ALBEDO

I have been asked more than once how I came up with Albedo 3 Studio for a studio name and it is a bit round about, just like my way to clay. I first became aware of the term albedo in the late 70’s after being exposed to the musician Vangelis and his 1976 album; Albedo 0.39. For whatever reason, the spoken word piece Albedo 0.39 took hold and I became fascinated by the concept. The definition of the term albedo is “the fraction of light (from a source) reflected by a planet, body, moon, etc.”.

After leaving Cleveland State University, I set up a studio with a partner and when that ended poorly, set up my first independent studio in the mid-90s continuing to use the old studio name. Next came a series of moves to NH, CT, PA, VA and finally to central NY state. Somewhere along the way, I decided it was time for a clean break and I changed the studio name to Albedo 3 Studio.

The concept was simple and the question is, how much do I reflect the teaching, styles and concepts of those who taught me. I see myself as an incidental reflection of those individuals who helped me along my way when I started. Most gave without hesitation and with energy and insight, I now try to do the same. I have taught from time to time and hope that my students came away with as much as they could take. Maybe they will reflect those before me as well as what I have added to the mix. Potters are all like a blender, what you see and are taught goes in and comes out all mixed up into a new and distinct expression. Isn’t clay great!

(As a side note, Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, has the highest albedo in our solar system at 0.99 compared to the Earth, whose albedo is 0.39. Here is a link to a group of nasa photos of Enceladus; http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/target/Enceladus )