Tales of a Red Clay Rambler: Carter Pottery

New work in the Surface show at the Schaller Gallery

2012-02-06T10:10:00.000-05:00

The Schaller Gallery is presenting Surface: Decoration, Layers, Drawing, Decals, Pattern, and Carving from now until February 20th. I'm excited to be in the show with many great artists. I'm particularly a fan of the jars by Ursula Hargins and Mark Knott. They show very different approaches to scale and surface in forms that are quite similar. Also check out Melissa Mencini's tumbler with the gold tricycle. Beyond the classic color combo, the glazes ground the tricycle on the same horizontal plane as the bottom of the cup. Nice use of a subtle color scheme to create gravity in the design. (On a total side note Golden Tricycles would be a great indie band name.) You can see more of each of the artist's work by clicking on the links to their websites.

Ursula Hargins

Click here to go to Ursula's website.

Mark Knott

Click here to go to Mark's website.

Melissa Mencini

Click here for Melissa's Art Axis page.

Susan Dewsnap

Click here for more information on Susan's work.

Aaron Sober

Click here for Aaron's website.

Andy Shaw

Click here for Andy's website.

Jil Franke

Click here for more info on Jil's work.

Kirk Lyttle

Click here for more images of Kirk's work.

This is one of the mugs that I have included in the exhibition. My offering includes mugs, plates, platters, butter dishes and teapots. You might recognize these mugs from the Merry Christmas Mugs post from late last year. Click here to see them in process. To check out the entire show go to www.schallergallery.com.

Bodhidharma, Shaolin and the Wutang Clan

2012-02-04T10:56:00.000-05:00

While sorting through pictures from last weeks trip to Japan I ran across these paper mache dolls from the Zen temple in Fujioka. What an experience to go from the solemn hues of the temple structures to these colorful dolls. These figurines of Bodhidharma are used to solidify a practitioner's wish for the future. At the turn of the year the dolls are piled up and burned as a way to release the prayers into the world.

For those unfamiliar with Bodhidharma he is the 28th member of the Buddhist lineage originating with the Śākyamuni Buddha. He is considered the first patriarch of Chinese Buddhism after he brought the religion to the Shaolin Monastary in Henan province. Being from south India the Chinese described him as "the blue eyed barbarian". (Click here for more on Bodhidharma) His large eyes along with furrowed brows and elongated ears would have made him stand out like a sore thumb in rural China. They helped create a tough persona that was backed by his intense meditation practice. Legend states he spent nine years in a remote cave meditating. After falling asleep in his seventh year he cut his eyelids off to prevent his sleeping. As the eyelids hit the ground the first tea leaves grew providing caffeine to help other meditators stay awake. His image is one of the most popular Buddhist icons of China and Japan.

You might recognize the name Shaolin from seventies era Kung Fu movies. Click here to see Jet Li's first film The Shaolin Temple. This connection goes back to Bodhidharma's introduction of martial arts practice to Shaolin's monks."Some Chinese accounts describe Bodhidharma as being disturbed by the poor physical shape of the Shaolin monks, after which he instructed them in techniques to maintain their physical condition as well as teaching meditation. He is said to have taught a series of external exercises called the Eighteen Arhat Hands (Shi-ba Lohan Shou), and an internal practice called the Sinew Metamorphosis Classic.^[27] " The temple is still active and regarded as a premier training ground. Click here to see a clip from Empty Mind, a documentary about residents of the current day temple.

If you were a teenager in the nineties you might also recognize Shaolin from the Wu Tang Clan. The famous rap group made numerous references to Shaolin in their album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). They even made a Play Station video game, Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style, that featured Method Man, RZA, and other members fighting martial arts masters. Although they only embrace the violent side of martial arts I think it is cool that a major rap group would ally themselves with an ancient Buddhist temple. Financially the game was a brilliant marketing scheme to attract young male gamers to Wu Tang's music. It makes me think I should produce a ceramic combat game. I'd like to see Shoji Hamada fight a Terracotta warrior. With a game like that we could recruit a whole new generation of ceramic artists/gamers.

The intersection between Buddhism and martial arts might have started in Shaolin but it became famous with Japan's Samurai class. They were often practitioners of Zen, a religious form that resulted from the mixing of Chinese Taoism and Buddhism. Ceramic artists owe much to the Samurai as they were instrumental in establishing the tea ceremony. Through this ritual both Buddhism and pottery where elevated in Japanese culture. During my stay in Japan I filmed a tea ceremony that my friend performed for me. In the next few weeks I will post that video and lots of images I took while visiting Mashiko and Tokyo.

Exploding into the New Year. Happy year of the Dragon!

2012-01-22T07:54:00.000-05:00

The sun is down and we have officially started the year of the dragon. The Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese New Year celebration, started tonight and goes for the next few weeks. The state transportation board estimates that the 1.3 billion person population will be taking 3.1 billion trips over the next 40 days. Check out this Reuters story about the Spring Festival being the largest human migration on earth.

While there are many many new year's traditions I wanted to highlight a few food and cleaning superstitions.

"Many people also abstain from eating meat on the first day of Chinese New Year because it is believed that this will ensure a long and happy life. Some may eat a whole fish, that represents togetherness and abundance, or a chicken with its head and feet intact, which symbolizes prosperity. Any noodles in your bowl should be left uncut, as a sign of long life. Plants and flowers also play a significant role in symbolizing rebirth and new growth. A home is thought to be lucky if a plant blooms on New Year's Day, as this foretells the start of a prosperous year. "
"Another Chinese superstition is that the entire house should be cleaned before New Year's Day. On New Year's Eve, all brooms, brushes, dusters, dust pans and other cleaning equipment are put away. Sweeping or dusting should not be done on New Year's Day for fear that good fortune will be swept away, which if you think about it does make some sense. After New Year's Day, the floors may be swept. Beginning at the door, the dust and rubbish are swept to the middle of the parlor, then placed in the corners and not taken or thrown out until the fifth day. At no time should the rubbish in the corners be trampled upon. In sweeping, there is a superstition that if you sweep the dirt out over the threshold, you will sweep one of the family members away. Also, to sweep the dust and dirt out of your house by the front entrance is to sweep away the good fortune of the family; it must always be swept inwards and then carried out, then no harm will follow. All dirt and rubbish must be taken out the back door."

To celebrate the year of Dragon here is a Sancai pitcher from the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.). A closer look shows the double handle is topped with a dragon head. Happy New Year!

How we learn pt 4: Oregon Trail and Incentivized Learning

2012-01-21T09:50:00.000-05:00

To join the conversation it might be helpful to read the other posts in this series.
How we learn pt. 1: Neural anatomy and the 15 minute teapot
How we learn pt. 2: Expanding the super highway of your mind
How we learn pt. 3: Empathy in the classroom

A teacher's challenge is to clue the student's brain to make neural pathways that can be reinforced for a durable memory. In this series I have focused on three methods for completing this challenge; repetitious exercises (building muscle memory by creating sets of objects), creating systems of thought (connecting new ideas with previous knowledge), and learning under dramatic stimulation (learning outside the comfort zone). I want to highlight a few more examples of each while discussing incentive systems that reward learning.

Of the three I mentioned, repetition is the most straight forward form of learning. The teacher administers a task and the student repeats the task until they are comfortable recalling the information. Unfortunately repetition can be one of the least engaging forms of learning. An exercise decreases in strength as the student looses interest. Think back to the boredom of elementary math class where you had to repeat problems over and over. I spent many days wanting to bang my head against the desk to prevent the numbing effects of multiplication tables. To break the monotony of repetition an incentive based assignment can be devised. The teacher harnesses the student's own desire for the reward to motivate them to complete the task. In a tutoring situation for younger children candy, or any sweet treat, could represent numbers in the student's daily problems. If the student successfully multiplies the red jelly beans by the green jelly beans eight out of ten times then they get to eat one bean. Beyond motivation the advantage of the sweet treat approach is that numbers move out of the abstract when objects represent their value. Using real objects engages parts of the brain that would be less active in a pen-to-paper exercise. In the public school arena, where a non food reward is more practical the student, could be rewarded with extra time playing an educational computer game. Anyone remember the computer stone age when Oregon Trail was the most popular educational game?

Competition can also be helpful in pushing a group of students out of the repetition rut. Partially replacing the standard ceramic production assignment with a skills based competition can be an engaging motivator. Instead of a class making 20 vase forms the goal could be to warm up with 10 before having a contest to see who can make the tallest vase. After the competition another 10 forms would be assigned to compare the difference before and after the competition. Two winners, one for tallest vase and one for most improvement, would be rewarded with a new horsehair brush for painting. Even shy students can be sucked into the entertainment of wobbly vases being stretched to their maximum height. When focused on an incentive students push past their own perceived limits. A physical competition encourages the individual to observe their fellow participant's methods, which can broaden their skill base.

The second method I mentioned is expanding understanding by creating systems of information. In the previous post I highlighted teaching with metaphors. A slight hiccup with this method is that the student might not understand the individual parts of the metaphor, therefore loosing the comparison embedded in the example. This happens to me all the time when I use sports metaphors with Chinese students that don't play western sports. One way around the confusion is to set up a student teacher role reversal. In this exercise the class is broken into small groups where each student is given the directive to use an example from their experience to explain the topic (i.e. observations of color theory principles in everyday life.) One by one the students rotate through being both instructor and student. The head teacher can reinforce the lesson by visiting each group and offering insight. This seminar style format is great for creating ownership in educational environments as well as encouraging the students to connect new ideas to their own experience.

The last method I mentioned is using dramatic stimuli to engage student awareness. The core of this method is harnessing the stimulated brain's ability to take in large amounts of information in a short amount of time. The emotional tension created by a new experience effectively primes the brain for input. Unfortunately the brain is not always selective in what it takes in. For instance think back to the first time you kissed someone. What do you remember about that experience? If there was music playing do you remember the song? I bet you remember details of that experience that in hindsight don't seem that important. Why did your brain use it's precious neural capacity to remember the color of that person's shirt? The easy answer is that it didn't know it wasn't supposed too. Our hormone stimulated brain can be impartial to the type of stimulation we receive.

(When looking for a semi-cheesy kiss photo I found a great article questioning if men better remember their first girlfriend or their first car. My first car was a grey 1991 Subaru Legacy. My first girl...had brown hair... I think. Click here for a funny read.)

In practice dramatic stimuli can be anything that takes the learner outside of the normal perimeters of their daily life. Changing the physical learning environment is one way to trigger an increase in attention and retention. Hands-on workshops are a common example of changing location to enhance learning. I recently visited a ceramic symposium where 21 artists gathered at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts to exchange surface design techniques. The ceramic world is prone to communal gatherings like this for many reasons, including social networking, relaxation and not least of all education. When we leave the comfort zone of our studios/classrooms we pay closer attention to the people and environment around us.

The larger point of this blog series is that a teacher armed with an understanding of brain function can engineer a more potent learning experience. I never want to be the teacher whose students say "I didn't learn anything in that class." I share equal responsibility with my students during the course of a class. I want every student to absorb as much information as they are willing to handle. Employing repetition, expansion and dramatic stimuli are just a few of the methods that create the neural pathways that encode our ideas. After listening to Radio Lab's Memory and Forgetting I am glad to know that at least some of the information I give students is being physically encoded in their brains. Now wither they remember any of it five years from now is whole other story.

The series How we Learn was inspired by WNYC's Radio Lab, a podcast that often tackles how our brain works. I recommend listening to Memory and Forgetting and Sleep, two great shows from season three. For more information please visit http://www.radiolab.org.

How we learn pt 3: Empathy in the classroom

2012-01-18T08:22:00.000-05:00

To join the conversation it might be helpful to read the other posts in this series.
How we learn pt. 1: Neural anatomy and the 15 minute teapot
How we learn pt. 2: Expanding the super highway of your mind

Before I go deeper into the methods I described in the last How we learn post I want to mention an area of teaching that can be challenging. As the more experienced partner in a student/teacher relationship it can be difficult to empathize with my student's lack of understanding. At times I find myself thinking "How does this not make sense to you? Is my explanation sub par? Are you working hard enough?" An idea that seems rudimentary to the teacher can appear intellectually out of reach to a student. A closer look at the learning process can help ease the gap between teacher and student.

As neural pathways are created information becomes accessible for recall. Unless these connections are eroded by inactivity, or brain injury (click here for a brain map and corresponding injury deficits), the information is stored with little effort. Knowledge that originally was a struggle to learn becomes intuitive and the learning process can easily be taken for granted. Part of connecting with students is being conscious of the difficulty inherent in every learning process. In the brain all new ideas are equally hard to grasp. The experience the brain has when a child is learning to spell is no simpler, or harder, than a PhD student working to master an advanced physics proof. While these examples happen under different durations both learners are attempting to make basic neural connections. Being reminded of this helps me be more patient when my students are struggling with a topic. To be an effective teacher I have to deliver information while trusting the natural evolution of the educational process. Students need time and space to make their own connections. It is good to remember that learning happens on the student's timeline not the teacher's.

When working with struggling students it is helpful to retrace the steps of my own learning. Working backwards from a point of understanding to the beginning of the learning process helps me rediscover instructional steps that I often overlook. (Do you tract your learning process while you learn? If you are like me probably not very often because it is a completely different thought process than simple recall.) I never know which part of my explanation will lead to an educational breakthrough. I have watched students have eureka moments with small pieces of information that seemed inconsequential at the time.

The last post in this series takes a deeper look at teaching techniques that strengthen neural pathways. I hope to post it in the next few days. Enjoy the day.

The series How we learn was inspired by WNYC's Radio Lab, a podcast that often tackles how our brain works. I recommend listening to Memory and Forgetting, and Sleep, two great shows from season three. For more information please visit http://www.radiolab.org.

Good bye 2011 - My top travel, music, and podcast favorites

2012-01-15T01:28:00.001-05:00

It's never too late for best-of lists. In 2011 I was fortunate to travel to new places and meet many wonderful people. Here are my top lists for travel, music, and podcasts. I'd love to hear your lists on the same topics.

Travel

Shanghai, China

Although I live in Shanghai full time I can have the "travel" experience just walking down the street.

Binzhou, Shandong Province, China

The first day of Chinese New Year was spent with a friend's family observing holiday rituals. They offered food, fake money and spirits to their ancestors. For more info click here. Boom Town pt. 2: The Shang Cemetery

Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China
The amount of human labor needed to construct Qin Shi Huang's Terracotta Army is mind blowing. One historical account lists that 700,000 laborers where used during the 40 years it took to complete the compound. Glad I got to see them late this summer. For more info click here. A few days in Xi'an pt. 2: The Terracotta Warriors

Yixing, Jiangsu Province, China
The labor of Yixing workers is equally impressive but very different from the Terracotta Warriors. Individuals often spend weeks working the surface of one teapot. This low volume/high price method of production is a dying scenario in China. I did a quick day trip to Yixing this fall. For more information click here. Yixing pt. 2: The Makers

Raglan, New Zealand

My favorite travel experience was the two weeks I spent in New Zealand last spring. The scenery and the people I met were first class. Between teaching engagements I had a blast playing adventure sports. For more information click here. Kiwi Kraft Pt 1: Dive, Jump, Climb, Paddle...I'm in love.

Music

Southern Independent Vol. 3.
Shooter Jennings describes this Southern Independent volume as "the rebel soundtrack of the summer of 2011". Amanda Shires offering What happened last night? is one of the sweetest tunes off this otherwise rowdy collection. Other songs include Have Gun Will Travel's To the victor goes the spoils and Outlaw Shit by Struggle ft. Yelawolf. You can download the compilation for free here.

Alexander Alexander
The infectious off-kilter rhythm of Truth makes it my favorite of the album. The neo-psychedelic quality of the album is very similar to Alexander's band- Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Click here to see the video.

Hanggai
Hanggai's Mongolian folk rock = Genghis Khan + Bon Jovi + Avett Brothers. This band caught me totally by surprise when I saw them at Shanghai's JZ Festival this fall. Click here to see a video.

Adele 21
The first time I heard Rolling in the Deep was while watching the Sam Brown directed video. Click here to see the video. I love the combination of her Aretha Franklin-style voice, the breaking dishes, and the Ninja/dancer filling the room with dust as she moves.

Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues
I am a big fan of their self titled release so I was glad that they hit a home run with the follow up. Great album start to finish. The Shrine/An Arguement is my favorite at the moment but like many good albums it keeps changing.

Podcasts

Brian R. Jonescast- Episode 7 The Molly Hatch Interview
Discussion with Molly Hatch about her studio life, design work with the company Anthropologie, and questions about success. Click here for more information.

Freakonomics Radio- Waiter there's a Physicist in my Soup!
Food science showdown- Molecular Gastronomy's Nathan Myhrvold vs Slow Food's Alice Waters. Click here for more info.

The Moth- Charlene Strong's It Wasn't Enough
Activist Charlene Strong tells a story of love and loss. (* Tear jerker alert *) Click here for more info.

Fresh Air- Two episodes stood out as classics. They both were part of Fresh Air's food week.
Alice Waters 40 years of Sustainable Food
An interview with Alice Waters, the founder of Chez Panisse and proponent of the slow food movement. Click here for more info. This is the same Alice Waters from the Freakanomics podcast that I mention above.

Grant Achatz: The Chef who Couldn't Taste
The story of avant-garde chef Grant Achatz. He started a popular and innovative restaurant but later lost his sense of taste after a bout with tongue cancer. Click here for more info.

1. Radio Lab- Memory and Forgetting

An explanation of the way our mind creates, stores, and forgets memories. Click here for more info.
This episode actually came out in 2007 but I only found it this summer. It sent me on a tangent, sparking a quest for me to understand neural anatomy and learning. The result was a blog series that I wrote about how we learn. Click here to read How we Learn Pt. 1: Neural Anatomy and the 15 minute teapot test.

RSDGG2GZGVC6

In the Studio: Rim to rim, foot to foot in Swannanoa

2012-01-09T01:34:00.000-05:00

I've had a blast during my recent studio vacation at Black Mountain Studios in Swannanoa, NC. I'm usually a heavy decorator so it's been a relaxing departure to only throw and trim forms. I worked full tilt making platters and serving bowls to help Maud with her production line. After running out of storage space we utilized that old stacking adage "rim to rim, foot to foot". I love to see the mirrored silhouettes of the bowls when they are stacked.

Over the course of the week I got to visit friends at the Arrowmont Surface Forum and Asheville's River Arts District. Ill post more pictures of those adventures in the near future. I head back to China Tuesday. Once I get settled I'll have more time to finish the recent blog series I started on learning and the brain. Until then happy potting!

How We Learn pt. 2 : Expanding the Super Highway of our Mind

2012-01-03T10:36:00.000-05:00

This post takes a deeper look at the neural anatomy behind our ability to learn. There are three ways that we can consciously strengthen the neural pathways that codify our ideas- repetition, expansion, and the experience of dramatic stimuli. To join the discussion you can read How we learn pt 1. Neural Anatomy and the 15 minute Teapot by clicking here.

A repetitious action, like centering clay on the wheel, creates muscle "memory". This "memory" is the record of the movements our body has undergone to manipulate the spinning clay around the central axis of the wheel. Everything from our hand position, to our engaged stomach muscles, to the watery feeling of slip on our fingers is recorded in chains of connected neurons. In the brain each series of movements looks like a storm of electrochemical impulses shooting down jagged pathways.(Click here for another explanation of this process.) The more a pathway is used the easier it is for the impulse to travel. Think about this like a needle wearing a groove in a record. With more repetition the needle is less likely to jump out of the groove. The mental equivalent to repeated action is memorization. During memorization thought patterns are repeated in the hope that we will retain information. The successful ability to recall information is a reflection of deepening connections between neurons.

One fascinating aspect of learning is that we revise our neural pathways based on the success, or failure, of our actions. In both mental and physical action we adjust our efforts to accomplish the goal (center the clay, remember the fact, etc.) in the most efficient way possible. Our brain records the learning process by strengthening the neural pathway that corresponds to the most effective method for achieving our goal. In addition, when our pathways are strengthened we no longer have to consciously think to be able to complete the action. What once seemed foreign now becomes second nature. Where it used to take ten minutes to center a lump of clay it now only takes one minute.

Photo by Alex S. Maclean

Expansion of a neural pathway happens when we connect ideas into larger hierarchies of information. Think about this as building new side roads on the super highway of your mind. As a teaching tool expansion is extremely effective because it uses what the student already knows to explain a concept that is less familiar. The use of metaphors is an example of the practice of expansion in the classroom.

A metaphor that I frequently use compares pottery to spoken language. I explain that it is helpful for the parts of a pot (lip, body, foot) to communicate one idea within the same form language (angular, volumetric, gestural). I reinforce this by explaining that it would be hard to understand someone who explains an idea starting in English, before switching to Spanish, and concluding in Chinese. The student's prior experience with languages helps their understanding of ceramic form language.

Another way to strengthen a pathway is to learn under dramatic circumstances. This is not to say that universities should move their class rooms to the sides of cliffs in the hope that the student's fear will make them retain information. (Wait... What am I saying... This is a great idea! How about we teach art history while hanging off the edge of El Capitan? I bet you could remember the dates of the Tang Dynasty if your life depended on it.) As we experience dramatic stimulation our awareness broadens to assimilate more information in a shorter amount of time. We can thank our ancient predators for this trait because it evolved to keep them from eating us. When we were running from the bear in the forest we had to quickly decide if it was better to climb a tree, throw a rock, or jump in the nearby river.

We will however reach a point where too much stimulation is negative. We have a fail safe that makes complex thought more difficult if our bodies are filled with hormones like adrenaline. During extreme circumstances our thought process shifts from testing mode to a more direct approach. "Which rock is best for killing the bear?" turns into "Throw any rock right now!". (To test this try to balance your check book the next time you have a heated argument with your spouse. Simple tasks are amazingly hard when you are filled with adrenaline.) As the fear threshold is passed our adrenaline shifts to enhance our physical strength while weakening our ability to make decisions and retain information. Now that we have eliminated our predators a small amount of dramatic stimuli can increase our awareness and be used for learning purposes.

My next post will focus on how we can use knowledge of neural anatomy to make us better teachers and students. Check back later in the week for the next installment.

The series How we Learn was inspired by WNYC's Radio Lab, a podcast that often tackles how our brain works. I recommend listening to Memory and Forgetting and Sleep, two great shows from season three. For more information please visit http://www.radiolab.org.

How we learn pt.1: Neural anatomy and the 15 minute teapot test

2011-12-29T13:28:00.000-05:00

One day last spring I sat my studio team down for our weekly meeting. We had previously been working through glaze chemistry and they had the "please don't make me do this again" look all over their faces. They instantly perked up when I switched to a hands-on clay exercise. I laid out the rules of the simple exercise. Make a teapot in fifteen minutes, no tools, no preconceived ideas. Ready... set... go! They laughed thinking I was joking until I pointed to the clock.

The first five minutes where painful to watch. Insecurity reigned as teapot bodies where pinched into form and immediately crushed back into balls of clay. This first level of idea making is very similar to fishing. Casting your line into the pool of ceramic form you hope to hook something that is at least recognizable. At the ten minute mark desperate ideas started to morph into functional volumes. The collective confidence of the group surged as spouts and handles where added. My coworkers cracked a smile as I called time and we sat back to critique our creations. With only fifteen minutes we had teapots that showed surprising clarity in design and form.

This stream of consciousness exercise recreates the naive feelings of a beginner student. As trained clay artists it is easy to lose the feeling of confusion and lack of direction that students experience. After all we know at least one answer to the questions we pose our students. Effective teachers have the ability to create empathetic links to their student's unsure state of knowing. Students need information, technique, and hope that they can push through their "not-knowing" to a sense of understanding. This is especially true of complicated subjects that do not have black and white answers. Subjects such as aesthetics and philosophy occupy the subtle grey areas of learning which can be both rewarding and frustrating for students. Behind this exercise there are many educational topics that deserve attention. In the next few posts I will highlight two specific areas- The role neural anatomy has on learning and how knowledge of this anatomy can change the way teachers communicate ideas.

Lets take a look at how the human brain grasps an idea. I am not a neuroscientist so please forgive the simplicity with which I discuss this topic. As we experience external stimulation our brain's billions of neurons record the sensations that we are experiencing. Individual neurons link together creating pathways for electrical impulses to travel through the brain. Picture an elaborate system of super highways that crisscross through your brain. Your memories, ideas, and identity are all manifestations of these connections. As we link new experiences to old information these pathways are revised. The saying "you will loose it if you don't use it" is actually true. The less a neural pathway is used the more likely it will be erased so the neurons can be used for more pressing matters. The human brain functions as a self-refreshing hard drive constantly updating with the most relevant information.

(Click here for a video that provides a great visual for this concept.)

To understand this concept try to recall the details of a hobby you enjoyed at a previous point in your life. Do you remember specifics or the general feeling of enjoyment you had while doing the hobby? When you stop engaging in the hobby the specifics are lost, or condensed into a few enjoyable memories. My example of this is my teenage preoccupation with concerts. I spent many years going to music festivals and trading recordings of the events. In my passion for the music I filled my brain with loads of statistics that were relevant to that specific context. I could recall set lists from exciting shows off the top of my head. As I moved onto other passions the neural pathways encoding these statistics loosened leaving those memories blurry. I would have to reengage those pathways with more stimuli (other concerts, conversations with people of similar interests, etc.) to be able to recall that information again. At some point unused information completely fades as the neurons are reassigned to new information.

The process of learning is fluid, organic, and infinitely flexible. We usually aren't aware of our learning until someone challenges us to recall information and prove our understanding. My next post covers how we take ownership of learning by consciously strengthening our neural pathways through repetitious action (practice), expansion (connecting to prior knowledge), or dramatic stimuli (learning under duress). Check back later in the week for the next installment.

This is the first post in a series on how we learn. The series was inspired by WNYC's Radio Lab, a podcast that often tackles how our brain works. I recommend listening to Memory and Forgetting and Sleep, two great shows from season three. For more information please visit http://www.radiolab.org.

In the Studio: Merry Christmas Mugs

2011-12-27T23:51:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas! (I know I'm a few days late.) I hope the holiday was fun and relaxing for those who celebrated it. I've been basking in the glory of home cooking. I'm back in the states for the next few weeks enjoying a much needed vacation. I'm having a bit of reverse culture shock but adjusting nicely to some down time. Ill be heading to Asheville on Friday to work for a week at Black Mountain Studios. Should be a great time making work with friends.

Here are a few pics of the mugs that I finished just before I left Shanghai. They came out of the kiln and went straight into a box to the Schaller Gallery. They should arrive in the next few weeks along with new platters. (Click here to see the work currently available at the gallery.) I decided to work with a set of 30 instead of my usual 10. Handles were the focus as I added and subtracted color to emphasize the line quality of the profile. I like the direction these handles are taking with their colorful interiors. I gleamed a few new deco ideas from these cups that I'm going to take into the next set of teapots that I make.

Guest Blogger Kristen Kieffer talks about Oribe Ware

2011-12-17T10:08:00.000-05:00

Serving dishes, Oribe-style Mino ware, Momoyama period, 16th c. Japan

When Ben asked me to choose a piece from ceramic history that has influenced my work, the choice was easy. Anyone who has heard me lecture about my process, or takes a quick trip through the influences on my blog knows I love ceramics and its history, but am more influenced by non-ceramic objects. However, over the years, pots ranging from Mexican Mimbres bowls to Nigerian Yoruba vessels and from Iranian lustreware to Illinois Haeger planters have influenced my forms and patterns. Lately though (if the last 10 years can be considered “lately”), I’m absolutely gaga over Oribe ware.

Most potters are familiar with the deep emerald, copper green glaze called “Oribe.” I don’t think it was until I worked with studio potter John Glick in the mid-90s that I became aware that it’s actually a type of Japanese pottery. And then it wasn’t until the early 00s that my fondness for Oribe ware began to evolve into adoration and influence. In 2003, I taught a workshop at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, which miraculously coincided in timing with the Met’s exhibition Turning Point: Oribe and the Arts of 16th century Japan. I bought the book, but am lucky to have had the luxury of seeing all those pots and shards in person.

I’ve had the picture of these five Oribe-style Mino ware serving dishes on my studio wall since that museum visit, hoping to absorb a bit of their simultaneous strength and softness into my own pots. When I find something new I love, I have two goals: figure out what I love about that object and then figure out how to apply that idea to my work. It takes me time to understand what the (often intangible) characteristic is I’d like to capture. Every object has a design lesson(s) to offer. “Is it the form, lines, attitude, texture, function…?” I ask myself. My hope is to distill a favorite object down to its design core and apply one or more of those basic elements with a combination of others. Sometimes I can’t determine what it is that I love about an object; other times, I can’t figure out how to apply that idea to my work. Some objects remain a mystery.

The surface decoration of the Oribe ware was mostly what called to me from the beginning, but it wasn’t that simple. In 2010, I began to add stripes and polka dots of color to pop out my raised, slip-trail patterns, particularly for the lighter glaze colors in my palette. It was a conscious, formal decision to add more color for fun, use the color to draw one’s eye around the form, and layer the patterns for impact. It wasn’t until after I started adding the stripes and dots that I thought again about the Mino vessels.

What strikes me most about each container, and Oribe ware in general, is how the amorphous, drippy green compliments and contrasts over the geometric form and its surface design. I have no desire to simply add drippy, dark green glaze to my pots (though I soda-fired for a decade in part because it added a similar visual softness). I tend to translate my influences for design more indirectly, rather than quoting directly. Though I love the dots and stripes and am sure those patterns filtered into my subconscious off my studio wall, I didn’t add dots and stripes to my pots because of these containers. What I really want to capture from Oribe ware (the design nugget I gleaned) is the contrast in layering: the fluid (the drippy green) over the geometric (the iron patterns). I’m a “precise” maker (thanks to Pete Pinnell for that word instead of “tight”), and while I prefer symmetry, structure and organization, I also want my work to be visually soft, joyful and elegant. So my use of fluid slip-trail lines, swirls and patterns layered over crisp stripes is my interpretation of drippy green over geometric shapes.

I don’t think anyone would look at my work and say, “I see Oribe,” nor do I expect or even want them to. As I mentioned, I’m influenced by a variety of things (Art Nouveau lines, cake fondant shapes, Elizabethan fabric textures among many others). It’s the diversity of my influences combined with my personality as a maker that results in unique work. What I want my buyers to see is me; what I hope they’ll relate to are all the bits and pieces of influence that make up “me” in my pots.

Thank you, Ben, for the invitation to think and write about these favorite vessels!

Kristen Kieffer is a studio potter, teacher, and workshop leader living in central Massachusetts. I had the opportunity to take one of her workshops in 2006. Her input helped shape the way I think about surface and texture. I highly recommend you take her workshop but if you can't make one in person Kristen's video on surface design is a great way to experience her teaching in the comfort of your own home. Click here for more information or visit her site http://kiefferceramics.com.

This post is part of a series called Turning Points where artists discuss the effect historical ceramics has had on their studio life. Check back later for more posts on this topic.

Check out my show Between the Fence Posts at the Charlie Cummings Gallery

2011-12-12T10:52:00.000-05:00

I'm excited to see my show Between the Fence Posts up online at the Charlie Cummings Gallery. It will run until January 15th.Click here to see the show. A big thanks to Charlie who did a great job photographing the work. I look forward to hearing which pieces you guys like the best.

Here are a few thoughts about this body of work.

"Between the Fence Posts was created as I lived outside of my own cultural landscape. My role as an outsider has imbued the decorative motifs that I use with a deeper sense of nostalgia. This body of work is the culmination of a longing for home and my personal identity as an American.

Clay is manipulated into shapes that have convex bulges that reference pillows and tufted furniture. This overfilled aesthetic is a visual metaphor for the comfort of southern hospitality. The white picket fence, the quintessential symbol of Americana, creates a cultural context for the work. The accompanying floral patterns establish an aesthetic that relates to the casual nature of folk art. Verdant blooming flowers are captured in decorative form bringing nature into the home and reconnecting people to the beauty of their physical landscape.

My work evokes community, embodying personal times that are a counterpoint to our work-centered society. Surface decoration is used to create nostalgia for a time when communal meals were the core of communication. Well-made functional pottery calls us back to the table where the heart of our family beats."

In the Studio: Dagwood's Five Lobed Plates

2011-12-07T10:47:00.000-05:00

I've been working on five-lobed plates for the last few weeks. This is the second incarnation of the form. The first batch will be in the show I'm having at the Charlie Cummings Gallery that opens at the end of the week. Click here for pics of the last set. I decided to take a different approach by skipping the wheel and hand building them this time. These are slab built over bisque molds. The middle insert is flat so there is no need for a foot. It also reinforces the rim and sets up a great five panel division for decorating.

I'm looking forward to seeing these finished and in the kitchen. They have a shallow profile that is great for pasta but I see them holding a huge Dagwood sandwich like this one. Kinda makes me hungry...

And the Winner is...Brett Freund

2011-12-02T02:01:00.000-05:00

My super-secret-random-number-generator selected Brett Freund to receive the Thanksgiving give away tumbler.

I am a big fan of the dense layering Brett uses to build his images. His intricate drawings on ceramics show the influence of graffiti/street art. He states about his work "I enjoy investigating patterns of aesthetics and symbols in order to produce a mash up of form and imagery. Flash art, designer toys, and pop culture are all identifiers that inform my work." I have posted a few images of his work above. You can visit brettfreund.com to find out more about his work.

Brett's work shares many similarities to the musical mash ups that blend prerecorded music to make new songs. Check out this mashup of the Rolling Stones and the Dandy Wahols done by mashup artist Pheugoo.

In the Studio: Nothing says Happy Thanksgiving like an oval platter

2011-11-29T14:12:00.000-05:00

I'm still full from Thanksgiving. I had actual turkey this year courtesy of Bubba's in Pudong. Thats right I did say Bubba's. Texas style BBQ has a surprising foot hold in Shanghai. Full size ovens are rare so most Americans have their turkeys cooked by a restaurant. It was delicious and we thankfully had enough for turkey sandwiches the day after. We had a pot luck complete with stuffing, sweet potatoes and an apple crisp.

The meal pictured above was not actually from Thanksgiving but I had to grab my camera to capture the colors. Cherry tomatoes are always good for a picture. This lunch feast was faithfully prepared by our PWS Ayi. Her mushrooms with cilantro where a nice compliment to the salty taste of the fried chicken. One major perk of my job is that we have a home cook meal everyday at noon. Makes the company feel more like a family.

In the studio I have been working on oval plates and platters. The large rimmed platters are about 12 inches long and are designed for fish or meat. They are based on woven wicker bread baskets. I've been slip trailing the exterior shape to loosen up the edges. The smaller oval plate is sandwich sized with a slight curve to hold the food from rolling out when you carry it. I look forward to getting these glazed and fired in the next few weeks.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I'll be doing my Thanksgiving give away drawing December 1st. If you would like to participate in the chance to win a tumbler check out my last post by clicking here. Have a good week.

Free Pottery! Would you like this tumbler?

2011-11-21T11:42:00.000-05:00

It has been great to have the encouragement of other artists and patrons over the years. I will be randomly selecting a new owner for this tumbler from my mailing list on December 1st. If you haven't already joined please click here to fill out the sign up form. Both new and old subscribers are eligible.

The tumbler form is one that I started making a few years ago. This one is made from Yixing stoneware covered with sgraffito drawings through Jingdezhen porcelain slip. At around 4 inches tall it is perfect for sweet iced tea. Here is an image of it surrounded by its tea brethren.

Check out my studio visit in the December issue of Ceramics Monthly

2011-11-17T19:25:00.003-05:00

I'm very excited to be featured in the December issue of Ceramics Monthly. I want to thank Jessica Knapp for asking me to submit the article about my studio life in China. She deserves a high five for the work she put into making this happen. You can access this article on Ceramics Monthly's site by clicking here. To learn more about the Pottery Workshop organization that I am a part of please visit our site by clicking here.

To download the article for better viewing click here.

Jazz guitarist Josh Maxey's new album Approach

2011-11-16T12:01:00.000-05:00

Jazz guitarist/composer Josh Maxey's latest offering, Approach, is a straight ahead trio album featuring Brian Charette on Hammond B3 organ and McClenty Hunter on drums. (For more information click here.) This stripped down lineup allows plenty of room for the musicians to improv over the compositions. In a radio age flush with heavily produced songs it is refreshing to hear the clean sound of three musicians with only their instruments.

Approach is the second album in an extended suite of six. Maxey falls into the uber-productive category with his plan to release the suite within two years. I have a hard time wrapping my head around this musical feat. Imagine having six solo shows that relate to each other but are independent in their own right over the span of twenty four months.

I plan to post a full interview with Mr. Maxey about his life and music in the near future. I've uploaded three songs to the music player on the right side bar of this blog. They are the title track from Maxey's release Incarnate, "Lineage" from the Approach album, and "Light and Sound" from Maxey's early band Plan A. I've also posted "Greens and Blues" from the Incarnate album below. It features guitar great Rodney Jones sitting in with Maxey. Enjoy!

The blog hits lucky number 10,000

2011-11-14T12:14:00.000-05:00

Tales of a Red Clay Rambler just reached 10,000 visits! I'm very appreciative for everyone's support over the years. The blog has become one of the main ways I communicate with fellow artists and friends. The feed back and support I have received has been a much needed life line throughout my travels.

I'll be doing a cup give away in the next few weeks to celebrate and thank you guys. More details to come. Thanks again.

Yixing: The Clay Pt. 4

2011-11-09T10:43:00.000-05:00

The drive way of the big pot museum was lined with mill stones stacked on their sides. From the pictures above you can see how massive the stones are. Their circumference varied based on how long each was in use. The older method of mill stone grinding involved a horizontal rotary system. Mule or human power would have been used to turn small mill stones that lay on top of each other. A more recent method involved a mechanical dual stone system. In this method two vertical stones roll slowly around a lower horizontal stone. The compression crushes the parent rock into a fine dust. After the stone is pulverized it would be soaked in settling ponds for many years before it could be worked to a plastic state.

I am fascinated by the geologic time it takes for clay to become workable. The parent rock for Yixing clay is a sedimentary stone local to the Yixing area (the striated rock pictured above). Over hundreds of thousands of years igneous rocks from local mountain ranges were eroded by wind, rain, and the freeze/thaw cycle. Over thousands more years this erosion collected in low lying areas where it rehardened. In total we are talking about a process that stretches over millions of years. This is mind boggling to me. I touch clay everyday but I rarely consider the time it took to come into being.

Over the process of erosion and sedimentation the Yixing clay picked up large amounts of Iron. This coupled with trace amounts of Manganese give the clay it's unusual purple color. Their are many clays in the world but few have the same purple mixture of colorants. For my fellow tech nerds I have included a chemical analysis and a list of comparable terracotta clays in China.

Seeing the process of preparing the clay was a fitting end for my trip to Yixing. We saw so much in one day but I left feeling like I saw so little. Every studio had a new technique or piece of history that I want to absorb. I will try to visit the area again before I leave China.

This post is the final in a series about Yixing teapots. They are produced in the town of Dingshan, which borders the city of Yixing in Jiangsu Province.

Click here for the first post - Yixing: An Evolving Teapot Tradition

Click here for the second post- Yixing: The Makers

Click here for the third post- Yixing: BIG Pots

Highlights from Interpreting the Cup: Process, Influence, and Intent

2011-11-06T12:43:00.000-05:00

Pattie Chalmers

Jennifer Allen

Israel Davis

Jr. Kane

Nicholas Bivins

Wanted to post a quick follow up with highlights from Interpreting the Cup at Crimson Laurel Gallery. Pattie Chalmer's Practicing Tea with the Queen was one of my favorite interpretations of the theme. Her Queen Elizabeth look-a-like seems quite content to have her fantasy high tea with the queen's picture. After seeing this show I wish it could have been held at NCECA. This would be a great teaching tool for students who are learning to create diversity around a central theme.

For more work by these artists check out their websites.

Pattie Chalmers www.pattiechalmers.com

Jennifer Allen www.jenallenceramics.com

Israel Davis israeldavis.com

Nicholas Bivins www.nicholasbivins.com

Cups and saucers were my contribution to the show. I've been working on patterns that are as pleasing to touch as they are to look at.

Interpreting the Cup opens at Midnight

2011-11-05T01:49:00.000-04:00

The Crimson Laurel Gallery opened the Interpreting the Cup invitational at midnight tonight. This is yet another great cup show that has gone online in the last week. Jason Bige Burnett curated the show around the cup form as a starting point for ceramic art. It's great to see how this form was interpreted by sculptors and vessel makers.

After a quick viewing my favorite work is this sculptural form by Lisa Clague. It is both sculpture and vessel as the top head comes off to be used as a functional cup. Clague has a unique approach to color and line, as well as eye contact and body language in her figures. Check out more of her work on her website by clicking here.

The show will run through the end of the year at www.crimsonlaurelgallery.com.

Get'em while their Hot! New work in Cup: The Intimate Object VII

2011-11-01T10:06:00.000-04:00

Shawn Spangler

Autumn Cipala

Brian R. Jones

Doug Peltzman

Erin Paradis

Jason Bige Burnett

Mel Griffin

Sue Terrill

Cup: The Intimate Object VII opened last night at the Charlie Cummings Gallery. (Click here to see it.) In only ten hours so many good cups are already sold. You better get there quick before they are all gone!

I posted a few of my favorites above along with the artist's websites below. The straggler at the bottom is one of my contributions to the show. Enjoy.

Shawn Spangler http://www.shawnspangler.com
Autumn Cipala http://www.autumncipala.com
Brian R. Jones http://www.brianrjones.com
Doug Peltzmen http://www.dougpeltzman.com
Erin Paradis http://erinparadis.blogspot.com
Jason Bige Burnett http://jasonbigeburnett.com
Mel Griffin http://www.melgriffin.com
Sue Terrill http://www.suetirrell.com

Chandra Debuse's Playscapes

2011-10-30T10:45:00.000-04:00

" These objects become playscapes for pattern and character to frolic, inviting human fingers to also roam the topography, seeking out their own morsels of delight. "

Chandra Debuse's latest show Playscapes is a visual treat. The show features functional pots covered with drawings of animals dancing, skating, and stretching. She uses these postures to create imaginative scenarios full of play, desire, and attitude.

I am a big fan of Chandra's negotiation of two and three dimensional space. She deftly switches between the volumetric curves of her thrown, or slab built forms, to the bouncing drawn lines of her images. I also appreciate her technical approach to image making. Her tool box is wide open as she employs mishima, underglaze painting, glaze inlay and sgraffito. The variation in line quality between these techniques keeps my eyes moving around the pots.

My favorite pot in this show is the Reach Teapot pictured above. One side of the teapot features the squirrel stretching towards the spout. The other side reveals the nut that could be the reward of his hard work. This overextended reach is a metaphor for the desire to meet our self imposed goals. Such a simple image explains so much about human nature.

To see the whole Playscape show online at the Charlie Cummings Gallery click here. The show opened October 17th and runs through November 17th. Here is Chandra's full statement about this body of work.

"As a maker of functional pottery, I use narrative imagery, pattern and form to encourage a playful sense of discovery. The intimacy of using a handmade object infused with bouncing lines, candy-colors, low-relief and hand-drawn elements beckons users to ponder the playful message on each item.
Recently I moved from south Florida to the mountains of eastern Tennessee. Although Gatlinburg and West Palm Beach are 800 miles apart and are situated in different climates, the similarities between the two places are remarkable. Both areas contain natural landscapes of astounding beauty, but many visitors forego trips to the ocean or the mountains for a more contrived setting, such as a world-class golf resort, theme park, or outlet mall. Through observing landscapes of leisure in these two regions: (parks, golf courses, beaches, swimming pools), I am inspired to create voluminous three-dimensional forms with manicured, controlled surfaces and divided spaces. I create salt and pepper landscapes, multi-level treat servers, and jars, plates, cups, or bowls with hand-drawn characters engaging in various playful activities. Because I consider all surfaces of my objects as canvas, imagery often wraps around a piece. These objects become playscapes for pattern and character to frolic, inviting human fingers to also roam the topography, seeking out their own morsels of delight. Often it is only through experiencing the piece: physically holding it, exploring it, and hopefully using it, can the whole image be seen. It is my hope that through this interaction between user and object, a playful attitude is sparked."

Yixing: BIG pots pt. 3

2011-10-22T22:58:00.000-04:00

The biggest surprise of my Yixing trip was viewing their big pot tradition for the first time. I have been using Yixing big pot clay for my own work for the past 18 months but I had yet to see one of the pots in person. They knocked my socks off to say the least.

The tradition ranges from closed jars to "planter" shapes. Originally used for pickling and food storage these are now mostly decorative. The building technique is a variation of coiling and paddling that is similar to the Korean Onggi style of big pot making (Click here to see a video). The jars are paddled from the outside while the potter holds a textured wooden support on the inside. The inside support leaves a texture made of many small circles. This row of fine polka dots is highlighted by the rich amber glaze.

The decoration is applied by smearing on white clay. I'm impressed with the gestural quality and range of mark making that are possible with this smear technique. After the white clay is applied they scratch in details that make the images pop from the background. (Look at the line work in the bird feathers below.) Getting the white clay on thick enough to catch the glaze but thin enough not to crack must have been a challenge. The other technical difficulty is that these were most likely raw glazed. The thought of raw glazing a four foot tall pot seems like a daunting task. It is a fine testament to the problem solving that allowed them to adjust the shrinkage of all the materials to fit on large scale work. (I saw a video at NCECA of people raw glazing large pots. Two glazers rolled each pot in a vat of glaze before it was quickly pulled out. The pots were a few feet tall and they glazed them in about 3 seconds!)

I was struck by the similarity between these pots and some of the 19th Century Alkaline glazed stoneware of the Carolinas. Within the broad spectrum of the earth's ceramic materials potters have come up with similar glaze formulas on opposite sides of the world. This is partly due to the chemical function of the materials. Silica acts like silica no matter where the kiln is fired but it also points to an intuitive human preference for colors, surfaces, and forms. Through its behavior clay seems to tell potters what it should look like.

The pots pictured above are from the late Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) dynasties. They are in a privately held collection owned by one of the modern masters of the teapot tradition. We visited his compound which housed a small museum and a kiln. The picture below shows me standing near the fire box of their Anagama. The front chamber was functional while the back chamber was used for demonstration purposes. For non-potters walking inside a kiln is a great chance to understand the process.

In the picture below you can see the saggars stacked inside the chamber. They would have been used to fire the teapots. Saggar firing was the norm for most ceramic traditions that used wood for fuel. They keep the wood ash from touching the pots and create unique reduction atmospheres. The high iron nature of Yixing clay dictates that it should be fired in oxidation. Heavy reduction creates bloating in the body and causes the red iron oxide to turn to black iron killing the unique red brown quality of the fired clay.

My last post about Yixing will be about the clay itself. Both the big pot and teapot traditions would not be possible without the unique quality of the clay. Check back later in the week for the next post.

This post is the third in a series about Yixing teapots. They are produced in the town of Dingshan, which borders the city of Yixing in Jiangsu Province.

Click here for the first post in the series - Yixing: An Evolving Teapot Tradition

Click here for the second post in the series- Yixing: The Makers

Kids, coffee, and crates

2011-10-20T12:39:00.000-04:00

A quick photo essay from a full day at the Pottery Workshop.

It started with a painting class from the Shanghai Center Preschool. Move over Franz Kline these kids put abstract expressionism in perspective today. They painted with a wreckless abandon that only a 3 year-old waiting for snack time can possess.

The coffee shots are courtesy of my friend Guo's luke warm cappuccino. I worked the inside/outside deco scheme for this last set that I made. I like the sprig of dogwood that you discover as you get to the bottom of the cup. The light coffee color of the cappuccino is a nice contrast to the porcelain slip. It warms up the green under glaze and sets off the overall color scheme. Always nice to see how the user can make or break a functional pot by what they choose to put in it. The set of six is now a regular part of our coffee shop rotation.

The end of my day was spent packing a crate that will ship out tomorrow. This four by three foot crate is the biggest thing I've ever shipped. I had to get inside so I could safely pack the boxes in the bottom. In the end 63 pieces, or sets, will go to the Charlie Cummings Gallery for my late November opening. Check out Chandra Debuse's Playscapes that just went online at CC Gallery a few days ago. She is showing a diverse body of work that includes squirrel, bat, and bunny drawings.

Wanna watch me make this handle disappear?

2011-10-17T13:18:00.000-04:00

Camouflage, the under appreciated design principle. Now you see it, now you don't. (Late night slide shoot = pottery jokes. Good night.)

Check out my new work online at the Schaller Gallery

2011-10-16T11:49:00.000-04:00

Glad to be showing new work with the Schaller Gallery in St. Joseph, Michigan. A big thanks to Anthony for posting the serving dishes that arrived on the slow boat from China this month. The square plate pictured above is posted online. Click here to see the other work that is available. Hope you enjoy.

In the Studio: Tea Three Ways

2011-10-13T11:35:00.000-04:00

In the midst of my Yixing posts I thought it would be nice to post a few images of the tea related forms I've been making. I'm approaching tea from three distinct perspectives- a southern American perspective making pitchers/tumblers for sweet iced tea, a British perspective making teapots with cups/saucers for hot black tea, and a Chinese perspective making teapots with teacups for green tea. I want to eventually develop these forms into a full exhibition focusing on tea history in the different cultures.

The difference in scale with the pots really jumped out at me when I put one of the green tea pots beside the pitcher. It is definitely the runt of the litter. It looks small but one of my friends actually told me today that it's still too big. Needs to be smaller so the tea can cool faster. This goes along with the taste preference for green teas to steep for a very short time. Until moving to China I had no idea how different green tea was from the black tea that I knew. Growing up in Virginia brewing tea meant hanging four bags of Lipton over the side of the pitcher until the water cooled. For green tea steeping this long would taste pretty bad. Green tea works better as a subtle flavor. Think about the last time you tasted artificial green tea flavor like green tea ice cream. It just doesn't work as a fake flavor because it looses its subtlety in chemical replication. Its comes across heavy handed and kinda gross.

On the decoration front I like where the pattern is going on the British style dogwood teapot. I'm working an over/under switch with the fence motif. The handle side has the decoration overlap the fence and the handle making a camouflage affect. The spout side goes underneath the fence making for a subtle shift. I just finished the last batch of pots for the next few weeks but I already want to use the over/under on my next batch of plates. Ill be glazing tomorrow night and then the photographing/packing process starts.

These will all go to the my show "Between the Fence Posts" at the Charlie Cummings Gallery. It will be posted in late November on www.claylink.com. Looking forward to hearing what you guys think about this body of work when it goes online.

Yixing pt 2: The Makers

2011-10-10T13:05:00.001-04:00

Seeing tools spread out on a table always lures me in. I have to suppress the urge to pick them up. I silently remind the excited little kid that lives in my head "Those are their tools. You can look but don't touch". I settle for imagining what they can be used for. There are ribs, strips of horn, pencil shaped pieces of wood, paddles, and a variety of measuring devices that I have never seen before. Each tool accentuates the arsenal of techniques that are used by the Yixing makers. Over hundreds of years a unique tradition of making has evolved that centers around precision and craftsmanship for functional tea ware.

The potters and their studios share an unusual characteristic. They were almost all spotless. The potters sit at wooden tables with their tools laid out like they are ceramic doctors preparing for surgery. There is no dust, no clay scraps, nothing extra that can inadvertently scar the surface of the pots. The environment is clinical. Even random piles of tools are clean. The only excess clay that can be seen is a fist size lump of clay that is used for patching imperfections. This approach to a clean studio carries over into the burnished surfaces and detailed lines of their aesthetic.

Each potter works on small groups of pots. They are the sole focus until they are completed. There is no rush because there is no mass production. It was refreshing to see a Chinese tradition where quality instead of quantity is most important. This idea is unfortunately rare for many goods produced in modern China. Builders have an especially dubious reputation for their shoddy concrete faced with marble veneers. Walking through a Chinese building site is like biting into a shiny apple only to realize the core is rotten.

Most of the teapots are hand built with thin slabs. They are pounded flat with wooden mallets before they are bent and stretched to make the bodies, spouts, and handles. It was interested to see they trap air inside the forms by sealing them at both ends. In picture six above you can see the space for the lid is sealed with a slab. This helps create internal air pressure, allowing the outside surface to be repeatedly burnished without the pot collapsing.

Teapot forms can take days, or weeks, to complete so premature drying can be a problem. They have an inventive solution that keeps all the parts at a workable state. Beside each potters table was a large jar covered with a wooden lid wrapped in fabric. This jar was half filled with bricks that elevate a moist clay slab. Teapot bodies, lids, and spouts can be laid on the slab making a miniature terrarium. Picture nine above shows one of the jars holding three teapots. This simple solution makes good use of the pickling jars that are produced in Yixing.

My favorite aspect of visiting the makers was seeing their pride as they showed us the prized teapots they had made. Competitions judge the best teapots and they are often displayed in glass cases with commemorative plaques. One master had an impressive collection of award winning teapots that he displayed alongside a bottle of locally brewed Tsingtao beer that had his face on it. I like that an artist working in a traditional material can be recognized for his achievements. Famous teapot masters can fetch high prices for their pots. We saw one selling for a whopping 210,000 RMB, or about 3,300 USD. (Click here to see it.This explains the BMW's that we saw cruising through the streets of Dingshan.) To put that in perspective the average income for Chinese in the wealthy city of Shanghai is 1800 RMB per month. It would be great if functional teapots could catch on as a luxury item in the west. Boutique potteries could line the streets of Beverly Hills and Madison Avenue pushing out the likes of Prada, Gucci, and Louie Vuitton. One can only dream...

My next post will be about the lesser known Yixing tradition of making large storage vessels that are used for pickling. Here is an teaser image featuring an image of a crab scurrying across the sand.

This post if the second in a series about Yixing teapots. They are produced in the town of Dingshan, which borders the city of Yixing in Jiangsu Province. Check back later in the week for the next post.
Click here for the first post in the series - Yixing: An Evolving Teapot Tradition

Yixing: An evolving teapot tradition Pt.1

2011-10-04T13:54:00.000-04:00

I had the recent pleasure of visiting Dingshan, a town outside the city of Yixing that is known for producing small unglazed teapots. The teapots are highly regarded for their refined forms and burnished surfaces. The tradition owes much to the clay found in the hills surrounding the area. The stoneware/terracotta hybrid fires to 1100 C leaving it mildly porous. The unfired color ranges from chocolate brown to the famous maroon-purple variety with a fired range of warm orange to a greenish-grey. The purple Zisha clay is the most expensive, but also the most plastic, making it the best for building intricate teapots. (The purple hue is very similar to the iron based colorant crocus martis. Click here for a post on making Terra Sig using crocus martis and a ball mill.)

There are direct stylistic lineages from master to student which could be seen as we walked from shop to shop. When asked the younger potters proudly told us the name of their teachers to show they were included in the tradition. One artist showed me a book that listed all of the "masters" of the tradition as determined by the local government. Although this is largely a political distinction I found respect for elders within the tradition to be a unifying point for the community. I wonder if openly acknowledging a tradition allows younger members more freedom to innovate. Although copying was prevalent Yixing showed more originality within a set tradition than I have seen in other ceramic producing areas.

The images above show a contemporary approach to sculptural teapot forms. While still utilitarian the teapot functions as a blank canvas for a variety of subject matter ranging from nature, to abstraction, to machines. The beautifully surfaced faucet teapot is a good example with its subtle simulated texture of cast steel. Before seeing the artists work in person I would have sworn this was slip cast. The artists of Yixing are capable of achieving unreal levels of hand built detail. There devotion to craftsmanship reaches near religious levels. We met makers that spend two weeks completing one teapot. After finishing the teapot they start another version making slight changes to the form while working in a similar aesthetic.

This style of making grew to match the tea culture that blossomed out of the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127 AD). The more I learn about Chinese tea the more I am amazed by the differences it holds with western tea traditions. In my studio I have been making three tea forms that are vastly different in scale and function; small scale teapots with cups from the Chinese tradition, larger teapots with cups and saucers from the British tradition, and iced tea sets of tumblers and pitchers from the southern American tradition. In the near future I will expand these contrasts developing a full exhibition based on the cross cultural tradition of tea drinking.

This Wikipedia article explains the types of tea that can be prepared in Yixing teapots.

"Yixing teapots are meant for use with black and oolong teas, as well as aged pǔ’ěr tea. They can also be used for green or white tea, but the water must be allowed to cool to around 85 degrees Celsius before pouring the water into the pot. Yixing teapots absorb a tiny amount of tea into the pot during brewing. After prolonged use, the pot will develop a coating that retains the flavor and color of the tea. It is for this reason that soap should not be used to clean Yixing teapots. Instead, it should be rinsed with fresh water and allowed to air-dry. A studious tea connoisseur will only steep one type of tea in a particular pot, so as not to corrupt the flavor that has been absorbed.

Traditionally, some Chinese would pour the tea from the spout directly into their mouths.

Yixing teapots are smaller than their western counterparts as the tea is often brewed for only a few seconds before it is served to guests. Reusing the same tea leaves multiple times, the first brew of the tea leaf is usually used only to clean tea, teapot, and cups and is not to be consumed. Chinese people traditionally drink from cups that hold less than one ounce of liquid and are simply repeatedly filled so that they may cool rapidly but can be ingested before the tea becomes cold."

This post if the first in a series about Yixing teapots. They are produced in the town of Dingshan, which borders the city of Yixing in Jiangsu Province. Check back later in the week for the next post about the artists and their process of building a teapot.

PWS Shanghai Fall Open House

2011-09-27T04:58:00.000-04:00

We hosted a community open house at PWSSH last Friday. This was the official welcoming party to celebrate our new studio on Shaanxi Lu. We first moved in last February but needed the extra time to finish renovations. The new location has been perfect for our growing ceramics community. We have upgraded our kilns, glaze facilities, and studio space as well as added a coffee shop and gallery. I truly believe the "if you build it they will come" mentality. It has been great to see our class sizes grow steadily since we moved in.

The open house was a chance for us to welcome old friends to the new space and make a few new ones in the process. The support we received was greater than expected. Between 60-80 people participated in the painting and hand building demonstrations. The best part was that they were almost all new to our workshop. Their excitement reminds me of the power that clay has to captivate individuals. I see people's excitement everyday in class but this giddy show of enthusiasm surprised me. It was refreshing to see adults laughing and giggling like school kids as they made their first pot.

In the gallery we held a wood fire exhibition featuring Marc Lancet and Masakazu Kusakabe. Both artists where in attendance for a book signing of the new Chinese translation of their book Japanese Wood Firing. Kusakabe is known as an innovator of smokeless wood kiln designs. (Click here for a Ceramic Arts Daily article on the design). In addition to being an urban friendly design the kiln produces dramatic fired surfaces in relatively short firing cycles. Marc's tea bowl pictured above was one of the nicest in the show. The PWS Jingdezhen is now hosting Marc and Kusakabe for a week long wood firing workshop.

During the week prior to the open house Marc, Kusakabe, Guo Yuhong and I made a quick trip to Yixing to see teapot makers. Ill write more about that in my next post. For a little teaser check out this bamboo inspired teapot. Amazing detail.

The EPIC ceramic week- Yixing, pitcher decorating and an open house

2011-09-25T13:11:00.000-04:00

I try not to use the word epic lightly. It's weighty emphasis is best reserved for Greek poetry and ground breaking skate board tricks. One of my favorite associations with the word is the Aspen Highlands Ski Mountain's "Epic Flag". (Click here to see the flag) This flag is a communal rallying call for locals to hit the slopes for powder that usually breaks above the knee. The winter I lived in Aspen my coworkers spoke of the flag as if it were a mighty deity blessing the mountain with its holy presence. There is no ceramic equivalent to this sacred cloth but if there were I would now be waving it proudly above my head. My last week was truly epic.

On Monday we welcomed Marc Lancet and Masakazu Kusakabe to the PWSSH for an exhibition of wood fired ceramics. The exhibition coincided with a book signing for the new Chinese translation of their book Japanese Wood Firing. On Wednesday we hopped on a bus for a day trip to Yixing. This area is rich with teapot makers that specialize in highly refined unglazed teapots. What a treat to see one of China's most notable ceramic traditions first hand. After six hours of touring studios we hurried back to prepare for a community open house that marked the official opening of our newly renovated studio/gallery/coffee shop. On Friday the community showed up in force packing our studio while enjoying painting and throwing demonstrations. Squeezed in between all of the week's commotion I finished decorating pitchers and worked on paperwork for the PWS 25th Anniversary show that we will have at NCECA next year.

I will write more about all of these events in the near future. For now I'm taking a breather as I sort through the pictures and get ready for next week. If it is as eventful as this past one I might have to make our own ceramic EPIC flag to hang outside the studio.

In the studio: New tureen forms

2011-09-15T12:38:00.001-04:00

I'm cranking out pots as the deadline for my next show quickly approaches. This week I'm working on tureen forms. These have matching bowls that complete a great set for autumn stews. Its good to make pots now for the meals I want to eat in the near future. My mind and stomach are collaborating on this form.

This version is about 13 inches wide, which makes for a massive lid. Still trying to find the right weight for all the parts. Tureens are a good technical/functional challenge because they have to be thick enough to survive slip dipping but thin enough to pick up when they are full of soup. These are my first proper tureens so I'm in the "working out the kinks" stage. Any suggestions for tureens would be much appreciated.

I'm really enjoying the side handles. I think I'll make oval servers too so I can start elaborating on the handle itself. Ovals are great for sticking the handles out into open space. So many ideas, so little time.

Emily Reason and WVU stop by for a Xinjiang meal

2011-09-12T11:10:00.001-04:00

I spent a great evening this weekend with Emily Reason and a group of West Virginia University ceramic students heading to Jingdezhen. Emily will be one of the guest instructors during the three month study abroad program. WVU has a studio on the campus of the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute making it the only American art program with a permanent footprint in China. (Click here for more information on the program and its founder Bob Anderson.)

The group came for a studio visit before we headed across town for a Xinjiang meal. This style of food comes from the mountainous far western province that shares borders with Russia, Mongolia, India and the Stans ( Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan). The food is similar to the middle east both in flavor and texture. My favorite dishes of the night were the roasted lamb and the lightly fried chick peas. The peppered flavors were spicy but not so much that they overwhelm the combination of cumin, ginger, and garlic.

The second picture from the top shows our dessert of candied yams. For this dish boiled yams are soaked in a hot sugar sauce. As the yams cool the sauce hardens into a thin sweet coating. You must quickly dip the pieces in water before the mixture hardens into one solid mountain of candy. The sweetness and soft texture of this dish complement the robust spice of the meat and vegetables.

Here is a recipe for making the spice powder that is frequently used on grilled meat and veggies. Enjoy!

1/4 cup cumin seed

2 tablespoons dried szechuan chile flakes

2 tablespoons black pepper

1 tablespoon szechuan peppercorns

1 tablespoon ground ginger powder

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

1. Toast Sichuan peppercorns til fragrant. Toast cumin until lightly browned.
2. Grind Sichuan peppercorns, cumin, chili flakes and black pepper in a spice grinder.
3. Stir in remaining ingredients.

A few days in Xi'an pt.3 Tang sculpture from the Shaanxi History Museum

2011-09-05T13:22:00.002-04:00

As a vessel maker I am interested in defining spaces that would otherwise be formless. By manipulating the line between internal volume and external silhouette, vessels can catch the deep in-breath of life just before the exhalation of decay. Nature provides examples of this bulging state of fullness in the forms of ripe fruit and blooms. It was a bit of a surprise that my favorite objects to display this fullness where not the vessels. In a museum full of pots I couldn't take my eyes off the Tang Dynasty sculptures. Their smoothly modeled forms and bright colors kept drawing my attention.

The sculptures pictured in this post represent areas of power within Tang society. The camel is a symbol of financial power that came from trade. The court women are symbols of social power derived from beauty and status. The figure of the heavenly god is a symbol of spiritual power gained through ritual. The horse is a symbol for military power. (The Tang were experts in horse breeding and were the first to intermix the Arabian breed to create a stronger faster war horse. This was a major leap in technology that created military success. Click here for an article about the importance of horses in Chinese culture.) In a little less than three hundred years the Tang dynasty made major strides in many areas of cultural development included these areas of power.

Beyond their cultural importance these sculptures are great examples of skill. From a technical standpoint it is impressive to see the mass of the horse's body elevated over four thin ceramic legs. It must have been a huge challenge to get this four foot tall sculpture into a kiln. Looking at surface treatments the figure of the heavenly god is an excellent example of texture and color complementing an active form. On the other end of the spectrum the smooth facial features of the court woman show a more restrained approach to surface. The curve and the light red blush of the court woman's cheeks softens the ceramic surface in a subtle stylization of feminine beauty. The variety of surfaces and modeling quality of these sculptures shows the commanding range of skill that the Tang sculptors possessed.

If your in Xi'an the history museum is well worth an afternoon visit. Two to three hours will be enough to look through the main collection. Tickets are handed out in the morning and mid afternoon so come prepared and don't get stuck waiting in line. I will be posting more images of pots and sculpture from the museum on my Facebook page in the next few weeks. (Please click here to visit.)

This is the last installment of a travel series on the Northern Chinese City of Xi'an. The first two installments can be viewed by clicking the following links

A few days in Xi'an pt.1 The City Wall and the Muslim Quarter

A few days in Xi'an pt. 2 The Terracotta Warriors

Craft for Clunkers at Black Mountain Studios

2011-09-01T12:35:00.001-04:00

My good friends Austin and Maud Boleman of Black Mountain Studios are teaming up with Asheville area potters to host Craft for Clunkers. As of today you can bring in any commercially made mug (you know the one with a cat on it that you reluctantly bought to support your neighbor's kids field trip last year) and receive a hand made mug of your choice in return. A $10-$20 donation is encouraged and all proceeds go to the Craft Emergency Relief Fund. Each participant will have a "mug shot" taken and they will be posted online. This is a great way to support American craft and CERF.

Many great artists have donated mugs including Kyle Carpenter, John Britt, and Betsy Grey. I donated a mug (circa 2008) that looks similar to the one pictured above. The fundraiser will continue until October 16th. The mugs are chosen on a first-come first-serve basis so go for a visit as soon as you can. For more information on Craft for Clunkers please visit Black Mountain Studios Facebook fan page by clicking here.

For more on the Craft Emergency Relief Fund please visit their site at craftemergency.org.

"CERF+ accomplishes its mission through direct financial and educational assistance to craft artists including emergency relief assistance, business development support, and resources and referrals on topics such as health, safety, and insurance. CERF+ develops, promotes, and maintains resources for emergency readiness and recovery that benefit all artists. CERF+ also advocates, engages in research, and backs policy that supports craft artists' careers."

A few days in Xi'an pt.2 The Terracotta Warriors

2011-08-21T13:50:00.000-04:00

One of the highlights from my trip was finally seeing the Terracotta Warriors. For those who may not be familiar with the warriors let me give a quick history. The army was built to surround the tomb of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi. During his rule the Qin Dynasty emerged out of the warring states period establishing a singular written script, national road system and other infrastructure that became the foundation for a unified China. The army is part of a larger burial complex spread over 22 square miles. (In comparison the Island of Manhattan in New York City is 22.7 square miles.) Since farmers first discovered a warrior shard in 1975 a slow excavation has taken place. While most of the network of 600 pits has not been excavated, approximately 7,000 figures have already been found. (For more detailed history check out this article from the Smithsonian Magazine.)

The museum that I visited is focused on three main pits. The stark contrast between the exterior building and the interior pits is breath taking. My first view of the warriors will be permanently burnt into my memory. After a short 10 ft hallway the building opens up to a room that spans the entire length of the pit. The pit is 750 ft by 200ft, or roughly the size of 2 football fields stacked longways. The buildings high partitioned roof allows light to bath the figures while keeping them safe from the elements. After visiting all three pits I felt humbled from the amount of labor involved in the creation of the army. I have a hard time wrapping my head around the output of skilled labor that was necessary to individually detail the armor, facial features, and weapons of the warriors. Even from its beginning China has been willing to expend man power on a scale that few others can match.

One of my favorite images of the trip is the eighth picture from the top. Fragments of the warriors are scattered around the pit like a puzzle waiting to be finished. Some of the fragmentation was caused by looters ransacking the warriors for their metal weapons and some was the natural effect of burial. Imagine the difficult reality of excavating this site. The picture above it shows pigment samples that where left in the dirt surrounding one of the warrior's hands. After more than 2000 years the warriors, like the sun bleached sculptures of Greek antiquity, have completely lost their original color. It is interesting how time reduces a material to its most durable color.

My visit to the warriors left me wondering what our culture will leave behind. Our burial practices don't include objects as durable as ceramic replicas, so how will future generations look back at our time? Will we be remembered by the non-biodegradable Mcdonalds cartons that fill our landfills, or for the art that hangs in our museums? Will we organize our wealth to document our living history, or will we focus on transient pleasures while fading into obscurity? Will the digital age step in allowing the individual and the culture to record its history in a permanent but invisible data cloud? These questions show that our distant history is often the best inspiration to live and document a more memorable life in the present.

This is the second installment of a travel series on the Northern Chinese City of Xi'an. The first installment can be viewed by clicking the following link A few days in Xi'an pt.1 The City Wall and the Muslim Quarter. Check back later in the week for the next post on sculpture from the Shaanxi History Museum.

A few days in Xi'an pt.1 The City Wall and the Muslim Quarter

2011-08-18T12:11:00.000-04:00

I just returned from the northern Chinese city of Xi'an. One of the four ancient capitals of China, Xi'an now serves as the provincial capital of Shaanxi. This city of eight million was the easternmost origin of the Silk Road. Long term trade with the middle east has created a culture rich in people, religion, and material goods.

Xi'an's city wall is a unique remnant of a more violent time. It's hard to imagine a time when you needed a 40 foot wall to keep your enemies out. It lends whole new meaning to the term "gated community". Guard post structures are perched at the four corners of the wall. Archers were placed along the ramparts at 120 meter intervals to allow maximum ground coverage in the face of attack. Even with the early invention of explosives breaking into this city was no easy task. The fourth picture above shows the beautiful but imposing nature of the gate houses. They are in the architectural style of the Tang era with elongated roof spans that round up at the corners. Chinese city walls were designed to be a psychological deterrent as well as a physical one. Every aspect of the design is a show of power.

Although the earliest wall was started in the second century B.C. the current wall dates to the Ming dynasty (late 1300's). The wall's four sides subdivide the center of the city. As transportation methods evolved the wall was adapted to fit the size requirements of automobiles. It was a bit surreal to watch cars drive through gates that where constructed eight hundred years ago. Every time I passed underneath I felt I would walk back in time to find horse drawn carts and open marketplaces on the other side.

The top of the wall is more than 20 feet wide making biking and walking a popular activity. For 20 RMB (around 3 U.S.D) you can rent a bike and ride the 8 mile circumference. As I pedaled over the roughly hewn cobblestones I experienced a fascinating but unusual view of the city. The sensation was that of a giant looking down on a much smaller society. The height of the wall enabled me to be in the middle of the city without having to interact with the crowds of people. This was a peaceful break from the commotion of the tourist trade.

One corner of the wall forms the boundary of the Muslim Quarter. This area is known for its food and thriving night market. We spent an evening sampling the best street food that Xi'an had to offer. I went for the lamb sticks, which were well-spiced and hot off the open charcoal grill. (Click here for an excellent Muslim quarter photo essay by the Art of Backpacking.) The variety of meat on display confirmed this was not a place for the vegetarians among us. Sunflower seeds, honey candy, dried fruit, and sweet breads covered the desert options. I settled on dried kiwi to add a little color to my meat filled dinner. If not for my full stomach I could have walked through the Muslim Quarter for hours.

This market is a great example of the effect capitalist commerce has on mixing old and new China. The art of selling blurs time periods and styles reducing every object to a base commodity. Within the back alley maze of vendors you can buy everything from traditional paper cuttings, to ObamaMao Tshirts, to whole legs of lamb. There was very little order in each booth's display. Surprisingly this visual smorgasbord was not overwhelming. The sales people where pleasantly nonaggressive compared to Shanghai's fake markets where they pull on your shirt sleeve wanting to sell you the "highest quality" copy of your favorite products. As one of China's most popular tourist cities Xi'an strikes the perfect balance between respecting the past and packaging it for easy consumption by foreign visitors like myself.

This is the first installment of a travel series on the Northern Chinese City of Xi'an. Check back later in the week for the next post on the Terracotta Warriors.

Pot of the Day V.6- Tricolored Bowl and Plate - Jin Dynasty - 1115 -1234

2011-08-14T13:41:00.000-04:00

These lead glazed beauties where made during the Jin dynasty. They show the glaze influence of the Tang sancai ware that was made in the Shaanxi area a few hundred years earlier. I don't know too much about this dynasty which makes these pieces an exciting new find for me. The Jin was a Northern dynasty that held power around the same time as the Song dynasty. They officially fell in 1234 after Ghenghis Kahn swept into mainland China from Mongolia.

The swift sgraffito drawings attracted me to these pots. The curvilinear lines of the fish motif are a nice contrast to the banded concentric circles. Seeing this surface treatment reminds me of Kathryn Finnerty's work. Her raised images and runny translucent glazes make her one of my favorite contemporary potters.Click here to visit her website.

The Pot of the Day series features art that I encounter on my museum visits. These pots are from the Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, China. The museum features art excavated within Shaanxi province. Xi'an was the imperial capital of multiple dynasties including the Tang dynasty. Click here to check out the museum website.

A week of firsts- Xi'an and Beijing Sneak Peek

2011-08-10T14:53:00.000-04:00

I feel rejuvenated after a short vacation to Xi'an and Beijing. It was my first visit to Xi'an and the terracotta warriors. Wow, what an experience. Every clay lover should make the pilgrimage to this holy of holies at some point in their lives.

I will be doing a travel series on my trip in the next few weeks. Enjoy the sneak peek.

Dog Day Afternoons

2011-08-04T10:32:00.000-04:00

Well folks, it is hot. With the heat index hovering around 100 we have reached the dog days of summer. If you are breathing then you are probably sweating. After living many years in Florida I have grown to like the heat. The smell of wet concrete after a late evening shower is one of my favorite scents. On my recent night runs through the neighborhood my iPod's shuffle reminded me of these great summer songs. I've added them to my mixpod playlist. To listen click the player on the right side bar and enjoy.

My Gal is Red Hot - Billy "The Kid" Emerson - 1955

A great release from the early years of Sun Records. Oh to be a fly on the wall of that studio as Elvis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and so many more made their first albums. Click here for the Sun Records Discography. This song has my favorite lyrical come back in music. One guy brags about his virtuous woman "I got a girl who's never been kissed" and the other responds "I got a girl who's never been missed. My gal is red hot." I know which one I would go for.

100 Yard Dash - Raphael Saadiq - 2009

A champion of neo soul Saadiq brings his energy to the stage on this track from Bonnaroo 2009. Starting as a singer in the 90's pop group Tony! Toni! Tone! he later evolved into a producer for albums by John Legend, The Roots, and others. Click here for a 2008 World Cafe interview promoting his album The Way I See It.

Mary Jane's Last Dance - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - 1993

Predating Petty's hugely successful Wildflowers album this song dominated the cd player my freshman year of high school. It reminds me of how cool I thought I was smoking cigarettes outside of the neighborhood pool that summer. Petty dancing with Kim Basinger's corpse is a classic moment from 90's music videos. Do you remember when MTV still played music videos?

Hound Dog - The Jimi Hendrix Experience - 1967

Hendrix needs no introduction but how about that hair? Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell have the best white man Afros of all time. The barking dog sound affects combined with Jimi's improvised lyrics make this a memorable cover. This version comes from the BBC Sessions released in 1998.

Jackson- Johnny Cash with June Carter- 1968

"We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout, We've been talkin' 'bout Jackson, ever since the fire went out"

I have many of Cash's albums but Live at Folsom is the most frequent visitor to my music rotation. How surreal would it have been to be sitting in that crowd while serving your time? Cash made the prison concert a musical concept staging a follow up later that year at San Quinten. In 1982 Jerry Garcia followed suit playing at the Oregon State Prison to fulfill his community service on a drug charge. Click here for the recording. The video below is of this same tune from At San Quentin.

Chris Pickett's colorful slab built forms - A virtual tour of Cush

2011-07-24T08:39:00.000-04:00

I had the great fortune of seeing Chris Pickett's show Cush while I was in Florida this spring. The show was top notch in every respect from the pots, to the lighting, to the flowers and the pedestals. Chris balances subtlety and boldness with an expert touch. He often contrasts embossed patterns under a celedon with a thin orange line of satin glaze. I admire his "little goes a long way" understanding of color. The plate set and the flower bricks where my favorite pieces in the show.

I am looking forward to seeing Chris's new website which should be up in the next few months. If your interested in buying his work he can be found on Facebook.

New work from this Summer

2011-07-17T11:00:00.000-04:00

Here are a few highlights from the last two firings. I've posted process pics on the blog in the past few months so these might look familiar. The full set is on my Facebook fan page. (Click here to see the entire collection.)

Finishing a large batch makes me step back and see where I want to go next. My next group is geared towards a Chinese audience. Practically this means I make everything much, much, much smaller. I'm making teapots that my fingers can barely fit in and they are still large compared to pots used for green tea. This might be the only time that I want something to shrink in the kiln. I'm making two cups and a tray for each teapot. It's a nice challenge to work on small objects for sets.

Working with Sets and Superstitions

2011-07-12T12:45:00.000-04:00

I have been thinking about the significance of sets lately. Rarely do I make sets of three. This is practically based on my buyer's desire for functional sets of four, six, or eight. This fits the average western family consisting of two children and two parents. If a buyer purchases four each family member gets their own piece, while a set of six has a few spares to replace the ones you might break. A set of eight is ideal for larger families, or those who don't want to do their dishes after every meal.

This number theory however doesn't hold true in China where the single-child policy has created multiple generations of three member nuclear families. (Click here for more info on the single-child policy.) A three person family would most likely buy a set of three, five, or six. They would not buy four because of the number's unlucky association with death. In Mandarin the word four, "Si", sounds similar to the word for death. The tones are different but the association is close enough to make four a "bad" number. Numeric superstition carries into dates also. There are good and bad days on the lunar calendar that are based on astrological significance. When we opened our studio my boss looked for an auspicious day to bring us luck in our business.

In addition to numbers, colors are filled with cultural associations. In China a bride can not wear blue because it is rumored to bring bad luck to the marriage. This color prohibition continues into pottery. I had an instance where someone commented on my work, "Don't use that shade of blue. It's bad luck. No one will buy it." The concept of luck is taken very seriously in China. In contrast, imagine telling your friend "You can't buy this car because its unlucky color will ruin your life." Statements like this seem comical and out of place because freedom of choice is a given in the western world. An individual can buy a car, a wedding dress, or any other object of a particular color without creating cultural friction. Individual-first societies have superstitions but they tend to loose sway when confronted with personal taste. (1.* see below) The strength of Chinese superstitions is related to the desire for cultural cohesion. The psychological remnants of the Cultural Revolution still fuel a desire for uniformity. In the west cultural cohesion and personal taste are not in opposition. It is possible to have individual preferences without being seen as a threat to your culture. (2.*see below)

One way I have navigated around the speed bumps of superstition is to make service ware. There is no way to pick an unlucky number for a serving set because its communal nature doesn't tie the bad luck to one specific person. There are so many different needs for serving foods that luck is superseded by necessity. Living outside of my own culinary tradition has helped me see table ware in a whole new light. Every meal is an education in food service. I have tried many new types of food with their own specific methods of service. I especially like the Chinese love of mixing small amounts of strong flavors. The table is often filled with small dishes of intensely flavored sauces made of garlic, hot peppers, and a Sichuan Pepper that numbs your mouth.

Here is a design exercise based on numbered sets that I find interesting. Make a set of three pots where each individual is decorated differently. The set must be unified but no pot can be the same. Make a additional set of four where each individual is decorated differently. Again this set must be unified but no design can be the same. Now compare the sets. Do you notice any difference between the set of three and four? I notice that the inherent asymmetry of a set of three changes the way I approach the decoration. I find it hard to put symmetrical decoration on an odd numbered set. Even numbered sets can go either way. I'm not sure why this is but it shows that the way you frame the problem largely determines the outcome. Has anyone else noticed something like this when making sets?

Footnotes- a.k.a late night tangents
1.* This points to a byproduct of democracy; the belief that each person is entitled to their own opinion regardless of the larger culture around them. This belief empowers the individual to make every day decisions of little consequence, like which cereal to buy, and more major decisions, like ballot referendums on gun control. Theoretically, a democracy insures that an individual that holds a minority opinion has the same power as their majority counterparts.

2.* To believe in a superstition it is helpful to identify as a member of the culture that created the superstition. A cultural native sees their personal experience as confirmation of superstitions were an outsider sees the same experience as unrelated. It is very hard to adopt another cultures superstitions because complete assimilation is rare. The role of the outsider is always one of observation even if they are fully participating in the culture.

Art of the Day V.5- Square Red Lacquer table with stools- Qing Dynasty 1644-1911

2011-07-08T12:03:00.000-04:00

Rarely does furniture deserve to be anthropomorphized with words like "sexy" or "smokin'". This Qing dynasty table is the exception. The proportions, curves, and color make this set a lesson in seduction. Curves like these have been symbols of abundance/fertility dating back to the Venus de Willendorf. The color red also has long time links to attraction- i.e. red lip stick, red sports car, that are connected to the mammalian tendency to blush red during arousal. As a whole this table displays similar qualities to the form language I like in pottery.

A closer look at the table's surface reveals multiple layers of floral and landscape patterns. Notice there are multiple species of flowers in various orientations. They are incorporated into the overall pattern in a way that doesn't over emphasize one specific type of flower. They are reduced to motif and repeated to fill the space. The "wall papering" affect lets the artist spread the design three dimensionally around corners that could be a real challenge to decorate. (Imagine building a pot with equal volumetric contrast to the seats and legs of these stools.) The craftsman has filled every available space with decoration. There is even a classic Chinese "human in nature" scene carved into the fringe of the stool. This excess works because the scale of the decoration is small and the color scheme is monochromatic. The bordering system of curvilinear lines also helps transition from pattern to pattern.

The wood is covered with red lacquer for a rich semi-gloss surface. Lacquer is a finish that is prevalent in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean wood working. The basic method consists of applying multiple layers of a thin sealing medium. A quick trip to Wikipedia found that " Known applications of lacquer in China included coffins, plates, music instruments and furniture. Lacquer mixed with powdered cinnabar is used to produce the traditional red lacquerware from China." Cinnabar is the ore that yields mercury. Its interesting to think the same material that made the standard thermometer work is the coloring agent that produces the unique red of Chinese lacquer. The tone and toxicity of Chinese red lacquer remind me of Ben Owens III low fire lead red glaze. (Click here for his Art and Perception article. Many of the pots pictured where in a Blue Spiral One solo show that I saw years ago.) It goes to show that getting a vibrant red has always been a toxic endeavor in wood and ceramics.

This set is part of the Shanghai Museum's permanent collection. I will be posting more lacquer ware from the collection in future posts.

The Art of the Day series features art that I encounter on my visits to museums. These are from the Shanghai Museum collection, which offers a broad range of Chinese Art from 3,000 BC to the mid-1900's. For the museum website please click here.

It's a small world after all- Joy Tanner's Shanghai Fan Club

2011-07-04T11:32:00.000-04:00

I walked into my class the other day to find a student in full concentration trying to copy a pitcher from Lark Book's 500 Pitchers book. She had made eight versions but was struggling with the proportions. As I looked closer I realized that the pitcher was made by my old studio mate Joy Tanner. I explained to my student, Shao Lingzhi, that I knew Joy and we both laughed at how small the ceramic world is. I used to watch Joy make lots of these when we were at the Odyssey Center together so I sat down to show Lingzhi how to make the lip of that pitcher just right. This shows yet again that our pots can travel long distances thanks to the internet and international publishing. You can view more of Joy's work at http://joytannerpottery.com or visit her blog Journeys In and Around the Studio.

I was lucky to be at the Odyssey Center with many talented artists. Here is a picture of the residents around 2005. Left to right you have Annie Singletary, Joy Tanner, Cassie Ryalls, Anne Bartges, and Tommy Frank. Through out my time at Odyssey I also shared space with Will Baker, Emily Reason, Stephen Cheek, LeAnne Ash, and many more. There are so many great artists that I got to know in the greater Asheville area. It is still my favorite city and the most inspiring ceramic community I have encountered. If you get a chance stop by the Odyssey Center for a summer workshop or a class.

Clay, Cars, and Design Pt. 2: Market pressure & 40 years of BMW Evolution

2011-06-29T12:34:00.000-04:00

1972 3.0 CSi

Mid 1990's 5 Series

The 2011 Alpina B7. Comes standard with a 4.4-liter, V8, 500-horsepower, turbo engine. Try over looking the embarrassingly low gas mileage- 14 mpg city, 20 mpg on the highway. Click here for a Bloomsberg Business Week's review.

One question that I didn't get to ask the BMW design team is how it feels to work within one of the greatest design traditions of the modern era. You might not have noticed from the pictures but all of the designers are under forty, probably closer to thirty. BMW is harnessing the creativity of a new generation while maintaining a look that originated more than eighty years ago. (BMW started manufacturing airplane motors in 1916 before moving onto motor cycles in 1923. Cars were introduced five years later in 1928. Click here for more BMW history.) Reviving the same thread of design must be a challenge. On one hand, BMW has to maintain a signature style to ensure the customer stays loyal to the brand. On the other hand, those same customers might become disinterested if there is not enough change.

Looking at the pictures above you can see how the need for change manifests in the brand's evolution. I have included cars from 1972, the mid-1990's, and 2011 to show change in roughly twenty year increments. Look at the front grill and headlights of the 1972 and 1990's models. While the body of the car has changed these essential BMW characteristics look strikingly similar. Now fast forward another twenty years. The 2011 Alpina at the bottom of the page displays a greater evolution in a similar amount of time. The proportions, detailing, and overall body design have changed. It is not exactly a fair comparison because all three cars are not the same model but it makes the point that innovation can increase or decrease over time. In Staying Alive: Survival tactics for the Visual Artist Robin Hopper suggests that a small business production line change about 10% every year. This can be new forms or new glazes but the core of the line remains similar to last years version. At first glace this number seems small but in contrast to the innovation of BMW this number is huge. If we could statistically plot the change needed to evolve from the 1972 model to the 2011 model BMW the change per year would be in the 0.001% range.

In car design the speed of innovation depends heavily on how the market reacts to the brand. Market pressure is a natural biproduct of a supply and demand economic system. As artists we are subject to market pressure even if its affects are more subtle. Think about how you choose the forms you make in your studio. Isn't it natural to make more of the things you sell and slowly change the things that don't sell as well? The difference is that artists aren't driven only by the needs of the buyer. We are motivated as much by emotional factors (creative pleasure, aesthetic expression, success within our peer group, etc.) as we are financial factors (security, accumulation of wealth, success within the larger economic system, etc.). Our emotional motivations often lead us to the outer edge of economic norms. How many times have you heard a question like this? "So your an artist...Are you a starving artist?" This stereotype is so common that it has a wikipedia definition. Genius has even been tied to the poverty level of famous artists. This has created the misconception that financially successful artists have "sold out" by dumbing down their artistic vision. Individual artists can learn from design brands that market pressure is a useful tool that can lead to financial success.

To further contrast the design brand vs. artist comparison lets look beyond our motivations to the concept of time itself. Can you imagine someone telling you that you will make the same basic pots for the next 40 years? Sounds a little overwhelming doesn't it? Long duration design continuity is the norm for car design. Idea have evolutionary curves that can be plotted chronologically. Only recently have I become aware of the timeline of innovation in my work. The nature of my studio practice is that I work intuitively letting forms/decoration percolate for about a few years at a time. I change small elements until I feel the design idea has been created in the best three dimensional form possible. It is ironic that once I reach a state of completion I often loose interest. The process of innovation is more interesting than the end product itself. Selling the versions that it took to complete the idea comes from a necessity to fund the overall process. In contrast design companies often spend large amounts of money and time on research that the public never sees. This is true in science as well. Think about the miracle cure-all WD 40. The name comes from the fact that there were 39 unsuccessful versions before a suitable water displacement solution was found.

To wrap this post up I challenge you to think about your artistic motivations (emotional vs. financial) and the affect time has on the evolution of your ideas. As an mental exercise try researching your favorite design brand and then compare their evolution to your own studio practice. I find looking at non-ceramic design helps clarify my own ideas and progress as an artist.

This post is the companion to Clay, Cars, and Design: BMW stops by the Pottery Workshop Shanghai. I want to thank the Munich-based BMW team that came to The Pottery Workshop Shanghai. The conversations we shared have provided much food for thought.

In the Studio: Working with Rectangles

2011-06-26T04:54:00.000-04:00

I've been working with rectangle trays recently. The top two (color) are 9 inches and the bottom one (white-on-white) is about 14 inches. I've made square plates/platters for awhile so it is a nice change to elongate the form. As I think about it this might be the first time I've worked with a rectangle.

I used the dogwood pattern a lot on these but I'm diggin the honeysuckle more. Its asymmetry feels more natural than the others. The next time I make the larger one I'll shrink the pattern increasing the negative space. This will make that left flower seem really lonely over there in the corner, which will call for the food presentation to complete the pot. I like setting up this scenario. I create tension on the form with decoration and the user releases it by arranging the food.

Any thoughts/preferences from the bloggerverse on these?

Turning Point: The moment your (ceramic) life changes

2011-06-21T12:21:00.001-04:00

Every potter has moments where the course of their studio life changes abruptly. A well timed critique, hours of solitary studio exploration, or flipping the pages of ceramic magazines can lead to major shifts in an artist's world view. Although I have experienced positive changes from all of these the most drastic turns have come from direct interaction with historical pots. There is no greater feeling than being left speechless by a work of art.

One of my turning points was viewing the show Iraq and China: Ceramics, Trade and Innovation at the Freer Sackler Gallery in Washington, DC. (Click here for a great Flash site documenting the show. The gallery houses the Asian art collection for the Smithsonian.) During my visit I was in the grip of a major ceramic infatuation with Japanese aesthetics. I like many potters had read Susan Peterson's book on Shoji Hamada. I was caught in the romance of the humble potter. I was convinced that the Mingei movement would be the foundation of my ceramic life. Even though Soetsu Yanagi's words rang a bell deep inside me, the pots that my Mingei inspired friends made never looked like mine. Critiquing my pots with theirs was like showing up to a playoff game realizing you are wearing the opposing teams jersey. While the spirit of Mingei remains influential I have come to understand that my more-is-more aesthetic doesn't fit into a philosophy of making simple humble objects.

The body of work that I was engaged in at the time directly referenced quilt patterns (see the pot above). I was moving away from the less-is-more aesthetic by doing my best to decorate every square inch of the pots surface. In all honesty I have never been a less-is-more person. Excess is in my blood. More food, more soccer, more baseball cards, more peanut butter, more pots, more music, more, more, more. I tried for years to simplify. I thought maybe if I could stop decorating just a bit earlier I would make the "right" pots. I'm not sure how I settled on what the "right" pots were but I knew I wasn't making them.

As I walked through the Freer that day in 2005 I had a major breakthrough. Those Islamic pots showed me that excess is a tool, not a deficiency that should be worked against. Great power can be gleamed from overwhelming the senses with repetition, scale change, and detail. Reading more about Islamic art I have learned that these tools are used to speak metaphorically about the role of Allah in daily life. Infinite dense pattern is representational of an omnipresent God. I find this to be theologically interesting but also an accurate description of the experience I had when I first saw the Samanid bowl below. I spotted it out of the corner of my eye and even in my periphery it pulled me in. I stood in front of the display with my face pressed to the glass like a kid peeking in a toy store window. In hind sight my interest in this type of pot comes from a desire to figure out patterns. Layered patterns are puzzles that engage my brain in a pleasurable way. (I often find myself stopped on the street smiling at the brick pattern on the sidewalk. Life in a big city is a numbers game where the chaos will arrange itself if you are willing to spend the time looking.)

When I look at the pattern on this bowl I count the larger elements first. Five central floral elements created by black on white negative space. I look at their contours, their similarities, and their differences. I dive into the fine bits letting them soak into my vision. The red and black quatrefoil patterns on the exterior band fill the negative space between the script in an unexpected but interesting way. I can't read the text but I appreciate the line quality and gesture that it conveys. The last touch is the alternating red and black semicircles that border the rim. The pattern repeats but deviates in one spot. This subtle switch makes me go all the way around the pot to see if it happens again.

This bowl represents one of my turning points. Seeing that show was the first step down a path that I am still walking in my studio today. This post is the first in a series where guest bloggers will talk about the turning points in their own work. I've been asking friends to write on the subject and I look forward to posting them in the future.

10th century Iran Samanid period. Earthenware with painted under glaze
H: 11.2 W: 39.3 D: 39.3 cm

"This deep bowl exemplifies the high technical quality and compositional sophistication achieved in 10th-century ceramics from northeastern Iran. Its central decoration consists of an abstract tree with five branches ending in palmettes and revolving around a small rosette. The dominant counter-clockwise movement of the stems is subtlely reversed by a branch to the trunk's left— a shift that ingeniously draws attention to the ovoid mark at the beginning of the Arabic inscription below. This inscription is bordered at the rim by a band of red and black scallops and on the walls by a series of irregular panels following the contours of the letters. It translates as follows: "It is said that he is content with his own opinion runs into danger. Blessing to the owner."

Check out the carterpottery.com revamp

2011-06-19T23:12:00.000-04:00

Carterpottery.com just got a fresh new look. Check out the new format with new work. A big thank you to Mark Granto at Technically Speaking for the design help.

Clay, Cars, and Design: BMW stops by the Pottery Workshop Shanghai pt 1

2011-06-13T10:50:00.000-04:00

One of BMW's design teams stopped by the Pottery Workshop for a day of clay last month. They were on assignment in Shanghai doing market research for three months. I am impressed by BMW's dedication to their employees. They support their designers by sending them on extended trips to analyze current market trends. In a world of downsizing and hyper efficiency I respect BMW's commitment to creating the necessary space for an idea to develop.

The group of eight designers are part of a world-wide group that is four hundred strong. They were energetic, detail oriented, and focused. We frequently host corporate events that focus on team building but we rarely have actual designers in the studio. They came prepared, some even with auto cad sketches, and we spent six hours changing their ideas from two to three dimensions. This level of professionalism was a refreshing contrast to the birthday parties full of screaming 10 year-old girls that frequent our studio.

In their daily work these designers have very specific jobs. A pair of designers might work on interior trim but one works solely on seat upholstery while the other designs only handles. I think they appreciated the creative freedom of clay. They had no preset assignment except to respond to the medium. It was interesting to see the way interior designers worked as opposed to designers that worked on exteriors. The work I found most interesting was exterior driven. They had a keen sense for line that could be a welcomed addition to the ceramic world. For complete beginners they took large leaps into the medium. It was a great challenge to help them complete their ideas. Check out the elaborate support system we came up with to bend a slab on multiple axis (third to last picture above).

This class was as much fun for me as it was for them. I spent a lot of time asking them about their design practice. I talked at length with an interior designer about the relationship between mug and car handles. They work within preset perimeters but have many choices to make based on the variables of scale, proportion, material, and cost. It was good to hear that they agonize about angles and comfort the same way that potters do.

The invisible variable car designers work with/against is time. At this moment they are working simultaneously on the 2015 model year while still fine tuning next years 2013 model. Design breakthroughs and changes must be communicated up and down the production cycle to insure continuity. There must be 1000's of meetings between the preliminary design and the road model. The ability to change designs must decrease significantly as the deadline for production approaches. To build a car you would have to be absolutely certain your idea can be produced on a large scale and will be marketable to the public.We are talking about major factory production that takes tremendous amounts of financial and intellectual capital just to get the assembly line up and running. Thinking about that makes me grateful for the fluidity of my design process and equipment. I can switch my practice from hand building to throwing at any time with very little setup. I can even change temperature ranges and clay bodies with relative ease when compared to the energy that is expended to change the bumper of any mass produced vehicle. I'll have to remind myself of that next time I'm hunkered down in the glaze lab trying to stop my favorite liner glaze from crazing.

Stop by later in the week for part two of this post. It focuses on innovation in the BMW design tradition.

Dragon boats, Zongzi, and a table full of glaze ware.

2011-06-07T12:35:00.000-04:00

We just celebrated the Chinese Dragon Boat festival. This public holiday has many origins but the most repeated is the story of the poet, Qu Yuan. The "story holds that the festival commemorates the death of poet Qu Yuan (Chinese: 屈原) (c. 340 BCE – 278 BCE) of the ancient state of Chu, in the Warring States Period of the Zhou Dynasty.^[5] A descendant of the Chu royal house, Qu served in high offices. However, when the king decided to ally with the increasingly powerful state of Qin, Qu was banished for opposing the alliance. Qu Yuan was accused of treason.^[5] During his exile, Qu Yuan wrote a great deal of poetry, for which he is now remembered. Twenty-eight years later, Qin conquered the capital of Chu. In despair, Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

It is said that the local people, who admired him, threw lumps of rice into the river to feed the fish so that they would not eat Qu Yuan's body.^[5] This is said to be the origin of zongzi. The local people were also said to have paddled out on boats, either to scare the fish away or to retrieve his body. This is said to be the origin of dragon boat racing." (Excerpt from Wikipedia Duan Wu festival)

It was raining hard for most of the day so I didn't head out to see any dragon boat races. These races involve twenty-man teams that furiously paddle to propel a longboat through the water. They are held in the Shanghai area but they pale in comparison to races held in other Asian regions. Hong Kong has multiple races spread around the surrounding islands that have as many as 30,000 participants a year. (click here for details) Although the Dragon Boat tradition is of Chinese origin cultures from all over the world have been using long boats for racing and travel for thousands of years.The Maori used a similar style boat to explore the south pacific before finally settling in New Zealand in the late 1200's A.D.

Another Dragon Boat tradition involves the serving of Zongzi. A sticky rice mixture is packed around meat, or fruit, and wrapped in a banana leaf. They are tied together in a triangular shape with thin strips of the banana leaf. The presentation is a beautiful study in food art. Zongzi would be great for drawing classes with their diagonal lines and rice textures.

Most of my dragon boat festival was spent glazing. I had a serious back log of bisque that needed attention. After years of complicated glaze schemes I have moved all my decoration to the slip stage. This makes glazing so much faster. One month of making/decorating turns into one day of glazing.

For you guys that are working at mid-range here is our PWS white satin. It is a variation of VC White that we have altered to melt lower. We fire it to cone seven where it develops a smooth stone-like surface. Let me know if it works out for you.

Attack of the Orange Bat Mold!

2011-06-01T22:24:00.000-04:00

We bought new masonite bats for the studio and they came with a special gift. Something tells me this fluffy neon orange mold isn't so good for your health. We haven't figured out how to make it stop yet. It appears as the piece dries. Any ideas?

Long Distance Potting: Keeping your work safe for the long haul

2011-05-31T12:04:00.000-04:00

One of the major challenges of living overseas is keeping a gallery presence in my home country. It is important that my time spent outside of the US doesn't represent an extended gap in my show record. I do exhibit in China but in a less formal retail shop setting. Gallery shows are common here but the ceramics community as a whole is much less organized, or well publicized. To keep momentum I have continued to exhibit in the U.S. with three main galleries and a few invitational shows a year. Getting pots to a destination in an efficient low-cost manner has become as important as making the pots themselves. I have discovered four options for shipping from China to the US.

-Premium shipping by air- The most reliable way to ship pots is DHL or Fed Ex. They are shipped by air and arrive within a week. The downside is the expense. One relatively light 18 x18 in box that would cost around $30 to ship in the US costs around $800 to ship from China. From a business standpoint this is insane because it drives the cost of the pots up to an unmanageable level. (If there are 10 pots in the box then each pot costs $80 to ship. Add that to the cost of production and the price of each pot can easily triple.) I have unfortunately had to use this method when I didn't plan enough lead time to ship with the other methods.

-Small quantity standard shipping by boat- China's postal service is much cheaper than DHL but considerably slower. China Post goes by land and sea which can take up to two months to arrive. This extra two months is hard to calculate into an already busy studio schedule. In addition there are no guarantees it will arrive safely, or even make it out of China. Chinese customs officials are rumored to cherry pick anything that peaks their interest as it enters or exits the country. There are size restrictions but in comparison the same 18 x 18 box would cost between $80-$120.

Another factor is that counter agents have to visually inspect every piece that you ship. This means you have to pack it in the post office. Picture this... You've worked for months on a few signature pieces for that top notch gallery. You cart them to the post office with your bubble wrap in hand so that you can show them to the counter lady. After you receive the OK you squeeze into the corner of the office while you pack your work with ten interested Chinese watching what your are doing. China's crowd mentality easily picks up on anything out of the ordinary. I am grateful that my coworkers have allowed me to avoid this scene by handling the shipping for our gallery.

-Large quantity standard shipping by boat- This method seems to be the best option for shipping large amounts of work. For this method pots are packed in a crate that is then loaded onto a pallet. Shipping agents match your pallet to other companies unfilled containers. These larger containers are loaded onto massive ships that sail to major international seaports. Once in country the crate is taken out of the larger container and shipped by truck to your final destination. The crate arrives in four to six weeks. The cost is between $100-$200 per sq. meter depending on the destination country. It is best to work with a shipping agents for this method. They know the best ways to navigate the highly complicated customs procedures. The downfall of this is that you must fully declare the goods for tax purposes. Where as you can ship untaxed "gifts" by DHL you are shipping "goods" by crate. All tax laws apply which can significantly increase the overall cost of the shipment.

-Shipping by checked airline baggage- The final method is to pack pots in airline luggage. Naturally this is only an option if you are traveling to the same destination as your pots. In my travels this spring I took pots to New Zealand and the U.S. in my bags. I was grateful and surprised that all but one pot arrived safely. (The one that did break was my fault. A lid broke the gallery of a teapot when I didn't put enough bubble wrap between them.) There are very few additional costs to the price of the ticket unless you go over weight or over size. Each airline posts their requirements online. It is worth breaking out the home scale to make sure you avoid these expense overage fees.

Innovation in hard shell luggage has increased the safety and reliability of checking fragile items in airline luggage. I have two bags that are of a similar composition to the one pictured below. One is a Samsonite and the other a much cheaper Diplomat. After a few trips with both I think the Samsonite is worth the money. (Click here for Samsonite's site) If you frequently travel with pots the investment will pay for itself.

The key to the pots survival is strategic placement and packaging. I line the inside of the suitcase with four layers of bubble wrap. Each pot is wrapped in two or three layers of bubble wrap. I know when to stop adding bubble wrap when I can push on all sides and not feel the edge of the pot. Larger pots are laid in the case in an alternating criss cross pattern. Smaller pots are shoved into the gaps. Rolled up clothes can be wedged into any remain space. For the best packing the case should be full and zipped shut under compression. The danger of breaking pots is usually from internal shifting not external trauma. There are a few pictures below of a load I brought back to the U.S. on my last trip. I brought around twenty bowls, teapots, and cups.

In the last year I have shipped DHL and packed pots in luggage. I have a few shows this fall that I will try China Post and possibly ship a crate with a large amount of work. Ill post more feedback on these methods when I have more first hand experience.

Anyone else have international shipping experience? I would love to know the top secret method for teleporting work directly to gallery shelves.

In the Studio: Jars and Tumblers

2011-05-29T00:13:00.000-04:00

Finished this jar and tumblers last week. I've started a new round of large jars and mugs. Working on large and small things simultaneously is great for drying time. I'm off to the studio on a blue sky Sunday. Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

For the Flowers- Schaller Gallery- Carpenter, Pavelka, Baker, myself and many more.

2011-05-24T12:51:00.000-04:00

For the Flowers has just gone online at the Schaller Gallery. It will be online from May 23rd - June 19th. There are some great pots in the show. I particularly liked the variety of shapes that people sent. Kyle and Will's pots are fresh takes on the oval and triangle. I tend to stick to square/circle/oval so Will's pot got me thinking about triangles. Kyle's deco is a well fired flashing slip topped with masterful brushwork. Kristen's vase is a unique but simple idea. Elevating a basic form with a thrown stand is a nice way to get a visually heavy form up in the air. I like that she left so much Terra Cotta showing. Check out these artists by clicking on their names.

Will Baker
Kyle Carpenter
Kristen Pavelka

I sent six bud vases that have heavy slip trailed linear patterns on the surface. I decided to keep the decoration minimal to let the flowers pop. From a color standpoint I like the blue one the best. Which one do you guys like? Click here to check them out.

Pot of the Day V.4- Mina'i ware eight-lobed bowl Iran 13th cent

2011-05-22T05:35:00.000-04:00

Mina'i Ware Bowl, Iran, late 12th-early 13th century. Stonepaste body painted underglaze and over glaze with enamel

"This eight-lobed bowl harmoniously combines, figural, abstract, and calligraphic designs and is typical of some of the finest medieval Persian ceramics. The bowl is decorated with enamel paint, and a princely figure on a large and powerful elephant dominates the center. A band of kufic inscription offering blessings and good wishes surrounds him. The exterior inscription celebrates the qualities of a certain Abu Nasr Kirmanshah, the patron of this finely decorated bowl."

I spotted this Mina'i ware bowl during a trip to the Smithsonian's Freer Sackler Gallery in 2006. It is part of their permanent Arts of the Islamic World collection. I've been making lobbed bowls for years but I have yet to reach this level of 2d/3d harmony. The contracting point of each lobe is the springboard for the triangular structural decoration. It frames the figures that surround the rim. This triangle also leads down to a circular border that frames a central figure riding an elephant. The design scheme is complicated but orderly. It is a great lesson in dividing space on a bowl form.

One aspect of these pots that is missed in books is the relationship between interior and exterior. The density of the interior is balanced by the sparse decoration of the exterior. This one has a kufic inscription circling the bowls rim. Kufic script is one of the successful historic examples of incorporating text into pots. The script is so gestural that it often reads as a visual rhythm. Mark Shapiro is referencing the same ideas with his script based marks.

The Pot of the Day series features art that I encounter on my visits to museums. This pot is from the Smithsonian's Freer Sackler gallery, which offers multiple collections including Arts of the Islamic World. For the museum website please click here.

Mass production... is practical Pt. 2: The Mason Jar, Apple Butter & Moonshine.

2011-05-15T10:48:00.000-04:00

Another of my favorite mass produced service containers is the Mason jar. Chronologically this was the predecessor to tin cans but it has remained on the market as an easy container for home canning. The technology is relatively simple. (Click here for a little history.) A metal band screws tight around the threads of a glass jar holding down a lid edged with sealing compound. The three parts are interchangeable, which is practical for any multi-use container. The real key to this system is the sealing compound. If canned properly the lid is sealed under pressure making the shelf life of the food much longer.

Achieving air tight seals with ceramics can be tricky. A ceramic version of this could avoid the screw top lid opting for the clamp lid. This cylindrical metal attachment applies pressure on a removable "O" ring. It can be raised and lowered increasing, or decreasing, the pressure on the seal. This type of clamp is best for an airtight system that needs to be accessed over and over again. On a small scale this is perfect for dried fruits, cereals, or other semi-perishable foods. I seem to remember Lorna Meaden makes jars with this type of sealing device. I couldn't come up with an image so if anyone has one please send it to me. The sealing clamp looks like this one below.

One of my first experiences with canning was making apple butter. When Virginia's apple crop was harvested in the fall a group of my father's friends would gather to make this southern delicacy. The process started on a Friday night when the group would peel and cut bushels of apples. Saturday morning started early when a small fire was built. (Is this starting to sound familiar? The process of wood firing ceramics and apple butter making are really similar.) When the coals burned down the apples went into a huge brass cauldron held aloft on a metal frame. As the apples simmered the kids would take turns walking around the cauldron stirring the mixture with a specially designed stir stick. (It looked a little bit like this guy). If you stopped stirring it would stick to the bottom and be ruined.

Within ten hours the mixture went from solid chunks, to applesauce, to a thick paste. We would say a little prayer blessing the days work and throw in the nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar, and all spice. At this point the canning tables where set up. After years of doing this the group had an assembly line process down. The canning jars where clean and the lids were boiled. One person filled the jar, one whiped the lid, one put the lid on, and one put the sealed jar in the box. We had two teams that worked each side of the table. The canning took a few hours but the shared labor produced multiple cases of apple butter for each family. We ate apple butter all year long from one communal days worth of work. My fathers basement was filled with older years prized jars. We treated them like fine wine labeling them with their year. If you came to our house you might be offered biscuits with butter and a fine 1988 vintage. (Click here for a much easier crock pot apple butter recipe.)

Another Virginia tradition that utilizes the mason jar is moonshine. This can take the form of corn liquor, aka White Lightning, or fruit liquor which uses soaked fruit to mask the impurities in the ethanol from the still. As a side note E85 Ethanol, an alternative to petroleum is fundamentally the same as moonshine. This isn't the only car/moonshine connection. NASCAR, America's largest sport, evolved from whiskey runners souping up their cars to out run tax agents. ( Click here for more info.)

Franklin County, which is close to my home town, is the self described "Moonshine Capital of the World." This dates back to the late 1920's when prohibition was in full swing. A recently read an article that stated "Between 1930 and 1935 local still operators and their business partners sold a volume of whiskey that would have generated $5,500,000 in excise taxes at the old 1920 tax rate." (Click here for more info.) This is no small sum. Roughly converted to 2010 dollars this is around $69,000,000. The ironic thing about Virginia's illegal liquor business is that it was equally matched by its religious fervor. Drinking, dancing, and cussing were first cousins to communion, praying, and singing hymns. As the old saying goes their is a fine line between Saturday night and Sunday morning.

I can tell Virginia stories for hours but I'll save them for later posts. Next post in this series will be on the virtues of the plastic milk jug. I am a big fan of those squishy hollow handles. Have a good weekend and happy potting.