April Notes from Greg Busceme Sr.
Executive Director of The Art Studio, Inc.
If you drove by the Studio lately you will find the rugged landscape of the studio’s backyard has changed. I’m referring to the two “mausoleums” that have languished, unusable, in the yard for some 15 years. Each hurricane took out some part of our kiln shed and, consequently our kilns. It all started with hurricane Rita and each subsequent attack by nature has caused some damage to our firing facilities. Even when we mustered the effort to rebuild our kiln shed as Ramona Young instigated for us years ago, a nameless onslaught of nature rendered it demolished only four days after it was built.
Why does this matter? The studio ceramics department is an integral part of our educational programs that offer students a chance to try their hand in clay. We also have a national audience who view us as an important facility for the promotion of ceramics and have had a series of clay workshops with eminent masters in clay giving demonstrations and knowledge to our audience and credibility to our facility. One component of that is diversity in the firing technique. Our outdoor kilns represent two distinct types of firings. One is a stoneware reduction kiln. Reduction refers to the process of reducing the amount of oxygen in the kiln during firing. This creates an environment that forces the extreme heat of the kiln to find oxygen where it can. It seeks out the oxides in the glazes and clay; the most common are copper oxide in glazes and iron oxide in the clay. In the glaze, in an oxygen starved atmosphere, this will make copper oxide turn from a green to a deep red. In the clay the iron will lose its oxygen molecule to return to iron, not rust. This creates a toasty color to the clay and offers shiny dark specks through the glaze enhancing its complexity and aesthetic beauty. What I find the most interesting part of this process is the uncertainty of the results and the attention the artist pays to control the firing and the atmosphere. This is a stoneware temperature in excess of 2300 degrees, the highest temperature clay can withstand. In the salt kiln the temperature range is the same but the glaze is completely different. Glazes are applied to the insides of pots but the outside of the clay pots are decorated with colored clays called slips and left unglazed. During the height of the firing, salt is introduced into the kiln and is volatilized by the heat separating the sodium from the chlorine in the salt. Some sodium bonds with the silica in the clay and forms sodium silicate, a type of glass.
Both of these techniques are standard equipment for pottery, but few individuals can afford the space or the construction. The salt kiln itself is a rarity with only one or two between Houston and New Orleans, so having one is a very special deal.
Two artists who participated in the Gumbo Clayfest (ceramic workshops hosted at TASI in late 1990s – early 2000s) are coming to help with the construction of the salt kiln in may. Gary “Greenie” Greenberg and Tom Belden are coming not only to build the kiln but fire some very precious work done by Jim Leedy from Kansas City Art Institute, a notable ceramics facility. Leedy’s workshop at the art studio was in 2002 where he built two large sculptures and four platters as well as a ceramic mural, 6 ft. by 20 ft., that was a collaboration with area high school students. Part of the mural, the sculptures and the platters were never fired because of the hurricane damage to the kiln and other factors beyond my control. Greenie and Belden are coming to build the kiln and fire the work for Jim Leedy and deliver them to him as well as finish the platters to auction and mural to be installed on the wall in our soon to be sculpture garden.
I’ve been posting the rebuild of the kilns on facebook and instagram and have renewed my contacts with ceramic sculptors around the country who are totally jazzed about the project.
This puts the art studio in the eyes of artists around the nation and a focus on our community and its support for TASI. It is important to note that we got where we are right now because of the broad and generous support that TASI has received even through the pandemic. Without that enthusiasm we would not be able to do the work we do. The kilns are a part of the studio’s positive impact on the arts community and maintaining the arts and culture of our region.
We look forward to a more normal interaction with our supporters and will continue the progressive agenda for the arts.
Jim Leedy visited The Art Studio in 2002. Students of West Brook High School were invited to participate in the artist’s
workshop.
Jim Leedy at TASI during his 2002 visit and workshop. 
Allison Reho working on the 2021 kiln rebuild project. 