Safe Stokes/QueerCat with Katie Applebaum and Twig Cosby - Nov 12th-14th/unload Nov 16th
A supportive, queer-centered wood-fire workshop where you can learn, create, and fire in safety and solidarity.
A supportive, queer-centered wood-fire workshop where you can learn, create, and fire in safety and solidarity.
A supportive, queer-centered wood-fire workshop where you can learn, create, and fire in safety and solidarity.
Dates: Nov 12th-14th/unload Nov 16th
Times: Wed - Nov 12th, 9am to begin loading the kiln and create a shift schedule for 24hr monitoring of the firing. There will be a mixture of hours during firing days. Kiln will be fired Nov 12th through mid morning of Nov 14th. Unloading on Nov 16th, 9am or later depending on temperature. Unload and cleanup takes three hours or less.
Level: All
Membership Price: $720 (Members use discount code MEMBERS10 at checkout for 10% off)
Workshop Description:
Queer? Interested in wood-fire but find it too bro-y? Come to the Mendocino coast to load and fire our wood-soda kiln at Safe Stokes, a special firing for the queer community! Katie Applebaum will guide students through loading and firing the catenary arch wood-soda kiln. Participants will get hands-on experience and develop an understanding of loading and firing strategy for this kiln — with plenty of one-on-one instruction within the safety of the queer community. Guest instructor Twig Cosby will join us for this unique collaboration with Queer Cat, a program dedicated to increasing access and equity to wood-fire ceramics for the queer community in the Pacific Northwest.
This workshop will be a deep dive into the wood-firing process. As we load and fire, students will learn about slips and glazes appropriate for these types of firings. Participants will get hands-on experience loading their own work and assisting each other through the process. They will learn how to "read" the cues of the kiln. They will learn how to mix and introduce the soda atmosphere into the catenary kiln, all within the safety of their own community.
Each student may bring up to [3.5] cu/ft of cone 10 bisqueware to fire in the kiln (the final amount will be determined after registration is closed). Students will rotate shifts stoking the kiln. On the last day of the workshop we will unload the kiln, discuss the results, and celebrate the experience before packing up and bidding farewell."
About the Instructors:
Katie Applebaum is from Paradise California, a small town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. She graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts, with a minor in Environmental Science and Sustainability, from California State University at Chico. There she was nominated for the Windgate Foundation Grant in fall of 2019. Her work is a synthesis of multiple materials, primarily ceramic and metal. In 2022 Katie completed a ceramic woodfire residency term at Cub Creek Foundation, where she became Assistant to the Director. Katie has worked in multiple galleries, from large universities, to small local non profits. Most recently she has completed a residency here at Mendocino art center in 2023 and has been retained as a full time staff member.
“In my work I like to replicate forms that bring to mind different memories for each individual. The objects I choose to glorify or replicate are often antique. I feel the variable conditions of atmospheric firing plays well with these “antique“ forms, as age and patina are often variable. I fixate on hardware, fixtures and details.”
Twig Cosby is a studio potter, wood-fire artist, and ceramics educator based in Portland, OR. With over a decade of professional experience and a background in production pottery working alongside Mary Carroll Ceramics, Twig brings a deep respect for process and utilitarian forms. For Twig, the magic of clay can be found in subtle details: the soft lift of a curve, the precise meeting of lines, or the gentle contour of flash marks on the ware.
Guided by a belief in the power of shared creative spaces, Twig co-founded Queer Cat, a free ceramics program that supports inclusion and access for LGBTQIA+ wood-fire artists in the Pacific Northwest. They currently teach at Heirloom Ceramic Studio and Radius Art Studio, and wood-fire at Pleasant Hill Pottery in Eugene, Oregon.
Required Materials:
Cotton clothes
Bandana
Respirator (n95 can be provided)
Work boots/closed toed shoes
Optional Materials:
Ear plugs can be provided
N95 mask can be provided