A Review of Two Ceramic Monthly Handbooks

Exploring Electric Kiln Techniques,

Ed Sumi von Dassow

ISBN: 1-57498-160-9 Soft cover, 134 pages. Pub.
The American Ceramics Society 01/03 $23.95US

Over the past few years The American Ce-
ramics Society, publisher of Ceramics
Monthly, has been compiling thematic arti-
cles into inexpensive and accessible handbook
format. Two recent publications are Explor-
ing Electric Kiln Techniques and Movers and
Shakers in American Ceramics: Defining Twen-
tieth Century Ceramics.

The electric kiln handbook explores multi-
ple aspects of the firing technique with the
least amount of published research. While the
vast majority of potters fire in electric kilns,
there is still a paucity of information on elec-
tric firing to produce fine work.

In her introduction to the handbook, ‘Power
to the People’, editor Sumi Von Dassow as-
serts that the "electric kiln is no longer the
poor stepsister to the gas kiln". She further
acknowledges that there are many ceramists
producing some of the most interesting work
using this technology. Each of the five chap-
ters - Functional Pottery - A Colourful Story,
Sculptural Work - The Significance of the Sur-
face, The Decorated. Surface - Adding Pat-
tern and Imagery, Majolica - From the Ren-
aissance to the Space Age, The Building
Blocks of Electric Kiln Pottery - Clay and

SHADBOLT

Shadbolt Centre for the Arts

6450 Deer Lake Avenue

by Rachelle Chinnery

Glaze Formulation - speaks for itself. There
are pages of glaze recipes, both base glazes for
experimentation as well as tried-and-true reci-
pes used. by accomplished ceramists.

Artist Keisuke Mizuno shares cone 6 porce-
lain recipes as well as the colorants necessary
to produce work such as the ‘Forbidden Fruit’
series - luscious organic forms of soft decay-
ing fruits. There are also pages of low-fire
engobe and slip recipes for sculptural work as
well as for cone 10 copper red and oil-spot
glazes in an electric kiln. The book is filled
with colour photos of finished work and glaze
samples. It is an excellent sampling of the elec-
tric aesthetic, but lacks information on kiln
maintenance and technical trouble-shooting
for the kiln itself. But that's a whole other
handbook.

The second publication, Movers and Shakers
in American Ceramics: Defining Twentieth Cen-
tury Ceramics, discusses notable ceramists in
the United States. It is a collection of essays
on important figures whose work and teach-
ings have influenced studio practice, not just
in the States but worldwide. This series origi-
nated with editor Elaine Levine, who taught
a course on American ceramic history at the

Burnaby, BC V5G 2J3

CENTRE for the

Movers and Shakers: Defining Twentieth Century Ceramics,

Ed Elaine M. Levine

ISBN: 1-57498-165-X Soft cover, 136 pages, Pub.
The American Ceramics Society 02/03 $28.95US

University of California in Los Angeles in the
70's. Ceramics monthly invited her to write
a series of articles based on her research for
the course, and these articles have been pub-
lished. in CM over the years.

Anyone interested in ceramic history will en-
joy this publication. There are, of course, sto-
ries of the big hitters such as Voulkos, Soldner,
Wildenhain and Saxe as well as some sur-
prises. For example Judy Chicago, while not
strictly a ceramist is included in the roster for
her ‘Dinner Party’, which brought the pub-
lic's attention to sculptural dinnerware and
new techniques and applications for china
painting.

In addition to ceramic art and practice, Levin
has also included articles about innovations
in kiln technology and artistry by those such
as John Roloff and Fred Olsen, who estab-
lished site-specific firings and. the kiln as
sculpture. Photographs in Movers and Shak-
ers are primarily black and white, simply be-
cause the photos predate colour film. As a
survey of ceramic history it is a very informa-
tive and inspiring read. Again, just a sam-
pling of the vast repertoire of recent ceramic
history, but an excellent starting point for an

in depth look at influences and origins

604-294:6864t ceramic practice spilling into studi

Using high-fire stoneware, all classes start April 3/4/5 or the week of April 12" and are 8 sessiotye$18a@albnless otherwise stated).
Daytime (am),10:00am-1:00pm; evening (pm), 7:00em-10:00om. Spring registration starts March 16 (March 24 for summer courses).

Intro to Pottery. Jay MacLennan (Su, am) # 47921; Barbara Toohey (Th, pm) # 47923
Continuing Pottery. Rosemary Amon (Tu, pm) # 47919; Darrel Hancock (W, pm) # 47918
Intermediate Wheelthrowing: Gillian McMillan (M, am) # 47897

Throwing: Intermediate/Advanced: Darrel Hancock (Sa, am) #47907

Daytime Pottery: Sabrina Keskula (Th, am) # 47916

Making Pots With Linda: Linda Doherty (W, am) # 47924

Throwing and Altering. Fredi Rahn (W, pm) #47925

Clay Sculpture: Debra Sloan # 47896

8 sessions, $157.88, M, 7:00pm-10:00pm, April 5

Characters in Clay: Sharon Kallis #52572

1 session, $48.15, Su, 10:00am-5:00pm, May 16

March 2004

Potters Guild of British Columbia

City of
Ke Burnaby