La Capretta Studio & Garden

Entering a Show (Fri, 19 Feb 2010)
I was recently asked by Ellyn Ferguson to enter some pieces in a show at the Del Ray Artisans in Alexandria.  It is a show co-sponsored by her group called Divas of Decoupage.  Here is a link to the gallery and the show that runs from March 5-21.  This is the first time I have entered my work in show, so I thought it something appropriate to commemorate in La Capretta's blog. Here is my artist statement: Art is an eloquent appeal to the senses from one human to whomever or whatever will look, listen and absorb.  I have had a brush, pencil, or crayon in my hand without knowing entirely what to say since childhood.  In 2009 I decided to start a more effective conversation through my artwork and (for the first time) my own poetry.  In variously rendered expressions of what I would love to say if truth were objective, I am no longer caught in a mute loop of staircase wit.  Rather than observe in regretful silence, I record my part of the exchange with my environment on the page.  In claiming the words and images, I am registering a reaction that would otherwise go unnoticed.  Why have I been mute?-- because I live in a world with others that requires me to speak in idioms I am not always proficient or fluent.  I stumble along as mother, daughter, wife, friend and business partner incapable of complete communication.  We are all ultimately limited by the human condition of living one moment in one body at a time.  The gaze has been the center of artistic debate since the conversation between audience and artist began.  Women have often been the object of this gaze as silent participants in an appeal that the artist is making to whomever will look or listen.  That is the nature of recorded observation.  My most recent work plays with the traditional structure for exchange in a space that is recently ubiquitous-- the internet.  I post my images and accompanying poems on a public website called Flickr where an anonymous audience may leave comment, link my work to other works of art, or simply look.   For this show focused on the role of women in art, I would like to mimic the environment of Flickr.  I  have had prints made of my work that are purposely informal and poster-like at an average size of 36 by 24.  Each piece is an illustration of a poem that I have written.  Adjacent to or in front of each piece on the wall is placed a notebook with the poem for the audience to read.  Each book has a pencil or pen attached to it, so that the viewer may add her/his comments.  I have also provided recordings of the poems on an MP3 player with headphones that can be handed to someone walking through the exhibit.  The anonymity and lack of real time exchange on Flickr limits the performance of the pieces.  By bringing them into a gallery space with the addition of audio recordings of the poems, the works can literally be performed for each individual.  In turn she/he may add their own contribution to the performance by leaving comment or their own artistic mark in the notebooks. The object and audience of artistic expression are traditionally rendered silent-- unless they are critics or art historians.  By including recorded words with the images and opening the gallery space to audience participation, the arena of exchange explodes with possibility.   It may lead to a banal visual cacophony in place of a once inviolate, if one sided, relationship between the artist and the audience.  It is a playful risk worth taking.   Here are my pieces and their individual statements.  You can click on the titles for a link to flickr where they are posted with the accompanying poem: Athena: Lesson 1 Women are often the object of artistic representation.  In my own work I prefer to capture women--perhaps because I am a woman.  Athena sprung fully formed from Zeus’ head when he had a headache one day.  Did she always have a complete sense of who she was?  This piece plays on a fantasized identity crisis of the goddess through my own search for identity in the iconic historical images of the accompanying poem.  The blurred edges of this surreal heat map photo are to highlight a sense of disconnection I have when trying to define myself within the context of the art world and the real world. Economy of Cake Gustave Courbet’s L'Origine du monde is a famous erotic painting that was originally commissioned in 1866 by a Turkish Diplomat, Khalil Bey.  Courbet, along with Manet and other artists who ushered Modern Art into existence, were known for an overt eroticism that challenged what these artists called the “hypocrisy” of Neoclassical art.  My own pencil drawing of Courbet’s original nude female torso forms the base of Economy of Cake.  With this photo/drawing collage, where a piece of cake has replaced the female genitals, I present a contemplation of polyamory from an unwilling female partner’s perspective.  The “honesty” of sharing yourself with whomever takes your fancy while maintaining an economically and emotionally stable relationship with an original partner is reduced to the cliche “Having your cake and eating it too.”  From the subject’s perspective in the poem, however, it is an economy based on her imposed emotional poverty.  Ritratto I asked a capable, caring and intelligent blind man and artist if he had ever observed his portrait.  I have observed my own portrait in thousands of snapshots and a few art works.  There is an uncanny heat of recognition that jolts through my body when I accidentally recognize myself in these images-- as if there were something on display I had never contemplated or wanted contemplated before.  He answered that we are all compilations of our actions.  In this drawing and poem I take the analogy one step further: we are all compilations of the exchanges we cultivate with those who surround us.  When relationships are broken, then, is our self image broken as well?  The sketchy, transient quality of the sketch enlarged to a poster is meant to boldly capture that dread of recognition in the eyes of another.  
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Happy New Year! (Sat, 02 Jan 2010)
I have put La Capretta's gardens and the studio to rest for the long cold months of winter, but I am still humming with indoor projects and future plans. With David Carroll's help we mulched all of the beds with leftover cardboard from Thanksgiving Turkeys. It was large endeavor and somewhat unsightly. We weighed down all the sheets of cardboard with stones and bags of old clay. The idea is brilliant and came to me via Joy Bridy. With the heavy snows that we've already had, and the ones that are sure to come, the cardboard should break down into a fine mulch that will prevent weeds from popping through. My mother-in-law is not terribly pleased with the look, but she agrees that if it works it will cut down a lot of our spring chores. Once approved and we acquire a small army of workers, we might implement the scheme for the formal gardens of the Bed & Breakfast. We heavily pruned the two butterfly bushes-- which makes me a little squirrely. I hope they come back in the spring. The lavender and rosemary plants got some special treatment with a chicken &/or rat wire cage, paper strips and a plastic bag around each of them. The plan is to keep them thinking they are living somewhere on the arid mediterranean coast. Something tells me they are not that easily fooled, but I am crossing my fingers. We still didn't resolve the issue of the sandbox. So far I have kept the cats from making it their personal latrine by spraying it regularly with orange oil. It is currently covered with cardboard and snow, but I am contemplating using an old shower curtain that bit the dust recently as a tarp for furry pest control. Lynsi has temporarily left us for her home in Iowa. She is working on laying tile and renovating some apartments with her dad. Linus misses her very much and wants to know why she has not returned. Per Lynsi's suggestion I am considering making a paper chain to count the days. The advent calendar worked brilliantly, but there's no chocolate involved with this time keeper, so Linus may not be as intrigued. There are a lot of links between now and February (or March? or...) In the mean time the basement, which will be Lynsi's temporary home, has been completed. Also known as the Man Cave, it has bright blue and yellow paint on the walls, a new bathroom with a shower, wood laminate flooring, a genuine pool table, fooz ball table, comic book cover paintings and a pop-bottle collection from the 1960's. I think she'll love it! The studio's fawcet continues to drip to prevent the pipes and the geraniums from dying, but I have taken all the clay out so it won't freeze. Ideally the studio should have a wood buring stove just like JD Jorgenson's in Minnesota, but no such luck-- for now. We do plan to start renovating the front room and to implement other weather/pest proofing for the entire studio. The Meditation Room will have wood laminate floors, walls painted in the colors of a sunrise sky, and a heater that works. Houseworks, owned and operated by Will & Miki Martindale, will begin work on the studio in January some time. They are also the force behind the Man Cave. As for other projects, I have continued to work on poetry and illustration. My works from 2009 are now collected in a book on blurb. The proofs have come back and there are still some issues to correct. I plan to revise and upload a paper version. I have to say that the software created by Blurb is somewhat user-unfriendly, so I am looking to find something else for my next book project-- The Bunny Series. I currently have an unsolicited audience of one (thank you Alan) for my poems, but who knows what 2010 will bring. Some poems and photographs have already surfaced in the new year. As always you may find them on flickr. There are some paintings on the edge of mental fingertips that force me to promise no more new posts until I have evidence that I can still paint. Until then, may 2010 be kind to you all.
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Minnesota 2009 (Fri, 20 Nov 2009)
The land of lakes and potters was fertile ground for me on this trip. I had placed Minnesota in the back of my memories from college when I first trained with Marlene Jack at William and Mary. It was a fabled land where hearty craftspeople eager to be off the grid went to make pots in a magical community of like minded people. JD Jorgenson's Pottery did not disappoint. Humbled by the stories of Lynsi's internship in this closed system studio where she had helped build a kiln and fire pots, I planned to make this trek some time this past summer. Near the campuses of St. Johns/St. Bennedict, JD Jorgenson's pottery sits on pretty land with a three chambered wood fire kiln, a straw bale contstructed studio, a wood fire pizza oven, a wooden hot tub and an old farm house that is home to JD, his wife Sara and their two adorable children Micah and Ofelia. The studio was a pole shed filled in with straw bales and plastered over with a special concrete to make it weather proof. I had heard and seen the early stages of this kind of construction when some friends in WV built their home. To stand in one of these completed structures is impressive. Heated by a recycled wood stove from a friend of JD's, the inside was inviting and snug. JD's pots line the simple shelves on the wall, there is no sink, but there are huge trash cans full of clay that has been dug in Minnesota and North Dakota. JD alternates between a beautiful black porcelain-like body that is part Minnesota clay and part North Dakota, a white porcelain body and a white decomposed granite from North Dakota. I have more to learn about the process of collecting clay and hope to collect some at Smithfield, where all the bricks for the 1824 manor house were made and fired on site. The kiln lives under a simple tin roof pole shed, and it is a miracle of construction and science. The three chambers were purposely designed to allow JD flexibility in the number of pots he can fire. The smallest chamber alone can fire 400 or more 3 lb pots. I can't imagine what the entire kiln could fire. The structure feels like an alien brick ruin of some culture that is long dead. It was built all by hand by JD, two apprentices and potting friends. Many recycled bricks from a local brick company, hand built masonite molds for the arched and vaulted chambers, and countless other resources that are hard to recall. Requiring 3-4 days to fire it is a magical process that requires many dedicated people to make happen. The Korean style kick wheel was a challenge I could not resist-- but only with the knowledge that I could fix my back at Dr. Hudspath's when I returned to Virginia. You have to simultaneously kick and center clay. I had never experienced such immediate muscle fatigue in my life. After three tries I managed to make one centered pot. JD sat down to throw off the hump and made it look effortless. I was never so thankful for my electric brent wheel. Playing with the rich black clay that is part Minnesota and part North Dakota was delightful. I wish I could have brought some home. Our time with JD and his family made a delightful heart of the trip. After some home-made wood-fired pizza and a couple glasses of wine, we sat around to talk about a future connection between JD Jorgenson Pottery and La Capretta Pottery. In between the first and second visit to JD's, Lynsi and I went to the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis. There were too many pots and artists to list in this blog, but you can see them on my flickr page . The best discovery was Laurie Shaman's work. Her electric-fired hand-built earthenware pieces are one of the biggest AHA! moments I've had in a while. I can only make an educated guess at how these are created. She mimics the effects of atmospheric firing with pale washes of underglazes (or oxides). Then she makes detailed drawings on top of these backgrounds with a slip trailer. Her subjects include rabbits, birds, insects, Italianate cityscapes, and stylized Roman statue-like figures. I could not wait to get home to try some experiments with Little Loafers and underglazes at cone 6. After the bunny pot, and looking at Laurie's works, I hope to get back to a place where I am making clay art that can satisfy the painter and sculptor in me. After such a tremendous trip filled with uncanny moments that have turned me more definitively toward making La Capretta work, I am overwhelmed. I hope to start translating this inspiration into new work soon. Lynsi will be gone til February, so I have a few months.
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Off to Iowa and Minnesota (Wed, 11 Nov 2009)
Lynsi and I are frantically preparing for a trek to Iowa and Minnesota to see her folks, friends and JD the potter. In midst of Thanksgiving frenzy that is fall here at Smith Meadows, it is difficult to uproot and leave-- but we're gonna do it. Lynsi will be staying "home" until she comes back to us in February. Her adventures will include learning to tile with her dad, a seasonal gig at Target (yuck!), a wedding, possibly a trip to Montana, and even a small internship at the Women's Studio Workshop in NYC. I am very excited for her. Lynsi has been a tornado of activity in the last month. She cleaned my mom's house top to bottom, finished making our test glazes, fired the tests, reloaded and fired again, enjoyed fall-like festivities & potlucks with her climbing crew, and managed to write her application for the internship in NYC. She is amazing. As for the farm... the apartment for Lynsi is now at the drywall stage. When she returns to us in Feb she will have the distinct pleasure of living in our basement. The contractor and I are currently figuring out how to get West Virginia blue and gold tastefully on the walls down there. The basement will also double as Forrest's man cave/entertainment area complete with pool table, collectable pop bottles from the 60's, and poster-size paintings of his favorite comic book covers. We'll report on this experiment with photos later. As for me... I have continued to dabble in poetry, photography, drawing and painting. Oh, and of course-- the bunny pot. Although the painting is a nice translation of the original bunny drawing, the pot itself is lacking in many respects. (Pardon the horrible photo above.) Surprisingly the solitary bunny on the opposite side presents a much more intriguing figure. When I return from our trip I hope to get some more bunny pots together. In the mean time I am eagerly anticipating some time in a coffee shop to dive into my new red moleskine. Sadly, the moleskine of the last two years/plus was lost on a recent trip through Romney,WV on the Potomac Eagle. Needless to say, I was distraught. The only real value was the transition from essay writing to poetry that has been my most valued development in adulthood. Oh Well! Hope some turkey in West by God is able to understand some of what I wrote. To prevent such future heartache I have protected the new moleskine with the following. Not only does this Hamsa contain my left hand, but also my star shaped scar and left eye. I dare anyone not to return this if it goes missing. Lynsi and I will soon report with photos from the test glaze firing, and our trip to our relative North West. I will pack a lot of long underwear and sweaters.
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look out hallmark! (Sun, 27 Sep 2009)
Nancy and I decided we should make some greeting cards out of our artwork... Not quite a long time coming, but it has been a few weeks since we began this endeavor: after several visits to several stores over several days this past week, I'd say we're finally on to something! We figured out the printer (sort of), we found the right cards and paper to print on, we bought a few key tools like a paper cutter (I bought some prismacolor stix!), and we went into sweat shop mode, slaving away over what we hope to sell. Nancy chose several farm photos, water color paintings and sketches to print, and I took the next step with my colored pencil drawings: using those crazy puzzle piece squares (scanned, resized, printed, cut, and bordered). I worked on these cards for a solid 12 hours on Saturday, not even realizing how the time flew by... whoops--guess I was a little focused. Getting the website updated is a bit slow (as always), but for a preview of my cards, check out La Capretta's website and check back soon for Nancy's!
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Inspiration (Wed, 23 Sep 2009)
A piece from the exhibit More Than Skin Deep La Capretta took a field trip last Tuesday: Nancy, Lynsi, Joy Bridy and Lynsi's visiting friend from college Jenna. Baltimore Clay Works. Kid in candy store? Yes. Unlike the many other times I have overdosed on vitrified narcotics, however, I walked away feeling lighter-- not only for a lack of literature and that my purchases would be mailed to me, but also for the knowledge that I was more than an aspiring artist. What exactly is it that I have aspired to and accomplished? Hold your enthusiastic curiosity--artist statement to follow. One of the many staircases that felt haunted The brick building that houses Baltimore Clayworks is far from plumb, with crooked stairs and halls that wind you in and out of rooms with all but the haunting ghosts of former residents. Each turned corner held a strange, new gift. The Member Artists' Gallery was full of pieces that ranged from affordable to outrageous. The hook was Yoshi Fujii's carved celadon pieces. Predictably I touched them first-- heavier than expected. The love affair, surprisingly, was with miniature jewelry boxes from an artist unremembered--everything from curly-cue feet to pea-pod handles. I tore myself away from the store, only because I was jealous that my friends were off to see even more clay. When I walked into Matthew Hyleck's exhibit, the transportation to my past was complete. The reduction gas fired tea bowls and field platters were a monument to all I craved as a student. The surprise pool of crackled green in the bottom of an unassuming shino. The white slip striations made infinitely deep by the cast of ash. The shadows of Japan at once heavy and light. To my surprise I walked away after buying only two of his tea bowls. Christmas comes when Fed-Ex brings them to my door. Venus by Jason Briggs Next was the exhibit "More than Skin Deep" curated by Mary K. Cloonan. At times the pull to see everything was like the tense determination to make it through a really scary movie-- especially with Jason Brigg's work. So sucked into his masterfully crafted porcelain flesh pillows with enough of the uncanny to make me slightly nauseated, Lynsi had to drag me to the next piece. Thankfully Eric Seritella's birch bark tea pot reminded me obsessive realism could still be wholesome. Birch Bark Teapot (?) by Eric Seritella In the past I would have hung on for an hour or two deeply sighing in between sessions of furious note taking on techniques and artists. By the grace of maturity I have put my days of art history in the trash, content to take away pleasant memories rather than a calloused middle-finger and a heaving heart. My romp through the exhibit culminated with Leigh Taylor Mickelson's conversation pieces, and Jenny Mendes' psychologically strained stories on clay tablets. Mickelson had ten to fifteen pairs of part alien, part plant life pods hanging in balance with one another. Each pairing felt like an intimate tete a tete between friends, lovers or even animals with their food. Untitled (?) by Leigh Taylor Mickelson Mendes' work was much more erie. In essence they are a nod to Ancient Greek black and white figure ware. In a sparse landscape of obscure symbols, one or two figures engage in inexplicable activities and interactions. The muscular calves, miniscule ankles and dancing feet are what particularly remind me of Greek vase paintings. I confess that my interest in her was made more acute by a sneak peak at the works in progress next door at the workshop that Mendes was conducting. Untitled (?), by Jenny Mendes And now the artist statement. As I payed for my Hylek teabowls, the assistant behind the counter asked, "So what do you work in?" I was surprised to hear myself say, "Oh, I'm not a clay artist. I'm a painter and writer." What!? For years I have been telling people that I am a painter and a potter, and not just for the alliterative way it rolls off my tongue. After my casual comment I walked through the rest of the field trip in a cathartic identity crisis. Was I abandoning my clay in the overwhelming guest studios of Baltimore Clayworks, cluttered with tools, unfinished pieces and some works that would never sell? I felt claustrophobic at the thought of my future in clay. To ease the constriction I congratulated myself for making strange drawings of bunnies. At least these could easily slip into a slim black portfolio when my narcissistic hubris wears off, and I realize no one really looks at this crap (except for you, Alan--thanks!). Listening by NPP, pen on paper, 2009. Although I felt lighter as I walked to lunch, the sense that I was no longer a clay artist gnawed at my insides-- almost like walking away from a lover. The next morning when I yet again pondered what the heck I was going to do with all the bisque-ware pre-fabs from my majolica days, it occurred to me. I loved Mendes and Mickelson because they made stories and conversations in clay. What do I love about my bunnies, other strange drawings and poems of late? They are all conversations that I want to have with people. When I sit down to write a poem or draw bunny, it often starts with, "Now what would I say to so and so if they owned a pair of ears, or I had a pair of balls." Then Lynsi's recent suggestion floated up to consciousness-- "Why not paint the bunnies on these pots." And so this week it started. Armed with my thermos of decaf coffee splashed & sweetened with goat milk & turbinado sugar, and a timid euphoria, I dragged down some pots and my jars of underglazes. My close friends will laugh at the clouds, and cutsey flowers, but I plan to make things edgier this time-- don't you worry. I can't wait to see Bunny's ambivalent face and impossible eyes on the sickening sweet backdrop of close-to-kitch painted teapots. How better to tell someone, "... and the Horse you rode in on.", than to give them kitchenware that will haunt them everyday. Da Nessuna Parte by NPP, pen and marker on Paper, 2009. So, not really an artist's statment... At least the depression with which only closet art supply hoarders like myself are often paralyzed is gone for now. I will report back soon with progress. Til then, look at my bunnies, dammit!
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Sigmund Critique (Wed, 26 Aug 2009)
Sigmund is complete, and some words should be said over Sigmund. It sounds like he's dead, because pots do die for me for a while after the last touch. If they are strong pieces they will resurrect themselves in my imagination years from now, when I can't possibly remember how I made them (except in my muscles somewhere). After the Blue Bottle from 7 years ago, I stopped this trajectory of thought only to pick it up again in Sigmund. It was so new and complete an expression as I started to make my sea monster. But it began to crumble as I painted it with oils. The exits and entries felt forced and incomplete-- when they had felt so fluid when in the wet stage. Fortunately I got lost in the painting process as I thought about Monet's Water Lilies series-- tickled that I had somehow painted pond water on my pot. The final stage of modpodge killed it again. It was now just a shiny mess of suggestive holes with too obvious sutures. This is when I started calling it Sigmund. The only way to evaporate the sense of disappointment is to make another pot. Next time: spend more time thinking through the holes so it can't be compared to a strawberry pot, exorcise the ghost of Georgia O'Keeffe, spend more time molding the "ears" to make them feel more fluidly organic, paint it without modpodge? I won't know exactly until I am again possessed to plunge through the whole process again. The key is not to be too worried about pieces from the past-- not just mine but those of teachers as well. This is why commission work can be the best for an artist. Once it is in the client's hands, you can no longer worry about it. Linus didn't commission this piece, but it is most definitely his. Looking at the chick-shaped shadows the monster casts on his ceiling as I sing him to sleep each night, I will forget the frustration that is a completed and dead work.
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a BIG day! (Sun, 09 Aug 2009)
New to La Capretta: In the garden--a sandbox!! Linus is clearly very excited about it. Bisque #2 was finally fired and unloaded! Fresh out of the kiln, we've got a night light, carved feather cups, doily slab cups, and stamps for teabag dishes. Now if we could only get those glaze ingredients... I have an idea: let's make a plaster table to dry out slurry. That shouldn't be too hard or time consuming at all... Many hours of fussing with cardboard and duct tape, crisco lubing, and 5 bags of plaster mixing and pouring later, we almost have a plaster table! To be continued...
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Mulch... (Sat, 11 Jul 2009)
Mulch..., originally uploaded by Nancy Polo Pritchard. A regular crew of avid amature gardners: Lynsi (rock sculptress and hauler), David (our lawn care and bed creating specialist), Benson (sod remover extraordinaire), Linus (head screamer and dreamer), and Nancy (the fearless and somewhat clueless leader). With lovely free-mulch from a local dump, La Capretta is shedding her mangy appearance. The plants now have cover from the brutal summer sun. Some paths are starting to form. Next steps: hose hook-up, loading dock facelift and more transferred plants.
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(Tue, 07 Jul 2009)
Here is a slide show of photos via flickr of our most recent planting. Weber's Nursery in Winchester, VA was having their 1/2 price summer sale, and Smithfield is overflowing with plants to divide. So Lynsi, Linus and I started this mega process this past weekend, by buying $20 worth of purple and mauve salvia, 2 coral bells, 2 butterfly bushes, 2 each of 2 kinds of ground cover that I can't remember and 2 of some strange plant with pakisandra style leaves and green flowers. This is (unfortunately) how my gardening mind works-- not very well. Lynsi surprised me on Sunday by planting over 20 salvia plants in front of the 2 southern windows in the new bed. My part of the planting started at 5:40 this am-- notice the shot with the moon on the horizon. I still can't believe I was motivated to get up and dig that early. Lynsi joined me some time around 6am. We finished planting most of the purchased plants and then headed over to Smithfield's Main House grounds to dig up Dutch and Japanese irises. The results: 2 back-aches, a border of Japanese(?) irises under our windows, beautiful clematis ready to climb, 2 centrally placed butterfly bushes, some chaotic placements of perennials to contrast with the two distinct rows of salvia, and the resolve to post ad on craig's list for plant bartering-- Will Trade Plants for Weeding Labor.
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And the results are in... (Wed, 01 Jul 2009)
Mizue and I unloaded last Thursday, but I didn't get a chance to look at my pots very closely. To be honest, the first glance is always the toughest, so it was much easier to set them aside and look at them later. A suspenseful opening: A close up of a few of my pots in the kiln: On Saturday, Mizue, Donna, and I cleaned up the kiln and shelves and gave all the pots a good inspection. Turns out mine aren't half bad! Here are the most photogenic of the bunch: I'll have to try again to get better pictures, but I'd say these are a good teaser for now. Look for more pictures posted on La Capretta's gallery as well as my personal website very soon.
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Making Something New (Thu, 25 Jun 2009)
For the first time since 2001, I have started a sculpture!!!!! A play on my blue bottle from that year and nowhere near finished-- but it is well on the way. The first attempt collapsed sadly when I got overly aggressive with the holes. The one above is the effort from today. The pieces were thrown on Monday, and assembled on Wednesday (today). For a glimpse of the process, here is a link to the slide show on the La Capretta website. My house is a mess and I have eaten frozen food for the last three days, but I haven't been this happy about getting filthy with clay in a long time.
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Some like it hot... (Sun, 21 Jun 2009)
...When it comes to wood firing that is. Clyde lit the kiln at 5am. Donna and Mizue were on shift when I arrived around 1pm. Splitting more wood and stoking was the name of the game until I left at 1am (I would have stayed later, but I had to get up before 6am to watch Linus--not much sleep!). The firing went fairly well, although slow and long--Mizue ended up staying up until 7am! A 26 hour firing has become more common for Mizue's kiln although it was originially built to be an 8 hour firing (can you believe it?). I guess we didn't quite make it to temperature and the cones never went down, but we'll see how it went when we open her up on Saturday. Mizue thinks we were at high temp long enough for the pots to be okay, but only time will tell.
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--Will split wood for kiln space-- (Fri, 19 Jun 2009)
I'm starting to realize that if I were to name my own blog, it would be called "will work for..." seeing as I'm working in exchange for a place to stay and studio space, not to mention food, and am now adding splitting wood to the list in exchange for kiln space in Mizue Croswell's wood kiln. Lucky for her, I'm a hard worker: check out all that wood I split last night! Of course, there is way more where that came from though... Lucky for me, I get to woodfire! 8 bowls, 10 mugs, and 1 spoon plate: Mizue finished loading her work while Donna Downing and I glazed ours. I used Mizue's glazes, including temoku, tea dust, shino pearl, and the risky scrap glaze... Then it was wadding and loading time until the kiln was full: Mizue finishing up the loading, which includes of course her work, but also mine and Donna Downing's: , And don't forget to brick up the door! Tomorrow morning, Clyde (Mizue's husband) will start the firing around 5 am... Fingers crossed; here we go!
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The first bisque of the season! (Wed, 17 Jun 2009)
After finding Nancy's firing log, we discovered that the last bisque at La Capretta was in 2004! Loaded on Monday, we crossed our fingers as we plugged her in and set the dials to low. Everything seemed to go well besides my accidental turn down instead of turn up within the first hour--oops. Luckily, Nancy checked the kiln and fixed the switch not too much later. Pictures of each shelf as I unloaded the kiln on Tuesday afternoon: Check out more pictures from the firing on my website.
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Making Work (Wed, 17 Jun 2009)
Coil Cups, originally uploaded by Nancy Polo Pritchard. It's a rainy Wednesday and I have nothing better to do than set up our blog for La Capretta. For those of you new to La Capretta-- it is an annex of the farm Smith Meadows in Berryville, VA, begun by Nancy Pritchard (resident artist and pasta entrepreneur). We are a little studio nested within a very productive free-range meat farm and fresh pasta operation in the Shenandoah Valley www.smithmeadows.com La Capretta is an artist refuge for myself and visitors alike. Toward that end I took on an apprentice to help me create the gardens, make art and take care of my son, Linus. Lynsi Pasutti has been here for over a month-- hard to believe. She has made fantastic work with various clays and methods. My favorites are her coil cups and key holes. She uses a technique she learned from a visiting artist (Jennifer Forsberg) at St. Benedict's in Minnesota. Lynsi has incredible patience and an ease of spirit that translates well into her fluid creations. Visit her website for a closer look at her portfolio http://www.lynsi-pasutti.com I returned to the wheel after I don't know how many years? 6 or 7? Yup! it's just like riding a bike, but harder on your back. Our idea to set the wheel on cinder blocks has saved our hips, if not our lower backs. My newest accomplishments are some handle-less smoothie cups, thrown and carved whiskey cups, some bowls and a start on a sculptural night light for Linus. I am a reluctant potter who dreams in watercolor and acrylics while my hands get dirty in white clay. The garden continues to be our greatest challenge. The first bed has been mulched and composted. Lavender salvaged from the gardens at the Winchester Medical center by my friend Cindy were planted in a rush a week ago. I had to get them in the ground before yet another thunderstorm. They don't look so great this week with more rain. I can't tell what I did wrong, but they are so sad. Something sprouted through the mulch, but I confess that I can't tell whether it is a four o'clock or just another weed. As you can tell, I am a very inexperienced gardner. Thankfully I have many friends to help me along this journey. Jill Evans-Kavaldjian www.artatgardencorner.net initially helped me lay out and dig the first beds. Lynsi keeps me grounded with her enthusiasm and we continue to laugh at ourselves as we venture forth with gathering compost, free mulch and plants. Former farm apprentice, David Carroll, and current farm apprentices, Steffany Yamada and Thomas Underwood, are kind enough to offer help and wisdom. Here's a slide show of our activities: Visit our blog again soon. Our next post should include notes and fotos of our first bisque and news of Lynsi's first firing with local artist potter Mizue Croswell of Fortune Island Pottery.
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