Making a Bit of Space in the Studio

We are busily getting ready to do a glaze marathon over the next few days, but first we have to clean up a little.  I need to make a bit of space for some pots and a few people to do some work. Ed is taking a break today to help us wash up some of our pieces.  We are getting ready for the Celebration of Seagrove Potters.  We will fire a load of our tableware for the Celebration. We will have mugs, bowls, plates, and jars coming out of the kiln.  

The Friday, Saturday, and Sunday after Thanksgiving Bruce and I will be in Raleigh for the Carolina Designers Craftsman.  We will be glazing some of our crystalline vases to be ready for that show.

Finishing up !!

We are finishing up our thrown pieces in the studio. Bruce is pulling handles off of some mugs that he threw a couple of days ago and today is busily trimming some bowls.  I am working on trimming cups, tumblers, bowls and my covered jars.  I am also attaching knobs to the covered jar's lids and pulling some handles off of a few small pitchers.  All of this work will hopefully be dried and glazed by the Celebration of Seagrove Potters!

Hope to see many of you out at the Luck's Cannery the weekend before Thanksgiving!

Cady Clay Works: Wood-Fired Kiln Opening

Cady Clay Works is comprised of the potters Beth Gore and John Mellage.  They are having a kiln opening this weekend with pottery they recently have unloaded from their Anagama kiln, that John built.  Bruce and I stopped by (a long time ago) when John was in the process of building this kiln.  Let me tell you it was a work of art in itself.  At the time we were new to Seagrove and I did not have a camera.  I wish I did because the kiln is a beauty and I would love to have a picture of the interlocking bricks when it was first built.

Their opening is on November 8th, 2008, from 9:00 am -5:00 pm.

Beth writes, "The firing is always long, hot and tiring, but went quite smoothly - no stalls or disasters this time.  In fact, the front of the kiln got very hot, resulting in some exuberant ash drips and soda texture on the pots.  Unfortunately, many of those ash drips extended beyond the foot of the pots, so we are having to do a lot of sanding to even them up.  John used a lot of porcelain clay in this section, and the vases and cups ended up with beautiful, subltle flashing colors against the white clay body."

To see more images of thier work from this kiln load visit discoverseagrove's website.

Beth Gore

John Mellage

Celebration of Seagrove Pottters: Gala Collaboratives

The above tile, by Samantha, will be part of a tile grouping by ten women potters.

We have joined fellow potters on a few collaborative pieces for the Celebration of Seagrove Potters.

Lost Marbles : local jazz band

Collaborative works will be auctioned off Friday evening on November 21. The Celebration's Gala takes place from 6:30-9:00. Tickets are $35.00, with festivities planned for the evening. There will be a local jazz band, Lost Marbles entertaining the guests, food, and wine. Gala attendees will have first choice on pottery and participate in the collaborative auction. This ticket also covers you to attend the next two days of the Celebration.

Regular admission for Saturday and Sunday's Celebration is $5.00.

For nearby accommodations check out: Escape to the Heart of North Carolina.

Collaborative artwork for the Celebration of Seagrove Potters

The tile collaboration by ten women symbolizes: New Growth, Re awakenings, and New Beginnings, with each tile representing the artist's interpretations of this new beginning and new change, the Celebration of Seagrove Potters.

Bonnie Burns : Great White Oak Gallery

Meredith Heywood : Whynot Pottery

Laura Avery : Avery Pottery and Tileworks

Sheila Ray : Ray Pottery

Carol Gentithes : Johnston and Gentithes ART Pottery

Susan Smith : Smith Pottery

Pam Owens : Jugtown Pottery

Alexa Modderno : Seagrove Stoneware

Stephanie Martin : Dean and Martin Pottery

Samantha Henneke : Bulldog Pottery

Below Bruce holds a platter that was thrown by Michael Mahan : From the Ground up Pottery. Bruce drew three of his fossil fish in the center. This platter fired out beautifully and the finished piece can be seen on Michael's blog.

Chris Luther of Chris Luther Pottery is holding the finished collaborative large bottle. Chris threw and fired this piece, and Bruce drew one of his two headed fossil serpents wrapping around the form and applied the glaze.

Who is the scariest?

We will be at the Southern Heritage Pottery and Folk Art Show tomorrow in Colfax, NC.

This fellow was stirring the evenings witches brew...a.k.a.  Chicken Stew.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!

Central Park, NC Celebration

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Southern Heritage Pottery and Folk Art Show

 Fossil Fish Charger 3" x 18" x 18" 

This weekend we will be in Colfax, NC for the 5th Annual Southern Heritage Pottery and Folk Art Show.  Owner Lynn Melton of Southern Select Pottery, is the organizer of this Southern Pottery Show.  Around 44 potters will be present at the Girl Scouts Learning Center, Colfax, NC.  This show has a special preview ($25.00 includes chicken stew dinner) on Friday evening, starting at 6:00 p.m. and runs until  8:00 p.m., with a silent auction benefiting the Girl Scouts. For some crazy reason on Saturday this show will open at 8:00 am (will Bruce and I be functioning?) and runs untils 3:00 p.m.  (admission $5.00).  You can find the list of potters that will be there are on the Southern Select website (click on potters from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia).   

We have selected a few special pieces that we will be taking to the show this weekend.

A Detail of Bruce's platter

The back side of Bruce's platter--spots by Samantha

Fossil Fish Jug with Dots 18" x 10" x 10"

(spots by Samantha)

Jar by Bruce and Spots by Samantha  14" x 12" x 12" 

HAPPY HALOWEEN

Bulldog Pottery supports the North Carolina Pottery Center

We had a very happy Saturday.  A pottery lover and collector, Nancy Sidebottom, purchased Bruce's Fossil Fish jug.  All of the money will be donated to the North Carolina Pottery Center. We are pleased to be able to contribute to the growing and steadfast support for the Pottery Center.  The NCPC has reached its $100,000 goal and is trucking along past $120,000.   There is a wonderful exhibition currently on display called Table Wares of Early Twentieth Century Potters.   

Celebration of Seagrove Pottters

 The above vase will be Bulldog pottery's offering to be auctioned off at the Celebration of Seagrove Potters, Saturday afternoon auction.  The auction will take place from 4:00-6:00.  

Tonight was the meeting to draw booth assignments for the Celebration!  A new modus operandi here in the Grove.  The potters of the Celebration felt that this was a great way to put everyone on equal footing, by drawing from the hat, or in this case several pottery bowls. Potters were happy about this egalitarian approach.   This is a very busy time of year for all of us.  It is great to see most of the potters out this evening to work together.

Three potteries from the Seagrove Community

Avery Pottery and Tileworks

I dropped into the studio of three Seagrove potteries yesterday.  All three potteries unloaded a special kiln load of work and invited their friends to come for a visit and join them in conversation, coffee, and sweets.  

The first pottery I visited was Avery Pottery and Tileworks.  Laura had a wonderful selection of her colorful tiles available and Blaine had some beautiful large decorated serving bowls hanging on the wall.    These would be great at a large party, and when they are not being used what better place to show the piece off!

Laura Avery's tiles

Blaine Avery's large bowls hanging on the wall.

The next stop was a visit to Chris Luther Pottery.  Chris and Lisa were busy talking with a visitor when I arrived and had just finished writing down some information about the bowl she was interested in.

Here is a view of Chris's shop with his most recent pots, some of them still warm, fresh from his from his kiln.  He has an assortment of statuesque bottles and vases, as well as, bowls and tumblers in his rich reduction glazes.

The last pottery I visited was Ben Owen III Pottery.  He focused his attentions on his Chinese Blue glaze for this event.  The striking turquoise blue color reminds me of the Mediterranean Sea.

Here are some of examples of Ben Owen III's Chinese Blue vases and bowls.

Celebration of Seagrove Pottters: Gala Collaborative

Bruce was busy yesterday and into the evening glazing a beautiful graceful large bottle turned by Chris Luther. This is a collaborative piece that will be auctioned the evening of the Celebration of Seagrove Potter's Gala, Friday, November 21.   Seagrove Potters have come together to colloborate on special pieces for the Celebration.  Details about this event and information about how to purchase tickets to the Gala can be found online at the Celebration website.