Professional Throwing Demo - Large Open Pot

You can turn off the sound, it's better that way.

What, no apron? LOL. This is about 12 pounds of clay being centered and thrown. I wish the camera would have visited the right hand as he was pulling though.

After visiting Pottery West and seeing some of the enormous (to me) pots made by Tom Coleman and some nearly-as-large pots made by Amy Kline, I've been thinking....which is always dangerous. Upon learning to throw pots it was impressed upon me that bigger doesn't mean better. Now it is time. Goal: honest pots but larger honest pots if possible. And why not? A season of growth I hope.

Wood Firing

Just a quick note, Pottery West and their wood stack. I wonder how often they fire up the wood kiln? I haven't done a wood firing since about 1982....

AS mUCh aS i KNoW aBOuT poTTeRY iN LAs vegAs

I visited Pottery West and fell in lust with it. I am ready to move, well, not right away. It WAS 112 deg. F for several days in a row while I was there...

The facilities look like a place I could grow to actually love. Amy Kline is the pretty young owner and when I called I think it was her mother that told me that, "No, there was no sign on the property due to zoning", which was why I couldn't find it the first time. She gave me excellent driving instructions and I just drove right in and wandered around. I met Tom, a fellow potter, blogger. He was loading the train kiln (see photo)! There are more kilns than I could shake a stick at! I photographed one of the kiln gods that was mounted up high; what a scary guy, huh?

My husband is amazed at the change of attitude I suddenly have toward Vegas life! Well, I compared it to him finding a golf course when he didn't think there were any and wouldn't he be just all giggly and smiling too?

There are lots of wheels, lots of kilns, lots of fun I think! I plan to use the pottery for a week next time I'm in town. It would be ideal to be able to go to one of the workshops there but that doesn't look like it will happen. :( In the meantime; in my head; I'm already there!

Back to Basics

Way back when...I first fell for clay it was the late 70's and the attitude that I learned (for lack of non pun word) was "Earthy". My clay is returning to that attitude I hope. I have played around with form and finish for a looooong time it feels like and I am turning around at the end of the lane and heading home. It feels good and right.

I have a friend who calls himself Stan the Drunk, an old sober hippie that had a loft in Berkely in the 60's and 70's. He lived in his loft and made his living selling his pots. Christmas time was when he made the money he lived off of the rest of the year. So I asked him to help me get back on track and if he would "mentor" me for a while and he said he would.

I checked out Pioneer Pottery from the library and read it like a text, uh, I did have to skip the part about soil analysis and making my own clay body as well as finding the proper earth elements to make glazes. I do need to support my local clay shop, don't ya think? Building the kiln was interesting since I secretly would love to build an anagama in my back yard....I do have a hill behind me!

I have made some slips to decorate my pots, one red and one white. Next a cream color I think. Not only will slips bring me back to honest simplicity (I hope) but I will also work on strong, simple shapes with strong, honest decorations. That's a lot of strong and honest, huh? With some simple thrown in for good measure.

Pioneer Pottery was written by Michael Cardew after spending 20 years making pots in Britain and I can't remember how many years (30?) making more pots in Africa. Of course the first years had to have been spent finding the clay and all of that. I included the hyperlink but haven't yet read it....there it is for us though! The bowl at the top is his.

yak, yak, yak, it feels so good to talk the honest clay talk I just can't stop.

I am soon off to Vegas where I plan to drop in to check out Pottery West and decide whether or not to hook up my kiln there - bring $$ if I do!!!! I tried to find Pottery West once before but failed to find it...I'll have to get out of my car this time I guess!