The Big Move!!!

"Get 'em up, move 'em out"!!

After 6 years at Old Canal Pottery in Augusta, GA, I'm locating my pottery works to the old Miles Mill/Baynham Pottery tract near Trenton, SC. This historic site was the location for several potteries from the mid to late 1800's. Some of the previous potters who worked at this site include John Lewis Miles, Willie and Tommy Hahn, JG Baynham, Mark Baynham, Horace Baynham and countless itinerant potters. There is evidence that points to the famous slave potter Dave Drake having worked here. This site is one of the most important pottery sites in the Old Edgefield District of SC and is where most of the 19th c face jugs were likely made by slaves or former slaves. The site is currently under archaeological examination by Dr. Mark Newell. The site was recently featured in the PBS show, the History Detectives and will be featured in several more video productions under way.

In addition to Dexter Pottery, the site is home to the Edgefield Stoneware Research Center. It provides an educational museum, visitors center and training facility for the study of alkaline glazed stoneware. Students will receive hands on experience in the field doing archaeological work. Dexter Pottery will offer workshops in the instruction and the making of traditional southern alkaline-glazed stoneware.

My Old Edgefield-style pottery is made in the same tradion as the originals -- using locally-dug clays, which are hand-turned, then ash-glazed, then fired in a typical wood-fired southern groundhog kiln. My work is 100% authentic.

For your convenience, I've re-posted all of my informative Old Canal Pottery Blogs at my new site, Dexter Pottery. Please drop by my new site and check out my new work, as well as new blogs on southern pottery.

A Special Visit

I had a pleasant visit and discussion with a world renown ceramicist the other day. Her name is Tacy Apostolik. She is an exception in the Japanese ceramic tradition having served a two-year apprenticeship with Shigaraki Master Kiyotsuga Sawa in Japan. She spent around fourteen years over there learning the secrets and traditions involved in wood-firing in an anagama and a noborigama kiln using the rough, quartzey Shigaraki clay. She has shown in the finest galleries in Japan and the USA.
We talked at length about the wood-firing process she employs and the Old Edgefield pottery tradition. It seems we both pull stray roots from the walls of our pots as we are turning them on the wheel and often dig out the stray rock and patch the hole. Human involvement in the production of ceramic forms brings a certain amount of like experiences, regardless of vast oceans or land distance. It was great to hear some of her experiences and views, though I hogged most of the conversation. We toured the studio and then spent time looking over my groundhog kiln.


Tacy stokes kiln with wood from numerous bundles of pine she has prepared

Tacy came with supreme sculptor goddess and professor Priscilla Hollingsworth from Augusta State University. Thanks, Priscilla! It was a real treat comparing notes with Tacy. I often feel a little isolated since there are no wood-firers around here. This is the center for one of the most amazing wood-fired ceramics traditions in U.S. history and I'm the only one true to the process using original materials and methods. Here's a photo I found online of a piece of Tacy's art. Yum! She pre-stresses some of her work, often prying molten pieces in the kiln with long iron bars into unusual forms. Notice the effects of the wood ash on the pot below.



Tacy's magnificent pot

Other news...I recently participated in an annual Heritage Show at the State Museum in Columbia, SC. It was a treat to see some of my contemporaries and their pots at the show! The Chief Curator of Art seemed to bypass my booth every time he passed by....not sure why, maybe he's allergic to real Edgefield-style pottery or something.

Also, we are adding a bagwall about 2/3rds of the way back in the ware bed of the groundhog kiln. Our taller than normal flue draws a great deal of heat out and prolongs the firing time needed for a kiln of this size. We hope the bagwall might stop some of the rapid loss of heat as well as put us in a 24-30 hour firing time frame. The 40 hour firings are just a heap of stress and fatigue on bones over half a century old!

Our next firing should produce some really great items in time for you to buy yourself a Christmas present! We'll post notes and photos soon after we fire.

Super Hot Kiln Firing

The groundhog kiln was fired on the weekend of August 10, 11 and 12th and was it ever HOT! What is usually a very hot job no matter what time of year was almost unbearable due to the ongoing heatwave over much of the southern USA. Records are being shattered every day and we just passed 8 or so days in a row above 100f degrees. Friday, when the kiln was started, the temperature reached 107 followed by 105 on Saturday! At least I know I'll never experience a hotter firing and won't ever whine about temps in the 90's again.
My deepest thanks go out to Brian for his help throughout Saturday night at the peak of heat! He also supplied a large fan which kept us from visiting the ER or morgue while chunking wood into the flaming inferno called the firebox. We reached cone 11 fairly early compared to other firings. Of course we had the traditional visit from our friends at the fire department early Sunday morning. They were all bright-eyed and full of breakfast.

The kiln was opened on Wednesday and we went in for a quick look at managed to get some pieces out even though I melted the soles on my new shoes. The glaze looked great, although the glaze ran a bit on some pieces and will require some grinding on the bottoms where the glaze stuck to sand or brick.






I hauled a number of loads of pots back to the shop and will post some pics soon. Sony sent my beloved camera back after they replaced the faulty components, YEAAA! I'm back in the saddle with photos. I'd also like to welcome new intern Katie who will learn about Edgefield pottery as she works around the shop and learns the various aspects of making this unique style of stoneware pottery.




Another load of pots is almost ready, but will await cooler temperatures before loading the kiln.







I managed to locate the graves of a couple of important potters from this area, Willie Hahn and his son, Thomas Hahn. William operated a pottery in Trenton before moving to North Augusta, SC in the late 1800's where he was also associated with the Baynham pottery. They were a large part of the scene in the final years of the Old Edgefield pottery tradition. Tommy went on to become an attorney in Augusta, GA. What can I say, mud was in his blood!

June Firing

I'm posting some pics of a few of the pots from the most recent firing in June. The glazes turned out really nice! Very typical Old Edgefield or oriental-type glazes with lots of drips and runs from ash. The color of the glaze is a little darker than in the past. This is because I added a few cups of red, red earthenware from Martintown Rd. in North Augusta to my glaze batch. I wanted more runs and I got them! These are just a sample but typical of what we unloaded.

The kiln was fired on June 16-17. Though there was no rain forecast, it rained on and off throughout one night. We managed to stall the kiln at 15 hours, but eventually recovered and continued our climb up in temp. New apprentice Brian received his baptism by fire and sweat! I owe you! Sarah helped finish the firing when my legs and back started spasms at around 34 hours. She took the 9,10,11 cones down. Thanks, Sarah! Total firing time was 36 hours. Whew! I should say 36 HOT, HUMID hours. I'll post pics in a few days after the kiln cools and is unloaded.

Brian stands back while flames start burning out top of chimney.

Brian's legs are just visible in the firebox as he starts to unload a real hot kiln several days later.

This pot says " A good pot for stew-beef, chicken and rabbit, too

A nice jar 2 gallon jar

I'll post more photos later. All of the pieces are not yet out of the kiln.