The Vysys

Martin Robertson and Mary Beard’s manuscript, Adopting an Approach, focuses on the study of Athenian pottery. The manuscript begins, by describing Sir John Beazley and his revolutionary method of studying Greek vases. The Beazley Method focuses on the technical conventions of Greek Vases such as naming the artist, dating the pieces and then grouping them based off of similar characteristics. Beazley “provided for the first time a comprehensive framework of analysis for Athenian painting, and a way of dating and classifying.” (Pg. 16) However, what Beard’s main argument suggests is that it is not the artists that help us understand the importance of the vases because even if a vase is assigned to a specific time period or artist, there is

As a young child, my grandmother’s china cabinet was enchanting. When the sun streamed through the cabinet at the perfect angle, pink patterns created by glass dishes were splayed on the green shag carpet. Of course, I was not interested in the glassware that produced the light display, I was just intrigued by the display itself. As I grew, my grandmother explained these two pale pink glassware sets were known as Depression Glass. Like many other women, my great grandmother collected the sets piece by piece, and they became her pride and joy. Although they may not be made of high quality glass, these cups, plates, and bowls are priceless family heirlooms that remind us that beauty can be found in the bleakest of times, even during the

All artists are influenced by the culture they are from. Our experiences and the environment in which we were raised shapes us, and thus the works we produce as artists. This essay will discuss, compare and contrast two artists from different cultures, and their ceramic artworks, with a focus on how their cultural background has influenced their art. The artists that will be discussed are Janet Fieldhouse, who is influenced by her Torres Strait Islander heritage and Aboriginal artist Dr. Thancoupie Gloria Fletcher.

The challenge of the task took over the need to make new work or simply utilitarian work. It became her focal point of all her pottery work and effort. The work was an old style. One more labor intensive and eventually discarded. As with many other art forms, the original format is often considered less effective because it produces fewer actual pieces or the intended art. In reality, the tenacious effort applied in careful traditional processes allows the soul of the artist to infuse the artwork with the true intended meaning. It has been termed, ? black on Black? work. (Peterson 23)

Bethan Gray is an award winning Welsh designer that has an unusual but impressive family origin. Her ancestors originate from an ancient Rajasthani clan that spent many hundreds of years journeying across Arabia and Persia before choosing to remain in the Celtic region of Wales. This very heritage wove its way into being some of Bethan Grays’s main influences and inspirations, which pull ideas shown within craft traditions of both the East and West. These influences are reflected in Gray’s style, showing a clear passion of detail, tactile textures, and extravagant materials such as rare stones, wood, marble and hand-tooled leather. Complex but complementary patterns of dark and light, texture and clear attention shown to the detail that defines her highly unique style. Even while using blacks and whites, Gray is also not afraid

However, the golden age of Japanese ceramics did not really begin until the sixteenth century when the tea master Sen no Rikyū popularized the tea ceremony. In his refinement of this art form, Rikyū found beauty in the earthly and natural forms of pottery and thus commissioned the production of “raku ware,” which today, is considered the pinnacle of Japanese pottery. Notable for its ruggedness and imperfections, raku ware made Rikyū into a central figure in the establishment of the wabi-sabi aesthetic. In the beginning, the textures and colors of wabi-sabi vessels were left to develop naturally. However, over time, several wabi-sabi artists began experimenting and even developed techniques to intentionally create these alterations. Obviously, the exact shape and form of an imperfection cannot be controlled but the intention can be realized in an oxymoronic “controlled natural look.”

After weeks of working I made a total of three pottery pieces, the one that I spent most time on is a clay pot that was made to look like an ancient greece piece of art. They used as grave markers and many other useful things. Back in ancient Greek pottery was divided into four different areas. These areas are for storage and transport vessels, mixing vessels, jugs and cups, vases for oils, perfumes and cosmetics. Many believed that Greek pottery, unlike today's pottery, was only fired once, but that firing had three stages. When firing their art pieces the kiln was heated to around 920-950 °C. They technically decorated their pieces to tell a old story or to represent something, normally people in a darker shaded color. I chose this culture

Pottery is very beneficial and advantageous to archaeologists as it is a very common and widespread product that leads us to have a greater understanding about the everyday life of the area inhabitants. “Pottery is one of the most common artefacts in ancient sites. Once broken, unlike glass and metal, it cannot be recycled. This makes it very useful to archaeologists,” said Pont. Pont made the conclusion that the red slip pottery was used by the Pompeian’s as tableware with the main purpose of serving food and drink given its characteristically glossy surface. By dipping ceramics in liquid clay and later firing it in an oxygenating kiln is how this gloss is created (Kalnins, 2004) (see figure

The goal of this report was to bring awareness to the problems that Perfect Pottery has fallen victim to from the recent, drastic change of moving to the United States. This article is aimed at bringing ideas to the table that would solve many of the situations and difficulties that came with that recent transition.

Ceramics class is a great place to relax in the midst of a long and tiring school day, and throughout this class my peers and I have learned and grew as artists while learning about what it takes to became better at pottery. A major example of this growth occurred as a result of the face jug assignment. After watching a documentary on the significance these jugs have had in American history, and the significance these artifacts had to do with the people who made them, we began. Through this assignment I learned more about African American origins, how the people were able to keep a minute part of themselves after being brought to a new land, and the change in meaning of the face jugs; I found it difficult to believe that such a simple thing

However, the result of the Vyses concentration expended on the production of the stoneware vessels and attendant ash-glazes culminated in the re-working of the figure group Morning Ride. Even so, it is difficult to understand the reasoning why Vyse found it expedient to remodel this figure rather than devising an additional composition, and Marsh, in his Walker’s article, does not mention it. Indeed, this present model is occasionally mistaken for the 1925 original (Fig. 62). Furthermore, the 1929 model should not be viewed as a previous model bearing a similar title. In sculptural terms, this edition is a pointed up version of the original. Doubtless, Vyse expended much the same industry in the as he had done when modelling the smaller 1925 version. The present version, thought by collectors to be the suitable of the two, and possibly justification for the time

This photograph is a visual primary source that captures a moment in time when there was high excitement and expectation as preparations were made for the departure of the first contingent of troops to WWI. It supplies a realistic view of the public promotion of war in 1914.

She further analyzed many artworks based on the process of toning. Though some artists paint with one layer, those that paint with multiple layers enhances the objects in the painting. The color that appears on the surface underwent multiple shades in order to obtain the desirable color. After analyzing Ship Carpenter at His Hobby, 1872, Helena’s second group approached the artwork Women Embroidering, 1904. Two differences I distinguished from the comparison of these two artworks are the time period as well as the visual context. I had paid less attention to the story behind this portrait because there was less detail. Women Embroidery, though looked unique because of its lack of details (which could have been intentional), did not have much space. Helena described it as “flat.” She infers that as time period increases, artists were becoming more focused on flatness, painting on the surface and ignoring the layers of tone and landscape space. Another artwork that we analyzed was the Back Surgery. Dating back to the 1600s, this portrait was created with underpaintings and a few touch ups. It could be inferred that the artist intended to leave the underpainting in order to bring out the procedure. On the surface lies a realistic, colored curtain that seemed to have been drawn by the audience, and staring straight at the artist/audience was the patient. With these observations, I

Visualize a ball of clay, perfectly round, cold, and anxiously waiting for its potter to form it into a masterpiece. The ball is prepared for molding and the process begins. The strong hands of the potter pull the ball, squish the ball, and rubs out any imperfections. The potter brushes the newly shaped clay with glaze that seems to be dull and lacks beauty at every angle, but little does the viewer know that this pot holds secrets because their eye deceives them and doesn’t allow them to see the lively color lying beneath the surface. The potter makes yet another examination of the pot to be sure that he has erased any blemish or imperfection before gently placing it into the kiln. The kiln fires the pot allowing the pot’s colors to come through

When one considers the term “Art Nouveau,” what comes to mind most immediately is “images of a European-wide invasion [characterized] by the restless dynamism of organic form”(Silverman 1). For me it is usually the work of Alphonse Mucha– his mysterious women surrounded by the beauties of nature. Often my Art Nouveau fantasies take shape in the odd fungal-shaped stained-glass lamps of Tiffany. Or sometimes they surface as the romantic Parisian posters I’ve seen at Pier One, advertising champagne or cats noir or bicycles or the like. But no matter what ones notion may be of what Art Nouveau looks like, there is a feeling that accompanies it that is at the heart of the style’s appeal. It is difficult to define or describe what