When the young dancer Paulus Berensohn first saw a potter throw a cylinder in the late 1950s, he knew: “that’s the dance to learn”.

From then on, he swapped dancing on Broadway for dancing with clay. June 15 2017, at the age of 84, he exchanged the dance of life for the dance of eternity.

“I knew how to dance on a stage, but how was I going to dance in life?” (documentary “To Spring from the Hand”, 2013)

I got to know Berensohn only through his in 1972 published book “Finding one’s way with clay”, interviews and a documentary about his life. In it, he advocated a slower, mind-full and integrated approach to working with clay. He has had a big influence on me and many other ceramists.

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Inspiration, Personally

Ceramics by the sea, exhibition Picasso

31 December 2016 Daniel Bende Leave a comment

Not everyone knows the ceramics of Pablo Picasso. With the exhibition “Picasso aan Zee” (Picasso at sea), the museum Beelden aan Zee (Sculptures at Sea) bring ceramics to the Sea. Until 5 March 2017, fifty ceramic works and twenty sculptures by Picasso will be on display in this dune museum in Scheveningen.

As a ceramist, I couldn’t miss this “Ceramics by the sea” exhibition. At the end of 2016 I had a look…

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News

Kunst10daagse Bergen 2016, location Stalkunst9

8 October 2016 Daniel Bende Leave a comment

Friday, October 14 is the day; then start the 10 days art festival in Bergen NH (Kunst10daagse Bergen). For many years, ceramist Elisabeth Leyen organizes a group exhibition at the art festival. This year she asked me to join her temporary gallery “StalKunst9” (StableArt9) Voert 9 in Bergen NH. Of course I gladly accepted.

The Kunst10daagse is an event where 260 artists exhibit at around 160 different locations in the historic village of Bergen NH and the beach village of Bergen aan Zee in North Holland. Traditionally this cultural festival is held in the autumn, in 2016 from 14 till October 23rd. With this years theme: visions.

Kunst10daagse Bergen: location StalKunst9
Voert 9, Bergen NH
Friday 14 till Sunday October 23rd
Daily: 11.00 AM till 5.00 PM
(car parking at the neighbors property on the left)

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Inspiration, Personally

Höhr-Grenzhausen: Ceramic tradition in motion

17 September 2016 Daniel Bende 2 Comments

Has the handmade ceramic tradition disappeared in Western Europe?

That’s what it looked like when I visited Höhr-Grenzhausen last summer. This small town is the center of the “Kannenbäckerland“. This region in Germany is known as “Pottery Country“. It grew from the 14th century into one of the most important ceramics centers of Western Europe.

From the 15th century onwards, the “Westerwald stoneware” was developed here. Stronger (and fired much higher) than the common produced earthenware in Europe at that time. But what made it unique in the world was the “salt glaze” with which the pots were finished.

I love and make stoneware ceramics. In addition, I get a lot of inspiration from traditional pottery shapes. I like to be in woodland. In short, reasons enough to visit this region and to get to know one of my European ceramic roots.

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Clay, Inspiration

Glück auf: Westerwald stoneware clay

8 September 2016 Daniel Bende Leave a comment

Stoneware clay is is the material which I use to form my ceramic sculptures on the wheel. And I’m not the only one who has daily contact with this natural product. An average human uses in his lifetime according to the BKRI about 18 tons (18,000 kg) of clay. It is difficult to make an accurate estimate, but that it is much, I am more than willing to believe.

Clay is the main component of plates, bowls and tiles (“fine ceramics”), for bricks, roof tiles and drainpipes (“coarse ceramics”) and as auxiliary raw material in among others soaps, toothpaste and cosmetics.

In addition, clay in modern times is used in technical ceramics such as implants (bio-ceramics), insulators and superconductors (electro-ceramics) and in various ceramic composite materials (such as solar cells and heat shields on the space shuttle).

So a life without clay is not only unthinkable for me. Where does all this clay come from? For this blog, I went on a journey to the source.

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News

Contemporary ceramic art in Monnickendam

14 August 2016 Daniel Bende Leave a comment

The foundation Ceramic Artists of Noord-Holland (Stichting Keramisten Noord-Holland) presents comtemporary ceramic art in Monnickendam. This year the large exhibition of the ceramic artists of the region Noord-Holland is held in Monnickendam, a historic town near Amsterdam.

Large (St. Nicolaas) Church
De Zarken 2, Monnickendam
August 19, 20 and 21 of 2016
Friday and Saturday from 11.00 till 17.00
Sunday from 13.00 till 17.00
Free entrance

I always like to take part in this exhibition, it is an excellent opportunity to view the contemporary ceramic art of the region.

Also I just like to talk with the fellow ceramic artists. If you like that too, come along!

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Inspiration, Personally

Ceramics in Paris, Cité de la Céramique

23 May 2016 Daniel Bende Leave a comment

Paris, center of fine arts in Europe, perhaps of the world (that is, in any case, the view of the “Parisien“). But it is also the city of ceramics, or as the French say “Cité de la céramique”. We visited the ceramics in Paris.

Also for the “céramique” Paris is “Tze place Tzo be“.

Between Paris and Versailles, on the Seine lies Sèvres; the porcelain capital of France. Here, since 1740, the French porcelain is produced for the state’s rulers. From Louis XV (“Le Bien-Aimé”) to Napoleon (the god of clay). But also for (court-) nobility and the rich bourgeoisie.

Nowadays, the museum “Sèvres-Cité de la Céramique is located in there. Just across the bridge “Pont de Sèvres” on the banks of the Seine at the gateway of Paris. In this museum you will find porcelain. But you can also see also a wide collection of historical and contemporary ceramics.

For a ceramist in Paris it is not a choice, I had to go here. But for the ceramics enthusiast it is also highly recommended.

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Inspiration, Opinion, Personally

Wabi-Sabi Ceramics: imperfection as a beauty ideal

12 February 2016 Daniel Bende Leave a comment

Wabi-sabi is a beauty of things imperfect,
impermanent and incomplete
It is a beauty of things modest and humble
It is a beauty of things unconventional
(Leonard Koren)

This is the intriguing introduction to Leonard Koren’s book “Wabi-sabi for artists, designers, poets & philosophers“. He introduced the term “Wabi-Sabi” in 1994. But the roots of this concept are much older. Its origins lies in Chinese Taoism and Zen Buddhism. Koren describes the Japanese aesthetics in art, literature, poetry and wisdom of life. From its growth in the 15th century until now.

The first description of these aesthetic values from Japanese culture, is by Japanese auteur Kakuzo Okakura. In an attempt to close the gap between the aesthetic values of the east and the west, he wrote “The Book of Tea” published in 1906. Because he wrote it directly in English he made it accessible to Western readers who can’t read Japanese.

Where the West strives for greatness, perfection and the denial of decay, Wabi-Sabi embraces the human measure, the irreversible and the cycle of all that lives. This concept of life has not only much to offer the ceramist.

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Inspiration, Opinion, Personally

Ceramix Ceramic Art in the 20th and 21st Century

11 December 2015 Daniel Bende Leave a comment

Until 31 January 2016 the exhibition “Ceramix, Ceramics in Art from Rodin to Schütte” runs in the Bonnefantemuseum in Maastricht.

Ceramix tells the story of ceramic art from the beginning of the last century to the present day through more than 250 works of art. In the spring of 2016, this exhibition will travel to Paris and Sèvres.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit the Bonnefante Museum. A great experience. If you haven’t been there yet: grab your chance, it’s a unique exhibition not to be missed.

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Opinion

Battle of the Potters: The Great Pottery Throw Down

12 November 2015 Daniel Bende Leave a comment

“The Great Pottery Throw Down” has been broadcasting on BBC Two for a few weeks now. A competition of ten potters competing in Stoke-on-Trent, the center of English ceramics, for the honorary title “Great Britain’s top potter”. Every week there is one winner and the curtain falls for another participant.

You probably guessed it by now, this series is a lot like “The Great British Bake Off”, but with clay. Is it worth to watch it?

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Inspiration, Personally

Zen Ceramics, not a style but a technique

17 May 2015 Daniel Bende 2 Comments

I was interested, but also a bit skeptical when I saw “Zen drawing – a new way to become an artist”, written by the Dutch Michelle Dujardin (Rockpoint publishers, 2014), in a bookstore in Den Bosch (Netherlands). We were in this city during an inspirational museum trip a couple of weeks ago (food for another blog). My interest was bigger than my skepticism so I bought the book immediately.

Back in our hotel I was pleasantly surprised; It’s a good read. The book has valuable insights into the creative process, which are not only applicable to realistic drawing or painting practices. The technique described is not new, even for ceramics.

Zen ceramics; designing and making of ceramics with “body intelligence” is described by the American auteur/potter Kenneth R. Beittel in “Zen and the Art of Pottery” (Publisher Weatherhill, 1989). He emphasizes that ceramics should be designed from the mind and then carried out with the body (yourself or someone else). According to Beittel, (hand thrown) ceramics must be designed and implemented with “unity of being”.

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Personally

La Borne; The French Way

29 August 2014 Daniel Bende Leave a comment

Almost everywhere in the world there is a very long ceramic tradition. The techniques have been discovered independently in many places in the world. Historians nowadays assume that people used clay some 20,000 years ago to make pots that were fired into ceramics (10,000 years before the discovery of agriculture).

The first ceramic objects were probably fired by chance in open wood fires. Nowadays ceramics are fired in very many ways, gas, oil, coal, electricity and still with wood, such as in La Borne (France). And you guessed it: I experienced the local ceramics traditions up close this summer …

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DFB-keramiek

Paulus Berensohn: Dancing with clay

Ceramics by the sea, exhibition Picasso

Kunst10daagse Bergen 2016, location Stalkunst9

Höhr-Grenzhausen: Ceramic tradition in motion

Glück auf: Westerwald stoneware clay

Contemporary ceramic art in Monnickendam

Ceramics in Paris, Cité de la Céramique

Wabi-Sabi Ceramics: imperfection as a beauty ideal

Ceramix Ceramic Art in the 20th and 21st Century

Battle of the Potters: The Great Pottery Throw Down

Zen Ceramics, not a style but a technique

La Borne; The French Way

[English] Handgevormd en gedraaid figuratief steengoed keramiek