By Kurt
Shaw
TRIBUNE-REVIEW ART CRITIC
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Tom Turner is a
potter's potter. He even has a type of clay named after him, "Tom
Turner Porcelain," which he invented and is currently being manufactured
by Standard Ceramic Supply Co. of Carnegie.
However, it's not his clay that has brought this Ohio potter his esteemed
reputation, nor the fact that he has taught ceramics at leading craft
schools throughout the United States, but his 43-year career during
which he has been producing some of the most refined works known in
the field.
Nearly 60 of Turner's
bowls, vases, jars and cups can be found at The Clay Place in Shadyside
in the one-man show "Tom Turner: Attention to Detail."
"My pots are
180 degrees from the current trend," Turner says of the works on
view, and he's right. Present-day tastes favor wood-fired pots. Heavy
and lopsided, the most eye-catching usually are covered in thick, earthy
glazes. Some look so craggy and crude, it's as if they were spewn from
the mouth of Mt. Vesuvius itself.
Aside from the
otherwise clean lines and slick glazes, part of the reason Turner's
pots are so refined is his signature use of porcelain, particularly
his own.
"It's really
the best throwing porcelain that I have ever touched, and it's whiter
than anything that we have been able to test," Turner says.
But what is really
amazing about Turner's porcelain is its strength. In March, Turner wowed
the crowd at the annual conference of the National Council on Education
in the Ceramic Arts by hammering nails into a two-by-four with a coffee
mug made of the stuff.
That's where Elvira
Peake, owner of The Clay Place, ran into Turner, and that's how he ended
up having a show at Peake's gallery, which is known for showing works
by some of the top names in contemporary ceramics.
Peake says that
since the show opened in early November, potters have been coming in
and flipping the bowls over just to look at the bare, unglazed part
of the porcelain body that can be found on the underside of each work.
They try to tell whether Turner made it with his newly invented porcelain,
which has been in production for about a year.
But beside all the
hoopla surrounding his porcelain, what is most interesting about Turner's
work is its elegance. A Turner pot has a certain sense of refinement
that comes only with years of working with clay. And although his style
is uniquely personal, it does have hints of influences from the past,
particularly that of Asian ceramics.
"I'm not trying
to make Japanese pots, yet there is a very strong influence from age-old
pots," Turner says.
For example, several
vases covered in a honey-colored glaze look to have a Chinese influence,
as evidenced by their fluted necks, which are similar to the pottery
of China's T'ang dynasty (618 -- 906 A.D.), which is why Turner has
titled them "Tang Vases."
Other works also
show signs of Chinese influence, such as a small vase covered in a brilliant
oxblood glaze that has three tiny fish heads protruding near the mouth.
The fish heads are an obvious nod to the dragon and animal motifs that
were incorporated into some T'ang and Sung (960-1279) dynasty wares.
The other thing
that's particular to Turner's pots is their glaze. Turner says he relies
on the "classic glazes," such as oxblood, celadon, temmoku
and ash. "These are all glazes that go back hundreds and hundreds
of years," he says.
What sets them apart
from the more popular glazes of today is their finicky nature, because,
Turner says, "All of the colorants are metallic oxides -- iron,
copper, cobalt, manganese." Hence, all of them have to be fired
in a reduction process to control the outcome of each.
According to Turner,
it can be tricky. "You know, it makes it very frustrating because
if one thing is off, you don't get what you want," he says.
For a constant experimenter
who not only creates his own porcelains and glazes, but also designed
and built much of his own equipment, this suits Turner just fine. In
fact, he takes so much pleasure and pride in the glazing process that
he often names his pots for the glazes.
"I tend to
describe pots by their glazes. I don't give them names like a painter
gives paintings," he says when asked why a small bowl covered in
a beautiful blue speckle has been named "Blue Tea Dust."
But for all of his
experimentation, Turner still holds fast to the traditions he learned
long ago as a student of what he calls the "Midwest school of art
pottery" during the 1960s.
That's why Turner
says that, in spite of the trends, he strives to make the best pots
he possibly can.
"In my 43 years
(as a potter), I've seen a lot of things come and go, but I try to make
pots that, hopefully, will be good forever. I don't just want them to
be good in 2004. I want these pots to stand up to the test of time."
Kurt Shaw can be
reached at kshaw@tribweb.com.
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