A Bit of This & That

I'm having a great day and it's just noon!  It didn't hurt that I got myself out of bed fairly early and got on with things.  I had some time to journal and have tea, and do a bit of drawing in my sketch book all before 9am.  I have gotten into a habit of sleeping in more than I want to.  I need to work on that, we'll see how it goes.

So anyhow, I listed a couple new pots in the shop.  Here's one of them:

And then this tumbler that I tried a bit of loose trailing on:

I got a very nice Christmas card from Paul Jessop yesterday and included in the envelope was this amazing little fold out that Paul has designed for his Pottery.

 It measures just over 4" square and folds out to this:

 Really, really nice isn't it?  Paul is setting a good example of how some of us could choose to market ourselves if we wish.  Visit Paul's blog HERE.

I just registered myself for the NC Potter's Conference which is taking place the first Fri-Sun. of March, 2012.  This years featured potters are Cynthia Bringle, Jack Troy and John Glick.  Each of those folks has invited another potter to present this year.  Ronan Peterson, Martha Grover, and Jake Johnson will each present also.  You can register online by following this LINK.  I've been to the NC Conference many, many times and I've got to say it's got to be one of the best clay events in the country.

Well that's it for now.  I'll leave you with a couple pages from the sketchbook.  Happy Friday all.

Stanley Mace Anderson

Ronan took his class out to visit several potter's studios in the Penland area while I was there.  I was excited to hear that they were going out to Stanley Mace Anderson's pottery, so I decided to go along too.

Stan is an icon in the majolica world.  He's been producing his unique style of majolica pottery since the late 70's. (See article HERE).

Stan was very generous and talked to us all about his pots and process.  I love Stan's brushwork and the expressive quality of his forms and decoration.  He had shelves of work waiting to be decorated.

He had been working here at his wheel on some trays when we arrived.

This next image is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in a workshop. Stan's pots of colored stains.  I imagine these have been 'growing' here as they have been used over the past 2+ decades.

There were also shelves full of finished works.  Cups, yunomi, bowls of various sizes, many, many plates, platters, and other tableware.  All useful, all beautiful and rich in color.  I had to have a yunomi.

Stan shared that he has been brushing some white slip onto the work at the leather hard stage. This is not normally done in majolica.  The slip is loosely brushed over certain areas and sometimes he will scratch through it.  The slip gives some sense of movement under the majolica glaze and the marks give some texture.  I thought this was really brilliant.

I totally fell in love with the separately thrown and added foot on the yunomi.

I'll be trying this soon.  Stan also does this on some tall footed bowls and tureens, as well as ewers and tall teapot forms.

This is the first majolica pot I have ever bought!!  I am happy that it's one of Stan's and I'm pretty sure next time I go back I'll be getting a plate.

 

Penland Weekend

Good day from Penland School!  I came up yesterday to be a visiting artist for Ronan Peterson who is teaching a class here this session.  It was so nice for Ronan to ask me to come up for a couple of days and it's really been fun for me to share some of what I know with his class.

A few early birds in the studio on Sunday morning.

Collaboration in progress between Ronan and me. (Thanks to Mark Errol for suggesting that I do the Rabbit motif and placement on right hand jar)

A few of Ronan's finished pots.

Some of the pots Ronan is working on.

Today we are going out to visit some potter's studios in the area.  I'm looking forward to that, but first Brunch!!  The food here at Penland is always delicious.

More later.

Happy Friday Everyone

Yay Friday!!  Where did this week go?  Well who cares, I've got a good weekend planned and I'm ready to get on with it.

I'm heading up to Penland School to visit with Ronan Peterson's class and do a couple demos for them.  It will be nice to have some time there in that environment full of energy and creativity!

Here's a paper cut that I've been working on this morning.

I am doing okay getting the outlines done, I have to work on getting the little detail cuts inside now.  This is approx. 7" x 4" or so I think.

I broke a pot yesterday and Sarah just broke one this morning! Not good.  Thankfully they were both ones that I had made.  I broke a nice cereal bowl with an Owl and Sarah broke her favorite coffee mug, an Obamaware pot that I made back in 2008.

Thanks to everyone who viewed the videos.  More to come.

Presentation and Larkspur Report

My talk to the NC Pottery Collectors Guild went well Friday night.  They were a really welcoming group and I think they enjoyed my presentation.  It was neat to see the NC State Craft Center.  Wow, they have an amazing facility.

Being back at NCSU was nice.  It was cool to see my old stomping grounds.  Sarah and I met up with Kevin, a college friend of mine after the presentation and had a visit.  Of course I picked one of the loudest sports bars around.  Still the company was great as well as the beer.

Afterwards, Sarah and I went over to Hillsborough St. and had a beer in Mitch's Tavern which has been there for quite a long time.  I had my first legal beer in Mitch's.  The place hasn't changed much at all.

(Sorry no pics of any of this, bad blogger!)

On Saturday we headed up to visit Jen Mecca at the Larkspur Party.  Below is an image of Jen's booth.  She was having a great sale.

Jen had made a lot of these little houses.  This was the only one left when we  arrived after lunch.

There was lots of great art, clay, paintings, jewelry, sculpture, wood and even plants for sale.



It was good to catchup with our friends Blaine Avery, Ronan Peterson, Laura Weant Avery, and Brad Tucker just to name a few.

I had planned on going down to Seagrove for the Cousins in Clay event but we got on the road too late Saturday and just couldn't make another stop.  It's nice to be home today.   I have pots to glaze and should have them fired by the end of the week.

Thanks for checking in!