A little time for friends

Last night, we had the pleasure of visiting the home of our friends, John and Sally Burris, in Raleigh. They came out during our Buy a Brick sale last friday evening, and purchased a very special big pot. This pot had been thru one other incarnation, which subsequently broke in transport during the making. It also happens to be my (Amanda speaking) favorite pot out of the whole firing. It is now resting peacefully in its new home, and Joseph and I couldn't be happier! The location is stunning. We don't think we could have brought a better house warming gift!



After unloading the pot, we were treated to a lovely outdoor dinner, good conversation and a scattered shower. Our meal included Caprese with pesto (yum!), fresh bread, corn on the cob, cole slaw, a boil including shrimp, sausage, potatoes, and to top it all off, lobster. Dessert was a peach and raspberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream. It was absolutely delectable. I had never had lobster before, let alone have to learn how to open it up and basically tear into it. You appreciate your food so much more when it still has its animal appearance on your plate. There's nothing like staring into the eyes of your lobster as you eat its claw.

Anyways, the conversation was fascinating, with their daughter Margaret having done some freelance work in tv and film production. She shared with us insider details on the many tv shows she has worked on prior to enlisting back in grad school at UNC last year to get her MBA. We were also joined by two other MBA students and a gastroenteroligist. Needless to say, we had a lot to talk about!

John and Sally, thank you for a fantastic evening!

Sold Out! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

Joseph and I are quite literally overwhelmed by the great success of our first kiln opening. We had a wonderful crowd of people show up and we are proud to have sent home many lovely pots to great new homes. It was a pleasure meeting new people and seeing our old friends again. We hope that you return for many more of our kiln openings.

Our first kiln opening has been so successful that we actually sold most of the pots by noon on Saturday. We still have the opening advertised as running from noon until 5:00 on Sunday. If you didn’t make it out today and plan on coming on Sunday, please be advised that there are very few pots left, mainly large ones. We would love to have you visit us and look around the pottery, but we apologize for the lack of pots. We would welcome you to come to the next opening which will probably be in the first part of December.

Joseph will be busy this next week starting on the next cycle of pots. We look forward to seeing all of you for the next kiln opening!

Pottery Preview

Since we are not having a formal preview on-site, we thought we would provide one via the web. Joseph is narrating on this one. Enjoy!

Stellar!

It seems as though our luck with the first full firing ever of this new kiln has coincided with the current meteor shower above our heads. What an absolutely incredible experience. We had a lot riding on this firing, probably not thinking the clearest when we decided to hold a sale right after firing a kiln that had never before reached the temperatures we were going to bring it to. I guess nobody knows that the roller coaster is secure unless someone rides on it first. There's only so many safety precautions you can take, but if it malfunctions, well.....we won't talk about it.



We'll start with some photos showing the unfired pottery and the process of how it is stacked in the kiln:

Shown: Unfired planters


Shown: Unfired big pots

Next, a video showing just a bit of the firing process, the first part showing the guys in action while stoking the kiln and the second part showing the intensity of the end of the firing, where stoking and salting of the pots are happening simultaneously. At about two minutes, a promo pops up so just hang on for a few seconds and the video will continue:




Then, a few shots of the guys and the real stars of the show, the pots!







Pictured: Alex Matisse

Pictured: Mark Hewitt



Pictured: Alex Matisse, Mark Hewitt, Seth Guzovsky, Brad Lail, Joseph Sand

Finally, we have some photos of the unloading of the kiln. Truly spectacular firing!



Shown: Dave Stumpfle

This is the after shot of the loading photo seen above.

Shown: Levi Mahan and Joseph carrying a big pot from the kiln up to the workshop.

With the expertise of Mark Hewitt and Alex Matisse, along with the many crucial helpers (Andy McMahan, Spencer Johnson, Dave York, Beverly Fox, Seth Guzovsky, Brad Lail, Levi Mahan, Lara and Jim O'Keefe, Dave Stumpfle, and Mark and Mike Allred), the kiln fired beautifully.

Thanks for all your help!

It's about time!

We're finally ready! This weekend we spent most of our time glazing and moving around pots, enjoying this fantastic 70-degree weather accompanied by much-needed rain. It has been beautiful this weekend, enhancing our productivity and happiness immensely. We only have 4 weeks left until our kiln opening. With it being our first one, we have no idea what to expect. What we do know is that there will be pots o' plenty and scrumptious goodies galore. Come celebrate, even to just enjoy a cookie and some sweet tea!

Grand Kiln Opening of Joseph Sand Pottery

August 21st from 9am to 5pm
and
August 22nd from 12 noon to 5pm

For directions, please visit our website at www.jsspottery.com/directions.html

We look forward to celebrating with you!

P.S. For those of you who participated in our Buy a Brick program, you are invited to a special opening on August 20th from 5pm to 8pm. If you are unable to make it, please contact me and we can make arrangements.

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.

That much closer

Joseph has just finished the decoration on the kiln! He finished the firebox in the morning, laying brick and castable, with the remainder of the afternoon spent decorating the kiln in vibrant colors.

All that is left to complete now is the flashing around the chimney and a little kiln wash.

He will be making pots starting monday for our first kiln opening event. Our tentative date is August 21st and 22nd, with the special pre-sale for Buy A Brick customers on friday the 20th. You can still buy a brick and join us at the presale through May 31st at: http://www.jsspottery.com/buy.html

We're off to Art on the Vine this weekend in Mebane. Come check us out and say hi!



Using portland cement, black concrete stain, red iron oxide and local clay as pigments, the kiln is painted in true Joseph style!





Looking closely, the surface design of the kiln is reminiscent of a decoration Joseph uses on his pottery.


The firebox was completed using cartops and a high temperature castable. Joseph is going to add some brick on both sides to be able to stack pots in the firebox, as well.

Finito!