I'VE HAD MANY SOURCES OF SELF-DISCOVERY TO GET EXCITED ABOUT OVER A SEVEN DECADE JOURNEY IN THIS MEDIUM. MUCH HAS BEEN COVERED IN MY VARIOUS BOOKS, BUT THERE IS ALSO MUCH THAT NEVER MADE IT INTO PRINT OR PERHAPS NOT COVERED ADEQUATELY. THIS BLOG GIVES ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO RECTIFY THAT. THE NEXT FEW POSTINGS ARE BASICALLY ABOUT FINDING OUT WHO YOU ARE. THAT DEPENDS ON SOME SORT OF PERSONAL ANALYSIS OR YOUR LIFE EXPERIENCES AND HOW YOU CAN MANIPULATE THEM INTO YOUR WORK. WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT, HOW DO WE MAKE THE MOST OF THOSE DIFFERENCES?
I WENT TO A SMALL ART COLLEGE THAT, AT THE TIME, WAS TEMPORARILY HELD IN THREE SEPARATE BUILDINGS IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF TOWN. MY INSTRUCTOR IN CERAMICS HAD NARROW EXPERIENCE IN STUDIO PRACTICE, BUT MAJOR EXPERIENCE AS A DESIGNER IN INDUSTRIAL CERAMICS. HE ALSO HAD A GREAT FACILITY FOR CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM, BUT NOT MUCH ELSE THAT WAS OF GREAT VALUE TO ME, AS FAR AS I COULD SEE. I HAD QUITE A LOT OF STUDIO EXPERIENCE, SELF-DEVELOPED FROM THE TIME OF WORKING AS A CLAY WEDGER FOR A SMALL PRODUCTION POTTERY. THIS WAS WHERE I FIRST LEARNT TO THROW IN EXCHANGE FOR WEDGING OVER A WHOLE SUMMER IN 1956. THESE EXPERIENCES, BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE, MADE ME REALIZE WHAT I DIDN'T WANT TO DO, JUST AS MUCH AS WHAT I DID WANT TO DO. FINDING OUT WHO YOU REALLY ARE AND WHAT YOU MAY HAVE TO SAY ARE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DISCOVERIES IN THE EARLY STAGES OF BECOMING AN ARTIST. ALL OF YOUR COMBINED LIFE EXPERIENCES MAKE UP YOUR VISUAL AND SENSUAL JOURNEY. THIS IS THE BANK THAT FEEDS YOUR ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT. LIMITED EXPERIENCES PRODUCE LIMITED RESULTS FOR PERSONAL GROWTH. GAINING THE SKILLS TO GET THERE CAN BE A LIFETIME JOURNEY. FORTUNATELY, IT GENERALLY HAPPENS OVER A LENGTHY PERIOD. LIKE ROME, CERAMIC ARTISTS ARE NOT MADE IN A DAY! THE COMPLEX COMBINATION OF ART AND SCIENCE APPEARS PARTICULARLY DEMANDING IN ITS RELATIONSHIP. ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND THE RELATIONSHIP, IT IS REALLY QUITE SIMPLE. YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW IT ALL!
AT THE TIME OF STARTING TO MAKE PIECES LIKE THIS, I WAS SOMEWHAT OBSESSED BY DIFFERENT ARTIFACTS THAT ARE PART OF A TRADITIONAL JAPANESE TEA CEREMONY OR CHADO. THE HOT WATER CONTAINERS (KAMA), THE TEA BOWL (CHAWAN) AND THE FLOWER CONTAINERS, IN A VARIETY OF MATERIALS, INTRIGUED ME. SINCE I AM WHITE CAUCASIAN, I DIDN'T WANT TO MAKE ANYTHING THAT WAS OVERTLY JAPANESE IN STYLE, BUT HONORED THE CULTURE I WAS STEALING FROM. I BORROWED FORM FROM THE KAMA AND ADAPTED IT WITH MANY VARIATIONS. I WANTED THE SURFACE TO HAVE QUALITIES OF OLD BRONZE WITH SOME SLIP TRAILED LINEAR DRAWING - A HINT OF THE ORIENT BUT WITH ELEMENTS OF CLASSICAL GREECE, ROME AS WELL AS ENGLISH SLIPWARE. THE RESULT, I HOPE, IS AN AMALGAMATION OF DIFFERENT ASPECTS, ABSORBED, CHURNED UP AND SPEWED UP IN A REVISED FORMAT. I'VE WORKED IN SERIES THIS WAY FOR MANY YEARS IN MANY DIFFERENT STYLES. IT CAN BE VIEWED AS FORM FIRST, SURFACE SECOND, TECHNOLOGY THIRD.
THE NEXT POSTING WILL BE ON WEDNESDAY, 22 FEBRUARY 2012
SLIPWARE DECORATION WITH PORCELAIN - GLAZE RUBBED OFF RAISED SLIP LEAVING A THIN RESIDUE THAT BECOMES ORANGE ON FIRING.
I WENT TO A SMALL ART COLLEGE THAT, AT THE TIME, WAS TEMPORARILY HELD IN THREE SEPARATE BUILDINGS IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF TOWN. MY INSTRUCTOR IN CERAMICS HAD NARROW EXPERIENCE IN STUDIO PRACTICE, BUT MAJOR EXPERIENCE AS A DESIGNER IN INDUSTRIAL CERAMICS. HE ALSO HAD A GREAT FACILITY FOR CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM, BUT NOT MUCH ELSE THAT WAS OF GREAT VALUE TO ME, AS FAR AS I COULD SEE. I HAD QUITE A LOT OF STUDIO EXPERIENCE, SELF-DEVELOPED FROM THE TIME OF WORKING AS A CLAY WEDGER FOR A SMALL PRODUCTION POTTERY. THIS WAS WHERE I FIRST LEARNT TO THROW IN EXCHANGE FOR WEDGING OVER A WHOLE SUMMER IN 1956. THESE EXPERIENCES, BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE, MADE ME REALIZE WHAT I DIDN'T WANT TO DO, JUST AS MUCH AS WHAT I DID WANT TO DO. FINDING OUT WHO YOU REALLY ARE AND WHAT YOU MAY HAVE TO SAY ARE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DISCOVERIES IN THE EARLY STAGES OF BECOMING AN ARTIST. ALL OF YOUR COMBINED LIFE EXPERIENCES MAKE UP YOUR VISUAL AND SENSUAL JOURNEY. THIS IS THE BANK THAT FEEDS YOUR ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT. LIMITED EXPERIENCES PRODUCE LIMITED RESULTS FOR PERSONAL GROWTH. GAINING THE SKILLS TO GET THERE CAN BE A LIFETIME JOURNEY. FORTUNATELY, IT GENERALLY HAPPENS OVER A LENGTHY PERIOD. LIKE ROME, CERAMIC ARTISTS ARE NOT MADE IN A DAY! THE COMPLEX COMBINATION OF ART AND SCIENCE APPEARS PARTICULARLY DEMANDING IN ITS RELATIONSHIP. ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND THE RELATIONSHIP, IT IS REALLY QUITE SIMPLE. YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW IT ALL!
TAKE A BIT OF THIS
CHA-NO-YU - BRONZE HOT WATER CONTAINER (KAMA)
JAPANESE 19TH CENTURY
ADD A BIT OF THIS
19TH CENTURY ENGLISH TRAILED SLIPWARE PITCHER
SHAKE THEM UP WITH GLAZES LIKE THIS
CONE 8 BARIUM MATT GLAZE WITH ADDED COPPER AND RUTILE
TO GET A RESULT LIKE THIS
KAMA FORM - CHADO SERIES
AT THE TIME OF STARTING TO MAKE PIECES LIKE THIS, I WAS SOMEWHAT OBSESSED BY DIFFERENT ARTIFACTS THAT ARE PART OF A TRADITIONAL JAPANESE TEA CEREMONY OR CHADO. THE HOT WATER CONTAINERS (KAMA), THE TEA BOWL (CHAWAN) AND THE FLOWER CONTAINERS, IN A VARIETY OF MATERIALS, INTRIGUED ME. SINCE I AM WHITE CAUCASIAN, I DIDN'T WANT TO MAKE ANYTHING THAT WAS OVERTLY JAPANESE IN STYLE, BUT HONORED THE CULTURE I WAS STEALING FROM. I BORROWED FORM FROM THE KAMA AND ADAPTED IT WITH MANY VARIATIONS. I WANTED THE SURFACE TO HAVE QUALITIES OF OLD BRONZE WITH SOME SLIP TRAILED LINEAR DRAWING - A HINT OF THE ORIENT BUT WITH ELEMENTS OF CLASSICAL GREECE, ROME AS WELL AS ENGLISH SLIPWARE. THE RESULT, I HOPE, IS AN AMALGAMATION OF DIFFERENT ASPECTS, ABSORBED, CHURNED UP AND SPEWED UP IN A REVISED FORMAT. I'VE WORKED IN SERIES THIS WAY FOR MANY YEARS IN MANY DIFFERENT STYLES. IT CAN BE VIEWED AS FORM FIRST, SURFACE SECOND, TECHNOLOGY THIRD.
THE NEXT POSTING WILL BE ON WEDNESDAY, 22 FEBRUARY 2012
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