C.Banks

When we were firing in oxidation I was lucky enough to have 3 glazes that I was satisfied with. They fit, played very nicely, behaved on the pot as well as in the bucket. They were complete for the most part. The public liked them and could match pieces from year to year. They took a few years to develop but they were complete in my eyes. This was a few years ago so a decades worth of perspective might offer some insight but I'll leave them for some other year.

This requires some brutal honesty and a merciless hammer. A person once told me there was enough crap pottery in the world she didn't want to add to it. She was a forthright person and I liked her. I sometimes garage sale or cruise thrift stores with potters who find their own work. They smile and handover a few dollars and if necessary say something like "ya' - it's ok" all the while thinking how quickly the hammer will fall. I like these people too. I hope to find something of my own one day and it would be nice to feel as though it deserved a good home away from hammers and rocks and piles of shards.

I spent some time on an old estrin one winter and came away with a new feeling for the rhythm of a well made pot. The fly-wheel taught me the importance of wheel speed management and helped me find a rhythm of my own. I still have access to that estrin and use it from time to time. It's a treat.

It's a question loaded with sticky issues.

Some 'cultural' artifacts should be considered 'sacred'. If they represent an ethnicity's identity/theology I completely understand why people want to restrict their use - even more so for first nations trying to preserve/protect what is left of their cultural heritage. I can only imagine what it mean to identify with symbols that go back for millenia. I was spared the whole church thing but there is a part of me that sometimes wishes for something more meaningful to hold on to. That thing would certainly become precious to me.

My also relatively thin understanding can elaborate a bit to specify excessive, unburnt, oxygen starved hydrocarbons. In carbon based fuel kilns anyway.

Matte glazes work for me. Maybe not underfired, saturated/over-supplied glazes but proper magnesia satin-mattes get me touching and feeling.

I like the idea that art is a communication of sorts. When a nice matte glaze whispers 'touch me' and the simple form asks to be held this communication seperates the average from the exceptional. Maybe in this way functional ware can be seen as art

This serves to remind me how lucky I was. My access to the studio was well worth the money I paid. The time spent improved my understanding of ceramics from beginning to end. I left with a solid foundation to set up anywhere I can lay down cinderblocks.

...indeed... The conclusion seems to be missing but the preface takes me back a few years. A introductory level ambivalence in art might be necessary here. *I see in the url the first 30 pages is just a sample - 30/161 to be specific.

I'm curious how to define a masculine/feminine/neutral form. If the Golden Mean is universal does this make it neutral? This one of the more broad questions I've heard in a while.

I tried to think of a few but managed to forget more than i care to admit so I'll just leave this: