Removal of the Immobile Mobile Home

Things are looking a lot better around here. I got some help removing the immobile mobile home, it was very close to where I want to build my kiln (and also the ugliest thing I've ever seen). Here are some before and after pictures along with a video of the destruction of the trailer. According to my neighbor we also got rid of two copperhead snakes. She politely accused us of running off the snakes by knocking down the old buildings and bush hogging the property. They had to go somewhere and they chose her terracotta flower pots. I have a feeling that we didn't necessarily run them all off though, there is a nice spot under the house I'd choose if I were a copperhead.

2010, The Abbreviated Version

It has been a while since my last post, almost a year, and I thought I could finally let people know what has been going on with me. I wish I had posted more along the way but the time to do so always eluded me. I was quite busy with the apprenticeship at Hewitt Pottery and the 2 hour daily commute. To summarize my apprenticeship experience, I learned a lot and grew as a person tremendously. I was never quite happy with my pots but assume that is normal. The apprenticeship ended in May, I then caught up on my old life and rested for a few weeks. Steven and I took a wonderful trip to San Francisco and Yosemite. In June I started making pots at home, then I fired them in the Cedar Creek kiln at Creedmoor in July. In August Steven and I drove those pots to our hometown of Pontotoc, Mississippi where we sold them at the Bodock Festival. But the biggest news of all is that at the end of July we purchased a property in Stem, NC that contains 4 acres with a house built in 1901. The place needs a lot of work, there are a few eyesores that will need to be taken care of, but I can see the potential in it. Kiln shed coming in September and wood kiln in October. Firing in November? We'll see.

Mugs

Time is flying these days, I've already completed two and a half months at Hewitt Pottery. It has been hard trying to juggle everything but I guess that is something everyone has to figure out for themselves. Work, commuting to work, time with my husband, part time job, friends, groceries, laundry, email... the list goes on and on. Blogging has fallen on the list of priorities, forgive the short posts.
Last week I made mugs, here is a photo of them ready for the kiln. They are decorated with glass and/or slip, they will not have a glaze over them so that the clay will show through after being salted during the wood firing. I really enjoyed decorating them, I love the slip trailer. My first attempts are conservative, I was just happy when I made a continuous line. The last mug on the right was a tribute to my friend Jo from New Zealand. I was practicing leaf designs and the silver fern popped in my head. I did not have a reference to go by, so next time I'll be more precise.

Juice cups!

Can you feel the excitement?















Juice cups! Seriously, I am thrilled to be making anything. I joined the Hewitt Pottery team at the furthest possible point from making pots. When I arrived it was straight to loading the kiln, then firing it, unloading it, cleaning pots, the sale, mixing clay (good photos coming soon from that week), then cutting wood. Phew! Now it's my favorite time, time to make pots. Juice cups!
Here is a photo of my first few pots. I guess I made about 80 to 90 over the past 3 days, I aimed for 30 a day. I trashed many from the first day and kept about a fourth total from the week. By the end of today I felt much better about shaping them. Turns out I was holding the rib wrong in like eight different ways. Not flat enough against the profile (originally holding it 90 degrees to the pot, 30 to 45 degrees is better), moving my the rib up and down instead of holding it steady, I was using the wrong edge of the rib (I know, two choices and I chose wrong, come on), etc, etc . But thankfully Mark saw all these errors over the past few days and set me straight. I've just got to keep making them so that they can get even more fine tuned. I'm not even going to discuss their feet, I am aware they need work. Feet will be addressed next week. More juice cups!

Hewitt Pottery Kiln Opening This Weekend (and next)

Hewitt Pottery is having their summer kiln opening this weekend and next, August 29th/30th and Sept 5th/6th (Saturday 9 til 5 and Sunday 12 til 5) . I know that I should have mentioned this earlier, but we were so busy getting ready that I haven't had time. Here are some photos from yesterday's preview. Unfortunately (or fortunately) a lot of these pots now have new homes. But come out if you have a chance, there are some beauties left and new pots not previously seen saved for next weekend.

Freer and Sackler Gallery visit

Last week Mark took us to Washington D.C. to visit the Freer and Sackler Galleries.









In addition to seeing the current exhibits, we visited the storage facilities of each museum. In the storage facility, accompanied by a curator, you can take out most pieces, handle them and take photos. One of the oldest pieces we took out was a Neolithic vase from Northern Thailand from 1000 B.C.E. The people that made these pieces have been dead for centuries, yet these pots survive. I was informed that they find a lot of ancient pottery shards in trash piles and old wells. (Note to self: if you really never ever want someone to see that ugly pinholed piece with the kiln goop droppings, you might want to dispose of it in several different places.)


A few of my favorites were the Shoji Hamada pieces (the big platter that I am holding, the plate, and the tea bowl). I had only see these in books, so it was quite a thrill to hold them. I also liked this tea bowl with bamboo decoration (bottom photo), artist unknown from the Edo period. This Shigaraki tea bowl (top photo) was another one of my favorites. The Sackler gift shop had a fabulous selection of books on ceramics. I purchased Shigaraki: Potters’ Valley, published in 1979 and reprinted in 2000, by Louise Cort, curator of ceramics at the Freer and Sackler galleries. It contains a lot of information on tea-ceremony wares as well as a complete ceramic history of the Shigaraki area of Japan.

First Two Weeks at Hewitt Pottery

This month I started a one year apprenticeship at W.M. Hewitt Pottery in Pittsboro, NC. I am so excited to have this opportunity. I hope to gain more wood firing experience and refine my throwing skills. Things have been going well so far and I am thrilled to go to work everyday.

Last week we started loading Mark's massive kiln. It took 5 full days to load in all the pots made by Mark and his two other apprentices Joseph Sand and Alex Matisse. I also helped roll thousands of wads for the pots (thanks Alex for the secret double and triple wad rolling technique).

On Tuesday evening the firing started slow using gas to dry out the pots. Formal stoking with wood started last night and continues on until late Friday. May I add that we are currently experiencing a miracle with the weather. On Tuesday it was 100 degrees (with the heat index in some areas at 105). Today was a lovely and pleasant 82. It was a perfect day to fire. I had a cool and relaxing 4 hour shift around lunchtime.

The top picture is after 4 days of loading. The photo is from the front of the kiln. Then next photo is the stack that was placed in the very front on day 5 (in front of the first photo's stack). The last photo is from the side door where the large pots are placed.