Loose Leaf Notes

It was actually a barn building, a workday and Copus family reunion at my son Josh’s property outside of Asheville, NC.  He could give a better narration of what these construction photos show.  What I saw was the generosity of many hands, family coming together from across the miles, bonds rekindled and new memories made.

Here’s what Josh posted with a group picture of the barnbuilders on Instagram, Facebook and his webpage blog:   Epic family barn day. We got all the rafters and purlins up on the wild clay research facility. Huge props to my bro, my Joe, Uncles Mark and Bobby, and the original barn rasta @gabeaucottwoodworker, and to the not pictured but hugely important Aunt Brenda, who weeded all my gardens. And of course my tiny Mum, who took care of the kids and made sure we were fed.

I’ve been documenting Josh’s life as a potter/artist –  his BFA show that led to a Wingate Scholarship, his wild clay excavations, ceramic exhibits, kiln building workdays, shed roof raisings, 16  Hands  Studio Tours and more – since 2005 (although lately it’s been harder for me to keep up).  THIS post, titled The House That Josh Unbuilt, marks the start of Josh’s 2 acre land development, which started in 2007 with the material salvaging and burning of an old house on the property.  HERE’S one from another monumental work day during the building of the first kiln, Community Temple, and another HERE on the Carolina Kiln Build, a three day intensive kiln building workshop that Josh and another potter facilitated, which resulted in two more kilns being built on the property.

We had just come from our first beach vacation as a family, Joe and me, our two sons (Josh and Dylan) and two grandsons (Bryce and Liam).  Our hearts were full and the family workday only kept the love spreading, as we made a stop from Folly Beach to Asheville and met up with my sons’ vacationing paternal uncles, who I hadn’t seen in a couple of decades. I can’t be sure, but I think my two sons (above) hadn’t worked side by side since Joe helped them cut down trees on our Floyd property, mill the wood and build a cabin on our property when they were teens.

We were all amazed at the improvements Josh has made.  Today, his potter’s homestead is a complex with three kilns, stonework, a garden labyrinth, a brick pizza party patio, small ornamental and fruit trees and more.  His Aunt Brenda and I both agree that Josh’s flower gardens seem to embody the spirit of his British paternal grandmother, Pat. She was a free spirit with a love of tea and English gardens.

“Why is there a train here?” Liam asked when he saw the creekside Airstream trailer (aka the Land Yacht) that Josh once lived in.  Both boys bravely used an outhouse for the first time, and there were lots of places to take cover in their army play games.

Joe has worked with Josh on several projects over the years, like THIS building of the first kiln, the Community Temple, in 2007.  Josh likes to work with salvaged materials.  I remember, during one of our visits to the land, Josh showed me these manhole covers that he had envisioned and acquired for his big picture plan.

Josh’s longtime friend and woodworking master, Gabe, who worked with Josh early in the week to set the stage for the barn building, has also helped with building projects over the years.  He has the agility of a monkey hanging from the rafters, only he was doing it while running a chainsaw.

The rain tempted to halt progress, but everyone worked through the short bursts of showers and only stopped briefly for lunch.

After lunch, Liam and I picked blueberries and chased Japanese beetles away.

He also “worked.”

Meanwhile, Bryce stayed busy with his ongoing artwork series about the video game Five Nights at Freddie’s.

This picture was taken after Uncle Mark stuck his arm in his shirt and played that he had accidentally cut it off.  The kids got a kick out of his antics but didn’t believe him because they didn’t see any blood.

I told the barn builders (Gabe, Joe, Josh, Bobby, Mark and Dylan) that it was like rounding up kids to get them to pose for a group picture because no one wanted to stop working before the job was done.

The day ended with a cookout around the campfire.  It couldn’t have been more perfect.

– Watch a short video clip of the day HERE.  Read more at Asheville Potter Son HERE. ____Our World Tuesday