2014 “Contemporary Ceramics of British Columbia”, Ceramics Now Association Magazine, Romania, Issue #3
First presented at the 1st Cluj International Ceramic Conference in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. I was invited by Vasi Hirdo, editor, to write a survey of the distinct contemporary ceramicists in BC.
2010 “A Special Place, International Ceramics Studio”, Technical Magazine, Issue #31, Australia USA
Article about the ICS / NCS in Kecskemet, Hungary. Its history as the earliest studio ceramics residency in Europe, 1976, and from behind the Iron Curtain, and its role as a facilitator for advancing ceramics. Written after a 3-month residency.
Available on Technical Magazine
Review, Debra Sloan Creates Life-Size Dogs, CeramicsTECHNICAL, No. 27, 2008, Debra Sloan
Available on Ceramics TECHNICAL
2005 “Perception of Craft/Design/Fine Art”, Metal Arts Guild of Canada Mag. Vol.20 #1
An early speculative treatise about perception and values placed on the material arts versus what has been referred to as the fine arts.
The First Fifty Years – 1955-2005
Fusion Magazine, Volume #29 #3 2005
Written and submitted by Heather Cairns and Debra Sloan
The First Fifty Years of the BC Potters Guild 1955 – 2005
August 2005
By Debra Sloan
I had the month of April in the new studio on the ground floor of the Beagle Cross Residence – I was the first person to use the studio, there was fresh sawdust on the countertops. I had given the project some thought in terms of ways to attach a horse and rider to a tile, or to build the horse free of the tile. I had an earthenware ridge tile for measurement and had to anticipate the shrinkage that would occur in the cone 10 firing. I used some throwing clay taken from the shed, and added molochite, as it was the only grit I could find. At first I really didn’t know what I was going to do – what kind of people on the horses etc. At this stage I still had not idea of the equestrian ridge tile history or any idea of the context of this project – that research had not been completed yet. So this was still a personal project. I made a horse with a pro to-human figure on it and became very nervous about where this was going – but Matt Tyas walked in and said that looks like Hamada – and then I knew what I wanted to do – portraits of the main historic players at the Leach – Bernard Leach, Shoji Hamada and Janet Leach. I also made an RCMP – Canadian Mountie and a couple of unspecific riders. Most of the figures were unclothed, and Alex asked if I would at least put some clothes on Leach – so I made Leach in Tweed. I found it was much easier to make detached horses, as there were problems with shrinkage and drag when they were attached to the roof tile. I did notice that the legs of the horses attached to the traditional tiles were completely blended into the tile and very thick. here was no need to make a fancy surface as these were supposed to be placed high up on a roof, so I made sigalattas of the all the clays at the Leach that I could find. As time was short all the pieces went into the bisque kiln still wet, and 6 of the 7 pieces survived. After that it was fitting them into the kiln, sharing space with the Leach standard ware. There were a few cracks here and there, but I felt pretty lucky. Matt Tyas organized an exhibition – “Across the Pond” with the four North American visiting potters of the last few years, Glenn Lewis, Warren McKenzie, Jeff Ostreich, and myself.
T bones arrived safe and sound and on time. Modern travel can be amazing. We walked straight to Caezar’s for dins en route back from the train…..a great way for T. to start his travels. Sarah Williams from Boston, has just arrived for a one month residency. She will work in the ‘fishbowl’ or ‘birdcage’studio.
She hopes a perfect fit. The next day was consumed with getting ready for and heading out on the big bus for the opening of the ‘Art from the Cloister of Clay’.
The opening was quite formal, as befitted the occasion, with music, wine and speeches. Emese taking her pictures, Janos talking with reporters, Jona greeting visitors, and Marinann distributing flowers to friends from the ICS. Everyone who could come, came. The Exhibition was in the planning stages during the time that Janos and Jona withdrew from their involvement with the ICS. They proceeded despite many difficulties to curate a fascinating exhibition.
The exhibition, made up of 260 plus works taken from the ICS Collection, showcases the most important Hungarian and International artists who have worked at the ICS over the last 40 years. Janos and Jona curated the exhibition to emphasize the cultural importance of this unique world-class collection of contemporary ceramics. The Collection came into being because of their leadership and vision. The catalogue supports and re-initerates the importance of this collection for the Hungarian people and for people interested in ceramics worldwide. We all hope that the various levels of Governments and funding agencies are paying attention.
Terry and I spent the last day packing, finding my trunks amazingly heavy, and running out of bubble wrap. I pulled Annie’s Tribute out of a trunk, and happily handed her over to Jakab’s care…he often came in and gave her a pat. She was last seen in the back of his car! Jakab left a bottle of Palinka on my worktable, so I nipped off to have a comforting Palinka with Zsolt, Balzs and Marton. Then emptied my fridge of wine, beer, eggs, sausages and all, and asked Marton and Balzs, a great cook, if they would kindly whip us up a dinner…..it was fabulous – a classic Hungarian ‘casterole’ and good company – with a rainstorm outside accompanied by thunder and lightening.
Once again the Studio has quieted down. Botos Balazs and Stohner Marton continue to make repairs in the old glass studio – a great project to restore the old glass studios. They have been working away at this for months. It will make a wonderful space for their future slip-cast business. Zsolt Szegedi, the Studio Director, has been facilitating many repairs around the ICS.
I spent a delightful week with Ban Marinann as my studio neighbour. We scoured the Kecskemet flea market with Kahlil Irving and David Wolf, kindly acting as sherpas, carrying rugs Mariann had bargained for. I found some wonderful pots and charming aprons. Mariann also took me to our local market – she knew where to find the best bread, coffee, eggs etc…..and we took in a movie – a beautiful old art deco film house steps from the ICS…and we have had lots of fab asparagus soups. Bibo gifted Mariann with 2 baby chicks, and Kis Jakab and Kiraly Klari came up with a chicken coop pronto.
Sadly for those of us remaining at the Studio, David V. Wolf returned to Israel this week. I have never seen such a carefully packed trunk! Wish I had taken a picture.
Jakab, Klari and Balazs have been working all week packing up the selected works for the major exhibition – “Art From the Cloister of Clay” at the Iparmuveszeti Muzeum, the Applied Arts Mueum in Budapest. They have made at least 4 trips back and forth to Budapest in the truck and trailer. It is an important exhibition for the ICS, opening on June 16th…on till September 1. Meanwhile I was working hard to finish up work for the last kiln…..and ended up with so much work I filled the Lazer and a small hi-fire electric. It is a somewhat melancholy time, winding up a residency, thinking about deconstructing a temporary home. However I am looking forward to Terry’s arrival in a few days!