2015-06-20 - Saturday - Peter Lenzo in Columbia

Saturday Ju-Ian and I went to Columbia, SC to hear a talk by Peter Lenzo and his son Joe at the If Gallery. They were exhibiting a collection of face pots they collaborated on in 2000-2002. Joe had a major influence on the direction Peter took with his work and this exhibit is celebrating that collaboration.

It was a great talk by two men whose work I greatly admire.

You can revisit the 2008 Peter and Joe workshop Ju-Ian and I attended in Rock Hill here.

Peter and Joe discussing their process.

On the way out of town I snapped this photo of the
Oliver Gospel Mission which is coincidentally on
Assembly Street.

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October 12 - First face

I have been meaning to try making faces since I attended Peter Lenzo's workshop in 2008.

I finally got around to it.

It's not bad, but it needs a lot more refinement.  Hopefully it's the first of many so I have a chance to get better at it.  Those are porcelain eyes, BTW.

I don't know who he is, but he's a bit smirky.

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2009-09-26 Saturday - Piedmont Pottery Festival

Saturday Minke, Melissa, Joe and I went to the Piedmont Pottery Festival in McConnells, SC in Historic Brattonsville. There were many traditional potters in attendance with a big emphasis on face jugs. It was a drizzly, soggy day, but it didn't seem to affect anyone's mood as everyone was in good spirits and buying and selling pottery.

I checked in with Adrienne Dellinger, Corine Guseman and Hal Dedmond. I stopped by to talk to Chad Smith whom I met at Hal's recent firing. I finally got to meet Michel Bayne and see his pottery in person. I talked to Michael Ball whom I met at the Mint Museum sale and I regret not getting around to check in with Brad Lail whom I also met at the Mint.

A wonderful surprise was meeting up with Peter Lenzo in front of Adrienne's booth. We had a nice conversation and I was pleased to find out that he hasn't stopped at 100 pots, but that he is currently on pot 103. In his words, "Well, I finished 100 and I was still alive so I thought I'd keep going." He currently has a show in Detroit where he once attended school and the pieces were selling well. He also told me that the piece he created at our workshop last year came out great and that he sold it for a good price. I would have loved to have seen the finished piece and I'm glad it sold.

He swelled with pride when he told me that (his son) Joe has developed quite the touch with clay and is making some impressive face jugs. Joe is not self-conscious of leaving features at the gesture stage where most of us would have to tweak it to make it more "finished". I understood completely: sometimes a gesture is enough. Something I still need to learn.

I also told Mr. Lenzo that Greg Scott and I have adopted his name as a verb when adding pieces to a pot as in "Lenzoing". "I'm going to Lenzo this thing onto my pot." He really got a charge out of that. I'm glad he liked it. It meant a lot.

I made two purchases that I will upload later (too tired tonight).

After slogging around in the mud and making our connections and purchases we decided it was time for lunch. We stopped at Groucho's Deli and picked up sandwiches before heading back to Joe and Melissa's for lunch and some of Joe's gourmet microbrewery beers. The food was good, the beer was delicious and the company and conversation was phenomenal. We also got a tour of their pottery collection, their comfortable home, the pottery shed, and gardens. Thanks Melissa and Joe for a great day!

Joe talking to Michel Bayne.

Mr. Peter Lenzo on the move.
Adrienne Dellinger and Hal Dedmond
look on from Adrienne's booth.

Adrienne staying dry.

Melissa, Joe, Minke, and yours truly.

Minke sitting at the coolest table at Joe and Melissa's.
It looks like a sideboard but table
slides out and you add five leaves.

Joe discussing pottery and pictures with Minke.

Melissa, Joe, and Minke eating
and sampling gourmet beers.

Peter Lenzo Workshop

Today for the second time in as many months, we were treated to some fine hospitality by Bob Hasselle and company at the Rock Hill Pottery Center. The last time it was for the Peter Rose workshop, this time for Peter Lenzo's.

I already mentioned in a previous post that I am fascinated by Peter Lenzo's face jugs and now I am equally impressed with the man who makes them. The life and spirit that he imparts in the pieces is amazing. He starts off with a simple thrown form and in twenty minutes, it's got a life of its own. In another twenty, it's refined to museum quality, but it's in the next little while that it becomes a whimsical, haunting, narrative. He achieves this final step by adding all manner of "found items" to the piece and making it work as a unified statement. It is an amazing process to observe.

When he talks about his "found items" his eyes sparkle. It could be the porcelain cats and dogs he found at a thrift store or shards of broken pottery he found on a walk or unearthed doll parts from the former East Germany or even 800+ year old Mayan pottery pieces. Anything and everything is fair game when he's telling his story in clay. Peter brought quite a few of his treasures to show us before using some of them on his work.

Not only did we get to watch Peter work, but we got to see him work with his son Joe. Joe, who's twelve, was right by his father's side making a sculpture of his own. Joe's mom, Virginia was there to help out as well.

It was truly inspirational and a privilege to meet Peter, observe his work, and interact with him today. My mind is racing with all the possibilities he's got me thinking about, and I will be watching where I walk. You never know what you'll miss if you don't.

Peter's counting down from 100 pots and I believe he said today's was 57. I hope he gets as much enjoyment out of his next 56, I know everyone else will.

Thank you Mr. Lenzo.

Just beginning the forming.

Closer.

Eyes and nose taking shape.

Peter and Joe.

A different perspective.

More detail.

A finished product next to a work in progress.

Greg admiring the piece.

Joe's piece is coming along nicely.

Peter starts on another leather-hard piece.

A chapeau.

Some underglaze and now the "found objects".

Both artists working.

More visual storytelling.

Everyone helps Joe.

Hard at work.

Getting there...

The finished (for today) product.

The second face.

Joe's piece.

Following are some finished pieces that Peter brought along.
Some are low-fire and some are fired to cone 10.

Finally here are some videos of the work completed today.

Peter's piece.

Joe's piece.

For more about Peter Lenzo, read here.
For more of his face jugs, go here.
For some of his earlier work, go here.

You can see all my pictures from the workshop here.

Workshop tomorrow!

I am looking forward to the Peter Lenzo workshop tomorrow at the Rock Hill Pottery Center in Rock Hill, SC. I am fascinated by this man's face jugs. They are real sculptural pieces and then he adds layers of "found objects" on top.

Check some out here.

I was reading here that he is suffering from terminal epilepsy and is counting down to his last 100 pots. I am very moved by that, as I can't imagine putting a finite limit on my pottery. I'm sure it must be a painful thing to come to face. After all, we all have a limit --we just don't know which number it will be. Mr. Lenzo has defined his.

Learning of Mr. Lenzo and going to this workshop at this time is somewhat ironic since I have set a goal to make 100 pots this class session. I will be counting up while he is counting down.