Ceramics - My Life's Passion

Details: Last Updated: Monday, 22 September 2014 14:33

william mugshot William Pulse has seen and done it all in his 49 years of ceramics. Talking to William is taking a stroll through the trends, talents of ceramics and history of Mayco. Other than gardening, collecting stamps and model trains, William has lived and breathed ceramics almost his entire life.

William was born and raised in Las Vegas, a rarity as most people in Vegas are transplants. At the tender age of 10, William was introduced to ceramics by a neighbor. His real passion was fueled by Mildred Mann, who had a home studios just three blocks from his home. William would take his red wagon down the street morning, noon or night to get supplies. Ms. Mann brought in traveling artists for special workshops. As long as William did the work and didn't mess around, he could attend. It was at Ms. Mann's studio that he was introduction to artists like Marc Bellaire, Helen Alterie, Sande Scoredos, Alice Hill and other greats of the day - all of whom helped shape his decorating style.

His first mold was two mice playing baseball from Alberta's molds for $3.00. He begged his mother for the money. To pay her back William would slip cast the mold and then sell the greenware, all at the age of 10. His first kiln was a homemade affair that was about 1 cubic foot in capacity and ran on 110 volts. By the age of 12 he had won his first "Freddy" and wrote an article for Popular Ceramics on the project. William won three more "Freddies" and was forced to compete in the professional category (he also won four "Peggy's", among other awards he has received throughout his career).

Around the ripe old age of 14 William had a booth in the local ceramics show displaying his ceramics. It was about this time he started making crystals to add to glazes. He would fire glazes then grind up the fired glaze to produce the crystals, bag and sell them. He wore out his mother's favorite hand-cranked food grinder, which made her none too happy! Little did William know that crystals would become a significant product in his future.

Eventually William co-owned a studio. He sold his interest in the studio to go to college where he earned a B.F.A. in Art History, emphasis in ceramics. His love of ceramics prompted William to write Mr. Bob Umhoefer, owner of Mayco Colors, to ask if there was an opportunity to do work for Mayco. In 1976 he began painting pieces for Mayco to use in their advertising and he expanded his Mayco role to become a Mayco teacher.

Getting back to crystals: William created a dark brown crystal, added it to an leaded Exotic glaze and showed it to Bob Umhoefer. Bob loved it and a new line of glazes - Jungle Gems - was created! (this first formula was called CG-967 Green Agate - shown left). William is essential the Father of Crystal Glazes! Additional colors were added if Mr. Umhoefer thought the combination had merit. Bob would create it, let staff vote and then come up with product names - almost always based on food items.

Towards the late 90's the ceramic industry started moving towards unleaded glazes (primarily due to health and regulatory concerns). At the time unleaded crystals were not very attractive as they did not flow and move the same as leaded glazes. Mayco's Crystalite glazes stood out because the base glaze (a formula acquired via the purchase of Ceramichrome) allowed the crystals to flow and bloom. Mayco - always the leader!

William's success with crystal glazes led to the task of developing colors of Stroke & Coat^® a new color line created for Contemporary Studios. Stroke & Coat^®could be applied like a "one-stroke" for opacity, didn't shiver and were more user friendly than the "one-stroke" glazes of that time.

William's final thought: "There are a couple of things that are noteworthy from my perspective: the cessation of using lead in glazes and the encapsulation of the cadmium pigments. The trend of ceramics seems to run in cycles. I have heard it said that there isn't anything new in ceramics, while that could be argued, it is odd how things come back over time. Ceramics is one of the oldest art forms ever, so it is only natural that things will repeat themselves over time."

Below is a gallery of some work William has created for Mayco over the recent years: