Category Archives: Inspiration

Inspiration, Personally

Why I need a Pottery Firing devil

Leave a comment

What a pottery firing devil is? That’s the spirit who protects the ceramic kiln from dark influences. It’s the protector of pots who are about to endure the hellish fire.

Why do I need one? Well, I can explain that to you. But let me begin with a potter’s prayer from almost 3,000 years ago to Athena, goddess of crafts:

“Grant that the potters may get great gain and grant me so to sing to them.

But if you become shameless and make false promises, then I call together the destroyers of kilns, Syntribos (Shatter) and Smaragos (Smash) and Asbetos (Char) and Sabaktes (Collapse) and Omodamos (Melt) who can bring this craft much mischief.”

From: Homer’s Epigrams, Fragment 14 (Greek epic, 8th or 7th century BC)

Threatened by the five devils of pottery disaster, I had no choice but to take protective measures. It’s about time I made my own ceramic firing devil.

Continue reading Why I need a Pottery Firing devil →
Inspiration, Technique

Ceramic Decals a beautiful technique and fortunately never perfect

Leave a comment

All techniques used in ceramics are fallible, including ceramic decals. That makes ceramics unique. And by that I really mean ceramics are always a “one-off”.

In ceramic industry, techniques are used that ensure products are very similar. But even in this well controlled environment there are always small (minimal) differences. In fact, there is always a percentage that fails due to “production errors”.

No matter how well the ceramist controls the process, failure in the production of ceramics is unavoidable. If the specifications do not fall exactly within the set frameworks, the product is irrevocably thrown onto the ceramics waste pile (the potter’s heartbreak).

And that’s fortunate, because these mountains of ceramic shards are invaluable for research into the history of ceramics. But that’s a whole different story.

Continue reading Ceramic Decals a beautiful technique and fortunately never perfect →
Inspiration, Personally

NCECA 2021: A virtual embrace of the clay community

Leave a comment

NCECA is the Comic-Con for ceramicists. The AutoRai not for motorheads but creatives. In other words, Libelle’s (a typical Dutch women magazine) summer week on steroid, but with our US friends.

It is an annual five-day cultural, political and educational event where every ceramics enthusiast is welcome. A symposium, discussion arena, meeting place, breeding ground and much more.

No idea what I’m talking about? Then let me tell you what I so enjoyed to participate in the last few days… A huge international group of ceramics enthusiasts live together. But at a safe 6 feet distance.

Continue reading NCECA 2021: A virtual embrace of the clay community →
Inspiration, Personally

Small ceramic rituals make life great

Leave a comment

My day is full of small ceramic rituals. From my daily black coffee in a little faceted mug. Frothing matcha tea in a hand pinched bowl. My Sunday morning café latte in a big thrown cup with ear. I love the differences, visual, touch and feeling.

Living mindfully also means drinking with attention. Your hands feel the warmth of the liquid, your lips touch the edge, you recognize the aroma, your mouth feels. An intimate moment. Smell the tea, feel the heat flowing into your body, look through the misty glasses of your spectacles. Taste the bitterness of the coffee. See the world in new light. Enjoy the moment.

What makes an activity not a habit but a (small or large) ritual? What makes a ritual different from a tradition? Is there a distinction? I find that interesting questions, which I wanted to take a closer look at through one of my own ceramic rituals.

Continue reading Small ceramic rituals make life great →
Inspiration, Personally

Phil Rogers: “Potters need to know an awful lot”

2 Comments

Phil Rogers, English “studio potter”, author and FB friend, died at the end of last year at the age of 69. A great loss for his family and friends, but also for the pottery community in the world.

Phil Rogers has taught us what good pottery can mean in our contemporary society. His rustic thrown and decorated vases, bottles, cups, plates and jugs showed his skill, respect for the material and the ceramic tradition. He has shaped the future of traditional ceramics in modern times.

“The drawback in pottery there is so much that can go wrong. Everey stage there is someting that can go wrong. We as potters […] have to know an awful lot”

(Goldmark documentary “Phil Rogers: Drawing in the Air” June 2016)

I have always taken it to heart that a terrible amount of knowledge is required to make ceramics….

Continue reading Phil Rogers: “Potters need to know an awful lot” →
Inspiration, Personally

Kintsugi, ceramics with gold connected

Leave a comment

Kintsugi and handmade ceramics are connected, both literally and figuratively. Kintsugi is an ancient Japanese tradition. It literally means “golden connection” and is also called “kintsukuroi” or “gold repair”.

But there is also an aesthetic connection. Kintsugi is the artisanal repair of broken ceramics with gold. The repair is not hidden, but proudly shown.

Broken plate, handmade ceramics

I find that a nice touch. An aesthetic in line with Wabi-Sabi, the beauty of impermanence. When something is broken, don’t throw it away, but take the trouble to collect the shards and make it whole again. Not as invisible as possible. No, accentuate the scars of impermanence.

It flashed through my mind when I got a broken mug of mine returned. A mug I made about 20 years ago. Can you fix this? …

Continue reading Kintsugi, ceramics with gold connected →
Inspiration, Personally

Fascinating Ceramics in Drenthe, A Potter’s Search

Leave a comment

Why did we look for ceramics in Drenthe? This province in the north of the Netherlands has traditionally been loved by artists. From the 18th century they came to this inspiring landscape to develop their talents. Vincent van Gogh is perhaps the best known of them.

“Drenthe is so beautiful, it absorbs and fulfils me so utterly […] oak trees of a superb bronze. Tones of golden green in the moss, of reddish or bluish or yellowish dark lilac greys in the soil, tones of inexpressible purity in the green […]”

(Vincent van Gogh, November 1883)

Looking for Ceramics in Drenthe - beautiful scenery

But what can potters and ceramics enthusiasts find in this primeval province? More than you think! Not only primordial pots, but also historic industrial plateel and contemporary artisanal ceramics.

Due to circumstances, our weekend in Drenthe in May was canceled this year. But this summer we made up for it. We went in search of the best ceramic sights.

In this blog an overview of all the fascinating places a ceramics lover should visit in Drenthe.

Continue reading Fascinating Ceramics in Drenthe, A Potter’s Search →
Inspiration, Personally

Funnel BEAKER ceramics, pottery of giants

Leave a comment

Drenthe in the north of the Netherlands, is a huge treasure trove of prehistoric funnel beaker ceramics (pottery). The creators where colossal. They also built resting places for giants, now better known as hunebedden.

Hunebed D15 on the Looner es between Loon and Taarlo

In the New Stone Age –neolithic– , these hunebed builders not only erected mysterious megalithic monuments. They also made characteristic and richly decorated pottery. Nowadays known as funnel beaker or “tiefstich” (the German name) pottery.

This summer we wanted to get to know these Stone Age potters. And where better than in our primal province of Drenthe.

Continue reading Funnel BEAKER ceramics, pottery of giants →
Inspiration, Personally

Living with handmade ceramics

Leave a comment

All life is fragile, so live consciously and make it more beautiful: start living with handmade ceramics.

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, I, we, have been, confronted with the brutal facts. A lot of things are not under my control, especially the important things like chance, freedom, life and death.

What am I in control of? How I organize my life, with whom and what I surround myself. And the place where I do this is called “home.” A stick in the ground, a tent in the rain or a castle, anything can be a house. But what makes it a home and how do we make it more beautiful?Living with hand-made ceramicsJustine Riley answers this question in her latest book “Living with pottery”: handmade ceramics in your home makes everyday life magical.

Continue reading Living with handmade ceramics →

Inspiration, Personally

Hand building ceramics is a men’s job

Leave a comment

The scientific evidence has been provided, hand building ceramics cannot be left to women, that’s a real man’s job! At least that was the case 4,700 years ago in present-day Israel, according to a recent study at the University of Winnipeg.

Science is fantastic, ideas are constantly changing; progressive insight. A few years ago it turned out that hand stencils in caves from about 64,000 years ago were not made by men, but mainly by women. Now it seems that hand-forming clay pots wasn’t something  women did when men were running after a mammoth.

So you modern men, it’s time to get from behind your potter’s wheel and grab clay directly with your bare hands. Hand building ceramics is the new hunting.

Continue reading Hand building ceramics is a men’s job →

Inspiration, Personally

A ceramic bird in the hand

Leave a comment

A ceramic bird is a symbol of freedom captured in stoneware.

A contradictio in terminis? I don’t think so, but I’m a ceramist with a soft spot for ceramics and birds.

In my opinion, clay, birds, ceramics and freedom are inextricably linked. And I’m not alone. Ceramic birds are a popular subject of artists and ceramists of all time.

Better A Bird In The HandI’d like to take you this new spring into my world of thoughts and birds .

Continue reading A ceramic bird in the hand →

Inspiration, Personally

Pottery Podcasts that every potter should know

Leave a comment

What are the best pottery podcasts right now? Well that’s argumentative , but I will share my favorite podcasts with you.

Spoiler alert: they are all American podcasts. I listen to Dutch, German and English podcasts, but at the moment I only know  podcasts about pottery and ceramics in the English language.

Why now a blog about pottery podcasts? Because in the current corona crisis it is good to also focus on other things. Stay tuned on the advice of of your government (RIVM in the Netherlands) to prevent the spread of the virus. When you’ve done that (and keep doing that) then there’s time for other things!

And what better way to spend your time than listening to podcasts about pottery, ceramics and ceramists around the world? If you are not yet a frequent listener of pottery podcasts, now is the time to start…

Continue reading Pottery Podcasts that every potter should know →