Esoteric Survey

I had a good weekend. Getting pieces by Henry Takemoto and Doyle Lane on the same day doesn't happen often. It's funny that the Takemoto has weed pots on it ann the Lane isn't a weed pot. The cups are by James Makins.  George Nelson, Carl Aubock and Paolo Soleri.  Knoll tables and smalls. I'm not really a Danish guy. However, these are my favorite salt and pepper grinders. They're designed by Kristian Vedel. And if they're good enough for Sori Yanagi, they're good enough for me. Source: The Philosophy of Design. Essays by Sori Yanagi A new one for my ceramic mask wall. It's been a while.  Here's another look at the Lane bowl. The weed pots get all the attention and I get why. However, I like all utilitarian and odd ball pieces as well.  Plus, the world must have known I needed more Lane in my life. They picked up my loans to the Huntington today. They'll be gone until February. More about the exhibition here: Doyle Lane: Master of Clay

  It's a great weekend when you come home with a Henry Takemoto. The one on the right needs a little more research. Someone who attended Chouinard Art Institute in the 1950s bought the Takemoto directly from him, along with pots from fellow Otis ceramicists Voulkos, Rothman and Mason. This includes the piece on the right. Early Soleri bell and an uncommon Kenji Fujita pitcher

80th Scripps College Ceramic Annual Starting in 1945, Scripps College has been mounting these legendary annual exhibitions. This year, they combined two major California collections for  In the Hands of the Collector: The Fred Marer and Forrest L. Merrill Collections.  Guest curated by Nancy Servis, there are over 100 pieces by more than 60 artists. Fred donated his collection of over 1,500 pieces to Scripps. Forrest has over 4,000 and counting. They both acquired many works directly from the artists and California ceramics are at the core. Since Fred was in southern California, these direct purchases came from people working at Otis and other institutions around LA. Forrest started his collection through direct purchases in the Bay Area, since he's from Berkeley. He's also still at it.   There are some classics. This Laura Andreson teapot is the first piece collected by Fred Marer.  Glen Lukens Antonio Prieto from Forrest James Lovera was so good and is still s...

I went on a field trip to Scripps College, Claremont to see their amazing collection of post-war American ceramics. With me were  Eric Huff and Tom McMillin (yes the ceramicist). Kirk Delman, the Collections Manager and Interim Director at the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery at Scripps College gave us the tour.   Tom (left) is a legend in California ceramics and added so much to the experience. Not only did he know many of the artist in the collection, his technical knowledge of glazes and ceramics was a great insight to have. Kirk has been at Scripps for 37 years so he knows the collection better than anyone else. He also knew many of the artists personally and shared some great stories about them. This was a major craft geek experience for me and Eric.    The bulk of the Scripps ceramic collection came from Fred Marer. He was a math teacher at LA City College, so far from a rich guy. He built an amazing collection that began in 1954 when he went to an exhibit...