Loading our kiln for the 15th annual Celebration of Seagrove Potters

Samantha handing a covered jar over to Bruce

     We loaded our gas kiln this past Sunday in preparation for the upcoming Celebration of Seagrove Potters, November 19 and 20, annually the weekend before Thanksgiving. This year the Celebration has expanded to a studio tour along with the inside event at the Historic Luck's Cannery. Early bird begins at the Luck's Cannery at 9:00am and the main event opens at 10:00am. We will be participating in the studio tour part of the event. We are looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend at our pottery shop. We are taking precautions against the Sars-cov-2 virus as well as flu, so we are requesting everyone to wear masks in our pottery shop. We surely appreciate helping us keep everyone as healthy as possible. 

For more information about the upcoming event check out the Discover Seagrove website.

     There will be an information booth set up catty-corner from the General Wine and Brew in downtown Seagrove-- handing out maps and information about the weekend. There will be food trucks set up at the Wine and Brew and the Lucks Cannery.

     Our gas brick kiln has served us well the past 22 years. The bricks were recycled from two previous kilns all the way back into the early 1970's. If only these bricks could talk... lots of firings, memories, successes, occasional trauma.  

   We currently fire this kiln with a strong body reduction early on, and then a light reduction throughout. Over the years we have figured out a stacking that works well in the kiln. Though every once in awhile we do change something with the stacking because of the size and shape of what we made that particular cycle. For example putting plate stackers too close to the front brick door or the flue opening -- or not enough space at the top -- these stack configurations can clog up the heat work in the kiln and we can be stalled at the end of the firing. When the kiln stalls this can make the firing 4-5 hours longer then usual. From experiencing these lessons we include taller pieces for the bottom to mix with the plate stackers and even taller pots at the top to give room for the flame and heat to move around the kiln. Also we know not to put plate stackers too close to the brick door or the flu exit in the back. Lessons learned.

     

The beginning of the first row of shelves in the kiln 

The front of the kiln is nearly finished

Bruce puts in the final kiln shelf at the top

Bruce is bricking up the door to our gas kiln

The brick door is just about finished, we are getting the cone packs lined up

Bruce and Samantha matching flannel selfie picture with the kiln 

Glazing in the Pottery Studio

Samantha is glazing one of her pattern medley mugs

     During the past 2 weeks we have steadily worked towards finishing our newest body of pottery. It is always exciting to reach the end of a studio cycle and have a body of work completed and ready to load into our kiln. This part of the process can be filled with some anxiety until we un-brick the kiln door and pull the pots out of the kiln. Even after years of firing experience things can happen to mess something up. Whether it has something to do with the actual firing or with something that we did while glazing. It is all part of the ceramic process and it is the variability that keeps our art practice interesting and stimulating. 

     The Celebration of Seagrove Potters is this weekend, November 19 and 20, 2022 in Seagrove, North Carolina. There will be 20 Seagrove Potters set up in the new space at the Historic Lucks Cannery and 29 Seagrove Potters participating in the Celebration Studio Tour. An information booth will be set up at the main Celebration Event location to answer questions and hand out maps. There will also be Food Trucks set up during the day here for everyone. To find out more information check out the Discover Seagrove website. 
 

Bruce is glazing a plate with one of his snake images using a latex technique

You Can Call them Compotes or Footed Bowls

 

Samantha's potter's wheel, Bulldog Pottery, Seagrove, North Carolina

    This series of images are of the compotes that Samantha has been working on during the last bit of throwing in October, before we realized that we will be needing to get all of our worked bisque fired and glazed for the season. In the midst of all this beautiful fall color, we need to get some color on our pots as well. 

   We are in the middle of our glaze cycle right now preparing a body of work for the upcoming Celebration of Seagrove Potters. This annual Seagrove Pottery event takes place the weekend before Thanksgiving.   

        

      This year that date falls on November 19 and 20, 2022. There will be 20 Seagrove Potters set up inside at the Historic Luck's Cannery and around 30 potters that will be participating in the Celebration of Seagrove Potters studio tour. We will be participating in only the Pottery Tour and definitely looking forward to seeing all of you this year. Check out the Seagrove Potters website for more detailed information.

 

       The compotes that Samantha has been making are thrown in two pieces. The images show a bit of the process that Samantha took to complete this form. We use them for serving and creating a table display. It is fun to use them for dips or crackers. They give height to the table and also conserves room when it is needed especially during holidays and special occasions.  

    During the past couple of years we have focused on making our functional pottery fired in our gas brick kiln. Our focus has been on developing new glaze colors and textures that work with our Moka glaze designs. Bruce has had a good time expanding his shino glaze palette and Samantha has explored her pattern medley imagery more in depth. 

        We will have work a fresh body of shino and Moka glaze pottery for the upcoming Celebration of Seagrove Potters studio tour. See you soon!

Some bowls with a thrown footed pedestal and some bowls without

Bowls with a thrown footed pedestal upside down on a table drying. These will remain this way for a day or so, until they are dry enough to turn right side up

Footed Bowl upside down on Samantha's potters wheel

Footed Bowl right side up on Samantha's potters wheel

The pedestal bowls are decorated with dots patterns and set on newspapers to dry

The pedestal bowls are decorated with a variety of dots patterns and set on newspapers to dry

       The fall colors have been beautiful here in Seagrove and soon all the leaves will be on the ground. Another winter season is around the corner and before we know it, the New Year 2023 will begin.  

    

       It has been almost 2 years since we have worked with our crystalline glazes, and we will be looking forward to revisiting these surfaces for 2023. We are planning soon to switch over to making our crystalline pottery. Yeah!