Thinking visually: an interview with Scott Bennett - clay corner - Interview

Arts & Activities, April, 2002 by Harriet Gamble

H.G. You have another great passion besides art, don't you?

S.B. While I was in graduate school, I became obsessed with perennials and perennial gardening. When I left school, I began designing and installing perennial gardens for a living, along with making art. More specifically, I began hybridizing daylilies on my one-acre lot here in Columbus. I continue to do that today, blooming between 4,000 and 5,000 plants a year. I suspect the ongoing examination of many flowers of my own, as well as others in the field, has been an important influence on my work.

At times, my garden has been a full-time job, but now I pretty much concentrate only on the daylilies. Even this is getting more difficult as my art requires more and more time. However, experiencing a seedling bloom for the first time is like opening the door of a much anticipated kiln firing--except it takes two years to bloom daylilies in Ohio. Like a successful firing, the process is habit forming. I am currently working on my seventh generation of daylily hybridizing.

H.G. What thoughts about art would you like to share with our readers?

S.B. In an era of mass production, mass-reproduction, re-reproduction and retro-reproduction; in a time when the outdoors is on TV and people take vacations to the mall, I hope fine art can still reflect the uniqueness and individuality of one's ideas and pursuits.

At a time when students are being tested to see how alike we all should be, art instructors have a responsibility to help students try to recognize and appreciate their own unique approach to creating and to encourage them to explore these characteristics in their work. I worry that in this era, unique approaches to creativity often get lost in the mainstream, but the beauty for the artist today is the ever-changing palette created by it.

Note: Scott Bennett creates his ceramic pieces using Brent Model C and CXC Wheels and decorates with AMACO[R] Matt Glazes.--H. G.

RELATED ARTICLE: A glazing project.

Have the students glaze an object as they normally would. I sometimes use liquid matt glazes and sometimes use gloss glazes. Matt glaze over matt glaze remains raised and pebbled over the base after being fired. Gloss glaze over matt glaze fluxes with the base glaze making a divot of sorts.

I would encourage experimentation with other combinations as well, as part of the beauty of glazing is the ongoing discovery of different effects from slight alterations in procedure. Have students make notes of their glaze combinations while they are applying them so they will remember the process, if a unique effect occurs.--S.B.

1. Brush three or four coats of one or more of the AMACO[R] Liquid Matt glazes over the clay piece.

2. Mist or spray some of the other liquid matt glazes over areas of the base glaze like adding blushes of color.

3. Once the raw glaze is bone-dry, wax the top or horizontal surface of the piece.

4. Let the wax dry overnight.

5. The next day, glaze over the waxed areas by misting or brushing until the glaze beads up on it.