Turnin' pots

Beginnings.

2011-06-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

This is a backside view of what will be my kiln shed. In the background is an old grainery I have converted into a pottery shop.

My Dad and I along side of the beginnings of the kiln shed.

Here is the newest member of my household. Her name is Irene. She is a great companion.

Building a kiln is a big step for any potter, and I am feeling the pressure as a young potter living in Seagrove. Although it is a big task I am very excited to be putting down some roots as a potter in my home state. I have been planning and sketching for my kiln for a long time and now have a large hole along with a yard full of bricks to build this puppy. Being a journeyman is great, but it is time to make working for myself and this kiln the priority.
I have decided to go with a kiln that is around 300 cubic feet. It is big enough to be worth firing up and small enough for a quick turn around which enables me to learn and grow as a craftsman quickly. The kiln is big enough for me to fit large scale work inside of which is something I am excited about since they are some of my favorite pots to make.
I hope you enjoyed the update. There are many new things happening here at my new place in Seagrove. Thanks for reading and keep following because there are many new and exciting updates to come!
Brad

New Clay

2011-06-06T20:56:00.000-07:00

Since living here in Seagrove I have been fooling around with digging clay. I found a few different types but none I enjoy more than the red body. I have fired a few tests and hope to have a refined clay body very soon. I really love turning freshly dug clay. It is one of my favorite things to do as a potter. I hope these pictures show you the raw difference between something freshly dug, and something not.
Only time and firing will tell if I can make this clay look as good fired as it does raw.
I hope you enjoyed the short update!

New Shop Video.

2011-06-06T20:46:00.000-07:00

This video should have been posted a long time ago, but I got a little busy. Business as a journeyman has been great lately since the summer has arrived. People are coming and buying pots so potters need me to turn pots. It is great to have plenty of work t do here in Seagrove.
In the video you will see me riding my bike up my driveway and back to the grainery which I have transformed into a new workspace. This grainery was full of junk when I arrived, but is now looking pretty good. I have made pottery here, but it was quickly moved out and sold as greenware to a few local potters for some quick cash. Right now those are the only type of pots being made there, but hopefully that will change soon!
I have found some kiln brick at a very good price and designed a wood kiln for myself. I have been clearing out space and will be putting up a kiln shed as soon as the next few weeks. Hopefully there will be a post on it very soon!

Big Ole Jar!

2011-04-10T12:45:00.001-07:00

My good friend and fellow potter Tom Grey standing behind my first big pot since before my apprenticeship.

Here is a picture of it with the lid I made for it.

I was fortunate enough to be contracted for this piece. I was able to sell it to another potter in the green stage for him to glaze and sell. This type of deal is perfect for me right now because I am in need of the quick nickel (as opposed to the slow dime) in order to continue setting up my shop.
I had a blast making this piece and cannot wait to make more in the future for people to enjoy!
Thanks y'all
Brad

New Dance

2011-04-10T12:12:00.001-07:00

This video was shot at Hot Club of Durham. It is favorite place to dance in on weeknights. There is a very strong core group of people there that have a great time. In the video I am dancing with Genevieve. She is an amazing follow.

Lately I have learned a new dance. I am no longer working as an apprentice. I am working for myself as a journeyman potter. I have found a sweet spot in the lovely small town of Whynot to begin setting up my first full time pottery shop. Being a journeyman in Seagrove is a great way to get started. It enables me to learn various approaches to full time pottery. I haven't picked up this many tricks and techniques since being in college. The people are generous and willing to help me out any way they can, and living in the beautiful Uwharrie hills of North Carolina is a blessing. Being self employed at the age of 23 is something I am thankful for. I feel like I am the luckiest man alive.
I am swing dancing two to four nights a week, and with the weather warming up I have been fishing like a mad man at every open opportunity.
I am finding enough work to keep the bills payed and more. I am also working on a private shop of my own which I plan to have up and running before the fall of this year. Life is good.
Thanks for reading. Please feel free to let me know what you think.
Brad

Quick Mugs

2011-03-01T06:44:00.000-08:00

I shot this video last week while working for cross Creek Pottery in Seagrove, NC. The shop is owned by Vivian Hunt. Enjoy this video and let me know what ya think!

The Outsiders Music Video

2011-02-20T16:56:00.000-08:00

Just made a music video with some of my friends. it is some cool stuff. let me know what ya think.

2011-02-08T11:12:00.001-08:00

OK, so this post is a new experimental video idea. I am swing dancer and dance up to four times a week depending on when and where dances are. The equipment used to make this video include a video camera and baseball cap. I turned the hat backwards and strapped the camera to my forehead via baseball cap. After that I asked my friend Lily to dance with me. I am sure she felt weird dancing with a guy who had a camera strapped to his head, but she was comfortable enough to disregard the awkward headgear. I think this video needs work, but with a little practice from yours truly the next one should be much stronger. I tried to get shots of our feet multiple times, but it just didnt work out well. I need to make more dramatic movements with my head in order to obtain the correct shot. I plan to use this method to film multiple other ventures outside of swing dancing. Any tips would be apprecited. ENJOY!

PS. I have used this method to document a kayaking trip I took recently. You can check that out here: Click me to see a sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet video!!

Video Posting Project.

2011-02-06T14:00:00.000-08:00

I have some ideas on pursuing this blog with the primary focus on the medium of video. I am making this decision because I believe videos are generally more interesting and attractive to readers and viewers. The idea is that it should increase the number of viewers, which should help to progress networking. I am not chasing the dime here, but I would like to be able to sale some of my pots. Haha!
This is a video that may be the beginning of a larger project, which is a documentary type deal in my head for now. I have been living alone and have no one to share many of my beautiful experiences with. Hopefully these short video documentaries will enrich and inspire the lives of the viewers so enjoy my first intro video post!

Rabbit Gum Project 1 (unfinished)

2011-01-24T08:01:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody sorry it has been so long since I have posted. I realize this is a problem so I have decided to start getting into doing videos. So hopefully there will be many more videos to come.

Lately I have spent much of my time alone. I am a very active person and look at my time as an investment so even as I am alone (which is often the case) I often search for productive ways to save my money or time in order to properly invest my life in something that will prove to be beneficial for myself and others.

The most recent project has been one I call rabbit gum. I have been a hunter and fishermen for as long as I can remember being alive. My father taught me most everything I know about the subject and his father taught him the same. The practice of hunting and trapping is something that is very near and dear to my heart, and I often find it is hard for most people to understand the respect I have for the practice. It is an immediate tie to my family.

Growing up my dad taught me how to build rabbit boxes. A rabbit box is a live trap in which the rabbit is trapped safely in a box until the trapper arrives to check the trap. He then takes the trap and the game back to wherever it is he prepares his food and prepares it for eating.

I have been practicing this trapping method for a very long time, and am currently practicing it. I have not bought meat to eat out in the cabin a while now (maybe three or four months...I have not been counting. It has probably since deer season began with a bang for me.)

These traps are made of scrap lumber. As with many other activities I build in my lonesome. I have begun to realize I have different mannerisms when I am alone than when I am with others so I decided to video myself in order to study it. This is a very raw video of myself in the upper part of the barn at the Hewitt Pottery. I have finished the boxes, but they are not finished in the video. I will upload the second video very soon.... so you can look forward to that!

I would also like to add that I am still trying to figure out my movie program so it is a little choppy, but this is only the beginning. Thanks! let me know what ya think!

Brad Lail

2010-12-26T08:10:00.001-08:00

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Christmas Firing!

2010-11-23T17:21:00.000-08:00

We just finished burning a kiln load of pots at the Hewitt Pottery. We finished Friday evening and will unload and start cleaning pots on Friday of this week.

Here is a picture of the faithful firing crew minus Glen.

This is a shot of the inside of the front firebox when the kiln was around 1100 degrees or so. Pretty cold, but a sweet shot of some swirly flames!

During my first shift I felt inspired to speak for the kiln. Hopefully these messages were inspiring to some stokers other than myself.

I made a number of shots while the pots were at peak temperature and cooling, but only uploaded one because they all started to look the same to me.

After my second cycle at the Hewitt pottery I have been working here for six months. It has taken some serious adjustments, but I am starting to get the feel of this place. I am much more satisfied with my pieces from this cycle than the ones from the last, but still ended up trashing quite a few pieces before they could be loaded into the kiln.

Making work here is becoming more and more fun with time. I can tell I am becoming a much more skilled craftsman every day. Although I do feel more comfortable here I still continue to be humbled on a daily basis. I hope to see you all at the holiday kiln opening the first weekend in December! If you have any questions just ask! Thanks!

Lots of Pots!

2010-10-21T19:38:00.000-07:00

I know it has been a while since I have posted on here, but it has been somewhat busy. I guess that is no excuse. All of the pots pictured are ones that I have made this cycle.

We are three weeks away from starting to load the salt kiln here at the Hewitt Pottery which means we are making work as fast as possible. The vases above were a first for me in this location and he does them differently than I did them so they were a good learning experience. I spent a week making vases of this style in different sizes.

This is the biggest sale of the year here and also the shortest cycle of the four that are done annually.

I went a little crazy doing these cups. They were a load of fun to decorate!

These are quart jars that are not this blurry in real life! haha!

The shelves are filling up fast here and hopefully in good time for loading. I am learning and enjoying this place more and more every day. I am looking forward to cranking out a whole lot of work in the next few weeks as well as doing whatever it takes to do my part in keeping the place in order.

one more loading picture.

2010-08-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

First apprenticeship kiln loading.

2010-08-07T18:57:00.000-07:00

The big pots are behind all of these guys.

Here are some pictures from the loading of Mark's huge kiln. We are currently on day four and will finish on Monday. Getting the monster pots in was serious work and took serious planning, but I sure loved seeing them get to the right place in the kiln. It is a beautiful sight to see all of the pots in one closely tight space. All of the well planned curves and decoration tucked away nicely is a beautiful sight within the process of making hand made pottery.

This is my attempt at a sexy camera angle.

It feels very good the be loading this kiln. I have been here for two months now without an extremely great idea at how the pots I have been making every day will turn out. Without the knowledge of the particular places inside of the kiln I really have no clue what surfaces will appear on the work I have been making. Another reason it feels very good to be loading this kiln is because I have grown tremendously from the first pot of this kiln to the last. I am now aware of many faults within the way I was making and looking at work. This first cycle was more of an eye opener than anything. I have been admiring this grand style of work for a long time and am now aware of how seriously challenging and frustrating it can be. I was extremely humbled by the entire process and the number of pots that were made with great craftsmanship. Honestly, to look at my work from this cycle disgusts me a little bit. I see many flaws within my work and am in many ways not proud of it. There are a few monumental ones in the bunch though and I guess you never know until they are fired.

I think most people that work here feel like the first cycle is pretty rough. I am so ready for the next cycle to start so I can forget the rough beginning, but it is now time to fire up a serious load, and I do love doing that! Talk to yall soon!

I am going to Joseph Sand's pottery tomorrow to help him fire his fresh new kiln. I am quite excited bout seeing his first firing of pots. I will take some pictures and hopefully tell yall about it soon.

First Blog of at the Hewitt Pottery

2010-06-25T15:49:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday everyone! I am sorry it has taken me four weeks to make this post, but none the less it is here now. I took this picture the first week I was here on a rainy afternoon. The rain dried up and I was walking up to shower. When I turned around I gasped and went to the cabin for my camera. It was much too big to fit the whole thing in one shot. It really was a blessing on that day too simply because I had just gotten there and was feeling a little lonely.

I have lots of different pots since I have been here. A much larger variation than I actually thought I would be making working as an apprentice. These are some vases I made yesterday. There is actually another board full as well. Mark made plates and bowls this week which meant alot of pugging and making balls for Seth and I. We also split wood for two days of this week. This week was a pretty hard one in terms of how much time we were able to spend at the wheel.

The days go much faster for me when I am making pots which is actually quite reassuring when I think about my job choice. Everything else seems to be just working up to the time you can spend working on throwing and decorating.

Mark made 100 plates, 150 bowls, and 50 side plates in two days and spent around 2 days trimming and decorating. It was pretty impressive and humbling. Seeing things like that make me wonder if I will ever get there..haha.

These are some of the trailing decorations I have been messing with. Loose swags with some wiping and combing. I have been doing a few other things as well and will post some pictures later. I am still trying to figure out all of the options here as far as decoration.

It has barely been a month, and it has been a real great start. So far I feel like a bit of a loser most days watching Mark work, and making dumb mistakes myself that he points out without hesitation.

Just to end this post with a little non pottery action I decided to post a hot item of conversation lately. The huge hornets nest that has formed outside the barn. I meant to get a video of Mark knocking it down with a stick and running for dear life, but there was no camera for that. My suggestion would not be to do that. Attack at night when they sleep. Guerilla war tactics are often a good strategy.

I hope yall enjoyed this first post. I am thinking of starting a new blog with just apprentice stuff. What do you think? Please comment and let me know.

Senior Show!!

2010-06-13T17:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of my senior show. I just took it 3 weeks ago or so. Hope you enjoy it!!

New filler pots (unfinished)

2010-03-02T07:57:00.000-08:00

Around these big pots I have to have some straight tall fillers so I made a few last minute ones yesrterday.

I have gotten to where I use more finger wipes and carving away slips than trailing now. I am sure I will get back to it soon though. I have a load of new pots finished too and will be sure to post some new pics of them soon. The glazes turned out well, and I am pround of them.

Up side downers and siders

2010-03-02T07:45:00.001-08:00

Here is one of the two mugs that I tried a side firing on some shells. I was extremely pleased with it and have lots more for the next load.

This is the opposite side of the mug shown above. I have probably drank around 25 cups of coffee out of it already and it was just fired a 2 weeks ago from this friday. It works very well, and I hope many more come out like it in the future.

Here is the inside of an upside down mug with a pretty nice shell mark on it, and some sweet glaze drips

Here is a picture of the outside. You can see where that glaze caught on the under side of the ridge in the middle instead of the top because it was fired up side down.

Here is one of the underside. I put a piece of blue glass inside of the foot and it got so reduced that it turned purple and red in some places.

An up side down bowl with a little bit of glaze drip on the rim.

Here is the wild underside..... hope you enjoy!

Big pots

2010-03-02T07:26:00.000-08:00

So I have started firing and working hard on some big coil and throw pieces, and they are most definitely humbling. This planter has a few cracks in the top of the rim which was a huge bummer considering the awesome quality of the glaze. I guess my mom will love it. I am sure it will go nicely with all of the other pieces that she has received lately.

Here is a closeup of the sweet glaze drips from one of the handles. I was very pleased with the glaze.

Here is a jar that did not crack or screw up. I do think the lid warped during the firing and now it sits a little high which bugs me pretty bad. On the positive side the finger wipes on this pots turned out really nice. I looked at the pictures from my previous blog with the four pots in a row and realized that only one of those four made it to completion without cracking or busting. Apparently I need to do something different, and I think it is the clay body I am using.

Here is a sweet closeup of the finger wipe decoration on this large jar.

These are jars for the next firing which will hopefully be loaded on Wednesday. The taller one has cracked in the bottom and now I am trying to fix it, but I am pretty sure I am wasting my time. lol. These bigger pieces have really come with a whole noew set of problems to encounter, but I am learning.

Nomadic College Potter!

2010-01-28T08:18:00.000-08:00

Over Christmas I moved my studio equipment back to the basement of my parents house so I have been a nomadic potter for the last while. I moved back there because I was living over there over christmas break. It was a much more predictable environment with the AC and all, but it required me to really jump on my horse because stuff was drying out so fast. I honestly did not work that many days over break, but the days I did work I was able to do handling and all in the same day if I got in there early enough and it was nice to have that control.

These are some of the pots I made over break. Some big bowls and vases with fillers.

I made and broke a number of big pots over break. My favorite was the wide jar here, but the bottom busted on it so that was a bummer so I guess I will have to make another one. The other jar has a lid too and looks much stronger with it on there. To the right are a couple of planters or umbrella holders. I am having a real blast making these large pots and have a pretty good clay body mixed for them so I am doing as many as I can.

Yesterday I called Ron Philbeck and he told me Michael Kline was in his studio hanging around so I made the way over there to talk pots and just general things as well. It was a real load of fun and I wish I could have stayed longer if you want to know the truth. As you can see these guys are avid bloggers and have their cameras ready to snap some shots.

I figured I would put up a pic of me workin just because that is all have been itchin to do lately and every chance I get I run to the studio to make work. Sadly we are having some serious issues with the kiln while I am sitting on a few loads of pots. We should be able to get it resolved in the next week and I will be a firing machine for a while, but until then all I can do is sit around until the parts come in which is really driving me crazy since I have a show in Shelby next week. AAAAAAAHHH! I guess it is all good though considering my hands still work very well. haha.

New Web Site

2009-11-11T20:46:00.000-08:00

So today the kiln was unloaded and this was one of my favorite mugs so I had a cup of coffee from it within an hour from removing it from the kiln.

I now have an official website!!!! It was just put up a few weeks ago. There are still some gallery pictures that need to be uploaded, but other than that it is good to go. The domain is www.bradlailpottery.com. Check it out and let me know what you think!!

Drying Madness!!!

2009-11-11T20:18:00.000-08:00

So all of these pots needed to be dried in a hurry and luckily the weather made it nice and easy. It made for some good photos too.

Happy Meaninglessness

2009-11-11T18:24:00.001-08:00

So the wheels have been turning about 100 miles an hour around here the last 3 weeks or so. I went to the Burlon Craig festival about this time last month and sold more pots than I thought I would. So in response to that I had to make a load of work for the Fairgrounds show this weekend. I had about 3 weeks to turn work and believe me it got done. School pretty much hit the back burner during this very short, yet strong period of concentration on my work.

I finished up the throwing last Wednesday (Nov 4) of cups and little things. There were about 100 pieces or so total. I loaded and fired at the beginning of this week and got them out this afternoon. They all look pretty crazy awesome except we had an accident with some of the ceiling falling down on a bunch of the big pieces. The kiln got a little hot too, but it really just made things look crazier. The clay and glaze took it fine so all was good.

So needless to say the past few weeks I have been in another world concentrating very hard on making the best work possible. I have also been reading in Ecclesiastes lately and it has really been speaking to me. I am very thankful that I am doing work that if looked at from a certain angle is extremely meaningless. I mean, people don't really need pots to stay alive or give life meaning. They are simply a luxury or enhancement. I am glad it is not something like selling tires or something that seems very needed by the world. I prefer to live life in happy meaninglessness. Seeing the work like a spiritual act of worship that is for the furthest thing from myself is the most gratifying choice I make on a daily basis. When the work it is looked at after being fired into a physical object it almost humors me to thing that I put all my time into what comes out to be a simple physical object that can be held or touched. Something on the same playing field as every other meaningless worldly thing.

We make the choice as the artist not to get too attached to the work we do, nor to ourselves as the maker. When you loose touch with what the work needs in order to start focusing on what will make you look better as an individual, the work suffers and doesn't speak for itself properly. If you look at making pots like a natural living response such as breathing or walking then what you make should speak like a natural living responsive act. Hopefully, subtle yet bringing life and energy to the surrounding environment.

I suppose the first thing anyone must do in order to obtain a subtleness to their stride is learn to stand up and walk.

Poem and Thought from a Thesis

2009-10-04T18:43:00.001-07:00

I have taken a break from making work for a while just to read and write for my thesis. I have to say that it has been so great to do some writing and thinking on a deep subject I build tremendous amount of my life around. I have read a number of books so far, but none have hit the nail on the head more that "The Unknown Craftsman, A Japanese Insight into Beauty." If one understands what makes an object, or work of art of any kind beautiful and balanced before you read it then your world will most likely be rocked.

Lately I have had so much churning through my head that I keep note paper with me to write down ideas all the time. I had a great thought last Tuesday night while I was at a worship service at school. The song was about dancing. It brought to mind an incident that happened to me about 3 weeks ago when I went contra dancing.

I was swinging with a girl in the corner of a dance floor. It must have been a 16 count swing because it seemed like it lasted a lifetime. There was a connection we had that was out of this world. Our eyes were locked so tight that it was like we were reading each others minds, knowing the next move the other was going to make like it was magic.

The only thing was that I did not realize how beautiful this moment was until someone tripped the girl. Here is the Poem:

Swing

I go to a dance hall to dance none the less,

To have fun and not impress,

But I have achieved a state of mind that has put me on a quest,

For mysterious beauty,

Engagement in a intimacy only attained through a state of mind rarely achieved where two minds become one.

Swing,

We become like our own world spinning in the corner of a dance floor,

Everything else slowly diminishes as our eyes lock tighter,

as our swing grows smoother, faster, stronger.

We become closer,

not physically,

not mentally,

But because we have shared in a moment we both interpret as a mystery.

We have found it, but neither of us can pinpoint exactly how,

But because IT IS BEAUTIFUL,

We hang on to this moment as long as the two of us can.

WAIT! your eyes have left mine,

Can this moment be ending?

The look in your eye is of defeat,

Someone has tripped this world off its axis,

Broken this trance like meditative state,

Has interrupted my life like an earthquake,

The downfall so dramatic I can feel the earth shake.

It is the mystery of what creates that moment that makes me want to live in the state of a dance,

The state of a trance like swing,

Where there is nothing living on that floor but you and me,

To live is to dance,

Maintain that trance.

Swing.

-Brad Lail

I have been reading some Thoreau looking for some ideas about how seclusion can make work have presence. I do believe seclusion can enhance a mindset that is great for making art of any kind from poetry to pottery. The night before I wrote this I slept outside to enhance a mindset. I believe it worked out very well. When you wake up to the sun instead of an alarm clock your desire to arise is much stronger. To be able to pray and concentrate is no challenge at that point. It was excellent for writing. I am planning on doing it again.

Anyway... this poem is about goals. The reason I set the goals I do is because I have seen or experienced something I love. I love beauty. I love the mystery that creates the beauty in a swing, a pot or any work of art that has presence.

The works with the most presence are created intuitively. They are made without crowded thought, so in essence the work is not crowded or overworked. Attaining a mindset that is proper for creating intuitive work is not easy. It is much like the type of trance I am referring to in the dance poem. When something is made by an artist that has presence it sets a higher standard, and the artist should then be on a quest to make more art with that type of presence. The work you can see emotion in. The ones you can feel when you walk into a room are the ones that have presence. It is something hard to pinpoint, but one knows when something is beautiful. Even when you cant explain it.

"Neither one of us can pinpoint exactly how,

but because IT IS BEAUTIFUL,

we hang on to this moment as long as the two of us can."

This is also very applicable with a Christians walk of faith. There are people that will try all day to define God. They overcrowd religion with intellect. They try to define something undefinable with some kind of scientific reasoning.

What makes nature beautiful? It is because these seemingly miraculous things happen? Beautiful colors bloom, trees grow, live thrives onward and there is a presence living in nature at all times and in every place without an overwhelming amount of human interaction. The fact that we cannot define everything that happens in nature is what makes it beautiful.

Therefore if we try and define something as immense and beautiful as God we do nothing but rob it of the beauty. We take so much beauty from life by trying to define it. Why do we need to know? If we know it is beautiful then why cant we just live in the beauty? Why do we try and fix something when it is not broken?

Applesauce!

2009-10-04T18:32:00.000-07:00

Last week I got together with a friend and peeled apples for about 3 hours for 3 jars of home made applesauce.

One large pot was made into applesauce and the other was left simmering to make into apple butter. I have not tried any of the butter yet, but I am pretty excited to see how it tastes. I had never made applesauce before this so it was a pretty awesome learning experience. It takes alot more work than I thought to make applesauce.... and ya know what I peeled around a whole box of apples and did not have one get finished in one solid peel. A bit of a shame, but at least it sets a standard for the next apple I peel.

My Thesis

2009-09-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

So I am currently working on my senior thesis. It is called "a quest for presence". It is out to prove what gives a piece presence. Like a pot you can feel tension from the minute you walk into a room. It is a cultural ceramic comparison of east and west as well. Here is a quote I developed after reading my professors thesis on Cezanne and Matisse that I thought was extremely applicable to a potters lifestyle and work.

"There is an innocence, a beautiful innocence that is created within solitude. Because with no influence one is permitted to create only with the resources available to him which are yourself and your God, in an honest responsive way."

Right now I am standing in front of one of the best kiln loads I have ever had while pictures are being made. So expect some sweet pics from the most recent firing very soon. Thanks all!

Rare Old Seagle

2009-09-24T17:45:00.000-07:00

This is a ten gallon jar made by a potter a man named Daniel Seagle. He lived in the Lincoln County area and was an absolutely phenomenal craftsman. This jar was probably made around 1840 or so which is pretty insane considering I picked it up and it has almost no cracks or flaws. Seagle had some of the best bulbous forms created in the Lincoln County region So it was areal pleasure to be in the presence of a jar made by one of my favorite old time potters.

I got a call the other day from a good friend who told me he was getting his hands on this amazing piece. I told him I would love to see it so he stopped by school on his way back from picking it up.

Here is a picture of the DS (daniel seagle) stamp on the left soldier lug handle along with some real sweet ash drips.

Here is the other handle with 10 stamped on it. This is because it is a 10 gallon jar.

Here is a close up of the glaze and clay body. Check out the big chunk of quartz. this pot is super light and efficiently thrown. It is pretty impressive considering the big chunky pieces of sand and quartz in there.

When I get to see something like this I like to imagine the potter making it. It was really great to get to feel it and hold it rather than seeing pictures. I must say being in the presence of a pot like this one is a much more awesome experience that just looking at a picture.

Loads of Change

2009-09-24T17:01:00.000-07:00

So now that I have started school it is a whole new ball park as far as the business of making work goes. I did not want to drive home (like thirty minutes) to make pots so I am renting this 18 by 26 carport with a dirt floor for the semester because it is pretty much in my back yard. As you can see there is still grass in the floor because it has not died yet. I am not doing any bisque at all and am moving the work to whatever kiln I can use. Normally it is the schools salt kiln.

This picture and some of the others are of the inside of the new studio. I love the floor, but the walls are somewhat boring. It is going to get super cold in the winter unless I do something, and I plan to get some insulation of some kind and use a space heater or something. I am alos planning on making some sort of hot box for my clay and wet pots so they do not freeze and crack. The shop is super messy in this picture bc it was near the end of my cycle for this load and it got a little chaotic with green glazing. I have broken quite a few pots trying to get the green glazing timing down.

Here is another view of the new studio. I really like being able to pay close attention to my work while I am at school. It is a little strange though when I have more visitors that I am used to, but I like it much more than I thought I would. Juggling this job with school work has been a whole lot to handle since I have more shows and junk this semester than I have ever had before. But overall this change has been really great because I can escape and concentrate on my work pretty easily with this awesome resource in my back yard.

fresh minded work

2009-08-07T20:21:00.000-07:00

So I have taken about the last 4 weeks or so off. I have been gone on a few trips since I have came back from penland and it has really been a great time to clear my head. I made twenty plates of this size and did a whole bunch of loose sketches before hand. These are a few of the slip designs I came up with. The red slip is a slip made from a local clay, the black is a black slip, amd the white is a slip I made from a different clay body I use.

This is a coin I recently acquired from a good friend of mine. Her father used to be my scoutmaster until he died when I was about 13 or so. She and her sister are selling a bunch of things from his antique collection.

The scout slogan is "do a good turn daily" and the point of this coin was to promote it. You left the coin in your left pocket until you performed a good turn (helping an old lady cross the street, or something of the sort). Upon performing the good turn you "secretly" move the coin to your right pocket. I thought it was a pretty cool object. I hope you do as well.

Penland Parade!!!

2009-07-07T19:45:00.000-07:00

A very large crowd came around for the 4th of july parade at Penland on the 1st. Everyone stayed around afterwards for some really awesome fireworks.

So our thai float won an award and the trophy we won is pictured above being held up by the glass flame working instructor. I think everyone was pretty surprised we won the thing. About five of us from the class wore sarongs and did a dance to some traditional thai music. We were with our float which was a small truck with brice sitting in the back of it turning a large jar on a wheel with his feet. We each also wore one white glove in memory of Michael.

These are a few members of the photo class. Pretty sweet costumes eh?

The teaching class which was in lower clay has the coolest float ever! This awesome huge old lady.

Here is the float by the drawing class. Just a golf cart with some of their pieces taped to the sides. Sometimes it is best to just keep it simple I suppose. Overall the parade was a real success. I had an absolute blast.

Large Jar Class at with Daniel Johnston

2009-07-07T19:13:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Daniel making the biggest jar he made while he was teaching the class at Penland.

A group shot of most everyone in the class with their jars warm from the kiln. We had to finish making these pots by Thursday of the first week in order to start loading on time. Everyone got about one pot in the large wood kiln.

This is one of the best large pots I made the whole time I was there. I was pretty pleased with it so I drove it home green glazed buckled up in the passenger seat. Needless to say it was a bit of a stressful curvy drive home. Hopefully you will all get to see this one after being fired.

This is Remo who was my wheel neighbor. He is from Banner Elk and really gave some great advise and provided some humor as well. He is un bricking the kiln in the picture. My pot is the one with the rainbow like decoration on the shoulder.

Here is Brice un bricking the kiln hard at work as we all were the whole time.

I learned so much about making large pots in the short two week class with Daniel. It was incredibly humbling to watch him work and I guess the thing I learned most was how much work it is going to take to be able to make large pots that are even worth a darn. I suppose it was like a starting point of a long pursuit of large pots. I hope to get a hold of a separate wheel just for making big pots soon. I plan on doing my senior show just in large jars and other big pots. In my head it is all beautiful, but I suppose we will see what happens as it comes.

New Pots in the smaller category

2009-06-17T10:48:00.000-07:00

I just figured all the new pots I posted earlier were pretty big. The little ones are beautiful too so I figured you would like to see those as well. Even the little jar pictured is about the size of one of the mugs.

Even More New pots!!

2009-06-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

I really like the shape on this pot, but the yellow glaze did not turn out quite right, but I figured I would post it anyway.

SUPER salty ash glaze jar.

Large ash glazed jar with some slip trailed flowers on it.

Hope you enjoy the new ones!! If you are interested in buying one please let me know.

More new pots!!

2009-06-17T10:35:00.000-07:00

This is the first grave marker I have ever made. I was inspired after going to Mark Hewitt's place a while back. I also made a somewhat similar piece for a fountain that was requested by a man that attends my church. I will have to post about that some time soon.

nice little ash glazed ginger jar

Another one of my composites.

New Pots!!!

2009-06-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

These files are quite big so I could only load 3 at a time. I have a few of the best ones I will show though. This one above is a planter. The salt did a little better than I thought working with the alkaline glaze.

I have not done much manganese before, but this particular one turned out just the way I wanted it to. It got super salty and got some nice texture.

I went a little composite crazy on this firing. I made a whole bunch of them just because I thought they were fun to make. Hopefully they will sale so I can make some more.

Salt firing at school

2009-06-11T22:57:00.000-07:00

I spent the last half of this week wadding, loading and firing pots. Martha, Doug, and I finished salting the kiln at around 12 am. I chose to let the kiln cool fairly rapidly to around 1800 in order to achieve some shiney surfaces. Looking in there at the last minute I could see what looked like some pretty nice surfaces. This load of pots is probably the best lookig load I have ever made and I am extremely anxious to see what they look like. I made the big pot with a coil and throw method and it is around 30 inches tall. I am excited to see what happens with it as well as make some more that are bigger some time soon.

This is the front shelf stack packed to the ceiling. I have a number of clay body tests in this kiln load that I really hope work. If they do then I may be digging a whole bunch of clay very soon. I also have the first fountian I have ever made and designed in the kiln, but you cannot see it on account of it being in the back. It was a request from a man who goes to my church. Hopefully it did not crack.
I start Penland at the beginning of the week after next. I am extremely excited. Especially after seeing all the fun Ron Philbeck is having by looking at his blog. maybe I will make some penland posts while I am gone there. I am going to try and take some good photos before I leave of these new pots that hopefully come out well. I will try and get some of those up here.
Talk to ya later.

Im still making pots

2009-05-19T10:49:00.000-07:00

Here are just some of the pots I have been making that I plan on firing at school pretty soon. I have some different alkaline tests I want to try out. There are some other shelves behind these with other pots. I have enjoyed making the composite bottles the most and have been working on my lidded jars a good bit here lately.

These are some goblets I made for two friends of mine getting married. I wanted to make one with a dragon and the other with a phoenix which are chinese symbols representing male and female. I made the rooster cup just because I wanted to and I like it the best.

Firing at Matt Jones

2009-05-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

I had such an awesome time helping Matt and his apprentice Alex fire the extremely large kiln full of pots from Saturday to Sunday. The picture above is of Matt's son London and one of his buddies shooting bb guns at cans. Matt's son is the boy in the back. I had especially fun spending time with London and Matt's daughter Sara Francis. They are really great kids.

This is just a picture of Mike stoking. You can see Matt in the background and Alex's girlfriend Molly opening the door for a good hard stoke. I learned a great deal about kilns this weekend since the wood kilns I usually fire are much smaller. Although there were many similarities there were a vast amount of subtle differences I really enjoyed.

Many people dropped by throughout the day to catch a glimpse of firing. Mike brought a new puppy with him who got plenty of attention from everyone especially the children. This was such a cute picture I could not resist putting it up.

It rained pretty much the whole time I was there. The Jones's have two little ponds that are flooding into one another creating a massive waterfall between the two. It may seem like a problem, but it seems the kids loved playing in it. The picture above is of water that is harnessed to produce energy for his glass crusher. There was so much water flowing that it could not go into the tube fast enough. We cleaned a number of fairly large rocks out of it to help fix it. I truthfully need to get on the ball and build me one of those pivoting glass crushers. Those things are so cool. There is an old post Alex Matisse did on it a while back. Check it out here. Look and you can see the difference in water pressure. It is pretty interesting.

Fish from Saturday with an update

2009-05-06T12:33:00.000-07:00

Here are some bass my dad and I caught last Saturday morning. The one I am holding weighs 6 pounds and would have weighed more if I would have caught her before she laid her eggs. They were right up on the banks and if you look at their tails and and back you can see they are pretty beat up. That is from them digging out a bed on the bank to spawn.

It has been a while since I have been on this thing because of school and stuff, but I have made a few pots. I have about 20 or so that just came out of the kiln at school that look really nice. They are alkaline glazed and turned out pretty shiny and have some nice places where the salt hit them. I also fired the little teabowl that I had a test clay body on and it worked really well so I went and dug some more of that stuff and am running some tests to increase the plasticity. I wili post some pictures of these as soon as I take them. I have one more exam left tomorrow morning and I am done for the semester. Whoo hoo! I see alot more time to get some work done in the future since the summer is coming up. talk to ya soon.

New Salt Glazes!

2009-04-08T19:37:00.000-07:00

These are some of my ash glazes that came out of the salt kiln at school. I was very pleased with the results. I had a few different ones and different slips underneath. My favorite one is the vase that got the most salt and looks the most wet. I had a bunch of them turn out matted which I think was due to the cooling rate. I got some grinding ahead of me though.

Diggin some clay

2009-04-08T19:25:00.000-07:00

Here is some a sample of some of the clay I have been digging. I have done tests on the more yellowish white looking clay and it does not fire hot enough. I have tested this clay in one pot and it fired beautifully with an ash glaze on it so I am going to try some more. I honestly think it looks like it would melt going to a high temperature but it held pretty strong once so hopefully it will do it again. I am planning on doing some serious digging while I am out of school on Monday or so. Should be alot of fun! This is a loose teabowl that I made becuase the clay was so soft. Dang it sure is a gorgeous clay body though aint it!

Crappie Fishin'

2009-04-08T19:15:00.000-07:00

Well my dad and I have been trying to catch some crappie here the last few weeks. The water needs to be around 60 degrees before they start hitting the banks and it was 58 today when we fished. I caught 6 and my dad caught seven in a little over an hour. I would say they arent quite at peak yet so we got some real good fishin ahead of us. My dad and I are leaving to go turkey hunting tomorrow and I am pretty pumped about it. I am out of school for easter break the rest of the week and Monday. I have a load of cleaning up to do downstairs since all of the show rush and all. It feels so good to be back though even if it is just cleaning up. I have been stuck at school writing papers and stuff all week.

Portable Saw Mill

2009-03-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

So I went on a trip with my school to work with a youth group this weekend at a place called Doe River Gorge. While I was there I saw this beast of a machine and thought it would be a sweet post. I have never seen one of these before, but it has a huge band saw type blade that is pushed through the log to make long slabs.

So the big engine with the saw blade and all is propelled with hydraulics down the metal track and through the log. It was a pretty sweet thing to watch.

After seeing this monster in action I decided that when I grow up I want to have one of these for myself.

Really Fast Week.

2009-03-20T08:53:00.000-07:00

Although this week has been jammed with all kinds of action with the end of the semester approaching and loads of things being due I had a great week. The best day was without a doubt Tuesday. I got the opportunity to go spend the day up at Penland goofing around. I spent the day with Jeff Deihl, Phil Rogers, and Kurt Teeter who were all traveling around to see the great pottery of NC. I had the privilege of eating lunch with Cynthia Bringle along with the rest of the group which was pretty awesome to say the least. The picture above is of the group looking around in Cynthia's gallery before we took off to Penland for lunch.

After spending some time at Penland we were able to go visit John Brit. He had a mess of Turkeys he was feeding behind his studio which was really awesome to see. Those turkeys are really amazing creatures. He has a large number of kilns as well which was great to see. My good friend Hal Dedmond has been taking some classes with him so it was good to meet him.

I was then able to go see Michael Hunt's studio and pottery shop which was one of the grandest parts of the day. His kiln is gorgeous and I took a real liking to it. Phil and Jeff really admired his pots more than any we had seen that day because they were extremely Korean. Jeff and Phil have both spend a good amount of time there so they had that in common. You can check out some of Michael's work here. Him and his wife Naomi have really sweet operation going and it was a real inspiration to a young guy who is about to dive in head first.

Sorry the posts have been lacking a bit. There have just been many things to do with school and the Hickory Show coming up next weekend.

Firing and Some New Pots

2009-03-12T17:51:00.000-07:00

I helped Hal fire his kiln this past weekend. It was a gorgeous day to fire a kiln and all went as planned. I got about twelve pots squeezed in with his load. Chad is firing this weekend and I just dropped off the pots at Hals place for that one. Chad had a group coming down to help him fire and he is gracious enough to load my pots for me while I am at the potters conference in Asheboro this weekend.

A new clearer less runny ash glaze I tried out to show some of my trailing off. It seems to work well and I am excited to see how it does in salt since it did not run much. The black slip under this glaze has a subtleness I like.

This guy turned out a little more drippy than I thought, but I like it.

The bud vase on the right is a new shino I tried out. It came out ok, but but I think it would do a little better in a more reduced firing. I dont have much of an eye for shinos, but I am working on it. I am testing a few more in the kiln this weekend as well. I will let you know how it goes.

I am very excited about the conference and am leaving tomorrow. I will try and put up a post about it as soon as I get back.

Dave Show and update

2009-03-05T21:28:00.000-08:00

Tonight I went with one of my professors to the Greenville County Art Museum. There was a talk about one of Dave's pots that was acquired by the museum. Since I just did a load of research on this guy it was a very convenient date for me. I have looked at many of his pots in pictures lately, but I must say that it is nothing like seeing one in person. I don't think I realized just how great this potter was until I saw one of his big pots for myself. The pot that we looked at looked very much like this one in the picture.

The last 2 days I have been glazing like a mad man. I have a few tests going in like a white shino, some new alkaline tests, and a new blue. The firing should be pretty exciting and I am very excited about it overall. I am also pretty pumped about spring break coming up next week. I plan on doing some fishing and goofing around. I might try to make some things as well. No real plans I guess. I suppose that is how some of the best spring breaks are started.

2009-02-28T12:49:00.000-08:00

Weak Week..... but a good week.

2009-02-27T16:35:00.000-08:00

So here is a picture of a bisque I was stacking. The large pots at the bottom left no room to put anything else on shelves so I decided to tumble stack. I had never really done it before and thought it was fun getting these guys to all balance on one another. It really makes me want to do some tumble stacking in an atmospheric firing some time with wadding and all. They all came out okay this morning and I put another load in. It should be the last one for the firings before the show in Hickory. That show is on the 28th of this month and is one I am really looking forward to.

This is the last still life I finished in painting class. As you can tell I was brown nosing my teacher a bit by writing that I hearted her.

Next week is the week before spring break and everyone is running around with midterms on their mind and all. I am one of the ones with much due at the beginning of the week so I am at school working on stuff for class all weekend like the really persistent college student that I am (said with a sarcastic tone). This past week has been pretty chill though while doing the bisque and all. I did alot of reading and stuff. Did some thinking about pot designs as well. It is always good to have some time to do that every once in a while. I plan on doing some sketching and planning for some new pot ideas on account of being a little burnt out after working for this load. Hopefully spring break will be rejuvenating for that.

School and I can see the light!

2009-02-20T17:33:00.000-08:00

So this is a self portrait I did last year for painting one. It is going in the school spring show so I had to bring it back for that. I am almost finished with the pots I have need to have done for the show in Hickory. I brought too many last year so I am taking it fairly slow and trying to make everything look nice. I plan to have a bisque tomorrow and make a very large jar. I have a few teapots to assemble and some decorating to think on and do as well. I have been trying to get some poem ideas for a few pots. I plan on finishing up with all of the serious pot making next week. I will do my last large piece on Saturday and then do a few bowls, plates and things without handles so can dry real fast for the firing. I also may go and do some digging after that and start planning for the work I will do for the summer. It is certainly a good feeling to see the light at the end of the tunnel and be able to start thinking of the next move.

It is also good in order to put some more effort into school. I am doing fine in everything except I am feeling a bit of pressure in German class. The weeks are going by so fast around here with all of the fun I am having making pots and being with friends at school. I am having a great time though so it is a little bit sad when the time flies away like it has been. I will get some pictures of the lot tomorrow and hope to bring some good news.

New Pots

2009-02-17T13:42:00.000-08:00

New jar assembled in two pieces with lid beside it.

I am trying to get my slip to accent my forms well, but still have alot of work to do in that department. The jug will be a lamp.

Another large jar assembled in two pieces using the capping off method used by Burlon Craig in Turners and Burners.

Here are a load of new mugs I have done lately.

Sorry I have not blogged in like a week, but alot has been going on around here. I am working on some new ideas and slip patterns and plan on putting them to practice very soon. Good day all.

Birthday present

2009-02-17T13:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my birthday and my mom got me this awesome Seinfeld jacket. She said she bought it off of ebay a few months ago with me in mind. It was purchased from New York and belonged to Jerry Seinfeld himself. Every actor on the set had a jacket just like this one. I did not ask for anything for my birthday so this was an awesome surprise. I wore it all day yesterday, but I guess I hang it up or something like a piece of memorabilia. I am not sure though because I feel much funnier when I have it on. I am debating over wearing it or hanging it up in view somewhere.

Jar video

2009-02-10T17:42:00.000-08:00

A jar I made on the same day. Sorry again for the sideways inconvenience.

pot video

2009-02-10T17:32:00.000-08:00

A short video of a fairly large decorative vase I made the other day. The video helps you to see the whole pot instead of just one side of it. It is a great advantage over a photograph.

I tried to not make it sideways so consider it part of the experience to slant your head to the left please.

A Few New ones

2009-02-10T12:33:00.000-08:00

The one on the left is going to be a lamp. I had intentions of putting a face on it, but was tired after doing two of them. I am glad I decided to do the flower trail instead.

Some mugs I have made. I try to make three or four mugs every time I go into the studio. A friend of mine at school has been joking with me about where the label is on some mugs so made the labeled one with him in mind. haha. Maybe someone will want to advertise with me.

Pics Cont.

2009-02-10T09:21:00.000-08:00

Casserole shape

The slip on this vase was (much like the brown colored red dirt slip) was one I dug from a creek bed. It turned out with a cool texture. I haven't decided if I like it or not yet.

Pictures of New Work

2009-02-10T09:14:00.001-08:00

Teapot

Plate

Ice Tea Cup

Bud Vase

2.5-3 gallon Jar.

Many of the pieces I made for this show were small like mugs, cups, and bowls. I figured with the economy being the way it is that more people would be prone to buying smaller, less expensive objects.

A New Day

2009-02-06T12:37:00.001-08:00

A vase and jar I decorated today. They are both with about 7 pounds of clay. I have been thinking of lining and glazing at the leather hard stage in order to avoid cracks that happen when you glaze bone dry. I got some cracks in the last firing due to that. The face on the right is not one I like because I think it is emotionless, but as my father would say; "somebody'll like it".

Here are some casseroles I made about a week ago, but just realized I wanted to put a picture up of them. I hope you enjoy. The black slip came out with a crackly texture that I like, but I am thinking of mixing something with it in order to soften the texture.

So I got to work a bit this morning and it felt good after the treasures show. I have been making some large one piece jars and jugs lately. I made a face jug today and did not like it very much, but I do plan on making a few more faces on Saturday so hopefully they will get better. I am excited about getting some work done without any show pressures for the next month or so. I am planning on making all of my large pieces first so I am letting some of my clay harden up a bit so I can pull up a few large pieces.

Treasures of The Earth Show

2009-02-05T19:16:00.000-08:00

So the show went well tonight. I got to talk to some people I haven't talked to in a while so that was great news. I unloaded to newly fired pots from the electric kiln this morning and took them over to set up my space. Overall I think it looked pretty good. My camera was there, but I forgot to snap a picture. I would also like to get some pictures of the other booths to talk about some other pots. So a post of full capacity will come soon after I get some pictures of the booths. I am excited to get to work on my pots tomorrow morning so posts are soon to come on that too.

Cheers!

Brad

AHHHHHHHH!!

2009-02-03T08:16:00.000-08:00

Ok so the last few days have been absolutely nuts!! My pots came out and look great on the outside, but my liner glaze (temple white) under fired. I have the show for these guys on Thursday I am unsure of what to do. Yesterday I had planned on just sitting them out and selling the ones that fired correctly and putting not for sale on the rest with the intent to re fire them later. This morning I awoke with the intentions to pack up some things, but instead I got a call from Ron around 8 that changed my plans. He suggested I try to re fire the ones that messed up in the electric kiln. It is pushing it, but I skipped dimensions this morning to re glaze (cone 6 clear) and load those suckers into the old electric kiln at school. Here I am again under the pressure of waiting to see what comes out of another firing. Why do I do this to myself!!? The only thing to do now is pray that they come out in living color before Thursday night. Lord bless 'em. Amen.

Saturday Firing

2009-02-01T14:01:00.000-08:00

Had a firing all day yesterday. Doug and I shut it down after about 2 hours of salting at around seven o' clock. I am so anxious though on account of having a few pots mess up. Actually I only had 2 teapot lid knobs pop off, but it really worries me on account of the possibility of them landing on some of the other work. I cant believe I made the mistake of not drilling a hole through the bottom up the knob. Doug told me that it was an easy mistake to make, but it was humbling and reminded me that I am still learning. This firing will benefit me in the photography part of my Penland application. All of the work for the show in Shelby on Thursday (Treasures of The Earth) will come from this firing as well. I guess I put quite a bit of pressure on myself for this one. I had about 40 or so pieces in there along with some other student work from school. Hopefully I don't drive myself nuts before unloading on Wednesday.

I had such a good time spending the day with Doug though. Since I am planning on doing some kiln building after March and into the summer I had plenty of reading to do and questions to ask as the firing day trucked along. I am getting lots of ideas from this book. I am now thinking of using pugged out bricks made of a high fire clay content, some cement, sawdust.... (you get the idea). I would put the wet pugs on the outside of the wooden frame and fire the bricks to temperature when I fire the kiln. I am going to do some tests before I actually build the real one this summer. If anyone has any suggestions or reasons why this will not work please let me know so I can consider things and possibly adjust my plans. Thanks everybody!!

Jingdezhen Bowl in GWU Art Studio

2009-01-31T08:12:00.000-08:00

So I found this bowl being used as a still life in the painting room and knew it was from Jingdezhen.

I just think it is so cool to think that that Jingdezhen can somehow get a bowl here. It makes me wonder who actually bought this thing or brought it.

Here are some pictures from the actual old village at Jingdezhen. See how these bowls look so much like the one in the picture except I dont think these are painted with cobalt.

Here is a picture of a worker taking a break before he noticed me (a tourist) standing there.

Some of the bowls just like the one in the art building drying just after turning. I hope you can see how cool it was for me to have found that random bowl in the painting room at school. Isnt that just crazy?

Well.... we are firing at school today and I have a load of pots in the kiln so I am off to work. I will take some pictures and let you know how it goes though.

New Pots from work this Morning

2009-01-26T19:18:00.000-08:00

I trailed on 13 bowls and finished up some new pitcher shapes. These are a mix of Devon and North Carolina influenced shapes. Pitchers are my favorite forms of all.

These are some quick vases I made before I left for school this morning. The yellow clay is some I dug in Waco out of a creek bed. I am excited to see how it comes out. These will be the last pots I turn this week on account of the firing this Friday at school.

Seagrove, and Dwight Holland Visit

2009-01-26T18:51:00.000-08:00

On Sunday I got my parents to drive me to Seagrove to spend the afternoon visiting some potters I have been meaning to visit. The main reason I was going was to see Dwight Holland who I met in China. This is a picture of the outside of Dwight Holland's house.

These are some of Dwight's collection. I could have gone all day picking out great pots by my favorite artists. In my opinion he has great taste because almost every pot I saw I thought was pretty much amazing. One of my favorite pots in his house was this big one by Daniel Johnston.

He had mugs hanging from the ceiling in his kitchen.

He also had a very large casserole collection, and this is just a small selection. Dwight had a whole second floor covered with ceramics.

There was also a large dog that entertained my Dad for a while.

On the same day I stopped for a chat with Daniel Johnston, and Tom Grey. Both visits were very beneficial as far as advice goes for my future. Hanging around people that are passionate about my interests is always uplifting. Being around some really amazing pots is always quite inspiring as well as humbly putting me in my place.

First Video Blog..... Trailing Away

2009-01-26T18:13:00.000-08:00

As stated in the title of this blog that is my first video. I apologise for my recently awakened self in this video with his cow licked hair and agape zoned out mouth. hahaha. I am sure some of my later videos will have better views or something. I guess you can tell this was put together quicky, but hopefully you get a taste of the studio work I do on a daily basis.

The red slip is iron rich clay I dug and the white is a white stoneware clay I purchased years ago for making eyes, but wet it down in order to use it for trailing.

I actually filmed this video on Saturday morning, but it was being stubborn and would not post.

trailin' away

2009-01-24T19:02:00.000-08:00

So today I got up early to do some decorating and finishing up of some pots as well as orgonizing, and mixing glazes for the salt firing on Friday.

I have been working very hard to get some different types of trailing slips without making too much effort. This new black slip is a clay body that I dug from a creek bank. It was full of sand, but was black as coal so I sifted it and it is gorgeous in its wet form. Hopefully it does not mess up when fired though. This was only a test because this pitcher has a cracked handle and the slip is too wet. I was just foolin' around.

I also went to Hals place today to cut wood for the firings we will have in March. That did not take but a few hours in the afternoon and was well worth going. I made a bunch of bowls this afternoon as well. I tried to upload a video of me trailing, but it was being stubborn so.... I did not. Tomorrow I am going to visit Dwight Holland in Seagrove and hopefully I will be able to visit some other people as well. Sorry I skipped a few days, but life got hectic and stressful with school for a few days there.

Field trip Friday

2009-01-24T18:41:00.000-08:00

These are pictures of the mural my African American Art History class went to see Friday. These figures are supposed to represent the past and future generations of African Americans.

Railroad tracks to represent seperation and segregation along with other meanings. This mural went from floor to ceiling of a 3 story library at Winston-Salem State University. It was really a sight and one could easily spend hours trying to pick the symbols of this art monster apart.

Evidently James and John Biggers like to use geometric shapes within thier art. There are 450 little squares that make up this whole painting.

I gravitated toward the traditional pot shapes painted within this great masterpiece.

There were two paintings that went from floor to ceiling and were filled with so much great information and symbolism. I could not capture it all in one shot, but I think I got some decent shots. I guess you could check out some more about this really great African American art here .

Inauguration Day!!

2009-01-20T20:22:00.000-08:00

I did not think I would have time to go and work today, but I did. My African American Art History class was cancelled because...... well...... I am pretty sure my teacher was overly pumped about the speeches and all. I watched most of it before I went to class and enjoyed it. I had a long day of classes and work until I got out of my last class at 830 pm. WOW! the days are long around here, but I find ease and simplicity within the madness. Making pots on a daily basis surely calms the nerves and gets my mind off of things. It is a great way to start my day off. Listening to music and making pots before class is great! I will update tomorrow for everyone, but for now I must go to bed in order to arise at an early hour.

Pots finished today

2009-01-19T19:00:00.000-08:00

So I got a little slip trailing crazy on the mugs I finished today, but I really like the way they turned out. A nice subtle looseness. I just hope the iron slip I dug from the earth does not melt and loose shape.

These teapots were made on Friday and finally assembled this morning. These are pretty big pots for serious tea drinkers. I wish I could make more, and truthfully I need to. I just have too much school stuff to do. I think the next things on the list will be as many plates as I can turn in around the 3 hours I have to scrape by with. Good day all!!

A nice work day

2009-01-16T18:15:00.000-08:00

Here are the planters I added lids to from yesterday and did some trailing on. I may do some deco on the actual pot bodies later when they dry up a bit. I was pretty pleased with these and my mom likes them so...... I suppose the will do well.

After doing those 4 casseroles I turned a stinkin load for the limited time I had today. I am not working on Saturday because I am doing things t school so I have all of this tightly covered for assembling on Sunday afternoon. Those are gonna be some BIG teapots. Those bigger forms are going to be an attempt at some lidded pitchers. I was also pretty proud of the simple pitcher form as well. That one is usually harder to nail down. My awesome dad is putting up some shelving for me tomorrow which should be awesome.

I am in an African American art history class this semester and my big final project is going to be on Dave Miles from Edgefield, SC. He was a potter in the 1850's and 60's or so. He makes some Incredible pots and I even got a new book to do some research for it. Wow, I am a complete nerd...... haha. Check out some on this amazing traditional potter here

CLAY!!!!

2009-01-15T08:11:00.000-08:00

This is a picture I took with my camera phone when I was digging for the new clay. This stuff is top notch! I was able to move a coil around my finger almost four times round without a single crack. (pictured above). This was straight from the creek bed of course. So far all I have done to it is sift it through a window screen and am now waiting for it to dry. I did manage to turn a nice small cup with it without any processing though. I had to pick out some roots along the way of course. You can see that cup in one of my former posts if you like. Finding a vein with clay this plastic is very exciting for me and I am looking forward to digging more of it very soon after testing it.

Yesterday Catchup

2009-01-15T07:40:00.000-08:00

These are some of the jars from before that are now decorated with some of my new slips. I am testing alot of new things right now and are just stabbing at most of these decoratrions and hoping they will turn out. Doug is pushing me to do more surface deco at school so that is helping as well.

This is one of the four casseroles I turned yesterday. They are lidded as well and I will post some finished pictures.

Right now it is hard to find time to work with school. I am able to get about 3 hours in every Monday, Wednesday, Friday. I am trying to scrape some time up somewhere on Tuesday Thursday, but it may mean sacrificing some other uses of my time. I predict the clay will be ready this weekend some time and I am very excited about it. I am going to make some slip out of it as well just to see how it looks in salt at school.
We are starting to build a small geil kiln at school which should be great for testing out some new ideas and such as that. I am very excited about getting that experience as well. Today I will look at some new salt glazing/slipping ideas because we will be firing at school soon. It will be mostly work by Doug and myself in that one. I got a letter today from the Treasures of The Earth Show. The work from the next firing is mostly for that since all of my former work is either sold or old news.

Long Day, but Beautiful

2009-01-12T19:37:00.000-08:00

These are the 15 bud vases I made today in the short time I scraped away with this morning. I really like the shapes and I feel they are going to be a great way to warm up to larger shape ideas. I am not sure how I will decorate these yet though. I need to think of something that will accent these dramatic flowing forms.

I also had just enough time to mix up some white trailing slip. I just mixed up a little to trail with to see if it works first. It is the same clay I use for facejug teeth and eyes so I am sure it will be fine.

I am so worn from today because I had so many classes along with working early this morning. Got up at 7:15 to head to work and got out of class at 8:30pm with next to no breaks at all. It is going to be hard to do this driving home from school every day thing. I am only able to work about 3 hours a day because of driving so I am looking into renting some space close to school. I called some of my buds with garage and building space they aren't using. I am hoping to be able to rent some cheap, close space. Classwork is slowly building up as well so hopefully I can manage to keep from getting all stressed with all of the work I have to do here.

BEAVER!!!!

2009-01-11T20:12:00.000-08:00

So we had a beaver chewing down some of our trees lately. My dad looked up how to set a beaver snare on the internet and well....... it worked like a charm. We took it to a place to get it tanned today as well. That son of a gun was so stinkin big and crazy lookin'. Such a cool critter. I guess we like to keep our trees around here. haha!

Getting Back on Schedule

2009-01-11T19:52:00.000-08:00

Here are some jars I finished up this afternoon. I tried a bit more of a traditional NC shape on these since I have been looking at pictures of some lately at Tom Turners place and in books.

These are the awesome pots I got for christmas from my mom. She got them sent from England from Doug Fitch's place where I stayed for a week in June. He also sent me some English tea which made my Christmas more awesome. It reminded me of the adrenaline packed feeling of missing class to go out in the country to study pots with 'ole Douglas Fitch. Man I am such a rebel potter!! haha!

These are some recent work examples. The bud vase I made at the end of the work day just to experiment. I plan on making a few boards of them tomorrow morning.

My school schedule has all of the classes in the afternoon so I can drive home to make pots in the morning. I need to have a little more than 200 by the end of February. I have a list of the pots I need to make and will post on it later. Basically I go and push out as much work as I possibly can for around 3 hours a day or so. Then it is off to the collegiate studies of art (and college experience!!). I hope that helps you all understand more about what I am posting about. I think if you know how packed my schedule is it helps a bit. The new clay should be ready some time this week. I am very excited about it.

First NC blog!!

2009-01-07T20:44:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of some of the clay that I dug here at home since I have been back. I turned this cup with it straight out of the pit and the other wet stuff is sifted, processed, and drying out for its first test use. I am extremely excited about this clay and that cup is so tough it is almost like it is made from cement.

Since I have been back I have been writing and drawing up some of my new shape designs for the first firing of 2009. I am primarily firing for a show at the beginning of March. I will also have a salt firing at school before then for the treasures of the earth show in Shelby.

The little lidded soup bowl is designed specifically for the microwave so nothing splatters and it is good for steaming or boiling top ramen noodles.

Some of my mugs or tankards.

And the new trailed fish made it home to an english inspired lidded jar.

Since I have been home I have been visiting some people in my home state that love to make pots much like myself. Among those are Ron Philbeck, Michael Kline, and Tom Turner. I also plan to visit Dwight Holland, Daniel Johnston, and some others as well. I have now realized the great amount of knowledgeable resources that are available through the local potters in NC. I am in school now, but have most of my classes in the afternoon so I am able to go home and make pots in the morning. I will probably be pretty busy until after that show in March. Hopefully this blog will be kept up and useful for others reading it.