Marian Williams, Author at Marian Williams Pottery

Is It White Trash or Yard Art? Garden Totems

Sometimes I think that I convince myself that I have a great (or good) idea; when, in fact, it’s a horrible idea or just busy work!

My current idea is a “filler” for the spots in the kiln that can accommodate a small little piece, but nothing significant. The idea is a “copy” off of my “IDEA BOARD” in my studio.

I saw these garden art totems in a gallery in Christchurch, New Zealand. I don’t know the artist and apologise for not giving credit, but I took this photo ages ago – before I thought I could ever get back to doing my pottery. I loved the look, interest, and creativity that oozed from these Objects d’art!

So I’ve taken the plunge and started creating! What fun!!! No pressure! Just sheer fun!

Glazing should be fun too! I plan to raku a few and cone 10 glaze some!

Final results are yet to be seen! But…if I put them all about, will I look white trashy or will I have created Yard Art!!

Sweet As…. My New Venco Direct Drive Pottery Wheel!

Studio and Equipment Tools and Equipment

It is sort of like changing from cooking on a gas stove to an electric stove top, or vice versa – There’s a bit of a learning curve.

My new wheel has taken me some “getting used to” time. It’s different. But, oh so sweet!

It took me a bit to get used to the power, the torque, the quiet. I “listen” to my other wheels and have learned to gauge what the speed is by the hum of the motor. The Venco Direct Drive is really quiet, so I had to adjust to that. Other than that, it is great! And it fit very nicely into the throwing table that Ronnie built for me for the other wheel.

The clean-up is so easy that I find myself cleaning up after each throwing session! And for me, a really messy potter, that is something.

One of the reasons that it is so easy to clean is the larger hole for drips and slag. Those little holes on the older ones just get stuffed with clay, causing a huge backup problem. It’s one of those “DUH” ideas!!!

Also, there is no where for the clay to hide under the wheel head. That is all enclosed!!! Crazy idea, eh?!!! Brilliant!!!

As I said before, I’m a very lucky girl!!! Throwing, throwing, throwing!

Kimi Masui

Amazing Potters

I’m always on the prowl for someone who creates glaze colours that I lust after! And Kimi’s work is oh so wonderful!

Kimi Masui is a third generation Japanese-American living in California. She states that, “All of my pieces are hand-thrown and/or hand-built porcelain and glazed with formulas that I have developed over my three-decade plus career. Most of my professional life has been devoted to making sophisticated functional ware, and recently I have focused on covered vessels.”

Kimi Masui

So where has she been all my life? These glazes are super WOW!! and so is KIMI MASUI!!

Copper Red and Royal Blue Pottery Bowl, cone 10 reduction

Copper Red, Sang de Boeuf or OxBlood… What Is It Called???

Amazing Potters Copper Reds

I suppose I’m a bit obsessed. I want it! I NEED it! I’ve got to have it!

SANG DE BOEUF! COPPER RED!! I’ve tried and had some good results, but I want MORE!! See more blog posts I’ve written about copper red glazes by clicking here!

….but what is it really called???

There are various names for the elusive, glossy red glaze.

Here are the names that refer to the red glaze (that I’ve found so far!):

Copper Red

Sang de boeuf, which is the French name meaning ‘Ox blood’

Lang yao hong (lang yao red), the Chinese name believed to have been named for Lang Tingji, one of the imperial kiln supervisors.

Just to confuse things further, sang de boeuf is also called flambé glaze!!!

All in all, it all refers to a glossy, rich, bloodied glaze that can be slashed with streaks of purple or turquoise and is used to decorate pottery, particularly porcelain. The glaze is described as resembling the floor of a slaughterhouse, crushed strawberries, apple peel or, as it is known in the West, sang de boeuf(French for “oxblood”)”.

EVERYONE has been chasing copper red glazes for a really long time!!

First, it was the Chinese, then the French, then the English….then all the rest of us!!!

The Chinese are always ahead of us. They may have even discovered (if you can use that word, see article here) America a century before Columbus!! Such an amazing bunch of people! If you have visited there, you know what I mean. The people of China are multitudinous. They throng, thrive, and bustle. They have a culture that is far more ancient than anything in the USA or Australia – the two countries in which I have lived. AND they had this pottery stuff nailed centuries ago!

Sang de boeuf Ming Vases

To give you a short version of the history of sang de boeuf (I really like that name!!), porcelain shows up on the radar during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) in the city of Jingdezhen, and the city is known to this day as China’s “capital of porcelain”.

After porcelain, “The sang de boeuf glaze first appeared during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). The disappearance of sang de boeuf glazes occurred along with a slowdown in porcelain production during that period’s war-torn later years. When it resurfaced during the ensuing Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), use of the glaze was perfected and some of the finest pieces of sang de boeuf emerged. This was particularly so during the reign of K’ang-hsi (1654-1722), the fourth (and best, some say) emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Examples include vases, bowls, teapots, urns and other vessels. “

EVERYONE recognises the difficulty in achieving this glaze. “It’s sophisticated and refined, and it’s difficult to achieve,” says Tina McEown, an antiques dealer and collector in the Valley. “It’s fired with no oxygen, which can cause the color to change, and it’s fired many times. It’s not simple.” The above paragraphs are from this article.

In Europe, Theodore Deck, the “father” of French ceramics and one-time director of manufacture for the country’s famous Sèvres porcelain factory, was well-known for his sang de boeuf.

William Howson Taylor, co-founder of Ruskin Pottery, is said to have fiercely guarded the production of such pieces and destroyed all of his glaze recipes (can you believe it!!!) before his death.

Work of Willliam Howson Taylor

Ernest Chaplet, a French ceramicist, devoted his later life to producing sang de boeuf.

Ernest Chaplet, French Ceramicist
©Jason Jacques Gallery

Ernest Chaplet’s work
©Jason Jacques Gallery

Ernest Chaplet’s Work
©Jason Jacques Gallery

In the early part of the 20th century, Bernard Moore, an English potter, experimented with Chinese glazes and tried to recreate the sang de boeuf glazes.. He produced some successful flambé and sang-de-boeuf glazes on a stoneware body at his small factory in Stoke-upon-Trent. He worked in association with William Burton of Pilkington pottery in Manchester, which made experimental decorative ware of all kinds.

Bernard Moore, Master Potter, A book on Bernard Moore chronicles his life and his pottery.

An Advertisement on Bernard Moore’s work

This is an example of Bernard Moore’s pottery.

So why are we still chasing this elusive butterfly of copper red glazes, high fire glazes, porcelain, and pottery in general. Looks like we would have figured this out to the point that it can be replicated fairly easily. But with recipes being destroyed and history repeating itself, there are a bunch of us out there with our butterfly nets chasing copper red!!!

Keep the faith and keep going for the red!

Ponder, ponder!

Creation

I’ve tried using my new stamp on the bottom of my pots, but am thinking now of adding it on the side of the pot. I really like these two pots and their use of their stamps. Ponder, ponder!

Pottery by Chen Ching, as seen on Marian Marcatili’s Facebook

As seen on Fine Mess Pottery Blog, pottery by Nick DeVries

Lana Wilson: Developing Your Own Style

Amazing Potters Musings

I recently re-read Lana Wilson’s article in Clay Times, titled “Developing Your Own Style” in an effort to redirect myself for my next body of work. Her advice throughout the article is well-put and rings true as to how to best “figure out what we want our clay work to become.”

However, even with this excellent advice, (the best of which is probably “Go to your studio…and make…), I found myself still adrift in a sea of information, choices, interests, and desires!!

What do I want my clay work to become?

Where do I see myself in 5 years time?

In the article, Lana challenges us to write a brilliant, short description in third person describing our work in five to ten years time….

Difficult….

But when you think hard enough, it will become apparent. It is actually what you have dreamed of all along.

Mine would be to create for myself (and others, if the Clay Gods are generous to me!!) large, interestingly-crafted platters, bowls, serving pieces that are gloriously colourful in rich, amazing glazes that can be used to pile with glorious, delicious food to serve to a group of friends and family on a regular basis. That is my whole desire.

So when you break that down, my goals should then be to:
Create large, interestingly-crafted pieces, and to
Develop rich, colourful, amazing glazes
The rest…food and family are in a different basket.

That really helps! It narrows my efforts and keeps me from wandering aimlessly from project to project, looking for the right thing.

I would love to be known for my glazes and that search will never end …. probably!

I’ve Made My Mark! Pottery Maker’s Marks

Maker's Marks Pottery Stamps

I’ve always had trouble with signing my pots. Nothing seems to signify “Me”.

And, as you know from the Antiques Road Show, pottery’s makers’ marks are significant and through time tell a lot about a place, culture, styles of the time, and the financial situation of the time. Potter’s marks also change and history follows that progression to learn about the sociology of that time and place. Pottery can be such a significant legacy to leave behind!

BIG RESPONSIBILITY TO NOT MAKE AND KEEP CRAP!

When it said that we are making Future Relics, it’s true! Check out the blog by that name – I love the name of the blog, “Future Relics” – so apropos!

In deciding what to do about a potters mark, I decided to look at some old pottery. It is fascinating and the maker’s marks tell the story of the artist. A good resource for researching potter’s marks is: International Ceramics Directory

My mom started collecting a few Van Briggle pottery pieces and I have added to that collection a bit, so I’ll use their pottery markings as an example. A website dedicated to the work of Clement Marot Hull, a Van Briggle potter, demonstrates the various types of markings on Van Briggle Pottery.

Source

So it has become increasingly important for me to come up with a good pottery stamp or mark for my pots.

Previously, I have signed pots like this:

I don’t think that my mark was very professional and definitely didn’t add to the artistic nature of my work! It was simply a conjoined MW for Marian Williams.

In an endeavour to correct this problem, I had a former student get a chop made for me while he was in China – Thanks Bruce!!!. Unfortunately, it didn’t make a deep enough mark on the clay, but I loved the design!

Recently, I emailed Tools 4 Clay to see if they could make a stamp from the chop. Joel Socwell worked out what I wanted in a stamp and made the chop. I highly recommend their services if you are wanting a stamp! They were great to work with and really did a great job! Their website is www.4clay.com

Here is the result! I love it and I think that it will be more professional and more ME!!

Only one little problem…it is so small, I was afraid that I might lose it! So I had my wonderful husband, Ron, drill a hole (sorry to www.4clay.com!) and he added a copper wire to provide a handle for the stamp! Brilliant! I can hang it up and shouldn’t lose it!

Here is the mark made by the new stamp from Tools 4 Clay! I think it looks awesome!

It’s So Zen!

Creation

This is a demo of Zen Brush and Doodlecast. Be patient-there are a couple of lags-my bad!

I’m always doodling – drawing pots – so when I heard about Zen Brush app for my iPad, I decided to try it!!

It’s such a great drawing program! So fluid! And if you have a stylus for your iPad, it works even better!
Give it a go- I think you will enjoy it! And you may come up with a great new design.
The demo video is made using another cool little iPad app called Doodlecast.

Honourably Mentioned! Wahoo!

Musings

Wow! I’m flattered, pleased, and so chuffed about my honourable mention by the Pottery Making Info blog on the Top Blog 2012 list!!!!!

Check it out at Pottery Making Info -click!

I’m listed under Tracey Broom’s Blog at Number 8!

8. Tracey Broome… Clay

Tracey Broome Clay

The Personal Pottery Blogger

Total 2012 posts: 278

Mentions in the Clay Blog Review: 39

Blogger Tracey Broome (North Carolina) gives us insight into her personal struggles and success with clay.

He does such a great job of synthesising and pinpointing all the great info in pottery blogs out there! Not a small task! If it’s not on your reading list, it should be!