Writing by Bill Hunt

Sustainability

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 21:48:15 -0500

Some sentences I have been planning to brush as script onto a large bowl in the near future:

No economy that demands continual growth is sustainable.

No species whose numbers grow continually is sustainable.

No finite resource when expended continually is sustainable.

Sustainability is unsustainable. It only delays the inevitable.

There is only one way to buy more time:

Worldwide problems require worldwide cooperation and action.

Without worldwide cooperation and action, either the species, the economy or the resources will fail us.

Poof!

Art just illuminates the truth. Sorry the news isn’t better.

Things to Make in Ceramics (Revised)

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 15:43:20 -0500

For many years in the studio, I’ve found it useful to have a list of things to make available for those moments when you just can’t think of anything new to throw or handbuild. Perhaps this list will be useful to you as well. I’ve always challenged others to add to it and Dick Lehman took me up on that recently with a few dozen new entries! Perhaps you can come up with more possibilities for ceramic objects worthy of producing. If you’d like to add to the following list, contact:

bhuntco@earthlink.net

Address signage
Animals
Apple baker
Ashtray
Asparagus server
Baby basin
Baking dish
Beads
Bedpan
Bell
Berry bowl
Bird feeder
Birdbath
Birdhouse
Bookends
Bottle
Bowl
Box
Bread & oil plates
Bread baking pan
Brie baker
Brush stand
Business card holder
Bust
Butter dish (stick butter)
Butter keeper
Butter knife
Button
Cake plate
Candle house
Candlestick
Candy dish
Canister set
Casserole
CD holder
Ceramics tools
Chalice
Cheese dome
Cheese plate
Cheese shaker
Chess set
Chip & dip platter
Clock face
Clock weights
Coffee pot
Compartmented plate
Cookie jar
Covered jar
Covered mug
Cream & sugar set
Cream pitcher
Crock
Cruet
Dinner plate
Dipper
Doll parts
Doorstop
Drum
End table
Expresso cup/saucer
Finial
Flask
Flute
Fondue pot
Fork
Fountain
Garden edging
Garden herb marker
Garden plaque
Garlic baker
Garlic keeper
Gravy boat
Hanging lamp
Hashi (chopsticks)
Herb grower herb shaker
Holiday serving platter
Honey pot with dipper
Hooks
Hotplate
Incense burner
Jell-O mold
Jelly jar
Jug
Key holder
Kleenex box cover
Knife
Lamp
Latte cup
Lavabo
Light or fan pulls
Liturgical set: chalice & paten
Lotion dispenser
Mail holder
Mailbox
Microwave ovenware
Mirror frame
Moonshine jug
Mug
Nameplate
Napkin holder
Napkin ring
Oil lamp
Olive bot
Olive oil dispenser
Oryoki set
Paperweight
Pasta bowl
Pendant
Perpetual calendar
Pet dish
Pet tags
Pickle/olive tray
Picture frame
Pie dish
Pie plate
Pill holder
Pitcher
Plant stand
Planter (hanging or sitting)
Plate (dinner, desert or lunch)
Plate for under planter
Platter
Potato baker
Potter’s water container
Ramekin
Rattle
Ring holder
Salt & pepper shakers
Scoop
Sculpture
Shot glass
Signage
Sink
Skillet
Soap dish
Soap dispenser
Soy bottle
Spoon
Spoon rest
Spork (or foon)
Stein
Sushi tray
Switch plates
Table
Tea ball (for loose tea)
Tea caddy
Teabowl
Teapot
Terrine
Tobacco pipe
Toilet
Toothbrush holder
Tortilla warmer
Toys
Trashcan
Tray
Trivet
Trumpet
Tub
Tuba
Tulip display pot
Urinal
Utensil jar
Vase
Vibraphone
Vinegar & oil set
Wall vase
Watering can
Wedding vase
Whistle
Wind chime
Wine cooler
Xylophone

Permission granted for noncommercial, educational use of this article. Copyright must accompany each use: © 2009 Hunt Studios, All Rights Reserved. This article must be used unedited.

Pots Would Teach the Potters

Sat, 27 Mar 2010 16:17:03 -0400

When I had my last one-man show in Tokyo, Ban Kajitani, a potter and old friend, took me around Japan. One of our stops was at Shusai Pottery, a collective folk pottery that, with the aid of Soetsu Yanagi, was started by farmers' sons (those that would not inherit their parents farms and so needed an occupation). Yanagi told the young men that if they wanted to be potters, the first thing they must do was to travel across Japan and to bring back any pots that inspired them. They did just that and placed them in a treasure house that they built on the pottery's grounds. In my recollection, these were very fine pots from the 1950s and maybe some historical ones too. Many are of styles that aren't available outside of museum collections today. They made their selections without any formal training, using just their innate sense of what was beautiful and good. This treasure formed the inspiration for the pots the collective would eventually make.

Yanagi saw that the pots would teach the potters!

Permission granted for noncommercial, educational use of this article. Copyright must accompany each use: © 2010 Hunt Studios, All Rights Reserved. This article must be used unedited.

Critiquing Ceramics

Mon, 18 May 2009 18:08:28 -0400

A good place to start critiquing ceramics is to apply the same kind of critical thinking to ceramics as you would any other art form. Then add issues of function, the balance of aesthetics and function, if applicable, and issues involving ceramic’s connection with processes such as firing (loss of complete control). If you ask the right questions, you’ll find critiquing ceramics just as meaningful and productive as critiquing other artwork. Here are some useful questions as a starting point:

Does it have an identifiable style?
What are the markers or characteristics of its style?
Rate the formal aspects of this work: contrast, line, form, etc.
Is it beautiful, visually interesting, novel, sublime, memorable or exciting?
Is it assaulting, powerful, gutsy or coarse?
Is it made well; is it well crafted?
Does the quality of craft in the work matter?
Does the work conform to an “expected weight”?
Does that matter?
Does the piece make the most of its functional aspect (if it has one)?
Does the work conform to its maker’s intent?
Does that matter?
What if we don’t know the maker’s intent?
Does it exploit universal qualities that would mean something to anyone anywhere?
Does the work benefit or suffer from events that were somewhat outside the artist’s control (such as firing)?
How does that effect the art content of the work?
Does the work express feelings or emotions?
Does it do that clearly?
Do the various parts of the work seem to belong together?
If glaze is the piece’s clothes, how well dressed is this piece?
How would you make this piece better?
Can this piece be made efficiently in quantity?
Is there anything going on with this work that could benefit your own work?
How would we establish a monetary value for this work?
How much money is it worth? Give it a narrow price range if you can.
Would you buy this piece if you had the money?
How does monetary value relate to aesthetic value in this work?

Permission granted for noncommercial, educational use of this article. Copyright must accompany each use: © 2009 Hunt Studios, All Rights Reserved. This article must be used unedited.

Why People Buy Stuff?

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:01:21 -0400

Because:

They’ll be the first to have one
It’s beautiful
They collect this kind of thing
It’s better than the one they have now
It’s cute
It’s functional (Useful)
It’s funny
It’s a good value
It’s impressive
It’ll improve their status
It makes them feel good
It matches other belongings (like the couch)
It’s meaningful
It’s necessary (they actually need it)
It’s novel
They want to one-up their friends or colleagues
It reminds them of something, somewhere or someone
It’s showy (prestige)
It’s skillful
They think it’ll tell the world they’re cultured
It’s unusual

The more of these qualities in your work, the more likely you are to sell it!

Permission granted for noncommercial, educational use of this article. Copyright must accompany each use: © 2009 Hunt Studios, All Rights Reserved. This article must be used unedited.