Discovering Ceramics

The Art School on East Broadway

Tourists take note. New York has three Broadways. There's regular Broadway that cuts a north-south diagonal swath from lower Manhattan to the Bronx, West Broadway in Soho, and East Broadway, the secret Broadway running through the Lower East Side and Chinatown. That's where my second home is, the Art School at the Educational Alliance-Manny Cantor Center. Between my dance and ceramics classes, I seem to be there all the time.

The Art School has a storied history. It was started in 1905 for the Eastern European Jews who used the services of The Educational Alliance settlement house. Well-known artists such as Adolph Gottlieb, Louise Nevelson, Mark Rothko and Chaim Gross studied and taught there. 

Educational Alliance Art School

Chaim Gross Tapestry

Photo by Renata Delsignore

Last winter, my nephew, Jack Wedge, suggested that we take a ceramics class. We signed up for handbuilding. Jack cofounded, with Will Freudenheiim, Laser Days, the animation studio. Jack lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, so he biked across the bridge on the cold winter evenings, dreaming about what he would make. Soon quirky figures, dogs and chairs populated his shelf. 

Carol and Jack in handbuilding class.

Some of Jack's work on the bisque shelf.

My two ladies are on the right.

"I Love You" by Jack Wedge

Jack and I collaborated on this piece which we call 

"The Cocktail Party"

Jack made the figures and the furniture and I made the room,

enhanced with abstract paintings by Mondrian and Rothko.

A page from my sketchbook where I collected

ideas for objects to make in class.

The building on the left is by Rob. Mallet-Stevens, 1927.

This is my slab-built house -- sort of Bauhaus, sort of 

Mexican influenced. I used underglazes for the color and a

transparent glaze for the final firing. 

Spring Term on My Own

I plunged ahead for the Spring term, this time requesting white clay because it would show off my color. Also, I had a new teacher, Liz Lohr. Liz is the school's Ceramics Education Manager. She has a BFA in ceramics from Arizona State University and started working in ceramics at the age of 15.  Her knowledge is staggering from techniques to chemistry to aesthetics.

Liz with ceramic test tiles which show the various glaze options.

Liz explains: "Test tiles tell the story of color and texture."

Liz Lohr @lizhohr

The Orb Cup from Liz's "Fingerprint" series

During the quarantine years of the pandemic Liz felt a deep loss

of human connection and of being with other bodies in the studio.

Making these fingerprint works, in porcelain, was a way

to use the energy of her body to prove love, so sorely

missed by all of us -- touching the clay to connect

energies across a distance.

A benefit of taking a class is meeting delightful, talented people.

 Here are some of my classmates and their work.

Emily Black @French Blonde

Emily has done extensive color explorations to achieve 

her beautiful results with stains and white glaze, as in this 

group of vases which are wheel thrown then

hand manipulated to achieve the shapes.

The catch all dish with the key (it's ceramic)

demonstrates her interest in highly realistic 

work, with a touch of humor, which she pursues in

addition to the color work.

Benjamin Haddix @__maymai
With these small sculptures, Ben has created a

tiny, private world as he intuitively

shapes the clay into caves and stalagmites.

Celine Griscom @mortal_maker

Celine's meticulous work is driven by her interest in

nature and the cycle of life. She aims to pair beauty 

with a sense of darkness. She uses decoration techniques 

such as silk screens, transfers and underglaze pencil drawing.

For a video of her process, please check out her Instagram.

Daliah Heller @daliaxlexle

Daliah built this vase using a tar-paper pattern technique.

Its shape is based on ancient Greek Island vessels

that she has see in museums in Greece.

Daliah's vase after  decoration.

Interviewing Emily for this post.

A tray that I painted with underglaze colors.

It has been bisque fired but not glazed yet.

Faces by Carol

A group of small catch alls which I created starting

with a slab with hand manipulation of the edges to create the ruffle effect.

Painted with underglaze and bisque fired.

I have since glazed these with a transparent glaze but the

pieces were not out of the kiln at this writing.

My ornaments and flowers.

Thanks to Renata Delsignore for the

photographs in this post.

À bientôt!