Meso and Native American

To continue our posts on important historical references of great traditional hand building cultures for research we can group the americas as one- Meso and South American work and our own Native American pottery.  These works have many elements in common.  Pots were made for everyday use.  Pottery also played a very important part in the social and spiritual elements of life.  Two good books to begin with are "World Ceramics," by Hugo and Marjorie Munsterberg, and "A History of World Pottery," by Emmanuel Cooper.  These books can be found in the school library.

Native American work from the Pueblo era in the southwest are still made in the same traditional way.  The most famous of the Pueblo potters was Maria Martinez.

Empty Bowls

Yesterday was throwing day for our third "Empty Bowls."  We began this annual fund raising event in 2008, thanks to Janelle's hard work and dedication.  Empty bowls is a nationally supported, but locally organized effort by potters of many communities to help those who may not have the means for a sustaining daily meal.  We continue to work to benefit and support the terrific people at Hope House.

Hats off to all of our continuing education students for once again giving their time and effort, making so many pots.  Our community of potters is the best.  A long day of throwing with lots of laughs and pots to (trim!) fill.  More on the event will follow.

Iranian Ceramics

An excellent book on early Iranian ceramics is authored by Trudy S. Kawami.  "Ancient Iranian Ceramics" documents works from the Sackler Collections. I will bring my copy to our next class. For those of you wanting to add handles or spouts, these pieces may be a good start for design.

The Jomon book is now on reserve at the school library.

Variations in Salt Firing

The use of salt to glaze pots began in Germany during the 1500's.  It is not known exactly how the idea came about.  Stories of cod crates or maybe a smart chemist who made pots on the side are common.  I don't know of any written accounts marking the first use of salt for glaze.  But the expert on this is Jack Troy.  His book on salt is still the best.  Many of us started out with his book in hand as we began to revive this firing technique. There are a number of other good books on the subject.  I will list them in the next post on salt.  


Traditional salt glazing is still one of the great high fire experiences.  So simple and direct.  There are many ways to manipulate the effects at ∆10. Reduction, use of slips and washes, saggars and flashing are just a few of the basic approaches.  


But an area that is not so commonly talked about is mid temperature salt or vapor firings.  We do them here at PrattMWP in the sophomore classes.  Sometimes we use terra cotta.  This semester we will be using the ∆10 salt body I like from Sheffield Pottery,T-3S.  I have used it at ∆ 3-6 will great results.  We will get into more detail in a later post.  Just a teaser for now.


  

Jomon

Where better to begin than the Jomon Culture in Japan, starting around 10,000 BC.  The info on the web is extensive.   One of the best books on Jomon is by Douglas Moore Kendrick.  The school library doesn't have a copy, but I will make mine available up stairs in the Ceramic Resource Room.

A chronology of early to late forms can be found on page 20 of Kendrick's book.  These simple drawings show the development of style during this period.  I am often struck by the similar stylistic arch or maturity seen in cultures. This is often seen in individual artists as well.  From the early, relatively quiet emphasis on form and shape to more ornate and elaborate visual elements.  The emphasis on the rim in the later Jomon periods make the point we made in class this week.  "Definition,"  the treatment of the foot and the rim sets up everything else in the pot.  Think of it compositionally as framing the piece.  All good works have this.  We will talk more about this next week.  For your research this week, look at pots for this aspect.  How strong are the defining elements of the work you are looking at?

Draw as many different shapes as possible.  The rim treatment will be key. Draw. I want to see sketches.  They will be our first references for discussion of your work.

Review from class...

∆ Strong slab for base, thicker base coil; good pressure weld here;

∆ When coiling the wall, overlap the new coil, at least halfway, to the inside of the last coil, roll and pinch. Make a good pressure weld; work on the wall "away" from you, that is, the thumb should be on the inside of the wall when pressing;  try mastering the coil making technique I showed you;  

∆ Build up the form coil by coil;  erase with a rib the coil rings as soon as possible;  this allows you to better see the form and shape as it develops, making corrections easier;

∆ Adjust the form as you go;  compress the wall with two hand as shown in class to bring wall into the shape,  push the form out for same;  keep the shape "fair" as possible, much like a boat builder works the hull;  Stand back from the piece to see the shape developing;  

FORM IS IN YOUR HEAD FROM THE START.  THE SHAPE IS THE LINE OF THE FORM FROM ANY GIVEN SIDE.  SHAPE VARIATIONS RESULT FROM THE PROCESS OF FORMING THE PIECE AND ARE A WELCOMED PART OF THE PROCESS.  

∆ Break the plane to visually lift the form from the surface it sits on;

∆ Treat the rim- do something with it that works with the form (or in some cases counters the form, creating tension, like Jomon!).  The rim is where the viewer's eye goes first.  

The form is the single most important aspect of any piece.  All other visual elements pale by comparison.  Work on "seeing" good form.

Let other works influence yours.  It is how you learn.  Your work will be unique automatically, and your collective influences will always be different from any other's.  Use what you find in art history that speaks to you.  

Google Jomon ceramics,  the images are wonderful...

We will begin to look at surface treatments next class.  Impression, applique, marking, stamping...  Enjoy looking at pots this week. Work on technique and control!!

To Sophomore Class Sp '10

Hello!

Our first class will meet Tuesday Jan.25.  We will begin with a demo at 9:10 am sharp.  Please have your tools and a sketch book with you for the first class.

The first class project will cover coil construction- we will start with vessel making and the elements of form and shape.  

We will talk about surface, line, edge, balance, transitions, et. al. and eye movement.

Function will be limited to jars and vases.  Handles and appendages will be possible.

Keep the forms simple and strong.  We will explore the use of drawing on these vessels.  The figure, abstract mark making, pattern and motif. 


We will explore color in a later project.


I would like to do a sculptural project second.  Be thinking about what type of forms could be made with coils.  At this point I am leaning toward work that will be presented as a group.  Two or more pieces related in some way.

The vessel work will emphasize technique and craftsmanship.  Simple forms.  Look at works from early Asian periods like Momoyama in Japan,  Yayoi in Korea, Ming in China to start.  Pre-Columbian works, African works, Greek and Mesopotamian.  Start looking- bring the forms and shapes that appeal to you to your work!

You will be learning the technique of coiling that I learned from Bruno LaVerdiere.  It will probably be different from what you have done before.  Look him up.  He can be found in a book about Penland School of Crafts in N.C.  I will demonstrate in class on Tuesday.

You will be expected to bring ideas and results of library research to class in the form of sketches and notations.  Artists do not work in a vacuum!  As sophomores, I will expect you to begin to bring purpose and meaning to your work.  This doesn't mean heavy philosophical notions.  The use of basic formal elements can convey meaning every bit as much as words and images.  Just the act of making has meaning.  

I hope to teach you various firing techniques, including modified pit/raku, and low temperature vapor/salt.  

The second series of projects will be sculptural using multiple units.  More on that at midterm.

Looking forward to meeting you all and to a productive semester!

Firing the PrattMWP salt kiln

Salting and cooling-

At ∆8 we begin to salt the kiln.  We continue until we have reached ∆9 or 10.  Some potters adjust the damper during salting. We keep the damper setting still.  We can discuss other options later.

We use a salt mixture of 2 parts salt, 1 part sawdust, 1 part fine ash. There are many recipes.  We play with this recipe from time to time. We do not use sodium bicarbonate or similar materials.  On occasion we throw in some borax, but I like the addition of ash better.  It is light and more likely to carry through the kiln with the vapor than other material.  The sawdust adds reduction material and ash.

The mix is scooped into a length of angle iron that will fit through the salting port, the opening of which is the size of a soap (a straight brick cut in half length wise).  Slide the angle iron into the kiln and turn.  You will develop a rhythm or schedule for the saltings- two troughs each side, every 8 minutes, for instance.  Continue until you have a good glaze buildup and/or reach ∆9/10.

After a salting or two, pull a test ring to gauge the glaze buildup.  We use a rod (rebar) to hook the ring from inside the kiln.  Drop the ring into a bucket of water.  When cool dry it off and check the glaze.
As the kiln ages and "seasons," it will require less salt to get the glaze buildup.  I have read some different notions about this, but I find it to be so.

After we have reached the temperature and glaze desired, we shut the kiln down.  Turn off all burners.  What you do now will have an impact on the glazes.  We "crash cool," or open all ports and damper to get the kiln to cool down quickly.  The idea is to get the glazes to "freeze," resulting in a higher gloss.  You can play with this to see what effects you can get.  If you do crash cool, drop to 2150˚F or so. Do not go below 1950˚!  The chamber should look bright orange at its coolest.  This will take a shorter time than you think.  After cooling, seal the kiln tightly, closing all ports and damper.  Then, patience. Open the kiln when you can comfortably place your hand in the upper part of the chamber.  Wait a good 24 to 36 hours to do this!  There is a common rule of thumb for heating and cooling.  Take as much time to cool as you took to fire.  We fire rather fast so we keep to the 24-36 hour rule.  More exactly, after 24 hours, we open the damper and spy ports and wait another 10 -12 hours.  The results are worth the wait!!!

Next post about salt firing- some alternate approaches using salt.