GUIDES, GURUS, MENTORS AND ROLE MODELS

    HARRY DAVIS
   
    HARRY, AND HIS WIFE MAY, PRODUCED SOME OF THE FINEST     FUNCTIONAL WORK BEING DONE IN ENGLAND FOR MANY YEARS     AT CROWAN POTTERY. THEY MOVED TO NEW ZEALAND IN THE     EARLY 1960’S. THE QUALITY OF THEIR WORK AND THEIR     RESEARCH INTO MATERIALS WERE VERY  INFLUENTIAL TO MY         THINKING. HE WAS MY MENTOR AS FAR AS WORK ETHIC WENT.

ALAN CAIGER-SMITH
       
    ALAN HAD A WORKSHOP WITH UP TO SIX PEOPLE WORKING IN     ALDERMASTON, BERKSHIRE WHERE THEY MADE A BEAUTIFUL     RANGE OF COLORFUL MAJOLICA  AND ALSO VERY SPECIAL ITEMS     USING ARABIAN LUSTER DECORATED WARES. ALAN’S STUDIO WAS     TWELVE MILES FROM MINE. IT WAS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR     ME TO WATCH HIM AND HIS CREW DOING BRUSH DECORATION. I     WORKED IN SLIPWARE AND SGRAFFITO DECORATION AT THE TIME.

   

VIVIKA AND OTTO HEINO
    WELL KNOWN AMERICAN POTTERS WHO SPECIALIZED IN GLAZE     AND COLOR DEVELOPMENT. VIVIKA WAS TEACHING IN TORONTO     AT THE SAME TIME AS I WAS. WE DID FIELD TRIPS TOGETHER WITH     OUR STUDENTS, AS NEITHER COLLEGE HAD ENOUGH FUNDS TO     HIRE A BUS. STUDENTS FROM OCA ALSO JOINED US.

RAY FINCH

    THE MOST INFLUENTIAL POTTER IN THE FUNCTIONAL ARENA     AFTER THE BERNARD LEACH POTTERY AND BERNARD’S SON     DAVID. HE JUST PASSED AWAY RECENTLY AT THE AGE OF 92.
    HIS STUDIO AT WINCHCOMBE IN GLOUCESTER WAS A MECCA.     ALSO A GREAT INFLUENCE WITH REGARD TO WORK ETHIC.




PABLO PICASSO

        PICASSO WAS THE CONSUMMATE EXPERIMENTER WITH EVERY         ART MATERIAL THAT HE TOUCHED. I WAS GREATLY ENCOURAGED         TO EXPLORE AND EXPERIMENT WHILE LOOKING AT HIS WORK IN         ANY MEDIUM. I WAS PARTICULARLY EXCITED BY HIS APPROACH TO         WHEEL THROWN SCULPTURE.

THOMAS SAMUEL HAILE

         SAM HAILE WAS A STUDENT OF WILLIAM STAITE AT THE         ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART WORKING IN CONTEMPORARY PAINTING         ON THE CERAMIC SURFACE. HIS WORK IN SLIPWARE WAS VERY         INSPIRATIONAL AND EXCITING. HE DIED IN A MOTORCYCLE         ACCIDENT AT THE AGE OF 38.
       



WILLIAM STAITE MURRAY

        MURRAY WAS WELL KNOWN AS A PAINTER BEFORE RUNNING THE         CERAMICS DEPARTMENT AT RCA. HE WAS THE “FINE ART”         CERAMIC ARTIST WHERE BERNARD LEACH WAS MOSTLY KNOWN         FOR MAKING ORIENTALLY INSPIRED FUNCTIONAL WARES.  THEY         WERE THE TWO BEST KNOWN CLAY WORKERS OF THE 1920 - 1940         PERIOD.




        LUCIE RIE
   
        LUCIE RIE  MOVED FROM AUSTRIA TO ENGLAND IN 1933 TO         ESCAPE GERMAN AGGRESSION. SHE BECAME ONE OF THE MOST         INFLUENTIAL CERAMIC ARTISTS AND TEACHERS OF THE TIME         DEVELOPING BEAUTIFUL WORK IN PORCELAIN AND STONEWARE.
        HER SENSE OF FORM WAS EXQUISITE.  SHE PASSED AWAY AT THE         AGE OF 95.
   

        HANS COPER

        HANS INITIALLY TRAINED AS AN ENGINEER IN GERMANY AND         ESCAPED TO ENGLAND. HE WAS ARRESTED AS AN ENEMY ALIEN         AND SHIPPED TO CANADA, WHERE HE WAS INCARCERATED IN A         CAMP IN NEWFOUNDLAND FOR MUCH OF THE WAR. THIS SET IN         MOTION SERIOUS HEALTH PROBLEMS THAT CULMINATED IN HIS         EARLY DEATH AT THE AGE OF 61, IN 1981.  HE REMAINS THE MOST         INFLUENTIAL CERAMIC ARTIST IN EUROPE. MOST OF HIS WORK         HAS ITS GENESIS IN MARBLE SCULPTURE OF THE  GREEK         CYCLADIC PERIOD.






        MICHAEL “MICK” CASSON

        MICK WAS ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL FUNCTIONAL POTTERS
         AND TEACHERS IN ENGLAND THROUGH THE PERIOD OF THE MID         1950’S UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 2003. HE SPENT A GREAT DEAL OF TIME         LIMITING HIS WORK TO A SMALL RANGE OF OBJECTS EXPLORED         IN A WIDE RANGE OF METHODS AND DECORATION PROCESSES.

I WAS INFLUENCED IN MANY WAYS BY ALL OF THESE ARTISTS EITHER DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY. I MET MOST OF THEM PERSONALLY. I ALWAYS GIVE THEM CREDIT FOR HELPING IN MY DEVELOPMENT AS A PRODUCING ARTIST AND EDUCATOR.  IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER WHO HELPED YOU WHEN YOU WERE STARTING TO CLIMB THE LADDER. IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE ACCUSED OF PLAGIARIZING THEIR WORK, FIND OUT WHERE THEY DEVELOPED THEIR IDEAS FROM AND GO ON A PARALLEL OR TANGENTIAL PATH. APART FROM THE VARIOUS THINGS THAT I LEARNED FROM THEM, MY WORK HAS MOST OFTEN BEEN INFLUENCED BY HUMAN CULTURE, CERAMIC HISTORY, LANDSCAPE, GEOLOGY, PLANTS AND GARDENS. THE OVERRIDING INFLUENCE HAS SOMEHOW ALWAYS BEEN NATURE IN ITS HUGE VARIETY.
TOMORROW - TEACHING AND THEATER