Sunday, March 10, 2013

Daffie Days - The Vase - "Hello Spring!"

Bulldog Pottery - Daffie Days - March 22-23, 2013

We are getting ready for our 3rd annual "Daffie Days" on March 22-23, 2013 (Friday and Saturday), from 10-5 on both days here at  Bulldog Pottery, Seagrove, North Carolina.

Visit The Writers Almanac by Garrison Keillor, to read or hear a little bit about this poem.


I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

by William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
"I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud" by William Wordsworth. Public domain.


Thursday, February 21, 2013

"Endless Variations II: A Shino Extravaganza" - NCECA Houston, Texas

Bruce Gholson- Shino Dome Covered Jar

Bruce's shino dome jar will be on display at the upcoming NCECA in Houston, Texas. He will be part of an invitational exhibit curated by Malcolm Davis named "Endless Variations II: A Shino Extravaganza" at the Lone Star College - North Harris. This show opens on Feb. 26 and runs through March 26th, 2013.

The most recent news and it's good news, is this exhibition will be on the NCECA's "Earth/Energy exhibition bus schedule, downtown tour Wednesday March 20 2:15pm - 5:25pm. 

This exhibition became a tribute to the vision and inspiration of Malcolm Davis who organized the first, “Endless Variations” show for NCECA 2005 at Baltimore Clayworks, this new exhibition, presents a range of shino forms and surfaces, including one offering from each of the 60+ invited potters, masters and innovators. Organized by Malcolm Davis and Sharon Kelley Warrington. 
Malcolm Davis passed away unexpectedly soon after his exhibition plans were accepted.

You can read Malcolm's closing talk at a previous NCECA in Philadelphia a few years ago. 

Lone Star College-North Harris, Fine Arts Foyer, 2700 W W Thorne Dr, Houston, 281-618-5617. Feb 26-Mar 26. Mon 9AM-4PM, Tue 9AM-4PM, Wed 9AM-4PM, Thu 9AM-4PM, Fri 9AM-4PM Sat Closed, Sun Closed. Reception .

Here is a list of the potters that are in the exhibition.

"Endless Variations II: A Shino Extravaganza"- Robert Archambeau, Ted Adler, Dan Anderson, Ben Bates, Lynn Smiser Bowers, John Britt, William Brouillard, Connie Christensen, D. Michael Coffee, Tom Coleman, Carolanne Currier, Malcolm Davis, Bruce Dehnert, Paul Dresang, Judith Duff, Rosti Eismont, Angela Fina, John Glick, Bruce Gohlson, Steve Grimmer, Chris Gustin, Lisa Hammond, Catharine Hiersoux, Dale Huffman, Matt Hyleck, Mike Jabbur, Nick Joerling, Jake Johnson, Jan McKeachie Johnston, Randy Johnston, Mary Law, Dick Lehman, Brenda Lichman, Lee Love, Chris Luther, Warren MacKenzie, Janet Mansfield, Marta Matray, Paul McCoy, Kent McLaughlin, Brad McLemore, Joyce Michaud, Tony Moore, Hank Murrow, Donovan Palmquist, Gillian Parke, Roberta Polfus, Michael Prokos, Colleen Riley, Nathan Ring, Beth Rohman, Deborah Rosenbloom, Toni Ross, Rob Sieminski, Joe Singewald, Al Tennant, Jack Troy, Mila Visser t’Hooft, Sharon Kelley Warrington, Deb Williamson, Charity Davis-Woodard, Malcolm Wright, Peter Yamaoka, Sandy Lockwood, Madeleine Hayes, Reena Kashyap.


Poster for "Endless Variations II: A Shino Extravaganza"


Friday, February 15, 2013

365 Day Project - Morning Picture

"Backyard" January 13, 2013
I began a 365 Day Project on January 13, 2013. I have been wanting to do something like this for awhile now.

My chosen project this year is a single morning picture.

I am using my phone to take the morning picture image. Overall I have been happy using the camera on my phone, though sometimes I try to focus on something and the camera just won't do what I want it to do.  I may have to start carrying my other camera with me. That way I can have more control over the focus for additional photographs while I am out.  Each morning I walk in a different direction than the day before, and take an image of something that grabs my attention. I try to make my observation free flowing, not too thought out before I head out. Though other times I may look for something that describes the morning, like if it has rained - or sometimes I just walk and kneel down to take a photo of the ground.  There are many wonderful places on our property all with myriad micro worlds to explore.

"Lemon Droplets" February 13, 2013
I have taken a few images of trees this winter, wanting to record for myself the branches that will soon bud out and become thick with greenery.

"Branching" February 7, 2013
Another part of the project is naming the image. I title the image after I crop and edit the picture. Sometimes this can be a challenge, and sometimes a title pops into my head immediately, and other times Bruce helps. It is interesting when asking Bruce for his advise because what he titles it or what he  thinks about when looking at the image can be so different than where my head goes with it.  Sometimes the titles just fit. Like this one that I took on January 27th, Bruce came up with the title "Rime".

"Rime" January 27, 2013
When photographing the morning picture, I have been using the Instagram App to upload the image onto the web. Instagram is the first place that my Morning Picture will show up and be recorded. This iphone app makes it very convenient for me to share the morning picture with our various social networks that we belong too.  For example our twitter stream, tumblr blog, flickr photo page, and my personal facebook page. I also have set up a page here on our blog called A Morning Picture A Day - 365 Day project, and I also pin it to our Pinterest board called Morning Picture.
If you are on any of these social networks sites follow us and the project for the next 331 days. I am looking forward to seeing the changes in the images through the seasons here at Bulldog Pottery in Seagrove, NC.

"Layers" February 3, 2013
I first heard of doing a project like this from Bruce after he found the blog, Skull A Day, a 365 day project that Noah Scalin embarked on back in 2007, his starting day was June 4th.  So hey you can start a daily project today, any day is a good day to start something.  I am looking forward to hearing Noah Scalin talk at this years North Carolina Potters Conference hosted by the Randolph Arts Guild in Asheboro March 1-3, on Sunday morning.

Another member of the family that is very keen on this new project is Maxwell. This means one more opportunity to toodle about the yard in a day. Though there are some days that he finds a bit too rainy for the walk about. He is a sensitive soul.

"Red Ball Ritual" February 1, 2013
Here are the links to our various sites that I will be sharing my Morning Picture to.  The blog and Pinterest may get backed up a couple of days due to me needing to sit at my computer to upload those images. I have not figured out how to upload an image to a page using my iphone Blogger app. Oh my, all of the new technology these days is truly awesome, but it sure does add a lot of learning to our plate.


Please join us on our 365 day project adventure! Lets see where this may lead us.

"Tiger in the Grass" February 12, 2013

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Shop and Shelves


Bulldog Pottery Shop in Seagrove, North Carolina
Today was a beautiful day. This is the outside of our Bulldog Pottery shop today and it is 66 degrees and feels so good. We could have been planting daffodils today, but we were busy putting up more shelves in our glazing area which feels really really good. I think we are on our way to getting ourselves set up.


Bruce putting up shelves under the stairs

Monday, January 28, 2013

Glaze Space

Bruce is trying to figure our how many shelves will fit


Shelves for 10,000 glazes. Well not that many glazes yet. Really, they would all dry up before we could use them.
We are finally getting our glazing area set up. We are looking forward to using our space the way we designed it a handful of years ago. It really does take a long time to get things situated. Especially for the organizationally impaired couple. We are putting up three 12" shelves and will cut one down to 9".

Tomorrow we will put shelves up under the stairs.


Two shelves up

Three Shelves Up


Making sure all is on the level

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Hand-made Ball Mill



Bruce Working on the Handmade Ball Mill


Hand-made ball mill by Michael Panciera in the mid 1980's -- made from salvage wringer washer parts, the motor, and roller bars, updated today with bottom platform and locking casters from IKEA.

Ball Mills are used to help grind ceramic materials to smaller particles and homogenizing mixtures, such as glazes.



Bruce working on the roller bearings

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Slow Time



January brings some time for reflection, organizing projects, cleaning out some corners, and gearing up for a productive year. Here are a few images that I have taken in the morning while out walking around.


Monday, December 17, 2012

Pottery out of the kiln

Bulldog Pottery,  Seagrove, North Carolina

Thank you to all that came out this past weekend, sent us an e-mail, called us up, helped us get the information out about our kiln opening, and everyone that thought about us this last weekend. We had a great response to our newest pottery, and we are quite happy about the results of our efforts.  We had a wonderful weekend, great conversations with folks, and are energized about pottery and life. We feel grateful for all of the support we receive in our pursuit to make pottery comfortable to use, and beautiful to look at and enjoy.

We want to wish everyone a Very Merry Holiday Season and a Happy New Year!


Bulldog Pottery,  Seagrove, North Carolina
We are very happy with the results of our recent firing, and ready and excited to get back into the studio to make more pottery.  
Bulldog Pottery,  Seagrove, North Carolina

Samantha Henneke, Pottery Mug

Samantha Henneke bowls and vases and Bruce Gholson's plates


Gloria, Ed, and Sylvia helping polish the pottery after unloading the kiln on Friday

Ed, Don, and Sylvia helping polish this pottery after unloading the kiln on Friday
We cleaned up the middle of our studio where we had been glazing, and spread our work out on tables for display.
Bulldog Pottery, Seagrove, North Carolina 
Bulldog Pottery, Seagrove, North Carolina 

Bulldog Pottery, Seagrove, North Carolina 

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Glazing and Loading for the Holiday Pottery Opening this weekend

Bruce Gholson carving details into his shino fish
 Well it is official. We load the kiln today.

We have been glazing around the clock this past week for our Holiday Kiln Opening, December 15, 2012, this Sat, 10-5. Bruce has been working on his shino glazed porcelain, while I have been glazing with our Moka glaze.  We have been glazing in two different buildings. We are not used to being apart in the studio and really don't like it. Over the holidays we are going to get our glazing area set up in our new space so we can glaze together from now on.

Bruce's shino glaze is as allusive as our crystalline glazes. We know its range, but we don't know if the glaze will turn out really grey with carbon trapping, or peachy. The glaze in itself is tedious to work with. Some glazes go on smooth, without drips, kinda like butter. The shino glaze that Bruce works with is foamy and show drips badly, so must be fussed with after dipping.  The surface is fragile after decorating, and the pottery needs to be handled with care.

Bruce Gholson working on his shino dome jars
 Bruce is walking the pots out to our gas kiln. Our kiln is located in the old hog parlor behind the studio.  We built the gas kiln from twice used bricks when we first moved to our property here in Seagrove.  We were able to get the first two shelves loaded yesterday. We still have a few more pots to glaze today and then we will finish loading, probably into the evening.

Bruce Gholson walking pots over and down to the kiln

Below are images of Bruce's shino work. 
Bruce Gholson, Shino Fish Mug

Bruce Gholson, Shino Fish Yunomi with lots of carbon trapping.

Bruce Gholson, Shino Fish Mug, on the peachy side.


Bruce Gholson Shino Fish Pitcher

Friday, December 7, 2012

Bulldog Pottery Holiday Kiln Opening, Dec. 15 2012

Bulldog Pottery Dec. 15, 2012 - Holiday Kiln Opening

The Carolina Arts contains information about the Visual Arts in North and South Carolina. You can read all about it in the Carolina Arts Online Newspaper. Together Tom and Linda Starland have been putting together this newspaper for 15 years. A few years ago they went from printing the newspaper to online only.  You can download their Arts newspaper monthly.  You can also read about our Holiday Kiln opening on page 22. The following was the press release we sent out. 

The Courier Tribune also helped us spread the information about our upcoming kiln opening. We want to thank them for their help!

Read about what is going on in Seagrove in December's edition "In the Grove", compiled together by Rhonda McCanless of Eck McCanless Pottery. 

Thank you to Paul Kowalchuk who maintains the Studio Pottery Archive Blog for posting information about out Holiday Kiln Opening.

Samantha Hennke Covered Jar

Handmade Pottery – Useful Art 
Art that can be used in Everyday Living

Seagrove’s Bulldog Pottery artists, Bruce Gholson and Samantha Henneke, love glazes. And they have a keen eye and a delicate touch when they create the shape and form of their work. With their glazes and forms they make their functional pottery into an art to be used for everyday living. 

Bulldog Pottery’s Holiday Sale is set to take place Saturday, December 15, 2012, 10:00-5:00, at their pottery in Seagrove, located around five miles from the geographical center of North Carolina. Come out to meet these two potters and enjoy their company while checking out their newest pots.  For their special event they have filled their insulated brick kiln with 170 plus pieces of new work, which will be ready for their opening.

Bruce Gholson and Samantha Henneke are studio potters who have made pottery their life-long work.  They make ‘that plate’ not just any plate, but an expression of design and beauty. Pottery is a decorative art form at a reasonable price, and it is art that you can share through use.  This husband and wife team celebrates the rich history and vitality of the Seagrove community’s clay artists, and invites you to invest in the local economy. When you buy local pottery, you are supporting a local entrepreneurial enterprise, a truly small business. 

Bulldog Pottery can be easily reached 5 miles south of the traffic light in Seagrove, at 3306 US Hwy 220 Alt., look for the distinctive blue water tower beside the driveway leading to their studio. Seagrove, located in central NC, is synonymous with ceramics--where a unique group of over 100 potters and at least 60 open pottery shops are located in a 15 mile area, which makes it a destination for serious pottery shopping.  Visit Bulldog Pottery for their kiln opening - pick up a pottery map and continue the pottery adventure. For more information call Bruce Gholson 336-302-3469 or 910-428-9728 or visit


Also having kiln openings on December 15th (that we know of) are-
Ben Owen Pottery, Donna Craven Pottery, Chris Luther Pottery, and Johnston and Gentithes Pottery.



Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Wrapping Up

Bruce Gholson putting his pottery in our home-made hot box

We are finishing up our first firings of all of our pieces that we have made for our upcoming December 15th Kiln Opening.  The first firing is called a bisque firing, which hardens the pottery and makes it physically strong enough to undergo the rigors of glazing. The pieces still are delicate and need to be handled with care. We waxed the bottoms of our pots yesterday evening, and we are all ready to have the glaze-athon over the next several days.

Under this accelerating crunch time, we had to set up a hot box to speed dry our pots. This year we set up a table, draped plastic over it, and put a dehumidifier underneath with the pottery. This has worked well in the past for us. The pots are fairly dry after 24 hours and with a long soak in the bisque firing they are dry enough to take on up to temperature.

Many varied emotions are happening now in the studio. We want to make more pottery--our ideas are flowing and we are all warmed up to keep throwing, but our deadline is on us and we must switch gears. We are also pretty tired after working in the studio non-stop, and staying up in the evenings. We want another week. We want more glazes, we want to develop new glazes, and more pots to put them on. Basically we want more time in the studio, which is kinda funny because almost all our time is in the studio. As we are glazing and working in the studio, it is hard to explain, but it would be nice to have an hour between the hours to do all that we strive to do.


Bruce Gholson with the pottery that we are drying in our home-made hot box

Bruce Gholson Puts a handle on a pitcher

Samantha Henneke finishing a rim on her thrown vase

Samantha Henneke brushing slip onto her cups

Bruce Gholson trimming his large bowls

Bruce Gholson with his large bowls after combing slip onto them