FIRING PARTNERS: SAM TAYLOR Dog Bar Pottery

Second in the Firing Partners series of exhibitions that define a community of potters, artists, writers, photographers and members of a community who join together to fire a wood fueled kiln over a series of days.

The first took place in February 2008 and featured Mark Rowntree's kiln, nicknamed "The Hedgehog", located in Hillsdale, NY just over the Massachusetts border. Potters Ben Krupka and Daniel Bellow partnered to fire the anagama kiln with 500 pot. Their colleague, photographer, Jason Houston, created a related multimedia presentation on the firing process.

The third will be held in September 2008 and feature Mark Shapiro and Stonepool Pottery.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DOG BAR POTTERY FIRING PARTNERS:

In the small hours of the morning after the kiln and most of the crew have been put to bed, the die-hards sit around looking for one more drink or another bite to eat while we review the firing. "Wow that was a great firing don't you think?" Though we have no idea how the pots are going to come out we know what we ate, how many times we dipped in the river, what we need to do to make the steam-shack better, that the kids are getting old enough to fire the kiln all by themselves, that we need more black paint and more bamboo and that although we finished one project (firing the kiln) we have started enough other projects to sustain us until the next time.

A firing at Dog Bar Pottery is a community event. Every couple months, some potters, non-potters, neighbors, artists, carpenters, kids and dogs converge on Sam Taylor's place in the hilly farmland near Northampton, Mass., to help out.

A firing draws people together. Partly out of necessity, because you need a stoking crew to fire a wood kiln. But also out of choice, because it becomes a meeting of those who are experinced, or just curious, old friends or new ones. People arrive bearing food and drink. Some stay for dinner, some stay the night. The atmosphere becomes festive, with the added romance of watching flames from the kiln dance against the night sky.

The mood fosters artistic collaborations, which seem to flow naturally from the gathering of potters and artists. A good number of pots have more than one person's hands in them before they go into the kiln.

There are plenty easier ways to fire pottery … no other method requires the same kind of commitment of time and energy. On top of that, the results are not as predictable as firing with gas or electricity. The wood ash, along with salt and soda that are thrown into the kiln once the kiln is close to top temperature, all combine to contribute colors and textures on the pots in intriguing ways.You never quite know how it's going to come out. There are always surprises. The good surprises are spectacular, and even the bad ones are still pretty good.

Sam Taylor established Dog Bar Pottery 15 years ago. Using a Leach-type treadle wheel and firing in a wood kiln, Sam's tools and methods hew toward the traditional. His work, however, transforms traditional forms and designs into pots that look both old and new.

Tracey and Rob Logan are painters and sculptors who live on the Maine coast. They make scores of small clay pieces that include images of dogs, marble-heads, schooners, and pirate imagery. Rob, the scribe and chronicler of Dog Bar Pottery, draws the kiln charts as comics that depict the antics of the kids and crew at Dog Bar. A lot of of the extracurricular art activities at Dog Bar are instigated by this pair.

Tom White is a potter, hunter and Rennaissance man from Northfield. Tom brings not only his pots to fire, but also meat he's shot, usually venison and sometimes elk. A cylindrical grill/smoker is set up by the kiln, and Tom prepares his game meats as hors d'oeuvres for those kilnside.

Michael McCarthy, a former apprentice to Mark Shapiro, has a studio not too far away in Goshen. Michael makes subtle and elegant porcelain work.

Hayne Bayless lives in southern Connecticut. Hayne is a hand-builder, tool and brush maker and former journalist. He enjoys the wood-fire as a break from his usual gas-reduction work.

Howard Korn is a freelance photographer from Baltimore, MD. He shoots what he sees, reflecting his vision of our world. Howard's work encompasses an edgy, gritty, exposed urban cityscape and a lyrical intimacy and majesty in natual settings.