30th Annual Potter's Gathering - Day 2

With so many pieces thrown on Saturday, Day 1 of the 2010 Potter's Gathering, guest presenter Robin Hopper spent Sunday, Day 2 finishing and applying surface decorations.

First up: Handles. Lots and lots and lots of handles. Robin shared his preference for handles that are accented to disguise their point of attachment and, once attached, showed his technique for just ever so slightly flattening his handles at the point where fingers grasp them for a more comfortable fit.

With just his trimming tool (okay, his $75 Bison trimming tool), he quickly created a pineapple design and was on to the next piece!

With all pieces assembled, Robin then turned his attention to surface decoration. He mixed three different colorants (Copper Carbonate, Red Iron Oxide and Manganese Dioxide) with porcelain slip and a bit of CMC (liquid) to create the ideal consistency for painting on his pieces.

At right: Robin steps back to contemplate his design. The vase was formed from a simple cylinder at the bottom and a larger oval-shaped bottle on top. The oval shape provided an ideal surface for this painted design.

Below, at left: Robin applies his signature floral design to a very large lidded jar; the lid is accented with one of Robin's Phoenix birds.

Finally, all pieces were auctioned off with proceeds to go to the Tamarack Foundation to help fund scholarships for the 2011 Potter's Gathering and to the Canadian Red Cross for Haiti.

If you haven't attended a Potter's Gathering, please consider coming to the 2011 event. Guest presenter is Tom Turner so this one should also be fantastic. You'll find the gathering equal parts inspiration and fellowship!

30th Annual Potter's Gathering - Day 1

While it was the 30th annual Gathering, it was my first trip to West Virginia's largest annual gathering of potters and this year was extra special (nothing to do with me, of course!) due to the prominence of the presenter: Robim Hopper. Internationally known teacher, artist and author, his works, books and DVDs are collected around the world.

He's a funny guy: equal parts charm and grit with a twisted British sense of humor. Via his demos, DVDs and PowerPoint presentations, he shared his history, and sources of inspiration, along with potters whose work he admires.

With over 40 years of production pottery experience, watching Robin throw was like watching something on fast forward. One second you see the ball of clay and the next, something beautiful--and in porcelain, no less.

The first day was devoted to throwing the shapes he would decorate on Day 2. Here are just of few of the pieces he created:















Above left: Robin threw a tall cylinder, then choked it in to form a graceful bird's head.
Above center: With a few cuts and bends, he angled the head into position. Later, the head and a wheel-thrown tail were affixed to an elegant shallow bowl with sloped shoulders. It was beautiful!
Above right: Just a small portion of Day 1 work.

The final "event" of Day 1 involved creation of some beautiful agate work, layering regular porcelain with clays pre-tinted (by Mike) with oxides. He took sections of regular porcelain and layered it with section of porcelain tinted with red iron oxide and layers of clay tinted with manganese dioxide, carefully connecting them without wedging or muddying the colors. Then, he threw his forms as usual.

The magic happened when he fluted the pieces (see bowl) or faceted them (see bottle below) to reveal and give organic shape to the colored layers of clay.

I'm delighted to report that the faceted bottle will be residing at Capitol Clay Arts Company, a gift to Mike for our donation of his Tom Turner Porcelain (Standard Ceramic Company) and Mike's work wedging the colorants into the clay. We're honored to have it!

And to all you pottery students at Capitol Clay Arts Company: Get your wedging muscles ready! We're going to be working with colored clays during our next class session beginning March 1.

Special Thanks: To Dale Porter of Pots by Porter for sharing some of his wonderful photos since my batteries died. Thanks much, Dale.