Back At It

Well it has been a long awaited span of time for me. But I have finally gotten my work moving again. And the most important part, the direction in which I and eagerly ready for. I recently was asked to make the plates, platters and bowls for the Coast Guard in the Annual National Armed Forces Culinary Arts Competition. Many Thanks to Rebecca Modin, who asked and graciously gave me this opportunity as well as her son Jason, the lead chef who made these amazing coarses for my service ware to accent Here are a few pictures from the event.

Next Step

Well I thought I would share with everyone where my next step in life is. After 3 years in graduate school at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, I received the job offer to be the new Professor of Art at Defiance College. This is a tenner track position at a small liberal arts schools. I am extremely fortunate to get this position and am extremely excited to have this opportunity. I hope this gives all of you belief that it is possible to get a teaching job in this field and economy! Thank you again for all your support and encouragement through these last years in school.

Strickly Functional

Hey I know this only applies to some of my ceramic friends, but I thought I should post this show anyways.
http://www.strictlyfunctionalpottery.net/
Good Luck!

Jersey Shore Clay National

Can't get the PDF to upload so here is a link to the page.
http://mtburtongallery.com/jerseyshoreclaynational.aspx
Good Luck.

Empty Bowls

20 different bowls for 20 different people. Some empty bowls for community outreach programs. That is how I spent my Friday night.

Thesis Show

Well it was a long time coming and a lot of work. But it is finished now. Thank you for all who came and supported me. I really appreciate it. These are a few images for those of you who couldn't make it to the opening. But if your in town. stop in and take a look. It will be up till the 4th of April.

Preview

Sorry I've been scarcely posting on here. Been so busy with getting ready for my MFA Thesis Show. Here is a teaser...:)

Wheelin' it

As most of you know I am doing a lot of slip casting and not using my wheel as much as I used to but now I have figured out how to incorporate it. I made up this device and while not the prettiest thing it works great for keeping my casting slip in suspension while i am between castings. Not only does it do that, but it also does not whip any air into the slip which for those of you who don't know is a GREAT thing. I can't take credit for this though Bill Campbell had the idea, I just rigged it up. Well there is the buzzer time to dump some molds.

Dinner

Combining my two favorite things, food and ceramics. This is last nights dinner I made. Bacon wrapped scallops braised in bourbon butter along with an apricot chutney. sides of rice pilaf and asparagus. All on Cone 10 Soda fired porcelain. Dinner was great. The only thing I would complain about was the asparagus. although the flavor was great, i cooked them a little too long. I only have one skillet and I tried to cook them in a pot of water for a bit then quickly saute them after I finished the scallops. But in the hustle and bustle of doing all that food at the same time...the asparagus cooked a little longer in the pot of water than desired. It was just not as cripsy as I would prefer, but next time you better bet I get it right! As for the rest of it...wow...I pat my self on my back. the apricot chutney was simply stunning and couldn't have gone better with the bacon and scallops. Ok enough gloating, just thought I'd blog about my dinner break. Well now refreshed and fed, I'm back to the studio.

John Britt

not just another throwing video...;)

Open Molds

After a morning cast and the molds sitting for a bit I was able to open some of them. Here is a look into the pieces after they have been cast, but before they are cleaned up.

Mug Help

My professor brought this piece in for me to look at and I love it. I am trying to do some research on this artist and find more of his work, but Lee was not sure who the person was and I am coming up empty in my tries to figure it out. If anyone knows please contact me. Thank you.

Soda Fired 2011

Some finished work, but more and more to accomplish.

Unloading

As promised, here is the unloading pictures. I'll upload some nicer photos tonight, but for now..it was an alright firing...the soda was a bit heavy up top, but the pieces are ok. Tune in tonight for single piece images.

Saturday Night

Ahhh, the sweet silence of the studio on a Saturday night as I fire the Soda Kiln...stay tuned for unloading pics on Monday.

Morning Pour

Here is a set up of some of my molds that i have been casting. These are currently the line of work I'm working in right now. Now I just needs some slave labor.

Out of the mold

Finally after months of modeling pieces and making molds I am casting again. Here is a Sake Set out of the molds.

From the blackberry

Finished work

Here are some images of finished work. These are slipcast pieces fired to Cone 10 then refired to Cone 05. Hope you enjoy.

The Pouring Vessel

Finally this piece is finished. It seemed to take forever, getting it just right. I created this piece from a mold. I made the mold last week and I from sculpted clay that was surrounding foam. Which ended up being kind of a bad idea. the clay kept wanting to shrink and kept cracking. I ended up using oil based clay to fill the cracks enough to take a mold from it. Of course I had to do touch up work on the mold afterwards, but today I casted the first piece out of it. I'm happy with the results, although it kind of makes me wanting to just get a 3D printer and design work on the computer and have the printer make it solid and then take a mold of that. Maybe in the future, hopefully the near future.

Slip Casting on the Road

I found myself doing some traveling last week and was trying to figure out how to work at the same time. Because as we all know, you can't do much with clay while driving. But then I had a wonderful idea. Since I'm casting it seemed to me that it was a perfect fit. With slip casting you spend a lot of time waiting, whether its for the piece to cast, dry or the mold to dry. While on one of my ventures I decided to bring 2 buckets, one of casting slip and one for reclaim. I also brought a mold. I found the timing to be perfect. I could pull off the road to a rest stop or just the side. There I would pour the casting slip into my mold. While I waited for that to set up I would use the restroom and since the casting slip I use has a fast cast Kaolin, by the time I got back out it was time to pour out the excess slip(about 3-5 minutes). I would then let it drain while i ate something and got a drink( about 4-5 minutes). Then I would set the mold back in the van with the buckets and be on my way.
Around the time the next rest stop would come up, I would then open up the mold and place the piece in a damp box. The rest stop after that would be enough time for the mold to dry enough for another cast. I mean all in all it made my trip about an extra 20 minutes, but I also created some work and got to post on my blog for someone to read hopefully.

Still trying...

Just a quick one. This is mainly a test. Trying to blog from my new blackberry. Can't figure out the picture upload yet though. Stay tuned.

The Mono Kettle

The Mono kettle is designed to save energy and time when preparing hot beverages for single users, eliminating the possibility of pouring more water than needed by featuring a kettle with an isolated mug that can be used for both heating and drinking. Heating is done by the incorporated induction system that turns on by turning the mug to its desired heating level. After heating, the control ring will get back to the off mode. The kettle features two modes, first one is up to the boiling point for preparing tea and another is called eCO mode where water is heated up to 80 degree Celsius that is enough for preparing coffee and most other hot beverages. The mug can be safely hold right after the drink is prepared with the safest holding position indicating contours on the ceramic surface.

Holy crap Batman, its a sculpture

Ahhh.. finally stepping into the sculpture realm of ceramics. I was always skeptical of those sculptors, but have realized they are just as cray as potters. This piece is a cast from a mold I made. It is influenced by futuristic design and architecture.

New Casts

This a a manipulated cast from a one part mold I made last week. There is also a top to the mold so I can get double usage out of the form. :)

Sorry for the absence

Finally 2 weeks later I am back. I spent a week down in the Philadelphia area going to ceramic conferences celebrating my birthday and spending time with my lovely girlfriend Michelle( she is the one in my profile picture). Anyways Monday and Tuesday I attended the Pre-Conference at MC3. It had simultaneous demonstrations by Christa Assad, Ron Meyers, Ellen Shankin and Andy Brayman. Along with dialogue about the sustainability of ceramics. It was a good workshop to attend with alot of interesting discussions and views on contemporary pottery. Then Wednesday thru Friday I attended NCECA in Philadelphia. It was good to see old friends.I guess I never really achieve as much out of NCECA as I anticipate. I never really find too many lectures interesting or helpful, but the galleries always turn out great. This year was no disappointment as well. I saw a lot of great work from new artists as well as familiar ones. My favorite show was at the Art Alliance on 18th and locust. Alot of clean lined and industrialized looking work. I also got a chance to eat at a great restaurant on Broad, Osteria. Michelle and I treated ourselves to a nice dinner and we were not let down in any fashion. All in all it was a good and entertaining trip, but now back to the studio where I'm supposed to be working. New pics soon. :)

Printing Buildings?

In the world of mass production and efficiency we have another technological breakthrough that will in my mind create a new future as well as less jobs for us. This is however amazing. I can't wait to see the structures this idea will create in the future. You can read more about this at the Blueprint Magazine article.

First "successful" three part mold

Thank you goes out to the crew at Campbell Pottery fro teaching me how to do this. Hours and hours of learning form the masters and of course many of those involve me failing. but experience is the best way to learn. So here is a cup form that I am producing with quickness thanks to the mold.

Harmony

My cousin recently posted about this. So I thought I would give it a try. WOW, I could lose hours to this. Here is a quick video of what it does. I am sure you'd rather give it a test run yourself though so click HERE.

Blue Teapot

Green Bottle

Orange Olive Oil Dispenser

Red Mug

Blue PItcher

Salt & Pepper

White Bottle

Red Teapot

Red Bottle

Blue Bottle

The first pour of the new foundy at Edinboro University

Walking through the different studios has its benefits. Last Thursday sculpture students were getting ready to pour bronze for the first time in the new foundry. Exciting stuff, well that is if you are into hot molten metals, but then again who doesn't like hot things.

Yike Bike

This commercial is a little too cheesy for me, but the product is awesome. Check out more videos, images and information about the Yike Bike at their website. And no, I am not getting paid to endorse this.

Finally some work

Finally, I got some batteries for the camera. So here are some of my little buildings that are transformed into functional pottery. These pieces are drying slowly waiting to get the final clean up before the firing. Oh how I hate how long it takes for these thins to dry without cracking.

What a view

A NASA image of the debris of an exploded star, known as supernova taken from NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory.