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Showing posts with the label Brenda Andersen

The Rare Original One of A Kind Midcentury Platters by Brenda Andersen

A Great New Year Unfolds! ➤ Calling for Contributors to New Medium Publication,  Hand Making Makers of the World Presenting The Rare Original One of A Kind Mid-century Platters  by Brenda Andersen  Brenda Andersen designed many of Andersen Design's production patterns and in the process there were times when she veneered into pure creativity producing uniquely and spontaneous one of a kind objects of art.The liberty to let the craftsmanship and discipline of repetitive patterning interact with the inspired imagination of the creative artisan became part of the Andersen Design production process confounding conventional concepts of production. The Platter decorated in a blue green tree exemplifies the way that Brenda was able to decorate in a style that is at one controlled and lyrical. The graceful leaves and branches require a discipline of will to maintain their consistent character but it there is never a feeling of a mechanized routine in B

United by Separation

Two Wine Decanters and Glazes designed by Weston Neil Andersen circa 1950's Recently two beautiful wine decanters , designed by Weston in midcentury, were returned to us. I date them at the late fifties or early sixties because the wine decanters were not produced as frequently by the seventies, to my recollection, as the wild life sculpture line and other functional designs became predominately featured.  The form is understated in its simplicity. There are other forms of the midcentury or mid-century-inspired-era based on a bulb with a thin elongated neck but this form predates most of them. There are forms going back to antiquity based on a bulb with an elongated neck and yet I have never seen one that resembles the particular design choices made by Weston when he created this form for the first Andersen Design line to be marketed to the public. The cast and fettling of these two decanter-vases is perfectly executed, bringing out the finer sensibilities of

What Difference A Curve Makes

Large Salad Bowl Form by Weston Neil Andersen: 10 inches diameter copyright Andersen Design 1970 Prototype of Form before lip was adjusted The Large Salad Bowl with the two tones of blue leaves has been around for a long time. All the while I thought it was a beautiful decoration done on a bowl that had warped in the casting. Recently. when photographing the bowls together, I realized I was wrong. The reason I thought the bowl was warped was because of what appeared to be a misshaped curve of the rim. I took it to be that the bowl had been trimmed when it was too wet and had released and curved inward. On closer examination, I realized it was not a casting error. The bowl was cast from a mold with a higher curve to the rim. lip comparison Observed side by side with another bowl it is obvious that there is no warping in the globe of the bowl. The blue flower bowl, shown from the backside, is the one on the right in the picture. Both bowls have perfectly formed

Patterns in Stoneware Penguins and Trees

In my last post I began a discussion about how one identifies the author of a piece, pointing out the importance of the signature but that the signature can also be misleading. The true signature is in the hand of the artist which is as unique as handwriting. This One of a Kind Vintage Emperor Penguin was created when the decoration for the production design was under development. The overall uniformity of the pattern is one of the keys to identifying that the penguin is decorated by Weston and not by Brenda. Weston's hand is patient, disciplined and rhythmic. The pattern is systematic but not mechanically uniform. Weston takes a philosopher's approach to pattern. The components of the pattern are integral to an inseparable expression of wholeness. The state of mind is at one with the beingness of existence. Weston patientently executes the teardrops in an organically flowing rhythm on the backside of the Emperor Penguin. A similar approach to pattern is shown in the vase