Using her husband’s special glaze on her pottery, Debra Morrow prepares her work for the upcoming event. (Photo by Libbi Crowe | SSRN)
Potters from all over the nation will come to Santa Rosa County for The Gulf Coast Kiln Walk Society, Inc. 2016 Woodstoke Pottery and Kiln Firing on Saturday, Feb. 6. The highlight will be opening two historical wood-fueled kilns unveiling creations by many different potters. This will be at Holley Hill Pottery, on the corner of Highway 87 and Buckeye Drive in Holley, FL, (7 miles north of Navarre).
The event starts at 9 and continues until 3. This festival coincides with the conclusion of this year’s 4th Biennial Gulf Coast Clay Conference and Festival and is open to the public. Attendees may assist with the unloading if they wish. Potters will be exhibiting and selling their artwork, including Tom and Elaine Coleman. The Colemans are internationally known masters in ceramics. On Wednesday, February 3, the Colemans will present a slideshow about pottery techniques and history at Pensacola State College, and that, too is open to the public.
A Seafood Gumbo and casserole cook-off will be a part of this year’s festivities. Prizes will be awarded for the best gumbos, seafood casseroles and cornbread. Sample the seafood and receive a bowl for only $10.00. Chili will also be served by the SRACF for a donation.
The loading started January 9, as soon as the rain and lightning let up. Students and artists from Fairhope Arts Center began glazing, carving and marking their pots, to be fired in the smallest wood fire kiln, the Ralph H. Phillips Kiln.
Maria Spies, a teacher at the Easter Shore Arts Center in Fairhope, Alabama, came to Holley to participate in the firing, and were all looking forward to the 4th Biennial Gulf Coast Clay Conference at the Gulf Coast Kiln Walk Society. All her students, including ones from Mobile, Fairhope, and Gulf Shores, had something to put in at least one of the wood fired kilns for this festival, she said.
David and Debra Morrow, potters from Mobile, came all the way to Holley to participate. The Morrows have been doing ceramics full time for three years. David developed his own glazes, and has special ones for this firing. The wood smoke and ash react with the chemicals in the glaze in a different way from electric or gas heated kilns do, and his glazes take advantage of that.
“This is our third time using this wood fired kiln and we love the pieces that come out,” Debra said.
Allison Teague, an art student at Navarre High School was making the “wads” for the pottery to sit on. These are small balls of clay that will hold the pottery off the surface, allowing the bottom access to the heat as well. Allison said, “I’m really excited to do this wood firing technique after reading so much about it. It is so different from the kilns at school. And there are so many cool pots here.”
This was just the first weekend of glazing, carving and firing leading up to the Fourth Biennial Gulf Coast Clay Conference, February 3, 4, 5, and 6. The featured presenter will be Tom and Elaine Coleman, nationally recognized ceramicists. Some of their work is in the Smithsonian; others in museums around the world.
David Morrow of Mobile, Ala. and Maria Spies, who teaches at the Fairhope Arts Center (in Fairhope, Ala.), glaze pots in preparation for the kiln. (Photo by Libbi Crowe | SSRN)
The first three days of the conference will be held at Pensacola State College in the Visual Arts Building, with lectures, workshops and slide shows. The culmination of the event is the kiln opening at Holley Hill/Navarre. Elaine Coleman will be conducting a hands-on workshop on her carving techniques Friday of the conference. Potters who participate will bring a leather-hard pieces on which to carve, and learn from her.
Jason Stokes, part owner of the Holley Hill Pottery, said that Tom and Eline Coleman’s workshop and lectures are always wonderful.
“He makes it another form of art, just in firing up the furnaces,” Jason said. “The wood, the heat, the control, it makes it easy to understand why it takes a lifetime to become a master at this.” He said Coleman also makes his own clay for porcelain that makes his works so collectible. “Porcelain clay is very hard to work with, but he has found a way to make it easier. It’s very finely grained, and produces beautiful pieces.”
More than a dozen professional and student artists will have pieces for sale at the kiln opening, Brenda Stokes said, and although the Alabama Clay Festival is the same weekend in Gadsden, the uniqueness of the Gulf Kiln Walk’s Anagama kiln should still draw folks from far and wide.
