Barbara Willis was born in Bakersfield, California on June 29, 1917. She began her art career by studying with potter Laura Andreson and trained with the master, Glen Lukens at UCLA in the late 1930's. In 1942, Barbara opened her first studio pottery. With the shortage of domestic products due to World War II, Barbara then went from studio to production potter. Barbara's unique glazing technique, vibrant colors and imitation wood designs were sought after by the large store chains such as Neiman Marcus, Lord & Taylor of New York, Gump's, & Macy's to name a few....including the White House. The popularity of her work lasted until the mid 1950's when art pottery interest declined due to the increase in imports after the war. Barbara closed her pottery and moved on to her next business venture.

In 1994, Barbara Willis found a piece of her vintage pottery at a flea market. During a conversation with the seller, she passed on her phone number. A few weeks later, an avid collector of her vintage works called her to explain that she is a California Art Pottery legend! Barbara was encouraged to begin a new line of pottery and, this Barbara Willis, Terrene Pottery was reborn! Barbara utilizes a different approach in the making of her contemporary line. She hand presses each piece, using one of three types of clay. Barbara uses a unique one-fire glazing process. Each piece is definitely one of a kind!

What a gracious woman! I had the opportunity to meet Barbara Willis, in person, at the Los Angeles Pottery Show on January 29, 2005. In anticipation of meeting and talking with her, I took along my book "Barbara Willis - Classic California Modernism, by Jack Chipman" and asked her if she would be kind enough to sign it for me. She signed it "To Alice, Warm Regards - Barbara Willis - 1/29/04." I later noticed that she had inadvertently dated it 2004 instead of 2005. Like most of us, we write the previous year's date until we are used to the new year. I certainly did not mind the incorrect date. I was overjoyed that I was conversing with her and expressing my admiration for her work directly in person.

I speak of Barbara Willis with much enthusiasm because of many reasons. First and foremost, I love her pottery - not only her vintage work, but her contemporary work as well. Here's a woman, in her late 80's, who currently has her "creative juices" in motion, working right out of her home in Malibu Beach letting herself be known again to the pottery world after a thirty-seven year absence to clay. I, like many others, am very appreciative of her work and share in the joy of her return as she quickly is being recognized as an important American ceramist!

You will find pieces of her vintage and contemporary works in the shopping gallery at AccessoryHut.com as well as some hand made pottery gift items such as necklaces, paperweights, and ring holders. I am proud to announce Barbara Willis as the "Featured Artist" for the Grand Opening of the gallery.

If you would like to learn more about the life and works of Barbara Willis, the above mentioned book is a great read! The author, Jack Chipman, had the opportunity to interview her for his book and during the process they became good friends and he is now a student of hers. A lucky man!

By Alice Krueser, AccessoryHut.com Owner

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Harding Black was born in 1912 and sadly passed away in his home town, San Antonio, Texas on May 5, 2004. Harding Black produced pots for over sixty years. He was self taught with no formal training in either ceramics or chemistry. He was often described as the "glaze master" and called a "walking ceramics encyclopedia" and was always willing to share his knowledge with anyone who showed interest. With no equipment and no knowledge, he began to learn by trial and error to make what finally resulted in beautiful art pottery always using native Texas clay. Harding started to study the making of ceramics following an archeological expedition to the Big Bend country of Texas during the depression. In 1932 he joined the Witte Museum Archaeological Society where he had access to their collections of Native American pottery. Harding was able to use space at the Witte where he constructed a wheel and in 1933 was appointed ceramic instructor and given the responsibility of establishing a ceramics department. His first kiln was built using plans obtained from Newcomb College. In the 50's he left the Witte and built his own studio where he produced his wonderful art. The body of his work is a living tribute to his lifelong love of ceramics. He spent his life producing pots and occasionally taking time off to do a bit of fishing. After endless testing, he would successfully duplicate the magnificent glazes of China's Sung and Ming dynasties. His work has been exhibited at a long list of museums and galleries including the Smithsonian Institute and was noted as the San Antonio Art League artist of the year in 1987. In 1984 the Southwest Craft Center gave him a grant to take care of his needs while he devoted a year to porcelain and its glazes. In 1991 he was elected an honorary member of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts. He exhibited at the Nationals from 1947 to 1954 and the year 1958.

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Pop Art was an art movement that initially occurred in the United States of America in the early sixties. The epicenter of this art phenomenon was New York, the city confirming its trend setting leader position. Although this movement strongly erupted in the early sixties, the attempts of change started during the late fifties in the work of Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. These painters wanted to replace the abstract mode of artistic expression, aiming at making the art's message easier to be understood by the public. The first pop art paintings contained easy to recognize images of common items. The purpose of incorporating these objects was to mock the gravity, the metaphysical dullness of abstract expressionism that had started to become out of fashion. Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg introduced amusing objects into the first pop art paintings: flags, maps and targets or stuffed animals and rubber tires for the latter artist. The pop art movement became famously known for their main feature: mockery and irony.

Claes Oldenburg, James Rosenquist, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein were the most representative artists for this new art stream. Their pop art paintings were characterized by their original display of popular culture's symbols: advertisements, media images or even comic strips. These new, colorful, lively pop art paintings were strikingly opposing the gravity, the spirituality of abstract expressionism. Consequently, these kinds of pop art paintings became very popular among the art loving public and among the art critics community. But the abstract expressionism continued to be highly appreciated, despite the pop art paintings' mockery.

Although the pop art movement was popular and influential it proved to lack the strength of completely supplant the abstract expressionism, but it determined the birth of two new schools of abstraction: color-field painting and minimalist art. The color-field painting movement (mainly represented by painter Helen Frankenthaler) minimized the influence of abstract expressionism's old features into a style completely committed to the use of pure color.

The American art of the sixties remained in the art history books as a period of constant rivalries between different competing styles and ideas. Yet, the pop art paintings represented best the ideas and the symbols of the American lifestyle in the sixties.

http:// www.urbanfinearts.co.uk - Pop art painting gallery, framed art and UK online art gallery.
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