DIRT

Gettin' the word out...

2011-05-11T17:58:00.001-06:00

A lot has been happening lately in the way of reaching a wider audience for our work. After a successful test run at this years AKAR Yunomi Invitational, they asked me back for a "New Work" show running June 24-July 15.

As I was getting the work together and sent off to AKAR, I had the added (and very welcomed) workload of putting together an article for the "Studio Visit" section of the current summer issue of Ceramics Monthly. The idea of the article is to give readers an idea of our studio life on a daily basis. View the article by following this link.

Yunomi 2011 at AKAR Design

2011-03-24T10:00:00.005-06:00

What an honor to be invited to this show!

Finally, a REAL website!!!

2010-11-27T22:03:00.002-07:00

After months of phone calls, skype chats and e-mails my website has finally been pushed and launched! In an effort to let the pros do what they do best and freeing up some time for me to spend in the studio, I finally have a website that was created by someone other than myself. My good friend Drew Bridewell did an amazing job and was able to create a site that goes far beyond anything I could have ever created. Please take a few moments to take a look around on it, give it a test drive. Thanks & enjoy: www.adamfieldpottery.com

Onggi & Carved Porcelain Workshop

2010-10-29T09:38:00.002-06:00

One week from today I will be in Logan, Utah presenting traditional Korean Onggi coil/paddle methods and my carved porcelain techniques to the good folks and good friends (1,2) up at the Utah State University clay department! The workshop is on November 5 & 6 from 10-4. Hope you can make it!

Heesoo Lee

2010-08-11T20:23:00.002-06:00

New work by my wife Heesoo Lee

"Flora" show open @ Schaller Gallery

2010-08-02T11:00:00.003-06:00

I have some new work featured as part of the group show "Flora" at the Schaller [online] Gallery. Sales opened on the morning of August 1st and will continue throughout the month of August.

The Land of Guns & Coors

2010-07-15T09:55:00.001-06:00

Made a wood run down in New Mexico out on the BLM land behind my friend Cindy's wood kiln yesterday for the upcoming firing this weekend. I was struck by a few things; the beauty of the landscape, the interesting detail of the geology (vast clay depsoits & big chunks of petrified wood) and most of all, the abundance of Coors containers (of all sorts & vintage) and all manner of shell casings from various firearms. It turns out that there is quite a long tradition of littering this area with drink containers and weaponry, if you keep your eyes peeled, it's not so uncommon to come across pottery shards that are nearly 1000 years old and arrowheads are a common find too.

A Busy Week

2010-06-22T20:53:00.008-06:00

Well, it's official, summer is here. Isn't it supposed to be a bit more laid back this time of year?

It's been a full week starting with my first trip of the season down the Animas River here in Durango in my kayak. We've passed the peak high water by about 2 weeks, the water is almost clear and is at a level that suits my skill level just right.

Had a nice visit around a campfire with some of the local clay folks and Steve Schaeffer up from Flagstaff, AZ with his wife Janeece on their way to his opening at Shy Rabbit Contemporary Arts in Pagosa Springs, CO.

Got up bright and early the following morning and set up some of my wife's and my pots down at the Durango Farmers Market. What a great way to spend the morning, quality people, amazing local produce and a relaxing atmosphere, love it!

Our little baby girl Hana (7 mos.) finally decided it was time to sit up and went from novice to pro in the short span of this week, exciting times!

Our son Juno (6yrs.) was also inclined to take things to the next level and took his first leap off of the high dive at the local pool.

Also, I received notice yesterday from two juried shows I recently entered some pieces into, turns out I was awarded 1st runner up for both shows! The shows are still up, if you're in the area of either of them, stop in and have a look (links & more info below).

1st Runner-up, for "Untitled" Wood fired porcelain with Shino liner, 4.5 x 3.75 x 3.75", KC Clay Guild, 2010 Teabowl National (photo by G. Post). Juror: Pete Pinnell

1st Runner-up, for "Carved Vase #1" at "The Carved Vase Contest

And last, but not least, I had an interview and feature written up on Clayzilla Blog, "Claymate of the Month" :D

A busy week full of good times..... yes, please, and thank you!

Thank You TAOS!

2010-06-07T15:29:00.004-06:00

I just arrived back home in Durango after a great weekend in Taos, NM. I gave a workshop at Taos Clay and managed to squeeze in a few amazing hikes and got a taste of some authentic New Mexican food! Thanks to Logan, Katie and all the good folks at Taos Clay for making me feel at home.

Here are some more workshops offered by Taos clay this summer.

Kickin' back

2010-05-31T10:23:00.003-06:00

With my Onggi and Carved porcelain workshop at Taos Clay just around
the corner and an Anagama firing on June 18th, things have gotten a
bit busier around the studio. It's been great to get back to the
Onggi wheel, something really great about the pace and feel of a kick
wheel. I always think of something my friend Scott Roberts says
about using a kick wheel; "it's nice to be able to actually hear the
clay passing over the rib without the hum of an electric motor", a
small detail but somehow it really adds to the overall experience and
makes for a more relaxed (if this word can be used to describe Onggi-
making) time in the studio.

Recent work...

2010-05-13T19:54:00.001-06:00

Fired in Scott Parady's Anagama, January 2010

Good Culture!

2010-05-05T22:47:00.001-06:00

A recent batch of personal sized Onggi fermentation jars. With our
first date at the Durango Farmer's Market rapidly approaching (May
15th) I've been making work with a bit more of a practical,
functional and food related use. With all the amazing farmers
offering up their beautiful produce I thought it only made sense to
make some pieces to store and ferment it in. As for practicality,
I decided to make these Onggi jars a bit smaller, 3/4 gallon,
perfect for trying new recipes. I'm really looking forward to
seeing these forms put to use for their original purpose!

Moon Byeong Sik, gettin' it DONE!!

2010-03-25T00:33:00.004-06:00

Here is another installment in my YouTube pottery video series, and one

of my personal favorites. Moon Byeong Sik is SO skilled with all things

clay. Also, for all of you going to NCECA, keep an eye out for him, last I

heard he was planning on giving a workshop along with an exhibition at

this years conference. I'll see if I can find more details and will post what I

find here.

Enjoy the video and please rate and/or leave a comment.

Thanks!

WOW!

2010-03-15T11:30:00.001-06:00

Juno Onggi

2010-02-15T20:49:00.002-07:00

We decided to make a new kind of kimchi this time!

T-Ride!

2010-02-10T00:02:00.007-07:00

Looking forward to the next workshop/exhibition in one of my favorite spots on this planet, Telluride, CO! I will be teaching a 2 day Onggi workshop Saturday and Sunday, March 6 & 7 from 10am-2pm at the Ah Haa School for the Arts and will have a selection of new Anagama woodfired work, from my recent trip to Scott Parady's kiln in NorCal, as well as some of my carved porcelain pieces on display from March 4th through April 9th. Opening reception for the show is on Thursday, March 4th from 5 to 8pm. Hope to see you there!

Workshop

Solo Show

Kimchi POWER!!!

2009-11-24T04:34:00.001-07:00

Never underestimate the power of KIMCHI!!!

New YouTube video posted!

2009-11-18T06:16:00.004-07:00

As promised here is a video I put together my recent visit to the studio of Moon Byeong-Sik. A very skilled clay artist!

Moon Bueong-Sik

2009-11-17T16:30:00.001-07:00

Had a chance to spend the day at the studio of Moon Byeong-Sik
yesterday with Juno. He and I threw pots side by side on his two
wheels and were both interested in each of our differences in
technique. It was really nice to see him make such refined pots with
only a knife for cutting the pots off of the hump and a chamois for
smoothing the rims of his pots, no other tools! Above is an image of
his finished work, very tight & clean but in person you can still see
that it is hand made. I was able to shoot some video of him throwing
and plan to edit and post it soon.

Welcome! Ms. Hana Lee Field!

2009-11-10T15:32:00.003-07:00

This post comes to you from a public computer, a PC no less, so I'm doing the best I know how, especially considering the operating system is in Hangul (Korean alphabet).

Anyway, the reason for this post is a big one, our daughter, Ms. Hana (rymes with sauna) Lee Field, was born about 26 hours ago. She and Heesoo are both healthy and happy. I have a few links to pictures below. She is a happy and relatively quiet (for the time being) baby and we just can't quite seem to stop staring at her.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=723591&l=609ccf305d&id=1035656430

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=723583&l=1e904e1377&id=1035656430

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=723811&l=3bf7160991&id=1035656430

Studio Visit: Moon Byung-Sik

2009-11-07T18:30:00.002-07:00

While waiting for the arrival of our most recent family member Juno and I have been keeping busy by visiting some of the amazing potters this region of Korea has to offer. Yesterday I looked up a potter, Moon Byung-Sik, we had met a few years back at his exhibiton in Seoul. It turned out that his home/studio is only a 10 minute drive from where we are staying at my mother-in-law's home. Mr. Moon is in his early 30's and works in translucent porcelain at cone 8. His work is defined by it's simplicity and strength of form in contrast with the amazing skill necessary to make such forms from such a difficult material. The pots in the pictures below represent one day of production for Mr. Moon.

I was most impressed with his ability to balance his whole price range of work, from tiny $5 traditional cobalt painted porcelain animal figures to 4 foot wide platters with meticulous inlay/carved patterns.

The few pictures I was able to snap were with my phone camera. I plan to return to his studio in the coming weeks as he has invited me to work with him in the studio. I'll be sure to get some quality pix of his finished work.

For those of you going to Philidelphia for NCECA Keep an eye out for Mr. Moon, if I understood him correctly, he is planning to teach a workshop in conjunction with an exhibition at this years conference (more details to come when I have them). Also, I hope to arrange some other workshop locations for him if his travel plans allow.

Perspective

2009-11-05T22:15:00.001-07:00

Today I'm writing from a Duncan' Dounuts' in Icheon, S. Korea, more for the quality of the WiFi then the quality of the products. We find ourselves in Korea again for the birth of our second child. We are told that this one will be a girl and that she will be born on November 4th (two days ago from the time of this post). We are spending our time enjoying the beautiful fall colors and perfect hiking weather that Korea offers this time of year.

I am always on the lookout for interesting products/product design when in Korea and have spotted some interesting things already.

Nothing like getting plucked from one location/culture and plopped into another for noticing some interesting & different ways of doing things.

AVAILABLE WORK

2009-10-24T20:52:00.002-06:00

Visit TRAX Gallery to view some of my most recent work...

images by G. Post

In other news, my son Juno and I am getting ready to head back to Korea just in time for the birth of a new daughter/sibling. My wife, Heesoo, has been there for the last couple of months in the capable hands of her mother. We chose to have this birth in Korea for a few reasons, the main one being that we wanted to share this experience with our family in Korea. Another reason is that it will actually be cheaper for us all to travel to Korea for the birth then it would have been to pay out of pocket for the birth back in the good ol' USA. And, hey, any excuse to head back to Korea is good enough for me! Juno and I will stay for 5 weeks to get some quality time in with the family and to be sure that the newest member of the family is a fully documented US citizen. Heesoo and the newborn will stay on for a bit longer, returning home to Durango in early February.

2009-09-10T06:26:00.001-06:00

Greetings from Kings Beach, Lake Tahoe! I'm one week into my roadtrip/onggi workshop tour of the SF Bay Area. Get the full story on the following blog:
http://www.thepotterswife.blogspot.com/

Thanks Robin & Eden for being such great hosts during my stay in Logan.

The Long Way Home

2009-06-15T22:44:00.009-06:00

In one weeks time I'll be ready for our journey! My son Juno and I will be making the 8 hour drive from Durango to my hometown, Arvada (a suburb of Denver). While we plan to spend a lot of time with family and friends, I will be dedicating most of our week-long stay to giving a workshop.

The venue for this workshop, The Arvada Center of the Arts and Humanities, holds a special spot in my memory. As a young child I took many field trips to the Arvada Center whether it was to see a play, take an art class, view an exhibition, explore the extensive pioneer museum, or just for a picnic I always looked forward to the next visit.

Now, fifteen years after moving away, I am excited and honored to be able to offer something back to the community from which I came.

To start off the workshop I will be giving a FREE slide talk on Thursday June, 25th from 7-8:30 PM at the Arvada Center (see map below), I will show images from my travels and will discuss my inspirations and motivations behind my work. The slide talk is open to the public, so if you or anyone you know is in the area come on by!

The main part of the workshop will take place on Saturday and Sunday, June 27th & 28th. For details please follow this link to the Arvada Center workshop description page. To register for the workshop contact the Arvada Center directly (contact info below). Hope to see you there!

View Larger Map

Unbeatable!

2009-05-28T22:16:00.004-06:00

Spotted this scene at my local "Wal-E-World", good thing they added the word "prices" to the sign.

San Juan College "Clay Fest" Workshops

2009-05-24T23:58:00.007-06:00

A few weeks ago I taught a workshop at San Juan College as part of their annual "Clay Fest" event. This years fest included a visit from the Art-stream Nomadic Gallery and demonstration/workshops by Christa Assad, Andy Brayman, Steven Colby, Angus Graham, Peter Karner and myself.

Angus Graham with his new toaster form!

Waldemar "Wink" Winkler, of Waldemar Winkler Viedogrophy, was kind enough to photograph some of my workshop, I particularly like the plate sequence below, thanks Wink!

NAU Anagama highlights

2009-05-24T23:33:00.003-06:00

The large Anagama kiln at NAU was unloaded more then a month ago and I am really starting to appreciate the results. It usually takes me a while to get over my expectations and to really view the pieces more objectively. Here are a few images of my favorites as arranged by my new friend Timothy Hsu. Mr. Hsu is into tea about as much as I am into clay, he documents his tea experiences on a beautiful blog: The Mandarin's Tea

NCECA Onggi

2009-05-08T21:30:00.002-06:00

After shutting down the NAU anagama at 2 AM and sleeping for 3 hours it was off to Phoenix for NCECA. An amazing Korean Onggi potter, Mr. Heo Jin-Gyu, was one of the demonstrators at this years conference. After an introduction and conversation in Konglish (Korean/English mix) we decided it would be helpful for me to be his technical translator. It was a great opportunity for me to talk to a large crowd about Onggi as well as answer questions from the folks watching the demo. This was also a great opportunity to spread the word about the upcoming tour I will host to Korea in October. It was quite an honor to assist such a skilled potter. Though most who saw the demo wouldn't know it, Mr. Heo later said that the clay he was using was literally "the worst clay" he had ever worked with, yet he was able to make five beautiful (and extremely large) pieces, each taking about an hour to create.

Long time no Blog...

2009-04-22T08:14:00.005-06:00

Since the last post I have been keeping busy. Somehow I thought it would be a good idea to squeeze an Anagama firing into the whole NCECA Pre-conference and conference experience. The firing took place during the NCECA pre-conference at Northern Arizona University, in their larger Anagama (about 30'), the crew consisted of some long-time friends from the USU grad program, Trevor Dunn & Robin DuPont, as well as some new friends Cole Taylor (Durango) and Steve Schaffaer (Studio tech @ NAU), some of the NAU students also pitched in too. While it was great fun, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't try it again.
Between stoking and splitting wood we were able to sneak away to the studio to check out the Pre-conference demonstrations by; Don Reitz, Eva Kwong, Christa Assad, Brad Schwieger and Russell Wrankle. The Artstream Nomadic Gallery was also there and set up shop right next to the kiln whed where we were firing. This all made for a bit more entertainment/distraction then your usual woodfiring.

My studio full of greenware bound for the NAU Anagama

Nice rock formation between Durango and Flagstaff, this one's for you Tony Clennell

Loading the Anagama

The Crew (far to near) Steve Schaffaer, Cole Taylor, Robin DuPont and Trevor Dunn

My Website

2009-04-02T02:51:00.002-06:00

As I type it is 10 minutes till 3 AM, my ride to Flagstaff for the NCECA pre-conference (6 hour drive from here) will be here in 2 hours. Up early, you may wornder?? Unfortunately not, up LATE. It's all for good reason. I just finished the latest version of my website, in time for NCECA where I will be spreading the word about the upcoming Korea pottery tour. And that is why I had to get the site up and running with all the new info.

I would love to hear any feedback on the site; does it navigate easily, does it read clearly. I'm not looking for a pat on the back, I just want to know from an outside source if the thing is user friendly or not.

You can use the link for my website on this page (just down and to the right of this text box under my slideshow, under links) or if you feel like typing or copy/pasting then here goes:

http://www.adamfieldpottery.com

Thanks!

Full Plate

2009-04-01T00:52:00.002-06:00

Wow, things are getting a bit crazy around here. Between preparing for an Anagama firing at NAU during the NCECA pre-conference, the arrival of my mother-in-law from Korea, putting final touches on the details of the upcoming tour I will host to Korea, redesigning my website, and being a father of a 4 year old, I've been super busy lately and the blog has suffered a bit, but plenty to come from Flagstaff (this and next week), Phoenix for NCECA and all the details of the Korea tour coming soon.

Also, I'm happy to report that the new clay body I used on this round of Onggi pots seems to have made it through the bisque with only one cracked piece!!

Power Ranger diving platforms

2009-03-21T22:48:00.003-06:00

It's been a bit since my last post, I've been busy making work (and drying a lot of clay) for the upcoming firing. Also made it up to Fort Lewis College here in town to demonstrate Onggi to the beginning pottery class, my first Onggi demo to an English speaking group. Thank you FLC!

It's always interesting when customers share a different, unintended, use for my work, thats why I was inclined to shoot a picture of my son's latest discovery. It turns out my pots make a perfect diving platform for mini Power Rangers, I'll have to add that one to the list.

Studio weather

2009-03-13T23:42:00.003-06:00

"Studio weather" has returned, with spring-like weather for the last few weeks it was easy to start venturing out of the studio a bit more, that all changed today as the clouds moved in and the snow began to fly, perfect for firing up the studio heater turning on a fresh TAL or Radio Lab podcast and getting to work. I've been focusing on a few different surface treatments as a departure from the strict traditional Onggi jars and am getting excited about this round of pots. The jar in the images below has a twine impression on the top section and I scratched in the lines on the bottom to be inlayed with porcelain slip.

Some new pots

2009-03-09T23:20:00.006-06:00

Here are a few pots from the latest firing, not the best photos, but you get the idea. I always enjoy getting a bunch of cups of varied size and design in the kiln especially in an anagama, they're like test tiles and it seems I always gain loads of knowledge about what is happening in different spots of the kiln.

I really like how the porcelain inlay mixes in with what's happening on the surface of the glaze, much more of this in the future!

Above, 2 views of the same cup. I added a very subtle twine texture to the bottom section of this cup, i think the surface may be one of my favorites from this firing, just a hint of pattern, not overboard.

It was nice to get a few Onggi pots in the main firebox, interesting to see those forms with so much ash.

As is usually the case I am not completely happy with the results of the firing, I learned a lot and am excited to put what I learned to use in the next firing just 3 SHORT WEEKS AWAY!! :/

Momentum

2009-03-07T22:54:00.001-07:00

With the cracking trouble of my last round of Onggi style pots I've been a bit slow to get going on the next round. It took a bit of research before coming up with a clay body I could feel good about putting a bunch of energy into. It's a body that Voulkos was using till his last days and I've been assured that it is up for the challenge. Thanks to Mike Haney of East Bay Clay for making amazing clay and for being such a knowledge base when it comes to clay bodies.

It seems that every time I start to gear up for a new round of pots it takes a few days to really get excited about and locked into my making mode. I'm happy to report that it finally kicked in today! I've been making some traditional Onggi forms and adjusting them to suit my purposes:

The form below, from south western Korea, is traditionally used for storing and pickling shrimp and has a nifty built-in feature, the rim that overhangs into the pot is used as a ledge for placing a stick of just the right size that acts as a temporary handle for hauling the pot. Since I don't think there is much use for a shrimp pot in these parts I decided to scale it down and add a little inlay porcelain decoration, I'm thinking it should be nice with some flowers in it once it's fired.

The following image is of an Onggi lid, the nice thing about an Onggi lid is that it generally doubles as a large bowl for hauling the goods from the jar it has been covering. I decided to make some lids to be used as shallow bowls/platters, the decoration in the middle is something my teacher would do to distinguish one size lid from the others.

Also, I was having a bit of trouble with some of my larger Onggi forms so I invited a few of my friends over to give me a hand (images below).

Korean Onggi Tour...

2009-03-04T19:01:00.000-07:00

With the woodfiring finished up on Sunday I've had a chance to shift my focus toward some plans for later this year. I've been talking with some of the people I met during my time in South Korea about organizing a tour for American claypeople to see traditional Onggi techniques and studios in person. For those of you not familiar, Onggi is a type of Korean pottery created by a coil and/or slab and paddle forming method used to create very large pots in a relatively short amount of time. In October of this year the town of Ulsan is putting on an Expo that highlights Onggi. On our tour I plan to visit the Ulsan expo as well as many studios of well known Korean National Treasure potters including Ohbuza Onggi where I studied with Kim Il Maan, not to mention the amazing food, sights and people we will meet along the way! On the 15 day tour we will see a good part of the county and get a good idea of the range of techniques used in the different regions. This is the first public mention I've made of this tour, as it comes together I will be sure to post more info here on the blog.

Anagama firing in the land of enchantment, NM

2009-02-27T06:55:00.000-07:00

The firing this weekend will take place at my friend Trevor Dunn's anagama located just over the New Mexico border about 40 minutes south of Durango. Trevor has been kind enough to allow some of us to fire in his kiln while he is away studying in the graduate program at USU in Logan, UT. We spent the last few days transporting, glazing and loading pots. It has been about three years since I've had a chance to fire my own pots in an anagama and I'm really looking forward to the whole experience.

Say no to crack[ed pots]

2009-02-25T23:18:00.000-07:00

The frowning crack on the pot below says it all. Of the 4 large Onggi style pots I bisque fired (with about a 20 hour candle) exactly 4 of the pots cracked. Between the clay body, speed of drying, application of slip, and coil joining technique, I feel that I can make some changes to fix this problem in the future. If anyone has any advice on a clay recipe that may be up for the rigors of the onggi technique, I'm all ears. Fortunately I have plenty of other pots to fire in the wood kiln this weekend. Went down to the kiln and glazed some pots today and plan to load tomorrow.

A big thanks to my local oak ash supplier, they make the cleanest oak ash this side of the Rio Grande, not to mention a damn good chunk of BBQ'd meat. With the help of the good folks down at Serious Texas BBQ I was able to mix up some ash glaze for the firing this weekend.

Also, a problem of growing concern, someone has gotten their little hands on my camera recently and has been taking some pretty cute self-portraits. I'm on to you mister!

Pots and...

2009-02-21T16:05:00.000-07:00

Well, as promised, here are a few pictures from the studio of work I've been making lately. I mentioned a few posts back how impressed I've been with the great clay community here in Durango, not only have I gotten plenty of help setting up the studio and with moving larger pots, but they've opened their kiln doors to me as well. Just two months after moving in and I've already fired in my neighbors soda kiln and am now making work for an anagama firing this weekend. The pieces in the images below are of the pots made for the upcoming firing.

The pots below are a traditional Onggi form with a treatment on the rim that I've used quite a bit in the past, I'm pretty happy with the combination.

I mixed up some porcelain slip for a "Sang-gam" technique, known in Japan as "Mishima", and tried out some traditional stamp patterns I picked up in Korea as well as one that I made by cutting off the head of a drywall screw and rolling it on the clay (crosshatch pattern).

Mixed up some stoneware slip to build up some texture on some cups.

These last two images have nothing to do with pottery, but I thought they were interesting, the first is of some kind of wild berries that caught my eye on a recent hike with my son, love the way they jumped out of their surroundings.

The last image is my son's breakfast sandwich this morning, my wife likes to get creative with food and presentation and I thought this one was top notch.

Four hands are better than two

2009-02-20T09:42:00.000-07:00

After a few weeks of making Onggi pots in the new studio it has become obvious that I will need to do some serious planning in the future when it comes to moving these big pots around. As you can see in the video post (below) most of the steps for drying and glazing these pots take two people. Fortunately Durango has a generous community of potters and all-around good folks so I've managed to get by for this first round of pots. A BIG thanks to all of you who have helped out: Tyler, Cole, Joe, Dave & Sage.

Replay

2009-02-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

This is a video that some of you have seen already, I originally posted it on youtube a few months back and thought it was worth another post here on my blog. The time-lapse covers about 2 hours of work.

Back to it

2009-02-14T23:55:00.000-07:00

It's been about four months since I made the last pot of my apprenticeship in Ipo-ri, Korea, in that time we've moved to Durango, CO and have been busy setting up home and studio.

While I was able to start making pots on the electric wheel shortly after we moved in, it took a bit longer to get my traditional Korean Onggi kick-wheel set up. The wheel itself is quite simple, just an oversized banding wheel really. In korea the Onggi wheel is traditionally placed in a shallow clay pit (see image below) with the wheel head about level with the floor making it easy to move/access the very large Onggi jars. Unfortunately our new studio didn't have a clay floor, so I had to design and build a bench around the wheel.

I finished the bench early last week and was able to start on some traditional forms.

Despite my fears, I hadn't completely lost all I had learned in Korea. After the third pot I was able to work out most of the kinks and was feeling much better about the forms.

It feels strange to be making theses forms in such a foreign setting back here in the states, I honestly feel like my teacher is standing right next to me watching every move. Although I intend to break away from the traditional forms, I somehow feel a responsibility to make them to the right size and shape at this point, can't quite break the training yet. My first step in breaking tradition will be in the firing of these pots, I plan to fire them in an anagama, I'll be sure to post some photos after the firing.