The Potter’s Wheel
Researching pottery in The Catawba ValleyRaku
This summer I had the opportunity to do some raku firing with David Voorhees. I was working at Greystone Camp as a ceramics instructor and David always liked to introduce new techniques to the staff. So far, raku has been the firing process that I find the most fun. It does not take very long and produces some crazy color combinations.
Until this summer I had never even heard of raku. The concept was very new to me. The idea of firing anything outside of an electric kiln eluded my thoughts. When Mr. Voorhees suggested we do a raku firing I was somewhat cautious. I had learned enough to know that electric kilns were consistent, but most other ways of firing were not. Even though raku is not consistent the process is an art itself.
We set up the raku kiln down behind the dining hall and hooked a propane tank to it. David began to bring out trays with bricks and ash on them and trashcans full of newspaper and sawdust. We set the trash cans up in a semi-circle around the raku kiln and took the lids off. I was becoming intrigued. We preheated the kiln and began to load it with small pots. We had to wear gloves and use tongs to load the kiln because it was already hot. After we loaded the kiln we closed it and turned on the propane. The fun did not start until the kiln was done.
When the kiln reached 1700 degrees we turned off the propane and lifted the walls. Immediately the heat from inside the kiln began to pour out, burning hairs that got too close. We took our tongs and clasped the glowing orange forms as quickly as we could. “Put those first three in the trash can and close the lid quickly,” David said confidently. By the time I put the second one in, flames were exploding skyward from the heat. I got the third one in and closed the lid trapping the smoke.
David explained that you want some flames at first, but the smoke is what you really want. The smoke inside the barrell and the absence of oxygen causes a chemical reaction with the glaze that gives raku its unique color.
we waited five minutes and then took the lids off. At first there was just smoke, but as soon as the oxygen hit the inside of the barrell WOOF, fire once again. We dug around in the fire and found the pieces and slowly dipped them in water to clean them and cool. There were some very neat designs and colors that came out of this process.
Throwing Bigger Pots
I have personally run into a road block in my pursuit of becoming a better potter. The problem is size. I can comfortably throw a 3 lb ball of clay into a somewhat large piece, but for some reason when I go to 4 lbs the ball game changes. A lot of people hit this important transition stage. Though it is all the same concept, there is a big difference between throwing a mug and a pitcher.
Important things to remember:
1) You have to push yourself.
Even though throwing with a bigger piece of clay may be hard and you do not know if you can do it, you have to try. You do not want to get stuck forever with just making small pieces
2) Center, Center, Center.
Bigger pieces of clay are harder to center, but you have to be patient. Work with the clay. Take as much time as you need. You will not regret it.
3) You will collapse a lot of pots.
Do not let this discourage you. Every aspect of pottery takes practice and the only way to get it right is to figure out what you are doing wrong. So do not be afraid to mess up. It is not a waste of clay.
4) Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
There is always someone with a little more experience than you. If you need suggestions, ask someone who has thrown countless big pieces. Most potters love to see new people take an interest in their hobby and would love to help.
So, it doesn’t matter how good your mugs are, once you start using bigger pieces of clay it’s like starting all over again. Just remember that you can do it, but it will only come with practice, experience, and patience. There was a point when you could not even throw a mug, but you got passed that.
Salt of the World
Here at Gardner-Webb University we have been experimenting with salt for about 2 semesters. After a few firings we began to notice a pattern; only a few spots in the kiln were getting sufficient amounts of salt. The kiln that we use is a gas kiln and has never had much consistency. There have only been a small number of pots to come out of that kiln with the intended color and texture.
Pottery takes practice and when you begin to pursue it seriously, you realize just how much practice it takes. Not only can one forever improve throwing techniques, there is an infinite list of glaze possibilities and firing techniques. This problem with the kiln may just mean that we need more practice firing. Maybe we just need to get to a point where we can read the kiln and know exactly how much hotter or cooler it needs to be at any given point. But what if that is not the case. What if it is not us but the kiln that is flawed.
Gas kilns are much more involved than electric kilns. With electric kilns, you can program the firing and then leave it alone all night and go to sleep. With gas kilns, everything is manual. If you have to fire a load for 16 hours then you have to be there for all of those 16 hours. The problem is, if you spend 16 hours of your week watching a kiln, you want your pots to come out incredible…this is not always the case. So my question is, is it more artistic to work really hard and get one great pot out of a gas kiln than not working so hard and getting a lot of great pots from an electric kiln? Who knows? But you cannot open up an electric kiln and pour pound after pound of salt in. Since salt is what we are going for, I guess gas is the only way to get there for now.
Doug Knotts
Doug Knotts has been teaching at Gardner-Webb University for some time now. Those students who have had him as their professor know he is willing to go the extra mile to be sure that they have a great experience. Mr. Knotts’s love for the art shows in his classes.
Doug has been doing pottery since 1972. He was a sophomore in college and his major was English. “I decided to switch to an Art major after a couple of ceramic courses,” he said. After graduation, Knotts worked as a park potter in Alabama. It was production, but he was able to teach children that came through the park. He then worked at Toe Rivers Art Council in Mitchell County, NC and after that he joined the NC Visiting Artist Association. He was placed at a Community College and worked at different schools in that area teaching and producing.
Eventually he became known for his bird pots. He got the idea of birds from his Grandfather. “He worked at a hospital and he would carve birds out of wood and give them to the sick children in the hospital. I make bird pots because of those experiences; also to continue to sell pots I needed something different.”
After many years of being a production potter Mr. Knotts got tired of making the same things. “When I first became a production potter I was able to make the same thing and still grow,” he said, “but eventually it got too commercial and I wasn’t interested in selling the same thing over and over again.” Knotts wanted to grow. Currently he is able to grow in his spare time with sculpture and other methods as he teaches at Gardner-Webb University. Doug plans to keep growing and experimenting with different techniques as a potter.
Hello world!
Hi there. This is my new personal web blog. This blog was set up to research pottery in The Catawba Valley. This area is so rich with traditional-style potters who are throwing beautiful pieces everyday. I intend to use this site to share their pieces and techniques (if they let me), but I also want to keep this site unrestricted to the traditional Catawba Valley style. Pottery is still developing and changing and every artist has their own style or glazes. I hope to use this site to share a broad view of traditional and non traditional pottery in the Catawba Valley.
