Kazegama Update

the village potters, asheville, nc, kazegama kiln
VP Karen, welding the frame.

 

It’s often said that great things come about because of a confluence of wonderful small details. When you look back at most major achievements, you can see clearly how so many seemingly insignificant things came together to create the perfect environment for your success. So it is with our own studio growth, for which we are grateful!

That being said, the same is true for the less positive influences on events. Those of you who have been supporting and following our drive to build our Kazegama kiln are no doubt wondering why it hasn’t happened yet, and we wanted to keep you updated.

If you live in the western North Carolina region, or on the East Coast for that matter, you may recall that we had a bit of a storm last Fall. We had already delayed completion of the Kazegama from our original finish date, and early October was to have been the new date for finishing and firing the kiln. The storms came off the coast, and with it came flooding and a real threat of significant flooding from the French Broad River. Those in our area or who have visited know that we are in the floodplain, so we take those threats seriously. We closed for a week in order to remove all vulnerable gallery displays and equipment. With the enormously generous help of family and friends, we packed up everything we could – pots, pedestals, wheels, and more – and moved it up to the second floor of the building. Happily the floods did not come, but we still had to move everything back and attend to a bit of mopping and leak sealing.

You might think that would put us just a week off schedule again, but we were tightly scheduled for our build out and creation of the new Independent Study and Mentoring Program studio, and this delay only meant that work crews scheduled to complete a new kiln shed had to be rescheduled, and ultimately much of that completion work is being done by our fearless leader, George. One little week of rain has had a domino effect of delays that bring us to our current status: George is nearing the completion of the kiln shed, and the electric kilns will soon be in place for our already busy studio filled with IS/M artists.

As soon as that is complete, the Kazegama will be finished and fired! There’s a bit more welding to do, and VP Karen Dubois is ready for that and to lead our first firing. Given past events and our ever-changing weather in the mountains, we hesitate to give a specific date other than SOON. Very SOON!

We greatly appreciate the support of everyone involved in this project, and if you have any questions or concerns about your donation to the Kazegama and your return pottery, please contact us at info ‘at’ thevillagepotters.com and we will be happy to discuss it with you. If you choose not to wait for our first firings, we will be happy to provide you with a piece from our gallery.

Once again, thank you – and stay tuned!!