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Jeff

@backwoodspiper

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Hack potter/ poet, pipe enthusiast.
Be kind. Be genuine. Be thoughtful.
Be better than you were before.
GSO, NC 🔗@thispilgrimlife

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•
There are things you can't reach But
you can reach out to them, and all day long.

The wind, the bird flying away. The idea of God.

And it can keep you as busy as anything else, and happier.

The snake slides away; the fish jumps, like a little lily,
out of the water and back in; the goldfinches sing
from the unreachable top of the tree.

I look; morning to night I am never done with looking.

Looking I mean not just standing around, but standing around
as though with your arms open.

And thinking: maybe something will come, some
shining coil of wind,
or a few leaves from any old tree—
they are all in this too.

And now I will tell you the truth.
Everything in the world
comes.

At least, closer.

And, cordially.

Like the nibbling, tinsel-eyed fish; the unlooping snake.
Like goldfinches, little dolls of gold
fluttering around the corner of the sky

of God, the blue air.

– Mary Oliver

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Today the sun will take its lowest arc across the sky. The shortest day, the longest night. We used to pay attention to these things. Just Google "Megalithic Solstice Sites". Now it doesn't even make it on most calendars. I wonder what we're losing by our chronic lack of attention to the world we live in? I'm not offering any solutions, just wishing I could see like Mary saw...

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Coffee I roasted in one of my newest mugs to come out of the kiln. Briar Fox in a Iafisco bent apple.

Enjoy your weekend friends.

#pipesofinstagram #pipesmoking #pipetobacco
#tobaccopipes #pipesmokingcommunity #pipetobaccocommunity #igpc #botl #sotl #potter #pottery #handmadepottery #coffee #coffeeroaster by @backwoodspiper

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2 years ago

•
Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.

How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.

Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,
I cannot, now I see them, say
I missed one terribly all day.

Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total dark sublime,
Though this might take me a little time.

– W.H. Auden

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Reading this morning, I was struck by this poem, "The More Loving One", and it's grappling with the complexity of relationships and longing...

How do we who see, perceive, and feel so keenly cope when what we see stares back at us unblinkingly, without passion, approval, or desire? How do we cling to hope when it feels as if only one side is doing the holding?

I greatly appreciate the question to this answer Maria Papova offers when she says "It may be that art is simply what we call our most constructive coping mechanism for the incomprehension of life and mortality..."

Just the other day I stood in a local potter's studio and discussed "why does making pots matter?" in the face of so much suffering, uncertainty, animosity, and aggression around the world. "Because beauty matters" was his reply. Because beautiful things remind us that the suffering we see is only one side of the story. That the creative act is an act of defiance. That encountering art in an every day object (like a bowl or a mug) even for a few minutes each morning, awakens in us the possibility of openness to wonder in all manner of menial things.

Today's mug is an especially good reminder of this for me. It was fused to the floor of the kiln and two other nearby pots. Some careful blows with a rubber mallet freed it from its partners, which were not so fortunate... It stands forth as a survivor, as a testimony that beauty and goodness are possible even in the midst of destruction, imperfection, and loss—if we're willing to look...

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Enjoy your weekend friends. by @backwoodspiper

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2 years ago

Scenes from day 3 of 5 of the kiln firing. It’s over 2k degrees inside now! The process is nonstop monitoring, adjusting, and feeding, with round the clock shifts. I’m not doing much kiln stoking, but I am enjoying opportunities for making food to share. Tonight I cleaned up our firepit for our first campfire meal of the season (chicken stew with everything dinner rolls on the side 🙌) by @backwoodspiper

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9 days ago

First weekend of loading the kiln is in the books.

@anagamax working the brick saw to the last minute seems appropriate

Two hawks talking it up over Jo and I while a kind business owner opened up his shop just to load us up with free wood.

My first ceramics instructor @dodieac delivering her pots to our kiln feels a bit surreal!

We got one more dump truck load of pine to ensure we have ENOUGH WOOD.

@stinky.mcgee and Marie are the perfect pair. Micheal, you may not be a parent, but you have the patience of more than a few I know...

@thispilgrimlife and Molly holding it down and offering moral support!

A day's work. Continued next time...

#pottery #woodfire #ceramics #kiln by @backwoodspiper

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21 days ago

I’m not a believer in karma or fate… and there are no such things as coincidences… however, sometimes things do come together in an odd way.

As I’m reading the third book in the “Agent Pendergast” series, the focus is around New York City. More specifically the bones of 36 victims found in a charnel house, all murdered and mutilated more than a century ago… at a time when “cabinets of curiosities & oddities” predated the museum of natural history. (If you can’t tell, I’m pretty hooked on this series… and looking ahead I see the antagonist is prevalent again in book 21)

At the same time, talking to a friend yesterday about a piece being made for him by @micahredmond which was going to be one thing, but now morphed into an oddity of that shape… got me all excited, and the anticipation to see the final result at the @vegaspipeshow is growing!

So, not coincidentally… I mentioned this “Dublin” by Micah, in the conversation as one of those pieces that lives in my home, but rarely gets the rest it needs.

It’s a Dublin… no doubt. But it’s such an oddity of the shape. It’s non compliance and lack of uniformity creates so much visual texture almost paralleling the tactile, the sandblast provides.

I’m as much a fan of Micah’s work, as I am these sorts of fictional novels & series.

So as fall hits (at least here on the island) officially September 22nd… the nights will come sooner, the air crisper… in turn, the cigars a little less, but balanced by even more pipes smoked. And, more books read. Because quite honestly, although I have 400+ channels… there’s never anything on.

*side note… I feel I’ve finally given this piece the photographic justice it deserves. My previous post on it taken with an iPhone, looking back. The base was too similar in finish, and the lighting (my table lamp) too bright a bulb. I’m now pleased.

So… what are you reading?

…..
#igpc #instagrampipecommunity #booksbooksbooks
#dublin #fall by @backwoodspiper

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a month ago

Playing around with my work camera with Josiah this morning.

GLP Stratford in an Eltang Basic. Coffee is some delicious Costa Rican in one of my mugs.

Enjoy your weekend friends.

#pipesmoking #pipetobacco
#igpc #potter #coffee by @backwoodspiper

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4 months ago

16 years ago, our oldest was born and @backwoodspiper became a father for the first time. What a ride it’s been since 😆 Jeff, your constant love, presence, and singular investment in your children’s lives is a gift that can’t be quantified or appreciated enough. Happy Father’s Day!

**swipe through for different captions thanks to IGs new update**

(As per usual, easiest decorating made possible thanks to @chatbooks, chalkboards, and rolled paper)

Congratulations, Jeff and Max, for finishing the kiln! (Welding on ladders in 90 degree heat!) Of course we had to bring the kids out to admire the finished product. Hopefully, everyone is as inspired and excited for the next stage of the project— yard work and beautification!

Happy (speed) climbers! We had fun racing up the wall last week. I’ll let you guess who was last and who was first 😉

Fathers Day breakfast brought to you by @lodgecastiron and Friday’s leftovers by @backwoodspiper

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4 months ago

Let’s call this one “FRATERNAL TWINS”

At first this was just going to be a simple post of aesthetics, but since seeing the tables at the @thechicagopipeshow I find it more prevalent.

These two canadians were made for this post specifically… by Neal @garagemadepipetool … to show how the simplest little detail can completely change the overall look and feel of a pipe. Both are identical in length, blast, chamber, stem and finish… identical with the exception of the faux ivory insert!

At quick glance to each piece, what stands out IS that insert. It stops the eye and draws it directly to it. Separating visually the stem from the shank. Now to some that’s not a bad thing, and may find it a stunning detail.

But now the piece sans the insert… there’s a more harmonious flow from stem to bowl, to me in this particular style. A calmer more soulful appearance to its overall aesthetic.

Keep in mind, one detail added or removed can make a piece a “have to have” to “it’s a lovely piece, but not for me” pipe.

PART II : Both of these strawberry briar pieces, were cut from a single block… the stems from the same rod… they sandblasted nearly identical to each other. Both had uncoated bowls… Both have had only the same tin of Chelsea Morning, split between them…

And both, smoked completely different! One offered an unbelievably beautiful smoke from the very first bowl… while the other, took a few more to reach its break in point.

The briar will do, what the briar wants to do! When it comes to all this being a hobby or lifestyle, it really doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, it’s the joy we find in the simple pursuit to learning more as we grow within it.

SO…. Which catches your attention to be a “have to have” with the insert or without?!

…..
#igpc #twins #fraternal #instagrampipecommunity #experiment by @backwoodspiper

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5 months ago

Saturday Sale Part 2!

These pots were wood fired in Joseph Sand's large Anagama kiln. They're heavily ashed, salted, and crash cooled which gives them their individual surface patterns and glow. Each detail is a fingerprint of the ever changing environment within the kiln.

Mugs are $50 + $13 shipping. DM to claim.

As always, thanks for the continual encouragement and support. Enjoy looking!

No. 9) SOLD
No. 10 4 1/4" 12 oz.
No. 11) SOLD
No. 12) SOLD
No. 13) SOLD
No. 14) 4 1/2" 12 oz.
No. 15) 4 1/4" 10 oz.
No. 16) SOLD
No. 17) SOLD
No. 18) SOLD

#potter #pottery #handmadepottery #coffee #coffeeroaster by @backwoodspiper

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6 months ago

Happy Saturday friends! I hope you are doing well, or at least the best you can in these strange times. I can't overstate how important the regular rythyms of the potter's making cycle have been for keeping me grounded when I've felt overwhelmed by the insanity on the news and in the world all around us. I'd like to think these pots carry with them some of that quieting energy that might enhance every moment spent with your favorite cup of coffee or tea.

These pots were wood fired in Joseph Sand's large Anagama kiln. They're heavily ashed, salted, and crash cooled which gives them their individual surface patterns and glow. Each detail is a fingerprint of the ever changing environment within the kiln.

Mugs are $50 + $13 shipping. DM to claim.

As always, thanks for the continual encouragement and support. Enjoy looking!

SOLD OUT

#potter #pottery #handmadepottery #coffee #coffeeroaster by @backwoodspiper

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6 months ago

The simple pleasures of a chilly Sunday morning…

44°, the sun shining through the trees, the babies chasing each other ‘round the yard. The birds singing and chirping them on like an audience.

A hot cup o’ kawfeee… and a pipe by a new maker, I’m excited to tell you about…

Maybe you thought I stopped looking… I’ve just been holding back a bit… selfishly maybe. But this maker and a few others I’ll be posting in the upcoming weeks.

Till then, happy Sunday!

…..
#igpc #handmade #instagrampipecommunity #sundayvibes #morning by @backwoodspiper

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6 months ago

Happy weekend friends!

Hard to believe Muletown has already come and gone. Everyone I spoke to had an absolute blast. Good times with great people.

If you weren't fortunate enough to join us in person this year, fret not, for there are a few mugs left for you to enjoy!

I'm really pleased with how this batch of pots turned out. Local clays, simple shino glaze, wood-fired, salted, and one of a kind

Mugs are $50 + $10 shipping.

Measurements are approximate. DM to claim.

No. 1) 3" tall, approx. 8oz.

No. 2) SOLD

No. 3) SOLD

No. 4) SOLD

No. 5) 3" tall, approx. 7oz.

No. 6) 2¾" tall, approx. 8oz.

No. 7) 3" tall, approx. 8oz.

Thanks for looking!

#potter #pottery #handmadepottery #coffee #coffeeroaster by @backwoodspiper

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7 months ago