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March 2011 Newsletter
Indigo Street Pottery Newsletter
In this Issue
1. Indigo Street Pottery Calendar
2. 10th Annual ASU Ceramic Studio Tour
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3.NCECA 2011: Santa Fe Clay’s La Mesa, Potters for Peace
4. Visiting Don Reitz with Takashi Nakazato and Kazu Oba
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5.Indigo Street Pottery Garden Notes
Welcome to our monthly newsletter! It is part of our website indigostreetpottery.com , which you can browse from this page if you click on the subjects in the header. We write here about our studio, arts events, projects, studios of our friends, garden musings, and whatever else strikes our fancy. Hope you enjoy it!
February 26 & 27, 2011: ASU Art Museum Ceramic Research Center’s Annual Ceramic Studio Tour. Indigo Street Pottery is host site #15 with Jeff, Farraday, and guest artists Les Lawrence, Jaye Lawrence, and Sherrie Zeitlin asuartmuseum.asu.edu/ceramicsresearchcenter
March 11 - May 8, 2011: Sharing the Stage: The Contemporary Vase 2011, The Artisan Gallery, Northampton, Massachusetts www.theartisangallery.com
March 30- April 1, 2011: La Mesa, NCECA 2011, NCECA Gallery Expo, Santa Fe Clay, Tampa, Florida http://santafeclay.com
March 30- April 2, 2011: NCECA 2011 Potters for Peace, pottersforpeace.org
May of 2012: Jeff Reich and Farraday Newsome, 2-person exhibition, Plinth Gallery, Denver, Colorado http://plinthgallery.com/
Jeff and I had the pleasure this month of introducing Takashi Nakazato and Kazu Oba to renowned American ceramic artist Don Reitz at Don’s ranch studio in Clarkdale, Arizona.
Takashi Nakazato, one of the most celebrated of contemporary Japanese potters, and his assistant Kazu Oba, worked as artists-in-residence this February at the Mesa Arts Center, where Jeff runs the ceramics program. Takashi Nakazato is a 13th generation potter and the 5th son of Japanese National Treasure, Taroemon Nakazato from Karatsu on Kyusyu Island. Mr. Nakazato is well-known for his yakishime (high-fired unglazed) ware.
The 2-hour drive from the low desert of Mesa up to the high desert of Clarkdale, Arizona where Don lives was a beautiful, clear winter morning. Our two Japanese guests were intrigued by the vast Arizona landscape. Upon arrival at Don’s sprawling ranch-turned-studio it was introductions all around. We then had lunch with Don and fellow friends and visitors Ron and Masako Berman, who arrived within minutes of us. Afterwards, we headed down to Don’s fantastic studio, kiln yard, and showroom for a full day of watching, learning and fun!
1 Indigo Street Pottery Calendar
2 10th Annual ASU Ceramic Studio Tour
3 NCECA 2011: Santa Fe Clay’s La Mesa, Potters for Peace
5 Indigo Street Pottery Garden Notes
4 Visiting Don Reitz with Takashi Nakazato and Kazu Oba
This will be Indigo Street Pottery’s 9th year as a host site for this annual, free self-guided ceramic studio tour. We are site #15 this year. In addition our work, Indigo Street Pottery studio will host guest artists Les Lawrence, Jaye Lawrence, and Sherrie Zeitlin. The tour is sponsored by the Arizona State University Art Museum Ceramic Research Center.
When: February 26 & 27, 2011, 10am - 4pm each day
Where: Studio ceramists across the wider Phoenix metropolitan area open their studios to hundreds of visitors for the 2-day tour.
Along with seeing plenty of finished work for sale by the various participating artists, there are scheduled demonstrations to gain insight into how the art is made. Complete information on all sites and artists, as well as a map and locations of all sites and schedule of demonstrations can be found on Arizona State University Art Museum’s website: asuartmuseum.asu.edu/ceramicsresearchcenter
You can also visit the Ceramic Studio Tour’s new Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ceramics-Studio-Tour/274600532039?ref=ts
This year NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts) will be held in Tampa, Florida from March 30 - April 2, 2011. See www.nceca.net/static/conference_home.php for more information on this annual, hugely popular conference for ceramic artists and ceramic arts educators.
Farraday will have a centerpiece vase in Santa Fe’s NCECA La Mesa exhibition, which will be held in the Gallery Expo this year. santafeclay.com
Jeff and Farraday will each also have work in the NCECA Potters for Peace Exhibition. pottersforpeace.org.
Our new apple trees that we planted last fall are beginning to bloom! We have had a very cold winter here this year, with repeated hard freezes and some nights between 17 and 20 degrees F. This is unusual for here and has been rough on some of our new plantings, but the deciduous stone fruit trees are budding out like crazy and the most cold-hardy of the vegetables (like the rainbow chard pictured above) are starting to perk up now that the weather is beginning to warm.
Winter is a very busy time in the studio for us, since it is high season in the desert. It’s good to be in the studio, but we both look forward to April and May when we can be in the garden more!
Les Lawrence, thin-walled hand-built porcelain teapot, approx. 9 x 11 x 4”
Jaye Lawrence, Standing Figure #1, clay, wood, wire and paint, 18 x 5 x 8”, 2001
Sherrie Zeitlin, Standing Figure #1, clay, wood, wire and paint, 18 x 5 x 8”, 2010
Jeff Reich, Erratic, glazed stoneware sculpture with welded steel base, 65” h, 2010
Farraday Newsome, "Night Garden Lidded Box", glazed terra cotta, 13.5 x 9 x 9", 2010
Jeff Reich, Pathways, glazed stoneware jar, 16 x 9 x 9”, 2005
Farraday Newsome, Green Vase with Oranges, glazed terra cotta, 11.5 x 12 x 12", 2011
Jeff Reich, Winter Thorns, glazed stoneware, 13 x 13 x 13”, 2011
Farraday Newsome, Murmurous Night, glazed terra cotta, 11.25 x 12 x 12”, 2011
Don’s kiln yard overlooks the Verde River, a perennial river here in Arizona that is a bald eagle nesting habitat.
We were fortunate enough to watch as a recently fired wood-fired kiln was opened and unloaded. It was a fascinating afternoon to see Don, Takashi, Kazu, Jeff, Ron (a painter), Masako (a pottery student of Takashi’s), and Don’s terrific assistants examine and talk about the entire gorgeous kilnload.
Left to right: Kazu Oba, Takashi Nakazato, Ron Berman, Masako Berman, Don Reitz, Jeff Reich, Farraday Newsome
Takashi Nakazato (on the left) and Don Reitz discuss kilns and firings from within an empty kiln. Jeff is at very front left.
Takashi Nakazato and Masako Berman in Don Reitz’s showroom.
