From studiopotter-admin at studiopotter.org Tue Jan 7 11:28:00 2003 From: studiopotter-admin at studiopotter.org (studiopotter-admin@studiopotter.org) Date: Mon Mar 1 08:51:15 2004 Subject: [Studio Potter Magazine] January 7, 2003, Newsletter Message-ID: Studio Potter Magazine Newsletter January 7, 2003 ISLAMIC CERAMIC TRADITIONS In July 2002 the Ceramics Program of the Office for the Arts at Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts held a three-day symposium on Islamic ceramics. It featured scholars and artists presenting slide lectures and master classes on technology, history and aesthetics. Presentations from the symposium are appearing in the next issue of Studio Potter Volume 31 Number 1. Nancy Selvage, director of the program, said she was sobered by the 9-11 attacks and decided to celebrate and explore the rich culture and history of ceramics in Islamic art and architecture. Among the important lectures that were presented at the symposium were those of Alan Caiger-Smith, an acclaimed English potter specializing in tin-glaze earthenware and reduction lustre; Henry Glassie, folklorist and author of books on Turkish and Bangladeshi ceramics; Neil Forrest, professor of ceramics at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design; and Dr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, world-renowned lecturer on Islamic intellectual heritage and professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University. Dr. Nasr pointed out that ceramics is related to every aspect of Islamic art, including geometric, arabesque, calligraphic and abstract art. "The art is very much alive, and represents the living Islamic civilization of today." Alan Caiger-Smith spoke of the history of lustreware. He said: "It had an emotional power beyond the merely decorative...You don't so much look at it as look into it." As in Persian poetry, he pointed out, "the physical and the metaphysical are intimately blended....Lustre is essentially reflected light...It is born of a sense of those secret relationships which enclose life in a network , design and context in an attempt to communicate with forces lying beyond it." Under Caiger-Smith's direction, participants in the symposium were able to lustre-fire a kiln and experience what he was talking about. Walter B. Denny, professor of Art History at the University of Massachusetts, described excavations of the late 15th century as revealing the extent of Iznik ceramics and their high-quality wares made for the court utilizing an artificial white body composed of kaolin, pulverized flint and frit and covered with a pure-white slip. "Today," he said, "Iznik ceramics still stand as perhaps the most perfect congruence of painting and ceramic art in history, as they continue to fascinate potters and to draw the admiration of connoisseurs and museum curators alike." These and other articles in the forthcoming issue of Studio Potter present a valuable source of practical, historical and archival information on Islamic ceramic art, and give rich visual and intellectual context through the words and pictures by leading scholars and artists. From studiopotter-admin at studiopotter.org Sun Jan 26 21:54:21 2003 From: studiopotter-admin at studiopotter.org (studiopotter-admin@studiopotter.org) Date: Mon Mar 1 08:51:15 2004 Subject: Studio Potter Magazine -- Studio Potter Latest issue is hot off the presses! Message-ID: <4F5CB664-31A2-11D7-8824-00039386A752@calculus.net> Another exciting issue of Studio Potter Magazine is "hot off of the presses" and if you are a subscriber should be in your mailbox soon. If you are not yet a subscriber, you may begin your subscription with this issue. The Table of Contents of the Volume 31 No.1: CYNTHIA BRINGLE: POTTER, TEACHER, MENTOR AN INTERVIEW THE GIFT OF WILLIAM PERRY by Edward Lebow ISLAMIC CERAMIC TRADITIONS INTRODUCTION by Nancy Selvage KEYNOTE ADDRESS by Seyyed Hossein Nasr ISLAMIC LUSTRE POTTERY by Alan Caiger-Smith PAINTING ON CERAMIC: UNDERGLAZE CERAMICS, IZNIK, AND THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE by Walter B. Denny CURSIVE SPACE by Neil Forrest ISLAMIC CERAMIC TRADITIONS by Mary McWilliams A PINCH OF ALAN'S MAGIC DIRT by Pamela Vandiver Suggested Readings on Islamic Art and Ceramics MARK HEWITT OUTSIDE by Henry Glassie A YOHEN KILN by Ken Matsuzaki MARGUERITE WILDENHAIN: CRAFTSPERSON AND MENTOR A MARGUERITE WILDENHAIN PORTFOLIO by Elaine Levin A VISIT WITH BERNARD LEACH by Dean Schwarz TRASH TO TREASURE: USING LANDFILL GAS TO FIRE KILNS AND FURNACES by Jon Ellenbogen OPEN HANDS ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN MEXICAN TRADITIONAL POTTERY by Michael Boylen THE FOSHAN INTFRNATIONAL CERAMICS FORUM by Bob Dixon and Gerry Williams PORTFOLIO: THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA If you are a subscriber, you can look forward to another great issue. If you have not subscribed to Studio Potter yet , you may do it now at -- http://studiopotter.org/subscribe/ .