We celebrated a little bit this fine Friday evening. Lark and Key, a gallery that represents my work along with several of my other pottery pals, moved to a new location in Charlotte. Joey also turns another "shade" of 40 tomorrow...so we needed a night on the town which is always an event with three little children in toe. We did manage to survive the car ride to Charlotte, the opening and some good Mexican food. I had pumpkin/spice beer which was really needed after the week I had. Everyone conked out in the car on the way home and here I am catching up on emails while Joey enjoys some…
Pottery
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Jen Mecca's Pottery Blog
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New Location
6 Nov 2009 | 7:26 pm -
Exhausting day....
4 Nov 2009 | 8:50 pmI had an exhausting day with my online students. I had planned on a whole morning and part of the mid-day in the studio but found that I had to race back and forth to the computer all morning with student issues and complaints. Thank goodness this evening all my little one's went to bed on time so I could get out and work some more. That was a treat!I've realized over the last two years that emails can really be upsetting if not written correctly. This issue has been played out a lot in my life lately. You always hear something different than what is really being written. I wonder what kind… -
In the process of...
3 Nov 2009 | 7:59 amOh the site of mugs, could anything make a potter more happy! I'm working away on several things. I plan on making a bunch of drinking vessels this season because I have this really cool new display unit being made. If you recall I had bought a CD holder at IKEA a while back to use for my display but it didn't really work for me. So, the perks of working at a University is all the hungry grad students around who need money and are willing to use their skills and talents to help out. I found a very nice woodworking student who is currently helping me out with some of my display issues. This is… -
Goblins a foot!
1 Nov 2009 | 8:02 pmQuaid went as a Star Wars "wookie" with red glowing eyes....I of course could not resist the devil horns this year!I just got in from finishing up spriging a bunch of stuff.....What a weekend and most of it I"m thankful to report was spent in my studio with NPR, Noah Jones, Cold play and a host of other great musical artists.Aydan...my little turtle.Halloween was a little off this year. We got some rain which threw us into a little bit of frenzy. I didn't get as many "spooktacular" photo's this year as in years past. I may have bribe the kids with more candy next weekend just to put on their… -
Home show in Charlotte
30 Oct 2009 | 8:34 pmI was asked again by my glass friend Lisa Oakley to join her for a home show here in Charlotte. Her sister in law, Claire Oakley is hosted it and it is near the South Park area of town.You can see more information about Lisa by just visiting the site for Cedar Creek Gallery. Lisa has a wonderful sense of humor and I enjoy having a chance to hang out with her, admire her glass work and have many good laughs...all while selling some pots! Friends in the craft world need to stick together and I always enjoy opportunities like this one where I get to visit with an old friend.Today I enjoyed some…
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stark's pots
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Best Bonus Mother in Law EVER!!
4 Nov 2009 | 5:09 pmI am now the lucky temporary owner of a SLAB ROLLER--like--a REAL one! How awesome is that? My 'bonus' mother-in-law as Lindsay calls her is allowing me to use her slab roller until she has enough time to get back into clay. I have been really wanting to get into some handbuilding, and now I have no good excuse not to. Thanks Jeannette!! You're awesome!Here is a couple of pics of the new mug form I'm working on. I'm still not 100% satisfied on the handles, or the bottom finishing, but it's coming along. I'm trying to throw them quickly and a little bit more loosely. I don't know--I've always… -
I've got pots!
30 Oct 2009 | 5:37 pmAnything not bone dry was thrown today.I had a fantastic day today!! I started throwing at 6:30 this morning after I got Lindsay and Genevieve off to their schools, and threw pots until 2:45 only stopping for lunch. Speaking of lunch--I got one of my favorite meals--Kyoto Express Hibachi Chicken (minus veggies). Awesome!The pots in the first picture are all the ones that made the cut to continue drying. I started working on a new mug form (the ones on the bottom shelf). I wanted something more simple than my current mugs. I'm going to keep making both, but I think that the new one will be… -
A Whole Day!
29 Oct 2009 | 5:10 pmGenevieve now knows how to read. Does your 6-month-old know how to read? ;)I actually took a day off from work tomorrow to work the entire time in the studio!!! I can't tell you how excited I am! I also bought a bag of pottery plaster and some fresh clay so I'm ready to get going. I've never made a mold before, but I've seen it done once, so that should be enough, right?? I'm making a mold of a wooden serving tray to use as a slump mold. I can't remember if I'm supposed to coat the tray with anything to help it release from the plaster. I'm thinking I should. I'll go look it up in a min, but… -
Rolling over
15 Oct 2009 | 6:03 pmJust wanted to put up a quick little post to let everyone know that Genevieve rolled over for the first time yesterday. Unfortunately, I was out of town at the time, but she was kind enough to oblige today--twice! Anyway, it was pretty exciting, well, for me and Lindsay anyways :) My little girl is already growing up! -
Kiln unloaded
13 Oct 2009 | 5:51 pmI unloaded the kiln as soon as I got home today--well, I had to say hi to Genevieve and Lindsay first, but right after that, I went out to get her unloaded. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. Just before I stopped making new work, I made a big batch of a new glaze (I know, blue is like sacrilege or something) and I had only tried it out on a couple of pieces that didn't tell me a whole lot.I put it with the rest of my glazes to see how they interacted together, and it worked pretty well with all of them, but really well with one (the first pic).I also tried using melted glass for…
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Sister Creek Pottery
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some of the fruits of the fire
6 Nov 2009 | 10:58 amI did not have a packed kiln. Here are a few of the pieces from the long, slow firing.A compote--about 6+" high and 10" wideA serving plate: about 10 1/2" wideA gravy boat: about 4" high and 5" wideA small pitcher: about 7" tall -
well, the firing was fine
6 Nov 2009 | 9:19 amHere are the cone packs from the 3 lower shelves (the stand alone was on the top shelf that was very shallow). BTW, I had only one ^7 cone--so what you see are ^5. ^6, and only one ^7 on the middle shelf. Bottom pack on the right:None-the-less, I will check the lower elements this afternoon. I guess this is an interesting example of 'heatwork=time and temperature'. The pieces in this firing are fine--I am grateful and very relieved! -
PS after the firing
6 Nov 2009 | 6:57 amwhich took 29 hours and 23 minutes, I 'reviewed' the schedule (kiln still too hot to unload). I found that I had made a slight error when I entered the firing schedule...I thought I was telling the kiln to advance from 250F to 2000F at a rate of 300F/hr at which time it would advance at the rate of 108F to 2185F. But, unfortunately, I really told it to advance to 200F at a rate of 300F and then to advance to 2185F at a rate of 108F. Get it? The kiln crawled from 200F to 2185F at a rate of 108F per hour. Well, that does make for a long, slow firing! Once the kiln is empty I will fire it up… -
if its not one thing...
5 Nov 2009 | 3:36 pm...its another! A favorite saying between Jim and Kenny--they break into peals of laughter as they chant that over some new challenge. For me, today, it is the kiln. It has been firing for over 24 hours and has not reached ^6 yet. I am wondering if is because I made a mistake entering the schedule or if the kiln has developed a new problem. At ~2140 F there was a bright, glowing yellow light coming out around the rim of the lid and out of each of the peeps EXCEPT the bottom peep--it is dark. (I did not think to take a photo until the kiln was on the way down--about 1945 F--but it still shows. -
what do you do?
1 Nov 2009 | 2:52 pmIt seems like each piece I fire has a lesson to teach me...that is great...but I was hoping to have something I could be really proud of. The really bad part of that is that the problems can't be attributed to the firing! They are all 'hand made' by the potter!I like the teapot...but I messed up the foot: wax mess and too shallow a foot so the glaze touched the shelf and made an ugly mark.A pretty little sauce boat...but I think the glaze was too thin and I mended a crack with paper clay and it left an ugly scar that the glaze accentuated. I'm going to remake this one because I do like the…
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Bibbi Forsman
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happy haloween!
31 Oct 2009 | 5:19 amNew York is a wonderful and, these days, scary place. Love to be here. Happy Haloween! -
terra nova 3
29 Oct 2009 | 3:43 amStill in New York, another sleepless morning. I love being here! Can't show what happens though, forgot the camera cord and can't get the photos out. But it gives me the chance to get old things in order.Here is the third mosaic wall piece for the apartment buildings at Eriksberg, Göteborg.Tina Lindström lights a fire sculpture in Alingsås on Friday 18.30. Luftvärnstornet, Nolhaga berg; bring a torch light. Final days of the big annual light event Lights in Alingsås (click "Bilder" for photos) -
Terra Nova 2
28 Oct 2009 | 2:46 amJust woke up, 5 o'clock in the morning, in a supernice house in Williamsburg, New York. The rain is pouring outside and everybody are still sleeping. Might as well use what feels like extra time catching up blogging.Here is the second entrance at Terra Nova. The auspicious symbol in this piece is the cloud. Hope the clouded sky in New York brings good luck, too. Exciting days lies ahead. -
Terra nova 1
25 Oct 2009 | 2:44 amFinally, I took the ferry trip to take photos of the long since finished commission at Eriksberg. When I left in April it was still a construction site. I was happy to return but it's always a sour surprise to see all the additions never visible in the plans: heaters, electric devices, nameboards...Four entrances, the other three soon posted.The story behind the work is here...We take off for New York next week, a first time visit. Any suggestions for where to look for craft and applied arts experiences?Nicole Lloyd photography -
Ayanaar figures
11 Oct 2009 | 12:07 pmI'm going to give a lecture and frantically scan photos. A treasure of not so easily looked-at slides when the old projector is broken. It's a good thing to get at least a few of them into the computer and I meet so many nice memories.Images from a Major Ceramic Moment in life:in Tamil Nadu, southern India, Ayanaar figures like these are made for the temples. I'm forever thankful to Ray Meeker at Golden Bridge Pottery in Pondicherri for telling me the way.www.raymeeker.comIn September a workshop was held in in Visby, Sweden, with the Ayanaar potter Palanisamy from Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu,…
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Josie Goes to Pot
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Friday at the "Flea"
6 Nov 2009 | 9:11 amTechnically what we attended today is called Brocante de Antiquites. ItIs the massive 10 day antique faire held in Paris every November. I feel so happy we were here for it. It flanks both sides of the canal near the Bastille. You can find everything from old egg cups to Louis XIV divan chairs, plastic cupids to marble busts of laughing French maidens.The food is in a league of it's own. Booths are scattered through out where you can taste wine, eat oysters, sample sausage. There is a stall that serves the most delicious vin chaud brewed in huge copper vats on a small gas stove.We ate in… -
Patterns
29 Oct 2009 | 10:18 pmYesterday we wandered in Paris with my daughter Susannah and her husband Yadir. It was the perfect Paris day. If I had one complaint it would be that for some reason there are tons of tourists around.... Isn't this supposed to be "off season"? Go home people we want this beautiful place to ourselves!One of the spots we visited was Notre Dame. Even with hordes of folks milling about, it never ceases to dazzle me. It looked like they are about half way through cleaning the frescos in the back nitches and I could actually see all the intricate patterns that cover the walls. I… -
Cemetary Ceramics
26 Oct 2009 | 11:10 pmOK I'm a bit eccentric but I really love visiting cemetaries. On Sunday we walked to the little one in Lourmarin.to pay our respects to Albert Camus, who is burried there. On many of the graves were bouguets of wonderful ceramic flowers like the violets pictured above. There were also small oval ceramic plaques on many of the graves with images of the deceased.Whoever chose the photos certainly wasn't thinking of glaming up the memory of the dead. These were a most earthy bunch of folks. Almost all of them looked like rather bad passport photos, hardly a smile, lick of make-up or… -
Friday- Lourmarin Market Day
23 Oct 2009 | 5:29 amToday is Friday and that means market day in Lourmarin. We've been visiting many of the local markets of Provence-some have been a bust. Chateau Neuf for example had only one vegetable stand, a rotessiere chicken truck and a dude selling mattresses. Viason la Romaine was huge and had everthing from cheese vendors to underwear salesmen.Lourmarin, the village we have landed in is tiny and doll like. It has great cafes and pretty little shops. You can easily walk the whole town in an hour including stopping for a drink and shopping for dinner. I love it here.I didn't know what to expect… -
Clean Feet
20 Oct 2009 | 9:24 pmThese beautiful Roman jugswere at the city museum across from the HUGE ancient threater in Orange. They were so perfectly preserved.What impressed me most was the trimming on the feet - so perfect, precise and dainty with the tiniest little turn up at the edge.Being in the restored theater, that could hold 10,000 theater loving (sometimes porno loving.... Yup... Something I didn't know, maybe didn't need to know!) made me feel like a speck...a little bit of dustin the air of time. Seeing those beautiful ancient everyday pots made me REALLY want to take the time to finish my bottoms…
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Brampton Pottery
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Half-term break
3 Nov 2009 | 8:40 amHere are some pots from the last firing. I really enjoyed making the caseroles. They provide a good vertical surface to work on. I like having writing on the pots but I couldn't think what to put on the jugs - milk seemed a bit obvious!We did a quick dash to Wales at the end of half-term. There was an exhibition at Oriel Myrddin in Carmarthen by Edwina Bridgeman. It was a fun, inventive and whimsical orchard. It was created from charity shop finds. Made me want to scour charity shops and create my own world.Unfortunately my photographs don't do the work justice.It was great to get the boys… -
Dinner?
9 Oct 2009 | 2:02 pmCome to dinner- the table's laid and the food prepared. Friday evening is always a time to relax and unwind. I started the day with a swim. (Have to be in and out before the school children come for their lessons). A quick dash to the bank and the shops for some food shopping and home to decorate some pots.I use a mixture of sources to find the images I want. Some from books others from my sketch books. These pots always take much longer than I expect but I do enjoy doing them. I was surprised to find that I'm down to my last bag of clay!! So I'm off to my supplier first thing in the morning… -
images
2 Oct 2009 | 1:32 pmAs much of my imagery in my current work has included bees and beetles I thought I would keep a look out for the images on other products. I thought it would be easy to find a number of items. I did find a beetle set in resin which has the most lustrous colours when the sun catches it but apart from that the only other use of a bee I found on a bottle of beer! Of course I had to buy some to add to my meager collection and obviously I had to sample the contents. (I call it research and dedication to the cause).Has any one out there found bugs and beetles on any art work or products? -
Brampton pots!
23 Sep 2009 | 5:09 amMy creationOriginally uploaded by sgraffito2003Thought I'd post these images that I have been using this year because I need to create a new set for the coming years applications. -
Sunday Ceramics
22 Sep 2009 | 12:25 amSunday was a beautiful soft, warm Autumnal day. Perfect for a trip to London. First stop The Victoria and Albert Museum to see the newly re-opened ceramics galleries. It was a very quick visit so we only got the flavour of it. The two pots above are from Cyprus and really got my attention.I will take a day off at some stage for a return visit to have a good look.I've put the two pictures in below just to give you an idea of just how many pots were crowded together. There were displays where pots were given more space and prominence but many were in close proximity.I think that there are more…
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Tracey Broome
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Cole Park Benefit Concert
5 Nov 2009 | 4:18 pmHere is a Cole Park video from the concert for the Youth Performing Arts Conservatory fundraiser. It was on Halloween night, lots of fun! -
Intuitive Presence
3 Nov 2009 | 6:04 pm"The works with the most presence are created intuitively. They are made without crowded thought, so in essence the work is not crowded or overworked. Attaining a mindset that is proper for creating intuitive work is not easy. It is much like the type of trance I am referring to in the dance poem. When something is made by an artist that has presence it sets a higher standard, and the artist should then be on a quest to make more art with that type of presence. The work you can see emotion in. The ones you can feel when you walk into a room are the ones that have presence. It is something… -
alrighty, then......
2 Nov 2009 | 3:19 pmGot a bisque load of bowls and mugs for another attempt at a ^10 reduction firing. Also a bunch of Christmasy raku stuff for the holiday show in Durham. Should be an interesting couple of weeks coming up................. -
Franklin St.
1 Nov 2009 | 10:33 amFranklin St. in Chapel Hill is the craziest place ever to be on Halloween. Wesley's band played last night at the Artscenter for a fundraiser/Halloween party and then we went down to Franklin St. to see everyone's crazy costumes. There was lots of humor this year. One of our favorites was a guy wearing an Obama mask, black slacks, blue oxford shirt, tie. But the best part was the five or six "secret service" men he had with him. These guys were so great, playing the part so well, you would have thought they were really agents. And everyone was stopping to get their picture taken with him. It… -
Happy Halloween!
31 Oct 2009 | 12:44 pm
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A Devonshire Pottery
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8lb jugs
5 Nov 2009 | 9:20 amI made 8lb jugs today, I haven't made them in ages so it took a little while to get my hand back in.I have to go out in a few minutes because I foolishly said I'd take a part in the village pantomime and tonight is rehearsal night. Fun fun fun! -
Back
3 Nov 2009 | 11:41 pmHello again. Well we're back after a week away in Suffolk with my parents, where we had the best of times. It was fantastic weather considering the time of year and we spent quite a bit of time on the sandy beaches which are beautiful along that part of the coast.The terrain is very flat and in places, visible over a number of miles, there are networks of these wonderful old windmill pumps that were used to reclaim and irrigate the land. Some of them have fallen into disrepair, others have been converted into accommodation and some, like this one have been restored.Our friends Jon and Jo live… -
Blog
24 Oct 2009 | 3:03 pmHello allWe're off on holiday in the morning for a week. When I get home I want to try and get this blog up and running again. It still takes ages to get my computer to work well enough to post. I know I need to buy a new one, but there's always some other bill that needs to be paid first, boo. Here are a couple of pictures of a large harvest jug I made a while ago. It's about 15" with fingerwipe decoration.I've been making orders recently, I'm nearly up to date with them. I'll post pictures once they've been delivered to their new owners. Next commitment for me is a trip to to Camberwell… -
Hello again
13 Oct 2009 | 1:17 pmHello all!Here's a picture, just in case you've forgotten what I look like, it's been a long time. Thank you for all the stuff you said about that jug on my last post, it came out pretty well, I was very happy with it.Well I'm still having terrible problems with my useless computer, so whether this'll work, remains to be seen. I wrote a massive post with lots of pics the other day and when I tried to upload it, the computer crashed, I lost it all, cursed a lot, then gave up in disgust, just short of taking a hammer to my pc - if this doesn't work, tonight might just be the night.Anyway, all… -
Harvest Jug
28 Sep 2009 | 12:30 pmThis is a big harvest jug that I delivered today to the gallery in Bath. It's the biggest one I've made at approx 18.5" and is going to be featured in a book that my chum Nic is writing. It took ages to do.The inscription on the back is taken from an old North Devon jug and reads:When I was in my native placeI was a lump of clayAnd digged up out of the EarthAnd brought from thence awayBut now I am a jug becameBy potter's art and skillAnd I your servant am becomeAnd carry ale I willI'll get some more images on here of some of the other pots when I can work out how to open the files - it's a…
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Around and About with Bulldog Pottery
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If only these clogs could talk
6 Nov 2009 | 6:36 pmBruce received a special package today in the mail. A package that made him very happy. The twelve year old clogs on the right are now officially retired. Something we have been meaning to do for a long time, but we kept putting it off. In the beginning, these clog's walked the halls of Alfred University during Bruce's grad days there and then they moved to Seagrove, NC to set up studio. For many a day and night these clogs supported the making of numerous pots.Maxwell just wants to be sure if these new shoes will like to play with the red ball too. -
Maxwell holds Will steady
4 Nov 2009 | 5:01 pmWill from McCanless Pottery came over this morning to sign a collaborative piece that Bruce threw last week. Maxwell wanted to contribute to the moment and felt that Will needed help to steady himself while signing his name. Will was thankful for Max's kind gesture. Will plans on glazing this large bottle with some of his crystalline glazes. I wonder which color combination he will choose. -
Beginnings of a few Urns
3 Nov 2009 | 6:39 amBruce has been working on throwing four large urns in preparation for the upcoming Masterworks display at the Carolina Designer Craftsman Fine Craft and Design Show (CDC). These urns are the beginnings of our collaboration piece for the Masterworks display. The CDC show takes place Thanksgiving weekend in Raleigh at the State Fair Grounds, a week after the 2nd Annual Celebration of Seagrove Potters.The Carolina Designer Craftsmen's Definition of a Masterworks piece: "A piece that is superior in design, quality, originality, price and/or size to what you would routinely make and display in… -
British Museum : Day of the Dead
1 Nov 2009 | 7:09 amWe have been following the British Museum on Twitter. If you Twitter I recommend following the British Museum's Twitter. They recently have been focusing on their Day of the Dead events. There are more images up on Flicker. -
The Sun Came Out Today
28 Oct 2009 | 4:54 pmIt was very pretty outside today. It is so nice to have the sun come out after the grey days we have been experiencing. Though I was very happy yesterday that the grey was mixed with rain. We sure do it need it. Our ponds are lower then ever. We saw a good movie the other night called Gran Torino staring Clint Eastwood. It is one of those movies that sticks with you the day after, I felt it represented the ultimate sacrifice. This image is of one of the last nicotiana flowers in our garden.
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Clay Club
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Clay Club November 11, 2009
6 Nov 2009 | 5:44 pmYo Clubbers,Yes we will have a meeting Nov. 11, 2009. I had talked to Crimson Laurel about a slide show on Korea but have to confirm it. If not, I will think of something,.... unless anyone else has any idesa?John -
Shows & Clay Club
6 Nov 2009 | 10:54 amLooks like Clay Clubbers are representing at some fancy shows, go us!Sooooo, is Clay Club happening next week? Bueller?.......Bueller? -
"It's all in the Details"
5 Nov 2009 | 12:51 pmAnnie Singletary and I are having a duo pottery exhibit opening this month at Pottery 101 Gallery in Salisbury, NC. Salisbury is just outside of Charlotte, NC. The opening reception is Friday night, 6-9 on November 20th and the show continues through December 18. Cheryl Goins, the owner and potter of Pottery 101 renovated a historic building in downtown Salisbury where she set up a clay studio for classes and created a beautiful gallery for pottery. You can see more about the details of the renovation at her blog here. -
Baltimore Clayworks Winterfest 2009
5 Nov 2009 | 12:23 pmclick on image to read details....Baltimore Clayworks is gearing up for their 15th Annual Winterfest Exhibition and some of our fellow NC potters were invited to participate. Emily Reason, Joy Tanner, and Ben Carter (all past Resident Artists of the Odyssey Center, might I add), are some of those invited to be in this great show. Each potter was asked to send a nice collection of pots for the show...the opening reception is November 14. The show will be posted online very soon, and runs through December 30. Until then, you can check out the show's details on their website here. -
WNC Pottery Festival
5 Nov 2009 | 12:21 pmWill Baker and I (Joy Tanner) will be exhibiting our pots at the WNC Pottery Festival this Saturday November 7 in Dillsboro, NC. Come check it out! Here's the link to the festival site.
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Art Pottery Blog – History, Marks, Buying, Selling Art Pottery
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Another Unexpected Art Pottery Find
4 Nov 2009 | 11:09 amLast week, we told you about a valuable Newcomb Pottery vase that was found in a thrift store and sold for more than $3,000. If you thought it was a fluke, think again. This week, we received an email from a fellow art pottery collector who also found a rare Newcomb vase where he least expected. On one of his regular visits to his local thrift store in search of collectibles for his curio cabinet (or as his wife calls it, "another piece of junk"), he found himself in a conversation with some of the other collectors who frequented the same store. One had… -
Why American Art Pottery Makes A Great Gift
2 Nov 2009 | 8:01 amAh, you can sense it in the air - the colder weather is on its way and that means the traditional holiday season is nearing as well.If you're like me, you know how difficult it is to buy for that one person on your list; you know- the one who has everything, marches to the beat of his or her own drum and has excellent taste in everything from clothing fashion to home décor.That's a tough one to buy for, no doubt. We just might have a solution or two.Have you considered art pottery?There are many reasons a beautiful Roseville basket or a Van Briggle vase would make an excellent… -
Roseville Cosmos Pattern
30 Oct 2009 | 7:46 amEveryone has a favorite Roseville art pottery pattern.Others, like me, tend to discover a new reason to look at an old favorite with different eyes from time to time - which means, of course, my favorites are sometimes determined on a whim. Bushberry, Bleeding Heart and even colorful Roseville Savona- all of these have been at the top of my "must have" lists at one time and are apt to come full circle to rest at the top once again. Still, there's no denying the beauty of the Roseville Cosmos pattern.Introduced in 1939, this quiet pattern is available in blues, greens and… -
Rare Newcomb Pottery Vase Discovered in Thrift Store
28 Oct 2009 | 3:32 pmImagine finding an art pottery vase in a thrift store, buying it for a few dollars and then discovering months later it's actually a rare piece of Newcomb Pottery. That's exactly what happened to a woman on a recent trip to a local thrift store. After seeing the pretty blue vase on a shelf, she initially passed it up.A week later, the vase still on her mind, she returned to the thrift store and purchased it.She brought it home and put it on a shelf, only to have a visitor tell her a few months later it was Newcomb Pottery.Not only that, but she also discovered it was worth quite a… -
Roseville Pine Cone Pottery Marks
24 Oct 2009 | 4:27 pmA new Roseville pottery collector who inherited a few pieces of brown Pine Cone asked for clarification on why some pieces are marked and others are unmarked. He was also concerned that the unmarked vases and those pieces with marks that did not include USA may be non-vintage or reproductions. Pine Cone was probably the most popular pattern of Roseville from its introduction in 1935 throughout its years of production. As a result of this popularly and the resulting extended years of production, Pine Cone is one of the few Roseville patterns that was marked four different ways including:…
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Brian Fields Pottery
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Pricing in a bad economy
11 Oct 2009 | 6:53 amJust read a blog post about the temptation to lower your prices when things aren't selling.Assuming your prices are set correctly (whatever that is) in the first place, it makes a lot of sense.Looking around, I sure haven't noticed many other sectors slashing prices. Sure, there are the department stores that have huge retail markup having 50% of sales, but you can be sure they are not selling below, or anywhere near, cost. If they are, they're making it up elsewhere (loss leader to get you in the store) or they're teetering on bankruptcy.I thought this really fit in with a common theme I've… -
Mark Hewitt in Raleigh,NC
1 Oct 2009 | 2:51 pmMark Hewitt will be the guest speaker at the October 6th meeting of the Triangle Potter's Guild. The meeting will be 6:00PM in Stewart Theatre at Talley Student Center on the NC State main campus.See the meeting flyer here:Meeting Flyerand Directions to Talley Student Center. -
Starting again
9 Sep 2009 | 3:00 amThe blog posts have been few and far between for quite a while now. It's been everywhere from physically impossible to just painful or inconvenient to do much pottery at all since the accident last fall. While I have been able to keep up with the day job, it just doesn't leave much time or energy to do the fun part, POTTERY. I really find it hard to blog about it if I'm not doing it.Since I can't do much myself, I have been trying to keep up with all the other pottery blogs and see what everyone else is up to. I've also spent a lot of time incubating ideas for forms and techniques I want to… -
Having a bad day?
1 Jul 2009 | 3:45 amThe next time you're having a bad day and a pot or two collapses because you were pushing the envelope a bit too far, just remember these guys... -
Gallery opening in Fayetteville
25 Jun 2009 | 3:00 amOne of my teachers and mentors, Edge Barnes is having an opening at Cape Fear Studios, 148 Maxwell St. in Fayetteville, NC this Friday, June 26 from 7 - 9 PM. The show runs through July 22, 2009. If you're in the area, check it out! For directions go to www.capefearstudios.com To see more of Edge's work go to:http://www.edgebarnes.com/
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Mountain House Studios
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Proper photos
4 Nov 2009 | 4:20 amI finally got all of my photo equipment out last night & took proper photos of my most recent work. It's so much easier in my new studio space.Before the set-up & tear down took so long that I only took photos when absolutely necessary. Now I can set-up right in the studio. I have an EZ (light) Cube & some boom lights. I shoot with a Cannon Power Shot A95 -- which I'm hoping to upgrade soon -- and a gradient background. These pots are going to the "Little Things Mean A Lot" show in Atlanta- November 19 - January 10. This is an annual show at the Swan Coach House in Buckhead. It's… -
Unloaded the kiln
2 Nov 2009 | 8:08 amI have learned so much about working with terra sig, underglazes and glazes through this last group of pots. I made some test tiles to play with. The tiles have been fired twice. I enjoy earthenware so much because you can maintain an intimate relationship with each piece from making through the final firing. There's not that ugly bisque stage to contend with -- because the surface treatment begins at either leatherhard or greenware.The first photo grouping of pots have been completed and will go out into the world for a holiday show -- but I will continue playing with the tiles -- they are… -
Lowfire - round 2
26 Oct 2009 | 1:58 pmI spent last week in Orlando. What a needed break! We lived in Orlando for about 11 years prior to moving to Atlanta - been here about 5 years now. We got to visit with some much missed friends & eat great food & see the old neighborhood & favorite places. My pots were waiting for me when I returned. They had been fired once with a terra sig application. For this second round of firing -- same temp -- I highlighted the colors with some underglazes & washes. I also have a couple of tests -- checking to see if the glazes look better with a slip of the same color underneath or… -
Bisque is Cooling
20 Oct 2009 | 4:29 amYesterday I spent the day getting my pots ready for a bisque load. I'm still trying different techniques on my earthenware. For this load I used mostly colored terra sig on the outside surface. I slipped the inside/functional area to receive glaze. I'm also going to test applying glaze over the terra sig to see what happens. Some of these pieces will get a black wash or I'll do some black line work & bisque again. I'm going to re-test the Meyer Transparent by thinning it out some. I'm hoping it won't be quite so glossy over the terra sig.Working in low-fire is a completely different… -
New Studio Space
12 Oct 2009 | 6:25 amWooohooo! I have been a garage potter my entire pottery career. When we lived in (Orlando) Fl - I dealt with unbelievable heat & snakes & lizards. Here in GA I've dealt with heat, cold and no running water. My kiln has always been in my workspace, so when it's firing, I lose a day in the studio. Now though -- wow -- I've moved into luxury. This space has built in shelving, windows, a fireplace, heat, air conditioning, running water . . . I even have a great stereo system and my drawing table set-up.This room used to be my son's space. Our basement includes the family room that I've…
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Joy Tanner Pottery
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WNC Pottery Festival
5 Nov 2009 | 11:37 amThis Saturday I'm headed out for another pottery show, in Dillsboro, NC. It's the WNC Pottery Festival, a popular all-pottery show in the area. With 65 potters of all shapes and flavors, there are also pottery demonstrations as well as wood, raku, and soda firings. Here is a map to get you there. It's located an hour southwest of Asheville, NC, right near the Great Smoky Mountains. The weather predicted is supposed to be beautiful and fall is definitely lingering in the air!Hope to see you there! -
Inspirations
3 Nov 2009 | 3:19 pmI love to collect seed pods on my walks with my dog. This time of year you can easily find Honesty Plant, or (Lunaria annua) growing nearby. This is also called money plant due to its' pods resembling silver coins. You can find more about this interesting plant, here. Just another one to put in my collection bowls. -
My Assistant
31 Oct 2009 | 9:05 amAlways one to appear when there are boxes to hide in and packing peanuts to bat around, my cat Ziggy has been watching over me to make sure I ship the right pots out. It's nice to have help!I've been slowly cleaning up and rearranging the studio, just one corner at a time. I'm trying to change things to help the work flow and to use every space more efficiently. When I'm in the middle of a big kiln load, I always run out of room to put pots and bisqueware. Sometimes things pile up in corners that don't need to be there, so I'm trying to create more space for myself. I think I'm going to build… -
Decisions
28 Oct 2009 | 10:18 amI'm getting ready to send out this group of my best pots to Baltimore Clayworks for their Winterfest 2009 Exhibition in Baltimore, Maryland. After the last two kiln firings, I held back a large grouping of my best pots for the show at Baltimore, as well as another collection of pots for my next gallery exhibit, 'All in the details' at Pottery 101 in Salisbury, NC. That exhibit is a duo show of pottery put together by myself and from my friend and potter Annie Singletary from Black Mountain. A few years ago, Annie and I were both resident artists at the same time at the Odyssey Center for the… -
A letter from the janitor
27 Oct 2009 | 2:38 pmA little reality for the blog. No, this isn't a beautiful closeup of lichen on a rock, as you might think after all of my nature photography I post. Behind the scenes of my pottery, shows, and hiking excursions, this is the mold growing on ALL of my shelving and ware boards in the studio. Living in western North Carolina poses it's problems in a dark clay studio, especially with this extremely damp year we've had. I've been plagued by this recurring mold in the studio and now I've had it! I'm currently working on a HUGE studio cleanup and it's hard to know where to start. I rarely do a deep…
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Ceramic Erin
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Interview: potter Lucy Fagella
20 Oct 2009 | 8:44 amFinally we have another ceramic artist's interview. I've been busy with working, moving, and traveling, and I haven't made time to find artists to interview. So I was excited to get Lucy's email last week. I've followed her blog for a while anyway and she's a wonderfully skilled potter. Take a look for yourself. I still plan to continue the artists interviews as long as I hear from them, but if I'm m.i.a. from my blog, I'm in the studio - it's that time of the year!Vital statistics (name, age, location, link to website/blog)?Lucy Fagella, 45, Greenfield, Ma. luciapottery.com,… -
Change in weather, new love for tea bowls
21 Sep 2009 | 9:28 pmBeing the first cold day of the season, I had a lightbulb moment with my morning cuppa tea. Instead of the usual mug, I instinctively chose the non-handled tea bowl to warm my hands. I used to shun handles because I was terrible at making them - most beginners are - and at the time I preferred non-handled cups anyway... maybe that's just an excuse since I didn't like making handles & I hadn't found many mugs that I liked. In the past year I fell in love with mugs, but I have a newfound appreciation for tea bowls - it's all in the season. On cold days like today mugs might be used more for… -
Interview...?
8 Sep 2009 | 8:28 amTuesdays are for ceramic artists interviews... but I haven't heard from any artists this week! So if you'd like to be featured here this week or next, take a look at this post for all the questions and my email address: ceramic artists interview. I'm always open to new questions.p.s. Are you on Twitter? I post updates from my blog & other interesting ceramics links I find: ceramicerin on Twitter -
Green teacher
2 Sep 2009 | 8:03 pmToday was my first day of teaching at the local pottery center, & I think it went pretty well. Not stellar, but not bad. For one thing I'm a novice teacher - I've taught kids at a summer camp handbuilding with clay. That's about the extent of it, and now I have two entirely different classes: adult clay building - a mix of hand building & throwing - & kids throwing.The adult class consists of old-timers who have taken that same class together for months, perhaps years, and they all had an idea of what they wanted to do, they all had projects they were already working on. They're… -
Interview: Paul Nielsen
1 Sep 2009 | 6:11 pmVital statistics (name, age, location, link to website/blog)?My name is Paul Nielsen. I'm 32, I think, and currently live in Grand Island, Nebraska. My wife and I just moved back to Nebraska from Northwest Arkansas. I blog at TheAestheticElevator.com, and my in-progress artist website is pcNielsen.comWhere do you work in clay?We're currently living in a loft over my father's antique store. My studio, which I've only been in a month since moving (and most of that time was spent unpacking and organizing), is in the basement of the building. I have a lot more space than my previous garage…
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Straydog Pottery
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Bowls, Bowls, Bowls! And Cotton Bolls!
17 Oct 2009 | 8:33 amThe cotton fields behind the house are about ready for the pickers - machines now that are like giant vacuum cleaners that suck the cotton up into bins. A lot of the cotton in this part of North Carolina was not very tall this year because of lack of rain, but the cotton in this field is tall. It really looks pretty neat when you look across the fields and see all the white. The dogs enjoy running up and down the rows - all you can see is the tips of their tails.It was a really good week - the kids at school were great, I had the time to make quite a few pieces of pottery, and even had a… -
And, I just thought it was a hummingbird feeder!
9 Oct 2009 | 4:38 pmI happened to look out the window to where our hummingbird feeder is hidden in the roses and saw this bright green frog sitting there - just had to take a picture.It has been a while since my last blog and I have been busy the whole time. I have tried to make sure to put aside some time every day for pottery and it has worked well. I am producing quite a bit of ware and taking my time to really work on size and form, as well as working on keeping the weight of each piece down. I have actually surprised myself with how light I have been able to keep most of the work. The green ware here shows… -
Expectations
18 Sep 2009 | 4:48 pmAs much as I tell others that glazing and firing is not an exact science, I have to admit that I still have not convinced myself and feel somewhat disappointed when pieces come out of the glaze firing looking differently than I expected. I know the kiln at the studio was really packed this last firing, but it just seemed that I either had not used enough glaze so the colors burned out to clear, or the glazes ran and crawled, leaving some bare spots. I am going to clean up the casseroles and re-glaze them so see if I can get a more uniform cover suitable for using with cooking.I brought home a… -
Chance to Catch My Breath!
4 Sep 2009 | 4:55 pmWARNING: I AM STARTING OUT ON A "SOAPBOX".First, what is wrong with all these people who are upset with the idea of Obama speaking to school children??? As a teacher, I think everyone should be encouraging kids to stay in school and to earn a diploma. And, for the President of United States to make a special point of addressing students seems to me to be the type of role model we have needed in Washington for a long time. Even though I grew up in the Washington, DC area, I can honestly say that I have no interest in politics or "party platforms". I am more interested in leaders who act in… -
Back to School = Back to Regular Schedule
16 Aug 2009 | 1:53 pmIt is hard to believe that it has been 40 years since Woodstock! All weekend I have been listening to Jefferson Airplane, Canned Heat, The Who, Janis Joplin and all the others that were such a big part of the three-day concert. I was only 16 at the time and there was no way my parents would have let me go up to New York from Virginia for a concert, but I have always wished I could have been there. All the groups that I listened to as a teenager in one place at one time would have been incredible!Meetings, meetings, meetings! I spent the last week in meetings at the school where I will be…
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the amplified bard
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Spend Some Time with Artist Kabuki Katze
5 Nov 2009 | 10:37 pmSpeaking of watching other artists at work, graphic design artist, Kabuki Katze, maps out the process of working on the @Wired event flyer. @kabukikatze is the genius behind The Amplified Bard profile pics on Myspace and Facebook including the wonderful header to this blog. @KabukiKatze has always been wonderful in making her design process transparent i.e. allowing fans to see the stages of her work. She recently wrote a blog documenting her process working with the @wiredpoetry folks. Check it out at her blog. -
Practice Night with Trills for @Wired
5 Nov 2009 | 8:59 pmTonight Trills and I worked on our performance for the @Wired event next week. I headed over to his apartment/studio to work on the timing and video images for our performance. I love collaborating with other artists because I am able to see them work in their element. Here is Trills and his son Caleb playing on the keyboard during a break:It blew me away to watch Trills turn various computer programs, keyboard riffs, and audio set-ups into an auditory explosion of nerves and uneasiness. Imagine what the tweeps involved with @wired i.e. @thepoetmendez, @byronjonesthepoet, @kabukikatze,… -
Story of a Nerd and his destiny. Winner of Dreamhack 1998 Wild Compo
4 Nov 2009 | 10:15 pmI found this great video about a nerd's life in the late 90's. What do you guys think? How would the video be made today? Would it probably still feature an addiction to porn? What about social media? -
A Book About Nothing
4 Nov 2009 | 1:06 pm“I love talking about nothing…. It is the only thing I know anything about.” —OSCAR WILDE“Nothingness lies coiled in the heart of being–like a worm.” —JEAN-PAUL SARTREThe concept of Nothingness has always interested me ever since I read Sartre's magnum opus "Being and Nothingness," which inevitably led me into a brooding, existential phase in my life. I can remember after reading Camus or Beckett, I would naturally contemplate the nature of non-being, of essence and negation until my head throbbed from the banging of an ontological hammer. For something non-existent, this… -
@Wired is now on Twitter!
4 Nov 2009 | 9:14 amThat's right poetry lovers and fellow geeks. @WiredPoetry is on Twitter. Stop by and check it out. I will be tweeting behind the scenes of @Wired: A Multimedia Explosion of Poetry, Music, Song and Image. I will also be tweeting live from the event, so be sure to follow @Wiredpoetry for more details and awesomeness.
