Place of Hope—The Kasama Potters Community and the Great Ordeal!

We wanted to share with you this wonderful project: Place of Hope—The Kasama Potters Community and the Great Ordeal!

Featuring potter Akio Nukaga, a friend of Heath Ceramics

According to Akio, film producer Mike Douglass and wife Etsuko, with Etsuko’s potters community in Hawaii, first visited Kasama many years ago, forging a connection with Akio Nukaga that manifests today into a film to document Akio’s and the community’s collective dedication to rebuilding Kasama after the devastating earthquake.

From the Indiegogo site:

“Our film will focus on Akio Nukaga, a Kasama potter who spearheads a movement to bring potters together to rebuild and rejuvenate Kasama and its rich ceramic-making heritage. Under the banner of “Save Kasama”, the movement is reaching beyond Kasama to nearby towns as people join together in ways they had not done before and voluntarily help each other to recover from the devastation of the March 2011 earthquake. Saving Kasama represents more than just the recovery of a local economy. In recent years, new generations of people had began coming to Kasama with a spirit of revitalizing declining rural regions of Japan through ceramics and related arts and crafts. In this way, saving Kasama represents hope for all of Japan to sustain strong communities and family lives and livelihoods in the country’s post-industrial age.”

WHEN: Join Heath in donating now (only 16 days left!) to support the final production of this documentary. View a portion of the short film and donate here.
http://www.indiegogo.com/Place-of-Hope

Also, Akio will have a show in San Francisco this July (dates tbd) with Heath Ceramics. Save the date to come and show your support.

WHY: Says Akio Nukaga:

“Mike believes film has more power than papers. He was interested in the volunteer activity that I started after the earthquake and our community. Our people wanted to get our relationship with each other very strong. So he had an idea for this film project.”

“How lucky I am to be going to San Francisco! I want to bring my new work and work with the Heath studio. It will be most exciting for me to meet the people enjoying my works and tell them about Kasama.”

2011 (from a HEATH point of view)

I put together this video of some of our favorite moments of 2011. Check it out at this vimeo link, and Thank You for being part of it. -cathy

SF’s Renegade Craft Fair

Spent the day at the Renegade Craft Fair in SF today. I’ve gone for the past four years and each year gets more interesting. Lot’s of new craft and design. Here’s a few of my favorites:

willowship.com - san francisco

 

nolinoli.com

 

jasonmunn.com - san francisco

non-perishable goods – PDX

vogtsmith.com – san francisco

 

lemonbird jams

-cathy

 

Modern Kids @ Heath this Sunday

Loved these photos! Sarah at Modern Kids Photo set these over, they are all photos that’s she and her crew have taken for these kids and their grown-ups at Heath’s past events. Come on over if you want to see how adorable she can make your kids and family look! She’s have a photo booth going this Sunday in Sausalito and in LA at our stores (1-3), it’s free but you can purchase photos from her that she’ll post online if you like they way they turn out.

If you look closely notice the bottom row second from the left photo (Adam and his adorable Poppy)

-cathy

Geoff McFetridge – Heath LA – tonight! (sneak peek)

So much work has gone into this show/work. The end result is amazing, don’t miss it. These pictures are from the set up yesterday, it  all comes together tonight at Heath LA from 5-8.  The show will be up until the end of Dec. if you can’t make it tonight.

-cathy

photos by Livia Foldes

Celebrating the centennial of the birth of Edith Heath – 1911

In 2011 the Brian & Edith Heath Archives were donated to the Environmental Design Archives at the University of California at Berkeley to honor the 100th anniversary of the birth of Edith Heath (May 25th 1911).  The Heath Collection is an extraordinary record of the lives of Brian and Edith and the history of Heath Ceramics.

The collection contains Edith’s artworks and other personal papers, sample boards of early tile types, architectural records, business records, advertising materials and photographs.  The monthly brochure from the Palace of the Legion of Honor, dated September 1944,  features the one-woman show that was pivotal in Edith’s career.

“Ceramics by Edith Kiertzner Heath   Opening September 1”
Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, exhibition announcement September 1944

At this exhibition Edith’s hand-built and hand-thrown dinnerware came to the attention of Gump’s, an exclusive San Francisco Department Store.  Shortly thereafter Gump’s invited Edith to move her production to their pottery studio on Clay Street in San Francisco.   Correspondence and photographs relating to this time period are in the Heath archives.

Hand built pitcher and mugs; ca. 1944.
Edith rolled slabs of clay on textured fabrics to achieve the texture; a pitcher similar to this is in the Heath Collection.

Between 1944 and 1947 Heath production evolved from hand thrown dinnerware to slip cast and jiggered ware.

N.S. Gustin brochure, ca. mid 1940s

Edith continued to design on her potter’s wheel and to throw prototypes, a few of which are in the Heath Collection of historic ware.  Details of the early history of Heath Ceramics are “buried” in the archival collection and we look forward to developing a detailed chronology of the company.  Among hundreds of photographs and 35mm slides are many familiar iconic images; many more remain to be uncovered.

In 1947 Heathware was featured in the exhibition “Useful Objects for the Home” mounted by the Akron Art Institute.

“Useful objects for the Home” exhibition at the Akron Art Institute, 1947
Heath Ceramics display second from left

Waverly Lowell, Curator of the Environmental Design Archives comments:

“This is a wonderful collection of both artistic and historic value. The Heaths and Heath Ceramics played a significant role in the aesthetic and cultural life of mid-twentieth century California.  Their deep connection with architects and architectural design is why this collection is a welcome addition that enhances the mission and research potentials of the Environmental Design Archives.”

Catherine Bailey, creative director of Heath Ceramics, adds:

“We are so thankful to have these archives as part of our story moving forward. And we’re grateful that these historic images are being preserved so that they may be highlighted and shared in the future.”

The collection is being preserved, archivally processed and catalogued, which is estimated to take two years.  When the work is completed the collection will be open for research and a Finding Aid will be available on the Online Archive of California. The first phase, supported by a grant from the Brian & Edith Heath Foundation, will consist of a detailed survey of this large collection.

Donations to support this project are welcome; for information please contact Jay Stewart at HeathFdn@telus.net.

All photographs courtesy of the Brian & Edith Heath Collection/Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

Nov. 6th – Heath Ceramics & David Mellor Design – in conversation

Join me at Heath Ceramics in Sausalito on Sunday, November 6th
for an evening of discussion and design inspiration.

Here’s what’s happening: Remodelista Editor Sarah Lonsdale in conversation with Corin Mellor, David Mellor Design;Catherine Bailey, Heath Ceramics; and Joseph Becker, Assistant Curator, Architecture and Design, SFMOMA.

Learn about the design histories of Heath Ceramics and David Mellor Design and the mutual admiration each holds for one another’s simple but beautiful designs for the table. With insight from SFMOMA’s Joseph Becker, see how both are moving design forward into a new era and context, while continuing to be true “designer makers.”

Discussion starts at 6:30pm

RSVP to rsvp@heathceramics.com

hope to see you Sunday!

-cathy

Ani Kasten at Heath LA

Just arrived in LA, here’s a shot of the beautiful table set up of Ani Kasten’s new work for the opening tonight. My favorites are the very tall ones with that transition sharply to a smaller neck, the linear texture is reminds me of the bark of a birch tree.  Join us tonight (Saturday Sep. 24th from 5-8)

-cathy

Our BIG project in SF!

Today we announced (with San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee) that Heath is expanding to SF. We’ve got a big old factory we’re going to spend the rest of the year fixing up that will house our new Tile Manufacturing facility in the NE Mission. We’ll also have a tile showroom, and a Heath store, the space is big so we’ll be able to continue to expand and realize many of our ideas that we were never able to in our tight quarters in Sausalito. Our historic Sausalito building will remain unchanged, and we’ll make all of our dinnerware there.  This is a big project for us, and I can’t wait to start digging into the design and planning of this wonderful space!

-cathy

Heath in Alabama

I’m in Alabama shooting our new project at Nataile Chanin’s house. Tomatoes fresh from Natalie’s garden…

-cathy