New Hampshire Pottery

REPORT FROM ENGLAND:

From the recent NH Potters Guild meeting:
Kit Cornell gave an animated and informative account of her recent trip to England to study pottery. Her trip included visits to the Farnham Craft Study Center and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In addition to learning more about the origin and availability of Cornish Stone, she visited numerous potteries and Craftsman's Guilds throughout the country. These were plentiful and easy to locate thanks to a comprehensive Studio Directory published by the Crafts Council. Kit shared the directory as well as many of the books that she brought back from her trip.

I picked up this patch in Georgia in the 70's, seems as though it's ready for a renewal.

Nancy Hill Celebration 2014

In joining the Creation Circle initiative, my intention was to explore the connection between my chosen craft, pottery, and poetry. At the gatherings I listened to, read, savored and handled words, then returned to my clay studio. There I reflected on what words might express my work, and in what form I might craft them. (Poetry and pottery are one letter, and their arrangement, removed.)

On the potter’s wheel I threw fine porcelain clay, shaping it into generous bowls with thick rims and sturdy feet, the ideal form for meeting the human need for sustenance. I made a series of these pieces, responding to Kimberly’s call for exploration of the inner. Words and gestures were painted in hot wax between layers of Shino glaze.

The piece honoring Nancy Hill had words on the interior. I intended that the flame would work its magic, completing the decoration as it chose its path in relation to the pot. When lifting the cooled piece from the kiln shelf days later, I believed what I could not see: the written words had vanished. They are within.

Artist Jeff Koons has a show at the Whitney in NYC. One piece shown is a huge (I mean HUGE) lump of what is meant to look like PlayDoh, which we all know and love. Sculpey and Fimo, as other artificial clay materials have been popular, but like processed foods, they are not as satisfying or healthy as the real thing.