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Contemporary Raku: David Roberts

October 5, 2011

In his personal exploration of this traditional pottery technique, 45 yo David Roberts has transformed it into a vibrant and contemporary art form. As a distinguished English potter, he has developed an international reputation as a leading practitioner in the art of Raku ceramics. Roberts is acknowledged as responsible for the introduction and promotion of modern, large scale Raku in Europe. He has also been instrumental in its re-introduction to the United States of America, where his example has played a key role in the foundation of the ‘Naked Raku’ movement.

Red Vessel Giant Web Series, 37cm H x 39cm D

From David’s Artist Insight :

” My ceramics are concerned with making the hollow vessel form which acts as a vehicle to bring to expression my ideas and feelings as an artist and human being.
Although I enjoy and admire the work of many potters making functional wares, I am not concerned, in my own work, with usefulness. I am, however, very committed to making vessels as they give focus, direction and context to my ceramics.”

“There is also a fascination with the potential for a simple pot form to hold, carry and imply layers of meanings and references. The formal language of my work reflects the influence of hand built ceramics from different periods and cultures, for example storage jars of West Africa or ritual vessels from Pre-Columbian America.”

‘ Landscape, art and nature, is the world that my ceramics refers to and are influenced by. The natural world is reflected on a micro and macro level. In some of my recent work, often in the same piece, I seek equivalents which resonate and echo with the eroded, geological quality of water worn pebbles and rocks together with the contours and traverses of dry stone walls cutting across the Pennine hills above my studio.’

“Since the mid 1970s I have intentionally focused on making large, coil built and Raku fired vessels. I love this way of making as it gives me rounded, volumetric forms which serve as a wonderful three dimensional canvas upon which surface incident derived from the Raku firing can play. The sense of volume and presence that a piece emits when worked over along time period is important to me. To intensify this tactile and timeworn quality, pieces are often ground and polished after firing.”

” Landscape and nature gives direction and orientation to my work. The linear patterns on the vessel’s surface can be simultaneously a reference to rock strata and an abstract means of exploring and articulating the complex interweaving of parabolic curves that make up the form of a coil built vessel. There is an equivalence between the way that a path or trail moves across the local hills and a tangential line exploring and defining the form of a pot. In doing this I am trying to imbue my work with the same sense of presence and spirituality I get from walking in my local hills. Similarly smoke lines can evoke botanical structure and growth pattern.”

“I use the Raku process as it gives me a consistent and controllable tool in the orchestration of the strength, quality and pattern of carbonisation. The surfaces are not merely covering the form but penetrate deep into the wall of clay resulting in a fusion of form and surface.
At present I am not concerned with colour but with the way richness of tonal variation enhances and defines form. These surfaces are derived from two phenomena; the control of crackle patterns and spotting; resulting from the chemical and physical changes to materials that occur during the rapid firing and cooling of the Raku process, and the linear markings resulting from my application of layers of slip and glaze. These marks both refer inwards to the vessel as a record of the energy of the process to which it has been subjected and outwards as a sign or indicator towards the landscape.’

‘Tall vessel with lines’ – David Roberts

Notes on David’s technique :

All the work is coil built and Raku fired. Prior to firing, some surfaces are burnished using various levigated slips. Biscuit firing is between 1000C & 1100C. The Raku firing is between 850C & 950C and is completed by a prolonged smoking and cooling process. Finally the pots are cleaned and where applicable sealed with a natural wax.

‘Eroded Bowl’ – David Roberts

‘Giant Web Vessel’ – David Roberts

‘Tall Vessels With Lines’ – David Roberts

Black On Black – David Roberts

‘Tall Vessels With Ellipses’ – David Roberts

‘Round , Burnished Vessel with Lines’ by David Roberts

‘Eroded Vessels’ – David Roberts

Large raku bowl – David Roberts

David Roberts

David’s 2 year renovation of an old barn which became his living/studio/gallery space .

An extract from Ceramics Monthly:

” Yet he has created a personal and recognizable style, combining somewhat contradictory features – an organic technique (coiling) to achieve classical and symmetrical forms; a firing process, traditionally inimical toward large pots, to produce ware with an exactly finished glaze. Art school teachers, certainly those of a less adventurous age, would have told him, had he been their student, not to do it because it would not work. But he has done it, and it does. ”

Tony Birks

‘Vessel With Meandering Lines’ – David Roberts

‘Counterpoint Vessel’ – by David Roberts

Height-33cm -Dia. 35cm

‘Fractured Landscape’ – raku pot by David Roberts

‘Large Weeping Landscape’ vessel by David Roberts

David Roberts also conducts Masterclasses……..more info…http://www.davidroberts-ceramics.com

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4 Comments

Ceramic Clocks

August 23, 2011

ILEA ceramics wall clock

Jade green bakelite mantle clock

Maroon mantle lamp clock

Demand for clocks and wrist-watches have generally changed due to the use of cell phones and computers to keep track of time. There was a time when the decorative clock was the focus point in the house. As a decorative piece, the display of mantle/wall clocks probably peaked around the period between the two Wars. Indeed up to the middle of the 19th century, a clock was an expensive object because its clockwork was hand made.Their possession was thus reserved for the elite. In the Twenties a significant industry of the faience clock was developed in Belgium and North of France. ( Faience is a glazed non-clay ceramic material that is composed mainly of crushed quartz or sand, with small amounts of lime and either natron or plant ash. This body is coated with a soda-lime-silica glaze. )

Rare antique French faience Majolica clock

These clocks became the feature display in the home and took pride of place on the mantelpiece. They were quite often accompanied with two sidepieces, vases or cups. Alarm-clocks started to be produced industrially around 1850; but it was only at the beginning of the twentieth century that clockworks, manufactured in the Black Forest and France, became really cheap. Ceramic (faience) was then the inexpensive “plastic” material in the ceramic producing areas and it was chosen to dress these clockworks. Hence clocks became visually appealing and affordable to everybody. The clock shapes of that period sometimes recalled that of middle-class bronze or marble clocks; some beared animals or peoples sculptures; others referred to the Art-Deco architecture or to Greek temples. Their decorations were also infinitely varied, often very colored, sometimes extravagant. Some imitated marble or stone, others refered to modern decorative styles, to Chinese or Dutch porcelains, to traditional tableware or to avant-garde modernistic painting.

France was very instrumental in popularizing the Art Deco style of that era in the design of the mantel clocks. In France, Belgium and Czechoslovakia there were several ceramic factories that specialized in the production of these mantel clocks. After the WW2 the popularity of the ceramic mantel clock declined due to its labor intensive production costs and the mass production of the wrist watch.

Aqua Blue Burst Diamond Desk Clock with fabulous ceramic clock face by Marc’s Studio

Handbuilt ceramic clock by Lisa Pritchard Ceramics. The work is predominantly slab built with molded additions.

This 13-inch square ceramic face clock is an excellent example of the ‘cuerda seca’ tradition. This tradition was introduced to Spain by the Moors at a time when all three major Western religious groups inhabited Spain peacefully. The Arabic character on this clock reflects the Muslim part of this tradition. Each piece is hand-decorated by Spanish artisans using the same techniques as have been used since the 15th century.

Wittenberg ceramic clocks

Elegant ceramic antique clock in the rococo style.

This little clock was made by the CJCC clock company of Columbus Ohio.

It is made of ceramic and is beautifully painted and enameled in soft blues and gilt on a slightly off white body.

Mollymitten mantle clock

Small blue handbuilt ceramic clock by Sarah McCormack. Multi fired to acheive crackle effect with addition of gold lustre on arms .

Handmade ceramic wall clock in an Art Deco style. Designed and made by Malcolm and Russell

Akerman of Echo of Deco.

Echo of Deco ” Landspeed ” clock

A collection of ceramic fasience Art Deco clocks from the Clockarium Museum in Belgium.

Whimsical Slate Blue Clock by Eileen Young

Hand-made ceramic clock using hand-cut porcelain tiles.

Fasience Art Deco clock from the Clockarium

English Coalbrookdale porcelain clock. Circa 1830

Gavin Douglas Antiques

Ceramic clock styled to look like metal.

Pillow shaped ceramic clock by Creativewithclay

‘Blue House Mollymitten’ – Sarah McCormack.

Ceramic Clock Hand built from earthenware clay in 3 parts middle section and lid lift away from base.

The piece was fired 3 times finishing with a lustre firing of bright gold.

Vintage Cartier 1930 Art Deco Clock

Pineapple wall clock

Amber Custom Scientist clock by Echo of Deco

French Clock 1893

( ARTIC )

Rene Lalique ‘Sirenes’ Clock – 1928

Wonderful abstract clock from Cronulla Pottery

French Art Deco pottery clock – Saint Clement

( DecoDave )

Antique Porcelain Kewpie Clock – Rose O’neil , Germany

Vintage 60s General Electric Wall Clock Mid Century Modern

( Retro Re Run )

Vintage Holland Mold Porcelain Clock, Mercedes Wind Up Movement – Germany

Classic German Art Deco Clock – 1920’s

( Art Deco Collection )

Waterbury Porcelain Clock – circa 1900

French ceramic mantle clock

( onlinegalleries.com )

Ian Roberts

1895 Ceramic Clock

Sothebys

August Walther & Sohne “Windsor” green glass clock

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6 Comments

V & A Museum Ceramic Galleries refurbish

August 10, 2011

The Victoria and Albert Museum’s collections span two thousand years of art in virtually every medium, from many parts of the world, and visitors to the museum encounter a treasure house of amazing and beautiful objects.

The refurbishment of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s ceramic galleries has created an important national and international centre for the enjoyment, understanding and study of ceramics and a collection that is unrivalled anywhere in the world.

Six years ago, over concern for the security of the collection, the V&A’s Ceramics galleries closed to the public. Purpose built in 1909 for the display of the Museum’s ceramics collection, the galleries had changed very little over the years and the old cases and displays no longer met modern museum standards or audience expectations.

In 2005 the V&A began the task of funding, redesigning and redisplaying the galleries so that once more the world’s most comprehensive ceramics collection could be secured for the study and enjoyment of future generations. This was completed in 2011.

V & A Ceramic gallery in the 50″s

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MdvGtSBVME[/youtube]

A selection of ceramic pieces in the Victoria and Albert Museum:

Fritware bottle painted in underglaze decoration in blue and black. Iran 1500-1600

A Maiolica ( tin glazed earthenware ) pilgrim bottle made in Urbino, Italy. 1560 – 1580

Gallery location: British Galleries room122g case 2

Porcelain snuff bottles painted in enamel colours, China 1821-1850. Snuff was powdered tobacco

mixed with aromatic herbs and spices.

Gallery location: Ceramics Study Galleries, Asia & Europe, room 137, case 14, shelf 8

Staffordshire teapot, solid agate ware with lead glaze 1740 – 1750.

British Galleries room 53a case 1

Minton and Co. Maiolica dish made at Stoke-on- Trent, 1866

Gallery location: British Galleries room 125b case 2

Chinese Handan stoneware decorated in black under a turquoise glaze, 1300-1400. this design was influenced by Syrian ceramics.

This elegant vase appealed to George Salting (1835-1909), a passionate collector who bequeathed to the Museum a large number of Chinese ceramics. When Salting bought this piece it was already more than 400 years old. The Chinese had always treasured ancient ceramics, but it was only after the opening up of China to the West after 1840 that antique items became available to other collectors. The appearance of these hitherto unknown objects on the British art market inspired artists to create new forms and patterns.

British room125c, case1

Staffordshire earthenware bowl and bottle with moulded decoration and stained lead glaze.1760-1765

De Morgan earthernware vase painted in lustre. 1888-1898.

De Morgan’s passion was for the arts of the Middle and Far East. He drew virtually all his inspiration from the richly-coloured, lustred and ornamented wares of Persia (Iran), from the ‘Isnik’ wares of 16th century Turkey and from Renaissance Italy.

De Morgan gave a very clear account of his method of lustre firing in a lecture given in 1892. This, simplified, describes mixing metallic oxides, such as copper or silver, with white clay, to which was added gum arabic to make handling it easier. This was painted on and the ware was packed closely in the kiln, fired at a low heat. At the critical moment, dry material such as sawdust was introduced into the kiln and, once fired up, the kiln is shut down closing off all oxygen. This smoke-filled environment is known as a ‘reducing atmosphere’. The effect is to leave an iridescent metallic deposit on the surface, which must be cleaned and polished once the ware has cooled.

William Ault Pottery glazed eathenware vase designed by Christopher Dresser. 1892 – 1896

British Galleries room125e, case 2

See more Christopher Dresser here

Shropshire earthenware vase 1889 – 1891 Designed by Walter Crane

Elizabeth Fritsch, ‘Optical Pot’, stoneware, height 311mm, width 232mm, 1980. Museum no. C.13-1981

Royal Doulton Earthenware Vase 1879 ( Lambeth ).

Tin-glazed earthenware, painted. Bristol 1720 – 1730

Ewer, 17th Century Iran

Bowl – Charles Vyse -1950

Stoneware, carved and glazed

Jug – 1620 – England

Tin-glazed earthenware, painted

Ruskin Pottery Vase

Stoneware, with a high temperature flambé glaze

Turkish Lamp – 1557

Vase with lid – design Allen Thomas

Minton Pottery – 1855

Walter Crane – 1901

Victoria and Albert Museum

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0 Comments

Australian Potter Jeff Mincham

August 5, 2011

” I’ve always thought of myself as living in a landscape, perhaps its because I’ve never lived in a city or even a town for longer than a few months. The events of the landscape draw me towards it. My works explore my engagement with its moods, its changes and dramas. They speak of harsh dry windswept lands, of the shimmering distance beneath brooding skies. A passing moment of mystery and wonderment captured by the eye and embedded in memory.” … Jeff Mincham, 2007

‘The Floodplain’ – high-walled, multiglazed, multifired ceramic bowl.

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Craft Australia in conjunction with Object: Australian Centre for Craft and Design has the award : Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft which celebrates the achievements of Australia’s iconic and influential crafts practitioners and is designed to promote the work of Australian artists whose exemplary craft skills that have been recognized by their peers.

The fifth recipient of this  title, Australian ceramicist Jeff Mincham is a craftsperson of the highest order. Since he first exhibited his work in 1976 at Adelaide’s famous Jam Factory, Mincham has continued on with his dedicated practice for over three decades, working, exhibiting and experimenting with techniques and methodologies.

‘Morning Sea’

His practice, largely influenced by the ancient Japanese technique Raku which he has both taught and followed, depends on temperature and fire. Having worked with this method for near on two decades, Mincham, impressively, moved to another way of working in the mid 1990s, focussing on drawing from the local scenery.

Mincham’s rigorous early training with both Milton Moon at the South Australian School of Art and Les Blakebrough at the Tasmanian School of Art is evident in his disciplined approach to technique and form. But the maverick spirit which drew him to the highly unpredictable field of raku is alive and well.

‘Summer Grasses I’ – thrown, multiglazed ceramic form with brushwork.

‘Edge Of The Tides’ – hand built, multifired ceramic tea bowl.

Jeff Mincham is one of Australia’s most prominent and long established ceramic artists and for thirty years his practice has been influenced by the remarkable landscape setting of his home in the Adelaide Hills. His beautifully resolved vessels contain a visible dialogue between the artist and the environment in which he lives and works, a narrative that is particularly resonant within the ceramic medium which is of the earth but shaped by human hands. The highly tactile surfaces of these vessels are the result of a unique patination process that Jeff refers to as ‘firing and weathering at the same time’. “The colours, moods, textures and events comprise a universe of constant change which retains a seamless, constant identity and provides an inexhaustible source for my forms and their surface treatments. The works are often fired many times to achieve the depth of surface and unique character that they finally attain and many do not survive the journey. However, I have survived a long journey myself to arrive at a point of strong resolution in my work and I conclude that it is the constant struggle that produces the best results.”

He has held over 40 solo shows across Australia, and exhibited in the USA, Asia and Europe. His ceramics have been widely collected and are represented in the National Gallery of Australia and most major state and regional galleries. Jeff’s work is also held in many overseas collections such as the Aberystwyth Arts Centre (Wales), Johnson Collection (USA), Silber Collection (USA), National Gallery of Malaysia, State of Hawaii Public Collection and Taipei Fine Arts Museum (Taiwan).

‘Day into night’ – multiglazed and multifired elliptical vessel.

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From an interview with Karen Finch ( Craft Australia ): Growing up in a rural environment, he says, conditioned him to deal with the landscape and it remains the most common basis for his work. The impact of Japanese style, techniques and philosophies has influenced the way he looks at the landscape and reinterprets it in clay. He is preoccupied with the mutability of his surroundings, monitoring natural events, how objects grow, die and rot – the cycles and processes of the natural world. The combination of a solid form, most often a vessel form, and a figured surface becomes a metaphor for the idea of shifting changes over an underlying structure. Decorative motifs in his work have gradually become more abstract as he searches for the means to communicate the essence of the landscape rather than use the surface of the form merely as a three dimensional canvas. Textures, colours and varied surfaces vie with each other to create a sense of the inherent conflict between order and disorder within the landscape, conveying messages of emotional communication to the viewer.

Lichen – thrown, hand built, multifired ceramic bowl.

‘Pelagic memoire (bowl)’ – 2009

‘First Rains’ – coil built, elliptical ceramic form with carved image.

‘Hill Views’ – multiglazed and multifired elliptical vessel.

‘Windswept Hillside’ – elliptical carved vessel.

‘Out of the East ‘- 2012

‘Home of the curfew’. 2009

‘A Grey Dawn Breaking’ – Jeff Mincham – 2012

( Sabbia Gallery )

‘Estuary’ – multi glazed oval vessel.

‘Cipher’

‘Reconstructed landscape I’ – multiglazed rectangular faceted vessel.

‘Transit Variations’ 2012

‘The Marshlands’ – 2009

Jeff Mincham

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2 Comments

Gustavo Perez Mexican ceramicist.

June 23, 2011

Contemporary Hispanic pottery of Gustav Perez

“Pre-Hispanic art is part of my background, but everyone loves this work. How it becomes a part of my work, I don’t know. Maybe it is in my subconscious. Things grow inside me. They have been growing for years. Maybe I had one idea when I was five years old and it took fifty years to come out. I think I have a huge cocktail of “influences,” including architecture, dance, literature, music — all of these have influenced my work.

I don’t follow what’s going on in the world of ceramics. I’m not aware of trends. I’m friends with some other artists, but I work all the time. I care only about my own work. My only other passions are classical music and literature. If I have any time not working, I want to read literature. I don’t want to look at what other people are making. I don’t care about vacations. I crave time to work. When possible, I work alone. I receive very few visitors. I don’t “have wine” in the studio. This takes too much time. Truly, I’m not arrogant; it’s only that I value my time so much. I love working! I do enjoy people, but I enjoy clay so much more. My clay is my life.” ( from an interview at Gustav Perez’s studio in Xalapa with Maya Shacter )

” I can’t think of a better way to define my work than quoting what Franz Schubert once said: “I just finish one piece and begin the next”. ……Gustavo Perez

Recently, Gustavo completed an excellent interview with keramiekatelier

Can you tell us something about yourself? Where do you live and work?

I am Mexican, I work mostly at my studio in Zoncuantla in the state of Veracruz, in Mexico. But I also work, a few months every year, in the atelier of my partner Brigitte Pénicaud in France, at Les Places, close to Argenton sur Creuse.

Where did you study ceramics or another art discipline?

I studied for two years at Escuela de Diseño y Artesanías in Mexico City (1971-73). Then, after some ten years of work, I had a grant to study for two years in the Sint Joost Akademie voor Beeldende Kunst, in Breda, in the Netherlands.

Gustavo Perez contemporary vessel

Which reasons do you have for choosing clay as means to express yourself or realise your ideas, concepts or forms ?

Many times I have said I did not really choose clay; I have the feeling that in fact clay chose me… for several years I had been looking for something to devote my life to, it was a difficult time. But the moment I smelled (!) clay in an atelier, and I saw a throwing wheel, I knew that was the activity I had been looking for.

What was the starting point where from your current work has grown?

The throwing wheel, it all starts there.

Which message you hope to convey to your spectators?

I hope it can be understood that if one wants to be creative with clay, craftmanship (le métier), is essential. I am convinced of the necessity to give everything one can give, and for many years, before a personal way, a personal language can be discovered. For me it took some 22 years before I could feel there was something that I could call really mine.

Creativity is a deep mystery, something like source that does not flow until a certain personal “position” (an attitude, a confidence, an openness) is found. And this sort of secret cannot be transmitted, it has to be a personal discovery after a lot of work… so, the only possible idea to transmit would be this: you need to work and work and work…

Which importance has design in your work and what is the relation between design and clay?

It is important. Because while in fact what I do in my research is mostly playing with the possibilities that appear along the development of series of pieces, I am aware that I always do it in a certain quite systematic way: going from one piece to the next as in a game, trying just every idea that comes to my mind.
And about the relation between design and clay, I can say that I cannot see at all a border separating art and design. Or at least I do not care about it.

What is the meaning of colour for you and your work and what is the relation between colour and clay?

Colour seems not to be as essential for me as form and surface treatment. For some years, while my work concentrated basically on the graphic aspects of what can be done on a pot’s surface, I had the feeling that a good black glaze was all I needed to develop my ideas. However, nowadays I am convinced there has to be a certain presence of colour in my work, because I definitely feel some few colours that belong to it: subdued, natural… colours that are close to earth, to the colour of clay itself.

What was for you the most important moment in your ceramic career?

I guess it was the moment when I discovered, by accident, the effect produced on the wall of a thrown piece by making an incision open as in a wound. What Garth Clark called “the gentle cuts”. This discovery produced without a doubt the international recognition for my work. And I must say that I felt a profound pleasure in realizing that such a simple effect (because it is indeed a very easy technical resource) had never been used in the thousands of years of ceramics history, ot at least, never had been really developed.

A strange thing is that nowadays there are many young ceramists using this effect on their work (which is alright with me, I never tried to keep it as a secret or a personal “property”), and even some that claim to have discovered the effect themselves… which is not for me as easy to take. (Of course you are aware, because it happened in your own Keramiek Atelier page, of a discussion around such a situation)

Which artist is or has been an inspiration for you?

Just too many. But to mention one, Brancusi.
Or to mention two: Schubert
Or three: Rembrandt… Picasso, Francis Bacon, Paul Klee, etc…

Which ceramic works and ceramist do you admire in your own country and internationally?

In Mexico I respect the work of Jorge Wilmot, from the generation before mine.
And internationally…. many:
First: Hans Coper, a deep influence.
Also, from the past, Kanjiro Kawai.
From our times, there are really many whose work I follow with interest. I cannot mention them all (I will forget many important ones) but in a fast recollection I would say: Gordon Baldwin, Claude Champy, Claudi Casanovas, Lawson Oyekan, Peter Voulkos, Bernard de Jonghe, Johan van Loon, Enrique Mestre, Yasuo Hayashi, Eva Hild, Alison Britton, Tatsusuke Kuriki, etc.

Can you remember the best ceramic exhibition you ever saw?

Maybe Claudi Casanovas at Boijmanns Museum in Rotterdam, 1982 (?)

Do you have a gallery where we can see your work or where you exhibit frequently?

The Frank Lloyd Gallery in the USA

http://franklloyd.com/

Loes en Reinier, Deventer, Nederland

http://loes-reinier.com/

Puls in Brussels

http://pulsceramics.com/

Galerie Capazza, Nançay, France

http://galerie-capazza.com/

Galerie de l’Ancienne Poste, Toucy, France

http://galerie-ancienne-poste.com/

Do you have one or more exhibitions in the near future?

At the Frank Lloyd Gallery.                                   March 19
Puls.                                                                               September

Do you have a website?

It is under construction, almost ready

Thank you very much.

Graag gedaan
Hartelijke groeten,

Gustavo Pérez

Reproduced from :

http://keramiekatelier.wordpress.com/interviews/

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The above exhibition piece was from the seventh solo exhibition of Perez’s work which was displayed at the Frank Lloyd Gallery. Two large scale examples of his work were included in this show, Triangulo and Tablero. The installation piece Triangulo is composed of dozens of small cylinders, cut at a precise angle and placed face-to-face in opposition. The sculpture forms an equilateral triangle, and though it is based in geometry alludes simultaneously to minimal art and optical illusion. Tablero is a wall relief, composed of 49 small abstract forms. Although the individual pieces are made by straightforward folding and forming of the clay, the resulting image has a primitive presence.

Gustavo Perez Ceramic Vessel

Gustavo Perez Vases

Gustavo Perez incised and folded geometric vessel

Gustavo Perez geometric vase

Sculptural vessel – Gustavo Perez

Gustavo Perez incised vase

Two Gustavo Perez vessels

Mexican ceramicist Gustavo Perez abstract contemporary vessel

Gustavo Perez finely incised vase

Gustavo Perez contemporary stoneware bowl – 2010

Stoneware Vase – Gustav Perez 2010

Gustavo Perez stoneware vase

Abstract black and white vase – Gustavo Perez

Gustavo Perez folded vase 2005

Abstract form vase -Gustavo Perez

Gustavo Perez asymmetrical vase

Gustavo Perez contemporary sculptural vessel

Gustavo Pérez Vase Sculpture 2011

Puerto-Vallarta gallery – Gustavo Perez

Gustavo Perez Facebook Link

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Also posted in Creative – 9 Comments

D.Michael Coffee..Colorado Ceramic Artist

January 30, 2011

Shino over Alberta Slip Tea Cup — Michael Coffee

Michael Coffee — Carbon Trap Shino Teabowl textural finish

Michael Coffee appears to be very mindful of the Eastern philosophies and attitudes regarding art when he his creating ceramics. This is encapsulated in his article on the process of creating his works for ” my Special Offering to the Tea Community” …..

” The pieces were Created, Bisqued Fired, Glazed and finally given over to the potential calamity of the violent inferno of the Kiln. All these steps come with a certain level of anticipation and forward visioning, even though I’ve spent decades practicing the discipline to not envision a specific result, it’s hard not too.

The Glaze Firing went well, and despite my attempts to suspend a vision of the work inside the kiln, I was viewing finished works in my head. Upon opening the long cooling kiln I was again, as always surprised. I had visions of pieces with a more “graphic” visual and tactile presence. The kiln had other “visions.”

The kiln’s “vision” was to cause a kind of “forced restraint” upon the work in this firing. I liked the works before me, still too hot to touch, I had time to think. I was being reminded of a valuable lesson as well as being reminded of a short book I read over 30 years ago on Aesthetics, “In Praise of Shadows.”

“In Praise of Shadows”, was written by Jun’ichiro Tanizaki and was originally published in 1933 in Japanese and later translated to English in 1977. The essay consists of 16 sections that discuss traditional Japanese aesthetics in contrast with change. Comparisons of light with darkness are used to contrast Western and Asian cultures.

The West, in its striving for progress, is presented as continuously searching for light and clarity, while the subtle and subdued forms of oriental art and literature are seen by Tanizaki to represent an appreciation of shadow and subtlety. In addition to contrasting light and dark, Tanizaki further considers the layered tones of various kinds of shadows and their power to reflect low sheen materials like gold embroidery, patina and cloudy crystals.

The works being offered here require close study to fully appreciate the depth of nuance in the glaze finish. They don’t shout their presence, they are comfortable in the realm of the intimate object. ( see above )

Who is Michael Coffee :

With over 30 years of combined experience in architecture, ceramics and fine art printmaking, Pagosa Springs, Colorado, Professional Artist, D. Michael Coffee, has amassed an extensive body of original functional and sculptural ceramics and hand-pressed “Reductive Ink” monoprints.

Coffee’s Shino, Ash and Tenmoku glazed stoneware of Chawan, Yunomi, Guinomi and Mizusashi are highly collected by practitioners and enthusiasts worldwide. Coffee’s sculptural and functional ceramics are included in hundreds of prestigious public and private collections throughout the world, and have been shown in numerous solo and invitational exhibitions.
” All works of art that I offer in my shop are handmade solely by myself in my studio located in Pagosa Springs, CO. I work independently without the aid of assistants. Coffee has been interested in ceramics since high school, where he served as a teaching assistant firing kilns, mixing glazes, and teaching himself to throw on the potter’s wheel. Although driven by an artist’s leanings, he chose to enter school to study Architecture.

In 1994 Coffee would finally return to ceramics, where he started twenty-five years earlier to fully realize true artistic freedom. He was clearly at the place in his artistic journey where he felt the most comfortable and inspired. He was finally able to work from pure instinct and intuition, honed from decades of study in design and aesthetics. He was able to work with materials that were simple, yet offered endless possibilities.

For D. Michael Coffee, limits don’t appear to exist. Every firing provides a unique opportunity to learn, if even from the failures. It is hard to say what feeds Coffee’s own internal flames, other than an overwhelming desire to create.

Michael claims in his artistic statement :- ” Art is my passion and the true backbone of my existence. I have worked extensively in all types of media, including painting, wood, metal, glass, architecture, ceramics and printmaking. I cannot lay claim to any particular style or genre, as I am primarily interested in nonlinear paths of development in the objects I make. Each step of the art making process is part of a personal inner journey. The common thread that stitches my work together is an overriding desire to be surprised by the outcome, as though I wasn’t present during the process.

The art that I create is a product of a concerted effort to exploit my powers of informed intuition for the sheer joy of attempting to reach a “mindless mind” state of awareness. That moment, one nano second before clear cognition again takes over the creative process. For me, the challenge is to let go of predetermined understanding and foresight, and to work on developing my instincts. I strive to create outside of my conscious self, empowered by the strength of my intuition. I tend to select materials that are simple, so as not to become material bound. When I’m successful, the work I create truly represents the sum total of my life experiences and visual histories.

I am also interested in the aesthetic concept of Wabi Sabi, the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, incomplete, natural and unconventional. I believe that it is impossible to mindfully or intentionally create works that possess these characteristics. By applying my intuition and instincts, I hope to fend off the development of immunities to the fascinations that are right in front me. ”

Michael Coffee is also the Co-Founder and Creative Director of SHY RABBIT Contemporary Arts in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, Coffee has been responsible for organizing, curating and installing over 20 fine art exhibitions over the course of the last five years.and has transformed SHY RABBIT into the region’s most important and innovative contemporary arts space.

Shino and Slip Glazed Stoneware Vase

Michael Coffee tea bowl

Shino Glazed matcha chawan teabowl

D.Michael Coffee

Satin Celadon Glazed CHAWAN — D.Michael Coffee

Shino and Copper glazed Yunomi Tea Cup — D.Michael Coffee

Red Tears Yunomi teacup

D.Michael Coffee

Yunomi Teacup – – D.Michael Coffee

Shino and Slip Glazed Matcha Chawan Teabowl Tea Ceremony vessel

D.Michael Coffee

Shino and Slip Glazed MATCHA CHAWAN Teabowl Tea Ceremony

Yunomi Cup — D.Michael Coffee

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Korean Ceramics

August 31, 2010

Celadon Wine Pot

History of Korean Ceramics

The Three Kingdoms of Korea (57 BC-668 AD), namely Silla, Goguryeo, and Baekie, provided the beginning of Korean ceramic history. Rough domestic wares for the people were produced from numerous kilns. Likewise a number of very sophisticated statues of royal figures, guardians, and horses, equivalent to Chinese Han Dynasty figures, used for domestic and imperial votive shrines, as well as for escorts of the dead in tombs of the nobles and kings, were turned on potter’s wheels, while others were formed using the traditional hammered clay and coil method.

During the nearly five centuries of the Koryô dynasty (918–1392), celadon was the main type of ceramics produced on the Korean peninsula. This exquisite ware was typically covered with clear and highly-vitrified glazes of gray-green color. The color of Koryô celadon owes much to the raw materials—specifically, the presence of iron in the clay and of iron oxide, manganese oxide, and quartz particles in the glaze—as well as to the firing conditions inside the kiln. The combination of beautiful glaze with elegant forms without any surface decoration resulted in exceptional vessels produced during the early part of Koryo celadon production between late 11th Century and early part of 12th Century. After the Koryo potters had perfected their skill of producing perfect celadon glazes, they started to experiment with carved and incised decoration under the sea green glaze.

Jar with peony decoration. Korean, Joseon dynasty (1392-1910); first half of the 15th century.

Buncheong with inlaid design. Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul.

♦

Korean celadon from the Goryeo period is renowned, especially for its pale, jade-colored glaze, which exhibits the potters’ advanced understanding of color composition at that time. Although Goryeo’s early celadon was influenced by the Chinese, Korean potters developed the borrowed art to a new and unique level. The Koreans added graceful designs onto the surface of the ceramics by using the remarkable inlaying technique, an entirely Korean invention. It is said that even the Chinese considered Korean celadon the best under heaven and more valuable than gold.

Celedon Bottle

Korean white porcelain became popular in the Royal court of the Choson period. During late 15th Century, the Choson court established a group of kilns called punwon (in today’s Kwangju). Early Punwon kilns in 15th/16th Centur produced white porcelains of elegant shape, impeccable high luster glaze with bluish tint, and thinly potted pure porcelain body for using exclusively in the royal court. Although plain white-bodied porcelains were favored throughout the Choson period (1392–1910), decorated versions of the same wares were also produced in large quantities. The Chinese blue-and-white wares of the Ming dynasty served as one model for Korean potters, who adopted the technique of underglaze cobalt-blue decoration. Unlike its Chinese counterparts, the Choson potters worked closely with court painters to produce vessels with superb paintings rivaling surviving paintings on paper. Korean potters of the 16th century started to experiment with underglaze iron pigment on porcelain. During the Joseon Dynasty, (1392–1910) ceramic ware was considered to represent the highest quality of achievement from imperial, city, and provincial kilns, the last of which were export-driven wares. This was the golden age of Korean pottery, with a long period of growth in imperial and provincial kilns, and much work of the highest quality still present.

Lee Kang Hyo Buncheong Style Bowl

Hidden between the demise of celadon and the rise in popularity of white porcelain ware, Bun-cheong enjoyed about a one hundred year reign as the most common type of pottery, and was used by both the aristocracy and commoners throughout Korea.

The aesthetics and functions of buncheong ceramics reflect social developments of the beginnings of the Joseon dynasty at the end of the fourteenth century. Most were everyday wares used by people at many levels of society. Later buncheong allowed for increased regional expressiveness and creativity.

As versatile as potters anywhere, the buncheong artisans used many techniques to create their art. Stamping was generally used to produce multiple images on an item. Buncheong artisans reinterpreted traditional iconography, often allowing only the essence of the image to emerge. Asian floral designs, peonies, chrysanthemums and lotus were defined in linear motifs. Animals, too, such as the tortoise on an elephant vessel, were also interpreted as a swash of lines. Occasionally, mythical animals change form under the artist’s guidance. For instance, a dragon and fish are joined as a “dragon fish,” the enigmatic emblem of an anonymous artist.

Bernard Leach (1887-1979), regarded as the father of British studio pottery, stressed that ceramicists of the 20th century ought to learn the techniques of the Joseon Dynasty masters to truly proceed. Admiring the “naked and unaffected freedom” of Joseon Buncheong wares he added that “it is the desire for the wholeness which draws us to the Korean pots.” Renowned British art historian William Honey stated that “the best Korean wares are not only original; they were the most gracious and unaffected pottery ever made. They have every virtue that pottery can have.”

It is noted by art historians that Japanese ceramics became noted the world over after the invasion of the Korean Peninsula by Japan during form 1592 to 1598. This has poignantly been described as The War Of Ceramics because when the Japanese forces left they kidnapped several thousand potters from the Joseon Dynasty to bring home as war trophies. These wonderfully talented artisans became the cornerstone for Japan becoming a producer of fine ceramics. Some of the descendants of these earthenware artisans, including the ” Six families of Imnan  Potters” ( referring to the7 year war ) are still thriving and revered as Japan’s top potters.

Cinerary urn, unglazed stoneware

Baekja White Ceramic Vase

Pottery Plate with Moon and Reed Sgraffito Design

Korean dinner plate with iron black and red copper paint fish design

Vase Buncheong Gray with Inlaid Lotus and Fish Design

Traditionally a symbol of auspicious conditions in life, the fish has been one of the most loved motifs for buncheong works. As fish swim freely in groups, have many babies, and fight against a river’s currents as they swim towards its head, this image symbolizes a free, happy, prosperous, successful and peaceful life with many children.

Antique Alive

Buncheong Floor Vase with arabesque style decoration

This buncheong pottery flowers bottle features a unique Korean traditional water bottle body decorated with impressed woven mat and Maehwa (Korean plum flower) design. Traditionally, buncheong ware was accompanied with inlaid decorations.

One of the sagunja (“four noble beings”) motifs loved by Korean artists, maehwa refers to the Korean plum blossom that has long been the herald of spring. Korean artists have been fascinated by maehwa, which blooms at the end of winter, and thus have praised it as a symbol of the noble spirit overcoming all hardships.

Eosohwan Porcelain Tea Bowl using an The amalgamation of iron red, and brown and black glaze on the surface of white porcelain

Antique Alive

Antique Korean Porcelain Bowl in Light Brown for Tea Ceremony

This exquisite buncheong pottery storage jar, the design on which appears like a traditional Korean ink painting,

exhibits a round body swept with a pigment containing iron, giving the effect of paint brushed on paper. The contrast of colors between the brown peony flower and the white background creates a delightful scene to look at. The fully open peony blossom is traditionally a symbol of wealth and nobility.

Flask-Shaped Bottle, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910), late 15th century
Korea
Stoneware with sgraffito decoration of flowers under buncheong glaze. ( Met Museum )

Contemporary Korean Ceramic – ‘Form Series 1’ – Guac Roh Hoon ( V & A Museum )

Korean National Treasure No. 787 uses inlay, stamping and iron painting to create the design of fish and lotuses. ( Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul. )

Korean Hand thrown reduction fired stoneware cylindrical vase.

Buncheong pottery cake plate is elegantly decorated with a ripe barley design

Lee Kang-Hyo

Lee Kang-Hyo

Porcelain Water Bottle with Celadon 10 Creatures of Longevity Design

Inspired by the belief in a Taoist utopian world resided by Taoist elders who had found the secret of eternal life, ancient Koreans revealed their dreams of such a world through the 10 creatures. These symbols significantly impacted the lives and thoughts of the Korean people, from royalty down to common folks, and appeared in numerous objects and places including walls, paintings, poetry, proverbs, furniture, personal belongings and ornaments.

Lee Kang Hyo Buncheong Style Vase

Korean Annual Pottery Parade

Korean ceramics on display at the Vessels at the KCC

London

Flask-shaped bottle – Korean, Joseon dynasty (1392-1910); second half of the 15th century.

Buncheong flask bottle with incised design.

Lee Kang Hyo

Jar. Korean, Joseon dynasty (1392-1910); 16th century.

Buncheong with brushed white slip. Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul.

Minye exhibition hall

(  Image – Brian J. McMorrow )

Korean Phoenix ewer Jug – Guimet Museum, France

Buncheong pottery leaf bottle, iron painted decoration

Song or Yuan celadon dragon handled vase

Korean Tripod Pot

Guimet Museum, France

Buncheong bottle

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9 Comments

American Ceramic Beads Artists

May 29, 2010

Ancient cultures from all corners of the globe have produced pottery and ceramic beads for all forms of adornment and decoration. The richness and fine detail currently achieved in these miniature artworks reflect a high degree of expertise and talent that are creating this fascinating art form.

MARY HARDING

Mary Harding (aka Mary Harding McCallion) is a bead and jewelry artist who has been making ceramic beads since 1998. She works mostly with earthenware/ lowfire clay because she likes the way the clay expresses itself even after multiple firings. There is always that element of the unexpected.

Mary Harding’s work has been influenced by her interest in both contemporary masters such as John Cage, Freda Kahlo and Marguerite Duras and folk artists that she has researched both in Northern New York and Mexico. Her recent work in gathering the plants of the pastures of Northern New York into ceramic pendants is a form of folk history that is imaginatively interpreted by her colorful renderings of these resilient beauties.

Mary Harding sells her ceramic beads and pendants on her website and on Justbeads.com.

SHARLEEN NEWLAND / Shaterra Clay Studio

Sharleen Newland makes earthenware beads, which are fired to cone 04 bisque, then glazed and fired again to cone 06. Each firing takes about 7 hours, so making and glazing clay beads is not a quick process. Sharleen thinks the hardest part is waiting for the kiln to cool down, which takes about another 6 hours. Patience is required before the clay is cool enough to hold the pretty new beads. Opening the kiln after a glaze firing is like a treasure hunt! Many glazes change colors in the kiln, so it is always exciting to see what’s there. Some items get a third firing, which is called an overglaze. Overglazes can give pearl effects, or sometimes Sharleen uses pure white and yellow gold to add elegance to the pieces.

Sharleen’s background is in fashion design, and her love for color and fabric embellishment shows in her work. Sharleen also designs machine embroidery and sewing projects for two national magazines.

Sharleen’s studio is located in Groveport, OH. She sells both retail and wholesale, although most of her business is wholesale. Sharleen can be found exhibiting at the Bead and Button Show in Milwaukee, WI each June. Stop by and say Hi! Sharleen loves to talk about ceramic beads!

LISA SHIFFLET / Shifflett Studios

Living most of her life in Central Florida, Lisa Shifflett gets most of her inspiration from nature and the ocean. She also combines abstract designs with those ideas to create her unique pieces. Lisa has always had a love for art and a strong need to create. After dabbling in many medias, her favorites are clay and glass. She has been working in clay since 2002 and ventured into glass in 2004. In 2004, she was introduced to jewelry making and quickly became frustrated by the limited variety of really unique focal beads available for her creations. As a result, Shifflett Pottery & Glass Works was born offering a wide variety of handmade pendants, beads, finished jewelry designs and other creations featuring porcelain, stoneware, and fused glass.

VIRGINIA MISKA

Virginia’s ceramic beads are made from earthenware clay and often depict animals which are intricately carved in low relief. She then incises the clay with linear detail and applies an underglaze stain to the surface which is then wiped away and fills the deep lines and low areas. This process resembles that of etching, which she studied at The Art Institute of Boston. Virginia’s interest in watercolor painting comes into play when she applies washes of underglaze color that pool on the surface and blend with other colors. A final step which intensifies these colors is the application of a high gloss glaze.

For many years Virginia sold her line of ceramic jewelry line to stores throughout the country, where she was best know for her cat designs. In her small scale ceramic work she is currently focusing her attention on beads and enjoys the freedom to experiment with shape, texture and color in one-of-a-kind designs.

Virginia resides in the Santa Monica, California where her close proximity to the ocean, mountains, and desert influence her work.

UCan2Studio

UCan2 Studio specializes in mixed media and raku ceramic beads and jewelry.

OLISA PETERS

Lisa’s pieces are made out of several different clay bodies such as stoneware and porcelain and fired using a variety of methods, with a primary focus in Raku. Manipulating glaze, incorporating precious metal clay and other surprise elements on to the surface yields wonderfully unexpected results. Lisa strives to find beauty in the imperfect circle, the ragged-unfinished edge and the slightly crooked line. Formed by hand, all pieces she creates are totally unique. The journey Lisa’s pieces take is an exciting one. Each piece is subjected to multiple firings and during the Raku process, a rather theatrical event, beautiful metallic and crackled surfaces are obtained creating elegant pieces with a somewhat primitive feel. A multi media artist with a BFA from The School of Visual Arts in NYC, Lisa began her artistic career as a commercial still life and editorial photographer. After years of feeling the tug of a more diverse medium, Lisa experimented until she found clay. At present Lisa uses sculpture, encaustic and mixed media to express her artistic vision as well as creating a line of buttons, beads and pendants for other artists to use in their creations.

CLAY RIVER DESIGNS

Clay River Designs specialize in handmade porcelain pendants, beads, and other fun shapes in clay. Our designs are drawn from nature, celtic, arts & crafts, native american, whimsical, & more.

JOAN MILLER

Joan has a BFA from the Maryland Institute of Art and has been working as a full-time professional craftsperson since 1989. She maintains an in-home studio on 13 wooded acres in Eastern PA where she lives with her husband, two dogs, a cat and a frog. Her work is done primarily in porcelain, using body stains in porcelain slips. Her detail work and use of color and pattern are exquisite! Nature is her best source of inspiration as frogs, fish and other small creatures are frequent subject matter. In recent years she has concentrated on art beads. Joan says, “To me beads take on a life of their own, just like the little critters portrayed on them. A good bead can stand on it’s own as an individual work of art, but is just as comfortable being incorporated into another piece of art.”

LILY BOUCHER

For more information on any of the above artists go to : http://www.beads-of-clay.org

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Alchemical process of Renaissance potters.

May 7, 2010

Italian Majolica

This is a fascinating article from Naturenews- it seems like their glazing techniques were highly developed for that time and the techniques they employed for attaining the rich colours in their glazes were possibly influenced by the ancient art of alchemy.

Chemical secrets of 15th century Italian potters revealed.

Artisans glazing pots in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Umbria were practising an early form of nanotechnology. Italian researchers have now revealed the full sophistication of this process¹.

Coloured glazes in pottery samples from the Umbrian town of Deruta exploited the reflective properties of minute metal grains to give them a rich lustre. Bruno Brunetti of the University of Perugia and colleagues found that the manufacture of these glazes required great chemical skilsl.

During its peak in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the finely painted ceramics of the Deruta pottery industry were in demand all over Europe.

Glazes are essentially thin films of coloured glass. Metal salts give colour to a glassy matrix produced by fusing sand alkalis such as soda in the heat of a kiln. Coloured glazes – such as blue-glazed stone carvings from the Middle East – have been around since at least 4500 BC.

Previous analysis of Umbrian Renaissance pottery showed that they had a chemical composition typical of the period: a mix of sand and alkali, with lead oxide added to reduce shrinkage and cracking.

It’s the colorants that show the true, if largely unwitting, sophistication of the Italian potters’ skills, Brunetti’s team have found.

Among the most striking Deruta ceramics are those with iridescent or metallic glazes. Some look like gold, others are iridescent – changing colour when viewed from different perspectives.

Previous studies have shown that particles of metal of between 5 and 100 billionths of a metre across – technically, a nanomaterial – underlie this effect. In 2001 Brunetti and coworkers found that red-and gold-lustre glazes contained particles of copper and silver, respectively, in this size range². Instead of scattering light, the particles’ minute size causes light to bounce off their surface at different wavelengths, giving metallic or iridescent effects.

Metal nanoparticles aren’t the whole story, the team now finds. The red and gold glazes also contained traces of copper ions in what appear to be finely tuned amounts.

The presence of this copper shows that the potters achieved exquisite control of the firing process that formed the glazes. The copper ions may also alter the way light interacts with the glassy host material, enhancing the lustre.

All that glitters………

Historical evidence for the early nanotechnology survives in the potter’s handbook of around 1557, Li tre libri dell’arte del vasaio, by Italian craftsman Cipriano Piccolpasso. Copper and silver salts were mixed with vinegar, ochre (iron oxide) and clay and applied to the surface of pottery already coated with a glaze. A delicately regulated firing technique resulted in a pot having a lustrous surface.

In the Renaissance, these effects, which today would be seen as merely pleasing, had a deeper significance. Turning mundane materials into something resembling gold was regarded as a feat bordering on alchemy. Because colour change colours were deemed to be essential in the alchemical process, iridescence was seen as an alchemically significant property.

Author: Phillip Ball

Italian majolica plate

Italian Majolica vessel from a pharmacy

circa – 1510

NGV

Workshop of Maestro Giorgio Andreoli (Italian, Gubbio, ca. 1465–1553)

( Met Museum )

Urbino Majolica dish – circa 1545

NGV

Dish with a knight on a horse – majolika, Italy

A plate painted with an angel driving Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Lustred in golden and ruby lustre.

circa 1531

Maolica ( National Gallery of Victoria – NGV )

Jesus of Nazereth, King of the Jews – majolica plate from Deruta, Italy

1520

Met, NY

Dish with portrait of a woman, c1490-c1525. Maiolica dish painted with a woman in profile, and a scroll inscribed ‘PÊDORMIRENONSAQUISTA’, (‘nothing is gained by sleeping’).

Faenza_Bergantini

Majolica dish, Italy 1528

Majolica bottle

Corcoran Gallery of Art Collection

Flat plate, painted by Maestro Giorgio, Gubbio or Urbino, dated 1537, tin-glazed earthenware

Painted decoration and golden and reddish lustre, with a horseman with a standard riding through a landscape.

Iconography from a series of Roman heroes by Marcantonio Raimondi.
1525

Plate with Scene of Calliope and a Youth

Nicola da Urbino, dating from the early 16th century, in the Corcoran Gallery of Art, in Washington, DC.

The scene depicted is that of the muse Calliope crowning a prince with wisdom, while an astrologer looks on and reads his chart.

( Mr.T in DC – flickr )

Large dish with St. Lazarus surrounded by a wide border of grotesque ornament, putti and four medallions. Painted with blue, green and yellow and with gold lustre.

Cupid with Minerva

Workshop of Maestro Giorgio Andreoli of Gubbio (c. 1465/1470 – 1555)

Two Handled Vase with the Arms of Medici Impaling Orsini

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Enter the blue glaze yonder

March 20, 2010

The art of blue pottery:

A deep tradition exists for the alluring blue pottery. Archeological excavations on the Iranian and Central Asian plateaus have uncovered turquoise blue glazed pottery that dates back to 224AD. These finds included “pilgrim flasks” and large bowls and grain storage jars..As Persia was a central trading hub the glazing technique were believed to have been introduced from either Egypt or Mesopotamia. The Persian potters were highly innovative and pioneered numerous new techniques.

Painting decoration under a clear glaze was first attempted by Islamic potters in Syria, probably during the late 9th or in the 10th century. The colours used in underglaze-painting were limited to three: cobalt blue, turquoise and black. The decoration of most of these underglaze-painted vessels utilized floral designs and epigraphic patterns. Cobalt blue, or occasionally even turquoise glaze were also utilised for lustre decoration on wares produced in Kasham which was a pottery centre in Persia Apart from vessels, Kashan potters also produced large numbers of tiles and mihrabs, some of which were made up of several lustre tiles.

Blue glazed ceramic tiles dating back to 900AD were also discovered in Multan in Pakistan and these had been used to construct a Mosque These Kashi tiles were influenced by Persian designs and production techniques and are believed to have been introduced from Kashgar, China under the influence of the Chinese Mongols. It is believed they refined the blue glazing method by combining Chinese glazing techniques with Persian decoarative procedures.

Kashi Ceramic Tiled Mosaic

See the mosaic mystique

The blue glaze pottery methods then went on to Kashmir where its strict application for only temples, tombs and palaces were relaxed and it became widely used for pottery production. Eventually blue pottery techniques found there way down to Delhi and Rajastan during the reign of the Moghul Rulers in the 14th century. Rajasthan became a centre for blue pottery after the monarchs of Jaipur patronised the art. The technique had evolved to using ground quartz , Multani mitti ( fullers earth ), borax gum, cobalt oxide, sodium sulphate and other salt powders.. Legend has it that blue-pottery items were used by the Mughal kings to test their food, as they could tell by the change in the glaze of the pottery if the food had, in all probability, been tampered with or poisoned.

This large bottle was made in Iran in 17th century Safavid Iran, probably at Kirman. Unlike much of the earlier Iranian pottery of this period, both the shape and the decoration using coloured slip and underglaze blue showcase elements of native Islamic design and tradition, rather than imitate Chinese designs.

The Wrath Of Khan.

The Great Ghengis Khan and his marauding Mongols, apart from the usual plundering and pillaging during their invasion of Persia in 1220, razed the key pottery manufacturing centres of Nishapaur, Ray, Kashan and Jorjan. As they traded pottery on the Silk Road along with the Persians, maybe they were vying for a trade advantage, along with getting information on their unique production techniques.

More blue. ( astro/numero babble )

The blue color is ruled by the planet Jupiter which has just entered a 7 year transit through Piceas. This only occurs every 84 years and it is an auspicious combination. As 3 is also ruled by Jupiter, along with the powerful 21, 2010 is destined to be a pivotal year, especially for spiritual, intuitive and artistic growth, particularly beyond the second half of the year.

Dutch Deft 1730

Ardmore Pottery

Japanese Cup ( Chawan )

Roman cobalt blue glass aryballos –

( Sasson Ancient Art )

Fritware, underglaze painted in blue and turquoise, glazed. Iznik 1535 – 1540

18th_century_Puebla_dish

Box Chinoiserie from Delft, Netherlands

A Rare Safavid Blue And White Globular Footed Huqqa Base, Persia, 17th Century. photo Sotheby’s

German teapot

A. F. Simpson Vase –

Moonlit landscape of Spanish moss and live oak trees, 1927

Magda Smoleńska – floating water

Angela Mellor

Turquoise glaze tall Chinese ceramic vase ( Ruby Lane )

see more  Vase Arts

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Hellenic pottery through the ages.

March 13, 2010

Ancient Greek pottery is one of the most tangible and iconic elements of ancient Greek art. The colored vases and pots of this unique era have survived in large numbers and are now highly prized as collectibles. Most surviving pottery consists of vessels such as amphorae, kraters (bowl for mixing wine and water), hydria (water jars), libation bowls, jugs and cups. Painted burial urns have also been found. Miniatures also were produced in large quantities, primarily for use as offerings at temples. The history of ancient Greek pottery is divided stylistically into three periods: The Protogeometric from about 1050 BC. The Geometric era of around 900 BC and the Archaic period around 750 BC. . The range of colors that could be used in their pottery was restricted by the technology of firing: black, white, red and yellow were the most common .The fully mature black-figure technique with added red and white details and incising lines and details, originated in Corinth during the 7th century BC and flourished until the end of the 6th century BC. The red-figure technique invented in about 530 BC, reversed this tradition, with the pots being painted black and the figures painted in red.

Despite the technical limitations the Hellenic potters faced with their early productions, it didn’t seem to effect their ability to create powerful artistic statements with their wares, depicting vivid figures filled with life and movement. The detail of their Geometric pottery is quite remarkable, albeit somewhat rigid but I feel this led to a polarity in the sense that the images of their Gods became more realistic and life-like.

In Greek mythology, Geryon was a winged giant made from three entire human bodies conjoined at the waist. Geryon lived on the island of Erytheia, in the far west of the Mediterranean.

◊◊◊

Unlike the unusual deity’s of the Egyptians, Mesopotamians and Persians, the Greek Gods and Heroes were more based on an accurate human form, generally portrayed as larger in size, more powerful and displayed as models of human perfection. Beginning in Attica, the Greek potters began painting narrative scenes from their Gods and Heroes like Apollo and Dionysus. This is the reason why pottery art improved so dramatically in the 5th and 6th centuries. Their devotion to their deity’s motivated them to create the most natural looking depictions of their God or Hero that was possible. The realism and dimensionality achieved were beyond that of any civilization hitherto. This era of Greek pictorial art was essentially the beginning of European Drawing and Painting. By the beginning of the 5th century , pottery-making in Greece attained a level of mass production that led to exports to Egypt, Palestine, Italy, Spain, Sicily and other Greek colonies. The more ceramics became an industry the less pottery painting was represented as an important art form of ancient Greece. It is a stroke of fortune that their pottery had the durability to survived the ravages of time, unlike their wood and paper art, and stood up to become a priceless historical documentation.

Winged female figure holding a caduceus : Iris (messenger of the gods) or Nike (Victory). Detail from an Attic red-figure pelike, middle of 5th century BC.

Death of Orpheus, amphora, circa440 BC

Phaon and Aphrodite. Attic red-figure calyx-krater, 420–400 BC. From Agrigento.

Greek ceramic Dionysus winged figure.

Terracotta Krater Met Museum, NY.

Greek depicti0n of Olympian Athletes Competing painted on a Panathenaic prize amphora.

The geometric style is a style of Greek art that developed towards the end of the Dark Age, roughly between 900 BC and 700 BC. It developed in Athens and spread through the sea trade routes in various cities of the Aegean area. Evidence of this decorative style of art-have survived and are mostly represented by decorations on ceramic vessels and ceramic objects. It is thought that the jars were originally dedicated to women, since their task was to collect water, while the kraters were dedicated to the men who poured the wine .

Heracles fighting the Hydra of Lerna on a hydria by the Eagle Painter, c. 525 BC, now in the Getty Villa, Malibu, California

Diomedes and Polyxena. Etruscan amphora of the Pontic group, ca. 540–530 BC. From Vulci. Lourve E703.

The Mixing Vessel with Apollo and Artemis. 415-400BC ( Getty Museum )

A finely decorated Geometric vase, Dark Ages of Greece

Earthenware Heron shaped Aryballlos perfume bottle. 550BC

( Cleveland Museum of Art )

Terracotta Aryballos ( oil Flask ) in the form of cockelshells.

( The Met NY )

Ionian black-figure cup 550BC ( The Lourve )

Corinthian Oil Flask 629-590BC

( The Met NY )

Ancient Greek Cup 730BC

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1 Comment

The Buddha Builder

February 7, 2010

The beautiful Buddha art of Anita Feng

Hailing from Issaquah Mountain, which is east of Seattle, ” TheBuddhaBuilder ” ( Anita Feng ) is a unique potter, who primarily focuses on building objects around a Buddha theme. She works intuitively as reflected in the statement, ” if I can move my ideas out of the way and just allow my hands to lead, how much more integrated and alive the work becomes !” She claims “My raku Buddhas offer a synthesis of east and west — the ancient inheritance of Zen meets modern American creativity. They also represent an exploration of the question, what does Buddha look like? After all, the word “buddha” means “to wake up” or “the awakened one”. So what does openness of mind look like? Clay is a perfect medium to explore that question, as it is so open a material to work with. It can be pulled, thrown, molded, rolled–anything! And it is composed of all the elements of life — earth, air, fire, water, metal. Incorporating thirty years of Zen training, plus over thirty years work as a professional potter, along with my life-time involvement in poetry and music, I work the clay into a joyful, sincere and dance-like marriage between east and west.”

I find her Kwan Yin creations true to the female Bodhisattva and her creativity seems boundless. She successfully combines traditional Raku with contemporary techniques, while integrating her Zen influences intrinsically into her art. Observing her pottery is a meditation in itself. Her actual Buddha pieces exude an exquisite subtlety and the results are refreshing and brimming with pure spontaneity.

Kuan Yin by Anita Feng

Buddah statue in blue, red copper, silver wonder. 18″ high, 9″ wide

Clouds Passing In Front of a Gold Crackle Raku Moon – Anita Feng

Anita Feng Buddha statue

Buddha Pendant

‘Cloud Computing Kwan Yin Goddess Angel’ – Anita Feng

Raku Buddha Garden Art

Clouds and Crackle Moon Raku Wall Hanging

11″ wide 8″ high

Raku Serving Dish

In Anita’s words :

A gorgeous, softly glowing shallow serving dish or bowl! Thrown on the wheel with embellished “handles” on the side. Decorated using the technique known as “naked raku”, which means that there is no glaze on the piece at all. The raw surface was burnished carefully before firing the first time. Then a thick slip was applied before the second raku firing. Afterwards, the slip flakes off and, voila, a lovely crackle pattern is revealed.

‘Pottery Buddha With a Golden Beauty Mark’ – Anita Feng

‘Laughing Buddha Pond’ – statue by Anita Feng

Seated Buddha – Anita Feng

‘Buddha with Colour’ sculpture – Anita Feng

‘Wall Art Buddha Head’ – Anita Feng

Raku Tea Bowl

‘Kwan Yin Goddess Statue in the Clouds’ – Anita Feng

‘Kwan Yin Emerging From the Golden Stream’ – Anita Feng

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2 Comments

The Raku Pottery technique

January 30, 2010

The Buddhabuilder

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The word “raku” means “happiness in the accident.” I have also seen an interpretation that says it is derived from the Kanji character meaning “enjoyment” or “ease”. Originally created for the Korean tea ceremony, this technique was subsequently found by ceramic adherents in the sixteenth century in Japan, where the great masters such as Sen no Rikyu were able to give full scope to the art based on a particular process: the fast removal of the piece from the furnace and covering it with flammable materials like natural wood sawdust to inhibit the absorption of oxygen to the molten enamel, which produced the characteristic cracking effect from the thermal shock. Also the colors were rendered with a more metallic appearance . The process of Raku firing differs from other firing methods because the pots are removed from the kiln at their maximum temperature.

The unique look of Japanese Raku pottery is achieved by utilizing  both smoke and fire in the Raku kiln to create an unpredictable and unique style. Firstly the pottery is bisque fired , than glazed and fired in a Raku Kiln followed by enhancement in a reduction chamber. As opposed to normal pottery firing where the wares cool down slowly in the kiln and removed with gloves, Raku ware is removed immediatly with tongs. In the traditional Japanese firing process, the pot is removed from the kiln while it is still glowing from the heat and put directly into water or allowed to cool in the open air

Glazing : Raku pottery can be produced from any clay, but if you use the special Raku clay it is more suited to withstand higher temperatures and thermal shock. After placing the completed piece in a kiln and firing it, you apply the Raku glaze by either spaying, brushing or sponging . Some of the Raku glazes produce cracking and result in a spider webbing effect. Also you can combine both a glazed and unglazed natural smokey effect on the pottery

Removal of raku pottery from a kiln at la porte du soleil, Paris

Raku Firing : The first step of bisque firing hardens the clay and needs a level of at least clone 08. Then the glaze is applied and virtually any low temperature glaze is appropriate for Raku. The next step is to fire in a Raku kiln ( F 1800 ) and leave for around 30 minutes before placing in the reduction chamber. A metal can with a lid can be used for this stage, even a metal rubbish bin will work ok and the pottery can remain in this chamber for 15 to 90 minutes. Combustible material such as wood, newspaper, cardboard and dried leaves can be used, they all produce a different effect. The smoke from these  materials all contribute to changing the colors and patterns of the Raku pottery. As the fire consumes the oxygen within the can, it also draws the oxygen out of the raku pottery and its glaze. This process is called post fire reduction. It is the post fire reduction stage that creates the unique look of raku pottery. The unpredictability of the process is essentially the result of the removal of oxygen in the reduction chamber.

Raku reduction on a bed of vegetable matter

The final stage is to dunk the piece in cold water and clean with a stiff brush or some abrasive material to remove the ash. Raku pottery is mainly used for decoration rather than being functional.

Raku pottery was first developed by Japanese potters in the 16th century and it still holds a mystique and is embraced by amateur and professional potters till this day. The appeal was heightened in Japan when the ware was created for use in Japanese tea ceremonies.

Raku Pottery Jug in Copper with glass melted over handles – Jaaon Outlaw

Wheel Thrown Raku Pottery by Jason Outaw and Rosalie De Fini Outlaw of Outlaw Pottery

Onion Bulb Shaped Raku Pottery Vase

Red Crow Pottery – Judy – flickr

Hand-carved Fuscia Vessel – Christopher Mathie

A vase glazed and fired using the Western Raku technique, showing the soot, crackle glazing, and random oxidation typical of this pottery form.

A red and black Raku chawan made by (and featuring the mark of) Ryonyu XI, potter of the 9th generation of Ryonyu potters.

Museum of Fine Arts, Lyon, France

la porte du soleil

More Raku see French Raku Studio

Julie Risak’s hand-built teapot.

K.Winograde Vase

An Elizabeth Ritter Raku Sculptured Horse

Hand thrown raku fired fumed copper matt bottles

Chris Hawkins

41 Torso 12 – Anthony Anderson

Raku torso with Copper Sand glaze. ceramic sculpture figure

“The Dancer”

Raku fired figurine, Charlotte Munning

website

Raku Jar alcohol fumed – Nick LaFone

Odyssey Center -River Arts

Raku Bottle with incisions – Lori Duncan

‘ Good Samaritan ‘ – Christopher Mathie

Christopher Mathie – Rich red raku vessel

My latest inspiration comes from middle eastern architecture. The pieces have minaret like tops on them and some are covered in gold or copper leaf. I also enjoy adding sculptural elements to my work.–

Gina Mars

Marianne Wulffraat-Kerami

Raku Vase – Manor Loft

Raku fired Aligator Pillow – Gise Trauttmansdorff

Hagi yaki ware Japanese tea bowl – Raku chawan – Keizo Takeshita

Janet Mansfield

John Kellum raku teapot

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8 Comments

The magic of Moorcroft

January 10, 2010

I have always loved Moorcroft designs, they are very distinctive and usually charactarized by an Art Nouveau influence , especially their hand decorated Florian Ware. William Moorcroft’s first production was in 1897 when he was working for James McIntyre The flambe, high temperature glazing techniques he pioneered with his father produced rich, deep and vibrant colours.In 1905 he established his own business and production flourished.

Moorcroft ware is aimed at the luxury end of the collector and gift markets, and are regarded as a worthy acquisition. They have a high secondary market value. In the sphere of collecting they always perform solidly and some pieces have appreciated in value by 50% in 6 years. The fact that they are hand crafted and possess distinct individuality maintains their ongoing appeal.

The Victoria & Albert museum has joined many other national museums in holding significant pieces of Moorcroft pottery in their permanent collections.

Maureen & Hugh Edwards currently have had sole ownership of Moorcroft since 1993 and they support the strong design ethic of this unique company.

Over the past nine years Moorcroft’s international profile has grown enormously, both in quality and in perceived value.

Auctioneers Christies hold a dedicated Moorcroft sale each year.

Moorcroft Anna Lily Vase

.Moorcroft “Pomegranate”

Hibiscus Cobalt Vase

Queen’s Choice Special. Designed by Emma Bossons


Moorcroft Mayfly vase
Hand painted Moorcroft “Tiger Lily ” vase

Moorcroft Moonlight Blue Vase

Moorcroft Hand Painted Clematis tube lined plate

Green Glaze Mushrooms

Flambe Fresia 12.5 inches tall

Designed by Beverly Wilkes

Flame-Anemone

Beverley Wilkes design ( Denhams )

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Aritayaki porcelin

December 19, 2009

Arita Japan is where one of the most famous styles of “yakimono” (Japanese Pottery) called Aritayaki (arita yaki) originates In the 16th century one of the potters in this region discovered Kaolin clay on Izumiyama (Izumi Mountain) in Arita,  and produced the first fine white porcelain in Japan. But during the 17th century the potter Sakaida Kakiemon achieved the polychrome overglaze enamel technique called “akae” from studying Chinese ware. He changed the monotonous wares in blue and white until then to colorful wares on which the red color was predominating.

The Arita potters began producing more innovative designs influenced by Persian and Indian patterns and diversifying there use of colors. This style of Japanese Pottery (Aritayaki Porcelain) is now among the most famous in the world. While Arita-yaki covers a vast range of ceramics today from decorative to practical, the exclusive pieces labeled Imari still bear the features of Old Imari and are highly admired both at home and abroad.

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