Farrell B. Howell Art

Monday, April 7, 2014

Native American Ceramics

There are many styles of Native American pottery, depending on the specific tribe and region.

The Hopi tribe have been making pottery since 800 A.D. They lived in Arizona and Northern Mexico. Their pottery uses red-orange clay, with white and black glaze. They used the coil-building technique, with shapes and abstract animal forms.

The Anasazi lived in parts of Colorado, Utah, and Arizona from 1500 B.C. to around 1300 A.D. They used similar shapes and patterns to the Hopi people, but black and white glaze.

The Pueblo Native Americans lived in buildings built into cliffsides from the 1600's to modern times. Their pottery was all black, with designs made by polishing shapes and patterns and scratching in shapes.

African Ceramic

Pottery from Africa is very diverse, as there were many different cultures living in Africa.

Pottery from Nigeria was often black or dark brown, with no glaze. Artists carved in deep textures of lines, shapes, and dots. These were built using the coil-building technique.

Modern artists in Ghana are influenced by this traditional style. Their artwork is also black, without glaze, and has detailed textured designs.

In Northeastern Africa, artists made pottery that was light brown in color, with a smooth texture and reddish-brown glazed designs.

People in West Africa actually use clay to make huge buildings, some of which are still made and used in modern times!

Watch this video of them making a clay building!

Ancient Greek Pottery

The Ancient Greek civilization ranged from 1200 B.C. to around 600 A.D. in the area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.

The earliest Greek pottery was black and white, and had designs based around animals from the sea.

Around 800 B.C., Greek pottery started using REGISTERS, or horizontal stripes, filled with pictures and designs.

Greek potters used a pottery wheel, and usually made their pots in different parts. They would make the body, or main part of the pot, then connect the rim and handles later using slip.

The Greeks also used teamwork to make their pottery. One artist who was good at clay would build the pot, then fire it in a kiln. An artist who was good at painting would then add the glaze decoration. These artists usually shared a studio, or workshop.

This teamwork allowed them to start making very detailed and realistic glaze decorations. Popular glaze colors were orange and black, and the images usually showed stories and scenes from their religion and mythology.

Mayan, Aztec, and Incan Ceramics

This week, we will learn about how different cultures have different styles of ceramic art. Today, you will learn about several cultures, then choose one to research in more depth tomorrow.

Aztec, Incan, and Mayan Ceramics

The Aztec, Incan, and Mayan cultures lived in South and Central America around 500 BC-1600 AD.

The pottery from these regions is often reddish-brown in color. This is because clay is dug from the ground, so clay from different parts of the world will have different colors. Here is a video of clay artists digging up natural clay:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRb5v8FMUlI
(you can just watch part of the video to get the idea)

Incan, Aztec, and Mayan artists didn't use much glaze. Instead, they INCISED (scratched) designs into the clay, or BURNISHED (polished) parts of the clay, to make some parts of the design shiny. When glaze was used, it was usually only red or black.

Mayan pottery often told stories or scenes from their religion or history. They had a lot of people and words.

Incan Pottery is known for making VESSLES (containers) shaped like animals or human heads.

Aztec pottery had detailed, geometric designs carved into the surface.

Japanese Ceramics

This week, we will learn about how different cultures have different styles of ceramic art. Today, you will learn about several cultures, then choose one to research in more depth tomorrow.

Japanese Ceramics
Japanese artists have been making pottery for thousands of years - archaeologists have found pottery dating back to 10,000 BC! Here is an example of a vase made around 7,000 years ago in Japan.

Pottery this old was hardened by placing the finished wet clay vase into an open fire. Around 300 AD, the Japanese invented their first kilns, called the Anagama kiln. This was a brick room built onto a hillside, as you can see in these pictures.

Using this kiln was better, because it made a hotter temperature, which made the clay stronger when it was fired.

Around this time, the Japanese also started using pottery wheels, which were invented earlier in China. Here is a video of an artist using a pottery wheel:

Video of Pottery Wheel

Around 700 AD, Japanese artists developed glaze. Instead of just brown, they could now also make pottery with yellow and green colors.

Japanese artists often collaborated with Chinese and Vietnamese artists. They all worked together to create new kilns and ways of glazing. Around the 1600's, they started making white, green, and blue glazes.

Japanese ceramics are mostly known for making pottery with detailed glaze, and sculptures of animals. Popular animal themes were lions, dragons, horses, and dogs.

They are also known for very detailed glazing that showed landscapes, daily life scenes, and mythical creatures.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Research Sites for Cultural Ceramics Project