Kevin Crowe's Community of Fire

Joy Bridy Current Gallery & Pots For Sale

May 2008, Kevin Crowe invited a group of potters, from well-seasoned to eagerly emerging, to fire his three chamber noborigama wood kiln together. The event was deeply successful, from the firing itself and the pots that resulted, to the conversations and ideas shared and stirred up around the stoking pit and the dining table. Most folks sent or delivered pots to his studio, where he enlisted his graduating apprentice and his new apprentice in loading, all chambers simultaneously, for well over a week. Once loaded, Kevin preheated the kiln for a few days by firing with wood, slow and steady, during the days while cleaning and preparing for the true tidal wave of people to descend for the weekend.

Kevin, Robert Compton, Stephen Driver, Judith Duff, Vicki Hansen, Mark Hewitt and Jack Troy were the solid band of stokers..... we descended one by one, like crows, with heightened attentions and plenty of energy to dig in to the work of firing and building community. Throughout the weekend, we took stoking, cooking and cleaning shifts, and took time out to enjoy the southern Virginia surroundings, from swimming in the Tye River to picking strawberries. The younger band took to camping up the road in a neighbor's field, where I was visited by bobcat and deer during my first night. Tea time was a daily event, deepening the scattered conversations of the day, with one highlight being the facilitated discussion about which form we would each make if we could only make one form for the rest of our lives.

While the kiln cooled, we each went our own directions, and the city never looked fresher. With spring's fresh air, and the katalpa tree blooming outside of my window, I spent time each day reflecting on themes of conversations, and wandering the city in tourist-style, aimless, with my eyes open. On the day of unloading, those of us who were able recommenced to take down bricks, scrape shelves, and celebrate and discuss the results of a wonderful firing. What clay body was that? How did you know to load that piece right there? Can I use that glaze recipe? How does this differ from the results you get in your kiln? I thought of you last week when I was remembering.....