We are building a wood-fired kiln in Durham, NC, and asking our community for support. Our goal is $17k. Please consider joining us.
See below for details. Thank you!
Supporting the Wood Kiln at the Glen
This will be a site of transformation, where once soft and malleable works of clay will be submitted to the heat and intensity of fire, ash, and ember. For those unfamiliar with wood fired ceramics, the clay works are stacked in the kiln, it is sealed, and a small fire is begun which is grown and maintained over the course of hours or days. As ashes and vapors from the burning wood spread throughout the kiln, they interact with the clay, and at high temperatures they fuse and melt with clay to create unique objects. Results from wood kilns can be wildly different, with some pieces lightly kissed by ash, and others covered in melted ash, blackened by charcoal, and on the brink of collapse. I want to make work that is able to hold some of the weight of life, to bear witness to mystery, and to express a beauty and wildness that can exist together in unexpected places. I believe wood firing can be a great avenue for this desire to be realized.
One goal of this kiln site is to create profound and meaningful ceramic works which contribute to the everyday lives of those who live with them. Another is to cultivate a community through the shared labor and play of wood firing. The hands on labor of prepping and stacking wood, making work, loading and firing the kiln, unloading, and cleaning shelves and pots is fertile ground for connection between people. Inherent in these activities are a full range of moments that can captivate people and connect them. I hope to help create a space where communal reflection on the results and the process itself can lead us to greater depth in our art-making practice as well as our personal lives.
To make this a reality we are seeking the investment of our community through time, labor, and presence, and through financial sponsorship. Below you will find ways to sponsor this project, as well as rewards and benefits of different levels of financial sponsorship. Please know that your financial help will be essential to the creation of this space. Also know that while objects will be made and sold, this project is not so much geared towards the production of products for the marketplace, but more so for the creation of meaningful and useful objects, and for bearing witness to beauty and the human experience.
In thanks,
Nate
This piece was fired for three days in the firebox of the Starworks noborigama in Star, NC.
Financial Support and Gifts in Return
These ‘gifts in return’ will be fired in the new wood kiln. Please note the kiln will not be a large one, and because of personal time constraints the making and receiving of these works will need to be spaced out over several firings and may take some time to find you. I will do my best to communicate with you throughout and I am so very grateful for your support. The cost of shipping to the continental U.S. is included. To support please click below or at the bottom of the page. Thank you!
$40 Small dish.
$55 Cup/yunomi: Yunomi is a Japanese term for the all-day day every-day cup, mostly used for tea drinking.
$75 Mug.
$125 One pair of everyday bowls.
$250 One pair of bowls and one pair of cups.
$350 Serving bowl or platter, plus one yunomi.
$600 Unique vase type jar, plus your choice from one of the first 3 levels of support.
$750 Nate will host 4 people in the studio for an evening of instruction and the making of small clay works that will be fired in the kiln, with light food and drink included. Each guest will receive a cup that has been fired in the kiln.
$1000 You are invited to visit the kiln during firing, or just after unloading. You and Nate will select several works from the kiln for you and your home. This level of support will also include works from the first few levels of support.
$2000 You and Nate will design several works specifically for you and your home. You are invited to the studio while the work is in progress, and/or the kiln during firing. This level of support will also include several works from the first few levels of support.