Clennell on sat 31 jan 98
mel wrote:
> all of you that build and love kilns....change places with those who
> have never done it....try to think back when you were 20...be alone, no
> tools...no welder, or be a woman.....a woman alone....and you want to build
> a kiln.
Oh, Mel you must be feeling sick. Would being a woman and being alone be
any different than being a man and alone? I'd double dare you to take a
trip down the road in Minnesota and tell Linda Christianson that woman
potters can't weld, or build arches. In her 20's Linda was building two
chamber wood kilns all over creation. When I wanted mine built guess who
built it. Linda!
If I were handpicking a team of potters to build and stoke a wood kiln
I'd pick all woman. They got the staying power. A man is good for about 3
minutes. Tops!
I saw the anangama in Flagstaff that was supervised and built by some
hotshot kiln master (male) from Japan and it looked like a pile of rubble
to me. In my opinion, they should have hired Linda!
Got to go, Sheila is all alone out in the studio. I hope she is getting on
OK without me.
Cheers,
Tony
Jan Jokinen on sun 1 feb 98
Dear Tony-
I'd have to agree with a lot of what you said about Linda Christianson.
She led an all-women's firing of our Tozan Society's anagama kiln last
summer, and IMHO it was the most successful firing to date, harmonious
and well-organized, and bereft of the power-struggles and egocentrism
that sometimes infect "mixed" firings.
But I'd have to leap to the defence of our "Sensei", Yukio Yamamoto, who
built not only our Anagama and Noborigama, but the ones at Flagstaff as
well. I have not seen the NAU kilns in person, and perhaps their
anagama has a more "freeform" look about it than one that Linda might
build, but it has seen many firings and had a lot of use since it was
built in 1985, and has produced a huge amount of pottery.
And calling Yukio a "hotshot"... well, I think if you ever have the good
fortune to meet him, you would quickly change your attitude to one of
respect. Yukio is an inspiration and a catalyst. He has turned many
people on to the incredible experience of firing these kilns, and taught
us much about the appreciation of wood-fired pottery.
But hey! please continue posting your retorts... I look forward to
them! And if you are ever on Vancouver Island, you have a standing
invitation to visit our kilns...
Take care, and have fun on Groundhog Day, when your hometown is in the
national spotlight...for those of you south of the border, Wiarton is
home to Willie the groundhog, the Canadian cousin of Punxatawney Phil!
Cheers!
Jan Jokinen
Nanaimo, British Columbia
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