Monday
Mar292010
Earthenware Journey
Monday, March 29, 2010 at 9:26AM
It's been just over 2 years since I made the big switch to earthenware. If you are interested in seeing the progress you can go back in the Archives (right sidebar) to January 2008 and move forward from there.
Just to give you an idea of where I started, here is the post I made after my first glaze firing. Click HERE.
And here is a platter from that period.
And a recent platter:
There have been some significant steps along the way. Doug and Hannah have both been very encouraging and have turned me on to loads of great pots.
I have looked at Margaret Brampton's pots for encouragement on using color.
Of course my two weeks at Penland with Ayumi Horie were very influential for me. I came back from that experience and jumped in feet first into my decoration. That's been 8 months ago now and while I continue to work with red clay, white slip, clear and colored glazes I feel like my decoration is becoming more and more my own. I am certainly putting more time than ever into drawing on my pots. I was fortunate in that I had put many years into working on my forms when I was making salt glaze. It's nice not to have too many problems to work on at once.
Right after I left Penland I became fascinated with Medieval Majolica from Italy. Thankfully there are some nice images on the Internet. See Here for one.
I moved up from that time period to more current Italian majolica,1500, 1600's. And then on to pots that were made in this country in the 1700 and 1800's.
Thank goodness for the Internet and all it's resources.
When I first thought about making earthenware pots I knew I wanted them to be fun and accessible. I think I am accomplishing that. It's neat to see how humorous some of the old English slipware was.
Living out here in the country of NC offers many subjects for my work. I've spoken before about how we are surrounded by cows and goats, squirrels and rabbits. Most recently I've started incorporating more flowers and foliage into the decoration. I imagine that will certainly pick up speed as the honeysuckles begin to flower and the garden takes shape. I look forward to that.
Well, I just wanted to do a bit of a recap. It's good for me and I know I could have certainly gone into more depth here on various areas. For now, I'd best get out to the studio and make some bowls. I hope you all have a good week.
Just to give you an idea of where I started, here is the post I made after my first glaze firing. Click HERE.
And here is a platter from that period.
And a recent platter:
There have been some significant steps along the way. Doug and Hannah have both been very encouraging and have turned me on to loads of great pots.
I have looked at Margaret Brampton's pots for encouragement on using color.
Of course my two weeks at Penland with Ayumi Horie were very influential for me. I came back from that experience and jumped in feet first into my decoration. That's been 8 months ago now and while I continue to work with red clay, white slip, clear and colored glazes I feel like my decoration is becoming more and more my own. I am certainly putting more time than ever into drawing on my pots. I was fortunate in that I had put many years into working on my forms when I was making salt glaze. It's nice not to have too many problems to work on at once.
Right after I left Penland I became fascinated with Medieval Majolica from Italy. Thankfully there are some nice images on the Internet. See Here for one.
I moved up from that time period to more current Italian majolica,1500, 1600's. And then on to pots that were made in this country in the 1700 and 1800's.
Thank goodness for the Internet and all it's resources.
When I first thought about making earthenware pots I knew I wanted them to be fun and accessible. I think I am accomplishing that. It's neat to see how humorous some of the old English slipware was.
Living out here in the country of NC offers many subjects for my work. I've spoken before about how we are surrounded by cows and goats, squirrels and rabbits. Most recently I've started incorporating more flowers and foliage into the decoration. I imagine that will certainly pick up speed as the honeysuckles begin to flower and the garden takes shape. I look forward to that.
Well, I just wanted to do a bit of a recap. It's good for me and I know I could have certainly gone into more depth here on various areas. For now, I'd best get out to the studio and make some bowls. I hope you all have a good week.
Reader Comments (9)
Ron,
Christy and I have really enjoyed watching your pots morph and change over the last year or two. Thanks so much for sharing all your thoughts and inspirations with us. The plate we bought from you last year is still one of our favorites, and sees constant use in our home. I really love the whimsy and playfulness of it. Your new decorations are really nice as well, though I do miss the playfulness your pots had before your Pendland experience on occasion. Keep up the great work, and thanks for sharing your journey with all of us.
Joe
hi ron, i've only been watching the development for a bit over a year but have to admit that although i like both pieces in the post, that kind of change is totally amazing. it probably seems like small gradual steps but seeing the two next to each other seems more like a giant leap. i hope if i tried the same thing, it would have a similar jump
I love e.ware and I esp. love YOUR earthenware, but the thing is, I think, is it is trickier to do nicely than a person would guess---DAMN FINE goat atop that jar there too----AND I never get updates about your posts, so please keep posting them on facebook OK?
Wow, what a huge leap. I do love the simple line drawing in the first though. I love seeing a retrospective like this of artist's work, thanks for sharing, very inspiring.
Nice recap, Ron, I am glad to see this! I used the link to your post from your first e-ware firing, but the pictures didn't pop up for me. I'll try again soon, though.
I have only been watching you since the Ayumi workshop and so much has happened in that time span alone i think. I must say, that long neck bird is pretty hip. The plate itself feels so old, with the amber glaze and markings on the rim, but the bird feels so relevant and now. Come to think of it, that's the beauty of all your work. Thanks for sharing your process.
That is a neat idea--seeing your work progression as 'journey'! Of course, just returning from a majoy journey I especially relate to that. I've been watching your 'journey' for a LONG time and have greatly enjoyed watching the emergence of your new work.
Hi Ron, wow, you've made a wonderful journey. It was really nice to see the progression of your pots. I hope next year you put up another post showing your progression again. It's so cool to see. We should all do that, we gain so much by see how much we've grown.
connie
PS your post is very well written. Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks you all for your comments and feedback. It's good for me to go back and see that progression too. Joe mentioned the playfulness of some of the older work. That is something that I would like to show back up in my drawings. I think it will in time. I wanted to write this post to so that others would see that things happen over time, not in one huge leap. I used to look at potters work and think that they must have just arrived at such resolved pots. I've learned that that certainly isn't the case. I also wanted to mention some of the pots and people that have influenced me and that continue to. I also hope it shows how I've incorporated ideas, left some, and that I'm still searching for others, or expanding on those I choose to keep.
loved reading about your journey!
i've just started mine in wheel-throwing so who knows where I'll be going.... :-)
grtz,
Monique