research day

Lubna Chowdhary // Artist Profile from Jamie Isbell on Vimeo.

"no matter...

...what it is there's something to learn...
that feeling that there's always something under it...
there's always something meaningful laying underneath..."

Clay from Zane Clampett on Vimeo.

how lovely

to see an old friend, eat dinner, and notice your art in use on her counter.  just lovely.

the big ask

from an e-mail from 5.7.14 at 6:38pm: (edited, clearly)
"Hello, my name is A and i was wondering if you would be willing to donate about a cup of black glaze to my school. You see, I go to a public charter school known as ___ and due to the flooding we had our school is rather broke. We recently did a clay project in art and everyone else used up the little amount of glaze we had from last year and due to lack of money my teacher can't buy any more. So i was wondering if you would mind lending me a cup of glaze for my tea set I made. It would really mean the world to me. "

"Really! Thank you so much!!! Is it ok if my mom picks it up on her way home work tomorrow? Oh and i will be sure to stop by and show you my tea set when it is finished. :)"

hope she knows i'm looking forward to seeing something like this:

Samita Masami | "Remoteness" 1992. Porcelain with gold and silver pigments over black glaze

or these:

Hedwig Bollhagen via rawearthopensky

via rawearthopensky

I like when people go for the big ask.  many many people in my life are where they are because they weren't afraid to just ask for what they want.  seriously, it doesn't hurt anyone to ask.  it builds your own confidence, reminds you what goal you're reaching for, and builds character.  even when you receive a whole bunch of 'no's' in response to your big ask (which you will)…chances are it's an opportunity to work harder.  an opportunity to refine your shpeal, to ask in a different way, to look for a different kind of place or person to ask.

i think god appreciates the big ask, too.  not every opportunity is going to fall out of the sky into our laps, people.  some opportunities god has fully in the works and in his plan, but he's just waiting for us to figure out that we really want it.  that we'll appreciate it.  that we'll see it as the huge opportunity and blessing that it is and act on it.  it probably takes a little work to orchestrate opportunities and miracles…I wouldn't blame him for waiting until we're in the right mindset to observe the miracle and jump into action because of it.

even jesus went for the big ask.  before being killed he went and asked god 'i'll do what you say because you're the boss man and i trust you, but couldn't we do this any other way?  it would be really really great if there was another option that we could explore here…'
and god said no and the way we understand jesus has forever been enriched by that observation of the big ask and receiving a big fat no.  you've got to remember that sometimes your big ask will result in a big fat no for a big fat good reason, but it doesn't mean you should stop being awesome. or that you should ever stop asking :)

to l-o-v-e is to

(e-v-o-l-v-e.)

img via hopeless ceramix

back to it!

starting with the art of Japan.  i learn so much when i'm preparing to teach!

"The Jomon period, which encompasses a great expanse of time, constitutes Japan's Neolithic period. Its name is derived from the "cord markings" that characterize the ceramics made during this time..."

 Bottle, Late Jomon period (ca. 1500–1000 B.C.) Japan

Earthenware with incised designs.  H. 7 1/2 in. (19 cm)

 Storage jar, Middle Jomon period (ca. 2500–1500 B.C.) Japan

Earthenware, unglazed.  H. 27 1/2 in. (69.9 cm)

Deep bowl with sculptural rim

 late Middle Jomon period (ca. 2500–1500 B.C.) Japan
Earthenware H. 13 in. (33 cm)

For more info from the met, go here

quite at peace

as though no time had passed at all

Rotten Beauty

"The pieces are made by using rotten fruits.Casting them helped me to capture and save their extraordinary textures just at the time when they are the most beautiful..." Karmen Saat

old

TEABOWL (chawan), 15th century, Tokoname ware (yobitsugi-repairs with 18th century porcelain), H.: 2 1/4 in. (5.9 cm), D.: 6 1/2 in. (16.4 cm

TEABOWL (chawan), 16th century, Karatsu ware, H.: 2 5/8 in. (6.8 cm), D.: 4 in. (10.2 cm

kintsugi:  "to patch with gold" or kintsukuroi: “to repair with gold”

read more here

george ohr

 Crinkle top pot, 1897-1900, 7 5/8 inches high 

 Organic Vessel, 1897-1900, 4 inches high, 6 inches wide 

 

 

(from left to right: george ohr, mad hatter)

Michelle Taylor

 "Duchess"

"Chintz" detail

"The starting point for my art practice is influenced by a personal childhood narrative of maternal loss. The need to repair and restore the damaged and the broken in order to preserve memories and existence are paramount in my work. I am interested in the memory bearing aspect of objects, their connections and associations, and the emotional attachment we may have with them.  I use the juxtaposition of ceramic and textile to explore emotional themes relating to memory and loss..." (read & see more)

jamie bardsley

Palm Prints (2011)
hand built porcelains

"The memory of the clay reveals the lines from my hand and records the making of each intimate piece. The folds became a driving force, the pieces themselves began making me..."

-jamie bardsley

function vs. dysfunction

 

(Bryan Hopkins)

just working

Eva Kwong

 "Bobtail" (2006)

Acalephoid Series

Stoneware, salt glaze, colored slips

23 x 13 x 13

 "Energy Vibrations" (2008)

Noetic Moments Series

Thrown porcelain

60 x 110 x 7

"Bacteria, Diatoms & Cells" (2006)

 Stoneware, earthenware, salt glaze, glaze

180 x 180 x 5

"bowl"

 "crespina" - Antonella Cimatti (2006)

slip cast driping, porcelain paperclay, 40cm x 40 cm x 40 cm

 "crespina" - Antonella Cimatti (2006)

slip casting mold, porcelain paperclay, 10cm x 30cm x 30cm

 "Blossom-Ruby Brilliance" - Eva Kwong (2005)

thrown, electric oxiation / painted slips, earthenware, 4.5 x 20 x 20

"Pink Greenware" - Bethany Benson (2006)

white stoneware & Adobe CS2 PS, 14 x 24 x .5

flight

The Invention of the Balloon
1784
Terracotta, height 110 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Ronit Baranga

to see more strange, go here

Ai Weiwei...again...

especially because I think someone who was going to do some research might not have gotten around to it yet...

Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn (1995). Middle view of a triptych of gelatin silver prints, each print 49 5/8” x 39 1/4”. Courtesy private collection, USA.

 (Making of) Colored Vases (2006). Single channel video, 13 minutes, 09 seconds. Courtesy Ai Weiwei, Beijing.

 Colored Vases (2006) Vases from the Neolithic age (5000 - 3000 BCE) and industrial paint; between 10” x diameter 9” and 14 1/2” x diameter 9 1/2”. Courtesy AW Asia collection, New York.

links to more information:

Ai Weiwei: Dropping the Urn via Daily Serving 

Ai Weiwei via PBS

more on Sunflower Seeds

more via the guardian