I'm in Star, North Carolina, and this is how it's going.
I'm halfway through my 2-month artist residency at STARworks in North Carolina. The building is an old sock factory, and very, very big—other than the clay studio with several private spaces and gas and wood kilns, it houses a glass blowing hot shop, a metals shop, a clay factory, a ceramics supply shop with two beagles (Nina Simone & Molly Malone), a beautiful gallery, a café, and multiple art installations and event spaces. There is so much art. You crack open big doors, look behind curtains, wander into dark rooms, and keep finding art. It's a special place.
The director of the ceramics department is Takuro Shibata, whose superpower is to give residents carte blanche while being fully present. The interns and staff are delightful. The vibes are good.
We fired the noborigama a couple of weeks ago, under the auspices of the Aurora Borealis—see post by Ryan. It was an easy firing and the results were good, if a little different from my usual. I used glazes, for one, and a few local clays (for which the area is famous and because of which STARworks exists), and that's what art residencies are for. Experiment. Take a detour. Fight a battle.
Firings and residencies continue to show me that it matters to have hard working, sensible, talented people in the studio and around the kiln. The setting makes a difference, and the people make the setting. It's good here in Star, NC.
Also, we saw a comet.
