Text

October 2011 Newsletter

Archived Newsletters

Indigo Street Pottery Newsletter

In this Issue

1. Indigo Street Pottery Calendar

2. New Teapots in the Studio

3.Michael Lucero

4. Landscape Note

5.Garden Note

Welcome to our monthly newsletter! It is part of our website indigostreetpottery.com , which you can browse from this page if you click on the subjects in the header. We write here about our studio, arts events, projects, studios of our friends, garden musings, and whatever else strikes our fancy. Hope you enjoy it!

November 11 - Dec 31, 2011: The Artisan Gallery Cup and Mug Invitational: Consider the Cup 2011, The Artisan Gallery, Northampton, Massachusetts www.theartisangallery.com

November 12 &13, 2011: Gifts from Nature, National Audubon Society Audubon Arizona, Phoenix Arizona az.audubon.org

December 1-31, 2011: Shemer Art Center and Museum Holiday Art Show and Sale, Phoenix, Arizona

www.shemerartcenterandmuseum.org

December 3,4, & 10,11, 2011: Indigo Street Pottery 2011 Annual Holiday Studio Sale, Indigo Street Pottery, Mesa, Arizona

January 26- January 28, 2012: Arizona State University Art Museum Ceramic Research Center Gala, Art Auction, Tempe, Arizona

February 25 & 26, 2012: Arizona State University Art Museum Ceramic Research Center 11th Annual Ceramic Studio Tour, self-guided free studio tour throughout Phoenix metro area, Arizona

asuartmuseum.asu.edu/ceramicsresearchcenter

May 2012: Jeff Reich and Farraday Newsome, 2-person exhibition, Plinth Gallery, Denver, Colorado http://plinthgallery.com/

1 Indigo Street Pottery Calendar

3 Michael Lucero

5 Garden Note

4 Landscape Note

Farraday Newsome, Cups with Birds, glazed terra cotta, 3.75 x 5.5 x5”, 2011.

A recent commission for Farraday resulted in these new cups with birds. They are 3.75” high, specifically to fit under a single cup coffee maker!

Michael Lucero, Anthromorphic Teapot (New World Series) Form with Blond Hair, ceramic,

16 1/2 x 14 x 6 1/2", 1991

Arizona State University Art Museum, Ceramic Research Center, Tempe, Arizona

Michael Lucero, Seated Man with Ohr Hat, ceramic, 18 x 12 x 8”, 1991

Photos above, left to right: Michael Lucero in his studio; Island Dreamer, 13 x 27 x 13”, 1983; Hairless Turtle, 24 x 18 x 13”

Michael Lucero, American, b. 1953, has long been one of our favorite ceramic artists. His intriguing, sculptural forms combined with lush, culturally-pointed and nature-rich painterly surfaces have been a heartfelt inspiration. It is our pleasure to feature his work this month. Although an admirer of his work for many years, Farraday first saw a full body of Lucero’s work in 1996 at the American Craft Museum, now called The Museum of Arts and Design. The travelling show was organized by the Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina. The accompanying exhibition book was Michael Lucero Sculpture 1976-1995, published by Hudson Hills Press, NY, in conjunction with the Mint Museum. It is a beautiful book. In it, Curator Mark Leach and Co-Curator Dr. Barbara Bloemink write of Lucero’s personal history:

Though born in the United States, Michael Lucero inherited a complicated and, until recently, an unspoken ancestral past. Not long ago, the artist became aware that his ancestors were practicing Sephardic Jews. The spiritual apartheid previously practiced against Sephardic people in Spain and elsewhere precipitated a coerced migration to Latin America and, subsequently, to New Mexico where Lucero’s extended family was among the one hundred original families to settle the New Mexico territory. In both locations, colonial activity forced religious worship underground. References to these historical circumstances and others as well can be seen throughout Lucero’s sculpture.

In addition to his family’s cultural background, Lucero’s work is also greatly influenced by his childhood connections to nature. In an interview with Curator Mark Leach, he remembers:

Yes! My Grandmother lived on the edge of an arroyo. A creek flowed through the ravine adjacent to her home. It was my favorite place. I used to play there for hours. I collected many living things. I really loved the animals, particularly the reptiles and amphibians.

Jeff Reich, Desert Crust, glazed stoneware teapot, 8.5 x 11 x 5”, 2011

Farraday Newsome, Light Blue Teapot with Dogwood Flowers and Oranges”, glazed terra cotta, 8 x 12 x 5”, 2011

Cooler weather in the Arizona desert (days at around 100 degrees F, nights 60 to 70 degrees F) brings some beautiful color back to our native desert landscaping.

Some bright fall bloomers include:

left: hot pink Queen’s Wreath vine (Antigonon leptopus ), native to Sonora, Baja California, Chihuahua, and Oaxaca

middle: vibrant yellow Desert-marigold (Baileya multiradiata), native to the our desert southwest, Sonora, and Chihuahua; and the smaller-flowered yellow Damianita, native to western North America, from Canada to Mexico.

right: bright red Autumn Sage (Salvia greggii), native to northwestern Arizona, southern Nevada, and portions of south eastern and south central California

This cooler fall weather breathes new life into the vegetable garden too!

Above, left: We’ve planted seeds for the fall/winter garden. So far we’ve sown beets, carrots, chard, lettuce, cilantro, arugula and kale.

Above, middle: The sweet banana peppers are looking much refreshed after the scorching summer and are starting to produce abundantly again.

Above, right: We’ve also got a row of jalapeno peppers that we are letting ripen to red. The plan is to then smoke them in an electric smoker with wood chips to make chipotle peppers.

Below: Our vegetable/herb/fruit tree enclosure (20’ x 30’ x 9’) is surrounded by dense native wildscaping. The walk-in enclosure, covered with 1/2” chicken wire, keeps out the many hungry squirrels, rabbits, and birds!

In preparation for the busy season ahead, we are finishing work as well as starting new wet clay work. Here are a couple of newly finished teapots.