Brenda's Studio Musings

JUST 2 1/2 MONTHS AWAY!

The waning days of summer are here - and Autumn is quickly approaching. Tom and I will be gearing up soon for our October version of Large & Loose, Polished & Poetic.

This year's workshop will be held on October 30 & 31st, from 9:30am - 5pm. We will split the days between throwing demos of large platters and vessels by Tom Radca and saggar fire philosophy, loading & firing by Brenda. It's a full schedule and a long day. We provide coffee and treats in the morning and lunch both days.

Our studio is located in the rolling hills of Tuscarawas County, in Port Washington, Ohio. We are just 2 hours south of Cleveland, 2 hours east of Columbus and about an hour south of Canton. This is Amish country, buggies abound, with thousands of acres of farmland all around us. It's a perfect getaway filled with wild nature and clay enthusiasts. Come join us, bring a friend and explore your inner horizons of Large & Loose, Polished & Poetic..

Email us with any questions or just download the registration form and sign up now.

It was a perfect weekend for a Large & Loose, Polished & Poetic workshop this past Saturday & Sunday. We had a full house - 15 people with great enthusiasm, strong questions and lots of laughs & lessons.

As Always, Tom began Saturday with his platter demo. He threw, flipped, stretched, rolled, pounded and really loosened up with the pots and the crowd. Participants jumped in and helped and now their hands are in Tom's platters.

Lunch was lentil soup & hummus, with some chocolate cake to wash down all the throwing large lessons and prepare for the saggar firing.

We walked over to the 'other studio', where we talked about the art of saggar firing, from the materials used, to the types of saggars made. Then it was a loading frenzy with 27 individual saggars of all shapes & sizes, one tumble stacked saggar with 2 dozen pots in it and more than 70 pieces fired overall. The rainy day ended with everyone exhausted & elated...and ready for one more day.

On Sunday, Tom got to it with his double vessel pots - throwing 50lbs of clay into a 2.5' high vase. Some folks were uncomfortable with his 'looseness' while others were relieved to see a new way of working.

We had carrot soup & kale salad for lunch - then went to unearth our saggar treasures! And treasures, they were - we had masks and bowls and vases and handbuilt forms - one more beautiful than the other. Some surprises - Mike's two pots got so hot they melted together, creating one of the coolest impromptu sculptural pieces. Margherita had a saggar that was chock full of mini pots, one after the other emerged, more beautiful than the ones before! And Candy couldn't wait to keep going as she took copious mental notes for her high school students who will try their hand at saggar firing this week.

In the last minutes on Sunday, we covered terra sigg, burnishing and waxing - and then all bid an adieu - as many people had a long drive home. Thank you all - you were a great group who traveled from more than 7 states to make our Spring, 2010 workshop a huge success.

Check out all the pictures below - click on one and scroll through. Enjoy. Brenda & Tom

My old tumble stack saggar finally broke completely apart, so I made a new one this winter and I'm doing my first firing today!

First firings always crack the saggar, so I heat slowly to control the cracking. Breaks in a saggar are good, but a few at a time is best, rather than large cracks early on. All of this will both define and change the relationship I have to the kiln and thus, the firings.

So...6 hours later and my kiln is still firing. I'll attach pictures of the new setup tomorrow (left camera in studio). This particular tumble stack saggar lasted about 2 years and about 100 firings. My previous saggar before this one lasted 3 years and probably 400 firings.

Anyway, made this one of a groggy terra cotta, has some good breathability. We'll see how it did tomorrow.

Our Spring Workshop is just weeks away...but you still have time to join us.
So far we have a nice size group signed up with more on the way.

It's beautiful here in early spring - as the grass is growing and the fragrance overwhelms you. Amish farmers are planting fields, the buggies deliver goodies every once in a while, and we're certain to have a great weekend.

Our 2-day firing intensive and throwing demonstration workshop runs from 9:30am - 5pm both saturday and sunday, May 22 & 23rd. The cost is $295 for the weekend and this includes lunch both days.

Call or email if you have any questions.
Here's a look at tom's website too!

We hope to see you in May!

GREAT WORKSHOP IN FLORIDA...

It was a wonderful workshop at St. Pete Clay Company this past February.
There were over 15 people there and the results of the saggar firing were as dramatic and varied as ever.

I love the new ideas that come out of the experience. I told someone to 'be careful' copper scrubbies can be very strong and harsh when used on a whole piece. They ignored me (thank goodness!) and WOW... thet were 2 of the most dramatic pots from the fire.

More surprises...
We had 3 kilns, 3 different sizes, 3 different burners and they all fired to the same temp, only the results were so different.

1. Our tall stack was started last and fired off first in just 2 hours.
the results were deep, dark colors, but very exciting. The bottom saggar got very hot so the metallics melted on the surface of the pots.

2. The first kiln started was the last to finish. It stalled out at 1700 degrees for a while. I propped the lid with a thin tile shard and it hit temp in 10 minutes! TRICK: if you're stalling out, play with the air; increase air by propping the lid a bit, or drop the lid slightly to adjust...then watch. then adjust again if nothing happens.

3. the second kiln to load was the second to fire off - we used a cone only, no pyrometer. And wow, more great results. Mona stacked her pots densly in sawdust, hoping to get a jet black vessel with a silvery line from the wire...and mostly, it worked beautifully.

Results were completely varied, of course in large part to how each saggar was loaded. Diane wanted soft colors on her highly carved pots...so she put very few organics and minerals in the saggar...and this is what she got...beautiful, delicate fuming.
And Vicky loaded her saggars full of organics and minerals, but bisqued her pieces to 04, so we think that's why she didn't get much color on her highly sculptural vessels. Sometimes the greatest lessons are from what you didn't get!

One of the great things about the workshop is you may only bring 4 to 6 pieces to fire, but we had over 70 pieces fired in 3 saggar kilns and everyone took photos. So your learning experience is exponentially greater than the number of pots you put in the kiln. And each time you take the workshop, you learn more and more!

Our next Polished & Poetic version of Large & Loose takes place in Port Washington, Ohio on May 22 & 23.