No. 14 in a series

 3 months making.
1 week waxing and glazing
5 days loading
28 hour firing
2 1/2 days of waiting...

    I'm just about to dash over to LibertyTown for tonight's opening in the gallery (UMW student show). I'm mighty weary from this firing marathon and the pace of life continues to be on the edge of frantic. I have to leave for the Penland School of Crafts in a week and there is much to do before then. 

    The pots in this firing are intended for my trip in May to the St Croix Valley Pottery Tour in Minnesota. Bob Briscoe has very kindly invited me to join this incredible group and I really hope that these pots are  going to especially sweet. Hannah McAndrew is also making the trip from Scotland!

    I have to depart from Fredericksburg for Minnesota just 2 days after the Penland workshop ends, so everything has to be ready before I leave. It is not my nature to be so organized , but so far we are on schedule.

    We unpack Sunday and I'll be back with a full report.

Back stacks

front stack, first chamber

bricking up the doors

second chamber, front stack

I usually show this shot from the firebox side.  It looks good from here as well! 

Michael Littlefield (waffle maker extraordinaire)...12th firing

Beth Sperlazza...8th firing...and Jackie...1st firing

Jason Hartsoe...5th firing

Muggage

I'm getting near the end of a long making cycle, doing my best to finish the last few things on my list while suffering from a bad cold. I couldn't possibly fire a kiln without mugs and I put the last handles on a large batch today (77). I still have to make some little soup bowls, but I can already feel the energy shifting within as I start to fill my brain with glazing and loading. Aren't we lucky to have a job that involves so many different aspects of our bodies and minds?! Other than bricking up the doors to the chamber, I love each step in the process. I take way too much time to load, squeezing every bit of pleasure from that step in the process.

Is there a difference between a brain and a mind?

Brain Freeze

    I'm sure that it's the coldest day we've had in some time...it won't be above freezing for at least a couple more days. This is Buffalo weather, without the snow. I find it exhilarating, in small doses, but I am happy not to have to deal with it for months on end.

    This has been an unusual season for me as I've had to keep my momentum in the studio through the holidays and into deepest darkest days of mid-winter. I need to fire in about a month before departing for the Penland School of Crafts in early March. Kevin Crowe and I are leading a kiln building workshop for a the first month and then I will be joined by Michael Kline, mark peters and the kids from Bandana Pottery. Kevin and I led the same workshop there 10 years ago and we are looking forward to a reprise. Jason will be joining us as an assistant and there should be 15 -20 students...there are a few spots left if you know anyone who might be interested. There will be lots of tea to drink and pots to make.

    I always seem to be fighting for time in the studio as life tugs at me in so many other directions. Most of the time these 'tugs' are just as rewarding as studio life, but I never quite lose the sense that I need to make 'just a few more pots' than ever I do.

    Two weeks ago I took the train to the plane and flew to Boston where I met Hollis and his friend Kim. We spent a couple of days talking about wood kilns and firing and planning permission and fuel sources and brick v. castable. Hollis and I have been friends for a long time now and it is exciting to help him figure out this next step. When we first met we both spent a bunch of time in Gapland, MD, firing the wood kiln that I built with Bill Van Gilder. I think that Hollis has quietly had the fever ever since!

    From there I flew to Lansing International Airport via the Detroit Airport to teach a workshop in East Lansing to the folks at the Greater Lansing Pottery Guild.This group was begun in 1969 and was full of lively and enthusiastic potters who take their craft and their co-operative seriously. And they are a lot of fun.

I used to have a big, black beard...

    We talked about teapots (of course!) and all the various pieces that go along with a proper tea party. And  lovely Sarah, who got me invited via my blog, provided homemade lemon curd, clotted cream and scones for our afternoon tea. In general, I am skeptical about co-ops (LibertyTown is a benevolent dictatorship!) but this was an impressive organization and there was a lot for me to learn. My hosts were Pamela Timmons and Jim, wonderful craftspeople and easy to be around. we had great conversations and share a lot of the same views on life. That's always so reassuring.

    I'm off to the Smithsonian today to hear a talk by Louise Cort as she accepts a prestigious award given her by the Institution. Look her up!

On the studio wall

Does it look as cold as it is?

I like how these two handles mirror each other.

Pots to finish up.

before

after

Blogpost #501

One of many happy moments in 2012... my first swarm!

I have neglected you, gentle reader, and Hannah has shamed me into returning to the keyboard here and saying a few words. The last year, like every other, has been full and productive and I find that it gets harder to remember what actually happened in any given year. I'd like to call it living in the moment, but it's more likely creeping senility as the old brain cells slowly fade!

Nowadays, I can just look back at my old blog posts and be reminded of all that has transpired. 

Very handy!!!

So, here's a few highlights:

Started the new salt kiln 

(update ; most of the brickwork is done, we need to cast a key in the arch.)

Taught a workshop at University of Mary Washington

Released the DVD of the movie made about me.

(copies still available!)

Hosted the Kline/Philbeck Roadshow at LibertyTown

Chased a bunch of swarming bees all spring long!

Fired # 12 in the woodkiln.

Spent the summer in Britain: 

(w-a-y too much to relate here...check out June and July and August blog posts where you'll read about red clay and cups of tea and beer and cider etc.)

Firing # 13

'POTTERY ON THE HILL'

Recovered from 'Pottery on the Hill'

Resumed making pot s for a rare February firing.

And here we are are back in the moment. I need to buy a new vehicle and I'm thinking about getting a Ford Transit Connect. An interesting small van. But it might not serve all my needs, as there are big things planned for 2013 and you'll have to stay tuned to get the news. I promise that I won't make you wait a month. I am really enjoying my time in the studio. I have been able to keep my focus through all the holiday revelry and stay in the groove.

I hope that you are fit and optimistic for the year that lies ahead of us. Make good pots and have some adventure!

Pedestal Bowls

History of the Birds (pt. 1)

I posted a photo of a couple of my biblio-birds in progress on my facebook page a few days ago and got comments from both of the Bringle sisters so I figure I must be on to something! 

As this is my 500th post, I thought I'd mark it with a little backstory.

    I'm not sure what it is that is so satisfying about making these birds...parts of them are downright tedious and I did grow weary of them for a while, but after giving them a rest I've been back at it again. It takes a different state of mind to make them than throwing my 'proper pots' does, and it still feels luxurious to spend so much time on just a few pieces.   

    I first became aware of the Martin Bros. back in the '70's when I was getting into clay. There was an article in Ceramics Monthly (b/w photos in those days) about the 4 brothers who ran a pottery on the edge of London at the turn of the 20th century. They made an extraordinary range of work including what came to be known as "Wally Birds" after Walter, who was the idea man behind this series of pots called 'tobacco jars' modeled in the form of anthropomorphic birds. They were amazingly expressive and nowadays are highly collectable. They were salt glazed and I must have seen a few photos of them in an early salt glaze book as well.

    When I first learned about them it never occured to me that I would ever make anything like them, but they tickled my fancy and then receded to the back of my mind. I would bump into them in a book or auction catalog from time to time and then 8 or 9 years ago I visited a collector in England who owned dozens and dozens of them and I got a real good dose. I still had no idea that I ought to try and make them, but I sure found them intriguing.

    And yet, several years ago, on a goofy whim and completely out of the blue, I made one, or at least my version of one. I like to suggest that the final inspiration came from watching my bird feeder while throwing pots, but who knows...a preponderance of intriguing encounters, birds on the brain, asking the 'what if' question, and there you have it...one answered question has led to a whole new body of work. I have always made other things in addition to the tens of thousands of useful pots that have paid the bills all these years. Usually they are much more esoteric...I'm still not sure how to label them.

    I see my interpretations as more cartoon-like versions of birds than the fairly realistic Martin Bros. work. And I quickly found other forms to apply to the idea to.

A Martin Brother's "Wally Bird"

    I often work this way...ideas fester and percolate for a long time and are usually rooted in historic work. I then use an idea as a jumping off point, but I'm not interested in reproduction. Whether it's my desire to make work that is appropriate to this day and age, or whether it's my interest in exploring or even my need to leave my mark on things, I find that I am most excited about moving an old idea forward, and at it's root, that is what I think 'tradition' or 'traditional pottery' is all about. Tradition does not mean stasis, and our traditions continue to have value as they evolve.

    So, Here's a bunch of photos from the last 2 years. I'll post more soon. 

detail

28"tall

2 feet tall

* P.S. "The History of the Byrds" is one of my all time favorite albums...with apologies for lifting the title!

For Tony

I enjoy reading Tony Clennell's blog...he's a good writer and potter and he wears a good hat well. He also writes as if he is the only man with a handle fetish. Below I submit my own visual confession! I admit when he put handles on the knobs of his teapots a while ago, I was ready to surrender!

I haven't made these lately because everything flat warps in my wood kiln. I'm working on it...

Chattered w/ash glaze poured and sprayed

Chattered first, then crackle slip with wood ash glazes.

Crackle slip, ash glazes

This one isn't quite as bright as the photo.

John Glick Bowl

When I was a young lad, just discovering that there was a world where people made a living working with clay, there were very few 'role models' for life outside of Academia.  John Glick was one of the very few that I was aware of back in the 70's and he continues to make wonderful pots with distinctive character today. When I first started writing this blog he contacted me out of the blue to compliment me on my work. That was a big deal for me...and a completely random act of kindness!

12"x4"

I just bought this bowl of his on EBAY and I'm really happy to be able to hold it in my hands and imagine something green in it. I'm on a cabbage kick at the moment.

Other potters that I knew back then: Cynthia Bringle (I took a workshop with her in 1976!), Dave Shaner and Byron Temple. Who else?