Two week winter residency at Penland

 

The Accounting:

One 300 Cubic foot three-chambered wood kiln.

One day and a half of loading work into the kiln.

Uncounted pieces of wood burned.

One four-hour shift (4 am – 8 am) to stoke the wood kiln.

Four eight hour long shifts to stoke the wood kiln (4 am – noon).

Five days of firing a wood kiln.

Three Days to cool the wood kiln.

Thirty to forty shelves ground and replied with kiln wash.

One thirty cubic foot gas kiln.

Forty of my pieces fired.

Eight to ten-hour days.

Three to five layers of clothing a day.

Eight to ten impromptu communal dinners in the studio.

Two potlucks in the dining hall with all of the people at Penland.

Five to eight miles a day walked.

Twelve to eighteen inches of snow.

Three sled rides.

Five hours of driving in each direction between Atlanta and Penland.

Three nights in Asheville.

One very excited and hospitable three year old: “Lil needs a snack. I’m getting her yogurt.” “Did you ask if she wanted yogurt?” “No. She needs a snack and I’m getting her yogurt.”

One hot chocolate with a friend I hadn’t seen since college.

One five month old with a winning smile who just learned to roll over.

Two parents with cabin fever.

Two and a half weeks out of my every day life.

Before departing for Penland my dad asked why I was going, what I expected to get out of it. My dad’s thoughts veered towards tangible business minded things. Contacts, networking, pots and art work that could then be sold for enough money that would cover my expenses and living costs. My thoughts veered to the more creative side, of working on some different ideas that had been fermenting in my brain for a while. I wanted to gain some more experience and to work with different potters. Since I had never done a residency before I really didn’t know what to expect. I knew I was going to participate in a wood kiln firing and that was about it.

As a small business person the ideas my dad was thinking are all things I have to consider, but as an artist I want to get more from a residency. I chose being an artist as a career not only to earn a living, but also to fulfill a bit of my soul as well. In the last year (when I started doing ceramics full time), the two sides of my brain have been warring for dominance. Cold practicality seeping into my creative time with a form, working efficiently, and fine tuning my line of ceramics so I can produce enough work to earn an income. Thinking about the sellability of each piece, how much I want sell it for and how much I can sell it for.

I did get to connect with other artists and I got some good work out of the wood kiln, but there was more packed into two weeks that can be quantified. I wanted and was able to take a break from the daily grind and focus on the art and craft of what I do. To gain more experience and skill. I also went for walks in the woods. I saw the sunrise over the mountains for five days in a row and watched the light change over the same mountains during the day and into the evening. I got to explore some new ideas in my work. I tried two new firing process- soda firing as well as going from greenware to cone ten (normally I use a two firing process).

It all adds up.

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