New Jersey Lifestyle Magazine recently caught our attention with a profile of an old friend, ceramic artist Alan Willoughby. Alan was the Executive Director of the Perkins Center for the Arts in Moorestown, NJ for many years. When he retired a few years ago, his art took center stage. He's built his own Noborigama Kiln at his South Jersey home, and sells his work at various galleries in New Jersey and Philadelphia. We're reminded that artists evolve and reinvent themselves, yet rarely retire.
In 2003, State of the Arts filmed Alan and a group of other artists over three weekends as they inaugurated a Noborigama Kiln on the Appel Farm Arts & Music campus in Elmer, NJ. This type of kiln was developed in Japan in the 17th century. It's a multi-chambered, wood-burning kiln originally built into the side of a hill. Alan declares, "It's a lot of work, there are much easier ways to do this. It’s a lot of work to keep a wood fire stoked to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit for the hours it takes to fire clay." Alan, however, loves the primal, spiritual process and the results he can achieve as flames from a wood fire create patterns and archeological textures on the clay.
Working at the Noborigama Kiln
In 2018, Alan built his own Noborigama Kiln. He is now also locally mining and processing his own clay and collecting firewood from fallen and storm-damaged trees. His work is colorful, sculptural, functional, artistic, and it's beautiful.
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