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

Getting ready for the Potters Market at Charlotte's Mint Museum Randolph

Bruce Gholson loading the pottery kiln

We are in the process of getting ready for the upcoming Delhom League's 8th annual Potters Market Invitational.  This is the first Moka glazed pottery kiln of this year, as we have been focused on our decoratively glazed work for the first half of the year.  Our cycle changes from one year to the next depending on what we are getting ready for. Samantha was in The Green Hill Art Center's "By Example", June-August exhibition, and was the main reason why we stayed with the decorative glazes up until July.  Samantha focused her attention on developing a body of work for the show.   We are thrilled to announce that the 24 glazed beetle paintings titled "Coleoptera" sold as well as a few other pieces. 

We had plans of glaze testing for new surfaces to get in our Moka glaze kiln, but time snuck up on us and our deadline for the Potters Market is upon us.  We keep telling ourselves that our glaze testing has to come while we throw our pots because, when our time gets squeezed like it is now while glazing and loading, something has to give.  Bruce has bags of glazes all ready mixed to test, and I have a bunch of tenmoku formulas that I want to mix up.  So we are resolved to be ready to get them into our next kiln firing.  Time is always a big juggling act.

I was listening to a podcast called Lean into Art last night.  It is about the Art of Comics.  This particular podcast is presented by Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger. They are professional comic illustrators and they talk about life as full time creative self-employed artists.  I discovered the Art and Story  podcast a few years ago where they worked together along with Kevin Cross. They gave the final podcast last year, their Big Finale. I was pleased to find out it was only the beginning of going into other projects, one of which is Lean into Art.  Last night I listened to Time Time. Which yes you guessed it was about Time. They talked about what it was like to manage their time, and the trials and tribulations that we all have as creatives.  Tick toc, tick toc. 

8th Annual Potters Market Invitational - September 15, 10:00-4:00

Mint Museum Randolph

2730 Randolph Rd.

Charlotte, North Carolina

It' a begining

Life in the foliage, a predator?

Cousins in Clay Mountains 2012

Mark Shapiro, Sam Taylor, Michael Kline, Samantha Henneke, Bruce Gholson

A couple of weekends ago we were up in the Mountains for "Cousins in Clay" at Michael Kline's Pottery. Mark Shapiro and Sam Taylor joined us, travelling all the way from Massachusetts.  It was a great time, and there were many lovely pots to peruse.  We always have fun when we get together with Michael, Sam, and Mark, enjoying the time spent talking pottery, our lives as potters, and of course what ever mischief we can get into.  We took many pictures and made an album of them on the Cousins in Clay facebook page. You can see the album here at facebook Cousins in Clay Mountains 2012.

We are looking forward to joining up with the same gang, Michael, Sam, and Mark, in October along with nine other potters for "Pottery on the Hill" at the Hill Center in Washington D.C. 

While working with and looking at all of the pictures we took at Mountain Cousins, We realized that we have yet to share with you images from our past Seagrove Cousins in Clay with Ron Meyers and Judith Duff.  We will get to that soon.  We have just finished designing the "save the date" postcard for our Cousins in Clay coming up next year!  Mark your calendars for June 1 and 2, 2013, join us and our special guests David MacDonald from Syracuse, and Jack Troy from Pennsylvania.  

Presently in the studio we are working on glazing a Moka glaze kiln for the upcoming Potters Market Invitational in Charlotte, at the Mint Museum Randolph, September 15, 2012, 10:00 - 4:00. To read all about it visit the Mint Museum's website for the details.  

Bruce Gholson admiring a Sam Taylor vase

Samantha Henneke 

Michael Kline and visitor behind Bulldog's vases

Visitor loooking at our Moka and Shino glazes pottery

Sam Taylor, Samantha Henneke, Bruce Gholson, Mark Shapiro, Cynthia Bringle

assortment of pieces by Samantha Henneke

Cousins in Clay Mountains - Bakersville, NC Here we come

Bruce Gholson, Samantha Henneke, Michael Kline

We are on our way to the gorgeous mountains of North Carolina.  Michael Kline is hosting the 2nd annual Cousins in Clay Mountains this weekend at his place - Michael Kline Pottery - on Sat. and Sun. Aug. 25 and 26. Our honored Cousins are Mark Shapiro and Sam Taylor and they are on their way from Massachusetts to join us!  This is a very exciting weekend. Sam and Mark go way back with Michael, they took a pivotal workshop together with Michael Simon back in the early 90's. Michael and Mark shared a pottery studio for around 10 years up in Massachusetts before Michael moved to Penland to be an artist in residence.  Sam Taylor's Dogbar Pottery studio is in Mark's neighborhood. Truly a family reunion this weekend. 

On Sunday there will be a potters potluck at 12:00 noon. Please join us with a dish and enjoy pleasant conversation up on the mountain top.

Michael Kline Pottery

4062 Snow Creek Rd.

Bakersville, NC 28705

828-675-4097

Aug 25 and 26 Sat 10-5 and Sun 10-4 with Potters Potluck on Sun from 12-3

Michael Kline Plate

Sam Taylor Plate

Mark Shapiro Teapot

Bruce Gholson - Crab Low Bowl

Samantha Henneke - Sapphire Vase

Green Hill Art Center - "By Example" Exhibition

Samantha Henneke in front of Coleopatra- 24 Beetles, porcelain glazes paintings

The exhibition titled "By Example- North Carolina Potters and their Mentors" is on display at the Green Hill Art Center in Greensboro, North Carolina and will be on view until the end of the month- August 26, 2012.

Green Hill Art Center is located in downtown Greensboro across from the Center City Park, on 200 North Davie Street (336-333-7460).

I made "Coleopatra"(beetles not the queen), a wall of 24 glazed beetles. The back ground is a whitish crystalline glaze and the beetles are glazed with a variety of crystalline glaze colors and textures. This is the second installation of beetles as a grouping. The first set was hung in the Gregg Museum on NC State's campus in Raleigh back in 2007, and the beetles were glazed on a gold background.  I was excited about having the opportunity to make another beetle wall installation, the Green Hill Art Center has wonderful space, with a great mix of natural light and gallery lighting.
     Along with the wall of beetles, I threw tall vases that measured 15"-18" in height with image and textural decoration, and crystalline glazes, as well as a series of seven 11"x11" porcelain box shapes with fantasy narrative "A Girl in Red Dress with Dung Beetle". You can see all of the pieces that I have in this exhibition on our Bulldog Pottery Flickr page.

My chosen mentor is Val Cushing. Val was my pottery teacher when I went to Alfred University back in the mid 90's.  He influenced my pottery work as well as is the bed rock for my knowledge and love glazes and understanding of the materials. During one of my first glaze calculation classes he encouraged us to go to the library, I took this to heart and went there whenever I had time. I wandered up and down the Scholes Library aisles, grabbing handfuls of books, and sitting down to look, read, and ponder.

There is a By Example Exhibition Catalog that was printed to go along with the show.  

Ronan Peterson filmed 8 minutes of a gallery walk through and he posted it on You Tube By Example Exhibition.

Val Cushing pottery in the "By Example" Exhibition

Samantha Henneke in front of her  Girl in Red Dress and Dung Beetle series

Decorated glaze vases and "Coleopatra"

Poster of Val Cushing, Samantha's mentor at the By Example show in Greensboro, Green Hill Art Center