Glorious Pottery Firing

We are happy with our kiln results from yesterday.  Always a few bugs to work out--one of the things that keeps our work alive and fresh for us.  Over all, one of the best reduction cone 9/10 firings in a long while.  Bruce is working with trying out some new applications with the shino glazes.

Ed and Gloria are always helping with our final push, and assisting us through the last part of the studio cycle. Today they will help us fill the van with pottery while we run around and gather odds and ends for "Pottery on the Hill" in Washington D.C.  "Pottery on the Hill" is a fundraiser for the cultural center named Hill Center at the old Naval Hospital located on 921 Penn. Avenue (202-549-4172).

Ed and Gloria will be here in Seagrove playing with Mr. Mighty Maxwell and maintaining our Bulldog Pottery shop- our regular hours open from 10-5.

Ed walking some pots down from the kiln

Bruce's shino powder jars, love the carbon trapping

A new color dot for dotty Sam!

Here is the new glaze as color field

Bruce's shino glazes

Beautiful- Waiting for me on the water spicket

A glimpse of inside the kiln

Top shelves of our kiln opening

As the kiln slowly cools down we un-brick the door. The pots are still too hot to touch, but by later this afternoon we should be able to start pulling the work out. I have sent out our e-newsletter today. We send these out periodically throughout the year. If you would like to be on our mailing list there is a place to sign up just to the right of this post.

Here is the link to the e-newsletter titled Washington D.C. and Seagrove, NC.

We will post more images soon.

On the way down from the kiln Maxwell and I stopped to take a quick photo. He loves this weather and all of the trips we have been making to the kiln. Lots of play and ball tossing for our sweet puppy dog.

Maxwell and his favorite outdoor activity with the Red Ball

Samantha and Maxwell

Loading and Firing the Gas Kiln

Bruce looking into the kiln as it fires

We are firing the kiln today, finished loading it last night in good time, meaning we had it on by 9:30pm.  Bruce woke early this morning at 5:45am to turn it up.  So far so good--we are two hours ahead than the last few firings, hopefully it will be smooth sailing. Often the kiln can stall out at the higher temperatures.

In between checking the kiln every 30 minutes, we watch a Ted Talks. Just finished watching Malcolm Gladwell talk about spaghetti sauce. 

Below, Bruce is loading his shino glazed ginger jar.  The surface of the glaze gets very powdery and delicate as it dries and he has to be careful how he holds and loads, in order not to damage the surface.

Bruce holding his shino glazed covered jar

We have many cups in this firing, an object that everyone should have many of in their household.  We were just talking this morning about where can we put up more cup shelves in our house and show-off our ever growing cup collection.

Samantha loading some cups into the kiln

Bruce worked on a couple of jars that he put a glazed skull on. 

A close-up, note the skull on top of the flying saucer covered jar

Unfortunately one of them kaboobled and fell off in the kiln. Whacked the bag wall and broke into many pieces. We played around with it for awhile trying to see if there was something we could come up with from the accident, trying to make lemonade out of lemons, but alas we decided that we would save the jar for the next firing and make another skull to put on top.

Bruce's kabobbled and broken skull

 Bruce is bricking up the door. Oh how we want a door on hinges that we can just close at the end of the loading. One day.... we will build a kiln with a door, but for now we will stack the door one brick at a time.  We must admit that it is fun to un-brick, as we slowly reveal the finished pots.

Bruce bricking up the door to the gas kiln

Glazing Some More

Samantha Henneke glazing a covered jar

Today I am finishing glazing while Bruce is loading the kiln.  I should be finished soon and in about 2 hours and I will help Bruce stack the rest of the kiln. It is a beautiful day outside and we are excited about getting out some new pots.  Bruce is working on glazing a few skulls to put on top of his covered jars.  

Are you on Pinterest?  We started an account this past winter. I enjoy looking through all of the images there. I find it a relaxing activity at the end of the evening before I go to bed.  Here is a link to my Bulldog Pottery Pinterest boards. I have fun looking for something green because "I love Green", also "A Shade of Blue", and a "Symphony in White" before I go to bed. It is like a focused image hunt.

Bruce Gholson glazing skull teeth

Pottery on the Hill - Washington D.C.

Pottery on the Hill at the Old Naval Hospital - Washington D.C.

We will be in Washington D.C. next weekend on October 26-28, 2012 for this first annual pottery selling event.

You can read about the potters that will be there and see their work at the Hill Center's website Pottery on the Hill.

This is the information from the Hill Center website about Pottery on the Hill.

"October 26 through October 28, fifteen nationally-recognized ceramic artists bring recently-fired, colorful and durable creations to Hill Center for show and sale.

If you haven’t discovered their pottery, this is your unique opportunity to talk with them about finding a place in your home for their quality dinner plates, mugs, platters, vases and pots. These are one-of-a-kind, shaped by hand and finished by fire in time for this intimate venue at Hill Center.

Admission is free for the public show and sale Saturday and Sunday, but first chance at purchase and one-on-one-time with the artists comes the evening before, on Friday, October 26 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at a reception party. Reserve $25 tickets online here.  Many in the Washington, D.C. region who over the years have traveled far to find these artists, will drive the short distance to be at Hill Center to purchase the plates, mugs, cookware and collectibles they have made a part of their lives.

The public show and sale continues that weekend with free admission both Saturday morning October 27 at 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Sunday October 28 at noon until 4 p.m.

Louise Allison Cort, the Curator for Ceramics at the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, will deliver a free talk entitled “Pots and People” at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm on Saturday.

We recently asked her about how ceramics in the home remain a culturally-enriching experience with simple choices."

Fourteen Potters in Washington D.C. October 26-28, 2012

Glazing for Washington D.C. - Pottery on the Hill

Bruce glazing in the Bulldog Pottery Studio

We are glazing for the show Pottery on the Hill in Washington D.C. at the Hill Center - Old Naval Hospital.  Bruce is working on his lustre shino in the image above.  It fires out to a beautiful iridescent reddish brown finish like the pitcher below.  I am not sure if he is adding the turquoise to it.  Bruce likes to change things around from kiln series to kiln series.

Pitcher by Bruce Gholson

Potters Market - Garth Clark - Washington D.C.

Bruce Gholson and Samantha Henneke at the 8th Annual Potters Market

8th Annual Potters Market, Charlotte, NC

Almost a month ago we were in Charlotte, NC at the 8th Annual "Potters Market Invitational".  It was a beautiful weekend and we enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of the Delhom League with our fellow potters.  Many of our pots went to new homes and many pieces joined other pots in people's growing collections. The Mint Museum Randolph houses a special pottery collection that has examples of historical European and Asian Ceramics called the Delhom Collection. The Delhom Service League holds classes to teach docents and inform the public about the wonderful world of ceramics and its history.  They have weekly classes during the fall, winter, and spring given by members of the Delhom to teach about the pieces in the collection as well as a monthly lecture about a topic in Ceramics.  This is a valuable resource for ceramics not only for North Carolina but for the United States.  

Garth Clark comes to North Carolina

Coming up on October 16th there will be an all day pottery symposium titled "Traditional Pottery: Back to the Future". Well-known ceramics art critic Garth Clark will be there along with Matt Jones, Mark Hewitt, and Charlotte Wainwright speaking about pottery.  You can visit the Mint Museum website for details and sign up for a nominal fee of $20 for members and $25 for nonmembers which includes lunch.  Garth Clark will also be a part of two more symposiums in North Carolina. One will be in Asheville on October 20th and the other at the Gregg Museum in Raleigh on October 18th. Check out Matt Jones website for more details.

Pottery on the Hill, Washington D.C.

We have been busily getting ready for our next pottery show called "Pottery on the Hill" in Washington D.C., on October 26-28, 2012. This first time pottery event takes place at the Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital on 921 Pennsylvania Ave. S.E.  Fifteen potters have been invited to show and sell their work for what will be an annual fundraiser.  The Hill Center is a great location of many activites such as food classes, concerts, art classes, films, and many more. Check out the Hill Center website for details about all of the cultural activities that they offer.

The list of potters that will be there includes Bob Briscoe, Trista Chapman, Naomi Dalglish, Dan Finnegan, Warren Frederick, Bruce Gholson, Ryan Greenheck, Samantha Henneke, Matthew Hyleck, Michael Hunt, Michael Kline, Mark Shapiro, Stacy Snyder, Sam Taylor, and Catherine White. For details about the event visit Pottery On the Hill. There is a special Friday evening preview reception for this pottery event (tickets required).  The Saturday and Sunday are free to the public

Samantha's Butterfly vase was purchased by the Delhom Service League for their growing collection of contemproary North Carolina Pottery.

Save the Date for Cousins in Clay on June 1 and 2, 2013! Our honored guest cousins this coming year will be David MacDonald from Syracuse, New York and returning honored cousin Jack Troy from Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. Of course you will see Michael Kline our collaborating mountain cousin from Bakersville, North Carolina.

Cousins in Clay Save the Date Card - June 1-2, 2013