Critter cutters

I love animals. The older I get (and the years are accumulating impressively), the more I love animals. The beautiful red fox I watched traverse a snowy field this winter is happily fixed in my mind as a magnificent gift-- his or her lovely, bushy tail flowing along behind. The birds back this spring are all warmly welcomed, as are the rabbits and other creatures who never left. Although for reasons unknown rabbits are seldom seen right here in Lost Hollow, I often notice them by the cabin on the way out to the road. I am most likely to see the foxes around there too, as well as red-tailed hawks. That combination may not tell the story I would like, but such are the realities of nature.

Somehow a small catalog from a place called Fancy Flours arrived in my mailbox. Most catalogs get recycled upon arrival, but I am a baker and this one caught my eye. It has everything for decorating cakes and making candy, despite those being activities in which I do not engage beyond their simplest home-based forms. However, the little catalog also has molds and cutters to which I do relate

(squirrels, acorns, bunnies, foxes, owls). When I send an order in, I am sure some worker never guesses how I use their products—that is, for clay play. As much as I love animals, I am no artist. While drawing a fox in clay could result in massive misinterpretation, my cutters give them clarity and sometimes even personality. The same with the owls--the cutters turn them from birds of prey to cute.
 


I listened to owls in our woods all winter, and welcomed the return of the whip-poor-wills for some evening variation. The latter are creatures of mystery, indeed, not even having nests but laying their eggs on the ground and somehow migrating clear to Mexico or Central America while hardly ever being sighted. I grew up hearing them in New York, but I never saw one until my 69^th year when a whip-poor-will perched on the wall behind our house and sang and sang his or her distinctive mantra. Truly masters of camouflage, you will never see a whip-poor-will on my pots for it would be much too difficult to depict or discern. But those wonderfully visible foxes,  owls, rabbits, and many other creatures of the forest? Look for those and you will find!

Audrey

Audrey Taucher took my Lost River Artisans Cooperative hand-building course three years ago. I think that was the first year I taught that course. Audrey throws pots at a studio in DC on a weeknight, but when she and Jay are out here, most Saturdays find her in my studio hand-building stoneware pots. She shows up with pockets full of dog treats and makes far thinner pots than I would even attempt. And then she makes them exotic with the Japanese Kanji she carves into them where I stamp Kahoka. We work well together, and I am happy to turn my studio over to her when I can’t be there.

Hand-building is often a far slower process than throwing pots, which is basically the same thing over and over. Hand-building has, in my biased opinion, far more potential for creativity and diversity. For a long time Audrey made a pot or maybe two in the hours she had. With practice she has now speeded up considerably, although she still finds glazing time-consuming. I don’t have many continuing students, but every time I teach the course (which I will do this year on June 6 and 20; check it out at www.lostrivercrafts.com), I hope to discover another Audrey. I have loved watching her develop her own style. Audrey and I use the same clay, the same glazes, the same tools and studio, and the same kilns-- and we produce completely different pots. That is the beauty of hand-building.

Audrey, Joshua Miller (a woodworker and builder), and a textile artist from another part of West Virginia have a great show coming up in May in Lewisburg. It will be in one of only four Carnegie Halls in the US, and promises to be stellar! The trio will have one large collaborative piece, which I am eager to see after watching Audrey make her stoneware plaques for it and seeing Joshua’s sketches. The reception for the show is Friday, May 2^nd, and we don’t want to miss it! See you there?

Spring cleaning

We had a great group to help clean the Lost River Artisans’Co-op barn last Saturday. We are getting it ready to open for what we hope is a stellar season! The 1844 barn is neither insulated nor heated, and I had so many layers on that I felt like a toddler in a big snowsuit. I needed them all! The Windex kept freezing on the windows, but everything else got dusted and wiped. We had three men named Bill working with us, and it took the full trio to motivate the propane stove into action. The shop-vac roared mightily both upstairs in the gallery and downstairs in the museum—the only museum in Hardy County, WV. What got us through were the good spirits and the good food folks brought with them!

My kilns have been working merrily with lots of wonderful pottery created by Audrey Taucher as she prepares for a show at Carnegie Hall in Lewisburg, West Virginia. It’s exciting to see how Audrey, who has thrown pots for several years, has developed her own unique and beautiful style as a hand-builder. Her show will be with Joshua Miller, talented local wood artist (and builder), and a textile artist from that part of the state. We are looking forward to seeing it in May!

In case you think I’ve been spending all my time cleaning (heaven forbid!), working with students (which I enjoy), or not being productive in the studio, here’s a recent cabbage bowl. It will be at the Lost River co-op for its opening on April 11^th. I hope to see you there!