Cousins in Clay in the Mountains of NC

We are looking forward to the 5th annual "Cousins in Clay" Mountains! Every year, we, along with Michael Kline, host two "Cousins in Clay" events. One at the beginning of the summer (weekend after Memorial Day) at our Bulldog Pottery studios in Seagrove, NC and one at the end of the summer at Michael Kline's Pottery in Bakersville, NC. This year the Mountain Clay Cousins will be on Labor Day Weekend, September 5-6, 2015.  

Two artists we admire, Justin and Brooke Rothshank, will be our guest cousins at the Labor Day weekend show and sale.  Justin makes pottery with layered surfaces of decals and glazes that integrate well together on his functional pottery forms, and Brooke paints miniature images that are amazing in detail.

We set up our pottery under white tents on the hill top of Michael's and Stacey''s property under beautiful oak trees very near his workshop and sales gallery.  This year his wife Stacey Lane, a jeweler, will have her work for sale in Michael's gallery along with Brooke Rothshank's paintings. Michael is a short drive (around 10 minutes) from the famous Penland Craft school.  It is always a treat to take our work to the NC Mountains!

We are also busily getting ready for the 11th Annual Potters Market Invitational at the Mint Museum Randolph, September 12th, in Charlotte, NC!  This is a wonderful event that we are proud to be invited to participate in along with 40 other potters.  Stay tuned for the next blog post to read more specifics about the Mint Museum's PMI.

Bulldog Pottery gets ready the Potters Market

Lining the inside of vases with glaze before gluing on pedestal rings.

Our Moka glaze kiln is cooling, and we have some of these vases in the kiln firing as we write this. We have our fingers crossed that we are blessed with a successful firing, and unload some great pots. As always with a potter's kiln, no matter how many times one has fired, something can and usually does come up. Why? Well not sure. Materials change, touch changes, life changes...... moods change. But you know that is what is so beautiful about hand made pottery. Each piece is individually made on a particular day, depending on the artists feelings and environment. Bruce and I started buying pots a handful of years ago. We enjoy having other peoples pots around us. We have a lot of our own too, but it is special to see a Cynthia Bringle on our table, Micheal Kline at our entrance way, or our Mark Shapiro flask with handles on a counter top. We bought a Matt Kelleher basket form at last years Potters' Market...Love it. It sits in our kitchen. I bought a plate as well from Matt, and a plate from Kyle Carpenter. We collect plates from different artists and when we have company, we bring them out and everyone eats off of a different plate. Fun! We collect plates of various sizes and acquired a nice sandwich size from Sam Taylor this past May, and one from Shawn Ireland during this years Toe River Arts Tour.

Well for all of you that love pottery, the Mint Museum's "Potters Market" is this weekend at the Mint Museum on Randolph road in Charlotte. This one day show features 40 potters from across North Carolina. The proceeds go to the Delhoum Pottery Collection where they purchase new pieces of pottery for the Mint's collection. You can see their 2010-2011 itinerary and the list of potters at the Mint Museum's website.

We were able to get three of these vases in last night. They have incredible swelling bellies and take up a lot of space in the kiln. More will be fired next week.

Here is our Moka glaze pots before we stacked up the door. We will be unloading this tomorrow afternoon. It usually takes the gas kiln a solid day and a half (with help from us) to cool down enough to unload.

Gloria and Ed will be holding down the fort here at Bulldog Pottery in Seagrove.

Rosedale: Art of Craft, Saturday, May 9 2009

Gloria with Bulldog's pottery at the Art of Craft in Charlotte. 

 Happy Mothers Day Weekend!

We had a beautiful weekend in Charlotte.  Showing our pottery in Charlotte is always a pleasure, and we like to return to Historic Rosedale to see their gardens and beautiful old trees. The volunteers focus their attentions at Rosedale to preserve green space, and the 1815 Federal Period Home.  The grand home is only a short distance from downtown Charlotte on North Tryon Street. 

We were invited to bring our work along with around 20 other artists and craftsman.

Samantha in the booth at Rosedale.  Bruce and Ed stayed home to hold down the fort.

We were serenaded by a minstrel in period attire during the day.

 Jeffrey Dean and Stephanie Martin, and Carol Gentithes of Art Pottery in Dean and Martin's booth

The Toymaker 

Dan and Hat Thompson in HAT's Booth

The front of Historic Rosedale

The Leather worker

This  is always a fun part for the children.  In the far front of the yard, pony rides were being offered

Beautiful weather, and once again another wonderful and successful event at the Historic Rosedale Plantation House in Charlotte NC.

"Art of Craft" at Historic Rosedale in Charlotte North Carolina

Samantha and Gloria

All of these images are from last years Art of Craft at Historic Rosedale in Charlotte, NC.  This event is a fund raiser for the 8 acre Historic Rosedale Plantation.  The home and gardens are located three miles from downtown Charlotte at 3427 Tryon Street and is one of the last remaining 1800's architecture in the immediate Charlotte area.    If you are in the Charlotte area, this is a great time to visit and support the Historic Rosedale home and gardens.   

There will be pottery, craft, and jewelry for sale, craftsman in period costume demonstrating crafts from Colonial times, free pony rides, tours of the Historic Plantation, silent auction, and food and drink from on-site vendors.  Admission for adults is $10, children ages 5-18 $5 and a family pass for $25.

This one day event is on Saturday, May 9 from 10:00-4:00.

Some of the contemporary Artists participating are:

Jones Pottery, Jay Pfiel, Bulldog Pottery, Hat Thompson Pottery, Kings Pottery, Leftwich Art Pottery, Turtle Island Pottery, Andrew Linton, Johnston and Gentithes Art Pottery, Dean and Martin Pottery, JKL Jewelry......and more.