Cliff Glover Pottery
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Pots Puts Into Service at Harbor House

7/30/2022

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I lover this series of images taken by https://www.instagram.com/mattmorrisfilms/ 
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A Level Patio … Finally!

7/30/2022

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Our Buddy, Danny Griffin, master of all trades, battled an unusual barrage of mosquitos while installing a new patio in the inner garden. The ordeal of finding level ground for both table and chairs is now over.  Thank you Danny!

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Making Lids, Galleries, and Handles For My New Kyushus

4/25/2020

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The above textured kyushus on the left required a lot more fussing than the ones on the right which are assembled from parts which don't need any alteration.

When texturing a pot's wall, one invariably adds a number of steps to realize the desired outcome: 

The first video shows how I add a gallery to the teapot's body after carving away some clay with a cheese cutting. When a make a teapot body, I generally "split the rim" in half to create a gallery, but in this case it's easier to just add a gallery for the lid to rest in.

The second video shows how I form the lid prior to the final trimming to give shape to the knob. Usually I'll make a few extras lids just in case I haven't measured correctly with the calipers.

The last video shows how I add texture to a thrown handle by wacking it with the sharp edge of a piece of wood. 

Of course there are many other steps to making these teapots, such as trimming and cutting the "foot," drilling out drainage holes, and adding a spout which, as I mentioned in my previous post, can be a disaster if you don't get it right. 

These guys have really taken up a lot of studio time and as a production potter I'm not used to slowing down so much. But I know from past experience that in order to push the creative cart forward, you have to continue to learn new skills and expand your vocabulary of possibilities.

Since I'm now intrigued with revealing the beauty of clay itself—how without glaze one's appreciation for the raw material might bring a totally different experience—it is worth the time and effort to explore new ways of adding interest to the surface. Over the course of making and remaking these kyusus, I am beginning to refine my approach and look forward to applying them to other forms. 



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If It Doesn't Work The First Time …

4/3/2020

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I was ecstatic when I pulled the 15 kysusu out of the kiln. Having spent a good week making them, as well as remaking all the lids, I was pretty stoked when they emerged unscathed and nicely reduced after a 12-hour firing.

Before Mathew Kammerer, head chef at the Harbor House Inn, came to pick them up, I had lined up the kyusus in three tight rows, as if they were ready to do battle pouring tea at his Michelin star restaurant. I was proud and excited to have created something new, something that had its roots in a month-long residency at La Meridiana in Italy, now manifesting in a new line of work.

While Mathew was on his way to the studio, I though it would be prudent to test they way they poured. I am generally proud of my teapots, and often insist that my customers try them out before buying, so I took one aside and filled it to the brim with water and gave it a go.

It didn't go as I expected. One would have had more luck directing Niagara Falls into a horse trough than they could stopping any liquid from dripping all over my table top, and no amount of technique was going to fix it. This wasn't the first disappointed I've every had after firing some pots, and it won't be the last. But there's never been a time when I was so convinced that everything was perfect, only to discover that all the pots would have to be made over again.

When Mathew finally arrived and tried the kyusus himself, he was humorously empathic. "I'm happy for you Cliff," he offered. "Success is always sweeter when it doesn't come easy. It happens to me all the time."

We had a good laugh at that, and determined I got back to work on a different style spout, this one shaped like a tear drop.  After four tries, the last one passed the test.
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Before testing the kudus, I was convinced that they would pass the pouring test.
I made four kyushu after the other ones failed, and the last one passed the test.
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Working on some new Chawan for Upcoming Wood Firing

2/6/2020

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A few new recently completed Chawans destined for the Aum Anagama, right up the ridge from where I live in Albion, CA. The firing will take place over a ten day period, each participant volunteering to stoke the flames durng four 6-hours shifts.
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Newly annointed Michelln chef, Mathew Kammerer, of the Harbor House Inn in Elk, CA, samples a new bottle of saké from San Francisco's Just Saké, while trying his own hand at making a few Chawans.
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December 26th, 2019

12/26/2019

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Over the past couple of years I've been fortunate to collaborate with chef Mathew Krammerer at the Harbor House Inn to create some unique pottery for his guests to enjoy. Pictured above are small, side-pouring teapots called Kyushu(s), which are destined for the dining room. Matt gives all the artists he works with free reign to do what they do best, but he was insistent that the textured surface of these teapots remain unglazed. To this I willingly agreed, recognizing as Matt did that an unglazed surface would compliment, rather than contrast, the unmatched beauty of the Mendocino coast which the Inn seeks to underscore.
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Short Video of Immersion in Tea Workshop

4/11/2019

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Immersion in Tea workshop at the Santa Cruz Mountains Art Center

4/1/2019

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For our Immersion in Tea Workshop, Carl Christenson assembled his portable tea house so that participants could have the full experience of Chado—the way of tea—before going on to make their own tea bowls. It was a beautiful weekend, with the sound of the nearby river adding its own ambiance to the overall serenity.
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"Tea & Silk" reception: July 6th, 5pm, Northcoast Artists Gallery

7/4/2018

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Please come and join Marion and I for the opening reception of our joint show, "Tea and Silk," this First Friday, July 6th at Northcoast Artists Gallery, Fort Bragg, CA. There will be wine, aperitifs, and music along with a large display of new ceramics and silk eco prints.

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Scrambling to Get Ready for Next Week's Show at Northcoast Artist Gallery

6/27/2018

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Greenware ready to trim.
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Assembling one of the many
teapots which I've made for the show.
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One tea set ready for the bisque.
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Teapots all waxed and waiting their turn to be glazed.
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