City Day

Today I went down to Asheville to drop off an order at the Grovewood Gallery. Then I went to Black Mountain to visit with my friend, Annie Singletary, a fellow resident artist from my time at Odyssey. She has been and still is a major facilitator in getting the new clay studio up and running at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts. It's a nice studio, offering classes, workshops and open studio hours. A while back I photographed some images of Annie's work for a sweet trade of one of her pieces, so I got to come home with a great bowl! It's always refreshing to be around Annie's enthusiasm.


I also made my way over to the Asheville Art Museum to view "Let it Pour", a pitcher exhibit donated from the James Goode Collection. James Goode was a professor, author and a curator for the Smithsonian Institution Building. He is a passionate pitcher collector and has given a portion of his collection to the Asheville Art Museum. The collection is on display until September 14, with an artist's talk from Cynthia Bringle on June 27.

James purchased one of my pitchers for his collection last year at the Southern Highland Craft Fair, so I've been anxious to go see this collection to see if mine happened to be there. It wasn't there yet, but maybe James just isn't ready to give it up yet. I am very honored to be in his collection, and was admiring many pitchers from familiar potters up in this area around Penland and the Seagrove area.


After my busy day in the city, it was nice to return home where it was cooler, quiet, and a much slower pace.

Flowers

I really enjoy photography and identifying flowers. I thought I'd share a few photos I captured this morning of these yellow irises.

I'm not sure what this flower is called yet.

Objects in Mirror are Closer than they Appear

I've still been working on several pitchers lately, trying to achieve one that can resemble this sketch. I don't feel I've made one quite like this sketch yet, but I'm trying!! For some time now, on all my pitchers and tumblers I've created two front panels that have straight vertical lines, like fences, holding in the carved glazed areas. Lately I've been trying to move out of those rigid lines by creating a smaller more fluid paneled area that moves and swells with the curve of the pitcher. So I've been experimenting with putting this area off to the right side of the spout, and some on the same side of the spout.



I'm favoring putting the paneled area the opposite side of the spout. It feels like it balances the proportions between the spout and handle that way. Also, I've been indenting the foot with a wooden rib to further accentuate this area. Doing that led me to needing some sort of finish (or bling) on the rim, so I've been adding little coils, I've been calling them "peaks" or "ridges"...I'm kind of excited about these tiny new details. It's exciting to see the evolution of thought in this form...just from moving the textured area around a bit.


detail of new "peak" on rim

One day I'll throw one like that sketch and the handle will be just right. It's crazy how easy a handle can wreck it! I'm working on trying to create a fuller, less strap-like handle, but like all things...I feel like the improvements come slowly in my work and although sometimes I am fully aware of HOW I may want to change something, sometimes it takes a while before I can actually do it. Then there are times in making pots when I'm totally oblivious to what is wrong about a pot and don't fully "see" it like it really is for months! It is a hard task to train my eye to self critique.

Moving on to the next form are altered Baskets. Some of these baskets have clay handles on top of them, or tall reed handles. Before I start a new form, I set out the best ones of that form that I have from the last time I made them. I usually put them right by my wheel for reference as I'm throwing new ones. It's good for me to critique the form that at one point I felt like was great all over. Now I can look at it very critically, pinpointing ways in order to make it better. Usually there are many ways I can try to improve and refine it. So then I'll go about making new ones, sometimes making refinements to the rim, the body of the form, etc. Yet it's like I was saying, sometimes these improvements are slow to come, slow to evolve. But I think that using this method is a good way for me to become my own teacher. Sometimes when I'm working on something I can't see it. I can physically see it through my own eyes, but I don't feel I really "see" it until I stand up, walk away from it, blink, and then look back. Then I feel like I'm looking at it objectively. I often tell myself "Walk away and Look Back!

Yet, "Objects in Mirror are Closer than they appear":
Studying my pots is like I'm looking at myself in the mirror, I see all the close up details, good and bad. Sometimes this observant practice strikes me funny; only other fellow potters would notice these flaws and imperfections.


These are basket forms in progress, thrown bottomless. I will oval them when they have set up a little bit, and then attach them to the pancake slab I threw on the wheel. I like to throw the clay slabs that I attach as bottoms to pots, it helps me match the consistency of wetness between the slab and the pot. It takes 4 pounds of clay to flatten into a pancake slab 1/4 in" in thickness that is 12 inches wide.

Happy rainy Wednesday! Nice to have a day off from watering.

Carving

This pink poppy was blooming in Linda McFarling's garden by her studio today. I went over there to scrape the kiln shelves from her last salt firing. Linda allows me to rent the use of her soda kiln to fire my work. In exchange, I pay off the gas expense by working for her in the studio. It's a wonderful arrangement for both of us. She needs help in the studio and I need a kiln, and I'm fortunate that it is a soda kiln, which is the way I want to be firing my work. It's great to be able to load and fire this kiln so I can be deciding what kiln I will be building for myself. Linda's is a cross draft catenary hard brick soda kiln, that Shane Mickey built for her. The stacking space is 3 shelves deep and about 4.5' high. I'm finding this size to suit my cycle of making pots.

I finished these square bark tiles the other day and they are drying a little bit here before I dip them into flashing slips.


Back at the wheel, I started throwing some pitchers. Normally I start out throwing huge batches of mugs, bowls, tumblers and move throughout my list until the end when I work on the pots for the top shelf of the kiln, which currently are pitchers and baskets/vases. But I've realized that by the time I usually get around to the pitchers I'm in a hurry and I need to stop making pots and fire the kiln. The scale of my work is pretty small and by not spending time refining these taller cylindrical forms (which still are pretty small by most people's standards), I feel like the forms aren't moving forward. So hopefully this time I will have more time to get them where I think they are right.


After the pitcher is leatherhard, I use a carving tool that is used in printmaking for linoleum block printing. It is similar to a wood chisel and has several different bits for different sizes of carving marks. I find I have more control using this tool to carve pushing the tool away from me, rather than using some of the loop carving tools where you pull the tool and clay toward you.


It's easier to carve while the pitcher handle isn't there, but the clay needs to be a little drier for the carving to work best. So just to be safe, after carving, I mist down the pitchers and wrap them up for a while to remoisten them slightly so they are more suitable for attaching a handle.

Connected

A cairn I created from rocks I removed from my vegetable garden

Today I went over to Gay Smith's studio to help her with various chores. I've been going over there for about a year now, usually once a week or so. It's refreshing for me to get out away from my own work for a while and help someone else. Working in the studio requires me to be somewhat self-centered and focused in order to be absorbed in what I'm making. Yet I am trying to achieve a balance where I can continue to create what I want in the allotted time, yet still find time to share my energy and helpfulness to others.

Throughout the day, I've been reflecting upon all the odd jobs I have done for artists and potters since I began working with clay. It's amazing to look back and see the directions these paths have taken me. I feel that being around these other artists helps me clearly answer the questions of why I am seeking this lifestyle as a potter. I think it informs the way I work as an artist, which in turn influences the choices I make. It has given me a chance to view things from other perspectives. Most importantly, it encourages me to "keep on, keepin on," as Tom Turner recently told me. What I have been enjoying lately, is the personal relationships building between these mentors. At some point, you reach a stage where you cross over, can laugh together, and realize that you are friends.



Once I got home, it was such a beautiful sunny day that I had to finish my new vegetable garden. I've always done pretty well with indoor plants and herbs in pots, but I've never had a place where I could actually get out and dig around in the real dirt. So, I've been very excited to start out with a few of my favorite vegetables. I prepared the soil, mixing in some manure from the neighboring mules that were in the nearby field last spring, and even some compost that I started last year.

As I was happily digging around in the dirt, my excited dog, Amber was running laps around me while my cat was stalking mice in the nearby grasses. I couldn't help but feel very connected and content. I was wondering, you know how they say a sign of a good potter is a well fitting lid? What is the measure of a good gardener? The juiciness of a tomato?

Back to the studio

Lily of the Valley blooming in my shade garden

After a firing it takes me a while to get going again in the studio. It's such an odd phenomenon, really. I want most of all to be in the studio making pots rather than doing all the other things, but it just seems like it takes forever to get all my ducks in a row.

Lately, I've learned that a good way for me to get started is warming up with handbuilding. I started out this time making small square bark trays, they are about 4" x 4. I am using Loafer's Glory clay from Highwater, which is a porcelain type stoneware. I really am happy with how it turned out in the last soda firing. It really brings about a lot of brighter flashing that I don't always get with Phoenix, a white/gray stoneware.

I use the same tree branch that I started using when I first made these in college. It's such an important tool to me and through the years it has worn down and become soft to hold in my hand. I've tried rolling slabs into bark before but it doesn't create the texture I want. I find that by repeatedly impressing the same section of this branch into the clay, I can achieve the texture that I am looking for.

First, I'll texture these and drape them upside down and wait for them to stiffen. Then I can finish cleaning up the feet and turn them right side up to dry.


I also started a larger square wall piece out of Phoenix clay that is draped upside down on a plaster mold for a while before it stiffens. I also use clay molds that I made by trimming a large bowl round and bisque firing it. This is a quick way to make molds without having to deal with plaster.


I texture the back first, wait a little bit, and then carefully flip it over onto some foam and quickly texture the four edges. This is an awkward stage to texture the edges since the clay is so soft and wants to slump back down, but the edges were getting dry and needed to be textured.



After I textured all four edges, I carefully flipped the piece upside down onto its plaster mold where it will need to dry there for a while. Once it is firm enough to hold its form, I will flip it over.

New Online Pottery Shop

I have a new online pottery shop where you can purchase a selection of my pieces. Check it out!

http://www.joytanner.etsy.com

Beautiful Day

Today was such a nice day. I just got inside from doing yardwork around the house all day. I didn't get everything done that I had planned. I'm starting a couple of herb gardens and one vegetable garden. I'm running a little behind and haven't gotten everything planted that I want yet. I've been starting seeds for herbs indoors and already have basil, chives, cilantro, and lemon balm. It's so satisfying to spend a day outdoors gardening or even weeding!

I finally have caught up on all of the pots that needed reed handles. I finished 16! Glad to be caught up. Here's a group shot:

Finished reed handles

The above picture of my "Bark Basket" feels finally complete to me. I have had two different handles on it at times, and also have had it displayed without a handle on it. Each time, it just wasn't quite right and I knew it. The scale of this piece is larger than other ones I have made and it posed such a problem getting the handle just right. I think this one might stay. I will have to get local photographer, Tom Mills to take an image of it. My photo booth backdrop is not large enough to capture this piece.

The other day I helped my boyfriend, Will Baker finish off rebuilding the chimney to Penland potter Jane Peiser's salt kiln. I was basically the gopher....going for this and going for that and then handing it up to him so it would save him time from getting up and down the ladder. It wasn't too bad spending a day playing tug with her dog, Dolly, listening to nearby wood thrushes cheering us on, and tossing up bricks. You can't see the kiln in this picture, it's housed in the shed and at the point of this picture, we were almost done.

About the Potter

I thought I should explain a little bit about myself.

Growing up in eastern Tennessee, I had the privilege of being exposed to the surrounding landscape and steadily grew an appreciation for the beauty around me. Despite focusing on music lessons throughout my childhood, I found myself falling into art courses late in college. An interest in photography and pottery drew me in and I immediately recognized my interest and commitment to this outlet for expression.

I decided to pursue a Fine Arts degree in Ceramics at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. In 2004, I became a Resident Artist at the Odyssey Center for the Ceramic Arts in Asheville, North Carolina. This residency was extremely influential for me in numerous ways. Upon leaving, I felt I had gained courage and dedication to commit myself to being a full time potter.

Last year, I moved up further into the mountains, about an hour northeast from Asheville, in a quiet little area known as Red Hill, in Bakersville, North Carolina. It is here that I spend my time making pots and balancing all the other passions in life that keep me going.

This area is known for its community of artists that have settled here for various reasons, a major contributing factor being the Penland School of Crafts. For me, it is quite amazing to be around so many potters that I have always admired that now are becoming mentors and friends.

The beautiful mountains of western North Carolina continue to inspire me in my life and my work. The subtle details that are impressed into my pots stem from my observations in nature. I enjoy discovering them while walking through the woods, capturing these insights behind my camera lens.

I love staring at the ripples in rushing water, focusing on the top surface where the light is imposing deep and shallow pockets, as well as focusing through the water, onto the floor of the creek bed.

A Sea of Reed Handles

A huge tangle of basket reed

For a few days now I've been weaving reed handles onto my pots. I have a pile of pots that need them, waiting on me. It can be a very tedious job and I'm still learning I can only do so many in one day. I buy my basket reed from Earth Guild in Asheville. Then I soak it in water about 30 minutes or so before it gets flexible enough to weave back and forth. I taught myself how to do this back in my days at the Odyssey Center as a Resident Artist. I studied a teapot that had one of these handles on it and took it from there and started out on a teapot. Since then, I've tackled more difficult handles such as putting it on the covered jar form, and the large Bark Basket form (a detail of this form is pictured at the top of my blog). I've never actually taken any basket classes before, but often think that would be fun and interesting to learn new techniques that I could carry into my pottery forms. The tricky part in the beginning was learning how to make the handle complete the form of the pot. Sometimes, as with a clay handle, the reed handle can ruin a pot if the form isn't right.

Weaving onto a basket form

Weaving onto a lid for a small jar

When the handle is complete, I either will dye the entire handle in a dye bath of black tea, or I will use wood stain and brush in the stain with a brush, Q-tips, and paper towels. Depending on what tone I want is how I choose which method to use. The tea method is the easiest, yet it creates a very weak dye bath for a light tan like the picture of the jar below. Walnut stain is nice for a darker handle, which sometimes I still use. I've also experimented with black walnut hulls but must not have had enough of them because they turned out as light as the tea did.

Joining the Pottery Blog Community

I've decided to start a pottery blog in order to create a "behind the scenes" reality for others to see. I have been finding other potter's blogs very interesting lately, some of which I've linked from this site. I thought it would be a great source for other people to get to know the artist behind the work and how the work was created. Oftentimes things happen throughout my day in and around the studio that I wish I could share. This way I can translate some of what I see and do to other inquiring minds. It can be a journal of sorts, a way of translating my creative process, through describing the many facets of things that happen in my life as a potter. However, if I don't appear here too often, it could be because I'm lucky to not be staring at the computer and I'm either making pots, outside planting, hiking, or shooting photography.

Warm Spring Day in the Dogwoods

Spring has been exploding all around here for quite some time, but only now am I having the time to get outside and really enjoy it. This week I made it up to one of my favorite hiking spots, north of Roan Mountain, called Little Hump Mountain on the Appalachian Trail. It welcomes beautiful views of Roan Mountain and Mt. Rogers and the weather was completely clear. It's amazing how refreshed I feel after hiking anywhere, really, just to get out and clear my head!

Busy times have been around. I recently fired a kiln load in mid April amidst some spring retail shows I had. The past couple of weeks I've been trying to complete to-do lists that somehow or another just keep growing. After unloading, I've been busy sanding, pricing pots, completing wholesale orders, shooting images of my work, and countless other things. I've also been cleaning up the studio from the last cycle and am getting ready to start making pots again. I am anxious to get going again in the studio because there were some new things I tried in the last firing that I want to carry further into the next round of pots.

These small square pieces are fresh from the recent firing. They have evolved from my original round "Bark Plate" to square pieces that are of various sizes, these being about 4" x 4. They are textured using a branch impressed into a slab of clay. I texture these both on the front and back and there are feet on the back where I have looped wire so they can be displayed on the wall. I'm very excited about how these have been evolving and I think that now they have an option to hang it opens up a lot of new possibilities. A grid of them looks interesting on the wall, suggesting a landscape.