This weekend: Carolina Designer Craftsmen and at home in Seagrove

We will be in both places this weekend.  Ed and Gloria are staying home and watching the workshop here in Seagrove and Bruce and I are going to be taking our decorative work to the Carolina Designer Craftsmen in Raleigh.  Our shop and van are full.

This is what we did for most of yesterday.  We unloaded crystalline vases from our kiln and Bruce put the finishing touches on them.  Since the glaze flows off of the vase we need to grind and polish the bottoms smooth.
Ed helped load the van, while we packed our work and accomplished the details that are needed to do a show.  Gloria worked on getting some business cards printed out on our computer.  My card order did not make it here on time for the show, and we are down to just a few.  

Here are a few pieces that will be coming with us to the Carolina Designer Craftsmen.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!

Carolina Designer Craftsmen - November 28, 29, 30

We had one more final push last night in the studio.  We are getting ready for the Carolina Designer Craftsmen, Raleigh, NC.  This will be the first time that we will be taking our work to this show.  The show starts Friday evening at 6:00-9:00 pm, Saturday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm, Sunday 11:00 am - 5:00 pm.  It will be in the Exposition Center at the Raleigh State Fairgrounds, daily admission is $7.00, weekend pass $10.00, and children under 12 are free.  

We plan on bringing our decorative studio art pottery.

In the image below Bruce is chipping away glaze that has pooled in the bottom of our catch dishes in order to reuse them.  We really need to do catch up on our dish and ring making.  We keep putting this task off, but after this past series of crystalline vases we will have to face the music, turn and extrude some rings and catch basins for future firings.

Celebration of Seagrove Potters -- Smiles

The above bean pot was made by Sid Luck and auctioned off on Saturday afternoon.  He received special permission to draw the Luck's Beans emblem on this hand thrown bean pot.  This design cannot be reproduced on any pottery without a signed agreement from the company.  This piece is very special.

This past weekend at the Historic Luck's Cannery, 60 of the Seagrove Potteries joined together in one place for the convenience of our pottery collector friends to shop and say hi to us and us to them.   There are about 75 potteries located in the countryside around the town of Seagrove that are open on a daily basis for visitors to come to our workshops.  This is one time a year that we get together in one location.  This year was special for us, and we are looking forward  to working together towards next year's Celebration.  

James Foods will be opening up a grocery store in the future, adjacent to where the Celebration took place.  I don't know the details, but we are excited about having a local grocery store.  James Food helped out in getting the building ready for the Celebration.

Through the past months of planning for the Celebration, Bruce and I met people that we have not had a chance to meet, and became closer with people that we were acquainted with.  

As potters, we work all and almost every day making pots, managing our shops, and many other tasks to maintain our businesses.   By the time we finish up in the studio it is rare to have anytime left to interact socially.  It is hard to find the time to get out and meet others, let alone sit on the couch for an occasional movie.  Because of the Celebration, I feel that we will grow even closer here in Seagrove.  This will be done through communication and reaching out to work with one another.  We are a close knit, and caring group of people living here in Seagrove.   The Seagrove potters come from a diverse background of pottery philosophy and history.  That strong prominent historical presence, and the current rich diversity of styles, contributes to making Seagrove an amazing pottery destination.   Yes I am going on and on, but I can't help myself.  I just want to convey to those who are reading this, that what has happened in Seagrove these past several months, in establishing the Celebration of Seagrove Potters, is a positive move for the community.  

I ducked out of our booth to go to the ladies room.  I grabbed the camera to take some shots.  I found proud potters standing by their pottery, potters talking with people, and others wrapping their pottery for happy new pot owners.  

Here some of the potters that I came across.  There were many more I wish I had been able to take images of, but I had to get back to help Bruce.  There is always next year to add to our archive.

Margie Nance Windsong Pottery

Meredith Heywood and her sister of Whynot Pottery

Blaine and Laura Avery of Avery Pottery and Tileworks

Carolyn Poole of Rockhouse Pottery

Alexa Modderno and her daughter of Seagrove Stoneware

Eck and Rhonda McCanless of Dover Pottery

Amanda, Pat, and Gordon of Cagle Road Pottery

This is Terry Hunt of Cross Creek Pottery.

John McNeill of Old Hard Times Pottery 

Chad Brown 

 Fred Beane of Old House Pottery,  He is the oldest potter here in Seagrove

Bruce is in there somewhere, he is the one in the maroon flannel shirt. 

Michael Mahan of the Ground Up Pottery doing a pottery demostration

David Garner of Turn and Burn

Joe Foster of Jakes Pottery

Georgia and Byron Knight of Ole Fish House Pottery

Phil Pollet of Old Gap Pottery

Morgan Hatfield of Hatfield Pottery

Travis and his mom Pam of Jugtown Pottery

Lisa and Chris Luther of Luther Pottery

Bruce and Janice of Latham's Pottery

Celebration of Seagrove Potters

What a Day!   We decided to start with the highlight of our evening.  Tonight's Gala was a super success.   Gary Spivey attended the Gala along with more then 300 hundred other guests.  Gary grew up in a nearby town of Biscoe and has recently purchased the Magnolia Inn and changed the name to the Star Hotel Bed and Breakfast.  His sister runs the Star Hotel Bed and Breakfast, while Gary travels the country for his performances.  He presently resides in California on the same street as the late Beatrice Wood.  We were excited that his visit to Star coincided with the Gala.  

The morning started early unloading our kiln.  Ed was a trooper and knocked on our door at 6:30 am to unload.  Bruce and I were still sound asleep and totally missed the alarm going off, when the phone rang and Bruce popped out of bed to answer it.  Ed told him that he was on the other side of our door and that he checked the kiln and it is cool enough to unload.  

We hustled our pots down the the Cannery just in time to give us a hour to  set up.

We were busy talking all evening with our visitors.  I finally was able to break away when the guests flocked to the collaborative auction.

There were many smiles and I do believe we all had a great time.