Blog
The International Ceramics Studio
Kecskemét, Hungary About the International Ceramics Studio The International Ceramics Studio (ICS) is a ceramic art center located in the town of Kecskemét, eighty kilometers south of the Hungarian capital, Budapest. The center was created over 25 years ago on the initiative of Hungarian artists who had felt culturally and ideologically isolated by the political system of... Read More
June 12, 2019
Home Cooking – A Case for Handmade Tableware
by Shannon Garson Domestic pots have gone hand in hand with human civilization. What does hand made functional ware bring into our lives that a cheap, useful, factory-made bowl from Woolworths doesn’t? This question strikes at the heart of our capitalist society where convenience and conformity have become goals and “lifestyle” has replaced life. In... Read More
June 12, 2019
Paperclay Practice in Pakistan
Australian ceramist Graham Hay at the National College of Arts, Lahore Head of the Ceramic Design Department at the National College of Arts in Pakistan, Shazia Mirza, invited paperclay pioneer Graham Hay to spend a month working with her staff and students at their Lahore campus. Shazia Mirza described what happened: “When I first came across... Read More
June 12, 2019
Visible Crystals
Janet Hamer outlines the new glazes of Avril Farley and describes how these sculptural crystal shapes are formed Reproduced with kind permission of Ceramics Technical. © Ceramics Technical and Janet Hamer. We are all keen to make a mixture of minerals, take it to a temperature and wonder at transformations –or we should be. It is like pushing... Read More
June 12, 2019
Flambé Magic
Author John Britt investigates the appearance of mysterious crystals in the glaze slop. While conducting researching for my book, The Complete Guide to High-Fire Glazes, one copper red glaze, Jeff’s Red, always had a different fired appearance. I initially attributed this to variations in application, speed of firing and cooling, or variations in atmosphere. Several months... Read More
June 12, 2019
The Letters of Père d’Entrecolles
Being the first detailed accounts on the manufacture of Chinese porcelain to reach the Occident. Père Francois Xavier d’Entrecolles lived from 1664 to 1741. He was a Jesuit missionary who traveled to China in 1698, where he studied some of the secrets of porcelain manufacture. His letters, written in 1712 and 1722 were amongst the... Read More
June 12, 2019
Théodore Deck and the Islamic Style
Written by Frederica Todd Harlow Text courtesy Saudi Aramco World. In the mid-19th century, Europe’s artistic and fashionable circles were enthralled by a vogue for all that was Oriental. Visitors to London Galleries and Paris salon exhibitions became familiar with Middle Eastern desert and village life, with Arab, Persian and Turkish costume and decorative arts as they were... Read More
June 12, 2019
An Introduction to Danish Ceramics and Potters I
Denmark has a centuries old tradition for ceramics. Seen in proportion to the population there has been a wealth of potteries. Nearly each village had it’s own potter, a good many of which were also well known abroad in the 19th century. We begin in the 19th century on Bornholm (a small island in the... Read More
June 12, 2019
The Arts & Crafts Movement in Europe and America, 1880–1920: Design for the Modern World
On view from October 16, 2005 through January 8, 2006 at the Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) welcomes the landmark exhibition The Arts & Crafts Movement in Europe and America, 1880–1920: Design for the Modern World, on view Oct. 16, 2005, to Jan. 8, 2006. This groundbreaking exhibition, organized by the Los... Read More
June 12, 2019
Larger than Life: The Terracotta Sculptures of India
Article by Ron du Bois Photos by Ron du Bois, 1980, unless otherwise stated. © Massive terracotta horses have been built by Tamil villagers in south India for thousands of years. Stephen Inglis states that “technically they are the most ambitious achievements in clay found in India and by any survey probably the largest hollow clay images... Read More
June 12, 2019