Clay

As summer comes to a close, some wonderful exhibitions are closing, too, while others are just opening. Make sure to check out these exhibits if you haven't yet (and maybe pop in for another peek if you already have).

Rose Slivka's groundbreaking article on ceramics, published in 1961 shortly after she became editor of Craft Horizons, highlighted the movement of clay artists toward the abstract. Peter Voulkos and others, like Paul Soldner and John Mason, used the medium to create very challenging work. Colors, shapes, textures, and size were juxtaposed in sculptural work against classical functional forms. The marriage of these Abstract Expressionist ideas and clay resulted in big change, and Slivka's article cemented this movement in the greater art world.

Andrew Gilliatt's latest body of work makes me want to scream, in that "I scream for ice cream" kind of way. I don't really scream for ice cream, but never mind that. When I look at his tumblers, cereal bowls, mugs, and platters - elegant, iterative forms, yet each one unique in its imaginative combination of colored slip, glazes, resist patterns, and decals - I'm transported back to the ice cream shop in the town where I grew up, face and hands pressed against the glass case of my monitor, mesmerized by all the sweet options.