Thursday, December 30, 2010

Legacy of a Thousand Years: the Ceramics of Tonala'


Over the holidays, I had a chance to once again visit the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. I was blown away by the current exhibit, "Legacy of a Thousand Years: the Ceramics of Tonala'." The pieces in the exhibition were made by contemporary potters working in the Tonala tradition, using ancient Pre-Columbian techniques and imagery, but in a fresh, lively and conceptual manner. I was especially impressed by the work of Jose' Luis Cortez Hernandez, who combined color, imagery and form in a way I've only dreamed of doing on my own pots.

I hoped to purchase an exhibition catalog so I could study the designs and the represented artists further, but when I found none available, I resigned to internet searches. To my dismay, the artists represented do not seem to have much of a web presence. I did find a nice tour blog which had great pictures of the work of Salvador Vazquez Carmona and his studio. The state of Jalisco and the town of Tonala' are definitely on my short list of places I want to visit.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Website -GO!

Finally got my website up and running through Other People's Pixels (Thanks Helen for the nudge)! Check it out: chandradebuse.com

Friday, December 10, 2010

Word of the Day: Slather

I have been yearning for more depth in my surfaces and wanted to share a recently fired tumbler. This cup is all about the layering process. I brushed on horizontal stripes of terra sig, waxed the whole tumbler, incised vertical lines and inlayed a red iron oxide wash before bisque firing. After the bisque, I applied circular stickers and dunked the tumbler in two separate transparent glazes. After firing to cone 6 in an electric kiln, I decided to take it to temperature again which encouraged more running and dripping of the blue transparent glaze. I really slathered everything on this cup. I think I am getting closer to the kind of surface depth I want to achieve. Now to learn to control the effects of this process, successfully combine it with my imagery and develop a more personal color palette. I know what I'm going to be doing for the holidays.

"Three terra sigs, two transparent glazes, one black underglaze and a partridge in a pear tree"

Happy December!