Wood Fire Dreams

Bowl by Louise Harter - Dragon Incense Burner by Steve Murphy

This tiny bowl, by Connecticut potter Louise Harter, has become my go to bowl for my morning boiled egg. I think it cradles it perfectly. I will always have a soft spot for wood fired pottery. My work style has evolved since losing access to regular wood firings. The work I now make is created with gas firing in mind. I miss being involved in the process from start to finish, an opportunity that we frequently had in New Hampshire. Jeff and I often talk about building a wood kiln, but right now it is financially out of our reach. Jeff will get his wood fire "fix" during the the North Carolina Wood Fire Conference that is happening in late Spring. He signed up for the "Pre-Heat" portion of the conference and will be able to fire work in three different wood kilns here in Seagrove. We will probably collaborate on a couple of ginkgo leaf pots to put in one or two kilns. I am sure Jeff will spend some winter days making teapots and tea bowls as we look forward to Spring.

Discovery from the past

I found this in my Dad's cabinet while I was looking for a serving dish. It must be at least 10 years old. Fired in the NH Potters Guild community wood kiln. I used it to serve rice that evening. Sort of fun to come across oldies that you forgot about.

Juggling work and moving

I spent part of this week making pots for wood firing. Since we will be leaving this Japanese Maple tree very soon, I decided I should make pots with the leaves while I still can.

 I also revisited an old form.

The clay is StarWorks "Seagrove Clay". I am really not crazy about throwing with it, but it looks great wood fired and can really take the heat. I scrapped a couple of forms because I thought they were too heavy. There is something about the grogginess of this clay that gives me poor judgement as to wall thickness. I also threw some mugs and tumblers with my favorite Laguna B-mix for wood. I really love the buttery look of B-mix when wood fired. I didn't bother with photos of them. They are simple pots that the wood kiln will kiss with it's magic (hopefully).

The bisque kiln was loaded on Friday and fired slowly on Saturday. I am really excited about the large shallow bowl at the top! I threw a few large bowls, and carved them before the New Hampshire trip. I didn't get to really look at them until I returned home. I won't take a chance with them in the wood kiln. I am probably going to spray them with ash glaze and fire them in our own gas kiln.

In between the work, we do a little packing each day. Jeff and his brother are installing new doors in the basement today. Things are slowly taking shape.

Seagrove Potters Celebration of Spring Studio Tour & Kiln Opening

April 18 & 19, 2015

1423 NC Hwy 705

Seagrove, NC

Open both days - 10am - 5pm

The Celebration of Spring Studio Tour is my favorite event of the year. The countryside has sprung back to life, the grass is green, the trees are leafing out, and lots of flowers are blooming. It seems that no matter what the weather, there is a good turnout for this event.

Along with our "standards" from the gas kiln, we will have lots of new wood fired pots in the gallery.

If you are a tea or sake lover, Jeff has some real beauties from the last two wood firings.

There are 40+ potters on the tour this year. Many will offer demonstrations, refreshments, and door prizes. I will be working on carving a large ginkgo leaf bowl, and I am thinking Jeff will throw something big on Saturday afternoon. We have tour maps available in our gallery. Round up your friends and family and make Seagrove your destination this weekend!

Results

The wood kiln was unloaded yesterday...

As with most wood firings, you have to take the good with the bad. Unfortunately the majority of my pots got the bad. Only one pitcher survived and it looks great, the other got the hammer.

 The pitcher, like this vase, had the blobs all over it, as well as inside.

These were the only two spoons that were acceptable to me. The others have a so much thick, gray ash that the design was obliterated, and they are quite ugly. Most of my pots with ginkgo leaf carvings also ended up this way. There are a couple that might be saved with some grinding and maybe a re-fire in the gas kiln.

Jeff had some pots that were obliterated with ash, but he also had some really nice ones.

I have come to the conclusion that this type of long firing (4-5 days) doesn't suit me or my work. I am too disappointed when I have spent hours carving a pot, only to have it obliterated with ash. I prefer a shorter firing with just a little salt or soda. In another week we will have some pots in the wood kiln at STARworks. I am planning to put just a few small pieces in. The firing will be shorter, which means less ash. No ginkgo leaves will be sacrificed!

Broken

Jeff brought one of his large wood fired pots into the house to be photographed. It was in the kitchen, standing next to the center island. I was cooking dinner and he asked me to pass one of the bar stools over to him. When I picked up the stool, the leg hit the vase.

It seemed like it rolled over in slow motion, with me not being able to do anything about it. It hit the floor and shattered.

I cried.

I try not to cry when favorite (or very expensive) things get broken, because objects shouldn't be anything to cry over. Looking at the broken vase on the floor, all I could think of was the time and talent it took to create this giant beauty, and then the labor of a five day wood firing. Yes, I did think of the $1200 that it would sell for.

Jeff hugged me tight and said, "Just be glad it wasn't a sink".

I still had that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I saw the shards out on the porch this morning.

Whirlwind Weekend

 Jeff's trip to Mungyeong, S. Korea for the Chasabal Festival, was rescheduled and his flight left yesterday. We had so much to do before he got on that plane!

 The wood kiln at David Stuempfle's was unloaded. Aside from the big beauties, Jeff had some sweet tea bowls to take to the Chasabal festival.

I didn't have too many pots in this firing. A few mugs, a couple of pigs, and some rattles.

For some strange reason my camera wants to give the background a pink tinge. If I photograph them upright, no tinge. It must be a reflection of the peachy color. No matter how much I messed with the lighting and white boards, I couldn't get rid of it. I did some adjusting in iPhoto, but it sure didn't fix it. Jeff will have to work his photo shop magic on it if I can't get a good photo.

These are the best of the rattles. Many of them got so blasted with ash that the Japanese Maple leaf was obliterated. I had some little wall pockets that also had the leaves obliterated, to be expected when fired for 5 days.

This cup has some nice effects. I wish it had been turned a little bit to one side so that the mishima had the honey color and the side had the ash blast. That's the chance you take with wood firing, and I am still happy with the cup.

After Jeff helped with the wood kiln unloading on Saturday, we finished up some pots in progress, loaded the bisque kiln and fired it. Sunday morning we got up, glazed the pots, loaded the gas kiln and had that firing at around 3:30pm. Jeff then threw 30 pig bodies for me to assemble while he is gone. He stayed up until the wee hours of the morning firing the gas kiln, and packing for his trip. Luckily he had a 12:30 flight out of Greensboro, so he did get a couple hours of sleep and thankfully he is usually able to sleep during the long flight. I haven't talked to him yet, but did get a text early this morning that he was in Seoul and looking for his bus. He will spend a couple of days in Seoul at a guest house with his Minnesota potter friend, Lee Love, before they both head to the festival. I am hoping for some new brushes from one of those fabulous shops in the Insa-dong neighborhood of Seoul. My consolation prize for holding the fort down here.

Ice House Gallery

Jeff has pots in "Earth, Wind and Fire, A Celebration of Wood Fired Ceramics", an exhibition at the Ice House Gallery in Berkeley Springs, WV. When most people think of West Virginia they think of backwoods Appalachia, banjo playing, and coal mining. Berkeley Springs is the exception. It is nestled in the mountains of West Virginia, and is known as the country's first spa. The area has many warm mineral springs that have attracted vacationers from the DC area for hundreds of years. The streets are lined with beautiful inns, spas, galleries, and shops.

Jeff Brown with Crawford Horne, curator of the exhibition

Crawford Horne, wood fire potter and curator of the show, opened the gallery for us on Tuesday evening so that we could have look at the exhibition.

Jeff's big pot!

That's Blair Meerfield's teapot in the back. Allison Severance on the right. Not sure who the cup on the left belongs to.

I really liked this little jar by Allison Severence, in the left foreground. Obviously someone else did too (note the red dot).

Crawford and his wife Leigh invited us to spend the night with them at their lovely home. It was the perfect break in driving from Connecticut to Seagrove. We were back in the 'grove by 6:00 pm on Wednesday, just in time for Miss Sophie's dinner. She had lots of good care while we were gone, but we could tell that she missed us. It feels good to be home and back to making pots. 

Next up is the Lazy Daze Arts & Crafts Festival in Cary, NC. That's next Saturday - August 23rd.

Is it beer-thirty yet?

Fired last spring, finally photographed today! I hope they find a new home soon.

and where do I begin...

I guess this story starts on Friday...
We left for Charlotte mid-morning, arriving in plenty of time to set up our booth and be ready for the opening of the Festival in the Park at 4:00 pm. Friday night sales were slow and we weren't surprised, it was the same last year. Saturday brought overcast skies in the morning, drizzle mid-day, and steady rain by 7:00pm. The show closed an hour early and we were at Mac's Speed Shop enjoying barbecue and beer by 9:00pm. We weren't too disheartened, last year Sunday was our best day. Sunday we awoke to blues skies and perfect temps. After draining the water off of our tent roof, emptying out the pots that filled with water, and hanging our wet shopping bags out to dry, we were open for business. The festival was packed with people, but not our people! When all was said and done, we covered our booth fee and expenses, and made a little money... but not the kind of money for the amount of work and time put into this show.
We won't be going back next year.

We got back to Seagrove around midnight. I was driving, towing the trailer behind us. Jeff said "Pull into the driveway as close to the big wood fired pot... that's not there".

Yep, that's right. The pot was gone.

This one right here:

By midday we found out that Johnston and Gentithes, down the road from us, also had one of Fred Johnston's big pots stolen from the front of their gallery. These are pots valued at 1000 plus dollars each. We both reported the thefts. The pots will probably turn up at a flea market or consignment shop somewhere. I hope the thief is stupid enough to try to fence them locally. We have posted the photo on our FB pages, hoping that someone will recognize the pot if it turns up somewhere.
Jeff and I are keeping our spirits up and trying to find the humor in our not so fortunate weekend.
Sometimes all you can do is laugh.
And then go back to the studio and make more pots.

A Few Highlights from the Wood Firing

 We are slowly getting the bottom of pots ground, sanded, and photographed. These are listed on Etsy and I will be adding more over the next few days.

In between all that grinding and sanding, I did make a few carved plates with handles...

With all the rain and humidity it has taken forever to get them finished. On tomorrow's list is one quart casseroles with carved lids. I want to get as much of my own work finished before we get ready for the League of NH Craftsmen's Fair in August. It's only Jeff's work at that show so it won't be too long before I will be working mostly as his assistant.... weighing clay, waxing bottoms, glazing pots, and loading kilns. I am praying that this July won't be as hot as last year!