The 11th Annual Los Angeles Pottery Show has now been and gone at the Convention Center in Pasadena, California. Two friends and I drove out from our respective parts of town on Saturday, January 23 and met up at the show. As it had been raining all week the views of the snow on the mountains on the drive out to Pasadena were breathtaking. I don’t recall seeing so much snow on such an extended area in all the time I have been living here. But then my memory for that kind of thing is admittedly short. Nevertheless, it was a sight to behold. And the Pottery Show was a sight to behold too, in its own unique way. Over one hundred dealers were represented selling diverse items such as sixties dinnerware to figurines made in occupied Japan to vintage Batchelder tiles to contemporary ceramic art. It was an interesting mix. Porcelain poodles and ash trays in the shape of eye glasses that I normally would not give a second glance seemed fascinating in that venue.
Most of the pieces were California-made, or at least of US origin. Of course, I was hoping for a collection of Minton tiles to jump out at me, but that didn’t happen. I believe there was one Minton tile although the name “Stoke” stamped on the reverse was barely visible. However, not a tile I would have purchased anyway.
One tile did attract my attention. (Image above.) I walked away and came back to it several times. I was fascinated by the design. When I saw it at the show I thought it was a Neptune motif surrounded by stylized dolphins. The vendor told me it was probably from the early 1800s but I doubt that. I would attribute it to the Victorian period. But I have no idea who the maker is. Nevertheless while we were eating lunch I decided if I didn’t purchase the tile I would regret that decision more than the decision to buy it.
So now it is in my possession. After studying it a little more closely I realize the design has nothing to do with Neptune. I believe (but am not positive) it is symbolic of one of the Dauphins of France (mostly from the 1400s to the 1700s). Kings Louis XI through Louis XVI were given the title of Dauphin while they were in line to receive the crown. The disembodied head in the center of the tile may represent Louis XIV, as he was known as the Sun King, and that title would explain the rays emanating from his head. I am not sure of the significance of the wings, the basket of fruit, or the dragons. I’ll have to do some more research on those symbols. The dolphins, fleur-de-lis, and stylized shells are fairly obvious.
The more I study the tile the more confident I feel that it does indeed depict King Louis XIV. I wish I knew who made the tile and why it was made. There are no maker symbols on the reverse, just the grid pattern, presumably to hold the tile in place on a wall. Yet there are holes drilled into the back as if the tile was used as a trivet (although they would surely be more evenly distributed if that was the case), or perhaps to hold the tile on a wall where it could not be glued properly—ah, who knows? As you can imagine, I am intrigued by this tile and cannot just walk away from its mystery. I will be keeping an eye open for more information as time goes by, but for now I must move on to other things. If anybody out there can help me read the symbols I would be grateful.
(Photos copyright roslyn m wilkins)
Saturday night the 
The great food included spicy jambalaya to turkey meatballs to chicken wings to tasty salads to bread straight out of the oven to cheese and crackers to homemade and homegrown guacamole to cup cakes to cookies to chocolatey things—well, you get the idea! Along with the goodies we asked members to bring a piece of their own artwork or something that someone else had created to briefly comment on. This turned out really well as personally I enjoyed all of the short talks. At our regular meetings we have mini-shows where each artist brings a piece to be voted on but we don’t get to hear the story behind it. 
My cat Friday did his usual job of greeting everybody at the door. At one point he escaped outside and was welcoming all the guests out on the sidewalk. That cat loves people and he goes to great lengths to make sure they love him back!
Some of us were discussing that as creative types we sometimes have uneasiness about dealing with large groups of people and are more comfortable with one-on-one situations. I have to put my hand up there! I find all the vibes from parties such as this one almost overwhelming but I have learned to take each person on an individual basis—and the people who are attracted to our group are exceptionally comfortable to be around. So, if you are an artistic anthropophobic you will be very welcome!
One of the most rewarding facets of my life is being a member of the Culver City Art Group. We have activities such as gallery and museum visits, general meetings with mini-shows, art demonstrations, an annual art exhibit, and our famous Holiday Potluck. I have made some wonderful friends of members past and present. If you are already a member, tell all your friends. If not, why not join us now?
Although I had a whole laundry list of things I should have done (including laundry) I decided to spend the last day of 2009 doing something enjoyable and meaningful. I took the bus up to LACMA (the Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and spent several hours looking at art—about the most enjoyable and meaningful activity I can think of!
Serendipitously (if that wasn’t a word before, it is now), shortly after the Meléndez tour, a docent tour of the ceramics in the Pavilion for Japanese Art was scheduled (with a very enthusiastic docent obviously in love with the subject). I don’t know how often this particular tour specifically highlighting the ceramics is offered but I have not seen it on the calendar before or since. Those of us lucky enough to be in attendance were treated to a history of Japanese ceramic art from the coil-built Neolithic period through the contemporary work of current artists. I was especially intrigued by the early eighteenth century 
During the past dozen years I have visited a few places from watching the leaves change color in New England to enjoying a gondola ride along the Venice Canals to hiking down the Grand Canyon in the hot hot hot sun to marveling at the clear view of Denali (Mount McKinley) in Alaska (that not many visitors get to see behind the constant cloud cover). The past couple of years I've had to curtail my trips far from home. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Fortunately, I took plenty of photos of my travels and now my favorite pasttime is to paint my memories on to ceramic tiles. As I look through my photos for suitable subjects I realize I could spend the rest of my life painting a new tile every day and still not get through everything. One idea sparks another which sparks another...
Sometimes one photo by itself provides the basis for a tile design, sometimes I make a collage of several photos, cutting and pasting here and there. Always I have to make some major design decisions stuffing a 5" x 7" view into a 6" x 6" tile, but after some pushing and shoving it always works out.
It was two days away from the Culver City Art Group Holiday Art Show, I was about to do my second firing of a few tiles that needed tweaking. But running my little electric kiln is very expensive so I prefer to have a full kiln as much as possible. As it takes about a week to paint one of my detailed tiles (from concept in Photoshop to drawing on the tile to painting, outlining, and final glazing before firing) I decided to have some fun. Not that creating all my tiles isn't fun—just intense and time-consuming.
It's Monday morning and another Culver City Art Group Holiday Art Show has come and gone. It was a lot of fun (as usual) and I am very grateful for the people who took time out of their busy schedules to stop by and visit. This year was so hectic with all kinds of projects I didn't even have time to send out my own invitations! I must be better organized next year (yeah, right).
