Ceramics, a beautiful medium

I am in ceramics because I love working with clay. It is the most natural material for man to work with and has qualities that I highly admire. It comes naturally from the earth. It wants to become an object. It expresses the intent of the creator. It rejects mistakes, but gives limitless chances. After it is fired, it endures. It faithfully serves its purpose even over long periods of time. Its value grows with age.

Works of Aoki Ryota

Why am I here?

I joined Ceramics because i have always been interested in art, especially the "hands-on" side.  I have fiddled a little bit with ceramics before in middle school and high school.  One of my favorite pieces I made was actually in 6th grade and shown below.

I was looking through different ceramics and I came across a Canadian artist who worked with British Columbia's largest manufacturer of ceramics giftware.  Since I am Canadian (dual citizen actually), I found this very interesting.  A picture of a vase created by Herta Gerz from the 1950's is shown below.

If you would like to read more, you can follow the link: http://www.canadiandesignresource.ca/officialgallery/ceramics/northern-lights-vase/

Tile Design

I thought this handmade tile by Dale Wiley had a lot of the qualities we have been discussing in class. Parts of the design seem to be a tessellation of the leaves, and there are also varying heights as well as detailed carvings.

Here are also some other decorative tile designs:

http://www.tiles.org/pages/dwiley/dwdeco.htm

Ceramics?

This is a piece by Keri Straka titled "Longing." I found the detailing and form rather interesting. The way she handles the material is really remarkable. After taking pottery last semester, I have a huge sense of appreciation for her ceramic work. The amount of time to do this piece is and more so how she did it is mind boggling to me.

Here is a link to more of her work:
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2zCJVg/www.keristraka.com/

Goodbye to a Design Legend

Over our holiday break, the design community lost a great artist, Eva Zeisel. I have put a link to a great video of her from TED talks, I hope you enjoy listening to her.

TED Talks with Eva Zeisel

Earth and Elements

This earthy and rustic pottery made by K. Mohlman features objects found in nature that have been translated into clay. At first, one wouldn't realize that some of these pieces are pottery. I really like how delicate the objects look after realizing that they are made of fragile clay.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/EarthElements

Montgomery Design

Andrew Montgomery is a graduate of Virginia Tech's Architecture program. The piece of his that received the most acknowledgement is his pallet chair which won a Design Within Reach competition in 2008. In all of his designs you can see particular attention given to the treatment of each individual element of the piece. I believe he is currently working in Charlottesville, Virginia.