clennell on mon 9 aug 04
David: I read a wonderful essay by Micheal Cardew in which he said people
that think that glazes look better on porcelain than stoneware need more
education. This was like a bolt of lightning to me. Looking at the
subleties of stoneware is something that takes a well trained eye. It is
also that eye that can see the subleties of wood fired pots. i know that the
woodfiring craze is blazing across America and the pots are pretty damn
boring brown things with bits of flashing here and there. This craze is
not about the pots but about turning firing into a social gathering for food
and group hugs. This will all go away as raku seems to be doing and the
ones that have done good woodfiring will continue to. I'm not too swift with
the computer but if your GOOGle up some of my favourite woodfirers in the
world that are firing unglazed stoneware and letting the kiln be the paint
brush you will see amazing colour that goes far beyond brown. Chester Nealie
Owen Rye, Tony Nansversis, Steve Harrison, Sandy Lockwood Australia,- the
Auzzies seem to be on the right track. jeff Shapiro US, Torbjorn Kvasbo
Norway. At The Naked Truth there will be a panel on woodfire esthetics
presented by Jeff Shapiro, Linda Christianson and Kirk Mangus. I'll take
notes and possibly slip my rubber nose and glasses on and address the
woodkiln as a source of a brower shade of brown.
I brought home a set of 4 dinner plates from Kanayama high iron body,
woodfired with charcoal placed over top at Cone 11. We love these plates.
Brown with bits of red, olive, almond, blue you name it- It is like eating
off the most interesting of rocks. many would find them brown. They need
more education.
Tony and Sheila Clennell
Sour Cherry Pottery
4545 King Street
Beamsville, Ontario
CANADA L0R 1B1
http://www.sourcherrypottery.com
daniel on tue 10 aug 04
Hi Tony,
> David: I read a wonderful essay by Micheal Cardew in which he said people
> that think that glazes look better on porcelain than stoneware need more
> education. This was like a bolt of lightning to me.
This comment struck me too. Do you recall or, have to hand, the title of the
essay or where it was published ? I'd be interested in reading it..
Thanx
D
Belmont, California, USA
(ex terra australis)
Earl Brunner on tue 10 aug 04
Cardew wrote some good stuff, don't know where that one is, but I like this
one:
"Learning to make pots is like learning to write. When as children we were
being taught to write, they didn't tell us the great thing to aim at was to
make the writing "express our personality"; personality is something too big
and too mysterious to be treated that way. They taught us skill, or
craftsmanship, that is, to make our writing legible. But while you are
learning to write legibly, your handwriting becomes yours and only yours.
Legibility is not going to rob it of its personality; on the contrary, it
makes it possible for your personality to flower and be seen; your
handwriting is you and nobody else can imitate it exactly.
The best way to impart character and personality to pots is to turn your
attention to other matters; to make them with as much concentration as you
are capable of, to enlarge your skill over as wide a range as possible, to
get to know your materials by living with them, trying to understand them,
and finding out little by little-- not with your head but with your body--
how they want to be treated; in fact, to treat them with proper respect as
we would a friend. Then, nothing can stop your personality from appearing
in your pots. They will be as individual and unmistakable as your
handwriting. But the handwriting has to be legible; if it isn't, the
message-- the meaning-- win not be communicated."
"A Potter's Companion" pg 9
Earl Brunner
Las Vegas, NV
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of daniel
Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2004 9:30 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: I love Brownies
Hi Tony,
> David: I read a wonderful essay by Micheal Cardew in which he said
people
> that think that glazes look better on porcelain than stoneware need more
> education. This was like a bolt of lightning to me.
This comment struck me too. Do you recall or, have to hand, the title of the
essay or where it was published ? I'd be interested in reading it..
Thanx
D
Belmont, California, USA
(ex terra australis)
Ivor and Olive Lewis on wed 11 aug 04
Dear Friends,
Michael Cardew treats us well with Mature Fruits from a Classical
Education.
Best regards,
Ivor Lewis.
Redhill,
S. Australia.
Lee Love on wed 11 aug 04
clennell wrote:
>David: I read a wonderful essay by Micheal Cardew in which he said people
>that think that glazes look better on porcelain than stoneware need more
>education. This was like a bolt of lightning to me.
>
The color of the clay certainly effects the glaze. This is the
primary reason I have used porcelain and white stoneware: glazes like
my chun, while they look pretty crappy on iron bearing stoneware, are
beautiful on a white clay. Other glazes, like shinos tend to look
better with some iron under them. Even with unglazed ware in wood
fire: some kilns like iron clay. Others like light or white clay.
>the computer but if your GOOGle up some of my favourite woodfirers in the
>world that are firing unglazed stoneware and letting the kiln be the paint
>brush you will see amazing colour that goes far beyond brown.
>
Tony, you got me looking at Matsuzaki with a fresh eye. You
helped me start thinking about shinos again. :-)
>Norway. At The Naked Truth there will be a panel on woodfire esthetics
>presented by Jeff Shapiro, Linda Christianson and Kirk Mangus.
>
>
Linda's work, is some of my favorite.
Folks visiting this summer got me looking at Tomo Hamada, Goda
and Murata Gen with a fresh eye. These are other people using glaze
in wood fire. Until this summer, I had been using glazed pots as
"fillers" in my woodkiln. An afterthought. I rethought this and
decided to just use the unglazed ware as shields to protect the glazed
work from too much ash. But with this latest firing focused on
glazes, I got some good results with unglazed shigaraki and bizen (seems
like sometimes, when you are not trying to hit the bullseye, you have a
better chance of hitting it!) So it looks like I won't give up the
unglazed ware all together. ;-)
>I brought home a set of 4 dinner plates from Kanayama high iron body,
>woodfired with charcoal placed over top at Cone 11. We love these plates.
>Brown with bits of red, olive, almond, blue you name it- It is like eating
>off the most interesting of rocks. many would find them brown. They need
>more education.
>
>
Subtle pots go the distance. Pots you can see something
different in every time you use them. Loud pots are like loud
people. They get your attention, but they can be hard to live with if
they are around every day. ;-)
--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
http://www.livejournal.com/users/togeika/ WEB LOG
http://public.fotki.com/togeika/ Photos!
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