Archive for the 'Shows' Category

My Weekend Guild Show Purchase

Published
by
Cynthia
on May 5, 2008
in Shows
. 5 Comments

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Before becoming a member of the Colorado Potter’s Guild this year, I attended the show as a shopper for the past few years. This year I was both a member and a shopper. :D It’s hard to resist the temptation to buy everything, so I limited myself to 1 purchase. I bought the little soda fired wine cups above, by Jackie Harper and used them as soon as I got home from the show Saturday night. I suppose they could be purposed for tea or other beverages, but I knew that I was going to drink red wine from these as soon as I spotted them. It didn’t hurt that I was present the same day that Jackie was firing these little gems in the vapor kiln.

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I love the look of soda fired ceramics and it looks like the guild is going to do a group soda firing this summer, so I’ll be able to get a couple of pieces in the kiln without having to sign up to fire the kiln myself. It will be a good way to try it out.

I want to thank those of you who were able to make it to the Guild’s spring sale this past weekend. Castle Clay artists have their show next weekend and I’m going to attend with a friend of mine. This year, they’ve invited some glass & jewelry artists to display their work at the show as well as a soap maker, so I’m looking forward to seeing what they produce.

Happy Monday,

~Cynthia

Colorado Potter’s Guild Show Closes Today

Published
by
Cynthia
on May 3, 2008
in Shows
. 10 Comments

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Opening night before the doors opened - so cool to see so much amazing ceramic work all in one place

As a member of the guild, which operates like a cooperative, everyone is assigned a job (ideally the job that best utilizes one’s skills) to help the guild and our sales run smoothly.  So, as a new member, to what committees and tasks have I been assigned?  Surprisingly, my blogging, Internet and Photoshop skills are being tapped.  I have been assigned to the “website committee” and for the sale, I spent most of the day Thursday helping to photograph select guild member’s work to be used in future mailings and our website.  Other than that, my gift of gab has come in handy working the “floor” of the sale’s venue.  I credit that skill not to blogging, but my years spent as a flight attendant for United.  I can talk to anyone, anywhere about anything - and if you want a pillow & blankie, I’ll try my hardest to find one for you!

I have enjoyed the show and have fondled many many pots in the last few days.  It’s hard with so much eye candy to not purchase everything in sight, however, before going to the show I decided I would only buy a mug for my husband since he’s been drinking out of one of my seconds.  I decided that a mug or cup is really the most personal choice of all and he needed to pick it out himself so last night, he chose a gorgeous salt fired mug for his daily coffee made by Jean Boch.  It’s a good thing, it’s not one I would have chosen for him.  It was interesting browsing with him, since he has different preferences.  He chose a manly amber glaze vs. the pale greens and celadons I normally favor and he had definite issues with certain types of handles not fitting his hands.  I don’t normally use the handle on my mugs, so it’s not an issue for me since I like to cup the mug with my whole hand.   Next time you pick up a cup, think about how you use it and if you want to read more about how choosing pottery is really the most intimate choice of all, click here.

Meanwhile, the show closes this afternoon.  We were allowed to enter 105 pots into the show, only 10 of which could be sets.  I only managed to get 55 pots made in time for the show since I was also making work for the “Fine Art of Craft Show” in Evergreen simultaneously.  I was pleased to see that as of last night I only have about 14 items left that haven’t sold and we still have one full day to go.   Our next sale is before the holidays in November - so I’ll have ample time to make 105 pieces!  I’m going to try a new clay body and might even venture into some high fire stoneware clays.

Enjoy your weekend,

~Cynthia

Colorado Potter’s Guild Sale Invitation

Published
by
Cynthia
on April 30, 2008
in Shows
. 12 Comments

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Opening Reception: Thursday, May 1, 2008, 6:00pm - 9:00pm

First Plymouth Congregational Church
3501 South Colorado Blvd.
Denver, CO
May 1,2,3
Friday May 2 9:00am - 9:00pm
Saturday May 3 9:00am - 5:00pm
Press Release

Gee, time flies by when one has deadlines and shows lined up so close together! Whew, I’m looking forward to the opening and will breathe an equal sigh of relief when Sunday rolls around and I can spend some quality time with my family with no worries of work not yet done looming in the back of my brain. I will be at the show opening night and then have been assigned to work Friday evening and Saturday morning. I don’t have a lot of work - maybe only 40 pieces, about 20 cone 6 electric fired and about 20 cone 10 gas fired ones. But, I’ve seen everyone else’s work and it’s pretty darn amazing if you ask me!

Meanwhile, I was honored with a couple of blog awards:

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Chris over at Socal Potters passed on the E is for Excellent award and part of accepting this award is you have to pass it on to ten of your favorite blogs. So here they are… Grey Matters, Pottery Blog, That Which is Not, Lapella Art, One Black Bird, Mud Stuffing, Peppa’s Studio, Tales of a Raku Artist, Judi’s Kiln, This Artist’s Life.

And Lynette has awarded me the ARTE y Pico Blog Award - Thank you!

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The following 5 rules are attached to this award:

1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and that also contribute to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.

3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her/him the award itself.

4. The Award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Arte Y Pico” blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5. To show these rules.
I have selected the following five deserving bloggers: Angela Rockett, Jean Levert Hood, Kesha Bruce, Studio McCann, and Nancy Van Blaricom.

I would have like to have added my whole blogroll as recipients, but followed the rules. :D

Hopefully, next time I post, I will be able to share some photos of terrific ceramic work from the guild show.

Happy Wednesday,

~Cynthia

 

 

“Fine Art of Craft Show”

Published
by
Cynthia
on April 26, 2008
in Shows and Wheel Thrown
. 5 Comments

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Mary Cay and I at the opening standing in front of 2 of her pieces

I drove up to Evergreen by myself yesterday evening for the opening of the “Fine Art of Craft” at the Center for the Arts Evergreen where some of my work was on display. Unfortunately, my husband and daughter did not attend because my daughter came down with strep this past week and wasn’t feeling 100%. It was a fun evening, and while I had peeked at some of the other items on display when I dropped off my work last Monday, it truly was a feast for the eyes to see a variety of different crafts on display together ranging from glass blowing, fiber art, beading, ceramics, to wood working.

The gallery is fairly small, but at its busiest, there were about 150 people crammed in there (that’s my guesstimate). My ceramics mentor and good friend, Mary Cay, had some of her wonderful work on display, including groupings of her bone china canvases. Some former Art Student’s League classmates of mine also came up for the opening and afterwards we all enjoyed sitting down and catching up at The Wine Bar nestled in the pines by the Evergreen Lake.

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On my drive up to Evergreen I snapped this photograph of a local landmark - the Spaceship House in Genessee, CO. I would love to tour it someday, but, it’s privately owned. Built in the 1960’s by architect Charles Deaton, its futuristic design is so unusual that it was used in the filming of Woody Allen’s movie, Sleeper in 1973.

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Cone 10 porcelain platter freshly thrown

Meanwhile, last week in my studio I threw quite a bit of work to add to the gas firing at the guild taking place this weekend. Out of necessity, I threw bigger than I normally do in an attempt to take up real estate in the kiln since one of our firing partners dropped out at the last minute. I used the tutorial on Emily Murphy’s blog that she calls the “quarter trick” to throw this platter. I normally have a hard time centering more than 5 lbs of clay at a time, so I used 4 lbs as the base, and since I couldn’t find a quarter, I used a 1970’s nickel in the center. Then I centered another 5 lbs on top of the nickel. Once I opened it up, I removed the nickel and was pretty pleased with my 12″ platter. While that’s not as big as the 24″ raku platter I saw on display last night by Bob Smith, I was pleased with my efforts. After the guild sale next weekend, I’m going to practice throwing larger.

I just unloaded the bisque kiln this morning and was so happy to see the platter in one piece, with a nice deep foot. As expected, I lost 4 mugs that went into the kiln damp. I should have made them tumblers instead of trying to add handles at the last minute. Live and learn!

With that said, I have some glazing to do!

Happy weekend,

~Cynthia

PS.  By the time I got up to Evergreen, 2 of my pieces had already sold!

“Fine Art of Craft Show” Invitation

Published
by
Cynthia
on April 23, 2008
in Shows and Thoughts on Creativity
. 18 Comments

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Opening April 25th, 2008
5:00 - 8:00pm
“Fine Art of Craft”
Center for the Arts Evergreen
Address: 32003B Ellingwood Trail, Evergreen, Colorado 80439
Phone: 303.674.0056
April 25 - May 23

I have been in overdrive for the past month getting ready for this show and also the Colorado Potter’s Guild show and sale which opens the following weekend and runs May 1 - May 3. Of course you’re invited to this event as well. :D

I pushed my luck and fired the work for the “Fine Art of Craft” show the day before the work was to be delivered. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when the kiln was finally cool enough to unload and made the drop off deadline to boot. Only 3 pieces will be on display in the gallery for the month and then the rest is for immediate sale in the gallery gift shop. I know many of you will not be able to attend, so here’s a sampling:

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Porcelain Boxes, sizes vary, either slip transfer or hand-painted with underglaze, ^6 oxidation

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Relief printed stoneware box, 6.5″ x 4.5″ x 4.5″, ^6 ox.

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Relief printed stoneware tray and 4 cups, ^6 ox.

I’m much calmer now that I’ve delivered the work for the show in Evergreen and have mapped out my plan for the next 2 weeks. I’ve also dropped a few things from my schedule and feel much saner now. On Friday, I will be bisquing work that will be fired in the guild’s gas kiln on Sunday, glazing and loading the kiln Saturday and then spending most of the day at the Guild on Sunday doing the glaze fire. I’ve been told it will take 12 hours from start to finish - so I’ll have lots of time to try out some equipment I’ve been meaning to work with at the guild such as the electric slab roller, the extruder and the spray booth. I plan on making some glaze test tiles for my own use since I’m so unfamiliar with reduction glazes and I borrowed Extruded Ceramics by Diana Pancioli for inspiration.

Meanwhile, my very first “note from the universe” courtesy of TUT arrived in my inbox today to get me started with my vow to change my self destructive ways.

I’ll catch up with you on Saturday with a review of the show,

~Cynthia