Prosperity in Adversity: Calamity-ware plates!
“Much of mankind’s comedy is based on calamity and so is our drama”
A graphic designer with an experience of over forty years, Don Moyer is an artist who makes ‘Plate drawings’ on porcelain. One World News brings to you this unique Calamity Ware artist whose aim is to make a special object which is practical as well as beautiful.
How did the idea to make calamity designs on porcelain strike to you?
The calamity ware series started when I inherited a traditional, willow-pattern plate & decided to redraw it and add the excitement of a pterodactyl. That further led me to draw more plates and add different calamities. People who saw these drawings urged me to find a way to reproduce them on porcelain and the first in a series of successful kick-starter projects was born. I was delighted to see that so many people wanted to share their homes with calamity ware.
Since when have you been into this?
I started drawing plates in 2011 but my first kick-starter project did not start until fall of 2013.
Don’t you think it portrays a negative connotation?
No. The elements of the traditional willow-pattern plate have been going strong for more than 300 years. So, they are ripe to play with. The joke but here is mostly about the appetite that the modern audiences have for monsters, explosions, and car chases. Combining the sleep-inducing tranquility of a classic plate with the silly thrills, we have come to expect from films and stories which is inherently funny.
I have avoided the real and serious threats of economic collapse, famine, and war. My style is more about the improbable calamities of flying monkeys and zombie poodles.
Why do you think people will buy one such?
Imagine serving your friends or family meals and waiting for the moment when the diners realize that there is something unusual happening behind the meat loaf or Brussels sprouts. ‘Are these flying monkeys? You’ve shattered my expectations!’ Then all the other diners scrutinize their own plates and find additional surprises.
What all incidents have you portrayed so far?
So far, I have portrayed Flying Monkeys, Giant Robots and we are about to go into production for the Voracious Sea Monster—a big fish who looks like it belongs to the empty spaces of some early Renaissance map. There will be additional designs about every 90 days until sponsors grow sick of them or I do. Keep a look-out for pirates, volcanoes, flying saucers, and something with tentacles.
How do you make these designs on porcelain? What is the method or equipment used?
Porcelain is the perfect material for these drawings because it makes the plates practical, utilitarian objects. The plates are food safe, microwave safe, and dishwasher safe. Some people prefer to hang plates on the wall.
Traditional blue willow-pattern plates from the 1700s used copper engravings to duplicate an image as a transfer. This transfer was applied to the plate before glazing. These calamity ware plates use a silk-screening technique to make the transfers. Like the traditional approach, the image is applied to the plate by hand in several pieces. For the plates, the image is applied on top of the glaze. Then the plate is fired at a high temperature for four hours to fuse the image to the plate. This technique allows very fine details of my original drawing to remain sharp.
Do you put them for display at galleries and exhibitions?
Not yet.
Do you market them? If so, what is the price range?
The first three plate designs are available at www.calamityware.com. They are $42 USD each (plus shipping).
Since all are equally beautiful, how do you determine the price criteria?
That is a good question. Besides being extremely silly, these are hand-drawn, handcrafted, fine porcelain pieces of art. I have tried a few price points and $42 seems to be a pretty fair price compared to other fine china products and I am no longer losing my shirt.
What message do you want to give through your work?
I love to draw. I post new drawings almost every day on Flickr-(https://flic.kr/ps/xUygP). The drawings I like best, make me laugh. It turns out that for me, making risible drawings is fairly difficult. It is a line of inquiry I am committed to exploring. I am doing this work to explore myself, not to send any messages to any audience. It is gratifying that so many people enjoy the joke.
Have you personally been a victim of any such calamity?
Anyone who is paying attention will notice that life is a series of calamities large and small—from ‘I can’t find my keys!’ to ‘Giant meteorite strikes the planet.’ Suffering bad luck and trouble is what people do. Much of mankind’s comedy is based on calamity and so is our drama. All the books, plays, and movies we enjoy are about calamities on some scale.
On the calamity ware plates, I am playing a little bit with injecting calamitous drama into a tranquil scene in the same way so many books, movies, and TV shows inject gratuitous drama. As audiences, we have all become a little jaded and prefer bigger explosions each time. It is extra funny in this case because traditional plates have always been about tranquility and calm.
Related Links:
Calamityware website: www.calamityware.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Calamityware
Twitter: @calamityware
Don Moyer’s Flickr Account: https://flic.kr/ps/xUygP
Have a news story, an interesting write-up or simply a suggestion? Write to us at info@oneworldnews.in
