William Baker

Pottery Everywhere

williambaker — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 12:04:58 +0000

It’s a big weekend here in pottery land, and it looks like it’s going to be a beautiful one in the mountains. If you’re near Chapel Hill in the next few weeks, I have a few pieces in the show “Dining with Frank” at the Frank Gallery. And the show of work by Joy and myself in Georgia is still available online for another week, so have a look at that one before it disappears.

But really, the thing to do is to head on over the Spruce Pine this weekend for the Potter’s Market. I don’t think you’ll be sorry.

Pots and more pots

williambaker — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 03:41:42 +0000

From here you can just see the edge of fall coming around corner. Of course it’s a fantastic time to be in the mountains, but this year has been a busy one for us. Joy and I have been putting in the long hours as usual, getting ready for the second firing of the Fall. But there’s no time to talk now, we’re still finishing pots for our next firing in a few days.

Last week, our show opened down in Roswell, Georgia. The entire show is online for a few more weeks so be sure to check it out. And just two short weeks away is the Spruce Pine Potters Market, which you need to know about if you don’t already.

Here are a few of my favorites from the recent firings.

Stay tuned for more as we get ready to have another go.

Firing the Pallet Kiln

Getting Up to Speed

williambaker — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 00:27:05 +0000

Oh how the weeks have flown by…so many events have taken place in the last few weeks it’s hard to know where to start?

Let’s see, well.. making pots for the last two months mixed with another kiln building trip, and of course there was the wedding. What else can you say? It was a simple affair in the mountains where we live, with a small group of family and friends. Couldn’t have been more perfect.

So you’ll have to excuse me for not checking in for sometime, but it has felt a little hectic the last few weeks getting back to “normal” life after a fantastic honeymoon. But we did manage to make enough to fill the kiln, working a few weeks here and a few weeks there. Not your typical work cycle, but we just unloaded our fifth firing in the pallet kiln and we’ll start working on the 6th soon enough.

For this last firing Joy had most of the cups, bowls, and plates, and I focused on making more larger pieces.

A few of my small pieces came out nice too, but…these pieces fired on their sides are some of the most interesting I’ve seen come out of this kiln yet.

We’re gearing up for a big fall later this year, trying to squeeze in as many work cycles as we can in the next few months. At the same time we’ve been looking back on the last year in our “new”studio space and thinking about how our work has changed in that time.

Fresh Flowers

williambaker — Mon, 23 May 2011 15:00:29 +0000

Hurry on over to the Schaller Gallery online where the latest show just opened this morning. A few weeks ago I sent off a few vases and little bud vases off to their new location in Michigan. There is a fantastic selection of vases, all photographed with flowers. Stop here and smell the flowers.

Around the same time I dropped of new work at my other favorite gallery, Crimson Laurel right here in Bakersville, NC. I left them with a stack of small lunch plates and several larger pots as well.

If you ‘re visiting the mountains anytime this summer you don’t want to leave the area without stopping in to see the amazing selection they have put together there.

Finishing up the Penland Salt Kiln

williambaker — Thu, 12 May 2011 14:57:27 +0000

Finished up the kiln building class a bit ago, and forgot to share these photos. In about 10 days we had the new salt kiln built and ready to go. The two students in the class were able to make as much work as they could squeeze out at night, and they still managed to keep up with us during the day. Shane candled the kiln overnight for a few hours, and then lit the main burners. About 14 hours later we had 9′s and 10′s down and a bunch of salt in it.

Back to the cycle–making work for the next firing while still sorting through some of the pots from the last one.

Who says the first firing of a new kiln has to be bad?

Here We Go Again

williambaker — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 11:55:51 +0000

It’s that time of year again, and I’m heading to Penland to help my pal Shane and a few students rebuild the salt kiln. Luckily for me I barely have to leave the neighborhood.

The class met for the first time last night, and we’ll get to talking things over and moving some bricks today. Tonight after class I get to unload the wood kiln, fired last week and patiently cooling. Here is a shot of the dress rehearsal for some of the larger pots.

Did I Forget to Mention?

williambaker — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:55:08 +0000

There is an opening reception tonight as part of the big NCECA conference down in Tampa/ St. Petersburg. I was honored to be invited to participate in a show highlighting some of the wonderful ceramic artists who have passed through the Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts. I sent some nice pots down for the show, and wish I could be there to see some old pals and some amazing pottery at the Train Station. If you’re down in the sunshine state be sure to check it out!

But alas, no rest for the weary. I just returned from a kiln building trip last night, and I have a few short days to make the last pots for my next firing. Here’s little shot of the beach at Cape Cod. There’s a new Shane Mickey Soda Kiln living on the Cape, in the hands of some really nice folks…but more on that later. Gotta get into the studio.

Done for Now

williambaker — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 13:19:20 +0000

Just this weekend I put the final touches on the cross draft salt kiln for Kyle Carpenter, handing over the keys to Kyle who is ready to take it for a test drive any day now.

For the last few years I’ve been working with Shane Mickey as he designed and built kilns, working my way up from deckhand to shipmate. This kiln seemed like more of an all round team effort. Shane designed the kiln, working with Kyle to tear down the old kiln, and make sure the new and improved design would fit in the same place as old one. Then Shane handed over the plans to me and I did the moving and lifting, cutting and fitting.

One of the many things I’ve learned from Shane over the years is that kiln building clients really appreciate a little assistance with the first firing, and it has become part of the package. Typically, when the kiln is finished I would plan on being around for the first firing if at all possible, to make sure everything works as it should and that the new owner has a grasp of what ‘s going on. This is of course even more helpful if the new owner is not very experienced firing kilns, or if the kiln is salt or soda.

In this case, Kyle has been firing his own salt kiln for many years now so we’ve left it in his hands for now with some reminders and things to watch out for. After the first one is done and unloaded, we’ll have a look and see what further advice needs dispensing.

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From One Kiln to Another

williambaker — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 16:08:40 +0000

I’ve been hiding in a cave for the last week…at least that what is feels like. In reality the cave was Kyle Carpenter’s kiln shed and rather than hiding of course I was building a new cross draft salt kiln for him. Things are moving along well and Kyle can’t wait to fire it up a time or two as soon as I’m done. Yesterday was arch day and by the afternoon a big sigh of relief went up and I moved on to building the door. Today and tomorrow I get a day “off” from the build so that Joy and I can load up the methane kiln at the EnergyXchange to do a bisque firing for our impending wood fire. Then it’s back down to Asheville to finish up the chimney so Kyle can get it started.

Here’s a little snapshot from a few days ago of the layout of the exit flues, flanged door jamb, etc. before the exit flues got covered over.

Straight Into the New Year

williambaker — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 13:05:24 +0000

It’s shaping up to be a busy and exciting year from the looks of the calendar. Getting ready for a firing in a few weeks means another wood day at Pallet Mountain. After a few more weeks working towards filling the kiln I’ll be taking a “break” to head down to Asheville for a kiln-building trip. There are more firings and more kiln builds all ready penciled in through Spring, so stay tuned and I’ll try to keep the updates coming.

In the meantime here are a few highlights of some of the ongoing and upcoming events:

Through Aprill 22, 2011, “Western North Carolina Models of Sustainability in Craft Making”, Resident Artist Exhibition, The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design, Hendersonville, NC, http://www.craftcreativitydesign.org
Through February 25, 2011 , “Current Residence”, Western Kentucky University Main Gallery, Bowling Green, KY
March 22- April 16, 2011 , NCECA 2011, Highwater Clays St. Pete presents “Our Adventurous Journey: Odyssey Center for the Ceramic Arts Invitational”, Saint Petersburg, FL
March 25-April 4 2011, AKAR Gallery, 2011 Yunomi Invitational
(ONLINE ONLY) ~200 potters, 5 Yunomis each for 2011?s cup show

Here’s a little preview of the cups that wnet out to Iowa for the AKAR Yunomi sale.