The long road to grad school

Well, I'm not getting any younger and it is about time to make a decision about grad school.

I applied to several schools and was accepted into all of them. I just had to choose one that would best suit my needs. So, I had a few requirements:


1. Had to be balanced. This means there needed to be a balance between sculptural/conceptual works and functional pottery. I realize functional works can also be conceptual, but sometimes the work is ephemeral.
2. Professor(s) need to possess a wealth of knowledge. If a concern arose, like they often do in a pinch, I wanted a teacher to offer suggestive corrections to the problem; not shrugs.
3. Community oriented. Ceramics to me is very communal. I wanted to surround myself with like minded folks who enjoy cooking and conversation just as much as appreciating the wares containing the dishes.
4. Financial support. Needless to say, I broke ya'll. I really do not want to accrue any more debt than I already have. Anybody wanna buy a 1890's Victorian home on the East Coast?
5. Facilities. The school had to offer the firing possibilities I am looking for, such as, wood, salt, soda, gas, car, train, you name it, I want the options; Not to mention, glaze calculation, clay body formulation, tool making classes.

Well, its a wish list I know. I choose three schools for three different reasons. One school for location, one for reputation, and the other for suggestion. I visited all three to form my own opinions and my mind was made up pretty fast at the first school visit. The teacher say "So your a vessel maker...let me introduce you to the last vessel maker we converted into sculpture." Then, the professor went onto say "When my door is shut don't bother knocking. I'm busy."
NEXT!

A few weeks later I decided to visit another school. I applied to this school because a good friend said it was a "sleeper" school and good things were happening there. Why not apply? Well, schools that are in state of transition is a good reason. I know how long things tend to drag on at the university level and my vision was to apply to an established program. No thanks. Plus the monies were not on point. Oh, did I mention the grad student who was supposed to show me around disappeared? We were supposed to eat lunch together. He bailed to have lunch with his girl. I called him three more times and he never returned a message...communication problems?
NEXT!

They always say the third time around is the best, and for me, this old saying rang true. Of course this program was the one based on reputation and not location. It is the farthest from home and family but possesses all of my requirements. When I arrived I flew in with the guest artist in town for a workshop. He was humble and had a warm smile, so was the professor who arrived on time to take us the our abode. We stopped for killer sushi...I was hooked. You had me at sashimi. The next morning my host couple made french toast for breakfast. There were fresh bagels every morning. Lunches were treated as well. The culmination of my experience was a potluck filled with good food, friends, and lots of laughs, not to mention sake.
There is just one hang up...finances. I have to have a teaching assistantship to go (remember I'm broke.) I am keeping my fingers crossed and hope they call next week with cash in hand to offer.

Pot Shots

Well well, said an old man. Now I'm no old man but these bourbon bottles make me feel a little less vivacious.

The kiln rocketed off and some pots were compromised due to dunting and poor Kentucky clay from the Old Hickory Clay Company.

Overall I am pleased the kiln worked. I plan to upload more pics as I get them touched up. Cheers!

Babysmamagama Salt/Soda Kiln

Yesterday my "baby's-mama-gama" kiln rocketed to cone 10 in twelve hours. Ian Thomas and myself have been making work for the kiln the past week. Last time I fired the kiln my blower quit and so did I soon afterwards. This firing went amazing smooth and we added burritos of salt mixed with soda once cone 9 fell. We will unload on Monday evening and I will post new pics of the wares. But for now, this sneak peek will have to do.

This Saturday's adventure took Ian and me to Old Hickory Clay Company in Mayfield, Ky. We wanted to see if there was any clay that we could get in bulk to make some pots out of local Kentucky clay. They were closed but the gate was open so we drove around and had a self guided tour. I have never seen so much clay. Seems like this place only houses the dug clay because we did not see any packaging or distributing areas. I plan to email them later to see if any of this clay could be used for our needs.

Also, I made my secon mold today of a bourbon bottle with Ian's help.

I plan to create a series from this bottle for the soda firing in two weeks. I want to begin creating my "sandwich" series as well. I found a good pig to cast, but it looks a bit advanced, so I made the bottle form today. Be on the look out for some clay sandwiches later. The sandwich is a metaphore...

After reconsidering all of the free wood in Paducah due to the ice storm, I have spent the day cutting wood for my next firing. There were several limbs down in the yard and neighbors as well and since I was cutting them up to move, why not cut some for a firing?

This pot is one of the first vessels that I wood fired at East Carolina University. It is quiet and the more I live with it the more I enjoy all of its gentleness.

With Ian Thomas arriving tomorrow, I am excited to have a fellow potter in town to help with the preparation and firing. Glaze vs. raw? I am going to see what happens....

Bar-B-Q Ashes

Today I celebrated my Valentine's love for bar-b-q by visiting a new spit in Paducah, KY. I have passed this place several times and have always wanted to stop. It was okay...good baked beans.

Lately I have been thinking about doing research on various bar-b-q ash glazes.
The idea is simple:
Travel to numerous bar-b-q pits that used hardwood and collect ashes for glazes sampling.
Create one of a kind pots with that particular ash glaze. See what happens...

Anyway, just a thought. Plus, I have two samples of ash so far.
One from Strick's Bar-B-Que in Hattiesburg, MS and another one from Harned in Paducah, KY.
I have been using Stricks for over two years now and thought other ashes might give special effects. Thus the experiment.

There are several bar-b-q spits here in Kentucky and it would be fun trying the bar-b-q while collecting ashes from the spits to test in glaze recipes.

inclement weather

Frozen in memories....just like these holly berries are the days of inclement weather. On January 26, 2009, Mother Nature sent here crazy cousin, Jack Frost, to Western Kentucky. He must have been coming for the bourbon....
I sat at home and watched the ice fall and sleet accumulate on the ground and roads as I prepared dinner. When we sat down to enjoy the meal the lights went out with a thunderous pop buzz bang! It sounded like a bomb went off next door. We jumped to see what had happened and ran to the window. A huge limb crashed to the ground and ripped down my aunts power lines, which were also our power lines as well. We knew it was going to happen so we searched for some candles and continued to enjoy our meal. We spent the night listening to so many other limbs plummeting to the diamond encrusted floor that Jack had created. It was hard falling asleep that night. CRACK! SMASH! BOOM! THUD! all choreographed with an amazing light show from the transformers blowing through out the night.
The next day was magical. I was eager to get out and around to clip off as many photos of the storm as my camera could hold. I layered my clothes and slid out of the house to find all of Jack's frozen delights sprinkled through out the town.
I say it was magical but it was also saddening too. So many trees had lost their limbs to the weight of the ice and some even topped over shattering their frozen limb Popsicles everywhere. First, I went around the block. Then, meandered throughout the neighborhood. Next, I had to see the river and made my way downtown. What an adventure. Treasures were at every curbside, every angle, simply everywhere I looked. The trees looked like chandeliers shimmering in the sunlight. I quickly filled up my camera with the treasures and nightfall came quickly. More quickly than I expected and I hadn't prepared myself for the night time cold.
I was fine running around and the excitement pumped my veins with warm enthusiasm. But once I sat down, I stopped to listen and there was an eerie cold nothing sound. Thank goodness for natural gas! The fireplace saved me. It filled my imagination with primal thoughts and gave warmth to my cold hands and my dried out my soaked shoes.
The next day it snowed four inches. Most of the limbs fell the first night but now almost every limb fell with the added weight of the snow. I wanted to take more photos, but had filled the memory card completely up. I had to explore more. I jumped on my bike and headed off to see what else had happened. After pedaling for a while you get used to the snow and ice. It really isn't as slippery as walking. I went to the cemetery and rode through all of the smaller streets. The major roads had filled up with sightseers and panicked survivalists. These folks were the ones you had to look out for. They flocked to the stores for gas, batteries, and food. And in that order.