Recap: May Clay Club at McAvoy Pottery

Thanks again to Dennis McAvoy for hosting Clay Club at his studio in Burnsville! Dennis showed us his beautiful high-fired crystalline glazed work and talked about his process of making it. His pieces are once-fired, meaning he does not bisque fire but rather glazes his greenware and fires everything just once. He pours glazes inside and sprays the outside. He shared some newly fired pieces, some still in the kiln.

Dennis also shared some CAD/CAM (computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing) work that he has been doing recently. He walked us through the old-school process of making plaster molds for production work and then showed us how he now uses CAD/CAM techniques to make more molds more quickly. (He used an example of being able to make 50 plaster mug molds in two days rather than two weeks.) He uses Fusion 360 software to design and has the 3D printing done by a business in Weaverville. He also showed us how he is designing and making custom stamps, and talked through how he uses his ram press in his work.

Dennis is participating in the Toe River Studio Tour May 31st through June 2nd which would be a great time to check out his studio and work in person.

June Clay Club will be on Wednesday, June 12th, at The Village Potters in Asheville. We will be having a White Elephant exchange - look for more details about that soon.

Thanks again to Dennis and to everyone who came!