Cover: Emerging Artist Ann Van Hoey
Studio Visit: Jenny Mendes
Technique: Todd Hayes’ graphic surfaces
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Todd Pletcher
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contents
may
2013
volume
61,
number
5
editorial
8 From the Editor Sherman Hall
10 Letters
techno file
12 Ball Clays by Dave Finkelnburg
Find out the what, where, when, and why of this common and trusted
studio material.
tips and tools
14 Sticky Tools by Lawrence Weathers
Stop losing your ribs in that cold and murky bucket of sludge with this
quick and clever tip.
exposure
16 Images from Current and Upcoming Exhibitions
reviews
35 Kathy Butterly: Lots of Little Love Affairs
A solo exhibition of Kathy Butterly’s new work was recently on view at
Shoshana Wayne Gallery in Los Angeles, California. The diminutive forms
pack a visual and conceptual punch. Reviewed by Elaine Levin.
38 Betty Feves: Generations
The large retrospective exhibition of Betty Feves’ work at the Museum of
Contemporary Craft in Portland, Oregon, showcased both her sculptures
and utilitarian pots, and shed light on her influence on many artists.
Reviewed by Garth Johnson.
resources
93 Call for Entries
Information on submitting work for exhibitions, fairs, and festivals.
94 Classifieds
Looking to buy? Looking to sell? Look no further.
95 Index to Advertisers
spotlight
96 The Julia Terr Annual
Vince Montague turned a personal tragedy into an opportunity to
advance the field of ceramics with a fund and an annual exhibition that
have had far reaching benefits for an entire clay community.
16
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clay culture
20 Apprenticeship Route by Lucie Brisson
Finding an apprenticeship is hard enough. Finding one that is right for both
mentor and mentee is even harder, but it can be done. You just need to do
your research and ask lots of questions before jumping in.
24 Very, Very Old Clay by Holly Goring
Recent discoveries of 20,000-year-old pottery fragments, ancient ceramic
figurines, and pots used in dairy farming have pushed back the date of the
oldest known ceramics in the world and shed light on early ways of use.
studio visit
26 Jenny Mendes, Chesterland, Ohio
In her studio filled with large windows showing continuously changing
views and floor to ceiling shelves full of colorful test tiles and jars of terra
sigillata, Jenny Mendes finds herself surrounded by inspiration.
features
30 Earth Matters: Clay as Material and Metaphor
in the Artwork of Margaret Boozer
by Anthony E. Stellaccio
As ceramic artists, we know that clay is a powerful material. Margaret
Boozer explores its potential to express ideas about both personal and
geological time and place simultaneously.
42 A Formal Inquiry by Todd Hayes
Learn how a hard-edged graphic element on a soft-rimmed plate can be the
perfect combination.
45 Emerging Artists 2013
This year’s emerging artists collectively cover lots of ground with their work
in terms of techniques and concepts.
46 Tom Jaszczak, Helena, Montana
47 Ann Van Hoey, Mechelen, Belgium
48 A. Blair Clemo, Grand Rapids, Michigan
54 Matthew Mitros, Acworth, Georgia
55 Chris Pickett, Helena, Montana
56 Jason Bige Burnett, Bakersville, North Carolina
62 Emily Duke, Kansas City, Missouri
63 Sean O’Connell, Helena, Montana
64 Katharine Morling, London, England
70 Alanna DeRocchi, Helena, Montana
71 Jim Gottuso, Louisville, Kentucky
76 Kenyon Hansen, Hancock, Michigan
77 Sebastian Moh, Louisville, Kentucky
cover: Ann Van Hoey’s vessel, 8 in. (21 cm) in length,
slab-built and press-molded red earthenware, fired in
an electric kiln to 2012°F (1100°C), 2009. Photo: Dries
Van den Brande.
76
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may 2013
7
from the editor
respond to shall@ceramicsmonthly.org
Once a year, the editorial staff spends a few days looking through all
of the submissions for our annual Emerging Artist feature. We each
pull out the entries we want to consider, put them all together in a
group, and start discussing the specific and relative merits of each.
After several rounds of this, we are able to get the group down to a
very strong 25–30 artists. At this point, it is best to step away and
come back in a day or two. The final winnowing is fraught with
peril; there is much discussion, cases made for and against, personal
preferences challenged, heated arguments ranging from how much
space is available to the overall balance of styles, from photographic
quality to whether or not someone really should be considered an
emerging artist. Sometimes we step away for another day and revisit
with hopefully cooler heads. This is different from our typical editorial review meetings, which are based on a very well-established—you
might say tighter—set of procedures and policies, based on specific
content areas and their respective formats, while this seems a little
more like re-inventing the wheel every year—and that’s exciting! We
are reminded that there is a lot of very good work being made by folks
just coming into their own, and we always end up with a renewed
sense of excitement and anticipation about what studio ceramics will
have in store for us in the coming year. It’s not that we don’t pay
attention to those who are “emerging” throughout the year, but it’s
nice to see so many all at once. And I would be remiss if I did not
thank all 473 people who submitted work for consideration. That is
the largest number of submissions we have had to date, and it means
that there is an increasing number of you who are actively pursuing
studio ceramics as a serious career path. Keep it up!
At the same time that it’s exciting to see all of that creative
evidence in volume, it is really nice when we fill out the May issue
with successful artists who have already emerged, like Jenny Mendes
(Studio Visit, p. 26), Margaret Boozer (Earth
Matters, p. 30), or even artists who have passed
It was a daunting prospect to wade through a record 473 submissions for the Emerging Artist
but whose influence remains (Betty Feves, p.
feature, but the payoff is worth it. Check out the results beginning on page 45.
38 or The Julia Terr Annual, p. 96). My guess
is that one or all of these artists may even be
“new” to many readers, and that speaks to the
fact that there always is something more to discover in ceramics; always something emerging
from what came before; and always something
each of us can pass to those coming after us.
So, you’re not the “new kid” on the block
anymore (and maybe you never were), and
maybe you’re never going to have a full-time
career in the studio (perhaps you don’t even
want one), but I’m telling you that doesn’t
mean you have no influence. In the same way
that some of the Emerging Artists in this issue
may not be working in clay five years from now
(who’s to say?), you may end up hitting your
ceramic stride in very unexpected ways that
you could never plan given where you are and
what you know today. Be open to possibilities
and opportunities, look at as much work as you
can (of course, start with this issue), and work
toward emerging in your own way.
Sherman Hall
8
may 2013
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may 2013
9
letters
email editorial@ceramicsmonthly.org
Privileged
My latest magazine arrived yesterday, and
after a long day at the “day job,” all I managed
to read was the editor’s column—and I’m so
pleased that I did. In a few sentences, you expressed something I imagine many part-time
ceramists feel and are frustrated by: “‘What
would you make if you could make whatever
you wanted to?’ I tend to add to this, ‘with
only a few hours a week in the studio,’ and
then I add, ‘in a 20-year-old kiln with tired
elements,’ and then I get over myself a little
bit and realize that I am lucky to have the time
and equipment I have. What would I make?
Exactly what I’m making.’”
I tried to make a living by being a fulltime, independent ceramic artist, barely
scraping by, and then I realized that very
often I had to sacrifice ideas and creativity to
make saleable things. The plus side of having
a full-time, paid job and having only limited
time in the studio is that it gives you freedom
to make things you want to make, with no
thought in the back of your head about the
commercial value of your work.
Now, when I’m in a moaning mood, I just
have to remind myself of those few lines, and
I feel privileged to have what I have and to
be able create clay works in a way I want. So
genuine—thank you for this.
I probably should use this opportunity to
tell you how much I love Ceramics Monthly. I
am an arts manager and ceramics teacher for
a self-funded cultural center, so finances are
tight, but I was allowed to choose one pottery
magazine for my professional development.
After researching all magazines dedicated
to pottery, I decided to go for this one and
never regretted my choice. I’m reading every
issue from cover to cover. So thank you for a
wonderful and very inspiring magazine.
Ieva Alksne, Staffordshire, England
Just What I Needed
The March issue of CM is the first one I’ve
had a chance to sit down and read from start
to finish in a while. Very interesting article
on Tony Clennell, his life, times, and work.
Beautiful. And the letter from Harlan House
was a delight. If folks don’t speak up about the
denigration of skill at the university level, that
denigration will only grow more widespread.
Mr. House has a clever and humorous tongue,
and a clear eye. Not to mention truly elegant
work. A good issue, with some great images.
Just what I needed. Thanks.
Dannon Rhudy, Morgan County, Indiana
Cowans | Clark | DelVecchio
Modern and Contemporary Ceramics
Live Salesroom Auction
May 17, 2013 10:00 am EST
A sale of exceptional works by Arman,
Robert Arneson, Jun Kaneko, Hans
Coper, Lucie Rie, Toshiko Takaezu,
Beatrice Wood and a special feature,
The Art of Peter Voulkos.
Bid in person, by phone,
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Catalogue will be available in
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Pictured: Peter Voulkos (1924-2002)
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Cowan’s Auctions | 6270 Este Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio 45232 | 513.871.1670 | ceramics@cowans.com | cowans.com
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may 2013
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tecHno file
ball clays
by Dave Finkelnburg
Ball clays are very plastic so they are widely used in clay bodies. However, like many ceramic raw
materials, not all ball clays are created equal. Understanding what controls their properties aids in using
ball clays successfully.
Defining the Terms
Facts and Formation
Kaolinite: A hydrated clay mineral
with a plate-like crystal structure
and a fixed chemical composition
of Al2O3·2SiO2·2H2O.
Because of its unique properties, it is logical to assume that ball clay is a particular clay mineral. That
isn’t true. Technically speaking, all ball clays are mostly kaolinite, the same clay mineral that makes up
kaolins. The majority of ceramic clays used around the world are kaolins. If ball clay is mainly kaolinite,
what makes ball clay different than ordinary kaolin? The answer is particle size.
Feldspar: A group of crystalline
While clay mineralogy is complex, and kaolinite can also form in other ways, it is useful to think of
aluminosilicate rock-forming
kaolinite
simply as altered feldspar. Most of the clay on earth began life as molten rock that solidified
minerals containing variable
proportions of the elements
slowly into feldspar and mica. In cases where those minerals are exposed to water for long periods of
potassium, sodium, and calcium.
time, the flux atoms are slowly leached out and the relatively pure aluminum-silicate crystal structure is
left behind. In this way, feldspar is altered into kaolinite clay. The leaching or alteration leaves flat, plateQuartz: A silica mineral with a
hexagonal crystal structure and a
like kaolinite crystals that, under very high magnification, are seen to be in stacks.
chemical composition of SiO2.
When this kaolinite (weathered feldspar) is found right where it was formed, the clay deposit is kaolin.
Besides kaolinite, the kaolin also contains quartz, feldspar, mica and other minerals found in the parent rock.
Sometimes kaolin is very near or at the surface of the earth or becomes exposed over time. Surface
deposits of kaolin are quite soft and may be
Ball Clay Origins
eroded by wind or, more often, by water. Erosion
erosion and weathering of
feldspar
moves the stacks of kaolinite crystals downhill or
(igneous rock)
downwind. In this process of transportation, the
stacks literally break down. The stacks split apart
Eroded and transported ball
into shorter stacks or individual plates and the
clay has a wide variety of
plates break into smaller pieces.
particle sizes with very little
Kaolinite clay is formed
contamination.
Significant accumulations of kaolinite
from feldspar and found in
stacks of plate-like crystals.
transported by erosion are what we call ball
The kaolinization of feldspar:
clay. Very importantly, ball clays have a very
1 feldspar grinds into smaller
and varied particle sizes, 2
wide mix of particle sizes, including very fine
salts, alkalis, and calcium
clay particles. Ball clays settle in deposits that
separate and wash away from
silica, alumina, and 3 water is
are relatively uncontaminated except for plant
added to form kaolinite.
matter. A common misconception is that more
contaminated deposits are often earthenware.
Hypogenic action occurs
Levigation
Typically, the parent mineral of earthenware is
when gases (carbon dioxide,
Water carries pulverized rock away
steam, fluorine, and boron)
from its place of origin where it
mica rather than feldspar. Thus earthenware is
rise from below ground and
settles downstream in larger bodies
high in iron and the clay minerals tend to be mostly
decompose feldspar.
of water as sedimentary clays made
up of individual plates.
illite and chlorite rather than kaolinite.
Developing a Ball Clay Body
Ball clays share four common characteristics—particle size, shrinkage,
variable quartz, and organic content. All influence how ball clays perform
in a particular clay body or glaze.
Because of the wide range of particle sizes in ball clays, they are
especially plastic and thus make a clay body easier to work with. The
fine particles present also increase green strength of the dry clay body
so dry ware is sturdier.
However, fine particle size also means ball clays require more water
of plasticity. Having to add more water to make a particular clay plastic
means more water will evaporate on drying. This makes drying shrinkage
greater. Because of the increased shrinkage, ball clays are almost never
used alone in a clay body, but rather are blended with kaolins and nonplastic materials like quartz sand.
12
may 2013
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When ball clay deposits form, there may be significant fine quartz sand
transported in the same way and to the same location as the ball clay. As
a result, ball clays are highly variable in their quartz content, which can
range from a few percent to 15% or more. In cases where glaze fit is
important, it is essential to adjust the quartz added to a clay-body recipe
if the ball clay is replaced with a substitute. This is because increasing
quartz content reduces fired-body expansion.
In the process of transport and deposition, ball clays can become
contaminated with plant matter (organic materials). Although the
organics burn out in firing, in excessive quantities, organic materials can
deflocculate a ball clay. That can dramatically reduce plasticity of the
body. Testing any ball clay substitution for deflocculation is important
when making plastic clay.
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may 2013
13
tips and tools
sticky tools
by Lawrence Weathers
Want to keep your tools in plain sight and close at hand rather than buried in a murky bucket of water or
lost in a pile of trimmings? Give this easy and cheap solution a try.
I noticed that I was spending a lot of time digging through the mess
around my wheel to find tools. I had tried numerous plastic containers
to hold them, but this didn’t work very well because at least half of the
tool was hidden from view, so it was difficult to identify which one I
wanted without pulling most of the tools out. Even worse, sometimes
I would knock one of these plastic tubs over, sending a bunch of tools
to the floor. I needed to keep my tools completely visible. Also, since
I’m not very good at putting things back where they belong, I didn’t
want a system that would require me to put a tool in a specific place
each time to find it again.
Since my throwing area is bounded on three sides by steel shelves,
the vertical sides of the shelves were unused storage space that I could
utilize by putting magnets on my tools. This allowed me to have easy
access to them and be able to see all of them at once. Also, I didn’t
need to put tools back in the same spot. Any shelf edge would do, and
there were a lot of them within arm’s reach.
I bought 40 6 mm × 3 mm grade N42 neodymium disc magnets
online for less than $10. Most such magnets are grade N35, but since
they were so cheap, I decided to go with a 20% stronger magnet. The
stronger ones worked so well that I ordered 40 more.
Attaching the magnets is easy, you’ll just need a drill and some epoxy.
Bore a shallow hole slightly smaller than the diameter of the magnet
in the side of each tool. For better adhesion of the glue, it’s best to
rub the magnet back and forth on a
piece of sandpaper to create a rougher
surface. Fill the hole with epoxy. Then
press the magnet into the hole and
clamp while it dries. Make sure that
the surface of the magnet is slightly
above the surface of the tool.
I also use magnets to store my metal
tools, such as needles, ribs, and those
made from hacksaw blades. With
these, you can just put a magnet on
the shelf edge and stick the metal
tool to it.
Send your tip and tool ideas,
along with plenty of images, to
editorial@ceramicsmonthly.org. If
we use your idea, you’ll receive a
complimentary one-year subscription
to CM!
14
may 2013
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“brent® CXC…
solid fun!”
Amy Smith
Lincoln, NE
More
About
Amy
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may 2013
15
exposure
for complete calendar listings
see www.ceramicsmonthly.org
1
2
3
16
may 2013
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4
5
1 Peter Callas’ yunomi, wheel-thrown Shigaraki clay,
natural-ash glaze, wood fired for 8 days. 2 Greg
Cochenet’s yunomi, wheel-thrown porcelain, fired in
reduction to cone 11. “2013 Yunomi Invitational,” at
AKAR Gallery (www.akardesign.com) in Iowa City,
Iowa, through April 19–May 17. 3 Laura Andreson’s
Blue Bowl, 11¼ in. (28.5 cm) in diameter, porcelain,
crystal glaze, 1981. Collection of Museum of
Contemporary Craft. Photo: Dan Kvitka. “Object
Focus: The Bowl,” at Museum of Contemporary
Craft (www.museumofcontemporarycraft.org) in
Portland, Oregon, through September 21. 4 Anne
James’ bowl, 2003. Permanent collection of AMOCA.
5 Richard Batterham’s covered jar, stoneware, glaze.
Permanent collection of AMOCA. “Friendship Forged in
Fire: British Ceramics in America,” at American Museum
of Ceramic Art (www.amoca.org) in Pomona, California,
through May 4. 6 H.P. Bloomer IV’s jar, 6¼ in. (16 cm)
in height, wheel-thrown porcelain, soda fired to cone
10, 2013. “H.P. Bloomer IV: Resident Exhibition,” at
Carbondale Clay Center (www.carbondaleclay.org) in
Carbondale, Colorado, May 3–29.
6
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may 2013
17
exposure
1
2
3
1 Linda Swanson’s Osmogenesis, 12 ft. (3.6 m) in length, bentonite, water,
nylon, metal, wood, 2012. Photo: Paul Holmquist. 2 Susannah BiondoGemmell’s Toys for Prometheus II (detail), ceramic, lava glaze, porcelain,
kanthal wire, silver leaf, steel, mixed media, 2006. 3 Del Harrow’s Copper
Fade, 16 ft. (4.9 m) in height, earthenware, glaze, 2010. 4 Paula Winokur’s
Glacier IV: Calving, 56 in. (1.4 m) in length, porcelain, approximately 40
elements, 2009. Photo: John Carlano. “Elemental,” at Northern Clay Center
(www.northernclaycenter.org) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through May 12.
18
may 2013
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4
2
1
1 Christine McHorse’s Spontaneous Combustion, 15 in.
(38 cm) in height, micaceous ceramic, 2011. “Dark Light:
the Ceramics of Christine Nofchissey McHorse,” at Nerman
Museum of Contemporary Art (www.nermanmuseum.org) in
Overland Park, Kansas, through May 26. 2 Clay Cunningham’s
Tea for Two, 9 in. (23 cm) in height, earthenware, terra sigillata,
stains, underglaze, glaze, fired to cone 04, 2012. “The Art of
Tea,” at OM Gallery (www.omahahealingarts.com) in Omaha,
Nebraska, through May 30. 3 Lilly Zuckerman’s tray, 15 in.
(38 cm) in length, earthenware, 2012. 4 Nicholas Danielson’s
Reliquary Box, 14 in. (36 cm) in height, local clay, reduction
cooled, 2012. 5 Jose Sierra’s Inca Teapot, 10 in. (25 cm) in
length, red stoneware, 2012. “Juried National II,” at Red Lodge
Clay Center (www.redlodgeclaycenter.com) in Red Lodge,
Montana, May 3–31.
3
4
5
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may 2013
19
clay culture
apprenticeship route
by Lucie Brisson
Finding the right apprenticeship isn’t easy, but if you take the time to figure out what works best for you,
the experience can be amazing and life changing.
Cycling the 5 miles that separate Mill Creek
Pottery from the room I rent in the small village of Gresham, Wisconsin, gives me time and
space to let my mind wander. Whether I am
drafting a new blog post or narrowing down the
elusive shape of a pot, it is a time when I step
back and ponder. Lately, I have been thinking
about the question so many people have asked
me since my arrival: Why did you come all the
way here for your apprenticeship?
Originally from the southwest of France, I
now find myself in northeastern Wisconsin. I
have been apprenticing with wood-firing potter
Simon Levin for eight months; when I fly home
it will have been almost a year.
Wood Firing as Catalyst
I fell in love with wood-firing in Japan in
March of 2010, having traveled there via Russian Trans–Siberian train after graduating with
a BFA from Cork College of Art and Design
in Ireland. It was the very first shift of my first
firing. The kiln was in the middle of a cabbage
field, and from the valley below I could hear
the early bells of a temple. I was cold. The fire
was crackling nicely but not hot enough yet to
warm me. The air was misty, the scene magical. I was suddenly overwhelmed by the beauty
of that moment. It felt like wood-firing was a
fuller and richer experience than anything else I
had done so far. There would be no going back.
In college I had mostly made slip-cast and
coiled electric-fired sculptural and installation
work. In Japan I wanted to immerse myself in
a culture where pots are valued as an art form.
I wanted to meet potters and possibly work with them. I hadn’t
organized any of this, but it turned out I had a lucky star. I became
friends with Mieko and Richard, a Japanese-English couple who
invited me to make work in their studio in Tokoname. They had
recently built a wood kiln, and at their side, I fell in love.
I came back from Japan sure of two things: I wanted to make
pots, and those pots would be wood fired. What I didn’t know was
how to go about it. I barely knew how to make pots at all and had
no place to work. Getting into an MFA program was one option
but I honestly doubted that I would be very convincing trying
to enter an MFA program claiming I wanted to make functional
pots backed by a portfolio of ethereal installation pieces. In truth,
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1
after some research and visits to colleges, academia felt far removed
from the everyday life and challenges of running a studio. It was
that bigger picture I wanted. More than learning to make good
pots, I wanted to learn how to become a potter. What I craved was
mentoring, in the shape of someone who would pass on knowledge
and give me feedback on my pots. An apprenticeship seemed like
the right way to go.
Learning the Hard Way
Here’s the catch: apprenticeships are hard to find and good ones
are even rarer. I jumped onto the first opportunity that fell on my
lap and moved to England to learn alongside a slipware potter I
had briefly met in Japan. It meant compromising for a while on
wood firing, but I figured there would be a lot for me to learn.
It turned out her idea of an apprenticeship was working rather
than learning—in a nutshell, free labor for her with very little in
exchange for me. Apart from teaching me the making and slipware
techniques necessary to churn out pieces for her range of pots,
there was no mentoring of any kind. She was totally disinterested
in the work I started making for myself (one day a week). The rest
of the time I made her pieces. I felt incredibly depressed, fooled,
and mad at myself for having not investigated that position better.
I could have spoken with past apprentices or agreed on a very clear
contract making sure there would be some benefit for me. I became
miserable and resentful, and quit after three months.
Back in Ireland, I rented a small studio in a shared facility
for a few months, making sculptures and slowly teaching myself
more throwing. Samuel Beckett’s quote, “Ever tried. Ever failed.
No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better,” kept me going. I
was still determined to go the apprenticeship route. This time I
wouldn’t settle for whatever came along. I would find an inspiring
wood-firing potter whose pots I really admired, in whom I could
see myself a few years down the road, and who cared that I develop
my own voice.
my hero. I badly wanted to meet her and this goal fueled my momentum. I decided to spend the summer of 2011 traveling the US
and meeting and helping potters. It would be a time to establish
relationships and perhaps plant little seeds that might grow into
something bigger.
In preparation for this trip I emailed a handful of American
potters. Many of them were kind enough to reply and start a
conversation. During the three months of that summer, I visited
many of them and stayed with some, pitching my tent next to their
studios and helping with whatever needed doing. I processed local
clay for Michael Kline, and split wood with Linda Christianson.
I visited many studios, including both Penland and The Energy
Xchange in North Carolina. I volunteered at the American Pottery Festival at the Northern Clay Center in Minnesota. I met
wonderful people committed to their pots and their way of life. I
was deeply inspired.
Taking the Plunge
Simon Levin had responded to my emails and invited me to help
fire his large anagama. Unknown to me, it was also a trial period
during which we would each try to figure out if we could work
together. After a week-long firing and two more weeks helping
Researching the Possibilities
Research made it clear that the US had a much more vibrant pottery scene than Europe, and more potters firing
with wood. I had recently discovered Linda Christianson’s
pots and somehow this wood-firing woman had become
3
1 Lucie Brisson in front of one of the wood kilns at Mill Creek
Pottery, Gresham, Wisconsin.
2 Processing local clay for Michael Kline in Bakersville, North
Carolina, during the summer of 2011.
3 Rebuilding one of the kilns at Mill Creek Pottery, fall 2012.
2
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may 2013
21
clay cultureÑ
apprenticeship route
around his place, both of us were happy to commit to a year-long
apprenticeship. In an attempt to make sure this time around would
be different, I checked the mental list I had made for myself after
my previous apprenticeship. I talked to Simon’s current and past
apprentices. I asked Simon clear questions about what my duties
would be and about his part of the deal. I asked myself, “Does his
As for opportunities, they have been plentiful. Besides being
at Mill Creek every day, making work, and firing Simon’s kilns, I
assisted at the St. Croix Pottery Tour in Minnesota, helped build
an anagama kiln for the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic
Arts in Montana, and assisted Simon during a two-week woodfiring class at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Tennessee.
In the fall, I helped with the rebuilding of the
front of the train kiln at Mill Creek, attended
the Utilitarian Clay Conference, and helped with
our own pottery tour and more out of state sales.
I also got to visit many other potters, fired with
Jack Troy who came to Mill Creek in April, and
met Warren MacKenzie in the quiet of his studio.
Suggestions for
Would-be Apprentices
4 Lucie Brisson’s lidded containers, wood-fired clay, 2012.
work stir me? Does this sound like the holistic potting experience I am
looking for?” His work and life did inspire me, so I took the plunge.
Coming to Wisconsin was a huge life decision. I needed money
for a visa plus enough savings to live on for a year (the J1 training
visa wouldn’t allow for me to get a side job to pay rent). And it
meant another move far away from my family after many years
away from France already. It took some planning and a whole lot
of paperwork, but eight months and $4000 later (visa fees, health
insurance, plane ticket) I landed in Green Bay with my throwing
tools and three suitcases.
Every day I am glad that I made this commitment. Simon has
had an apprenticeship program since 2004. He once said to me that
he created the program he wished he could have found when he was
younger. He knows what he wants from me, and he pushes me to
have a clear idea of what I want to walk away with. And it works.
Indeed, the deal is more than fair. I do studio chores, process
wood, and weed the garden. In exchange, I get plenty of time to
make pots— and priceless guidance. There are Simon’s eyes lingering
on the body of work I am trying to build, commenting, critiquing.
There is his mind sharing thoughts on wood firing, shedding light
on my questions about the process, discussing and bouncing back
ideas. There is his generosity and enthusiasm to share his knowledge.
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may 2013
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Give it thought. What do you want out of it?
Whose work do you admire? Write letters. Contact people. Push doors open. Go meet people,
work with them for a trial period. Talk through
the guidelines of the program with the potter. Ask
around and talk to past apprentices. Remember
that being inspired by the potter and his or her
pots is probably the most important thing; location is the least important.
Give it time. Three months is long enough to
figure out that things aren’t working out, yet it is
4
also the amount of time it can take to feel settled
into a place that is right. It is about the amount of
time it took me to feel comfortable and grounded
at Mill Creek—and being comfortable and grounded are essential
to making good work.
Grow some bark. Be humble, be tough, be patient. Be willing to
work long hard hours, be adaptable and ready to compromise on
your daily agenda. But do not compromise on the overall quality
of the experience. If the place is right, if the potter you are working
with is becoming a mentor, then an amazing time is yet to come.
Even the hardest and most frustrating days—and there will be
plenty of these—will be worth it in the end.
Gresham, Wisconsin, was a long way to travel for an apprenticeship, but my time at Mill Creek Pottery has been incredibly
fulfilling. I can now build kilns. I am not afraid of pulling handles
anymore. Lately, I have been enjoying throwing plates off the
hump, and making my first lidded jars. Dedication shows: my
pots have come a long way. They are getting better during each
making cycle, and my clay voice is slowly starting to find a pitch
of its own.
I hope that one day, in my wood-firing studio in the southwest
of France, I will set myself up to pass on the knowledge Simon
entrusts me with now to young potters and the community.
Find out more about Lucie and her work at www.luciebrisson.com.
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23
clay culture
very, very old clay
by Holly Goring
Ceramics is very old with a very long tradition. In fact, recent discoveries indicate that it is much older than we
originally thought and used for a much wider variety of purposes.
Fragments of a large ceramic bowl were recently uncovered in a Xianrendong cave, in Jiangxi Province, southern China, which US archaeologists
believe can be dated back 20,000 years. The discovery, published in the
journal Science, (#29, June 2012, authors: Xiaohong Wu, Chi Zhang, Paul
Goldberg, David Cohen, Yan Pan, Trina Arpin, Ofer Bar-Yosef) pushes
back the invention of pottery by 10,000 years. Researchers estimate that
the bowl was 7–8 inches in height and 6–8 inches in diameter and was a
cauldron to cook food, or possibly to brew alcohol.
According to Professor Gideon Shelach, of Hebrew University, archeologists have long thought that pottery succeeded agriculture, being invented
once people began to settle in one place for long periods. “Part of the reasoning was that pottery items are large and breakable, and so not a useful
technology for hunter-gatherer societies that moved from place to place in
search of food. But in the past ten years, researchers have found instances of
pottery pre-dating agriculture, including the discovery in southern China,”
states Professor Shelach. It should be noted that the discovery was of more
than a single shard and included numerous fragments spread over a larger
Prior to the Xianrendong cave finds,
the most ancient pottery, dated to about
18,000 years ago, was also found in China
and Japan.
Xianrendong Cave, Jiangxi
Province, southern China
Vela Spila site,
Croatia
cooking and/or
brewing shards
ceramic fragments of
modelled animals
area—leading researchers
to believe that the pottery
was not only necessary
but also popular.
According to ProPottery fragment from Xianrendong. Photo
fessor Ofer Bar-Yosef
from Science/AAAS.
of Harvard University,
“One possible reason for
the invention of pottery is that 20,000 years ago the earth was the coldest it
had been for a million years. Pottery cauldrons would have enabled people
to extract more nutrition from their food by cooking it. Hunter-gatherers
were under pressure to get enough food and if the invention is a good
one, it spreads pretty fast.”
So what were these ancient people cooking 20,000 years ago in
their ceramic pots? “We think it was used for cooking with water, so it
is more like a cauldron,” states Professor Shelach. He speculates further
that the invention of pottery may have been a social activity, “People
were gathering together in larger groups and needed social activities to
may 2013
Prehistoric Crafts Community
Evidence of a community of prehistoric craftspeople who “invented”
ceramics during the Last Ice Age—about 12,000 years ago, and thousands
of years before pottery became commonplace—has been found in presentday Croatia, according to researchers in the department of archaeology at
the University of Cambridge, UK.
The finds appear to be shards of modelled animals, and come from a
site known as Vela Spila on the Adriatic coast. Archaeologists believe that
they were the products of an artistic culture inhabiting the region. Their
ceramic art flourished for about 2500 years, but then disappeared. Most
research cites ceramic technology beginning with the more settled cultures
Paleolithic/Stone Age
(c. 2,500,000–c. 10,000 BCE)
15,987 BCE
15,480 BCE
17,988 BCE
24
mitigate against increased tensions. Maybe those potteries were used to
brew alcohol.”
The previous thinking was that pottery emerged thousands of years
later and was associated with agriculture and a far more sedentary lifestyle.
Researchers now find themselves puzzled by this much older find.
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of the Neolithic era (beginning
about 10,000 years ago). The
study, part of an investigation
by researchers at the University of Cambridge since 2010
and published in the journal
PLoS ONE (a peer-reviewed,
open-access journal) in 2012,
Fragment of a zoomorphic figurine
adds to a rapidly-changing
with torso and forelimbs preserved,
approximately 3 cm in length. Photo
view about when humans first
courtesy of Rebecca Farbstein, originally
began to make ceramics. The
published in PLoS ONE, 2012.
Cambridge researchers are now
discovering that the rich history of ceramics is much more complex—over
thousands of years, the technology and use of ceramics were invented, lost,
reinvented, and lost again. The earliest makers did not fashion crockery,
but seem to have had more artistic inclinations.
The report suggests that although earlier ceramic shards have been
found elsewhere, it appears that the Vela Spila artifacts are purely inde-
pendent of all others and originally discovered by the people who lived
there. “It is extremely unusual to find ceramic art this early in prehistory,”
Dr. Preston Miracle, from the University of Cambridge, said. “The finds
at Vela Spila seem to represent the first evidence of Paleolithic ceramic
art at the end of the Last Ice Age. They appear to have been developed
independently of anything that had come before. We are starting to see
that several distinct Paleolithic societies made art from ceramic materials
long before the Neolithic era, when ceramics became more common and
were usually used for more functional purposes.”
The first artistic ceramic shards were found in 2001 and were almost
overlooked because it is so unusual to find ceramic in the Upper Paleolithic record. As more ceramic emerged, however, examples were set
aside for careful analysis. Researchers meticulously checked the collection
for evidence of modelling on the artifacts and confirmed 36 individual
pieces containing markings made by the human hand and appearing
to be fragments of modelled animals. The fragments were crafted by a
material culture known as Epigravettian, which spanned 12,000 years,
but radiocarbon dating pins the Vela Spila ceramic collection to a much
narrower period, between 17,500 and 15,000 years ago.
The researchers note that the ceramics were carefully crafted by people
who knew what they were doing. One of the better-preserved items, which
seems to be the torso and foreleg of a horse or deer, shows that the creator
deliberately minimized the number of joins in the model, perhaps to give
it structural strength. The research also states that the animal fragments
were marked with incisions, grooves, and punctured holes, using various
tools, probably made from bone or stone. Finger marks can still be seen
where the objects were handled while the ceramic material was still wet.
The fragments were most commonly found near hearths, which were
possibly kilns.
Ancient Dairy Farmers of the Green Sahara
Prehistoric Saharan African people were dairy farming as early as 7000
years ago, according to a new study in the journal Nature (volume 486,
issue 7403, pp. 390–394, June 2012). Researchers performed isotope
analysis on the excavated pottery, and were able to identify organic residues
that originated from dairy fat.
Drawings and carvings on rock found throughout the region hint
that dairy may have been an important part of the people’s diet. “There
are scenes of people and cattle, and the fact that they bothered to draw
the udders—that’s why it was thought so,” explains Julie Dunne, an
archaeologist at the University of Bristol in England and the study’s first
author. The pottery, discovered at a site in Libya known as the Takarkori
rock shelter, “retained an abundance of carbon isotopes related to fats from
ruminant (even-toed, cud-chewing) animals, like dairy and adipose fats,”
said Dunne. Isotope analysis technology was developed only within the
last decade, “but nobody had thought to look at the pottery and check
the organic residue,” Dunne said.
The analysis also indicates that the prehistoric dairy farmers were
processing their milk. “We know that they were heating it, to make butters and so on,” Dunne said. “We can’t tell whether it was butter, cheese,
or yogurt, but we can tell they were processing it in the ceramic pots.”
“This makes sense,” she clarifies, “because people at the time were probably lactose-intolerant, and processing would have helped them digest
the dairy more easily.”
Bronze Age
(c. 4500–c. 1200 BCE)
Neolithic Age
(c. 10,000–c. 4500 BCE)
Iron Age
Middle Ages
(c. 1200 BCE–c. 500 CE)
(c. 500–
c. 1500 CE)
Modern Ages
(c. 1500 CE–
Present)
4988 BCE
2013
Green Sahara
0
pottery shards found
with traces of dairy fat
Rock carvings and tracing from Teshuinat
II rock shelter, southwest Libya, showing
pastoralists with their pots and cattle.
Courtesy of S. di Lernia and D. Zampetti.
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may 2013
25
studio visit
Jenny Mendes
Chesterland, ohio
Just the Facts
Clay
terra cotta
Primary forming method
handbuilding, pinching, coiling
Primary firing temperature
cone 03, electric kiln
Favorite surface treatment
hand painting
Favorite tools
an 18/0 script liner brush
Studio
My workspace is an 8½×12-foot room attached to the back of my house, and actually the
space doubles as my laundry area. I could definitely use more space and can only work on
one thing at a time. My studio is way too small! I have to be a lot more organized in order
to maintain a working space, which is not all bad.
The thing I love best about my studio is the view. I look out across a creek and into the
woods. The constantly changing drama of weather and nature is a continual source of inspiration. I also have a door that leads out into my garden for when I need to take a breath.
There is a floor to ceiling wall of narrow shelves that lets me see all of my terra sigillata colors
at a glance.
Paying Dues (and Bills)
I studied art at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, majoring in ceramics. I also
spent time after college at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina as a core fellowship
student. I had the opportunity to take classes, and was exposed to many ceramic artists and
styles of working in different media. Calculating hours spent in the studio is difficult. It feels
less like a specific number of hours, and more like a state of mind. Sometimes it feels like
all the time, when I’m not traveling or away from the studio selling work. I treat my studio
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may 2013
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time as a job, and go to work every day, starting fairly early and ending around 6 or 7. Maybe I take a day off on the weekend, but not
always. I know I’m not always productive, even when I’m there, so
my strategy is to rely on a consistent amount of time working most
days. Working in clay has been my only job since 1995.
Body & Mind
I feel grateful that I am healthy, and that I only have small concerns,
like the occasional tingling fingers from over use. But now that I am
over 50, I am living with my body more consciously, and trying to
feed and rest it well. I walk my dog, live in the country where there is
good air, and work in my large garden. I take little breaks to move my
body, even when I am in the middle of working. Taking these little
steps seems really important. I purchase health insurance through
COSE, a local group of small business owners in Northeastern Ohio.
I sadly am usually too tired to read a book at night, but I listen
to audio books constantly while I’m working, mostly fiction, and
the classics. I love to be seduced by a good story, and right now I
am looking for suggestions. Also, I’m about to begin The Honey
Trail by Grace Punkyk, which a friend sent to me, but I know it
will probably take me months to read, a few pages at a time. I follow
a few blogs as well.
I have had the great fortune to travel, and participate in some different artist residencies in the US, Europe, and Asia, which has been
wonderful. Negotiating unfamiliar territory heightens my senses,
and helps me to access parts of myself that aren’t usually in gear. I
like having to think differently, to figure things out for myself, to
solve a problem I didn’t know I had. I do love the solitude of studio
work, but I also need to break away from familiar pathways in order
to maintain engagement. And, I do like to stray a little bit as long
as I can find my way back.
I also teach, but infrequently. My work can be small and transportable. Because of this, I often take a month and travel to work in
a different location. Perhaps the studio of a friend, or a warmer loca-
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may 2013
27
tion in the winter. Changing my view through landscape, space, or a
good conversation always enlivens my work. It has been important
for me to create a habit of daily work that is thick with perseverance.
It often is not easy to go into the studio every day, but I know that
challenging periods of work often reveal themselves later as moments
of great productivity and creativity.
Marketing
I used to sell my work wholesale, but realized I didn’t have the temperament for it. Currently I mostly sell the work myself at fine craft
shows, a few street art fairs, online through Etsy, and through a few
galleries with whom I have relationships that I value. The percentages have changed over the years, but it has evolved into 60% direct
sales, 30% online, 10% gallery. I work slowly and have a limited
yearly output. It is a challenge for me to hold back work for a gallery show, because I always want to put my best work out when I’m
doing a show myself, which is why my gallery percentage is so low.
People who buy my work often make a personal connection to it.
I like delivering the work directly to the person and place where it
will live, because it is personal for me as well.
Selling the work myself means I spend a lot of time traveling,
and making smaller pieces that I know I can sell, and not enough
time on larger or more complicated/involved work. I have become
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may 2013
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more fluid and confident in my painting—a consequence brought
on by the volumes of small pieces I’ve completed over the years. The
down side is that never having enough time to work on experimental
work can be frustrating and limiting.
I had a website for quite a while but it didn’t generate much in
terms of sales. In 2009 I decided to try and sell my work online
after hearing about Etsy from a friend. I had no idea how to go
about it but figured it out as I went along. I attribute my success
to Etsy for featuring my shop, and to my husband who manages
my store, keeps it fresh, and runs a tight shipping department. It
has been exciting and encouraging to sell and share my work to
an expanded worldwide audience. I created a blog and dedicated
myself to seeking and sharing my inspirations on it, as well as using it as a platform to document ongoing work. Having the blog
created a habit of discovery for me. While I hope that some people
have found me because of the blog, I know that I have benefited
by searching for new work that excites me. I’ve also flirted with
Flickr, and love Pinterest as an endless source of inspiration, and a
place to share my work.
www.jennymendes.com
www.jennymendes.blogspot.com
www.etsy.com/shop/jennymendes
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EARTH MATTERS
Clay as Material and Metaphor in
the Artwork of Margaret Boozer
BY ANTHONY E. STELLACCIO
1–2
1
30
may 2013
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Friends, colleagues, let’s play a game.
Imagine that it is the year 1900, that you are a piece of
wood, and your home is the “slave coast” of Africa—
Togo, Benin, or Nigeria. One day, a local man picks
you up and carves away your flesh until you take the
rudimentary shape of a human being, legless except
for a short, pointed appendage. The man then rubs
soil onto your body, binds you with ropes, perhaps he
throws some blood and millet on you, and then he
drives you into the ground. You now have power. You
are now Vodun. Now, can you tell me the meaning of
the earth around you?
I digress, perhaps. For two years now, my days
have centered on the meaning and purpose of earth
and soil in African art and I apologize for my fixation.
However, understanding the powerful impressions
that Margaret Boozer’s fired and unfired clay artworks
have made upon me requires hurdling over much of
the tired clay-poetry that the world of ceramics has
to offer and re-‘cognizing’ the material’s complexity
and potency. To do this I start with Africa, the ground
in which our oldest ancestors are buried, where the
psychic and medicinal power of earth is ritual, where
homes, churches, mosques, and the like are still built
of mud, and where exploitation of the land and disputes over it are, in many parts of the continent, at
a crucial maximum. In Africa, earth matters as both
material and metaphor and its soil is a theater, maybe
more dramatic than others but emblematic of the
world at large. Africa is home.
Now let’s play another game.
Imagine that it is the year 1990, you are Margaret
Boozer and you are leaving home for the town of
Alfred in upstate New York. The place is not without
its own charm, but gone is the warm southern climate,
gone are the burst bolls of the cotton fields, gone are
the sumptuous and pervasive clays—red, variegated,
and pockmarked by the great southern clay-eaters—
that you have known intimately since you were a child.
Now the clay you pull from the earth is something
different, a material of memory and of longing, a shift
in time between the place you came from and the place
where you are, a sensuous and sentimental matrix in
which you are momentarily dissolved and from which
an expression of yourself will emerge. Now, can you
tell me the meaning of the earth around you?
3
4
1–2 Red Dirt Poem (overall and detail) 3 ft. 4 in. (1 m) in length, black stoneware, Mt.
Rainier red earthenware, 2006.
3 In Your Own Backyard (Fracture Series), 5 ft. 10 in. (1.8 m) in length, Mt. Rainier red
earthenware, steel, mastic, 2004.
4 Purple and Yellow Clay Drawing, 4 ft. 2 in. (1.3 m) in length, raw Ft. Lincoln clays
(Washington, DC), 2006.
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5 Gold Bank (Rammed Earth Series), 5 ft. (1.5 m) in length, Stancill and Mt. Rainier (MD) raw clays, steel, 2012.
Since earning her masters degree from The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Margaret Boozer’s artwork has
followed divergent paths to traverse tangents, experiments, explorations, curiosities, and commissions. Nowhere is this clearer than in
the diversity of artists in residence and the array of projects in progress
at the studio she has founded, Red Dirt Studio, in Mount Rainier,
Maryland. However, in a look back at her career thus far, there are
traceable points of progression. One of the earliest and most important
of these points was the moment that we have just tried to imagine.
Since then, Boozer’s long-standing affair with clay has revealed
itself in the process and product of her work. The process is visceral;
it is the artist’s deeply personal experience of the environment from
which she takes her material. This experience marks place and time
in the same way that the geological profile of the material marks
place and time on a much larger scale. The disparity between these
scales is a quiet vastness in which much of the artist’s contemplation
and reverence takes place.
Excavating the clay from a natural state that will guide her
decisions in the studio, the start of Boozer’s creative process is also
incredibly physical, almost brutish, and, conversely, it is tender
and hallowed. The process is also intensely cerebral, for Boozer
is an artist more steeped in the science of clay than any that I
have known. Climbing a flight of stairs in her studio and almost
tripping over a tome entitled Soil Microscopy, I understand that
Boozer’s infatuation with clay and earth is an all-consuming one
that greedily demands the mind, body, and spirit in equal shares.
Studious and lyrical, the multifaceted intercourse between
Boozer and her material is evident in alternating exertions of
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restraint and dominance. In one series from her early work, for
example, she assembled some 100 raw, fired clay discs into simple
rectangular geometries that recall the manipulated slabs from
which the discs were cut (see page 30). Each disc is like a petri
dish preserving some prescribed natural feature of the material,
whether it be an aggregate, a fissure, a variegation, a texture, or a
topography, and presenting it for up-close examination. From this
distance, one can also watch how the clean lines of these simple,
encircling shapes and the intervals of smooth surfaces flow through
the rugged natural beauty of the material like eroding rivers. Stepping back, the best of these pieces are those in which the discs
have clustered together and, being placed at varying distances
from the wall, begun to overlap or, in another example, where
the spacing between the discs graduates from tightly compact to
irregular. In these works, there is a pulse and murmur of animated
movement and magnetic attraction as the petri-dish forms seem
to be spontaneously assembling into cellular tapestries. In these
moments, Boozer’s careful choices and mathematical distributions
are tempered with a restraint not visible in her more static compositions. This delicate bridling is just enough to give a vibrant
life to a dynamic, organic material and to quiet the artist’s own
voice to a whisper.
In what one might term her Fracture series, a similar dialog
takes place. There are differences, of course, as these works are not
assemblages of smaller units but geometries that are approached
more holistically. Here, Boozer defines the size and shape of a planar surface and establishes its borders on a level worktable. Some
areas will be built up into sculptural masses and what remains will
be filled with a thin pool of slip. As the slip begins to stiffen, a few
linear incisions will be made to define selected geographic areas.
Then the clay is allowed to fissure, fracture, and to just barely lift
as it dries completely. These pieces are then carefully separated,
fired, and reassembled, either in their entirety or in part, into
permanently fixed canvases of ceramic shards, tiles, and mass.
One of the greatest assets of these “murals,” for lack of a better
word, is the clarity of Boozer’s keen aesthetic sensibilities and the
success of strategic manipulations that seem delicately minimal
in comparison to the resoluteness of the clay’s character and its
inevitable responses. Certainly, there are works in this series that
show more conscious manipulation than others in the regularity of
their fractures, and such works are brought about through a more
controlled effort to direct the drying process. Still, Boozer’s touch
always reads as accurate in its degree. The result is coaxed but never
forced, precise but never labored, and evidence of a symmetrical,
body-to-body relationship between artist and material.
Although her Disc and Fracture series do not represent the whole
of her creative activity, they do constitute a direct lineage to her
rammed-earth “paintings.” These began as temporary installations
and ephemeral dirt drawings that have found their longevity in a
body of stunning photographs. Then, with the addition of steel
frames, binding systems, and a simple hand-tamper, Boozer’s raw
clay compositions gained permanence as the informed, painterly
works of art shown here. Boozer’s rammed-earth paintings are
highly aesthetic objects that express the richness of the material
and the captivating features of the landscapes from which it comes.
As with much of her work, they also speak about time, place, and
the corporeal and non-corporeal relationship between the artist
and her medium. In short, they are rich, loaded, and magnificent.
Still, what lies underneath the surface of these pieces is a dynamism
of process and material that is equally captivating and profound.
To begin, the wall pieces are constructed flat on the ground. The
actual clay and mineral mass of these pieces is composed of only a
few thin layers. From bottom to top (back to front on the finished
hanging piece), the layers are mixed with successively less and less
binding agents, two of the most typical of these being painters’
gel medium and nylon fibers. This stratified structuring is what
allows Boozer the greatest amount of control over the behavior of
the visible material (the top, or front layer) without sacrificing the
physical integrity of its foundation. In total, the layers themselves
amount to less than ½ an inch of material that has been set into
frames of ¹⁄8-inch-thick steel angle. Holding the one inside the
other is a mesh, carpet-latch fabric that has been methodically
fastened with plastic zip-ties to a dual-surface, paper and plastic
dropcloth. (The dual surface helps with adhesion of the clay on
one side and restrains the evaporation of moisture from it on it the
other). Using a number of lightweight materials, the relatively thin
steel frames being the most substantial, the final product is one
that, while heavy in appearance and weighted by our conditioned
expectations, retains a surprising lightness and a certain feminine
delicacy. In the name of practicality, this effect is quite calculated.
In a similar vein, the meticulous character of a binding system
that is decidedly maternal in both its unobtrusiveness and its absoluteness is complimented by the muscular, masculine thrust of the
tamper that embeds the first layers of clay into it. This is a gendered
7
6
6–8 Correlation Drawing/Drawing Correlations: A Five Borough Reconnaissance
Soil Survey, (overall installation of boxes plus two details), 9 ft. (2.7 m) square,
plus wall installation, 2012.
8
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9
10
9 Ravine, 4 ft. (1.2 m) in length, unfired gray Stancill clays,
basalt dust, steel, 2011.
10 Goldstein Landscape 5 ft. (1.5 m) in length, red and gray
Stancill raw clays, basalt dust, steel, 2012.
dialog that takes place in works that speak about formation and creation in geological terms, and which are excited by the coupling of rough-hewn natural masses of
clay with the intermittent smooth surface and delicate edge. Summarily, Boozer’s
art is intoxicatingly sublime.
Although it is decidedly poetic, one should not overlook the fact that Boozer’s
art is consistently grounded in the scientific—a quality that is increasingly clear in
her most recent works. Notably, Boozer’s Correlation Drawing/Drawing Correlations:
A Five Borough Reconnaissance Soil Survey came about through collaborations with
soil scientists who helped collect and identify soil samples from throughout New
York City. The resulting compendium, shown at the Museum of Arts and Design
as part of the exhibition “Swept Away: Dust, Ashes, and Dirt in Contemporary Art
and Design,” showcases Boozer’s growing fascination with the visual translation of
data and strata and the shadows of meaning found between them.
In effect, the multiple levels on which Boozer engages with the material are the
levels on which her artworks communicate. They speak of the earth, its variety of
meanings and its incalculable richness, they speak to our own intellectual understanding of the world around us, and they speak to the sultry humus of human
physicality. Boozer is a consummate artist and between her hand and the material,
before it ever leaves the ground, there is an intersection. In the grand scale of things
this momentary conjunction is terribly insignificant. Yet, in one Whitman-esque
instant, it is the crossroad of an individual’s acute senses and the breadth of the
world that inspires her.
the author Anthony Stellaccio is a freelance scholar and artist. He is also a member of
the International Academy of Ceramics and the American Ceramic Circle. The exhibition “Earth Matters: Land as Material and Metaphor in the Arts of Africa,” curated by
Karen Milbourne, which Stellaccio has also worked on since 2010, is currently on view
at the Smithsonian, National Museum of African Art in Washington, DC.
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Kathy
Butterly
lots of little
love affairs
by Elaine Levin
1
2
4
3
5
6
1 Forever 21, 5½ in. (14 cm) in height, clay, glaze, 2012. 2 Green Electric,
in. (13.5 cm) in height, clay, glaze, 2012. 3 Jelly Maker,
in. (14 cm) in
height, clay, glaze, 2012. 4 Ckhaatrhlyie, 4 7⁄8 in. (12 cm) in height, clay, glaze, 2012. 5 Line Dance, 45⁄8 in. (12 cm) in height, clay, glaze, 2012. 6 Mirror
Mirror, 43⁄ 4 in. (12 cm) in height, clay, glaze, 2012.
5 3⁄ 8
5 5⁄ 8
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7
7 Installation view, main gallery. Courtesy of Shoshana Wayne Gallery. 8 Cool Spot,
The fifteen coffee-cup-sized objects in “Lots of Little Love Affairs,” which was recently on view at Shoshana Wayne Gallery
(www.shoshanawayne.com) in Santa Monica, California, sit
demurely on waist-high, large, white tables, as though chatting
amiably with each other. The gallery’s white expanse calls attention to their diminutive size, encouraging close inspection of their
adornments and intriguing, enticing colors.
Butterly’s objects bear a tenuous, yet plausible relationship to the
cup’s long and distinguished tradition in ceramics. Ancient Asian pottery vessels, made without handles and molded to be held comfortably
by encircling hands, served ritual and domestic needs. The cup has
been interpreted in various ways ever since. Yet the form, for all its
simplicity, has continuously attracted ceramists. Contemporary interpretations flirt with or deny function while moving toward sculpture.
Butterly manipulates her small, cast or larger handbuilt cylinders, assembling parts and attachments. She describes her
process as “constructing interiors and exteriors as the piece
develops . . . adding, taking away, layering color, and layering/
constructing as needed.” The resulting warped, folded, and
tilted forms project a sort of three-dimensional abstraction; the
satiny, folded, and overlapping contours of First make it appear
as if the vessel is hugging itself. Incorporating ideas from tradition,
post modernism, and her life experiences, Butterly takes the vessel
into a deconstructed, transformative expression.
She situates each form on a unique round or square base with
three or four legs or lets them rest on a funky, asymmetrical saucer. A variety of adornments and straps or bands draw the eye to
idiosyncratic areas of each object; drapery-like tassels, a string of
porcelain dots, or a scallop-patterned circle are placed alluringly
just above a base or under a rim. Contrasting with these delicate
embellishments are areas of bright, harshly colored, deeply crackled
patches unexpectedly decorating or dripping below edges. A graceful,
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5 1⁄ 2
in. (14 cm) in length, clay, glaze, 2012.
skinny, orange line draws attention to the pregnant aubergine swelling
on Green Electric as it pulls the eye around the form. Black bands
appear to support the exterior curves in Forever 21, with similar pink
bands on the interior, as though bracing each area from collapsing
completely. Two thin straps running from top to bottom on the rear
of Ckhaatrhlyie seem to be keeping the form’s trio of belly-like bulges
from sinking earthward. The unusual title combines the artist’s name
with that of her father, honoring his death in 2011.
Butterly’s curious, mysterious interiors contrast with the vivid
prettiness of most exteriors. Seen from the side, the upper half of Jelly
8
Maker is slightly twisted and tilted forward. Seen from the front,
the vessel’s interior is a highly visible, pastel pink, throat-like cavity that looks as though it is a response to a dentist’s request to
“open wide.” A provocative red area, deep into the recess, could
be the manifestation of a sore throat. Indeed, the artist references
many unspecific body parts; in the interior of Mirror Mirror, the
alarmingly glossy, scarlet bulges look similar to the guts exposed
during surgery on a television hospital drama.
The clay vessel has often implied human anatomy since the
parts of a vase are frequently referred to as a neck, shoulder, and
belly. Butterly expands on this concept by evoking elements from
contemporary ceramic imagery. Her academic studies with Pop
Art ceramist Robert Arneson at the University of California, Davis would perhaps account for sexual, sensuous, and anatomical
suggestions, such as the sly, yellow tongue extruding midway on
Mirror Mirror above an indentation suggesting buttocks. Butterly’s provocative appendages and multi-layered projections recall
Ken Price’s minimalist sculptures of the 1960s. His brilliantly
colored egg-shaped forms contrasted with strange, worm-like
extrusions. Slightly off kilter, with erratic handles, Cool Spot has
the jaunty look of a George Ohr vessel, recalling his Art Nouveau
vine-contoured handles. Indeed, the rhythmic indentations of
Koi recall Ohr’s many pinched and twisted forms. Extensive use
of a crackle glaze, seen in Butterly’s interiors, goes back in time
to 18th-century Chinese ceramic surfaces and, in more recent
history, to Glen Lukens’ signature glazes of the 1940s. In order
to achieve the desired surfaces, Butterly’s vessels are fired 15 to
20 times; one in this exhibit required 40 firings to satisfy her
concept. In contemporary ceramics, Ron Nagle and Ken Price
pioneered the technology of using multiple firings to achieve
a highly developed surface. Butterly uses the same strategy to
achieve highly individual results.
Although the ceramists referenced here to contextualize
Butterly’s work are male, some of her work has a decidedly
feminine context. Dress Up 2 suggests female apparel with a
satin-like fold of scarlet emerging mid-way on the vessel and a
string of tiny porcelain pearls adorning the base and rim. The
frilly, clothing-like layers associated with beautifying a woman’s
square-dance costume gives movement to Line Dance. Regardless
of gender, Butterly’s vessels exude a serious playfulness along with
fun-house-like distortions and a human awkwardness. These
sculptures defy their small, intimate scale in their ability to create a palpable tension between the alluring and the slightly grotesque, infusing the work with a lively and captivating ambience.
9
10
Kathy Butterly is the 2012 winner of the Smithsonian American
Art Museum Contemporary Artist Award, which “recognizes an
artist younger than 50 who has produced a significant body of work
and consistently demonstrates exceptional creativity.”
the author Elaine Levin is a writer living in Northridge, California.
9 Dress Up 2, 5 1⁄8 in. (13 cm) in height, clay, glaze, 2012. 10 First, 6 in.
(15 cm) in length, clay, glaze, 2012. 11 Koi, 51⁄8 in. (13 cm) in length, clay,
glaze, 2012.
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Betty Feves
G E N E R A T I O N S
by Garth Johnson
1 Garden Wall, 4
ft. 10 in. (1.5 m) in
height, stoneware
on wooden base,
1979. Collection of
Feves family.
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Photos: Dan KvitKa
Although the exhibition “Betty Feves: Generations” is no
longer on view at the Museum of Contemporary Craft
(MoCC) (www.museumofcontemporarycraft.org) in
Portland, Oregon, the show’s reverberations will be felt
for much longer. Betty Feves, who lived and worked in
Pendleton, Oregon, from 1945 until her death in 1985,
was both a singular artist with a unique vision and an
archetypical figure—she was one of any number of regional artists who achieved national prominence, but were
ultimately more concerned about honing their craft and
giving back to their communities.
In 1983, Erik Gronborg (another criminally overlooked
artist that the MoCC recently exhibited) wrote an essay
for that year’s “Viewpoint Ceramics” catalog where he
sums up the structural framework of nearly every piece
of writing about a ceramic artist:
“Before Voulkos there was only insignificant functional pottery. He broke the commitment to the ‘round,
brown pots’ making them more sculptural, more clearly
a dynamic response to the nature of clay. Arneson carried
that same idea further, completely eliminating the reference to the pot. Then the same list of artists is mentioned
as the followers. The conclusion to these articles is that
the logical development and highest achievement is to go
from pots to pure sculpture, and usually culminates with
the artist or artists the writer wants to promote.”
Fortunately, the curators at MoCC, led by Director
and Chief Curator Namita Gupta Wiggers, deftly sidestepped the myth-building and fully explored Feves’ own
artistic journey, which included studying with Alexander
Archipenko, Ossip Zadkine, and Clyfford Still, as well
as showing her work in an exhibition of contemporary
sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Throughout her life, Feves worked sculpturally, but always
maintained that she was equally interested in creating
functional dinnerware for the table. Betty Feves: Generations didn’t skimp on either. The massive show was one
of only a few shows to have taken up the entire two-floor
exhibition space of the museum.
Feves provided a strong female voice in an era dominated by charismatic showmen like Voulkos or Paul Soldner.
She had strong opinions about ceramics and design and
wasn’t afraid to express them. Her work ethic compelled
her to spend as much time in the studio each day as possible. Feves’ body of work is even more remarkable considering she raised three children and taught violin lessons in
between stoking wood kilns and preparing her own clay.
Visitors to the Museum of Contemporary Craft were
immediately immersed in the exhibition design, which
mirrored Feves’ brown and honey-gold color palette. The
colors of her glazes were deeply rooted in the wheat fields
2
3
2 Three Figures No. 4, 18 in. (46 cm) in height, stoneware, 1955. Courtesy of the
Museum of Contemporary Craft, Oregon Ceramic Studio Purchase. 3 Six figures,
25 in. (63 cm) in height, raku-fired ceramic on wooden base, date unknown.
Collection of Feves family.
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4
5
6
4 Casserole, 10½ in. (27 cm) in length, ceramic. Collection
of Feves family. 5 Bowl, ceramic. 6 Pitcher, 7½ in. (19 cm) in
height, stoneware. Collection of Virginia Tubbs.
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and cliffs surrounding Pendleton. For Feves, place was not only central to her
visual vocabulary, it was literally what her work was made of. Throughout her
career, she insisted on using locally-sourced clays and glaze materials that she
foraged on her own, armed with US survey maps showing mineral deposits on
nearby public land. To this end, a selection of ephemera from Feves’ studio was
on display in a second-floor case, including some of her sketchbooks and glaze
calculation notebooks.
In this era of promiscuous use of materials and mixed media, it is difficult
to recall an exhibition of ceramics that is so relentlessly . . . brown. It is to the
museum’s credit that they viewed this as an essential design element rather
than something to be corrected through splashy touches of color or large video
screens. The sheer amount of earth-toned work on display serves to sensitize
and attune viewers to the attention that she showed toward form and surface
throughout her career.
The first floor of the exhibition was devoted to Feves’ sculptural works.
Starting in the early 1950s, she showed sculptures that evoked the openwork
figures of Henry Moore or the paintings of Archipenko. As the ’50s wore on,
though, she relied more heavily on clay’s materiality. She began stacking angular,
slab-built forms that also served as canvases for her glaze experiments. As her
career progressed, Feves rounded her forms, making them look more like stones
that had been tumbled and polished in streams. Figuration was still a central
concern, but her mature figures referenced Paleolithic “Venus” figures and the
Oregon landscape rather than traditional modernist sculpture.
Feves’ stacked forms manage to combine meticulous craftsmanship and formal stability with glazes and firing methods that convey spontaneity. These pieces
also let her work on a monumental scale, leading eventually to architectural
installations and commissions. In a 1980 lecture transcribed in the exhibition’s
catalog, Feves’ advice to young women pursuing a career in ceramics was to start
a weight-lifting program while young to avoid back problems down the road.
The MoCC could have narrowly focused on Feves’ sculptural output, but it
was more interested in her overall relationship with clay. The exhibition featured
two objects that I have personally never seen in a museum exhibition focused
on a ceramic artist—a glass case upstairs held two gorgeous handmade ashtrays !
When I asked Wiggers about their inclusion, she said that she didn’t give them a
second thought—they were simply functional vessels like the myriad casseroles,
vases, plates, and cups on display.
Feves loved creating sculptures, but she had no use for the art/craft debate
that held sway during most of her career. She cut secret openings into her sculptures to make sure they could technically be thought of as vessels, and always
made sure that her sculptures could be properly displayed and used. She was
self-effacing about her pottery, often saying that she created what her children
asked for, or threw pots as ways to fill up space (and subsidize) her firings. Even
so, she edited herself with a critical eye and only allowed the pots she approved
of to leave her kiln yard in one piece.
In addition to the aforementioned ashtrays, the museum chose to display
other ceramic forms that tend be edited out of exhibitions like this, including
one grouping of proud, earthy, expressive weed pots. There was also a large
selection of primitive pit-fired vessels that showed Feves’ D.I.Y. curiosity at its
most potent. In fact, the vessel-based portion of the Feves exhibition reads like
a secret history of 20th-century ceramics—from Bauhaus-inspired pots with a
mid-century sensibility to funky brown pots that were later to become visual
shorthand for the hippie era.
Under the guidance of Wiggers, the MoCC has fought vigorously to make
sure that the Pacific Northwest gets its due when it comes to telling the story of
8
9
7
20th-century studio craft. Over the past few years, the museum has
originated exhibitions celebrating such diverse figures as ceramic
artists Ken Shores and Erik Gronborg, weaver Laurie Herrick, and
D.I.Y. paper artist Nikki McClure. While Los Angeles occupied
itself with “Pacific Standard Time” mythmaking, the Museum of
Contemporary Craft was putting on its own show examining the
influence of the Pacific Northwest on modern design. Rather than
trying to wedge their narratives into tired old existing ones, the
MoCC is always busy uncovering new stories and connections, as
they did in their 2010 exhibition that examined the relationship
between David Shaner and the Land Art movement.
Generations: Betty Feves was a fitting tribute to a figure that
loomed large in the ceramics world, but for various reasons receded
from national prominence. Programming surrounding the event
brought together not only scholars, who wrote about Feves’ legacy,
but also community members and friends who were touched by
her. The museum hosted lectures and tours, but also musical
events that created intersections for the different circles of friends,
students, and colleagues who revolved around her.
7 stacked sculpture, 31 in. (79 cm) in height,
stoneware on wooden base, date unknown.
Collection of Feves family. 8 ashtray, 7½ in. (19
cm) in length, ceramic, 1960. 9 Bonfire pot, 19 in.
(48 cm) in height, ceramic, c. 1981. All pieces are
collection of Feves family.
The exhibition endures in the form of a stunning 192-page, fullcolor catalog that contains essays from Wiggers, Jennifer Sorkin,
and Daniel Duford, as well as remembrances from those who knew
her best, including Primitive Pottery author Hal Riegger. Readers
will find thoughtful analysis of Feves’ work, as well as plenty of
technical details about the materials that went into her clay and
glazes. Perhaps most importantly, Feves’ own voice is preserved in
the form of an edited version of a lecture that she gave in 1980 at
Oregon State University in Corvallis.
Generations: Betty Feves has raised the bar for ceramic exhibitions. Rather than falling into the well-worn ruts that often befall
retrospectives, the Museum of Contemporary Craft has created a
highly personal tribute to a figure that helps to tell a larger story
of craft in the Pacific Northwest. With each exhibition that is
mounted by the Museum, this story becomes even richer and
more intriguing.
the author Garth Johnson is an artist, curator, and writer. He is
also a professor at the College of the Redwoods in Eureka, California.
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A Formal
INQUIRY
by Todd Hayes
1
Lines were transferred from a template to map
out where the rim of the plate is cut.
2
Of all the pottery forms that I own, I have to say that it’s the plate that I often find
most pleasurable to use. And not any one plate in particular; I find great interest in the
subtle differences in experience each individual plate has to offer. Sometimes I feel like
the character in the Tom Waits’ song, “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis,”
who says, “I own a used car lot and I don’t sell any of them; I just drive a different car
every day depending on how I feel.” I love the formal and conceptual challenges of
creating objects that have the potential for physical and emotional responses through
simple engagement. Because plates can take on many roles, they have always proven to
be a creative and intriguing challenge for me as a maker.
For this plate in particular, I wanted it to be visually striking in terms of there being a
balance between the surface decorations and having a physically inviting form. Ultimately,
the form was dictated by the decoration, being as simple as the stripes are—I felt they
needed a frame to contain them so they didn’t visually run off the plate. This is how the
square plate and the added rim took shape, a formal necessity to contain decoration,
but also to add an organic rhythm that plays off the repeating stripes. Being receptive to
what my work needs visually has always been an integral part of my studio practice. This
plate is the result of the interactions that take place between the maker and the object.
Even though the process is the same for every plate, each one takes on its own
character throughout the making process. I start by throwing my plates on the wheel
and trimming them while the clay is still relatively soft. This way, I can proceed with
the rest of the steps without too much resistance. I use a template to transfer lines for
squaring off the plate and cut the rim with a fettling knife (1). The cut edge is then
softened with a radius tool made from brass tubing. This allows more surface area for
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may 2013
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the cut edge is rounded off with a radius tool.
3
the radius tool is made from modified brass
tubing and smooths out leather-hard edges.
4
the first layer of the rim is added by applying
a coil, securely attaching it, and then pinching
it out to the desired thickness.
5
once the first layer has set up, the second
coil is attached and pinched out to complete
the new rim. the second coil is typically a
little thinner than the first.
6
two applications of slip are applied to the plate. i
divide the plate in thirds and the first dip is quick
and covers 2⁄3 of the surface. the second dip is
longer and covers the remaining 1⁄3 of the plate.
7
Lines are created using a carved sliver of
bamboo and the sgraffito technique.
8
9
Colored slip is brushed between every other line to create the green stripes.
a similar line pattern and slip treatment is done on the bottom of the
plate, inside the foot ring.
the added coils to adhere (2). About seven years ago, John Neely
showed me how to make these really simple but effective radius
tools for rounding off the edges of leather-hard clay. The radius
tool (3) is made from modified brass tubing—any diameter tubing
will work, but I prefer to use ½ inch as it fits well in my hand.
I cut a length of tubing approximately 4 inches and grind both
ends off at 45º angles. I use the edge of a bench grinding wheel
or a round file to create the radius for the cutting blade. While
filing the tubing, I play around with different depths until I find
the right radius for my specific application. I file a different radius
on each end of my tools. To use the tool, I simply hold it against
the edge of the work and draw the blade toward me in a quick
and decisive manner. The waste clay will curl out of the tip (this
is why it is ground off at 45º) and I am left with a clean, chip
resistant edge on the work.
After preparing the edge, I add the first layer of the new rim
by pinching on a coil (4). For this dinner plate, I roll out coils
that are 5⁄8 inch in diameter. This allows me to pinch out a fairly
substantial rim. The plate is then set aside so the rim can dry out
a bit. After the first layer of the stepped rim has set up, I add and
pinch a second coil to finish off the rim (5). Once the added coils
and plate have equalized in moisture, I visually divide the plate
by dipping it in slip in two applications. The first dip is quick and
covers 2⁄3 of the overall surface. The second dip is longer and covers
the remaining 1⁄3 of the plate. I stop the second dip just shy of the
first dip to create a division line, which creates a nice visual balance and sets up the next step (6). I use a carved sliver of bamboo
to create sgraffito lines through the slip on the surface (7). I then
revert back to when my grade school teachers told me to color
within the lines and I brush my base slip (with an addition of 2%
copper carbonate) neatly between the lines to create the green
stripes (8). To add continuity, this is done on the bottom of the
plate as well (9). Once the decoration is completed the plate is set
aside to dry before the bisque firing. After applying a clear glaze,
I fire the plates to cone 3 in an electric kiln.
Todd Hayes currently lives and works in Logan, Utah, where he is the
Ceramic Studio Coordinator and Adjunct Faculty Member at Utah
State University. He earned his MFA from Wichita State University.
You can see more of his work at toddhayesceramics.com.
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may 2013
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TOM
JASZCZAK
Helena, Montana
Jaszczak’s ceramic surfaces are
deep and inviting. The combination
of bold graphic lines with bright
colors over subtle, earth-toned slips
and atmospheric firing result in a
really satisfying balance between
form, line, and surface.
Right: Pitcher, 10 in. (25 cm) in height, wheel-thrown and
altered earthenware, applied slips and underglaze, soda fired
to cone 3, 2012.
Below: Cocktail cups, up to 3 in. (8 cm) in height, wheelthrown and altered earthenware, applied slips and
underglaze, soda fired to cone 3, 2012.
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2013
Emerging Artists
ANN
VAN
HOEY
Mechelen, Belgium
The simplicity and clarity of Van Hoey’s
work—both in process and in the
finished, seemingly weightless forms—
are the equivalent to a whisper with
the authority of a shout. The incisions
and folded walls create unexpected
but precise shapes that are quiet
and unassuming while maintaining a
sense of energy and movement. Their
bold, saturated colors are the perfect
compliment to a delicate structure.
Above: Vessel, 10 in. (25 cm) in length, slab-built and press-molded dark
earthenware, fired in an electric kiln to 2012°F (1100°C), 2012.
Below: Vessel, 14 in. (36 cm) in length, slab-built and press-molded red earthenware,
fired in an electric kiln to 2012°F (1100°C), 2012. Photos: Dries Van den Brande.
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47
A.BLAIR
CLEMO
Grand Rapids, Michigan
In Clemo’s work, the historical
ornamentation, once created, is distorted
through the making process, reacting to the
form as it takes shape. His choice to leave
some areas unglazed frames the areas of
pattern, giving the eye a place to rest before
diving back in.
Right: Pouring pot, 11 in. (28 cm) in height, wheel-thrown and pressmolded red stoneware, fired to cone 6 in oxidation, 2012.
Below: Jars, 7 in. (18 cm) in height each, wheel-thrown and press-molded
red stoneware, fired to cone 6 in oxidation, 2012.
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Spring 2013
Studio Tour
May 4 & 5
Fine Pottery and
Woodwork
Floyd County in Southwest Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains
Studio tour map and artist information at www.16hands.com
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the gallery
at the Ceramics Center
The Gallery at the Ceramics Center features a flexible
500 sq ft exhibition space in which local, regional, and
national artists are regularly featured. The space also
housed a 350 sq ft sales gallery which showcases the
talents of the Resident Artists at the Ceramics Center,
giving them a great venue to consistently sell their work.
2013 GALLERY SCHEDULE:
MAY-JUN
Eric Gorder
JUL-AUG
Resident Artist Exhibits
AUG-SEP
“the Inspirations Show”
curated by current Resident Artists
OCT-NOV
Mat Rude
NOV-DEC
Holiday Extravaganza
Cedar Rapids, Iowa • 319.365.9644
www.theceramicscenter.org
Keynote Address by Peter Pinnell
Featuring: Bede Clarke, Israel Davis,
Margaret Bohls and TJ Erdahl
September 20-22
Pre-Conference Wood Firing with Bede Clarke
Jurors: Clary Illian, Mat Rude and Delores Fortuna
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may 2013
53
MATTHEW
MITROS
Acworth, Georgia
Mitros’ quirky, organic sculptures work in a very
two-dimensional, still-life-painting kind of way.
Textural glazes remove the familiarity associated
with specific objects, allowing you to rediscover
the forms. The visual tension created by the
combinations in these structures, whose organic
and fabricated elements interact is both strange
and engaging.
Above: Potato Still Life, 9 in. (23 cm) in height, wheel-thrown and
slip-cast porcelain, 2013.
Below: Yukon Gold,13 in. (33 cm) in height, slip-cast porcelain,
fired to cone 6 oxidation, 2013.
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2013
Emerging Artists
CHRIS
PICKETT
Helena, Montana
You want to touch them—you
know you do! Pickett’s seemingly
casual constructions and invitingly
soft surfaces are meant for comfort
and ease, even though his forms
can be quite complex, both in
construction and presentation.
Right: Liquor bottle, 8 in. (20 cm) in height, white
stoneware, fired to cone 6 in oxidation.
Below: Rocks glasses, up to 4 in. (10 cm), white
stoneware, fired to cone 6 in oxidation.
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may 2013
55
JASON
BIGE
BURNETT
Bakersville, North Carolina
There are layers of stories on the surfaces
of Burnett’s pots; stories created using both
traditional and contemporary ceramic processes
and told through pop-culture imagery, text, line
work, patterning, and a knowing use of color.
Pulling from his emotions, surroundings, past,
and a world well beyond his touch, he gathers
them into a harmonious whole.
Right: Blush and Bashful Plate Set, 9¼ in. (23 cm) in diameter, mid-range
earthenware, slip, underglaze, glaze, iron-oxide decals and luster, 2013.
Below: Souvenir/Name Mugs, 4½ in. (11 cm) in length, mid-range
earthenware, slip, underglaze, glaze and iron-oxide decals, 2013.
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Jesse Albrecht, “Dog” 45” x 32” x 16”
GALLERY 465
CERAMICS - SCULPTURES - PAINTINGS
2893 West Sullivan Ranch Rd., Clarkdale, Az. 86324
Tel. 928 282 4328 www.eidefineart.com eideart@msn.com
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Women
Working
With
clay
June 10-13
Presented by the Ballator
gallery at hollins University,
in conjunction with the
2013 Women Working
With clay Symposium
«
«
«
«
«
adrian arleo
charity Davis-Woodard
Sandy Simon
Stacy Snyder
cheryl ann thomas
www.hollins.edu/tmva
“Sirens of Rutino” by Adrian Arleo
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may 2013
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Ginger Graziano
Odyssey Gallery
Triplett and Irvine
Gabriel Kline
238 Clingman avenue, asheville, NC 28801
828.285.9700 • odysseyceramicarts.com
Tisha Cook
Cynthia Lee
Michael Parry
Nick LaFone
All ClAy All the time
the Best of Asheville
you’ve Never heArd of
heArt of Asheville’s
river Arts distriCt
sponsored by
highwAter ClAys
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HOOD COLLEGE CERAMIC ARTS
2013 GRADUATE CERTIFICATE EXHIBITIONS • HODSON GALLERY
May 17 to June 2, 2013
Opening Reception: Sun., May 19 • 2-4 p.m.
Emily Perlet
Progression Procession
Angela Suehr
The Universe, in Flux
June 7 to June 23, 2013
Opening Reception: Sat., June 8 • 4-6 p.m.
Sara Knox
Fractured Paintings
Deirdre Tighe
Halcyon
June 28 to July 14, 2013
Opening Reception: Sat., June 29 • 4-6 p.m.
Janice Chassier
Goslings, Gaggles, and Flocks:
A Hen’s Perspective
Meg Lau
Perpetual Origins; Food, Family, Fire
Master of Fine Arts, Master of Arts, and Graduate Certificate in Ceramic Arts
The Hood College Ceramic Arts program offers advanced studio experiences and grounding in the science and technology of the
ceramic arts to provide students with the skill and knowledge needed to develop personal aesthetic expression.
SAVE THE DATE
Perspectives in Porcelain • Fall 2013 Workshop and Exhibition Series
(Beginning in August)
Featuring Joyce Michaud, Fong Choo and Margaret Bohls
Visit www.hood.edu/ceramics to register and for more information.
C E R A MIC A R T S P R O G R AM • (3 0 1 ) 6 9 6 - 3 4 5 6 • FA X (3 0 1 ) 6 9 6 - 3 5www.ceramicsmonthly.org
3 1 • WWW. H OOD. ED
U 2013
/ C E R AM I61
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EMILY
DUKE
Kansas City, Missouri
Duke’s forms are all vaguely familiar, almost
nameable as bits of architecture or other
construction forms, but also oddly removed
from reality in material and color in a playful
manner. They are crisp, solid, and anchored but
their physical tension suggests that they may
move at any moment.
Right: Deadman, 6 ft. (1.8 m) in height, handbuilt terra-cotta clay, cone 06
glaze, Black Terra rope, hardware, rubber, 2013.
Below left to right: Ferrule, Strut, and Channel, to 7 ft. (2.1 m) in length,
handbuilt terra-cotta clay, cone 06 glaze, rope, hardware, 2013.
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2013
Emerging Artists
Sean
O’Connell
Helena, Montana
O’Connell combines bold
patterns and colors with
slightly off-kilter, welcoming
forms, resulting in work that
is both expressively individual
and highly functional.
Right: Cocktail set, pitcher: 9 in. (23 cm) in
height, cups: 4 in. (10 cm) in height each,
porcelain, glaze, underglaze, fired to cone
6 in oxidation, 2013.
Below: Oval serving dish, 14 in. (36 cm) in
length, porcelain, glaze, underglaze, fired
to cone 6 in oxidation, 2013.
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KATHARINE
MORLING
London, England
Morling’s life-sized tools and nostalgic
objects create activity and movement
through her handling of clay and the drawn
lines on the surface of the forms. Details
are rendered with quirky expressive lines,
animating the objects and making it easy to
see or invent their stories. They are slightly
surreal and extremely captivating.
Above right: Plenty, 19½ in. (50 cm) in height, handbuilt porcelain,
black stain, fired to 2300°F (1260°C), 2011.
Below: Cut (chainsaw), 37½ in. (95 cm) in length, handbuilt
porcelain and black stain, fired to 2300°F (1260°C), 2011.
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ken baskin
sebastian moH
Lori PHiLLiPs
Lora rust
cHris keLLy
s t u d i o & g a l l e ry
representing local and national
artists including:
Zack sierke
Ken BasKin, scott Bennett, susie Bowman, mary Louise carter,
Fong choo, maria DonDero, esteLLa FransBergen, annette gates,
chris greenman, chris gryDer, chris gustin, Lynette hesser,
ricK hirsch, steve LoucKs, Bertice mcPherson, Branan mercer,
scott meyer, ron meyers, seBastian moh, ronan Peterson,
Lori PhiLLiPs, amy sanDers, charLes smith, anD chucK soLBerg
scott meyer
 Call for EntriEs 
thE DEmitassE, a Cup anD sauCEr
octoBer 4 – octoBer 31, 2013
JuDge: seBastian moh
suBmission DeaDLine: august 1, 2013
visit www.thekilnstudio.com for the
application form & more information
branan mercer
annette Gates
bertice mcPHerson
for information about our weekly adult classes & guest artist workshops visit www.thekilnstudio.com
251-517-5460 • THEKILNSTUDIO.COM • 60 N.Section Street, Fairhope, AL
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Save the Date: September 13 – 15, 2013
Northern Clay Center presents:
N AMERICAN
Y POTTERY
L FESTIVAL
AMERICAN
AMERICAN
AMERICAN
POTTERY
FESTIVAL
AMERICAN AMERICAN AMERICAN
POTTERY
FESTIVAL
POTTERY POTTERY POTTERY
FESTIVAL FESTIVAL FESTIVAL
AMERICAN AMERICAN AMERICAN
POTTERY POTTERY POTTERY
POTTERY
FESTIVAL FESTIVAL FESTIVAL
FESTIVAL
CAN 2-DAY Pre-festival
AME
ERY SURFACE WORKSHOP
POT
VAL Linda Arbuckle + victoria CHRISTEN
FES
Northern Clay Center announces its 15th annual
fundraising benefit and celebration of the pot:
a three-day extravaganza that brings together
collectors, artists, students and clay lovers.
Bookmark www.northernclaycenter.org
for regular updates.
Pictured from top, left to right: Warren MacKenzie, Ernest Miller, Kirk
Mangus, David Peters, Ani Kasten, Linda Arbuckle, and Victoria Christen.
2424 Franklin Avenue East
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55406
612.339.8007
www.northernclaycenter.org
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may 2013
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ALANNA
DEROCCHI
Helena, Montana
The deliberate pairing of animal and
environment is the strength of DeRocchi’s work.
A seamless flow of visual information, typical
of elaborately staged natural history museum
displays, is bound within the animated forms
and their surfaces. Together this creates a subtle
and engaging tension.
Above right: Slipping, 72 in. (1.8 m) in height, ceramic fired to cone 04,
paint, foam, wood, caster wheels, 2012.
Below: Early Morning Bugle Call of a Wading Elk, 96 in. (2.4 m) in
length, ceramic fired to cone 04, paint, graphite, MDF, foam, caster
wheels, 2012
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2013
Emerging Artists
JIM
GOTTUSO
Louisville, Kentucky
Gottuso’s confident yet indecipherable
“script” resides somewhere between
calligraphy and graffiti—a sort of
hybrid narrative frieze. The forms are
subtle and approachable, allowing the
surface etching to be the focal point,
inviting touch and use.
Right: Etched porcelain teabowl, 5½ in. (14 cm) in diameter, cone
6 porcelain, shellac-resist technique, terra sigillata, glaze, 2012.
Below: Etched porcelain yunomi 4 in. (10 cm) in diameter, cone 6
porcelain, shellac-resist technique, terra sigillata, glaze, 2012.
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Bottle Cluster · 2013 Tectonic Series, porcelain
Cyrus Swann Stoneware & Porcelain
Spiral Bowls · 2012 stoneware
Functional Grouping · 2012 stoneware
Bottle Transition · 2013 porcelain/steel
RAEDEKE ART GALLERY | 25486 Murray Road, Nisswa, Minnesota 56486 | 218-963-7531 | 3 hours north of Minneapolis/ St. Paul
cyrusthepotter.etsy.com
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may 2013
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KENYON
HANSEN
Hancock, Michigan
Hansen’s work has a great sense of
being sturdy and full of purpose.
The surfaces of the pots evoke wear
patterns, which are not typical of
a material as durable as ceramics,
but they refer to age, repetitive use,
and therefore personality.
Right: Orange box, 8 in. (20 cm) in height, porcelain with
sand, soda fired to cone 10, 2012
Below: Handled bowls, 8 in. (20 cm) in length, porcelain
with sand, soda fired to cone 10, 2012.
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2013
Emerging Artists
SEBASTIAN
MOH
Louisville, Kentucky
Moh’s minimal, well-proportioned,
accessible forms showcase his striking
glazes while also maintaining a focus
on utility. The glazes are seductive,
and the initial pull is rewarded as the
intense depth of the surface emerges
on closer inspection.
Right: Teabowl, wheel-thrown porcelain, 4 in. (10 cm) in
diameter fired to cone 9 in oxidation.
Below: Red dots teabowl, 3½ in. (9 cm) in diameter, wheelthrown porcelain, fired to cone 9 in oxidation then refired to
cone 7 in oxidation. Photos: Bob Payne.
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C E R A M I C S C U L P T U R E & P H OTO G R A P H Y D O R I N A M O L N Á R
M AY 3 – J U N E 2 , 2 0 1 3
450 Harrison Avenue #71, Boston, MA 02118
617.426.1950 • VesselsGallery.com
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L AUR A A ND PAUL MES A R OS G A LLERIES
F E AT U R E D A R TIS T: R O B ER T “ B O O MER ” M O O R E
artanddesign.wvu.edu
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210 Bear Street
Banff, Alberta, Canada
403.762.2214
1.866.859.2220
fineart@willockandsaxgallery.com
www.willockandsaxgallery.com
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Ju ne 15 – August 31, 2013
Opening Reception, Saturday, June 15, 1 – 3 pm
Art pottery, tile, sculpture, and dinnerware by historic art potters, 20th
century studio, and contemporary Ohio ceramic artists. Featured
artists will include Frederick Hurten Rhead, Kataro Shirayamadani,
William Hentschel, Frank Ferrell, Arthur Baggs, Jens Jensen, Edgar
Littlefield, Charles Lakofsky, Waylande Gregory, Paul Bogatay, Vicktor
Schreckengost, Russel Wright, Gene Friley, Paul Soldner, Toshiko Takaezu,
Ben Seibel, Jenny Floch, Charlotte Gordon, and Amy Sinbondit.
Pictured from top to bottom: Frank Ferrell, Kataro Shirayamadani, Toshiko Takaezu, Frederick
Hurten Rhead, Amy Sinbondit, Charles Lakofsky.
This project is supported in part by an award
from the National Endowment for the Arts.
620 Military Road, Zanesville, OH 43701 • 740.452.0741 • www.zanesvilleart.org
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COYOTE CONE 6
ELECTRIC GLAZES
BRONZE
TEMMOKU and
SEAFOAM SATIN
coyoteclay.com
bowl by ROBBIE HOPWOOD
Western New York Pottery Festival,
June 15 & 16, 2013. www.wnypottery.com
2013 Summer Workshops in Avon NY:
● Woodfiring
in 2 chamber
Noborigama, July 19 - 21.
● Alternative Firing with Joe
Frank McKee, Aug. 10 - 11.
585•226•3030, Avon, New York
www.studiosalespottery.com
Join a discussion at www.ceramicartsdaily.org/forums
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“My Flex Slider is here
and my students are
loving it.
Thanks for taking
the time to get it
right.”
Charlotte Greenblatt Canyon Pottery Malibu
The Flex Slider III™
For off-centered, asymmetrical,
and plain old wonkey pots.
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Cone 6 Oxidation
Glazes
... how did we do that ?
Teapot
Mugs & photo by
Sharon Greenwood
Visit our website for
details.
www.georgies.com
September 20-22, 2013
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Peter Pinnell
FEATURED ARTISTS
Margaret Bohls
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Israel Davis
TJ Erdahl
Find more information and register at
www.theCeramicsCenter.org
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Undergraduate
Showcase
to appear in the September 2013 issue of Ceramics Monthly
Open to all undergraduate students enrolled in ceramics classes
at accredited post-secondary educational institutions,
including 2013 graduates.
To be considered, please submit the
following materials:
• Up to five (5) professional-quality digital images
(300 ppi resolution) on CD and a complete description
of each work submitted
• A full-size color print (as large as the image will print at
300 ppi) of each image. Images should print to at least
five (5) inches in the smallest dimension; because accepted
images are published, larger is better.
• Full contact information including email address
• 500 words discussing the body of work you are submitting
• Institution at which you study and instructor name(s)
Mail to:
Undergraduate Showcase, Ceramics Monthly
600 N. Cleveland Ave., Ste. 210
Westerville, OH 43082
Arrival deadline: June 24, 2013
Do not submit materials in binders or folders. E-mailed
submissions and submissions of more than five images will
not be considered. Submitted materials will not be returned.
Due to the volume of submissions, we are unable to
acknowledge receipt of materials. Notification of acceptance
will be sent via email by the end of July.
Do you know a deserving undergraduate? Do they need a nudge?
Pass this along and help them get the recognition they deserve.
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CERAMICS
AND THE
HUMAN
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Potter y Supply Inc.
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call for entries
deadlines for exhibitions, fairs, and festivals
international
exhibitions
May 1 entry deadline
Ohio, Cincinnati “Art Comes Alive
2013” (June 22–26) open to work of all
media. Juried from digital. Fee: $45. Contact Kelly Killips, ADC, Art Design Consultants, 310 Culvert St. 5th Fl., Cincinnati,
OH 45202; kelly@adcfineart.com; 513723-1222; adcfineart.com/about-aca.
May 3 entry deadline
Georgia, Savannah “Spoked” (May
25–30) open to work representing
bicycles and bicycle culture. Juried from
digital. Fee: $25 for three entries; $30 for
five entries. Contact Jeanne S., Desotorow Gallery, 2427 Desoto Ave., Savannah, GA 31401; info@desotorow.org;
www.desotorow.org; 912-355-8204.
May 30 entry deadline
Republic of Korea, Cheongju-si “The
8th Cheongju International Craft Competition” (September 11–October 20)
open to craft media. Juried from digital.
Contact, Cheongju International Craft
Biennale Organizing Committee, 314
Sangdang-ro, Sangdang-gu, Cheongjusi, Chungcheongbuk-do 360-805 Republic of Korea; cicb2013@gmail.com;
www.okcj.org; 82-43-219-1022.
June 1 entry deadline
Oregon, Portland “Eutectic Gallery
August/September Exhibition” (August
2–September 29) open to solo or twoperson exhibition of ceramic work. Juried
from digital. Fee: $25 for single artist; $35
for two-artist entry. Jurors: Brett Binford
and Jeffrey Thomas. Contact Brett Binford, Eutectic Gallery, 1930 NE Oregon
St., Portland, OR 97232; 503-9746518; ceramics@eutecticgallery.com;
www.eutecticgallery.com.
June 1 entry deadline
France, Vallauris “Small Art Objects
2013 ‘In Movement’” (July 6–August 31)
open to work of all media no larger than 6
inches in any direction. Juried from digital.
Fee: $32.45 (25 Euro). Contact Dale Dorosh, A.I.R Vallauris, Place Lisnard, 1 Boulevard des Deux Vallons, Vallauris, 06220
France; contact@air-vallauris.com; 33
(0)493 646 550; www.air-vallauris.com.
June 6 entry deadline
California, Palo Alto “Color Theory”
(June 27–August 4) open to work of all
media exploring the themes of light,
saturation, and hue. Juried from digital.
Fee: $20 for one entry; $10 per each
additional entry, up to four. Contact
Shira Adriance, New Coast Studios, 935
Industrial Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94303;
info@newcoaststudios.com; 650-4852121; www.newcoaststudios.com.
July 18 entry deadline
California, Palo Alto “Urbania: Art
Inspired by Spaces, Places and Skylines”
(August 8–September 15) open to work
of all media exploring the themes of
architecture, urban development, and city
life. Juried from digital. Fee: $20 for one
entry; $10 per each additional entry, up to
four. Contact Shira Adriance, New Coast
Sudios, 935 Industrial Ave., Palo Alto, CA
94303; info@newcoaststudios.com; 650485-2121; www.newcoaststudios.com.
August 1 entry deadline
Alabama, Fairhope “The Demitasse:
a Cup and Saucer” (October 4–31) open
to cups and saucers not larger than 6 in.
in any dimension. Juried from digital. Fee:
$20 for two entries. Juror: Sebastian Moh.
Contact Susie Bowman, The Kiln Studio
and Gallery, 60 N. Section St., Fairhope,
AL 36532; thekilnstudio@yahoo.com;
www.thekilnstudio.com; 251-517-5460.
September 12 entry deadline
Pennsylvania, Wayne “Craft Forms
2013” (December 6–January 25, 2014)
open to clay, fiber, glass, metal, wood
and mixed media work. Juried from
digital. Fee: $40. Juror: Lena Vigna.
Contact Karen Louise Fay, Wayne Art
Center, 413 Maplewood Ave., Wayne,
PA 19087; karenlouise@wayneart.org;
www.craftforms.org; 610-688-3553.
November 1 entry deadline
Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh “13th Annual Art Inter/National Exhibition, Here
and Abroad... 2014” (January 14–March
14, 2014) open to work of all media. Juried
from digital. No fee. Jurors: Nicole Capozzi
and Joshua Hogan. Contact Nicole
Capozzi, Box Heart Gallery, 4523 Liberty
Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15224; 412-6878858; boxheart@boxheartgallery.com;
www.boxheartgallery.com.
united states
exhibitions
May 3 entry deadline
Virginia, Alexandria “Tabletop”
(June 6–July 1) open to functional
ceramic ware. Juried from digital. Fee:
$35 for up to two entries. Juror: Linda
Christianson. Contact Blair Meerfeld, The
Art League, 105 N. Union St., Alexandria,
VA 22314; blairm@theartleague.org;
www.theartleague.org; 703-683-2323.
May 8 entry deadline
Virginia, Lorton “2013 Workhouse
Clay National” (July 31–September
8) open to ceramic work and mixedmedia work with clay as the primary
medium. Juried from digital. Fee: $30
for three entries. Juror: Virginia Scotchie.
Contact Dale Marhanka, AMACO and
Workhouse Arts Center, 9504 Workhouse Way Bldg. 8, Lorton, VA 22079;
dalemarhanka@workhousearts.org; 703584-2982; www.workhousearts.org.
May 10 entry deadline
Maryland, Baltimore “The Potent
Object” (August 17–September 28)
open to small-scale sculptural works
no larger than 12 inches in any direction. Juried from digital. Fee: $30 for 5
entries. Juror: Richard Cleaver. Contact
Mary Cloonan, Baltimore Clayworks,
5707 Smith Ave., Baltimore, MD 21209;
mary.cloonan@baltimoreclayworks.org;
www.baltimoreclayworks.org; 410-5781919 ext.18.
May 10 entry deadline
Missouri, Kansas City “KC Clay
Guild Teabowl National 2013” (August
23–September 20) open to ceramic
teabowls no larger than 9 in. in any direction. Juried from digital. Fee: $30. Juror:
Doug Jeppesen. Contact Susan Speck,
KC Clay Guild, 200 W. 74th St., Kansas
City, MO 64114; llywhite54@yahoo.com;
www.kcclayguild.org; 913-384-1718.
June 1 entry deadline
Minnesota, Duluth “Possession”
(September 5–November 2) open to
ceramic work by women artists. Juried
from digital. Fee: $35 for up to three
entries. Jurors: Margaret Bohls and Eva
Kwong. Contact Tonya Borgeson, Minnesota Women Ceramic Artists, 2424
Franklin Ave. East, Minneapolis, MN
55413; tonyaborgeson@hotmail.com;
www.mnwca.org; 218-310-8903.
June 30 entry deadline
Nevada, Las Vegas “Serve it Up”
(August 2–September 2) open to
work primarily composed of clay. Juried from digital. Jurors: John Gregg
and Peter Jakubowski. Contact Peter
Jakubowski, Clay Arts Vegas, 1511
S. Main St., Las Vegas, NV 89104;
4information@clayartsvegas.com;
www.clayartsvegas.com; 702-375-4147.
July 5 entry deadline
Maryland, Baltimore “Artifacts
from the Inferno: Wood-fired Ceramics” (October 5–November 9) open to
functional and sculptural wood-fired
work. Juried from digital. Fee: $30 for
five entries. Juror: Jack Troy. Contact
Mary Cloonan, Baltimore Clayworks,
5707 Smith Ave., Baltimore, MD 21209;
mary.cloonan@baltimoreclayworks.org;
www.baltimoreclayworks.org; 410-5781919 ext.18.
July 10 entry deadline
New York, Rochester “History in the
Making: Ceramic Traditions, Contemporary Objects” (October 13–November 26)
open to functional or sculptural ceramic
work that incorporates historically-based
design elements, themes, materials, or
applications. Juried from digital. Fee:
$30 for three entries; $5 each additional entry. Juror: Jane Shallenbarger.
Contact Kate Whorton, Genesee Pottery, 713 Monroe Ave., Rochester,
NY 14607; pottery@geneseearts.org;
www.geneseearts.org; 585-271-5183.
July 15 entry deadline
Virginia, Lynchburg “The National
Juried Bowl Show: The Battle of the
Bowls” (October 4–29) open to ceramic
bowls and bowl sets. Juried from digital.
Juror: Mike Jabbur. Contact David Emmert, ACHS, 139 Lancer Ln., Amherst, VA
24521; thebattleofthebowls@gmail.com;
www.thebattleofthebowls.com; 434946-2898.
September 2 entry deadline
Nevada, Las Vegas “What Goes Bump
in the Night 2013” (October 1–November
2) open to work primarily composed of
clay. Juried from digital. Fee: $35. Jurors:
John Gregg and Peter Jakubowski. Contact Peter Jakubowski, Clay Arts Vegas,
1511 S. Main St., Las Vegas, NV 89104;
4information@clayartsvegas.com;
www.clayartsvegas.com; 702-375-4147.
September 6 entry deadline
Ohio, Nelsonville “Starbrick Clay
National Cup Show 2013” (October
25–November 25) open to cups, goblets,
mugs, teabowls, teacups, and tumblers.
Juried from digital. Fee: $20 for three
entries; $30 for five entries. Juror: Lorna
Meaden. Contact Ann Judy, Starbrick
Gallery, 21 W. Columbus St., Nelsonville, OH 45764; starbrick@gmail.com;
www.starbrick.com; 740-753-1011.
regional exhibitions
June 4 entry deadline
Arizona, Clifton “The Colors of
Copper” (November 2–3) open to 2D
and 3D work addressing the colors of
copper by AZ and NM artists. Juried
from digital or slides. Fee: $25 for three
entries; $15 each additional. Jurors:
Barbara Ahmann, Poncho Gonzales, and
Richard Green. Contact Barbara Ahmann,
The Business Association of Chase Creek
Arizona, 292 Chase Creek St., Clifton,
AZ 85533; barbaraahmann@yahoo.com;
www.visitcliftonaz.com; 928-865-2085.
fairs and festivals
June 1 entry deadline
North Carolina, Dillsboro “Western
North Carolina Pottery Festival” (November 2) open to national ceramic artists.
Juried from digital or slides. Fee: $175
booth fee plus $25 jury fee. Contact
Brant Barnes, Western North Carolina
Pottery Festival, PO Box 397, Dillsboro, NC
28725; riverwoodpottery@frontier.com;
www.wncpotteryfestival.com; 828586-3601.
June 15 entry deadline
Iowa, Ames “43rd Annual Octagon
Art Festival” (September 22) open
to work of all media by US artists.
Juried from actual work. Fee: $100.
Contact Kristin Roach, Octagon Center for the Arts, 427 Douglas Ave.,
Ames, IA 50010; info@octagonarts.org;
www.octagonarts.org; 515-232-5331.
June 28 entry deadline
France, Montpellier “9th International Film Festival on Crafts” (March
7–9, 2014) open to films about the craft
professions and the different materials
used: clay, wood, glass, paper, feathers,
textiles, leather, etc. Juried from digital.
No fee. Contact Alice Postaire, Ateliers
d’Art de France, 6 rue Jadin, Paris, 75017
France; alice.postaire@ateliersdart.com;
www.fifav.fr; 33(0)1 44 01 08 30.
www.ceramicsmonthly.org
may 2013
93
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employment
Production Potter: Mountain Arts
Pottery, located in the beautiful
mountains of Southwest Montana,
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Successful candidate will hold the
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firing), room and board, monthly
stipend, gallery sales. Check
www.whitefishpotter y.com for
more details about applying.
events
Ceramic Workshop in Hawaii
with Ken Matsuzaki: “Tradition
Transformed”. Three-day throwing and handbuilding workshop
with this great master potter at
the Donkey Mill Art Center in
Holualoa, on the Big Island. June
21–23, 2013. Contact: Donkey
94
may 2013
www.ceramicsmonthly.org
Mill Art Center (808) 322-3362; to Benefit the Craft Emergency
Relief Fund (CERF+). Demonstrawww.donkeymillartcenter.org.
tors: Lana Wilson, Vince Pitelka,
W O R K S H O P S a t B a l t i m o r e Chandra DeBuse, Mitch Lyons,
Clayworks. CHANDRA DEBUSE, Sandi Pierantozzi. September
Sat–Sun May 4–5, 2013; BLAISE 20-22, 2013. Organized by Sandi
DEPAOLO, Sat–Sun June 22–23, Pierantozzi. Info and registration:
2013; GERIT GRIMM, Sat–Sun www.sandiandneil.com.
Oct 10–11, 2013; JACK TROY,
Sat–Sun Nov 9–10, 3013. Please Red Deer College—Series 2013
visit www.baltimoreclayworks.org Summer Arts School—Immerse
Yourself! 5 day workshops in animaor call (410) 578-1919 x10.
tion, ceramics, drawing, fibre arts,
S U M M E R O N E - D AY D E M O painting, jewelry, glass, sculpture
WORKSHOPS IN KANSAS CITY. and more. Register now! (403)
Ten workshops, wide range of 357-3663 or www.rdc.ab.ca/series.
topics. Saturdays starting May 18.
Fee $60 each. More information at Workshops: Mold Making, Slip
www.redstarstudios.org or (816) Casting; Raku Glazing & Firing
by John Dodero, professional
474-7316.
studio potter with 40 years of exBill van Gilder Demo Workshop perience. Jacksonville, Oregon &
in Maryland, May 31–June 2, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
2013. ‘The Functional Pot; Tips, DoderoStudioCeramics.com or
Tools & Techniques—Part I’. $195; (541) 899-8285.
(lunch included). For information
opportunities
and to register visit us at www.
vangilderpottery.com or email us
at vangilderpottery@earthlink.net. Seeking USA-based production
studio that offers slip-casting
sfclayworks presents: ELLEN services, for small to medium
SHANKIN Demonstrating Form size runs. The product is glazed
and Function—A weekend work- stoneware planters, 8 inches and
shop in SAN FRANCISCO June smaller. Experience with decal ap28–30. Friday June 28 at 8 pm plication is a plus. Email Alison at
FREE slide presentation open to the avm_nyc@yahoo.com.
public. Sat and Sun, June 29 and
30 from 10 am–4pm. $165 includes Idyllwild Arts Summer Program
lunch both days. Space is limited— offers week-long workshops in cesign up now: www.sfclayworks.com ramics including Hot Clay—5 Workshops: Throwing/Altering, Christa
(415) 647-CLAY.
Assad; Sets & Soda, Richard BurGREECE, THESSALONIKI. The kett & Joe Molinaro; The Figure,
Almond Grove: Workshops in James Tisdale; Screenprinting on
Ceramics; Summer 2013. Resi- Clay, Jason Bige Burnett; Handdential ceramic workshops: In- building, Sunshine Cobb. Also
tensive throwing & intro to raku, General Ceramics, Greg Kennedy
barrel, paper kiln. Throwing large & David Delgado; Native American
pots. www.hectormavridis.com; Pottery: Hopi, Mark Tahbo; Santa
hectormavridis@gmail.com; +30 Clara, Nathan Youngblood; Mata
Ortiz, Jorge Quintana. All skill
(2310) 450451.
levels. Other courses available in
“HANDBUILT” Philadelphia, PA— sculpture, painting, metals, texDemonstration, Inspiration, Conver- tiles, mixed media and more. Youth
sation. A Handbuilding Conference programs also available. Campus
located in the mountains of Southern California. (951) 659-2171
x2365; summer@idyllwildarts.org;
www.idyllwildarts.org.
Raphael Prize/Ceramics; $5,000
prize, catalog, show, video; jurors:
Joshua Green, Jae Won Lee;
deadline 6/14/13. Contemporary
Craft, Pittsburgh, PA. Entry form:
www.contemporarycraft.org, or email
exhibitions@contemporarycraft.org.
Post Baccalaureate Special Student Program at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ. 1
year program for students to build
a portfolio for Graduate Study.
Deadline June 1st, 2013. For more
information contact Jason Hess at
Jason.Hess@NAU.EDU.
products
GREAT NEW HANDBUILDING
TEMPLATES! Developed by Sandi
Pierantozzi. A set of 24 durable,
flexible, laminated templates to
create Circular & Conical Forms.
Perfect for Potters or Teachers!
www.CircleMatic.com.
FLOWER FROGS (pin-type flower
holders originally made by Bonnie
Mfg.) made in the USA. Superior quality; many sizes (¾” to 5½”). Pin cups
also available. Call (570) 226-3239
or visit www.dorothybiddle.com.
publications/videos
MASTER THE POTTER’S WHEEL.
Professionally recorded instructional videos cover every aspect
of throwing. Taught by 40-year veteran potter, David Engesath. Enjoy
your first lesson absolutely FREE!
www.RareEarthPottery.com.
real estate
Northern Vermont, 19 acres. 1300
sq.ft. rustic house (3 BR, 1 bath), 30’
x 50’ barn with 480 sq.ft. insulated,
heated pottery studio. Electric kilns,
slab roller, pug mill, drying shelves,
dust filter. Active regional community of artists and craftspersons.
Access to galleries, shops and
fairs in Vermont, New England, and
New York. 1.75 hrs. to Montreal.
Nearby hiking, skiing, canoeing.
$109,900. davidbvt@gmail.com;
(802) 310-7453.
Charming, 3 bedroom, adobe
house with separate studio and
garage located in central NM.
House features tongue and groove
ceilings, vigas, hardwood and tile
floors. Adobe studio equipped with
radiant heating, bathroom and kiln
room. Please contact Linda (917)
836-3349 or Karen (505) 550-2471
for details. MLS Listing #746593.
services
Custom Ceramic Molds—For
nearly 20 years, Petro Mold Company has been designing molds for
some of the world’s most renowned
ceramic artists and potters. Our
innovative molds will help you
improve productivity with your
popular designs. We set the highest American quality standards with
our sculpting, mold manufacturing
and design services. Visit us today
at www.custommolds.net or (800)
404-5521.
rental
Custom Extruder & Pugmill Dies.
Starting at $35.00. Any brand extruder or pugmill; any material. E-mail
tim@northstarequipment.com or visit
us online: www.northstarequipment.
com. (800) 231-7896.
For Rent: Northwoods Wisconsin, near Minocqua/Rhinelander, lakes and forests! Beautiful
log building, complete pottery
studio with kilns, established gallery, upper level 2 room apartment.
Photos at www.riverrunarts.com;
(715) 550-0858.
Ceramics Consulting Services offers technical information and practical advice on clay/glaze/kiln faults
and corrections, slip casting, clay
body/glaze formulas, salt glazing,
product design. Call or write for details. Jeff Zamek, 6 Glendale Woods
Dr., Southampton, MA 01073; (413)
527-7337; e-mail fixpots@aol.com; 2015. Small, culturally sensitive
or www.jeffzamek.com.
groups using local interpreters and
experts. Denys James, Canada; (250)
Master Kiln Builders. 26+ years 537-4906; www.denysjames.com;
experience designing and building denys@discoveryarttravel.com.
beautiful, safe, custom kilns for universities, colleges, high schools, art MOROCCO 2013 Ceramics Excenters and private clients. Soda/ cursion, October 28–November
salt kilns, wood kilns, raku kilns, 18. The Full Circle, including Fez,
stoneware kilns, sculpture burnout Chefchaouen, Essaouira, Volubilis,
kilns, car kilns and specialty electric Marrakech, Zagora, Meknes, Rabat,
kilns. Competitive prices. Donovan. Casablanca. Studio visits, adobe
Phone/fax (612) 250-6208.
architecture, tile art, Roman mosaics,
traditional and contemporary ceramics, fabrics, a camel ride in the desert,
travel
and much more. April 1 early regisSICILY, ITALY, 2013. September tration $100 savings. Denys James,
28-October 16—Majolica, Mosa- www.discoveryarttravel.com.
ics & Architectural Masterpieces.
Explore this diverse Italian island, MYANMAR (BURMA) 2015 Ceramrich in its ceramics, architecture, ics Excursion, January. Mandalay,
history, beauty, cuisine and wine. Bagan, Inle Lake, Yangon. Go
Save $100 register before March 1. back in time…experience ancient
pottery making and firing in tradenys@denysjames.com.
ditional villages; slow boat trip
OVERSEAS CERAMIC WORK- down the Ayeyarwady River to
SHOPS & TOURS WITH DIS- ancient Bagan; Golden Shwedagon
COVERY ART TRAVEL—SICILY temple in Yangon; optional beach
September 28–October 16. MO- holiday. Denys James, Discovery
ROCCO, October 28–November 18, Art Travel; www.denysjames.com;
2013. MYANMAR (BURMA) January (250) 537-4906.
index to advertisers
16 Hands ....................................49
Aardvark Clay .............................89
Abmeyer + Wood .......................50
ACerS Books ........................91, 92
Cowan’s ......................................10
Lillstreet Art Ctr ...........................66
Raedeke Gallery .........................73
Coyote Clay ................................82
Little Pottery Shop ......................75
Red Lodge Clay Ctr....................74
Cress Mfg ...................................89
MA College of Art .......................85
Dolan Tools .................................92
Al Johnsen/Sure-Center .............85
Alligator Clay ..............................82
Amaco and Brent .. Cover 2, 15, 23
Anderson Ranch.........................91
Euclid’s/PSH ...............................85
Foster/White Gallery ...................53
Master Kiln Builders ...................92
Mayco ................................ Cover 3
MKM Pottery Tools ......................90
MudFire Gallery ..........................58
Mudtools .................................... 84
Arrowmont School ......................84
Gallery 465 .................................57
Artisan Gallery, The ....................51
Geil Kilns ......................................3
Atlantic Pottery ...........................92
North Star .....................................2
Georgies .....................................84
Northern Clay Ctr .......................69
Bailey Pottery .........................1, 13
Bennett Pottery .............................5
Bracker’s.....................................83
Carolina Clay ..............................90
Ceramic Arts Daily......................92
Ceramics Center, The ...........52, 84
Chilean Ceramics .......................92
Chinese Clay Art.........................88
Schaller Gallery ..........................67
Sheffield Pottery .........................87
Shimpo .......................................11
Skutt Ceramic Products..... Cover 4
Smith-Sharpe ..............................87
Spectrum Glazes ..........................9
Studio Sales Pottery Supply .......82
Giffin Tec.....................................83
Touchstone Ctr ...........................90
Truro Ctr for Arts .........................90
Tucker’s Pottery ............................4
Great Lakes Clay ........................92
Odyssey Gallery .........................60
Grovewood Gallery.....................68
Olympic Kilns .............................87
van Gilder Pottery .......................90
Ox-Bow .......................................90
Vessels Gallery ...........................78
Paper Clay ..................................92
Ward Burner Systems .................91
PCF Studios ................................92
WV University .............................79
Peter Pugger ..............................44
Willock and Sax Gallery..............80
Herring Designs/SlabMat ..........92
Hollins University ........................59
Hood College .............................61
Kiln Studio & Gallery...................65
Potters Council .....................86, 88
Clay Art Ctr/Scott Creek .............82
L & L Kiln Mfg .............................85
Pottery Northwest ...................... 91
Continental Clay .........................89
Larkin Refractory ........................88
Pottery Studio Gallery, The .........72
Xiem Gallery ...............................90
Zanesville Museum of Art ...........81
www.ceramicsmonthly.org
may 2013
95
SPOTlighT
the julia terr annual
by Vince Montague
Potters love to show off their work and they love to get together to do it. Tell them it’s for a good cause
and it’s sure to turn into something special.
Vince Montague:
The Julia Terr Annual
of Functional
Ceramics opened
in September of
2012, nearly three
years after my wife
died in a car accident, and two and a half
years since the Julia Terr Fund for Ceramic Arts
was created in her memory. Julia’s goodwill
and love of pottery became fuel to grow the
fund created in her name. Some of that good
energy manifested itself in her friends who
were potters, people who rallied around after
her death, wanting to do something in Julia’s
name to create a legacy more suited to her
personality and love of ceramics. This exhibition
was one such tribute, but there were many
others that led up to it.
I received a call from Cynthia Bringle, a clay
mentor of Julia’s, who reminded me how
much Julia loved to fire kilns; if we raised
enough money, we could build a kiln in Julia’s
honor at Penland. Mark Peters, a potter
and friend of Julia’s from the Penland area,
agreed to design the kiln and build it for free.
Julia’s friends volunteered to be part of the
kiln-building team, donating their time and
energy. Bricks from Jack Troy arrived on a truck
from Pennsylvania. Word began to spread.
The outpouring of money from family and
Ceramics Monthly:
How have you focused
The Julia Terr Fund so
that donations and
other money raised
have the most impact?
friends—donations from $5 to $500—added
up to a larger amount than we expected or
needed for the kiln.
At that point, Julia’s family and I established
the fund through the Sonoma Community
Foundation and looked for more projects
to fund. The idea of making donations for
The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts’
anagama wood kiln, built in 2012.
kilns felt like something Julia would have
appreciated, but we also liked the focus
because it had a tangible end; a kiln stands
as one of the pillars of a pottery community.
What’s better than a kiln to bring a pottery
community together?
We wrote a mission statement to dedicate
The Julia Terr Fund for Ceramic Arts to making
grants to those non-profit institutions who
promote the education of ceramic arts. We
didn’t limit ourselves officially to kilns, but kilns
quickly became the focus when word got out
about our fund and more donations began
to come in from the publicity of the kiln at
Penland. In our second year, we funded new
kilns at Ruby’s Clay Studio in San Francisco,
California, and Haystack Mountain School of
Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine. In our third year,
we donated money for an anagama at The
Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in
Helena, Montana, a kiln designed and built by
Simon Levin.
In the fall of 2011, I met Forrest LeschMiddelton, potter and coordinator of the clay
program at the Sonoma Community Center,
who suggested a fund raiser and exhibition of
functional ceramics in Julia’s honor. In May of
last year, Forrest put out the call for artists for
The Julia Terr Annual. The show was supported
by the Association of Clay and Glass Artists of
California, The Sonoma Community Center,
and the Julia Terr Fund.
Still, how did all this happen? Like any
living thing, The Julia Terr Fund for Ceramics
grew from love and attention, and the warm
embrace of others: potters, friends, family,
and community coming together to voice
grief and hope, love of good pots, and the
replenishment of the pottery community itself.
It made me think about how pots function in
ways that go beyond their original intention,
and how people, together, if pressed, can
make art from even the most tragic of
circumstances. The hope of the Julia Terr Fund
is to continue to raise and grant funds to nonprofit ceramic institutions around the country
that contribute to ceramic education. Our goal
is to fund one project per year and see where
that takes us.
Donations and inquires can be sent to the
following address:
The Julia Terr Annual exhibition, 2012.
96
may 2013
www.ceramicsmonthly.org
Julia Terr Fund for Ceramic Arts
Community Foundation Sonoma County
250 “D” Street, Suite 205
Santa Rosa, CA 95404