Business Time

As the exhibition is getting closer we are realizing that we really need to get down to business. We have been working hard to get some pots made. Above is a picture of an old Onggi wheel that Mr. Oh got from the Onggi village where he studied. It is pretty funky, and the top has been leveled off with plaster and wood. It is very short, shorter than most Onggi wheels- so Michael decided to use it as a hand wheel to throw on. It does not have holes for a stick like our hand-wheel at home so we have to spin it DJ style. It is quite fun to work on and is a great teacher to slow down.

DJ Onggi Mike in the house.......

Below is Naomi working on some new carved animal boxes. She has been making carved boxes out of solid chunks of clay for a while, and also making carved animal candle sticks. The hollow carved animal boxes are a new idea though, and we are pretty excited about them.

Mr. Oh is making a lot of functional pots for the show, and he's been making lots of bowls using the onggi technique for smaller pots - coil and throw. First he beats out a pancake for the bottom.
He rolls out a coil...
Then he very quickly builds a coil cylinder.
He then throws this clay using a quilted cloth, which you can barely see between his hands in this picture.
We are having lots of fun getting into serious pot making mode (with plenty of breaks for traditional korean music, food, and visits, of course).  We just unloaded a glaze test kiln yesterday, and are excited about some new glazes... more soon!