Three Days in the Studiio

I have been so disorganized lately! Gotta get back into my list-making habit:

Friday:

• Set up for Audubon show
• Unload bisque kiln
• Trim bowls
• Throw casseroles for CMC

One note: I haven't done a serious art fair since the 2003Baltimore ACC show (when the city got three feet of snow and shut down entirely. I ate out of vending machines for days.) My display was old then, and looking at it set up at at Gilsland Farms, it is looking shabby and half-assed. I almost think I shouldn't have done the show if that's the best I could do; but they invited me, and so...anyway, it's there now, and I resolve to redesign and rebuild the display before the MECA show in December.

Saturday:

• Wax pots
• Apply to MECA show
• Gallery sitting
• Post new pots on the retail site
• Trim, stamp, handle casseroles

Sunday:

• Glaze for October 10th firing
• Pack up Audubon show

I also need to make time for a longer-term goal, to create a body of sculptural work to perhaps have a show in the spring. Somehow everything else seems to take priority. 

Beginning classes start again on Monday, intermediates on Tuesday. 

What's New in the Studio

I finally had to concede to chilly evenings -- my favorite studio time -- and move my wheel to its winter quarters. I'm sorry to see the summer end, but the move to my larger indoor studio is energizing in itself, and has inspired some larger pots.

With winter in mind, I made these large baking dishes, since I find the one I made myself so very useful.

A Good Reason...

...to use stoneware.

garden pARTy

Every spring the garden lures me out of my studio. I’m always surprised when it happens, because the compulsion to make abates for nothing else, but every year, I spend a few weeks with my hands in a different kind of earth, without a thought of handles, lids, colorants, cones or reduction in my head. It’s a damned inconvenient time for the muse to go on sabbatical, too, with summer events approaching and seasonal stores opening. Why does she abandon me like that?

I’ve started to think that maybe she doesn’t. It could just be that gardening satisfies the same impulses that lead me to make pots. Like ceramics, gardening is a creative activity which blends art and science, allowing the two halves of my brain to work together instead of in opposition, or with one dormant, as so many activities seem to require. Using form and color to conjure feelings in the viewer; digging deep into technical knowledge to achieve a desired result; and responding to the random elements that keep our profession always challenging: gardening is similar to pottery in all of these respects.

I am looking at a bed of yarrow, bleeding hearts, and snow-on-the-mountain; all chosen for the combination of finely divided, almost Victorian foliage and blooms: a romantic mood carefully created. A piece of pottery might invoke similar feelings; say, this Ingrid Bathe porcelain tea bowl, pinched translucently thin and rimed with a delicate blue tracery of decal, from which I am enjoying my lavender tea. Like the bowl, the plants were chosen for function as well as beauty: they will thrive in the dappled sun on this slope of the yard, and out-compete most weeds.

In another, shadier corner the broad bluish foliage of hosta and lush, verdant ferns instill a meditative mood. Springy moss underfoot absorbs sound; this space always seems quieter than the rest of the world. How would I create this feeling, in a pot? Maybe with a wood-fired jar, large and quickly thrown, free of decoration save the marks of the flame. Such a piece requires a thoughtful eye to appreciate it. Like ferns, it whispers rather than shouts with color, like poppies do, or majolica.
Though I have sometimes compared gardening to painting (as in: I need a bold splash of red right there), ceramics is the more apt comparison, as the science needs to be right or the result will be disappointing. Just as plants won’t thrive, or, often, even survive in the wrong climate conditions, some surfaces simply can’t be achieved in the wrong firing conditions. Substitute zones for cones, and you’ve got the idea. Basil will fail in poorly drained soil, even if the light conditions are correct, and copper reds will be maroon if over-reduced. No amount of will or wish can make plants or glazes behave contrary to their chemistry, so it’s best to learn those chemical natures and use the information to achieve your results. There are folks who simply purchase glazes, and then program their kilns to fire to the desired cone; these potters may enjoy successes but they are relying on others’ science, and are limited by it. If a surface suggests itself which can’t be found pre-made in a jar, the potter uses what can be, and many potential great pots become adequate instead. Analogously, some gardeners don’t trouble to learn about soil composition or growing zones, and instead buy annuals and replant their gardens each year. Annuals are bright and beautiful, and bloom all summer, but I wouldn’t want to limit my botanical vocabulary to them. My neighbor, who is a gardener of annual plants, would say that the limited parameters make her garden more like a haiku: within strict limits, infinite freedom. Perhaps the same can be said of the pots made with purchased glazes. In any case, that is a topic for another essay.

It’s summer now (oh yes it is) and the gardening frenzy has passed. Except for pulling the occasional weed, there won’t be much to do out there until it’s time to put the garden to bed in the fall. So I’m back in the studio, working with renewed energy, and seeing so familiar forms. Does the spiral handle on that jar suggest the coil of a new fern frond? And the slip pattern on those mugs makes me think of the speckles in the throat of the lily. Everything I make these days seems botanically inspired. I guess making pots is similar to gardening in one further degree: we have to respect and work within the seasonal rhythms of it. My other interests strengthen and invigorate my work as a potter, and the time I spend out of the studio, far from detracting from my work, provides raw idea material to turn into art. The muse didn’t abandon me, but instead just took a vacation. Luckily she took me with her, and we both returned renewed and refreshed.

What's Happening in the Studio

I haven't been blogging, but I have been potting! Above is a wedding platter I was commissioned to make for a former student, who will be having not one, not two, but three wedding ceremonies, scattered throughout the end of summer. This is larger than I normally throw, requiring 25 pounds of clay and hopefully, if I did my math right, firing down to 18' in diameter.
I have other orders to fulfill as well, notably one for the soon-to-open Center for Maine Craft, an exciting project of the Maine Crafts Association. The Center is currently under construction and is slated to opoen in November of this year.

Studio to-do list:

• Put handles on leatherhard mugs
• Throw 2-quart casseroles
• Sort inventory

Ooo! Ooo! Raku!

Pulling pots out of the kiln



Reduction Chambers


Flame wrapping around a pot


Supressing Smoke



Results!

Stoneware Firing

Firing is a clumsy thing to teach in a class, even a workshop. Hours of attentively doing nothing is punctuated by tens seconds of activity, followed by more nothing. My undergraduate program didn't really cover firing; we focused on wetwork, placed the pieces on a rack, and then they went away. When they came back they were changed. I'm exaggerating a little bit; I remember a few occasions when the professor called us into the kiln room to observe the length of a flame, or to peer through a port at falling cones. Still, it was hard to put those bits a pieces into any functional knowledge of firing. My graduate program was very self-directed, and it was assumed that students already had this basic skill; I was too embarrassed and shy to admit that somehow I had gotten a BFA without knowing how to fire a gas kiln, so I watched other students, shared firings with them, asked my professors questions that I hoped were not too stupid, and muddled through.

Yet compared to learning to fire, learning to throw was a walk on the beach (and believe me I was no natural in that department, either.) So I thought I'd share a little bit of my firing practices, and maybe help someone else along. This may or may not be useful with any given kiln; some things seem universal, such as a lesser back pressure out of the lower spy.

• First things first: Cone packs. Make them far enough ahead that they are bone-dry for the firing. I'm trying to get in the habit of making a bunch of cone packs at a time, so there will always be dry sets ready. I use cones 012, 05, 3, and 6 in the low pack, and cones 8, 9, 10, and 11 in the high pack. I only make two sets per firing, one for the top spy and one for the bottom. Some potters use four or more, because they have more spyholes, or because they want more information about the relative temperatures in the kiln.

• Candling: After loading, many potters candle overnight with just the pilot burners on. I always did, but lately I have been questioning whether that is strictly necessary. It's convenient, as it allows the kiln to safely climb overnight with no attention, shortening the time that the potter has to be engaged with the firing, and allowing the loading to be done on one day and the firing the next; but with the costs of propane, and the negative effects of burning fossil fuels, I've decided to try skipping over the candle, or rather, shortening it to about two hours. The firing that I am doing right now will be the first to skip this step. Needless to say, if your cone packs are not bone-dry, you will need a candle of longer than two hours. I have seen cone packs explode in the early part of a firing. It was not funny. After my minimal candle, I will turn the burners up little by little until they are as high as i can get them without entering reduction.

• Body Reduction: I enter body reduction at 012, which is earlier than many potters do, but in my experience, good copper reds are achieved in an early body reduction. No amount of reduction later in the firing can make up for missing this critical window. I try for an eight -inch flame in the top spy, and a steady flame of any length in the bottom. Depending on the kiln, reduction may be increased either by turning up the gas or by pushing in the damper. Keep an eye on it: as the kiln gets hotter, it may consume more gas to maintain temperature, and a kiln that was in reduction may take itself out. I stay in body reduction until 05. If the kiln is not climbing at all, the reduction may be too heavy. Keep it where it is for twenty minutes, then back off the damper (or the gas) a little, until it starts climbing.

• The Climb: Though I go out of body reduction at 05, I keep the atmosphere lightly reducing. I want to see an intermittent tongue of flame out of the bottom spy. Again, it needs monitoring, but it can stay like this until cone 8. Cones 3 and 6 are just to let me know where I am in the firing, and to determine if the kiln is firing evenly.

• Glaze Reduction: At cone 8, the glazes need a stronger reduction n order for their colors to develop well, so I'll push in the damper until I again have an 8 inch flame (or greater) from the top port, and a steady flame from the bottom. I like to fire until cone 11 is bending at whichever spy is hotter, and then:

• Brief Clean Flame: I pull out the damper and fire in oxidation for about 30 seconds. Be careful with this! If your kiln is too small or too loose you can re-oxidize half your load. I'm firing a 25 cubic that is nice and tight; otherwise, I'd go shorter on the clean flame or skip it altogether, although I find it makes my glazes more brilliant, somehow.

Whew!! That's a lot of writing, and it's time to bump the burners up. I hope it helps someone, but remember, all kilns, glazes, clay bodies, and potters are different. Thanks to Douglas Fitch for the image.

New Tool!

One of my students bought this decorative cheese cutter for me at a second hand store in New Hampshire, but I'm sure you could find one at any specialty kitchen goods store. I've been using it to cut faceted mugs, and decorative rims.

Salad Days at Watershed

Last Saturday, The Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts its annual fundraising event, Salad Days. Each year an artist is selected to create 500 plates over the course of 10 months for the event. this years artist, Adero Willard, created the plates in the image above.
The day included music, salads donated by local restaurants, a pottery sale, and a raffle of items from a dedicated woodfiring. More than the sum of its parts, Salad Days in an annual gathering of sculptors, potters, and supporters of the ceramic arts. There are always a few surprises in the crowd, and a few faces I only see once a year at this event. Many thanks to Salad Days regular John Morrill Read, part of the Watershed extended family, for the photos. I was kicking myself at the event for forgetting my camera, but John came through. Doug and I donated three pieces to the raffle, and it was fun to see how they came out, and to see them go to their new homes.

Next year's Salad Days event will be on Saturday, July 11th. See you there!

P.S. Next Fine Mess event: August 1st at Ember Grove.

Soda Firing Checklist

We unloaded a nice firing on Sunday, the best out of the soda kiln yet, except for one little kiln bomb which did some damage. I find that there is so much preparation to the firing that I always forget something, so I made up this checklist to keep things orderly:

Checklist for Soda Firing:

♦ Soda Mix
♦ Wadding
♦ In little balls?
♦ Door Mud
♦ Slurry
♦ Newspaper
♦ Cone Packs
♦ Extension Cords
♦ Clip-on lights
♦ Towels
♦ Sponges
♦ Water Bucket
♦ Touch up Glaze /Cups & Brushes

Additionally, I made a list of all the things that need to be mixed prior to the firing, so I won't be scrambling around for that envelope flap or Seven-Eleven receipt that I wrote the kiln wash proportions on. Eventually all this will be old hat, but I'm not there yet.

Recipes:

Wadding
3# Silica
3# Alumina
2# Medium Grog

Soda Mix
¼ bucket of wood chips
2 ¼ lbs Baking Soda
1 ¾ lbs Soda Ash
4 lbs whiting
Just before application, add water to the consistency of tuna salad.

Slurry
(For soaking newspapers to seal brick door)
Add water to the wet recycle bucket until it is the consistency of a milkshake' You'll have to keep adding water while you are applying the newspapers, as it will tend to thicken up.

Door Mud
50% Fire Clay
50% Alumina

Kiln Wash
50% Silica
50% Alumina
Water to the thickness of heavy cream

Cone Packs
Front pack: 012, 05, 3 & 6
Rear pack: 8, 9, 10, 11

Woodfiring on Parade

Experiments in Tradition, an exhibit of woodfired pottery by Martha Brianna, Tim Cichocki, and John Morrill Read will be on display at the Harlow Gallery until June 29. Here are some images from the opening:

The work on display was fired in Tim's groundhog kiln, in Norridgewock, Maine.

Migration

When the days get long and the weather gets warm, it's really hard for me to be inside, in my dark studio whose sole window faces north. The solution? A summer studio, of course! Hubby built this out of recycled materials rescued from a demolition site across the street from our house. He built it mostly because he had the lumber, and he wanted to build something, but as soon as I saw it constructed, I knew what its purpose was. We carried my wheel outside today, and I spent the afternoon happily making pots.
This seasonal transition is deeply satisfying in some way, perhaps harking back to an ancestral memory of traveling to summer hunting grounds in the Paleolithic era. The structure itself reminds me of summer camp -- not that I ever went to summer camp, but if I did I might have slept in a cabin not unlike this one.