In this guest post, 2019 Residency Session Co-Organizer Chanda Glendinning shares plans and ideas for the second session of the summer (June 16-28) focused on low-fire work. There is room for any artist interested in the session to join. Register now to reserve your spot or apply for a scholarship or work-exchange. Registrations are accepted on a rolling basis. Applications for financial support are due February 15.
Amanda Dobbratz
Well, hello, all of you bright, shiny, lovely people! Chanda here – I can’t tell you how happy I am to be returning to Watershed this summer, and joining forces with my co-host Amanda Dobbratz for Session 2: How Low Can You Go: Low Fire Love. I am so excited to have two whole weeks to immerse myself in the creative magic of Watershed and work and play and collaborate with the wonderful group of artists who are coming together for this session. I am foreseeing an explosion of color and red clay in the studios during our residency.
As I took another look at the images from our invited artists, and peeked into their studios via Instagram to see the freshest work still on their tables, the word “extravaganza” popped into my mind. From the goopy colorful glazes of Chris Drobnock and the narrative drawings of Lynne Hobaica, to the slip cast and decal-ed abundance of Shenny Cruces, the sgraffitto-ed jackrabbits and skulls of Jamie Adams and the subtle layered slips and glazes of Amy Evans to Margaret Haden’s multiple techniques that contrast decal & luster work with hand drawn informal lines, our invited artists are a varied and interesting bunch! I can’t wait to see old friends and make many new ones as we work side by side in the studio together.
Margaret Haden
We encourage all participants to bring some bisque ware. Not that we won’t have our hands deep in fresh clay as soon as we possibly can, but I know from experience how fast two weeks can fly by, and we want everyone to have the opportunity to explore and share and over-indulge in all of the unpredictable delight of salt and soda at low fire temperatures. I’ve had some really interesting results from my kilns at temperatures as low as cone 04 with a variety of surfaces – bare clay, underglaze, slips, glaze. If everything goes according to plan we’re hoping to squeeze three rounds of kilns in, so there will be a bit of room for trial & error, and something for everyone.
Amy Evans
I am anticipating those long lovely studio days – easy banter wafting through the air, collaborative work being passed from one person to the next, gathering around a table for a quick little demo. I see art, and life, and stories shared after dinner as informal slide talks, before heading back down the path for just a few more minutes of studio time. I foresee moonlit walks back to our beds, the crunch of gravel under our feet, and sunlit afternoon dips in Peter’s Pond once the kilns are loaded. I am impatiently counting the days until June, and looking forward to seeing what the synergy of this group will bring forth from our time at the ‘Shed. Let’s experiment together and see just how extravagant and “low” we can go!
Register today to join this dynamic group of artists for some low-fire bonding!