I was very pleased to be invited to participate in an exhibition at the Schaller Gallery, which is an online gallery based out of Montana.  I packed up and shipped out some of my favorites a few weeks ago for the show titled “Burnt”, and subtitled “from crusty and toasty to smooth and silky”.  I am not sure exactly where my pots belong on that spectrum, but it is some fine company indeed.  Participating artists include: Phil Rogers, Dan Anderson, Mark Goertzen, Tom & Jeff Unzicker, Bede Clarke, Ben Bates, Linda Christianson, Chris Campbell, Donn Hedman, Joe Singewald, Gary Hootman, and myself.

Looking forward to a first firing in a new kiln brings excitement and rattles the nerves a bit.  And as the pile of pots from the last few firings grows smaller and smaller, the tendency is to hold on tight to the remaining ones.  But I sent some nice ones out to Montana for this show, so head on over and have a look at the show.  The show will open at 12:01 am Thursday July 1 and remain online through Sunday July 31, 2010.

Did I mention that I’ve moved my studio, and there will be a new wood fired kiln in my life?  In the last two weeks I’ve settled in enough to make a few pots for the upcoming first firing.  And of course, one of the first things on the list was to get the wood prepped.

That my friends, is a mountain of pallets.  And since the studio is built at a former landfill, it is also the wood pile for the kiln.

There are a number of questions that one gets asked repeatedly when one is educating the public about one’s woodfired pottery.

“What kind of wood do you use to fire your kiln?”, is a common one.

So the pallets are stacked and we’re getting ready to take her for a test drive in a few weeks.  We’ll see how it goes.

The hours are 10-6 today and tomorrow, June 12th and 13th, and you can find a map and listing of all of the amazing studios opening their doors right here.

For those of you who can’t make it, here are some photos of some of the pots from “The Last Firing”.

Most of the ones pictured here have all ready come and gone through the Crimson Laurel Gallery in Bakersville.

But I also set aside a few of the others from the kiln load to hold onto, and put some in a box and shipped them off to Montana.  The pots headed west will be part of an online exhibition at the Schaller Gallery titled “Burnt”, opening on July 1st 2010.

Last post I had a few pictures from the firing we finshed just before I headed off to the Artisphere Festival.  Currently the kiln is cooling again as Joy and I finally were able to get the planned second firing finished.

The Artisphere Festival, by the way, was a good one.  I made enough sales to call it a moderate financial success, but it was all around a positive experience.  The folks who put on that show really know how to treat the artists well, they raise the bar for all other craft shows.  They even provided entertainers for those of us standing around in our booths all weekend.  From now on, when applying to craft shows I will check to make sure they have a roving dixieland Jazz Band and perhaps even a small troupe of acrobats.

Next up on the list:

• well this weekend is the TRAC Studio Tour of course.
• I’ll soon be sending off some work to a great new online gallery
• tomorrow I’ll start moving my studio down the road a piece where I’ll be starting a new phase and also unload the firing which just may prove to be the last firing in the little wood kiln on Roan Mountain.Perhaps I’ll try to explain a little more about that last one.

Photo by Joy Tanner

It’s been a busy Spring here in the mountains, but we finally managed to get the kiln fired and unloaded.  So many times with a firing looming it seems that everything gets put off until after the firing.  I was reminded by my pottery pal Michael Kline that this phenomenon is not limited to me, but actually common to most wood firing potters.  As the firing date gets closer and closer, important things get separated into those that must be done before the firing and those that can be put off until after the firing.  The firing take on the momentum of a freight train, barreling along until it reaches the crest of the hill and then roars down the mountain stopping for no one and no thing.

Joy Tanner shared the kiln load with me, and we both fared pretty well this time around.  You can see some photos she took during the unloading here. We’ve both made enough to fire again soon, so we’ll share another kiln load in the next few weeks before the TRAC Studio Tour.

Here’s a shot of some of my favorites from the kiln, some of these are heading out with me to Artisphere this weekend so come and get ‘em if you’re in the neighborhood of Greenville, SC.

]]> http://williambakerpottery.com/blog/2010/05/06/after-the-firing-atf/feed/ 1 http://williambakerpottery.com/blog/2010/03/06/a-little-help/ http://williambakerpottery.com/blog/2010/03/06/a-little-help/#comments Sun, 07 Mar 2010 01:01:53 +0000 williambaker http://williambakerpottery.com/?p=526

I was invited by my old pal Drew Nicklas to be part of an exhibit at Pottery Northwest in Seattle entitled “Four By Four”.  The theme of the show was some of the current resident artists there at the arts center inviting some of their friends and mentors to send pieces and create a diverse group of work.   I tried to get him to tell me if I qualified as a friend or a mentor, but I never really got a definitive answer on that.

Drew and I go way back to the very beginning of my little adventure in clay, to our undergraduate days when we spent many hours in the ceramics building and the kiln yard even though neither of us was an art major.  Who would have known that both of us would end up taking a potter’s path?  We soon went in different directions, I from the West Coast to the East in search of better clay, and he on to another non-art degree and then to a MFA in ceramics. It has been nice to stay in touch over the years, and funny enough, after all that we both found our way to wood firing.

So here’s to another well-spoken wood firer out there.  And here’s to good friends and good mentors.  I’ve learned a lot from a lot of folks over the years.  Some people pass by quickly and utter a brief little phrase that you can never forget.  Some people let you fire their kiln, their soda kiln no less, when you really need one.  Whether it’s an honest appraisal of your latest work or bit of encouragement or a little help getting the kiln to finish off in the wee hours, I appreciate all the help I’m gotten along the way.

The exhibit will be up for the rest of the month, and there is an opening reception tonight. [March 6, 2010] I can’t make it as it is in Seattle and I am not…but if you stop by tell ‘em I send my best.

Here is the quick version:

like a lot of clay people, I got started by accident and I was hooked before I even knew it.

Having realized that I wanted to refine and expand my skills as a craftsman and a potter, and that this might very well require so much time that it could not be relegated to a hobby, I decided the best way to improve my skills and therefore my work was to simply work as much as possible.  The theory was that the act of creating pots in the studio would lead to better and better work.  Although I do not stop and critically assess my work as often as I should, I have always had my own little inner critic which pushes my work forward even if it seems to be in tiny little steps.

I always wondered if other potters and creative types had this same little voice, the “perfectionist” voice?  I’ve long since accepted that the little voice will not go away, and so I’ve had to adopt various strategies to deal with it and still maintain my own sanity. Especially as a creator of things who returns to the same forms in a repetitive cycle, who then subjects those things to an uncontrolled firing process, one must not wait for perfection.  But I do believe that the “perfectionist” voice has value as it has caused me to always seek to improve my forms…sometimes in tiny little ways that no one else may even see…but to continue improving and refining as I go.

I’ve found several examples of this recently.

I heard a story on the radio about an Olympic athlete describing her training process.  She described the physical and mental rigors of training day in and day out, of the hundreds of thoughts racing through her head and she raced around the track.  And how after crossing the finish line and looking up to see the time, she felt ‘it is always bad’.

I sighed when I heard that…I know what you mean I said.

I found another expression of this idea in a video clip of Ira Glass discussing what some creative people go through as they are honing their skills.   He was talking mainly about writers and producers, but the point is the same.  I would summarize it as:

As you are working, you know that your work lacks something and even without knowing what exactly it is that is lacking it does not measure up to what you consider ‘great’.  So you keep working.  On your skills and your product and refining and editing.  And this may take years.

I just ran across this letter, which was in response to this article. These point to this issue plus a whole lot more for another day.

I can really relate to both sides of this discussion.  There are some days when I want to smash half of the pots I just made simply because they are not right, just not good enough.  Then again how can I go around smashing half of what I just made?  On “those” days I have come to remember a passing line I never forgot, uttered by a potter more experienced than I:  “it’s an emotional roller coaster,  being a potter.”

I have determined that the little voice really is helpful.  On “those” days I usually walk away from the ware board before smashing many pots.  And although I generally still do not like looking back at older pots, I tend to look now at where things have gone rather than where they were then.

Here are a few examples of one of my favorite forms, one from each of the last four years.  I certainly like the most recent one the best, but maybe it’s just me.

As promised, here are the details about the upcoming one-day workshop.  It will be at Claymakers in Durham, NC Saturday March 13th 2010 from 10-5 pm.

The cost is $70 for the day, which will include demonstrations and discussions by Joy Tanner and myself.  That’s two for the price of one.

Below you will find a full description of the workshop, and the information for Claymakers if you would like to sign up.  And be sure to check out their website to see the other workshops lined up for this spring.

Feel free to contact me if you would like  to discuss a demonstration or soda firing workshop somewhere in your town.

Claymakers

705 Foster Street

Durham, NC 27701
Phone: 919-530-8355
Email: info@claymakers.com

Web: www.claymakers.com

Making A Mark: Thrown and Altered Forms

Join us for this one day demonstration workshop as two potters from the Asheville area of Western North Carolina share their different approaches to creating and altering wheel-thrown functional forms.  William Baker and Joy Tanner, both potters from the mountains of Bakersville, create distinct forms destined for a soda kiln.

William works mainly on the wheel to create strong forms with accentuated edges, often altering these wheel-thrown pieces both on the wheel and off to further enhance the crisp surfaces and lines.  His work is fired in a wood burning soda kiln, where the surfaces are enhanced by the flame, ash and soda vapors enveloping the pottery.  Demonstrations will include basic wheel thrown forms and techniques as well as altering on the wheel and off for squared pots and refined lines.  Discussion topics will also include considerations for firing in a wood /soda atmosphere.

Joy Tanner creates functional and decorative wheel-thrown forms with patterns and textures inspired from her observations in nature.  By altering and impressing freshly thrown forms, carving in the leather hard stage, and decorating with glaze accents, Joy creates balanced compositions using the interplay of line, texture, depth, and tone.    Combining deep textures and high ridges, soft flashes of warm color from the soda firing and inviting pools of glaze, Joy’s work exhibits wonderfully balanced contrasts. Demonstrations will include altering fresh pots on the wheel, as well as impressing and carving textures into wheel thrown pots. Discussion topics will include ideas for adding texture to your work, as well as considerations for decorating with slips and glazes for the soda kiln.

The last week has seen the first pots of the next firing cycle.  Some times it seems odd how much time is spent not in the studio when one is supposedly a studio potter.  Aside from all of the general day to day duties, the stacking  and moving of wood to heat the house, etc., there is always something else to be done.  Usually on the computer it seems.  Just when you think you may never get started making pots, you get enough things crossed off  of the list that it seems safe to venture into the studio.  You remember that you enjoy being in there creating endless boards of pots even if they have no particular destination at that moment.  You wonder why you procrastinated beginning, and does anyone else out there do the same thing?  And then you check into the blogosphere and realize that sometimes an assignment is useful, and yes we potters do have some sort of  instinct to procrastinate the very thing we enjoy the most.  Strange creatures, but at least I know I’m not the only one.

Lucky for me, I had made it into the studio a day or two before the Michael Kline Challenge otherwise I may not have finished my assignment.  I had already made a board of small bowls, trimmed and slipped them, so I was ready to make another.

Now it’s onto other familiar forms and a few new ones too.  And not a day too soon, somehow February is moving right along and March is filling up already.  Just as the show at Claymakers is coming down  I’ll be teaching a one-day demonstration workshop with Joy Tanner at their studio in Durham, NC.  It will be a great chance to see two different approaches to forming and altering pots, with two potters dedicated to the soda firing process.  More details to come, but the workshop is scheduled for Saturday, March 13th, 10-5pm.

Later in March I’ll begin co-teaching a 9 week class that meets once a week class with Linda McFarling focused on making pots for salt and soda at the Odyssey Center, in Asheville, NC.  Teaching again down at my old stomping grounds and with one of my clay mentors too.  Should be a good time.

Better get busy making that kiln load of pots to fire by then.

A new year is off to a good start with a few exciting plans on the horizon, and hopefully a few more yet to come. Of course, we can only print those that have been confirmed as of this date…but stay tuned for more details of upcoming shows and workshops…

First up for the new year is the show I mentioned before…

If you’re in the Durham, NC area be sure to check out the exhibit at Claymakers, “Asheville In the Bull City”. Curator and potter Ronan Peterson invited five potters from the Asheville area and we all sent 30 or more pieces.

There is an opening reception this Friday, January 15 from 6:00pm-9:00pm. The show will run from January 15 to March 12, 2010.

I’m heading down the mountain for the opening and looking forward to seeing a room full of these folks’ work.  Even when you think you know the work of a potter well, it is always a pleasure to see a multitude of pieces filling a room.

Here’s a little bit from their website:

“Claymakers invites five Asheville, North Carolina area ceramic artists to exhibit their distinctive functional vessels in the Bull City. This exhibit includes the work of Will Baker, Patty Bilbro, Kyle Carpenter, Karen Newgard, and Lindsay Rogers. Each of these functional potters has developed a singular interpretation of everyday pottery, from the graphic, black-on-white porcelain of Karen Newgard to the warm, earthy, atmospheric stoneware of Will Baker. Each artist employs their own approach to surface and decoration, with Lindsay Rogers’ minimal, detailed lines and textures nicely contrasted by the intimate brushwork of Patty Bilbro and Kyle Carpenter’s bold salt fired slip and glaze brushwork. Don’t miss this special showing near downtown Durham of some of the best ceramics the mountains of western North Carolina have to offer.”