by Ming | Dec 10, 2016 | News
This holiday season you can find a selection of colorful monsters at the Gordon Fine Arts Gallery in Stamford Connecticut, which opened last week.
In addition to a selection of items from the Chalice and Elemental collections, the Gordon grouping includes two Sanctuary vases, and two other large vases, including Rushing Water:
RUSHING WATER – Fired on its side in a wood-fired kiln (noborigama) for two days, the main feature of this vase is the fluctuating blue rivulets that run sideways through the throw rings as the glaze runs with gravity in the kiln. The ash that fell on the “top” of the vase during the firing creates a turbulence, reminiscent of tiny luminescent organisms in the ocean. The blue becomes more cloudy and opaque as it travels, and separates into white and black as it gets pulled into the eddy of the four shells where the vase rested in the kiln. This is truly a 360o vase, with many options for display. Thrown on the wheel and hand altered and scored, it also features ash glaze on the base.
SANCTUARY. This vase evokes marshes, grasslands, cranes hiding in the reeds. Wood-fired in a two day noborigama kiln, with underglaze and celadon, then refired with gold luster.
by Ming | Sep 12, 2016 | Brooklyn Studio, Inspirations
“The past remains hidden in the clouds of memory.”
– Matsuo Bashō, Narrow Road to the Interior
The “sabi” in wabi sabi means something different when used alone. It evokes the quality of age, and the beauty of an aged thing. Also a sense of aloneness, and solitude. This vase, fired in the Peters Valley anagama with master potter Shiro Otani, perfectly evokes that feeling for me.
Shiro encouraged me to work without glaze, preferring a quiet surface adorned only by the ash glaze of the kiln. When I created this classic shape, I was interested in a sense of the ancient, so I scored the surface. The body of the vase is slightly asymmetrical, as all our bodies are, and the shoulder slumps just slightly to one side. Yet the neck stands high, smooth and proud to hold the cherry blossoms of seasons past. In this piece, the beauty is most definitely in its imperfection.
(Six day anagama wood firing. No glaze. Medium-sized, but quite full. Approximately 10 inches high, 9 inches in diameter)
by Ming | Sep 1, 2016 | Firing, News
FEEDING THE DRAGON
Today’s New Jersey Herald published another story in the series about our latest firing of the anagama kiln at Peters Valley with master potter, Shiro Otani. It’s a great inside look at a long process, and I am excited to be featured in it. Take a look at what it’s like to spend five days feeding the dragon. Shiro Otani is truly a master, and in addition an incredible artist, teacher and guide. He’s also immensely generous. What a privilege to be a part of this one. Pictures of my pieces to come as I get the pieces cleaned up.
Thanks to Shiro Otani, Bruce Dehnert, Kristin Muller, and Peter’s Valley.
Click the link for the story, more pictures of the firing and videos from the woods.
http://www.njherald.com/20160901/feeding-the-dragon-at-peters-valley#
by Ming | Jun 24, 2016 | Craft Fair, News
Packing up for the Norwalk Art Festival. Join us this weekend at Mathews Park, 295 West Avenue, Norwalk, CT to see the new Elemental line, with a beautiful new blue/black glaze, as well as some of the other colors we brought to Lyndhurst. More bowls, and now more blossom cups (featured image). And a cup sale – perfect pastels for summer hostess gifts.
Where? In a park between two museums: http://www.gordonfinearts.org/norwalk-art-festival/
Hope to see you there!
by Ming | Apr 13, 2016 | News
Deb warms her hands by the chimney.
Frost on the ground
2230ºF and climbing
RUSHING WATER – Fired on its side in a wood-fired kiln (noborigama) for two days, the main feature of this vase is the fluctuating blue rivulets that run sideways through the throw rings as the glaze runs with gravity in the kiln. The ash that fell on the “top” of the vase during the firing creates a turbulence, reminiscent of tiny luminescent organisms in the ocean. The blue becomes more cloudy and opaque as it travels, and separates into white and black as it gets pulled into the eddy of the four shells where the vase rested in the kiln. This is truly a 360o vase, with many options for display. Thrown on the wheel and hand altered and scored, it also features ash glaze on the base.
SANCTUARY. This vase evokes marshes, grasslands, cranes hiding in the reeds. Wood-fired in a two day noborigama kiln, with underglaze and celadon, then refired with gold luster.
