5 For Friday
Loewe's craft prize finalists, a Cinderella house, Picasso's ceramicist friend, and more.
Hello, good people and subscribers to this Substack, and others who might find their way to this page. I’ve been collecting, reading, and saving the below links of note for you all from the past week. I hope you discover a new piece of art, an artist, or beautiful detail to ponder about past this Substack post. All three I do myself every day and every week from my own reading. If something resonates, let me know in the comments. I love hear what jives and gets you thinking.
Loewe’s 9th Craft Prize finalists have been announced. And you can view all 30 of the artists and their wondrous work here. Every single piece is jaw dropping, but the two above are worth calling out for their technique. “Strata of Illusion” as a warped rectilinear seating form “has been built through stratified layering to form a compact ceramic volume. Sheets of paper have been coated with porcelain slip tinted with hand-mixed pigments, then folded, stacked and compacted by hand into a rectangular mass. After drying, the form has been oxidation-fired at 1,280 degrees, converting the paper layers into a single ceramic body. Warping during firing produces an irregular, hollowed profile..” And #2572 “has been wheel-thrown and glazed three times over, allowing color to develop freely across its surface.” There’s also a supplemental video page of conversations around “craft”—be still my heart. I haven’t yet dived in to this gold mind, but I will. The finalists will be showcased in an exhibition in Singapore this spring. Oh, how I’d love to see this show, and for it to be the impetus to make an inaugural trip to this Asian city. The dream!
This coffee table book, The Artist’s Palette, that showcases 50 artists’ palettes alongside their work the palettes helped create would be a wonderful gift for the creative-aligned in your life.
Infatuated with this Northern California enclave created by William Randolph Hearst (yes, the notable and first one in history) that includes three homes aptly named appropriately Cinderella House, Bear House, and Sleeping Beauty. Designed in the early 1930’s by Julia Morgan (must read up on her!) is truly a fairy tale tucked away in a forest with murals painted by Hollywood art director and children’s illustrator Willy Pogany. Devastated that you can only visit by invitation. Who knows a Hearst family member? I’d also love a sit-down with the mural restorer. The upkeep from the weather on them…
Fell for the ethereal artwork of Ash Roberts this week when I came across her work via Instagram. Her work evokes Impressionism qualities as well as the Japanese concepts of kintsugi and wab sabi with the gold leaf accents and washes incorporated. When can I open up my own gallery?
Color me shocked to have discovered the ceramicist Robert Picault, and that he made work alongside Picasso, but doubly shocked that you can also buy his pieces for fairly decent prices on eBay? Picault, a former student of the School of Applied Arts in Paris, moved to the village of Vallauris post-World War II where he founded the Callis workshop. The village was popular for many ceramicists and where made friends with Jean Cocteau, Fernand Léger, Elsa Triolet, and yes, Picasso. Credit is due to Blackbird Spyplane for yet again, another weekly tip-off. I’m infatuated with the wall clock I found after scrolling.