Author Archives: jtwalthier

I recently saw some floor tiles designed by Gio Ponti in the recently renovated Denver Museum of Art (the only example of Ponti’s architecture in the United States). Gio Ponti was an Italian architect, industrial designer (in ceramics and furniture), professor, painter, editor and journalist who strongly influenced international design for over 50 years inContinue reading “Gio Ponti’s Floor Tiles”

Dating back to the days of ancient Greeks and Romans, large clay jars have been used to store and age wine. I found a number of these clay vessels throughout Spain, repurposed as ornamental containers for plants in urban gardens. The scale of these vessels is impressive, as can be seen in the image below,Continue reading “Clay Jars Used In Wine Production”

I’ve had a wild-haired idea to beef up my artist profiles with in-person interviews and photographs of artists working in their studios. I’m testing out Soundslides, a software platform that allows users to couple photographs with audio tracks to create web-based slideshows. The software has been used by BBC, NYTimes and Washington Post journalists asContinue reading “Equipment & Software Test”

Here is a link to a 1955 film I recently watched on Japanese pottery production. The first 22 minutes show how stoneware clay was mined, wedged, formed, glazed and fired. The latter 8 minutes documents porcelain manufacturing. It’s mesmerizing, especially the application of decorative motifs. The film is posted on the Met’s website.

Grayson Fair’s sense of gooey material caught my eye and kept my attention as I looked through his website. As I have worked a bit with slip trailing, I found Grayson’s “Slipstack” series in particular very arresting. The more I look at Grayson’s work the more I find to relish and enjoy, particularly since GraysonContinue reading “Grayson Fair – Artist Profile”

A final note while in this hard land, from the city of Toledo, Spain. We spent two very enjoyable hours at the Museo de Santa Cruz which houses, amongst other decorative arts items, the impressive collection of ceramics from the collection of Vincent’s Carranza Escudera. The Carranza Ceramics collection is housed in a relatively smallContinue reading “The Collector’s Cabinet”

One of the objectives of this blog is to highlight innovations and new developments in the world of ceramics. Ceramics are used widely in technology, medicine, construction materials, etc. Given my personal interest in aesthetic and artistic uses of ceramics, the focus of this blog will always be on creativity and innovation within the artContinue reading “Frontiers of Ceramics”

My wife and I went to Granada, Spain primarily to experience the Alhambra, which is a vast, sprawling site consisting of multiple gardens and buildings from different eras. The Alhambra is amazing and well worth a visit, and that visit can consume a couple of days. We took another day to explore some sites inContinue reading “Granada – Outside Alhambra”

I won’t attempt a fully researched post here as I’m on the road, digesting as much as I can after a full day walking around the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. I will just attach a few images of the ceramic tile work that I’ve seen. Just gorgeous. The tile work is amazing, of course. ButContinue reading “Tiles of the Alhambra”

Kudos to the Phoenix Airport for displaying the work of multiple ceramic artists. One group of work stands out for its monumental scale: a collection of large-scale sculptures by Jun Kaneko entitled “Dangos.” They are dated 1991. Here are a selection of images showing these objects. These sculptural objects remind me of Neolithic standing stonesContinue reading “Jun Kaneko’s Dangos”