Bill Ritchie's art in Washington State
in the
Dick Weiss Collection
Wired Teapot
1963. Stoneware. Serial No. ce254rit. Teapot with coat-hanger wire handle, celadon and iron glazes. 8 1/2" X 8 1/2 X 6 inches.
Artist's comment: Richard Fairbanks, who was my second ceramics teacher at Central Washington State College (now CWU), gave us assignments of all kinds and this one was my offering as a covered teapot. I didn't have enough money to buy a bamboo and steel handle, so I coiled a coat hanger around a rod and made it work. Dick Weiss and I met years ago at art openings and such. He is an artist in glass, mainly shaped and stained glass works and he has a new developing art in painted ceramics. He walked by our gallery in 2013, having seen our family ceramics collection in the window. He bought these two ceramic works.
Golden pitcher
1963. Stoneware. Serial No. ce1b4rit. Large, heavy pitcher. Golden ochre and browns. 8 x 8 1/8 x 4 3/8 inches.
Artist's comment: Dick and I had a great visit, talking about glass arts and fire arts and people we had met in the arts of our region. It was pleasing to hear how my pots "spoke to him" through the glass window of our gallery! You can see his art online at www.dickweissglass.com and on the Traver Gallery website, www.travergallery.com. A few weeks later, Dick came in to our gallery again and wanted to add a third pot to his arrangement, and bought the one below.
Celadon pitcher jug
1961. Stoneware. Celadon glazed jug with pour spout and handle. Stamped four times on base. 6 x 4 1/4 x 3 15/16 inches.
Artist's comment: John Fassbinder and Richard Fairbanks taught me ceramics when I was an undergraduate student in Ellensburg, Washington. Their teaching made me want to be a ceramic artist but I chose printmaking. I loved working with clay so much that when I was in grad school I wheedled my way into the pot lab and built ceramic printing plates. I think I made this pot in one of Fassbinder's classes.
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