Happy Hour in Olargues

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A New Kiln Build

In rural part New Hampshire, a wood fired kiln is being built by the New Hampshire Potters Guild.  This kiln will replace a 30-year old, tired, kiln.  I'm creating a short film to document the event.   The short (30 seconds) video provides a glimpse of the beginning of the process.  Watch for more.
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Porcelain in Name Only

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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...
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Endless Variations of Shino

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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 s...
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