Niklas Preukschat - September

After having spent Augusts’ splendid bank holiday hiking through Devon, September showed up at the pottery saying ‘Hello’ and decided to stay with us for a while. The first few days with it were very nice and quiet. There was a little bit of clay mixing here, some chutney making there and then the people from our firing course came back for saying ‘Hello’ and – of course – the opening of the kiln! The expectations were flying high after all those pretty things that came out of Sabines’ firing and they said, “Let there be light in the kiln”; and the kiln opened up and there was light. Then they said, “Let there be only most beautiful pots and no single photo be taken by the apprentice”; and most beautiful pots came out, none of them captured on the apprentices camera and they saw it was good. Then it was time for everybody to cut their own path and to say ‘Good bye’ - not so for September, which decided to stay longer. But here, at the pottery, everybody has to bring in their share wherefore we elaborated a working plan for September and for October and November as well which already announced to call in later that year.

The schedule is as follows:

• An online exhibition of Nic, Sabine and me in mid-November with three firings needed before. One for Nic, one for Sabine and one for – tada - ME! Yes! My own firing! All those will happen around the end of October/ first week of November
• Until then: Wood! Where is wood!? We have to get more, split more, stack more, can’t get enough. 
• Pots. Loads of them for myself and slab work for Nic
• Kiln improvements and decorating and glazing and all these bits’n’bobs around

At first we got some wood split. Then a local farmer offered us his stack of hedge wood, which we still pick up in bits in-between. At that time I was thinking of my upcoming firing. Because we’re a bit low on wood I want to use oil for getting it kicked off and I want to throw ash in later. But what sort of ash? Bracken! Of course! It’s growing everywhere on the moor in vast amounts and encourages, according to Nic, Chun blue… Burning it was a pain in the ar… the lungs but in view of the amount definitely worth it! 

wod, our holyness

bracken-camouflage

EXPOSED!

For a while now Nic has had this crazy idea of firing a few big dishes upright in his head. The idea in his head, dishes in the kiln. Why not doing it in the next firing? Yes! The three forms of timber and sand and bricks were built in no-time and not long after, three pretty triplets where born into them. And with bringing some 100 pounds each on the scale I can’t say it was a very gentle delivery. My wrists are still feeling pretty f***** after all that kneading and beating.
 

May I introduce? Tick, Trick (back left and right) and Track

Right, Septembers stay is coming towards the end... I wonder whether that’s why it cheered up over the last days?

Anyway, I’ll see you next year!

bye, bye

Hello, October!