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Spring 2015 Tye River Pottery firing

6/3/2015

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This last woodfiring at Tye River Pottery (Kevin Crowe's kiln) was bittersweet. Others have written about it more eloquently, but as this was the first woodkiln I was ever involved with firing, the fact that the current three-chamber kiln is in the process of being torn down and rebuilt as a one-chamber kiln meant that the May firing was a bit more sentimental and special than those over the last few years since I joined the crew. So good to see so many good friends and reconnect. And the pots were an added bonus. I am going to miss the Salt chamber.
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It's been a while...

3/16/2015

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It's been a while - too long - since I've touched clay in any meaningful, transformative way. In October, I got a promotion in the midst of a reorganization of my department (Marketing) at work. It's a really great opportunity, and I've really been enjoying my work for the last few months, but we've been incredibly busy, so I haven't had much time for clay. 

Largely because of that, I stepped down from my duties as webmaster/social media manager for City Clay here in Charlottesville. I wasn't able to find time to make pots, let alone give the marketing of the studio the attention it needed and deserved. 

Because I also have not been firing at City Clay - they only have cone 6 electric kilns currently, and I was having a hard time getting excited about any of the surfaces I was able to get - I decided it would be far more practical to relinquish my studio space and put the monthly rent I would have paid into my own wheel. I've set up a small personal studio in my attic - right now the wheel plus shelves for drying/storing pots - soon a small table for handbuilding/assembling and a wedging/drying station. My wheel - a work horse in a Brent CXC - arrived today and I broke my dry spell with a few teabowls. 

I have to say, it's good to be back.
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A great box to come home to.
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Wheel all set up in the new space. May it never be this clean ever again.
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First pot on the new wheel. Teabowls felt like a perfect way to break it in.
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Spring 2014 Tye River Pottery Firing

7/15/2014

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I'm much delayed in posting pots from the Spring 2014 firing at Tye River Pottery - heading across the globe to Hong Kong for two months just days after unloading the kiln put me behind schedule. Photos are below.

Speaking of Hong Kong, you can follow my travels there at my travel blog: asianrambles.weebly.com

To see posts specifically about the pots and potters I see during my travels in Hong Kong and Japan, click on the Pottery tag in the right hand navigation.

Without further ado...
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Fall 2013 Tye River Pottery Woodfiring

12/4/2013

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By all accounts, the fall firing this year was a huge success. Here are a few images of the pots I got from the kiln. Thanks to Kevin and the rest of the crew for a phenomenal time - even though I was in the midst of recuperating from LASIK.

A selection of the below pots is currently available in my Etsy store.
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Preparing for Fire

10/21/2013

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I've just wrapped up a six-week workshop with Kevin Crowe, which happened to coincide with my throwing cycle for the fall wood-firing at his kiln in Nelson County, VA. This was my third workshop with Kevin, and it was an incredibly productive one. None of the forms we focused on were new to me -- we'd thrown all of them in his previous workshops. My intent going into the workshop was to work on refining the forms and focus on throwing larger pieces than I've successfully thrown before. In the process, Kevin was able to point out a few bad habits I'd picked up over the last year or so, and help me correct them. Some things just clicked, others were a bit of a struggle, but after 6 weeks, I can honestly say that I feel like I'm throwing the best pots I ever have, and am excited to see how they fire in a few weeks.
This afternoon, I'll be heading down to Tye River Pottery to glaze and wad pots for the kiln. This will be my third full-firing experience, and the fourth time I'll have pots in the kiln. Again, I'm using clay I'm unfamiliar with, but this time, it's primarily a clay that has experienced great results in the kiln - a mixture of one-third Soldate 60 and two-thirds B-Mix Wood that Kevin himself uses for many of his pots. We're also doing a longer firing than past years, which will hopefully lay good ash down on the pots.
Traveling with leather-hard greenware is always one of the most stressful parts of the woodfiring experience for me. The pots are wrapped, packed, and padded, filling up the small trunk and back seat of my car. I'm carrying about 30 of my own pieces (mugs, teabowls, honey pots, cruets and graters, plates (see right),  lidded jars (see above), and a teapot I'm particularly excited about) as wells as a few pieces from the other potters in my workshop: Precious Cargo. Once the pots are down there, glazed, and wadded, I don't worry as much. It's in the control of the kiln and the amazing group of potters who help to fire it. But during the hour or so drive down to Nelson, it's all on me, and it's not just my work that I'm responsible for.
I have no doubts that all will be well, even if something is damaged in transit. It will be a nice reprieve to spend the afternoon at Kevin's, as it always is, and a tantalizing taste of the way of life that waits for me during the firing. Good conversations, thoughtful work, and a warm bowl or two of tea will carry me through this day.
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"Proof" Pots

3/7/2013

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Ruddy brown and denim blue glaze mugs on the set of Proof. Photo by Dave Young.
My big sister, Tara, is in a performance of the play Proof by David Auburn at the Lucille Ball Little Theatre in my hometown of Jamestown, NY. She's playing Claire, the pretentious, estranged older sister of the main character, Catherine. Claire spends a lot of time drinking coffee on set. Obviously, I couldn't let my sister use any old mugs when her brother is a potter, so I shipped her a set fresh from the kiln.

BTW, Tara's the pretty one in blue.
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Twisted Facets

2/10/2013

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I've been really inspired recently by this potter on Instagram. He throws, cones, facets, and then re-throws clay so that the facets naturally twist due to the movement of the clay. It's pretty amazing and a lot more difficult than he makes it look. A few tips he's given on Instagram for if you try it yourself:
  • Stiff, non-groggy clay.
  • Pre-throw the form slightly to help the clay move more easily.
  • Push down and out with the first few throws or the clay may not twist much.
  • Relax and don't over think it.
You can see his work on Instagram as user @johnstonterrace and check out his website at http://johnstonterrace.bigcartel.com/.
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Throwing in Series

1/21/2013

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I've recently been experimenting more with throwing in series. For a long time I was antagonistic toward this kind of a process. I didn't want to be a production potter. I didn't want every form to be the same - and really, I still don't. Working with Kevin Crowe over the last year has taught me otherwise. There is good that comes out of striving toward some sort of regularity. It lends kind of coherence to a set of pots that is incredibly hard to achieve in other ways. For me, this regularity comes in the base pot, right before the final alterations that I make to give the piece organic movement.

Several other students and members at the studio have commented on how productive I've been in the last few weeks, and my shelf certainly feels that way - I'm constantly cramped for space. It's a necessary outcome of this process. When I sit down at the wheel anymore, I'm rarely throwing different forms or different weights of clay. Instead, it's 4 to 6 balls or cones of approximately the same size and I'm, like Kevin, using the measurements of my hands to make sure the end products are very similar, at least until I alter them.
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1 1/4 # mugs (before the handles)
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1 1/3 # bowls
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