Bulldog Pottery Vases for the American Art Pottery Show and Sale

Vase by Bruce Gholson. around 18" tall

Well we are almost all packed up and ready for travel. We are headed north to Langhorne, Pennsylvania for the American Art Pottery Association Conference. We have been working steadily at throwing and glazing vases the past few months. We are happy with the results from our last two firings. We are always learning, and constantly being reminded that our glazes are very sensitive to slight variables, and seem to have a mind of their own. That is one of the characteristics that we like the most about these glazes, though occasionally it can be painful. A subtle change or maybe not so subtle change (like which one of us glazed the vase) can bring about different shapes of crystals or tones of coloration. We remember hearing someone say once "That is a complex color", and like to hear our glazes referred to in that way. Some of the colors we find hard to describe in one or two words. So yes these glaze colors can be complex, and can take on hues that we have not seen before like the last one on this post. Unfortunately it is sometimes very difficult to reproduce some effects, and we must be flexible and enjoy the variety that all these complex variables produce. I did not think to measure the height of these vases (one step I seem to always forget to note down) so we will approximate the size.

This is the other side of the vase above

a glaze detail, we love it when the crystals continue to grown into each other forming this overall iridescent shimmer to the surface

thrown by Bruce Gholson, this vase is around 18" tall

Thrown by Bruce Gholson, this vase is around 12" tall

Thrown by Samantha Henneke, this vase is around 16" tall

Thrown by Samantha Henneke, this vase is around 15" tall

Thrown by Samantha Henneke, this vase is around 16" tall

Thrown by Bruce Gholson, this vase is around 9" tall

Thrown by Bruce Gholson, this vase is around 11" tall

(This is the other side)

Thrown by Samantha Henneke, this vase is around 18" tall

Thrown by Samantha Henneke, this vase is around 14" tall

Many Blogs all Rolled into One

L-R Samantha Henneke, Doug Fitch, Tracey Broome, Angela Walford, Hannah McAndrew, Meredith Heywood, and Ron Philbeck

Everyone in the picture above is a Potter Blogger. It is a long story but the very very short of it is, these potters to my left made friends through their individual blogs. Pretty cool I think. Doug and Hannah came over to the U.S. from the United Kingdom and Scotland, and have been presenting workshops the past couple of weeks. Angela came over from Australia to be with them and travel. There are posts about their visit to Cape Cod at Hatchville Pottery Blog and their visit to Virginia at Dan Finnegan Pottery Blog.

Below are links to their blogs. Where you can find images from their recent travels.

Ang Design - by Angela Walford (Australia)

Hannah McAndrew - Slipware Potter (Galloway, Scotland)

A Devonshire Pottery - by Doug Fitch (Devon, United Kingdom)

The Fifth Floor - by Tracey Broome (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)

Whynot Pottery - by Meredith Heywood (Seagrove, North Carolina)

Ron Philbeck Pottery - (Shelby, North Carolina)

We have finished glazing most of these vases. One kiln load out yesterday and another on Monday. There will be more vases to glaze and fire when we get home from PA.

We are gearing up for our working vacation in Langhorne, PA. This week we will be attending the American Art Pottery Association conference and will be showing our crystalline vases at their Art Pottery Show and Sale on April 29 and May 1. (Ed, Gloria and Max will be maintaining the homestead) The show takes place at the Sheraton Bucks County Hotel on Sat from noon-5pm and Sun from 11am-4pm.

This is the postcard for the show that we will be at this coming weekend.

Below is the banner for the first annual Behind the Scenes Pottery Tour, a fundraiser for the Northern Moore Family Resource Center located in Robbins, NC. This fundraiser takes place on May 15th, Sunday 2:00pm-7:00pm. Tickets are- Patron $100 (which includes a commemorative pottery piece) and individual-$45. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Behind the Scenes Pottery Tour website.

The Seagrove Potters that will be participating in this fundraiser are Luck's Ware, Dean and Martin Pottery, McCanless Pottery, From the Ground Up, Seagrove Stoneware, Avery Pottery and Tileworks, and Bulldog Pottery.

Below is Takuro Shibata and Santiago Ramirez Alvarez. They are standing behind some of the pieces that will be part of the fundraising auction for the Japan earthquake/Tsunami Relief. You can go to their Starworks Ceramics blog for more information about this fundraiser. There will be a special Open House and refreshments this Friday on April 29 from 5pm-7pm.

STARworks Ceramics fundraiser for the Tsunami/Earthquake relief in Japan.

The Grand Opening for the Co-op of Seagrove Potters is on Saturday, May 7th. The shop opens for its usual hours at 9:00am with an artists reception beginning at 4:00pm and continues to 6:00pm. There will be refreshments and door prizes. For more info call 336-873-7713. They will be glad to give you a color map and direct you to any of the local potteries that

comprise this amazing pottery community. Come for a visit!

From L-R (backrow) Phil Pollet, Nelda French, Janice Latham, Milly McCanless, Michele Hastings, Jeff Brown, Bryon Knight, Bruce Gholson David Fernandez, Tom Gray

(front row) Sally Lufkin, Bruce Latham, Samantha Henneke, Georgia Knight, Alexa Modderno

Oh what a beautiful day this was! Below is Cousin Paul and Ed building a trellis out of timber bamboo locally grown right here at Bulldog!

Oh how busy can we bee?? Well very beesy, to say the least.

Oh Yes!! and Cousins in Clay is around the corner! Yipee!!! We are so excited about our guests this year! Jack Troy from PA, Peter Lenzo from SC and Michael Kline from the good old NC mountain top!! Lots to do! we will be throwing for a few more days when we get back. We will be focusing on our Moka glaze for Cousins.

Stormy Saturday and Seagrove Kiln Openings

Caterpillar and Kangaroo

During NC storms yesterday there were pottery lovers that braved the weather and came out for the Celebration of Spring Seagrove Pottery kiln openings. Tom Starland from Carolina Arts drove up from South Carolina. Meredith's (Whynot Pottery) cookies had his name all over them. He is an avid fan of us Seagrovians and we enjoy his visits when he is able to swing by. Please check out his blog at Carolina Arts Unleashed and his online Carolina Arts newspaper.

My (Samantha) "Caterpillar and Kangaroo" glaze painting went home with a happy collector yesterday. It is a definite thrill when a one-of-a-kind ceramic piece like this finds a home.

On Friday, before Seagrove Potter's big weekend, the National Weather reported that there were going to be bands of terrible storms coming through central NC. These storms were predicted to have 60 mph winds and spawn tornadoes. As you know this is one forecast nobody wants to hear on any day, and when a large area event is planned all we can do is throw up our hands. The storms did keep many people away, but there were plenty of visitors to keep Bruce up at the shop all day long. We looked up at the sky, waiting for the possible damaging winds and wondered if we were going to see the black and grey clouds. We have had tornadoes go through our area so we took the alert seriously and moved all the outdoor furniture in, and put bungees on our pink flower, kinetic outdoor sculpture. By the end of the day we did not see any of the horrible weather here - thank goodness. Though, when we settled in for the evening and surfed the net we found out that the storms were quite cruel east of us. A tornado touched down in Sanford, as well as, downtown Raleigh. Ed said he read that there were 105 tornadoes, reported sightings around NC and VA.

As quick as the weather can turn ugly the weather can turn beautiful. Today the Seagrove Potteries are open again, and let me tell you it is beautiful outside. We have already had our first visitor before ten this morning. They spent the day yesterday here in Seagrove and thought they would hit one more pottery on their way out of the area. Another visitor just came and Bruce is back up the hill. Actually, he has not had a chance to focus on anything but talking with visitors about pottery all day today. We are very happy to be able to have a direct connection with people that love pottery and want it to be a part of their daily lives, just like it is ours.

Well there is another pottery lover coming down our driveway. Better go. Peace be with you all.

Tea Time Magazine

In the March/April issue of Tea Time magazine our teapots are featured along with other Seagrove Potters. The article is called "Clay Artists". We figure this issue will be out on the stands for a few more weeks if you would like to go and buy yourself a copy. It is a fun magazine to look through and has recipes as well.

Throughout the magazine there are recipes for cookies, scones, crepes, and a suggested blend of tea to complement the savory or sweet. They show off the serving dishes with delectables to go along with your tea party.

On their Tea Time website they feature extra information and pictures of their trip to Seagrove, North Carolina. We are featured under the Three Must-Stop Potteries

We want to subscribe to this magazine. I think it would be a fun one to get in the mail.

There will be a Teapot Show coming up at Cedar Creek Gallery this summer. We were both invited to be a part of it. This month we will be glazing and picking out a couple each to deliver on our way to the American Art Pottery Conference.

Our Sunday: Pots, Gardening, and Play

On Sunday we had a grand time and let me tell you by evening we all were pretty pooped. We did get around 45 minutes of the movie Inception in before we began to doze off. That movie is pretty intense and takes full concentration to follow all that is going on.

Bruce is working on a few two part vases. The gourd forms that are in the forefront of the image are from the day before. Below Bruce is putting a topper for his vase.

Max and I decided to take a stroll up to the garden to see what Gloria and Ed are up to and document the beginnings of the garden for the year. Max is waiting for me very patiently.
Max is all about play and with the day being so glorious he is in a peppy mood. When the sun is out and everything is quiet, look out nothing is stopping Mighty Max.

We found Gloria and Ed up in the garden doing gardening activities. I followed them over to the front of the garden where Gloria was wondering about a plant identification. Ed reached over to get a closer look.

"I know I planted something there, I don't believe it is a weed" says Gloria. "Do you remember??"

Ed replies, "no"
"We know, we should of written this down!"
Gloria is still waiting for the memory to come back... I took a gander at it but I just could not remember what bloomed there either and the leaf shape is not familiar to me.

A mystery plant or is it a weed?? We will leave it and find out later.

Bruce has just about completed his vase when Max and I came back. Bruce is putting the finishing touches to the rim.

Shrinking Vases and Tweeting Birds

We are throwing vases once again! This time we are getting ready for the American Art Pottery Association's Convention that is at the end of April. There is a two day Art Pottery Show that is open to the public on April 30 and May 1 at the Sheraton Bucks County Hotel in Langhorne, PA.

Bruce is teasing me that my vases are going down. This can be frustrating to say the least. We can be so proud of making a tall pot but by the end of the firing this piece will be around 15% smaller.

We decided that we need to keep up with what time it is in the studio. We both don't wear watches or follow the clock all that much. We just ask one another and most of the time we both don't know. Bruce has his cell phone that has the time on it but sometimes this can be inconvenient with wet clay covered hands. There is time on our heat/cooling controller, but this is a few plus steps away from our wheels. Oh well, we decided that we would hang up time. This is a special clock. On the hour every hour a different bird will tweet.