The
following two articles should be read in tandem. They are authored by
people on opposing sides of a court case involving a particular brand
of talc.
Talc and Asbestos: What We Know and What We Don't
by Jeff Zamek
Response to Talc and Asbestos: What We Know and What We Don't
by Monona Rossol
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Going Green
by Jon Ellenbogen
Our
December issue focused on sustainability, and Jon Elenbogen gathered
several experts to recommend many ways we can make our studios more
earth friendly.
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The Kachelofen: Its Time Has Come, Again
by Nadia Slawinksi
An
oven that burns just a few pounds of wood each day can keep a
house warm all through the winter. These ovens have been in use in
Europe for hundreds of years, but we just haven't caught on in
North America. Perhaps it's time.
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Striving for Perfection
by Hal Frenzel
A kiln consultant discusses firing atmospheres, energy usage, burner construction and performance, and how to tell if you're using too much fuel.
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| 2007 Emerging Artists Sixteen promising artists who have been
pursuing their ceramics careers for less than ten years were featured.
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| The Ceramic Realm of Kevin Nguyen
by Judy Seckler In just three short years, an artist turns an ambitious dream into a flourishing center for creativity.
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| Evolution Series: The Ceramic Sculpture of Suk-Jin Choi
by Howard Risatti
A Korean sculptor explores an interest in memory and temporal themes in forms that seem at once biological and robotic.
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| Of Place and Purpose: Gay Smith’s Artistic Evolution
by Sue Wasserman
recipes Cone 10 slips and glazes formulated for raw glazing
With
intuition as her guide, an artist explores many paths, from producing
work for utilitarian purposes in a spiritual commune to developing her
own unique voice at artist residencies. |
| Soda with Sparkle: A Profile of Soda-Glaze Specialist Ruthanne Tudball
by Judy Adams
monthly methods Stoking for Sparkle
A hectic schedule enhances rather than hinders a potter’s development, resulting in fluid pots with active surfaces. |
Working for Others or for Yourself: It's a Choice
by Dennis W. Smith
recipes High-Fire Blues and Greens
monthly methods Wax and Water by Ryan McKerley
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Discovery in Turkey: The Ceramics of Mehmet Kutlu
by Ann Hazinedar
monthly methods Colored PorcelainUsing
habits developed in an earlier engineering career, a Turkish artist
methodically experiments in order to achieve desired results. |
| Shining the Light on Craft in America
by Judy Seckler
A
gallery-owner-turned-television-producer realizes a dream with a
three-part television series to air on PBS, as well as a traveling
exhibition and companion book on the importance of craft in America. |
| Butterdishing the Ancestors
by Bruce Dehnert
recipes Cone 10 Glazes, Flashing Slip and Evelyn’s Sugar, Butter and Spice Cookies
Reflecting on family heritage, a potter elevates the ordinary butter dish into a “melting pot” that honors various cultures. |
| Barbara Harnack’s Archetypal Tribe
by Hollis Walker
monthly methods Pro-Active Raku Firing by Barbara Harnack, with Michael Lancaster
An artist uses figurative works to explore a personal mythology |
| Pam Sinnott: Memorials from the Kitchen
by Elizabeth Ashburn An
Australian artist incorporates well-worn kitchen utensils into her
ceramic works, creating “memorials” to honor the uncelebrated
sacrifices of generations of housewives. |
| Rebuilding After Katrina, Kiln by Kiln
by Shawn McCabe and Neil Tetkowski
Overwhelming generosity from the ceramics community helps a potter regain his footing after Hurricane Katrina. |
| Propaganda, Politics and Porcelain: The Work of Scott Rench
by Paul Scott
Drawing
inspiration from pop culture, Scott Rench wraps his ceramic works in
computer-generated images, mixing a very old medium with a new one. |
| 25-Year-Old Slab of Clay: A Marriage of Ceramics and Printmaking
by Lisa McVey
monthly methods Clay Monoprinting
Situating
himself between two media, Mitch Lyons is often met with strong
opinions on whether he is a clay artist or a printmaker. His response:
You can have your clay and print it too. |
| Tailor Made: The Dress Sculptures of Kathleen Holmes
by Barbara Rizza Mellin
monthly methods In the Dressmaker’s Shop
Buttons, fabric and zippers dress Kathleen Holmes’ ceramic sculptures to the nines. |
The Fusion of Clay and Dichroic Glass
by Alfred Spivack
monthly methods Firing for FusionDetermination and experimentation unlock the secrets of creating kaleidoscopic colors on clay with dichroic glass. |
The Fantastical Functional Forms of Kenny Delio
by Myra Bellin
recipes Cone 6 Slip and Glazes
A potter emphasizes handles and other points of human interaction.
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Making Meaning: A Dialog Between Culture and Nature
by Howard Risatti
The
marriage of material, technique, tradition and function in handmade
ceramics allows for meaning far beyond form and utility.
“A
Neolithic Chinese urn made in approximately 2300 B.C. and a vase made
some 4000 years later in New York are both instantly recognizable as
containers, despite being made in vastly different cultures at
different places and at different times,” contends Howard Risatti.
“Their basic forms seem to echo throughout history from prehistoric
times to the present. It is as though they spring from an archetypal
form embedded deep within our collective memory. If it is an archetypal
form, however, it does not spring, as fine art does, from social
conventions, which vary from place to place and change from time to
time. Rather, it springs from the unchanging realm of nature and human
physical need. But—and this is an extremely important but—since we also
recognize clear stylistic differences between these works (one is
Neolithic Chinese, one contemporary American), it means they also have
an existence in the changing and variable realm of social
convention—that realm that is art and culture.”
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The Quest for the Glowing Glaze
An instructor’s challenge leads Brian Jenson to a business opportunity
by Sarah Rossiter
“Brian
Jensen’s quest for glowing glaze began in the town of Edinboro,
Pennsylvania, with professor Steve Kemenyffy’s challenge to graduate
students to develop cutting-edge ceramics technology. Jensen’s search
for the alchemy of photoluminescent glaze would lead him from the 1920s
marble factories of Sisterville, West Virginia, through the aisles of a
toy store and the treacherous corporate straits of a
multibillion-dollar glow-in-the-dark industry to starting his own
business and offering the first glow-in-the-dark ceramic glaze on the
market.”
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Firing with Vegetable Oil
by John Britt
In
the April 2003 issue, Penland, North Carolina, potter John Britt
illustrated a potters experiment in lessening the environmental impact
of firing ceramics. “As we take part in the demand for electricity,
minerals and petroleum, we also share the responsibility for their
environmental effects. One of the most common rationalizations is that
we are only using the scraps of industry and are therefore not the
primary cause. For Sam Clarkson, this rationalization was
unsatisfactory, and he decided to take some positive action to
reconcile his love of pottery with his concern for the environment.”
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Floating Clay
By Randolph Sill
In
the February 2004 issue, Seattle ceramist Randolph Sill recalls how he
"was studying ceramics recently in Shigaraki, Japan, a mountain pottery
village about two hours from Kyoto. While learning methods of
contemporary ceramic sculpture, as well as traditional Japanese pottery
techniques, I conceived of a ceramic sculpture that would be installed
in the ponds of Togeinomori, the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, on
the outskirts of town. I wanted to make the sculpture float on water,
an endeavor doomed to be difficult. Wouldn't it be cool, though, to
have the sculpture meander around the ponds and go wherever the winds
directed? Pedestals can be so confining!"
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A Wood-Fired Look from an Electric Kiln
by Richard Busch
Leesburg,
Virginia potter Richard Busch was “like most people who take up
pottery. I was limited at the beginning of my career to firing my pots
to Cone 6 in an electric kiln. This was at the local community center
where I lived in northern Virginia. I say limited, but for the first
year or so it didn’t seem like a limitation. Just learning to center,
make simple forms and digest a lot of basic information about the
pottery process was enough to keep my focus pretty narrow. But it
wasn’t too long before I began to notice the differences between
oxidation- and reduction-fired pottery.”
In the February 2003
issue, Busch recalls a wood firing that changed his outlook. “I was
hooked on the whole idea. But then, not seeing any possibility of doing
wood/salt myself on a regular basis, I grew frustrated. If, as they
say, necessity is the mother of invention, I would suggest that
frustration can also be that mother. At least it was for me. Out of
that sense of frustration came the desire to develop a Cone 6 oxidation
glaze that would yield the wood/salt-fired look that had become
something of an obsession.” |