Debra Sloan

On April 8th, Mary was the first guest artist to arrive since my arrival 0n March 11th. So it had been a quiet month!  This week the ICS filled up with teachers from Turkey, and workshop participants from Australia, Poland, Hungary, and Austria.  Mariann Ban was working with her Sound of Music, and Tim Andrews had his Naked Raku workshop. Mary and I were getting a bisque done and trailed after Mariann as she took people to various museums around Kecskemet.

Tim’s raku process seems to be very much about working with controlled forms and careful surfaces layered with

slip and glaze, and then exposing the work to the vagarities of the firing.

Started Annie’s Tribute, as Terry, Max and Jasper took her for her last appointment early Tuesday morning.  She was nearly 16, and only just managing the stairs, and not much else.  So we are dog-less, and I am sure Terry misses her ‘presence’,  it took many forms – olfactory, spacial, and special object-leavings.

Work is building up, and Mary is already amassing her pottery, and starting her paper clay process.  I am playing with the slips on the cast standing babies, and want to make a forest.

Making more moulds, spending time with the exchange students, Kahlil Irving, and David Wolf in the plaster room and at the Kisbugaci for goulash…, first cone 10 tests from gas kiln, some new work started, and setting of to find Mary.  She got lucky, and the sun shone on her first afternoon, so we has to stop for a beer at our fav place.

Zsolt, as the new ceramic director, has been concerned about the repairs needed at the ICS – however there is no funding for this.  Since I arrived,  I have seen Zsolt working with the students, restoring walls, painting and making repairs, often on weekends, working pro-bono.

So this Saturday was designated a Studio clean-up day, and word was put out.  Artists from all over town, the students, and residents went to work.  Staff members like Emese and Klara as well [Jakab has been home with a cold this week] .  Bibo came and spent the entire day cooking Goulash, cabbage rolls and some cakes and some wonderful rolls. WE had a great feast at the end, with palinka and wine and Bibo’s wonderful food.  The painting and cement restoration will be ongoing, but already the Studio has a nice fresh look.

Went for a nice long walk, as it was not raining, and took pics of some of the edifices leading up to and around the town square. It was pretty deserted around 1 pm, but when I came back around 4, the sun was out and so were the brides, and the town pillow fight was amping up.

In the studio. I have been working on a baby and dog combo, and on some more buildings.  Have heaps of slips to work with, some bisque ware results.  Tests are ready for the next glaze kiln..hopefully Monday.  Then I will have an idea of what I have made, colour wise.

Late on Wednesday night the Asuur group arrived at the ICS after escaping a snow storm in Poland as they were traveling from Tallin. They parked their caravan in the back and prepared for their interactive ‘raku’ firing that they were presenting to the ICS on Friday night.  It was a great event, with lots of people and the media.  Centre and front was their ingenious travelling book-like kiln. When opened there are fired symbolic shapes to hold small offerings during the firing.  If you look closely you will see a baby in the lower right side, glowing away.  I asked them to let the baby travel with them.

The Asuur group is traveling to ceramic centres around Eastern Europe [see www.asuurkeraamika.ee] for route, to celebrate their 20 year anniversary, and to embrace ceramicists everywhere.  After the opening of the kiln, and a glowing

raku heart being taken out and presented to the ICS, we went on to enjoy a wonderful Goulash made by Zsolt Szegedi, and his students,  and his wife, Ildiko’s delicious dessert, a Kecskemet speciality called the lazy wife’s dessert, and fab Palinka made by Jakab’s Uncle. Tomorrow Asuur Keraamika travels off to Croatia.

I have been trying to incorporate the bodies and architectural backgrounds, and have longed to use the hands up babies as caryatids. Here is a goup holding up a friieze, but obviously there is too much weight, and is so top heavy that it snaps off the babies at the ankles.  Making it upside down still presents difficulties…so I took pics as the babies holding up the  frieze was still  standing, and then had to tear it down.  It seems irresistible to add a few Canadian animals to the Euro-mix.  Now I will try and place the babies inside the walls, and throwing in some modern architecture too….These are time consuming to construct, and I am not sure whether they are worth the trouble in terms of conveying what I want

We had more snow, a blow-in-the-face snowfall, but makes for great pics. Its snowed for 2 and a half days, and took another day or 2 to clear off.

It is now Good Friday, and I am in my 3^rd week.  Mary has just arrived in London for 10 days before coming here.

I have been working 10-12 hours a day before heading off to dins, most nights, with David Vladimir Wolf, from Israel, and Kahlil Irving, from Kansas City Art Institute, both exchange students.

It took 12 full days to break down the clays to make slips, add colourants, and make the tests.  I used both Herend, high-fire, and the white Creaton, mid-fire, as bases.  I used about 10 small babies as tests, and a couple of mid-size babies.  I also made tiles with the tests. [Klara found some of my old tests on the red Creaton, from 2010, that I had left behind.  I will also leave these behind for anyone who prefers slips to glaze.] During those 12 days I also made about 13 moulds, 25 casts, and a couple of pieces from the casts.  But I would note to myself, that 12-14 days are still needed to establish the beginnings of a palette…and they are only in a bisque kiln now, not gas fired yet.  So everything I do for the next week is done on faith that my mixtures will fit and the colours will be acceptable.

Last night, despite being exhausted form making countless grant applications this month,  Emese took David,  Kahlil and I to a concert at the Helyszin Reformatus Ujkollegium , the handsome Calvinist School, on the Square, where her son attended.  The Turkish ambassador had arranged a concert with, Sefika Kutluer, and Varallyay Agnes, a Turkish flutist and an Hungarian pianist, both wonderful players.  The hall was packed, with dignitaries and music lovers alike. Ms Kutluer’s flute has a round rich tone, and we parituclarily liked the Turkish piece by Ekrem Zeki Un. Cultural events in Kecskemet are so well attended, and with people who are involved and interested.

This weekend, I am alone in this building, which is novel, and rather nice, and David and Kahlil have the student building to themselves, as everyone has gone home for the Easter long weekend.  I look forward to a lot of bells on Easter Sunday

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It has been like a home-coming, with easy flights, and Steve waiting at the Budapest airport. The drive was long enough to get caught up on some ICS news, and suddenly back in the courtyards and saying hello to old friends. I was given the same studio, with a space for Mary when she arrives in a month. It seems remarkable to be back and how familiar it feels.

There was huge hustle and bustle that afternoon, as Roswitha Geyer was preparing food for Imre Schrammel’s opening that night  - to mark his 80th birthday. It was unexpected to see them both here. A huge crowd arrived by 6 pm to the Museion Gallery. After seeing the exhibition I went off to Kisbugaci Etterem for goulash and beer.

Next day started right away with mould making – brought 4 babies with me, and then will make moulds of  ’city’ components – sidewalks, walls, trees etc

Snow started on Thursday night, and we were nicely snowed in for the Hungarian Holiday of  the Uprising on March 15th [1848]. All celebrations were cancelled. I had to do a second set of moulds but have been casting away. I look froward to compiling the mould images this next week.