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Focus: Gallery Guide 2011

 


Focus: College Clay

Responsibility is to power what hard work is to talent; the latter falls short without the former. It is perhaps a bit early to know whether or not those included in this year’s Undergraduate Showcase have learned this lesson—but we think their chances are good.


Focus: Working Potters

Are you good at making tough decisions, setting priorities and sticking to them, working six to seven days a week, keeping your overhead low, living frugally, and sticking to deadlines? Then you should become a professional potter. Oh, by the way, you also must be really good at making really good pots—lots of them. You may be surprised to know that there are quite a few people who fit this description, and we’re featuring six of them in this issue.


Focus: Emerging Artists

This year, Ceramics Monthly received a record number of submissions to our Emerging Artists competition. We take that, as well as the high level of quality work submitted as a good sign that the field of studio ceramics is thriving. We are sure you will see the promise these artists bring not only to ceramics but to the world of creative endeavors as a whole.

 


Focus: Summer Workshops

Sometimes, the harder you hit a problem, the tougher it gets. But almost always, putting yourself among other people who care about the same things you do will help you see things differently. Someone will suggest something you never thought to try. Someone has had the very same problem. Realizing that you are not special in this way is, well, special. One of the best ways to put yourself in a situation like this is to attend a workshop-and this summer is chock full of them!

 


Focus: Education

In ceramics, education is about the biggest can of worms there is. It can be difficult to define it in a way that includes all of its various wriggling parts. Add to that the fact that we all have widely varying experiences when learning about ceramics, and the discussion can sometimes stall before it even starts—but I always try to power on through to some sort of common ground; call me an optimist. So, in this issue we will talk about community education through a ceramic lending library, as well as various kinds of green research at post-secondary ceramic programs. Comprehensive? No—but we think it’s a good sample of some new thing happening in ceramic education today.


Focus: Pottery and Industry

Most of us in studio ceramics see ourselves as separate from
industrial ceramics. The differences are clear; “we” make things by
hand and “they” don’t; we make one-of-a-kind objects and they don’t; we
make limited, short-run lines of work for a relatively small audience,
and they make large production runs for mass consumption. However, I
would argue that there are more similarities than differences, and
there is a whole lot of middle ground where industry and the studio
overlap.


Focus: Working Sculptors

Build, Cast, Carve: The Sculptor’s Life
We asked seven ceramic sculptors what it takes to make a living, to
make work, and to make a life. Anyone who has ever thought about what
it would be like to turn a passion into a job stands to gain a lot from
the advice and insights of these seasoned professionals.


Focus: Pots and Function

Several potters included in the 2009 Strictly Functional Pottery National discuss their pieces in the exhibition-from teapots to egg trays, from the kitchen to the living room, from concept to execution-and the qualities necessary to make those pieces successful. Function can mean different things to different people, and these potters all bring something insightful to the table.


Don’t you love visiting the studios of people whose work you admire? Beginning with this issue, we’ll be taking you inside the garages, barns, basements, lofts, closets, and porches that serve as studios for potters and sculptors of all stripes. We kick off this special feature with four artists whose studios and work are both geographically and stylistically diverse: Patsy Cox, Los Angeles, California; Jeff Campana, Louisville, Kentucky; Stephanie Lanter, Topeka, Kansas; Robbie Heidinger, Westhampton, Massachusetts. Check them out!


Focus: Gallery Guide

Find a partner, or find inspiration through all the great work ceramics galleries are representing. Making significant work does not require a successful business plan­—but the chances of enough people seeing your work to recognize it as significant are greatly improved if you have one. The most successful plans often involve outlets beyond the studio—like galleries, websites, and stores (ideally all of the above), so you can focus on making work. Yes, these are business agreements, but they are usually more successful if approached as a partnership—a team, if you will, where everyone is invested in the process and works toward collective success.


Focus: College Clay

Sometimes we all like to think that it is the versatile nature of clay
that encourages such a broad range of practice, but we would be remiss
if we did not acknowledge the instructors who encourage students to
find their own voice in clay, without favoring a specific technique or
stylistic approach. This happens in all sorts of instructional
settings, but this month we are looking at the results of these
educational efforts in colleges and universities.


Focus: Working Potters

Eight full-time working potters share their insights on making it in the pottery world, in the studio and in life.


Focus: Emerging Artists

Sixteen artists working in all manner of studio ceramic practice put their best foot forward. The results show that clay continues to be used in incredibly innovative and exciting ways!


Focus: Summer Workshops 2009

Our comprehensive listing of summer workshops in ceramics provides all
manner of educational opportunities, vocational training and
informational overload. Whether you’re looking for figurative or
functional, high-fire or low-fire, you will find it here.


Focus: Community Education

Don’t miss the results from our ongoing survey of those involved in teaching the community. We asked about classes, facilities, challenges, events, demographics, equipment, and several other factors affecting small community clay organizations.We also report on how a small organization can have an impact beyond their own physical reach.


Focus: Technology

Whether you’re talking about the pottery wheel or a rapid
prototyping machine, a pit in the ground or a tunnel kiln, technology
is closely tied with the production of ceramic objects.


Focus: Work and Play: The Sculptor’s Life

There are about as many ways to make a living as a ceramic sculptor
as there are people attempting it. In this issue, three sculptors
making very different work share their advice and experience on
balancing life and work, promoting and selling, as well as their
aesthetic perspectives


Focus: Food and Pots

There is fancy food and there are fancy pots, just like there is plain
food and plain pots, and they don’t necessarily need to go together in
that order. I’m sure you’ll agree that whether it’s roast veggies on
the back patio or citrus sorbet in a French restaurant in Tokyo, the
most important thing is quality-for the pot as well as the food.


Focus: The Culture of Clay

What happens in ceramics when fundamental shifts take place in our
cultures? We have a wonderful tool for answering this question: our own
history.


Focus: Gallery Guide

CM’s comprehensive listing of where to go, what to see and where to
show, including galleries that show ceramics on a regular basis and
museums with significant ceramics collections on view.


Focus: College Clay

Our annual Undergraduate Showcase kicks off this issue, followed by
the Regional Student Juried Exhibition (RSJE) from the National Council
on Education for the Ceramics Arts conference. The RSJE is always one
of the highlights of the conference; the work is impressive in scope
and accomplishment.


Focus: The Potter’s Life

Our annual feature with advice, reflection and insights by working
potters on how they balance life, work, studio, art, tough choices,
easy choices, and how others might do the same.