by Carole Epp | Mar 29, 2014 | call for entry, emerging artist, job posting, monday morning eye candy, movie day, residency opportunity, show us your influences, technical tuesday
Artist Statement:
The most recent body of work has stemmed from a
kind of ceramic folklore involving peoples’ initial discovery of the
material. Before people fired pots they were a mobile society of basket
makers. As they began to cultivate the land and harvest a greater
surplus of grain they required more containers that would be resistant
to rodents and the open air. They lined their baskets with clay and in a
serendipitous event a fire destroyed most of their
material possessions but left them with some insight. The interior of
that basket became the first ceramic pot. Beyond its potential as a
prototype for their future, in its hardened exterior bore the
impressions of their past. It became a fossil to an ephemeral and mobile
society; a momento to a new culture that would seek eternal life
carving their name in earth.
The range of information this object says about
their society’s soft culture has lead me to find new meaning in our
material culture. If one can deduce that a mobile society produces
impermanent objects from ephemeral materials, and sedentary society
produces more permanent objects from archival materials; than what is to
be inferred from a culture which produces disposable objects from
permanent materials?
zachbalousek.com
by Carole Epp | Mar 29, 2014 | Uncategorized
“My interest has remained inconveniently multi-faceted in most things ceramic – from its misty prehistory, when only clay and gods mattered, to the subsequent historical offerings from many lands. Food and tea presentation, clay and glaze research, the art of throwing, the art of handbuilding, kilns, riverside shards, emissivity, the smell of old clay, on and on. The straight path to the studio from the house is necessarily most serpentine some days. Some months of the year, though, make it much simpler. When the days grow warmer I work much more outside, where pots dry more quickly. I become a potter and become familiar again with muscle and ache. From November on, when things are freezing solid outside, body activity slows down and more cerebral struggle takes its place. A farmer might go curling during this time. I suppose I go handbuilding. This sequence has been part of my making for well over 30 years. The only thing I can see that has changed is more honing, more reflection, more revisiting old and new places in my mind, and less guilt about the now petty.”
– John Chalke
by Carole Epp | Mar 28, 2014 | Uncategorized
March, 2014
Dear Friends,
We need your help. Our Noborigama Kiln has been damaged after the structure that shelters it collapsed due to the weight of this winter’s extreme snow. We are in critical need of funds to help rebuild the collapsed structure and repair the kiln damage.
We ask you to please consider making a donation towards this effort.
Time is of the essence as we use this kiln not only for our regular workshop season, but also for special firings that help bring in critical funds to the program in our off-season..
We are firmly committed to rebuilding and repairing the damage.
The Peters Valley Noborigama kiln was built by the famous duo of Will Ruggles and Douglass Rankin during a Wood Kiln Construction and Firing workshop that they taught on our campus in 1992. It was then featured in an article they published in Studio Potter, Volume 22, Number 1 titled ‘The Rock Creek Climbing Kiln Part II’ and has become a huge draw for our program.
We estimate that we need to raise $20,000 to properly rebuild and repair the damage.
“In the few weeks since the collapse of the roof over our two-chamber wood kiln I have received many phone calls and messages of support. Needless to say, I’ve been struck by the generosity shown toward the School and the Ceramics Department in particular. Please know that we truly appreciate whatever amount you’re able to give.” Bruce Dehnert, Ceramic Studio Department Head
Any donation of $75 or more will receive a Peters Valley T-shirt as a thank you.
Your donation will go a long way to helping us restore this critical piece of our ceramic studio. With your support, our unique kiln can continue to benefit a diverse and inspired group of people from students, to artist instructors, studio assistants, artist fellows, resident artists, and Peters Valley visitors.
With Sincere Gratitude,
Kristin Muller Executive Director
Peters Valley School of Craft,
19 Kuhn Rd.,
Layton, NJ 07851
(973)948-5200
www.petersvalley.org
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=HSQEFX8EMHLXQ
by Carole Epp | Mar 27, 2014 | call for entry, emerging artist, job posting, monday morning eye candy, movie day, residency opportunity, show us your influences, technical tuesday
The Clay Studio is looking for a summer grad intern to complete a
10-week paid Fels internship that will involve updating the records for
our permanent collection. We’ll be photographing, researching and
tagging works that have entered the collection since 2006–mainly from
International Guest Artists and Clay Studio Residents.
The Clay Studio is a non-profit educational arts organization dedicated to the promotion and development of the ceramic
arts and the work of new clay artists. As Philadelphia’s only arts
organization dedicated exclusively to the ceramic arts, our mission is
to provide diverse audiences with a unique learning environment in which
to experience the ceramic arts.
The Clay Studio seeks a
graduate intern to research, inventory and catalog our relatively small
permanent collection of ceramic artwork for uploading onto The Clay
Studio’s database and website. Responsibilities will include producing
condition reports for each art object, tagging and photographing each
piece, conducting research on the artist, provenance and significance of
each work, and transporting research files and images into The Clay
Studio’s database for publishing online. This project will help The Clay
Studio develop an accurate catalog of the permanent collection and will
develop an online educational tool for sharing the collection with the
public.
The successful applicant will be a graduate student
interested in the arts, archives, and research. A general knowledge of
the field of ceramic art is preferred but not required. Strong
organizational skills and intellectual curiosity are ultimately the most
important factors in the success of the project. To apply, please
submit a one page cover letter and resume to Garth Johnson at
[email protected] with “Fels Intern Application” in the subject
line.
This 10-week internship is to be completed in summer
2014. The Samuel S. Fels Fund has provided a $6000 stipend for the
successful completion of the project.
www.theclaystudio.org
