by Carole Epp | Jun 17, 2021 | Uncategorized
Bridget Fairbank has created the Ceramic Literacy Bookclub open to all. She was inspired to make this long-time goal come true by a talk at the recent Ceramic Congress online conference.
Ceramists are rigorous passionate researchers but as always, more minds are better than one. If you need to make space in your studio practice to connect with written works, join up for a book a month at www.bpracticalpottery.com and you will automatically receive a zoom link (50 Participants Max). Four months are scheduled already and spaces are filling up.
June 30th 6pm MST
Live Form: Women, Ceramics and Community by Jenni Sorkin.
Jenni herself will be joining us on zoom!
“Ceramics had a far-reaching impact in the second half of the twentieth century, as its artists worked through the same ideas regarding abstraction and form as those for other creative mediums. Live Form shines new light on the relation of ceramics to the artistic avant-garde by looking at the central role of women in the field: potters who popularized ceramics as they worked with or taught male counterparts like John Cage, Peter Voulkos, and Ken Price.
Sorkin focuses on three Americans who promoted ceramics as an advanced artistic medium: Marguerite Wildenhain, a Bauhaus-trained potter and writer; Mary Caroline (M. C.) Richards, who renounced formalism at Black Mountain College to pursue new performative methods; and Susan Peterson, best known for her live throwing demonstrations on public television. Together, these women pioneered a hands-on teaching style and led educational and therapeutic activities for war veterans, students, the elderly, and many others. Far from being an isolated field, ceramics offered a sense of community and social engagement, which, Sorkin argues, crucially set the stage for later participatory forms of art and feminist collectivism.”
July 25th 6pm MST
The White Road by Edmund de Waal
“Extraordinary new non-fiction, a gripping blend of history and memoir, by the author of the award-winning and bestselling international sensation, The Hare with Amber Eyes’.
In The White Road, bestselling author and artist Edmund de Waal gives us an intimate narrative history of his lifelong obsession with porcelain, or “white gold.” A potter who has been working with porcelain for more than forty years, de Waal describes how he set out on five journeys to places where porcelain was dreamed about, refined, collected and coveted – and that would help him understand the clay’s mysterious allure. From his studio in London, he starts by travelling to three “white hills” – sites in China, Germany and England that are key to porcelain’s creation. But his search eventually takes him around the globe and reveals more than a history of cups and figurines; rather, he is forced to confront some of the darkest moments of twentieth-century history.
Part memoir, part history, part detective story, The White Road chronicles a global obsession with alchemy, art, wealth, craft and purity. In a sweeping yet intimate style that recalls The Hare with Amber Eyes, de Waal gives us a singular understanding of “the spectrum of porcelain” and the mapping of desire.”
August 30th 7:15 MST
Vote on your choice by July 1.
Sign up for an August read and rate your top three choices for what to read in the sign up form comments or email me your choice.
1) Fewer, Better Things by Glenn Adamson
2) How to See: Looking Talking, and Thinking about Art by David Sell
3) New Wave Clay by Tom Morris
4) Betty Woodman: Theatre of the Domestic By (artist) Betty Woodman
5) Paul Mathieu Art of the Future
Published Online Here: http://www.paulmathieu.ca/theartofthefuture/The%20Art%20of%20the%20Future.pdf
September 30th 7:15 MST
Good Earth: The Pots of Walter Ostrom
Naomi Clement, author of an article on Walter Ostrom in Sept’s Ceramic Review Magazine will be joining us!
“Walter Ostrom has been described as an “innovative traditionalist,” a disruptive force shaking up ceramic conventions while simultaneously enriching them. Hired to teach studio and Asian art history at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1969, Ostrom was one of many American artists who moved north to Canada in the fallout from the Vietnam War.
Ostrom’s work, from his embrace of conceptual art in the 1970s to his current exploration of the vast history, hybridization, and social foundation of ceramics, marks him as a major force in the development of contemporary ceramics. As Ray Cronin writes, Ostrom’s works “declare themselves to be art and craft at once, tradition and innovation merged, beauty and function reconciled, thought and action combined. What more could one ask from any work of art?”
Accompanying a major retrospective exhibition at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia opening in May 2020, Good Earth features essays by leading scholars and curators along with full-colour reproductions of over fifty examples of Ostrom’s works.”
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Please email Bridget at [email protected] with any comments or questions.
Remember to sign up via www.bpracticalpottery.com to get a zoom link!
by Carole Epp | Jun 9, 2021 | residency opportunity
| It is the intent of the our Artist-in-Residence program to provide a space for emerging artists, including recent graduates, to enable them to develop and enhance their practice in their chosen medium. Applications will be reviewed and selections awarded by a committee comprised of directors of our School. The program will host two artists each year, one in each of our two terms:
Winter Term: February 14, 2022 to May 20, 2022
Application Deadline: August 31, 2021
All winter term applicants will receive notice on their application status by September 30, 2020.
The Artist-in-Residence will have 24-hour access to an independent studio space at the Lunenburg School of the Arts located in the heart of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, a UNESCO World Heritage site and hub for arts, culture, and music.
The Artist-in-Residence will receive a stipend of $500.00 (CDN) per month and is responsible for her/his own material costs and sourcing. This program is a studio only residency; the Artist-in-Residence is responsible for her/his own living and travel arrangements and expenses.
A public exhibition of the work completed here by the Artist-in-Residence will be held at the end of the term at the School, together with a reception hosted by the School. At this event the Artist-in-Residence is expected to give an ‘Artist Talk’ in relation to the work she/he has completed during the term. The School also asks that the Artist-in-Residence provide our School with one piece of art created during the residency period, which artwork will become a part of our School’s archives and may be used for fundraising.
To apply, please submit the following in a single email to [email protected], subject line: “Artist-in-Residence Application”.
- A current résumé/curriculum vitae
- Artist Biography
- Project Brief and Timeline (300 words maximum)
- Describe materials and process that may be used for this project.
- Five to ten Digital Images of your work (image format: JPEG)
- Include respective titles, dates, dimensions, and material/medium
Application Deadlines: Fall Term: March 31, 2021, Winter Term: August 31, 2021.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic our School adheres to the safe health guidelines and directives of the Nova Scotia Public Health Authority. |
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by Carole Epp | Jun 8, 2021 | call for entry
Open to Coffee Mugs, Cups, Goblets, Tumblers and other drinking vessels which use UNDERGLAZE.
2021 Juror: Michelle Ettrick
“I was a non-English speaking 13-year old when I arrived in the United States in 1982. Life in Brooklyn, New York was a stark contrast to my early memories of Panama and the simple joys of climbing trees and playing with my friends while my mom was nearby hanging clothes on the line. As an Afro-Latina, I struggled to find a community that would accept me and where I felt I belonged. My own identity was regularly challenged by others who judged me by the texture of my hair or the fact that I spoke Spanish fluently and struggled to communicate in English. When judged by adults and my peers, my hair was “too good” to be considered black and the color of my skin was too dark to be speaking Spanish. In addition to the hardships, I have many fond memories of my time in New York. Brooklyn is where I learned about double dutch and cooling off from the New York summer heat in the open fire hydrants.
I love being a maker and clay is my medium of choice. Clay is a very personal material to me. When I put my hands in the clay and my fingers get lost in the mixture, for the moment, we become one. I stretch pull, pinch and form shapes where I leave evidence of my having been there. I follow up by drawing on my work where I embrace my natural curly hair, heritage, womanhood and at times current worldly struggles. My artwork is a record of my experiences as an Afro-Latina American.”
-Michelle Ettrick
Material Mugs is our annual material based cups show and this year we will again be featuring underglazes! Our hope is to exhibit cups which express the full range of surface possibilities- underglazes that are trailed, painted, sprayed, transferred, washed, globbed on, inlayed etc.
Now in its sixth year, Material Mugs is one of the most anticipated juried ceramics exhibitions by makers and collectors alike. This will be the 3rd juried exhibition at our new location.
The exhibition is open to cups using every type of clay, temperature, and atmosphere, just as long as underglazes are used in the process.
Companion Gallery will be printing custom t-shirts designed by Michelle Ettrick and the entire exhibition will be available for sale online.
The exhibition opening will be held at our new location on Friday September 10th
Companion Gallery 3600 East Mitchell Street, Humboldt, TN, as well as ONLINE at companiongallery.com.
Participating artists will each receive a complimentary t-shirt designed by 2021 juror Michelle Ettrick.
FULL DETAILS ON HOW TO APPLY HERE!
by Carole Epp | Jun 7, 2021 | workshops
10 Years of Telling the Story: Women Supporting Women
Founded in 2011, this symposium was created to honor the great accomplishments of women ceramic artists today. The objective of the symposium is to create an environment that is full of ideas, images, artwork, and discussions.
It is intended as a place for learning and inspiration. It is a place for everyone to share stories of struggles and successes. It is a place to see where we stand in the present, to better understand our past and to support each other in our future.
We will come together virtually June 7 – 10, 2021 to celebrate our history and the amazing women artists who have been a part of the symposium. Through a mix of live and recorded content, you’ll hear from over 40 ceramic artists on topics including mentorship, social justice, and apprenticeships. You’ll participate in a virtual museum exhibition and social, showcasing the work of all of our past presenters, as well as join in a conversation with three of those presenters.
We will share stories of struggles, joys, and support. We’ll consider how the events of 2020 impacted our lives and work, and how the challenges continue in 2021. And we will look forward and introduce our presenters for 2022.
More information and register HERE.
