Brandon “Fuzzy” Schwartz

Dick Lehman Open House

I had another chance early in December to go visit Dick Lehman and study his fine pottery. As an added bonus, he also had his basement open for browsing which was full of his early work and work from many other great potters that he has collected over the years.

lehman sale

I got to talk with him about his work for a while and asked him all kinds of questions. It’s been a while since the conversation took place but I’ll type out some of the details I remember and post some of my favorite photos. So take everything I say with a grain of salt since my memory is far from flawless.

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Clay Class with Mr. Schwartz

West Noble Primary is slowly becoming a community of clay artists.

Okay, maybe not, but we have finished our first Clay Camp! I came up with the idea a few months ago to offer an introductory clay class for interested staff members. There was plenty of interest so I started to put together a schedule, type out a “curriculum” and gather materials.

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Merry Christmas!

tree ornament

And Happy New Year!

Let the Shopping Begin?

Just a reminder as the holiday shopping kicks into high gear:

Come on over if you are interested in purchasing something that you’ve seen on my site.

5 Reasons to Keep Making Pottery

Not that I need any more reasons to make more pots!Â Anyway, here are 5 reasons that I continue to press on. I’ve made a lot of bad pots but I feel like these recent pots give me some new direction and inspiration for my future work.

Dripping (C)up

Do you see what I did there? The ‘C’ is optional so it can be read “dripping cup” or “dripping up.” Get it?

Technical Info: Fired to ^6 in oxidation, Warm Brown Stoneware. Glazes: Licorice inside, Jen’s Juicy Fruit and Waterfall Brown outside.

Inspired by: Justin Rothshank’s seconds shelf dripping mug and a discussion with Dick Lehman about firing lids on teapots.

Why I like it: Fairly unique?, interesting color patterns, the glaze becomes part of the structure. I like how a little bit of bare clay shows through near the rim even though that was probably an accident.

Where to go next: I’ll continue to fire things upside down. And explore “glaze as structure” instead of just a surface decoration. I think that I could get some longer glaze drips if I get the right firing program set up. I’ll also look into different shapes and textures to see how that affects the glaze drips. I just made a pinch pot with some grooves and stamps just for this purpose. This is actually my third or fourth attempt at this. I have one that is in The Cup: An Interpreted Object. It was my first attempt at firing something upside down and I had some blistering glaze issues which actually look pretty cool. I only finished one before the entries were due or I would have entered this one, above. [Read more…]