Updates in Photos

Sometimes it is embarrassing to see how long I go between posts. Since I have been so delayed in doing even weekly updates, I thought I would share a bunch of updates with photos. The biggest update I have to share is the following announcement our dogs made on Facebook recently:

Yes, this means yours truly is going to have a baby sometime in January. Needless to say, that has been a fairly major distraction from posting! It should make throwing pottery pretty interesting later this fall, but we will cross that bridge when we get to it.

Compost crocks

Mugs

Hanging planters

Shortly after returning from my ventures in New England, I gave a presentation at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts' Summer Institute on Kentucky pottery. I enjoyed that thoroughly. It took me a little while to get back in the studio, and when I did I got right back to making lots of pots. This was in preparation for a firing this coming weekend with Joseph Sand.

I participated in Blowing Rock's Art in the Park in mid-July, which turned out to have 60 degree (Fahrenheit) weather and rain. Needless to say, the crowds were not quite as expected, and it was a soggy day.

Slip trailing on large bowls

Just before the Blowing Rock show, I cleaned the studio up, wiped down the wheel really well, and got out some new clay. For a long time now I have had in the back of my mind the want to fire earthenware in the wood kiln for several reasons. One, when I have seen wood-fired earthenware pots I have always felt them to be warm and inviting. Two, for a purely experimental reason, I want to see whether the salt that is now coating the interior of my kiln will flux and off gas onto the earthenware at all. Call it a bit of experimental archaeology, but I am incredibly curious to see what happens. The firing is coming up in a few weeks in mid-August. I'll be joining forces with Anne Partna from Blue Hen Pottery for this venture.

Marbled and slip decorated dishes

Slip decorated bowls

Making earthenware has given me the opportunity to play with a lot of slip trailing and marbling that I have also wanted to experiment with for a long while.

Earlier this week I helped Joseph Sand load his large kiln and will be on the firing crew on Saturday. So, here's to rolling into August with the hopes of more posting to share some of my experiments in the world of earthenware and keep you updated on the developing human being I am incubating. Thanks for reading!

Traveling Potter Part II

My hope to have this posted mid-week last week clearly did not happen. Another part of my traveling adventure last weekend was to Don Carpentier's Eastfield Village in Upstate New York.

Each year, Eastfield Village hosts a series of lectures and workshops centered around various aspects of the structures and collections there. One such weekend is generally focused on ceramics of one kind or another, and is fondly called by many, "Dish Camp." It is a great experience that is unlike any conference. It's a laid back environment with presentations in an historic church. People bring archaeological material as well as intact pots to talk about various things or to get other opinions on what they have. The lectures are by people from various aspects of the ceramics world- collectors, scholars, researchers, archaeologists, enthusiasts- and it makes for a great weekend of learning and camaraderie.

I had the pleasure of presenting some of my newer research on Kentucky and Ohio River Valley pottery production There were some great speakers this year talking about a variety of things from archaeological adventures in Burslem, England to new aspects on Philadelphia-made earthenwares.

Rick Hamlin from Massachusetts came to talk with Dave Graci about Whately pottery, and he also demonstrated a few pottery making techniques.

 I did a pottery demonstration, but also demonstrated how kiln furniture functioned in the kiln as well as a demonstration of stacking pots with kiln furniture.

One thing I try to make sure to point out during a demonstration is how the thickness of the walls vary and also that the heft of an historic pot is not always because the potter could not throw well. It also had to do a lot with the clay and whether it had enough plasticity to have high walls, or absorbed water and slumped some at the bottom making for thicker foot profiles.

Each Saturday evening attendees are treated to a period meal cooked by kitchen demonstrators from Old Sturbridge Village. Dinner is served in the historic tavern on site, and often accompanied by music!

I tend to have shop envy when I visit Don's shop!

Don showing how the engine turning lathe operates

On Sunday Don showed everyone his shop and we watched several videos demonstrating his pursuit to learn how to build and operate a potter's lathe and an engine turning machine for making engine-turned creamwares as they did in England in the later 18th and early 19th-centuries. I thoroughly enjoy attending "Dish Camp" and highly recommend anyone interested in historic ceramics to go for a unique experience!

Traveling Potter Part I

I've been horrible to leave you all in the dark for the last month. Needless to say, there's been a lot going on and I will try to catch you up this week. For the past 5 days I have been in New England traveling first to Upstate New York for Don Carpentier's Eastfield Village ceramic workshop (which we fondly call "Dish Camp"). Last night I arrive in Deerfield, Massachusetts and had the opportunity today to work with the students in their Summer Fellowship Program. Slowly, I have been working to try and reach out to programs and conferences for doing workshops to talk about historic pottery, demonstrate pottery making, and particularly talk about kiln furniture and historic kilns. It is really fun to start to see things coming into fruition.

Talking about kiln furniture

I first did a presentation for the students about my background, my work in museums, and my hands-on experience and approach to material culture as a potter. Then we went into a workshop space where I talked about kiln furniture, showed various pieces from my collection, and talked about how to recognize how pots were fired by marks on their surface.

Stacking pots with kiln furniture

I then did a little demonstration with stacking pots in order to show the function of kiln furniture and how the various shapes interact with one another and the vessels.

After showing the students the basics of handles and throwing a vessel on the wheel, I got them on the wheel and making handles. Prior to coming, I made mug blanks in order for them to gain experience with pulling a handle from the side of the mug.

Particularly for students studying objects in museums, I think learning the various aspects of pottery production is important. Even understanding the basics can change your approach and understanding of an object.

 

 Above are their final products from the afternoon, a bowl-like form, and a handled mug! And for kicks, here is my face after my attempt to join two sections resulted in the base being too wet and collapsing:

More to come, stay tuned!

On the Farm- Stoneware Sherd!

What could be more exciting than receiving a text from the farmer telling me that he found the neck and handle section of a jug while planting sweet potatoes?! Above is the marred remains of said jug section, but boy, was I excited! Do you see what I see?

Unglazed interior of the jug

First, we'll get out of the way that it is stoneware. It is also salt-glazed. The interior is not glazed which generally tells me that it pre-dates 1850, since that is when it starts to become more common to see pots glazed on the interior.

Marbling in the broken section showing the possibility of rolled clay

The handle is particularly awesome for many reasons. One, is that the end of the handle where it broke has this beautiful marbled texture that almost looks like the wedge of clay was rolled before being attached to the bottle and pulled for a handle. Does that make sense? The potter took a hunk of clay, rolled it into a fat snake-shape, then attached it to the neck of the jug, and pulled the shape of the handle. I don't know that this is for sure how it happened, but it makes sense to me and visually seems to match my theory.

The handle is also quite thick, roughly 1 1/4- 1 1/2 inches across at the top, which makes me wonder how large the jug was that needed such a thick handle!

Can you spot the cobalt blob at the upper part of the handle?

Cobalt blob circled

Another reason is that it has a blob of cobalt on the upper part of the handle where it joins the vessel. This tells me that it is probably not English, as I don't know that I have seen an English jug with a blob of cobalt at the handle juncture.

And then we come to perhaps the most tantalizing part of this piece- the evidence of kiln furniture! Can you make out the subtle chance in surface color and texture to the right of the handle remain in the photo above?

That subtle change in surface color and texture tells me that it is a touch mark, most likely where a piece of kiln furniture touched the top of the handle. Not just any piece of kiln furniture, mind you, but a bar!

Combined with the very dry surface of the rim, the touch mark and dry rim tell me that a bar was used to stack this jug in the kiln when it was fired. Check out a blog post I did a few years ago on this topic to get an idea of what the kiln furniture looked like. I'm not coming to the conclusion that this piece was made in Fayetteville (per the linked blog post), but I don't recall seeing stacked jugs like this much in Virginia (off the top of my head, maybe in Alexandria), and am not sure about Tennessee. The neck doesn't match the pieces from Fayetteville, either, so we'll toss that thought until we (hopefully) find more pieces!

We had a great turn out for the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association's Triad Farm Tour last Saturday and Sunday. This coming Sunday is our own farm open house and pottery sale. Lots of new pots, seconds, and older pieces at deep discounts!

On the Farm- Events and Barn Update

Barn at sunset with wheat in the foreground

Yesterday, with the help of some generous friends who donated their time and strength, we put the walls up on the second floor of the barn. Barn building and farm projects have absorbed most of my time and energy lately and have kept me out of the studio. Bear with me while I pause on the 52 Form Project and work toward getting back in the swing of things!

Raising a wall requires a lot of hands to put the walls together, stand them up, and then hold them in place while they are stabilized and nailed in. It's a bit risky and tricky, especially on the second floor being so high up!

We're trying to get things ready for the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association Triad Farm Tour that takes place this coming weekend. There will be about 17 farms on the tour, giving people the chance to caravan with others and go from farm to farm, learn about a lot of different farming practices, see different kinds of plants and animals, and maybe taste some fresh veggies and other food!

Our own farm open house and pottery sale is coming up the weekend after, on Sunday the 15th.

My brother decided that our barn currently looks more like a Super Mario Brothers castle than a barn, so in his honor, I leave you with the ever-unforgettable tune of the Super Mario Brothers (if you get through 34 seconds, you'll see a castle):