Kiln Opening at Mark Hewitt's Pottery, Firing Elle, Spring 2017.

April 25, 2017 Hamish Jackson

The pottery looked as clean and ship-shape as I have ever seen it by the time people arrived on Saturday morning. It was a lovely day and a good crowd showed up early; there was a line by the time I arrived.

The firing went well -- we've been continuing to experiment with glazes, in particular the celadons based on this Salisbury pink granite which Mark collected from a local quarry. We've been focusing on trying to make it craze less as a bisque glaze (with high percentage of the granite) and developing raw glazes with it that still look attractive. Still some refining to do but we're definitely getting closer, and we're pleased with how many of the pots came out. I plan to do a post with our findings and test results in more detail some time this spring.

There are still plenty of pots left for next weekend; we saved some to put out fresh.

Saturday April 29, 9 - 5pm, and Sunday April 30, 12pm - 5pm.

Mark addressing the congregation early Saturday morning.

People flow down to the barn.

We lined Mark's big pots up this time, rather than having them in the round. I think they look great down in the field like this.

Big pots. Monumental pecan tree in the background.

Mark Hewitt, Big Pots. Spring 2017.

Mark Hewitt, Bloom. Large stoneware vase. $4,500.

Mark Hewitt, Tears for America. Large ash glazed stoneware jar. Spring, 2017. $12,000.

Close up of Tears for America.

Mark Hewitt, Pirouette. Large celadon stoneware vase. Spring, 2017. $9,500.

Mark Hewitt, The Raver. Large ash glaze stoneware vase. Spring, 2017. $9,500.

One lady getting up close and personal with The Raver.

Close up of Raver.

Mark Hewitt, Wiggle Waggle. Large celadon stoneware vase. Spring, 2017. $6,500.

Close up of Wiggle Waggle.

Mark Hewitt, Into the Night. Large tenmoku stoneware vase. Spring, 2017. $6,500.

Close up of the glass drips on Into the Night.

Mark Hewitt, Black Eye. Large salt-fired stoneware vase. $5,000.

Close up of Black Eye.

Into the barn...

The roses are out in force.

Mark Hewitt, Platter and ice cream bowls. Spring, 2017.

Mark Hewitt, Pitcher and barrel mug. Spring, 2017.

Mark Hewitt, Ginger Jar. Spring, 2017.

Mark Hewitt, Vases. Spring, 2017.

Mark Hewitt, Gravemarkers. Spring, 2017.

Mark Hewitt, Two Part Vase. Spring, 2017.

Mark's little blurb for this last cycle.

Mark Hewitt, Two Part Vase. Spring, 2017.

Mark Hewitt, Iced Tea Tumblers. Spring 2017.

Mark Hewitt, Ginger Jar. Spring, 2017.

A couple happy with the ginger jar they had picked up.

Mark Hewitt, Ginger Jar. Spring, 2017

Mark Hewitt, Umbrella Pot and Mug. Spring, 2017.

Mark Hewitt, Various Pots, Spring 2017.

Mark Hewitt, 10 Gallon Pots (and a few mugs). Spring, 2017.

Will they all fit?

Here's a couple of pics a mix of Stilly and I's pots on the shelves, just before the customers got into them:

Blue celadons on the top, green celadons in the middle, and tenmoku on the bottom shelf.

Now a smattering of Stillman's pots...

Stillman Browning-Howe, Various Pot. Spring, 2017.

Stillman Browning-Howe, Tankards. Spring, 2017.

Stilly's blurb.

Stillman Browning-Howe, Bud Vases. Spring, 2017.

A couple checking out one of Stillman's jars.

Lastly, some of mine...

Hamish Jackson, Various Pots. Spring, 2017.

Hamish Jackson, Wall Vases. Spring, 2017.

Hamish Jackson, Souffle Dish. Spring, 2017.

Hamish Jackson, Teapot. Spring, 2017.

Hamish Jackson, Canister Jar. Spring, 2017.

Hamish Jackson, Two Part Vase. Spring, 2017.

Hamish Jackson, Canister Jar and Cruets. Spring, 2017.

Hamish Jackson, Small and Large Cruets. Spring, 2017.

I took some of my favorites at home with a Flotone backdrop:

Hamish Jackson, Celadon Bud Vase. Spring, 2017.
Sgraffito under blue celadon glaze.

Hamish Jackson, Small Footed Bowl. Spring, 2017.
Red slip with white and red slip dots applied when wet and moved around to create this marbled effect.

Hamish Jackson, Barrel Mug. Spring, 2017.
White slip dots under green celadon glaze.

Hamish Jackson, Tea Tumblers. Spring, 2017.
Red and white slip trailing under blue celadon glaze.

Hamish Jackson, Creamer. Spring, 2017.
White slip circles and red slip dots. I love how clean and translucent this glaze came out.

Hamish Jackson, Souffle Dish. Spring, 2017.
From the front stack of the kiln: it got a lot of ash hitting the surface.

Hamish Jackson, Large tenmoku teapot. Spring, 2017.
Red and white slip under tenmoku.

Hamish Jackson, Family sized celadon teapot. Spring, 2017.
Brushed red slip and white slip dots under green celadon glaze.

Hamish Jackson, Family sized tenmoku teapot. Spring, 2017. This was fired on the floor of chamber two, at the foot of the big pots.

Hamish Jackson, Yunomi. Spring, 2017.
Shino with red iron oxide over the top, wood ash collected on rim.

Hamish Jackson, Pair of celadon cruets. Spring, 2017.Sgraffito under two different celadons.

Hamish Jackson, Celadon cider jar. Spring, 2017.White and red slip trailing under green celadon glaze.

Hamish Jackson, Shino cider jar. Spring, 2017.Fired in the front stack but protected by a bag wall; the surface up close is luminescent and sparkles green and blue.

Hamish Jackson, Quart pitcher. Spring, 2017.Blue glass under celadon with bone ash addition. We only got these red drips on a few pots -- not really sure why.

Hamish Jackson, Shino soy dishes. Spring, 2017.Red iron oxide under shino.

Hamish Jackson, Canister Jar. Spring, 2017.Brushed shino glaze and wood ash (this one was buried in wood ash next to a stoke hole).

Hamish Jackson, Canister Jar. Spring, 2017.Red and white slip trailing under green celadon glaze.

Hamish Jackson, Canister Jar. Spring, 2017.Red and white slip trailing under tenmoku glaze.

Hamish Jackson, Yunomi. Spring, 2017.
Red iron oxide under green celadon glaze: front stack. I don't know why but this glaze has such a silky soft feel to it.