Introduction To The Studio Pottery Movement
From the earth comes clay with neither form nor life. When shaped by the hands of an artist potter and exposed to the heat and fire of the kiln this lump of clay can assume form, become a true work of art and thing of beauty.
Art pottery had been an integral part of the Arts and Crafts Era home where everyday objects could be considered art and many companies flourished during this time by producing individually decorated ceramic items. Because of the changes in public tastes and the cost of producing these wares the American Art Pottery Movement was coming to an end during the first decades of the 20th century. The commercially produced pottery from the 1920's on should be considered industrial artware.
THE IPOD SYNDROME
Submitted by Thomas Turnquist on Sat, 06/14/2008 - 22:28.I have been buying, selling, and writing about American studio pottery since 1978. I have observed trends and taste changes fairly closely over this interesting period. I have traveled from coast to coast meeting clay giants such as the Heinos, Harrison McIntosh, Harding Black, and Kurt Wild. Always I am sensing what collectors or clay dealers are involved in at the moment. One goal is to peruse what is selling and who was collecting. I am fascinated by the reasons something sells or is left upon a dusty shelf.
Ceramic Arts Index
Submitted by Richard on Tue, 03/25/2008 - 18:32.A new Ceramic Art / Studio Pottery resource is being built. It will be an index of working artist, gallery, publication, blog Web sites and more.
The focus will be on the United States. All listings will be reviewed before inclusion and every attempt will be made to filter out sites offering mass produced and imported junk.
Check it out at www.CeramicArtsIndex.us
Tom Turner; Porcelain Master
Submitted by Richard on Thu, 06/14/2007 - 21:53.OMG, I received an email from Tom and bopped over to see his July firing pots. WOW!! Well worth a look at http://www.tomturnerporcelain.com/page013.htm
I have known Tom for a number of years and have a small collection of his work. After watching the evolution of his art for years he just keeps fooling me. Every time I feel his work can't get better he up and makes me eat my words. Visit his Web site at Tom Turner Porcelain.
Sullivan Roche: Modernist
By Thomas G. Turnquist
The modernist work of Walter Sullivan Roche is being examined, admired, pursued, and purchased as interest in mid-century pottery grows. Twenty years after his passing, sophisticated American collectors are comparing his work to that of noted Danish ceramist Christian Poulsen and German potter Gorge Hohlt. Roche, a Rhode Island native, was born in Newport in 1923. A member of the great generation, he served in the military during WWII. He was a student at the Rhode Island School of Design making use of his GI Bill benefits., Walter was at RISD from 1946 to 1949 earning a BFA in Industrial Design. This was a period when many GIs attended college at RISD and America's many institutions of higher learning.
Jack Pharo: A Wichita Wizard
By Thomas G. Turnquist
John "Jack" Leland Pharo was a lithographer and painter before embarking on a career in ceramics in the late 1930s. Born in 1902 in Belpe, Kansas, he was an important and influential participant in the arena of American crafts generally and in clay specifically. Taken from the Journal of the American Art Pottery Association, March-April; Vol IX No 2.
Jack Pharo was employed by the U.S. Post Office while launching his career in fine arts. He left the Post Office in 1957. Pharo's early background included several years' of studying painting, figure sketching, and lithography. His teachers and mentors included William Dickerson, an original associate of thePrairie Print Makers and one of Pharo's closest friends, B.J. Olson Nordfeldt, a much-listed and venerated painter, and Kansas native E. Bruce Moore, a well-known sculptor. Another important influence was Maija Grotell.According to William Dickerson's wife Betty, Pharo and Grotell became good, solid friends and exchanged much technical information.
