10 Questions to Ask When Designing Pottery for Use
Today, Robin Hopper, who wrote the book on functional pottery (quite literally – he is the author of Functional Pottery: Form and Aesthetic in Pots of Purpose), is back again today with ten questions that every functional potter should ask themselves when designing pots for use. Post these in your studio so you remember them every time you make a new pot!
Bonus Monday Pottery Video: Ayumi Horie’s Match Striker in Action
Ayumi Horie returns to Ceramic Arts Daily today with an example of her marketing genius: a “match striker in action” video. No doubt inspired by her “pots in action” photos, which she collects from her fans and displays on her website, this video shows a plethora of ways a handmade item can fit into, and enhance the everyday. As usual, this video oozes with Ayumi’s wit and great style so I thought it would make the perfect pick me up for a Monday. Enjoy!
Nick Joerling Shifts Gears: A Potter Takes a Risk and is Rewarded by the Results
Why would a potter change a very successful, established body of work in order to move in another direction? That’s one of the questions Nick Joerling was asked in the March 2011 issue of Ceramics Monthly. In today’s post, we’ll share the interview and show you examples of the old work and the new.
Wheel Throwing Video: It’s all in the Details – Design Considerations for Wheel Thrown Mugs, Cups, and Saucers
In today’s video, an excerpt from his DVD Form and Function: Ceramic Aesthetics and Design, Robin Hopper discusses the importance of good design on handmade pottery and demonstrates throwing a cup and saucer with these considerations in mind. Watch the video!
From Concept to Reality: Evaluating the Development of Influences and Ideas in Your Ceramic Art
In today’s post, I decided to turn to our good friend Robin Hopper for a good example of how to examine one’s work from concept to reality. Robin traces the development of some of his own works, considering the integration of form, development of imagery, and processes of final surface enrichment.
Kick Your Work Up a Notch: Announcing the Ceramics Monthly Master Class!
Today’s post is a sample from our new section Ceramics Monthly Master Class. Simon Levin explains the importance of critiquing your ceramic work, a skill that is often stressed at the college level, but is good to learn and practice at any stage of the game. Simon explains his “Suck Factor” method of gauging a piece’s success and gives some sample critiques on his own work.
Critical Care: The Art of Self Critique
I use one tool everyday, on every pot or sculpture, whether I made it or not. This pervasive tool is critical analysis, and I use it to assess the pot I am currently throwing, the work I made yesterday and the work I made years ago.
The Industry of Making Pots
In balancing the challenges of making and marketing, many potters have turned to industrial business models and processes while maintaining a high level of quality in design and production.
Perfection, Repair, and Use
With the cup moving from the table to the shelf, the focus of ceramic production has shifted from utilitarian to decorative. The art market’s continual search for perfection has stripped bowls, cups, and plates of their personal history. Utilitarian objects carry the story of their use in chips and stains that are deemed imperfections by collectors and investors.
Three Generations of Hamada Potters
Of all the well-known Japanese ceramic artists of the past four hundred years, men like Raku ware’s Chojiro, the Kyoto designers and decorators Ninsei Nonomura and Kenzan Ogata, and the innovative and technically brilliant Kozan Makuzu, by far the most famous and influential has been the twentieth century folk craft (mingei) movement potter Shoji Hamada (1894-1978).
