Esoteric Survey

A reunion was held last weekend to bring together everyone who was involved in the Architectural Pottery: Ceramics for a Modern Landscape book and AMOCA exhibition . It was held at the home of Architectural Pottery co-founders Rita and Max Lawrence. Damon Lawrence and his wife now call it home and were amazing hosts. When Rita and Max Lawrence began their involvement with Architectural Pottery, they lived in a Gregory Ain house in the Mar Vista tract. They previously lived in the Ain Altadena tract and the Dunsmuir Flats apartments, where Damon was born. As Jeffrey states in the AP book, it was Ain who introduced the Lawrences to modernism.  The Lawrences were working with Ain to design a new home for the family in Bel Air, but were having issues with the City. In 1953 they moved into a Spanish Revival house in Bel Air, where the reunion was held. It was designed by Carleton Winslow Sr. He was part of  Bertram Goodhue's firm that designed the Los Angeles Central Library. On a...

I picked this bell up from my good buddy Steve ( ayersfan ) at Downtown Modernism this past weekend. It has a Freeman Lederman label.  I picked this one up from Dean ( dacvintagela ) from the spring Downtown Modernism. He happens to be good pals with Steve and I think Dean is OK with me as well : ) Then there's the owl, which is much more common than the bells. I've had at least a few of them over the years. They were all offered by Freeman Lederman. Most things distributed by Freeman Lederman were designed by LaGardo Tackett or Kenji Fujita. However, they also sold many things that weren't. This includes traditional Japanese craft imports. The bell collection has always been a curious thing. I was convinced they weren't be Tackett or Fujita.  It turns out I was right. They were designed by Pat Lopez. I was familiar with her name because I've seen an ad for some hanging pots she designed for Freeman Lederman. I  posted about them here  in 2011.   She design...

David Cressey Solar design on a Pro Artisan John Follis planter Two unknowns in the back and a beautiful Amy Donaldson in the front.  Here's that Amy Donaldson from the top Don Jennings from the OC.  I'm a sucker for fish plates. Deco

  This past weekend AMOCA hosted a Panel discussion as part of the  Architectural Pottery: Ceramics for a Modern Landscape exhibition. It was a packed house. Someone from the museum said it was the most people they've had for an event like this. The first panel included three people who were personally connected to the Architectural Pottery.  Jo Lauria on the far left curated the exhibition and moderated the talk. To her right is Lee Whitten, then Marilyn Kay Austin in the middle and Damon Lawrence is on the right. Lee Whitten earned a master's degree in 1964 at UCLA under Laura Andreson and Bernie Kester. His first job in ceramics was at Architectural Pottery working under David Cressey. He was recommended to David by Andreson. This photo is a planter Cressey let Lee buy for $1.50, his hourly wage at the time. Lee said he liked the process of pushing the clay out from the interior of the form. Earth Cells were another favorite of his.  Although he was only at ...