Notwithstanding Indigenous peoples of the Americas, during the early years of the last century American individuals using their hands to form clay into pottery were referred to as vessel makers.  Ceramic vessel making was practiced as either vocational education (to provide skilled labor to industry), therapeutic activity for people with nervous disorders or as a hobby. Serious hobbyist frequently dug their own clay from local deposits, built their own wood fired kilns and wheels and mixed their own glazes.  It was a process of trial and error to teach yourself to be a potter before 1950. By the time I was introduced to clay in the late 1960's and taking my first baby steps as a ceramic artist, formal training existed. Suppliers mined raw material and sold clay and raw materials to schools and hobbyists. Clay was mined or manufactured as low-fire (earthenware), high-fire (stoneware) and porcelain.   Low-fired earthenware cannot be made vitreous and historically has been limited t

Cleaning up and purging in preparation for 2024, I found this small cup that I had thrown more than a decade ago.  It was fired in my gas kiln using Malcom Davis' Carbontrap Shino glaze recipe.   It is only about 3 inches in diameter and less than 2" high.  I'm sharing this because the Shino glaze gave me the orange peel look that I was hoping to achieve and is prized by some fans of Shino glazes.   For you that are new to Shino glazes this example of only one type of Shino glazes.  In 2005, I traveled to the annual NCECA conference being held in Baltimore, MD.  As part of the conference,  Baltimore Clayworks was exhibiting  Shino Review 2005.   The exhibit was curated by Malcom Davis. In his curator's statement Mr. Davis explained that "Shino is not so much a particular formula as it is an appearance, offering a deep, warm, friendly and non pretentious appeals to our tactile and visual senses and visual senses.  What we see in a piece of shino pottery depends on

After moving to New Hampshire in 2000, I took a ceramic course at the New Hampshire Art Institute (now part of the College of New Hampshire).   There I found a group of potters who introduced me to Shino glaze. Shino glazes were used by Japan potters during the 16th century.   They were known for their characteristic warm white finish, earthy tones, speckled surfaces, and subtle crawling effects. Unfortunately, the recipe for the glazes faded away around the late 17th century and became lost. Through extensive analysis of surviving Shino pottery scholars attempted to piece together the lost recipe. In the 1930s and 1940s, two Japanese potters, Toyozo Arakawa and Hajime Katō, developed the first modern Shino glaze by studying Momoyama Shino pots. Working independently in 1974, Virginia Wirt, a student of Warren MacKenzie at the University of Minnesota, developed a glaze formula that emulated the characteristics of the Japanese Shino glaze.   Her glaze, which created a new categor

 I forgot this blog existed, but rediscovered it today as I was trying to navigate around a new hosting plaform for RockPondPottery.com.  SquareUp changed their subscription model last month.  To continue with a custom domain name, the annual cost nearly tripled.  They are still hosting my site under a no cost subscription, but the url has changed.  One now only can find my website using a sub-domain.  Translation, the website is now www.rockpondpottery.square.site I know.  Just doesn't give the audience the same feel.  But for now that is what I have.  Untill I find a new hosting partner.

In Paris, upgraded to the upper deck to get us out of those God awful emergency row seats down below.  Very comfortable.  Ahhhhhhhh. Touchdown at 6:15p pm...Boston...7.5 hour flight.

This is a picture from the center of Devil's Bridge looking at a restaurant in the upper right...you can see the patio chairs. The garden below the restaurant is where the chef grows what he serves. Unfortuately for us, it was just after the mid day serving was closed until 5.