John Britt Workshop
By golly, John Britt sure knows a lot about glazing - he can make your head spin. Twenty potters spent a lovely weekend soaking up glazing knowledge from John. Toward the end of Sunday afternoon, we talked him into doing a throwing demo too. Participants got a 150 page booklet - with all the latest information about glaze chemistry and glaze recipes. Many expressions of gratitude go to the "team" who did the amazing job of glazing and firing hundreds of test tiles – so we could observe how small changes in the glaze chemistry causes variations to the finished glazes. Sally Hayes, Noah Carlton, Tim Moran, and Dotty and Jim Talley - and probably lots of other people at the Rockingham Community College studio - spent endless hours doing prep work for this workshop. Thank you!
John also brought some really lovely pieces of pottery that he sold at the workshop - lucky us! One point of interest for me… John throws pieces very carefully - perfectly round and symmetrical - but his finished pieces had that carefree, easy-going look about them (as if he didn't care that they were not round). He confessed that he does throw carefully - then goes back and pulls and squashes the piece, slightly mutilating the pot - putting 'character' into them. And they looked great. Of course the glazes he uses in his 'personal palate' were spectacular.
More About John Britt
His new book: Complete Guide to High Fire Glazes, Glazing and Firing at Cone 10, published recently by Lark Publications. John has written several articles for Ceramics Monthly, including two on Oil Spot Glazes. He travels around the country teaching workshops on glaze chemistry, glazing techniques, throwing and altering. He lives in Asheville, NC and currently serves as the Clay Coordinator for Penland School of Crafts.