I had a restless night last night. Summer's heat has fully set in, and it made the tent I was sleeping in more like a sauna than I could stand. I'm not built for heat (despite my affinity for fire's creative kiss). I spent the holiday weekend wining and dining with some of the finest people I've ever had the pleasure of coming to know (Thanks for a fantastic weekend Colin and Marie!). I think a portion of my restlessness came from having to bid farewell, for now, to some of these folks, but all of that sleeplessness was set to right by watching the sun rise.
How I wish I could get colors like those in my glazes.
I'm very happy with the way this large serving bowl came out of the kiln.
Every day should start like this, but perhaps with a touch more actual sleep beforehand.
Hopefully I will have a little studio time this week, but if I'm being honest with myself there is little likeliness of that becoming a reality. Have a good week everyone. We'll see you on Thursday.
makes me a busy busy, and admittedly slightly grumpy, Bear. School's jumped to warp 11 until Wednesday next week when the semester ends. Here's some more work from the recent firing. See youMonday!
This one's bound for California to improve a dear friend's sake consumptions.
The kiln gods were good to me this firing! Two sake sets and some twin cups many more photos to unveil slowly. This week is really full on with finals and test writing so Thursday may not happen. . . we can only see what the week actually puts before me. Enjoy the photos and your weeks!
New work ready to be loaded and fired this weekend.
Monday came and went in a flurry of meetings for orientations, planing of vacations, and extra review sessions with my best students for finals. Along with surprising business of this week (and the lack of my promised Monday postings) I managed to squeeze about 7 pots in with last weekend's firing of student work. Since the fantastic results from my first experiment in firing cycles the school has also been using the longer down fire process. However, this firing didn't produce quite the same results.
The colors are still pleasantly deeper, but the yellow ran and pooled in very different ways that I can't say I'm particularly crazy about. The wine goblets were fun to make, and have close to the feel I was going for, but they lack the controlled blending and transitions from one glaze to the next that I was really going for. Even though these forms turned out as a fun trial of the new firing cycle the coffee bowls I made turned out quite nice and got more of the layering and blending I was after.
I could ramble on out this week's muddy dreams of futures (much like last weeks post), wow you with hypotheticals that keep me tossing at night (and unfocused in the office), or I could just say that I'm really excited for the opening of the kiln on Monday. Live for the present right! I'm also excited for an August trip to Tokyo because there will be a fantastic looking exhibit focusing on the great one, Bernard Leach. You can bet your trimming tools I'll be going to that.
Happy Thursday everyone! Everything survived the firing, and I just started the glazing process. Looking to work mostly in the reds and yellows from the last group of new glazes. There's a new blue green glaze that I am looking forward to trying out. Unfortunately, I forgot to take any pictures of the firing's results (but really it would just be the same picture as last time with a brighter shade of red).
School is really winding up for the end of term tests, and that means I don't have much time in the studio until summer vacation begins in mid July. This delay of reliable studio time means that I must get my ceramics fix in other ways. This weeks outlet . . . YOUTUBE! I've especially been enjoying clips of Warren MacKenzie at his wheel.
MacKenzie, a student of the man the myth - Bernard Leach, is an infamous figure in my mind. I first saw his work in one of my early issues of Ceramics Monthly alongside an article talking about his struggles to keep art collectors from exorbitantly raising the prices of his work. To me, this man is absolutely one of the best. Watching him at work and listening to some of his thoughts on the creation of objects intended for use and the role of the craft / art creator is a real pleasure, only available to me in my current residence through the glories of internet and its many pathways.
"It's not that you try to communicate, but you try to put something into the work which will be there for the person who uses it to find - if their sensitive. If they understand the language. You know?"
One of my greatest struggles with ceramics, at this moment, is that I lack a mentor. There are days when I feel like I'm past the stage MacKenzie speaks of, where I've explored form and my creativity, but now I want to (I have to) push my technique. There are times at work, in the 10 minute breaks between cups of coffee and classes, where I look up the summer's ceramics courses at Penland and drool uncontrollably at the thought of having someone experienced to guide me. Sometimes I even catch myself rereading the Studio Visits in Ceramics Monthly. Just stuck mentally revisiting vignettes of different lives dedicated to the creation of beautiful objects. I could ramble on my fantasies and the seeking of an unclouded view of my future all day and night for the next 10 months, but that is hardly an interesting read.
Before I go! If you are kicking around the web itching to get a good fix of ceramics viewing for this week (and man do I know you are) check out the Tomio Koyama Gallery page and take a gander at the Function Dysfunction exhibition. It features one of my very favorite contemporary potters, Ani Kasten. Her work is just a continual inspiration! If you're in Japan and heading to Kyoto before the 14th of July go check out her work and tell me about it. Unfortunately for me, the exhibition's slideshow will have to suffice.
Alright, I'd say that's enough of the wordy junk for a while. Have a great weekend.
Walked into the studio today to find several of these posters. Lovely little thank you's from the students for the tools and glazes I donated.
Happy Monday everyone. Loaded up the kiln today with all the bone dry work I have. Lots of coffee mugs, wine goblets, some sake flasks, a few ochoko, and two tea pots.
Just wanted to take a moment to highlight a laughable little miscalculation in my first take on a tea pot here. I pulled the body of the pot to be a taller form, always with the intention of placing the spout lower on the body bell flare of the pot. I thought it would make some really nice lines, and I am happy with the overall (although still a bit clunky to my eyes) shape of it. BUT, after drying and further examination I've come to the realization that due of the placement of the spout this teapot can never be filled to capacity. WWWWWHHOOOPSS! Having the spout so love means that water is just going to go right out of it as one attempts to fill it. So. . . lesson learned. Perhaps once it is fired I will be proven wrong, but I find that doubtful. The second tea pot is much more functional and successful.
Here's hoping all goes well with the firing. See you all on Thursday.
One of my first memories of playing with clay was at a workshop in the basement of the Unitarian Church. I was very young and my mother was with me. A husband and wife were teaching a lot of folks how to make slab built pots and simple sculptures. I don't remember much about the workshop to be honest. I remember the finished product, a round blue flower vase with a clay maple leaf on it’s front.
Becky last summer
What I do remember, vividly, is how kind and patient the woman instructing me was. That is probably because throughout my life this couple’s kindness became a constant every time our paths crossed. I grew up an only child under the parentage of two artists (well, one former artist turned extreme art enthusiast / HR manager). This combination led to lots of time at local art shows, gallery openings, open houses, and art courses. There are many faces from those days that became friends and mentors, but the couple I'm speaking of, Claude and Becky Deegan, stand out amongst the rest.
Becky took a pottery class at Parkersburg Community College and as far as I can tell made and sold pottery locally for many years. Becky and Claude would open their home during the holidays and serve hot apple cider and snacks while friends and customers walked about their beautiful home and studio looking at the works they had created. I have been eating off of Becky's pottery all of my life. She made a small baby dish for my parents when I was born. My mother tells me it was simple and the perfect size. She said it was my main bowl at feeding time. Becky's work was wonderfully functional, and when I returned home last summer for a visit I remember eating from her plates made being home feel even more . . . homey. I also learned that Becky was struggling with dementia. My parents and I visited the Deegan's home and studio and had a magnificent day. A friend of the family, and Becky's original ceramics instructor, Henry Aglio, was also there helping Becky continue to create pottery. They were in the middle of a firing. He said that making pots was really good for her, and that, even though some days she couldn't remember him or other things, she seemed to always remember parts of the creative process. It was a brilliant day. I took a lot of pictures of her more recent work.
The new work Becky was producing last summer.
Wednesday morning I received an early morning Skype call from my father informing me that Becky had passed away. My thoughts and heart go out to Claude and the rest of the Deegan family, but words offer little in the way of comfort when confronted with loss and sorrow. My childhood, and life, were better for having Becky's smile.
