Marty Fielding Publishes Article on Color Theory

Lauren Mabry, Composition of Enclosed Cylinders

“Contextualizing Ceramic Color” by FSU Adjunct Instructor Marty Fielding, was published in the September 2018 issue of Ceramics Monthly magazine. In the article Fielding gives a primer or refresher on color theory. He also discusses previous limitations in using color due to the ceramic process and advances in colorant chemistry and technology that have advanced the accessibility of color to ceramic artists.
The theory spotlighted in the article draws from the seven types of color contrast listed by Johannes Itten and other interactions noted by Josef Albers. In addition to established texts, Fielding surveyed artists about their reasons for using color and how they use color to convey content. Insights from this research add context to visual examples in the article.
In the spirit of Itten’s book “The Art of Color”, Fielding analyzes the color interactions at play in 7 works by contemporary ceramic artists spanning sculpture, figurative, vessel, and multi-media approaches.
Fielding’s interest in writing on color is connected to his own studio practice, “I look to post-modern architecture, abstract painting, and experimental music as vehicles for abstracting vessel forms. There is a kinship between pots and architecture: both are designed as functional spaces, interiors and exteriors. The pieces borrow geometry and intersecting volumes from architecture. I draw a connection between color harmony and musical harmony as of means conveying and evoking emotion. The painterly approach to the surface paired with the architectonic form gives the work the overall sense of a 3-dimensional utilitarian color field painting.”

Click here to read the article in its entirety