An examination of the art of pottery through the work of two world renowned potters Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada.
The film traces the entire process of pottery-making, beginning with the digging of clay and its
preparation, and on through to long sequences of pots being thrown on the wheel.
Once upon time, Manipur was surrounded by seven hillocks and water every where. Seven suns burned day and night. Atiya Kuru Shidaba and Ima Leimaran decided to create a world thus descended from heaven. Atiya Kuru Shidaba drained out water through a hole with a trident. Once settled, they had a child to fulfill their wishes. A voice from the heaven announced- Dig out some clay and make a pitcher out of it and offer prayers for seven days then your wish will be fulfilled. After seven days of prayer, a male child of golden colour was found by the couple. The child was christened Sanamahi, he later shot down six extra suns by his arrows and created various creatures dwelling on water, air and earth. Finally he created human being. Atiya Kuru Shidaba and Ima Leimaran Shidabi disappeared after completing their task. Ima Leimaran took several incarnations to carry out seven different tasks.`Panthoibi or Leima Leinaotabi, was among them, who created the first earthen-pot. Therefore, in the creation myth of Manipur, the earthen pot becomes the metaphor for the womb.Manipuri pottery is unique in style and technique. Unlike in other parts of India, the craft is practised both by men and women. The potters of this area do not use a wheel and, instead, use the coiled method of making pots. The pots are functional and, more often than not, black in colour, a result of the process followed and of the smoke stains while firing. Manipuri pottery is made with a mixture of clay and powdered stone. After a thorough kneading, a large slab is rolled out and shaped into a cylinder. The cylinder is placed on a circular board, which, in turn, is placed on a stool. The potter then actually moves around the clay himself, shaping and forming the pot. The pot is supported from the inside with a rounded stone and beaten to the desired shape and thickness. Great dexterity is required as the internal pressure and external movement must be well co-ordinated to produce a perfect pot. The pot is usually finished by rubbing the surface with the reddish-brown seed of a wild creeper and finally with bees wax.
This list of 100 novels was drawn up by the editorial board of Modern Library. Where possible, book titles have been linked to either the original New York Times review or a later article about the book.
A large fire broke out in a grove on Mount Carmel Wednesday night, near the community of Ein Hod. At one point the fire threatened residents of the community, but firefighters managed to gain control of the flames after several hours. Students at the nearby Yemin Orde boarding school were evacuated safely.
Akira Satake with a little banjo tune Sandy Brown through 400 kilos of clay and Tim Andrews at Tel Hai Pottery Symposium 2009
These are scenes taken at the Spode factory in Stoke-on-Trent around 1932. It’s typical of many items in the Film Archive showing the pottery industry. Films began to be made at this time to promote the sale of pottery – particularly abroad. It was the height of the Depression, and so there was a reason for these films to be made. And they show all the processes of pottery making from the arrival of materials through to the finished goods going out.
There are some valuable glimpses here of girls carrying unfired ware to be put into saggars (or safeguards) so that they can be fired in the bottle oven. And here we see the placer placing the ware into a saggar, which is then carried on his head and stacked inside the bottle oven ready for firing. The safeguards – or saggars – are to keep the flame off the ware so that it’s baked inside these protective fireclay cases, This is the era of coal firing. This film also features in the documentary; “Stoke-on-Film, 1930s”, produced by Ray Johnson. Source: Staffordshire Film Archive
We create hand made pottery: functional stoneware pots thrown on the potter's wheel, decorated with various glazes, fired in a gas kiln to a high temperature.
Our pottery studio has been open to the public since 1982. We welcome visitors seven days a week and sell a variety of pottery: bowls, plates, casseroles, mugs (all of which can be used for cooking and serving food and drink), boxes, vases, and ocarinas(clay whistles and flutes).
We teach weekly pottery classes all year and conduct short workshops for groups and individuals during the week and on Saturdays and holidays(all ages).
We have a book shop where we sell a large selection of used and rare books in all languages.
For more information about our studio and activities and/or help in arranging visits and workshops with other artists please contact us:
Naomi and Zeev 04-9841107. zeno@netvision.net.il
Second hand books
At zeev Verchovsky "Pottery Always Open" #33 on the map
Accommodation and cafes are also available in the village.
קורס קדרות- (מגיל 13)
לימוד טכניקות באובניים בחומר,
צביעה בגלזורות ושריפה בתנור גז.
סדנת שבת,חגים,ימי קיץ,ימי חול.
-עבודה בחומר לכל הגלאים-עבודת יד.
-התנסות באובניים מגיל 18 (30-40 דקות)
לקבוצות
-סדנת הדגמה-הסבר והדגמה באובניים והתנסות קצרה לכל משתתף
(עד 25 איש, 40 דקות)
-סדנה פעילה-הסבר והדגמה באובניים ועבודה לכל משתתף באובניים אישי. עד 16 משתתפים, שעה וחצי
פרטים- נעמי וזאב ורכובסקי.
טל 9841107 04
Potters of Japan (1968): a two-part film that documents the techniques of seven illustrous Japanese potters, including Kei Fujiwara (1899-1983), Takuo Kato (1917-2005), and Yuzo Kondo (1902-1985), each of whom has been recognized with the honorable title Living National Treasure (Ningen Kokuho) by the Japanese government. Shot in various locations in Japan, the films reveal the influence that Japanese pottery has had on ceramics throughout the world and provide insight into Japanese culture through the potters' ceramic methods and philosophies. A particular attraction of the films is the firing of multi-chambered Japanese kilns. Potters of Japan was produced by Indiana artist Richard Peeler (1926-1998)(read more...)
San Bartolo Coyotepec is one of the most important pottery producing villages in the valley of Oaxaca. Located 8 km. from Oaxaca; this village is renowned for its black clay. Doña Rosa Real de nieto stood out as a personality in Coyotepec for many years. Recognized with medals and diplomas her work was appreciated by collectors and her fame surpassed the borders of México. She gave black pottery a shine when she accidentally discovered that it can be polished, this is where what today we call black pottery came from. In her last years she continued transforming clay into beautiful pieces with the strength and abilities of her best years. She worked in her shop demonstrating her abilities to those who came to visit her until the day of her death in 1980. Her son now, with a masters ability, continues the family tradition.
The potters of Coyotepec continue to use their traditional method of turning pots without a wheel, this consists on two concave clay plates, one upside down supporting the other. This method is of prehispanic inheritance. The pieces are molded on this device. The process takes 20 to 30 days and goes from molding to decoration, to slow drying in closed rooms, polishing with a quartz stone and finally to baking where the pieces acquire their black color depending on the baking time.
(read more...)
Michael Cardew (1901-1983), the potter seen in this clip, was one of England's best-known potters. He began studying the craft while at university, and ran his own studio in the 1920s and '30s, producing practical pieces for home use. He moved to Ghana in 1942 to teach the craft, and in 1945 opened a pottery (a ceramics factory) there. In 1950 Cardew relocated to Nigeria, where he became senior pottery officer in the Ministry of Trade. After a lifetime at the potter's wheel, making a bowl is second nature for Michael Cardew. He starts by kneading a hunk of brown clay to remove air bubbles, then positions it on the spinning wheel. He drives his thumbs into the clay, creating a depression in the centre. With intense concentration, Cardew pulls the sides up and out to create a bowl shape. The process, known as throwing, is the focus of this clip from the CBC series Hand and Eye.
"The old country potters did not think of themselves as artists. But there is a purity and an honesty in their work that is sometimes missing from more refined contemporary studio ceramics."
Bernard Leach is, without a doubt, the best known and most prominent of British studio potters. Born in Hong Kong, he was taken almost immediately to Japan by his grandparents. He came to England ...
Bernard Leach is, without a doubt, the best known and most prominent of British studio potters.
Born in Hong Kong, he was taken almost immediately to Japan by his grandparents.
He came to England at the age of ten for schooling.
In 1909 he returned to Japan to teach etching which he had himself learnt from Frank Brangwyn.
After ten years of life in the East - both Japan and China - he met Hamada.
The following year they both came to England and set up the Leach Pottery at St Ives.
The years between the wars were hard for Leach; he spent much time re-building kilns, experimenting with materials, travelling - but not achieving much critical or financial success.
It was not until after the Second World War, and the publication of his first book, A Potters' Book, that he became widely recognised as a master in his field.
He continued to pot until 1972, but did not stop his ceaseless travelling.
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London held an exhibition - The Art of Bernard Leach - in 1977, and in 1979 he died.
Al Gore made the environment as hot as Paris Hilton made the same aforementioned word, well, hot. But in a country like Israel, constantly concerned with security at the expense of most everything else, ecology remains an esoteric subject usually thought about only in regards to the short term.
Niv Zohar Horowitz and Aya Zindel, organizers of Ecosphere, Israel's first green art and environment festival, both hope that the festival's principles will be adopted by society-at-large. This will, again they hope, affect our leaders to act in a responsible way, giving emphasis to the long-term consequences of our short-term actions. 
To maintain its values the festival takes place in the enchanting Ein Hod artists' village, located in a Biosphere nature reserve on the slopes of Mount Carmel which, according to UNESCO, embodies the balance between man and nature. The festival itself aims to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
Centered around the modern international art exhibit Al Hamakom (About the Place), which deals with the relationship between man and environment, the festival features exhibits of different types: sculpture, video art and installations. Artists from around the world include such names as Yoko "John and I stayed in bed to promote peace" Ono with "The Wishing Tree," France's Jean Luke Wilmott, Benny Efrat with his work Blond Cows, Avraham Eilat, and the Tav Group. (read more...)
Passover 2009 in Ein Hod
April 9-15
Galleries and artists studios are open around the village.
Entrance to the village of Ein Hod Artists - Free
There is a fee for entrance to Museums
Museum Janco Dada. Permanent exhibition of Marcel Janco and Contemporary art. Number 2 on the map
Nisco Museum of Musical Instruments. An experience for the whole family. 052-4755313 Number 12 on the map
Japanese Experience - dates - 10- 14 at 11:30 by appointment 04-9843048, 050-7548009 Number 58 on the map
Glass Blowing – explanation and demo - for the whole family. By appointment - 04-9841105 Number 26 on the map
At Gertrude Kraus House – Ecological Films, free Number 4 on the map
House of Culture - display works of pottery by Tal Shahar Number 5 on the map
A spot for alternative treatments for visitors - Art & Wear Gallery Number 13 on the map
Booths throughout the village of artists and designers
"For God's Sake" an exhibition by Nadav Bloch & Nechama Levendel at Bloch-Levendel Gallery 054-4546530 Number 37 on the map
Art Bar: ÄnaLia ceramic masks painting workshop. Number 15 on the map
Workshops for children and adults
Mabdada Museum Janco Dada. 04-9541656 Number 2 on the map
Painting on Ceramics - Magal. 04-9842313 Number 25 on the map
Pottery - Verchovsky, and a second hand bookstore - 04-9841107 Number 33 on the map
Mosaic - Alon Yarkoni - 054-5614428
Intuitive Painting and food - Iris Smra - 050-6580534 Number 43 on the map
Photography Workshop - Vivian Roy. A selection of options, by appointment - 04-9541673 Number 29 on the map
Weaving and dolls workshop Number 15 on the map
Restaurant Donia Rosa - Argentine kitchen - 04-9543777 Number 3 on the map
Abu Yaacov Restaurant - 04-9843377 Number 7 on the map
Ein Hod Coffee - Kosher food for Passover - 077-3241052 Number 6 on the map
Art Bar - Beer and Music - concerts every day from April 9th to April 16th from 12:30 to 14:00 and from April 12th to April 15th, also from 15:00 to 16:30. - 052-8362498 Number 15 on the map
Ein Hod Artists' Web Site-
www.ein-hod.info
Village Map Pesach 2009 --
http://www.ein-hod.info/article/pesach/2009/map.htm
and there is another post-HERE
IN the beginning there were no people on the earth. Lumawig, the Great Spirit, came down from the sky and cut many reeds. He divided these into pairs which he placed in different parts of the world, and then he said to them, "You must speak." Immediately the reeds became people, and in each place was a man and a woman who could talk, but the language of each couple differed from that of the others.(Cole, Mabel Cook. Philippine Folk Tales. London: Curtis Brown, 1916....)
Then Lumawig went to the people of Bontoc and told them to get clay and make pots. They got the clay, but they did not understand the moulding, and the jars were not well shaped. Because of their failure, Lumawig told them that they would always have to buy their jars, and he removed the pottery to Samoki. When he told the people there what to do, they did just as he said, and their jars were well shaped and beautiful. Then the Great Spirit saw that they were fit owners of the pottery, and he told them that they should always make many jars to sell
Formerly Samoki made pottery of only the brown clay, and she used cut grass intermixed for a temper, but she claims those earlier pots were too porous to glaze well. Consequently the experiment was made of adding the blue surface clay, in which there is a considerable amount of fresh and decaying vegetable matter—probably sufficient to give temper, although the potters do not recognize it as such.
The clay pits lie north of Samoki, between a quarter and a half of a mile distant, and the potters go to them in the early morning while the earth is moist, and dig and bring home the clays. The woman gathers half a transportation basket of each of the clays, and while at the pits crudely works both together into balls 4 or 5 inches in diameter. In this form the clay is carried to the pueblo.
When the mortarful has thus been handled it is ready for making pots.
The inside is next further scraped and smoothed with the side of the forefinger. At this juncture a small mass of clay is rolled into a strip between the hands and placed on the upper edge of the shaping mass, completely encircling it. This roll is at once shaped by the hands into a crude, flaring rim. 
A few swift touches on the outer face of the crude pot removes protruding masses and roughly shapes the surface. The rim is moistened with water and smoothed inside and out by hand and a short, round stick. The first stage of manufacture is completed and the vessel is set in the sun with the rim of an old broken pot for a supporting base.
After it has thoroughly dried, both the inner and outer surfaces are carefully and patiently smoothed and polished with a small stone, commonly a ribbon agate. During this process all pebbles found protruding from the surface are removed and the pits are filled with new clay thoroughly smoothed in place, and the thickness of the pot is made more uniform. The vessel is again placed on its supporting base in the sun, and kept turned and tilted until it has become well dried and set. Two and sometimes three days are required to bring a pot thus far toward completion, though during the same time there are several equally completed by each potter.
Abby Winters “Pottery Girls” found themselves naked and exploring each other while they were in the studio(No, no it was not our Ein Hod "Always Open" pottery and Bookstore)Leave it to the one artistic girl to frustrate the others who weren’t doing so well enough that they feel the need to distract her from her work( more...)
We create hand made pottery: functional stoneware pots thrown on the potter's wheel, decorated with various glazes, fired in a gas kiln to a high temperature.
Our pottery studio has been open to the public since 1982. We welcome visitors seven days a week and sell a variety of pottery: bowls, plates, casseroles, mugs (all of which can be used for cooking and serving food and drink), boxes, vases, and ocarinas(clay whistles and flutes).
We teach weekly pottery classes all year and conduct short workshops for groups and individuals during the week and on Saturdays and holidays(all ages).
We have a book shop where we sell a large selection of used and rare books in all languages.
For more information about our studio and activities and/or help in arranging visits and workshops with other artists please contact us:
Naomi and Zeev 04-9841107. zeno@netvision.net.il
קורס קדרות- מגיל 13
לימוד טכניקות באובניים בחומר,
צביעה בגלזורות ושריפה בתנור גז.
סדנת שבת,חגים,ימי קיץ,ימי חול.
-עבודה בחומר לכל הגלאים-עבודת יד.
-התנסות באובניים מגיל 13 45 דקות
לקבוצות
-סדנת הדגמה-הסבר והדגמה באובניים והתנסות קצרה לכל משתתף
(עד 25 איש, 40 דקות)
-סדנה פעילה-הסבר והדגמה באובניים ועבודה לכל משתתף באובניים אישי. עד 20 משתתפים, שעה וחצי
פרטים- נעמי וזאב ורכובסקי.
טל 9841107 04
Nedyalko and Katya Tilevi of Igranka dance group, demonstrating Grancharsko Horo - грънчарсkо хоро (potter's horo) before teaching the dance.
Nedyalko Tilev playing the Tapan drum and Katya Tileva, leading the dance Grancharsko Horo - грънчарсkо хоро (potter's horo).
GRANCARSKO HORO
North Bulgaria - Severnjasko
Grancarsko Horo is the potter's dance. The movements of the dance reflectthe foot actions required to spin a potters wheel. This version was learned by Yves Moreau in 1969 from Nasko Barmasev, leader of a folk group in Lovec, a town in North Bulgaria.
Pronounced: GRUN-char-sko hoh-roh
Rhythm: 9/16 counted: Quick, Slow, Quick, Quick
1 2 3 4
2/16 3/16 2/16 2/16
Recording: XOPO LP-4 or any "Grancarsko" of a suitable tempo.
Formation: Short mixed lines of men and women, hands joined down.
The entire dance is danced facing "center."
Style: Very light, the body is erect at all times. Arms swing
forward and back rhythmically throughout the dance.
Meas Ct BASIC STEP (L) - The potter's movement
1 1 Facing center and dancing in place, Hop on L, raising R knee
2 Step R next to L, raising L knee
3-4 Hop on R, pumping L foot Down then Up slightly in front of R
(This motion imitates pushing the potter's wheel)
2 Repeat this step with opposite footwork for the Basic Step (R)
INTRODUCTION
1-4 Four Basic steps L, R, L, R
FORWARD AND BACK
1 1 Moving lightly and swiftly forward, Hop on L
2 Low reaching Step forward with R
3 Close L next to R
4 Low reaching Step forward with R
2 1 Close L next to R
2 Low reaching Step forward with R
3-4 Hop on R, pumping L foot Down then Up slightly in front of R
3-4 Two Basic steps, R, L
5-8 REPEAT measures 1-4 with opposite footwork and direction
CROSSING
1 1 Moving slightly R, Hop on L
2 Small Step on R to R
3 Step lightly in L in front of R
4 Step on R to R
2 1 Step lightly in L behind R
2 Step on R to R
3-4 Hop on R, pumping L foot Down then Up slightly in front of R
3-4 Two Basic steps, R, L
5-8 REPEAT measures 1-4 with opposite footwork and direction
GALLOP SIDEWARD
1 1 Moving R, Hop on L
2 Low reaching Step sideward with R
3 Close L next to R almost displacing R
4 Low reaching Step forward with R
2 1 Close L next to R almost displacing R
2 Low reaching Step forward with R
3-4 Hop on R, pumping L foot Down then Up slightly in front of R
3-4 Two Basic steps, R, L
5-8 REPEAT measures 1-4 with opposite footwork and direction
Each of the steps is done twice (16 measures). After the introduction,alternate the Crossing step then the Galloping step with the Forward and Back st(starting with the Forward and Back). In Yves' original description, he adds 4 basic steps before each of the moving steps.
Dance notes by Tom Deering (after Yves Moreau)(more...)
Posts
All Comments
