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ceramics

Curator's Corner

International Pomegranate Month: Lu Zonggui and Keiko Mori

Monday, November 11, 2024 | Karl Cole

I can’t find anything about the history of International Pomegranate Month. However, I think pomegranate juice is yummy (and good for you), so let’s celebrate the month with art! ...

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Curator's Corner

August is National Dog Month: Maruyama Ōkyo

Monday, August 5, 2024 | Karl Cole

I recently learned that August is celebrated as National Dog Month. I’m all for a month dedicated to those loyal and darling fellow sentients! A well-known doggy treat maker announced the month- ...

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Curator's Corner

Gem of the Month: Kyoko Tokumaru

Monday, June 10, 2024 | Karl Cole

Kyoko Tokumaru is a brilliant sculptor who creates organic forms in ceramics, fashioning complex pieces out of hard-to-work-with porcelain. Like many contemporary clay sculptures, Tokumaru’s wor ...

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Curator's Corner

Gems of the Month: Contemporary Japanese Tea Bowls

Monday, May 8, 2023 | Karl Cole

This month’s gems are contemporary artworks that serve the ages-old Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu or sado). Tea drinking was first introduced in Japan during the Nara period (710–794) aft ...

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Curator's Corner

A Young Wheat Plant for Spring: Hamada Shōji

Monday, April 17, 2023 | Karl Cole

As an avid learner of the thousands of years of Japanese ceramic arts history, I am always excited to contemplate an artist’s work that I had never studied carefully before. Shōji Hama ...

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Curator's Corner

Looking Ahead to Winter: Wayne Higby Ceramics

Monday, December 12, 2022 | Karl Cole

It just snowed where I live and winter is fast approaching. I personally love winter, snow and all, but I know many New Englanders dread it. That’s why there are a lot of “snowbirds” ...

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Curator's Corner

Native American Heritage Month: Zia Pueblo

Monday, November 28, 2022 | Karl Cole

Today I present a work that reflects the abundance of rich indigenous cultures that populated the U.S. long before European settlement. The Anasazi of the western and southwestern U.S. were an amazing ...

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Curator's Corner

End of the Ming Dynasty in China

Monday, April 25, 2022 | Karl Cole

This day in history, April 25, 1644, marked the end of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) in China with the death of Chongzhen Emperor (1611–1644). Although the Ming period was turbulent po ...

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Curator's Corner

Women's History Month 2022: Maria Martinez

Monday, March 7, 2022 | Karl Cole

I’m going to feature examples of outstanding women artists who played key roles in art history for Women’s History Month. Ceramic artist Maria Martinez was truly at the forefront of Pueblo ...

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Curator's Corner

Native American Heritage Month: Casas Grandes

Monday, November 8, 2021 | Karl Cole

Archeologists now believe that the earliest human settlements in the Americas occurred somewhere between 28,000 and 17,000 BCE, after migration across the Bering Strait land bridge, which disappeared ...

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Davis Desk

Happy National Romance Awareness Month: Jalisco Culture, Ancient Mexico

Thursday, August 12, 2021 | Karl Cole

National Romance Awareness Month? Who even knew this existed? Karl, our Art Historian extraordinaire, that’s who! This month, he’ll be featuring some pretty cool art to celebrate. While th ...

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Curator's Corner

AAPI Heritage Month: Toshiko Takaezu

Monday, May 17, 2021 | Karl Cole

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month continues with the work of Toshiko Takaezu, who was part of the American generation of ceramic artists who helped push the art form into being c ...

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Curator's Corner

AAPI Heritage Month: Kitaro Shirayamadani

Monday, May 10, 2021 | Karl Cole

The Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month series continues with the pottery designs of Kitaro Shirayamadani. ...

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Curator's Corner

Realism of Ceramics Artist Ah Leon

Monday, August 31, 2020 | Karl Cole

I was blown away the first time I saw this artist’s work, and I’m certain you will have the same reaction. We all know about the great ceramic tradition of Eastern cultures such as China, ...

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Curator's Corner

Women's (Art) History Month: Sarah Wyman Whitman, Sabina Elliott Wells, Seikō Okuhara

Monday, March 9, 2020 | Karl Cole

Women’s (Art) History Month continues with tributes to three more interesting artists I have encountered in my art historical travels. ...

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Curator's Corner

Gem of the Month: The Maebyong Form

Monday, December 9, 2019 | Karl Cole

Nothing excites me more than beautiful ceramics. I’ve always had a fascination with all kinds of ceramic art. I always thought I would like to make ceramic art if I did not paint—probably ...

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