Studio Potter 2015 Volume 43 Number 2 Summer/Fall 2015 | Page 8

8

Studio Potter

Word
FROM THE EDITOR

Sea change. This buzzword came to mind
lately as an appropriate introduction to
this issue. Like some of you, I know its
general definition – a significant transformation – and that it was the title of a
Beck album some years ago (thirteen to be
exact – ouch.). Others of you may already
know whence it came. As I researched the
etymology of this idiom, I found that its
origin aligned not only with this journal’s
evolution, but also with a generational shift
of American ceramists, as veteran clay
slingers and wheels make way for their
techy grandchildren and Makerbots.

But never mind alternative rock artists and
digitally printed pots, let’s talk Shakespeare
for a moment. In The Tempest, Ariel sings
to Ferdinand,
Full fathom five thy father lies; 
Of his bones are coral made; 
Those are pearls that were his eyes: 
Nothing of him that doth fade, 
But doth suffer a sea-change 
Into something rich and strange.

Her song is the origin of the phrase, set in a deeply
compelling account of metamorphosis – bones and
eyes to coral and pearls. Based on its etymological
roots, sea change is an irreversible process of structural transformation in which suffering and loss are
antecedents to strength and beauty. The resulting body
bears those qualities not superficially but intrinsically.
Surface, by definition, implies that something exists
beneath it, but not separate from it. There are many
analogies about clay and the ceramic process that
could be explored here, but a sea change relates to surface and our pursuits as clay workers in a broader way.
It describes a fundamental revision of one’s perception
or of the premise that one’s work or lifestyle is predicated upon and manifests in a visible form.
You won’t find a plethora of techniques and glaze
formulas in the following pages, but you will find
stories of personal or professional change and growth,
each delving a few fathoms deep. These writings are
underscored by fresh, retro-modern visuals, which are
a brief nod back and a first step toward a new SP that
I hope all readers, from boomers to millennial ̰