Helen Bates on thu 29 apr 04
Surfing with Helen Bates - Eastern US part 3 - Apr. 29, 2004
Eric O'Leary (Tariki Studio) (Meriden, NH, USA)
Eric O'Leary is the son of potter Jack O'Leary (1918-1982), who built
Tariki Studio in the 1950's after studying ceramics at the School for
American Craftsmen, Alfred New York in 1946, and a further period as
resident potter at Old Sturbridge Village, Massachusetts. When he took
it over, Eric, who learned pottery from his father at a very young age,
expanded the studio when he took it over, making it possible to build
the sculptures, water fountains, architectural ceramics, and functional
ceramic furniture the studio now produces. These include appealing
garden seats, bird bath fountains and totems. The site could use
updating, though, and about half of the images look too dark on my screen.
Gloria Singer (East Brunswick, NJ, USA)
Gloria Singer built her small one person studio in 2002 after spending
10 years training in ceramics, a move from a career in design,
illustration and painting. Her work is wheel thrown, altered and then
fired either in a gas kiln to cone 10 or in an electric kiln to cone 6.
An assiduous glaze tester, she applies her glazes by airbrush, allowing
her to blend multiple glazes or isolate specific colors at need. She
also works in the smoke-firing technique, burnishing her ware with
things like a small porcelain pellet and a Teflon refrigerator slide.
These pots are then covered with terra sigillata, bisqued, and saggar
fired in a gas kiln at 1400 degrees F. Finally, Ms. Singer is
developing a line of work using latex and wax resist.
The Picket Post ( Fredericksburg, VA, USA) - 18th century pipe rest
There are just two pieces of ceramic ware here. (Well, no, there are
four, but only two happened to interest me.) One is a form I hadn't
seen before, called an "ash pot" (circa 1730), a tin glazed earthenware
handled and footed pot used in 18th century taverns as a pipe rest and
to dump ashes into. The other is an interesting "Westerwald" Jug made
in Germany (circa 1770) for the English and American markets. I think
the "GR" on the jar refers to "George Rex" (King George III of
England.) The Picket Post is a militaria collectors' heaven, I presume.
;-)
Ben Owen III (Ben Owen Pottery) (Seagrove, NC, USA)
(Museum, showroom and pottery)
Ben Owen III is the third Ben Owen to own and operate this pottery
founded by his grandfather in 1959. Ben's work is evolving into new
shapes and surface treatments but his pieces remain strongly reminiscent
of the traditional works made by his forefathers in the past. He makes
a great variety of superbly thrown and decorated pots in a number of
styles and glazes.
James and Lisa Tevia-Clark (Brasstown NC, USA)
Lisa Tevia-Clark, with her partner James specializes in porcelain
Bas-relief tableaux, disc-like pieces called "subvenires" and a line of
bas-relief tiles. The Tevia-Clarks make their own glazes, adding small
amounts of metal oxides to screened wood ash. Regarding the "subvenire"
pieces - the English language took the Latin word "subvenire" and formed
the words "subvention" and "souvenir." I found, after a search, that
it is being used in more than one modern language to describe objects
that evoke memories of places visited.
Helen
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Helen Bates - mailto:nell@cogeco.ca, nelbanell@yahoo.ca
Web - http://www.geocities.com/nelbanell/
PMI Online - http://www.potterymaking.org/pmionline.html
Clayarters' Urls - http://amsterlaw.com/clayart.html
Surfing Posts - http://amsterlaw.com/nell.html
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