Just a quick view from the table, before I go out to vote, and go up to Penland for a demo for Gay Smith's class.
November 2, 2010
This Morning
Just a quick view from the table, before I go out to vote, and go up to Penland for a demo for Gay Smith's class.
November 1, 2010
Futher Readin'
According to the blog stats, a lot of folks are reading the previous posts, but not many have been moved to share their opinions. I am well aware that the question of greeeeeeeeen ceramics may be unanswerable.
Thanks to John and Elise for their contributions to the commentary. Here are a few other blog posts that I found at the end of one black bird's post from 2007 that might help inform. I obviously haven't had time to read all of these articles, but I have just skimmed over most and hope you won't find me irresponsible in posting these:
And back full circle with this article from Ceramics Arts Daily:
This is by no means a complete reading list, just some links that I found this evening.
Can you tell I'm really trying to wrap my head around this question?
For what its worth.
Thanks to John and Elise for their contributions to the commentary. Here are a few other blog posts that I found at the end of one black bird's post from 2007 that might help inform. I obviously haven't had time to read all of these articles, but I have just skimmed over most and hope you won't find me irresponsible in posting these:
- ECOCRAFT: Sustainable Ceramics (?) by Krystal Speck
- Things Which Look Like Other Things…
- Eco-Porcelain
- A Finer Line
- making things greenly {as much as possible}
- Are ceramics eco-friendly?
- Are Ceramics Eco-Friendly?
- Material and Environmental Sustainability in Ceramic Processing
- The User Experience and Perception of Sustainable Ceramic Design
- Aluminum vs. Ceramic vs. Paper: The Coffee Mug Debacle
And back full circle with this article from Ceramics Arts Daily:
This is by no means a complete reading list, just some links that I found this evening.
Can you tell I'm really trying to wrap my head around this question?
For what its worth.
October 31, 2010
Echo-Ceramics?
Still, I ponder the question of being green! The comments to my previous post have been very insightful and my roving/surfing eye has been led to this post by Laura Zindel from 2007 on Diana Fayt's blog!! There is very little that I can really add to this very thorough post except to share some of my own personal thoughts, so here goes.
A comment by David Carter on the Eco-Salon blog post summed it up for me,
A while back I blogged about reclaiming clay. I guess it doesn't make sense when looking strictly at the bottom line, and yes, I guess if I were to just dump it it would just go back into some geological mix, but there are hidden costs. I'm not an economist, but it seems to me that most people buy clay that has been transported over many miles from the point of extraction, the point of manufacturer, and then to our shops to be formed. That's a lot of moving around! Much of this clay is highly processed. These processes all involve oil, gasoline, etc. I guess one of my motivations to reclaim clay is that it doesn't use any additional energy except my own and then maybe the small amount of electricity to run my pug mill for a half hour.
As I review my own practice a couple of things really flare up.
There really isn't any reason to bisque fire my work, except that my wax resist just doesn't work on bone dry or leather hard clay. I've tried. Should I pursue another resist technique? Or another decorative approach?
The small one person studio is such a poor model for efficiency. When people share the resources of space, materials, kilns, it is more eco-nomical, and eco-friendly. Maybe a community kiln is a good start?
The materials I choose to use are mostly local, but I do use a small amount of manganese, copper and cobalt in my wax and glazes. Manganese come from South Africa, China, and Gabon. Although a mine in Salida Colorado also extracts the ore. Chile is the world's largest miner of copper, followed by the U.S., China, and Peru. Congo is the world's leader in cobalt extraction, followed by Zambia, and Canada. I happen to live a county that produces the most feldspar in the country, yet I buy it from the supplier in Asheville, an hour away. This should be easier, but the distribution chain doesn't necessarily include my Ford pickup. Maybe this could be an easy fix with the right contact. I'll get back to you on this one.
When I process my clay I use a fair amount of water to hydrate and blunge. I do tap off the excess from my barrels after the clay has settled to use on subsequent batches, but still we're talking about 40 gallons of water for every 200 lbs of clay, by my best estimate. I do have rain catching barrels(buckets) to catch water for my day to day uses since I have no plumbing in the shop. This is fine for most of the year, but in the coldest months I have to carry water from the house.
I guess I have some work to do to improve my own sustainability. The economics are tricky, especially in these times. But maybe folks truly want to support a local, green, sustainable practice. Whether these issues trump the artistry of my pottery remains to be seen. I think artistry and sustainability coexist quite nicely now, and can be improved upon with improved awareness and desire to be a better potter and a better person living on this earth.
That's all I have for today. There are pots awaiting my attention up the hill. Maybe this post could continue as a series? I may not be the best person qualified and it feels like there is a lot to discuss and figure out. But if you lend us your thoughts, we can move this ball down the field.
A comment by David Carter on the Eco-Salon blog post summed it up for me,
"The most persuasive argument for pottery being green is its longevity."Yes, once fired, a pot is pretty much here to stay, much like other synthetics, you know, the kind with numbers on their bottoms. Yes, ceramics was the very first synthetic material! Twink twice before firing that second! A fired ceramic mug may take a lot of natural resources to become what it is, but once made and kept out of harm's way can last for centuries! My friend Beth Schaible carries one wherever she goes to use over and over.
A while back I blogged about reclaiming clay. I guess it doesn't make sense when looking strictly at the bottom line, and yes, I guess if I were to just dump it it would just go back into some geological mix, but there are hidden costs. I'm not an economist, but it seems to me that most people buy clay that has been transported over many miles from the point of extraction, the point of manufacturer, and then to our shops to be formed. That's a lot of moving around! Much of this clay is highly processed. These processes all involve oil, gasoline, etc. I guess one of my motivations to reclaim clay is that it doesn't use any additional energy except my own and then maybe the small amount of electricity to run my pug mill for a half hour.
As I review my own practice a couple of things really flare up.
- bisque firing my work
- small-one person studio model
- use of extracted materials and metals for glazes/slips
- use of water when processing local clay
There really isn't any reason to bisque fire my work, except that my wax resist just doesn't work on bone dry or leather hard clay. I've tried. Should I pursue another resist technique? Or another decorative approach?
The small one person studio is such a poor model for efficiency. When people share the resources of space, materials, kilns, it is more eco-nomical, and eco-friendly. Maybe a community kiln is a good start?
The materials I choose to use are mostly local, but I do use a small amount of manganese, copper and cobalt in my wax and glazes. Manganese come from South Africa, China, and Gabon. Although a mine in Salida Colorado also extracts the ore. Chile is the world's largest miner of copper, followed by the U.S., China, and Peru. Congo is the world's leader in cobalt extraction, followed by Zambia, and Canada. I happen to live a county that produces the most feldspar in the country, yet I buy it from the supplier in Asheville, an hour away. This should be easier, but the distribution chain doesn't necessarily include my Ford pickup. Maybe this could be an easy fix with the right contact. I'll get back to you on this one.
When I process my clay I use a fair amount of water to hydrate and blunge. I do tap off the excess from my barrels after the clay has settled to use on subsequent batches, but still we're talking about 40 gallons of water for every 200 lbs of clay, by my best estimate. I do have rain catching barrels(buckets) to catch water for my day to day uses since I have no plumbing in the shop. This is fine for most of the year, but in the coldest months I have to carry water from the house.
I guess I have some work to do to improve my own sustainability. The economics are tricky, especially in these times. But maybe folks truly want to support a local, green, sustainable practice. Whether these issues trump the artistry of my pottery remains to be seen. I think artistry and sustainability coexist quite nicely now, and can be improved upon with improved awareness and desire to be a better potter and a better person living on this earth.
That's all I have for today. There are pots awaiting my attention up the hill. Maybe this post could continue as a series? I may not be the best person qualified and it feels like there is a lot to discuss and figure out. But if you lend us your thoughts, we can move this ball down the field.
October 29, 2010
Paper/Ceramic
As I handle my mugs from yesterday and think about the next step for these pots I pause to share a little something that has struck me about this cup...
I was given this cup at the coffee house over at Penland and immediately noticed the pattern printed on it. It is a nice pattern of leaves that "flow" around 3/4 of the circumference of the cup and it shares the real estate with the following text,
MADE FROM PAPER AND CORN 100% COMPOSTABLE
The pattern is made up of leaves falling or flying, not ears of corn. So i had to think, was the pattern intended to enforce our perception of a green, sustainable, product and am I to start a compost pile made out of the leftovers my daily visits to the coffee house? Do handmade cups present overwhelming complications to the quick cup of coffee with their need to be washed, the burden of their bulky transport, their lack of spill control(i.e.plastic lid)? Makes we reflect on the question 'Why Craft now" which began last weekend's ACC Convenings.
Hmmm.
With all of that said, I have to say that the pattern is seductively pleasant. More questions ( for myself primarily, but please chime in with your thoughts): can I create a similar seduction with my patterns and pots? How are the patterns I choose to decorate my pots helping or hindering this seduction?
In addition, I guess there are many stories in the naked city of sustainablility and the green production of pottery. Can or should potters compete with the paper cup? Is the paper cup better suited to our lifestyle than the handmade( i. e. well crafted) cup? I realize as I pose these questions that time and place play a major role in our choices. Just as the suggestion of composting one's paper cup is dependent on a next action or an inconvenience, depending on the situation one finds themselves in.
Well, I'd better bet back to those mugs. The inconvenient truth is that those cups won't 'handle' themselves. I'll chock it up for my 12x12 if I can.
Please help us sort these questions out. I know its a pandora's box. But, any takers?
Have a great day.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
October 28, 2010
Site Update: Linktopia
I've updated the blog site to help folks navigate through the 1200 or so posts here on S/D. If you look to the right of this column you will find some new items.
Now you can get new posts by myself or from my guest bloggers delivered to your email Inbox! The Feedburner widget is at the top of the right hand column. If you want to read the full post, including images just subscribe by entering your email address. Then Feedburner will send you a confirmation email to complete the setup. I read several Wordpress blogs this way and now Blogger has made it possible for this blog.
Wading through the numerous posts here can be daunting if you're a new reader. Now you can get a jump on the content by referring to the "popular posts" section. Click on links that take you to the most frequently read articles in the past month.
Speaking of numbers, you're not alone! Now you can easily see how S/D posts have been read in the past week with the page views widget! It's a running total of times posts are read whether here, in a blog reader such as Google Reader, in a feedburner email, or on networkedblogs on Facebook.
Do you want to get even more out of Sawdust & Dirt? Now you can get the maximum dirt value, by fast-forwarding through the day to day monotony, and whining, by searching this blog with Lijit. Just go to the Lijit widget on the right and type your key words in the search box and voilá!! Out pops your list of S/D blog posts where your topic of choice appears. If that's not enough you can move your search by clicking on the content, network, and web tabs. I've only used the web tab, myself, which searches the web for your topic. Other Lijit search options include my youtube channel, my disqus comment logs, my linked-in profile, my twitter feed, and my twitpic!
I'm also working on indexing all the posts in an organized librarian kind of way. But that may be a while. In the meantime I hope these updates help those who can take advantage for now.
Well that's it for now. I know that's more than you probably really need to know.
I'd better get on to the next one and get my 12x12 done!
Later
October 27, 2010
Distribution
wall of platesToday, John and I continued to pack pots that I selected from the showroom and from the last couple of firings. The pots we packed are heading to Greenwich House Pottery for the December show, Form Follows Food! On Monday I shipped pots to the Lux Center for the Arts in Lincoln Nebraska, for their Gifts From The Heart show.
We had fun measuring the capacities of the pitchers I sent to the Main St. Art Gallery in Edwardsville, IL. The show's title is "Liquid Measure" and I sent a "quart" pitcher, a "pint and two gills" pitcher, and another teeny tiny pitcher. On the hang tag's I wrote the price per ounce instead of the dollar value, thinking that it would give the viewer a pause to think what the price is in $$$. I know what your saying...what a wise ass! Well it is a show in an Art gallery!
We had fun measuring the capacities of the pitchers I sent to the Main St. Art Gallery in Edwardsville, IL. The show's title is "Liquid Measure" and I sent a "quart" pitcher, a "pint and two gills" pitcher, and another teeny tiny pitcher. On the hang tag's I wrote the price per ounce instead of the dollar value, thinking that it would give the viewer a pause to think what the price is in $$$. I know what your saying...what a wise ass! Well it is a show in an Art gallery!
The showroom is pretty well stocked for a change, so I decided to take a few shots of the display to be used for promotion etc. I'm still mulling over a blog about "why craft now" and some opinions of last week's "think tank" at Penland. Meanwhile, pots have to be made. Firing the CMP kiln in a few weeks!chiao
October 26, 2010
Reruns
I had a question from my devout reader, "ratfacedmacdougal", about a certain technique that I use for painting. I'm not sure what they meant, so I guess I'll have to review my youTube channel to remember!
But here are a couple videos that seem to be fairly popular. Not exactly the numbers that this video has and to my knowledge there are no "painting with wax resist " remixes, yet!
;-) (open invitation)
This video was one of the early ones.
I remember strapping my cell phone to my tripod with stretch wrap!
Back to packing pottery!
(drudgery...)
October 24, 2010
Back to Earth
What a weekend! I just got back from a couple of days of amazing discussions on Craft hosted by the Penland school and the American Craft Council! About 30 artists, gallerists, curators, writers, museum directors,and bloggers came together (from all over) for some intense talks about craft and its relevance! I felt honored to be part of the fishbowl.
Hopefully, I will have some time this week to crank up the old 'still and bottle some of my thoughts on what was talked about right 'chere on ye olde blogge. *hic
Hopefully, I will have some time this week to crank up the old 'still and bottle some of my thoughts on what was talked about right 'chere on ye olde blogge. *hic
Meanwhile, it's back to earth and some of the pressing concerns in the studio.
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