Ben on sun 3 apr 05
Tony wrote:
>A history that is shorter but
> none the less important as a terms of reference. Who out there collects
> salt
> glazed whiskey jugs or Red Wing crocks?
I'd heartily recommend "Raised in Clay" by Nancy Sweezy as an intro to the
southern U.S stoneware tradition. Process, product and people are well
covered. And, yes, it is a constant reference in my shop. Though I
wouldn't call my work referenced. Some of the forms are fairly crude while
others are, as said, excellent. I've had
Lanier Meaders ash glazed jugs in sight for many years, or rather photos.
Kind of a shame he spent his latter years making face jugs for "collectors".
"folk" like heehaw.
I've also photographed a great deal of stoneware from Calhoun Missouri from
the late 1800's. They'd mostly albany slip glazed ware round shouldered
jugs, crocks, fruit jars, milk pans and butter churns. The earliest stuff
was salt glazed.
I've a scorched salt glazed fruit jar in my collection, a two gallon jug
saved from a barn demo, crocks, square shouldered jugs (but no redwing).
Alas my budget affords more photos than pots. Btw those jugs held
everything, sorghum, cider vinegar, honey, you name it. Our two gallon
still
had diesel sludge in it from the old farmer.
It was only prohibition that firmly etched the image in the american
consciousness. The old southern potters were a bit wry about it, said all
the stuff went to the universities....
Take care,
Ben
clennell on sun 3 apr 05
For anyone that has attended one of our recent workshops you'll know we are
interested in referenced work. My thoughts being that the strongest work out
there is referenced.
On CBC radio for the past month they had a program to define the 50 most
essential Canadian songs of the past 50 years. There has been some great
Canuck music- Cohen, Cockburn, Joni Mitchell, The Tragically Hip, The
Barenaked Ladies to name a few. The song that was voted by thousands of
people to be the #1 essential Canadian song was 1963 Four Strong Winds by
Ian and Sylvia written by Ron Roys old art school room mate Ian Tyson. I was
shocked. Where did this dark horse come from? Four Strong Winds references
Ians love of Alberta, the praires, the wind, the sky, the coyotes.
Sing what you know about, write what you know about and make pots that you
know about. Do many of us really know about the tea ceremony?
This past week I have googled some American ceramic artists. Julia Galloways
new work has pics of industrial buildings of Rochester- exactly what Dick
Aerni must look out over. I read that Steven Hill references Tuscany many
thousands of miles away. Which work do you think has the strongest reference
for their American audience. Why do north american potters call their cups
chawans? How does this fit into our NA terms of reference.
Wes this is a post for you man. This is a question post!
When I was in England Mick Casson said go home and look at the incredible
work of the North American stoneware potters. A history that is shorter but
none the less important as a terms of reference. Who out there collects salt
glazed whiskey jugs or Red Wing crocks?
Why is it always greener somewhere else?
cheers,
Tony
Tony and Sheila Clennell
Sour Cherry Pottery
4545 King Street
Beamsville, Ontario
CANADA L0R 1B1
http://www.sourcherrypottery.com
http://www.sourcherrypottery.com/current_news/news_letter.html
Elizabeth Priddy on mon 4 apr 05
North Carolina Potters understand this. Pottery here reflects our state. We have
mountains and beaches and coastal plains. And pots that were to be used as our history, not just pots to be admired. Production work, rows and rows of the same form standing like little soldiers in line on your ware boards. Production work is also something that is referenced, not in the individual piece but in the work process that that illustrates your attitude and character.
I could no more sit down to make one pot and stop than I could cross country ski. There is no snow here. Production potteries are inspiring and magical. Think elves, not drones and you can begin to get it.
The first pots that really inspired me were tobacco jug pots by Dan Finch.
They were mediumish size jugs with a tobacco barn carved into one side and a tobacco
leaf impressed into the other. They were weird and beautiful and all about where we lived
and worked and grew up.
I have moved on to making chimney kiln sagger fired work with pampas grass and salt marsh
grasses and sea muck. They are experimental. The kiln is experimental. Sometimes they are ugly. That is alright. Sometimes the sea can be ugly. The flat calm of the postcards is very fleeting. The devastation after storms is much more realistic when you live here. Crabs and other things that crawl in the sand are horrifiying when you look up close. Shrimp are worms with shells.
When I was very young, all I wanted was Bill Campbell gas fired runny blue work. It would have thrilled my soul to make it. Then I made it in gas kilns at school. And now I don't really care for it, as it is common, like fashion models, all legs and hair and airbrushed glossy surface.
Now that I am much older, I "get" ugly. I get the way life really looks and don't feel the need to airbrush it. My pots will have some horse hair, because I live next to an island with wild ponies and I love them, not because I saw how to do it in a workshop and can buy horsehair at the craft supply center.
Maybe you should make a run of white slip on white pots in honor of the snow. The fire marks and ash debris would look like the roads after some trucks have driven through it. They could be glorious.
clennell wrote:
For anyone that has attended one of our recent workshops you'll know we are
interested in referenced work. My thoughts being that the strongest work out
there is referenced
Elizabeth Priddy
252-504-2622
1273 Hwy 101
Beaufort, NC 28516
http://www.elizabethpriddy.com
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