catherine seidenberg on fri 12 oct 07
Anyone have any recommendations as far as internships, employment, residenc=
ies, or just informational gathering regarding the tile business? I am int=
erested in meeting someone who makes custom and architectural tiles. Thanks=
! Catherine
> Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:41:55 -0700
> From: mtpp@CNI.NET
> Subject: Re: Back and Gone
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
>=20
> Hi Vince,
> It sounds like you had a great time, to say the least. It would be fantas=
tic
> if you had pictures of your trip and posted the on the web. Not just pots
> that were made while there but the surrounding area. It would be so cool =
to
> travel and meet potters from all over the world. For me, Japan would be
> first on the list.
>=20
> Thank for sharing your trip!
> Check out my tools on the web. I wish I could have had a mention of them =
in
> your article about tools in Clay Times. Maybe next time?
>=20
> Paul Nicholas
> http://mtpleasantpottery.com/Tools.html
>=20
>=20
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Vince Pitelk=
a
> Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2007 8:56 PM
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: Back and Gone
>=20
> I have been back from Turkey for over a week, and had a fantastic time. =
The
> workshop and symposium on terra sigillata was held at the Dokuz Eylul
> University summer camp at Urkmez, on the Aegean coast southwest of Izmir.
> We swam in the Aegean every afternoon before dinner.
>=20
> I was there with eleven other ceramic artists from all over the Western
> World - Israel, France, US, Norway, Slovakia, Greece, and Turkey. We had=
a
> wonderful time working in the studio together for two weeks, with a crew =
of
> student assistants who did all our wedging and rolled our coils or slabs,
> and fetched tea or beer. Yes, we actually had good Efes Turkish pilsner =
on
> tap right there at the studio.
>=20
> Sevim Cizer, who organized the event, got one of the students to bring a
> decent steel-string guitar for me to use, so I was able to sing American
> folk songs for everyone. The Turkish artists and students sang beautiful
> Turkish folk songs, and they are all in minor keys. I commented that the=
y
> sounded sad, and Sirin, one of our assistants who has an incredibly
> beautiful singing voice, said "Not sad, emotional!"
>=20
> The food was great - lots of eggplant dishes, hearty soups often made fro=
m
> lentils, wonderful thick Turkish yogurt with almost every meal, grilled
> fresh sardines one night, excellent grilled chicken. I have grown very f=
ond
> of the traditional Turkish breakfast, always served buffet style - fresh
> sliced cucumber and tomato, good Turkish cheese (feta or some other goat =
or
> sheep-milk cheese), hard boiled eggs, olives, fresh crusty bread, and
> unsalted butter.
>=20
> We took several sightseeing trips, visiting the extensive Greco-Roman rui=
ns
> at Ephesus and Aphrodisias, and we visited the traditional pottery villag=
e
> of Karacasu. The potters there make unglazed terracotta functional ware =
in
> much the same way they have been doing it for thousands of years. Their
> homemade wheels are electrified now, and there's a satellite dish on ever=
y
> roof, but they still fire the ware in wood-fired grate kilns that trace
> directly back to ones found in Palestine 2500 BC.
>=20
> We were productive in the studio, and the work is on exhibition at the
> Attaturk Museum of Culture in Izmir through the end of this month. The
> opening was quite an event, followed by a wonderful meal at a seafood
> restaurant on the waterfront.
>=20
> After the symposium and exhibition were over, I spent four full days in
> Istanbul, and now I understand all those people who say it is among the
> world's most interesting cities. More than any other city, it represents=
a
> blend of East and West. It is traditionally Muslim, and the mosque
> minarettes are one of the primary features of the skyline, but it is stil=
l a
> modern city in many ways, with excellent transportation. Parts of the ci=
ty
> are very European, while other parts are very traditional and old fashion=
ed.
>=20
> At one of the first mosques I visited I was fortunate to find an excellen=
t
> book on all the places in Istanbul to see the best Iznik tiles, and I fou=
nd
> as many of them as I could. Of course I saw the harem at the Topkapi
> Palace, where some of the most famous Iznik tilework is located. I spent
> hours in the Hagia Sophia, just absorbing the extraordinary space. I had=
a
> great time at the Grand Bazaar, but an even better time walking the narro=
w,
> steep, winding streets in the non-tourist areas, soaking up all the sight=
s,
> sounds, and smells. Many Turks look very European, and if men just wear
> dark trousers, dark shoes, and a dark teeshirt, polo shirt, or sport shir=
t,
> they blend in and no one even notices them. It is harder for women, beca=
use
> the traditional Turkish working-class women wear long bright print skirts=
,
> long-sleeve blouses, and scarfs over their heads.
>=20
> I came back with my suitcase overloaded with jewelry and spices for my lo=
ved
> ones, and a nice selection of antique Middle Eastern padlocks for me. I'=
ve
> always loved quirky padlocks.
>=20
> I was back in Tennessee for a few days, and now am back on the West Coast=
.
> I am on sabbatical this semester, and am staying out here to work on seve=
ral
> writing projects. I am going to go NOMAIL for a week or so, because I am
> heading out into the desert to do some camping at Joshua Tree and Death
> Valley National Parks before I get down to work. It's way too hot in bot=
h
> of those places when I am out here in the summer, so now is my chance.
>=20
> The people are so kind, generous, and courteous. Izmir is a very modern
> city, and is mostly secular, primarily because of all the universities
> there. Our student assistants ranged in age from 19 or 20 to 30, and all=
of
> them were interesting, proud, and incredibly kind, and seemed to be very
> interested in everything we did and everything we had to say. There were
> some translation issues, but we made do.
>=20
> Here's a short story that tells a lot about the Turkish students. As
> mentioned, we had a keg of Turkish beer with a refrigerated tap right nex=
t
> to the studio, on the terrace where we ate our meals. While we were at t=
he
> summer camp, various groups of Dokuz Eylul students came and went to
> participate in classes and field trips, and they often stayed up and part=
ied
> late into the night in and around the dining hall, which is next to the
> studio. No one ever took any of our beer. I asked one of the ceramics g=
rad
> students from Dokuz Eylul why the other students never helped themselves =
at
> the tap, and he replied very matter-of-factly, "It's not their beer." Ca=
n
> you imagine what would happen on any American college campus if there was=
a
> tapped keg accessible to anyone? It wouldn't survive the first night.
>=20
> Again, I am going NOMAIL for a week or so while I am out in the desert.
> After that I will be staying with friends up in Northern California, and =
I
> will have only dial-up, and cannot afford to let a lot of mail pile up. =
If
> anyone responds to this message on Clayart, please CC a copy to me. If
> anyone has any specific questions about Turkey, please email them to me. =
It
> is a wonderful place to visit. I hope to go back soon
> - Vince
>=20
> Vince Pitelka
> Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
> Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
> vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
> http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
> http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
>=20
> _________________________________________________________________________=
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>=20
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>=20
> _________________________________________________________________________=
_____
> Clayart members may send postings to: clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>=20
> You may look at the archives for the list, post messages, or change your
> subscription settings here: http://www.acers.org/cic/clayart/
>=20
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots2@visi=
.com
_________________________________________________________________
Climb to the top of the charts!=A0 Play Star Shuffle:=A0 the word scramble =
challenge with star power.
http://club.live.com/star_shuffle.aspx?icid=3Dstarshuffle_wlmailtextlink_oc=
t=
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