The Story of Dragonware
Octopus..hmm...how to make one? Where does one start? Go on computer and search for images...realistic photos to artists renditions....colors? after an hour go back to the studio....
dig out a ball of clay....separate into parts for legs....how many? Very important...8 legs to be exact...roll out and attach...curl each leg and attach to body...make a pleasing shape and form...eyes? What kind of eyes do they have? more research....back to table and octopus...form features...hollow out main body to guard against air bubble and too thick clay which causes blow ups in kiln......let dry slow for a day...put outside on table in the sun to finish drying...next day bring in and paint on under-glaze details...with fine squeeze bottles...let dry some more and fire a week later...with others....pull out and inspect piece..all is well? no major cracks? Aaaa...lets glaze in what color...bright red? Orange? Blue, Purple? Green?....hmmm..red is the color chosen...paint on and place in kiln with brothers...fire for 5 hours....next morning...open kiln and there he is staring up at me in all his red glory....ready for a new home.
A day in the life of selling. 3 am...stumble out of bed...see that coffee pot is running....got to garage and open hot kiln....peak at bright colors within...go back indoors to drink coffee waiting for kiln....get dressed...go back into garage pull out pieces from the kiln....bright red octopus, green fish....yellow and orange dragons...black cats...all come out of kiln one by one and greet the cold dark morning...pack into boxes and into truck....4:30...drive to San Francisco to arrive at 6:00 lottery for space....wait in line with over 100 to 150 artists...finally pick space...unload and set up as sun rises over Bay Bridge and Bay...parrots sqauk in the palms fighting for dates....booth constructed...go into coffee house facing the water...talk of the weeks events with fellow artists....yawn...finally walk back to booth, set up and ready for the day............
Evening comes and pack whats left and go home..
Jackie started working in clay very young. From the start in early high school in Alaska folks wanted to buy her pieces....when in college she worked part time jobs...but when she brought her work to sales they always sold for morethen she made at her jobs...a light went on! Time to focus on ceramics for a living..even though all art teachers said impossible!
First serious endeavor was getting license to sell in San Francisco and Berkeley in the seventies...by this time the second and third members joined Dragonware...as the organization came to be known...this was Pris and Sue...all three worked on many ceramic projects...from hand built planters to chess sets to lamps with hand built glass shades...along the way Pris dropped out to pursue a music career...Sue stayed and now a brief word about her.
Sue started out as a painter and moved to ceramics later when becoming friends with Jackie...and then it clicked. Dragonware was truly born.
I now move to the first person narrative since its me 'Sue" who is writing this missive. I truly love clay in all its
forms from low fire (which we focus on) to high fire, working part time at a local college in the art dept firing
kilns...that's where the name 'Kilngoddes' comes from...goddess of the kilns.
Dragonware then went on to sell at fairs and markets throughout Cal. Also selling to many shops around the world.Our main focus right now is selling online with Etsy and the streets of San Francisco, to be more precise Justin Herman Plaza across from the famous ferry building end of market in the financial district. We sell every weekend rain or shine unless we are at a fair.
The process of making the work goes as follows, we make pieces all the time...dry them out in the heat, under-glaze them with detail work, fire or bisque them and then the glaze which takes hours...then they are loaded in a kiln and fired..pulled out warm loaded into and old pick up and set up at a booth in SF...this process goes on every week almost without fail...with time taken out for special orders and projects.
