Results From Courtney Martin Kiln

The following videos were shot the other day by moi and I wanted to edit them together into a super spectacular home movie with nice transitions and insightful comments, maybe even some cool music.

But the week flew by with various projects and I just wanted to share the results of the firing of last week, so I've uploaded several of these so that you could see some of the pots. Please forgive my mumbling comments and raw unsophisticated footage.

















There you have it, for what it's worth.

A Good Fit

I went over to Courtney Martin's kiln and helped her load the kiln yesterday. It's almost the same size as my kiln, just not as tall and the footprint of the shelves is 48" x 36" whereas my kiln is 48" x 48". And like most kilns it ate a lot of pots! I found it interesting how pots fit together in the kiln and how I am aware of the various shapes that I make. So when Courtney was loading her kiln and trying to find the right pot for the right spot, it took us a while to get a sense of how these pots would fit together. But it didn't take her long to get to stacking. It's a 3 dimensional jigsaw puzzle!
Today we fire!

(I guess CM is over there stoking already. I'd better get over there and get to work! ;-) Have a good Friday!

Shop Cups Contest

I'm wrapping up the deco-rotation, and set to dip the pots in slip and glaze. But first it's time for one more coffee break. Here are my choices tonight. How many can you name?

The first one to name all the cups correctly gets a special prize. When I get the right answers I will announce the winner!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Patterns 'n' Plates

Painting plates as the Chilean miners are being rescued! The orange painted areas in the image above is a wax resist that is tinted with orange ink. Then a thin wash of black slip was brushed over the resist.

We'll load the kiln over at Courtney's on Thursday! Here are some more pictures.







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

No More Blues, Just Green!

After all of the whining about expectations and such last week I have good news concerning my most recent endeavor, the Spruce Pine Potters Market, or SPPM, pronounced, "sppm". Going in with moderate expectations, taking lots of pots, and putting my best foot forward, it did not disappoint! This years show was probably the best ever.

I finished unwrapping the few pots that were left and jumped right into fixing the e-kiln so that I could fire the pots I made last week. The 150 or so pots will be heading up the road to Courtney's wood kiln for a firing on Friday! So away with the bins of wrapped pots and onward with my brushes and some glazing!

I'm real excited to fire again, for a lot of the ideas that came from the last firing are still freash in my head. It was also nice to look over the pots at the show the other day as John and I set up the booth. The pots continued to reveal themselves and I had some nice convos with some of my fellow potters who always brings different perspectives. I'm looking over some notes and getting pots dec-o-rotated today as I nurse this old bisque kiln through one last firing before I gut it and replace all of the rusted parts and faulty switches, etc.


The old L & L's been under a roof, out of doors for the past 8 years and it shows. After taking the first section apart to replace elements, I realized what I feared to be true. Rust, rust, rust...The terminal covers have to be replaced, but I also realized that the terminals themselves were corroded and need replacing. Maybe it is time to replace this old kiln? Well, replacing it is way more expensive. And besides how out of place would a new kiln look surrounded by all of my other equipment that hales from the late sixties (Paoli mixer) to early seventies (Shimpo Scream™, and original Peter Pugger Classic)

I guess it wouldn't look all that bad!

;-)

Back to the brush! Thanks for checking in.

Michael

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MUDFIRE: Asheville in Atlanta, 2010 Edition

If you're in the Atlanta area, check out the Mudfire show Kyle has curated for this year's edition of "Asheville in Atlanta". It's an especially good one. This year's potters are:

• Cynthia Bringle
• Becky and Steve Lloyd
• Courtney Martin
• Keith Phillips
• and, of course, Kyle Carpenter!

Spruce Pine Bound

stoke on trent, 1952

Thanks to everyone who chimed in on the previous post. It's always good to hear what you have to say! The show in Asheville is actually doing pretty well despite my whining and gnashing of teeth. Pots are selling! See some of the work that's been listed on-line, here.

And now it's the barge I load as I will be hauling my ballast to the Spruce Pine Potters Market for this weekend's annual star studded pottery show. Actually Spruce Pine is just 15 minutes away, and the "barge" is actually my old Ford truck. But aren't barge and ballast better images for my crockery? I've saved some good one's for this show. I'll post a preview tomorrow after John and I get them all set up pretty. There are plenty of jugs, jars, mugs, and plates, for you to come and haul way in your own sport utility pottery barge!

I am going make a special offer to my email subscriber's, so if you haven't signed up yet, whatcha waiting for?!?!? Click the join link to the right of this post.

More later.

Reconsidering Expectation

From a conversation with old friends the other day, the topic of expectations came up as I described the opening in Asheville last weekend. What is it about this mental construct of expectation? As I work toward a goal such as a firing, or a gallery opening, I use my imagination to build a mental picture of the glazes, the finished pots, the gallery setting, and in this case the show! I've gotten used to the kiln blues and worked my way around them. Gallery shows are less frequent and still require a fair amount of work to over the obstacle of expectations.

My expectations for the opening at American Folk Art weren't exactly met but maybe that's more about my own megalomania than the economy! ;-) Hey, I had a good time talking with folks about "the work" and certainly enjoyed going out to dinner with Kyle's family and ours. But why wasn't I elbowing my way through a sea of pottery fanatics? Haa Ha...But wait! It was a beautiful evening and the smiles on the faces of the folks who came to the reception were warming and we had a great time. We laughed, we cried.....I'd love to hear how you deal with your own expectations. [I love your comments!]

Betsey-Rose did a fabulous job arranging the work and it was pretty exciting to see the drawings framed and on the wall! I brought my daily drawing book and was excited to show that off, too. I sort of wished I had taken some of the better drawings out of it to frame. But it is a treasure to me and I thought it best to keep it intact. I'll definitely do more books! The paper plates were the most fun and I gave them to folks who bought pots as a little gratuity for their patronage.

So I'm on to the next one, which is actually more than just one. I am back in the shop making a few pots for a wood firing with Courtney Martin next week. Just a few more to make before I start decorating and glazing the pots that didn't get treatment during the last firing cycle. But first it's the Spruce Pine Potters Market this coming weekend and I'll dust off my booth and set it up with John on Friday for the big weekend.

I'll just have to avoid the disappointment of high expectations!!

Hint: I'm working on a special offer to the subscribers to my email newsletter. So if you aren't signed up, click the Join link on the right side of the blog. Thanks.

Drawing

My friend Richard Kennedy sent this to me and I thought you might be interested in the series over at the NYT.

Drawings and Layers vol. 2

Sometimes the sketch is better than the finished piece. I thought so after I painted these last night! But maybe I'm measuring success with a different ruler than other possible beholders. These were fun and I'm excited about the possibilities of this new design. I'm mostly excited to follow the brush and the ink and where it goes, where it takes me. Just as the kiln is the teacher, or the clay is the teacher, I follow the ink coming off the brush and react to it's nature. Of course there are patterns that I'm comfortable with and there's always the confidence or lack of to limit the outcome. But during the painting of these paper plates, I waived the concerns of the objects I was painting for a bit and it was so refreshing!
Should these be framed? Should they go on a pedestal in the gallery?

Maybe I should keep some of the best ones? Most probably I will give them to folks at the opening tonight as a gesture of gratitude for supporting me and what I do.
That seems more appropriate. But maybe we'll frame one, too?!



Hope to see you tonight in Asheville.