The Element of Surprise

Jeff helped David Stuempfle fire his wood kiln just prior to my mother's passing. We had a few pots in the kiln and this porcelain bowl was one of them. I really hadn't had any time to look at it, as I flew to New Hampshire a few days later. It definitely got hot! I like the way it warped in the firing and the flashing is gorgeous. Not everyone enjoys the wabi-sabi effects of wood firing, but I just love it.

I am going to hang on to this one for awhile.

Wood firing out at the farm...

No time for blogging these past few days. Jeff and I were back and forth between Seagrove and Carthage, firing with Prissy (Ouida) Newell in her big wood kiln.

Jeff fired overnight on Sunday after loading all day. The two of us took the night shift from 11:00 pm Monday till 5:30 am Tuesday. We slept a few hours at Prissy's then got up and helped with the last shift. The kiln was done and getting "clammed up" around 8:00 pm Tuesday.

Can you see one of my pigs getting roasted in there? He is on the shelf to the left. He should be nice and toasty, being right behind the firebox.

Prissy's barn/kiln shed is AMAZING! It's HUGE! The kiln is on the opposite end of these windows. On this end she has room to host workshops and during the festival that she is hosting next weekend, some artists will set up their booths inside.

antique wood stove detail

When Prissy isn't making pots, she is an antique dealer, auctioneer, and builder... hence lots of cool things to look at in her kiln shed. This chandelier is just one of many, hanging from the beams. Jeff has dubbed it the Steampunk Kiln Shed.

Jeff, side stoking

We are going to unload this big kiln during the Clay on Fire Art Festival this Saturday, June 8th. Festival goers will have the opportunity to buy warm pots, fresh from the kiln. There will be quite a few potters from Seagrove and surrounding areas, along with other craft vendors, as well.  Raku firing, pottery demos, and live music, are all part of the fun. I have all the info in the right side bar of the blog, in the events section. If you aren't too far away, come out to Carthage for the day. Heck, if you are far away, it will be worth the trip!

vases

This is what I have been up to the last few days...

I am liking the form on the left....  sure wish I had a wood kiln to fire them in.

some day, sigh.

Drummer Hoff fired it off...

Here is little peek inside Fred Johnston's wood kiln yesterday...

 I like his method of loading on either side, then filling the center with shelves. The side shelves are really big. It kind of reminds me of a walk in closet!

Jeff's big pots are on the top shelf near the back. They are firing today. Fred started early this morning and they expect to be done some time after midnight.

a few pictures... FINALLY!

Jeff posted these on facebook and I stole them from there. This is the site of the wood kiln that they fired. I believe that it is at a museum location. I know that it isn't where the festival is taking place.

On facebook, Jeff titled this photo "No Chimney Needed". It is hard to figure out from which angle the picture was taken when compared with the others.

He says he has more pictures of gardens, the festival site, and the countryside. He also borrowed his sister's flip video. This morning when we were on skype (which is totally amazing if you haven't used it) he introduced me to Charlie Youn, who is the potters host. Charlie told me that they are impressed with Jeff's work (of course) but the best part was he told me they call him "Pottery Grandfather" because of his long gray hair!! Jeff says he is probably ten years younger than many of the other potters there but none them have the lovely gray locks. I think I will get a lot of mileage out of that one :-)

the end of the old photos (i promise)

Here are a few more pictures that were on my old camera...

One of our last tasks before moving to Seagrove was to finish building the NH Potters Guild community wood kiln. The committee completed construction and fired it just before our big move. 

The kiln is on Al Jaeger's property in Deerfield, NH. Al makes really detailed wood fired houses. This one is sitting atop of Al's old and falling down wood kiln. He also has these house and other sculptures scattered throughout the woods alongside his mile long dirt driveway.

I missed this workshop with Ken Matsuzaki in 2010 at the NH Institute of Art but Jeff, being a faculty member attended and took these photos.

The Institute has a good relationship with Pucker Gallery in Boston so typically when they are having an exhibition the clay artist will do a workshop at NHIA. The year before Matsuzaki, Randy Johnston was a presenter and Phil Rogers has presented a few times.
I think that is the end of the "found" photos. Time to get to work, there is another bisque kiln to load while we wait for the gas kiln to cool. Tomorrow I should have a photo of the finished "Wedding Cake Box" as well as a couple of smaller covered ovals. Can't wait to get them out of the kiln!!

fire and rain... or is it rain and then fire?

i will admit it... i am a crab today.  we had such torrential rain last night that we woke up to about 2" of water in our bathroom/laundry room.  jeff had to work on getting the wood kiln loaded so i stayed home to clean up the water... NOT FUN.
here are a few pics of how the loading is progressing...

shelves ground down, kiln wash applied

jeff and kurt wadding and loading pots into the salt chamber

first chamber (wood only, no salt) is loaded

there will be about 900 pots in the kiln, made by 5 potters, when all is said and done.  thankfully the rain is over and the next few days look like clear skies. (perhaps my mood will improve).

wood firing!!!!

i am so excited that we are wood firing with our neighbor dan triece this week.  the glazing is almost done and loading the big anagama kiln starts today.  i brought pots over this morning, jeff will be there all day grinding shelves, applying kiln wash, wadding and loading pots.  i am home holding down the fort (gallery).

dan has a mother cat with a litter of kittens running around the studio and kiln sheds... they are adorable and so much fun to watch.  i will get around to kiln/firing pictures eventually!

playing with fire!

i have been staying with my parents all week.  i now remember why i left home at a very young age!  while i love my parents, their rigid schedules and super neat freakness causes me stress.  i can't wait to be settled in seagrove.

jeff stayed a couple of nights there and a couple of nights with our friend roni in strafford.  on a good note we participated in firing the new hampshire potters guild wood kiln in deerfield.  jeff started the kiln on friday afternoon, i arrived at 7pm with dinner for us then did the night shift (11pm to 7am) with another guild member.  i spent the better part of saturday trying to recover from lack of sleep!

jeff stoking the kiln

it looks like i am doing nothing, but i was really keeping an eye on the front ports 

jeff and steve cunliffe (mr. president of the guild) taking a break between stokes... sorry steve, i know you didn't want your pic to be on the internet but when you are the prez you do lose a little privacy!

we leave on tuesday for another quick trip to seagrove with the contents of the little house on bow lake.  we will be back in time for the potters guild meeting/picnic & kiln unloading.  so glad we are going to be able to attend!

building a wood kiln!

the new hampshire potters guild has been working on rebuilding the community wood kiln for some time now. the kiln, as some of you already know, is located at Al Jaeger's beautiful property in deerfield, NH. jeff is the "foreman" of the kiln rebuilding and we spent yesterday out there with a handful of volunteers. i don't know much about kiln building but with a little instruction i was soon cutting and laying bricks (under close supervision!). it was a gorgeous november day to spend working hard outside. when it was too dark to work outside we headed back to the pottery in northwood and finished loading the bisque kiln...all in all a very productive day.

pictured above is the kiln shed...a rather impressive structure that houses not only the NHPG kiln but one recently built by Al, Maureen Mills and students from NHIA

one of many brick piles...but they are getting smaller!

mugs recently fired in Al's kiln

progress!

Al delivering some bricks in a basket

pots, pots, pots and more pots

the kiln is unloaded and over all it was good firing...i was very happy with most of the pots i fired...

the door is unbricked!

examining the treasures

close up of inside the kiln

more pots!