Art by Fuzzy

Pottery, Photography, Design - Brandon "Fuzzy" Schwartz

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Handle With Care Workshop: Eric Botbyl, Matt Schiemann, Todd Pletcher

This past summer I had the opportunity to attend the Handle with Care Workshop featuring three top notch potters. It took place just down the road in Goshen on June 24th and 25th. Though it happened 6 months ago, I still recall many of the tips, techniques and conversations from this workshop.

Handle With Care Workshop

Featured Potters

Todd Pletcher

Todd Pletcher

Todd was the host and did a fantastic job pulling off this great experience. Unfortunately for the Michiana pottery community, it was also like a big going away party because Todd and his family moved to the other side of the world soon after it was over. The most noticeable thing about Todd’s work is probably his wavy rims. He showed us how he created those rims and some of his different handle styles, among other things.

Eric Botbyl

Eric Botbyl

Eric runs the Companion Gallery and makes his own pottery in Humboldt, Tennessee. He is known for his ‘scragglers’ which are highly altered, textured wheel thrown pieces. It was great watching him use simple tools to make such complex surfaces.

Matt Schiemann

Matt Schiemann

Matt made the trip from St. Petersburg, Florida to help fire the train kiln and demonstrate his making techniques. Matt is a second generation potter making functional, mostly wood fired work. He also helps run the Morean Center for Clay.

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Pottery Weekend

Apparently I took a couple months off from the blog. But now I should have enough content ideas to keep me posting regularly for a while. You can also see my latest activities on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Anyway, on with the post!

What would your dream weekend look like? A while (months!) ago I experienced something that was pretty darn close for a serious hobbyist potter (like myself at this point). To any full time potter it was probably just another day at the office but for me it was something that I look forward to in the future if I ever go “full time” clay.

Rothshank Woodfire with Troy and Moey

On Friday (May 2nd) after school I stopped at the Rothshank wood kiln and found Troy Bungart and Moey Hart on duty. They were trying to get the back chamber temperature up. I sat and chatted with them for a few hours.

Troy and Moe stoking the kiln

Troy and Moe stoking the kiln

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Goertzen Wood Kiln: September 2013

I had an incredible opportunity during September. I was invited to be a part of a wood firing at Mark Goertzen’s kiln in Constantine, MI. Here’s a video I put together:

I got a FB message from Dick Lehman on September 7th asking if I could make it up for the loading that day. I didn’t have any major plans so I grabbed a cup and bowl (left over from my surface class at the Guild 2 summers ago). They were bisque fired but unglazed. I jumped in my car and was on my way.

Dante, Mark Goertzen's Anagama Kiln

Dante, Mark Goertzen’s Anagama Kiln

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Michiana Pottery Tour 2013

It was another pottery weekend on the 28th and 29th of September. I spent a good chunk of Saturday and most of Sunday touring Michiana, gazing at pots, and rubbing elbows with some of the finest potters in all of Michigan and Indiana.

Trail of Pots

Trail of Pots

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Goshen Pottery Workshop, The First

There are some great benefits to living in the Goshen area. On Saturday I experienced another shining example of this at the first installment of the Goshen Pottery Workshop Series. I’ll admit, it was my first pottery workshop so I have nothing to compare it to but the surface class I took last summer… but it was amazing. Not only did I get to spend half a day with some of Goshen’s finest potters, I got to experience 3 hours of the best demonstrations that money can buy. And it all happened practically in my backyard.

The Goods

The Goods

So the following is my account of this tremendous time. Disclaimer alert: this is mostly from memory so there may be a few things that I don’t remember quite right, or things that I don’t remember at all!

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