Master of Fine Arts Thesis
Efflorescence
Ruth Easterbrook
Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirement for the degree of Master of Fine Arts, School of Art and Design
Division of Ceramic Art
New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University Alfred, New York
(2019)
Ruth Easterbrook, MFA
Thesis Advisors:
John Gill, Jason Green, Johnathan Hopp, Matt Kelleher, Linda Sikora, Linda Sormin
FORWARD:
“It was not only the place that raised me, shaping my identity as one of my co-parents - teaching me to appreciate nature, to walk alone in the dark, to climb, to fish, to swim, to grow, to form community, to put no bounds on imagination, and to make me tough to falls and blackberry scratches, but soft in every other way - it was also my anchor that had allowed me to travel fearlessly and abandon caution in my career, letting me pursue what is in my heart and not worrying about the security of having a home. The ranch was never not home. The land, and the people, buildings, and wildlife on it, have always been the constant in my life. For 35 years, the ranch let me be carefree. It was ingrained in my upbringing. The ranch gave me the identity that would ultimately allow me to be resilient in its demise.”
-Eli Monroe, cousin and neighbor
On October 9th, 2017, the Redwood Valley Complex Fire Storm, came in the night and consumed my home, Rancho Mariposa, the Ranch. Earlier pots I had made and kept were in my home, studio and in the homes of my family and neighbors nearby.
These were pots I made over years. They are lost, but I have earned technique, knowledge and methods through the making of each one, these skills live on in my making today.
Being so far away, here in graduate school, during this natural disaster, I have often worked in my studio thinking of a place that no longer exists. I can walk up the stairs, open the door and enter- into the living room. Here, in my memory, I can visit my home. Through these memories I see the beauty in the everyday objects that have little worth by are priceless by proximity to our everyday lives, relationships and rituals.
Push and pull- the flexible material shifts and adjusts under pressure- reacting to my fingers as it arrives at its new form. From a ball of clay now there sits a shallow bowl- strong rim, gentle slope leading to a wide expanse, open and flat. This surface contains potential. Here glaze can pool and shift, sections of color can react with each other, decoration of flowers and pattern can play across the incline. This bowl has a purpose- to hold food, summer salads with home-grown tomatoes, roasted vegetables that will
accompany the chicken or maybe a tangle of spaghetti and meatballs to satisfy a crew. A meal will inspire a platter which will lead to future culinary delights. Pots gain value through their associations of place and time, through their role in daily interaction and rituals. Objects hold stories, both from where they came from and the accumulated memories gathered from the people around them. As the maker of these pieces, I bring my childhood with its strong ties to place and family. As artist I incorporate ideas absorbed from the world around me: art history, travels, books, movies, architecture, design, fellow artists and nature.
Each piece I make starts with an idea or desire. Outside sources may inspire, such as seeing an Edo period platter1in the Cleveland Museum of Art. I peer through the glass in awe of this platter with its double tiered volume and intricate decoration. A layer of detailed black lines of swirls and leaves, another layer of bold illustration, all highlighted by striking colors; deep green, golden honey and electric blue. With wonder and humility, I begin to process what I see, first in sketches and doodles- putting my image of it on paper. It is a translation from the original, interpreting the past to the present. Recently I found an image of a Takotori Ware Shino basket from 17th century Japan.2 What was that
1 See Image on page 11
basket used for and what would a basket like that be used for today? Applying my skills and considering todays use, I begin to plan my version of a ceramic basket. Working out the initial problem solving on paper I then weigh and wedge the clay.
In the studio it is a continual dance between the physicality of clay and my initial plan. To make a basket, I considered the main bowl-like volume suspended above the table on a pedestal foot. One of the characteristics of the Takotori Ware basket that attracted me was a soft wavy or scalloped edge where the bowl transitions to the wall.
This scalloped edge breaks up the roundness of the form in an orderly fashion. Using the scallop border, the entire piece begins to take on the shape of a flower while also creating an irregular edge that brings the eye in and out - following the line.
Working in a series gives me options and room for error- I make a decision on one that sparks an idea I then apply to the next. When working on a larger form I
sometimes make six at a time, for smaller pieces my series often are ten or more. Freshly thrown pieces are shiny and delicate. As they dry the surface takes on a waxy sheen;
strong but flexible now the pot is cut and altered. At this stage I fall in love with the piece and the material. I focus on line, transitions, weight and balance. Adding coils off the thrown edge I continue the growth of the wall up, then in. I construct paying close attention to the curve in relation to the central bowl. Using the stiffness of leather hard clay, I can defy gravity curving handles into arches. During the process ideas merge and solutions appear. This leads to an evolution of form that takes place in the series and carries on into the next. This is the journey of discovery. It is exciting and frustrating, feeling my way through one decision and responding to another. Now I have multiple baskets made up of core elements: bowl, edge, pedestal and handle.
As I work on the interior and exterior form, I daydream of surface. At this stage of making I begin to strategize. A handle as a flower, a direction change creating multiple planes- form and surface begin to communicate. As the pot dries and then is bisqued, it loses the sheen and ‘life’ that I responded to in the making. It is dry and stagnant. I later use glaze to recapture the dewy glow and softness that once was.
As a canvas, form offers multiple planes to wrap and shift the pattern upon.
Glazes gives the surface ability to shift, bleed and change during firing. Accepting a level of fantasy, I welcome these happenstances. I harness the power of glaze firing to flux and shift the basic elements in the recipe. Working with the movement of the glazes I collaborate with heat, melt and gravity. The complexity of the surface grows and deepens with shifting lines and the variation of sheen. My decisions come from a knowledge of what a glaze can do, relying on layering and application to communicate the qualities of a specific petal or floral detail. Considering my pallet, I develop a range of techniques that depict flowers from realistic to stylized. This range of detail adds another layer of complexity to the surface aiding in its atmospheric qualities of movement and depth.
Planning out surface composition, I respond to the slopes, planes and curves. I block off the larger areas of the image, such as ‘peony’ or ‘matilija poppy’ flowers and broad foliage. From these I expand adding ‘cosmos’ or ‘daisy’ like flowers with their corresponding leaves. I imagine and commit; once fired it will be frozen into a glassy existence. Now I apply the background - considering the designs that are to follow I choose the surrounding color. In this planning I see similarities of strategy to those used in making a multiple color print. Using foresight and visulizing the final composition I
consider the finished piece from these initial steps. Once the background is applied additional delicate lines and details are carved through the glazed layer and additional glazes are inlayed.
I am part of a long lineage of artists who decorate with floral motifs. The deep background gives atmosphere and a feeling of time and place. With the darkness comes our collective human experience of dusk or evening in the garden, walks in the dense shade of the forest or seeing the world at night under the light of the full moon. Bright yellows and pinks jump forward greens hover between the two. This is a strategy used throughout time in painting, textiles, wallpapers and ceramics. Recently it was brought to my attention how my work resonates with the American Art Pottery made at the turn of the century, with its matte glaze surfaces, incorporation of botanical into surface and design, and a painterly use of slips and glazes to create atmosphere. This is a history that holds truths to my making today. I am inspired by the hardworking women artists of that time such as, M. Louise McLaughlin and Maria Longworth Nichols. They entered the field of ceramics looking to Europe especially England ,and France, and through practice and experimentation created a style unique to the United States, a young country finding its own identity.3 Like them I respond to other resources, and also see my role as ceramic artist as designer, artist and entrepreneur in our collective culture. I look to wallpapers, children’s books, historical design and flowers found on walks or in gardens as sources for my decoration and illustrations. Today we live in a connected network of visual stimuli through Instagram, and other apps on our phones. The images I see continually
3 American Art Pottery Pg 27-89
through this handheld porthole to the world are also absorbed into my memory bank of influences.
I am from a rural ranch in Northern California, tucked away between hills, creeks and canyons. This place was my playground. As a child, my siblings and I were taught to lookout for the wildflowers that would make a brief appearance once a year between January and July. First the wind-anemones, then the shooting stars and fawn lilies, followed by the Diogenes lantern, hounds tongue, and blue-eyed grass. Next California poppies and lupin before finishing off when it becomes dry, with rattlesnake grass and mariposa tulip. We were taught to admire and respect these flowers, they were not to be picked or disturbed. While picked flowers can be ephemeral and delicate, a wildflower if not disturbed will continue to come back year after year in the same spot- grounded through their bulb and root network or started by seeds scattered by the wind. As I’ve grown, I seek and search; through this cyclical pattern I identify plants as markers of time and place. Pollen dots, petals, stems and leaves bring memories of time spent in nature into my work. Through these details I encourage closer viewing like searching for a wildflower in the woods. Similar to bringing a bouquet into one’s home, floral
decorations bring spring and summer to the table. The period of blooming is preserved in their decorated surfaces.
Once a pot leaves my studio and enters a domestic setting its story incorporates one of use and utility. Now, the pot accumulates meaning as it participates in the daily lives of individuals and culture. Objects hold stories. The special belongings I miss from my home on the Ranch were small irreplaceable things. A rock in the shape of a slug which sat by my Dad’s favorite chair was a special find on a walk. My first pots perched
on the window sill by the front entrance reminded me of the joy in discovering clay and where my career started. A pair of dessert plates brightly decorated with birds and patterns inspired by my undergraduate studies in Italy, were often in the dishrack or in use, these marked the beginning of the decorations I apply today. Noticing the stories held by these belonging I am conscious of my participation in making pieces for future stories. The serving dishes, dinner ware and storage jars I make, enter a role of service once they leave my studio.
Casseroles, cake plates, salad bowls and serving platters occupy the center of the table. Visualize a family dinner: these primary serving vessels are brought out of the kitchen holding the main courses and are the central attraction. Bounty and sharing define these dishes. The forms are direct and strongly built; they demonstrate a
confidence of utility that invites use, embodies strength, and carries elegance. Presenting a beautifully prepared meal makes a celebration of any moment. The characteristics of my pots elevate the experience of a simple coming together and the act of sharing, to create something special out of an everyday occurrence.
The home is where my work comes to life. This is our personal environment where we build a domestic landscape. What we leave on the counter and shelves become landmarks. The table is the core and ground of these surroundings. My pottery becomes part of this landscape through handles, edges, and knobs which interact with the space around them. Pots, with their horizontal and vertical elements become active in the homes continually moving, traveling from table, to sink, to the cabinet and back again.
Sometimes I see the work I make as a contemporary artist comparable to writing historical fiction. The ‘historical’ part is the active acknowledgement of the vast field of
ceramics and a looking to history for kindred experiences and guidance. A resonate time period may become my stage for a new story. The ‘fiction’ is the invention, alterations, additions, and adjustments made as artist or author. Across time and culture through interpretation and personal history something contemporary emerges.
“A writer of fiction in a sense studies human forms and characters; magnifies some, eliminates and prunes others, interweaving all of them, and in the end composes a tale. The designer does the same; after making [his] studies from nature [he] selects [his]
chosen motives, [he] magnifies some and prunes and eliminates others while composing [his] design.”4
Instead of words we use the visual language gained through our ancestors’ trials, errors and success. Like the holy grail, I have often felt that I am on a crusade for
something I do not know is real.
“Art like grief must have an audience” -Unknown
AFTERWARD:
It is spring; an awakening of the ground after the dormancy of winter. Here in New York it is exciting to see the power of fresh green shoots pushing up through the gray of winter.
Back home in California life continues. The blackened earth, where the fire tore through has become a chartreuse green of vibrant baby grass. My family visits the property regularly and reports to me of the abundance of wild flowers returning to their familiar spots. Carpets of shooting stars and fawn lilies brighten the forest floor with their flashy pink and creamy white. With each appearance they aid our healing process and remind us that there is still life after destruction.
Image 1: Large Dish with Persimmon Branch, Mid-to Late 1600’s, Japan, Edo period
Porcelain with underglaze black and overglaze enamel (Hisen ware, Ko-Kutani Style) Severance and Greta Millikin Collection Cleveland Museum of Art
Image 2: Mottled-glazed Bowl with Handle and Openwork Design, Takatori ware 17th Century, Japan
In Fukuoka Art Museum Collection
Bibliography
Adamson, Glenn. Fewer, Better Things: The Hidden Wisdom of Objects. New York, NY:
Bloomsbury Publishing, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018.
Bachelard, Gaston. Translation by Northrop Frye. The Psychoanalysis of Fire. Boston:
Beacon Press, 1968.
Doty, Mark. Still life with Oysters and Lemons. Boston: Beacon Press. 2001.
Frelinghuysen, Alice Cooney, Martin P. Eidelberg, Adrienne Spinozzi, and Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.) American Art Pottery: The Robert A. Ellison Jr.
collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018.
Illian, Clary. A Potter's Workbook. Iowa: University of Iowa Press. 2003.
Kubler, George. The Shape of Time: Remarks on the history of things. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1962.
Martin, Agnes. Translation by Dieter Schwarz. Agnes Martin: Writings = Schriften.
Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz, 2005.
Putnam, Michael and Darroch. Flower Color Guild. New York, NY: Phaidon Press, 2018.
Wadsworth, John W. Designs from Plant Forms. New York: Universe Books. 1977.
Waters, Alice. Art of Simple Food. Penguin Books, 2008.
Visser, Margaret. The Rituals of Dinner: The Origins, Evolution, Eccentricities and Meaning of Table Manners. London: Penguin Books, 2017.
Technical Statement
While in graduate school I have been on a quest for a matte glaze that has movement and breaks on texture. Often, I fall in love with the soft dewy surface of the leather hard pot, chasing silky glazes that recapture a similar sheen. In pursuit of such glaze I have discovered many different sheens from high gloss to stony matte5 and have developed a multitude of colors6. When I first arrived at Alfred University my strategy was to use slips to interact with the glaze. Through my journey of glaze research, I now have a palette of glazes that I use for their different colors and glossy qualities that create new and exciting contrasts. It is amazing how a thin line of shiny glaze inlayed with a semi-matte background shows off the best of both. These glossy lines sparkle, reflecting the light while the matte clings to the pot hugging its curves and absorbing the light.
Through these subtle contrasts, paired with my mapped out botanical motifs, I build surfaces with depth and contrast at many levels. These complex surfaces enhance the moment of service - inspiring attentive handling that leads to discovery and pleasure.
When I sit down to begin my decorating process, I already have an idea of what I want to put on the pot. I have been thinking about the form and am responding to what excited me in my last glaze kiln. Starting with pencil I sketch out this initial plan and assess the reality. This sketch is to see the composition and make a plan for where to start. The tape that goes down first will be the last to be removed. This last (or first) taped area will be the most dominate part of the composition with any over lapping visually going behind.
5 Base glazes were found in Ceramics Monthly, Glazy.org and word of mouth.
Using tape to block off the larger areas, I cut-out leaves and petals sticking them onto the pot as I mask off these first sections. A big shinny white flower on the edge, leaving room for a group of cosmos over here, and using an aster like flower as a transition between… With the taped sections down, I begin brushing on the watered- down latex with a small brush. This type of masking has more flexibility which allows for more complexity; following the tight twists and graceful lines of the brush as it is applied. For the cosmos flowers or the aster like flowers I will brush the curling leaves, thinking of movement, growth and negative space. When I am satisfied with the
blossoms and foliage, visualizing future colors and glaze characteristics, I am ready to brush on the background. Making sure I apply an even coat; I brush on the glaze with the thin yogurt like glaze.
Over the top I brush Mobil Wax on any area I will be uncovering the tape or latex or inlaying delicate detail. Once dry I excavate the latex layer. The edges of the painted latex section are preserved with the wax, creating a tiny wall showing me the thickness of the background glaze. I use my soft stone matte for the leafy sections. With a brush I carefully fill in the naked areas, beading up the glaze so it almost overflows the mini walls that contains it. If I want my thin branches, stems and tendrils to twist behind the main flowers I will use a thin loop tool to carve through the waxed glaze areas before uncovering the taped areas. These additional lines connect leaves to flowers and intertwine with each other. Filling these thin lines by lightly hovering the loaded brush letting the glaze run into the groves to inlay a contrasting color or gloss.
Finally, the initial tape is peeled back. These larger areas give room for added detail;
pollen dots, and stripes of petals. Using the stiff matte glaze in a slip trailing bottle I apply yellow dots and white lines fanning around the radius. Over the top I delicately brush the shiny white, with intention of glaze movement and variation.
The possibilities are endless with pairing color, the reflective nature of glaze and the happenstance of gravity and melt. I am excited to further develop my glazes pursuing different qualities of movement as well further investigating the relationships of color and sheen.
Wet Gloss cone 6 Wollastonite 25
EPK 20
Frit 3134 20
Silica 20
Custer 20
Tin Oxide 5
Pink
-Chrome .02%
Whale Blue
-Vanadium Yellow 3%
-Cobalt Carbonate .5%
Purple
- Chrome .3%
- Cobalt .5%
Wet Gloss White cone 6 Wollastonite 25
EPK 20
Frit 3134 20
Silica 20
Custer 20
Zircopax 8
Soft Stone Matte cone 6
Gerstley Borate 10
Custer 47
Dolomite 10
Whiting 14
EPK 19
Blue-ish leaves -Bermuda 5%
Yellow-ish leaves -Chartreuse 5%
Kayla Toomey Satin Matte cone 6
Wollastonite 26.2
Frit 3124 34.9
EPK 34.0
Silica 4.9
Milky White:
-Zircopax 5%
Storm cloud:
-Sage Gray Mason Stain 4%
Blue/Black Background:
-Sage Gray Mason Stain 1.5%
-Best Black 2.5%
Robyn Matte (glaze for slip trailing) cone 6
Custer 40
Frit 3124 9
Talc 9
Whiting 16
EPK 10
Flint 16
Yellow
-Canary Yellow 6%
Black
-Best Black 4%
