Filming for American Ceramic Society

I am going to try this blog updating thing a bit more regularly, although I do keep saying that, and hopefully I will be a bit better at sharing some thoughts, updates and developments with everyone out there. The studio and life have been busy, and I have been currently getting ready for the upcoming filming of an instructional DVD that will be filmed by the Ceramics Monthly/American Ceramics Society about my process and techniques. I filmed the short version during a workshop at Funke Fired Arts in Cincinnati back in march, check it out here, and was asked afterward to do one that was full length and much deeper in content and process. It so far has been an interesting yet different experience from some of the regular studio processes. In preparation for it I been building the work in triplicate so that I can get things to various stages of completion and then will build them again for the film. I am the type of maker that never seems to make the "same" work multiple times. I have pots that I make consistently, but I am constantly tweaking shapes or playing with proportions, forms and volumes and color are always evolving. I have also been working with some templates recently to assist is some more geometric or calculated shapes so for this process I has been a good tool for multiples.
I find that it is good process to work in series, I can see the smaller nuances in the forms that I am working on. New forms come from this and the process evolves repeatedly and some really informative things emerge. This process has been the opposite. I have been particular about size and dimension, height, volume and measurement and I am trying to make things so that I can do the Julia Childs from cake batter to cake in no wait time, and it will seem to the viewer that I am working on one piece start to finish, being fast tracked to keep it condensed and interesting.

I am pretty excited by this new shape that I am working on. I have always been interested in implements and other non-ceramic utilitarian objects and references have always shown up in the work. Bu this pot is a little bi more literal. I found draftsman's plans for tin forming and there were some diagrams for flared tin pans. I have been wanting to make some bucket forms for a while, and this bucket is a variation on that tin pan shape. It will get a bail type handle and a ceramic handle grip. I'm sure I will develop over the next little while, but it will make it's debut in the video. Until next time, cheers.

Pennsylvania Spring Fishing

So somehow this weekend the planets aligned and brought three corners of the country together, Alaska, New Mexico and New York, on two amazing streams of central Pennsylvania to do a little pre-season trout fishing. I got a call on friday morning that good friends Sam Snyder and Ben Casarez were traveling up from northern Virginia to do a little fishing, so I packed everything up friday evening and hit the road saturday morning early. The last time the three of us were together with rods in hand was about five years ago when Me and Sarah, my wife, and Sam and Ben went up to Alaska to see friends and fish for ten days. It was great to be able to all be in the same water again, and the four hour drive was definitely worth it. I made it to the Yellow Breeches at about 11:00, geared up and walked down to find the others. It was a great piece of water, and was all catch and release due to the section and the early season fishing, and there were a fair amount of other anglers on the stream. Despite the pressure on the water from other fishers, we were pleased to find a number of trout that were compliant with us. Lots of Rainbows and a few Brook trout made their way to hand and started the day off right.
The other nice addition to the morning was the fact that the new three weight that had been completed mere days before was the rod that I had in hand, and christened it on those Pennsylvania waters. It cast like a dream, with accuracy and delicacy, once I worked out the first spring day on the water bush snags and wind knots, and got to feel it bend under the weight of it's first Brook trout. I can't wait to see the pictures Ben took of it bent right over and the smile on my face. It is pretty satisfying to catch a fish on a hand tied, and actually designed by myself, and a hand built rod.

We fished the Yellow Breeches for a few hours, made a quick lunch and a beer at the side of the stream and then decided to head over to the Letort for a while. This was a treat to be certain, and the Letort is legendary in terms of trout streams both for it's history of conservation, and it's place in the development of dry fly fishing and design as a sport. This was a true spring creek, meaning that it's source is spring fed from numerous springs along the length of the creek, and was classically picturesque. Due to the slow moving deep waters of the Letort, the trout that inhabit the waters have grown accustomed to the food sources and bugs that pass by them daily. They have time to look, scrutinize and select their meals which makes it hard for those of us floating little "bug puppets" (in the words of John Gierach) by their noses. Spring creeks tend to also have silty bottoms making it impossible to wade to get to fish. The above photo was taken by Sam, and shows a small Blue Winged Olive on his sunglasses. They were about the size of a pinky nail, and we were fishing with size 20 and 22 versions of these flies. Because if the cautiousness of the fish in determining their food sources, presentation of the fly has to be perfectly placed in front of the rising trout without spooking it and timed appropriately with the rising feeding action of the fish. Sam was the man on this one and brought two rainbows to hand. It was for sure a humbling experience and a chance to fish one of the toughest situations I've been up against. Hopefully the three corners of the country will find there way back onto the same piece of water soon, as these two friend are truly brothers to me. Thanks for the invite and congratulations to Ben on the upcoming wedding.

Tight Lines.

Sam on the Letort
Ben and I observing the Letort from above.

Red Lodge Clay Center Featured Artist Exhibition

http://www.redlodgeclaycenter.com/lists.php?type=featured
Check out my show that is up at Red Lodge Clay Center in Montana. The Show will be up for the month of February. Let me know what you think.