Dragonfly Gallery hosts pottery exhibit

Dragonfly Gallery hosts pottery exhibit

by Deborah Nelson
January 26, 2008

Milton’s Dragonfly Gallery hosted potters from throughout the area, Friday, a week before the artists retrieve work currently baking away in a 32-foot firing oven, called a kiln.

The Anagama kiln, located in Holley, is modeled on a 10,000 year old design, according to the Gulf Coast Kiln Walk Society’s Marty Stokes. The massive oven is used once a year to fire the work of multiple artists, who each buy a spot for their work. This year, about 20 artists will collect between 800 and 1000 pots when the oven cools.

Friday’s reception featured an exhibit of work by Gulf Coast Kiln Walk Society pottery artists. The display will remain at Dragonfly through next week, in conjunction with the third firing of the Anagama Kiln.

Designs from the first and second firing of the Anagama Kiln are included in the show, along with various works by artists like Jason Stokes (left); Larry Manning (below top right); Barbara Bowman (below bottom left); and a model of the Anagama structure, itself (below top left).

The artists loaded new, unbaked pottery into the wood-fueled kiln on January 13th. The oven was then lighted January 16th.

It will be fired for seven days and cooled for seven days. Opening of the kiln is scheduled to take place during the 2nd Annual Woodstoke Pottery Festival on February 2nd 2008.

The Festival will take place at the kiln in Holley on the corner of Highway 87 and Buckeye Drive.

When the kiln opens, artists must line up to retrieve their work. Firing chemically changes the composition of potting clay, making it harder and more durable. None of the Anagama-fired pottery has been glazed, artists at Friday’s show noted. The shiny coating that emerges from the kiln is the result of trapped wood ashes, which melt in the 2,200 degree kiln heat and coat the clay.

The Dragonfly Gallery is a mission of the Santa Rosa Arts and Culture Foundation.

Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. -- 4 p.m.

For more information, call 850-981-1100, or visit www.sracf.org. The Dragonfly Gallery is located at 5188 Escambia Street in Milton.