(download the msword file)

            I wish to thank Jason Hess for inviting me to be on such a distinguished panel. It is an incredible honor to be on a panel with Don Bendel, Jim Leedy, Don Reitz and Shota Yamamoto, who is representing his father Yukio Yamamoto. The honor is especially great because, with the exception of my husband, these are the men of my life. I have had many great women that have influenced my art, Roberta Kramer, Janet Carson, Ellen Tibbetts, Joni Pevarnik, and Denise Gackstetter, to mention a few, but these men are the men of my life. They have helped define me as a person and as an artist. I want to take this time to thank them for all that they have done for me and the world of ceramics. Enough cannot be said about the contributions they have made. Yukio Yamamoto and Don Bendel, together they brought the Tozan Kilns to the United States. Yukio came to the United States to build the kilns. Don Bendel found a home for the kilns. Yukio planted the seed. Don Bendel made the seed flourish and grow. The presence of Reitz and Leedy at the firings gave the kilns an extra prestige. Jason Hess is doing a fantastic job carrying on this wood fire tradition, but the tradition was established by Don Bendel and Yukio Yamamoto. The excitement and energy Jason has put into this conference is the perfect extension to the foundation that they built.
            On a personal level, all of these men greatly influenced me. I would not be wood firing if it were not for Yukio and Bendel. I fell in love with wood firing at a time when I was a fiber artist. I started making pots again because I got tired of unloading kilns that held none of my art. In reality I am a clay artist because of these two men.
            It was Jim Leedy’s sky art that influenced me as an undergrad. He made me realize the potential of 3-dimensional art. Don Reitz gave me permission to do my art. If you have ever attended a Reitz workshop you probably remember his words, “There is no bad art, you are a good person, why would you work all day on something that is bad?” It was through that statement that Reitz gave me permission to accept my work. I now make my work for me. This statement came to me at a time when I had stopped making art because someone told me that I was not an artist. I thank Don Reitz for giving me a confidence in my work I never had before.
            As you can see, the personal contribution these men made to me are great, but they are nothing compared to the contributions they have they made to the world. It was at the last conference held here, the 10 + 1 conference that I finally grasped what they had done. At the 10 + 1 conference a number of artists were demonstrating their work. Bendel had gotten permission to use the old athletic gym before it was going to be torn down. The large facility was filled with clay artists gone wild. Don Reitz was building one of his huge tea stacks, balancing the clay with his head. Jim Leedy was beating one of his large platters with a stick. Bruce Howdle was sculpting one of his fabulous pigs. Toshiko Takaezu was throwing one of her huge priceless pieces. John Balistreri was busy creating the largest sculpture I have ever seen him make. Frank Boyden was covered with clay as he was moving with his wheel and his clay to form one of his wonderfully sensual forms. Amidst this chaos sat a man named John Neely. John was sitting at his wheel throwing the perfect teapot (by the way I am a huge fan of John Neely artwork). I would look around this grand room watching clay beaten with a stick and thrown on the floor and then come back to John Neely throwing the perfect tea bowl. It was at that moment that I grasped what these great men had done. If it were not for them and their colleagues, like men named Peter, Rudy, Paul and others of their time, we all would be making perfectly thrown tea bowls. They brought clay out of the world of craft and into the world of art. Today it is all accepted. Whether you choose to throw the perfect pot or drive over clay with your van, it is all art and it is all accepted. So, Jim Leedy, Don Reitz, Don Bendel and Yukio Yamamoto I hope you guys know how important you are and how much I love you. More importantly, I hope you realize how much the rest of the world loves you. I will repeat myself when I say, they all have done so much. Lastly I wish to focus on Don Bendel. Without Don and his foresight this great ceramic complex, kiln yard, teahouse, even this conference would not exist. Please join me in giving him the standing ovation he so well deserves.

Joanne DeKeuster
Tozan Kilns Panel
October 14th, 2006
Flagstaff, AZ