Ceramics

Instructors at the Burbank Creative Arts Center are debunking the myth that "those who can't do, teach." Ten ceramics teachers will display their works at an opening at the Creative Arts Center Gallery on Friday. Longtime ceramic instructor Judy Springborn's love of sculpture began while she was enrolled as an art history major during the 1960s at UCLA. "One of the requirements was to take a ceramics class, so I took a class and loved it," Springborn said. After college, she got married and started raising a family.

The impressive array of ceramics sold last weekend at the Roger Barkley Community Center attracted about 3,000 buyers from all over Los Angeles County. The success of the Annual Winter Ceramic sale is attributed to the high quality of the ceramic pieces and the reasonable pricing, said Aaron Solomon, executive director of the Roger Barkley Community Center in La Cañada Flintridge. "We've had huge growth over the past 40 years," said H. Jean Taylor, former ceramics department director.

After years of friendship, clay artists Ricky Maldonado and Porntip Sangvanich are exhibiting their ceramics for the first time together at the Creative Arts Center Gallery in Burbank. Maldonado and Sangvanich, both from Los Angeles, first met at Otis College of Art and Design more than 10 years ago where Sangvanich was teaching. Maldonado never had her as a teacher, but he would ask her for help. "I answered everyone's questions," Sangvanich said. "I didn't even remember him when we met later on."

Two women new to the pottery field are getting a chance to show their work alongside professionals in an upcoming show in Burbank. Burbank resident Philleen Meskin took up ceramics about two years ago, and Heather Rosenman of Glendale has been taking ceramics classes for 2 1/2 years. Meskin and Rosenman are members of the American Ceramics Society Southern California Design Chapter and will have their work in the President’s Show opening on Monday at the Burbank Creative Arts Center Gallery.

Departing seniors put up a ceramic mural at Glendale High School Friday depicting their drive toward the future and departure from the past. The relief displays a landscape from the perspective of a student at the driver's seat on the road of life, ceramics teacher Christine Rose said. "We all came up with the idea, since we're graduating and it's the perfect time to look into the future," said 17-year-old senior Lina Tovmassian, who was one of the advanced ceramics class students who helped create the work.

For 26-year-old Serina Nakazawa, the best part of creating ceramics is the element of surprise. After forming a piece of pottery out of clay and decorating and glazing it, the color and appearance of the object can change dramatically after it is heated in a kiln, Nakazawa explained. It’s sort of like opening a gift that’s a total surprise. “Until I open the box, I never know what’s inside,” she said. Ceramics proved surprising to Nakazawa in another way recently, when she found out in late February that she’d won the grand prize in the Third International Small Teapot Competition at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo.

Chatter filled the air in a Hoover High School ceramics class as students sculpted on potter’s wheels and moved between workstations Thursday. The atmosphere was busy and productive but simultaneously calming, junior Katherine Brouwer said. “It’s my most relaxing class of the day,” she said. “When you’re pounding the clay, it gets the stress out.” Thursday’s beginner class was making clay boxes that had to incorporate a natural theme, a task that some students had excelled at, one crafting a multilayered bonsai tree onto the lid of his box and another using a lizard-shaped form, as if one had crawled onto the lid. “It helps the students to think spatially, as opposed to working on a [two-dimensional]

Consuelo Hernandez crocheted her first doily at the age of 9. Hernandez, now 76 and living in Glendale, continues to crochet, stitch and needlepoint as a hobby. She has created dozens of blankets, scarves, hats, tablecloths and other decorative pieces. After Hernandez learned the skill, she made dozens of functional pieces for her own home. Instead of buying them, Hernandez knitted sweaters for her children and crocheted tablecloths for her dining table. When she sits down to do her needlework, Hernandez can spend anywhere from a week to three months working.

Natalie Richardson has not let the slow loss of her sight prevent her from leading an enriching life, and for that she thanks the Braille Institute. The Glendale resident has dealt with Retinitis pigmentosa, a narrowing of the field of vision, her whole life. “I’ve always been partially blind, but as you get older, with what we call RP, it gets worse and worse,” Richardson said. “And your periphery becomes less and now my center [vision] is almost shot.

In the 21 years since Ceramic Castle opened, droves of customers have made this bastion of clay and painted imagination their creative home. Operated by Ellen and Bill Francis, the shop claims customers who've been regulars for up to 20 years. On a recent Tuesday morning, several regulars were at work painting clay objects, many of which were gifts, in a weekly workshop. Thelma Agras, 82, was painting a bride and groom cake topper for a relative's wedding when the head of the groom detached and fell, drawing several laughs.

A local tradition, the Community Center of La Cañada Flintridge Ceramics Department's Annual Spring Sale, will continue this weekend with more than 50 local potters selling their original, handmade work. Ceramics students from the center and Glendale Community College will sell their bowls, cups and other creations from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Proceeds from the sale, which takes place at the center, go toward the individual artists and the center itself.

Natalie Richardson has not let the slow loss of her sight prevent her from leading an enriching life, and for that she thanks the Braille Institute. The Glendale resident has dealt with Retinitis pigmentosa, a narrowing of the field of vision, her whole life. “I’ve always been partially blind, but as you get older, with what we call RP, it gets worse and worse,” Richardson said. “And your periphery becomes less and now my center [vision] is almost shot.

President-elect Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton and incoming Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former First Lady Nancy Reagan each have ceramic works created by local artists in their collections. The works were sent to them last month along with gourmet food items and fine wines in holiday gift baskets from a prominent world leader, whose name Fancifull Gift Baskets shop owner Terry August couldn’t reveal. The Hollywood shop owner selected the bowls and vases at the Community Center of La Cañada Flintridge’s Christmas sale.

Chatter filled the air in a Hoover High School ceramics class as students sculpted on potter’s wheels and moved between workstations Thursday. The atmosphere was busy and productive but simultaneously calming, junior Katherine Brouwer said. “It’s my most relaxing class of the day,” she said. “When you’re pounding the clay, it gets the stress out.” Thursday’s beginner class was making clay boxes that had to incorporate a natural theme, a task that some students had excelled at, one crafting a multilayered bonsai tree onto the lid of his box and another using a lizard-shaped form, as if one had crawled onto the lid. “It helps the students to think spatially, as opposed to working on a [two-dimensional]

Saturday night’s Empty Bowls event at Crescenta Valley United Methodist Church was deemed a success by event organizers. Over $6,500 was raised, with the money being divided among the food pantries Friends In Deed House, Fishes and Loaves of Glendale, and Christians Concerned for Burma. Bowls in a variety of colors and styles were available for purchase for $15, said Crescenta Valley United Methodist Church Pastor Paige Eaves. People filled their bowls with a soup of their choice, provided by area restaurants, including Dish in La Cañada, Gourmet a Go Go in Montrose and Leo’s All Star Sports Bar & Grill in La Crescenta.

Jeanne Lavieri’s empty ceramic bowls were a symbol, she said. The more than 600 handmade bowls were to be sold along with servings of soup Saturday at the Crescenta Valley United Methodist Church’s Empty Bowls event, an attempt to raise money for struggling local nonprofits. “The empty bowl you can take home as a symbol of hunger,” said Lavieri, a pottery instructor who spearheaded the local effort. Empty Bowls is a concept that was created in the Midwest and eventually copied by fundraisers globally, Lavieri said.

Crescenta Valley United Methodist Church will present its first Empty Bowls — Hope Not Hunger fundraising and silent auction event from 5 to 9 p.m. Nov. 22 at the church. Proceeds from the event will go to assist the food pantries Friends In Deed House, based in Pasadena; Fishes and Loaves of Glendale; and Christians Concerned for Burma. Volunteers at Crescenta Valley High School and the Community Center of La Cañada Flintridge have, since April, made the bowls that will be sold at Saturday’s event.

The Glendale News-Press visited Dunsmore Elementary School in La Crescenta, and asked students in a summer enrichment ceramics class: “What is your favorite ceramics work that you’ve made this summer, and why?”   “My favorite is the one we just made — faces, because you can make any kind of faces or you.” MINSCO YANG, 11         “Probably the first thing we did, which was the pinch pots, because it was kind of an easy thing to do for me.” MICHELLE RASIC, 11           “Probably the first little pot we made because it was fun to make, and I made three of them.