done.

I just finished firing #3 in the new kiln. I guess I should probably stop calling it the "new" kiln. I woke up at 6am, had my traditional iced tea and pb&j and noticed it was drizzling and foggy outside. I had only slept about 4 hours and was still exhausted and decided to just go back to bed. I woke up at about 10 and realized that I had kiln shelves in the wood kiln borrowed from the school that I had to have back on Monday. The wife and I have dinner plans with some other folks tonight so I decided to fast-fire this load. I fired in about 6 hours, taking time to soak at the critical points. I think I over-salted it but I guess we'll find out if I'm a fool or not Monday morning. I didn't see any cracks on any pots, so maybe it's all good.

So long!

Earth and Fire Gallery

I know many other potters out there like myself hoard the best of the best from their firings for gallery shows or publications or whatever. I sent a batch of pots to Earth and Fire Gallery a couple weeks ago that I felt were some top-notch pieces. Earth and Fire has been around for a number of years but has recently closed its doors and is now exclusively online. It was always primarily an outlet for pottery and a few other handcrafts but now is exclusively pottery. So if you have been interested in my work here is an opportunity for some racers(as tony clennell would call them.) Hop on over there and support this potter and also an excellent outlet and supporter of pots.

Deep Roots.

This was sent out in a press release today. I finished writing this at about 2am last night while waiting for a kiln to fire off. I think it'll give you a good idea about what my upcoming show is about.

Exhibit Statement:

“To be part of a tradition is to belong to a place, to have deep roots. “ -Mark Hewitt

The idea for this show came about in my hesitance to have a solo show. I make domestic ware that is relatively modest in size and I estimated that it would take some 300 pots to fill the gallery space. The volume of work required did not worry me but as a potter who makes a very limited range of work I was mortified at the redundancy of work that I would be forcing people to look at, how boring! Who besides another potter would really care to look at 300 pieces from one potter? My initial idea was to ask my friend Kent Harris to have a dual show with me but that still seemed like a lot of work for 2 people. I asked Kent if there was anyone he would like to invite that worked within the same tradition as we did. We tossed some names around and decided to go for broke and invite the potters that have had the strongest influence in our lives and work. Kent had come up with the title Deep Roots long ago in hopes of having the opportunity to have a show that presented the pottery lineage that he took part in; this seemed to be that perfect opportunity.

The tradition that all of these potters take part in is loosely known as the Leach/Hamada tradition with many taking influence from the Japanese Folk Craft movement known as Mingei which is roughly translated as arts and crafts made for and by the people. The days of the local village potter and the anonymous craftsman have long since past but the essence of the folk craft movement, beautiful objects for everyday use, is an ideal to which all of these potters have committed themselves.

"The challenge is to do the thing you have to do because you're in love with it and can't do anything else. Not because you want to become famous or rich, but because you will be unhappy if you can't do it.”-Warren Mackenzie

The public rarely gets a glimpse of what the life of a potter is like. With all this talk of tradition and ideals it is easy to become swept away in the romanticism of it all, but the life of the potter is not one of glamour. It is a life of hard work. We each individually produce thousands of pots every year. It is a life of long days and back breaking labor, missed suppers and kiln stoking at 3am, shard piles and second guessing. But this is the path that we have chosen, a choice of necessity. It is a life of hard work but it is also a life of unparalleled beauty and satisfaction.

"To me the greatest thing is to live beauty in our daily life and to crowd every moment with things of beauty. It is then, and then only, that the art of the people as a whole is endowed with its richest significance. For its products are those made by a great many craftsmen for the mass of the people, and the moment this art declines the life of the nation is removed far away from beauty."-Soetsu Yanagi

This short statement only scratches the surface of the significance of tradition in pottery and the intertwinement of life and work. I am still very young and very idealistic but if the oldest potter in this group, aged 85, can maintain this tradition and these ideals for 60 years and still running strong I think that perhaps I am in the right place. The potters that we have invited are in my opinion (and the opinions of many) some of the best living potters in the world. It is no doubt the privilege and the honor of a lifetime to show with them and to be a continuation of this tradition.

Caption needed.

This photo is hanging in my classroom watching over the students and myself. My wife took this photo a couple years ago at a Warren Mackenzie workshop in Red Lodge, Montana. I'm thinking that with such an animated gesture this really needs a caption posted below it. I like to think that I'm a witty guy but I'm probably not so I need your help. Leave your potential captions in the comments section, as many as you like. I'll pick my favorite and post it beneath the photo in my classroom.

Warren says: ???

postcards

We're getting ready to send out postcards for our show opening May 8th. If anyone would like to get a card in the mail send me your address and I'll add you to the list. brandon@supportyourlocalpotter.com

the blues.

I've finally found my blue! Some other vapor firing potters out there may be thinking I speak heresy but at least it's an ash glaze, right? I've been trying to find a soft blue for some time now. I've tried several ways to get it without using cobalt but between the iron in the ash and in the clay that clearly wasn't going to work(though it does hold some promise on porcelain.) The other problem I encountered was that I only needed fractions of a percent when using cobalt and when you're mixing 100gram test batches that is not so easy or accurate. My solution was to mix up a 10000 gram batch(5gal bucket) and start with 1/10%(10g) cobalt and that was spot on the first time. The only drawback is that cobalt is so powerful it eliminates many of those little variations you get in an ash glaze. It usually likes to break brown on a sharp edge and I'm not seeing that happen, perhaps they're just not any edges sharp enough on this piece. Who knows what this will do in the wood kiln.

I've also made some headway on an ash based tenmoku, I think I just have a few more tests to get it where I want it.

So long for now.

flutes.

Hello all. I'm seriously lacking for content so you'll have to bear with me. I've been making a few pots here and there lately but it seems I never have time to make more than a couple. I usually like to do a whole run of a certain shape but lately when something pops into my head, I'll only have enough time to make one or two.

Fluted bottle/vase. I really enjoy making these and I think I'd like to make some more.


12# Fluted bowl, about 12-13" wide.


Slab dish with slip deco. I'm really excited about this one. That is tile6 slip and bare clay so the contrast after firing won't be too great but it was a spur of the moment idea and I'm glad I went with it.

12# & 6# jugs. I think I've finally started to find "my" jug/pitcher shape. I've struggled with pitchers the last couple years to try and find a shape that works with my glazing/slipping/deco. and is still mine. I have a nice round shape already but I've been playing with this adaptation of the medieval jug shape.

I've also been making fat handles on everything. Every cycle they seem to get a little fatter. I think I've taken it to the point where I need to bring it back down a little.

This is the sawdust tray under the table saw in the univ. wood shop. This is all from me and I've already emptied it once. Wish they had a dust collection system but no budget for that yet. Speaking of budgets though I had a budget approved to build a new gas kiln next year with all new materials(I'll finally be getting those kiln shelves I need.) I'll be teaching a semester long kiln building class(which means I'll be getting paid to build it, woo!) We'll be building a gas kiln, a salt kiln from the leftovers and brick lying around and a new raku kiln. I've built nine kilns to date so I'm not nervous about it, it'll be fun.

We decided to go with the floating shelves afterall. I've made 38 of them which was all we thought we needed but I think we're going to need a few more. These pieces of MDF are the top and bottom of the shelf and wrap around a 2x2 frame. They have mitered edges so there are no joints showing(5 pieces for each shelf), it's actually a lot easier than you might think but still a fair amount of work. I enjoy time in the woodshop but I'd hardly call MDF woodworking. The tally is 23 pedestals, 38 shelves all out of 20 sheets of MDF. I think I've had enough! I'm ready to have some free time to work in the garden and be out in the sun.

So long for now!