Notes from the Studio

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

New Pots

I’ve been trying out some new forms lately. Feel free to let me know what you think.

5.5 lb. and 4lb. bowls of various styles.

Pitcher (inspired by a tube sock)...aprox. 5.5 lbs. I made this on a kick wheel after seeing the film about the Japanese potters at Onda. In truth we bought it at the library and I’ve seen it dozens of times. I love that stuff. In speaking with some art historians it seems that the Onda and Koshibaru (sp.) potteries

Sunday, March 22, 2009

The 8,000 lb. potter’s fitness plan

It’s all the rage. Who needs the gym when you’ve got 400 super duty firebrick that weigh 20 lbs. each? So I spent this weekend transporting these brick from Windham, OH to Verona KY. For those of you following along in your atlas’ that’s basically all the way across the state of Ohio. It’s not a feat I would recommend.

Nevertheless, a big thank you goes to Nate Warren who’s been sitting on these brick for nearly four years for me. Also to Robbie Kempf for use of the trailer.

Ada and I

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Joe the Potter & Crafting a Way of Life

I wrote the following piece as a means of sorting out my thoughts about the recent election.

Crafting a Way of Life: The Hope & Husbandry of Joe the Potter

The election of 2008 is finally over. All of the campaign speeches, mailers, and robo-calls, all the rhetoric and ranting have again fallen silent, at least for now. Our nation has elected the first African-American President, who also happens to be a gifted, charismatic man with enormous possibility and appeal. The world is

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Florida and Georgia

We recently returned from a trip to Florida. It was fun to take the kids swimming every day and to the beach for their first visit. On our way down we stopped at the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia, in Sautee, GA. It’s a really nice little museum in a really interesting and beautiful, (and clay rich), part of Georgia. Of particular note was the pot made by David Drake, the slave potter from Edgefield, South Carolina (pictured below). It was worth the trip to see that.

Sunday, May 6, 2007

Testing local slips

We got three mugs back from an Anagama firing this past weekend. Our friend Anthony Wolking tested these pots for us in the kiln at Eastern Kentucky University. We have fired there before and usually are very happy with the results. This time was no exception.

I dug two slips, one from Kentucky and one from Indiana and tested them on some reclaimed clack Mtn. stoneware, which is a nice natural stoneware but doesn’t flash much. I was very pleased with the results. My suspicion is that using