March 2013 - Ceramics and Pottery Arts and Resources

Monthly Archives: March 2013

Master Potter Shiro Tsujimura teaches Prime Minister

March 24, 2013

When the student is ready the master appears :

Past Japanese PM, Morihiro Hosokawa left the tough political arena for another path that was possibly just as demanding. After retiring from Japanese politics in 1998, he decided to retreat to a quieter life in the countryside of Japan. The plan was to do some reading, a bit of contemplation and stop to smell the cherry blossoms. But then on a whim he decided to learn pottery. Leafing through a pottery book wondering who would be an appropriate teacher, Shiro Tsujimura caught his attention, particularly for his Shigaraki pottery. Additionally his reputaion for being a gruff and wild spiritied master supported his decision as he didn’t want favouritism from being an ex PM.

Shiro Tsujimura at The Elusive Tea Bowl Workshop

When Shiro Tsujimura was younger he considered becoming a Zen monk, and underwent formal training at Sanshoji, a Zen temple monastery, until he took up the discipline of clay at the age of 22. He was no stranger to an austere lifestyle as Morihiro discovered after he was accepted to study with him. Shiro built his house and studio in the mountains at Nara, where he lived with his wife, 3 large dogs, around 20 cats and the bats, moths and insects that visited through the generous gaps in the walls. Sometimes for meals they would roam the woods looking for wild mushrooms and Hosokawa had to adapt to no mobile phone usage and an outside toilet made entirely of wood.

Tsujimura would rise at 6am and go to his wheel and start throwing and go through to mealtime around 7 pm. Hosokawa sat next to him at another wheel each day and watched and also threw clay. His instructions were succinct. ” Chuck it ” for abandon that attempt and start again, ” you ask too many questions ” if a question was asked and “stupid man” – for some encouragement. There is a saying, ” the less a master tells you the more you learn “. While in the studio, department store and gallery people would come to visit Tsujimura, asking him if he would like to do an exhibition. It didn’t register that the 73 year old man apprentice covered in clay used to be their Prime Minister. After 18 months Morihiro Hosokawa felt he had discovered the joy of using a pottery wheel and creating works and left to work in his own studio. Morihiro Hosokawa mostly makes tea ceremony ware, using many of the different glazes that characterise each of Japan’s famous pottery districts. Hosokawa also practices the art of calligraphy.

Morihiro Hosokawa on his pottery wheel

Hosokawa Morihiro garden ceramics

Morihiro Hosokawa

Morihiro Hosokawa Raku chawan

Stoneware tea bowl raku black – Morihiro Hosokawa

Black raku stoneware – Hosokawa 2008

( Five Colleges and Historic Deerfield Museum Consortium )

Morihiro Hosokawa

Tea Bowl Morihiro Hosokawa

Shigaraki fired vessel

Morihiro Hosokawa

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Works by Shiro Tsujimura :

Shiro’s summation of his artistic approach: “A lengthy period of study isn’t necessary to make good pieces,” “It’s not a matter of killing yourself over technique, but of the result. It’s not even whether you use a traditional wood-fire kiln or a gas kiln. That is, it’s not a matter of process, but of whether you make pieces in the image you hope for. In the end, it is the artistic goal, the spiritual aspect.”

Shino tea bowl

Shiro Tshujimura tea bowl

Iga Uzukumaru jar

Flower Vase Iga Style

( Ippodo Gallery )

Tsujimura Shiro Tea Bowl

( Lacoste Gallery )

Shino Sake Cup

Sake cup Ido style

Black oribe style tea bowl

Ido tea bowl

Iga Water Jar

Natural ash glaze large jar

Karatsu tea bowl

Expressive abstract Kohiki jar

Natural ash glaze faceted vase

Tea Bowl – Shiro Tshujimura

( Lesley Kehoe Galleries )

Natural ash glaze spherical vessel

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Other Japanese ceramics that have caught my attention lately :

Slab Molded Ikebana Vase

John Dix Chawan

( http://flyeschool.com )

Inayoshi Osamu

( http://flyeschool.com )

Modern Japanese Chawan Tea bowl – Kawai Toru

Takayuki Sakiyama

Tetsuya Ishiyama

( ippodo gallery New York )

Charger – Shoji Hamada

Ichino Masahiko

( Yufuku Gallery, Tokyo )

Mihara Ken

( Yufuku Gallery )

Maeta Akihiro porcelain faceted vase

( Yufuku Gallery )

…

Cited Sources –

www.e-yakimono.net/html/hosokawa-morihiro-jt.html

http://jmiyazawa.com/tag/shiro-tsujimura/

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Posted in: Creative, Japanese – 1 Comment

Clayart in animation

March 20, 2013

A 5,200-year-old bowl found in Iran’s Burnt City in the 1970’s featured a series of five images that researchers have identified as being sequential, much like those in a zoetrope. Giving the bowl a spin, one would see a goat leaping to snatch leaves from a tree, as seen in the video clip below. What is also interesting is the images were drawn in distinct frames, similar to a film strip.

The remarkable piece of pottery was unearthed from a burial site by Italian archaeologists, who hadn’t noticed the special relationship between the images that adorned the circumference. That discovery was made years later by Iranian archaeologist Dr. Mansur Sadjadi, who was later hired to direct the excavation of The Burnt City, located 57 kilometers from the city of Zabol in the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchestan.

While no one questions the early instance of animation, researchers have been at odds over the significance of the earthenware bowl’s artwork. It was originally thought to depict the goat eating from the Assyrian Tree of Life, but archaeologists now assert that it pre-dates the Assyrian civilization by a thousand years. Maybe some budding entrepreneur had it spinning on a pottery wheel and charged admission to come and witness the dancing goat.

While this is a rare example of a deliberate sequential animation, other techniques were also exploited to add an animated look to pottery. The pottery of many early civilizations have images that depicted their lifestyles. Village life, religious icons and rituals, sporting activities and other pursuits like hunting were a popular narrative. Several panels on pots were sometimes utilised and pottery imagery became a form of storytelling and historical documentation. The round surface quite often contributed to the perception of motion and added to the dynamic. Some pottery artists had the skills to create figurative imagery that was full of movement, sometimes supported by decorative patterns, which also have the ability to convey motion.

Figurative and decorative pottery art have maintained their popularity through the ages and they surely stir up deep psychological connections with the past. Both form, imagery and richer hotter colours contribute to an appearance of kinesis and these possibilities are explored below. It is notable that from a Feng Shui perspective, ceramic pieces that express movement are useful for placing in Chi static locations as they promote chi flow.

Amphora vase, designed by Eduard Stellmacher

( Treadway Toomey )

A Safavid Blue and White Bottle Vase, Persia, 17th Century .

( Sotheby’s )

Beth Tarkington

Lidded Jar – Birthe Flexner

Sascha Brastoff – red earthenware tribal wall plaque

( Eric Berg’s Early California Antiques )

Ceramic Mid-Century vase – Ruscha Milano

Claywork – A Little Company … Turtle Spiral

David Porras

Dragonware Plate – Rayven Vintage Etsy

[ Dragons are generally displayed with a lively dynamic ]

Eldreth Pottery

Island Girl Pottery – Etsy

Cut Wheat Vessel – Jennifer McCurdy

Rough Curly Vessel – Nicholas Bernard

Light Blue Teapot and Mug – Kelly Lynn Daniel

Mata Ortiz- ” Paquime Pottery”

Mitchell Grafton – Brown Snake jug

Model wearing paisley silk Balenciaga gown 1954

( An example of a static pose, creating a sense of movement by virtue of composition )

Plate with a hunting scene

Queen Tut Pillow by Gail Markiewicz

Satsuma ware Vase

Stig Lindberg.

Textured platter – Michael Kifer

( c2ceramics.blogspot )

The Statue of the Unkown Maroon – Port-Au-Prince. Haiti

Italian modernist vase -Elio Schiavon, circa 1960

Villeroy and Boch vase

( Treadway and Toomey )

18th/19th Century Oriental turquoise glazed twin handled bottle shaped vase

( Denhams Auctions )

Plate by Mara – emotions expressing movement

June Kaneko – spirals always convey motion

Hercules and the Hydra Serpent

Jennifer Mecca – Vase With Orange Flowers

Gliding Kuan Yin statue

Solomon Turning to Idolatry

Pierre Reymond (1513-1584) French enamelist

Three Raku Bottles

Raku fired fish

Alan and Rosemary Bennett – Cedar Creek Gallery

Denise Romecki

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F L U X from candas sisman on Vimeo.

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Posted in: Creative – 3 Comments

Sculptural artist – Allison Newsome

March 13, 2013

Allison Newsome’s detailed and intricate sculptures and ceramic reliefs address issues of the environment and how humans interact with it. Locations where she has resided such as the redwood forests in her native Northern California, Mexico and Prudence Island at Narragansett Bay have been sources of inspiration for her sculptural art. Her works all reflect an intimate connection with the elements. Clay-Ojai-Harvest, Shell Tree Gotto, Clay-Woman-Digging-Steamers typically traverse her ongoing themes of sustenance and the wilderness. Her body of work has explored the fundamental, utilitarian, methods implemented on our land and water and how our landscape and human psyche have changed from the wilderness to the agrarian, into the industrial / post industrial. Highly textural pieces combine with earthy palettes and splashes of colour to express her unique narrative. In addition to clay she also utilises other natural elements such as branches, shells, and flowers to create ephemeral sculptures.

Alison Newsome’s ceramic sculptures are in the permanent collections of The RISD Museum, the Newport Art Museum, Mobile Museum of Art in Alabama, and The Beatrice Wood Museum. Her artist residency at the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts in Ojai, California resulted in a strong body of work and a video http://www.beatricewood.com/allisonnewsome/newsome_video.html

Allison Newsome received a MFA from Rhode Island School of Design and a BFA from Chico State University.

Shell figure in a grotto

runnels and rivers

Bronze Woman Mining – Allison Newsome

Amphora workshop

Allison Newsome sculpture

Well shaft cups sculpture

Shell Tree Grotto

( The Cove installation )

Post Pre-Pottery Figurine Workshop – Thursday – Sunday, October 24 – 27, 2013

The Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts
Tel: 805-646-3381 or email us at [email protected].

Neolithic pre-pottery figurines (5,000.00-3,000.00 BC) as a metaphor and point of departure for clay sculpture.

Ojai Orange Pants collection

Pink Blossom Branches

Sespe Mountains

Shell tree in the grotto

High Tide

( On Island exhibition )

Factory Garden Folly

Clay Salt Marsh with Reclining figure

( Agrarian series )

Clay Orange Skirt

Clay Ojai Harvest

( Agrarian series )

Clay Nun Buoy with Pelican

( Aquatic series )

Clay Mid Channel Buoy

Clay Lighted Bell Buoys in progress

Apple blossom branch skirt

As in nature Allison pushes the extremes of her materials. Her combination of glazes heightens the drama and lustre of each work, giving life and motion to the sculpture.

The Harvard Amphora and the Figure workshop was a multi-disciplinary collaboration with University of Rhode Island’s Inner Space Center and included Amphorae research from Black Sea Byzantine shipwreck discoveries. The Amphora shape has long been associated with the human figure as it not only contains fluids, but makes figurative reference to the foot of the pot, the shoulder, the neck, and other aspects of the body.

Almonds Harvest

Sculpture from The Cove series

Water, rocks, clay and corn

Images of corn feature in Allisons sculptures. ( a universal symbol of connection to the Earth and ruled by the Earth Element – you can smell the earthiness in fresh corn )

Donkey night

Still of Three

Orange Tree

Allison at bronze factory – Strassacker, France

Balance of Water – during construction

Narra of the Narragansett – 2011

( Bronze sculpture )

updated

Garbage Patch Gyre Murale – 2013

Ceramic mural by Allison Newsome

Allison Newsome – Pastoral

Transport Amphora Commodities-2013 by Allison Newsome

-19th Century Neoclassical Sculpture-

Allison Newsome zoomorphic 2 workshop, Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, Ojai, California

‾

Sculpture Embraces Horticulture

Biomimicry ceramic raincatcher – exploring biomimicry with a series of three rain-cistern sculptures whose ceramic leaf shapes will assist in their collection and storage of water.

Ceramic Leaves – Biomimicry Raincatcher

Allison Newsome Biomimicry rain cistern sculpture

Raincatcher sculpture – Allison Newsome

Allison Newsome – Yellow flower ring raincatcher

Yellow Flower Raincatcher – Alison Newsome

Blithewold Mansion Gardens and Arboretum – Bristol, Rhode Island, USA

Lion Balustrades – Alison Newson

To be installed at the Audrain Museum, Rhode Island, Newport

…

a-newsome heart sculpture - three figures holding a heart

Bronze sculpture for Heart Health group – Allison Newsome

…

Alisons Website is HERE

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Posted in: Creative – 2 Comments

Rock Art from the Dreamtime.

March 7, 2013

Wandjina rock painting – ( Kimberley Foundation )

…

Aboriginal rock paintings in the Kimberley

Bradshaw/ Gwion Gwion

The Kimberley mountain ranges stretch across the northern tip of Western Australia. Joseph Bradshaw, an English pastoralist found the original rock art sites in 1891 on the Roe River in the north-west Kimberley. They became known as the Bradshaws, but currently the figures are more commonly known by their local Aboriginal name Gwion Gwion or Gwion, a name derived from one of the Aboriginal beliefs in the Kimberley that explains their origins. The Bradshaws are significant to world history because instead of depicting animals, they use humans as the primary subject. The use of humans as subjects is very rare for paleolithic art. This mysterious form of rock art could legitimately be referred to as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Ancient Bradshaw cave art paintings

( Bradshaw Foundation )

The late Graham Walsh, documented and studied the art for over 40 years. The combination of the pictures themselves and the oral history of the local tribes led Walsh to conclude that they were painted by an unknown Asiatic race before the last ice age. Walsh also concluded that they were a form of iconography. Walsh based his conclusions on the fact that the paintings showed no signs of development and simply appeared in their most advanced form.

It is an Aboriginal understanding that the fauna and flora of the landscape possess an ‘increase centre’ or an area of high electro-magnetic energy where the performance of correct rituals will increase the life essence or Kurunba stored. The natives know that it is not the actual paintings in the caves that activate the Kurunba but the rocks on which they are drawn; the rocks being imbued with the ‘spirit’ of the entities depicted. Sacred works of art such as the Wandjina act as powerful images, capable of stimulating and intensifying mind power during rituals, similar in nature to Vantras or designs used in Tantric meditative techniques. Bradshaw/Gwion rock art is best recognised from the depiction of graceful, active, long-bodied humans, often of a mulberry hue with tassels, hair adornments, and possibly clothing .

Bradshaw rock art figures

( Bradshaw Foundation )

Bradshaw rock art in the Kimberleys

( photo – Hugh Brown )

Bradshaw Tassel figures

( Kimberley foundation )

Gwion rock painting at King Edward River

Bradshaw/Gwion rock paintings

( Chris O’Connel photo )

Bradshaw rock art – Graham Ezzy – flickr

Bradshaw Art of the Kimberley

Wandjina

Here, in some distant age, mysterious enigmatic images of mouthless beings, some clad in robes and surrounded by what appears to be a halo, were inscribed on the rock faces of numerous caves. Sacred to the Aboriginal of the Kimberleys, the images are revered as awesome beings who in primeval times, wandered around the landscape, instructing the indigenous people in the use of weapons and tools and initiating the tribal laws, rites and customs, and after completing their task they disappeared into the heavens or into the ground. They called themselves Wandjina, sometimes spelled Wondjina.

Wandjinas, the other rock art style for which the Kimberley has long been famous, were first recorded by the explorer George Grey in the Kimberley in 1837 . These Wandjina sites are found in the Glenelg River area.

At least 4,000 years old, it is a living art form representing ancestral beings originating in the sea and the sky. Images of Wandjina are characterised by halo-like headdresses and mouthless faces with large round eyes, fringed with eyelashes, set either side of an ovate nose

The large scale, and solid or static appearance of the Wandjina art contrasts with the Bradshaw/ Gwion art, with its more delicate images of a usually smaller scale, and its less tangible connection with contemporary indigenous culture.

Bigge Island rock art – Kimberley WA

Kimberly rock art painting – Wandjina

Wandjina rock-art at Raft Point in the Kimberley

Raft Point Wandjina rock art

Wandjina rock art, Australia

( Stevo850 Flickr )

The Aboriginal people always drew only what they saw. They never expressed any creativity or fantasy in the rock paintings.

They believed the Wandjina’s are the originators of all human customs, and the inventor of all implements.

Aboriginal cave painting of a Wandjina

Moran River 2002

( bradshaw foundation )

Graham Walsh and Robert Hefner III

( bradshaw foundation )

Narwala Gabarnmang is covered on its ceiling and pillars with rock art, and only accessible by a 90 minute helicopter journey from the outback town of Katherine. Researchers consider the site one of the most extensive rock art sites in the world, described as the ‘Sistine Chapel’ of Australian rock art sites.

Ubirr, Nourlangie Rock and Nanguluwur are outstanding examples of Aboriginal rock art

Ubirr, Kakadu, Northern Territory

Kakadu rock art

Corroboree dance with String Cross

( bradshaw foundation )

Edward Blitner ?

Bark painting from western Arnhem-land depicting a woman with two dilly bags and a digging stick. The design was probably associated with ceremonies to increase fertility.

( Scala Archives )

Bark painting depicting two pairs of male and female figures, possibly spirit beings, with two snakes

Wandjina Serpent rock painting

Grahame Walsh views a painting of Cranes

( bradshaw foundation )

Mysterious Mountains – late Tapich Gloria Fletcher ( Thanakupi ), an Indigenous ceramicist and sculptor born in the remote Aboriginal community of Napranum, near the tip of Cape York Peninsula.

( Cairns Airport )

see more from a post on Thanakupi here

Bardi dancers from Western Australia at Stonehenge, the first Aboriginal dance group to stage a performance there.

Photo: Julian Andrews

Bark painting in X-ray style depicting a kangaroo and a hunter. The specific form of cross hatching served to associate paintings with individual clans and to endow the objects painted with spiritual force.

( Werner Forman Archive )

Bark painting from western ArnhemLand, depicting a legendary ‘Lightning Man’ or Wala-Undayna, one of the super-natural beings of the Dreamtime.

( Werner Forman Archive )

Churinga. It was believed that the ancestors of the Dreamtime and their weapons had become these sacred discs.They represent each person’s immortal spirit, while the design is a totemic pattern of the associated sacred site.

( Werner Forman Archive )

The Wandjina weren’t depicted with mouths because they never spoke, they only communicated telepathically, according to ancient beliefs.

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Posted in: Creative – 2 Comments

Clayart bliss at Vallauris

March 7, 2013

Vallauris ceramics invariably have a distinctive look, whether it be the the iridescent Art Nouveau wares from Massier, the vivacious, colourful, highly textured glazes or the expressive mid-century, modernist hand painted pieces that typically characterise the region’s pottery. The adventurous glazes of Vallauris were applied to both conventional forms and the more radical sculptural designs.

Gilbert Valentin – matt black glaze with red enamel pitcher

( Rago )

Evolution of Vallauris pottery

Located in a region in south-eastern France, Vallauris is nestled among low coastal hills and with its rich supply of clay, has been a pottery-making centre since Roman times. Originally the suppliers catered for the local market with culinary and garden wares and some exports. Following the arrival of the railways in 1873, production and distribution opened up and the region soon had around 50 producers.

The Massier family, a dynasty of potters dating back to before the French Revolution played a key role in the expansion of pottery innovation in Vallauris. Clément Massier began working with his father Jaques in 1856. After his father hired Gaetano Gandolfi, an Italian master-potter, Clement began training with him and pioneered several techniques and metallic glazes including their signature iridescent luster glazed pottery. Subsequently, production turned from utilitarian pottery to more individual artistic creations. He was also joined by his brother Delphin and cousin Jérôme, who soon formed the core of the producers at Massier. Jean Gerbino worked in the early twentieth century at Massier and was installed as a craftsman from 1930. Cedric Massier is the latest and sole practitioner of the family art in Vallauris.

Other traditional pottery production companies in Vallauris were Guige, Saltalamacchia, Gaunet Brothers and Foucard-Jourdan who produced domestic pots in ‘terres vernissés’, using traditional designs and techniques.

Jerome Massier iridescent glazed vase

( Liveauctioneers )

Clement Massier Art Nouveau vase

Delphin-Massier pitcher with female sculpture handle in mainly turquoise

Delphin Massier Vallauris Majolica Pitcher ( 19.5 inches )

Vallauris post war pottery revival.

In 1938 Suzanne and Georges Ramie founded the pottery workshop Madura in Vallauris. They produced traditional pure forms of the Provence highlighted with enamels. From the late 40’s, an influx of potters from different parts of the country gravitated to Vallauris, drawn by the attractive conditions of a small, old, picturesque, pottery town in the South of France with availability of material, a qualified work force, workshops, quality of life, and a cheaper cost of living.

Picasso arrived at the Madoura studio in 1946 to experiment with painted, sculptural ceramics. Also that year Roger Capron moved to Vallauris, where he founded a ceramics workshop known as ‘l`Atelier Callis’. Along with Picasso he contributed to the renaissance of ceramics in Vallauris. Other famous artists such as Marc Chagall, Edouard Pignon, Anton Prinner, Victor Brauner, also were introduced to ceramics at Vallauris. The location, once known as the ” city of 100 potters entered another”golden age” where it flourished again in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. The rich artistic fabric was further supported by ceramic artists such as Jean Derval, Roger Collet, Georges Jouve, Charles Voltz, Jacques Blin, Gilbert Portanier , Robert Picault, Marius Bessone, André Baud, Jacques Innocenti, Alexander Kostanda , Albert Thiry and Gilbert Valentin .

Hand painted clown face plate – Vallauris

Picasso Charger – Madoura

…

Vallauris had become a centre for the production of decorative ceramics and the influence of Picasso and Jean Cocteau had manifested itself in hand-thrown pots, decorated with freely painted figurative motifs.

In 1952, Roger Capron purchased an abandoned pottery in Vallauris and opened a small ceramics factory, with 15 workers. By 1957 he had established a considerable international reputation. In 1980 his factory employed 120 people and during that same decade he reverted to making one-off pieces which were shown internationally.

The potters in Vallauris catered, in the main, for a popular tourist market and only, to a much lesser extent, for a more discriminating public of art-minded collectors. However artistically ambitious works at affordable prices were produced both in artist potters studios as well as in workshops and factories. Vallauris currentlly has a Kitsch Museum which displays thousands of ceramic items that reflect the creative output from the 50’s to the 70’s where audacious art was made for the tourist market by anonymous ceramicists expressing their flamboyance.. Poodles, cicadas, domestic or exotic animals and other quirky creations populated a colourful universe. These were usually released under the ” Made In Vallauris ” label.

Large Vallauris mosaic pattern vase – Jean Gerbrino

( xupes art and antiques )

marius-bessone

Marius Bessone lava glaze lamp base

Jean Cocteau ( 1889-1963 ) Trois faces aux triangles

Impressionist Modern Art Auction

( Christie’ s )

Jean De Lespinasse – mid century cat motif rectangular dish

grandjean-jourdan-0-vallauris-vase-bud-vase-with-2-handles-ceramic

Grandjean Jourdan

French Vintage Vallauris Handpainted 3D Cicada Art Pottery Vase

Vallauris ceramic jug

Jean Gerbino Vallauris vase

Slip cast earthenware free form vase, decorated with ‘Écume de mer’ glaze ( sea foam ).

Vallauris 1960

Poreclain Vase – Vallauris

Charles Voltz Vallauris vase

Andre Baud vase

Vallauris. France

Jean Derval – 1925

( drouot.com )

Vallauris French antique, loop handled, drip glaze vase.

Mark Chagall – King David hand painted plate

( jane kaha )

Vase with bird motifs signed Vallauris

Marius Bessone vase – Vallauris

( tout vendre.fr )

Vallauris ceramic lidded vessel

Vallauris vase designed by Auguste Lucchesi

decorative-panel-with-a-dragonfly-man-by-roger-capron-on-artnet

Dragonfly man – Roger Capron

Vallauris vase decorated with parrots

Twin handled black Vallauris vase with white abstract piping

Roger Capron geometric modernist vase

Rue Centrale Vallauris

Jacques Blin

Polychrome kitschy modernist vase signed Vallauris

Petite Chocolatière – Charles Voltz

Vallauris

Vallauris art deco vase

( newdekorart )

le-cavalier-pablo-picasso-1950

‘Le Cavalier’ pitcher – Pablo Picasso

1950

Alexandre Kostanda

Traditional form with drip glaze

Alexandre Kostanda

meditation-par-roger-capron-sur-artnet-raku-1995

‘Meditation’ ceramic bust – Roger Capron

Vallauris Pitcher modern shape

Jaques Innocenti coffee set

Modernist sea foam glaze, free form vase signed Vallauris

( Collectors weekly.com )

Musee Jean Cocteau – Menton, France

Roger Capron – Vallauris

( Exposition “Biot reçoit Vallauris” )

Vallauris lava textured glaze vase

Large ceramic modernist platter – Vallauris

Floral decorated vase, Vallauris

Faïence Vase by Jacques Innocenti

Vallauris 1950’s

Roger Capron, Vallauris

Georges Jouve

Manuela Cervantes abstract vase, Vallauris, France

Clement Massier iridescent glaze planter

Sources cited – ceramicsconversations.blogspot.com.au

www.vallauris.org/

www.vallauris-golfe-juan.fr

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Posted in: Creative – 6 Comments

Three Canadian Potters

March 1, 2013

Judy Weeden

Bird at my window

Judy Weeden describes her approach to pottery :

” More than 37 years ago, I left an academic career in biology to immerse my hands and head in the making of pots, first in Fairbanks, Alaska and now on Saltspring Island, B.C. My first teachers and mentors were steeped in the Bauhaus tradition, but most of my understanding of clay as an artist’s medium has come from the mistakes, failures, hopes and successes the willful clay throws our way. Early in my potting career my work was wheel-thrown functional ware. Presently I am incorporating a broad range of forming methods such as slab assembly, slump and hump molding, throwing and altering, slip-casting, whatever it takes to achieve the forms I want. My pieces are still based on a vessel format and for the most part are meant for household use. Surface decoration with geometric and figurative patterns is achieved by slip-carving or impressing the malleable clay. Some forms require only a simple glaze. ”

Heron 2

” No two pots are ever alike. My primary goal is to create work that synthesizes beauty and harmony both in a functional and a decorative context. The pots have become a canvas for expressing my own relationship with the powerful natural world around me and my experiences in it. This canvas includes not only the life I see outside my studio window, but my own inner landscape with its needs for linearity and order, compassion for beauty and light, and a dedication to creating my share of these in the world. I hope my work speaks for itself with independence and fearless honesty. ”

Technique

” My major decorative strategy is slip-carving or slip inlay at the leather hard stage. The work is then bisque fired to harden it for the remaining steps in the process.

Following the bisque, pieces are covered with terra sigillata made from red firing clay or a felspathic glaze.

Recently, I have begun using underglazes in painting nature motifs on the pots. I like to restrict these colourful paintings to “windows” on the surface of the pots which requires making the pot with that in mind. Underglazing happens in the bisqued surface. ”

All stoneware pieces are fired to cone 10 in a propane kiln.

Asymmetrical lidded vessel

My Window – Judy Weeden

Owl Urn – Judy Weeden

Judy Weeden studio

Running the gauntlet- slab vase

Salt Spring Island Potter Judy Weeden

Teapot family broody hen

The Human Form – slab vase

Merimage teapot

Casserole – slab built

Crane 2

Evolution – covered jar

Judy Weeden website

Shane Norrie

Shane Norrie is a resident of Ingersoll, Ontario and has been pursuing a career as a ceramic artists and painter for over a decade. In 2003 he left behind a career in advertising in Toronto to become a full-time artist. As a ceramicist he has experimented with a range of styles, including Raku and produces distinctive organic, earthy tones and textures. His forms and surfaces successfully combine both traditional and contemporary aspects. “Although I experiment with many different types of clay, glazes, and firing methods, my interest is in surface effects and textures. I enjoy glazes that are transformed by the kilns and firing processes. I love to be surprised when I unload the kiln. I think my curiosity keeps my work fresh and interesting.”

To add to his many credits, the Ingersoll District Collegiate Institute created a scholarship in the artist’s name. The Shane Norrie Art Scholarship honours a graduating student who has chosen to pursue creative post-secondary studies in a visual art-related program. “Art was extremely important to me throughout high school, and I was honoured with a scholarship when I graduated. I thought it was appropriate to offer someone the same encouragement that I received”.

As a painter he favours traditional landscapes in both watercolours and acrylic.

Wheel thrown lichen bowl – Shane Norrie

Acorn Bottle – Shane Norrie

Shane Norrie landscape painting

Shane Norrie – shadow crackle vessel

Multi fired wall plate

Shane Norrie landscape painting

Shane Norrie sculpture

Wheel thrown and carved wall piece

Bronze acorn bottles

Shane Norrie

SHANE NORRIE – Paterson bottles

Long necked acorn bottles – Shane Norrie

Lidded Vessel

Below are some examples of Shane’s recent ceramics which are thinly-thrown, textured pieces, reminiscent of the ocean and its surroundings. Foamy tide pools, seashells and dry river beds are the inspiration for this new body of work.

Green Lidded Vessel

Pierced Lichen Bowl

Lichen Bowl Medium

Pierced Lichen Bowl with Red

Shane Norrie website

Steve Irvine

” Pottery has always been more to me than just a way to earn a living. Clay is an instrument of understanding — a way to look for meaning, truth and harmony in my life. Working in the arts also gives me the opportunity to bring a small degree of joy and beauty into other people’s lives, which helps me to find my place in the world.

I am mostly self taught, but I also spent three years as a ceramics major at Sheridan College School of Crafts and Design, in Mississauga, Ontario. In 1974, my wife Joan and I moved into an old country church on the Bruce Peninsula and I set up my pottery studio. I sell mostly on a wholesale basis to shops and galleries in Southern Ontario and I’m also a member of the Owen Sound Artists’ Co-op, which is a retail arts outlet run co-operatively by about 40 artists in the region. ”