ceramics

Trends in Ceramics

May 17, 2013

By Carol Snyder
2012 Best of Show Award Recipient

Ceramics are a versatile medium that offer many practical options for the home. As decorative vessels, ceramics provide us the ability to add a punctuation of color to a prominent area of the home, or tie a space together by adding synthesis to the patterns in the room.

Using advanced techniques, novel finishes and inventive textures, ceramic craft artists are offering exciting new options for pottery arts. Featured below are four ceramic artists who are innovating the craft with distinctly different approaches:

Carol Snyder, Best of Show in 2012

“I use porcelain for its white, translucent qualities that can express my vision without the use of glaze color. My influence is nature and the landscape. I create patterns and rhythms, syncopation within the structure of nature that I attempt to emphasize. These are carved into the surface of the vessel or appear as cracked earth by pushing the clay from within. Fields, furrows and crop circles provide endless patterns from which to draw inspiration.”

By Kina Crow

Kina Crow

“This body of work is unique in that it provides my 4″ high sculptures a stage on which to perform. Each figure is individually hand sculpted in a mid fire stoneware. Written words allow my wee people to communicate my ideas clearly and without the risk of my point being lost in translation.”

By Lisa Naples
2012 Jane And Leonard Korman Family Prize For Excellence In Contemporary Clay Award Recipient

Lisa Naples, 2012 Jane and Leonard Korman Family Prize For Excellence in Contemporary Clay Award Recipient

“I scour the countryside on a regular basis for objects that have meaning to me. Objects I find at flea markets, antique stores, yard sales and the like find their way home. At other times I fabricate an object from non-clay materials. All these objects help create symbolic language that, together with sculpted imagery communicate narratives.”

Cliff Lee

“I work on a potter’s wheel with translucent porcelain. I will then carve, apply, alter or sculpt the porcelain to obtain the desired form. I use a gas kiln to high fire monochrome reduction glazes.”

By Cliff Lee

Filed Under: 2013 Craft Show, Craft Artists, Home & Design Tagged With: 2013 Craft Show, arts and crafts movement, ceramics, craft artists, craft show, philadelphia museum of art, PMA Craft Show

Meet Michael Sherrill

January 30, 2013

Primarily a self taught artist, Michael Sherrill moved from Charlotte, North Carolina, to the Western North Carolina mountains in 1974. His primary influences came from being in the proximity of the North Carolina folk pottery tradition and the community surrounding Penland School of Crafts and the Southern Highland Handicraft Guild. Specific individuals who have influenced significantly his development include Cynthia Bringle, Don Reitz and Sid Oakley.

He is a frequent instructor at Penland and has taught at craft schools and workshops across the country and in Canada. Michael has always been a bit of an inventor and in 1995 he designed a line of tools for potters and sculptors—the birth of Mudtools®. In 2002, Michael was a featured presenter and lecturer at the U.S. Clay exhibition of the Smithsonian’s Renwick Museum of American Craft. In 2003, Michael was honored as Artist of the Year by the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

As part of the International Ceramics Symposium/ WOCEF, Michael was one of 10 artists invited to build outdoor sculptures to be placed permanently at the International Ceramic Museum in Inchon, S. Korea, in the summer of 2004. Michael is the 2010 United States Artists Wingate Fellow.

We are very honored to have Michael as one of our jurors for the 2013 Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show.

Filed Under: 2013 Craft Show, Craft Artists Tagged With: 2013 Craft Show, ceramics, craft artists, craft show, Jurors, philadelphia museum of art craft show

Artist Spotlight: Lisa Naples

January 16, 2013

“The intense pace [of preparing for the show] has led to some revelations with the work both in terms of pots and sculpture,” said sculptor and potter Lisa Naples just prior to exhibiting at the 2012 Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show.

Lisa Naples, 2012 Craft Show

Lisa strives to express something personal in her functional vessels. Lately, she has added characters to the surface of her pots, which cause the onlooker to be drawn in to imagine the story being told through the illustrations.

The collection of ceramic sculpture and handmade earthenware pottery she exhibited at the 2012 Show was extraordinary, leading to her winning the 2012 Jane and Leonard Korman Family Prize for Excellence in Contemporary Ceramics.

Lisa Naples booth

Lisa’s experience with the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show has been excellent. Lisa commented, “The entire long weekend is punctuated with interesting audience members… who enrich the experience with their questions, comments and observations.”

Excitingly, we know Craft Show attendees will see Lisa’s work at the 2013 Craft Show, as well! For the first time, the Craft Show Committee has extended an automatic invitation to each of the award recipients from the previous year.

Directing her warm words to the Women’s Committee, Lisa shared, ”Your choice to add the invitation to return for one year to award winners makes something that was already a great vote of support and confidence even more so…I’m sincerely grateful to all of you for your efforts on behalf of fine craft… Thank you ALL!!”

Filed Under: 2012 Craft Show, 2013 Craft Show, Craft Artists, Craftsmen Tagged With: 2012 Craft Show, ceramics, craft artists, craft show, earthenware pottery, philadelphia museum of art, philadelphia museum of art craft show, PMA Craft Show, pottery

The Guerilla Mug Assault

November 4, 2012

On November 8, 2012, The Clay Studio will hit the streets of Philadelphia. Stationed at six different locales with both foot traffic and an abundance of coffee shops, teams will give away 500 beautifully crafted handmade ceramic mugs to 500 individuals with disposable cups. A tag attached to each mug will include information about the project, the mug’s maker, and The Clay Studio’s blog address with a statement encouraging the recipient to post about their experiences using their chosen mug and the relationship they develop with it.

With support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, as part of its Knight Arts Challenge, The Clay Studio will explore the relevance of handmade ceramic tableware in the 21^st century by distributing free handmade mugs to people holding disposable coffee cups around various coffee shops throughout center city Philadelphia. The recipients are then to share their experiences of use on The Clay Studio blog.

500 People. 500 Conversations. 500 Free Hand Made Mugs. 500 Experiences.

Filed Under: Craft Artists, Home & Design Tagged With: ceramic mugs, ceramics, clay, clay studio, hand made, handmade, mugs, philadelphia

Ruby Red indeed!

April 17, 2012

A couple of weeks ago the Huffington Post Styleist Home blog published an article that grabbed our attention: The color palette that can make your home seem brighter, cleaner and sexier. Ruby Red!

“Whether it’s a small vase or chandelier, what’s important to know about decorating with ruby red is that it works especially well against neutral color schemes. Because of its blue undertone, ruby red naturally complements white furniture, making the pieces appear brighter and whiter.”

A good point… That made us go through last year’s craft show archives and pull up some great Ruby Red finds for your home!