Contemporary Clay

These two pieces are being exhibited in "Contemporary Clay",  held at The Art Center of Western Colorado, located in Grand Junction, CO. This show runs from May 28th to June 26th, 2026.

 

Oribe Chawan

 

  Woodfired Hanaire

 

Ceramics Biennial

 This oribe kurinuki chawan will be shown in the Ceramics Biennial exhibition, "Earthworks: Evolution", hosted by The Umbrella Arts Center. The exhibition dates are April 29th through June 28th, 2026. The Umbrella Arts Center is located at 40 Stow Street, Concord, MA.

 

 

Cup Invitational Exhibition

 A decade ago, I took part in the inaugural Cup Exhibition at Plough Gallery. Now, on its tenth anniversary, I am honored to have been invited to participate once again in the upcoming 2025 exhibition. This year's show will run November 8th through December 31st, 2025. Plough Gallery is located at 216 8th Street West, Tifton, GA. Below is one of the four cups I will have in this exhibition.

 

 

The Potters Cast

 It was a privileged to have been recently interviewed by Paul Blais, founder and host, for his podcast, "The Potters Cast". Paul has been doing interviews with ceramicists from around the globe for quite a few years. Here is the link to hear the discussion he and I had centering around my "Lifetime In Clay". The actual conversation with me begins around minute 16. You can fast forward to that point in order to expedite your listening experience. 

 https://thepotterscast.com/1158/

Strictly Functional Pottery National

 It's a pleasure to have this oribe chawan selected for exhibition in the 33rd  annual "Strictly Functional Pottery National". Juried by Mark Hewitt, this show is being held at the Lancaster Museum of Art, 135 N. Lime Street, Lancaster, PA. It runs from September 20th, 2025 - November 8th, 2025. There will be an opening reception on Friday, September 19th from 5:00 - 8:00  pm.

Contemporary Sculpture Exhibition

 This sculptural hanaire/vase was selected for inclusion in "Contemporary Sculpture Exhibition" being held at The Art Center, 1 Washington Street, Dover, NH. The exhibition runs September 8th - October 31st, 2025.

Juried National VIII

This oribe "Cube Hanaire/Vase" was selected for exhibition in Red Lodge Clay Center's "Juried National VIII". The exhibition runs from September 5th through September 25th,. 2025. There will be a closing reception on Friday, September 26th from 5-7 PM. The exhibition will be viewable online beginning Monday, September 8th, 2025 at 10 AM (MT).

 

"Stoked: Wood Fired Ceramics" Exhibition

 This hanaire/vase form was selected for inclusion in the upcoming exhibition, "Stoked: Wood Fired Ceramics". Juried by Scott Parady, it is being held in the June Steingart Art Gallery on the campus of Laney College, 900 Fallon Street, Oakland, CA. The exhibition dates are August 25th - December 5th, 2025. There will be an opening reception on September 6th from 4:00 - 6:00 PM.

Small Works

 It is always a pleasure to have an opportunity to show my work in my native state of North Carolina. This oribe sake flask/tokkuri will be exhibited in "Small Works", at Gallery 906 in Wilmington, NC. The show opens on May 23rd, 2025 and runs through July 18th, 20205. The gallery's address is 906 Castle Street, Wilmington, NC.

www.gallery906.com

Higashida Shigemasa at Lacoste Gallery

 Since learning of Higashida-san's oribe glazed ceramics several years ago, I have been in awe of his work. He has kind enough to provide me information via emails, and exhibited in the sakeware show  I curated at Stratford Gallery in England. Yesterday (Saturday, April 5th) was a wonderful experience in that I got to meet him in person at Lucy Lacoste Gallery in Concord, MA. He and his wife were here from Japan for the opening of his solo exhibition. This is a picture of the two of us standing in front of one of his oribe platters.

 

Peach Bloom

 In experimenting with formulations to achieve a "Chinese Blue" glaze, a couple of experimental glazes resulted in a "Peach Bloom" glaze. This particular glaze was developed in China during the Qing dynasty, which was from 1662 - 1911, and was particularly favored during the Kangxi era (1662-1722). Being a copper based glaze, it's color characteristics are described as a transparent green that blushes pink or a pinkish background with green or red speckling. Here are a few of the pieces from my wood firing. There are Peach Bloom pieces available on my website's "SHOP" page: 

http://www.lucienkoonce.com/shop/wood-fired

 

 

 Chawan/Tea Bowl

 

 

 Yunomi

 

 

Guinomi/Sake Cup 

 

 

  Chawan/Tea Bowl

 

Spotlight

I was recently invited by Ceramics Monthly magazine editor Katie Reaver to be featured in "Spotlight", which is a full-page article of an artist and answers to two interview questions. It is running in the December 2024 issue, page 72; this is an image of the article:

 

International Tea Bowl Exhibition

 It is an honor to have been invited to participate in a biennial exhibition of tea bowls from around the world. The "Philadelphia International Tea Bowl Exhibition" will be showcased from February 1st, 2025 though March 8th, 2025 at the Community Arts Center, 414 Plush Mill Road, Wallingford, PA. I will have the following tea bowls in this show:

Chinese Blue Summer Chawan

Oribe Chawan

Wood-fired Chawan

Award of Excellence

 Its a pleasure to have my sake cup exhibited in Cups of Contemplation (see below) receive an Award of Excellence by jurors Tom and Elaine Coleman.

Chinese Blue test

 In my quest to come up with a glaze recipe that is as close to the old Chinese Blue used by the Jugtown Pottery era of the Busbees, and Ben Owen Pottery, I have made, and fired, several tests. Despite having a chemical analysis of the original from the 1980's, its been a challenge even using glaze calculation software. And what I have found is that the test I had formulated back when I was working for Ben, III shows the most promise. There is still the need to tweak the recipe, for various reasons, but I feel that I am close to something that will be satisfactory. Here is a cup that I just got out of my wood/gas conversion kiln. The one thing I have noticed in doing these various tests is the importance that wood firing plays in achieving the color of Chinese Blue.

Cups of Contemplation

 This wood-fired kurinuki sake sake cup will be exhibited in "Cups of Contemplation, being held in the Gallery of Art and Design, University of Southern Mississippi. The dates of this exhibition are October 14th through November 7th, 2024.

Wood - Soda - Salt

 This sculptural piece, Fragment, will be exhibited in "Wood Soda Salt", an exhibition of atmospheric fired ceramics, being held at the University of Wyoming Art Museum. This exhibition runs September 3rd through November 29th, 2024. The art museum is located in the Centennial Complex, 2111 E. Willett Drive, Laramie, Wyoming.

First Firing

 The inaugural firing of my small down-draft kiln is now history. Overall it went very well and I was pleased how even it fired from top to bottom, front to back. It required less wood than I had anticipated. Here are some images depicting various stages.

 

The interior of the kiln with shelves stacked and pieces set; a few went onto the top of the side bag walls.

The door being stacked. Lettering/numbering the brick aid in re-stacking the same the next firing.

Cone packs.

       Propane tanks in place, along with the burners, to pre-heat the kiln over night.

Wood stacked for stoking.

Low burner flame overnight.

 

After pre-heating over night, with the interior temperature reaching 270 degrees, I began fires outside of the coal areas. Eventually I was able to start stoking wood into the fireboxes.

 

 

 In-between stokes!

Kiln Update

 FINITO!!! The stoke hole doors are now in place; the kiln is now ready to fire! The doors are designed to open and then swing so that the hotface is away from the person stoking the wood.

 

Old Church Cup Show

 This kurinuki sake cup, glazed in oribe, was selected for exhibition in "In Hand", juried by Bruce Dehnert. The show will be held at The Art School at Old Church's Mikhail Zakin Gallery from May 10th - June 14th, 2024. There will be an opening reception on May 11th, 6-9 pm. The address is 561 Piermont Road, Demarest, NJ.