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This weekend I participated in ArtsFest 2010 hosted by the Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art at Georgia Southern University; I would have to say this was one of my favorite festivals. The perfect 
weather may have had something to do with it, but not everything. The low entrance fee which made for quick profitability helped it to be high on my favorites list, but that was not all. It was the people that came to my booth and the wonderful conversations we had that made the difference. Many of the visitors were students who expressed real interest and a desire to learn. They didn’t seem to get bored when I rambled on about processes and techniques; they asked more questions. This same interest and excitement seemed to be contagious as even the non-students were very excited about the art they were seeing, they wanted to talk about the pottery, and hear the stories about what inspired a certain piece and what it’s like to be an artist. Everyone who has done a show has heard “nice work” or similar words when someone is leaving the booth. But to have someone show genuine interest is very uplifting.
At most shows I put out a box of seconds that I call “Charity Cases.” The pieces are not priced, I simply ask for whatever donation the buyer feels is appropriate and donate that money to charity. It made me feel really good when a young boy who was volunteering for the local humane society saw the box and said “I’d buy more stuff if everyone gave the money to charity.” He bought a mug for his grandmother because “she loves to drink coffee.” I could see how much that boy understood benevolence at such an early age. I hope he never grows out of it.
I’d like to express a big thank you to my friend Laura Biering for letting us stay at Brinson’s Race which is always a wonderful experience, to Gayle Shaw Clark a Facebook friend who made it a point to stop by and say “hi” and to all the people at Georgia Southern who helped to make this a really great show for everyone involved.
Tag-Archive for ◊ Future Relics Gallery ◊
Brinson's Race Barn by Lori_Buff
During a break in a recent workshop with Ryan McKearley I started painting on one of the Rustic Buildingplates. One of the workshop participants started watching what I was doing and admired the work. Then she asked “are you an artist or a potter?” What kind of question is that?
I threw the plate, so clearly that makes me a potter, but I’m also painting on the plate which would make me an artist. Maybe I’m a ceramic artist. I know some artists don’t include pottery as art, even though it is one of the oldest art forms. For some, it loses credibility as art because it is functional. On the other hand, we do raku, which is typically not functional.
I recently read Janet McGregor Dunn’s blog post about how she was treated by a fine artists group. They excluded her because the group does not consider pottery to be art, no matter how artistic her pottery. It doesn’t make sense to me. I think potters are artists and crafts people. However, some people reason that because potters don’t necessarily know what a piece is going to look like until it’s removed from the kiln, then they aren’t artists. Because we aren’t completely in control of the final product? Where it’s true that a potter also benefits from being a chemist, testing often lets us know fairly accurately how a piece should look when it’s complete. I could argue that thought often painters have an idea of what the painting will look like, many have expressed having issues determining when a painting is “done.” I would argue that there are many types of art where the end product is different from what the artist initially envisioned.
Ceramics are included in the definition of visual arts and visual arts are included in the humanities – that makes us all humanists. I wonder what types of questions that would raise when printed on a business card or used as the answer to the question “what do you do for a living?”
I don’t imagine I will be able to solve the debate in this article, or maybe ever in my life, so maybe we should think outside the box as my friend Gary Rosenberg suggests in his video about people grouping.
Syrup Shed Plate
Here’s another plate in this series. This is a different view of the same syrup shed I painted a few weeks ago, this plate is a few inches larger at 11 inches. I like painting the larger plates better as I can get more detail and show the vastness of the fields. I’ve also been working with more low fire glazes and washes. This plate uses a combination of colored slips (a.k.a. under glazes) and high fire glazes. I really like this view and may do some variations.
When I first saw the description for this workshop I was a little doubtful; how was this process going to fill a three day workshop and who is Ryan McKearley anyway? Then I saw Ryan’s work in the Mudfire Gallery & watched him doing a demonstration. Ryan’s work is not only full of depth from the water carving but also from his use of glazes and soda firing. Ryan is very interested in form and function, it shows in his work and his attention to detail.
Ryan McKerley demonstrates his technique
One of the reasons I enjoyed this workshop is because Ryan is very entertaining. The workshop wasn’t filled with uproarious laughter but more of a genial smile and quite a few chuckles yet at the end of three days we had all discovered we had learned quite a bit. Not just how to carve into clay using wax resist and water but different throwing techniques, some hand building and attaching processes, glazing tricks, how to design a and fire a salt/soda kiln, glaze recipes and even a little bit about the city of Austin, TX (where Ryan lives & works).
I highly recommend taking a workshop with Ryan, it’s very through, moves at a comfortable pace and is a good balance of hands on and lecture. I also recommend picking up some of his pottery while it’s still affordable. The Gallery at Mudfire almost sold out this weekend just from people who took the workshop.
I wanted to decorate a raku pot using feathers and horse hair. I didn’t want to buy the perfect feathers in a craft store because it seems weird and I hate shopping. But I don’t find very many feathers in my travels. The last feather I found was from a hawk, it’s very pretty but way too big for the pot I was planning to raku. Besides, I am not ready to set fire to it. I’d rather sharpen the end and use it to carve decorations. So while I was wondering where I would find the perfect feather I happened to be walking through the train station and there it was! I only had to look for it. I wanted two feathers for the design but now I knew that the other feather would be showing up soon. I was right, in a few days I found another feather that I liked for my pots; again it was in the train station.
Horse Hair Pot
I’m not trying to get all metaphysical or spiritual, with this idea, what I’m trying to say is that when we need something; we can often find it just by looking and knowing we will find it. I think that’s a pretty good outlook to have.
Miso - Ginger Soup
1 Tablespoon grated ginger (more or less to taste)
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
7 tablespoons Miso
2 green onios, finely sliced
6 large shiitake mushrooms, steamed
1 teaspoon nut butter
1 teaspoon soy sauce
Wisk together the broth, water and miso, heat gently to a simmer, add the remaining ingredients while simmering. Do not boil. Enjoy
I went to Brinson’s Race for New Years, it’s an enchanting place that inspires me to view, feel, think, and even act differently than when I’m at home. For example, when I was there this past summer I was outside when it suddenly started raining very hard. At home I most likely would have run for shelter but here I opened my arms and threw back my head and actually felt the rain on my face; I enjoyed and embraced it.
Syrup Shed Plate
One of the buildings on the farm that attracts me is the old syrup shed. It’s a few hundred years old and out of service so it’s not in pristine condition but the old bricks are still in place and the metal work, including the huge iron cauldron and gears are still there (albeit a bit rusty). I’ve even found some of the old, empty syrup bottles in tact. Being around the shed is a reminder of times long past; seeing it’s decline reminds me of our impermanence. So I have created a plate with it’s image to save it for just another moment.
I’m working on a new series of pots called “Emergence.” The idea came to me from seeing walls where the brick had been
Teapot
hidden by plaster. After many years the plaster stops sticking well and the brick, the foundation of the wall, starts revealing itself. I’ve also been noticing what appears to be an increase in graffiti lately. This has me thinking about the message people are painting on walls. I’m not an advocate of defacing property but I have seen some graffiti that is really amazing. The difference, in my opinion is tagging vs. urban art. I can get into a big discussion about that but I’ll save it for another post. It just got me thinking about what graffiti used to look like and what message I would like to present. This teapot is just one example of the series in progress.
Tea Bowl
A friend on Facebook recently posted about counting glazes instead of counting sheep when sleep is allusive. I do the same type of thing but it doesn’t normally get me to sleep, it has the opposite effect. I’ll be laying there all warm and snugly with the Whiggle as ideas start popping into my head. Which of course makes me want to jump out of bed and rush to the studio to start working on these ideas. Of course the problem with pottery is that it requires patience. When I have an idea for a great glaze design I can’t just start doing it, often the correct piece needs to be made first. Sometimes it’s several pieces in a series. These pieces have to be thrown, trimmed, dried, and bisque fired before they will ever see the glaze. Please understand, I’m not complaining, I love the process of ceramics and the time it takes. I even love the fact that, unlike some other art forms, the results are not instant; pottery always has some nervous anticipation to it. Opening the kiln is like Christmas, and I’ll never complain about that joy even when it does mean you get something that you don’t want (think pink bunny pajamas). Pottery forces us to become patient. Patience is a virtue. It’s such a nice feeling to be a virtuous potter.
Right now I have several series ideas running through my head, they have started to take shape into the clay. I’m so excited to see the results and share them with you.
This is my vegetarian version of a recipe that was originally posted by The Poineer Woman.
| Prep Time: 20 Minutes | Cook Time: 15 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 12 |
Ingredients
Fancy Mac & Cheese
- 4 cups Macaroni
- 8 Tablespoons Butter
- 2 whole Medium Onions, Cut In Half And Sliced Thin
- 1 package GimmeLean Sausage Substitute
- ¼ cups All-purpose Flour
- 2 cups Whole Or 2% Milk
- ½ cups Half & Half
- 2 whole Egg Yolks, Beaten
- Salt & Pepper (to Taste)
- ½ cups Grated Gruyere Cheese
- ½ cups Grated Fontina Cheese
- ½ cups Grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese
- 4 ounces, weight Chevre (soft Goat Cheese)
Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook macaroni for half the time of the package instructions. Drain and set aside.
Fry GimmeLean until slightly, but not overly, crispy. Drain on a paper towel.
Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a skillet and saute onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown and soft. Set aside.
In a pot, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat for 1 minute. Pour in milk and half & half, then cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until thick. Reduce heat to low. Add salt & pepper to taste. (Do not undersalt!)
Beat egg yolks and drizzle 1/4 cup hot mixture into the yolks, stirring constantly. Stir to combine. Pour egg mixture into sauce and cook for another minute.
Add cheeses and stir until melted. Add onions and soysage and stir. Taste for seasonings and add more salt if needed. Add cooked macaroni and stir to coat.
Pour into a baking dish and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until sizzling and hot.
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