Blog
An Investigation into the Properties of Porcelain Paperclay
Gaye Stevens describes her research project dealing with paperclay and its possibilities Originally published in Ceramics Art & Perception. In July, 2000, I began a research project with the assistance of a Faculty Research Grant from The College of Fine Arts,University of New South Wales to investigate the properties and potential of porcelain paperclay. My studio... Read More
June 12, 2019
StaffordshireÂ
England’s Pottery Powerhouse In the sixties, the ‘Potteries’, as the potteries area of Staffordshire was called, was still a place of memories of the old world – unbridled pottery production, low wages, but unquestioning loyalty to the ‘company’. Such was the life-long faith to the Potteries, that a card company only half jokingly printed postcards... Read More
June 12, 2019
Adelaide Alsop Robineau
An American Potter Adelaide Alsop Robineau (1865-1929) was an American painter and potter from Syracuse, NY, who began exploring porcelain as her medium for artistic expression after having worked as a china painter. Her work was influenced by the Arts & Crafts Movement, the ideas of William Morris and by the Art Nouveau style. In 1899... Read More
June 12, 2019
Reducing in an Electric Kiln
Avoid premature kiln ageing Many potters, ceramic artists and hobbyists have electric kilns, but not gas or woodfiring kilns at their disposal. This poses a problem if you want to create reduction glazes such as copper reds or celadons. These glazes require a reduction atmosphere, where the kiln is starved of oxygen. Free carbon in... Read More
June 12, 2019
How to Make a Nightingale Cup
by Delia Robinson This is essentially an open vessel water whistle. It holds pride of place among all unusual cups for its charming voice. 1. Make Make a mug or cup. Keep the walls a little thick. Before it is leather hard attach the handle. The top of the handle should be even with the... Read More
June 12, 2019
In Their Cups – The Story of the English Puzzle Mug
Delia Robinson tells the story of the English Puzzle Jug In the simple days of old, drinkers carousing in taverns might have enjoyed their brew from pottery mugs especially designed for boisterous amusement. A ceramic frog peering from the bottom of the cup, or a chirping whistle mug, such were the creations of long-gone potters... Read More
June 12, 2019
An Investigation into the Properties of Porcelain Paperclay
by Gaye Stevens Originally published in Ceramics Technical. Reprinted by permission. In July, 2000, I began a research project with the assistance of a Faculty Research Grant from The College of Fine Arts,University of New South Wales to investigate the properties and potential of porcelain paperclay. My studio work is concerned with the vulnerability of being... Read More
June 12, 2019
Plaster Isn’t So Hard to Use
by Brian Crocker Quite some time ago a Potter Friend and I had a brief discussion, at our Studio Potter’s Club, about using Pottery Plaster, he was setting up to make a clay slops drying container and knowing that I had been a tutor in the Ceramic Design Dept., at the then S.A.C.A.E. Underdale South... Read More
June 12, 2019
Top Collection of American Ceramics Makes New York City Debut at The Ubs Painewebber Art Gallery
A number of ceramists at work during the past two decades have explored painterly and sculptural concerns not always associated with the clay medium. Mary Frank’s sculptural work Horse and Rider (1982) features starkly expressive yet fragmented skeletal figures. Works like Sergei Isupov’s Rustle (1999) and Marc Leuthold’s Diptych (1998) extend traditional boundaries, indicating the... Read More
June 12, 2019
Mocha Diffusion
Mocha Diffusion is a technique that originated in England in the 18th century and was popular in the 19th C. It consists of dribbling an acidic solution with coloring oxides onto a wet slip of a contrasting color. The solution spreads in the slip with a tree fern-like pattern. Legend has it that in a... Read More
June 12, 2019