In the studio

I know I said I would do a weekly post about what is going on in that newly minted studio of mine, but certain events have kept me from it. We were in a car accident a couple of weeks ago, and so I've been taking it a little easy in the studio. (We're all okay, the kids especially are completely fine, K and I are recovering quite well- just the usual sort of stuff, the car however, is not recovering, so that's a real bummer, because we'd only had it 3 months or so).

Anyhow- I've been carving some mugs, making them with a wider base and a straight sided cylinder shape instead of the small base with slanted sides which I was making before. The small based mugs are awfully tippy, there is some sort top to bottom width ratio that I am missing out on there I think, and I don't have the uninterrupted time at the moment to work out a better angle- I may do that in the future. The wider bottom gives the mugs a really stable feel, originally I felt like the straight cylinder was a bit clunky, but it's growing on me now, and I really like it as a shape for carving, it has an appealing straightforwardness. Also it makes the rim quite even, without losing the charm of hand building so I like that.

I've also been carving a few of them too- which is much less time consuming on a small scale, and I really like that, I like the lavishness of a hand carved mug, something a bit extra special for an everyday purpose, I think that's where functional handmade items shine.  I've also been tinting some slip and doing some Sgraffito work, some little tests, which I'm pretty excited about, they don't photograph well at all- because the slip needs a firing to make it darker, but it's basically coloured slip inlaid into the clay body, I'll show some images when/ if ever I get the kiln fired.

For the record this is what the majority of time spent in my studio looks like:

I really love the idea that it takes ten thousand hours of dedicated practice to become masterful at something,  at the rate I'm going, I'm sure I'm mastering something... though it likely isn't ceramics. Whenever I meet up with someone who asks me about what sort of art I've been making lately, I have to resist the urge to point to my kids and call them art.

Monday Inspiration: WIlliam Moorcroft

William Moorcroft, Eventide Pattern, (source)

William Moorcroft, (source)

William Moorcroft, Orchid, (source)

Moorcroft Pottery can be a bit confusing, because it's still made today, not by William Moorcroft of course, but by a pottery that uses his name and his style- they continue his tradition if you will. And it's all beautiful stuff- but it's not all made by William Moorcroft- and it sort of makes me see the issues with Art pottery, and originality, and capital A art. Because Pottery is not necessarily an 'original' unique piece- often it's part of a set- and that set is replicated- you can order more Orchid patterned vases if you break one- it's replaceable- and therefore- somehow less special- or valuable- or something like that.

I still love art pottery- I love William Moorcroft's original works, but I do find the new ones a bit overly Glossy- or smooth. The thing I love about art pottery was this stubborn refusal to leave out the the marks that show how it was made- there are inconsistencies in the glazes, fingerprints, smudges. The things that I love about Painting, the things that show me that this piece was made by a human- but that are a little less acceptable somehow on pottery.

I think Pottery has always held a sort of smooth mystique- perhaps stemming from Chinese pots- which look manufactured- they are so perfect, but they are made by masters. And that's the ideal- because of course it means that you've mastered your craft and I respect that, but I still love a pot that looks worked- and much like the abstract expressionist movement- art pottery was very much about the medium, Glazes run, and scorch and bubble, it's an unpredictable medium, fingerprints are too easily preserved, and I like that.

Monday Inspiration: Amphora Pottery

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Amphora Pottery was made by a Bohemian based Pottery around the turn of the century, it was made by Reissner, Stellmacher & Kessel, and marked with Turn Teplitz on the bottom- so it's also called Teplitz Amphora Pottery. In some ways it's very similar in style to Rookwood pottery(which was made in America), but it's more flamboyant- It's like Rookwood on acid.

The styles are so overly Art Nouveau it's almost too much for me- and I'm an art nouveau junkie. They're so heavily decorated and flowing sometimes it's like a parody of Art Nouveau- still it's beautiful stuff- and it's rare to see something so elaborate not turn the corner into gaudy, so the pieces that strike the balance between elaborate and elegant really get me.

Also I love the combination of shiny metal and pottery- it's a classic.