Barley Hollow Pottery
A Tale of the Process of Making Pots...
Welcome to the web site of Barley Hollow Pottery. This is a my attempt to keep track of the process of learning to make pleasing things out of clay. It's a place to keep notes and show friends what I'm working on and what I've thrown.
Barley Hollow is located deep in the mountains of eastern North Carolina, along a bubbling stream that's home to fat, happy rainbow and brook trout, and occasionally rises high enough to make for nice kayaking. The forests around the studio are sweet with the scent of cedar and pine, and thick with oak and locust to shade the path to the studio and kiln. There's usually a gray cat on the porch, too. That's Barley. The nearest road's paving ran out a mile or so before that last curve. It's a quite place. If you hold your head at just the right angle and look out of the corner of your eye, you might see it. It might even be closer than you think. Barley Hollow is where the pottery comes from
Barley Hollow Gallery | Double Diamond Studio Gallery
7/08/2008
Summer Herbs and Mortar & Pestles
It's summer and the herb garden is productive. I had a great cilantro crop, which finally went to seed, so now I have a large quantity of sun-dried corriander in seed form. So, to make a mortar and pestle set seems like a good idea. These items have a long and varied history, and have served in our kitchens for thousands of years.
For my first try, I threw a stout little bowl, about 3" interior diameter, and about 2" deep. For the pestle, I used some bat scrapings and fashioned a piece that looked proportional to the mortar, and felt good in the hand. I then drilled out a 5/32" hole in the center to allow it to fully dry before firing. I'll post an image of the final set. In the mean time, check out this page with lots of examples from different parts of the world. www.fantes.com/mortar-pestle.html. It looks like wooden pestles are fairly common, too.
6/12/2008
New Gallery Pages Online...
In the wake of recent kiln firings, we've got a lot of new pieces. I've posted photos from the studio, which I'll try to keep up to date. And I've added a Barley Hollow Gallery, which I plan to use as a catalog for all my work. I'm using a homemade light box and the images don't show scale in most cases. If you have suggestions for either set of photos, drop me a note. More cool stuff is drying out in the studio right now. Check back for updates.
5/12/2008
Aerodynamics of throwing bats...
This evening at the studio, we had occasion to test the flight characteristics of a plastic 14" throwing bat. As expected the bat was highly over-stable, taking a strong fade rather early, and rolling fairly well after touching down. The bat traveled about 150'. I used a modified power grip and was a bit tentative with it, due to the ribbing on the bottom. Overall, though, it flew farther than I expected. Perhaps we can compare this to a masonite bat...
5/10/2008
More pottery on the way...
Last Monday, we spent the evening glazing at the studio. I stopped counting when I hit 40 pieces, so it should be an interesting colletion. This time, there were lots of bowls and a few mugs. I also had a few plates, which I don't do very often. I'll posted photos as soon as possible.
UPDATE: Photos coming soon. I'm a bit behind with preparations for the King's Cup III.
King's Cup III cups
This coming weekend is the 3rd annual King's Cup disc golf tournament. In addition to the traditional trophies to be awarded, we're giving out hand-thrown "King's Cups" to the first place winners. These have the event and place written on the bottoms. They're glazed with a base of Autumn Mist, and rimmed with crystal blue-green.
2/27/2008 - glaze firing kiln opening
Another sweet kiln opening...
Another glaze firing this week, and the kiln opening was worthy of the anticipation. More photos are on the way, but here's one to get started...
There were some interesting combinations of glazes in this load. My favorite is the Antique Iron/Crystal Blue-Green accent. 
Something happens and a deep blue to deep purple and the occasional metalic gold sheen comes out where the two overlap. Another nice combination is the Autumn Frost/Sage accent. This is similar to the Autumn Frost/Crystal Blue Green, but it's a softer green. Also noteable was the Dynasty/Glossy White, with a really interesting effect where they meet. See the blue and white mug in the lower right corner, one of Melanie's. Very nice.
There was one little piece I was pretty happy to see. This little guy is about an inch and a half tall. The penny is included for scale. This photo shows it larger than life. It is Autumn Frost/Sage glazed.
I'll add more photos from this firing to the gallery shortly.
2/09/2008 - finished piece
Tea Pot Gets a Handle
The teapot handles arrived today. One of them worked. It was a close fit, but it works nicely, standing up on its own, and can be folded down for storage. It's a standard bamboo handle.
We had our first pot of tea using the teapot this evening. It came out very well, holding it's heat quite a while. The balance and pouring was pretty nice, although it does dribble a little. All together, we like the way looks on the table and the way it feels to use it.
Installing the handle was surprisingly simple. I just submerged the ends in boiling water for about 5 seconds, and theend tips became pliable enough to fit through the lugs. Once they cooled, the handle felt nice and solid.
2/09/2008 - installation, new piece
Fence Lanterns
We upgraded a fence in the back yard, and in the process, added a fence. The fence posts begged for something on top. So, I threw a couple lanterns. These were finished off with solar lighting on the top. They were then mounted on the tops of the fence posts. The lanterns themselves are about 6 inches tall, and about 5 inches in diameter.
I cut two different patterns. The one on the left was inspired by traditional Chinese pottery decorations. The second is an organic design that just happened, and has been likened to coral.
2/09/2008 - new piece
Teapot
Since I stopped drinking sodas, I've taken up drinking good tea. Many thanks to Elliot for pointing me in the right direction.
It would follow that I would want to throw a teapot. So, here it is. This was thrown and assembled in a single studio session. I got plenty of good direction and advice from Melanie, Mary Wynne and Mark.
The teapot is about 9" from spout to back and about 6" high. It will have a bamboo bow handle.
The clay is "Speckled Brownstone" from Highwater Clays. The base glaze is Autumn Mist. The top half was glazed over with crystal blue-green. I like this combination, since it makes a nice, creamy, sea-green where they overlap.
This photo is also the first taken in a light tent I'm building to photograph my pottery. It will eventually be portable enough to take into the studio for kiln openings. Right now, it's a bit rough, and I need a better background seemless and a better fabric for diffusing the lights. The image has been color-corrected in Photoshop to visually match the teapot. For more photos from tent, please visit the photo gallery.
2/10/2008 - obsure literary reference
Galactic Pot Healer
Just in case you need a good change in your reading habits, you might like The Galactic Pot Healer, by Philip K. Dick. It's one of his less paranoid sci-fi books, and the protagonist is, you guessed it, a guy who repairs pots - in the future, for an omnipotent being on another planet. It's not superb literature, but it is fun, and a bit odd, ok, a lot odd. And not really about pottery. Enjoy.
Barley Hollow Pottery and this web site are maintained solely for the amusement of Joel Smith and his cat, Barley. Of course, he hopes you like it, too. Joel throws pots at the Double Diamond Pottery studio near Farmville, NC.