Fired the new kiln for the first time this week! Considering how much was new, the firing came out well. Things were a tad under-fired and there was about one cone temp differential within the kiln, but overall it was a good first firing.
Front of kiln
Back shelves
My friend Steve Palmer took some lovely photos during the workshop last weekend at City Clay. Here are a few of them:
We had a great time together!
My new kiln is fully hooked up and I’ve begun to dig out my bisque and resurrect my buckets of glaze. Haven’t done a glaze firing since last September, shortly before we sold our Nelson place. So I have quite a few pieces piled up in boxes, stored here and there — enough to begin learning how to fire the new kiln. It will be my first time using natural gas instead of propane, and also my first time firing a “store-bought” kiln. I’ll post results here.
Enrollment for my summer workshops is going well. We have a quorum for the June 17-18 workshop at City Clay, and things are looking good for the July one. There are still some spots for next weekend though, so it’s not too late to sign up. Details on the workshop page of this website. Registration at www.cityclaycville.com.
Cely and I had a wonderful group at John Campbell Folk School — mostly beginners, with a few more experienced folks. Here’s a small part of what they managed to make in one week. Pretty impressive, especially considering that the majority of them were complete beginners on the wheel.
I can’t help but notice that this website has gone dormant recently. That’s not an accurate reflection of my pottery activity, just of my unwillingness to sit at the computer. In fact, it’s been a busy spring, with activity on many fronts! Here’s a quick list:
I’m just back from a week in Mississippi where we filmed an online course in throwing stoneware projects based on cylinders.
There are more photos and details at www.TeachinArt.com.
In addition to that online course, I’ve been teaching regular throwing classes twice a week at City Clay in Charlottesville. There are several Summer Workshops coming up at City Clay, starting in June. You can find details on the Workshops Page of this website. In March I taught a two-day workshop at The Bay School in Mathews, Virginia. We had a great time together and have scheduled another workshop for July, 2017. I hope to be back at Round Hill Arts for a workshop on lamps later this summer.
Later this month, my friend Cely Chicure and I will teach at class at John Campbell Folk School. Our class is geared toward beginners, but since there are two of us, there will be time and space for more advanced projects too. Teaching an annual class at the Folk School is always a highlight of my year, and this year will be especially fun, as I expect that our son Alan will be joining me there to take a wood-turning class. One year, both our kids got to come do blacksmithing — turning the week into a mini family reunion.
I’m still making pots too, albeit more slowly, in my studio at City Clay. It’s been harder to stay on track since I have not had a place to fire them since we sold our place in Nelson County. But things are moving along well toward our move into a new house in Charlottesville. Carter is hard at work renovating the house, and my new kiln shed and kiln are in place. Still need gas and electric lines to the new kiln shed, but I hope to be firing soon. I’m scheduled to show work at my friend Kay Franz’s studio during the RVA Tour in Richmond in June. It’s anyone’s guess whether I’ll have fired the new kiln by then, but it’s still a goal…
Here are the new shed and kiln (which does now have a chimney).
Here’s the schedule:
May 6-7 – Take Your Throwing to the Next Level
A two-day hands-on workshop designed to focus on projects and techniques you are interested in pursuing. Projects will be set by the group, but may include multi-part pieces, thrown in sections; texturing using wiggle-wires and carving; altering thrown components into new forms, and adding thrown feet and pedestals to leather-hard bowls.
June 17-18 – Beyond Round: Altering Thrown Forms
A two-day, hands-on throwing workshop focused on extending thrown forms beyond the circle. Projects will include multiple ways to alter thrown components into new shapes; throwing multi-part pieces by adding rings of clay; texturing using wiggle-wires and carving; and adding thrown feet and pedestals to leather-hard forms.
July 22-23 – Cylinders, Cylinders, Cylinders
A two-day hands-on workshop designed to focus on multiple projects made from cylinders. Everyone will make a lamp and will go home with lamp hardware to wire one of your lamps, plus printed instructions with tips about wiring. Other projects may include multi-part pieces, thrown in sections; and texturing using wiggle-wires and carving.
August 19-20 – Take Your Throwing to the Next Level
A two-day hands-on workshop designed to focus on projects and techniques you are interested in pursuing. Projects will be set by the group, but may include multi-part pieces, thrown in sections; texturing using wiggle-wires and carving; altering thrown components into new forms, and adding thrown feet and pedestals to leather-hard bowls.
Workshops are at City Clay — 700 Harris Street in Charlottesville, Virginia. We’ll work from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm both days, with frequent breaks for food and demos. Participants should be able to center clay and throw a cylinder. Workshop fees of $220 cover snacks and instruction. You may purchase clay from City Clay or bring your own. Please bring packing material to transport your leather-hard pieces. Register through the City Clay website or by phoning 434-293-0808. If you have specific questions about the workshops, feel free to call me at 434-263-4023 or email me at Nan@NanRothwellPottery.com.
Happy Election Day!
This is a reminder about the Artisans Studio Tour this coming weekend – November 12 & 13. Join me this coming weekend at Mary Beth Bellah’s studio (#15) during the 22nd Annual Artisans Studio Tour. Twenty-three area artisans will open their studios, where they will be joined by guest artisans from around Virginia. In all, forty-two people will show their work. The Tour runs from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm this weekend, November 12 & 13.
Mary Beth Bellah is a quilt artist whose work involves a combination of cotton, wire, recycled elements and thread. According to Mary Beth, she has quite a broad interpretation of the word ‘quilt.’ Her pieces, which can be freestanding or wall-mounted, have always intrigued and delighted me, and I am excited by the prospect of spending the weekend with her in her studio. You can preview her work at her website – MaryBethBellah.com Mary Beth’s studio (Number 15 on the Artisans Studio Tour map) is about three miles south of Charlottesville, just off Route 29. A map, directions, and other details about the Artisans Studio Tour are all at Artisanstudiotour.com
I’ll be showing pots from the final firings in my old Nelson County salt and stoneware kilns. I got lucky with the last firings, and have some great new pots for the Tour. Those kilns have been dismantled into piles of bricks and materials, awaiting reconfiguration as new kilns for some local pottery friends. Meanwhile, Carter and I are buying a house in Charlottesville, and making plans for a new studio and kiln there. For now, I’m potting in my City Clay studio and also teaching classes there. With luck, my new kiln will be up and running sometime next Spring. Details and photos of the new place will follow.
If you can’t make it to the Studio Tour, you will have another chance to see my newest work during City Clay’s Annual Holiday Open House at City Clay on November 19 & 20 (the weekend following the Studio Tour). The Holiday Open House runs 10:00 am to 5:00 pm both days. I’ll be there all day on Saturday. The weekend display features work by teachers, staff, members and students at City Clay. There are directions and details at Cityclaycville.com
And finally, if neither of those weekends work, you’re welcome to drop by City Clay any time to see my ongoing display of work. Just look for the white cube shelf in the throwing classroom.
This coming weekend, I’ll lead a three-day workshop on Glazing and Decorating at City Clay in Charlottesville, Virginia. Someone just had to drop out, so there is one open space available. Contact City Clay for details.
Also, my friend Roger Rood, who makes wonderful pots, has a kiln for sale. I went to see it this week and it’s a fine-looking kiln. He had it built in South Africa and moved it to Virginia. It’s at his former studio in Buckingham, Virginia.
We had a great weekend together at City Clay. Everyone stretched into larger and more complex forms. Steve Palmer, who took these photos, taught me a new way to make platters. All in all, it was a blast!
Two more weekend workshops to go this summer — a three-day session on glazing and decorating in July and another throwing workshop in August. Details and signup available on the City Clay Website.
This coming weekend! I am looking forward to showing my pots with my friends Becky Garrity and Kary Haun. Come see our work this weekend in Kary’s Woodstock, VA studio. Come to 402 North Main Street and then follow the signs to the studio access on East North Street. We will be there 10 AM to 5 PM on Saturday and Sunday, April 23-24.
In response to requests for images of our Nelson County property, I have put the webpage about the studio back online, so people can see photos of the building and kilns. Here is the link. The information on that page is out of date in that it invites visitors to come see the showroom, which is no longer open. Here is what the studio classroom/showroom look like since we converted them into an apartment.
