Vol. XX, No. U 
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK 
May W8 
EAR Keramic Studio Readers: — This 
is a heart to heart talk. Will you 
all read with the ready understand- 
ing and sympathy we have a hope 
and a right to receive in these troub- 
lous times ? Keramic Studio is nine- 
teen years old to-day. We are deep- 
ly thankful to the many who lately, 
through fair and cloudy weather, have 
stood by us and held up our hands in 
the effort to lead on always a step further toward a beautiful 
ideal of a finished and thoroughly American ceramic art. We 
have a right to believe that you are our real friends sifted out 
by adversity. Will you still stand by us, every one ? The war 
has brought a scarcity of everything that is needed in our work. 
Keramic Studio is absolutely dependent on the china import 
and the decorators of this country. Some advertisers and sub- 
scribers have lately deserted us because they either have no 
china materials to advertise or are unable to procure what they 
wish for decoration. Each one says "we will renew immedi- 
ately the war is over, the loss of my one subscription or adver- 
tisement will make little difference." They do not realize how 
short sighted they are. If you each do the same, there will be 
no Keramic Studio after the war. The publishers and editor 
have struggled bravely to keep Keramic Studio alive, though 
there has been no profit for them for some time. Will you do 
your part? Will you keep your subscriptions going even tho' 
you can not do the amount of decoration of former years and 
tho' the subscription comes to be only the assurance of seeing 
a familiar face every month until this dreadful war is over and 
the china business revives? 
You can use the designs for other purposes than china 
decoration. They are easily adapted to other crafts., to needle 
work, batik, block print, stencil, etc., etc., and can be applied 
to all materials. You will keep in touch with art and not be- 
come rusty and out of the race. We will do our part and 
give you the best we can procure. We will open the fall months 
with the magazine full of Christmas suggestions applicable to 
all mediums, and fully repaying you for your steady friend- 
ship. The editor, whose hands and heart are full to over- 
flowing (her only boy is in France), will herself make a number 
of special designs for the autumn issues. Then there are com- 
petitions which will be announced in next issue; will you put 
your shoulder to the wheel with us, keeping always in mind 
our ceramic motto "Keep the Fire Alive." 
You are all working with might and main for our boys 
"over there" and for the Red Cross. You are putting all your 
spare pennies into Thrift Stamps and your spare dollars into 
Liberty Bonds, and it is right that you should. But do not 
believe that the money you spend for Keramic Studio can be 
spared. It is as necessary to you and to the future that you 
continue to feed yourself mentally, spiritually and education- 
ally, as it is physically, so that future generations will not have 
to rebuild this structure of art education so painstakingly 
reared through these nineteen years of our growth in ceramic 
art. Will you not assure your editor of your hearty support 
and determination— come what will— for the sake of old friend- 
ship and future well being when the war is over, to "keep the 
fire alive." 
From an address of George G. Booth, President of the De- 
troit Society of Arts and Crafts : 
In the midst of these days of the sternest realities of life, 
when each one of us tries and hopes to do his duty, we believe 
that it is vitally necessary, at this time, to cherish the spirit 
and the influence of art in our city, in our state, and in the great 
nation of which we are a part. 
We must now, if ever, tend carefully the seeds of Art, that 
it may not die. We must cherish the living plant if it is to 
preserve its vitality. We must keep hope and courage in the 
breasts of the servants, as of the high priests, of Art. 
These must live. True, indeed, we must give of our time, 
our money, — if need be, our lives, — for the service of the nation 
in its solemn hour of trial. But these other duties we must 
not neglect, or in the days to come we will find our lives im- 
measurably poorer. We will find ourselves bereft of all power 
of selfrexpression in the face of our quickened and intenser life 
— and for us the mighty struggle with its sacrifices will have 
been largely in vain. 
Art is not a thing apart, an ornament added to life. It is 
the outward expression of man's struggle towards the ideal. 
Whether it be in the humblest homes or in the mansions of the 
rich, whether it be in the least of our institutions or the greatest, 
always there is some aim to achieve, some ideal to attain. This 
upward striving is in the very nature of man, and his aspira- 
tions 'and hopes are the wings of his spirit. In whatever form 
it manifests itself, — whether we build our lives and characters 
true and fine, or do our daily work and service in truth, or 
fashion with our hands some simple article of linen or wood, 
clay or silver, the spirit has its opportunities for expression. 
To beautify our lives, to beautify the plain things of daily 
use, this is the simple beginning in the world of Art; for in Art 
the spirit of man finds the means for the tangible expression 
of his achievements, and his joy in work well and truly done. 
If hope exists, if there is still a striving for better things, then 
every step upward leads to this feeling of real necessity, — to 
express visibly our spiritual progress by beautifying that which 
makes up our own immediate world. 
Is it not plain that we must cherish the spirit of Art, and 
in the midst of war's alarms, not forget the duty we' owe to the 
artist and master-craftsman who can create the beauty that we 
— most of us — can only intensely desire? 
K » 
Our color supplement this month is not especially suitable 
for china decoration. We do not give it for that purpose, but 
because it is an interesting bit of color as well as a good deco- 
rative design. It is quite worth framing as an inspiration. 
As a ceramic decoration, beautiful effects could be obtained by 
arranging the fence lines as bands and panel divisions and by 
repeated dustings and picking out of the blossoms. 
Many china decorators are turning their talents to the 
painting of various articles for which there is a good demand, 
painting with oil or water color, painted glass, (not fired), for 
instance, painted French ivory, painted wooden ware, painted 
oil cloth, etc. You see many articles of this kind in stores and 
they are generally decorated in an atrocious way. Why not 
turn your talent to the artistic decoration of these objects, at 
least until the china field has returned to normal conditions? 
A well known designer, one of our best contributors, has 
promised to send us designs and instructions for work of this 
kind, and we will also be glad to hear from others. 
» M 
As interest in glass decoration is growing more and more 
every day, while work in china is necessarily restricted by the 
condition of the supply market, we will be glad to open in our 
