Set Up for the Celebration of Seagrove Potters

Yesterday we brought out all of our pottery for the Celebration of Seagrove Potters' Spring kiln openings. Here are some pictures we took in the early morning before the sheets became yellow with pollen. The pollen here is so thick this year, that when the wind blew it was like a dust storm. There were many visitors here in Seagrove enjoying the wonderful weather (despite all of the pollen) and all of the new work that the potters had out on display. We had quite a few cars here at Bulldog throughout the day. Spending days like yesterday, with enthusiastic and wonderful people is such a treat. We finished the day off by attending the Grand Opening of ARTifex gallery and studio school in Troy. We had a great time there. Beverly and Chad Dickson did an incredible job of transforming the building into a vibrant gallery space and art studio classroom. She displayed a group of stunningly colorful, and richly textured variations of her Petroglyph series. This series is partially inspired by the Judaculla Rock glyphs in Jackson County, NC. I think we will be visiting Troy again soon.

Getting Ready for Tomorrow

We unloaded our kiln load today.  Everything looked good.  We unloaded some pretty tumblers, covered jars, a few mugs, plates, bottles, large bowls, a few chargers....  Overall everything is happy.  Ed and Gloria helped out today.  Ed helped carry pots from the kiln and Gloria and Ed cleaned the bottoms.  
We took a lunch break outside today.  It was such a pretty day.  We are looking forward to this weekend.  

At the wheel in the Bulldog Studios

Bruce is throwing some medium sized bottles.  I think he makes beautiful bottle forms, and I find it inspiring working in the studio with him.  We are trying our best to throw enough pottery to fill two reduction gas kilns.   We have a tight schedule with the Catawba Valley Pottery Festival at the end of March, Celebration of Spring community wood firing on April 4, and potter's kiln openings here in Seagrove, on April 18th and 19th.  We are wondering if we have enough variation in sizes of pots to fill two kiln loads efficiently, before it is time to start glazing. 

Here is Bruce putting a neck and rim on his bottle

I am working on covered jars, cups, bowls, and mugs.