Starbrick Clay National Cup Show

Recently, this guinomi (shown below) was selected for inclusion in the Starbrick Clay National Cup Show 2011. Juror Kristen Kieffer chose 50 pieces to be exhibited from over 300 submitted entries. The exhibition will run from September 25th - October 25th at the Starbrick Gallery, 21 W. Columbus Street, Nelsonville, Ohio; telephone (740) 753-1011.


Wood fired Sake Cup



A Couple of Summer Firings with Jeff Shapiro

I was fortunate to be able to fire in Accord, NY at the studio of Jeff Shapiro this summer. In June, the anagama was fired, which lasted six days. In July, I helped fire his "tea bowl" kiln. This is a sweet little kiln that is used to wood fire small wares that are glazed.

Kogama Tea Bowl Kiln

Below are a few works that came out of the anagama firing in June, followed by a piece from the July firing.

Anagama



Sake Cup



Sake Cup



Sake Flask



Tea Bowl Kiln



Shino - Black Oribe Sake Cup



 


Strictly Functional Pottery National

The guinomi (sake cup), shown below, was recently juried into the 19th annual Strictly Functional Pottery National. Juror Mary Barringer selected 110 pieces to be exhibited from a field of 853 submissions. Presented by the Market House Craft Center, East Petersburg, PA, the show will be on view from September 24 through November 06, 2011. It can be viewed on line by clicking on this link: http://www.strictlyfunctionalpottery.net/sfpn2011.html

Wood fired Guinomi

June firing of the Gustin anagama

It was another great firing down in South Dartmouth, MA this past June at Chris Gustin's wood kiln. After three days of loading, firing commenced for six days. After a couple of weeks to cool down, we unloaded July 2nd.


Front stack, Gustin anagama

At the height of firing the front chamber, I pulled a guinomi  (sake cup) from the front stack and immersed it in water. This is a technique known as "hikidashi", which originated in 16th century Japan around the Mino wood kilns. Pieces with iron-rich glaze or slip will give a rich variety of black due to the rapid reduction cooling. The cup was glazed with a slip made from wild clay dug out of the Connecticut River. Here is an image of the finished piece:


Black Seto Guinomi

Below are images of a variety of my work from the kiln:
(This work is available for purchase; correspondence at  lmkoonce@mindspring.com  for pricing, dimensions, descriptions, and more images of particular pieces).

Chaki

(Tea caddy for thin tea)

  1

 2

Chawan

(Tea Bowl)

1

2

Kogo

(Incense Box)

Tokkuri

(Sake Flask)

ON EXHIBITION

2

ON EXHIBITION

Katakuchi

(Sake Pourer)

Guinomi

(Sake Cup)

ON EXHIBITION: Daily Companions (Baltimore Clayworks)

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

ON EXHIBITION: Daily Companions (Baltimore Clayworks)

11

SOLD

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

ON EXHIBITION

22

Atmospheric Fired Exhibition

The following two pieces were recently selected for Atmospheric Fired 2011. This exhibition, an invitational and juried show, exemplifies ceramic work that is atmospheric fired, such as wood, salt, soda, raku, etc. Juried by Lorna Meadon, the exhibition will be shown at the Carbondale Clay Center, 135 Main Street, Carbondale, CO from July 1st through August 2nd, 2011. The opening reception is Friday, July 1st, 6-8 pm.


Sake Flask with Blue Drip



Tea Bowl



Upcoming June Wood Firings

June is promising to be a busy month with two firings scheduled. I will be down in South Dartmouth, MA with the Chris Gustin Anagama crew, as well as over in Accord, NY helping Jeff Shapiro load and fire his kiln.

Ready for the loading

The bulk of my work will be fired with Chris, and there I plan to try the hikidashi technique on a guinomi (sake cup). This entails pulling the piece out of the kiln at maturity (which will be around 2300 degrees F) and quenching it in water. I have a slip, made solely from clay dug out of the CT. River, that has all indications of turning black through this process. It is the rapid cooling of the ware that can provide a rich variety of deep black in an iron rich glaze. As with the last firing, the introduction of charcoal is planned for the front firebox. This elevates the temperature quite a bit, as well as altering the kiln's atmosphere. Pieces on the front stacks in the November '10 firing were quite spectacular.

I have select pieces that I will be taking to Jeff Shapiro's kiln. Next year I will be participating in an exhibition, curated by John Dix, and I am hoping to get some of the fabulous effects that Jeff achieves in his firings. Primarily sake vessels, I am hopeful that some of these works will qualify for Seattle, where the show will be held.

3rd Annual National Juried Cup Exhibition

This sake cup (guinomi) will be exhibited in LUX Center for the Arts’ Third Annual National Juried Cup Exhibition.

SOLD

The show will be held March 4th - April 30th, 2011. LUX Center is located in historic University Place at 2601 N. 48th Street, Lincoln, NE 68504 ( phone: 402-466-8692). There will be an opening reception on March 4th from 5-8pm. This exhibition was juried by Julia Galloway, and can be viewed online here: LUX CUP SHOW