Quick update on the recent goings on here in North Carolina.

I’m in a bit of shock at how cold it is getting at night already. Luckily the days are beautiful and make for great studio days.
Last week I attended a glaze class at Penland School of Craft. Jeff Zamek was the instructor. It was an outstanding class. It has been my experience for workshops to be transformative, but I confess I was skeptical of this class. It turned out to be a tremendous experience. I feel like I have really jumped up a level in understanding glazes, chemicals, firings and “Why!” So much of what I have always done in the studio has been because I was shown that way or told this way. I feel like I was missing comprehension of “why” I was doing things. Therefore I have been lacking in the know how to fix my own problems as well as personalize my glazes and firings. This class clarified and demystified so much of this information for me.
Jeff is a tremendous teacher. He really made the information accessible and coherent. The class seemed challenging to me as it contained every level of clay worker from the absolute beginner to advanced working potters. I feel Jeff was able to reach everyone and ensure everybody walked away with a big jump in knowledge. As I haven’t had the advantage of a formal glaze calculation class, I believe this past week has set me on a good forward course and given me a good education. I can not recommend highly enough taking a class from Jeff should the opportunity arise. The class was a big success and it is expected he will be back at Penland in the near future.