Jules Stout Ceramics

Hello from the lovable land of the Giant Redwoods…
…where the Grey Whales are splashing about, the Slink Pods are in full bloom and the frogs are singing joyful songs reveling in the steady stream of storms that continue to bring new life to California’s North Coast.
Nick Schwartz’s Flynn Creek Anagama and Wood/Salt kilns provided some beautiful finishes to many wonderful peoples’ work this January including Bay Area Pottery Goddess Christa Assad.

The January 2010 firing of Scott Parady’s Burton Creek Anagama also delivered excellent results. Follow the links to flickr to view images of the people and the process of the Pope Valley Firing and studio images of a few of Scott’s pieces and my newest work.

Much of this post firing month has been eaten up by planning and making arrangements for the future…preparing applications for exhibitions, for graduate school and possible future residencies.

Luckily most of my desk duties are over and I have begun to immerse myself in making new work to take to Simon Levin’s Mill Creek Anagama in Gresham, Wisconsin for the March 5th firing. If you have any suggestions of places to visit in the Wisconsin/Minnesota area during the five day cooling period before the March 19th unloading, please email me!
My residency here at the Mendocino Art Center will expire this May, so if you’re planning a visit to this amazingly beautiful area, April would be a great time! The Artist-In-Residence Exhibition will be up in the main gallery. Please join us for a festive reception on the “Second Saturday”, April 10th from 5-7pm.

* hope to see you soon *
~ jules ~

Two thousand nine ended and Twenty-ten began with two very hot kilns out here at Flynn Creek Pottery in the little town of Comptche, Mendocino County. What a festive way to end a very busy year of making and wood firing pots.

The work from the Flynn Creek Wood Salt kiln turned out great! The Anagama will be unloaded on January 12th and the word around town is that the peeks in have revealed lots of exciting surfaces!
The Burton Creek Anagama was bricked up on January 9th and will be firing from Jan 11th through the 19th. Check back in February for images of the results of the first three firings of the New Year.

I’m proud to announce that despite budget cuts, the Mendocino Art Center Ceramics Artists-in-Residence held three fund raising events and have secured more than enough funds to reserve a booth and cover the registration of the booth sitters at the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) conference this spring which will be held in Philadelphia, PA. Please stop by the booth to hear about the residency program, workshops, and all the good things going on here in Mendo.

* cheers to a passionate & productive 2010 *
~ jules ~

Teaching, Teching, Running & Making. Ahhhh…the joys of summer.
Teaching Art Camp at Sonoma Community Center has been an unimaginable inspiration for me as both a teacher and a maker. Having students draw their work proved to be a valuable tool in the collaboration. Above all, working with kids in the studio has taught me that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE with clay.

Learning about mythology and folklore from cultures around the world through helping these young artists build their vision in clay has been a blast.

As the ceramics technician for Sacramento City College, working for Mr. Mark Boguski, I got to spend some quality time in the glaze kitchen researching, testing and experimenting with glaze recipes.

Loading and firing kilns every day provided ample mental calisthenic activity.
Summer School is sadly over now and I’m taking a break from teaching Art Camp so I can go to Mendocino Art Center for grown-up art camp with Josh DeWeese where I will have my a chance to fire some work in the soda kiln. After helping students make and fire work all of June and July, I am excited to have August dedicated entirely to the making and firing of my own work. Please come enjoy the fruits of my labor at the Sonoma Community Center’s “Gallery 212” this September.

* thanks for visiting *
~ jules ~

While many folks were celebrating Independence Day by eating watermelon and assorted wood/charcoal fired foods, I spent the weekend in the studio polishing up my anagama fired wares for their big photo shoot. Zip, RP & I took a walk downtown to the Sonoma firework display, but when RP crawled into my lap at the Square, I realized he wasn’t exactly enjoying it…so back to the studio we went…where he hid under the table till well after the window rattling thunder subsided.
Later that week, two hot and late nights of snapping shots in the Sacramento State Studio produced nearly 200 images that I have narrowed down to a mere twenty shots for your viewing pleasure…just a tease…to inspire you to make a trip to Sonoma this September for my upcoming single artist exhibition. The show at Sonoma Community Center’s “Gallery 212” will open Labor Day weekend and the closing reception will be held Saturday September 19th from 5 to 7pm. If any of you happen to be passing through the Sacramento International Airport between August 11th and October 31st, look for my work in the Japanese Tea Ceramic Exhibition in Terminal B.

Please send me an email with your address if you’d like to receive a hard copy of the invitation to the reception.

Enjoy Summer!
~ jules ~

“Think beautiful thoughts and make beautiful pots” has been my mantra over the past year…and here they are. The Pot passing began around 2pm on a beautiful Thursday afternoon. We got more reduction in the firebox as we had planned and a lot less ash accumulation over all…but still great colors. The surface is smoother and shinier than usual, and the colors are primarily warm rather than cool. Click here to see a few images of the work on unloading day.

Thanks for visiting Jules Stout Ceramics. Enjoy the coming of summer.

~* jules *~

Coastal fog and unseasonable rain have filled the Sonoma Valley every night this month making for cool cuddly evenings and excellent early morning trail running conditions. The wildflowers just keep on coming, with the brodea out in numbers like I’ve never seen before. Wearing hoodies and a beanies during evening strolls with RP & Zip around our new home at the Sonoma Community Center has brought back fond memories of my summers growing up in Santa Rosa. Come join us for lunch on June 27th for SCC’s Salad Plate Special fundraiser.

May was exciting and exhausting…filled with preparations for the loading and the firing of Scott Parady’s anagama at Burton Creek Studio in Pope Valley, CA. The load went quickly and the firing stayed on schedule. The first piece of pine went in on the morning of Tuesday May 19th and after stuffing her full of the oak we sealed her up early in the morning on Wednesday May 27th. We expect new surface development resulting from some experimental air adjustments and the use of pine for the second firing of the fire box. Theory and reality will meet when we unbrick the door on the afternoon of Thursday June 4th. Check back for images of the unloading festivities later this week!

I look forward to seeing you at the East Bay Open Studios of my firing mates Jason Dunn, Hue Yang, Megan Mitchell, Sunshine Cobb, Darren Cockrell, and also at the Warren MacKenzie events this month at TRAX Gallery and the Museum of Craft & Folk Art. Cheers and thanks for visiting julesstout.com.
*~* jules *~*

Horray for Spring! The crimson trillium, pale yellow fawn lilies, checkered fritalaria, and blue lupines are out in full force doing all they can to enhance the beauty of the world in their pursuit of sustainability. In between making work and wild flower searches I’ve been busy working on residency applications for this fall and images to share with you on this site. I’ve added older images to the slide show in addition to the newest ones from Parady’s January Anagama firing. First on the calendar for April is the annual NCECA conference in Phoenix. Immediately following I will head up to the Anderson Valley to join Nick Schwartz’s Anagama firing. The following week will be spent moving my studio from Sacramento to begin my residency at the Sonoma Community Center where I will begin my exploration of gas fired dinnerware and continue making work for the May firing of Scott Parady’s Anagama.

Enjoy Spring and Remember to Breathe Deeply!

~ jules ~

This is it…finally overcoming my anxiety and frustration with technology!  JulesStout.com is becoming a reality in 2009…thanks mostly to the technical support of my tech savvy friend Nick Hoffman…I have crossed the threshold into a year of accomplishing things that I have put off for years! One exciting thing about this project is spending the wee hours of the night discovering links of all my favorite ceramic artists and venues!

Enjoy!

~ jules ~