2018-05-22 - Tuesday - Pots

Tuesday Adrienne was making a stamped platter. I really love the way the different sized stamps give it a lot depth.

I made some darted pots. I enjoy making these and they seem to be popular.

.

2016-10-20 - Thursday - Updates all around

Thursday I pushed the three blanks out more from the inside to increase the volume and started molding the foundation for faces on them. The next step will be to add more clay and sculpt the rest of the faces.

Remember the face pot that I rushed to get finished for the Clayworks fundraiser? It's fired and it's on my shelf in the photo below. I will show you a better photo later in this post.

In the photo above you can see a poem I have pinned to my shelf. It's "The Laughing Heart" by Charles Bukowski and I re-read it whenever I can. I really like this poem and it inspires me.

Remember those first cone packs I made? Here they are after the firing. The left one was in the top of the kiln and the right one in the bottom. It's usually hotter in the top of the kiln, but the number 10 cone on the bottom flattened out first.

Here is "Michael" in a much nicer photograph taken by Adrienne Dellinger --with an iPhone, no less.

.

2014-11-15 - Saturday - Clayworks fundraiser

Saturday was the annual Clayworks fundraiser.  An Evening of Earth & Fire was hosted for the second year by Elder Gallery thanks to Larry Elder's generosity.

It was a fine night with lots of people in attendance.  There was a lot of beautiful donated artwork in the silent auction and it sold well.  Thanks to all the generous donations and bidding Clayworks will be funded another year.

Afterwards several of us went to Akahana Asian Bistro for a late supper.

A good night.

Gary Knight (our board chair), Larry Elder (gallery owner),
and Adrienne Dellinger (our executive director).

After the bidding.

Me, Ju-Ian Shen, Rob Russell, Susan Hughes,
Kimberly Tyrrell, Adrienne Dellinger, Greg Scott,
and Rich Meredith at Akahana Asian Bistro.

.

September 7 - Saturday - The Potters Market Invitational at the Mint Museum

Saturday I attended the Ninth Annual Potters Market Invitational show at the Mint Museum.  The show is a treasure consisting of North Carolina potters invited from around the state.  It's always an exciting time for a pottery nut like me to hobnob with the stars.  Everyone is so friendly that it takes me a long time to get around the tent.  It's held in a huge tent on the lawn that's large enough to hold 41 potters displays and still have plenty of walking room.

There was also a demonstration tent out front where several of my friends were doing demos.  It was good to catch up with everyone.

Potters working in the demo tent.

Potters talking in the demo tent.

Donna Craven.

Jim Whalen (right) with friends Diane Davis and Bill Chris.

Akira Satake with our own Jan Anderson.

Jan with Ben Owen.

Michel Bayne.

Alex Matisse.

Smantha Henneke.
Bruce Gholson was unavailable to join us.

Greg Scott watching Adrienne Dellinger's booth.

Julie Wiggins.

.

September 14 - Loading the kiln

After catching up last month I have fallen woefully behind again.  I have too many things to make one big catch-up post so I am going to throw these posts up quickly to get current but not leave out any fun stuff.  Hang with me, here we go.

On Friday we loaded the wood kiln at Hal and Corine's place in Lawndale.  Hal climbs in the groundhog kiln and loads the pots using a very sophisticated transport system:  a laundry basket that we slide back and forth over the firebox on two boards.  Hey, it works.

There were a lot of pots to load but he got them all in and the basket made many trips.  After that, it was time to shovel the old ash and charcoal out of the firebox so we could fill it up again when we fired it.

After everything was done it was time to go home.  We'd be back tomorrow to heat it up.

Hal loading the kiln.

Chad taking a bucket of ash from Hal.

Hal digging out the ash.

Yup, it's really Hal.

You can see him standing in the firebox.

That's a hard-working man.

That's a finely loaded kiln.

.

April 28 - Dr. Zug lecture

Saturday was the long-awaited lecture on North Carolina traditional pottery by Dr. Terry Zug.  Dr. Zug was invited to Clayworks in conjunction with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Library and it was very well attended.

He gave a great talk and answered lots of questions about the history, types of pots, and people involved in making pottery here in the tarheel state.  Even though I feel I've learned a lot about NC pottery in the last couple of years, I learned a great deal more on Saturday.

We were also treated to demonstrations by Adrienne Dellinger and Hal Dedmond.  Adrienne threw a large pot and Hal decorated a face jug.  I never get tired of watching these artists work.

.

Saturday - Afternoon/Evening

Later, while working at Clayworks Elaine, Caroline, and I decided to take a look at the new Niki de Saint Phalle installation on the green.  Since it was a beautiful day, we decided to walk the several blocks.  What we didn't factor in was that while the St. Patrick's Day parade was over, the street festival was going full tilt.  We had to wade through a sea of revelers and wait several minutes at each piece just to get a photo without kids (and adults) covering it.

It was worth the walk and the waiting.  The sculptures are amazing.  Believe me, my pictures do not do them justice.  If you get the chance, you need to come see them in the next five months before they are gone.

After enjoying the artwork, we waded into the crowds to get some festival food for lunch.  Mmm...  Italian and Polish sausages at the St. Patrick's Day festival.  Who knew?

Once we got back to the studio I helped Adrienne sieve some of her glaze and started making pots to raku for an upcoming fundraiser.

Before going home, I stopped at the grocery store and bought a couple of steaks to grill for supper.

It was a(nother) good day.

Bender commands...

The Skull.

Elaine by the skull.

The back of the skull.

Several mosaics cover the back.

Inside, it's full of mirrors.

Next piece, front.

Back.

Some signs on the green.

Next piece.

Closer.

Tiger?

Cat.

My traveling companions,
Elaine and Caroline.

A lot of people.

Beer.

Future raku pieces.

.