HYPE MUSIC a le plaisir de vous présenter, en partenariat avec OUI FM, le concert évènement: HyPE + SOMA + PORCELAIN

Mercredi 25 novembre à la Scène Bastille à 19h30, 2, rue des Taillandiers – 75011 métro Bastille/Ledru Rollin.
Ne ratez pas ce line-up de qualité avec les excellents SOMA et Porcelain, pour une soirée très pop – rock
Ouverture des portes : 19h30. Ordre de passage Porcelain / HyPE / Soma

Les places sont disponibles auprès du groupe : contact.hype@gmail.com pour 10€ en prévente ou à 12€ sur place, à la Fnac, Virgin ou toute autre billetterie habituelle.

Pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas encore ces très bons groupes, allez donc sur les différents myspace pour écouter !www.myspace.com/somafrance
www.myspace.com/porcelainpoprock
et bien sur HyPE sur www.myspace.com/hypemusic

I have listed some children’s pottery in our etsy shop.  Junji did such a lovely job with these.

I understand that some people hesitate to give ceramic dishes to their children, but we have always done it without incident.  They are all made of porcelain which is a strong clay body, so it’s more durable and suited for children.  I think it’s good for children to use high quality materials.  This is something that you will keep forever, and not dispose of after a short period of use.  And we always strive to keep the price affordable for you.

There are limited quantities available now, but I will be listing more items as they become available.

Please have a look!

Hey all, it’s been a while – been working on my Senior Thesis recently. Anyway, I was doing some early shopping the other day for potential Christmas gifts for my mother at Department 56, whose products she avidly collects. Don’t worry, I’m not spoiling any surprises on my blog here – I’ve bought her the same thing every Christmas since I had my own money to spend, so she knows what to expect by now!

For those of you who don’t know, Department 56 is a collectible product line of approximately 1:48 scale model porcelain houses, shops, churches, and other largely Christmas-themed, hand-painted village buildings – each outfitted with an interior electric light to give off a warm Thomas Kincaidesque holiday glow from the inside. Along with their flagship line of buildings, Dept. 56 offers a whole array of accessories including fences, shrubs, lampposts, and, of course, porcelain people to populate your quaint miniature town.

Like most collectible product lines (Hummel, Beanie Babies, etc.), Dept. 56 cultivates a huge amount of brand loyalty. No self-respecting collecter (and certainly not my mother) would have  another brand’s miniature homes polluting their Dept. 56 display -  in the same way that a Pop Art collector would not be content with a fake Warhol for their collection, even though the forgery may be cheaper and indistinguishable from the original.

The psychology and sociology of collectors and collecting could be the subject of an entire college course (in fact, I have taken this course) – but suffice it to say, Dept 56 fans, who are almost exclusively middle-aged and elderly women, are willing to pay top dollar for the real product. I can assure you, as a frequent gift-purchaser, this is not a cheap hobby to support.

48 Daughtry St - $85 new.

So, comes the inevitable question, why? Well, let’s take it from one of the thousands of doting Dept 56 fan websites:

“We all like to dream and imagine what would be if…..

With your Dept 56 collections you can bring some of that imagination to life. For instance, what would you have been doing if you could have lived back in the wintery times of Dickens? Which shops would you have liked to visit (or own)? Where would you have liked to live?

Or how about if you lived in New England. What would you have liked to do there? Fish, watch the sea, skate,???

Your collections allow you to display some of your dreams and desires.”

It seems the main themes here are an outlet for imagination and a degree of escapism. The Dept 56. hobbyist can, to quote a recent movie, “build a place where only the things you want to happen will happen.” In the real world, Christmas is expensive and stressful, shopping budgets are tight, the weather is bitter, and snow banks are muddy and grey – but in your own little Christmas village, all is warm, peaceful, picturesque, and cared for.

Real Christmas

Model Christmas

In essence, it is playing dolls for adult women. But before we feminize this trend, let’s remember one of the nation’s largest adult male hobbies : model trains. Is this so different? Carefully detailed, expensively acquired, lovingly displayed miniature worlds – masculinized, of course, with the addition of things like muscular steam engines and gritty coal hoppers – but no less idealized, often set in a simpler, more peaceful, time and place. There are never drunken transients sleeping on the benches of model train stations. And even traditional boy’s toys, from Lego towns to toy soldiers, follow this trend of an ideal miniature world at your control.

HO-scale model train layout

Why then, do so many seem to need to collect, build, and care for a miniature world? Is it some sort of God complex, the love of power over those smaller than you? Perhaps, at some level, it goes back to the idea of escapism: while you are never completely in control of life’s events, and bad things happen to good people, at least in your own little village you can make sure that everything happens just as it should.

The daily, steamed appraisal waiting for
Porcelain and promise –
That I can show the plum-drum ritual of how
I think we all think of ourselves, and our lives
So well described on forearms and
Four legs.

I’d like to be remembered, at all times –
And is that selfish?
I want my eyes and cheeks longed after,
Put left-side along the brain where the gray flesh can
Exponentially warm it’s overlapping, flapping…
Flittering recollections of how I think I
Remember you.

But we don’t talk long enough to furnace
These thoughts, or have them
At all – but instead – and this is where my bruised skull
Has versed, traversed and gone reverse –
What we do instead: is nothing.

“CORSO NATALIZIO DI TECNICA MODERNA DEI LUSTRI SU PORCELLANA” di Cinzia Defendi – NEGOZIO Milano – Annunci Gratis Milano.

%22CORSO+NATALIZIO+DI+TECNICA+MODERNA+DEI+LUSTRI+SU+PORCELLANA%22+di+Cinzia+Defendi+-+NEGOZIO+Milano+-+Annunci+Gratis+Milano.

What can I say. I’ve just not been feeling the sculpture vibe for the last year. However, thanks to a kick in the ass and a bit of time looking at Ernst Haeckle etchings, I’ve got my sculpture on again.

And this is just the first one. I’ve already got two more completed.

The other thing I want to do is find a way to make a porcelain lamp. I’ve got one attempt already, but I’m not sure I like how it turned out. I’m probably just going to reclaim it and start again. … no, I AM going to just reclaim it and start again. I learned a few things which is good. I’ve never really tried to work with lighting so this is a real learning curve for me.

as i’ve been working on these wall pieces the studio has been full of frenetic energy.  lots of people firing different kilns and in different ways.  also, i’ve been working with different types of clay.  most/all of the compost show was highwater p10 porcelain.  i love p10 because i am able to build with it so effortlessly.  especially when coiling.  but with the wall pieces above i have used highwater p10 and helios, matt long’s porcelain and a flashing porcelain one of the former residents mixed up before he left.  i’ve got maybe 50 pounds of that left, and unfortunately he didn’t use a recipe but all this variety in workability and fire color has me amped up to research more porcelain recipes and develop one i like.

i have been seeing ceramic surface everywhere i look.  carbon trapping brains in the mackerel clouds when they get all skippy and black and white across the sky or fire color in j.q.’s roommate’s dog’s fur or the other night when i was watching grey’s anatomy and saw my the wood fired surface in patrick dempsey’s facial hair.

weird.

“Then I wake I’m going out of my mind“

Eu amo porcelana!

Adoraria ter um jogo de chá de porcelana chinesa! Mas acho que esse vai ser um amor platônico por muitos e muitos anos!

Passeando pela internet eu achei a coisa mais fofa do mundo!!!

Studio Violet!!!!!

Um site sueco, que entre outras coisas, eles mexem com  PORCELANA!!!!

Morri de tão fofo que é!!

Super vale a pena entrar e da uma olhadinha!!

*Post programado

Well Wednesday I thought I was better, actually I was better. Hit the studio with my helper and tried to get back up on the horse (the spinning horse). It wasn’t the most productive day but felt good to get back in the clay. That night went and had a couple beers and woke up the next day with either a relapse or a whole new cold. It doesn’t feel the same. I was super pissed and tried to work yesterday regardless but just didn’t have the energy to make a good go of it… had to cancel my big scrabble game last night. Anyway, I don’t want these posts to sound like I’m complaining because I’m not… merely reporting the facts. My helper, on the other hand, was quite productive. The cleaning of the studio and putting the love seat in there has somehow turned the space into Sofia’s favorite place in the house. She’s been there for days and I love the company. Two nights ago, while putting her to bed, she said… dad, I love your studio. Here’s how she showed up for “work” yesterday…

We’ve been having tea each day about the same time and she has all her markers on my work table. She started making cards and once she gets going, the production goes into high gear…

Then she moved on to decorating an old vase I had around that was bisqued but not glazed…

I’m looking forward to firing it. Then apparently when I went upstairs for a bit, she ran out of paper to make more cards and, ever resourceful, decided to mark up the nearest white thing she could find…

And of course, here’s the toenails… I have no idea how she got Sunglasses to sit still to paint her toenails. I could barely get her to allow me to take these pictures which I took a day later (as you can tell by the toenail polish already starting to wear off).

I am Not a Paper Cup Reusable Mug

Add this to your gift list, it’s sure to fit for someone. It looks like a fake ole’ throwaway cup, yet it’s not. No More Paper Cups! It’s porcelain, and double wall insulated to keep coffee hot. The I Am Not A Paper Cup Reusable Mug is available at Target. You can also find it listed under Best Picks Under $25! Looks to me like it fits standard cup holders in the car for easy traveling.

• Porcelain Coffee Mug
• Dishwasher Safe
• Matte Finish
• Double Wall Construction, Removable Lid
• 8 Oz.
• 3.5×6 “

You can order this from Target online, for $18.99. If you want to make it even easier for your Holiday shopping, check the box during checkout to have this item gift wrapped!

Great gifts. Low prices on must-haves for everyone on your list.

Arché – Arte nel Tempo è il nome di un piccolo spazio nel cuore di Roma (P.zza della Cancelleria/Campo de’ Fiori) in cui si possono trovare manufatti, curiosità e opere originali di artisti maggiori e minori nel campo della pittura, scultura, ceramica, porcellana, del vetro e dei cristalli e in tutto il resto che abbia una valenza “artistica”.  

La galleria Arché si trova in via del Pellegrino 59, 00186 Roma, tel/fax 06 68585779.

Lunedì 16 – 19,30

Martedì - Sabato: 10 – 13 ; 16 – 19,30. Lunedì mattina chiuso.

Arché – Arte nel Tempo  is the name of a small retail, in the centre of Rome (pzza della Cancelleria/Campo de’ Fiori) in which it’s possible find artifacts and works of artists, majors and minors, in the field of painting, sculpture, ceramics, porcelain, glass and crystal, and everything else that has a value “artistic”.

Arché gallery is located in Via del Pellegrino 59, 00186 Roma, tel/fax 06 6858577.

Monday 16 – 19,30

Tuesday – Saturday: 10 – 13 ; 16 - 19.30. Monday morning closed.

If you have a child you are probably already aware of this and I’m sure in some deep distant neuron lost in my brain is the memory of myself doing this (Mom, if you’re reading, feel free to pipe in), but Sofia seems literally obsessed with certain words… the most fascinating one being poop. I do remember as I retold in this post getting my grandfather to tell me the Italian word for poop and also remember saying it for years but in my mind the frequency of it correlated to the novelty of saying it in another language that, in my mind, not everyone knew. Well, remember George Carlin’s act “The Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV”… the funny part to me aside from the words themselves was the manner in which he rattled them off in one long string. Apparently Sofia has her own seven words and has been reciting them in much the same way over and over and over. The 7 words are as follows: poop, pee, throwup, diarrhea, blast, butt and… my favorite, trashcan. This string of seven really started out as 2, then quickly became the first 4 which she has said incessantly for months as well as inserted into the lyrics of songs. I guess I should point out that blast was my fault as I taught her this in place of the baby word poot because I imagined how funny it would be when she casually said it in front of the grandparents, it wouldn’t be vulgar but still much more powerful than poot. Then Sofia and her cousins must have tried to add others to the string and could only come up with butt and trashcan. Trashcan gives me a bit of insight into how their little brains are working, you know, what else is gross?… oh I know, trashcan! Oh well, on to other things… these are two of my favorite pots that my friend Ig has in his house along with dragon closeups. They are approximately 35″ tall….

There are quite a few of these at Ig’s house including some that I didn’t get any pictures of and they are all dreamy. I will post more later.

I really do think that ceramics is like golf.  That one great shot, or one great pot, keeps you coming back for more, even in the face of bogies and cracked pots.

This last weekend’s gas firing went spectacular.  The colors were great.  The cooper really worked its magic and we got some great reds. I had not planned on doing much gas reduction firing once becoming an associate but was intending to focus on electric and salt/soda/wood.  But this firing might have hooked me.  Never before had I seen such great flame action out of a gas kiln.  And the bit of oxygen that we introduced at the end seems to have brighten some colors and pulled some really interesting pinks out of the blues.  And the salt yellow came out beautiful as well.  All in all I am ecstatic over the result.

But then there are the boogies.  I had made a series of pouring vessels, mostly pitchers and gravy boats.   Most of them developed cracks in the bottom and leak.  This is not a compression problem, but a result of the amount of manipulation I exert on the clay when I am forming the bottom of my pot at suede-hard.  This never happens on stoneware – only  porcelain. When I tested the pieces by filling them with water, the joy of the night was tainted as water slowly dripped out of each pot.  Curses followed as well as proclamations to never use porcelain for these vessels again.  All this was succeeded by an  acceptance that I won’t be selling pitchers this holiday season.  I’ll have to find some other use for these flawed lovelies.

Once the sales season is over, I will likely experiment with paper clay and refiring.  This is something I scoffed at before, but these pieces are too nice to let slip away easily.  Luckily, we have a resident paper clay expert.

Of course there is no time to fret over the sorrows of this firing.  In just a few days I will be firing another kiln and then unloading next week.  I am sure there will be great gems that come from the kiln and a few mulligans to do over.  This is the joy and sorrow of a potter.

blueberry hill cup

blueberry hill saucer

I am trying to find more colourful ways of wording the patience I have had to self-implement – as well as the subsequent satisfaction I have been experiencing. And this time of year, my vocabulary is less than adequate. Apart from the plethora of swearwords that I resort to – to counteract this condition in my word bank.

Hence… you may find this post short… but very sweet. Hopefully.

After the initial battle to find a suitable manufacturer for the Blueberry Hill homeware range – the war is won! Prototypes of a beautiful standard arrived (on time) last week. It’s tremendously strange looking back at your sketches at this point – because the line drawing has been turned into an object. A couple of tweaks, and early 2010 should see porcelain proliferating various retail halfway houses and drinking holes.

At this point – I must just mention that Scarlett o’Hara was the inspiration behind the Toast Saucer. She always nibbles on her husband’s morning toast – before he can have a bite – because “she can’t carry it all”. Well, now the eternally-indebted-to-me husband can have his toast, and Scarlett, can have hers.

Will keep you updated on final releases etc.

blueberry hill cup and saucer in the flesh

blueberry hill plan view

blueberry hill homeware - step 1

How much do we love these vintage-made-modern jars?  A lot.

Vancouver based artist Claire Madill, owner of Heyday Designs is taking found vintage jars and re-imagining them out of porcelain.  Quite splendid indeed.  You can find them here in Vancouver at the Gallery of BC Ceramics (on Granville Island) and Walrus; in Toronto at Made and Distill and in Berkeley at Lola.

I don’t feel like writing for once, but here are the photos as promised:

View when you walk in

The most important view, not reproducible in photos

Makes great shadows... kind of like xrays...

One of my favorite teeth

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Soon I will do my usual budget info and “Things Learned“ entry…

Whatever, my studio is usually bedlam probably because I never finished the construction all the way before I moved my clay stuff back in and started working… nah, it’s because I’m sloppy and maybe secretly because I cherish the idea that something beautiful might emerge from the chaos. Anyway Sofia and I decided to get some cleaning done and in a classic amateur blogger sort of way, I didn’t take a before picture. First I moved everything that was on the one half of the studio to the other half

and had to leave room for the real reason that I am doing this now… to move the loveseat that our neighbor gave us into the studio from the foyer. I accepted the loveseat because I thought it would be great to do my decorating on something with cushions as opposed to the lawn chair that I use now that cuts the circulation off in my legs. But the wee couch is not something I could just move in and while I’ve been “a’gittin around to it”, Sunglasses has not only claimed it as hers, she’s gone ahead and eaten about half of it. Next we swabbed the deck and got up all the glaze that’s been spilled, Sofia is at this wonderful age where she actually wants to help do everything and she was very helpful throughout the afternoon.

After that dried, we spread the thick plastic that was left over from winterizing the windows upstairs over the newly claimed and cleaned floorspace. This will make future cleanups so much easier…

Right about then, Sofia decided that the floor was a perfect dance floor and I had to let her dance around for a couple of songs on the CD player before we could resume…

Here’s the love seat in place with an old blanket covering the lacerations. I couldn’t get Sofia to not have her tongue sticking out so here’s the pic, she loved it so much when we got it in place that we both had a cup of chamomile tea on it where she insisted on clinking our cups together before every sip and saying “slainte”. I think she was so excited about having a new look to the room that she would have slept there if we had let her…

Hopefully I can get the other half of the room to a workable state today but, as always, I have to find a place for a bunch of stuff that’s in the way and there simply isn’t any place to put it. When I take the dog out, I stand under our sweet gum tree while she finds the perfect square centimeter to pee on. In the fall most of the tree turns a beautiful gold and yellow but some of the leaves go to an almost black…

Get back Loretta. It’s 55 degrees and sunny and going to 66 today, what a November. Sometimes though, what you want to wear doesn’t match the weather or anything else for that matter. Sometimes it’s snowing out and you feel like putting on a swimsuit. Anyway, here’s Sofia’s outfit that she put together… “tres bien ensemble” just jumps off my tongue…

The most frustrating things about being sick and not being in the studio, second only to not being in the studio and making work is that this blog is a ceramics blog and most of its content is about making pots. I haven’t made anything in 2 weeks (that will change today) and it pisses me off to no end that this has even lasted that long. I find it interesting when people ask… what is the purpose of your blog? In other words, why are you taking the time? I usually stumble through the obvious reasons… to get my work in front of more people, to connect with other people doing similar things, to make friends and acquaintances, to learn about how other potters do what they do, to hopefully sell pots and by extension be able to continue making pots, etc. One thing that I never say but that has somehow become obvious in the past 2 weeks of inactivity is that the blog is additional motivation to get things done. I don’t mean to say that I need motivation but more accurately I feel obligated to have progress so I can report that progress on the blog. Michael Kline’s idea which I may steal in the near future is to take pictures of the same pots from different angles and in black and white but that just gets you through a day or two dry spell. Anyway, this will probably continue because the dreaded holidays are imminent and notorious for lack of productivity. Thanks for all the well wishes on the previous post… don’t feel bad about thinking it was funny, I really intended it to be plus who can deny that from very early on in life the pain of others is always a great source of laughter (I mean pain in the 3 Stooges slapstick sort of way).

I again forgot about my 50/50 picture for today. I didn’t remember until I only had 45 minutes to shoot. That’s what I get for leaving it until evening to shoot though! This is one of a few porcelain roses my Grandmother has on her China cabinet.