Anne Hirondelle Profile

“Tm either going to law school or ’'m going to make
pots,” I remarked spontaneously to a friend. At the
time I was directing a feminist social agency in Seattle.
“Remember, you can always eat out of pots,” she

responded.

On the first day of law school I knew it was not for
me. I continued, however, for an entire year before
finding the courage to follow my intuition — to learn
to make pots. I spent one year ata local art school in
Seattle and the next two-and-a-half years in the BFA
program at the University of Washington. I studied
with Bob Sperry who, by example, showed me that
the vessel could be a legitimate and outstanding form
of personal expression. In the fall of 1977, I began
work in a studio of my own in Port Townsend, Wash-
ington.

T have always been drawn to the vessel as an abstrac-
tion and metaphor for containment. My earliest
work was based on a cylindrical wheel-thrown form
to which I added lids, handles, spouts, and bases. In
1995 I began combining a variety of thrown parts
to create a core shape with which I continued to
work in an additive fashion. I used solid and hollow
extrusions that I cut and manipulated to form han-
dles and spouts. Coiling enabled me to make ele-
ments - openings, lips, and collars - that were not
necessarily round or symmetrical.

In 2002 I began the “outurn” series by moving the
work from the horizontal to the vertical plane. Aban-
doning my signature glazes for unglazed white stone-
ware, I’ve been able to address more formal, sculp-
tural ideas. I am thinking more abstractly, working
more intuitively.

Because I rely on the vessel as my core metaphor, I
draw on tradition. I see my pieces as a personal re-
statement of a very old statement, as a visual thread
between the past and future as I find meaning in the
present. They are expressions of my desire for order,
harmony, “rootedness”, and grace in this world that
feels as though it is flying apart. Through my ves-
sels, I hope to speak, not centre stage, but in the
quiet, contemplative niches of the individual and
collective psyche.

A. E. Hirondelle, 2003

Hank Murrow Profile

My experience in clay began in school with Bob James
and. David Stannard, and was further enlarged by
workshops with Leach, Hamada, Harry Davis,
Cardew, and partnership with Jane Heald. Teaching
with George Kokis and at Anderson Ranch also en-
larged my view of what was possible in the studio.
The last 35 years have been spent in developing a
seminal kiln design and deepening the work in clay
in my own studio.

In recent years I have developed. new processes and
tools to support them which are extending the ways
we can move clay. One such is soft-faceting pieces on
the wheel and then opening the forms, thus stretch-
ing the walls into new shapes and patterns. Very elabo-
rate forms are made simple with this technique.

I have also developed a method of finishing pots by
displacement of the excess clay with the use of a stick
ora special roller. This method permits the wirecut to
be preserved and glazed, while the bottom is prevented
from kissing the setter. Flatware of great beauty and.
utility are easily realized with this technique.

Enjoying the company of friends has taught me to
garden and to cook, which has deepened my work in
clay, while an interest in Tea has also drawn me to
new exemplars, as well as to museums wherever |
travel. The development of a web site at http://
www.murrow.biz/hank has allowed me to share my
studio, the work, and my processes with a much en-
larged. public, and consequent invitations to share the
work in person.

My most satisfying work enfolds personal inquiry in
rich metaphor. My Empty Bowls require one to share
their soup with a hungry person hanging on the edge
of the bowl, reminding us of those who are in need.
Recently, I have been considering romantic love, and
have completed a series of large wall plaques and sculp-
tures called “Migrations of the Heart”, 24" x 24"
which are glazed raw and once fired with my Shinos.
The movements of geese and cranes forms the cen-
tral metaphor for these musings.

Gratefully, Hank Murrow

Potters Guild of British Columbia Newsletter

January 2004