Crazy Couple of Weeks

I have been to three ceramic conferences in the last couple of weeks, and the auction house I work for has a HUGE Americana sale this Saturday. It's been a wild ride. Let's just start with the crazy floral arrangement in the above photo. I had the chance to see this at the Wadsworth Atheneum this past weekend during the American Ceramic Circle Symposium. That floral arrangement? IT'S CERAMIC!

All of those petals are CERAMIC!

The basket that it sits in was made in Meissen, Germany in the 1740s, and the basket was then filled with CERAMIC flowers made in Vincennes, France around 1750, and mounted on the gilt base. Isn't that wild?!

The first conference I attended was the Transferware Collectors Club, which was held in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Montpelier and Monticello hosted the group, and it was great to take tours again of the buildings, but then have the chance to see the archaeological collections and watch very knowledgeable individuals help identify the patterns being excavated on the sherds at the two sites. Richard Halliday gave a great presentation on the entire process of copper plate engraving, which was absolutely fascinating.

Then it was off to the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts for their southern ceramics symposium and a good lineup of speakers and tours.

Perhaps the highlight of the weekend (other than the opportunity to speak) was the chance to do pottery demonstrations with Joseph Sand who talked about alkaline glazing and making large pots and Hal and Eleanor Pugh who talked about lead-glazed red earthenware.

Daniel Ackermann, Curator of Collections at MESDA

Angelika Kuettner, Associate Curator of Ceramics and Glass at Colonial Williamsburg

I had a good time getting two curators at my wheel and going through the throwing basics with them, too!

Salt-glazed stoneware urn made at the Lambeth Pottery in England

 This past weekend at the American Ceramic Circle symposium I enjoyed getting to see colleagues from all over, listen to good lectures, and see the great collections at the Wadsworth. There was also this incredible exchange between two contemporary potters, but I will have to save that for another post.

My little (big) man on the left!

Somewhere along the lines, Halloween happened, and I took my little man out to see other kids' costumes, and he picked up on the idea of ringing the doorbell and taking a piece of candy, and also saying "thank you". Shall I crash next week? No, we have another auction in a few weeks!

Mother Potter

 Ya'll, I had a baby. It's perhaps the biggest and by far the best project I have ever done, and it seems to change constantly. Having a child has put me in my place and taught me that I am not really in charge of my life, but also to step back and realize that I don't HAVE to fire a kiln every month, or get torn up that I am not in the studio every day. These revelations, as much as they make sense, have taken me a long time to really accept.

My one year old!

Mattias, my son, turned one last weekend and I have been reflecting a lot on the last year. To be honest, this past year has been mentally challenging to me on several fronts. As a female potter, I had several, if not numerous, people ask me before my baby came whether I was going to give up pottery entirely. I've had people assume that when the baby came, I wouldn't be doing any shows, firing any kilns, or selling pots. Perhaps it's a bit of feminism embedded in me, but all of those things were things that I did NOT want to happen, and I would bristle a bit every time someone would assume a mother has to give everything up once baby comes.

Sleeping baby with arcs of wadding.

Making dishes! 

I was blessed at the beginning of my motherhood roller coaster that my son gave me the opportunity to make lots of pots. I got to fire with other potters in three kilns over the spring and summer.

Anne Partna of Blue Hen Pottery with Mattias at a firing of her kiln. 

Mattias in front of the freshly fired kiln at Joseph Sand Pottery. 

It was a good opportunity to introduce my son to new kiln designs, for him to meet new people, and for me to feel like I was kind of in the groove of things. When I couldn't get lids for jars finished for almost two weeks (having to keep said jars damp the entire time), it was nerve wracking. That case, especially, showed me patience. I did one show at the Old Salem Pottery Fair on the Square.

Mattias an I next to my kiln.

However, when I got to load up my own kiln, though, that was a totally different experience and feeling. It was exhilarating and cathartic, kind of like giving birth to a child.

New vases in 2016.

Baskets.

I've been back in the studio this year, but I may be stepping back from my schedule that I kept several years ago of firing every 4-6 weeks. Perhaps I will only fire 2-3 times each year, but I have decided that it will be better to concentrate on my new family member and use the time I have in the studio to make pots that I enjoy or want to try out. Stay tuned, there's more news to come. Here's to life's adventures!

Big Kilns and Recent Travels

I delivered pots to Joseph Sand's last week and then zipped off to my other worlds outside of pottery.

After a weekend of dancing and a conference,

and communing with nature in the Valley of Virginia,

I helped with loading Joseph's kiln yesterday, which is always an experience and fascinating to watch the loading, particularly the "big pots."

The firing will be this weekend, and I'm looking toward another firing in my kiln next month. Picked up a load of wood yesterday!

Kiln Opening and Kiln BUILDING!

My setup at Joseph's

 It has certainly been an exciting last couple of days!It has been filled with preparation for the kiln opening and kiln building!

The kiln opening at Joseph Sand Pottery this past weekend went really well. Thank you all to those who came out for a visit! Don't forget that this coming weekend the kiln opening will be taking place on Saturday, May 12 from 9-5:00 and Sunday, May 13 from 12-5:00. I will not be there, unfortunately, but fortunately it is for a very happy reason- my brother is getting married! I may show up Sunday afternoon, but we will have to see. If you cannot make it to the opening at all, I have put a few pieces from the kiln firing on my Etsy site!

A stack of flowerpots caved over in the back of the kiln

Two shelves broke at the top of the stacks in the kiln resulting in some sculptures like this

Joseph showcased a few of the kiln accidents at the opening. They are fascinating to look at, but utterly frightening when you're the potter! 

Raking and leveling the sand for the kiln base

Joseph and I started building my kiln on Monday! There were a few hiccups to getting things going and it took a little longer to get everything prepped, but by golly, we had a base and the first course by the end of the afternoon! The kiln will be a modified Olsen Fastfire kiln. Modified in the sense that the firing boxes are enlarged for salt firing and using hard brick throughout the kiln.

Joseph measuring the base block/brick

 
My Facebook post from yesterday read:

Observations on first day of kiln building:
1. When you go to pick up the sand and have a man with you, just smile and laugh casually when the guy who loads the sand says to the man with you something along the lines of, "now you be sure to help her with that, hahaha" (I resisted glaring)
2. If you got an estimated number of brick for one part of the kiln, add at least another 50-100 to that number.
3. Sand and clay mixed together resembles a Wendy's frosty.
4. When you think you've moved enough 40 pound block/brick, there's still another 20 or so to be moved...
5. Kilns are expensive. It's not just the materials that go into it, but the blades and other machinery required to build it that adds up!

First course of brick down

Kiln Opening Spring 2012

Lots of pretty pots came out of the kiln firing from the other weekend!I will be a featured guest at Joseph Sand's kiln opening starting this weekend.

The kiln opening will this weekend, May 5 from 9-5:00 and 6 from 12-5:00, and May 12 from 9-5:00 and 13th from 12-5:00. Joseph's address is 2555 George York Road in Randleman, NC. You can find directions on Joseph's website.

Decorated dish

Ash glazed vase

Large decorated vase

Check out Joseph Sand's preview of the kiln opening with great pictures of his pots that will be for sale! Here are a few shots I made of a select number of pots I thought turned out really well. Enjoy! Hope to see you this weekend!

Sneak Peek

We started unloading the kiln on Friday, unveiling a great load of beautiful pots!

I was very excited to see the side of this dish from one of the side stoke holes, it looks like the cobalt blues may turn out well!

The clay body appears pretty dark where there is no slip or glaze. Some of my cobalt experiments may not have fared well without the white ground beneath them. I will see tomorrow.

Ash glazed and slip decorated vase

Small lidded jar with red slip, heavy salt and ash

There will be a lot of cleaning pots in the coming week, with a great show starting next weekend! Be sure to come out to Joseph Sand Pottery to see the beauties next weekend, the 5-6, or the following weekend, the 12-13!

We're working on the kiln shed again today and I am cleaning up the brick I got last year that were salvaged. There's a potential we're going to start working on the kiln in the next few weeks! Very exciting!