& ween Amon Reads a Book “Throwing Pots”. Phil Rogers, 1995 There are so many books and articles on throwing that is hard to imagine being inspired by one but this book really is the most thoughtful and thorough | have ever seen. There is a telling statement in the opening chapter on taking courses “Check that you actually like the work of the tutor and that his or her work is of good quality". This is equally true of a “how to” book. To learn to make pots using, as he says “the bland, anonymous industrially-made pot as a benchmark .... is misleading and entirely the wrong thing to do.” Phil Rogers’ pots are strong, beautifully balanced and softly finished. | have admired them for years and always make a point of seeing as many as | can when | am in England so | picked up this book for the wonderful pictures and sketches of his work. After the initial chapters on clay and the making of a cylinder, he leads you through a series of shapes with clear directions and illustrations. Where this book differs from page -+ isolation but concentrates on the “orchestration of the pieces”, teaching you to be mindful of the finished pot before you start. You learn the Why and the When, how much pressure, at what speed, what the other hand is doing and even what to think about whilst you are doing it! In this way you see the pot as a whole as you are making it, rather than in its separate parts. There is no point in learning the skills of throwing if you are just going to emulate soulless industrial pots. As he says, “The making of hand-thrown pottery as compared to industrally-made ceramics contains an entirely different set of aesthetic standards as to what constitutes a successful pot’. This is a lovely little book with the most wonderful examples of work by the author himself, as well as Jim Malone, Sarah Walton, Svend Beyer, Jeff Oestreich and others. | wish it had been written ten years ago. My only complaint is that he recommends an obscure book to which, until now, | have had exclusive use from the library! Rosemary Amon most is that it does not show you different skills in (Available from Gallery of BC Ceramics, $38.95) Perhaps you're feeling a little burned out by solitary studio life and are thinking wistfully about school again. This summer Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design has three 17 day classes on the go. For those to whom it is important, each session equals a 3 credit course in the full-time studies program. Linda Sikora is a full-time studio potter in southeast Minnesota. She completed her MFA at University of Minnesota and has taught at NASCAD, Ohio State, Penland School of Craft in North Carolina and various other institutions. Her work has been extensively reviewed and is represented in a number of public and private collections. She recently gave a lecture at ECIAD. | attended it and was quite impressed. Her pots are handsome, thrown and altered with some very interesting surface treatment. Many potters seem to have more strength in either form design or surface decoration, but Linda blended each equally. Her slide show also showed her working environments, potters who influenced her, including her husbands work. It was a nice acknowledgment of what we all know, pots are not created in a vacuum! She fielded in-depth questions and answered in a thoughtful, critical manner. | got the impression that a class with her would offer new techniques and fresh insights into the body of my own studio work. The ECIAD catalogue description of her course is as follows: Introductory Studio Wheel Throwing 1 July 2-19 Monday - Friday $356 Instructor Linda Sikora 9:00 am -12:30 pm A committed and intelligent investigation of useful pottery is rich with potential discoveries that range from stimulating enquiry into past cultures to fresh interpretations of use in the present. This course develops throwing skills and the ability to perceive the potential of the wheel as a forming tool. Projects are structured around traditional techniques and forms as a way to develop skills for subsequent exploration on a _ more independent basis and in relation to contemporary concerns. Shape is explored by throwing and by construction with thrown parts. Surface is addressed by using sgraffitto and slip on green ware and glaze with resist on bisqueware. Work is finished by firing to high temperature. Demonstrations, discussions and critiques are included. Introductory Studio Wheel Throwing 2 July 22 - August 9 Monday - Friday $356 This course is an in-depth continuation of Intro Throwing 1. Throwing 1 & Throwing 2 combined are equivalent to the 6 credit Intro Wheel course in Full time Studies at ECIAD. 9:00am - 12:30 pm Neil Forrest currently teaches at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and has been a guest artist/lecturer at numerous Canadian and American institutions, including Rhode Island School of Design, University of Connecticut, Kansas City Art Institute, Philadelphia College of Art, Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology, Ontario and University of Alberta. He received his MFA in Ceramics from Alfred University, College of Ceramics, New York. His work has been shown and collected in Canada and the United States. Ceramics Special Topics Inlay & Collage July 22 - August 9 Monday - Friday $356 Instructor Neil Forrest 1:30 pm - 5:00 pm This course caposes students to new techniques and methods that can be applied to personal projects. Directed and individual assignments are designed to meet various levels of experience. Coloured clay, especially the technique of inlay, is explored in conjunction with moulds. Demonstrations show how .moulded elements can be assembled into larger pieces, using collage techniques. After producing several basic moulds, -students experiment with various methods of pressing coloured and patterned clay into the moulds. A variety of surface strategies-are-discussed. Students can use collage and inlay to realize pottery, ornamental and sculptural ideas. Technical information is provided on the colouring of white clay and Egyptian paste. Slide lectures, critiques and discussions augment studio activity. The Autumn-issue of Ceramics, Arts & Perceptions featued an article on Neil, complete with sumptuous colour photos. And last Novermbers Newsletter has a smail article on him also.