Free China

Beautiful Music for a very important cause. Free China a people's movement important to the free world every where where ever it is.

http://americanpoliticalphilosophy.blogspot.com/2013/07/free-china.html

Andersen Studio Evolution Diaries

Definition of Taylor Swifting 1 a : fearlessly using one's life experiences in a song, a blog, or whatever.... b :individualism c : a point of view or tenet put forth as in a personalized narrative Farenheit 2013- a contemporary version of Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury in which censorship takes the form of limiting the length of a thought process to fit in the space between a twitter and an elevator pitch

http://andersenstudiokisckstarterdiaries.blogspot.com/

Preserving The American Political Philosophy: The Chained Consumer Price Index

I am posting this link again since is generally going unnoticed.You may have heard of a global plan, to which some credit President Obama as being a true believer, that the United States should have it's standard of living lowered to make the global distribution of wealth fairer The way I am reading it, being a mere layman, is that the substitute of the Consumer Price Index for the Chained Consumer Price Index, by governments in the United States, is being billed as a more accurate way of measuring the cost of living. However the Consumer Price Index, as I understand it, measured not the cost of living, but the cost of goods and services. The Chained Consumer Price Index measures the cos t of living, factoring in a general downward shift in the STANDARD of living as consumers adjust to a rising cost of goods reflected in the shrinking dollar caused by inflation, caused by worthless money being dumped on our system. The Chained Consumer Price index no longer measures the cost of

http://americanpoliticalphilosophy.blogspot.com/2013/06/i-am-taking-short-break-from-my-story.html

Andersen Studio Kickstarter Diaries

SALEl Days during Sail Days at Andersen Studio Windjammer Days in Boothbay Harbor Maine is a festive Time. Take a trip down the road to East Boothbay and Ocean Point to stop by Andersen Studio and get a special 25% discount- OR use our coupon code online!

http://andersenstudiokisckstarterdiaries.blogspot.com/

www.andersenstudio.com

Boothbay Harbor in June is the time of the spectacular Windjammer Days when a fleet of fully rigged windjammers sail into the picturesque harbor On June 25th & 26th

There will many festivities,- music, parades, and places to dine but if you feel like getting away from the crowds, a drive down the winding road to East Boothbay and the stunny rocky coastline of  Ocean Point is a refreshing placet to commune with the water, air, earth, and sun.

Andersen Studio is about halfway point between the Harbor and Ocean Point, across from the Mill Pond- the image in our logo. you can't miss our big Blue & White sign!

We are throwing another great sale for  Windjammers Days 25% off ENTIRE ORDER ! Firsts and Seconds Included ! For , our email list subscribers, we are starting the sale NOW! Through the 26th. You can use our promo code WindSale online or in the showroom just by mentioning it.

STARTS: NOW AND GOES THROUGH JUNE 26th !

                       

This is a great sale on both first and seconds and you can order anything on our site but not every item is currently in stock and so we encourage you to call Elise at 1-855-350-4016 (TOLL FREE) or 207-350-4016 to get more information about what is in stock or production. 

While many items are ready to ship, some items have to be produced.

Please Use customer_service@andersenstudio.com to contact us by email.

BEST WISHES TO ALL!

The Life of Ceramics, Chapter Two: Preparing for an Historical Show.

                            Ceramic Vase inspired by Cycladic art, designed by Weston Neil Andersen

(designed sometime round about the 1980's)

Spring 2011 in Maine is cool and sunny with enough rainy days to keep the lawns green and the blossoms blossoming..

At Andersen Studio , we are pulling out the boxes of historical ceramics in preparation for the show at Studio 53 in downtown Boothbay Harbor, opening on May 25th. The work is very delicate and the glazes quite different from what we currently use. There are beautifully cast ceramic forms with double dipped glazes producing an interesting effect.

Pictured above are a pitcher, a vase with a downward sloping lip that can also function as a spout and the large size cruet or small wine decanter. All from the late forties or early fifties.

In contemporary times, creativity and innovation are frequently spoken about as the territory of new technology, leading some to view the world of studio potteries as a cult, albeit an ancient, classic and timeless one. Those who live the life of ceramics do with a personal passion for the process and the art. In the world of ceramics, Andersen Studio-Andersen Design is recognized for its designs and  history . The works which will be presented for the first time in this landmark show at Studio 53 in the picturesque village of Boothbay Harbor have a rarefied value within historical context.

                        

This form is based on the wine decanter.
The lip has been modified so that it
slopes downward and functions as a spout.
The form is dipped in two different glazes
to a very interesting effect.

          

As many of our personal collectors testify, Andersen Studio has a strong personal and cultural identity. Past enthusiasts rediscover Andersen Studio as an a intimate connection to their own personal mythology and as a cultural icon with the power to evoke memories of long ago times.

When Weston and Brenda Andersen began their career in the environs of New York City , they were part of a young designers movement that included Eva Zeisel, Weston's instructor and colleague, and Russel Wright, who twice invited Weston to apprentice. Then the youthful Andersen's art and design was focused on the functional form. When the Andersens moved to Maine, the natural coastal environment inspired the wild life series of sculptures. Ever since the Andersen's ceramic functional designs and stoneware nature art has been associated with life on the Maine coast.

Brenda Andersen was Weston's artistic partner,contributing sculptures and expressive decoration to the line. Brenda developed many repeatable patterns and she also manifested one of a kind spontaneous art work such as the platter shown above with its rigorous brushwork in the form of a tree.

Many of the ceramics in the up coming show are being displayed to the public for the very first time in over half a century- in the community that started the grass roots Andersen collectibles movement.

See links to other historical publications on Andersen Studio

Ceramic Life- Chapter One- Producing a Slip-cast Mug.

Weston Neil Andersen
Founder of Andersen Studio- Andersen Design

My father, Weston Neil Andersen, fell on the pavement last April and suffered a serious brain injury, from which he is still recovering. He says in a considered tone that they tell him he is 89 years old but he isn't sure that he really believes this. Neither age nor brain injury is a cause for my father to retire, and so I like to tell him, that Eva Zeisel, his instructor and colleague is now 104 years old.

We always serve Weston's coffee in one of the mugs that he designed and Andersen Studio produces. Dad often holds the mug out at arms lengths and with a sly smile he says "Now that guy is a good designer!".

Recently a couple of our favorite mugs were broken and so I decided to cast some new ones, as I too missed having my morning coffee in my favorite mugs. I thought of the pleasure Dad would take in drinking his coffee in a brand new mug.

Three mugs in the fettled green ware state
copyright Weston Neil  Andersen 1989 

As I was casting and fettling the new mugs I recalled that shortly before father fell that he spoke of an idea of doing a brochure of just the mugs and using it to market the mugs as a line onto themselves. I thought about how post-injury, Dad is trying to find a way to engage in the business but his language skills do not always meet the ideas he has floating around his head. It was then I decided to follow through on the idea Weston had been engaged in before he took a spill that led him to Maine Medical and then to the rehab center.

Weston Neil Andersen designed a beautiful series of mugs, which has never been made available to the market beyond our retail shop in East Boothbay, Maine. The design of the mugs are not suited to the "cookie cutter " presses used to manufacture mugs in China and other low labor cost countries. These are designs specifically suited to the handcrafted ceramic slip-casting method.

The slip-casting process begins with testing the liquid slip for it's water content using a measuring flask and a gram scale.The ideal measurement is around 176 -180. The liquid slip has to be of a consistency to easily and smoothly flow into and out of the mold's forms. If the slip has the right amount of water but is still too thick to flow easily in and out of the mold, the viscosity must be adjusted by adding a small amount of Darvan.

Once assured that the slip's viscosity is right, it is a wise idea to pour a test cast for twenty or thirty minutes to see the thickness that is produced after the liquid slip is pour out of the object. We find that our cobble makes a perfect testing form as it is an open form that will readily release moisture. After the piece is poured and dumped, one waits until it has dried enough to maintain its form, then one takes a flexible fettling knife that can easily be bent to accommodate any shape, and runs the bent knife along the upper edge of the mold leaving as little excess along the lip as possible. If the thickness looks good then one proceeds to fill the molds.

    
 Tea Cup with curving lip in green ware state after being fettled.
Copyright 1989 by Weston Neil Andersen

With Mugs I like to have a thin lip but not too thin as then the finished mug will easily chip. Sometimes one can take the green ware and even out the edge of the lip on a slab of marble with water poured over it, but as I was working on one of Dad's designs, what we call the Tea Cup, I noticed that the form is not intended to have a flat rim but that there is a quite graceful and subtle oval dip in the lip on the side of the cup used for drinking. This form has not been cast very often and it appeared that this pleasing detail was sometimes missed by the fettler.

Ideally the exact detail can be achieved by the slicing process that is applied to remove the extra clay from the mold defining the form of the lip. Sometimes, this may need a little adjustment. I have found that a fresh rolled piece of sandpaper is ideal for gently recreating the curve of the rim.

It is easy to break pieces during the fettling process, particularly if they have taken in moisture while working on them. A good fettler must have an awareness of when the form has reached that point of moisture when just holding the form with a slight amount of pressure can cause it to break in one's hands. The fettler must then have the wisdom to set the form aside to allow the moisture to release before finishing the piece

The curves in Weston's mug designs are beautiful and provide great satisfaction for the fettler who removes all the excess clay and mold marks to highlight the beauty of the form.

5 mugs in the fettled green ware state.
copyrighted by Weston Neil Andersen circa 1989
 

Once one has developed a familiarity with the form and what is needed to highlight the quality of the form, the next challenge for a production fettler  is to develop methods of achieving the quality in the shortest amount of time. This also involves an awareness of how far to go with the detail in the green ware and when it becomes futile because some details will be taken care of in the glazing process. A ceramic production requires synchronized team work. Each stage of the process affects and is affected by a later or earlier stages in the process.

2 mugs in  fettled greenware state.
Copyright Weston Neil Andersen circa 1989

Next - Decorating and Glazing the mugs after Bisque Firing 

This is an ideal project fpr collaboration with a ceramic slip-casting operation. See Andersen Studio's Vison statement.

Photography by Susan Mackenzie Andersen