Mark Hewitt Pottery Spring 2016 Kiln Opening, Firing Kay

Our recent visit to England has somewhat slowed down my bloggering activities but now I have so much material and so many pictures to share. During our two week trip we were able to visit Svend Bayer, Clive Bowen, the pottery and museum at St Ives, and the Sainsbury's Centre (which has an amazing collection of Lucie Rie and Hans Coper pieces). Oh and an exhibition of Michael Cardew's pottery in Chipping Camden. I have my work cut out! But first I should put up some pics from our recent kiln opening.

This was a particularly exciting firing as the kiln was mostly filled with experimental glazes made using local materials. It was also Adrian's last firing as an apprentice at the Hewitt pottery. The firing went very smoothly and our expectations were mostly met by the results. The celadons and tenmokus were particularly dazzling, whilst the shinos proved a little trickier; some came out fantastically but others crawled. Overall we had some lovely results and a good sale. People responded well to the new glazes. At the end of the post I have included some pictures of my pots taken at Adrian's house with his flowtone backdrop. Personally I prefer seeing pots with a natural background such as a barn door or a grassy knoll, but in order to build a portfolio I am trying to document in a more professional manner.

Big pot by Mark Hewitt. This one is called "Mr Softie"

 

Empty kiln (apart from all the wads!)

Big pot by Mark Hewitt. I love the shape of this one.

Detail of the glass drip on this pot.

This one sold before the sale began.

Big pot by Mark Hewitt The crowds arrive!

Marbled plate by Mark Hewitt.

Two part vase by Mark Hewitt. Regretting not snapping up this one-it was a super second.

Some little espresso cups I made.

Adrian and Patrick Rademaker (visiting up from Florida) stole my camera and blessed me with this picture of themselves, plus ruder versions!

Tableware by Mark Hewitt.

Jug/pitcher and mugs by Adrian King.

We have to write a little something for each kiln opening. Here's mine.

Droopy bellied sawanaky with shino glaze.

Cider jar/jug by Adrian King.

Celadon teapot by Adrian King.

White glazed vase with finger wiped decoration by Adrian King.

Heron scraffito tankard by Adrian King.

Two carbon trapped shino tankards by Adrian King.

Vase/wine vessel by Mark Hewitt. Ash glaze.

Celadons! Oh glorious celadons, by Mark Hewitt.

Big fat jar by Mark Hewitt. Tenmoku glaze.

Tableware by Mark Hewitt.

Nice tenmoku jar by Mark Hewitt.

Two part vases by Mark Hewitt.

A couple of my mugs. They have gone up from $9 to $15 this firing! Quite the increase!

Rows of my pots.

Casserole with lizard scraffito decoration.

The full inscription reads "Bernie is boss." If I could vote in the elections here it would definitely be for Bernie!

Display of my pots before the punters arrived.

Shooter, sawanaky and honey jar hanging out together.

Two of my tumblers. I like how the one on the right curves in at the top: I was aiming for this torpedo like shape.

Covered dish by Adrian King. You can use the lid as a bowl to eat from too.

I met this lovely lady at La Meridiana whilst she was on Mark's course. It is fun to catch up at kiln openings!

Some of Adrian's platters.

A rather handsome umbrella stand by Mark Hewitt.

A couple of my smaller casserole dishes.

And now on to the pictures I took using Adrian's flowtone background. Getting the light/highlights just right is an art I have yet to master but I think the results are alright. I would appreciate any feedback on the pics if you have any advice or suggestions.

Two part vase, celadon glaze.

Two part vase, tenmoku glaze over red slip decoration.

Sawanaky jar, shino gaze over red slip decoration.

Sawanaky jar, celadon glaze over red slip banding and scrafitto marks.

Vase, celadon glaze over red slip banding.

Two part vase, tenmoku glaze over red slip decoration.

Tumblers, tenmoku on the left, shino on the right

Barrel mugs, celadon glaze over red and white slip decorations.

Small bud vase, tenmoku glaze.

Shot glasses/shooters, celadon glaze with red slip dots under.

Large casserole dish, celadon glaze over red slip dots and lines.

Large three handled casserole with fish decoration, tenmoku glaze.

Small casserole dish, albany slip over red slip decoration.

Firing Kay, Mark Hewitt Pottery, Spring 2016

It was chilly when Evan, Stillman and I got down to the kiln at 5:40am. Adrian, Dustin and Sam were moving like a well-oiled machine whilst we brushed sleep out of our eyes. The temp was right up there at 2400 in the front chamber. Cone 12 was over in the first two stacks and bending in the back. A fine effort from the night crew had put us in a good position. The key had been small regular stokes. We took over and had the front chamber finished sharpish, moving on to the second chamber and opening the first to rapidly cool it. Firing this kiln is unusual as you fire each chamber in turn and cool it as soon as its done. Slow cooling can lead to sugary matte surfaces on the pots rather than glossy ones. The second chamber raced up and only took us a couple of hours to get cone 12 flat. As the sun rose we saw a large heron fly over the kiln shed, high above us; this is always a good omen--Michael Cardew watching our progress.

By 9am we were concentrating on the third chamber. Mark manned the ship, slowly transitioning our stoking pattern from feeding both chambers two and three to just three. Adding a little extra air by keeping the fire box doors slightly ajar helped the burn. By 12:30pm we were done, much to everyone's surprise. We had planned on going until midnight if necessary, and had cut enough wood to do so.

The relief of being done early had us all in high spirits and we enjoyed some cold beverages, a few loop-de-loops on the rope swing, and some marvelous coconut crust quiche that Carol had made. Mark sprayed down the rafters of the kiln to cool them off, we clammed her up and slid in the damper. A glorious collection of bees made their hive in the red clay earth near the kiln, seemingly unaware of all the activity around them. All in all the firing was a very smooth affair. We got the kiln hot, really hot, all over--in the front of the third chamber the cones were obliterated. The test rings we pulled out looked good too.

Reduction.

Adrian checking the cones in the back of the first chamber.

Adrian and Dustin stoking the firebox.

Exactly where we want to be.

Before we started stoking this chamber.

Evan was down visiting me from Burlington, VT. I roped him into helping out with the firing.

Stoking the firebox of chamber 2.

View of the kiln from the side.

Firebox door.

You can see the reflection on the bellies of the pots in there.

Test rings. Glazes looking good. Clay nicely cooked.

More test rings.

Stillman stoking into the middle of chamber 2.

This little guy was hanging out on the wood stack.

Mark, Adrian and I all incised quite a few lizards on our pots this time. There are so many lizards around the Hewitt pottery!

The kiln from afar.

Mark and Evan clamming up the main fireboxes.

Working hard.

Evan stoking chamber 3 firebox.

These look like ant excavations but are actually made by small bees.

Bee art.

The firing squad enjoying a beverage after the kiln was done. From top left: Sam Thompson, Me, Mark Hewitt, Dustin Fowler, Adrian King. Bottom row from left: John Svara, Evan Weiss and Stillman Browning-Howe.

Stoking the very back of the kiln; heavy reduction going on!

You can just see some fat bellies here.

During the cool down the color of the pots goes from bright orange to red.

In the time it's taken me to post this, we have been through the grueling week of waiting to crack her open and have now unloaded. The results were excellent and many of our experimental glazes came out very nicely. Soon I will post with pics of the pots!