Anagama Kiln Firing

We are fortunate to have a generous and creative community of potters in Portland.  In March, a friend of mine, Richard Brandt, has invited us to see the loading, firing, and unloading of an Anagama wood fire kiln of the class he is teaching at Mt. Hood Community College. It is a marvelous opportunity to witness an actual firing to get a sense of the hard work, materials and the community of people that it takes to fire a kiln such as this. Then we also have an opportunity to come back to experience the excitement, surprises and raw beauty of the opening of the kiln.

It takes 3 days to load the kiln, seeing the way each piece looks before the firing and to get a sense of the transformation that each piece goes through. You'll also see the delicate considered placement of each object as they are fit closely together to direct the flame tumbling through the stacks of ware. There will be 100s of pieces of all shapes and sizes waiting to be loaded for their chance with the wood and flame.

The firing will take place over 5 days, 24 hours a day and night. Monitoring the fire and temperature dictates the amount of wood and timing of feeding the fire. When the kiln is fired all of the senses and communication between the firing crew members are very important.

The kiln is then allowed to cool down for about 6 days and then the seal will be cracked. It takes about an hour to take down the door and clean out the ashes before the first pieces can be taken out. Everyone lines up to pass each piece from hand to hand to reveal the magic of the fire. It is awesome to experience the excitement, surprises and raw beauty of the opening of the kiln.

If you would like to participate in this experience, please contact me for dates, times and address.  Don't miss this experience.

Thank you again to Richard for this wonderful opportunity to see a wood fire kiln in action.

Pottery Tour of Japan

Japan Pottery/Craft Tour

 with

 Seattle Potter Rob Fornell

The tour will depart the US June 27th, 2014 and will return approximately two weeks later on July 9th
2014 for a total of 13 days and 12 nights with the entry port in Japan, yet to be determined, being either Narita Int’l Airport, or Haneda Airport in Tokyo.

All participants need to furnish their own roundtrip airfare and one week rail pass with all tour members REQUIRED to have a one week Japan Rail Pass voucher in hand at time of departure. The pass is unavailable in Japan.

While participants are free to choose their own travel agent when booking flights, highly recommended is Suzuki-san at Sankei Travel in Seattle.

Please notify by email Rob Fornell your interest in the tour to receive updated information as it becomes available. A deadline for commitment and payment of funds will be set for Spring 2014 and as the tour has a minimum enrollment quota, should that number not be reached, I reserve the right to cancel the tour at which any and all monies paid as deposit shall be refunded in full. Finally, in order to ensure the best possible experience for travelers, the maximum number of people is 8.

Out of the fire

Last night we had a very special workshop with potter Richard Brandt  firing black raku style teabowls. Richard is a long time Portland ceramic artist who also has studied chado.  He understands the form and functionality of the teabowl because he has used them in the tea ceremony.  His generous offer to hold a workshop for the students of Issoan Tea School was exhilarating and inspiring.

We began the evening choosing teabowls that Richard had already formed.  To make it fair, ecah student chose a number and we got to choose from in the order of our drawn number.

 Next the glaze was applied

 

While the glaze was drying, Richard gave a lecture and slide show of the history of Raku style bowls.  He emphasized the Raku is not a process, but a family name.  He also covered the differences in Japanese style rakuware  and American style rakuware where heavy metals are used to achieve iridescent colors.

The teabowls were then placed in the kiln and fired to more than 1800 degreees.

By looking at the bowls in the kiln, Richard could tell when it was time to pull them out. At the proper time, the kiln was opened and the teabowls were sitting there glowing white and orange.

It was quite dramatic as he pulled each teabowl from the kiln while it was still glowing hot and plunged it into a bucket of water.

 The teabowls heated the water to boiling temperatures but then were set on the bricks to cool further.  You can see the steam coming from the bowls as they are cooling.

And there is nothing like that first taste of tea in a brand new teabowl.

 

Then the bowls were carefully wrapped in presentation boxes and presented to students.  I will be naming each bowl an will calligraphy the name on the boxes for each student.

Inayoshi Osamu, Japanese Potter coming to Portland

Thanks to the Oregon Potters Association, Inayoshi Osamu, Japanese Potter. will be presenting a demo workshop at The Oregon College of Art and Craft.Fee structure for Inayoshi Osamu workshop (demo)Download the Inayoshi flyer
 
2 days
non OPA members $75, OPA $60, students $35, OCAC students no charge

1 day
non OPA $40,. OPA $35, students $20, OCAC students no charge

Seating is limited. Cash or check payments may be made directly at the workshop. To reserve your seat in the workshop, please make checks payable to The Oregon Potter’s Association and mail to:

Joe Davis Instructor of Art, Ceramics
Mt. Hood Community College
26000 SE Stark St.., Room VA30D
Gresham, OR 97030

The workshop will take place in the ceramics lab at
The Oregon College of Art and Craft
8245 SW Barnes Rd, Portland, Oregon 97225
(503) 297-5544

Please see the .pdf for more images of Inayoshi’s work and process, and also for text and links from Hank Murrow, long-time potter in Eugene.

For more information, please contact Joe Davis (503) 491-7149 Joe.Davis@mhcc.edu