Japanese art close to home
Participants in the raku workshop create two pieces.
Local potter, Ned Corron wanted to “supplement the art” in Madison.
He is keeping his day job at Redstone Arsenal, but feels the pottery studio he shares with Greg Lee at 16Main is “an escape.”
Corron was originally born in Chicago, but moved to Madison in 1991.
He loved the school district and area for his family, but wanted to expand the art community.
“There’s not as much of an emphasis on art,” Corron said. “There are a lot of musicians, but not as much painting and ceramics.”
About five years ago Corron became interested in raku, a form of Japanese pottery, after of friend introduced him to the craft.
“I saw it once and taught it was fascinating,” Corron said.
Raku is created through a firing process. A piece of pottery is glazed then put into a hot kiln. The pottery is removed from the kiln and then placed in a trashcan lined with newspaper to smoke. The pottery is removed from the trashcan and placed either in a bucket of water or directly on the ground to cool off.
“Artistically I liked the look,” Corron said. “It has an earthy look, like you dug it out of the ground.”
He began teaching raku firing workshops at Lowe Mill in Huntsville, where he met Greg Lee.
Lee is an engineer for Torch Technologies and a Huntsville native.
He attended his first workshop in the winter of 2009 after seeing an advertisement, and quickly signed up for two more after that.
Lee then began assisting Corron.
“I loved to watch others’ amazement at the end result of a raku’d piece of pottery,” Lee said.
While he enjoyed creating in Huntsville, Corron was eager to move art closer home.
“I wanted to move art to Madison, where people live,” Corron said.
Corron and Lee now share a studio at 16Main, an art gallery located in a historic home in Downtown Madison.
Corron said it is run like a co-op with several artists having studio space.
“16Main is amazing,” Lee said. “The concept has taken off rapidly and has been well received. The other resident artists feel like family to me. It’s a very comfortable place to create.”
Lee and Corron will be offering a raku firing workshop at 10 a.m. on Feb. 25 at 16Main. Cost is $45 and includes two vases.
Greg Lee cools a piece of raku pottery after the firing process.
