Recent Kiln Firing

 When I built the kiln last year I said, "my goal is to not fire this thing in July or August." The first firing last year was in August and we just did a firing in July. So much for that hope!

I loaded the kiln a little differently this time, which ultimately bit me in the butt, however, it was worth a try I suppose.

Rather than putting the shorter shelf in the front of the kiln, parallel to the front firebox opening, I placed it there on the left, and then lined up the 12x24 shelf in front of it.

What I realize in hindsight is that this essentially created the same atmosphere I struggled with for the first several firings, having the large shelf up front, creating a cooler space in the front corner.

See how the pots in the front left are dry? That's the cool corner. We also struggled a lot with this firing. Up until this week we've had fairly constant rain for almost three months, which has brought us high humidity levels, given me damp bricks, damp shelves, and never drying pots. It didn't matter where I put them, or kept them out of the elements, everything got damp. Including some of the wood. We fought and fought with that kiln at the end and gave up (or gave out really) before I would have normally called it good.

Coolers

I was pleasantly surprised by the results. For the most part, everything reached temperature, and I only had a few issues with dry ash or really dry pots.

Nose dive mug

Only one piece made a sacrificial nose dive during the firing. 

On to the next firing!

My Stamp Confession

My 'usual' stamp

I have a confession. I forget things, lose things, and generally sometimes wonder where the hours go. A few weeks ago while getting back into the studio after "Dish Camp" I realized I left my "Liberty Stoneware" stamps (lower case) in New York. Bummer. This revelation made something dawn on me. As I turned to my drawer of stamps, and resorted to using the all caps "LIBERTY STONEWARE" stamps, I thought about what historical potters did in these instances. I'm positive they forgot things, broke things, lost things, and also likely generally wondered where their daylight hours wheedled away to.

The stamps I resorted to in my haste

Many people who write about historical pottery and potters often pinpoint certain stamps, decorations, designs, etc. to "transitional" points in a potter's career, to an "early career" or some other term designating roughly when they think those designs or stamps were being used. I try to stray from using the term "transitional" for many reasons, but when I had to get out my other set of stamps out, I thought, "why wouldn't other potters have done the same thing?"

Another time when I tried something a little different with the numbers

Why wouldn't a potter perhaps have a whim to revisit an old design, use a different stamp, or perhaps use an old stamp if the other broke or was misplaced for the moment? Why do we have to make their careers so black and white through the motifs, stamps, decorations, etc.? Categorizing a potter's work may be helpful in some respects, but I have to think that they would chuckle a little to watch us so diligently try to categorize their lives. Forms change, I understand that, but the criticism of the stamps and the decorations drives me batty sometimes. Fifty years from now (with the hopes I'll still be making pots in fifty years) I will likely not remember when I did or didn't use one stamp or another, when I tried something new, or put a little different twist on a design, and now with my own kiln and my pots looking more coherent and similar to one another, how will anyone else know when I did one thing or another?

Prepping new kiln posts for the firing

In other news-- it's kiln firing time again! Loading it up and firing this weekend!

Dish Camp

It was a great weekend at Eastfield Village where I have been in the company of pottery enthusiasts, scholars, collectors, and professionals for the annual Eastfield Village workshop weekend focusing on pottery. Here are a few photos from Eastfield:

This is the chapel where we have all of the presentations

This is an original store from the early 1800s

I did a presentation which combined images from my days at Berea, to Winterthur, to my study of historic kilns, my kiln building, and then how I make, decorate, and fire my pots.  It was an excellent opportunity to reflect on my research on historic ceramics, kilns, etc., and how it has impacted my work as a potter.

At Eastfield we are provided with a hearth-cooked meal on Saturday evening, which is always a treat.

After the lovely supper I prepped some pots for the Sunday demonstration and was eaten alive by mosquitoes! When I asked Don Carpentier for a board of wood to put my pots on to set up, he brought me a piece of wood with a tongue, like for tongue and groove paneling or flooring. I said, "oh, what house did that come from?" to which he responded, "Just an 18th-century Dutch house." So there my pots awaited overnight, on their 18th-century Dutch board.

On Sunday I did a demonstration, talking about throwing techniques, contemporary and historical, and how to recognize various methods of pottery manufacture.  I just got back to North Carolina today and made a mad dash for Starworks to get some clay for the coming week's production. Last week or so of wet work before the kiln firing!

Here are a few more images of my demonstration:

Herds of Pots and Kentucky Stoneware

All-farm dinner

 The farm is geared up and running full force into summer and we've been having some exciting all-farm suppers. The photo above is a chicken from the farm, with carrots, beets, potatoes, garlic, and onion, all seasoned with sorghum syrup we grew on the farm last year. Yum!

I've been rampantly making pots in the studio trying to get the bigger pots finished before this week of running around out of the state.

Herds of compost crocks, vases, dishes, water coolers, and other forms have been piling up!
An exciting note from my research on Kentucky stoneware was a recent find that two potters from Maysville, Kentucky in 1836 patented an improvement on a machine for press-molding pottery. Here is a photo of the machine and patented parts:

You can read more about the patent here.
I'm in Kentucky now presenting at the Kentucky Historical Society on "my" Kentucky potters and then off to "Dish Camp" at Eastfield Village in New York tomorrow, keep and eye out on Facebook for photos I may post over the weekend!

Thinking Ahead

I always tell people either when demonstrating, or teaching, that you have to have in mind what you are going to make before you start. Otherwise, if you're thinking about a bowl, but intending to make a mug, it will end up like a weird, wide, funky mug. The photo above shows what I have in mind when I have been making these vases- I see the end result, or have an idea of it in my head while I work.

Lots of bigger pieces have been coming off the wheel this past week as I prepare to do some traveling for lectures and teaching. It's sometimes hard to think 3-4 days ahead in order to have lids finished, pots glazed, and slips on at just the right time, but things seem to be working out somehow.

I'm off to glaze some water coolers and vases- never ending!

Spring Clean Up

Eastern Fence Lizard at Emmaus Farm

  After three weekends of shows and kiln firings, then a conference in Pennsylvania, I'm trying to get back in the studio, excavate my wheel from under the boards and clay that pile up during kiln load prep, and generally trying a little spring cleaning!



  The farm is exploding with vegetables and the fruit trees and bushes are happy and leafy. We're into our 5th week of the Three Farm CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) this week, feeding 18 families from the area. Lizards are all over the place- including some great Eastern Fence Lizards like the one in the photo. I had a wren nesting in a box with my kao-wool (insulation fiber for the kiln) over the last few weeks. Babies hatched and fledged away now so I can have my box back!
  That's the short update for now- hopefully going to make some pots today!

Firing in Seagrove

What do I think of when I fire a kiln? I think of the video above, the giant plant from Little Shop of Horrors saying "FEED ME SEYMOUR!"

 I did a firing with Anne Pärtna of Blue Hen Pottery yesterday down in Seagrove.Anne has a Bourry Box kiln, so it was a nice change of pace to fire something different from my own, and different from many of the other wood kilns in the Seagrove area.

We salted later in the evening and shut the little beast down a little after 10:00 pm. From the view through the bourry box, things looked really good! We'll see this week!

Anne salting the kiln with a salt solution

And you can come see for yourself next week at the Old Salem Pottery Fair on the Square!