Thursday, April 9, 2009

and the SECOND day . . .

Just finished the second long day at the NCECA Conference here in Phoenix, Arizona.

The nicest discovery of the day was that I have a ceramic piece (bell pepper cup; 1990) in the permanent collection of the Arizona State University, Art Museum Ceramics Research Center! More about that later.

Started out the day at 8:15am watching two video screenings: Tom Turner- two day workshop and 34 pots demonstration and talking about his ceramic art and a tribute to the late Ralph Baccerra; ART IS WHAT I DO, The Life of Ralph Baccerra. The Baccerra tribute made by students from Otis and friends was particularly moving as I know many of the same people and had the privilage to have know Ralph (he even came to one of my show in San Pedro) and have been heavily influenced by his work even though I never had him as a teacher.

Then I went to Hall 2 to watch simultaneous clay demonstrations by Takeshi Yashuda and Tara Wilson. They were both different in their approaches to the clay and the audience.

Then I went to several shows in rooms at the Hyatt Regency and Wyndham Phoenix Hotels that were close by. The best one was the Santa Fe Clay Presents La Mesa, an invitational exhibit of 150 place settings plus other table objects. I wanted to go back for the openning reception, but didn't make it.

Throughout the whole day I ran into friends from Santa Ana, Ventura Potters Guild, a former student of mine Maria Martin and even Jeri Au (we don't know if we are related) who teaches in St. Louis (I hope that's right).

Next went to a panel discussion: Potters as Sculptures as Potters. Artists that have work that could be considered pottery and other work that is more about sculpture. Donna Polseno, Doug Casebeer, Liz Quackenbush, and Russell Wrankle moderated by James Ibur. They explored the benefits and burdens of working in two bodies of work; are they so different? do they support or hinder eachother? The answers were as varied as the participants. It seems this is something that must be done (a majority of the audience signified that they are also in this state) whatever benefits or burdens are incurred. They each have in their own way come to accept this and work with it physically, intellectually, and emotionally. I think we do several things because that is the way we are wired (Jame Ibur called it our temperament) and we get bored very easily. We need variety to keep us fresh and focused.

Then I went to the Ranch Market to get some food and back to the motel to take a nap!

4:30pm found me at one of the Topical Discussion groups: What Works Captivating the College Clay Beginner. It was interesting although not to well moderated. There were a few to many people who seemed to dominate the discussion and a few to many questions about how to correct what was not working, but there were a few good ideas that were shared.

After that I tried to get to the La Mesa openning, but could not find parking so I went out to the opennings in Tempe at ASU. Tempe is a nice, clean, fun college town. First went to the Tempe Center for the Arts; NCECA 2009 Regional Student Juried Exhibition. Nice show and incredible building. The building was all concrete, glass and steel by the lake, really nice. Then went to the ASU, Art Museum Ceramics Research Center, NCECA Clay National Biennial curated by Christy Johnson, Jeanne Quinn and Chis Staley. There in cases displaying the Museum's permanent collection I saw my cup! Of course I have to go back and take some picture to make sure I was not dreaming.

so that was today. . .tomorrow is another!

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