Morris S. Davis on thu 27 aug 98
A couple of days ago my son sent me a xerox copy of Chapter 9 (31 pages)
entitled "Effleurage: The Stroke of Fire" from the book "About This Life -
Journeys on the Threshold of Memory" by Barry Lopez. I highly recommend
this fictional account of a true community somewhere in the Coast Range of
Oregon dealing with "people's emotions, a natural history of the region,
the description of a wood-fired kiln, an aesthetic of anagama ceramics!"
This is so well-written with such an unusual command of the English
language, poetic eyes and feeling and solid knowledge of the technical
aspects of the firing process [effleurage (or efflorescence) as he calls
it], that I felt that I was walking in the woods with the author helping
him pick twigs of alder, willow and cottonwood and wood feld by beavers
gathering the four cords of wood necessary for the community firing of the
anagama. I observed the chief stacker putting in pots made by a variety
of professional and amateur potters and the reason for putting the pots
exactly where they were placed. I later felt like one of the participants
following the suggestions of the head stoker in properly feeding the fire
and felt the excitement of following its currents among all the pots in
the kiln.
This account is an excellent history of the anagama kiln and the technical
aspects of kiln construction and firing. However, while solidly grounded
in fact, the most engaging aspect of this story is its living capture of
nature and community. I probably shall never look at a piece of anagama
pottery again without a deeper understanding of what it went through in
the effleurage process.
Morris Davis
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(We're expecting the fringes of Hurricane Bonnie this afternoon.)
Mark Heimann on fri 28 aug 98
Morris :
It is an honor to be part of the anagama community that Barry Lopez wrote
about. The group of folks involved really ARE a family, complete with
arguments, dreams and hilarious midnight-shift firing discussions and
insanity. Eat, sleep, stoke!
Last year we built a full-scale "see-through" replica of the Dragon Kiln at
the art gallery of a local community college, using alder branches (peeled
and sanded) to replicate the arch curves. We fired the kiln and then moved
all the shelves, pots, ashes, etc to the exhibit and restacked them exactly
as they had been during the firing. You could really see the fire path and
the impact was dramatic. Full-size chimney, dirt surround, we even had a
"soundtrack" loop playing with the roar of the fire, stoking bell and other
subtle firing noises and surrounded the exhibit with stacks of sidewood and
frontwood. A very labor-intensive exhibit, I wish we could have
"beamed it up" to other locations. It's now dismantled and scattered, pots
sold, traded or stashed . Our exhibit was called the "Mind of the Dragon"
and the catalog, covered with hand-made cedar paper, included an
introduction by Barry.
All in all, a treat and an ongoing adventure.
Fire it up !
Mark Heimann, Oregon
----------
> From: Morris S. Davis
> To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
> Subject: Effleurage: The Stroke of Fire
> Date: Thursday, August 27, 1998 9:05 AM
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> A couple of days ago my son sent me a xerox copy of Chapter 9 (31 pages)
> entitled "Effleurage: The Stroke of Fire" from the book "About This Life
-
> Journeys on the Threshold of Memory" by Barry Lopez. I highly recommend
> this fictional account of a true community somewhere in the Coast Range
of
> Oregon dealing with "people's emotions, a natural history of the region,
> the description of a wood-fired kiln, an aesthetic of anagama ceramics!"
>
> This is so well-written with such an unusual command of the English
> language, poetic eyes and feeling and solid knowledge of the technical
> aspects of the firing process [effleurage (or efflorescence) as he calls
> it], that I felt that I was walking in the woods with the author helping
> him pick twigs of alder, willow and cottonwood and wood feld by beavers
> gathering the four cords of wood necessary for the community firing of
the
> anagama. I observed the chief stacker putting in pots made by a variety
> of professional and amateur potters and the reason for putting the pots
> exactly where they were placed. I later felt like one of the
participants
> following the suggestions of the head stoker in properly feeding the fire
> and felt the excitement of following its currents among all the pots in
> the kiln.
>
> This account is an excellent history of the anagama kiln and the
technical
> aspects of kiln construction and firing. However, while solidly grounded
> in fact, the most engaging aspect of this story is its living capture of
> nature and community. I probably shall never look at a piece of anagama
> pottery again without a deeper understanding of what it went through in
> the effleurage process.
>
> Morris Davis
> Chapel Hill, NC 27514
>
> (We're expecting the fringes of Hurricane Bonnie this afternoon.)
| |
|
