Page Pottery

I’ve been spending the last several months preparing for my Graduate Show, which is going to be at the Grove Arcades’ Art and Heritage Gallery later this month. I have decided to explore the joys of high firing porcelain/stoneware. One glaze I have been interested with is Ox Blood Red. This is a particularly hard Beast to tame, the high flux and atmospheric sensitivity makes Ox Blood quite challenging. Luckily working in a great studio with many different artist like at Haywood makes some of these issues less cumbersome. I’d like to thank Bob Cottrell and everyone else for all their help in making this happen.

This past September I was very fortunate to be chosen by Master Potter and Monkey Tamer Ceramic Instructor Dr. Eric Reichard to work on the Nina Hole Fire Sculpture built at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.

Everyone I tell this to responds “You did what?”, and understandably so. This performance art that took two weeks of long hours and 5,000lbs of clay is not easy to explain. As a project it is intended to be seen and understood for its beauty. But the process is what makes this project so amazing. Every step was very much an art. Working together with Artists and Craftsmen that have never met, selected to create a Unique Sculpture that could not be made by just Nina or any single one of us on our own.

Click Here for the Amazing YouTube video post of this Performance Art!

J.R. Page, Kristen Wineland, Susan Phillips, and Kim Dryden welcome you to their first annual Christmas Pottery Sale. We are very excited to open our studio so you can find your loved ones a handcrafted gift that is as unique as they are.

Open 8-5pm Fri, Sat, Sun 1-3 December

I have included a Google Map to the sale

These firey pots have a presence about them I love. Each with Raku Legend Robert Piepenburg’s Patina Glaze, which colorful flashes and metallic sand finish are hypnotic.
With much reluctance I have steered clear of this magnificent glaze beause the colors have a tendency to fade away. Like copper often does when it is re-oxidized, these pots fade and turn the same green as a cheap ring that stains your finger.

But while taking a Raku class from Raku Master Susan Phillips, she informed me of a way to hold onto these colors and prevent them from fading. We are currently doing experiments to make sure of their permanence; with much success so far. And the secret to keep these pots from fading is using the defloculant sodium silicate in a solution sprayed on and held at 100F for an hour. Please feel free to contact me for more information on this raku process.

As some of you may know, many of my pots are less than functional. Low fire ware (Barrel,Sagger,Raku) does not vitrify (become watertight).
Here are some pots I have been working on lately,that sure they function, but are just as crazy as I am. Some of these pots did not come out as I expected but in the words of the great potter Shoji Homada:

“Even a bad pot has some use, but with a bad painting, there is nothing you can do with it except throw it away”

So the Low Fire continues as we pull pots from the kiln. It still amazes me how smoke and fire can “glaze” in ways I could not intentionally produce. These uncontrived pots have both organic and structured qualities that just seem to work well together…

I’ve been quite the mad potter of the mountains lately. I am producing work at a rate that is hard to believe (or document). These wall hangings are a great medium for me lately. Pushing the envelope of what I can do with my clay body and “glazes”. I Feel more like an alchemist than a potter. I combine clay, metal and fire to produce craft art pieces that makes me feel as alive as these look.

Mask-
“a form of disguise. It is an object that is frequently worn over or in front of the face to hide the identity of a person and by its own features to establish another being. This essential characteristic of hiding and revealing personalities or moods is common to all masks.”

This is what webster says a mask is and it relates to my work here. I can’t tell you how much fun these are to make. No wheel or tools, just me and some clay revealing personalities and moods.

This series of pots that Kristen and I have created is some of our work that I am most proud of. She and I take an animated pot much to our own character and while still very wet and plastic we smoosh them together. What comes out are these guys lovingly holding on to each other, something very personal and special to both of us.

There have been some inquiries of the girl behind the hair that is a part of Page Pottery. What mindboggling creativity and personality that she gives to each and every piece of work. Her Raku pieces are unlike any other, often surpassing what most conceive of when we think of pottery. It’s inspiring to be able to work with Kristen as well as have her as a part of my life.
Check more of her work at Raven Sky Studios