Joseph Pintz

When I finally opened up the September issue of Ceramics Monthly a few days ago, I ran into some very familiar work. Joseph Pintz, one of NCECA's Emerging Artists of 2009, mostly handbuilds utilitarian objects. On one hand his 'pottery', while slightly clunky, is completely usable, on the other hand however, the domestic tools he builds become sculpture as the weight of Pintz interpretation of these objects is far heavier than the objects themselves. What first caught my eye about the artist's work years ago at the Red Lodge Clay Center, was how minimalist and how rustic his pieces were. Yet they were coated in a delicious glaze that was reminiscent of a bright sugar glaze one might find on a cookie or small cake. My mom fell instantly in love with them, commissioning from me what she called Flintstones Pottery. And that's what Pintz has created here, a body of work that harks back equally to primitive society and nostalgic culture. I love it.

P.S. Pintz has been kind enough to share with Ceramics Monthly reader a couple of his glaze recipes and a clay body recipe. Totally gonna try the glaze.

(images via Santa Fe Clay, AccessCeramics, and Archie Bray)