Marathon

     Though not an olympian I have had my own marathon of sorts and needless to say the work in the studio has taken precedent over keeping current with the blog so I will be channeling Mo to catch up since so much is happening.

It took much more time than I expected to resource and get in all the clays, glaze materials metallic oxides etc. It became clear that I would need to recreate the highly specialized and specific material and technical concerns of my studio to make what is needed for the 3 videos on my work in preindustrial ceramic technology I'm doing while here.

Navigating the surprising differences between English and American ceramic materials was not something I anticipated but it has been a strange and wonderful journey. Thanks to the great people at Bath Potters Supplies, Pottery Crafts, Valentine Clays and CTM Potters Supplies I have the likes of everything from industrial porcelain to euturia marl and Mike at Bath sent me the last 5 kg of Gerstley Borate in the UK. I started making and testing things right away with what was on hand and as things came in since my first video on making a puzzle jug was within 2 weeks of arriving.

First bisque in the large kiln 

Little test kiln sent from heaven!

In order to do a puzzle jug video you have to be able to make a puzzle jug! The clay I have at home for delft is one that is not easy to replace, consistency is very important to a form like this that has a refined

shape and requires a hollow rim and thinly potted to enhance the piercing around the neck.

I had surprising trouble getting a clay to work well most of the english clays came very soft and when doing a video you don't want to get three quarters of the way through and lose the piece at the critical point. In the end I had stiffen the clay up which of course has to be done gradually or you end up with a worse problem different consistencies ie lumpy clay.

The wheels were also a consideration since heel down on my wheel of 25 years is stop and heel down on the larger wheels here is go real fast. That can be a problem- again at a critical moment you press your heel down to stop visa vi habit and the pot fly's off the wheel. No worries they had 2 wheels that were much like what I have at home but they had not been used since purchased so the pedals were very stiff and you had no control between slow and fast. All I needed was a wrench but in an organization this big you need to put in a request to Janet (most helpful ever) at the Estate Help Desk and then they will schedule a technician to come and investigate. The good news is the Help Desk comes by it's name honestly- they are a huge help and are very responsive to requests! With one turn of a wrench I was in business and now it was time to make puzzle jugs, 4 or 5 actually as you need to have ones in different stages of ready to film all parts of the process in one day- and for screw ups which so far had been abundant.

 These little things were not so little and what I could do with some ease in the studio became a lot of hours of making it work as Tim Gun would say.

Comparing my first attempt to the original Liverpool puzzle jug I selected for the case
and the film which proved to be a challenge and a really great piece.

Field Trip to Hampton Court

Hampton Court is known for many things, to me the name shared by the city where I was born and raised and now have my studio Hampton Virginia. My dad The Honorable Henry D Kashouty presided over the general district 'Hampton Court' for thirty years and though a man's house is his castle THE Hampton Court Palace does not refer to our humble abode but of course the incredible English treasure  Home to King William and Queen Mary who chartered my alma mater and that of my father and mother before me The College of William and Mary. So a visit to Hampton Court Palace was a must.
 Notwithstanding all the connections from across the pond of particular interest to ceramic historians are the magnificent Dutch delft flower containers designed for William and Mary by noted architect Daniel Marot which were extraordinary to see in context. And of course the V&A being the the best place ever has an exquisite 'Greek A' factory tulip pyramid on display in room 145  I can adore daily as well as the over the top delft 'milk pans' from which the clotted cream must have been even too heavenly for God.
In the last two weeks Hampton Court Palace has been the center of Olympic activity from running the flame through the garden maze to the destination for the olympic cycling events. Part of a wonderful convergence of history and making history going on all over Britain.

rob took some amazing pictures at hampton court i'll add the best link to see asap

nice jugs

nice racks (sorry)

Was lost in the great halls for a bit but finally found my niche!

The Future Looks Bright!

The V&A has such diversity within it's ranks that it can be hard to keep track of it all at first. Within a day of the cases being installed I gave a short in studio/gallery presentation to the post 1900 group of curators and directors who were all new to me save for one fabulous face front and center Glenn Adamson Head of Research and all around good guy.
Christopher Wilk Keeper of Furniture Textiles and Fashion leads the group and was generous with their time as I went into more depth than anticipated. I really want to make myself aware of the incredible resource at the museum for contemporary art and design currently there are several great exhibitions on Heatherwick Studio of now Olympic fame or flame! British Design 1948-2012 , Ballgowns, photography and the highly anticipated new Furniture Gallery up here on the 6th floor with ceramics opening in November. There are a host of exhibitions that you have to dig slightly deeper than the homepage to find but are well worth checking out at least online if not in person. Easier said than done in a place where there is so much to see as evidenced here by the number of contemporary curators alone!

Post 1900 group of curators kindly giving me their full attention as I explain the cases i have curated thus far. Too many new faces to name other than Glenn Adamson nodding knowingly front and center and I believe Christopher Wilk seated in front.

A Tisket a Tasket

 One of the most exciting aspects to the residency is curating the cases that are essentially the window into the studio. Here Catrin Jones assistant curator of ceramics and glass and her intern Kate Quinlan have arrived to open the cases and help me install my own work first and then they will begin to bring the basket of goodies I selected from the collection!

  
My focus for the first round of objects from the collection primarily revolve around the 3 videos I will be doing on period ceramic processes. The 1st will be making a puzzle jug the 2nd on the beautiful little pectin shell agate teapot below and the third will be a hybrid of life casting from Palissy to 18th century shell pickle stands to my own use of those methods when creating contemporary art.

Here I am measuring the teapot before it goes in the case so I can get started on make a model and mold

A proud moment and the pieces are already telling a compelling story - I think my favorite is the pairing of the 18th century Liverpool delft puzzle jug (Olympic Rings included) with this fantastic Meissen covered punch bowl depicting beautifully painted scenes of William Hogarth's Midnight Modern Conversation, although the Staffordshire agate teapots - although the pectin shell example a thrown agate piece and two bisque examples all accompanied by an 8th century chinese agate cup is pretty amazing as well, also not to shabby having a lovely little piece of 16th century Palissy- or is it 19th century? And last but not least is a gorgeous little Bow pickle stand which just cheers me up! I guess I love them all the same.

Visitors of Note

Louisa Taylor the previous ceramic resident showing me the ropes-and the wheels! 

Rod Jellicoe giving my pickle stand the once over

Errol Manners and Catrin Jones assistant curator of ceramics and glass V&A

 Reino Liefkes Senior Curator ceramic and glass collection with Intern Claire Blakey assistant ceramics officer at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery

Our dear friend Joe Gromacki 

Rob Hunter Editor of Ceramics in America

finds a good spot to take in the galleries and look for photo ops. 

No Hard Feelings

Ruth and her invaluable assistant Asa

Ruth Lloyd my residency coordinator 'in chief' organized a get acquainted tea party with the curators and museum staff.  Of course, it was a different kind of tea party that makes the 4th of July an American holiday with a bit of a sting.
Just to show there were no hard feelings Ruth put on a patriotic spread!

Talking with Alun Graves curator of the V&A ceramics and galss collection 

Begin the Beguine

On arrival our dear friends Gary Atkins and Rod Jellicoe met us at Heathrow and DROVE us to the front door of the hotel! But not before we had a coffee.

Now off to the V&A! The moment I had been anticipating had arrived and it was time to get started. I was greeted graciously, oriented, briefed, photographed, taken to my new home for the next 3 months and given the keys to the kingdom.

Some reading material

The Studio within the galleries Making Ceramics Room 143 is beautiful and sleek in it's design the view across the rooftops changing constantly with the rolls of storms coming through then sun then storms again. When looking into the gallery from the studio your faced with the worlds most incredible ceramic art so how amazing is this right?

I started to unpack and seeing my things in this extraordinary context was both exciting and daunting. 

Getting Centeret

Time to get to work and take the edge off so I began making some familiar old forms with the materials that were already in the studio leftover from other residents and workshops.

It's official the Secretariat Gate at the V&A