June 22 - Saturday - Workshop and Wedding

Saturday started out with the Amy Sanders workshop presented by the Carolina Clay Matters Pottery Guild.  It was a fun workshop and Amy did a great job of informing and entertaining us.  I often see Amy teaching at Clayworks in short visits, but have never seen her whole making process.  It was quite interesting to hear how she approaches her art.

Being the video projectionist, I always have a pretty good seat.  (Yeah, still in the A/V club from high school... :8^)

In the evening it was off to Mint Hill for Shelley and Rick's wedding.  It was quite beautiful and we had a great time.  Carol (Shelley's Mom) hosted the festivities in her backyard.  There were tents, an ice sculpture,  and lots of food and drink.

After a very nice ceremony, a lot of good food and cake, we sent off wish lanterns.  If you didn't have a good time you were somewhere else.

I wish Mr. and Mrs. Ellis the best of luck and happiness for the rest of their lives.

Amy working the workshop.

On the big screen.

Rick and Shelley making their vows.

A wish lantern rising above the trees.

A whole flock of them heading
off into the night.

The same photo after applying
the Van Gogh treatment.
(Auto-fix in Picasa.)

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Saturday - Thrown Together sale

Becky and I headed over to the Thrown Together sale on Saturday where we got to see old friends and make some new ones.  Gay Smith and Matt Jones were the guest artists at the Spring sale and it was a pleasure meeting and talking to both of them.  I made a couple of purchases and will post pics of them soon.

Gay Smith in front of her work.

Shelley and Becky.

Matt Jones.

Amy and Ron.

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Busy Saturday...

...so why am I sitting here reading blogs?  Dunno.

I am going to help out with tours of the new Clayworks building from 1-3 pm and then off to the studio for some making before coming back home to make supper.  It's going to be taco night!  Yee-ha!

I am also antsy about the gas reduction kiln that was fired (thanks Shelley!) yesterday.  I have a lot of work in there and much of it experimental (isn't it all experimental at this level?) so I'm anxious to see the results.  Time will tell that tale.

I'm outta' here.

Happy Saturday!

2011-01-26 Wednesday - Empty Bowls and tea bowls

Wednesday I got to take some pictures of some of my Empty Bowls that came out of the cone 10 kiln and some from the cone 5.  I've been very pleased with most of my bowl forms this year and the glazing has turned out consistently good.  I hope they go quickly at the event.

Empty Bowls is a great event that is fun for the attendees and benefits a good cause.  If you'd like to attend the event, you can order tickets here.  Get them quickly since they have sold out for the last two years.

Cone 10 bowls.

If you attend, look for this signature.

Shelley packing up the Empty Bowls.

Some of my cone 5 bowls.

More tea bowls.

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2010-08-20 Friday - Greg's Opening at 360

Friday was Greg's opening at Shelley's 360 gallery.  He had quite a few pieces of two and three dimensional art on display.  It was a "soft opening" of sorts so if you would like to see this work and more please visit the 360 gallery on September 17.  It's very hard to photograph two dimensional art so these photos really don't do justice to the artwork.

Greg, Carol (Shelley's Mom), Meredith and Stephanie.

View Larger Map

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2010-07-30 Friday - McCormick & Schmick's

On Friday evening a bunch of us met at McCormick and Schmick's for happy hour to see Jamie Hoover and Steve Stoeckel play their acoustic set.  Jamie and Steve never disappoint and the restaurant's happy hour menu is very good.  We had quite a good turnout of friends and we all had a good time.

Amy, Fred, Kim, Becky, Paul.

Steve Stoeckel and Jamie Hoover.

Got the uke's out.

Becky, Elaine, Paul, Shelley, Carol, Dennis, Susan, Amy, Fred, Kim.

At one point, Paul asked to borrow my camera and he had some fun with it as you can tell from this sampling of his photos.

Yours truly and Shelley.

"Photographer, photo thyself."

A nice sunset.

(Good shots, Paul!)

I didn't partake much in the food at the restaurant since I had to go home and cook for the family.  I went home and made a chicken dish with red peppers, onions, and mushrooms.  It was pretty good and I will try to remember to make it again in the future.

Chicken platter.

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2010-07-14 Tuesday - Kiln loading

On Tuesday I was at Clayworks working on some pots and helped Shelley and Kim load the kiln.  Ok, I kept them company while they loaded the kiln.  Everyone was pleased that they fit Chuck's large pot and his tall pieces into the firing.  Shelley had to move the large pot twice during the load.  I can't wait to see the finished result.

Shelley and a fine job.

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2010-06-04 Friday - Clayworks, Gallery, Home

This month has been so busy that it has been almost impossible to keep up with the blog.  I will do some quick catch up as time permits.


Friday we had a party to wish Julie well with her new home studio.  Unfortunately she had to resign as studio manager to pursue her new endeavor, but she will have more time to explore her work now.  The party was quite the gathering and while I arrived late, there were still many people there.  We all signed a poster for Julie and there was food and hula-hoops.  Good times.

After the party some of us headed over to Shelley's 360 gallery for the gallery crawl.  She had a good turnout and sold several pieces, including a painting to Becky.  Afterward some of us hung out on the front porch and visited for a while.  Kim and I helped Shelley put away the food and drinks and remembered that Greg was going to unload the kiln so we rushed back to Clayworks at 12:30 am.

There was a lot of trouble firing the kiln so the results were a mixed bag, with some of the pots oxidizing and some reducing.  The kiln is going to take a bit of maintenance to get back within operating parameters, but should be running again soon.

Julie's party.

More revelers.

Everyone was catching up.

Julie's "card".

Let the hula-hoops twirl!

At the gallery with Amy and Becky.

Becky admiring the aprons.

More artwork upstairs.

Conducting business in the bathroom.

(That was where the painting was hung.)

Becky, Shelley, and Kim.

The artwork (right) changes hands.

Mary, Dean, Shelley, and Michael.

Kim's taking it easy on the floor.

Some of my pots from the kiln unload.

A casserole that is half oxidized and half reduced.

(The white part is oxidized and the brown is reduced.)

My tumblers.

When I got home there were some creatures hanging around the back porch light and I had to stop and snap a few photos.

This beetle was about 1 1/2 inches long

and had the prettiest golden "fur" on his belly.

This spider was about 1 1/4 inches long (leg-wise)

and was kind enough to sit still for a portrait.

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2010-05-14 Friday - Shelley's Gallery Opening

Friday night I stopped by for the opening of Shelley's new gallery.  We are all excited for her new opportunities and a lot of Clayworks people stopped by to see her and her work.  The venue is a great space and it was filled with wonderful artwork.  Some of the pieces were created at Clayworks and some weren't.  It was also the first time her Masters project was displayed as one installation.  They all looked great.

She will be opening during the gallery crawls and I'll keep you posted as it draws near.

I'll let the photos speak for themselves...

Shelley (right).