27 September 2007

altered face jugs

I began altering the wet clay of face jugs in May -- I'd been turning for six months at that point. We'd just gotten back from several shows in Georgia, where I had the opportunity to talk with a few potters about composition methods. The face jugs I found most interesting had been shaped while the clay was wet. The potters hadn't just added clay, and sometimes hadn't added any clay at all (or nearly none). They shaped the face in the wet clay, then added details as necessary. (One potter said he'd throw the jug up to the neck, shape the face, then throw the neck. . . .)

When Greg and I got back in the workshop, we started experimenting with the technique. It seemed to fit our general aesthetic, whatever that might be. :)

Pretty soon, Greg came up with the Fat Ghoul jug, pictured at left. I really like the shape -- the bulbous head combined with the strong features, and the fairly deep-set eyes and sharp browline. The poured-on ash glaze completes the look. (At the edges of ash glaze, there's a wet-looking area that's darker than completely unglazed clay. It's more pronounced on the Lizella than the redstone that's in this picture, but it adds to the creepy effect of a piece like this one.)

While Greg was coming up with this monstrosity, I produced a few pieces in Lizella (which was a new clay to us at the time -- Greg still hasn't really had the chance to give it a go). I found the wetness of the clay perfect for this sort of project. The Lizella also took the ash glaze even better than the Highwater redstone clay we usually use.

I've continued to experiment with shaping the wet clay of jugs, occasionally going so far as to add no details except the eyes. I've experimented with a couple different ways of shaping the face: I've thrown bottomless jugs, or cut off the bottoms, and I've cut a poking stick that has just the right curve to press out from the inside of a jug. I've also used a few classic works of art for reference.

One of my favorite pieces so far is a bust face jug of an old man, pictured at right. I used a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci as a reference, which gave me new ideas for the shape of the face as well as which details to emphasize. I was quite happy with the final product. . . even though it looked nothing like the source material. On the plus side, I can probably use the same piece for reference again. . . .

(And even as I was working on my sculptural skills, I let my potting skills slide. I made the bottom too thick on this guy, and it suffered during bisque firing.)

We've been trying to keep things new in the workshop: new glazes, new techniques, new clay, whatever new ideas occur to us. We hope it's interesting to viewers. It certainly is to us.

05 September 2007

a bit of history: Town Drunk

One of my favorite recent pieces of Greg's is his Town Drunk jug, pictured to the left. It's tough to get a good sense of scale from this photo, but the jug is a large one, even for Greg. It's a generous gallon. . . at 10 inches high, it's an inch or so shorter than his usual gallon jugs, but a good bit broader.

I particularly like the expression on this guy. . . his eyes are expressive, but a little unfocussed. The simple punctuated pupils accentuate the vaguely blank look. The ears and nose are generous, and the lines show some wear in this character's life.

My favorite elements, of course, are the tiny jugs affixed to the head. When he began working on the face, Greg had just finished making a batch of small jugs. He turns these on the wheel, more or less just like the big ones. Usually, Greg decorates the small jugs just like the big ones, but he's been seeking out ways to add more and more detail to the jugs he's making. Greg planned out the additions carefully, then joined all the little jugs in a sort of crown around the head of the big jug.

Each is a separate vessel, so they can be played like tiny little jug-band jugs. (Three of them in a row are tuned to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb", which is a nice coincidence. :) They could each hold a tiny bit of mixer, but I digress. . . the really interesting elements to me are the visual complexity all those little pieces add, and the story. He's the town drunk, so he's got liquor on his mind.

The jug has provoked some great reactions. People have suggested new names (the best of which was Pothead), admired it, and commented on the detail. Most people realize immediately the amount of work that went into this piece, since it's clear that the little jugs are also handmade. One boy at a recent show even launched into a long story about the jug: if the little jugs were pressed in sequence, a diamond would rise up from the middle spout. Of course, an ominous voice would warn those present to beware. . . .

I'm impressed by Greg's imagination, but I'm really impressed by the spark it gives to viewers. They react to his imagination by coming up with ideas of their own.

29 August 2007

Hiawassee Mountain Arts Festival, etc

We're back from a nice weekend at the Hiawassee Mountain Arts Festival. The venue there (the Georgia State Fairgrounds) is really nice -- a wooded lakeside loop surrounded by a series of small booths. The festival was well run and quite enjoyable.

We also had the good fortune to meet quite a few nice people. Lots of people seem to be interested in face jugs, whether or not they're interested in making a purchase, and we're always glad to talk about them. A good source for information on South Carolina potteries is the book Great and Noble Jar. A few of the early details are up for debate, so you can hear Greg's and my competing theories as to what went on. :)

Meanwhile, we've got an update to make, but our webpage is inexplicably down. I hope to have our webmistress straighten things out before too long.

21 August 2007

lots of news and little news, all at once

Not much by way of posting in a while. . . in a sense, being busy has kept me away from here, but in another sense, there's not much to report. :)

Our various travels to various shows have been a lot of fun. I had a good time at the Spring Meaders Homeplace show, and Greg introduced me to quite a few potters I hadn't met previously. The Georgia Jugfest was an interesting show as well -- it merits its own post, so I'll put that up later, with any luck.

The Chattanooga Market is a really great venue -- check it out if you're in the area or visiting the city. It's a really great collection of people with a variety of interesting handmade or carefully grown products. And there are pizza and beer vendors. . . .

I'll post more later. I'd like to talk a bit about our glaze mixing, and more about what goes on in the workshop, and I'll do so in some future posts.

13 February 2007

Patton Pottery now on Etsy

In addition to selling pottery through our site, we've started selling at http://etsy.com -- it's a really neat place, full of all sorts of handmade items.

Check 'em out.

Joel

07 February 2007

patton-pottery.com online!

We managed to get everything photographed, and I recoded the page over the course of a week or so. And as soon as I got the page up, we needed to update with 2 full kilnloads of new wares.

Greg and I have been turning like crazy out in the workshop. Greg is making roosters and banks. . . the first rooster just came out of the kiln and he looks good. The other roosters are going to have to wait until Duke Energy comes out and buries a new power line for us, so that we can fire up the big new kiln.

I've been making some smaller and larger pieces than usual. . . I made some pepper pigs (little tiny salt pigs) for my friends over at Alchemy Spice Co, and I also made some 1/2-gallon jugs, the biggest I've made so far.

Check out the web site and drop us a line!

15 January 2007

welcome

Hi all,

The Patton Pottery blog is born out of a desire to mark my own pottery progress. I'd also like to give customers and fans a little insight into our workshop.

Patton Pottery is the Patton brothers' pottery workshop. Greg Patton started making pottery somewhere around 2002, and began making pottery full-time in early 2006. Joel Patton (that is to say, I) joined him in late 2006.

We turn a variety of wares, but focus on pieces in the Edgefield, SC tradition. Of particular interest are face jugs, which have been a tradition in Southern pottery for several hundred years.

Our current main site is http://patton-pottery.com , which is due for an update -- please check it out, and let us know if anything strikes your fancy. Everything's for sale. :)

thanks,
Joel