Tag Archives: Art

East Meets West Reception Part 2

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Jon Pil Kim and Yeon Tae Park, setting up for tea ceremony demonstrations
Korean style of dress, from the very traditional to Yeon Tai Park’s hip biker dude clothing.
The reception spread was unbelievable. A mix of traditional Korean and North Carolina food.

And of course there was soju!
At this point only about half of the food had been put out!
The reception hosts dressed the part.
Jon Pil Kim demonstrated the tea ceremony and served the guests. I am actually starting to enjoy matcha. The last time Jeff made it, I couldn’t get past the “it tastes like grass clippings” thought.
The crowd was big, the atmosphere festive. The reception was supposed to be over at 8:00pm… it was 9:00 when the last group left. Even though we were tired, a trip to the new, giant grocery store in Pinehurst was a must. This is one of those super sized stores with beer on tap, coffee shop, hot and cold buffets.

Our guests were pretty impressed. What did they buy? Cherries, cheese, Yuengling beer, and hot dogs. Jeff prefers Hoppyum IPA or Jade IPA from Foothills brewery, here in North Carolina. They thought it was a little too “hoppy” so the Yuengling was just right for them.

That’s all for today. I have some studio clean up to do, while the entourage is in Southern Pines giving a slide show and tea ceremony demo at the senior center.

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East Meets West Exhibition

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The opening reception of the East Meets West Exhibition was a fabulous evening. I took these photos as soon as we arrived and as you can see, many pots sold before the show opened.
Kyeong Hee Lee

Keong Hee Lee
Yeon Tae Park

Yeon Tae Park
Yeon Tae Park
Jong Pil Kim

Jong Pil Kim
Kyeong Hee Lee
Jong Pil Kim
Jong Pil Kim with Seagrove potter, Phil Pollet tumblers in the back, left corner.
Jong Pil Kim
Yeon Tae Park
That’s your Sunday eye candy. Next post will be photos from the reception festivities.

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The Count Down Begins!

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Our potter guests from South Korea will be here tomorrow afternoon! We are just about ready for their arrival. Our office/photo shoot/packing room looks like a bedroom. The second bath has been painted, and the tub caulked. A few gallons of kimchi are fermenting in crocks… I will let you imagine what the house smells like. I am sure it will make our guests feel right at home.

These are a few more pots from the last firing. The gingko leaf pots will go the show in Southern Pines. The mug was an extra from a wholesale order.

I hope that everyone who has a long weekend is enjoying it. I will try to update the blog while the Korean potters are in town. Have a great week!

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Firing #4

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I have had so many irons in the fire that I didn’t even post the results of the fourth firing of the new gas kiln. Well let me tell you, I was a great one!

Jeff and I collaborated on this large, 18″ bowl and we are super pleased with it. Finished just in time go to the East Meets West Exhibition in Southern Pines.

Remember Jeff’s tea bowl made with the clay in our yard? Here it is finished. I think it’s just “Wow!” I am quite sure that he will send this one to the show as well.
That’s all for now, gotta get moving towards the studio. I have bowls that are ready for carving.

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How Dry I am…

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The little town of Seagrove has an alcohol referendum on the ballot, next election. This is the sign in our yard…

Below is the sign next to my bank and in many other yards…
We need alcohol sales to attract a nice restaurant, so we don’t keep sending pottery shoppers to Asheboro for a nice lunch with a glass of wine. Once they leave town, they aren’t coming back. Without alcohol sales our new local grocery store is losing money. If the locals need beer or wine, we drive past it and shop in Asheboro, where we can get everything in one stop. Our grocery dollars are leaving town every day. We waited a long time for a grocery store. I would hate to see us lose it.
Do I think the referendum will pass? I am really not sure. It seems there are a lot of old timers against it. I will let you know on June 8th.

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A Day Off

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Last week we were crazy busy trying to meet deadlines. We loaded and fired a bisque in the gas kiln, unloaded it the next day, and spent two days glazing and loading it again. The kiln is at 145 degrees this morning, so we will unload shortly. Fingers crossed for a great firing! 
In between the pottery work, I started prepping and painting our master bedroom bath. Next on the list is to re-caulk the tub, so that we will have a second, fully functioning bathroom by the time our Korean guests arrive.
Yesterday we took a well deserved break. Our good friend Bonnie turned 60 and we celebrated with a great party at her daughter’s home in Greensboro. After the party we did some shopping at the Korean market, no trip to G’boro is complete without an excursion to Super Gmart. While Jeff gathered everything needed to make kimchi, I found all the ingredients to make Dak Galbi, a recipe that I had been wanting to try.

 Dak Galbi is a spicy chicken and vegetable dish. It really is very simple to make. The vegetables are rough chopped cabbage, Korean sweet potato, onion, carrot, sesame leaves.

I think the main reason I wanted to try this dish is that it also includes tteok! Tteok is rice cake. Think of it as a dense pasta. Totally yummy, especially when covered in a spicy sauce. While it is called rice cake, it does contain wheat so it is not gluten free.

In Korea, Dak Galbi would be cooked in a very large cast iron pan. Mine isn’t big enough, but this deep skillet got the job done. The ingredients are layered in a hot pan, with a thin layer of vegetable oil. Chopped, boneless chicken thighs on the top, then a hot pepper paste spread over it. Some recipes marinated the chicken in the paste.

 As the vegetables cook, they release their liquid and create a delicious sauce as the pepper paste is incorporated into it. 20-30 minutes and it’s done!

At a Korean restaurant, everyone would eat from the large pan, sometimes wrapping their food in sesame leaves. Once the pan is empty, the cook quickly fries some rice in the sauce that is left in the pan. Since we had some leftover rice in the fridge we did just that. DELICIOUS! It was the perfect ending to a Sunday off.

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The Korean Potters Are Coming!

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Jeff has been planning this exhibition with the Arts Council of Moore County for over a year. It’s exciting now that the time draws near. Jeff and I will be hosting the three potters in our home. Thankfully, one of the potters speaks some English, and Jeff knows a little Korean. It will be a great experience for all of us! 
The exhibition opens with a reception on Friday, June 3rd. The next day there will be a festival on the grounds of Campbell House Galleries with area potters selling their work, Korean kick wheel demonstrations, along with traditional Korean food and North Carolina barbecue. 
On June 2nd, the three potters will present a talk and slide show at the North Carolina Pottery Center in Seagrove. The presentation begins at 6pm with a potluck meal. There will be an interpreter to help facilitate communication.
If you are in the area, save the date.  

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Getting Wild

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Jeff has really been enjoying digging and processing the “wild” clay in our yard. When the area for our kiln shed was excavated, it exposed a lot of this luscious, orange, goodness. After blunging, screening, and drying on plaster, it was ready to be wedged and thrown.

Yesterday he finished one of the tea bowls he made, using the Mishima technique of inlaying slip. Jeff applies the slip with a brush. Then scrapes away the excess, which also pushes all of the slip into the stamped areas. When it’s dry, he will sand away any remaining slip, using a green kitchen scrubbie.
There have been a lot of Mishima instructional videos on the internet lately and I have been a little disappointed when watching them, to discover that they aren’t really about Mishima, it’s about applying wax to clay, carving a design, and brushing on underglaze. While this technique produces some nice designs, it isn’t Mishima by definition. Just call me a purist!

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Catching Up

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I am starting to feel like I am catching up on work. Since the last firing was a good one, lots of orders were shipped out. I am also feeling more confident moving forward with new work, knowing that our firings should be more consistent since Jeff has worked the kinks out of the new kiln.

I have been working on a wholesale order that includes lots of mugs. Some in designs that I haven’t made in awhile. I enjoyed getting out the slip trailer and making dots. 

And then there were pigs to assemble. Not sure if a making cycle would be complete without the pigs.

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