A small sherd to share with you: potter Warren Mackenzie has passed away at the age of 94. He was something of a potter’s potter, who focused on the utilitarian, deriving great pleasure from the fact that his works were meant to be used rather than collected. He studied under Bernard Leach, and was very influenced by Korean and…
Tag: pottery
What is?
Today’s sherd takes its cue not from a potter/ceramist, but from the iconoclastic Watazumi Doso Roshi: a shakuhachi (Japanese flute) priest. To me, music is not a fixed idea, it is not what you think it is… Music cannot be limited to one form…it is all around you if you listen carefully. Watazumi Doso Roshi Let us…
Shiny Traditions
This is a return to the San Ildefonso potter Maria Martinez. I was just talking with a ClayHouse ceramist last Thursday about the merits of burnishing one’s wares: Maria Martinez came to mind. The art of compressing and smoothing the surface of pottery with a smooth stone, back of a spoon, or even with the…
Shifts and Breakthroughs
The temperature is incrementally rising and dropping. Spring is figuring itself out. I observe this seasonal shift in my own practice as a potter, too; a change in seasons is typically a time of stripping processes down and meeting forms where they are, and meeting limits and breakthroughs where they are. In this spirit,…
Subtraction and Absence
In searching for informative and inspirational sherds to share with you, I’m always astounded by just how much information there is at our fingertips. More so, I am always reminded just how generous potters/ceramists can be in sharing their hard-earned knowledge with the rest of us. Jennifer McCurdy is exemplary of this spirit: not only…