There are so many fun toys available for potters these days we thought it would be great to make them available for a test-drive, so for each hour of the day on Tuesday, June 26th, we’ll have a different product available for people to try out while in the store. Live too far away to make it? That’s ok. We’re going to record a short video for each product we have out for trial and we’ll be posting them throughout the day on our website and YouTube Channel, so you can tune in from wherever you are and take part remotely! And of COURSE, the long awaited Bracker’s 30th anniversary t-shirt will be revealed first thing of the morning!
![Jim McDowell learned to make pots when the Army stationed him at a craft shop in Germany during the Vietnam war. He discovered a pottery wheel that no one in the craft shop knew how to use but curious enough to take a short train ride to learn from Nuremberg potters. Back stateside, he enrolled in a workshop with David Robinson in Weare, NH that changed the whole path of his life as an artist. Around 35 years ago, he made his first face jug and his style evolved as he learned about the literate enslaved potter, Dave Drake (David Sturm wrote about him in a June 15th post). Jim began to inscribe his beliefs on the jugs to pay tribute to the way Dave Drake would write on his own work. Face jugs are often referred to as “ugly jugs” - and I can definitely see the ugliness of slavery reflected in Jim’s work. I learned that slaves weren’t permitted to smoke, which is why some jugs feature cigars in the mouths of some jugs. In Jim’s words, “When a white boy smoked he was considered a man. An enslaved man could be 90 and still called ‘boy.’ The cigar gives him a form of dignity, but also sticks it to the man.” I honestly would have never made the connection between smoking a cigar and dignity. Some of his jugs also feature wings to honor the lore that “Jesus gave them wings to fly away” when a slave went missing from the plantation (this folklore existed throughout South Carolina, Georgia and the American Gullah). Jim will be featured in a book to be released later this year or early 2021 with the working title, "Black Hands in Clay” so keep your eyes out for this book by Schiffer Publishing. My post today will end with Jim’s own words: “I’m not one to march in the streets with a placard. But my whole life is a resistance. When I carry on the traditions of my ancestors, that’s a resistance. When I make the food of my people—rice and beans, collards, fried okra—that’s resistance. When I sing the old gospel songs that originated from field songs, that’s resistance. When I create face jugs, that’s the ultimate resistance.” [by Anne]](https://www.brackers.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
Good morning,
I just wonder if you carry micaceousclay.
Thanks
Palma
We don’t, but I think you might be able to find it at Marjon or one of the other southwest region suppliers. Santa Fe Clay perhaps?
Got the Test Drive Tuesday announcement at 9:58 this am. Had put in for a half day of by 10:01! (super busy time of the year – can’t chance the whole day!)
Just wait, Darla, there’s more!!!!…..soooo much more……
Claygirl thank you very much for you time and i will keep looking for
thanks
Palma
Keep it up… talk me into more days off… get me fired… it’ll be ok! ha
Bracker’s 30th comes but once a year!!!! Besides, you don’t need that job. Be a full time potter!!!! 🙂