Applesauce!

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

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

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

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

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!!!

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

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.