NCECA Student Critique Room – Sign up NOW!

by | Mar 7, 2017 | Uncategorized

 The
NCECA Student Critique Room gives students at all levels an opportunity
to discuss images of their work, gain a new perspective, and prepare
for graduate school, job applications, gallery representation and more.

Student Critiques will be held Thursday March 23, & Friday March 24, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm in room in room C124 (Level 1) of the Portland Conference Center. 
The sign-up form is now live and can be found HERE.
Sign-up is on a first come/first served basis, so we encourage you to
sign up now! This year we are also introducing drop-in slots, which will
be available on a first come, first served basis each day.
Please come to the conference with your images already prepared and saved to a flash drive.  All critiques will be of digital images; please do not bring actual artwork. Laptops will be provided, but NCECA does not provide Internet access in the Student Critique Room. Only current student members are eligible to sign up for a critique. 
If you have any questions about the Student Critique Room, please contact: [email protected].

emerging artist: Amanda Bury

by | Mar 4, 2017 | call for entry, emerging artist, job posting, monday morning eye candy, movie day, residency opportunity, technical tuesday

“As
a maker I rely on the central role of utilitarian objects as vehicles
for nourishment. This role entwines the object in a complex relationship
between human and nature. Eating is the most profound enactment of our
connection to nature, and what we eat determines how the whole planet is
used.

I
use utilitarian ceramic objects as a conduit to speak further about
connections and relationships between human beings and the rest of the
natural world. This complex intricate network creates intersections
between culture, ethics, commerce, history, ritual, community and
environment and provides a vast pool from which to be inspired for a
lifetime.
Current
work focuses on the idea of nature and thereby food as sacred. Formal
elements and surface treatments often reference nature or sacred
geometry, which has its roots in the study of nature and the
mathematical principles which govern it. There is direct reference to
architectural and decorative elements of sacred spaces such as mosques,
churches or temples. All of these references seek to create the same
reverence for nature and food as one would have within a sacred space.
If we honored and revered nature as sacred, acts of growing, preparing
and consuming food would thus be ritual.

The
very nature wood firing embodies and reaffirms the ideas of nature,
environment, history, ritual and community held within the work. The
process incorporates experimentation, skillfulness, knowledge and an
intimacy over time. I use wood firing as a way to create natural,
organic surfaces. The atmospheric effects often blur and obscure
intended surface work which mimics the distance and obscurity found in
the connections we have with our nourishment today.” – Amanda Bury

www.aburypottery.com

upcoming course: Ceramics ~ Alternative Strategies

by | Mar 2, 2017 | Uncategorized

Date & Time:
Jul 10 – 21, 2017
10:00am – 4:00pm
Fee:
$750 + $100 materials
Instructor:
Walter Ostrom, CM and Jordan McDonald

In this intensive two-week workshop, students will be pushed to
advance their technical and conceptual understanding of pottery. The
course will revolve around projects designed to explore alternative
strategies and approaches. Slide lectures and discussions will present
unconventional perspectives and insights from ceramics history
encompassing contemporary practice. Demonstrations will include bizarre
throwing and hand-building techniques, slips and glazes. This course is
an opportunity for one-on-one interaction relative to your work and
personal development. To provide some respite from the drudging and
toiling in the studio, there will be short field trips in the area to
view ceramic studios and collections. High octane glaze testing and
surface exploration are also a part of this course. Prior clay
experience is required.


Materials:

Students should bring the following:

  • Your ceramic tool kit
  • Apron & towel
  • Notebook
About Walter Ostrom, CM and Jordan McDonald:

Walter Ostrom, CM

Emeritus Professor Ceramics NSCAD
Walter Ostrom, C.M. was recently appointed Professor Emeritus of
Ceramics at NSCAD University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. In1997, he
was awarded an Honorary Professorship at the Jingdezhen Ceramics
Institute in Jingdezhen, Jianxi Province, People’s Republic of China. An
outstanding educator, he is committed to Craft practice and theory.
Walter is regarded internationally and in Canada as a technical and
academic expert in low-fire maiolica, an ancient ceramic technique that
he has personally tailored through innovations and decorative methods to
reflect the geography of the places where he has lived, whether Nova
Scotia or the Far East. His body of work has developed across many
aspects of ceramics in the span of a nearly 50-year career, from
experiments in high conceptualism in the 1970s to a contemporary focus
on the exploration of the vast history, hybridization and social
foundation of ceramics.
He has extensively exhibited and lectured internationally. His work
has appeared in numerous books and periodicals. His work has been
collected by many public collections, including the Museum of
Civilization, Ottawa, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, the
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
On February 5th, 2007, he was invested into the Order of Canada. In
November 2008 he was given the Portia White Award in recognition of his
leading contribution to the arts in Nova Scotia. In 2014 he was
appointed a Regis Master at the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, MN.

Jordan McDonald

Jordan McDonald is currently a Resident Artist at The Clay Studio in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Jordan grew up in the suburbs of Toronto
where he first studied ceramics at Sheridan College in Oakville,
Ontario. He received his BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and
Design in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2009. He then attended the New York
State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in Alfred, New York,
where he received his MFA in 2011.
Among other awards and recognition, in 2014 Jordan was nominated for
the RBC Emerging Artist Award, and received the Recommendation Prize at
the Taiwan Ceramic Biennial in 2016. His work can be found in noteworthy
private and public collections, including the Gardiner Museum in
Toronto and the Yingge Ceramics Museum in Taipei, Taiwan.
Jordan is currently an Adjunct Professor at the Maryland Institute
College of Art (MICA). He has also taught ceramics at the Tyler School
of Art, Temple University in Philadelphia and the Nova Scotia College of
Art and Design in Halifax.
http://www.jordanmcdonaldceramics.com

www.lunenburgarts.org/programs/ceramics-alternative-strategies/