John comes to the program from Pennsylvania and is on sabbatical from teaching. He is great to have around and works diligently around the studio. He also has a great web site that he is keeping up with here that talks about his experience. http://web.mac.com/artschoolroad/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html You may have to copy and paste this into your browser, but it is worth looking at.


The time is nigh get your trim on.


Usually while the trimmer is working people are gathering to check out the techniques, John is getting ready to get some instruction and then give dry trimming a shot.

You can see the wheel is also a bit different. A large chuck is holding up the piece being trimmed to a comfortable working level. It is great having these people around.

Water is brushed onto the piece as a record of trim. The water will discolor the piece when trimmed the white dryness of the body is revealed and another layer has been removed.


The tools are basic but effective. Some of them are modified with tape around the handle to make them more ergonomic. The trimmer also has a bending tool that shapes the bend of the tool to the precise angle that is needed.



Trimming is an incredible skill. Here is a close up how the tool really cuts into the clay. The clay is also at a bone-dry stage. The tools do not chatter on the surface of the pot because it is extremely sharp, and the clay is very dense with incredibly small particle size.

At last the tool is examined and the edge is scrutinized, then it back to work.


The file does the work but you have to hold it at the right angle to get the right edge.


If you look on the table the trim tools are laying out. A black smith forges the tools to the specifications of the trimmer basically forges them. After that it is the trimmers job to make them sharp.


In JingDezhen division of labor breaks the process of ceramics into different groups. Clay mining, clay processing, wedging, throwing, trimming, glazing, decorating, and firing are all done by highly skilled and specialized individual. Each task is broken down to these groups and a team of people makes the single pot. It is really amazing to understand how many hands touch one piece of art. All these people are working here in the studio every day. It is wonderful. Great artists on a daily basis surround us and it is inspiring. The first one I would like to show you is the trimmer. He is an amazing guy. He has a series of metal tools that range in shapes that he sharpens to a fine serrated edge waiting to be put in place to define a beautiful form. It is almost like he is working on a lath, but with clay instead of wood. When one of the metal tools gets dull he pulls out a replacement. It is important to have sharp trim tools so he is always sharpening. I feel that is the hard part. It takes some time to figure out how to sharpen the trim tools. Here you can see the shavings flying off the form.

The studio is really a bustling place. There is so much going on every day. It is really amazing to be a part of. During our time here the studio is in the formative stage so there are kilns being built, ware carts being made, and pots are filling those carts. One of the benefits is having all these professionals around to work with and beside. We may not be able to speak English but we are able to communicate about ceramics. It is a really interesting thing. Here you can see Noel a recently new graduate student at West Virginia University getting some trimming instruction from the Trimmer. He doesn't speak English but is very patient and willing to help anyone who wants to dry trim.

People are all adjusting to the forming studio, different environment, new materials, these are all factors in moving to a new studio. Josh is working here making some jars. He spent his undergraduate in Tennessee and he enjoys wood firing.

Back in the studio is where a lot of our time is spent. Matt is from Indiana University and is here throwing the Jingdezhen porcelain. He is discovering the clay has different characteristics than any clay he has thrown before. It takes some time to get use to but Matt has been going off and making a lot of work.

As we get to travel around JingDezhen, we see things that really amaze us as potters and artists, and here is a giant vase factory that I took Brian too. He was amazed. I'll be featuring Brian on the construction of the wood kiln in later posts, but for now he is going to soak in JingDezhen and we'll see other students working.

In the past the Fall China trips have had prominent ceramic artists attend with the students to help teach and offer sage like advice. This time it is one of West Virginia's own, Brian VanNostrand. He is here discovering China along with the rest of us with his wife Montie. The duo are learning everyday and seeing very different profiles of life than they are use to seeing in Webster Springs West Virginia. Brian is here to build a wood kiln of his design and work with the students to fire it. It is a great assignment and it is one that Brian is surely up to the challenge. You can see him here with Bob figure out the right bricks, throwing pots and laying out the kiln. It the close up photograph he is in a giant chimney stack of a huge egg shaped kiln. The other photos are of him and Monty with some big porcelain pot made down the street. Montie has been bringing him lunch everyday and going off on her own discovering the markets of Jingdezhen. Together they have been great to have and we are going to see more on the kiln building and firing later on.