Apprenticing

( Scroll down for Welsh/Cymraeg)

It’s been seven months since I first moved to the US and three already I realise, since I last wrote. September is here and those corn fields that haven’t been harvested yet stand brown and limp. Windswept, the plants hunch over in their rows like dejected queues at a bus stop (a metaphor I realise doesn't really work in the US where cars are a way of life). The soy bushes are ripening yellow but most trees are still clinging on to their leaves, and outside the dining room window the branches of the pear tree are vertical with fruit. 

This summer we were in the thick of it, exhibiting with the Northern Illinois Pottery tour at the beginning of June, a firing of the anagama up in Wisconsin in mid-July, and last month Simon’s cohorts students visited for a week to fire the train kiln here in Pawnee. As I write, Simon is over on the rugged coast of northern California, running a workshop at Mendocino Arts Centre. I decided to stay put for the time being to continue working on the pitchers and teacups/saucers that have been holding my attention. 

In August I compiled the first mid-term report for my visa sponsor International Arts and Artists. This detailed what my day to day life as an apprentice has been like these past months, and to give you a taste of how we roll, I thought I’d do a round-up here. 18 hours of the week is spent supporting Simon with a variety of duties while the rest of the time is my own. Tasks are different from day to day but below are some of the recurring jobs.

As wood-firing potters, wood sourcing, processing and stacking takes up a chunk of time. I regularly run to a local pallet making factory where they will dump a skip-full (dumpster-full) of pine lumber offcuts into the bed of the pickup truck. These we offload either as heating fuel into the studio or into the kiln shed for the early stages of the firings. Chainsaw maintenance and sharpening is another task in preparation for the days when we do some serious wood processing - rolling out the Champion 27-Ton log splitter. We wait until there are at least three of us though for these often four hour wood slicing marathons. Since I’ve been here, storms have taken down three trees in the garden, so cutting up and clearing these has been the work of some weeks. Scraps of bark and debris are disposed of in the burn barrel.

While I don’t make Simon’s work, I do pack the bisque kiln (an L&L Kilns 10.2 cubic feet Model e28T-3) and sand his bisque fired pots. Preparing for the firings involves replenishing glazes, mixing up wadding and kiln wash, making cone packs, inventory control, sieving ash to use as a brick sealant and cleaning the kiln. I oversee the reclaiming of clay which we do in the studio with the help of four large dryer felt slings. Post-firing, we share the responsibility of sanding each pot carefully with a fine-grade sandpaper, then cleaning them with mineral oil. 

A portion of my time is spent photographing pots and using an app called PhotoRoom to edit them for updating Simon’s website and 1potaday instagram page. If sold, I pack them up and ship them out. Occasionally my duties involve other trips to town - replenishing the studio drinking water dispenser, picking up chainsaw gas, taking the truck for an oil change or filling up with petrol. Sometimes too we have exhibitions, such as the showcase at the NCECA Artstream Nomadic in spring and a table at the Northern Illinois Pottery tour. My roles then include pricing up work and putting together inventories. 

One of the longest projects I worked on until recently was the Forrest Lesch-Middleton  ceramics tiles commission. Over the first six months of my time here we prepped, fired, sanded and sealed over 900 3”x6” tiles. These were sent to us, pre-bisqued by FLM Ceramics, Forrest’s custom tile making studio in California, and fired in three separate firings. Pots placed on wadding on top of them resulted in some wildly psychedelic flashing marks. Simon aptly gives this collaborative series the name ‘Pareidolia’ after the ‘tendency for incorrect perception of an object, pattern or meaning, such as seeing shapes in clouds’. You can find more information here: Diamond Pareidolia Woodfired Tile by Simon Levin for FLM Ceramics — FLM Ceramics and Tile

My newest project is figuring out how to design a train kiln for a client using Google Sketchup, an introduction to a whole new skill set for me. With our next firing in October and another firing with cohorts in November, it’s another busy few months ahead. If you’re unfamiliar with Simon’s Clay Cohorts, I urge you to check out this innovative project. Devised in the middle of the Covid pandemic, this year-long mentorship programme caters to artists who want to learn to make better work but are looking for an alternative option to grad-school or an apprenticeship. You can learn more at Cohorts.Art

CYMRAEG

Mae saith mis wedi mynd heibio ers i mi symud i'r Unol Daleithiau am y tro cyntaf, a thri, dwi'n sylweddoli, ers i mi ysgrifennu diwethaf. Mae mis Medi yma ac mae’r ambell gae ŷd sydd heb eu cynaeafu eto yn frown ac yn llipa. Mae'r planhigion yn plygu drosodd yn eu rhesi fel ciwiau digalon wrth arosfan bws (trosiad dwi'n sylweddoli sydd ddim rili’n gweithio yn yr Unol Daleithiau lle mae pawb hefo car). Mae'r llwyni soi wedi aeddfedu'n felyn ond mae'r rhan fwyaf o goed yn dal i lynu wrth eu dail, a thu allan i ffenest y ‘stafell fwyta mae canghennau'r goeden gellyg yn fertigol gyda ffrwythau.

Roedd yr haf yma’n un brysur gyda Simon yn arddangos gyda’r ‘Northern Illinois Pottery Tour’ ar ddechrau Mehefin, tanio’r anagama i fyny yn Wisconsin ganol mis Gorffennaf, a’r mis diwethaf ymwelodd myfyrwyr ‘cohorts’ Simon am wythnos i danio’r odyn trên yma yn Pawnee. Wrth i mi ysgrifennu, mae Simon draw ar arfordir garw gogledd California, yn cynnal gweithdy yng Nghanolfan Celfyddydau Mendocino. Penderfynais aros yma am y tro i barhau i weithio ar y piserau a'r cwpanau te/soseri sydd wedi bod yn dal fy sylw.

Ym mis Awst lluniais yr adroddiad canol tymor cyntaf ar gyfer fy noddwr fisa ‘International Arts and Artists’. Roedd hwn yn manylu ar sut beth yw fy mywyd o ddydd i ddydd fel prentis, ac i roi blas i chi o sut mae fy mhrofiad hyd yn hyn, dwi am grynhoi yma. Dwi’n gwario 18 awr yr wythnos yn cefnogi Simon gydag amrywiaeth o ddyletswyddau ac yn cael gweddill yr amser i fi fy hun. Mae’r tasgau'n wahanol o ddydd i ddydd ond isod mae rhai o'r swyddi sy'n codi dro ar ôl tro.

Fel crochenwyr tanio hefo pren, mae dod o hyd i, prosesu a phentyrru pren yn cymryd cryn dipyn o amser. Dwi’n gyrru yn rheolaidd i ffatri paledi lleol lle byddant yn taflu llond sgip o doriadau coed pinwydd i wely'r tryc. Rydyn ni'n dadlwytho'r rhain naill ai fel tanwydd gwresogi i'r stiwdio neu i'r sied kiln ar gyfer camau cynnar y tanio. Mae cynnal a chadw a minio’r llif gadwyn yn dasg arall wrth baratoi ar gyfer y dyddiau pan fyddwn yn gwneud rhywfaint o waith prosesu pren difrifol - hefo help llaw'r holltwr boncyff Champion 27-Ton. Dan ni’n aros nes bod o leiaf dri ohonom ar gyfer y marathonau torri coed hyn sy'n aml yn para pedair awr. Ers i mi fod yma, mae stormydd wedi cwympo tair coeden yn yr ardd, felly mae torri a chlirio’r rhain wedi bod yn waith rhai wythnosau. Mae sbarion o risgl a malurion yn cael eu gwaredu yn y gasgen llosgi.

Er nad ydw i'n gwneud gwaith Simon, dwi’n pacio'r odyn bisg (Model L&L Kilns 10.2 troedfedd giwbig e28T-3) ac yn tywodio ei botiau tanio bisg. Mae paratoi ar gyfer tanio yn cynnwys ailgyflenwi gwydreddau, cymysgu ‘wadding’ a golchiad odyn, gwneud pecynnau côn, rhidyllu lludw i'w ddefnyddio fel seliwr brics a glanhau'r odyn. Dwi’n goruchwylio'r gwaith o ailgylchu clai gyda chymorth pedwar sling ffelt sychwr mawr. Ar ôl tanio, rydym yn rhannu'r cyfrifoldeb o dywodi pob pot yn ofalus gyda phapur tywod gradd fân, ac yna eu glanhau ag olew mwynau.

Mae cyfran o fy amser yn cael ei dreulio yn tynnu lluniau o botiau ac yn defnyddio ap o'r enw PhotoRoom i'w golygu ar gyfer diweddaru gwefan Simon a thudalen instagram 1potaday. Os ydyn nhw’n gwerthu, dwi’n eu cludo allan. Bob hyn a hyn mae fy nyletswyddau'n cynnwys teithiau eraill i'r dref - ailgyflenwi dosbarthwr dŵr yfed y stiwdio, prynu tanwydd i’r llif gadwyn, mynd â'r tryc i newid olew neu lenwi â phetrol. Weithiau hefyd mae gennym ni arddangosfeydd, fel yr arddangosfa yn Artstream Nomadic NCECA yn y gwanwyn a bwrdd yn yr ‘Northern Illinois Pottery Tour’. Mae fy rolau wedyn yn cynnwys prisio gwaith i fyny a rhoi rhestrau eiddo at ei gilydd.

Un o'r prosiectau hiraf oedden ni’n yn gweithio arno tan yn ddiweddar oedd comisiwn teils serameg Forrest Lesch-Middleton. Dros chwe mis cyntaf fy amser yma wnaethom baratoi, tanio, sandio a selio dros 900 o deils 3”x6”. Anfonwyd y rhain atom, wedi’u rhag-fisgio gan FLM Ceramics, stiwdio gwneud teils Forrest yng Nghaliffornia, a’u tanio mewn tri thaniad ar wahân. Cafodd potiau eu gosod ar ben y teils wrth danio sydd wedi arwain at farciau fflachio seicedelig gwyllt. Mae Simon yn briodol wedi rhoi’r enw ‘Pareidolia’ i’r gyfres yma ar ôl ‘y tueddiad i gael canfyddiad anghywir o wrthrych, patrwm neu ystyr, fel gweld siapiau mewn cymylau’. Gallwch ddod o hyd i ragor o wybodaeth yma: Diamond Pareidolia Woodfired Tile by Simon Levin for FLM Ceramics — FLM Ceramics and Tile

Fy mhrosiect diweddaraf yw darganfod sut i ddylunio odyn drên ar gyfer cleient gan ddefnyddio Google Sketchup, cyflwyniad i set sgiliau hollol newydd i mi. Gyda’n tanio nesaf ym mis Hydref ac un arall gyda grŵp ‘cohorts’ Simon ym mis Tachwedd, mae ychydig fisoedd prysur eto i ddod. Os ydych chi’n anghyfarwydd â’r ‘Clay Cohorts’, dwi’n annog chi i edrych ar y prosiect arloesol yma. Wedi’i dyfeisio yng nghanol pandemig Cofid, mae hwn yn rhaglen fentora blwyddyn o hyd sy’n darparu ar gyfer artistiaid sydd eisiau dysgu gwneud gwaith gwell ond sy’n chwilio am opsiwn arall yn lle ysgol raddedig neu brentisiaeth. Gallwch ddysgu mwy yma: Cohorts.Art