Clay Times Magazine Volume 13 • Issue 68 by claytimes

cERAMIc

ART

TRENDS,

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20+1 Years of Tozan Kilns at Northern Arizona University Tried & True Techniques for Making Great Plates 2007 Exhibit Preview: NCECA Clay National Brian Taylor’s Pots with Purpose Confessions of an Electric Kiln Repairman

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TIMES

Clay

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contents

TIMES

Clay January/February 2007 • Volume 13, Number 1

Tall Green Jar by Brian J. Taylor. Porcelain fired to cone 10 in a soda/salt kiln. Story begins on page 34.

features

exhibitions

34 The Beauty of Pots with a Purpose

18 Ashes To Art

Full of botanical references, the buttery beauty of potter Brian J. Taylor’s forms invites touch while his pots celebrate utility.

42 20+1 Years of Tozan Kilns The recent international woodfire conference in northern Arizona featured numerous guest artists and demonstrators, and lots of hands-on firing.

46 Where the Pot Stops

In its east and west coast exhibitions, Funeria introduces an emerging genre of unique, contemporary funerary artwork.

38 2007 NCECA Clay National A preview of the upcoming invitational exhibition scheduled to open in March for the “Old Currents, New Blends” conference in Louisville, Kentucky.

Altered Bottle by Josh Copus, a participant at the international wood firing conference recently held at NAU (see story on page 42). Bottle is wood-fired local pipe clay; white slip with clear ash glaze.

Blair Meerfeld discusses line and shape during a workshop at Hinckley Pottery in Washington, D.C.

50 Weathered Surfaces Somewhere between a rattle and a buoy, Lars Westby’s sculptural objects straddle a fine line, identifying both with toys and industrial objects.

Freeze (detail) by Jacob Foran. Stoneware and mixed media, from the upcoming NCECA Clay National 2007 exhibition. Turn to page 38 to preview more images of works to be featured in the show this March.

contents

TIMES

Clay January/February 2007 • Volume 13, Number 1

Creation Urn III by Paul McCoy. 22" x 17". Stoneware. Awarded “Best of Show” at the third international Ashes to Art® exhibition. Story on page 18.

departments 11 EDITOR’S DESK Resolutions for the new year

13 YOUR WORDS Letters from our readers

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

columns 70 CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE

23 AS FAR AS I KNOW

Goods and services offered especially for active clay artists

“Back to Basics, Part I: An Introduction to Glaze Chemistry” by Pete Pinnell

73 SLURRY BUCKET TIPS

27 BENEATH THE SURFACE

Save time and trouble with these studio-tested tips & techniques

“Confessions of an Electric Kiln Repairman” by Lana Wilson

29 TEACHING TECHNIQUES

53 GREAT GLAZES

“Making Plates” by Bill van Gilder

Lars Westby’s weathered surfaces exposed

57 TOOL TIMES “Drying Sensibly” by Vince Pitelka

54 THE GALLERY A selection of new works by CT readers

59 KILNS & FIRING “Instruments for Measuring Temperature, Part III” by Marc Ward

67 POTTERY CLASSES Where you can learn claywork in the United States and Canada

61 STUDIO HEALTH & SAFETY “New: Free EPA Booklet” by Monona Rossol

On the cover: Wood-fired Ewer by Terry Inokuma, one of numerous participants at the recent wood-firing conference held at Northern Arizona University. See story, page 42.

65 BOOKS & VIDEOS Studio space of Lars Westby, resident artist at Baltimore Clayworks. Turn to page 50 to learn how he creates his large handbuilt vessels.

Ray Finch, Craftsman Potter of the Modern Age review by Steven Branfman

74 AROUND THE FIREBOX “Why We Need Teachers” by Kelly Savino

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Editor & Art Director: Polly Beach editorial@claytimes.com Circulation Manager: Rachel Brownell circulation@claytimes.com Advertising Manager: Karen Freeman advertising@claytimes.com Accounts Manager: Nanette Greene accounting@claytimes.com Production Assistant: Jenna McCracken claytimes@aol.com Proofreader: Jon Singer Office Assistant: Ingrid Phillips Regular Columnists: Steve Branfman, Books & Videos David Hendley, Around the Firebox Pete Pinnell, As Far as I Know Vince Pitelka, Tool Times Monona Rossol, Health & Safety Kelly Savino, Around the Firebox Bill van Gilder, Teaching Techniques Marc Ward, Kilns & Firing Lana Wilson, Beneath the Surface Contributing Writers: K.T. Anders • Rand Heazlitt Mac Ward Published by: CLAY TIMES INC. 15481 Second St. • PO Box 365 Waterford, Virginia 20197-0365 (540) 882-3576 • FAX (540) 882-4196

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

Clay Times® (ISSN 1087-7614) is published bimonthly, six issues per year. Periodicals Postage Paid at Waterford, VA, and at additional mailing offices. Annual subscriptions are available for $30 in the U.S.; $36 in Canada; $55 elsewhere (must be payable in US$). To subscribe, call toll-free 1-800-3562529, or visit www.claytimes.com.

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Freelance editorial and photographic submissions are welcome: Please contact Clay Times or visit our Web site for writer’s and photographer’s guidelines. POSTMASTER: Address service requested. Send address changes to: Clay Times, PO Box 365, Waterford, VA 20197-0365. Copyright © 2007 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.

magazine

TIMES

Pottery West

ceramic art trends, tools & techniques

ow that 2007 is here, we have the perfect opportunity to make our New Year’s resolutions.

I’ve decided to make mine about how I work with clay. After all, there are many things that I do/don’t do on a regular basis, which I know could improve the quality of my work. But I ignore them. (I don’t know why ... I just do!) Like when I’ve attached a porcelain handle to the body of a mug after the mug is too dry to accept it. As I’m attaching it, a little voice in the back of my head says, “Why are you doing this? You know it’s not going to work! The pot is too dry; you should have covered it before you left the studio to answer the phone!” Of course, at times like these, the home studio really works against me. I can be sidetracked from the clay process by something as simple as a phone call, and the next thing I know, it’s days before I have a chance to return to my work. Meanwhile, it has all dried too much to trim successfully.

But will I gracefully accept that fate? No way. Even though my little voice tells me otherwise, I’ll find myself immersing those dried-out mug bodies into my slurry water, hoping that they’ll gently accept saturation and return to the desired dryness for trimming and handling. Then I’ll even pull handles, attach them with care, wax the joins so they’re less likely to crack, and gently cover them tightly with dry cleaning plastic. I’ll carry them to the basement where they can dry more slowly. But they all crack anyway! Duh. As if I didn’t know better!

tions you could possibly make for yourself, such as: • Vacuum your electric kiln regularly (see “Confessions of a Kiln Repairman” on page 27). • Commit to understanding and learning glaze formulation (see “Back to Basics: An Introduction to Glaze Chemistry” on page 23).

Well, I’m not doing that anymore. I’m making my 2007 resolution to always cover my work before leaving it for even a moment ... and if it ever does dry out too much to trim or handle, I’ll scrap it and simply throw a new form!

• Let your own pots dry properly (turn to “Drying Sensibly” for Vince’s take on this).

As you read through this issue of CT, you might consider some of the clay resolu-

• Make your own resolution ... and share it with us! And have a great new year.

Spouting Off I Editor’s Desk

Starting the Year off Right

• Do what you’re supposed to do to keep your studio safe (see “New: Free EPA Booklet” on page 61).

— Editor [

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Spouting Off I Letters

Your Words Identifying Amorphous Silica In response to the article that appeared on pages 18-21 of the November/December 2006 issue of Clay Times, entitled “Crystalline Glaze Workshops 2005-06,” several readers wrote to us asking about amorphous silica. We contacted glaze guru John Hesselberth for an answer. His reply:

Respectfully Yielding I had fantasies of seeing my work on the cover, but when I saw the November issue of Clay Times, I was absolutely delighted. Otto is a dear, sweet, brilliantly talented man whom I am honored to call a friend. The enclosed photo was taken of the two of us just this past month in Otto’s Ojai studio. Thank you for the impressive four-page spread about my work. I’m humbled. My one hope is that I don’t have to wait until I’m 91 to be on the cover! Deborah Shapiro • Tigard, Oregon

“Amorphous silica is non-crystalline silica—same chemical composition, but already a glass instead of a bunch of crystals. The most common crystalline form of silica is quartz. Amorphous silica probably melts slightly faster, and that is why crystalline glaze folks might use it. They like to spend as little time at hot temperatures as they can so their glazes don’t run off the pot, but they need to get their materials completely melted. You can buy amorphous silica from some of [the] suppliers [who advertise in Clay Times] (I think—I’ve never tried), but most potters would not be able to tell the difference between that and crystalline silica in their glazes. And no, it’s not in liquid [form]. I hope that helps …” CT [

Thanks Love your magazine! Have been a friend of yours forever. My daughter, Sharon, is becoming a wonderful raku artist—following in my footsteps. She is always taking over my Clay Times: “Just for a couple of days, Mom!” Yeah, right! So, this Christmas she is getting her own … Keep up the great work. I have been reading and learning, back to front, since “day one” of Clay Times! Thank you! Susan Tingelstad • Quilcene, Washington

I found Pete Pinnell’s column [Clay Times, November/December 2006] on Tae Kwon Do especially interesting because I have spent much of my life studying karate. A martial arts workout has a side effect that should appeal to artists of any kind, including potters: It increases the flow of creativity. I get my best ideas after a workout. Arnold Howard, Paragon Industries, L.P. Mesquite, Texas

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Creative Juices

Trinity Ceramic Supply, Inc. and Trinity Ceramic Supply East are proud supporters of Empty Bowls. Each year Trinity collaborates with The North Texas Food Bank, The Tarrant Area Food Bank, The Tupelo Salvation Army and “You” to feed the hungry through the Empty Bowls Benefit. Donating bowls is a simple and direct way for potters to make a difference. 100% of the sale price of the donated bowls goes to feed the hungry. Mail or drop off your bowls at Trinity by February 5.

What’s Hot ceramic art world news • events • calls for entries

The Museum & Gallery have long been a vital center for the exploration of craft—past, present and future. An expansive new downtown location will help the organization be accessible to a much larger audience and dramatically increase the visibility of its exhibitions, collection, programs and resources. It will allow the organization to more effectively achieve its goals: to guide education about the region’s rich contribution to the history of craft, to build upon and steward the museum’s collection, to deepen the understanding and appreciation of craft and its makers, to expand the audience that values craft, and to further support Portland’s growing reputation as an energetic and culturally-rich destination.

Ceramics Fair ‰ The 2007 New York Ceramics Fair runs January 17-21 at the National Academy Museum in New York City. Its 40 exhibitors will feature important antique and contemporary porcelain, pottery, enamel, and glass created both as table service and as art. In its eighth year, the Ceramics Fair is now a pillar of New York’s winter antiques season—this year it launches Winter Antiques Week. The Fair presents a series of eight lectures by ceramicists, scholars, and authors; and the Fair’s Loan Exhibit will be “Another Man’s Treasure,” a display of objects from a previously unknown trash tip [dump site] in Burslem, England, discovered in 2006 by Don Carpentier. Objects from the Burslem tip are helping redefine the history of a number of late 18th and early 19th Century ceramic forms.

The museum’s current location (where closing exhibitions are on view through

‰

The Craft/Materials Studies Department in the School of the Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia is inviting applications for two positions.

• A collateral or tenure track teaching position in Fiber, Metal, Glass, or Clay. The deadline for this position is January 8 for full consideration or until filled. The start date is August 16.

• A full-time adjunct technician position.

For more information, call (804) 828-1477 or go online to www.vcu.edu.

Crafts Museum Relocates

Ceramics Exhibitions

‰

‰ Santa Fe Clay Gallery in New Mexico

After nearly 70 years at its current location in Portland’s southwest hills, Oregon, the Contemporary Crafts Museum & Gallery is preparing to launch its closing exhibitions, January 13-March 11. Three individual artists—including 2006 Halvorsen Artist-in-Residence Eliza Au—will each present installations in the exhibition galleries. The museum will close for three months in preparation for the grand reopening in its new home in downtown Portland on July 22.

presents “Tea,” a national invitational exhibit of teapots featuring approximately 45 artists from across the US.

Photo courtesy Contemporary Crafts Museum & Gallery

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

Position Opening

The deadline for this position is also January 8 for full consideration or until filled. The start date is July 1.

The National Academy Museum is located at 1083 Fifth Avenue (at 89th Street), New York City, NY 10128.

March) is 3934 SW Corbett Avenue, Portland, OR 97239. For more information, visit www.contemporarycrafts.org or call (503) 223-2654.

“Tea” will showcase ceramic artists’ interpretations of this iconic form, bringing numerous combinations of utility and decorative ornamentation to the exhibition.

Eliza Au slipcasts parts for Hymn to Calamity, an upcoming installation at the Contemporary Crafts Museum & Gallery in Portland, Oregon.

The exhibition opens January 5, with a reception from 5-7 pm, and runs through February 3.

‰

Baltimore Clayworks presents “100 Teapots III,” an exhibition of functional and sculptural teapots that will run from January 13 through February 21. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, January 13 from 6-8 pm. Juror Julia Galloway viewed a very competitive group of more than 670 entries from 165 artists, and chose 100 entries by 69 artists. Baltimore Clayworks is located at 5707 Smith Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland. The Exhibitions Gallery is open 10 am to 5 pm Monday through Saturday. More information may be found at www. baltimoreclayworks.org, or by calling (410) 578-1919.

‰

“Timeless Vessels” opens in the Exhibition Gallery at The Society of Arts & Crafts in Boston, Massachusetts, on February 1. The show will be on view Monday through Saturday 10-6 and Sunday 12-5 through April 28. For more information, visit www. societyofcrafts.org, e-mail exhibitiongallery@ societyofcrafts.org, or call (617) 266-1810, ext. 13. The SAC is located at 175 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116.

‰ “On the Table: 100 Years of Functional Ceramics in Canada” will be on display at the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art in Toronto, Ontario, from February 15 through April 29.

Guest curated by Sandra Alfoldy and Rachel Gotlieb, the exhibition explores the theme of Canadian identity and cliché, and examines the intersection between craft, design, and industry. It also traces the colorful rise and fall of pattern and ornament in 20th Century ceramics.

The Gardiner Museum is located at 111 Queen’s Park. Call (416) 586-8080 or visit www.gardinermuseum.on.ca to learn more.

‰ In February, The Kenan Center House Gallery in Lockport, New York, will showcase the work of ceramics faculty from Western New York and Ontario colleges and universities in “Extraordinary Forms: Binational Clay.” The exhibition will open February 11 with a public reception at the Kenan Center. Selected works will be displayed by 17 faculty members including Robert Wood, Buffalo State College; Carl Shanahan, SUNY Geneseo; Mitch Messina, Nazareth College; Lori Mills, SUNY Brockport; Jeremiah Donovan, SUNY Cortland; Marv Bjurlin, SUNY Fredonia; Richard Hirsch and Julia Galloway, Rochester Institute of Technology; and Linda Sikora, Walter McConnell, and Chris Miller from Alfred University. Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario will be represented by department chair Bruce Cochrane, along with Tony Clennell, Marc Egan, Dale Pereira, Cathleen Nicholson, and professor emeritus, Winn Burke. Sharing the bill with “Extraordinary Forms” will be an exhibit of new work by Maryland ceramic artist Gary Schlappal, who received the Master Craftsman Award at the Kenan Center’s 100 American Craftsmen Festival in 1997, followed by four “Best of Show” Awards. Working in porcelain, Schlappal is most noted for his intricate surface detail on functional porcelain pieces and his signature “architectonic” sculptures that combine ceramic elements with handbuilt wooden structures. The Kenan Center House Gallery is located in the Kenan House, 433 Locust Street, Lockport, NY, and may be contacted by phone at (716) 433-2617 or found online at www.kenancenter.org.

‰ Bernice Steinbaum Gallery and Florida Craftsmen present “What’s Next” in the Klein Family Gallery, St. Petersburg, Florida. This multi-media exhibition includes the monumental terra cotta figures of

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

“On the Table” is a comprehensive exhibition that looks at a century of change through the medium of functional pottery. The exhibition will honor the achievements of Canadian ceramic artists and will present more than 200 works by more than 40 studios and potteries from across the country.

Originated by the Gardiner Museum, “On the Table” will travel to the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia after its Toronto presentation.

hot stuff I News & Events

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Photograph courtesy of Florida Craftsmen/Klein Family Gallery

Hot Stuff I News & Events

Calls for Entries January submission deadlines

‰

The American Concern for Artistry and Craftsmanship is accepting applications for the following festivals:

•

The 22nd annual Autumn Crafts Festival at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City—September 8-9 and 15-16.

• The 11th annual Craft as Art Festival at the Nassau County Museum of Art in Roslyn Harbor, New York—October 6-7. The application deadline for both festivals is January 4. After this date, applications will still be reviewed periodically until the shows are filled. Craft artists may apply for one or both weekends for the Autumn Crafts Festival. A jury of crafts experts will select 175 total participants; 120 craft artists will be selected to participate in the Craft as Art Festival. For application guidelines and booth fees, visit the Web site at www.craftsatlincoln. org, send e-mail to acacinfo@gmail.com, or call (973) 746-0091. For an application, send an SASE with $0.65 postage to: Raya Zafrina, Director of Operations, c/o ACAC, PO Box 650, Monclair, NJ 07042. February submission deadlines

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

Simple Man by Wanxin Zhang. 84" x 22" x 26". Terra cotta and pigment, built using the same processes employed by the creators of the original Qin terra cotta army.

Wanxin Zhang and will be on display from January 19-March 2, with an opening reception from 6-9 pm on January 19. Curated by Bernice Steinbaum, the work will be brought to Florida Craftsmen, courtesy of Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, straight from Art Basel in Miami Beach. Steinbaum will present a curatorial lecture, “Craft & Art: Everything in Life Can Be Art,” in conjunction with the exhibition on January 21 at noon. More information may be found online at www.floridacraftsmen.net, or by calling (727) 821-7391.

‰ The

Lincoln Arts & Culture Foundation, in Lincoln, California, announces its annual call for entries to the “Feats of Clay XX” exhibition. This is the 20th year of “Feats of Clay.” The call is extended to artists working in the United States and its territories, and—for the first time—to artists in Mexico and Canada. The exhibition will be held from April 28 to May 27. The application deadline is February 9. For submission guidelines and fees, awards information, and jury details, visit the Web site at www.lincolnarts.org or call (916) 645-9713. For a prospectus, send a #10 SASE to Lincoln Arts, 540 F Street, Lincoln, CA 95648.

‰ The Artery of Davis, California is now accepting submissions for the 2007 California Clay Competition, to be held April 27 through June 2. Home of the Artists’ Cooperative of Davis, The Artery has sponsored the Competition since 1990, giving California

ceramic artists an opportunity to display their work during the California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Art (CCACA). The competition is open to all artists living in California. Approximately 35 works will be accepted from an expected 400 entries. Submission of slides, fees, and entry form must be postmarked by February 20. For fees and submission guidelines, contact The Artery by phone at (530) 758-8330 or by e-mail artery@ davis.com. Located at 207 G Street, Davis, CA 95616, The Artery may be found online at www. arteryart.com.

‰

The Sales Gallery at the Contemporary Crafts Museum in Portland, Oregon, invites professional artists from North America who are working in craft media (ceramic, fiber, wood, glass, or metal) or using traditional craft techniques to submit documentation of their work to be considered for inclusion in the Gallery, scheduled to open this summer. Contemporary Crafts Museum & Gallery is poised to relocate. The move is expected to take three months, and is scheduled to begin in late March. The new site—situated between Portland’s Pearl District and Oldtown/ Chinatown on the North Park Blocks—is intended to be a vital hub for art lovers and collectors interested in craft. Complete submission materials must be received by 5 pm on February 1. For more information, e-mail wendy@contem porarycrafts.org. March submission deadlines

‰

The Virginia Artisans Center in Waynesboro, Virginia, announces a national call for entries to “A Twist on Tradition,” a juried fine craft exhibition. The exhibition will take place from May 17 through June 27. Deadline for entries is March 10; entry fee is $25. All fine craft media are eligible. Tim Glotzbach, founding Director of the Kentucky School of Craft, will serve as juror. Visit www.artisanscenterofvirginia.org for a prospectus, or mail an SASE to Artisans Center of Virginia, PO Box 452, Waynesboro, VA 22980. For more information,

April submission deadlines

‰

The Clay Art Center in Port Chester, New York, in conjunction with The Westchester Arts Council, is calling for artists and exhibition proposals for “All Fired Up: A Celebration of Clay in Westchester,” a county-wide tour of clay throughout Westchester County, NY in Fall 2008. The Clay Art Center will be accepting proposals from artists and curators for solo, group, and thematic shows which highlight the accessibility and diversity of ceramics as an expressive medium. All proposals will undergo a curatorial review, after which selected exhibitions will be sited at participating galleries and venues in Westchester County. Artists interested in being part of invitational group exhibitions are also encouraged to apply. All proposals are due by April 6. Visit www.clayartcenter.org or www.westarts.com, contact Leigh Taylor Mickelson via e-mail at leigh@clayartcenter. org, or call (914) 937-2047 for proposal forms.

thepark.com, e-mail directors@clinton artinthepark.com, or call Stacy Kinkaid at (563) 242-5120. The mailing address is Art in the Park, PO Box 2164, Clinton, IA 52733-2164.

The deadline for submissions is May 31. The call is open to artists in all media who are at least 21 years old and who reside in one of the eleven member states of the ACC/SE region: AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV.

May submission deadlines

To request a prospectus, e-mail info@ whoknowsart.biz or visit www.acc-south east.com, or send an SASE to Wendy Outland, ACC-SE Spotlight 2007, PO Box 1382, Asheville, NC 28802. [

‰

American Craft Council Southeast announces “Spotlight 2007,” the regional annual juried exhibition, to take place at Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, August 17September 22.

Hot Stuff I News & Events

call or e-mail Elizabeth Moss: (540) 9463294, ACV@nexet.net.

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Iowa, is accepting applications for the 45th annual Outdoor Fine Arts Festival. Held in Riverview Park overlooking the Mississippi River, the festival features fine arts and fine crafts by national and regional artists, and will take place June 16.

CLAyTIMESÂ·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

Harvest Urn II by Paul McCoy. 13" x 10". Stoneware.

Hot Stuff I Crystalline Glazing

Art

Hot Stuff I On Exhibit

Ashesto

Hunebedden Family by Karen Aumann. Among 130 works recently featured in the third international Ashes to Art® exhibition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Fifty original funerary urns and artworks from the third international Ashes to Art® exhibition come to rest in Sonoma County, California following the Philadelphia east coast debut.

genre of unique, contemporary funerary artwork. Ashes to Art® is organized by FUNERIA—an arts agency based in Northern California’s Sonoma County town of Graton. FUNERIA is also in the process of transforming an 1800-sq.-ft. space previously occupied by a martial arts studio into a fine craft and art gallery. Following the installation at the Sonoma County Museum, several pieces will remain in the museum’s gift shop while the balance will move to FUNERIA’s new gallery in Graton.

“arthonorslife@funeria,” as the gallery will be called, is the first of its kind, focusing primarily on original contemporary funerary art. The gallery intends to expand the concept in future exhibitions to include work that reflects on the art honors life™ theme FUNERIA has been advancing since 2001, with its first exhibition at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center. arthonorslife@funeria is scheduled to open as early as the end of January 2007 at 2860 Bowen Street, in Graton, CA.

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

n an interesting twist that acknowledges the role of those we love and think of during the holidays, the Sonoma County Museum in Santa Rosa, CA, recently showcased a group of 50 original artist-made urns, vessels, and personal memorial objects during an annual holiday event and sale. The artwork arrived directly from Philadelphia’s 5,000-sq.-ft. ICE BOX gallery at Crane Arts. The works had been selected from a group of 130 pieces from 26 states and 6 foreign countries that comprised the east coast debut of Ashes to Art®—an international exhibition that has been leading the emerging

Hot Stuff I On Exhibit

East Coast Award Winners PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania—Working artists who are also long-time respected educators took top honors at the east coast debut of the recent Ashes to Art® exhibition. “Best of Show” was awarded to Baylor University Professor of Art and Ceramistin-Residence, Paul McCoy, for his large bell-shaped stoneware Creation Urn III (pictured on page 8). “Excellence in Clay” was awarded to Winthrop University’s Professor of Ceramics, Jim Connell, for Red Green, his carved and sandblasted lidded jar (pictured at left). Red Green, carved and sandblasted lidded jar by Jim Connell. 11" x 11". Stoneware. Recipient of the “Excellence in Clay” award at the third international Ashes to Art® exhibition.

The “People’s Choice” award was based on popular vote throughout the show and was won by Jack Thompson, Professor of Fine Art/3-D at Moore College of Art and Design. Thompson’s clay Anubis (pictured, lower left), the jackal-headed guide to the underworld in ancient Egyptian lore, figured prominently in all promotional materials for the exhibition.

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

Jurors for the 130-piece Philadelphia exhibition included lead juror Michael W. Monroe, Director of the Bellevue Arts Museum and former chief curator of the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery, and artist jurors Carol Green and Christiane Michaela Vincent. Green, Vincent, and FUNERIA’s arts counsel Adela Akers gathered in Philadelphia to select the award-winning works prior to the October 21st opening reception. Akers had also served as lead juror when Ashes to Art® debuted at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center in 2001.

To learn more about FUNERIA and its Ashes to Art® exhibitions, visit www. funeria.com or e-mail arthonorslife@ funeria.com. [

What memorial object will stand in for you when you’re no longer here to speak for yourself? Anubis (detail) by Jack Thompson. 16" x 13" x 14". Painted ceramic. Recipient of the “People’s Choice” award at the third international Ashes to Art® exhibition.

—FUNERIA

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An Introduction to Glaze Chemistry by PETE PINNELL

arlier this year, I wrote about methods that can be used to alter existing glazes and develop new ones, and at that time I promised that I’d explain yet another way. The method I had in mind is called the Unity Molecular Formula, otherwise known as

the stuff in the universe that you can see is made of atoms.1 Atoms are built of three kinds of particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons. An atom is a bit like a tiny solar system, with electrons (playing the role of planets) orbiting a large, central nucleus made up of protons and

use of the names of these categories, whether you’ve realized it or not—you’ve probably heard someone refer to a glaze as being really “alkaline,” for instance, and “alkali metals” are one of the groupings in the table. A little later in this series I’ll provide a chart that some

the Seger formula, in honor of Hermann Seger, the 19th Century German scientist who invented this way of looking at glazes. It’s the best and most powerful technique for designing, analyzing, or altering glazes; but since it uses some chemical symbols and a few numbers, it can look complex. This scares away a lot of potters, especially those who have not had much technical education. However, the reality is that it isn’t nearly as complex as it looks and with a little coaching, anyone can learn how to read, understand, and use a Unity Formula. Really.

neutrons. Protons have a positive charge, electrons have a negative charge, and neutrons have no charge. What keeps the electrons in their little orbits around the nucleus of an atom is the electrical attraction between the electrons and protons, and so the numbers of each in an atom will normally be equal. Atoms can range in size from small ones like hydrogen—which has just one proton, one electron, and no neutrons—to large atoms like uranium—which has 92 protons, 92 electrons, and 146 neutrons. Note that in both cases, the number of protons and electrons is equal (more on this later).

people refer to as “the potter’s periodic table of elements,” and within it are abbreviated versions of some of these categories.

Let’s start at the beginning, and do so with a very scientific term: stuff. All of

Considering how many different kinds of stuff there are, even just on Earth, it’s surprising to note that all of them are composed of surprisingly few different kinds of atoms; at latest count, there are just 117. Each different kind of atom has its own name, structure and characteristics, and we refer to them as “the chemical elements.” In order to better understand the elements, chemistry organizes them into a chart known as the Periodic Table of Elements.2 In it, the elements are arranged into specific groupings that place similar elements together. As potters, we make regular

On the following page is our list:

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

As I outlined the column, I realized that if I were going to write about this, it would take more than just one column and would require that I first define some basic chemical knowledge for those of you who didn’t take a chemistry class in school, or who have forgotten what you learned there. As a result, I’ve planned a series of columns in which I’ll try to simplify and present some very basic chemistry knowledge, along with an introduction to the Unity Formula method.

We generally use a one- to threeletter symbol to represent each of the elements (both the names and symbols are included in the Wikipedia link in the footnote). Some of these are pretty easy to recognize, since they have the same root as the English name: Li for lithium, for instance. With others, it seems to make little sense because they are based on the Latin or Greek words for those elements, such as Na for Sodium (from the Latin “Natrium”), or Pb for lead (from the Latin “Plumbum”). To become comfortable with reading chemical formulas, one of the first things we have to do is memorize the chemical symbols. As potters, we don’t have to memorize all of them, since there are many we never use. Here is a “bare minimum” list of elements that a potter needs to know. These won’t appear on our final exam. I’m joking—actually they will be on the final, and I will be sending your grades home to your parents, so start memorizing!

Perspectives I As Far As I Know

Back to Basics, Part I

Perspectives I As Far As I Know CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

ELEMENT aluminum antimony barium bismuth boron cadmium calcium carbon chromium cobalt copper fluorine hydrogen iron lead lithium magnesium manganese nickel nitrogen oxygen phosphorus potassium praseodymium selenium silicon sodium strontium sulfur tin titanium vanadium zinc zirconium

SYMBOL Al Sb Ba Bi B Cd Ca C Cr Co Cu F H Fe Pb Li Mg Mn Ni N O P K Pr Se Si Na Sr S Sn Ti V Zn Zr

See, that’s not so bad. Memorizing them means that when you see “Ti,” you know that it means “titanium,” and not “tin,” which can make a big difference in a glaze. Even more commonly, potters confuse magnesium (Mg) with manganese (Mn). Just remember—“they mine manganese (Mn) in Minnesota (Mn)” (not really, but it makes it easy to remember). Individual elements tend not to live alone in the wild. Instead, elements tend to bond together to create more complex structures, and among these are forms we call molecules. A molecule can be defined as a chemically stable entity made up of two or more atoms. These atoms can be the same, such as with the case of an oxygen molecule

(O2) that is made up of just two atoms of oxygen (O), or with different atoms, such as with water (H2O), the chemical bonding of hydrogen and oxygen. What’s interesting is that when atoms are joined together into molecules, they usually change qualities in surprising ways. Even such a simple molecule as O2 has

oxides. In pottery, virtually everything we use is in an oxidized form. Non-oxides are fairly rare in our branch of ceramics, at least if you don’t include our silicon carbide kiln shelves. Our little branch of the ceramic world is sometimes defined as the “oxide branch” of ceramics, and there are “non-oxide” and “composite”

qualities very different from O, and H2O certainly has qualities different from the two gasses that made it up: think about ice, for instance, compared with either oxygen or hydrogen.

branches as well. I mention this because “oxide” is such a common suffix in our field that we often fail to even mention it. You hear potters talk about a “magnesium” matte, or a “lead” glaze. The reality is that we’re really talking about “magnesium oxide” and “lead oxide” in each of those cases. We quit saying “oxide” after every element name because it’s unwieldy in conversation, and in our field, we can just assume that everything is an oxide (with a few rare exceptions).

A little closer to the ceramic world, let’s consider the molecule aluminum oxide, which has the formula Al2O3 and is found in clay and some other common glaze materials. By the way, those little numbers after the chemical symbols mean that one molecule of aluminum oxide contains two atoms of aluminum and three atoms of oxygen. You are all familiar with the realworld qualities of aluminum (the “Al” in aluminum oxide). It is a soft, light, malleable metal with a melting point of just 1220° F (about cone 020). This is just barely hot enough to register as red heat in a kiln, and is actually a temperature that you can reach on top of a kitchen stove. I know, because I melted one of our aluminum pans while fixing Christmas dinner for guests a couple of years ago, when I failed to put any water into the pan in which I was trying to steam broccoli (I kept the little silvery nuggets that resulted, and threw away the broccoli). You’re also certainly aware of the physical qualities of oxygen: it’s light, a gas at room temperature, etc. Now, logic would seem to say that if you combine a soft, light metal with a gas, you might get something even softer and lighter. Instead, what results is aluminum oxide, which is very heavy,3 dense, hard,4 abrasive,5 and melts at about 3725° F, or cone 42. I mention this to reinforce the point that chemical reactions can tend to seem illogical. One particular kind of molecule is called an “oxide,” which is any element that is chemically combined with oxygen. Some potters mistakenly use the term oxide to mean just the materials that we use to color a glaze, but those are the coloring

Now, a chemist would speak even more specifically and tell us how much oxygen is joined with each particular element: “oxide” for one atom of oxygen, “dioxide” for two, “trioxide” for three, etc. An international group called “IUPAC” governs correct usage.6 They publish a book 7—updated every decade or so—that provides current standards for what’s known as nomenclature. As potters, we don’t need to be really careful of what we verbally call our different oxides—we can just call all of them oxides—but we do need to be careful that we write them correctly. How an element oxidizes depends upon that element’s valence. Valence? The valence of an atom is a measure of its ability to bond with other elements. Remember when I talked about electrons orbiting the nucleus of an atom? It turns out that some of these electrons can be transferred to another atom, or shared between atoms. This sharing of electrons forms the basis for chemical bonding. In beginning chemistry classes, they often have kits for building little models of molecules.8 In these kits, each atom is represented by a little colored ball, and each ball has sockets in which you can stick little pegs to hold the molecules together. Some of the balls have more sockets, some fewer. This is essentially what valence is: how many “peg holes”

Why on earth would a potter need to know anything about valence? It turns out, it’s pretty important to us because it can help us predict the role that an oxide will play in a glaze. We’ll go into this more next time, and also gather that information into a simple, practical chart that will make this all a bit more clear (I promise). I can now see your eyes glazing over! But before I end, I’d like to offer you this list of terms to contemplate between now and next issue:

As you read this list, think about what the terms mean. If you don’t remember, please go back and reread my explanation, or go online to Wikipedia (or another Web site) and read some more formal explanations. Next time, we’ll put all this into a ceramic perspective. [ FOOTNOTES

• Atom • Proton • Neutron • Electron • Molecule • Element • Periodic Table • Oxide • Valence

black. 6. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. 7. Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry IUPAC Recommendations 2005, Edited by N.G. Connelly, T. Damhus, R.M. Hartshorn, and A.T. Hutton. This is also referred to as “The Red Book.”

1. I’m going to leave out any discussion of

8. This looks like the kind of kit we had when

quarks, photons, neutrinos, etc. here: from the

I was a student, and that schools are probably

standpoint of a potter, if you can’t buy a bag

still using: www.molymod.com.

of it from the store, you don’t have to worry about it. 2. You can find a nice one on Wikipedia, at http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodic_table_%28big%29.

5. It’s the grit on any sandpaper that’s not

3. 3.97 grams per cubic centimeter, versus 2.70 grams per cubic centimeter for aluminum metal.

Pete Pinnell teaches at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has been a potter for many years and has numerous exhibitions and workshops to his credit. You can reach him with comments or questions at ppinnell1@unl.edu.

Perspectives I As Far As I Know

an atom has, to represent how many other atoms it can join.

4. Aluminum oxide has a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale—diamond is 10, while aluminum metal is 2.8.

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

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by LANA WILSOn

This is the first of two columns based on scary but informative chats with my kiln repairman. I wanted to give him credit, but he wanted to be anonymous. He is too busy already ...

asked him to start with a slightly hilarious, but true, story. He quickly responded. “Three times a year, I am called to repair a kiln because the maintenance man stood on top of it to paint the ceiling. Imagine his surprise when he plummeted through the kiln lid and never got a bit of the ceiling painted. There should be a prominent sign in every group studio telling people never to stand on a kiln lid and not to put things on the lid of the kiln.” I asked him for more common mistakes people made with kilns. “Years ago, a frantic potter who had bought a kiln from us phoned to complain the kiln was not working correctly. I checked the whole kiln carefully. I couldn’t find one thing wrong. I carefully questioned the customer. The problem was, the kiln had not been properly loaded. The bottom third of the kiln had been tightly packed and the top third was totally empty.

the shortest in height, and the top shelf post should be at least four inches in height before the final shelf. Always have a top shelf just before the lid because it will help even out the firing.” When my sensor rod in the kiln sitter looked thin, I ordered a new one and he had definite advice. “Check the kiln sitter. When the sensing rod begins to look like a toothpick, you need to change it. If it looks curved, you need to change it. And put the cone near the end of the kiln sitter prongs, not next to the tube. I have seen the cone stuck back and melted into the tube that holds the kiln sitter prongs. I replace more kiln sitter tubes because of this. A little kiln wash on the kiln sitter’s cone supports can also help prevent cones from sticking.” He added, “Don’t place the soft bricks or any kind of posts right up against the kiln wall because it is hard on the elements. It makes the kiln elements too hot in that area, and then that is where they will be weak—that will be the first place an element will break.”

“If your kiln is wide and not too tall, consider the logic of having the first shelf be on top of two-inch posts. You can’t have the bottom shelf or two be one or two inches in height, the middle shelf a tall vase, and the top three more low shelves of plates. Instead, the bottom shelf post should be at least four inches tall while the middle shelves should be

He noticed my kiln wasn’t super clean. He told me, “Cleaning the kiln is important. Any clay or glaze that gets in the element groove will burn the element out. Clay remaining on an element or glaze fused to the element can burn a hole in the element. As a glaze particle starts to melt, it will burn a hole in the soft brick that holds the element.

Joe ir Repa Kiln uy G

“If you don’t clean out glaze particles, they will eventually melt into the element. Remember, it gets hotter in the element grooves than the temperature you fire to. This means any glaze in there will just flux or melt all over. Someone brought me a kiln once and all the element grooves had melted glaze in them. If I had put new elements in that kiln, they would have just burned out again very soon because glaze was still in the grooves.”

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

“I didn’t have to fix anything in that unhappy potter’s kiln. I just had to explain how heat rises, [that] colder air goes to the bottom, and how kilns should be loaded. You have to get ceramic work up off the bottom of the kiln. Always put a one-inch post on the bottom of the kiln and then load the first shelf. This way the ceramic work is up off the floor of the kiln.

Perspectives I Beneath the Surface

Confessions of an Electric Kiln Repairman

Perspectives I Beneath the Surface

He didn’t like my emergency use of Nichrome™ wire for element pins. He elaborated, “I have seen people use paper clips as element staples. The element is ruined because the paper clip became molten and the element can’t take that. Nichrome wire used as pins also burns up the elements because they are made of Kanthal®. You can’t go to Radio Shack™ and use their push-on connectors because you need push-on connectors and terminal rings made for high temperatures. The Radio Shack connectors get hot if you use them in your kiln because they can’t take the heat; they are made for low current.”

He added, “I have often seen people use hard brick for kiln posts in electric kilns. They should not be used because the hard brick absorbs too much heat. Soft brick does not absorb as much heat and should be used instead of hard brick. You don’t want to spend your money heating up bricks.” At least I hadn’t made that mistake. I phoned and asked him for more general advice for this column. He answered, “I advise people to leave spy plugs out until you reach about 1600º F when firing. You are not wasting heat. I leave both the

top and bottom spy plugs out because, in bisque firing, over 40 chemicals are burning out—you don’t want all that stuff to stay in your kiln. Leaving the spy hole plugs out lets the elements breathe better. When you keep the atmosphere cleaner, the elements last longer. Kiln vents not only keep the studio air safer but also even out the firing because you are pulling heat out of the bottom of the kiln.” He continued, “The heat is coming out of the lid area more than out of the spy holes. At about 1600º F you have burned out the organic material, so once you have good red color in the kiln, you can put the spy hole plugs back in. Check periodically until the cone bends over. Then put the spy hole plugs back in and let your kiln cool slowly.” I had to admit, it was amazing how much I didn’t know about my electric kilns. For more information, go to www.ortonceram ic.com. Click on Resources, then on Reference Library, for details on cones and firing. [ Lana Wilson is a handbuilder from Del Mar, California. She gives frequent workshops and is the author of Ceramics: Shape and Surface. She may be reached via her Web site, www. lanawilson.com, or by e-mail at lana@ lanawilson.com.

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Making Plates by BILL van GILDER • photos by rex looney

“A

ttention, everyone. For today’s demo, I’m going to make a plate. You all know how to center, so I’d like to see each of you try this project. “Knead-up a 3-lb. ball of the softest clay you can find and wrap it in plastic. Attach a 12" bat to your wheelhead and get your water and tools set up. Then take a seat around my wheel. I’ll be starting in five minutes.”

Illustrating the Project Necessary Supplies • two 3-lb. pieces of well-kneaded soft clay • one 12"-diameter bat • water and a small sponge • a needle tool • a rounded rib tool • an under-cutting stick • a cut-off wire • a looped trimming tool Optional: • one 8-oz. piece of clay • a pointed chop stick • a small erasable board and marker

So, now students know what’s coming. I follow my own directions and set up my wheel with water, a bat, tools, and clay. I’ll use an erasable board and marker to diagram a few cross-section images of the sample plate I’m going to make. I’ve also previously made a demo plate, which is now very stiff leather-hard, and I’ll keep that at my wheel to use for the trimming part of the demo. With the class surrounding your wheel, draw two cross-sectioned diagrams on your board (Fig. 1). Keeping things simple, explain, “There are two basic plate forms thrown on the wheel—one has a foot ring; the other doesn’t. The top sides of these plates are identical: they’re thrown in a very shallow curve, from rim to rim. Why? Because during a high-temperature glaze

firing, clay becomes slightly soft and pliable; hence, warped plates. The wide rim, or flange, will drop downward slightly; the inside floor area will rise up slightly. The foot ring will be the pivot point, or fulcrum—like a seesaw. So, to avoid making plates that are domed inside, throw them with a very shallow curve—here— across the inside floor. As I said, this floor will ‘float up’ a bit during the firing, to become flat.

In Form I Teaching Techniques

A two-piece project

“The rim, or flange, of a plate can be made wide or narrow. A wide flange is considered more ‘formal.’ A narrow rim tends to be more ‘working class’ (more room for food)! For this demo, we’re going formal: a wide rim and a trimmed foot ring.”

Centering and Opening Center your 3-lb. ball of clay on the bat, in a low, wide profile. Push downward and draw the clay outward. Everyone has their own hand configurations for opening, and mine is with thumbs crossed over at the top of the centered clay, pushed downward and drawn outward. I use plenty of water to avoid any ‘dry-drag’ between my hands and the clay (Fig. 2). As you open and create the shallow, curved, inside floor of the plate, mention this im-

In Form I Teaching Techniques

portant point: the pressure you’re using to open your plate is being slowly relaxed as the clay is drawn outward. This is how we create the needed inside curve (Fig. 3). “My hands are actually rising up a bit as I move the clay outward.” The tendency is to pressure the clay downward as it’s opened. So, be firm in emphasizing this relaxed hand pressure. Otherwise, students end up with a humped inside floor at this stage—and we want just the opposite. Also, note to the class that in order to trim a foot-ring beneath their plate, they will need a base thickness of at least ½". Half of this thick floor will be trimmed away later, so some thickness is necessary now. Show students how to use a needle tool to measure floor thickness: Stop the wheel and stick your needle tool into the open floor of the plate until it touches the bat below. Slide your thumb tip down the needle until it touches the clay. Pull the needle from the plate with your thumb attached, and note the length of needle from thumb tip to needle point. This is the floor thickness—which is generally too thick. With some fingertip pressure, continue to push the clay outward and test again.

The Rim

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

With your plate now opened, tuck the tips of the last three fingers of one hand along the outside wall and touching the bat. Place your first finger tip at the outside top edge with your thumb positioned on top of the thick ring of clay—which is about to become the flange, or flattened rim. Use the fingertips of your other hand to pressure the clay outward and against your outside fingertips. You’ve completely captured the clay with all digits— inside, outside, and top (again, Fig. 3). Now, draw the top of the clay outward, and a bit upward, in a tapering wall (Fig. 4). The rise from the floor to the inside rim edge will be ½". This is the depth of your plate. The outside width of the plate, rim to rim, will be somewhere between 10" and 10½".

Finishing

Now use your curved rib to smooth the inside floor area and round the corner where the floor meets the rim. Begin with the rib at the 11 o’clock position on your

plate and slide it to the center several times. Starting the rib at the 11 o’clock spot and then smoothing to center allows you to easily view what effect your rib-smoothing step is having on the plate surface (Fig. 5). Now finish the rim. Supporting outside and beneath the flange—also at the 11 o’clock position—use the straight edge of your rib to smooth the top surface of the rim (Fig. 6). Again, mention to students that, “This rim will drop downward during the glaze firing. So it needs to be angled upward now, about ¼". As a final touch add a very shallow, but noticeable, fingertip swirl as a visual focal point at the center of your plate (Fig. 7). A light sponging of the whole plate plus a shallow, beveled under-cut at the foot completes this part of the project.

Drying and Trimming To show students the complete platemaking process, from throwing through trimming, you may want to pre-make a plate or two a few days before your throwing demo. They’ll get your lesson in one sitting and have a good idea of the whole process, from beginning to end. “Now, let’s get a plate trimmed.” Unwrap your plate—which ‘just happens’ to be made with the same weight and dimensions as your recently thrown plate—and share with students these important points: “Trim your plates when they’re very, very stiff leather-hard. The downward pressure you’ll use to trim the foot will slump a soft plate. So trim when your plate is like hard, stale cheddar cheese. Really stiff.” Also: “Prior to trimming, it’s very necessary to dry your plates evenly—which usually means slowly. If your plate is force-dried unevenly, the trimming will also be uneven. That’s a drag ... and frustrating. So, careful drying is essential.” On a clean wheelhead, attach and center your second ball of clay. This clay will be used to form a pad, onto which your leather-hard plate will be attached and trimmed. Open, flatten, and skim the pad level and dry with a straight-edged, stiff rib. Scratch a few circular lines at the outside edge of the soft pad (as in Fig. 8). These lines become reference points, helping students center their plates on their pads. With the wide, curved end of your looped trimming tool, cut two “key-

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In Form I Teaching Techniques

PLATE-MAKING TIPS To make a set of identical plates: • Use the same, soft quality of clay for each plate. • Use identical weights of clay for specific sizes.

• Set up a chop stick pointer after making your first plate, for use as a consistent measuring device for height and width. • Use the same tools, in the same order, as you make each plate. • Dry your plates evenly. Rack them near the floor in your workspace where there are cooler temperatures and fewer air currents.

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

• Make a group of plates during one sitting at the wheel (tomorrow’s plates will usually be a bit different from today’s).

holes” from the edge of the pad (again, Fig. 8). You’ll use these keyholes to get your fingertips under the rim of the plate to pop it from the pad once trimming is complete. Center your plate onto the pad. With the wheel turning at a medium speed, lightly press down on the rim to firmly attach it to the pad. Now trim away the flaring excess clay from the base edge until you’ve beveled the edge inward, about 2" (Fig. 9). Use a quick wheel speed, but move your tool slowly. Move your trimming tool half-way down this beveled slope and trim a small step at that spot (Fig. 10). This step mimics the inside shape of the plate where the inner edge of the rim drops into the curve of the floor. Next, move your tool to the top, wide base area and mark a circular line ¼" inward of the base edge. This ¼" area will be the foot ring. Trim away some of the wide base surface, from your circular mark to the center of the plate (Fig. 11). “It may take five or six trimming passes to cut away the necessary ¼" of clay; use a very sharp tool and take your time. Notice that I trim in both directions: from foot ring to center, and from center to the foot ring. Now, move your trimming tool back to the outside wall of the raised foot ring and cut a ½" wide wax line (Fig. 12). “This shallow, beveled cut defines the outside form of the foot and will serve as an obvious guide when waxing the foot ring of your plate.”

Lastly, “To see if you’ve cut away enough clay from the inside foot area, try this: Use a straight-edge (a ruler works well) and place it across your trimmed foot. We don’t want any part of this wide, trimmed-out surface to touch the ruler or, eventually, the tabletop. We’re looking for a gap of at least 1/8" (Fig. 13). If you have the nerve and want to hear a few funny moans and groans from your class … ask a student to hold your trimmed plate at the rim with two hands, about chest level. With a cut-off wire, proceed to cut your plate in half, rim-to-rim, right down the center. “This even cross-section, like the diagrams I drew at the beginning of the demo, is what we’re looking for in our plates (Fig. 14). I’ll bisque-fire these pieces and keep them here in the studio for you to consider when you get to plate-making. Work neatly and intentionally, following the steps I’ve shown you. ‘Flat’ is easier than you think.” [

Bill van Gilder has been a full-time potter and teacher of clay work since the 1960s. He is creator/host of the Throwing Clay DIY Network television series and teaches functional pottery-making workshops. He may be reached by email at vangilderpottery@earthlink. net. His new professional potters’ tool line, van Gilder Tools, is now available via the Clay Times online store at www. claytimes.com, or by calling toll-free 1-800-356-2529.

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Small Spotted Vase. 7" x 3½" x 3½". Porcelain fired to cone 10 in a soda/salt kiln.

The Beauty of

Pots With A Purpose BY K.T. Anders

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

t wasn’t until Homo sapiens took to two legs that the need arose for containers. Humans needed vessels to drink and eat from, to store foods in, to carry water, and to perform a zillion other tasks made possible by four fingers and an opposable thumb. Functional pottery probably began when it was discovered that sun-baked mud made a nifty sealer for a woven basket when bringing water from the river. As functional pottery has evolved over many civilizations, the clay beneath our feet has become the useful vessel-of-many-purposes in our hands. But often the lowly functional pot is relegated to the status of utensil rather than work of art. After all, the purists argue, its purpose is utility, not beauty.

That’s why the world needs potters like Brian J. Taylor—for whom creating bowls, mugs, vases, ewers, and jars is a calling. Not for him, an objet d’art without purpose. “I want people to use what I make,” he says. He brings to the functional pot an aesthetic that turns the familiar, everyday working vessel into an object that not only superbly performs its stated purpose, but is sensual to touch and beautiful to behold.

Tall Basket. 15" x 5" x 5". Stoneware fired to cone 10 in a soda/salt kiln.

“I really like the guidelines of functional pottery—having to work within the rules that a particular function requires,” says Taylor. “For example, a bowl has to be open on the top and have a rim on it. I like having to make something beautiful within even those simple parameters.”

Cruets. 7" x 3" x 3" each. Porcelain fired to cone 10 in a soda/salt kiln.

Taylor likes the dichotomy between his own sense of creativity and the user’s sense of the pot’s utility. “I want to make something that I can think about creatively, but someone else can simply take and use,” he explains. “I get to think about how a cup will feel in someone’s hand, because that’s what I’m concerned about when I make it. But, because it’s a functional object, the person doesn’t even have to think about that. The user just wants a cup to be a cup. Of course, I would like it to be a favorite cup.”

Taylor describes his work as approachable, comfortable, and sensual. “I want people to pick it up and see what the knob feels like, to want to tip the pitcher to see how it pours.” Softness, in both line and texture, is a hallmark of Taylor’s work, be it one of his “petal” pieces, a simple bowl, or an ewer. He uses Helios porcelain [made by Highwater Clays] and his satin matte glazes, when fired in the salt/soda kiln to cone 10-11, give the porcelain a buttery patina and the subtle colorations of atmospheric firing. Although Taylor dutifully took his glaze calculation

Ewer with Saucer. 10" x 5" x 5". Porcelain fired to cone 10 in a soda/salt kiln.

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

Although he has always worked in art, clay drew his interest as early as high school. “I’ve always known that I wanted to make things, and clay crosses the boundary of painting because people can actually touch what I make. They may not be aware of it, but when they hold it, they are experiencing what I experienced while I was making it.”

classes at Utah State University, he prefers to use glaze recipes he has found from other potters. “I find using other people’s glazes and changing the colorants often gives me something totally different,” he explains. “I use one called Strontium Crystal Magic which, I think, is a Steven Hill glaze, with pinks and silvers (recipe appears on p. 53). The other glaze I use most of the time is Waxy Matte, which I think I got out of the Daniel Rhodes book. I’ve tested a lot of glazes. Once I find one I like, I’m done—I don’t have to play with it any more.”

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Although Taylor’s current work is thrown, his early experience in handbuilding has left its mark: he feels compelled to push and pull those perfect circles until they tell a slightly different story. “I begin by throwing something symmetrical with thin walls. Then I go in and alter it.” His alterations can come from the inside or the outside. “Sometimes I start with a fairly static pot, then I figure out different stages of drying when I can go in with a sponge or my fingers to stretch it out and give it more volume,” he explains. “Or I throw the pot with a lot of volume and then push into it. Sometimes the form wobbles on the wheel—it’s really stretched out and almost exhausted. That’s the moment I stop. I like to take it to the edge.”

like the flower, but I think about the line and it comes out as I work. I actually recognize the influence after the fact, not while I’m making the pot.” Taylor has recently become intrigued with the carnivorous pitcher plant. “There’s something about it that is like a vessel,” he muses. “I’ve hung photos of the pitcher plant in my studio.” To achieve the gracefully curved petals on his pots, he uses a homemade wooden rib that is a halfinch thick with beveled edges. “I stop the wheel and push the rib directly into the side of the pot, pushing it in deeply at the bottom where the clay is thick. I do that all the way around, trying to get the indentations fairly equal. Then I spin the wheel really slowly and cut out the bottom of the scallop with my needle tool, cleaning the edge with a sponge.”

Mugs. 4" x 4" x 3" each. Porcelain fired to cone 10 in a soda/salt kiln.

Taylor says he feels he is on a path toward understanding what he makes and why. He has been a resident artist at the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Edgecombe, Maine, and is currently artist in residence at Arrowmont, in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. “I’m nowhere near the end of the path,” he admits, “but I’m now beginning to get the things I want and I feel the pots are mine. Now it’s about how the rib changes the profile of the pot because of the way I hold it, not because I’m influenced by someone else’s work.”

Although he works in series of three to five, he is far from rigid in his approach. He doesn’t Six Small Bowls. 3" x 3" x 6" each. Porcelain fired to cone 10 in a even weigh his clay. “If I soda/salt kiln. try to make the same pot twice and the second one ends up taller and skinnier, I may like it that way better,” he says. “That informs It seems clear, however, that his path will be along the line the next piece I make. I don’t like to work in a strict manner.” of functional pottery. “I hope that my pots spark something Taylor says he is influenced by botanical and aquatic forms, instinctual that makes people want to touch them,” he says. That’s what functional pottery is all about. [ but you won’t find flowers and fish among his works. “I’m not literal in the translation, but I think about volume and profile,” he explains. “I visualize the base of a flower as a vessel, for example. That interests me. I don’t want to make flowers specifically, but I can look at them and be intrigued over and over again. The way the line curves upward goes into my mental file folder. It’s not that I want to sit down and make the pot look

Brian Taylor can be reached via e-mail at brianjtaylor1@hotmail. com or visit his Web site, www.brianjtaylorceramics.com. K.T. Anders is a potter and freelance writer who resides in Upperville, Virginia.

Vase. 12" x 8" x 8". Porcelain fired to cone 10 in a soda/salt kiln.

Big Green and Red Pitcher. 12" x 7" x 5". Porcelain fired to cone 10 in a soda/salt kiln.

CLAyTIMESÂˇCOM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

Petal Dish. 5" x 11" x 11". Porcelain fired to cone 10 in a soda/salt kiln.

NCECA

Clay National

2007 The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) will hold its 2007 “Clay National” invitational exhibition in conjunction with its annual conference, “Old Currents, New Blends,” in Louisville, Kentucky, March 14-17. A sampling of works from the show appears on these pages. To learn more about the exhibition or the conference, visit www.

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

Lifesaver by Jeff Downing. 28" x 30" x 18". Ceramic.

nceca.net or call toll-free 1-866-266-2322. [

Spanish Moon II by Patrick Dougherty. 4" x 23" x 23". Earthenware.

Opposite page: Platter with Yellow Square by Bradley McLemore. 17" x 17" x 1½". Soda-fired porcelaineous stoneware. Teapot I by Bonnie Seeman. 8" x 5½" x 4". Ceramics and glass.

Wrapped by Claudia Tarantino. 4½" x 10" x 9". Porcelain.

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

Tea Wow Wow by Meryl Ruth. 11¾" x 14" x 8¼". Stoneware and paper clay.

MS Mooney II by Susan O’Brien. 19" x 10" x 8". Porcelain.

Me and My Sister by Anne Potter. 48" x 60" x 60". Ceramic.

Plate Set by Seth Payne. 12½" x 6½" x 6". Ceramic.

Thicket by Tyler Lotz. 18" x 20" x 10". Ceramic and acrylic.

Passage by Karen Massaro. 6½" x 19" x 20". Clay, glazes, and overglaze enamels.

Tea Pot with Reed Handle by Barbara Hoffman. 9" x 8" x 6". Porcelain.

20+ Years of Tozan Kilns An International Wood Fire Conference STORY by RAND HEAZLITT • EVENT Photos by Nick GEANkoplis and rand heazlitt

Shot Glass by Rand Heazlitt. Wood-fired with shino slip.

Bottle Landscape by Josh Copus. Wood-fired local clay.

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

pon my arrival at the preconference site located on the grounds of the Northern Arizona University, the scene appeared nothing short of chaotic. I have been firing pots with wood for more than 25 years, but I’ve never seen so many people with so many pots loading so many different wood kilns!

With closer examination, what had appeared to be chaos was actually a highly orchestrated event. Seven different kilns were being quickly loaded by seven competent kiln masters and their teams. The conductor of the event, going from one kiln to the next, was Jason Hess, Professor of Ceramics at Northern Arizona University (NAU) and coordinator of this ambitious event. With relative calm, Hess examined the loading of every kiln, giving insight into the unique personality and stacking strategies of each. By late afternoon, all but the new double train kiln and the small Anagama were completely loaded and ready to be lit.

Don Bendel, retired department head for NAU and the person responsible for the establishment of the wood firing complex, led the conference participants in a kiln-lighting ceremony of the large, four-chambered Noborigama. Bendel paid homage to Yukio Yamamoto, the man who built this first kiln in the Tozan style. During the ceremony, an old prayer Yukio used to say was repeated. According to Bendel, the prayer asked for the kiln to give us problems so that we might learn something. As the old saying goes, be careful what you ask for! (Let’s just say a lot of people learned a lot of things from that kiln!) Over the next week the kilns continued to fire and some were unloaded and then reloaded and fired again. A total of 17 kilns were fired using more than 40 cords of wood. In the evenings during the preconference, open slide forums were conducted. Participants from around the world shared their work, kilns,

and firing techniques. It was inspiring listening to the passionate discourse, viewing the wonderful pots, and seeing all the different kilns. A definite highlight was a North Carolina trio made of young up-and-coming potters Josh Copus, Matt Jacobs, and Sean Fairbridge. They gave a wonderful presentation on working with local clay deposits and place-based making. I would keep my eye on these guys! Other pre-conference highlights included a presentation by Fred Herbst, Assistant Professor at Corning Community College, and Terry Inokuma (this issue’s cover artist). They discussed her work with Hiroshi Ogawa and a decade of firing their work and that of other artists in Hiroshi’s Hikarigama. By Monday, most kilns were finished except for the Noborigama and the kilns that were being fired for a second time. Many participants took the opportunity to view some of the fine shows associated with the conference or explore the gorgeous scenery that is

CLAyTIMESÂˇCOM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

Clockwise from top left: interior of small train kiln after firing; interior third chamber of Tozan Noborigama during unloading; Basket Form by Terry Inokuma; participants viewing pots from train kiln.

Above: Interior of double train kiln during firing. Clockwise from top left: Loading double catenary kiln; gas kiln yard at NAU; pots prepared and labeled for loading into different kilns; conference participant examining pot from double catenary kiln; Steve Shaffer and Cole Taylor loading large Tozan Anagama; loading small train kiln; pots from double catenary kiln, soda side.

Clockwise from top left: Loading small Anagama kiln; large Tozan Anagama; unloading double catenary kiln.

so plentiful in the region. The conference presenters started arriving, and soon there were more wood-firing potters than I’ve ever seen together in one place.

The “Aesthetics” panel, moderated by Owen Rye, was stirring. Ted Adler was brilliant in his discourse about woodfired pottery and its need to escape the bonds of Japanese wood fire tradition in order to find its own voice as a true and

Of all the panels and presentations, it was the “Women Wood Firers” that upstaged everyone else. With the ceramics field being increasingly populated and influenced by women, wood firing has become the last bastion of male dominance. Not for much longer, if these ladies have their way! Moderated by Irish potter Coll Minogue, the panel consisted of Charity Davis-Woodard (USA), Micki Schloessingk (Wales), Davie

Reneau (USA), and Tara Wilson (USA). These ladies showed that they can stoke with the best of them. From building and firing kilns, making big pots, expressing conceptual ideas, or producing fine tableware, these girls have got it going on. Maybe the keynote speaker of the next national wood fire conference will be a woman. To sum it up, the conference was an outstanding event! Information was exchanged, friends were made, pots were shared, kilns were fired, and passions were fed. The conference was a testament to the fast-growing interest in wood-fired ceramics and its validity as a modern mechanism for artistic expression. To learn more about the International Wood Fire Conference, contact Jason Hess at (928) 523-2398 or Jason.Hess@nau. edu, or visit www.nau.edu. [ Rand Heazlitt is wood/salt-firing potter and the owner/director of Thrown Together Pottery, a craft school, gallery, and clay/ chemical distribution company in Louisville, Kentucky.

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

The conference program looked like a who’s-who of wood-fired pottery. The usual suspects were there: Chester Nealie, Owen Rye, John Neely, Tony Clennell, Jack Troy, Al Tennant, Randy Johnston, Eva Kwong, Kurt Mangus, and on and on. The highlights, in my opinion, included Kurt Mangus’ “Things Change,” a wonderful monologue on intellectual process and the influence of ideas on one’s work; and Marc Lancet’s eloquent lecture on Japanese wood firing, which highlighted work from his new book, sure to become the next wood-fired pottery bible. However, the two presentations sparking the most interest and controversy were the “Aesthetics” panel and the “Women Wood Firers” panel.

respected art form. He challenged us to re-examine what we do and look at it through the eyes of post-modernism, to re-evaluate the intellectual processes and concepts that underlie our work. He said a lot more, too—enough for an entire paper or book. I expect we will be hearing more from Adler in the future. Water Wu, a wood fire potter from Taiwan also on the panel, took another position, saying simply, “Don’t worry about that stuff. Just make the work.” Perhaps another brilliant insight. It certainly represents the constant struggle between art and craft, tradition and modernism, concept and function. I expect this discussion will continue. It is essential to the health and growth of wood-fired ceramics.

Where the Pot Stops

Blair Meerfeld Draws a Fine Line with Form and Edges BY K.T. Anders

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

hink for a moment about edges. The edge of a pot is more than where the pot stops; it’s a point of tension between the volume of the piece and the end of that volume. It contains the pot and sets the limits. According to Blair Meerfeld, edges should carry their own statements about a pot. “I try to exploit edges, whether horizontal or vertical,” he says. “A line subconsciously goes on to infinity, so I try to contain the shape by defining the edge. I want my edges to be obviously manipulated.”

That’s one of the things he teaches every year at workshops for secondary school teachers at Sandy Springs Friends School in Maryland, in a ceramics program run by Gwen Handler. This year Meerfeld, a native Coloradoan, added Hinckley Pottery, owned by Jill Hinckley in Washington, D.C., to his east coast schedule. I caught up with him on the second day of the Hinckley workshop, where he assembled forms he had thrown the first day. Day two was about working the edges to add a

hard dimension to what he calls his “soft and fleshy” forms. Cylinders, either wide or tall, form the basis of most of Meerfeld’s pots, and he gives them a subtle grace. “I draw on beat-up tin cans for inspiration,” he explains. “I collect a lot of man-made fabricated metal items—service containers, I call them. I like a tin can that’s been kicked down the road; the right side may have a swell and the left an indention. I’m not after the hard, static look. A lot of what

I do is subtle, relating to line rather than embellishment.” One way he achieves that line is with a rib. He creates a soft, slightly waving indentation— he calls it a belly line—that interrupts the vertical side of the pot all the way around. “The foot and shoulder are hard and exaggerated and the slight waving line visually slows your eye,” he explains. “I hold the heel of the rib and lightly dance it around a little, rocking it as the wheel spins. It’s very subtle, not as

dominant as the foot and shoulder.” Meerfeld demonstrated how he makes his trademark tall oval teapot. Beginning with a bottomless thrown cylinder, he cuts the clay from the bat and uses a dowel on opposite sides to slide the clay along the bat into an oval shape. Then, using two planks of bisque-fired clay, he presses both small ends of the oval to create pointed edges. “I want the ragged and sharp edge juxtaposed against the soft, thrown surface,” he explains. “It creates an almost emotional tension when you look at the piece. The edge is like a hard metal seam—a forced, mechanical look imposed on the soft belly-look of the thrown piece.” When the edge is sharp enough, he reinforces the interior by laying a coil of clay on a dowel and then pressing the dowel into the interior corner. A beveled slab serves as the teapot base, flattened upward with a rib to seal the clay. Bottom edges are as important as sides. So to make sure the pot doesn’t simply stop at the bottom, he presses downward with his rib to form a little ridge of clay all the way around. “I like a little fat roll at the bottom of a cylinder,” he says. “It adds an almost human element.”

He finished the spout by hollowing it with a dowel and creating a flange where it would attach to the teapot. “I leave a little collar at the joint and drag my fingernail around it because I want the addition to be obvious,” he says. Even a change in direction of the clay is an edge to be exploited. A flat slab welded with a roller to the top of the teapot creates the top. To further define the edge, Meerfeld runs his rib around the side to create a ridge. For the opening, he drills a 1½" hole in the leather-hard clay slab. “It’s a sacrilege to use an electric drill on the clay, but it works,” he says. A flat slab lid with an inverted cone as a flange covers the opening. “I needed a small lid that didn’t dominate the shape. So when I came across an old thermos bottle, which basically had a conical plug, I thought, ‘If it was good enough for the Stanley Thermos Company® it was OK for me.’” Uniformity is the name of the game in selling pots. “Two years down the road when someone calls to say she broke the lid, I can make another easily,” he says. Meerfeld demonstrated another teapot, with a spoutlike handle at right angles to the pouring spout. It was the subject of much merriment by the workshop attendees. “It’s meant to be comical,” he notes. “I make them for me; they are ri-

To match the free-flowing lines of his thrown cylinder, Meerfeld uses a hoof-cleaning tool to achieve a loose texture when trimming the foot.

Flasks by Blair Meerfeld. 10" tall. Salt-glazed stoneware. Opposite page: A side handle that mimics the shape of the spout is attached to a teapot body during Blair Meerfeld’s recent workshop at Hinckley Pottery in Washington, D.C.

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

If, like me, you often get wobblies when rolling a coil with your hands, his next step was a mind-blower. To make the spout, he began with a carrot-shaped cone which he then rolled into a smooth coil with his forearm. Yes, his forearm. Wrist facing downward, he simply moved the under-part

of his forearm over the clay from wrist to elbow like a rolling pin, moving it left and right to extend the coil. Voila! Beautiful, smooth coil—thick at one end, narrow at the other. Wow.

BONITA KELLER PHOTO

diculous, but you have to step over the line sometimes.” Another of Meerfeld’s forms is what he calls his granary—a wide, cylindrical, lidded jar reminiscent, he says, of large, fabricated metal containers used on farms in Colorado. To the cylinder he adds a top made from an inverted thrown, shallow cone. Around the flat plane of the rim, he creates subtle undulations by gently hitting the clay. A small lid with a stovepipe knob— like a Dr. Seuss hat—adds a touch of humor. “When you put a relatively small knob on a large pot, it gives the pot volume and scale,” he says.

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

Hand-trimming on thrown forms is one of Meerfeld’s signatures. “I like the feel and the look of carving clay,” he says. “It makes me feel as if I’m doing something important, like I’m a sculptor.” He uses a hoof knife, used for trimming horses’ hooves, that he’s bent with a propane torch. It’s all part of his trimming philosophy: “You might as well make trimming part of the pot, because you really can’t disguise it. I’m proud of the trim and want to emphasize it.”

Handles are another area Meerfeld uses to make a statement, particularly for mugs. “They have to have attitude,” he says. He recalls his mom scolding him when he was a child, her hands on her hips. With a slight exaggeration, that’s his image for a handle. “I want people to remember them,” he says. “Either they will like the handles, or they will walk away wondering ‘What was he thinking?!’” Although Meerfeld’s work is sparse in terms of embellish-

ment, he does like one chop he created long ago. It’s a carved X that looks like a window pane. He presses more deeply on one side than the other for added relief. “It brings an architectural element to the pots,” he explains. “Living out west, I’ve always responded to thick-walled adobe homes. This inset window conveys a sense of almost womb-like safety. It’s a home and you can think about who lives there.” The pots Meerfeld makes have a lot of visual information that he admits may not be apparent at first. “The more you look at edges, shoulders, and feet and how they work against the vertical profile of the piece, the more you see,” he says. “I’m trying to frame a sense of space.” But if that sounds serious, there is another side to Meerfeld’s work. “I want people to have a bit of fun with my pots,” he says. “When they use them, they’re aware that they are a little bit quirky—they are functional, but you have to think about how you are going to make them function. I’m not geared toward straight function. I don’t believe that every pot has to have a job.” Blair Meerfeld gives frequent workshops. He can be reached via e-mail at: blair005@ centurytel.net. Hinckley Pottery, owned by Jill Hinckley, specializes in teaching wheel-thrown pottery to all levels. It’s on the Web at www. hinckleypottery.com and can be reached via e-mail at info@ hinckleypottery.com. [

K.T. Anders is a potter and freelance writer who resides in Upperville, Virginia.

Blair Meerfeld, as guest potter at a recent Maryland wood firing.

Oval teapot under construction (above) and a similar, fired version, at left (13" high, salt-glazed stoneware).

CLAyTIMESÂ·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

Granary Jar by Blair Meerfeld. 13" diameter. Salt-glazed stoneware.

Weathered Surfaces by Mac Ward

A Ibrido #2. 12" x 32". Press-molded earthenware fired to cone 04.

Grouping of works in Westby’s Baltimore studio. Earthenware fired to cone 04.

Westby’s works have visual qualities that beg to be touched and used—it’s hard to leave them on the wall! He says that the appeal comes from “these sort of bulbous shapes that I’m making—shapes that reference toys or rattles—objects that people want to grab, want to touch, to check out and to possess in a way … very colorful; almost like little magnets drawing people in.” Once you pick them up, however, you are no longer sure what to do with them. For instance, the way the pieces swell with a sense of inflation may suggest rubber elasticity and weightlessness to the eye, but one touch from the hand reveals the stone solidity and weight one would expect from an anchor, not a buoy. Also, some wall pieces resemble children’s rattles or chew toys that come in small sizes made for babies’ hands, but the scale of these sculptures renders them unwieldy. Westby says, “I like having things that are playful, and it’s also the idea that you can’t play with it, but sort of that you could.” How appealing and dissatisfying at the same time!

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

This very conflict in Westby’s forms—between implied utility and non-function—is one thing that makes his work so provocative. It even goes beyond the similar conflict in, for instance, a sculptural teapot: by producing the illusion of being composed of a material with elastic qualities entirely foreign to those of fired clay, similar to trompe l’oeil.

Buoy Vessel. 15" x 42". Press-molded earthenware fired to cone 04.

look at Lars Westby’s sculptures transports the viewer to a realm between whimsical toys and industrial utility, between fresh youth and tattered age. He describes his own works as “organic, abstract sculptures that derive from buoys, bobbers, propellers, toys, and industrial objects.” But what is an object that borrows from all of these?

Westby uses a red earthenware clay body (terra cotta) to make his sculptures. He flattens the clay into 5/8"-thick slabs using a rolling pin and a plywood board covered in canvas. These slabs are then pressed into plaster molds that he has cast from hand-modeled originals or from found objects. He often uses the same

mold to make the two identical halves of his closed forms, which he will then join. Rather than attaching the separate parts with slip, Westby scores and wets the edges that will form the seams three times before joining. “I like that technique better than using slip,” says Westby, “because I’m actually creating a slip by scoring so much, and I know that both halves will match up perfectly … Then I push the pieces together tightly, and then it’s just a matter of wrapping it and letting it dry really slowly.” He bisque-fires his finished pieces to cone 08. The perfect complements to Westby’s forms are his surfaces. They, too, promote conflict with their ambiguous patterns and weathered look. On one hand they appear as organic and intimate as skin, on another they allude to the utilitarian markings on industrial objects. They undeniably have the appearance of age and exposure to the elements that Westby was thinking of when he titled his 1995 graduate thesis show at the University of Colorado, Boulder, “Flotsam.” Like flotsam, the wrecked pieces of a ship or its cargo that float in the sea until washed up on the beach, Westby says, “I’m creating surfaces that look like they’ve come out of some environment, like some sort of man-made object that was left exposed or left in the water and pulled out. Really it’s about trying to create a dynamic surface … They go together, the objects and how they’re finished.” He adds, “I think that for ceramics, a big part of it is how you finish pieces. That’s how ceramics is defined, in some ways, as being a medium itself and a surface.”

Westby says that much of the influence for his pieces comes from growing up in the industrial northeast and spending time on boats. He embraces the obscurity of his inspirations, and prefers to let the work of his hands precede Various his mind’s analysis. In his studio, he explained, “All the pieces are based on sketches from my sketchbook. I spend a lot of time sketching, and really a lot of the ideas pop into my head kind of randomly. But also [the work] is feeding off its own self, so I’m always looking back at older drawings and pieces and it keeps going along, sort of in a linear fashion … Once I have a body of work, I’m going off a theme, which makes it easier; [the sculptures] are building off each other. “I am always making new work, but sometimes I do reference work that I made [earlier], maybe a year ago. There’s always somewhere that I’m coming from. It makes it a little easier if I know where I’m coming from and where I’ve been, to know where I’m going with the work.” Westby also says that, while other artists may focus on a single idea or influence in a piece and try to eliminate all others, he accepts dichotomy in his work by struggling to let “all these ideas rolled up into one” find their expression simultaneously in the work of his hands. Only after his hands have had a chance to work through the ideas with clay does he turn the ideas over to the work of the mind. To return to this article’s opening idea of transport, it is worth noting the effect

stages of Westby’s work, with press molds, molded greenware, and finished forms. Westby’s MFA thesis show had on viewers. Having presented his sculptures by hanging them from the ceiling, Westby recalls that “some people said it was like walking into a huge baby crib with all the toys hanging down … They felt like miniature people walking in this big installation.” Yet the pieces do not have to be of a monstrous scale to produce this sensation of miniaturization. Some sculptures relate immediately to the viewer’s body in terms of scale and function. The magnified or shrunken size of other works may distance them from the viewer’s world and they are seen as the captured figures in a photograph. Either way, the viewer remains unmoved from his original perspective. When works like Westby’s bring the viewer into the obscure world of the sculptures, as in the baby crib example, will the viewer wonder, “Where am I and how do I use this implement?” Will she relate to the object from her normal perspective, or from a new one? [ Lars Westby teaches at Baltimore Clayworks, where he is also a resident artist. He may be contacted via e-mail at larswestbyclay@hotmail.com. Mac Ward is an aspiring potter from Tacoma, WA. He is currently studying ceramics at Penn State University.

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

Some of the surfaces are glazed in patterns so precise that they contrast with the faded, mottled colors and organic textures. For example, all the pieces in his “Hybrid Series” involve a striped pattern of alternating yellow ochre and reddish browns. Westby refers to these as “a utilitarian, functional surface—sort of like the stripes you see on a buoy or some object, which are there for a reason, not for decoration.” To produce these with glaze, he begins by marking off the zones of different colors with a penciled underdrawing. Then he uses a one-inch Chinese bristle brush—the same brush he uses for all his glazing—to apply low-fire glazes between the pencil markings. For the more rattle-like pieces done in greens and yellows, Westby first applies a smooth layer of dark, shiny glaze with his brush, then dabs on a second coat of his “Lizard” glazes that crawl, to create a random effect [see recipes on page 53].

Most of Westby’s sculptures also involve areas of unglazed surface. These are sometimes terra sigillata, burnished using a combination of metal and plastic printmaking burnishers. More recently, he prefers to leave these parts unburnished and apply a matte-finish polyurethane spray after the pieces have been fired. He glaze-fires to cone 04.

Looking for more Great Glazes? Order our recipe book for just $15! Visit www.claytimes.com or call toll-free 1-800-356-CLAY

Glaze, The Amazing Glass By CHIC LOTZ

*COMING SOON: Great Glazes II*

7/2+3(/0 3%2)%3 /$933%9 #%.4%2 &/2 #%2!-)# !243 $!9 7/2+3(/03 ?8E;9L@C;@E> =LE:K@FE8C GFKJ JXe[` G`\iXekfqq` Ç 8gi`c )'$)) ><E<I8K@FE8C @E=CL<E:<J 9\e Fn\e Ç 8l^ljk ('$() K?< LE<OG<:K<; IXe[p 9if[eXo Ç J\gk\dY\i (+$(-

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CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

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When silica melts it makes a glass. “So what makes a glaze?” you might ask. Silica melts near 3000 degrees; firing a kiln that hot won’t be a breeze. So add a little flux and you will see that silica melts sooner and happy you’ll be! But molten silica when it is hot runs down the sides and off of your pot! So if you want that silica to stick, alumina is the one that you should pick. Alumina bonds silica to clay – “Very important!” most potters will say. Silica plus alumina, add in some flux, getting the right ratio is really the crux. Silica makes glass, alumina helps bond, flux is a melter, of these we are fond. These three things will make a good glaze, get the right ratio and you’ll be amazed! Note to teachers: Share the above poem with your students to help them understand the nature of glaze composition!

Lars Westby has used the three glaze recipes at left on his sculptures for the past five years. All of these have been fired in oxidation to cone 04 in an electric kiln. The clay body he currently uses is Standard Ceramic Supply Company’s #104 Red Terra Cotta. He says that other red clay bodies used with these glazes should yield similar results, while white bodies will affect the look of the glazes differently.

Untitled 4 by Lars Westby. 30" x 20" x 6".

Barium Dry Matte

Westby’s application involves use of a Chinese bristle brush. One coat is applied fairly thickly; the brushing technique creates variation, to highlight the surface.

ê cone 04

Nepheline Syenite Barium Carbonate Lithium Carbonate EPK

20% 40 20 20

TOTAL

100%

J.P. Dry ê cone 04

Lithium Carbonate Gerstley Borate Cryolite (synthetic) Zircopax Spodumene Bentonite TOTAL

25.6% 17.1 21.4 21.4 12.8 1.7

Lizard may be used alone as a beading, alligator surface, or as a second coat over J.P. Dry glaze to create a highly textured, varied surface. J.P. Dry is a waxy mat finish with variation that breaks away from itself to expose a shiny undersurface. 5-10% Mason stains or oxides may be added for color.

Magnesium Carbonate Lithium Carbonate Borax Gerstley Borate Silica Nepheline Syenite

27.2% 10.2 6.8 4.8 3.4 47.6 100.0%

(a Steven Hill glaze) è cone 10

Custer Feldspar Whiting #6 Tile Clay Strontium Carbonate Frit 3124 Lithium Carbonate TOTAL add Titanium Dioxide Bentonite

46.0% 17.3 14.9 12.6 4.6 4.6 100.0% 13.8 2.0

è Questionable for use on functional pottery. Test thoroughly before using. ê Limit to use on decorative/ sculptural work.

The above glaze was furnished by Brian J. Taylor, who borrows from other potters. He very humbly insists that credit is given where due. Taylor typically dips his glazes, but occasionally sprays larger pieces. He fires to cone 10 in a soda/salt kiln. See story, page 34. [

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

éé Should be suitable for functional and decorative/ sculptural pottery.

ê cone 04

Strontium Crystal Magic

This glaze is a white matte with colored crystals; best results at a “hot” cone 10.

100%

Lizard

TOTAL

Barium Dry Matte is a crusty surface treatment with interesting variation. He uses it on many of his striped sculptures.

White Petal Jar by Brian J. Taylor. 10" x 5" x 5". Wheel-thrown and altered porcelain with Strontium Crystal Magic glaze, fired to cone 10 in a salt/soda kiln.

Readers Share I Glaze & Slip Recipes

Great Glazes

Share your glaze with us! If it’s published, you’ll earn a FREE Clay Times T-shirt! Send glaze recipes, photo of glaze (if you have one), and your T-shirt size to: Great Glazes, c/o Clay Times, PO Box 365, Waterford, VA 20197.

Readers Share I Art Works

The Gallery

Untitled. 10" x 6" x 6". Wheel-thrown and altered porcelain with two airbrushed original glazes, fired to cone 6 in oxidation. Robert Lee Reckers, Salt Creek Pottery, 195 N. York, Elmhurst, IL 60126. E-mail: saltcreekpottery@worldnet.att.net.

CLAyTIMESÂˇCOM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

Forgive Not Forget. 32" x 16" x 11". Handbuilt stoneware, polychromed using underglaze, oil, and acrylic paint, fired to cone 6 in oxidation. Scott Stockdale, PO Box 2345, Manteo, NC 27954. E-mail: ststockdale@yahoo.com.

Untitled. 10" x 9" x 10". High-temperature stoneware. Caleb Smith, PO Box 2751, Kings Beach, CA 96143. E-mail: csmith@sierranevada.edu.

Face Jug. Wheel-thrown stoneware clay cracked with a torch, with added white stoneware face, sculpted from inside and stained with iron oxide. Jug glazed and then sprayed with iron oxide slip, fired to cone 10 in reduction. Theresa Glisson, 209 Little River Drive, Goldsboro, NC 27530. Web: www.allthatglissons.com.

To have your work considered for publication in The Gallery, please send a high-quality color print, slide, or 1050 x 1500-pixel digital image to: The Gallery, Clay Times, P.O. Box 365, Waterford, VA 20197. Please include your name, address, telephone number, Web 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.)

Readers Share I Art Works

The Gallery

Candy Box. 12" x 7" x 6½". Wheel-thrown and fired to cone 9 in oxidation with strontium and ash glazes. Jake Allee, PO Box 9020, Tyler, TX 75711. E-mail: jall@tjc.edu.

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

Spirit House. 20" x 28" x 8". Press-molded, slabbed, and extruded stoneware fired to cone 04 in oxidation, with wooden stand. Patrick S. Crabb, 2371 Silk Tree, Tustin, CA 92780. Web: www.patrickshiacrabb.com.

Call for entries from artists with 8 years or less working ceramic experience

CLAyTIMESÂˇCOM n january/february 2007

ICMEA is now accepting artist proposals for related 20-minute presentations

Shop Talk I Tool Times

Drying Sensibly by VINCE PITELKA

n the November 2003 issue of Clay Times, my column was titled “Keep It Damp, Get It Dry,” but I’ve learned some new tricks since then, and it’s up to me to pass them on to you. It often amazes me when I see students or studio artists being careless about drying their wares, when they have put such planning and labor into making them. Careless drying is one of the most common causes of cracking and warping during firing. Plastic Sheeting

Damp Cabinets With porcelain ware and other average-size studio work, the solution is simply to keep the plastic off the surface of the piece. If this is a recurrent problem in your studio, it would make sense to construct a proper damp cabinet. As an alternative to a stationary cabinet, a ware cart is easily sheathed

If your work involves complex assembly or decoration in the damp state—where you come back to the same work again and again and you simply need to keep it damp between work sessions—consider building a simple wood frame hinged to the wall above your work table. Staple plastic sheeting over the frame, using additional strips of sheeting to form a curtain hanging from the sides and front of the frame. When leaving your work for a period of time, lower the frame so that it is suspended horizontally above the work and the curtain touches the surface of the work table. To further retard drying, lightly spray the work and the area around it to humidify the enclosure before lowering the frame. Sturdy cord or light chain fastened to the front corners of the frame and to the wall or ceiling can limit its range of movement so that it remains horizontal at an appropriate height above the work. The whole thing can be raised and lowered with a cord and pulley. Provide a tie-off point to secure the cord when the frame is folded up against the wall. Plastic Bins I like to use clear plastic storage boxes with snap-on plastic lids as versatile, portable damp boxes. They are available in an amazing range of sizes and shapes. The large, flat units intended for under-bed storage are great for storing damp slabs of clay before use. Other shapes are available for just about any application you can imagine. It is a simple matter to place a piece of damp canvas in the bottom of the storage box, set your pieces on the canvas, and snap on the lid. Since the plastic is transparent, you can immediately see what work is in which box. If you open the box every few days and spray a little water on the canvas, you can keep the pieces at a uniform state of dampness almost indefinitely.

Much of my current work consists of handbuilt pouring vessels, assembled from multiple leather-hard components. Most components are formed from slabs that are either textured with bisque stamps or rollers, or laminated with colored clay patterns while still flat. It is important that all parts reach the same level of leather-hardness for assembly, and these plastic storage boxes have been a wonderful revelation. They eliminate the problem of condensation flowing back onto the wares and the chance of plastic sheeting snagging on spouts and other appendages, and they just make it so easy to find the parts I need. That was never the case when they were all draped with plastic. I usually work in series and I very much enjoy the process of assembling the finished pieces, often with 10 to 15 separate parts in each piece. I love getting to the point where I have several large, low plastic storage boxes filled with the component parts all at the same stage of leatherhardness; I can remove them one-by-one as I score and slurry and assemble the finished pieces. It’s a very satisfying process. Slow Drying Once the assembly and finish details are completed, I put the pieces back in the plastic storage boxes and let the moisture equalize throughout each piece as the slurry absorbs into the clay. After a minimum of 24 hours, I remove the plastic lid and replace it with a piece of heavy canvas draped over the opening. The humidity inside the storage box drops slowly over three or four days as the moisture evaporates through the canvas and the piece is protected from air currents that could cause uneven drying and possible damage. Cloth and Plastic For large work that cannot fit in a damp box, here is a simple and practical solution

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

Plastic sheeting is the old standby, but there is one major disadvantage to draping your work with plastic. As long as moisture is evaporating from the work, there will be condensation on the underside of the plastic and this accumulating moisture can bead up and flow along the plastic—and end up back on the work wherever the plastic is touching it. There are two primary circumstances where this is especially problematic. First, porcelain clay bodies absorb water easily, and when water feeds onto a localized area of a porcelain piece, it can quickly lose its structural integrity and collapse. Second, very large forms made from any clay body are always vulnerable because of the amount of water condensing on the inside of the plastic and flowing onto the work. When you covered the piece, it may have been plenty stiff enough to stand up unassisted, but when that condensation accumulates in one area, it can soften the clay enough to cause the whole piece to collapse.

in plastic sheeting attached with duct tape to form a portable damp cabinet.

to the condensation problem: drape lightweight cotton fabric, like an old bed sheet, over the work and then cover it with plastic. All condensation will be evenly wicked through the sheet and will not concentrate in any single area. Purchase a supply of clothespins or those spring clips available from office supply stores to fasten the cloth and plastic snugly around the piece.

Introducing the Paragon Iguana cone 10 easy-to-load digital kiln

The new Iguana is a smaller, less expensive version of our popular Dragon kiln. The Iguanaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 18â&#x20AC;? wide, 18â&#x20AC;? deep, 22 Â˝â&#x20AC;? high interior This system can serve a double purpose. When working large, it is a chalfires rapidly to cone 10. lenge keeping the lower portions damp as you complete the piece. Of The front-loading Iguana course it is necessary to allow the completed section to stiffen partially as is easy on the back muscles. you continue building upward, but the likelihood of serious drying probWith the optional 22â&#x20AC;? high lems is diminished if the lower portions get no drier than stiff leather-hard stand, the interior floor is a until the whole piece is done. Spraying water directly on the piece is not comfortable 34 Â˝â&#x20AC;? high. always desirable but with the cloth covering, hydrating is a simple matter. Saves electricity with 3â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;˘ firebricks. After wrapping the piece with cloth, lightly spray the areas of cloth that â&#x20AC;˘ Proportional power cover the driest portions of the piece. The water will naturally wick to the elements for more even driest areas, so you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to worry about more moisture gathering in heating the most recently completed areas where the clay is still wet. â&#x20AC;˘ Heavy-gauge steel completely covers the bottom under the No matter how careful we are, occasionally a piece or a component part prefirebricks. maturely dries more than intended. As long as there is still some dampness â&#x20AC;˘ 1 Â˝â&#x20AC;? air gap between the The Paragon Iguana plugs into a standard present, the piece can usually be re-hydrated by wrapping in damp cloth. switch box and kiln. 6-50R outlet, so you can fire it on the outlet Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wet the cloth excessivelyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that could cause the piece to disintegrate. Electrical components stay most studio kilns already use. cool and last longer. Better to be cautious and check it periodically, re-wrapping with damp cloth â&#x20AC;˘ Sentry 2.0 digital if it needs further hydration. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t bother to try this technique if the piece controller with #LAY!RT#ENTER AD PDF !has bleached (dried to the point of changing color). In that case, it will not recontrolled cooling 2011 South Town East Blvd., hydrate properly. Better to chalk it up to experience and make a new piece. [ â&#x20AC;˘ Available in 200, 208, 220, Mesquite, Texas 75149-1122 240, 480 volts, 800-876-4328 / 972-288-7557 1 and 3 phase Toll Free Fax 888-222-6450 Vince Pitelka is professor of clay at Tennessee Technological Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Appalachian Call or email for a free www.paragonweb.com Center for Craft, an active participant on the Clayart Internet discussion group, and catalog. See your local Paraparagonind@att.net author of Clay: A Studio Handbook. You can contact Vince through his Web site at gon dealer. http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka.

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Measuring Temperature part 3 of a series by marc ward

his is the third go-around. In the previous two issues I’ve written about two types of pyrometers: the dumb ole analog pyrometer and the accurate digital pyrometer. These guys are different in how they measure temperature, but they share two characteristics: they have direct contact with the atmosphere and they depend upon two different types of metals connected together. The metals are what constitute a thermocouple. These two metals behave differently when exposed to heat. The difference produces a flow of electrons that is measured and turned into a temperature reading. Now, for the third type of measurement. This type of temperature measurement is pretty much unknown in the pottery world—except, of course, for geeks like me and my pointy-headed partners in geekdom. I’m talking about IR: the big radiation thing. Infrared, baby—the Cadillac of temperature measurement. This is the quickest and most accurate measurement of temperature. We’ve all heard of infrared. That’s the energy you feel when you open up a raku kiln, wave your hand over a hot stove burner, or feel the heat of the sun on your upturned face that longs for summer again. This stuff can be measured, and it can be measured more precisely than our other two types of temperature indicators.

IR radiation, in the form of heat, moves in waves like those of the ocean. The distance from the top, or peak, of one wave to the peak of the wave behind it is the length of the wave, or wavelength. Infrared energy is not as choppy as water, it has a very precise wave pattern and length. This peak-to-peak distance is what is measured by our IR pyrometer. This is a direct measurement of the heat of an object. Notice, I just said heat of an object. The IR pyrometer looks at an object and measures the infrared energy coming from it. It is not measuring the temperature of the environment, like a thermocouple does. This is a profound difference. There are two ways to measure temperature: contact and non-contact. Pyrometric cones are in contact with the atmosphere of the kiln. The thermocouple attached to your new digital pyrometer is in contact with the kiln’s atmosphere. Even if you have a protection tube, the thermocouple is surrounded by the atmosphere inside the tube, or it’s touching the inside of the protection tube. Contact. The IR pyrometer simply looks at something and tells you how hot something is. It is doing this by looking at “colors” we can’t see.

Now, turn toward Cambridge, England, and repeat after me, “Thank You, Sir Isaac; Thank You, Sir Isaac.” When Isaac Newton separated visible light into an itty-bitty rainbow with that fancy piece of glass, he pointed us toward the idea that the electromagnetic spectrum was divided into all sorts of realms and uses. These realms range from radio waves and microwaves to the visible light we see reflected off of a beautiful celadon glaze. But IR wavelengths are just below our eyes’ ability to see. If we could see them, like we see colors, we would see different colors and hues of heat. We do not see heat when we look into the kiln. Really, we don’t! We see different wavelengths of visible light that we associate with a particular heat range. What we feel, not see, on our face are the wavelengths of that part of the spectrum we call infrared. The human eye can see literally millions of different colors, millions of different wavelengths of visible light! Neat stuff. The IR pyrometer is almost as good as our eye at seeing the different wavelengths of heat “visible” to it when it’s told what to look upon. And no, squinting won’t help us—we can’t see it. One of the problems with IR pyrometers is not being sure of what they are looking at. We can’t see what they see, so how do we know what they are seeing? I think that’s Zen Question #23. There are three ways we know: Field of view, laser, and scope. OK, stay with me now. You’re probably thinking: “I’ve read enough and can’t stand anymore.” I’ll make this quick, and then tell you why you shouldn’t own one of these unless you have really specific needs.

continued on page 66

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

The analog and digital pyrometers read an electron response of dissimilar metals exposed to heat. They read what the thermocouple says. This is a second-hand indicator. These guys are not reading the heat, they are reading the signals given off by dissimilar metals exposed to a heated atmosphere. There’s lots of room for error and time lag here. The thickness of the metals, the length of the wire, the type of pyrometer, and the location of the thermocouple all

affect the transmission and reading of the flow of electrons. The IR pyrometers measure a direct function of heat. They precisely read the quality of radiation, as expressed by specific wavelength variations. Oh, I love the chance to write sentences like that. My geeky little typing fingers are just singing. If my editor would let me get away with it, I’d write it again. Let’s see if it gets past ’em: They precisely read the quality of radiation, as expressed by specific wavelength variations. Now that, my friends, is one of those fancy college term-paper sentences!

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nvironmental Health & Safety in the Arts: A Guide for K-12 Schools, Colleges and Artists is a new publication that should be available to every ceramic artist, teacher, school administrator, and safety professional. The booklet was prepared as a supplemental environmental project by Pratt Institute in conformance with a compliance agreement with Region 2-US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Some of the information in this 125-page publication was covered in the first three Clay Times columns I wrote in 2005. For those operating ceramic businesses or teaching ceramics, I recommend clipping those three columns together and filing them with a brand new free publication from EPA. If readers do not have copies of those columns, send an SASE to me and I’ll put them in the mail for you. WHAT’S IN THE BOOKLET The introduction (Section 1.0) begins with “Proper Waste Management and Disposal” and then addresses “Art Instructors Obligations.” It says the instructor’s legal obligations include: • • •

• Providing Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) for review by anyone who will be using the product • Alerting school officials and other emergency responders to assist them in emergency response planning

That sounds daunting. Many instructors are not able to do all this. But they should take heart: The booklet fails to make it clear that it is employers and school administrators who are legally responsible for getting these and other regulatory tasks done. Schools can delegate tasks to the teachers and instructors, but only after training them—on paid time—to do this work properly, providing time in the teaching schedule to carry out these duties, and more. My advice is that employed teachers and instructors should read and enjoy this well-written booklet, secure in the knowledge that their employers must provide training for them on any part of these rules they don’t understand. On the other hand, school administrators, independent contractors, and ceramic business owners should read this booklet carefully, too, as a guide to setting up their EPA programs. In addition, these employers and contractors might want to take advantage of training provided by EPA (see www.epa.gov), or to hire professionals to run their programs. CHAPTER SUMMARIES The Sections 2 and 3 are on “Hazardous Waste Management Basics” and “Hazardous Waste Generator Requirements/ Ensuring Technical Compliance” respectively. They are well-written summaries of the law and requirements for teachers, artists, and schools. Section 4, on “Expanding the Health and Safety Program,” ties the EPA regulations,

the OSHA hazard communication standard (Right to Know), and basic safety together into a unified program. This is extremely well-done. The development of a single, unified program into which the OSHA and EPA programs fit is clearly the way safety should be approached in all workplaces. Section 5, sources of “Potentially Hazardous Waste in Art Studios,” covers the different arts and crafts. This section specifically addresses ceramic waste management. Section 6.0, called “Pollution Prevention and Waste Minimization,” covers methods of reducing waste. The Appendix is full of useful lists of regulated substances, compliance checklists, and resources. GENERATOR STATUS Section 3 defines the different generator categories. There are Exempt Small Quantity Generators (ESQG), Small Quantity Generators (SQG), and Large Quantity Generators (LQG). The first duty of each ceramic business or school must be to determine which category they are in. To do this, someone must measure ALL the waste generated by the facility, wastes from cleaning and janitorial work, fertilizers and pesticides from building and grounds work, air-conditioning chemicals, maintenance paints and products, etc. If you are a very small business and wish to be an ESQG, you must prove every month that you have generated less than 100 kg (220 lbs.) of hazardous waste and less than 1 kg (2.2 lbs.) of acutely hazardous waste (e.g., vanadium pentoxide, many cyanide compounds, and a host of pesticides).

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

Creating and maintaining a safe environment Keeping an inventory of potentially hazardous art materials Informing others of the potential risks by:

• Submitting annual reports to government agencies as required • Ensuring proper disposal of hazardous wastes

Studio I Health & Safety

FREE EPA BOOKLET

Studio I Health & Safety

No matter which category your school or pottery is in, EPA requires that the amounts of regulated materials stored and disposed of be quantified in monthly records. So it is even possible that a facility will be in one category one month and a different category in the following month, depending on the amount of waste generated. THE CERAMICS SECTION The Ceramics part of Section 5 is the most relevant to this column. The booklet reminds us that the EPA’s Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) specifically regulates waste containing arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, selenium, and silver. Other local environmental agencies may regulate additional toxic metals such as manganese, nickel, cobalt, and more. These are all metals which can be found in certain types of glazes and colored clays. There are also certain compounds that are considered highly toxic wastes. One of these is vanadium pentoxide, a yellow colorant. Storing or disposing of even 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) will cause a facility to qualify as a Large Quantity Generator of waste.

is important to understand that many things that are highly hazardous to people, such as silica, are not toxic to the environment. Conversely, things that are only moderately toxic to people, such as silver compounds, are highly toxic to the environment. “Less Obvious Dangers” covered in the booklet include RCRA-regulated and/or toxic metal oxides that may be used to color clays and as glaze ingredients. Included are: •

• •

•

• •

•

CERAMIC DANGERS LISTED • The booklet says that a “Major Danger” in ceramics is the inhalation of the dusts in clay and glazes, including silica, kaolin, talc, and other hazardous minerals. However, the booklet points out that these substances are not regulated by EPA in solid waste and waste water. It

Arsenic — a contaminant of a number of colorants such as copper, cobalt, and cadmium oxides, carbonates, and sulfates Barium — a major flux for mediumand high-fire glazes Cadmium — a common colorant in low-fire commercial yellow, orange, and red glazes Chromium — used in many forms and compounds as a green colorant Lead — a flux in many low-fire glazes and china paints Mercury — not common, except in certain old lustre and metallic glazes Selenium — the “new” reds, yellows, and oranges often touted as “cadmium-free” colors Silver — used in lustre glazes and metallic glazes

These metals, the booklet explains, make it necessary to collect and dispose of glaze spills and debris as toxic waste, whether it is collected from floors or work surfaces. It is also necessary to add

to the toxic waste collection all spray booth filters, masks and respirator filters, sludge from sink traps, and the like. MSDS INADEQUACIES Of special importance, the booklet points out, is that material safety data sheets (MSDSs) on our glazes and glaze ingredients may not provide sufficient information for us to know when they contain significant amounts of EPA-regulated wastes. The reason is that toxic metals are reported on MSDSs at levels that are too high to determine if the waste from these products is regulated under EPA rules or not. MSDSs require toxic substances to be reported at 1% or greater. Cancer causing substances must be reported on MSDSs at 0.1% or greater. But the amounts of toxic substances which qualify waste as regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) are measured in milligrams/liter (mg/L), which is equivalent to parts per million (ppm). The relationship needed to understand this problem is: 1% = 10,000 mg/L = 10,000 ppm For example, let us assume that some commercial glaze or a glaze chemical, such as titanium dioxide or calcium carbonate, contains lead as a contaminant—a common occurrence. If the amount of lead is less than a “trace” (which is defined as ~1000 ppm or less), this is below 0.1% and it would not have to be reported on the product’s MSDS. Assuming half of the lead is soluble on the Toxic Characteristic Leach Procedure

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

TOXIC CHARACTERISTIC LEACH PROCEDURE (TCLP) TEST & REGULATORY LEVELS

METAL

TCLP LIMIT=

PERCENT

MSDS REPORTING LEVEL

Arsenic

5.0 mg/L(ppm)=

= 0.0005%

0.1%

Barium

100.0 mg/L(ppm)=

= 0.001%

1.0%

Cadmium

1.0 mg/L(ppm)=

= 0.0001%

0.1%

Chromium

5.0 mg/L(ppm)=

= 0.0005%

0.1% to 1.0% for different forms

Lead

5.0 mg/L(ppm)=

= 0.0005%

0.1%

Mercury

0.2 mg/L(ppm)=

= 0.00002%

1.0%

Selenium

1.0 mg/L(ppm)=

= 0.0001%

0.1% to 1.0% for different forms

Silver

5.0 mg/L(ppm)=

= 0.0005%

1.0%

Other metals may also be regulated by local agencies at similar levels.

well-ordered technical information on each of the applicable laws and how to comply with them.

In essence, the EPA booklet shows us that manufacturers must provide users with far more detailed analyses and ingredient information than required by OSHA if we are to deal with ceramic waste properly. To see this problem clearly, I have created a table [opposite page, bottom] showing the RCRA metals and the TCLP test limitsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;for determining whether waste must be disposed of as toxic wasteâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;in both ppm and percentages, so they can be quickly compared to the inadequate MSDS reporting levels.

Copies of these two booklets are available through the US EPA Region 2-Environmental Compliance homepage at www.epa. gov/region02/capp/. The manuals are available as both downloadable PDF files and on paper by mail. Orders for hard copies may be placed by completing an online form. Information collected through this order form will be used only for the mailing of this document and will not be used for any other purpose. [

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(TCLP) test, this would register as ~500 ppmâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;well over the 5 ppm limit for lead. Similar numbers could be generated for the other metals or even for commercial glazes.

A COMPANION BOOKLET A second, larger publication, called Environmental Compliance and Best Management Practices Guidance Manual for K-12 Schools, was also published this past October, prepared for EPA by Long Island University and Columbia University. It provides a wealth of

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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.

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Ray Finch, Craftsman Potter of the Modern Age REVIEW by STEVEN bRANFMAN

here in the USA among the studio potter community, Ray Finch is less recognized. This deserves change, and this book will go a long way to making that happen. John Edgeler has combined his knowledge of art and clay with his passion for educating the public.

Ray Finch was a student of Michael Cardew, and in 1945 he took over as owner and lead-thrower of Winchcomb Pottery—only a few years after Cardew left to establish Wenford Bridge. He remains there to this day, at age 92—not only the owner of the pottery, but as full-time production potter who, in acquiescence to his age, has cut back his hours at the pottery from eight to seven and a half per day. Retirement? I don’t think so.

Finch is humble, down-to-earth, and basic, but contrary to his wishes, he is no ‘ordinary craftsman-potter.’ His work is in the tradition of English slipware, but early in his career expanded to include stoneware, salt firing, and ash glazing. Finch was never one to confuse traditionalism with a lack of growth and contemporary flair.

Ray Finch, Craftsman Potter of the Modern Age is the story of a man and his commitment to the handcrafted object made for use. Though well-known English potters Bernard Leach, Michael Cardew, Lucie Rie, Alan Caiger-Smith, and a few others have established reputations

The book was written on the occasion of a major retrospective exhibition of the career of Ray Finch—one that has spanned 70 years at the pottery. Curiously (and one of the special personality traits of Finch) he never saw his work as a potter as special—in the sense of making “art” objects. I suspect an exhibition of this magnitude would have been impossible for him to grasp early in his career. His intention from the beginning (also affected by his having had Michael Cardew as his teacher) was to produce domestic ware for everyday use, to be sold at low prices. When asked if he ever wanted to be a celebrity potter, he replied, “No, I have always wanted to be regarded as an ordinary craftsman-potter. My philosophy has always been to aim for nearly everything to have a potential use, rather than as an art-object.”

Ray Finch, Craftsman Potter of the Modern Age is a lovely book. Its format is midsized and because of that, at first glance, it is a bit disappointing. However, picking it up and feeling its weight is reassuring. It is a masterfully produced book. Domestic offset printing of the highest quality on heavy, smooth, bright paper brings the more than 150 photos to life. Included are numerous full-color images

by John Edgeler • Cotswolds Living Publications • Paperback • $45

of his work and the work of some of the other Winchcomb potters, including Cardew. Interspersed amidst pots are archival photos of Ray, his family, and the pottery. These images are key to helping the reader make the connection between the man and the work. There is much to experience within the 155 pages. The story is organized somewhat chronologically, though one of the strengths of the book is the fact that it does jump around a bit. The twelve chapters are a combination of interviews conducted by the author, essays by friends and fellow potters, and other assorted contributions. We learn about Finch’s early interest in and pursuit of pottery, and about what brought him to Winchcomb. Edgeler, through his interviews and insights, exposes the early operation of Winchcomb as a workshop and business. We follow his development as a potter, designer, and businessman. Edgeler does a wonderful job of exposing the inner workings and personality of Finch who, on the surface, appears to be a simple and uncomplicated human being. Very shortly into the book, however, it becomes clear that Finch is eloquent and worldly. He continually expresses his devotion to pots, to their use, and to their humanity. It is enlightening to read about the production style of Winchcomb. Finch learned early on that despite the need for the pottery to generate a recognizable and reproducible line of ware, the aesthetic strength and beauty of the pots comes from the

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

y encounter with this book came innocently enough. A customer called to inquire about its availability. Umm … I knew Ray Finch but hadn’t heard of the book, and that bothered me. After all, if I’m the guru of pottery books, there can’t possibly be a book that I haven’t heard of, let alone don’t already have in my shop. A little research ensued, and a phone call was made to the U.K. Forgetting the 5-hour time difference, I left a message hoping to get a return call or e-mail. Less than 24 hours later, John Edgeler and I were exchanging e-mails. I briefly explained my interest, and he offered some information about the book. Though e-mail, especially when related to business, tends to convey a lack of personality, John’s words were personal, warm, friendly, and descriptive. He wrote with humanity. How unusual for an initial e-mail communication. A few e-mails led to the first of several phone conversations and, in talking to John, I immediately sensed his passion for art, craft, and especially clay. It took only one conversation to establish the foundation of a friendship. The pottery community is a special one.

Resources I Books & Videos

A Collection of Essays and Contributions

Resources I Books

RAY FINCH, from previous page makers. Thus, individuality that manifests itself in the subtle differences in the appearance of the wares was encouraged. In some ways, Ray Finch, Craftsman Potter of the Modern Age is as much a reflection of the author and the other contributors as it is the story of Ray Finch. Edgeler’s respect for Finch is evident and noteworthy, but never does it approach celebrity envy. Unlike the propensity some journalists have for inserting themselves into the interview, Edgeler is skillful, careful to remain just outside the focus. Finch is always the center of attention. His questions are probing, phrased so as to give Finch ample opportunity to steer the conversation and express his thoughts. Finch does so and is clearly comfortable sharing his observations and experiences with Edgeler. In addition to conversation about the pottery itself, they talk about the development of forms, glazes, firing, and technique. The essays, written expressly for the occasion of the book by Phil Rogers, Alex McErlain, and David Whiting are all important to the package. Each is an eminent potter, and each shares a personal relationship with Finch. Edgeler is equally skillful in his discussions with Eddie Hopkins, a long-time production thrower, and with David Wilson, currently a thrower, glazer, kiln-setter, and firing partner to Finch. Regardless of whose words we are reading, the text flows naturally and comfortably. Reading the book is enlightening, soothing, entertaining, and educational. Edgeler has done expert work of weaving the somewhat Clay Times May 06 11/27/06 1:55 PM Page 1 discrete elements together to create a unified canvas.

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Ray Finch, Craftsman Potter of the Modern Age brings one of the most important potters of the 20th Century a bit closer to the international recognition he deserves. Throughout his career, Ray Finch has straddled the line between the anonymity and home-bound spirit of the country potter, and the innovative individuality of the contemporary studio clay artist. His work is imbued with humility and passion. His contributions to the evolution and aesthetic standards of our craft have been quietly made and passed from potter to potter. If Ray Finch is unknown to you, sit down, relax, and take a look. You’ll be a better person —and potter—for it. [ 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 at (781) 449-7687 or via e-mail at sbranfpots@aol.com.

MEASURING TEMPERATURE, from p. 59 Field of view types won’t work for potters because of proximity issues. (Remember, I’m making this quick, so no more explanations.) The ones that have a laser pointer which throws a red dot onto the target, like an assassin in the movies, are useless in high-temperature environments with bright, competing light. The scope types, which have a riflescope—so you can know exactly where the reading is taking place—are mucho expensive: thousands of dollars. But they are accurate, incredibly accurate. If you need consistent, precise readings for high-priced, high-loss-rate work, such as copper matte raku or crystalline glazes, the initial cost of these guys could make them the most important tool you ever purchase. Thanks for staying with this esoteric column. You’re lucky—I didn’t even have room to get into variances caused by emissivity … hmm, maybe … Nah, I don’t think I should try to stretch this into four parts on the subject. [

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www.andersonranch.org

xgceramicsusa.com (818) 781-4030

Cottage Charm on 26 private acres next to Michaux St. Forest in PA Great room w/vaulted beamed ceiling, stone FP, wood & tile floors, 3 BR, 2 BA, plus 2-story artisan studio with kilns. Convenient to I-81, Route 15, Frederick, MD and Harrisburg, PA. $550,000. Call Paul Gunder at Jack Gaughen Realtor ERA: 717-765-2565 See www.jgr.com/paul.gunder for pics

Community Pottery Classes Check out these listings to find local programs for wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculptural techniques, & more … Listings appear alphabetically and include various classes across the United States and Canada.

ARKANSAS Flat Rock Clay Supplies — 2002 South School Avenue (Highway 71), Fayetteville, AR 72701; (479) 521-3181; www.ﬂatrockclay.com; info@ﬂatrockclay.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, tile.

CALIFORNIA Blossom Hill Crafts Pottery — 15900 Blossom Hill Road, Los Gatos, CA 95032; (408) 356-9035; www.blossomhillcrafts.com; joanne@ blossomhillcrafts.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture. Mother Earth Clay Art Center — 790 Lucerne Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94085; (408) 245MAMA; http://mamasclay.org; info@mamasclay.org; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture.

COLORADO Northern Colorado Potters’ Guild — 209 Christman Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80524; (970) 416-5979; www.coloradopottery.org; info@coloradopottery.org; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, glazing, fused-glass jewelry. Trails Recreation Center — 16799 East Lake Avenue, Centennial, CO 80015; (303) 269-8400; www.aprd.org; arts@the-trails.org; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture, glazing.

CONNECTICUT

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Hinckley Pottery — 1707 Kalorama Road, NW, Washington, DC 20009; (202) 745-7055;

The St. Petersburg Clay Company — 420 22nd Street South, St. Petersburg, FL 33712; (727) 896-2529; www.stpeteclay.com; stpeteclay@ stpeteclay.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding.

Greenbelt Community Center — 15 Crescent Road, Greenbelt, MD 20770; (301) 397-2208; www.greenbeltmd.gov; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, tile.

Fire and Mud Ceramics — 134 NE 1st Avenue, Hallandale, FL 33009; (954) 455-3099; www.fireandmudceramics.com; potter@fireandmudceramics. com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding.

GEORGIA Elements Clay Studio & Gallery — 1986 Tucker Industrial Road, Tucker, GA 30084; (770) 9869011; www.elementsclaystudio.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture, raku.

LOUISIANA Louisiana Pottery — 6470 Highway 22, Cajun Village, Sorrento, LA 70778; (225) 675-5572; www.louisianapottery.com; lapottery@eatel.net; handbuilding, special focus classes.

MAINE Starflower Farm & Studios — Ceramicsfocused retreat center; 941 Jackson Road, Monroe, ME 04951; (207) 525-3593; www.starflowerstudios.com; squidge@starflowerfarmstudios.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture, private lessons, critiques for advanced students.

MARYLAND Baltimore Clayworks — 5707 Smith Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21209; (410) 578-1919; www. baltimoreclayworks.org; matt.hylek@baltimoreclayworks. org; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture, tile, mosaic, decorating, printmaking, slipcasting, wood firing, salt firing. Shiloh Pottery, Inc. — 1027 Brodbeck Road, Hampstead, MD 21074; (410) 239-8888; www.shilohpottery.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding.

Glen Echo Pottery — 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, MD 20812; (301) 229-5585; www. glenechopottery.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, raku and soda firing. Chesapeake Arts Center — 194 Hammonds Lane, Brooklyn Park, MD 21225; (410) 636-6597; www.chesapeakearts.org; davidj@chesapeakearts.org; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, fully-equipped, open studio hours. 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.

MASSACHUSETTS Ancient Echos Arts — 10 Tyngsboro Road, North Chelmsford, MA 01863; (978) 869-2912; www. ancientechosarts.com; ancientechosarts@gmail.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture. Mudflat Pottery School, Inc. — 149 Broadway, Somerville, MA 02145; (617) 628-0589; www.mudflat.org; info@mudflat.org; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, tile. Juliet Rose Gallery & Studio — 191 Reimers Road, Monson, MA 01057; (413) 596-9741; www.julietrosegallery.net; julietrosearts@aol.com; wheelthrowing, handbuilding, sculpture, surface design.

MICHIGAN Creative Arts Studio of Royal Oak — 114 W Fourth Street, Royal Oak, MI 48067;

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

Tracy Art Center, Elaine’s Pottery Studio — 56 College Street, Old Saybrook, CT 06475; (860) 388-3599; www.exfpottery.com; exfpottery@yahoo.com; adult & children’s classes in wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture, decorating, glazing, raku.

FLORIDA

The Frederick Pottery School — 5305 Jefferson Pike, Suite C-2, Frederick, MD 21703; (301) 473-8833; www.frederickpotteryschool.com; wheelthrowing, handbuilding, open studio.

www.hinckleypottery.com; info@hinckleypottery.com; wheel-throwing.

Resources I Classes

(248) 544-2234; www.creativeartsstudios.com; creativeartsstudios@yahoo.com; wheel-throwing, decorating.

NORTH CAROLINA MINNESOTA Edina Art Center — 4710 West 64th Street, Edina, MN 55435; (612) 915-6604; www.edinaartcenter.com; artcenter@ci.edina.mn.us; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture, tile. Northern Clay Center — 2424 Franklin Avenue East, Minneapolis, MN 55406; (612) 339-8007; www.northernclaycenter.org; nccinfo@northernclaycenter.org; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture, tile.

MISSISSIPPI Bodine Pottery & Art Studio — Rebuilding: New location coming soon in Hattiesburg, MS; (228) 806-3153; www. bodinepottery.com; hukmut@bodinepottery.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, PMC.

MONTANA Clay Arts Guild of Helena — 3025 Bozeman Avenue, Helena, MT 59601; (406) 449-6080; www.helenaclayartsguild.com; wheelthrowing, handbuilding, raku, studios.

NEVADA Pottery West — 5026 North Pioneer Way, Las Vegas, NV 89149; (702) 987-3023; potterywest@ cox.net; wheel-throwing.

NEW JERSEY

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

The Art School at Old Church — 561 Piermont Road, Demarest, NJ 07627; (201) 7677160; www.tasoc.org; info@tasoc.org; wheelthrowing, handbuilding, sculpture, tile, glazing, raku.

handbuilding, sculpture; intensives in plaster, glazing, and complex serving pieces; open studio available.

Thompson Park Creative Arts Center — Monmouth County Park System, 805 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft, NJ 07738; (732) 8424000, ext. 4343; www.monmouthcountyparks.com; sliu@monmouthcountyparks.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, workshops, raku & electric kilns, beginners-advanced for adults, children, parent/child.

NEW YORK The Painted Pot — 339 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231; (718) 222-0334; www. paintedpot.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture. 92nd Street Y Art Center — 1395 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10128; (212) 4155562; www.92Y.org/artclasses; 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. Finch Pottery — 5526 Finch Nursery Lane, Bailey, NC 27807-9492; (252) 235-4664; www.danfinch. com; dan.finch@earthlink.net; wheel-throwing.

OHIO Springfield Museum of Art — Art School, 107 Cliff Park Road, Springfield, OH 45501; (937) 324-3729; www.springfieldart.museum; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture.

OREGON Club Mud Ceramics Co-Op at Maude Kerns Art Center — 1910 E 15th Avenue, Eugene, OR 97403; (541) 345-1712; www.mkartcenter.org; wheel-throwing.

PENNSYLVANIA The Clay Studio — 139 North Second Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106; (215) 925-3453; www.theclaystudio.org; info@theclaystudio.org; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture. Abington Art Center — 515 Meetinghouse Road, Jenkintown, PA 19046; (215) 887-4882; www.abingtonartcenter.org; studioschool@abingtonartcenter.org; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture, tile, mosaic, raku and pit firing.

SOUTH CAROLINA Adele’s Pottery Studio & Gallery — 1659 Middle Street, Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482; (843) 883-9545; wheel-throwing, handbuilding for children and teens.

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.

TEXAS Houston Potters Guild — 2433 Rice Boulevard, Houston, TX 77005; (713) 528-7687; www.houstonpotters.com; houpots@yahoo. com; info@houstonpotters.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding.

Creative Clay Studios — 5704 C-E General Washington Drive, Alexandria, VA 22312; (703) 7509480; www.creativeclaypottery.com; daisy_gail@msn. com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture, raku. The Art League School — Located near the Torpedo Factory at 105 North Union Street, Alexandria, VA 22314; (703) 683-2323; www.theartleague.org; school@theartleague.org; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture, tile, mosaic. LibertyTown Arts Center — 916 Liberty Street, Fredericksburg, VA 22401; (540) 371-7255; www.libertytownarts.com; libertytownarts@verizon.net; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, glazing, decorating, tile, raku. Nan Rothwell Studio Pottery — 221 Pottery Lane, Faber, VA 22938 (near Wintergreen); (434) 263-4023; www.nanrothwellpottery.com; wheelthrowing, handbuilding, glazing, firing.

Resources I Classes

VIRGINIA

Columbia Association

COLUMBIA ART CENTER

ceramicclasses Sat, February 3

coLoRed cLays and claY pRinTiNg

Proceeds to Grassroots

Fri • Sat • Sun March 23-25,2007 3-Day Workshop • $150

eMptY bOwls 300 ceramic bowls

available!

5-8:30pm Dinner & live music $15 advance $18 at door

with Mitch Lyons

6100 Foreland Garth • Columbia,MD 21045 To register, please call 410-730-0075.

artstaff@columbiaassociation.com

CHARLOTTE NC

Manassas Clay & Tin Barn Pottery Supply — 9122 Center Street, Manassas, VA 20110; (703) 330-1040; www.manassasclay.com; manassasclay@aol.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture, glazing, raku.

Setting up a studio? Your full-service pottery supplier featuring clays by Standard, Highwater and Laguna; kilns, glazes, chemicals and equipment. School orders welcome!

CAROLINA CLAY

WASHINGTON

CONNECTION

Northwest Ceramic Art Institute (The Clay Zone) — 2727 Westmoor Court, Olympia, WA 98502; (360) 943-7765; www.theclayzone.com; ddurso@theclayzone.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture.

704/376-7221

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

WISCONSIN Blueraku Studios — River Center Shoppes, 133 State Street, Medford, WI 54451; (715) 748-3407; www.bluerakustudios.com; lindsey@ bluerakustudios.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, sculpture, mosaic.

CANADA Expressions Art Studio — 125-4338 Main Street, Whistler, BC; (604) 932-2822; www. expressionsartstudio.com; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, decorating.

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SlabRolling mats HandBuilding mats 30”x50” $33 16”x22” $9 22”x50” $20 14”x16” $6 14”x50” $16 NEW! Ideal for small slabrollers

Larger Custom Available – Inquire New Prices: OrderYardage before 4/1/05 to SAVE ≈ 10%

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865.397-2914

A year-round listing of your community pottery class in CT and on our Web site is available for just $99—a real bargain! To feature your classes, call Jenna McCracken at (540) 882-3576 or e-mail: claytimes@aol.com.

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

Waterloo Potters’ Workshop — Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex, 101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, Ontario N2J 4V1; (519) 885-5570; www.waterloopotters.ca; wheel-throwing, handbuilding, children’s classes. [

Order from retail distributors, or contact us Herring Designs, LLC www.HerringDesigns.com PO Box 3009 888-391-1615 970-547-4835 Breckenridge CO 80424 pjh.mae@aya.yale.edu

Resources I Classified Marketplace

Classified Marketplace Classes & Workshops

• Business of Crafts Weekend Workshop,

Pratt Fine Arts Center, Seattle, Washington, March 17-18, 2007 — This comprehensive two-day workshop is designed for artists and craftspeople new to selling their work or who have been selling on a small scale and are ready to take their business to the next level. (800) 969-0869, www.businessof crafts.com.

•

Celebrate CERAMICS in SPAIN with SETH CARDEW at the wheel. Weekly residential courses or daily private tuition. Also cottage to rent at the pottery. www.cardew-spain.com.

• Classes, classes, classes! The Frederick

Pottery School in Frederick, Maryland. Yearround throwing and handbuilding classes for teens and adults. (301) 473-8833. Visit www.frederickpotteryschool.com.

•

Raku and Pit Fire in Hawaii! Our live volcano creates new land every day. Create and be inspired by the spirit of the Big Island in our tropical garden studio with awardwinning raku tile artist/teacher Christine Merriman. One week with extras. Feb.16-24 or Feb. 25-March 3. E-mail hulavalentine@ yahoo.com.

Events

• “The Constancy of Purpose,” Interna-

tional Ceramics Conference. Red Deer College, Alberta, Canada. May 24–27, 2007. Presenters include Milon Townsend, USA; Penny Smith & Fergus Stewart, Australia; Sandra Alfoldy, Les Manning, Carol Epp, Canada. www.rdc.ab.ca/continuinge ducation.

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

Opportunities

•

Ceramics studio for rent/share in Reykjavik, Iceland for ceramists from Jan.-Nov. 2007. Warm & bright, wellequipped ceramics studio for up to four people. Room & board included. Price: 1st week €490; 2nd week €450; 3rd week €400; 4th week and longer, €370 per week. Included in price: studio, two electric kilns, electricity and heat, tools and machines, access to sales gallery, room and board. For information please contact: abba@internet.is.

•

Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) — Visit www.craftemergency.org. The Craft Emergency Relief Fund exists to help you and your fellow artists strengthen and sustain your businesses. Visit our Web site for information on emergency assistance and check out our resources on prevention, protection, recovery, and professional development. Click ‘Contact’ to sign up for CERF e-mail updates.

•

JOIN AMERICANPOTTERS.COM TODAY! Be part of a national, searchable database for FREE. Or have an “online gallery” and sell your work ($99.00 a year).

•

The 10th Annual National K-12 Ceramics Exhibition Opens in March 2007 in Louisville, KY at the NCECA Conference (entries are now closed). The 11th Annual National K-12 Ceramics Exhibition opens in March 2008 in New Orleans at the NCECA Conference. Visit us at: www.K12clay.org.

•

North Carolina. Southport. Twentyseventh Annual July National Show. June 23-July 21, 2007. BOS $1,000. Total prizes $6,000. 2D Juror—Rick McClure, 3D Juror—Doug Grey. Slide deadline 4/01/07. For prospectus send an SASE to Associated Artists of Southport, 130 E. West St., or download at franklinsquaregallery.org.

• The Potters Guild of Wallingford (sub-

urban Philadelphia) is accepting new juried members. Fully-equipped studio space available. Gas, raku, and electric kilns. Dues include space in two major sales per year, programs by nationally-known artists. For more information visit www.community artscenter.org or call (610) 566-1713.

Kiln Repair

• Kiln and Studio Repair Service — Mike

Swauger, The Kiln Doctor; licensed and insured; (877) 545-6362; mike@thekilndoctor. com. Equipment sales, delivery & set-up, installations. Most parts and accessories are in stock on my full-service vehicle. Serving VA, MD, WV, DC. Rely on more than 17 years of experience.

•

Kiln Repair. All makes — Washington, DC metro & Northern Virginia. $45/hour (one-hour minimum) plus parts. Larry Safford, The Studio Resource: (703) 283-7458; larrysafford@comcast.net.

Tools for Potters

•

GlazeMaster™ glaze database and calculation software for Windows and Macs. $50.00 + $4.50 shipping in North America. Visit www.masteringglazes.com for a free trial download and more information. Or send your check or VISA/MC information to Frog Pond Pottery, PO Box 88, Pocopson, PA 19366.

•

AWESOME! Bill van Gilder’s Professional Hand Tools. 12 very functional tools for handbuilding and wheel work: classroom and studio-tested! Visit store at www. claytimes.com to view and order tools.

Travel

•

Pottery Tour to England & Wales, June 17-July 1, 2007. Studio visits, Aberystwyth International Ceramics Festival, Museum & gallery tours, and Rufford Park Pottery Fair with Josie Walter, author, studio potter, and lecturer from England and Trudy Golley, ceramic artist and lecturer at Red Deer College, Alberta, Canada. www. rdc.ab.ca/continuingeducation.

•

POTTERS FOR PEACE — Our goals are to offer support, solidarity, and friendship to developing world potters; assist with appropriate technologies sustained using local skills and materials; help preserve cultural traditions; and assist in marketing locally, regionally, and internationally. Check out our new Web site: www. pottersforpeace.org.

•

Workshops and Tours in an Undiscovered Mexico. Hands-on learning and uncommon small-group travel into the potter’s world of deep Mexico. Winter 2007. February: Great Masters of Tonala; March and April: Potters of Michoacan; April: Mata Ortiz Workshop. www. traditionsmexico.com, traditionsmexico@ yahoo.com.

Videos & Books

•

SAVE $14.95 NOW when you order Great Glazes for just $15 (reg. $29.95) at the Clay Times online store at www. claytimes.com. This popular hands-on studio handbook features dozens of favorite glaze recipes for all firing temperatures and atmospheres. NOW AVAILABLE: Bill van Gilder’s new book of DIY television pottery projects, Wheel-Thrown Pottery, from Lark Books. Visit www.claytimes.com to order autographed copies! [

#,!9 4)-%3

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20 07

spring

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New INCLUSION Pigments Christmas Red, Bright Red, Fire Red, Blood Red, Soft Red Orange, Tangerine & Yellow..$25/lb Chemicals Bismuth Subnitrate $40/lb. Cobalt Carbonate $20/lb. Cobalt Oxide $30/lb. Cobalt Sulfate $14/lb. CMC & V-Gum T $8/lb. Erbium Oxide $35/lb. High Purity Red Iron Ox. $3/lb. Nickel Ox. & Carb. $22/lb. Silver Nitrate $350/lb. Or 25g for $25 Selenium $45/lb. Stannous Chloride $22/lb. Tin Oxide $12/lb. Vanadium Pentoxide $25/lb.

Looking for helpful studio tips? Got some to share? This is the place... Polishing Stones

Readers Share I Tips & Techniques

The Slurry Bucket

While browsing through a new-age boutique, I found a basket full of highly polished stones that had incredible designs etched into them. The etching was very deep and clean and I knew that they would make great impressed designs. Knowing that clay sticks to non-absorbant surfaces, I figured that I might have a release problem. Back in the studio, I epoxied a dowel to the back of a stone with PC-7® (great stuff!). I then sprayed a piece of foam rubber with WD-40®. I placed the foam soaked in WD-40 into a small dish. Using the foam like a stamp pad, I stamped the stone on the stamp pad and then pressed it into the clay. The release was fabulous. I now use my WD-40 stamp pad for all my releases. The scum left on the clay from the WD-40 burns off in the bisque firing. Rinny Ryan • Naples, Florida

Yellow Pages Redux An old telephone book provides an endless supply of clean paper on which to set pots for whatever reason. Tim Eberhardt • St. Louis, Missouri

Another Damp Box! When I have a large or fragile pot, I prefer to move the damp box to the piece, rather than the piece to the damp box. This unit is made of garden edging—a durable, rubber-coated wire that holds its shape—and is covered by a plastic bag. Each section is 14 inches high. The box can be enlarged to any dimensions, and one section can be added to another for greater height. They weigh almost nothing and may be stacked inside of each other for storage. Norman Holen • Minneapolis, Minnesota

Color-coding Giffin® Arms

Send us your useful clay tip or technique to share with our readers. If it’s published, we’ll send you a Clay Times T-shirt. Mail your tips (and Tshirt size) to: The Slurry Bucket, c/o Clay Times, PO Box 365, Waterford, VA 20197.

When trimming my pottery I use the Giffin Grip® tool. To make it easier for me to visually pick out the same-sized arm lengths, I spray paint the same length extensions all the same color. (I use leftover spray paint.) …So, the longest extensions might all be green, middle lengths might be red, and the shortest, blue … You get the idea. This way you just grab three of the same color and you’re ready to trim. Lisa Bone • Shingle Springs, California [

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

FREE CLAY TIMES T-SHIRT!

Opinion I Around the Firebox

Why We Need Teachers by Kelly Savino

urs is a culture that celebrates independence. History lessons celebrate the colonials, who rejected royal supervision to make their own way in the wilderness on sweat and determination. We like the notions of the “self-made man” and “the school of hard knocks.”

CLAyTIMES·COM n JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007

As a potter, I was especially proud to be “self-taught.” I never threw a pot before I built myself a wobbledyhop wooden kickwheel in 1990, from plans in a Reader’s Digest book of crafts. Eventually, we would build a backyard studio, and buy used equipment with pot sale money.

The process of applying further boosted my ego. There’s something about a résumé and a portfolio of your most unique work, shot against a dramatic vari-tone fade, which makes you think they’re darn lucky to have you.

“He asked me to play something,” Cap said, “so I pulled out all the stops. I gave him my hottest slap-bass, some original, stylistic jamming—my best stuff. When I finished and stood there grinning, he asked me to play a G-scale. I did. He said, ‘Ok, we start with the G-scale.’ ” My own G-scale, as a potter, is well-proportioned forms. I can no longer use attachments, textures, or doodads to dress up an otherwise dumpy pot. In retrospect, the decorative elements on my pots were like those fashion tips that tell us how to disguise our flaws: tricks to distract the eye from a heavy bottom, a stumpy form, a sag or bulge that makes the shape less elegant. I’m now looking at pots beyond their surfaces, whether in images, in galleries, or on my own wheel.

“Along with learning how to see, I had to learn how to listen.”

When babies were little and I couldn’t leave the house, I lined a linen closet with a tarp. There was just room for a wheel, bucket, and stool. I threw at night or during naptimes, until pots lined the linen shelves above my head. I studied my clay books and worked late at night, making slow, but steady, progress. Though I attended occasional workshops, I mostly learned on my own, and was quite smug about it. Over time, my pots evolved. I knew they must be good because people bought them. I was a legend in my own mind, the Lone Potter. Still, last summer when the opportunity arose to go to grad school, I decided to try it.

I was glad to have that good reserve of ego, once school began. The first blow was a reality check about what’s “unique.” I’d held my sketch journal close to my chest, sure that someone would steal my ideas. It wasn’t long before I realized that my “original” ideas had already cycled through the program, year after year, with each batch of new students. I knew, though, that I could still wow my professors and peers. I trotted out all my tricks, fancy attachments, stamps, and “signature” touches … and my teacher said, “OK. Now don’t do that anymore.” When I whined to my brother, Cap, he laughed. Apparently, years ago when his band had headed for California, he had signed up for instruction with a wellknown musician.

It’s humbling. Instead of making “my” work, I now tackle assignments that test my limits. I’m a beginner all over again, struggling to the point of tears with the “remedial” skills I had skipped in my selfguided learning. There is no quitting, no going off and doing something else. Not anymore. After the first week of school, it quit feeling like a workshop. In fact, it’s often no fun at all. But something important is happening, and I can feel it.

Index to Advertisers for me, I am often too close to my work to see it very clearly. I have smashed good pots because they weren’t what I envisioned, when in time I might have seen the good in them. I have cherished bad pots because I worked so hard on them, or I was so in love with my idea that I couldn’t see the problems. That’s where a teacher comes in.

I made a conscious decision, when I wrote my first tuition check: to come with an empty cup and hand all-power over to a teacher whose eye, experience, pots, and opinions I respected.

Most can find a teacher without committing to or paying for a college program. If you can find a mentor in your own community, do! Is there an older potter whose eyes have taken in more years of pots, who can see past trend and novelty? Someone whose work you admire? Is there someone at a local guild or art center whose services you could hire, beg, or barter for?

It’s not easy. Defensiveness is a gut reaction. I wanted to resist critique and hang on to my comfortable crutches. I thought, “I’ve been making pots for years! My pots are who I am! Yours is just one opinion!” Fortunately, a friend shared that the best plan during a critique is to keep your mouth shut. I learned to take notes, quietly. Later, when emotions cool, I can usually see the truth in it. So along with learning how to see, I had to learn how to listen. In the past, I’ve been critical of top-down education. My kids homeschool using a student-led approach to ensure active roles in guiding their own learning. Still, they benefit from coaches, troop leaders, art and music instructors, and adult mentors. Now, so do I! I am grounded enough, at 45, to admit that I need the teacher-led critiques that friends, family, and most potter-peers can’t provide.

Nor is marketability a reliable measure of skill. How many of your early, dorky pots would you like to buy back from someone? If our buyers are not potters, they may not have an eye for design. And as

Assignments can be useful, too. At first, I balked at the notion of being told what to do, or working somebody else’s way. I reminded myself that my kids learn piano at first, not by improvising, but by playing someone else’s established songs. Making a new, unfamiliar body of work doesn’t change who I am, or erase my previous tastes. I can always go back to making what I made before, but I suspect it will be informed and improved by my forays into uncharted territory. I see this whole experience most clearly through the eyes of my kids, who love seeing mom in the student role. For a change, it’s me doing homework, coming up short, being told to do it over. They see that learning isn’t just for kids, it’s a lifelong experience and we never really “get there.” Nor can we consider ourselves a finished product. They see mom relying on a teacher’s help, too. It illustrates the lesson that raising a family has already taught me: independence is a good thing, but interdependence can provide us with a safe way to teach, learn, and grow. [

Kelly Averill Savino is a studio potter and homeschooling mother of three in Toledo, Ohio. She can be reached at primalpotter@ yahoo.com.

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Crits from friends and acquaintances are useful, but different. Even if you could navigate personalities, power struggles, and sensitivities on both sides, you still would get a series of conflicting views, based on each person’s skills and preferences. The raku potter thinks it should be raku-fired. The sculptor finds it too bound to functionality. The art fair potter considers marketability. All those perspectives are useful, but none can provide an objective yardstick. Workshops can provide respected potters willing to critique, if you ask, but that can’t measure your progress over time. (And grandma likes everything I make.)

Critique, like most growing experiences, can be painful. My pal Tony Clennell warned me that early students sink or swim based on whether they can handle crits. The message was, if you want to improve, prepare to cowboy-up!

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As for that ego, I had to set it aside before I could learn. There’s an often-told story about a Zen teacher who pours tea for his know-it-all student, even though his cup is already brimming with tea. The tea runs over onto the student’s lap as he yelps his protest. The teacher observes, “How can I fill your cup, when your cup is already full?”