The Dictionary of American Ceramics, 1945 onward
Dictionary of American Ceramics, 1945 onward
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Dick Lehman
PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE
1981—Studio Potter
1988Visiting Artist/Adjunct Professor, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
1994Visiting Artist, Juniata College, Huntington, Pennsylvania
BIOGRAPHY
Dick Lehman is known for a range of stoneware or porcelain functional wood-fired work. He uses three surface and firing techniques to achieve characteristic finished pots.
These include a longer firing process of up to 15 days reaching temperatures of 2500 degrees Fahrenheit creating large ash deposits on the pots. He uses saggar firing in which the pot is wrapped in vegetation and placed on its side surrounded by sawdust placed in a sagger (ceramic box) during firing. The carbon in the vegetation is reduced to ash and deposited on the surface of the pot during the firing. And finally side-firing in which a Shino glazed pot is fired on its side after the top side is sprinkled with wood ash the pot is then often supported by a tripod of seashells in the kiln resulting in glaze drips which protrude from the pot when it is stood up.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, California
Bermuda National Gallery, Hamilton, Bermuda
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York
Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona
University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Branfman, Steven. Raku: A Practical Approach. Radnor, PA: Chilton Book Co. 1991.
_____________. The Potter’s Professional Handbook. Westerville, OH: American Ceramic Society, 1999.
Cushing, Val. The Ceramic Design Book: A Gallery of Contemporary Work. Asheville, NC: Lark Books,
Davis, Don. Wheel Thrown Ceramics. Asheville, NC: Lark Books, 1999.
Gustin, Christopher and Chris Staley. Best of Pottery 2. Rockport, MA: Rockport Publishers, 1998.
Hopper, Robin. Functional Pottery: Form and Aesthetic in Pots of Purpose, 2nd ed. Asheville, NC: 1998.
___________. Making Marks: Discovering the Ceramic Surface. Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2004.
Hluch, Kevin. The Art of Contemporary American Pottery, Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2001.
Lehman, Dick. Wood-firing: Journeys and Techniques, Articles from Ceramics Monthly. Westerville, OH: American Ceramic Society, 2001.
___________. “Re-emerging.” Ceramics Monthly (May 2012).
___________. “Toward a Vocabulary for Wood-fired Effects.” Ceramics Monthly (March 2004).
___________. “Fast-Fossils: Carbon-Film Transfer in Saggar-fired Porcelains.” Ceramics Monthly (March 2000).
___________. “An Approach to Long Woodfire.” Ceramics Technical (November 1999).
___________. “Side Firing: Where the Life Is.” Ceramics Monthly (1996).
___________. “Saggar Firing: Blending the Controlled and the Capricious.” Pottery in Australia Magazine 29, no.3 (1990).
Rhodes, Daniel. Clay and Glaze for the Potter, revised and edited by Robin Hopper. Marlboro Fine Books, 2015.
Richter, Lester. American Shino-The Glaze of a Thousand Faces. New York, NY: Babcock Galleries, 2003.
Rogers, Phil. Ash Glazes, 2nd ed. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003.
Scott, Paul. Ceramics and Print, 2nd ed. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002.
Troy, Jack. Wood-fired Stoneware and Porcelain. Radnor, PA: Chilton Books, 1995.
Turner, Anderson, ed. Creative Ideas for Clay Artists, Articles from Ceramics Monthly. Westerville, OH: American Ceramic Society, 2001.
Zakin, Richard. Electric Kiln Ceramics: A Guide to Clays and Glazes. Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2015.
WEBSITE(S):
Artist's Studio: Dick Lehman Clay Art
 | Center For Craft |
 | AMOCA American Museum of Ceramic Art |
Impressed seal, DL, often on the outside edge of the bottom of the piece; or near the bottom on the outside of the piece, or on/near a handle attachment
Citation: Clark, Donald. "The Marks Project." Last modified April 28, 2023. http://www.themarksproject.org/marks/lehman
