• One More Fire Dance for 2006
• Women Lead The Way
• Solano Community College Goes Global
• Masakazu Kusakabe Health Update
• Other News

One More Fire Dance for 2006

The Fall 2006 Wood-fire class has begun the last firing of 2006. The fire was started with a beautiful lighting ceremony at 9:30 am and continues with us be feeding wood into the kiln every few minutes 24 hours a day until eight days later – next Sunday evening November 12. Come visit and see our students working very hard together to create works of great beauty, learning the values of collaboration and cooperation along the way. We are here 24 hours a day Monday through Sunday. Bring your class, bring a friend come and witness this remarkable 1000 year old traditional ceramic firing technique. Come see this tri-annual reenactment of eleventh century techniques. If you would like to bring a class on a quick or extended field trip and would like me (Marc Lancet) to speak to your class or even involve them in a quick hands on clay exercise, call and leave a message at x497. Many classes have visited in the past from Solano and as far away as Oakland’s California College of Art. Make a point during your busy day to stroll over and view this unique firing process.

New firing and cooling strategies.
This firing is a little different than most because we are experimenting with a slow rise in temperature and a 9 hour reduction cooling strategy for each of the chambers. This slow green firing is actually historically much closer to the original wood-firings of 1000 years ago. Over 48 hours the temperature will be nursed at a rate of 35 deg/per hour. When the kiln is heated slowly, flame is lethargic and ash is dropped like snow on the ceramic pieces in places it will not reach when the temperature and flame speed are high enough to melt the ash. The reduction cooling is to encourage color development which requires a slow cooling.

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Women Lead The Way

At a recent conference, Marc Lancet benefited from a panel on women in wood-fire. Several of the presenters commented on how rare it was to find a firing lead by women. Upon returning to the classroom, Marc recruited Mary Pettis and Michiko Kinoshita, two experienced wood-firing students, to lead the class in the wood firing. “I always lead the first firing of the semester and inform the class that they will be in charge of managing the second firing,” Marc explains. “The class usually elects the leader of the firing and that leader is usually a man.” This time, inspired by what I heard at the conference, I recruited Michiko and Mary rather that leave it to a vote. The experience has been valuable and beneficial to all involved.”

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Every wood-firing is an opportunity for experimentation. Here a student runs and experiment to see what remnant effect a banana peal might leave on the ceramic pieces.

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Solano Community College Goes Global – Professor Marc Lancet Speaks at the International Wood-fire Conference at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff.

SCC Professor Marc Lancet was invited to speak to an international audience in Flagstaff in October on the subject of the new book he has Co-Authored with Masakazu Kusakabe “Japanese Wood-fired Ceramics”. “IN Flagstaff, I was greeted enthusiastically by artists from all over our country and many others,” Marc remembers. “ I was amazed to find that our book had made it to so many countries. Japan, Norway, Denmark, England, Ireland, Taiwan, France, Germany (the book is being translated into German), Australia,New Zealand and many others. I was delighted to find our book so well received. Since chapter three is filled with photos of the building of the Dancing Fire Wood-kiln at Solano Community College, I found that all these artists knew of our work here in the art department. It was very rewarding.” This comes at a time when Solano Community College is interested in reaching out internationally. A sub committee of the Academic Senate is developing a study abroad program. Plans are being made for a few Administrators and faculty to go to China as part of a sister city program. And now the book by Masakazu Kusakabe and Marc Lancet is adding to these efforts at Solano Community College to engage in an international academic perspective.

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Masakazu Kusakabe Health Update

Masakazu Kusakabe’s, the designer of the DFWK, shows his Gambaro spirit almost a medical miracle Honorary Professor of the Fine Arts Department of Solano Community College and designer of the Dancing Fire Wood-kiln has made an almost miraculous recovery in his fight with cancer. Here is a report from my brother Barry Lancet who recently visited our friend and colleague.

Hi all,

We went out to visit Kusakabe weekend before last and I'm happy to report he looks great. He was relaxed, slim (but not thin), and his coloring was good.
His hair has come back, and it's all black! No sign of gray at all (at 59).
And he was in good spirits.

In short, he looks much better than he did in the months before the cancer was detected, when he looked pale and drawn.

He's back in his studio, but he's taking it slow, and he goes home to sleep and relax rather than sleeping over at the studio.

All for now. Barry

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Other News

Tri Tran, Solano Community College Student And Bay Area exhibiting artist. Tri is a featured artist at the Ren Brown Gallery in Bodega Bay.

Here is a description of Tri’s show from the web site www.renbrown.com.

SURFACE TEXTURE (through Nov. 9 - Dec. 31, 2006 )
We've always been intrigued by the beautiful surfaces found in wood-fired ceramics where ash melts on the surface creating a myriad of colors and textures. In this show, we pair two dimensional artwork with strong textural elements (TAMEKANE Yoshikatsu) with the work of two outstanding wood fired ceramic artisans (Jeffrey SPAHN and Tri TRAN). Please join us for the opening reception and art talk on Saturday November 11, 2-4PM!

Congratulations Tri. Another fine Solano Community College success story!

Do not miss this amazing art resource right here where you work. Come see yet another astonishing exhibition by Janene Whitesell’s Gallery Exhibition Class.

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Good News on the Installation of the Yokota Kilns