Furniture Romp and Potter Visit

Investigating furniture at MESDA during the 2011 Summer Institute

 This morning I had the chance to basically be a glorified chaperone for a group of furniture makers who were visiting the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA). It was great to go through the rooms and watch what objects they were attracted to, and be a part of their close inspection of the pieces. I became a part-time guide at MESDA late last fall and really enjoy spending time with the objects, sharing the collection with visitors, and learning from experienced visitors like these furniture makers. It reminded me of my days in the Winterthur Program which sometimes (more often than not) looked like this:

Learning about tea tables, their construction, and identification

 I really enjoy teaching and learning about history and culture through objects. Learning about the manufacture of those objects just makes the whole study even more exciting. Following ceramics, furniture is probably the close second in my material culture interests (and then a close follow-up is glass and textiles). I will have to tell you about my boat building and furniture making experiences some day. Luckily, this morning we did not have anything happen like this:

My reworking of a Lewis Miller print from Pennsylvania with a cupboard being toppled by a bull

 This afternoon I had a lovely excursion to meet up with Dennis Allen from Whistle Creek Pottery at the North Carolina Pottery Center and show him through the exhibition I put together. Some time ago, I had the small-world experience of reading Dennis' blog and then poking around to learn more about him. I noticed his shows were primarily in Southern Ohio (where I grew up) and then saw something about Lebanon, Ohio (where my family is from). Long story short, Dennis is from Lebanon, and it is nice to make a connection with a distant, yet local (to my roots), potter! It was great to walk through the exhibition and talk about my thought processes with developing the exhibition and the various pieces and potters involved. It was also a great chance to get to know Dennis a little more! Thanks, Dennis for visiting!

Dennis Allen at the North Carolina Pottery Center

 I have been wrapping things up in the studio this past week for a firing next weekend. Last-minute glazing and some decoration will take place in the coming days. I also have some minor work on the kiln to complete (just some mortar issues). Here are a few snapshots from the studio this past week:

Finished basket form for this week's 52 Form Project form

Decorated plates and smaller plates

Slipware in Shelby

Last week I was venturing into the world of furniture with a presentation at Winterthur's Furniture Forum on a topic near and dear to my heart, sulfur-inlaid furniture. Nerd? Yes. But sulfur inlay is amazing. Just look at this piece:

Skinner Auction: http://www.skinnerinc.com/asp/fullCatalogueSE.asp?salelot=2524B++++228+&amp%3Brefno=++877787

And in case you are interested, I've started a blog on this topic and will hope to get more images and information uploaded in the future.
Now, back to ceramics.

Closeup of one of Hannah's dishes

About a week and a half ago (yikes, time flies) I had the pleasure of going to a workshop with presentations by potters Hannah McAndrew of Scotland and Doug Fitch of England.

Meet Hannah

Meet Doug

They demonstrated traditional slipware techniques which they learned as apprentices and through research and work with archaeological materials. I was so thrilled to learn that Doug works with archaeological material. He did a good presentation on the historical pieces from the Devonshire area and talked about those influences on his work and wares. Here are a few photos of Hannah doing slip work on a puzzle jug Doug made. Doug and Hannah did a nice back and forth of making pieces and decorating their own and each other's work.

Hannah applies her slip trailing on a wet surface of white slip

I love the feet on this bird!I also enjoyed watching her combine fine dotting along with trailing and some combing

Doug demonstrated a technique which was historically used in Devonshire. It involved applying leaves with slip from the same clay the body of the piece was made of. Then he dipped the entire piece in white slip, waited for it to set up, and removed the leaves. It left great impressions of the leaves on the piece. This would be a fun technique to test out sometime.

Doug applying leaves to the pitcher

Doug removing the leaves, showing the impression left  

He also showed his techniques of removing the thick white slip on the surface with a variety of tools creating a decorative surface.

The swiftness with which Doug applied these decorations was fascinating. 

Hannah made a large dish by throwing a base and then adding two large coils for the side and marly. She said she usually applies it as one large coil, but in this case had two separate coils which she overlapped and joined. 

Hannah placing the coils

Hannah throwing the side and marly after the coils were compressed onto the base

Doug made some really beautiful pitchers/jugs. I enjoyed watching him make nice stout handles. I especially enjoyed watching him neck the vessel and make the rim and spout/lip. Watching Doug make spouts and rims made me think more about my own spouts and rims. I have never really been satisfied with how I make spouts, so I may try the way he made spouts in order to see whether that fits the pieces better and feels better to manufacture.

Doug attaching and pulling handle

Doug demonstrating the traditional rolled coil found at the terminal of handles on historic pieces

Close-up of the coil

This was a wonderful workshop, it was great to meet Hannah and Doug, and I look forward to staying in touch with them and following their work. Special thanks to Ron Philbeck for arranging the North Carolina leg of their trip, I'm glad they were nearby!