Joan Berkwitz on sat 1 nov 03
My friend who lost her home in the Paradise fire brought a box of her =
earthenware pieces along to show me. They are slipcast, and were either =
glazed in clear matte or clear gloss. (They are horses) Having been =
stored in cardboard boxes, wrapped in either bubblewrap or newspaper, =
they were apparently a perfect invitation for the fire to play strange =
tricks. One piece, that was glossy, now has red/gold metallic raku =
hooves! Apparently it was deep enough in the box to achieve reduction. =
Only its hooves, mind you. Most of the others had their glaze softened =
enough to absorb the ashes and soot, and they are uniformly dark =
grey/black, no matter what color they were before. With long. seperating =
cracks in the bodies and cobweb crackling in the smaller areas, they do =
a good imitation of intentional raku. Unfortunate volcanic looking =
eruptions probably represent the slag of melted bubble wrap. The most =
humorous is a sculpture of lying moose, looking at its flank. Now it =
really has something to look at, since the whole back section of its =
rump broke off!
Looking at the pieces, it is a reminder that ceramics are very durable. =
They don't disappear, like drawings and paintings, they only change. We =
used to joke among ourselves that our motto was "Go ahead, bury them, =
you can dig them up in a thousand years and they will be just fine". =
And when people ask if the fired finishes will fade, I tell them "Not =
unless the sun goes nova." They look startled, but thoughtful. People =
aren't used to something that will outlast them in most circumstances!=20
Joanie
www.marcherware.com
www.pourhorse.com
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