fired to cone 9.

Truffle Basket by Lisa Buck. Earthenware electric-fired to cone 04.

16

Shino Hut by Greg Jahn & N. Halter. 5" x 5" x 5".

Porcelain fired to cone 10 in reduction.

Vase by Doug Bleacher. 10" x 5" x 5".

Stoneware fired to cone 10 in reduction.

His, Hers by Lee McCarty. 5" x 3" x 3". Soda-glazed stoneware fired to cone 11.

17

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New Iron Red Glaze Recipes

by PETE PINNELL

Perspectives I As Far As I Know

A Bushel of Tomatoes

A. This image shows TR 3 (Tomato Red Glaze Formula #3) with varying amounts of iron oxide added to it. From left, the tiles contain 8%, 9%, 10%, 11% and 12%. These were soaked at 1700° F for two hours. (All article images are cropped to show a section of tile approximately 11/8" wide by 2¼" high. The upper half of each tile has been double-dipped.)

O

ver the course of the last couple of years I’ve written a number of columns on the topic of iron red glazes (also known as tomato red, persimmon red or khaki). I began this series with an article on how we can use the unity molecular formula to understand and manipulate a glaze, and I used the classic Tomato Red glaze as an example1. That column was really intended to just talk about the process of glaze calculation, but instead it generated enough interest on its secondary topic of tomato reds that I followed it up by doing a series of tests on the composition of that glaze2.

To briefly recap, the chemistry of these glazes is different from other mid-range and high-fire glazes in that the base glaze must contain some magnesium oxide (MgO)5. The MgO is included in the glaze as a replacement for some of the calcium oxide (CaO)6, which is the primary flux in most pottery glazes (regardless of temperature).

Besides the inclusion of MgO, iron reds almost always contain phosphorous oxide (P2O5), which we get from bone ash or tricalcium phosphate (also known as synthetic bone ash).

The glaze must also contain iron, of course: usually an addition of red iron oxide in the range of 8-10%. Other than that, iron reds have a pretty ordinary chemistry, and are similar to other high-fire glossy glazes.

As was explained in the last issue, John Post’s cone 6 versions

were developed from a test (Pete’s #3) that added some boron oxide (B2O3, in the form of a frit) to the original Tomato Red. B2O3 has the terrific quality of expanding the firing range of glazes, so working it into the formula of a cone 9-10 glaze can often allow that glaze to mature at cone 6 or below, while still often working at the original temperature. However, the red color in these glazes comes from an iron/magnesium crystal7 that grows in the glaze during the cooling cycle, and B2O3 can tend to inhibit crystal growth in glazes. It’s obvious from tests that John and others have done that some B2O3 is acceptable, but how much is enough, and how much is too much?

In this series of tests, I worked with three variables, making sure that each test included only one variable. First, as I mentioned above, I was interested in what varied amount of boron would do to the color and surface texture of the glaze. Second, I was interested in varying the balance of MgO to Cao to see if adding more MgO (at the expense of the CaO) would help color development when B2O3 was increased. And

finally, I wanted to try a wide range of cooling cycles to see if I could find the temperature range in which the red crystals form and then see how much I could manipulate color by using that information.

Along with my own tests, I did another search of the literature to see if similar tests had been done previously, and reread information I already had to see if I could learn anything new.

There has been surprisingly little written on this kind of glaze: just two scientific articles (footnoted above) and test results that several potters have posted on the Internet8. There is just one book (that I’m aware of) with a section on its formulation9, although several different books list recipes.

As for boron, I had begun the tests (as reported in an earlier article) at .1 B2O3 (in the Unity formula). From experience, I knew that this should be enough B2O3 to get this glaze to mature at cone 6. I formulated additional tests with .2 and .3 B2O3, which is still within the range of other cone 6 glazes. Besides these first

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Recently in Clay Times, I reported on some excellent research that potter and teacher John Post did in response to that article, and in particular how he demonstrated some very interesting things about how these glazes can work when fired to cone six in an electric kiln3. This was a wrinkle that I hadn’t spent much time on, so during this last school year I’ve worked with a student assistant (David Knox, and later, Lindsey Clausen4), and together we’ve done some pretty

extensive testing on that subject.

I formulated the tests, David and Lindsey weighed them out and I fired them. Together we mixed several hundred tests, did about 25 firings, and learned some interesting things.

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Perspectives I As Far As I Know

B. From left: TR 3, TR 4, TR 5, TR 6, TR7, TR8. This firing was allowed to cool naturally after reaching temperature.

D. From left: TR 3, TR 4, TR 5, TR 6, TR7, TR8. These tiles were soaked at 1700° F for three hours. D.

C. From left: TR 3, TR 4, TR 5, TR 6, TR7, TR8. These tiles were soaked at 1800° F for three hours.

E. From left: TR 3, TR 4, TR 5, TR 6, TR7, TR8. These tiles were soaked at 1600° F for three hours.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

three (which were all based on the proportions in the original Tomato Red), I also formulated B2O3-containing versions of the Tasty Tomato glaze. Why, by the way, would I add more B2O3 if both my and John Post’s testing showed that .1 is sufficient? I’m interested because B2O3 creates a range of interesting visual effects, and I thought that while it might impede the growth of red, it might also be visually interesting. Besides, additional B2O3 would provide a little wiggle room on the maturing temperature, so pots in the cool corners of a kiln might still be completely mature. And finally, sometimes in glazes, as in life, “too much” is just enough.

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As many of you know, you can’t just add B2O3 to a glaze; instead, it must be used in the form of a complex, insoluble compound, like a frit. Because the choice of raw material sometimes makes a difference, we mixed tests with a variety of frits, including Fusion F-6910 (a magnesium boron frit) and Ferro frits 3134, 3195 and 3124 (all calcium boron frits). The short answer to that question is that any of these sources worked—the recipes

just had to be adjusted to reflect the differing compositions of these frits.

As it happens, increasing the amount of B2O3 in the glaze does inhibit the growth of red crystals. The glazes that were based on the original Tomato Red were less apt to develop a red color as greater amounts of B2O3 were added to the formula.

However, the versions with more B2O3 had beautiful, almost flawless glossy surfaces and a greater depth and variety of color than those with less B2O3.

I also added increasing amounts of B2O3 to the glaze called Tasty Tomato, which has a higher MgO content than the original Tomato Red. These glazes also developed those flawless surfaces, but retained a greater tendency to turn red, evidently based on their higher MgO content. As with the two parent glazes (the original Tomato Red and the Tasty Tomato), those glazes that have a higher CaO content (like the Tomato Red) tend to produce smaller red crystals and a more even, overall color. Those that have a higher MgO content (like the Tasty Tomato) tend to have fewer, larger crystals and a

more visually textured quality. I should mention, however, that in the end I found that how these glazes are fired and cooled plays as large a role in the qualities of the end product than any of my chemical tweakings (more on that later).

Iron is another variable, and I found that the relative purity of the iron oxide needs to be taken into account when you’re deciding how much iron to add.

In my earlier articles, I called for 8% of a high purity precipitated iron (99+% pure). One of the things I noticed in John’s testing (and confirmed in mine) is that iron reds fired in cone 6 oxidation turn red more consistently with a slightly higher addition of iron- about 9-10% seems right.

If you use a “natural” red iron oxide (what you’ll get if you just call a ceramic supplier and ask for red iron oxide), the relative purity can range from 85-95%, while Spanish red iron oxide tests out at 75-80% pure. These less pure irons work just fine, but you’ll need to increase the amount, to compensate for the lower strength. The only minor difference I’ve noticed is that the pure iron gives a slightly redder

color, while the natural iron I’ve used is slightly more orange. For the tests illustrated in this article, I used 9% precipitated (pure) iron oxide, which is comparable to using about 10% of ordinary red iron oxide.

Most of the recipes I’ve seen for Tomato Reds call for magnesium carbonate as the source for MgO. Magnesium carbonate has some great advantages as a glaze material: it’s very pure and finely ground, so it’s incorporated easily into the glaze melt. It contains no other oxide, so it’s also very easy to use for adding MgO when you want to increase the amount of that oxide. On the down side, is a very light, fluffy material and it can increase the amount of water that the unfired glaze requires. In small amounts, this characteristic can improve the application qualities of some glazes. However, in larger amounts this tendency can increase the dry shrinkage of the glaze, which can, in turn, cause the glaze to crack and crawl (crack during drying, and then crawl during the firing (by the way, don’t “crack and crawl” sound like a musical variant on “rock and roll”?). This is particularly an

In order to find out if there’s a good substitute for magnesium carbonate (in these glazes), I reformulated several of these glazes to use talc (a magnesium silicate), the only other raw material that contains enough MgO for these purposes. Interestingly, it does make a difference which source is used. Glazes that use magnesium carbonate are more apt to turn red after a reduction firing, or will turn red more quickly (with less soak) in an oxidation firing.

That doesn’t mean that the glazes with talc won’t turn red, just that you might have to alter the firing or cooling a bit in order to get it as red as you want. In return, the glaze will be much less apt to crawl.

As for the glazes that contain magnesium carbonate, I found that all of them can tend to crawl, but only when the glaze is applied very thick- in fact, too thick to turn red.

When these are applied to a normal thickness (that produced good reds), then crawling was not an issue on my test tiles.

If you survey the field, you’ll find the full range of feldspars used in iron reds. It doesn’t seem to matter whether the glaze uses a soda or potash feldspar, or even nepheline syenite. We mixed glazes using each of these, and they all worked. You just need to adjust the rest of the glaze recipe to account for the varied compositions of the materials.

Reduction firing results in a more complex range of colors that often has a temmoku-colored background with a brown and red foreground.

Oxidation firing tends to produce a brighter red-orange foreground, while the background glaze is a dark olive green or green brown. If the glaze is soaked at 1900° F during the cooling, the red crystals do form, but fewer of them with greater distance between them. A long soak at 1800°

Glaze Firing Schedules Here’s the program I settled on after many different tries, and the one used on the tiles in the illustrations: Ramps up: Ramp 1 — 250° F per hour to 2000° F. No hold.

Ramp 2 — 100° F per hour to 2170° F (cone 6 on my kilnfeel free to adjust this temperature to match your kiln).

No hold.

Ramps down: Ramp 3 — 150° F per hour to 1900° F. No hold.

Ramp 4 — 50° F per hour to designated soak temperature.

Hold up to three hours (my best results were with a three hour soak). Switch off.

F produces colors that are darker, with less orange and more of a dark burgundy red. When the glazes were soaked at a very long time at this temperature, the surface of the glazes also started to become slightly less glossy, and took on a nice polishedleather quality. This is the only temperature at which this surface texture occurred.

The brightest colors occurred when the firing was soaked at 1700° F, regardless of the formulation of the glaze.

The outside limits for crystal growth seems to lie between 1900° F and 1600° F during the cooling, though most of the color development seems to occur within a smaller window, from about 1850° F down to 1650° F. While holding it at one temperature gave me better results than just a very slow cooling (50° F per hour through this range), the combination of the two gave the best results. I tried one, two and three hour soaks, and the longer these glazes are soaked, the more complex the glaze color becomes. It seems odd to spend so much time on the cooling—more time, in fact, then on the

firing—but it’s the glaze that seems to prefer this, not me.

One thing to keep in mind: the K-type thermocouples used with computer controls (as well as with most pyrometers) are notoriously inaccurate at higher temperatures, and can become more so with age.

Think of the thermocouple as your computer’s eyes within the kiln. When we see a onetenth-of-one-degree readout on the pyrometer, it can give us a false sense of the accuracy of those eyes. Don’t think of them as eagle eyes- instead, think of that old cartoon character “Mr. Magoo,” with his thick, pop-bottle glasses.

The temperature reading in the kiln can easily be 30° F off by the time you reach cone 6.

If you want to have a better idea of the accuracy of your thermocouple, put a series of large cones in your kiln and watch when they bend on the way up in the firing. You can use the bending points (and rate of climb) to figure out how accurate your thermocouple is, and then you can make the appropriate numerical adjustments during the cooling phase.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Another thing we found is that the color of the clay body isn’t crucial: these glazes can work equally well over porcelain, light stoneware or dark stoneware. In fact, one of the things that surprised me is that you often can’t tell from looking at just the glazed area whether the clay body is porcelain or stoneware.

On the other hand, application is very important—when too thick or too thin, these glazes can look entirely different.

What is most crucial to the final color and quality of the glaze is the firing, or to be more specific, the rate of cooling. These glazes respond to any variation in cooling rate, and can completely change color in response to a long soak during the cooling phase (e.g. holding the kiln at one temperature for a period of time). As I described in my last article, John has been “firing down” (e.g cooling more slowly using the power of the kiln) in his cone 6 firings, and that goes a long ways towards getting his glaze to turn red. I tried a variety of cooling patterns, including a range of “ramps” (cooling rates) for parts of the cooling, as well as “soaks” in which I would program the kiln to stay at one temperature for a period of time. These glazes are quite interesting- they can turn a wide range of colors and textures, depending on just this one variable. I had my best results from manipulating the cooling between 1900° F and 1600° F. Above 1900° F there is a different crystal that forms in the glaze that is dark plum brown and slightly metallic. It’s not unusual to see this crystal interspersed in reds that are fired in a large or heavy gas kiln that cools slowly at high temperatures. Some of it in the glaze can make it more complex and interesting, but by itself (without the red crystals) it isn’t nearly as interesting. In order to avoid this in an electric kiln firing, I found it better to let the kiln cool fairly quickly down to 1900° F, and then slow down the cooling after that. As a side note, Pete’s Tasty Tomato (and other reds with a higher MgO content than Val’s original) have a greater tendency to turn dark if they are fired in a larger gas kiln that naturally cools slowly.

Perspectives I As Far As I Know

issue because these recipes also call for tricalcium phosphate (synthetic bone ash), which also shrinks a lot while drying. Together, these could cause problems.

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(by percentage)

Iron Red Recipes

Perspectives I As Far As I Know

TR7

TR8

Ferro Frit 3124 17.0 Fusion Frit F-69 7.6 15.1 22.5 8.0 Kona F-4 feldspar 45.0 45.0 44.7 43.5 33.0 46.0 Custer feldspar 44.2 Magnesium carbonate 6.0 12.9 10.0 7.9 5.9 10.0 Whiting 7.0 Talc 15.0 Tricalcium phosphate 11.0 10.2 10.9 10.8 10.7 9.0 11.0 EPK 7.0 10.0 4.7 2.1 9.0 5.0 Silica 24.0 22.1 21.8 19.4 17.5 22.0 15.0

TR1

18.0

Add: Bentonite Red iron oxide (pure)

2.0 8.0

Key to Glazes TR1-TR8 (as noted in chart above)

TR 1. The original, cone 10 reduction Tomato Red TR 2. Tasty Tomato, cone 10 reduction (Neither of these is illustrated here—I include them for reference.)

TR 3. Cone 6-10, oxidation or reduction. This is the same chemistry as TR 2, but with .1 B2O3 added (from the Fusion frit). This is one of the most consistent Tomato Reds I’ve tested, and is just slightly more variegated than TR 6.

TR 4. Cone 6-10, oxidation or reduction. Same as TR 2, but with .2 B2O3 TR 5. Cone 6-10, oxidation or reduction. Same as TR 2, but with .3 B2O3

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

TR 6. The same as TR 3, but with the balance of MgO to CaO adjusted so that the glaze can be made with Ferro Frit 3124 rather than the more exotic Fusion Frit F-69. This is the other most consistent of the cone 6 iron red glazes I’ve used (besides TR 3), and has a slightly smoother visual texture than TR 3.

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TR 7. The same as TR 3, but with the MgO coming from Talc rather than magnesium carbonate. Using talc does cut down on the amount of water the glaze requires, reducing the possibility of crawling. On the other hand, it may require a slightly longer soak to develop the same degree of red color. I’ve mixed it with several different brands of talc, and all worked well.

TR 8. The same as TR 3, but formulated to use talc and Ferro Frit 3124. This glaze developed beautiful little red/orange crystals when the soak temperature was at 1600° F, but not when it was soaked at other temperatures.

TR2

2.0 8.0

TR3

2.0 9.0

TR4

2.0 9.0

TR5

TR6

2.0 9.0

These long soaks work with either cone 6 oxidation or cone 10 reduction firing (and would probably work at cone 6 reduction or cone 10 oxidation, though I’ve never tried either). Obviously the mechanism for soaking a kiln is quite different when you compare a computer-operated electric kiln and a gas-fired reduction kiln. In the electric kiln, I simply programmed a soak at the end of the final ramp. If your electric kiln is manually fired, then you’ll need to use a pyrometer and manually adjust the switches to maintain the chosen temperature (it’s not that difficult—I did it several times in the Neolithic, pre-computer days). In a gas kiln, it is important that the soak occur in an oxidizing atmosphere. For me, the easiest way to do that has been to open the damper, adjust the burners as oxidizing at possible, and adjust the output of the burners so that the kiln will cool to the target temperature. When this is reached, you should readjust the burners to hold that temperature. A digital pyrometer is essential for this. Just think of this process as “driving” the kiln and the pyrometer as your speedometer. By the way, if you’d like to make a lot of money, just invent a cone that will fall as the temperature increases, and then stand up again as the kiln cools. It would be perfect for situations like this.

2.0 9.0

2.0 9.0

33.0

15.0 11.0 10.0 13.0

2.0 9.0

thing to remember is that it’s all in the cooling, so even if you stick with a recipe you’re already using, you may want to try a variety of soaking patterns to see if you can improve your results. [

Footnotes: 1.

“Back to Basics Part 5: Practical Use of

the Unity Formula,” 2007 Nov/Dec:23‑24.

2.

“Tomato Red Revisited,” 2008 May/

June:23‑24.

3.

“Tomato Reds at Cone 6,” 2009 May/

June:19-21.

4. David and Lindsey are paid by UCARE (Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experiences) a unique program at the University of Nebraska that funds outstanding undergraduates who want to take part in research.

5. Primary sources: magnesium carbonate, talc, dolomite, or frit.

6.

Primary sources: whiting, wollastonite,

bone ash, feldspar, frit.

7. “Coloration Mechanism of Hard Oxidizing Fire Iron Red Glaze,” Part 1, PARK Wonsook and LEE Byungha. Journal of the Ceramic Society of Japan, 113 (2) 161-165 (2005) and Part 2, Vol. 113, (3), pp. 232-235 (2005).

8.

http://www.sankey.ws/glazeiron.html and

http://www.johnpost.us/ 9.

The Practice of Stoneware Glazes by

Daniel De Montmollin. ISBN: 2-90898820-8. I was only able to get this by ordering

In conclusion, I’d say that any of these (TR 3 to 8) would work just fine at cone 6 in oxidation, depending on what you’re looking for, and how much you’re willing to alter your firing schedule.

My favorites for an allover red are TR 3 and TR 6, while I really like the less red (but more visually dynamic) TR 4 and TR 5. Regardless of which cone 6 recipe you might use for an iron red, the main

it online from the French language Website: http://www.revue-ceramique-verre.com/ pages%20html/Livres.html 10. Available from Fusion Ceramics. http:// www.fusionceramics.com/

Peter Pinnell is Hixson-Lied Professor of Art at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. You can reach him at ppinnell1@unl.edu.

Readers Share I Glaze Recipes

Great Glazes Crocus Martis* Red Glaze Cone 6 Oxidation (courtesy The Frederick Pottery School) A red to maroon, semi-gloss glaze.

Breaks black where thin or over textured surfaces and edges.

NC Soda Feldspar Talc Bone Ash Silica (325 mesh) EPK Lithium Carbonate Bentonite

add Crocus Martis or Red Iron Oxide

TOTAL

46.7% 16.9 15.0 11.4 4.0 4.0 2.0 100.0%

11.5%

OR for a streaked, textured surface, add Crocus Martis and Red Iron Oxide

8.5% 3.0%

Each formula is provided in percentage (by weight). Results vary with clay bodies and firing conditions; always test first to be sure you’re happy with the results. To mix a glaze batch to store in a 5-gallon bucket, multiply each percentage ingredient by 50 grams (for a half-bucket with room for dipping) or 100 grams (for a very full bucket). It is the responsibility of the user to have glazes tested for stability. [

Plus other New Glazes More coming soon Minnesota Clay Co. 7429 Washington Ave S Edina, MN 55439 800-CLAY-USA www.minnesotaclayusa.com

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

*What is Crocus Martis? Available from Clayworks Supplies in Baltimore, MD, it’s an extremely iron-saturated, finely-milled, purple-to-violet colored form of red iron oxide containing variable, minor oxide contaminates.

It is often used as a partial percentage substitute for red iron oxide in glazes. It can also provide a deep, rich, purple-to-brown color on fired clays when used as a wash.

23

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Claudia Reese, a prolific potter, is from Austin, Texas, where she is continuously building and decorating her rambling tiled compound. She has run her business, Cera-Mix Studios, since 1980. This is the first of two columns on Claudia and her work.

Lana Wilson: You did a double-major in ceramics and printmaking for your undergraduate work, and you continued printmaking at Indiana University for your M.F.A. in ceramics. Tell us more about the influences on your work.

Claudia Reese: I’ve always been drawn to folk art, indigenous art, and third-world art. It has authenticity and is straightforward. In my personal spaces, I’ve surrounded myself with patterned fabric from Africa (adinkra cloth, mud cloth, woven and tufted raffia mats), India and Pakistan (wall hangings, entry door embroideries), Turkey (kilims), Guatemalan weavings, and embroideries from Mexico. I have collected fabric for its patterns and for its colors—earthy and tonal, with a surprise shot of color and riotous color. It seemed natural to begin to incorporate pattern into my ceramics.

When I started this work in 1981, my patterns were simply stripes and dots. Over the years, I’ve added layers of color and patterns. I like to juxtapose pattern with other patterns. I love the feeling of going almost too far with a piece and saving it by reining it in a bit, or by pushing it a bit further.

Wilson: What details of family and personal life have had important influences on your clay career?

Wilson: You are prolific with your dinnerware and tiles. What other kind of work have you done in clay?

Reese: I work with stoneware for my sculptures.

I fire them to cone 4 or 5. The sculpture is figurative—people and animals. I made sculpture first, and later started to make the dinnerware and platters. Over time, the sculpture seemed to influence the dinnerware and vice versa. I use the same slips on the sculpture, firing it to cone 4-5. It forms a tight bond—almost a matte glaze on the stoneware. As the dinnerware took off in popularity, the sculpture took a hiatus.

But I found when I came back to the sculpture that it always got better for the break.

Wilson: I know your tiles are installed in many houses across the nation and in commercial and public spaces like libraries, churches, and universities. I realize it was your tile I admired at the Austin Airport in the main concourse bathrooms. Doing so much work, you must have dealt with a variety of disasters in the studio.

Reese: Kiln disasters, meltdowns, frozen cones, and exploded pots all happen. Cracks happen.

Usually this all occurs when I am pressed to the wall for time. Check your kiln, set the timer, and don’t fire wet pots. I seem to have to learn these things over and over. What I like to do when the car breaks down, the fridge dies, and my orders just got cancelled anyway is to take a beach day. I don’t live anywhere near the beach, but beach means ‘relax’ to me. I pretend I’m at the beach, and read a book, take a walk, soak in a long bath, and get myself to the place where I am appreciating the good things in my studio and my life. From that place of appreciation, it is easier to tackle all those mini disasters, one by one.

Claudia Reese’s functional work, formerly wholesaled to as many as 200 galleries, is now offered directly via her Web site and retail shows.

Wilson: How did you figure out the business end of your clay work so well?

Reese: Necessity? Lucky timing? I had been teaching in colleges and universities for six years as a visiting artist. I finally decided, “enough!” I wanted to see if the things I’d

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Reese: My dad is a professor of philosophy, always on a quest for knowledge. His questioning helped me clarify my ideas for sculpture. My mom was the original “material girl” and passed on her discriminating tastes.

They took me and my two siblings traveling the world at young ages. Living in France, Argentina, and Spain helped open my mind to different lifestyles, food, music, and art.

I started my business when I was young and single. I could devote huge swaths of time to it, and that was necessary to get things going.

But things changed. I got married and now I have a son who is 17. When he was small, we went everywhere together. When he started school, it seemed OK to take him out to go and do a show. But as he got older it became more difficult to take him with me, and this pretty much coincided with my releasing the

wholesale side of my business. I needed to be here for him; he needed to be in school. I was single again and did not have family in this area as back-up. I needed to stay home. Now he is at the launching place in his own life, which will free him to his own path and me to change my direction again.

Perspectives I Beneath the Surface

Claudia Reese

by LANA Wilson

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Perspectives I Beneath the Surface CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

26

learned about ceramics could amount to money in the bank. I didn’t have a job at the moment and I was cleaning houses to pay the bills. I discovered that building a business can be every bit as creative as building a pot or a sculpture. I began doing the ACC wholesale shows and the whole thing kind of snowballed. I was astounded. At my first show, ACC in Dallas, Frank McIntosh of Henri Bendel came into my booth, bought everything there, and told me to send him 48 plates a month indefinitely. I thought I had died and gone to heaven! Buyers would be waiting in line to place orders, calling ahead of the shows to reserve space on my calendar. It was a wild ride—at one time I counted that I was selling to 200 galleries, shops, and stores. It felt like I was on a treadmill. I never stopped working.

There was always so much to do—kilns firing day and night. And I had a few international accounts. I had shows in Tokyo for five years, and was asked by a Japanese sportswear company to design fabric for their swimwear line. So I did. I did a show in Paris with the ACC. This was all happening in the boom glory years for American crafts, the years when galleries were opening everywhere. All the department stores had a “handmade” section and at one time or another, I sold to most of them. I did this for 25 years, when I finally said “enough!” I called all my accounts and told them no more wholesale. This coincided with the slowing time when galleries were closing. There were more street shows and the wholesale shows weren’t what they had been. During this time, my patterns had become increasingly complex and difficult to produce, so selling them for wholesale prices didn’t feel as good as it had. I began to do a few retail shows, sell from my Web site, and now have a couple of sales here in my studio each year. The frenetic pace slowed down a bit. Now I make a lot less money, but I have fewer expenses, too. I am now able to explore new ideas and make more sculpture again. I tend to work 9-4 during the week. I try to take Fridays off: windshield time, errands, meeting friends for lunch. But if there is a deadline or a crunch, I work through weekends and evenings. This past year, I built a new house—kind of a big clay pot—and got to put ceramic details everywhere.

It is my biggest sculpture, and it was so much fun.

Six years ago, a group of us here in Austin cofounded Art of the Pot (with Lisa Orr, Rebecca Roberts, Marion Haigh, and Ryan McKerley), a studio tour and sale held every Mother’s Day weekend in Austin. We invite potters from all over the country to come and show with us.

It has been a wonderful way to connect with our immediate community and with the larger

national community of potters. This event, one of four or five pottery events that I know of run by the potters themselves around the country, is part of a movement of potters to stage our own events.

Wilson: Tell us a few important things you have learned about business.

Reese: Pay attention to details. Be nice to everyone. Follow up on all contacts—you don’t know which one could be a big bonanza.

Whatever you are making, make sure that the aggregate, the final product, is worth more than the raw material.

Everything you do, think, and experience finds its way into your art, so in a way every expense could be seen as a business expense. There are many markets for artists out there: the art market, the craft market, the tile market, the green market, the architectural/building product market, and I’m sure there are more, too. They all have lots of subcategories and they overlap a great deal. You can tap into any and all of them. Just make whatever lets your heart sing, and people will respond.

Wilson: What is your sage advice about having studio assistants?

Reese: For me, more than two assistants is too many. I end up spending all my time instructing and/or correcting. Right now, I have one flex ¾-time assistant, and one who comes in a couple of hours a week to do office work. This leaves me time to actually do studio work, sculpture, and experiment with new ideas.

It’s always a balancing act. If you have an assistant, you have to bring in enough income to pay him/her, which means you have to work harder. On the other hand, if you have no assistants, you are limited to what you alone can produce. I find that with one studio assistant, the two of us can produce more than twice what just one of us can do, so for the moment, this is working out. It feels better now with fewer assistants than it did when I was in full production and had three or four or more assistants. Then I had to deal with scheduling, their personal problems, keeping the work flowing, and meeting deadlines in spite of everyone being out with the flu. It is the same as any micro business.

Wilson: What are your goals now, at this point in your clay saga?

Reese: My goal is to achieve balance, and this is a constantly shifting enterprise. I once did a sculpture called ‘Post Tao’—a female figure doing a headstand with her head balancing on

two books, the Tao of Physics and Emily Post’s Book of Etiquette. Life is like that. My mom sent me a quote from Gabriel Garcia Marquez that exhorted us all to be constantly reinventing ourselves. So right now, as my son heads off on his own, I am in the final stages of building a house—the house that has been in my head for years. The house is compressed earth block —raw dirt. I installed myriad ceramic elements.

I made chimney pots, base and crown molding, murals, pond tiles, sinks, floor tile rugs, and bathroom and kitchen tiles. I am thinking I would like to make ceramic architectural details for other people’s houses, too. My assistant and I are keeping our dinnerware and tile work going while I work on two large commissions: one for a library and another for a private home.

Wilson: Has working so hard dimmed your enthusiasm for being in the studio?

Reese: I can say that right now I am very happy in the studio and enjoying coming up with new ideas, playing with glazes and different forms, and making sculpture. But there was a time, just before I cut off all the wholesale, that I would walk into the studio and have to walk out again. I couldn’t stand to be there. I couldn’t even look at my work, which was hard because it was everywhere: dinnerware in my kitchen; tiles all over the house; dinnerware at all my friends’ houses. It felt like the end of the world.

But when I cut out the production, stopped wholesale, took a break and made a new plan, it came around again. I had been going full-tilt boogie for 20 years. And out of the chaos (there is great energy in chaos)came a new order.

Reconciliation came by cutting back both expenses and income, and refocusing on what I loved about my work and studio, which is playing with pattern, color, and combinations and making simple, strong forms to carry all the pattern. I had the opportunity to do a number of large commissions, each of which had different challenges and possibilities, problems, and solutions. I reengaged. A big part of it was making the time for sculpture.

But I would have to admit that I am a Type A personality: I like to have many projects going on, whether in the studio, or the garden, or the house. Also, taking a vacation (eureka!) helps.

Getting away, going skiing or traveling, takes me out of myself. I come back refreshed.

See more of Reese’s work or contact her for a workshop at www.cera-mix.com. [

Lana Wilson’s e-mail is: lana@lanawilsoncom.

Her new (finally!) Web page is: www.lanawilson. com.

In Form I Teaching Techniques

A Baking Dish Project with

Thrown Handles TEXT & PHOTOS

by BILL van GILDER

Necessary Supplies a 2-lb. piece of clay a small bat a small sponge some water an under-cut tool a straight-edged rib tool a wire knife a 1" diameter cookie cutter a small square board a cut-off wire a trimming tool Optional:

O

ne of my goals as an instructor is to provide students, over a period of time, with a ‘tool box’ of techniques and efficient short cuts. That’s some of the hands-on part of my teaching philosophy.

Equally important is talking about the history of our craft and directing them to visit museums and collections.

Or at least, introduce them to the books and magazines that illustrate the old pots I talk about and describe as my constant source of inspiration.

Web sites about pots and potters are another easily accessible source younger students seem to jump onto quickly. Likewise,

contemporary pots are always of interest and I often bring a pot—or two or three pots—to class from my household collection that exhibit a point I’m trying to make within the current class project.

Though my columns in Clay Times are generally about how to teach the making of pots, I feel strongly that over time, the bigger picture of our craft should be continually addressed: the occasional slide show or DVD, an interesting Web site address provided, an invitation to a local gallery opening … there’s a lot out there to share with students. They’ll be glad you did. But now, back

to teaching another potmaking technique.

The Project This thrown and slightly squared small baking dish (Fig.1) is an easy project which can be completed in two classes of making and finishing. It’s within the skill range of beginners at the wheel or, at an increased size, can challenge your more advanced students.

At a 2-lb. weight, the baker is ideal for individual servings of scalloped potatoes, baked macaroni or onion soup. Make the baker with 3, 4, or 5 lbs. of clay and the dish becomes your often-used, oven-to-

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

a wiggle-wired cheese cutter a fettling knife an old credit card a foam-covered trimming bat

Fig. 1

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In Form I Teaching Techniques CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

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Fig. 2

Fig. 5

Fig. 8

Fig. 3

Fig. 6

Fig. 9

Fig. 4

Fig. 7

Fig. 10

table baking dish. There are lots of ways to use this comfortable looking pot once it gets into the kitchen.

make and as uniform as possible … at least ¼". Three-eighths inch is better. Why? Making ovenware sturdy and a bit ‘chunky’ is better than making it with paper-thin walls.

The stress that an ovenware pot continually goes through as it heats up and cools down is abusive! An evenly thrown and slightly thicker-walled form will take that constant wear-and-tear much more readily. Also, make sure that the inside edge of the rim is slightly rounded rather than sharply angled.

There’s less chance of chipping when your baking dish is in use.

area between your thumbs and fingertips (Fig. 2). Slowly draw the rim outward, flattening it at the same time. The outer rim edge will need to be ¼" thick … again, to prevent chipping. The flat top of the rim will be about an inch wide.

With your wheel set up, your tools and clay at hand and your class gathered, describe the project: “The small baking dish I’m going to make is made in three basic steps— throwing the form, creating the handles at the rim and lightly trimming, or ‘skimming’ the base edge round.”

Throwing the Dish As you throw your demo dish, remind students to be extra aware of the thickness of the floor and wall as they open and pull the clay upward. They’ll need to be slightly thicker than those of the average pot we

Attach a small bat to the wheelhead, then center and open your 2-lb. ball of clay. As you open, create a flat floor 5" to 6" in diameter.

Now, using two or three pulls, raise the wall 2½" to 3" high. Stop your pull ½" short of the rim and capture all the surfaces of the rim

Use a straight-edged rib to smooth and level the top rim surface you’ve just created (Fig. 3). Then, undercut a bevel at the foot of the dish, removing the excess clay from the base area around the form. Now use a short, straight rib tool to flatten and smooth the outside wall. The short end of an old credit works well here (Fig. 4).

You can cut the form in half with a cut-off wire at this point to illustrate the uniform cross-sections of the wall and floor of the pot (Fig. 5). Then, quickly throw another dish

Now let your dish dry until it’s very soft leather-hard. During the next few making steps the shape of the rim will be bent and altered, so you have to carefully control the drying at this point. You’ll want to dry the dish until the wet tackiness of the clay is gone, allowing you to press it into a squared shape without cracking the rim. When your dish has reached that dry point, re-center the bat with your baking dish attached to the wheelhead.

Cutting the Handles With your cut-off wire stretched tightly between your hands and held across the very center of the dish, lower it and touch the rim lightly, marking it at the 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock positions. Now, rotate the wheel about 3" and mark the rim again at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock (Fig. 6). The short distances between marks—3" in this case— define the length of the handles.

Immediately after marking the rim, pick up your round cookie cutter and punch it downward through the flat rim at the outside of each of the four marks (Fig. 7).

Punch through two-thirds of the flat width of the rim—no more. You don’t want to cut into the wall of the dish below the rim.

Altering the Rim You have several choices when deciding how to alter and re-shape the rim of your

With a small square board positioned between the two handles and held nearly upright against the wall of the dish, press the wall inward until the rim is nearly straight (Fig. 9). When in position, the bottom edge of your board will be resting on the bat. Carefully remove the board, rotate the dish and press the other side inward.

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As you near the finishing steps of your demo, you might share with students, “For some curious reason, a squared or ovalshaped form is always very popular with the buying public. Why? Maybe it’s as simple as … they’re more interesting to look at when compared to a round shape!” I just know, after making and selling so many pots for so many years, it’s a fact.

Finishing Now, wire-cut your baking dish from its bat and lightly sponge and soften the cut-rim edges. Let your dish dry until it’s stiff leather-hard. Then flip it over onto a foam-padded bat and onto the wheel head.

Center it and trim, or ‘skim’ the base edge round and smooth.

“Once you’ve mastered the making of this small-sized baking dish, increase the weight and size of the next dish you make. You can also create a gallery at the inside rim of the dish and leave it round rather than squaring it. Make a shallow, handled lid to fit … and you’ve made a lidded casserole (Fig. 10). But these simple, subtle handles are the key to keeping this dish easy to make. Let’s go to work!” [

Bill van Gilder has been a full-time potter since the 1960s and teaches pottery-making workshops. He may be reached by e-mail at vangilderpottery@earthlink.net. His potters’ tool line, van Gilder Tools, is available via the Clay Times online store at www. claytimes.com, or by calling toll-free 1.800.

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CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Next, with a wire knife in hand and your hand braced firmly against the top of the wheel tray, cut away the longer, flat portions of the rim by slowly revolving the wheelhead. Start each of the two long cuts by positioning the wire upright and within one of the punched-out holes. Revolve the wheel slowly and stop the cut when the wire reaches the next hole (Fig. 8). If a wire knife isn’t part of your toolbox, you can use a fettling knife to make a shallow cut first, then a second and a third cut through the rim. A third option is to use a wiggle-wired cheese cutter. The corrugated lines created by the wiggle wire can add some additional interesting texture to the outside wall of your dish (as in Fig. 1).

dish. Give students these options: Leave the dish rim rounded as is … or, slightly oval the rim with your hands held open and lightly pressing each side of the dish inward. Or here’s another option (my favorite):

In Form I Teaching Techniques

CLAY TooLS & ReFeReNCe MATeRIALS

and continue with the demo. Don’t wirecut your baking dish from the bat now. That will come after the next two steps.

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Handbuilt National Exhibition

Teapot by Kathryn Finnerty. One of several works on exhibition in Wayne, Pennsylvania as part of the first national handbuilt conference this fall.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

A

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variety of works by nationally known handbuilders currently working in the field of ceramics across the U.S. is on exhibition September 13-October 11 at the Wayne Art Center in Wayne, Pennsylvania.

This invitational show has been organized

by Sandi Pierantozzi in conjunction with “Handbuilt,” the first national conference dedicated specifically to handbuilding.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF).

The rich collection of pots represented in the show features a dynamic range of forms, encompassing a wide variety of handbuilding techniques and surface designs. From

quiet, contemplative surfaces to highly embellished and exuberant decoration, this show promises to be a visual feast.

Participating artists are: Mary Barringer, Hayne Bayless, Margaret Bohls, Virginia Cartwright, Jimmy Clark, William Daley, Kathryn Finnerty, Michele Ginouves, Gail Kendall, Maren Kloppmann, Allison McGowan, Jenny Mendes, Lisa Naples, Sandi Pierantozzi, Kari Radasch, Holly Walker, Lana Wilson, and Liz Zlot Summerfield.

Tune into the November/December issue of Clay Times for helpful tips and techniques from “Handbuilt” conference presenters. [

Opposite page: A sampling of works featured in the Handbuilt National Exhibition.

Clockwise from top left: Butter Dish by Kari Radasch; Large Planter and Table by Michele Ginouves; Beacon Bowl by Holly Walker; Floral Box with Brick by Liz Zlot Summerfield; Cream & Sugar by Hayne Bayless.

About the Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) The mission of CERF is to strengthen and sustain the careers of craft artists across the United States. CERF is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization and is the only one of its kind in the United States. CERF accomplishes its mission through direct financial and educational assistance to craft artists, including emergency relief assistance, business development support, and resources and referrals on topics such as health, safety, and insurance. CERF also advocates, engages in research, and backs policy that supports craft artists’ careers. For more information, log onto: www.craftemergency.org.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

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CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

ERIK HAAGENSEN PHOTO

Carbon Trap Raku STORY & TECHNIQUE PHOTOS BY RICK BERMAN

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I

can’t actually remember how I first came to experiment with this technique, but according to my slide records I’ve been going back and forth with it since about 1996. Any clay will work, but I tend to use either a white bisque raku clay or B-Mix, which is what you see in the photos.

Preparation The first step is to dip the pot about halfway into the standard 80/20 Gerstley Borate, Nepheline Syenite clear crackle raku glaze.

Next, a metal container (coffee-can size for small pots, and bigger cans for larger pots) is filled about half-way with very dry sawdust (available from a sawmill or Home Depot sawing station), and tamped down very hard with your fist. Then more sawdust should be added and tamped down again so that the can is back to about half full.

The pot should now be pushed into the sawdust so it makes a firm connection and doesn’t seem too wobbly, as we would like the pot to stay upright as the sawdust turns to ash. It is imperative at this point that there is a space between the sawdust line and the glaze line because if the sawdust touches the glaze, it won’t melt and will consequently rub off after the firing. The pot can stick out of the can several inches without being a problem.

Firing

The soot on the raw glaze is randomly trapped in the clear glaze as it melts, rendering beau-

As with any experimental process there could be an unlimited number of spinoffs from this starting point. [

Author Rick Berman may be reached via e-mail at: rberman@paceacademy.org.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Results

tiful black glazed areas. The line between the glaze and sawdust lines reoxidizes back to white, and the sawdust bottom stays black because it is protected from reoxidizing by the sawdust ash bed in which it rests.

ERIK HAAGENSEN PHOTO

Now for the firing: The can or several cans can be fired at once, depending on the size of your kiln. I use an Olympic crank -up Raku kiln, but any kiln will work. The kiln is started slowly and dampered until a very heavy reduction is obtained. The combination of the very heavy reduction and the sawdust catching on fire and making a lot of smoke will cause the pots to have a noticeable amount of black soot accumulation on the raw glaze. Once this occurs, the kiln can be fired normally until the glaze is visibly glossy and molten, which will probably be at about 1800° F, at which time the kiln can be shut down. The firing time from start to finish should be roughly 30 to 45 minutes, or whatever your normal raku schedule is. The cans may now be removed from the kiln and set on the ground, but don’t take the pot from the can because if the pot is set on a combustible material, the black sawdust line could be lost. I like to spray the can and pot together just as they were positioned when in the kiln, until they are cool enough to touch.

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Saggar-fired Porcelain Vase by Dick Lehman. 9" tall.

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Conversations: Dick Lehman STORY AND PHOTOS BY JOE CAMPBELL

I spent some time with Dick Lehman at my home in October 2008, when he was teaching a workshop with my students at Frederick Community College. Dick has owned and operated his Pottery in Goshen, Indiana for more than 25 years, and is well known throughout the clay community for his fine work as well as his insightful writings. For more biographical information and images of his work, log onto: dicklehman.com.

Influences Joe: Could we first talk about what you feel are the most important influences on your career and your work, please?

At many times over the years, I’ve really felt kind of alone—an outsider if you will—without formal ceramics training.

When I was about one year out of college, a friend loaned me the Susan Peterson book about Shoji Hamada. I think that one of the most important facets of her book is that she portrayed Hamada as someone who had truly dedicated his life to the making of pots, and that it was a more than worthy calling. Now, as you know, my background is in the Mennonite tradition. I even studied at the seminary for three years. One of the hallmarks of the Mennonite faith is a service-oriented lifestyle—like social work, nursing, or teaching. To pursue a career in the arts really felt quite self-indulgent to me, so this choice was not something that came easily to me. In fact, it was not something that I fully trusted initially. But her book spoke of Hamada and his calling in such a convincing way that it really gave me the first tentative “OK” to try this.

Dick Lehman demonstrates his throwing & altering techniques during a workshop at Frederick Community College in October, 2008.

Wheel-thrown vase. 5" tall; rope-textured, expanded and squared; carbon-trap glaze. Ash-shaken and side-fired on seashells; reduction-fired to cone 10.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Dick: One of my earliest influences was surely Marvin Bartel, my first Ceramics Professor at Goshen College. I think the most important gift that he gave to many of his students was the freedom to experiment—without any real limitations. At an exhibition that included many of his former students several years ago, in honor of his retirement, many of us spoke of this same gift. We would ask him a “what do you think would happen if” question, and he would always say “try it and see.”

There was never any sense of caution or limitation. It speaks

to an important assumption at the heart of my career—that I don’t know everything, and one’s experimentation can collaboratively benefit us all. I had four or five ceramics classes with Marvin, but I really came to this career with no ‘formal” art education background at all. As a result, throughout the years, even including today, my approach is often very practical and pragmatic—a “try it and see” method.

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When I first started making pots full-time, I was looking around for “models”—for some assurance that a career like this could really happen. There were three or four people that stand out from this period: John Glick—For many of us in the early ’70s John’s career was almost mythological: an eightyear waiting list to buy his dinnerware? Even if only half true, this was a real sign that at least one person had figured out how to make this work.

John Leach—What I got from Glick was the assurance that “it can be done,” but from Leach I got the sense that you can also become part of a larger tradition. I corresponded with John a lot during that early period in my business, and he was very kind and gracious. In short, he really gave me a sense of assurance that what I had been doing was already quite successful, and to trust my judgement and move on.

Robin Hopper—Along with the two Johns, Robin was very kind to me. Looking back, I think I was really a pest to all of them in many ways, but none of them pushed me away. I really looked to them as my teachers. Robin was very gracious to include my work in his publications, and this was very affirming.

Jack Troy—Soon after I met Jack for the first time, he invited me to fire with him, and that inclusion and invitation started a long and valued friendship. This again was an affirmation; that invitation to “come along” was very meaningful.

Design

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Joe: Is there a person, place, event—whatever— that you feel has had a major impact on the design of your work?

36

Dick: In 1992 I made my first trip to Japan, and Japan has surely been a great influence on my work from a design standpoint. I think I have been guilty over the years of over-rating, overindulging myself in, over-respecting Japanese pottery. This is not meant in any way to be disrespectful, but perhaps to point out my naïveté in some ways. There are many cultures and places all around the world that have made wonderful pots, but I was, at least early in my career, a “Nihonophile.” However, I think my relationship and friendship with Shiho Kanzaki has been instrumental in developing a richer and fuller understanding of Japanese pottery.

I’ve fought for a long time with the concept of

Wheel-thrown vase. 6” tall. Rope-textured and expanded; carbon-trap glazed, ash-shaken and side-fired on seashells; reduction-fired to cone 10.

“Quiet Beauty,” and it seems Kanzaki was the perfect person for me to spend time with. Look at his pots: they are some of the “loudest” and have the most complex surfaces of any of the Japanese pottery traditions. I have not been comfortable with my own work being “quiet.” Take my side-fired wall vases—they’re exuberant, they’re loud. I remember Mr. Kanzaki’s teacher—Mr. Matusuyama—chastising Karl Beamer and me by saying, “Remember the vase is for the flowers, the flowers are not for the vase.” That said—I can’t not make those exuberant pieces. I’m far too interested in

the beautiful, complex, and maybe even overstated surfaces—to not work with them. My design sense seems to tend toward working with the “unpredictable.”

My side-fired pots, my saggar pots, my wood-fired works—all have that element of process-driven discovery about them.

As I told your students over the past two days, doing this kind of work has enlarged my visual literacy—my comprehension of beauty. These are works that are gorgeous and beautiful to me now, pots that I never would have embraced 20 years ago.

Also, about a year or so ago I was speaking to a friend about Hamada and how he had made such an incredible career making “common” pots— most importantly, how he had transcended the “commonness” by careful attention to details and by the repetition of both forms and brushwork. People loved his work for that very reason. I said to myself, “I wish I could be like Hamada”—where my work would have a “common” recognizable style, steeped in humility and repetition, and that it would keep on growing and getting better.

Then it dawned on me that this is very much what has happened in my production career. In the production studio, I’ve repeated forms thousands of times, and I utilize a leaf-and-vine decoration that I’ve practiced now for 30 years! That decoration has always been the same, yet it is always different, always changing. My production work has built a career around a simple decorative motif that I just kept enjoying! And just to be clear—I am attempting no comparison between myself and Hamada.

What I discovered, I suppose, is that we all have an opportunity to choose some of the same values that motivated Hamada’s work: passion, repetition, and attention to detail—appropriating those values into our own lives, work, and temperaments.

Patrons Joe: Are there ways that you see your patrons or “customers” influencing your work?

continued on page 58

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Dick: Because my production studio and gallery serve such a regional population, there are people who have been buying my pots for 30 years. Now this may sound a bit cliché, but there is a feeling that the work we put on the shelves in the gallery is not complete until it has been chosen, and appropriated for the buyer’s intended use. There

church, and historically, at the heart of this “Reformation” culture is a “distrust of things Above: Wheel-thrown vase. 5½" tall. Wood-fired for 15 days with visual”—of things that aren’t Chinese Elm; all-natural ash glazing. Upper right: Detail view of above. clear, simple, and explicit. I think this is reflected in the music, the architecture, even up having done no real studio have been countless occasions ceremony—keeping of all things work for months. Irrespective of when the work we do becomes a plain and simple—certainly not Bowl. 10" diameter. Red slip trailing how I might think or feel about overtly beautiful. But that said, participant in a very compelling and blue glass runs; wood-fired. part of someone’s life. This is President Ahmadinejad, it was there is also an appreciation empowering to have my work one of the things that keeps me of things functional, durable, given this kind of voice, and to perfectly happy making these serviceable, and perhaps above have the pots be active even production pieces. all else—an appreciation of when I couldn’t be. I’ve had at good craftsmanship. I find these concepts to be not all that One of many examples: My friend times in my career, this sense of different from the “Mingei” or Ron Flaming, is one of the main guilt—having left the profession of the ministry or service, to folk art traditions in Japan—the fellows in the Mennonite Central tradition of anonymity, to not Committee. This is a peace and “indulge” myself in the life of an draw attention to the “self.” justice—service and relief agency artist. What a complete reversal of fate—precisely because I was Our work at the Goshen studio that functions worldwide, and a potter—that I would have is very much in keeping with Ron was to be part of a delegation access to communicate my these sorts of functional and that was to go to Iran and meet with President Ahmadinejad. hopes for justice, peace and serviceable concepts. Yet, when new beginnings to the Iranian you strip it all down, what I am Ron wanted to take some of most interested in is beauty. A my oil lamps as gifts. What an President and other religious and beauty that not only brings joy, opportunity! Curiously enough, civic leaders in Iran. but a beauty that challenges he called back several days later people—to look deeply into the asking if I could perhaps put work to find something of, and into writing what my best hopes Physical and Cultural for, themselves. The high calling where for how these gifts would Environment of a production potter, I think, is be received. So I composed a to make wares that function well, prayer/poem that accompanied the lamps that was translated Joe: Are there ways that “where are durable and long lasting, but at the same time are sublimely and read at the presentation. you live and work” seem to have beautiful. That’s the challenge.

Even more odd was the timing of an impact on your work? this all—it came at a time when At times I’ve felt really out of I had been at home recuperating Dick: We’ve already spoken step with many other American from my stem cell transplant several times about my cancer therapy, essentially laid background in the Mennonite potters who have had a

37

25th Year of Sierra Nevada College Workshops Yields Helpful Artist Tips & Techniques

T

his 25th anniversary year brought in record-breaking attendance for the Visiting Artist Workshops program of Sierra Nevada College at Lake Tahoe, Nevada. “Every workshop went exceptionally well, with phenomenal artists and great students,” said Sheri Leigh O’Connor, workshops director. This small liberal arts college, located in Incline Village within walking distance of the north shore of Lake Tahoe, has been hosting top ceramic artists for a quarter of a century, including: Linda Arbuckle, Rudy Autio, Tom Coleman, Malcolm Davis, Ken Ferguson, Glenn Grishkoff, Otto Heino, Yoshi Ikeda, Marilyn Levine, Richard Notkin, Fred Olson, Robert Piepenburg, Dan Rhodes, David Shaner, Richard Shaw, Jack Troy, and many more talented ceramists too numerous to mention.

The 2009 summer season again featured a host of workshops by master clay artists, many of whom have been generous enough to share their tips here in Clay Times:

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Nancy Selvin: Handbuilding

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Marc Lancet: Stretched Slabs • For slab-built forms with interesting texture, try impressing the slabs with a variety of texture tools.

Then “throw” the slabs out on a porous surface to thin out and distort the texture into an interesting stretched texture.

• To make removable armatures for handbuilding, cut soft, flexible pillow foam into your desired shape with an electric carving knife.

• Replace the [now unavailable] Print Gocco with non-toxic, instant silk screens by Stencil Pro. This material is unframed, flexible, and easy to use and clean up.

• Layer underglazes on greenware, brush thickly, and once-fire to cone 1.

Randy Brodnax and Don Ellis • Try using clay shapers (a.k.a. “rubber nipples”) for decorating pots. They are sold in art supply stores and some ceramic stores. They look like paintbrushes, but they have pointed rubber tips. They create smooth lines on your pots.

Nick Joerling: Lids & Sticks • Some lids, made for wheel-thrown and altered jars, have a tendency to warp away from the jar opening.

Once the pot is made, fit the lid to the pot to get them drying together as soon as possible. Using rubber bands that have some width, cross two rubber bands, one each from the lid rim to the opposite side of the pot body, so that they intersect in the middle of the pot. This keeps pressure on the lid and pot throughout the drying process. Remove the bands before bisque firing. I don’t do the following, but it might be useful to either lightly dust with ball clay the area where lid and jar meet, or put light plastic there to prevent the lid from sticking to the pot.

• A wedge-shaped cosmetic sponge makes a fabulous glaze tool—it wipes a very straight line along the foot rim and gets in those small spaces. It also works great for greenware details.

• Trace the tips of your calipers in your notebook after measuring your lid and flange. This way, if you drop the calipers or someone borrows them, you can readjust them to the proper size.

Charlie & Linda Riggs: Naked Raku 1. Mask off parts of your pot with blue pre-taped 24" drop cloth (3M PTD209024B). This is great for raku where you may want top and bottom to remain unglazed for a nice black in the reduction bin.

2. Tape off areas that you wish to remain black with the above pre-taped plastic drop cloth.

3. Mix together the following (1 part=1 cup) to get a smooth slip the consistency of thick cake batter:

Naked Raku Pop-off Slip Lincoln Fire Clay EPK Alumina Hydrate

• A kitchen spoon, preferably bamboo, can make a fine throwing stick.

For very narrow openings, cut a section out of the spoon to allow entry into the pot. Anticipate the direction of your wheel’s rotation, and make sure the convex part of the spoon is what will contact the interior wall.

5 parts 3 parts 2 parts

4. Dip your pot into the pop-off slip and slowly lift out. Remove tape with plastic drop cloth, and immediately place in a raku kiln. Fire slowly to 500° F until moisture vaporizes from pot’s surface.

Christa Assad: Tool Tips

Bill van Gilder: Wax Decoration

• Cut a kidney-shaped metal rid in half for a great right-angle rib that is easy to bend around tight curves and corners.

• When using commercial wax resist, water it down so that it’s 50/50. It will go on smoother, and save you money.

• Make your own personal damp box out of a large, lidded plastic tub. Cast (pour) a thin layer of plaster in the bottom, then thoroughly saturate the plaster to create a greenhouse effect inside.

• Dip your paintbrushes in liquid dish detergent before using them to decorate with wax or waxing the bottoms of your pots. This will keep the wax from sticking to the paintbrush, allowing easy clean-up.

• Hotel keys and old credit cards are great for cleaning up naked raku pots after firing. They don’t scar the clay or terra sigillata surface when scraping off debris.

• When throwing, use a wooden rib on the exterior of the pot to make your last pull. This will move extra clay from the bottom of the pot and smooth the exterior surface. [

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

5. Continue by fast-firing up to 1400° F. Remove pot with tongs and reduce with lots of newspaper.

39

40

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

BY marc ward

Y

our nose is similar to a part of your gas-fired kiln. No, it’s not brick-like and it doesn’t shoot fire like your burners. It’s your exit flue.

Like your nose, it’s made for breathing.

This problem seems to show itself more in updrafts than it does in downdrafts. It seems people look at updrafts like small raku kilns, and think, “The heat is rising, so I better hold it in.”

On a chemical basis, what’s going on in your body is sort of the same thing that’s going on in your kiln. You take in fuel (food), combine it with oxygen, and burn it. One of the by-products of this human combustion is carbon dioxide that you exhale through your nose. This same thing is going on in your kiln, although at a much more accelerated pace. You take fuel (propane or natural gas), combine it with oxygen, and burn it. Then the by-products exit through the kiln’s nose (the exit flue). What would your life be like if your nose didn’t work correctly?

Many people resist the idea of a 4" or 5" hole in the top of their kiln.

Here’s my standard reply: “Kilns are not insulated boxes that hold heat in—they are insulated boxes in which heat transfer takes place.”

When someone calls me with questions about their kiln and complains that it is too slow or fails to reach desired temperature, one of the first questions I ask is about the flue size.

The inside of a downdraft kiln doesn’t have a built-in chimney function like the updraft. It has to depend on a separate chimney. It’s just separate in the sense that it is not contained in the body or ware chamber of the kiln. The advantage of this is that the height of the stack creates a draft that helps pull the combustion gases out of the kiln.

It has to help because the downdraft is defying the natural order of things.

Heat rises, but the exit flue of the downdraft is at the bottom of the kiln. If the exit flue is a bit on the small side, it can

still work because of the pull induced by the chimney height. Many times it can be problematic getting the hot gases down to the bottom of the kiln to start the draft moving up the chimney (one of the disadvantages). However, once the process starts, downdrafts are more even and efficient than updrafts (one of the advantages).

Some kiln plans call for a small exit flue (an exit flue smaller than the combined size of the burner ports). This type of kiln can work just fine with atmospheric or Venturi burners that have the draft pulled through the kiln by the action and height of the chimney.

Just be aware that these small exit flues can cause a number of problems when you use forced-air burners. Instead of the chimney height pulling the draft through the kiln, you now have blowers pushing the draft through the kiln.

Think of it in terms of this analogy: it’s very hard to push a thread through the small opening of the eye of a needle, but once it’s through the eye, pulling the thread is very easy. If you find yourself with a forced-air kiln that has a small exit flue and it stalls or is very sluggish, you may need to increase the height of your chimney so you can start doing some pulling along with your pushing. [

Marc Ward is owner and operator of Ward Burner Systems, PO Box 1086, Dandridge, Tennessee 37725. He invites you to sign up for his free newsletter, and can be reached by phone at 865.397.2914 or through the online catalog and Web site at the following address: www. wardburner.com.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Imagine your life if your nostrils were half the size they are now. That hike in the mountains or your morning jog wouldn’t be as pleasant. Yet I see people making this same mistake when they are designing their kilns. They think, “Hey, I want to hold in all this heat I’m putting into the kiln.” Well, that’s the same as thinking, “I need to hold in all the air I’m breathing as I run up this hill, so I can use all the oxygen and not waste any.” So you hold your nose, and pass out! What goes in must come out.

If what goes in can’t get out, you can’t get more in. You’ll fall down, or your kiln will stall.

Transfer is the key word. As the flame moves through the kiln, it transfers its heat, mostly by radiation, to the inside of the kiln and the ware. But once most of the heat is transferred from this mass of burning gases, the by-products have to leave to make room for the burning gases that are continuing to come in right behind them. The more that comes in, the more the spent gases need to exit and get out of the way. The updraft kiln is, by its very nature, is a ware chamber inside a chimney. The downdraft kiln has advantages and disadvantages when compared to the updraft.

Shop Talk I Firing

A Breath of Fresh Air

41

Readers Share I Art Works

The Gallery Have your work considered for publication in The Gallery! Please send a high-quality color print, slide, or 1050-x-1500-pixel (minimum) digital image to: The Gallery, Clay Times, P.O. Box 365, Waterford, VA 20197. Be sure to include your name, address, telephone number, Web and/or e-mail address, type of clay, glaze, firing method, and dimensions of the work. (Enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope for photo/slide return.)

CLAYTIMES¡COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Difficult Decisions. 15" x 11" x 17". Handbuilt cone 6 stoneware with glaze and glass additions. Benjie Heu, Associate Professor of Art/Ceramics, Department of Art, Holland School of Visual and Performing Arts, Southeast Missouri State University, One University Plaza MS 4500,Cape Girardeau, MO 63701. E-mail: bheu@semo.edu.

42

Alternant Watering Can. 12" x 7" x 4½". Wood-fired stoneware with Mason stains, steel, and wood. Aaron Calvert, 2060 Elaine Circle, Arkadelphia, AR 71923.

E-mail: ceramiccal@hotmail.com.

Sweet Ride. 25" x 12" x 36". Cone 03 terracotta and cone 7 porcelain with Mason stains, fabric, wood, felted wool, cast glass, nylon flock, paint. Magda Gluszek, 560 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. E-mail: missmagdag@yahoo.com. Web site: missmagdag.com.

Readers Share I Art Works

The Gallery

Ouroboros. 26" x 8" x 9". Low-fire white clay, handbuilt solid, then hollowed out. Decorated with glaze, stain, slip, platinum gold luster, (white) flock.

Fired twice to cone 04 and cone 018 in an electric kiln. Roxanne Jackson, 1910 1st Avenue South, Apt. 6; Minneapolis, MN 55403.

E-mail: roxanne@roxannejackson.com; Web site: www.roxannejackson.com.

Fire Leaf Vase. 11½" x 7". Wheel-thrown B mix clay. Masked pattern, stripped, second glaze applied. Cone 10 reduction. Ray Massaccesi, 3655 Wagner Ridge Ct., Ann Arbor, MI 48103. E-mail: raymassi@yahoo.com.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Smoked Jar. 10½" x 7". White earthenware with burnished terra sigillata, fired in combustible materials in gas kiln.

Jeanne Bessett, 40 East Rocks Road, Norwalk, CT 06851.

43

Tucker’s Cone Art Kilns The Original True Cone 10 Kiln since 1982

Lift the lid with one finger on 10 sided models and larger.

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Angled control panel for easy viewing.

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Save 30% on your electricity bill. Longer element and relay life. Better for the environment.

For your next kiln make the responsible decision!

Tucker’s Cone Art Kilns

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Visit our websites: www.coneartkilns.com • www.tuckerspottery.com or call: 1 800-304-6185 • 1 905-889-7705

44

GREAT NEW PRODUCTS—including expanded back issue collections on CD—now available at the Clay Times® online store!

www.claytimes.com Your one-stop shop for CT subscriptions & renewals, new potter’s T-shirt designs, potters’ books & tools, and much more

review by steven branfman

The Potter’s Studio Clay & Glaze Handbook

by Jeff Zamek • Quarry Publishers Paperback • $24.99

A

t first glance, I was struck by the pleasant appearance of this book but at the same time a bit disappointed by the all-too-common components of its title. “Another book on clays and glazes,” I thought. For joy.

Then I noticed the name of the author and realized that this is likely not your common, average treatment of the same old stuff. In fact, I had been anticipating the arrival of the book, having been consulted about it a few times during its writing. Disappointed? Not in the least!

The Potter’s Studio Clay & Glaze Handbook is a handsome book. The smooth, heavyweight cover and thick glossy pages feel good in your hand, are easy on the eyes, and will last a long time in the messy environment of the pot shop. That’s a good thing, because you will find yourself going back to it time after time. The book is organized into four sections. In “Setting Up Shop,” the author lays out some simple strategies for designing an efficient

Following these four major parts are three appendices. “Going Into the Pottery Business” gives the reader some very

practical and crucial information on business practices, marketing, designing a line of work, and sales opportunities.

“Clay and Glaze Formulas” is a unique presentation of over 40 formulas that includes a photo of a piece followed by both its clay body and glaze(s) recipes. The final appendix is a carefully chosen and well-stocked glossary.

Because of the unique and unusual style of The Potter’s Studio Clay & Glaze Handbook, it might be easier to explain what it is not than what it is. It is not a comprehensive encyclopedia of technical ceramics. It is not a complete dictionary of ceramic terminology. It is not a book of clay body and glaze recipes. It is not like any other book you have ever seen. Rather, it is a carefully chosen set of subjects and topics that are all of critical importance to the practicing potter. It is detailed but not encumbered with jargon, and is well written in a user-friendly and concise style. It is profusely illustrated with color images throughout.

The Potter’s Studio Clay & Glaze Handbook is not for everybody. It’s only for you if you want a clean, well-thought-out book by an esteemed ceramic technician that will give you answers and insights into many of the everyday questions and problems that we face in our studios on a regular basis. I don’t know about you, but that describes me pretty well! Clear off a space on your shelf, your desk, in your office, on your work table, or on the counter of your glaze room. This book should be coming to your studio real soon. [ Steven Branfman is an accomplished potter, author, and teacher of pottery and ceramics at Thayer Academy in Braintree, Massachusetts. He is the proprietor of The Potters Shop and School and may be reached by phone at 781.449.7687 or via e-mail at sbranfpots@aol.com.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Subtitled “An Essential Guide to Choosing, Working, and Designing with Clay and Glaze in the Ceramic Studio,” the book is a collection of topics that together offer a unique manual for the serious potter and student of clay. The author is the consummate professional, an accomplished potter, ceramic technical wizard, and experienced teacher with BFA/ MFA degrees from Alfred University. Zamek also holds another degree in business, and is a writer with a long list of published articles. Oh, I almost forgot ... Zamek is also the author or two previous books that have become standard references: What Every Potter Should Know, and Safety in the Ceramics Studio. But enough about past accomplishments.

and well-organized studio and working spaces. He talks about workflow, storage, work surfaces, shelving, ventilation, utilities, and more. There is even a short primer on potter’s tools to help you get started. In part two, “The Nature of Clay,” Zamek offers complete and well-rounded discussions of clay from both a technical and mineralogical perspective and a functional, practical one. He gives us the necessary information that allows us to understand the chemical and geological properties of the materials that we use.

His presentation is like a conversation where the topics flow in and out of one another and are not limited to a single, confined aspect. This style of organization makes for a natural way to learn. The section includes the aforementioned discussion of materials, a comparison of premixed and self-mixed clays, choosing a ceramics supplier, the components of clay body formulas, testing clay bodies, and troubleshooting. Part three, “Glazes,” presents glaze chemistry in a whole new light. Zamek’s presentation is simple yet complete, technical yet down-to-earth, and so logical and sensible that even one with little or no previous technical knowledge can understand and begin using the information confidently and productively.

Also discussed are solubility and stability in the context of desirable glazes. There are instructions for testing glazes, with notes on the significance of firing conditions. The chapter contains sections on glaze techniques and troubleshooting.

Part four, “Heating Ceramic Materials” covers the many different aspects and effects that heat has on our materials, as well as kiln types, melting characteristics, atmospheres, and more. This chapter also contains a special treatment of the “S” crack phenomenon.

Resources I Books & Videos Hot Stuff I Events

The Potter’s Studio Clay & Glaze Handbook

4545

A Few Words About Juries

BY GREG SEIGEL

I

think we all have to face something here— nobody likes juries. Juries are intimidating groups of people who determine your fate.

Juries make you nervous. Juries make you sweat. I guess I should narrow my category for the purposes of this article and concern myself only with “Art or Craft” juries. These are the somewhat less significant form of jury that do not choose whether you live or die, but merely whether you get to take a chance at getting into that show or staying at home and counting your inventory. (OK, I guess if you’re in the group that stays home counting your inventory, you’re on the short list of surviving artists or craftsmen.)

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Juries cost a lot of money once you get hooked into them and the system they command.

You can’t do some things if you don’t pay your dues first—juries are the keepers of the keys to the club (or the fair) that you want to join. So how do you make the jury happy enough to let you join the club (or the fair)?

Of course you must follow the rules (which keep changing). Having good slides has now become a need for good digital images. One of the biggest changes has been the increased cost of making the jury happy.

46 46

It wasn’t long before I thought to call my buddy, Manfred, to see if he would be interested in helping me with this article. I assumed I had called him too early one day, as he answered my query with a stream of expletives. After a promise to pay for his bagel and coffee at a nearby bagel store, he explained to me that he had just received another rejection notice from yet another jury. We talked a bit about what was wrong with his work (nothing, in my estimation) and what was wrong with his digital photos (again, nothing). So what was wrong? I’ve talked with many buddies over the years about various shows and juries, and one of the most unfair aspects of so many shows is that “the fix is in.” What I mean is that many people are already juried in, even before you get your invitation to send your money and application form and images. “How can that be?” you might ask.

What happens is that the people who put on the shows already know the quality and dollar

value that many of their regular exhibitors are already bringing in—after all, they’ve got the numbers in front of them. But what do they know about you? Nothing. (Speaking of numbers, not only do you have to add up how much you spend on each entry, you have to add up all the shows you’ve entered.)

My personal “best” of juried show stories is about Cincinnati’s own “Summerfair.” I’ve been making pots for a living for well over 30 years now, and I used to live in Cincinnati. I did Summerfair even before I made my first pot, because for several years after college I painted (paintings, as opposed to walls) and made special handmade candles (a few of which my mother still has ... oh, well). My first Summerfair was around Mirror Lake in Mt. Adams, and I did sell a few candles. My first pottery show at Summerfair was quite an experience, as I brought only cups, all one-ofa-kind with brightly colored, low-fire electric kiln glazes. I think I sold about $300 worth, a fortune for me at that time. (A confession of my naivete was that I thought there should not be such a thing as a stupid paper label with a printed price on any of my pieces, so it was kind of difficult to remember the prices of all the pieces. Needless to say, I’ve learned a few things over the years.)

Over the years, I did every Summerfair. I think the jury recognized that I was, in fact, getting pretty good at what I did. Even when I moved to Kentucky I continued to do the show, and always enjoyed it (except for when it was at Riverfront Stadium). But then—after about 18 years or so—I got rejected! How could this be? I shrugged it off as a fluke, but then got rejected again the following year! And then, three more years after that! So following my five-year rejection streak, I quit applying for several years. But after hearing stories of how good the show was, I applied again—and again, a rejection! Then I was rejected the year after that! So, for the next two years, I didn’t apply.

Then again, I submitted two applications, with two rejections. I did this cycle three more times until several years ago, when I did the only thing I could think of that would make me happy about Summerfair. On the very cold day when the application arrived, I simply

walked right over to the wood stove in my kitchen, opened the door, and tossed in the application. Ah .... I finally figured out how to handle that particular jury! To this day, I have no idea why I can’t do Summerfair (I’d still love to, based on the stories I’ve heard about it) but I will never apply again. I’ve taken a stand, which is that if they want me there, they will have to invite me to take part. I don’t mind paying the fee for the show, but I will never pay them another penny in jury fees.

When I add up the amount I’ve given them over all my rejected years, the total is quite significant.

Of course I don’t want to appear bitter in any way, but my ranting caused me to think about my friend Emily, a normally positive and happy person. Manfred called her and asked her to join us for coffee, which she did.

We talked of all kinds of good things, like the outdoor sculpture show at the nearby winery, which she enjoyed a lot, and the current show at the winery art gallery. (A few words about Emily might be in order here. You’ve gathered that Manfred is kind of a grump, but Emily has a side to her that borders on the devious, and a sense of humor to go along with it.) She was of the opinion that juries are the best way any of us can succeed.

I asked her to clarify this statement, and she simply said that all of us have to be juried and are in fact juried by everybody all the time, and we all act as jurors all the time whenever we make our choices about things we do all the time. Coke® vs. Pepsi®, or what about beer vs. wine, or coffee vs. tea? Long-sleeve blouse today, or short? Study tonight, or party? “OK, I get it,” I said. And Manfred laughed. We all agreed we couldn’t come up with a solution to the jury dilemma. So we agreed to quit griping, and just live with it as well as we could.

Then Emily, with a devilish grin, said she could see a way to come out a winner in the jury quagmire. Many of you have heard of, and maybe even attended, a successful annual Christmas show. For years, our own local show has featured only 10 artists—the same 10 every year. Emily suggested that a way to profit from the jury system would be continued on page 58

Shop Talk I Tool Times

What’s New in Pottery Tools PART TWO • by VINCE PITELKA

Sherrill Mudtools

Mecca Pottery Tools

E

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

ach year when I investigate Stanley Hurst and his Mecca line new tools as I tour the of handcrafted pottery tools have exhibition hall at the NCECA become a standard fixture at NCECA conference, I always look forward conferences. Stanley specializes to the Mudtools booth. Michael in rollers, paddles, and stamps of Sherrill has consistently come up generous size featuring simple with very clever and innovative patterns and textures of saw cuts tools, and this year was no and gouges. The range of decorating exception. Most of us appreciate possibilities is limited, but it traditional studio tools made of represents Stan’s niche in the studio metal or wood, but Mudtools has clay tool market, and his products elevated brightly-colored plastic are popular. As of now Stan doesn’t into the realm of fine studio tools. I have a Web site and does not sell expect that almost all potters have through retailers, but you can usually some version of the wooden knife find him at NCECA and a few other in their toolbox, and everyone has venues, and you can reach him by a needle tool. The “Landshark” is a phone at 256.757.5614 or via e-mail combination hard-plastic modeling at shurst@hiwaay.net. knife and retractable folding needle tool, and is available in an impressive range of bright colors.

Bison Studios For anyone who travels with their pottery tools, the retracting needle I always enjoy seeing Phil Poburka is an especially nice feature (for at NCECA, displaying and selling me personally, it will significantly his Bison trimming tools (www.

The “Landshark” tool, available in a variety of bright reduce the frequency with which bisonstudios.com). Phil is an eccentric colors from Sherrill Mudtools, features a retractable I stab myself in the finger while of the first order, and a notable needle housed in a hard-plastic modeling knife. fishing through my toolbox)! The repository of information on all sorts needle snaps firmly in either the of antiquated and mostly practical retracted or extended position, and the quality of construction is mechanical technology. Even though his tools feature cutting edges consistent with the high standards of other Mudtools. composed of tungsten-carbide, one of the hardest materials known and a relatively modern material in the genre of tool-making, his Mudtools has their own new versions of the venerable cut-off wire. entire approach to design and manufacture features a fine craftsman’s The “Mudwire” features hard-plastic loops on either end that are sensibility of design and quality that seems from an earlier era. very comfortable to grasp with two fingers. This is a wire capable of cutting off the largest pot even if the clay has stiffened slightly. A discussion of Phil and his tools could fill a column, and I will do The Mudwire is available with a straight wire or a tightly coiled wavy that soon, but for now it is worth mentioning a new addition to his wire. The latter is unique in that it comes with the spring-coiled wire assortment of sgraffito tools. Commonly-used tools for doing fineunstretched. You stretch it to the extent you wish, controlling the line sgraffito include old ball-point pens, dental tools, and almost nature of the corrugated cut. If you like different variations of anything else that will inscribe an even line, but you rarely find a corrugations in cutting pots off the wheel or faceting the sides, custom tool dedicated to this purpose. The consistent problem with consider getting multiples and stretching each to a different extent. most of the improvised tools is that the tips are quickly abraded by

47

Scott Creek Extruders

SC033 XL Clay Gun

SC001 Clay Gun

2636 Pioneer Way East Tacoma Wa 98404 800-939-8783 Fax 253-922-5349 www.scottcreekpottery.com SC002 Clay Gun Die Kit

SC035 Clay Gun Shape and Coil Set

japanpotterytools.com

The Steve Tool ®

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Wild Texture on Pottery!

48

One Tool - Many Results www.graberspottery.com

SC034 Clay Gun Handle Die

SC036 Clay Gun Tile Trim Set

Graber’s “Steve Tool” Steve Graber (www.graberspottery.com) was not an exhibitor at NCECA, but was present showing the latest version of his “Steve Tool” for texturing clay on or off the wheel. He advertises “wild texture on pots,” and that is not an idle claim. His unique version of the traditional roulette features a series of star wheels and point wheels that can be interchangeably assembled on the provided handle to spin independently or rotate as a unit. Depending on the softness of the clay, the Steve Tool creates anything from a subtle “knurled” effect to a deep, aggressive texture that is bold and radical in appearance, as indicated in the photos pictured at right. It’s a lot of fun playing with the Steve Tool, and I am only beginning to discover the range of possibilities. It is especially interesting how the tool tends to “follow its own tracks” as it develops a texture up the side of a rotating pot, similar to the action of a machinist’s knurling tool on a metal lathe.

van Gilder Clay Tools

Scott Creek Pottery

for murrini work. This is simply the finest hand extruder to appear so far. Every part is superior to other versions I have used. The barrel end-caps screw on with large, hard plastic screw threads that are not prone to clog with clay, and the compound mechanical advantage in the handle assembly makes extruding completely effortless.

Euclid’s/Pottery Supply House I noticed some new tool offerings in the Euclid’s/Pottery Supply House booth (www. pshcanada.com), most notably a range of stainless-steel trimming and modeling tools that appear to be manufactured to standards of dental tools. These include an all-stainless-steel needle tool with a very fine point suitable for delicate work, and a series of double-ended ball-stylus tools with ends ranging from 1 mm to 4 mm in diameter. The ball stylus tools work well for sgraffito and are especially good for very fine detail modeling.

Serious participation in NCECA always approaches sensory overload. I don’t know how many times I walked through the exhibition hall talking to vendors and toolmakers. I tried to be thorough, but if there was a new or innovative tool that I neglected to mention in this column or the previous one, please e-mail me. [

Vince Pitelka is professor of clay at Tennessee Technological University’s Appalachian Center for Craft, an active participant on the Clayart Internet discussion group, and author of Clay: A Studio Handbook. You can contact Vince through his Web site at http://iweb.tntech. edu/wpitelka.

Above: The Steve Tool, available from grabers pottery.com, makes great impressions.

THE BONE

™

High-fire porcelain potter’s tool • 6½" x 1" approximate dimensions HANDMADE IN THE U.S.A. Will not wear out like wood!

For the past year I have been using the newest version of Scott Creek Pottery’s (www. scottcreekpottery.net) Super Duper Clay Gun for extruding small parts for handbuilding and for making patterned colored clay loaves

$20 includes shipping & handling e-mail: xgceramics@sbcglobal.net • tel: 818.779.0990

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Bill van Gilder had added some interesting rope rollers to his line of pottery tools available at www.claytimes.com. Impressed rope patterns have been used in ceramics since early Jomon pottery over 10,000 years ago, and remain a popular decoration today.

In some cases it works best to roll a section of rope across the clay surface, but Bill’s new rollers feature cotton cord tightly wrapped around a wood dowel core, with the rounded ends of the dowel extending beyond the wrapped section. This provides interesting ways of holding and rolling the tool, and some interesting effects that cannot be achieved with a loose piece of rope.

Shop Talk I Tool Times

the grit in the clay. Phil has introduced a sgraffito tool featuring a tiny ball of tungsten carbide bonded to the tip, which will retain its shape and size through many years of use. The tip is about 1/16" in diameter, but Phil says he can make them in other sizes at the customer’s request.

49 TheBone0309.indd 1

9/7/09 3:17:58 PM

The Slurry Bucket CODY GARCIA

Bisque Firing Tips • Before loading greenware to be fired, a good way to check the level of dryness (to prevent explosion within the kiln) is to touch the thickest part of the pot to the cheek on the side of your face. If the pot is cold to the touch, it’s best to set it aside and let it dry another day.

• If you dry your pots on top of a firing bisque kiln, don’t place them in the center of the lid—the weight of the pots, over time, can cause your lid to crack.

• Make your own bisque-fired clay spacers (small, reusable cubes 1" x 1" x ½" thick) for placement between nesting bowls during kiln loading to allow adequate circulation during your bisque firing. [ Send us your useful clay tips or techniques to share with our readers. Mail with your T-shirt size to: The Slurry Bucket, c/o Clay Times, PO Box 365, Waterford, VA 20197.



September 11-13, 2009 Greater Lansing Potters Guild, Haslett, MI September 27-October 3, 2009 Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN Ph: (865) 436-5860 • www.arrowmont.org

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October 23-25, 2009 Southern Arizona Clay Artists, Tucson, AZ Ph: (520) 615-9581 • www.sa-clayartists.org January 4-8, 2010 “Hands-On Functional Pots” Sierra Nevada College Incline Village at Lake Tahoe, NV Contact: Ph: (775) 881-7588 www.sierranevada.edu/workshops

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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How Much is Too Much?

by MONONA ROSSOL

I

’m going to borrow a letter in the “Question and Answer” section of Ceramics Monthly that I was shocked to read and have been wanting to comment on for several months. It was in the April, 2009 issue. It read: Question: At one of our cooperative meetings, one of our members complained about the headache she received when she was doing reduction firing. Then another member noted that she also had one after she was cleaning shelves in the electric kiln room.

We bought two carbon monoxide (CO) detectors and I mounted one in the electric kiln room and one in the gas kiln room. I set the CO detector so I could determine what the CO was doing each half hour of firing. It turned out that there was indeed CO in the rooms. Eureka! This is why our members were getting headaches, but I also had another way to evaluate the firing of the gas kiln. I could see that there was a direct correlation between the amount of reduction and the CO that I was measuring in the room. Plus I could tell that, when the CO was in the neighborhood of 200 ppm, I better not stay too long in the kiln area. I know the CO monitor operated differently than an oxygen probe, but could it be a useful tool in firing a reduction kiln?

— R.S. To be fair, Dave Finkelnburg, the technical editor, properly told R.S. that the answer to her questions was “no.” Not only was the CO monitor not a good tool for measuring kiln reduction, it was clear that the kiln room needed better ventilation. However, I feel a lot more could be said. These are the points I’d like to make.

2. CO LEVELS. The level mentioned in the letter, 200 ppm, is truly excessive. To support this contention, it is useful to look at the EPA 8-hour Air Quality Indexes in Table 1 on this page.

While these are the levels that are averaged over an 8-hour period, they will give you an indication of how excessive the peak reading of 200 ppm in R.S.’s kiln room was.

TABLE 1 EPA AIR QUALITY INDEX (AQI)- SUB INDEX FOR CO1 & OSHA PERMISSIBLE EXPOSURE LIMIT (PEL-TWA) ACGIH THRESHOLD LIMIT VALUE (TLV-TWA) EPA Descriptions

Good Moderate Unhealthy for sensitive groups Unhealthy Very unhealthy Hazardous

8-hour AQI in ppm

0-4.4 ppm 4.5-9.4 9.5-12.4 12.5-15.4 15.5-30.4 30.5-50.4

These AQIs were published in the Federal Register: 64 FR 42529-42573, August 4, 1999.

3. CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM EFFECTS. The behaviors most sensitive to disruption from carbon monoxide in our blood stream are those requiring sustained attention or performance, such as fine motor skills and reaction time. Accidents are more likely to occur when people have even slightly elevated carbon monoxide blood levels.

4. EFFECTS ON THE FETUS. It is crucial to insure that pregnant women are not working in a pottery in which carbon monoxide is escaping from firing kilns, raku firing, cigarettes, or any other burning process.

The fetus is particularly vulnerable to the toxic effects of carbon monoxide exposure because fetal development often occurs at or near critical tissue oxygenation levels. The slightest reduction in the amount of oxygen available to the developing fetus can cause damage. For example, maternal smoking has been associated with a number of adverse health effects, many of which can be attributed to very high amount of carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke. These effects include spontaneous abortion and subsequent fetal death due to low birth weight, increased numbers of hospital admissions during the first five years of life, and poorer than predicted school performance during the first eleven years of life.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

1. CO DETECTOR LOCATIONS. Every kiln room should have one or two carbon monoxide detectors of the type R.S. has that will read the peak levels in parts per million (ppm). They should be located with care so that their readings will reflect the levels of gas in the room. For example, do not place them where doors or window drafts can reduce the levels measured. Also make sure they are near the kilns, but not so near that they are warmed by radiant heat from the kilns.

Studio I Health & Safety

Carbon Monoxide from Electric and Gas Kilns

51

Studio I Health & Safety

5. ELECTRIC KILNS. For years, people thought that electric kilns did not create carbon monoxide emissions because their atmospheres appear to be oxidizing—that is, they do not reduce the iron in clay bodies to the darker oxides that cause the rich red and brown colors typical of reduction firing. However, the burn-off of the organic matter in clays, the wax resists, the gums in commercial glazes, and other organic substances is enough to release a significant amount of carbon monoxide.

The best types of ventilation to remove these emissions are the negative-pressure ventilation systems that draw steady, small amounts of air from the kiln, causing air to “leak in” rather than leak out of the kiln. When these systems are properly installed, no emissions whatever are released from the kiln.

Canopy hoods that are positioned close to the top of the kiln will also work, but they cannot capture all of the emissions.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

6. GAS KILN FIRING. The combustion of gas for heat obviously produces lots of carbon monoxide. These kilns need two ventilation systems: 1) a stack or flue up which the hot gases rise; and 2) a secondary hood that will capture the kiln emissions including carbon monoxide, which escape from the burner and observation ports, cracks around the door, and other openings.

52

This secondary ventilation system is especially important during the reduction phases of the firing when yellow flames (indicative of incomplete combustion) are licking out of every port and crevice. Massive amounts of carbon monoxide are produced at these times.

These secondary capture systems may be either a special canopy hood positioned low down over the top of the kiln, or slot-like hoods positioned above

the door and on each side of the kiln to draw up and along the walls. These hoods are powered by powerful fans located inside the duct work that exhausts to the outside air.

There is no ventilation system for gas kilns that will be 100 percent effective at all times. For this reason, there should also be a steady turnover of kiln room air provided by an exhaust fan and air supply. This system must be carefully designed or it will create negative pressure, which can backdraft the kiln’s burners and release carbon monoxide faster than the exhaust system can remove it.

The coordination of the exhaust fans with the kiln exhaust, and the design of the secondary exhaust, usually require the services of an industrial ventilation engineer. It may be expensive, but not providing this level of competence could result in serious health effects on those who use the kiln room.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE KILN ROOM 1. Provide proper ventilation, such as negative-pressure systems, for electric kilns.

2. Get professional engineering services for the design of gas kilns and kiln room ventilation systems.

3. Install one or two detectors that read peak CO levels in parts per million (ppm). Place them near the kilns, but far enough away to keep them from being affected by radiant heat.

4. Take CO readings regularly during firing, and keep a record. [ Monona Rossol is an industrial hygienist/chemist with an M.F.A. in ceramics/glass. She may be reached at ACTS, 181 Thompson St., #23, New York, NY 10012-2586; telephone 212.777.0062; e-mail ACTSNYC@ cs.com.

Check out these listings to find local programs for wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculptural techniques, & more …

Classes are listed alphabetically by state

ARIZONA

COLORADO

Tucson Clay Co-op — 3326 North Dodge Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85711; 520.792.6263; www.tucsonclayco-op. com; tucsonclaycoop@yahoo.com. Fully equipped studio, studio rental, gallery. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, gas firing, raku firing, sculpture, mosaics, classes for adults and children, clay parties, more.

Art Students League of Denver — 200 Grant Street, Denver, CO 80203; 303.778.6990 x100; www.asld.org; membership@asld.org. Full ceramics program with classes for adults and children, taught by nationally-recognized faculty artists including Barry Rose, Gayla Lemke, and Shelley Schreiber. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, guest artist workshops, classes for adults, classes for children.

ARKANSAS Flat Rock Clay Supplies — 2002 South School Ave. (Hwy. 71), Fayetteville, AR 72701; 479.521.3181; www.flatrockclay.com; info@flatrock clay. com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, tile, special topic classes and workshops.

CALIFORNIA Echo Ceramics — 8186 Center Street, Suite D, La Mesa, CA 92124; 619.884.4597, www.getcenteredclay. com; ellylou@cox.net. Classes for beginners and intermediates; studio space for rent; fully equipped pottery studio and showroom. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, guest artist workshops, classes for adults.

Get Centered Clay Studio — 8186 Center Street, Suite D, La Mesa, CA 92124; 619.884.4597, www.getcenteredclay.com; ellylou@cox.net. Classes for beginners and intermediates; studio space for rent; fully equipped pottery studio and showroom. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, guest artist workshops, classes for adults.

Meiklem Kiln Works — 46 Lebanon Rd., Bozrah, CT 06334; 860.886.8562; meiklemkilnworks@ yahoo.com; www.meiklemkilnworks.com. Pottery, art, yoga & energy classes, artisan gallery/gift shop, teambuilding workshops, birthdays, and more! Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, classes for adults and children.

Milkhouse Pottery — 30 River Road, Cornwall Bridge, CT 06754; 860.672.6450; milkpotsfox@juno. com; www.milkhousepottery.net. Small, year-round classes; students aged 9 to adult; experienced teacher; individual attention. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, classes for adults and children.

FLORIDA Artistic Services — 6810 Green Swamp Road, Clermont, FL 34714; 321.947.7667; RMrsNice@ yahoo.com; Sammyhorse.com. Relaxed pottery for children and adults on Saturday mornings at our horse farm. Wheelthrowing, handbuilding, electric firing.

GEORGIA Callanwolde Fine Arts Center — 980 Briarcliff Rd., Atlanta, GA 30306; 404.874.9351; www. callanwolde.org; gdair@callanwolde.org. Callanwolde is located in Mid-town Atlanta, and offers basic through advanced wheel and handbuilding classes, as well as electric, gas, raku, salt, and soda firing.

MAINE The Red Door Pottery Studio — 44 Government St., Kittery, ME 03904; 207.439.5671; exfpottery@yahoo.com; www.reddoorpottery.com.

Year-round classes, all skill levels, monthly workshops, private lessons, retail gallery, shows. Wheelthrowing, handbuilding, electric firing, guest artist workshops, classes for adults and children.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

MARYLAND

Eastern Market Pottery — 225 7th St. SE, Washington, DC 20003; 202.544.6669; cbrome@ earthlink.net; www.easternmarketpottery.com. Evening classes in wheel-throwing at new studio. Electric and gas firing in new kilns. All skill levels and handbuilders are welcome.

Art Space on Main — 138 West Main St., Elkton, MD 21921; 410.620.6020; info@artspaceonmain. com; www.artspaceonmain.com. Classes for beginner to advanced adults and children, wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture, workshops, raku, warm/fused glass, 24/7 studio access, studio membership for independent artists, gallery.

Hinckley Pottery — 1707 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20009; 202.745.7055; sweber@ hinckleypottery.com; www.hinckleypottery.com. Day, evening, and weekend classes are offered for all skill levels.

Enrollment is ongoing. Wheel-throwing, electric firing, gas firing, raku firing, guest artist workshops, classes for adults and children.

Baltimore Clayworks — 5707 Smith Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21209; 410.578.1919; www. baltimoreclayworks.org; matt.hyleck@baltimoreclayworks. org; workshop contact: forrest.snyder@baltimoreclayworks. org; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture, tile, mosaic, decorating, printmaking, slipcasting, wood firing, salt firing.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Community Center of La Cañada Flintridge — 4469 Chevy Chase Drive, La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91011; 818.790.4353; www. cclcf.org; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, glazing, firing, raku, classes for children and adults.

CONNECTICUT

Resources I Classes

Community Pottery Classes

53

Resources I Classes

Crystalline

The Frederick Pottery School, Inc. — 5305 Jefferson Pike, Suite C-2, Frederick, MD 21703; 301.473.8833; www.frederickpotteryschool. com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, wood firing, cone 6 oxidation.

Glazing

Workshops with

Xavier González September 19-20, 2009 “Catalina Island Art Festival” Avalon, California

Montpelier Arts Center — 9652 Muirkirk Rd., Laurel, MD 20708; 301-377-7800; montpelier. arts@pgparks.com. Classes for children to adults including handbuilding and wheel-throwing; electric, gas, wood, and raku firing; and special parent-child workshops.

October 3-4, 2009 Manhattan Beach Old Town Fair Manhattan Beach, California Workshop: Hawaii Potters Guild January 8, 9 & 10, 2010 Honolulu, Hawaii

Shiloh Pottery, Inc. — 1027 Brodbeck Road, Hampstead, MD 21074; 410.239.8888; www.shilohpottery.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding.

Workshop: Alaska Pending, 2010

MASSACHUSETTS Cynthia Curtis Pottery — 80 Pigeon Hill St., Rockport, MA 1966; 978.546.6186; cynthiacurtispottery@verizon.net; www.cynthiacurtis pottery.com. Year-round classes for all ages and abilities.

Also private lessons, independent study program, retail gallery. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, guest artist workshops.

To schedule a workshop with Xavier González, call 818.779.0990 or e-mail: xgceramics@sbcglobal.net

Xman.0909.indd 1

The

Jayne Shatz Pottery — 452 Laurel Valley Court, Arnold, MD 21012; 410.757.6351; www.jayneshatzpottery.com; jesclay@aol.com; wheelthrowing, handbuilding, sculpture, glazing, firing, wall relief and tile, workshops, critiques, marketing strategy, group and private sessions.

9/8/09 7:46:06 AM

Fulwood Measure

TM

Mudflat Pottery School, Inc. — 149 Broadway, Somerville, MA 02145; 617.628.0589; www.mudflat.org; info@mudflat.org; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, tile.

Two Rivers Ceramic Studio Co. — 77 Elm St., Amesbury, MA 01913; 978.388.2215; www. tworiversceramics.com; info@tworiversceramics.com. A cooperative studio with programs and classes for both the independent and student ceramic artists. Wheel-throwing and handbuilding; electric and gas firing; guest artist workshops; classes for adults and children.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

MICHIGAN

54

The perfect tool for same-size production pottery. Unique hinged pointer measures height and diameter of the pot and moves out of the way when not in use. With the Fulwood Measure, you can get it right every time. Handcrafted in beautiful hardwood and made in the USA.

Kissimmee River Pottery

One 8th Street #11 Frenchtown, New Jersey 08825 908.996.3555 riverpots @ earthlink.net www.kissimmeeriverpottery.com

Ox-Bow — 3435 Rupprecht Way, Saugatuck MI 49453; 800.318.3019; ox-bow@saic.edu; www.oxbow.org. Two-week intensives with Tip Toland, Franscesc Burgos, Sarah Lindley for beginning and experienced artists. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, gas firing, raku firing, wood firing, mold making & casting, classes for adults.

MISSISSIPPI Bodine Pottery & Art Studio — New location: 432 West Frontage Dr., Wiggins, MS 39577;

tel. 601.928.4718; www.bodinepottery.com; hukmut@ bodinepottery.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, PMC (precious metal clay).

Natchez Clay — 101 Clifton Ave. (overlooking Mississippi River), Natchez, MS 39120; 601.660.2375; natchezclay@gmail.com; www.natchezclay.com. Ongoing classes; great workshop schedule; great facilities. See our Web site for more info. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, gas firing, raku firing, guest artist workshops, classes for adults, classes for children. Private and shared studio rental.

MISSOURI The Potter’s Obsession, LLC — 13035-B Holmes Road, Kansas City, MO 64145; 816.941.2555; pottersobsession.com; obpotter@kcnet. com. Wheel-throwing; handbuilding; cone 6 electric firing; raku firing; classes for adults.

Red Star Studios — 821 West 17th Street, Kansas City, MO 64106; 816.474.7316; www. redstarstudios.org; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, workshops, gallery, studio space.

NEW MEXICO Taos Clay — 1208 Paseo Del Pueblo Norte, Taos, NM 87529; 575.770.4334; potmaker@gmail.com; www.taosclay.com. Private and community studio & gallery offering classes, workshops, residencies, & studio space. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, gas firing, raku firing, wood firing, guest artist workshops, classes for adults and children.

NEW YORK Artworks at West Side YMCA — 5 West 63rd St., New York, NY 10023; 212.875.4129; ymcanyc.org/westside; kmissett@ymcanyc.org. A friendly studio with three clay bodies, great open studio hours, fabulous teachers. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, photo-ceramics, majolica classes, lustre firings, guest artist workshops, classes for adults and children.

BrickHouse Ceramic Art Center — 10-34 44th Drive 1st Floor, Long Island City, NY 11101; 718.784.4907; ellen.day@brickhouseny.com; http:// www.brickhouseny.com. Spacious, fully-equipped studio, year-round adult classes, ceramic artist rental shelves, pottery for sale. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, guest artist workshops, private parties.

Clay Art Center — 40 Beech Street, Port Chester, NY 10573; 914.937.2047; www.clayartcenter. org; mail@clayartcenter.org. Clay classes for adults

The Painted Pot — 339 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231; 718.222.0334; www.paintedpot.com; wheelthrowing, handbuilding, sculpture.

NORTH CAROLINA Finch Pottery — 5526 Finch Nursery Lane, Bailey, NC 27807-9492; 252.235.4664; www.danfinch.com; dan.finch@earthlink.net; wheel-throwing.

Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts — 236 Clingman Avenue, Asheville, NC 28801; 828.285.0210; www.highwaterclays.com; odyssey@ highwaterclays.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture, tile.

OHIO Yost Pottery Studio — 1643 Massillon Road, Akron, OH 44312; 330.734.0763; www.yostpottery.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, tile, firing.

PENNSYLVANIA The Clay Studio — 139 North Second Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106; 215.925.3453; www.theclaystudio.org; info@theclaystudio.org; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture.

TENNESSEE Mud Puddle Pottery and Supply — 538 Highway 70, Pegram, TN 37143 (20 minutes outside Nashville); 615.646.6644; www.mudpuddlepottery.com; mudpuddle@bellsouth. net; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture.

The Clay Lady’s Studio: The Educational Facility at Mid-South Ceramic Supply Co. — 1416 Lebanon Pike, Bldg C, Nashville, TN 37210; 615.242.0346; www. midsouthceramics.com; danielle@theclaylady.com; full schedule of ongoing pottery classes as well as weekend workshops.

TEXAS Eric Orr Clay — 22 Blackjack Lane, Lewisville,TX 75077;940.241.1242;ericorrclay.com;ericmuddorr@ yahoo.com. A complete teaching studio for lovers of clay and glass. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, gas firing, raku firing, glass fusing and slumping, classes for adults and children.

Potter’s Wheel — 14011 Falba, Houston, TX 77070; klanier327@sbcglobal.net; www.giftedpotter. com; 281.728.0747. We are a private teaching studio and gift gallery in a busy shopping center. Wheelthrowing, handbuilding, electric firing, raku firing, guest artist workshops, classes for adults and children, paintyour-own pottery.

VIRGINIA The Art League School — Located near the Torpedo Factory at 305 Madison Street, Alexandria, VA 22314; 703.683.5358; www.theartleague.org/school; blairm@theartleague.org; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, gas firing, raku firing, wood firing, guest artist workshops, classes for adults and children, corporate retreats, associates program.

Manassas Clay & Tin Barn Pottery Supply — 9122 Center Street, Manassas, VA 20110; 703.330.1040; www.manassasclay.com; manassasclay@aol.com; wheelthrowing, handbuilding, sculpture, glazing, raku.

Lorton Arts Foundation-Workhouse Arts Center — 9504 Workhouse Way, Bldg. 8, Lorton, VA 22079; (703) 584-2982; www.workhousearts. org or www.lortonarts.org; dalemarhanka@lortonarts.org.

A collective and highly dynamic environment with the goal of promoting ceramic art through research, education, and outreach. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, ceramic sculpture, tile, electric firing, gas firing, raku firing, guest artist workshops, classes for adults and children.

WYOMING SUNIN Clay Studio — 13473 Wetmore Road, San Antonio, TX 78247; 210.494.9100; suninpottery@ sbcglobal.net ; suninclaystudio.net. A full-service working and teaching studio where potters and students express themselves in clay. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, raku firing, guest artist workshops, classes for adults and children.

Chinese Clay Art

Texture Mats

www.ChineseClayArt.com

Round Edger

Glaze Sprayer

Potters’ Depot LLC — 75 East Benteen St., Buffalo, WY 82834; 307.684.4555; pottersdepot@msn. com.Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, gas firing, raku firing, guest artist workshops, classes for adults, teens, and children. Fully equipped pottery studio with gallery and supplies. [

A year-round listing of your community pottery class in CT and on our Web site is available for just $99 — an EXCELLENT VALUE! To feature your classes, visit our online submission page: www.claytimes.com/classes. html or call 540.882.3576.

CAROLINA CLAY CONNECTION

704/376-7221

e-mail: carolinaclay@aol.com www.carolinaclay.com

SHOWROOM • RETAIL SALES • SERVICE

Ceramic – Pottery – Glass – Studio Equipment Discount Packages – Delivery – Installation – Instruction Mike Swauger • (540) 636-6016 TOLL FREE 1-877-KILNDOC mike@thekilndoctor.com www.thekilndoctor.com 202 East Main Street, Front Royal, VA 22630 Serving VA, WV, MD, DC & DE

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

CHARLOTTE NC Setting up a studio?

Your full-service pottery supplier featuring clays by Standard, Highwater and Laguna; kilns, glazes, chemicals and equipment.

School orders welcome!

Resources I Classes

& children and monthly workshops in wheel-throwing, sculpture, & special topics. Wheel-throwing, handbuilding, electric firing, gas firing, raku firing, wood firing, guest artist workshops, independent study, studio space, summer camps.

55

Resources I Classified Marketplace

Classified Marketplace For Sale • Wholesale/Retail Outlet in Northern California — Unique established business offers equipment, tools, and materials to schools, artists, and studios on a wholesale level while offering hobbyists the experience of working with clay and pottery. $40,000 (furniture, fixtures, and inventory). For more information, e-mail: srhome@prgtech.com.

• Lots for sale in creative community located in the NC mountains, near Penland School of Crafts. Hundreds of art/craft studios nearby. Ninety acres includes forest preserve, trails, organic farm site, green building. Studios/galleries welcome. Lots have electricity, water, fast Internet, from $55,000. High Cove, a community for arts, environment, and lifelong learning: www.highcove.com.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Opportunities

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• I have been commissioned to work on an in-depth look at American studio ceramics, 1940-1980. It will explore the makers, their teachers, and societal currents that influenced them during those years. To that end, I would like to hear from any makers and/or teachers who were working during those years, to learn about their work and what influenced them. The thoughts can be captured in personal memories, letters, or articles. If you have information, please contact me: Martha Drexler Lynn, Ph.D.; e-mail: marthalynn@mac.com; or write 189 Upper Walden Road, Carmel, California, 93923. Thank you!

JOIN AMERICANPOTTERS.COM • TODAY! Be a part of a national, searchable database for FREE ... or an “online gallery/ portfolio” to sell your work, without commissions. If you have a Website, join with a “link” page. All information is editable by you, without Web knowledge.

Go to the site and click on “FAQ” for more information.

• K-12 Ceramic Exhibition — The 13th Annual K-12 Ceramic Exhibition opens in

March 2010 at the NCECA Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Open to K-12 students by teacher entry, the annual event is a great success. Check out past award winners and their works online at www.k12clay.org.

Kiln Repair • Kiln Repair. All makes — Washington, DC metro & Northern Virginia. $55/hour (onehour minimum) plus parts. Larry Safford, The Studio Resource: 703.283.7458; larrysafford@comcast.net.

Tools for Potters • Manabigama Wood Firing Kiln Plans — Fires and ‘flashes’ 30 cu. ft. of pots beautifully in 8 hrs., or extended firings to c.12 using approximately ½ cord of stove wood. Great teaching tool: 6-8 students/ firing: 25-30 pots ea. Plans include: Complete materials list, step-by-step kiln building photo disc w/descriptive notes; plus kiln prep, loading and firing, cooling/ unloading details, glaze & slip recipes, more. Kiln building workshops available at your site. Questions? Contact: John Thies, Bill van Gilder at www.monocacypottery. com or tel. 301.898.3128.

Travel • Mata Ortiz Contact — Week-long workshops for potters in Mata Ortiz. Learn their unique handbuilding, decorating, and firing techniques in the Mata Ortiz potters’ homes. $900 fee includes transportation, food, lodging and all workshop expenses.

Small groups, all skill levels welcome, a high-quality experience. Next workshop will be Oct. 13-22. Visit www.mataortizcontact. com or e-mail peterpfp@gmail.com.

• Potter’s Workshops and Tours in an Undiscovered Mexico. Explore the immense, but little-known, ceramic diversity of deep Mexico. Handson learning and uncommon, smallgroup travel among the ancestral masters. www.traditionsmexico.com; traditionsmexico@yahoo.com.

Videos & Books • DVDs — Basic Beginning Pottery, Advanced Pottery Projects, and Carving Candle Lanterns by Doug Oian. Also a DVD for glass artists, Make Your Own Glass Molds. $50 each includes shipping. www.

SunrisePottery.com; tel. 210.494.8633.

• EXTRUDE IT! Getting the Most From Your Clay Extruder, new instructional DVD videos by David Hendley. Volume I: Extrusions as handles, feet and additions; Volume II: Two-part dies for hollow extrusions; Volume III: The expansion box and extrusions as building components. $43 each or $105 for the set (more than four hours of video). Call 903.795-3779 or visit www.farmpots.com.

• Order Great Glazes I & II for just $15 each at the Clay Times online store at www.claytimes.com. These classic hands-on studio glaze books offer dozens of favorite glaze recipes for all kinds of firing & atmospheres.

• PotteryVideos.com — DVDs with Robin Hopper, Gordon Hutchens, and Graham Sheehan. Video workshops for potters at all levels of experience. Choose from 21 titles. E-mail info@potteryvideos.com or call 800.668.8040.

• Rick Berman: Clayworker — This 78page full-color paperback explores the original and varied works of Atlanta potter Rick Berman (to learn more about Rick and his work, turn to the feature article on “Carbon Trap Raku” appearing on pages 32-33 of this issue). The book is available for $25 including shipping & handling. To order, e-mail: rberman@paceacademy.org. [

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knew I had a deadline coming up for this next column and needed to decide on a subject. But I also had a big 40year high school class reunion coming soon. I decided to wait on the column because I had a feeling that the reunion and its related activities would suggest a topic for the column. I was not disappointed, and here are some thoughts about the weekend.

All reunions, be they family, school, or job related, are interesting because they draw people who would not normally spend time together. As long as the cardinal rule of avoiding discussions of religion and politics is observed, most people can be cordial for a while and enjoy themselves. For my high school reunion, I was thrown into situations far from my normal routines and surroundings.

Don’t get me wrong, the new houses are interesting and creative compared with the ranch-style houses they replaced, but it is jarring to drive through your old neighborhood and not know where you are. I also hate to think what the mortgage, utility, and tax bills would be for a new 6,000-square-foot or larger house.

While visiting old friends and classmates, I had the opportunity to tour several of these new houses. I know that people clean up when they are expecting company, but I’ll tell you, some of the new houses showed no signs of life. They looked and felt like hotel rooms or model homes, built and decorated to appeal to all and offend none.

For instance, the books strategically fanned out across a coffee table were in perfect order: decorations never meant to be looked at or read. The art that adorned the walls was obviously chosen by a decorator to fit with the color scheme and was as featureless and unemotional as the stucco walls. Everything was manufactured, sanitized, and homogenized, with no evidence that a human hand was involved in the creation. As a potter and lover of crafts in general, I was feeling about as out of place as a space alien, longing for a cup of coffee from my favorite handmade mug.

I always try to attend my high school reunions, at least when the big ones come around every

five years. Twenty years seems to be the magic number for high school reunions. Before that, people still try to maintain the old social order from high school and are still trying to impress their old girlfriends or boyfriends, pals, and acquaintances. After 20 years, virtually everyone in the room has suffered a business failure or job loss, a divorce, or health problems. By this time, some classmates have undoubtedly passed away. Finally, people are appreciated for who they are, not their social standing.

After 40 years, things change even more. When my class reunion party finally came around Saturday evening, it was now the artists, actors, and musicians that everyone was interested in hanging around and talking to. I was finally part of the in crowd! I felt genuine appreciation and respect for having made it on my own, as a potter, for the past 35 years.

Suddenly, the former football hero was just another balding, overweight, past-middle-age guy, while the skinny boy who was teased for practicing piano all the time in high school entertained the group with popular songs from our high school years. Those “Revenge of the Nerds” movie clichés really can come true! The creative types who had led active and varied lives now had lifetimes of interesting achievements, and were the ones most admired.

The longer I’m around, the more I’m convinced that the secret to success and happiness is to just “do what you do,” without giving much regard to the financial results or what others might think about it. Ask yourself what you would be doing if you won the

BY DAVID HENDLEY

lottery. When you can answer, “I’d do what I’m doing right now” (except maybe in a new pick-up truck instead of my old clunker), without reservations, you’re on the right path. You’ll find that people will instantly sense your commitment and contentment.

Old friends as well as people you meet will want to be around you to feel the good vibes.

Interestingly, I happened to look at an issue of Forbes magazine over the reunion weekend.

It featured a cover story and headline proclaiming, “What recession? Some entrepreneurs have hungry customers waiting in line for years.” There were no potters or ceramicists portrayed in the article, but most of the businesses profiled were simply craftspeople working on their own or with just a handful of assistants. There was a person who builds violins and cellos, one who builds bicycles, and a father-son team that makes fly fishing reels by hand.

Forbes is a business magazine, but I think I can confidently state that these people started doing what they do because of a passion for their craft, and the endeavor later evolved into a business. They were driven by, as the article puts it, “a passion for their products and obsession with quality.” I’m sure they are all among the most popular and admired classmates attending their own high school reunions. [

David Hendley can be reached via e-mail at: david@farmpots.com.

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

My high school is now in the most fashionable neighborhood in Dallas. Back in the ’60s, it was a nice area of well-built, modern (by 1960s standards), but modest homes. Today, the neighborhood consists of street after street of new, prominent, and lavish houses. Some look like Italian villas, some look like English manor estates, and some are not far removed from castles.

The affluence is astounding to a simple potter who has lived in a rural area for the past 25 years.

The house I grew up in was a World War II ‘veteran special,’ built in 1945. It was demolished about six years ago to make room for a McMansion. Nothing was saved or recycled. This is insanity! Here was a 60-year-old house—maintained, updated, and remodeled through the years— that was better than the home of 99% of the world’s population ... yet it was disposed of like an empty soda can, not even put in the recycling bin. It’s kind of like the older but still serviceable “cash for clunkers” cars we are now sending to the junk yard, not even salvaging useful parts.

Opinion I Around the Firebox

High School Reunion

57

Dick Lehman Interview (continued from page 37) connection to Japanese potters and Japanese pottery. The whole “wabi-sabi” aesthetic— quiet and understated—that so many American potters have embraced from their time in Japan, is in many ways just not “loud” enough for me. One of the real affirmations for me has been my relationship with Mr. Kanzaki—his wood-firing is anything but understated—it’s just way off the charts— perhaps even flamboyant! And in the same way that he is working within-but-outside of the Japanese “box”, I perhaps, am working within-but-outside of my Mennonite “box.”

Legacy Joe: Would you share some insights of yours about this whole concept of legacy ?

Dick: Legacy is so hard to understand and explain at times—because it is not often a linear thing—not always moving only forward in a straight line, but moving back and forth. The wonderful gifts that were shared with me by Johns Glick and Leach, by Robin and Jack, that we discussed early in the conversation, have in strange ways enabled me to give back to them, in an assortment of

ways. In a wonderful way, we have become peers and contemporaries, experiencing and sharing a sense of mutuality. Someone that I can think of, who wasn’t mentioned earlier, is Bill Hunt—the former editor of Ceramics Monthly. Early on in my career, he was very generous and encouraging of my writings. I can see now that through this avenue, I’ve been able not only to pass on things to my direct contacts, but to have an influence on people that I’ve never even met. Bill was certainly instrumental with his encouragement here.

I find this idea of legacy a particularly threatening topic, because of the nearness of my own mortality. I feel an urgency about it that is probably not appropriate. My best hopes would be that the writings I’ve done, the workshops I’ve taught would simply make life a little better for folks. I’ve had a great number of employees/apprentices at the studio over the years. In particular Mark Goertzen who continues to play a major role in the life of the studio. He’s been a part of the business for 20 years now—a masterpotter in his own respect. For those who, over the years, have worked in my studio, I hope that I have fostered something in

CLAYTIMES·COM n SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

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them that will nurture and encourage them to be “generative” to other aspiring potters.

People from outside the studio have come up to me and said “You must be so proud of all the folks who have worked in your studio and have gone on to their own great careers in clay.” I surely am. They, perhaps more than me, are my legacy. And for that, I am grateful.

Something that I do feel, both from the past, and into the future, is a pervading sense of joy in this work. John Glick has said to me on a number of occasions, and I wholeheartedly agree, that what keeps his sense of passion, is the possibility to explore, to play, to be joyful, and to celebrate what we do. It’s one of the true gifts of this occupation. And—a phrase that you and I share, Joe, as well as sharing it with some others—is to be “exhausted with pleasure.” This career has given that “exhaustion” to me in many, many aspects— with people, with my work, with the work of others, in a museum looking at great pots, in countless ways—I just don’t know how many other occupations have this incredible luxury. It has indeed been a pleasure and a blessing. [

Author Joe Campbell is Professor of Art/ Ceramics at Frederick Community College in Frederick, Maryland.

Juries (from page 46) to announce that there would be openings for the show in all categories of art and craft, and that prospective exhibitors need merely send Emily their application checks and digital images. Then, the “10 artists” would reject all applicants, admitting only themselves into the show. A large sum of money would flow our way, thus beating the jury system. (I know, I know, it’s not exactly legal—so if you get an application in the mail from Emily you might want to throw it away!) [

Author Greg Seigel has been a producing clay artist for 35 years. He may be reached via his Web site at www.potbaker.com.

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