Posted: 10/10/06
Art tour will include local potters
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
Northeastern Iowa artists will open their doors ñ and their kilns ñ for a behind-the-scenes look at their craft on October 13-15.
The Northeast Iowa Artistsí Studio Tour showcases 49 artists in 38 locations, and is open daily from 10 to 5.
The closest to Caledonia is Allamakee Wood-fired Pottery, south of Eitzen, owned by Nate and Hallie Evans.
People can tour their studio, and also look at the kiln that they built in 2004. The 250-cubic-foot kiln holds 650 pots. It is tear-drop shaped, and rises into a hill. Hallie said that helps to compress the heat and gas at the back of the kiln. ìIt forces the back of the kiln to get hotter.î
They did their 12th firing of the kiln on September 29. The firing lasted 38 hours.
Temperatures are slowly increased in the kiln over two days to a maximum of about 2400 degrees. The Evans use white ash for the fire. They get it as slab wood from an Amish sawmill.
It is more complicated, and more work, than electric kilns. Nate and Hallie nurse the kiln along through every degree. Heat is kept moving from the back of the firebox to the chimney by inserting wood in the front and through holes in the side of the kiln. They work in four or five hour shifts so that no one will be too exhausted for the end of the firing.
The wood fuel, with its smoke, ash, and flames, is one of the main factors in producing a pottery that has many hues of brown and blue. Each is completely different because of the flame movement.
After all the holes are plugged at the end of the firing, it takes another three days to cool off. Then comes the exciting time of seeing how the wares turned out. Itís hard work too, taking several days to clean the items.
Tours are fun and interesting for people, Hallie said. ìYou can get more of an idea of what goes into the pot,î she said.
For example, she and Nate can explain why a piece looks like it does partly from where it was in the kiln. ìThey [customers] can take away a lot more about the story of each pot,î Hallie said.
The Evans use Minnesota clays, although not local ones, which have too much lime. Eventually they will mix their own blend of commercially available clay.
Their glaze is their own recipe of indigenous material, like clay from Mankato, wood ash from their furnace, and granite dust from a quarry in Wisconsin. Part of the fun -- and challenge -- of pottery is figuring out how much of each material to use and how it will react.
Folk pots of the southern United States, as well as traditional forms from the Orient and England, are a big influence on the Evansí work.
ï How to get there: The best way to get to Allamakee Wood-fired Pottery from Caledonia is to go to Eitzen, take County Road 2 four miles east to Wheatland Road; turn right onto Wheatland Road until you come to Sleepy Hollow Road; go right on Sleepy Hollow to Blair Road, then go to the end of Blair Road and take a right. Their address is 2856 Blair Road. Their phone number is 563-544-4378.
About the tour
This yearís annual tour features photographers, painters, basket weavers, quilters, silversmiths, a woodcarver, fiber artists, glassblower, kaleidoscope crafters, and more. To obtain a brochure with the Tour map, call Winneshiek County CVB at: 563-382-2023 or 1-800-463-4692 or email: tour@iowaarttour.com. For more complete information about the artists and ongoing events, view the official Tour website: www.iowaarttour.com.
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