Making potz

Well, Joseph is back at it again. I am constantly amazed at the calm in the workshop as he works. Being the lucky wife that I am, I have been witness to many beautiful creations in the making, arriving home from work while he's in the thick of it. Some of them did not make it, however. We learned very quickly that I am not as strong as he assumed me to be. Luckily, him and I never dropped a pot, but have had some mishaps that led to the demise of a few beauties. He did drop a big one with a friend the other day. All in all, only 2 big ones were lost, their lives fleeting and brief, but stellar none the less.

Here is a selection of the 10-gallons jars and vases that Joseph has thrown in his past few weeks of production. He started off by making a variety of medium sized planters, moving on to these pieces. Using a variety of glazes both familiar and not, he is taking a gamble, hoping that the risky proves to be rewarding.

Wouldn't he be a good snake charmer? I'd rather him wrangle some clay coils instead! This coil is en route to be added as the next layer on a big monster pot.

Once the coil is added, thrown, and smoothed out, an even rim is cut and removed.

So proud of his beauty! This was his first big pot, being so incredibly heavy that his poor wife couldn't budge it one inch. He had to call a friend to come over, but it had to be before he started work, so the two of them moved the pot at 5:30 am the next day! Show me someone who loves his job more than Joseph does, and I'll buy you lunch!

A quick shot of a week's worth of muscling around clay, lots of sweat, grunts and groans trying to move those big beauties around the room!

Now, don't get excited, because this is not a true firing; there are no pots inside. After the kiln was painted so nicely, Joseph (joined by our friend, Spencer, from Pittsboro) decided to burn a bunch of scrap wood just to take it for a test drive. Man, that thing fired like a gem. Let's hope it does the same when it's full of pots! We can't wait!

SAVE THE DATE!

Speaking of which, we can't wait to announce our kiln opening date!
Join us on August 21st and 22nd for our first kiln opening.
Those that have participated in our Buy A Brick program will have their own pre-sale on August 20th.
As we get closer to the date, watch your email and snail-mail box for an official announcement.