Today, as I was hand-building a ceramic piece for a work in progress, the studio was unusually quiet: no frenzy of students, no classes rolling in. Only the timpani of rain on the window, and the repetitive tapping of my hake brush’s flat handle on the damp clay kept me company. The latter caught my…
Category: mindfulness
Centered
Be in conversation with your self, your materials, your process, one and all. And welcome the off-centered moments in your life, of which there are and will be many, into your work: in that axis is your praxis. Auguste Elder As we begin a new equinox, I think about circularities and rotation. I was in…
Impermanence
Today’s sherd travels to Kutch, India, to catch a glimpse traditional methods of pottery making, as it was in 1997. Interestingly enough, the author notes that upon her return to Kutch in 2010, many of these century-old traditions had been abandoned in favor of using plastic wares. A number of times while watching this video,…
Relationships
Have I got a treat for you this week from Jingdezhen, China. Today’s sherd looks at what 500 kg can do when people work collaboratively: I watch this anytime 10 pounds of clay pushes me around too much. This is very relational work you are engaged in: how you touch, and how you leave the body of clay ought…
Remains
The collaborative work of Pueblo potters Maria Martinez and her husband Julian Martinez. Their story is an interesting one, as it was an archeological dig near their home of San Ildefonso, New Mexico that sparked the resuscitation and expansion of a traditional form. Maria would hand-build/coil her wares, their grandchildren would then burnish them with smooth…