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| Naomi and Michael’s pots
Several week-ends ago I drove over to the home and studio of Warren Frederick and Catherine White. They were hosting an afternoon potluck/demonstration/sale with Michael Hunt and Naomi Dalglish for a group of pottery lovers from Washington, DC. Michael demonstrated the making of a Korean “Ongii” pot, traditionally used to make kimchee. It was a wonderful to see!
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These beautifully made slabs, thrown and stretched on the floor, are then shaped in an arc before being joined to the slab base that he’s pounding out below.
The arc creates the rudimentary flared shape of a pot and a second on top curves in towards a neck.
Here he is adding a coil to draw the neck in further. I didn’t get a picture of the hammer and anvil paddling that did most of the shaping, it was too captivating to remember.
Michael is kicking the wheel the whole time. It looks like he’s throwing here, but that would be a bit of an exaggeration. The paddling makes for very strong walls that can be stretched thin as a result.
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| Warren and Catherine’s anagama kiln |
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| A studio scene |
9 years ago I taught a kiln building workshop with Kevin Crowe at Penland…Warren and Catherine were our guest artists, Naomi was one of our students and it was there that she and Michael met! And we 5 will all be exhibiting together this fall at the “POTTERY ON THE HILL” show in October (with 10 other great potters!).
My own pots don’t owe a lot to asian ceramics, but I love most anything made out of clay and it is always inspiring to around folks who are masters of their materials.
