Holiday Kiln Opening

Ho Ho Ho... it's time for our Christmas Holiday Kiln Opening!  We have been busy making pots for the past few weeks for this special event. There  will be many kiln openings this weekend, so if you want to escape to the country and get out of the shopping malls come on down to 'the Grove'.  There will be many events in the area:  Dean and Martin, Bulldog, Ben Owen, Donna Craven, Jeff Brown and Michelle Hastings, David Stuempfle, Johnston and Gentithes, Chris Luther, and Seagrove Stoneware.  Come on out and Occupy Seagrove this Saturday!

Baskets,Teapots, and Banjo...

A few pics from our last firing... we also have a new website with some of our latest work.  Happy Fall!!

Form/Glaze Show

Tonight, we are headed down to Claymaker's  in Durham for the Form/Glaze exhibit.  If you are in the area please come by. We are excited to be in the show with John Britt, the author of The Complete Guide To High-Fire Glazes, and Wilmington artist Hiroshi Sueyoshi, a North Carolina Living Treasure.

The summer is just flying by here in the studio. We have been working toward several shows. I have tried to make some new pieces like these watering cans. These ovoid forms were a challenge to construct. Exercises like this one are good to do from time to time to take us out of our comfort zone of making mugs, bowls and plates. I am not trying to trivialize the making of utilitarian ceramics but I am trying to say that we all get comfortable making the things that we make all of the time.

I tried to one up myself in this making phase by constructing a larger piece with the coil and throw method that my friend and fellow potter , David Stuempfle, taught me how to do at his studio some years back. He was very gracious with his time to help me learn this wonderful way of making, although David makes this look effortless... it's not. The process went rather slowly for me because I am only a beginner at best with this type of construction. I will say that timing and consistency of the clay coils make a huge difference in how the piece will finish up. There is one essential tool that you have to have to construct these and that is a big heat gun or a weed burner. The coils are added one by one but after each coil is added and thrown the piece is stiffened a bit with the aid of one of these heating tools. So that is my brief explanation of what this process is all about, but the best way to learn anything is to do it. Just don't make it bigger than the kiln you have because that could be problematic and remember lift with your legs. That's enough run-on sentences for now, so it's back in the studio where I belong.

Banjo's Lament

The last few days I have been making these pitchers and tumblers. I always love seeing them in this state because everything is not set yet by the firing and in the back of your mind you still think that you may could have finished them better and if you want to you still may have time to do just that. The thing about working with slips that gets me is that it keeps indecisive people like myself real, if you know what I mean. When you start the process of slip decorating, it is started however good or bad it may be perceived to be. I kind of look at decorating like looking at life if you don't make your mark and go all in then you can't make all the gains with your work that you would have never made just setting on the edge of the pool with your feet in the water. So here is to getting our head wet and enjoying what we do.

I have also been trying my hand at making a larger pot. It has been quite a while since I have attempted this type of work. It is made with coils of clay. Then it is paddled and as each coil is added the coil is thrown and smoothed. Then it is dried using a torch and the whole process starts again, until you are done. It has been a blast working with the clay this way but there is a down side to all this work and that is when you have to look into Banjo's eyes because we haven't been able to throw the ball to much lately. We like to refer to this as

Banjo's Lament.

New Wood-Fired Pots

Contemporary British Ceramics Exhibition

This Sunday, March 13th, is the last day to view the exhibition of Contemporary British Ceramics at the Mint Museum of Craft and Design in uptown Charlotte. What an amazing collection of contemporary sculptural and utilitarian ceramics! You'll leave smiling... I promise.

What's new in the studio...

Judy Pfaff at the Weatherspoon

If you are in the Greensboro area, check out the Judy Pfaff exhibit at the Weatherspoon Art Museum. She is one of the pioneer installation artist, and is the Falk Visiting Artist at UNCG this semester. Major eye candy!! Also on exhibit is "Art on Paper", which only comes around every two years. Definitely worth a road trip. Stay tuned for new Dean and Martin works in progress!