And the Winners Are....

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Last night was the opening for the Cleveland County Arts Competition show at the Arts Council.  We had a great turnout to see all the fantastic artwork made by residents of this county.   Below are the first, second and third place winners.  Click on the thumbnail for the full image.

First place went to Jesse English for his untitled work below.  This piece was really fun and invited you to come right up to it.  Looking into the eye piece you found that you were being looked back at by pairs of ever changing eyes that were digitally projected from the inside of the object.  Totally cool!

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Second place went to Sally Jacobs for her painting "The Moment". (below)

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Third place went to yours truly for this jar....

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Juror John Ford had this to say about my work:
"When I approached the vessel made by Ron Philbeck, I was initially intrigued by it's somewhat ironic shape.  I used to make pots on a wheel, and worked around other potters, and I can say the form seems a bit unusual, and is really pleasing to the eye.  But, I was hardly prepared for the "Jar with Bird, Possum, Rabbit, and Chicken" crowd, and found myself just chuckling at that nutty bunch of characters.  Serious vessel's need comic relief, as do jurors making decisions about prizes"

I'll post the 3 entries that got Honorable mentions later.

4 inch tiles

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tile set 1

I drew on these tiles just a while ago.  They are each 4 inch square (will shrink of course when fired).  I'm having fun making tiles.

tile set 2

I uploaded the drawings I did today to my Flickr site.  You can see them HERE. You'll see that I used most of them on these tiles.  I'll probably go back and put some watercolor on the drawings next.

Early Pot

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img_01061My mom brought by a few pots she had of mine from years ago.  This lovely vase was made in 1992 and is signed "Ron" on the bottom. Nice eh?  Just kidding of course, this would have been one of the first 10 pots I ever made.  It has some sort of commercial glaze, probably left over from the '70's brushed on it.  Funny though as the colors are more or less what I'm using now! It's about 7 inches tall.

More Tests

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I mixed up some 100 g tests today and made some more tiles.  I am waiting on my glaze kiln to cool enough to unload so I can reload a bisque.

This set of images shows a couple tests from my last firing. I'm looking for a watery blue to use as a deco glaze. You know for dots and such.  Also you see the 5 new tests just mixed as well as the coffee can that I keep my chrome in.  I really love my red Folger's can full of green chrome oxide.

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Sunday Nite. Wrap.

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Just finished glazing a load of pots.  Today I got my flower blocks deco'ed.  Getting ready for the ClayMatters Spring Sale this coming Saturday.  I'll look up the info. and post it tomorrow.
Karma peeping out from under the blanket.

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Just a Quick Post

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one brickI got back to work on my flower bricks today.  I have 3 in the works.  All the little chimneys are made from slabs wrapped around this spout making tool (that I never use to make spouts).

Each pot will get 3 chimneys (or whatever they are called).

I'll get these assembled tomorrow.

The opening at the Arts Council went great tonight.  Time to chill out.

Tile Mounting

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Meredith asked about my tiles.

For the ones I had posted I mounted those on the pre stretched canvases that the Arts Council provided.  I ripped the canvas off though and just used the backer boards.  I used an industrial cement to glue them to the frame.  Also I painted the frames with black gesso so they would look nice on the edges.

This picture shows the backside of the canvas with the canvas still attached.

Here is the link for the canvases the AC ordered.  They run about 2.19 each.  I don't know if it's worth it to do this way or just cut a notch in a thicker tile back.  I do like having the boards but hate to have to rip the canvas off.  I'll use it for something else I guess.

Divine Hammer

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Hey Monkeys.  I just wanted to say that.  I hope all is well with everyone.  I am taking a break from slipping and deco'ing and being in a bit of a bad head.  I'm struggling with a couple people in my life right now.  I am allowing their 'junk'  to creep into my thoughts and then I get pretty messed up.  I am happy to say I am totally working on it by being in the moment.  I realized I had a choice, I could either give my time and energy over to these sucky thoughts (which cause sucky feelings) or I could breathe and be here NOW in this moment.  Which is AWESOME!  And then put on some rocking Breeders tune and I'm practically in heaven.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_l4ZOVJ-ts

Okay back to my day job, which I love!

Tiles

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I made some 5x7 tiles for a show that is happening at the Arts Council.  It was a lot of fun to make these and I know I'll be making more soon.  These got mounted on a frame made for stretching canvas for painting.  Super easy.

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The show opens tomorrow night and runs through Saturday.  It's a quick one.  All 200 + entries were donated by local artists.  The A.C. provided the 5x7 canvases.  All the art will be sold for $40 each!!  What a steal!  All proceeds go to the Arts Council, (we badly need the money).

I spent about 6 hours at the A.C. with other volunteers hanging the show today.  Man, there is some really nice work.  The show is online and you can make purchases there too.  Or call 704 484 ARTS for more info.

I am presently the Chair at the Cleveland County Arts Council and I am super proud of this organization.  We provide many great opportunities for the community.

Okay gotta run.  Tomorrow I'll be finishing up some pots so stay tuned for that. I ran some tests of some blue glazes that I'll try and share too, if I can get a decent photo (they are kinda small)

Great Monday

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Super productive today.  I made up all my clay balls last night and had plates, cups, bakers, flower bricks, salt pigs, and mugs all made by lunch time.  It's all under plastic now so no images (or proof) but take my word it's been a good day.  After lunch I finished up some things from the weekend.  The small oval vases got deco'ed as did my first ever flower block.  I made a couple of these, but this one is the keeper.  The ones I made today are similar but longer and narrower.  I am excited to have these for the Claymatters Spring Sale on May 9th.

You can also see the concrete came out well, now some back filling and then on to building the porch over head.

And pizza from last night!  Y U M.
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Beautiful Day

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I volunteered at the Arts Council yesterday morning.  It was a great day to be in town.  The Foothills Farmer's Market Opened for the season and there was an art show on the court square.  I got out for a bit and walked around to see the sights, visit with friends and buy some eggs.  Here are a few pics from the morning.  See if you can find Brad Lail.  It's not too hard, he always seems to be surrounded by cute girls (even while he was in China).[gallery link="file" columns="2"]

Sarah and I enjoyed a quiet evening at home.  After working in the studio most of the afternoon,  I made a easy pasta dish and we ate out on the patio for the first time.  The concrete for the porch is all set up and now we'll just need to build a cover and get us some chairs and plants out there.  It's nice to have some outdoor spaces to use, it's something we've been wanting for a long time.  Today Sarah and I will be working out planting some flowers.

I'll be busy in the studio this week getting ready for a show in Charlotte on May 9th.  More on that later. Looks like another beautiful Carolina day, I hope you have a good one wherever you maybe.

Is It Friday?

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It is Friday and it's going to be a busy one.  I'm have a nice cup of ginseng oolong tea in one of my Jeff Oestreich cups this morning.  The tea came in the mail yesterday, we've been out for a while.  It's yummy.

The concrete truck is coming today.  We got the forms up last evening and my brother in law and a couple guys from his crew are going to finish this up today.  Sarah and I are really excited to have this new space.  We will build a porch overhead this summer.  I'm gonna have to get me a rocking chair.

I delivered pots to Pottery 101 in Salisbury, NC yesterday. It's a beautiful space.  The building has been there since thee 20's.  Read about the renovations HERE.  While there I got to check out a few of Joy Tanner's lovely soda fired pots.

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I'm off to Charlotte again this morning.  Amy Sanders and I are working on a public art project and we've got some glazing to do.

I've got loads of pots in various stages under plastic in the studio.  I think they are going to have to wait another day before I can get to them.

So a busy day ahead, first off I've gotta run to the bank so I can pay for my concrete!!!!

Hope everyone is well.  Happy Day.

Thursday. Camera Found

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I briefly lost my camera in the sea of plastic that is covering all the pots in the studio at the moment.  Here are a few pics.  A few of pots and also one of the grading we did yesterday in preparation to pour some concrete for our front porch.  We should get this framed up today and the concrete will come tomorrow.

The shot of the loaded truck is for Hannah.  I love banana boxes too.  I had the truck loaded yesterday as I was bringing  pots home from Charlotte.  As you can see the Toyota holds 9 boxes.

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I'm off now to deliver some pots to a gallery in Salisbury, NC.  Have a great day.

Last Couple of Pages

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sketches

This is the last spread I'll get in this journal.  One blank page left and I guess I'll save that for tomorrow morning.  I'm hitting Cheap Joe's Art Supplies tomorrow when I'm in Charlotte.  I have some new ideas for pots so I'll get going on those soon.

Monday

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No pots to report on at the moment.  I just got an email from Amy saying that the Circle Sale was the best ever!  That's in sales figures and attendance.  So YEA for that.  I do think we are catching the attention of collectors and pottery lovers in the area and hopefully that base will continue to spread and grow.

For some images from Saturday you can visit Jen Mecca's blog as well as HERE and HERE.

I'll just post a couple of pages from my journal for now.  Back to the pots soon.

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A Great Day.

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We had a gorgeous day yesterday for the Circle of Eight Spring Pottery Sale.  Thanks to all the folks who came out.

Below is a shot of some of Suze Lindsey's pots.  It was great to have her and Kent with us.  They are such fun people and great potters.

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That's my set up below.  I was flanked by that beautiful dogwood tree.

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And some happy shoppers from early in the day.

shoppers_0065I feel like this may have been our best sale to date.  In the fall our guest is going to be Ronan Peterson.

Today I'm taking it easy. More later...or tomorrow.

Hop On Over

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rabbit_mug_greenhandleOkay I just want to remind you all that there is an AWESOME Pottery Sale tomorrow at

1225 Dade Street
Charlotte NC 28205

Featuring:
Amy Sanders
Jenn Mecca
Julie Wiggins
Greg Scott
Adrienne Dellinger
Ron Philbeck (that's me)

Special Guests:
Suze Lindsey and Kent McLaughlin!!!!

and the Dade Street Dancers (not really)

So....tons of great pots.  Be there if you are anywhere nearby.  It's gonna be huge.

Call if you need directions 704 650 5662  or MapQuest it!