Splash!

I had big plans brewing for a little video compilation of some throwing and slip trailing. I had a good bit of footage but was trying for just a bit more. I positioned my little camera above my wheel and leaned it down onto the lens. I started my board of tumblers and got about 4 deep when out of my peripheral vision I saw a flash of silver and then the maddening curplunk as my camera leaped off its perch and dove into our 55 gallon drum that we use to wash our hands in. What happened was when it ran out of batteries it retracted the lens and shifted the weight just right to roll it off. Needless to say I am a bit perturbed. The video will have to wait. Heres a picture of me tending the kiln that my friend Maggie Bogle took (with film!).

Its a dirty job....

Clay mixing is by and far the most glamorous part of being a potter. That is why the majority of this exhilarating experience is laid on the young apprentice. Below is the clay pile that you can see extending away from the camera. Im not sure how much it is but it should last the old boy oh....... 15 years give or take a few. Matt and fellow potter Josh Copus dug the clay out of a tobacco field a few miles down the road from the pottery.


The clay is first shoveled into 5 gallon buckets by yours truly...under the watchful eye of my supervisor (pictured below on the left).

It is then emptied into our blunger which was designed by and Amish man. It is a 55 gallon drum with a motor and auger attached. The blunger is filled to the three quarter mark with water and then the secret ingredients are added.

After the clay has mixed for an hour or so our sump pump (which was carefully designed by our engineering team in New York) us lowered into the barrel....

and the clay is emptied into the drying beds. Repeat the process 7 more times and sit back and wait. As they clay dries it is gradually moved into the pottery where it awaits the pug mill.

A few new pots...

Here are few new pots of mine that we snapped pictures of a few days ago. We do 99% of our own photography and the images are by no means professional but they serve this kind of purpose just fine. The forms are mostly Matt's. In a few days I'll make a longer post on how the apprenticeship works as far as what I make and the logistics of making someone else forms as well as where the inspiration for the decoration comes from. But for now......enjoy the pots!

An Old Friend

An old family friend stopped by for a visit on his way back from the American Crafts Council show in Atlanta today. Ive know Charles Faucher my whole life but to suddenly be able to talk as adults about the work that we do was very nice. Its really interesting to gather all the perspective and insight from someone who has been doing this for a long long time. He is a wood turner who lives in southern New Hampshire but has also been involved in all other aspect of wood working at earlier points in his life. He makes some amazing pieces which he describes as mostly sculptural, the fact that it is a bowl is almost incidental, but of course like any crafter he started making salad bowls and has moved from there to what he now does. Take a look at the website. Amazing work. We traded a mug for a small cup of his but my camera seems to have run out of batteries.

New pots out of the kiln...

Last Wednesday we opened the kiln. I was excited for my first two larger pots which Matt so graciously fired for me. Many thanks to the folks who came out and fired with us... Gabe, Maggie, Gloria, and Joey. Here are a few pictures of the firing and the unloading.



Me and Gabe getting serious on the overnight shift.

Kate Shelton helping out with the side stoking.

When we are at about cone 10 through out the kiln we begin to salt.

We close the dampers for a bit after we salt the kiln.


All of these larger pots are Matt's except for the two closest to the camera in the center of the last picture.

The first...

In a few months my two year stay at the Jones Pottery will be coming to a close. In the final few months I would like to document both the day to day running of a production pottery as well as both the challenges and the rewards that an apprenticeship offers. My hope is that both potters and non potters alike will find something in the pages to follow that pertains to all of us. Some post will be of a more technical nature while others will be more reflective, inquisitive etc. I really encourage you to challenge me on any idea you think is bogus or crazy or whatever. Also.. a really big thanks all who have taught and inspired me over the years. Mr Rabideau, Jackie Sedlock, Charlie Tefft, and to Matt Jones just to name those who put my hands in the clay....also to Michael Kline for being the inspiration for this blog. (http://michaelklinepottery.blogspot.com)
Enjoy,
Alex Matisse