November 19 - Lower Providence Community House sale

Saturday I was a part of the Lower Providence Community House sale.  It was a somewhat chilly day that started out mostly cloudy.  The sun broke through in the afternoon and it turned into a beautiful Autumn afternoon.

The sale was a bit slow but I think it has a lot of potential due to the charm of the site and the amount of traffic on Community House Road.  We only had a handful of potters for the first one and I think if we add more artists and get the word out a bit more things could really take off.

It was nice to see some good friends and have a chance to make some new ones, enjoy the day, and oh yeah --sell a few pots.

My setup.

My fellow artists.

Max was there.

Allan too.

Rick was raku firing.

His sweet portable raku kiln.

You never know when someone is taking your picture.

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November 17 - Bowls for charity

Thursday I started making some bowls for the annual Bowling for Dollars event at the Cleveland County Arts Council.  I had to re-learn how to make bowls since I haven't made any since last year.

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November 13 - Side Note

I was running late to the Allison McGowan workshop and Guild meeting so I couldn't stop, but on the way I saw the sweetest kid-painted sign in a front yard.  It said:

Candy 10 cents
Origami 10 cents

Under the sign was the required cute little girl sitting behind a table patiently waiting for a car to stop.

I SO wanted to stop and buy some origami, but I was already late and was only halfway to the meeting.  I really hope she is going to be back out there sometime in the future so I can make a purchase and take a photo of the sign.

It really was hard to keep my foot on the gas pedal because I hate to skip moments like that.  It's those little moments that make your day.

Sometimes you gotta' stop and buy the origami...

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November 13 - Allison McGowan workshop

Sunday was the Carolina Clay Matters Pottery Guild meeting with the usual covered dish gathering and we were treated to a workshop with Allison McGowan.  She makes beautiful hand-built pieces using lots of great texture and nice, full forms.  She slams all her own slabs instead of using a slab roller and makes her own forms.  We were amazed at the plasticity of her custom porcelain blend, it just stretches on forever.

You can check out her work on her website.

President Judy addresses the guild.

Allison's work.

Bag pot.

Slamming a slab.

That is actually a slab of porcelain that she's
slamming from over her head to the table!

Blam!

Draping it over her soft "bag" form.

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November 11 - Barrel Firing on 11-11-11

Friday we held the first barrel firing in the new building.  It was quite an affair and very well attended.  As usual, we had a lot of fun chatting, snacking, and laughing and --oh yeah, we fired some pieces too.  It was a glorious evening with a full moon overseeing the whole affair.

Filling the barrel.
Photo by Kim Marcadis.

Elaine and Becky lighting the barrel, re-enacting the first barrel firing.
Photo by Kim Marcadis.

Photo by Kim Marcadis.

Photo by Kim Marcadis.

Photo by Kim Marcadis.

It's lit.

Kim and Rich trying to get that perfect shot
while Elaine and Ansley look on.

Fred, Becky, Cyn, Jaime, Greg, Elaine, Chuck, and Carolyn.

The fire rages on.

Lots of wood.

After it's covered, lots of copper (green) and cobalt (blue) flames.

Minke's "diving lady" sculpture in the flames.

After the barrel burned down and people started drifting away, I added some handles to my crackle pots.  I have some plans to enhance these handles when I glaze them.  Stay tuned.

The other night Chuck mentioned that my bag of little loafers clay (next to the head) looked like the Necronomicon (book of the dead) from the Evil Dead movies.  (My favorite is Army of Darkness.)

The bag that looks like the book on the left.

One of the porcelain eyes fell out of my head.
Now it looks even creepier...

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November 10 - Studio time

Lately I've been working on some "crackle pots".  These are made with phoenix and covered with blue slip, sprayed with sodium silicate and water, the surface dried with a fan, then stretched from the inside.

The one on the right was stretched so far it started to collapse.

The slipped surface is spread very thinly by stretching.

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November 5 - Another Big Saturday, Part 2

Saturday evening I attended the Clayworks Earth and Fire fundraiser with my parents.  It was a magical evening thanks to the Clayworks organizers, the artists who donated wonderful work for the silent auction, for the raffle, and especially Hodges Taylor Gallery for letting us invade their beautiful space.

Karen, Maryann, Shannon, Greg, and Adrienne.

Our raffle captains.
Susan and Rae.

Andy brings the food.

Ralph, Pat (my mom), and John (my dad).

Ralph, Betty, Lou, and Kathy.

Chris and Lisa.

Jaime and Roy.

Charles and Karin.

Kim and Becky.

Jaime, Hal, Corine, and Stephan.

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