Glazing for Washington D.C. - Pottery on the Hill

Bruce glazing in the Bulldog Pottery Studio

We are glazing for the show Pottery on the Hill in Washington D.C. at the Hill Center - Old Naval Hospital.  Bruce is working on his lustre shino in the image above.  It fires out to a beautiful iridescent reddish brown finish like the pitcher below.  I am not sure if he is adding the turquoise to it.  Bruce likes to change things around from kiln series to kiln series.

Pitcher by Bruce Gholson

Potters Market - Garth Clark - Washington D.C.

Bruce Gholson and Samantha Henneke at the 8th Annual Potters Market

8th Annual Potters Market, Charlotte, NC

Almost a month ago we were in Charlotte, NC at the 8th Annual "Potters Market Invitational".  It was a beautiful weekend and we enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of the Delhom League with our fellow potters.  Many of our pots went to new homes and many pieces joined other pots in people's growing collections. The Mint Museum Randolph houses a special pottery collection that has examples of historical European and Asian Ceramics called the Delhom Collection. The Delhom Service League holds classes to teach docents and inform the public about the wonderful world of ceramics and its history.  They have weekly classes during the fall, winter, and spring given by members of the Delhom to teach about the pieces in the collection as well as a monthly lecture about a topic in Ceramics.  This is a valuable resource for ceramics not only for North Carolina but for the United States.  

Garth Clark comes to North Carolina

Coming up on October 16th there will be an all day pottery symposium titled "Traditional Pottery: Back to the Future". Well-known ceramics art critic Garth Clark will be there along with Matt Jones, Mark Hewitt, and Charlotte Wainwright speaking about pottery.  You can visit the Mint Museum website for details and sign up for a nominal fee of $20 for members and $25 for nonmembers which includes lunch.  Garth Clark will also be a part of two more symposiums in North Carolina. One will be in Asheville on October 20th and the other at the Gregg Museum in Raleigh on October 18th. Check out Matt Jones website for more details.

Pottery on the Hill, Washington D.C.

We have been busily getting ready for our next pottery show called "Pottery on the Hill" in Washington D.C., on October 26-28, 2012. This first time pottery event takes place at the Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital on 921 Pennsylvania Ave. S.E.  Fifteen potters have been invited to show and sell their work for what will be an annual fundraiser.  The Hill Center is a great location of many activites such as food classes, concerts, art classes, films, and many more. Check out the Hill Center website for details about all of the cultural activities that they offer.

The list of potters that will be there includes Bob Briscoe, Trista Chapman, Naomi Dalglish, Dan Finnegan, Warren Frederick, Bruce Gholson, Ryan Greenheck, Samantha Henneke, Matthew Hyleck, Michael Hunt, Michael Kline, Mark Shapiro, Stacy Snyder, Sam Taylor, and Catherine White. For details about the event visit Pottery On the Hill. There is a special Friday evening preview reception for this pottery event (tickets required).  The Saturday and Sunday are free to the public

Samantha's Butterfly vase was purchased by the Delhom Service League for their growing collection of contemproary North Carolina Pottery.

Save the Date for Cousins in Clay on June 1 and 2, 2013! Our honored guest cousins this coming year will be David MacDonald from Syracuse, New York and returning honored cousin Jack Troy from Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. Of course you will see Michael Kline our collaborating mountain cousin from Bakersville, North Carolina.

Cousins in Clay Save the Date Card - June 1-2, 2013

Getting ready for the Potters Market at Charlotte's Mint Museum Randolph

Bruce Gholson loading the pottery kiln

We are in the process of getting ready for the upcoming Delhom League's 8th annual Potters Market Invitational.  This is the first Moka glazed pottery kiln of this year, as we have been focused on our decoratively glazed work for the first half of the year.  Our cycle changes from one year to the next depending on what we are getting ready for. Samantha was in The Green Hill Art Center's "By Example", June-August exhibition, and was the main reason why we stayed with the decorative glazes up until July.  Samantha focused her attention on developing a body of work for the show.   We are thrilled to announce that the 24 glazed beetle paintings titled "Coleoptera" sold as well as a few other pieces. 

We had plans of glaze testing for new surfaces to get in our Moka glaze kiln, but time snuck up on us and our deadline for the Potters Market is upon us.  We keep telling ourselves that our glaze testing has to come while we throw our pots because, when our time gets squeezed like it is now while glazing and loading, something has to give.  Bruce has bags of glazes all ready mixed to test, and I have a bunch of tenmoku formulas that I want to mix up.  So we are resolved to be ready to get them into our next kiln firing.  Time is always a big juggling act.

I was listening to a podcast called Lean into Art last night.  It is about the Art of Comics.  This particular podcast is presented by Jerzy Drozd and Rob Stenzinger. They are professional comic illustrators and they talk about life as full time creative self-employed artists.  I discovered the Art and Story  podcast a few years ago where they worked together along with Kevin Cross. They gave the final podcast last year, their Big Finale. I was pleased to find out it was only the beginning of going into other projects, one of which is Lean into Art.  Last night I listened to Time Time. Which yes you guessed it was about Time. They talked about what it was like to manage their time, and the trials and tribulations that we all have as creatives.  Tick toc, tick toc. 

8th Annual Potters Market Invitational - September 15, 10:00-4:00

Mint Museum Randolph

2730 Randolph Rd.

Charlotte, North Carolina

It' a begining

Life in the foliage, a predator?

Cousins in Clay Mountains 2012

Mark Shapiro, Sam Taylor, Michael Kline, Samantha Henneke, Bruce Gholson

A couple of weekends ago we were up in the Mountains for "Cousins in Clay" at Michael Kline's Pottery. Mark Shapiro and Sam Taylor joined us, travelling all the way from Massachusetts.  It was a great time, and there were many lovely pots to peruse.  We always have fun when we get together with Michael, Sam, and Mark, enjoying the time spent talking pottery, our lives as potters, and of course what ever mischief we can get into.  We took many pictures and made an album of them on the Cousins in Clay facebook page. You can see the album here at facebook Cousins in Clay Mountains 2012.

We are looking forward to joining up with the same gang, Michael, Sam, and Mark, in October along with nine other potters for "Pottery on the Hill" at the Hill Center in Washington D.C. 

While working with and looking at all of the pictures we took at Mountain Cousins, We realized that we have yet to share with you images from our past Seagrove Cousins in Clay with Ron Meyers and Judith Duff.  We will get to that soon.  We have just finished designing the "save the date" postcard for our Cousins in Clay coming up next year!  Mark your calendars for June 1 and 2, 2013, join us and our special guests David MacDonald from Syracuse, and Jack Troy from Pennsylvania.  

Presently in the studio we are working on glazing a Moka glaze kiln for the upcoming Potters Market Invitational in Charlotte, at the Mint Museum Randolph, September 15, 2012, 10:00 - 4:00. To read all about it visit the Mint Museum's website for the details.  

Bruce Gholson admiring a Sam Taylor vase

Samantha Henneke 

Michael Kline and visitor behind Bulldog's vases

Visitor loooking at our Moka and Shino glazes pottery

Sam Taylor, Samantha Henneke, Bruce Gholson, Mark Shapiro, Cynthia Bringle

assortment of pieces by Samantha Henneke

Cousins in Clay Mountains - Bakersville, NC Here we come

Bruce Gholson, Samantha Henneke, Michael Kline

We are on our way to the gorgeous mountains of North Carolina.  Michael Kline is hosting the 2nd annual Cousins in Clay Mountains this weekend at his place - Michael Kline Pottery - on Sat. and Sun. Aug. 25 and 26. Our honored Cousins are Mark Shapiro and Sam Taylor and they are on their way from Massachusetts to join us!  This is a very exciting weekend. Sam and Mark go way back with Michael, they took a pivotal workshop together with Michael Simon back in the early 90's. Michael and Mark shared a pottery studio for around 10 years up in Massachusetts before Michael moved to Penland to be an artist in residence.  Sam Taylor's Dogbar Pottery studio is in Mark's neighborhood. Truly a family reunion this weekend. 

On Sunday there will be a potters potluck at 12:00 noon. Please join us with a dish and enjoy pleasant conversation up on the mountain top.

Michael Kline Pottery

4062 Snow Creek Rd.

Bakersville, NC 28705

828-675-4097

Aug 25 and 26 Sat 10-5 and Sun 10-4 with Potters Potluck on Sun from 12-3

Michael Kline Plate

Sam Taylor Plate

Mark Shapiro Teapot

Bruce Gholson - Crab Low Bowl

Samantha Henneke - Sapphire Vase

Green Hill Art Center - "By Example" Exhibition

Samantha Henneke in front of Coleopatra- 24 Beetles, porcelain glazes paintings

The exhibition titled "By Example- North Carolina Potters and their Mentors" is on display at the Green Hill Art Center in Greensboro, North Carolina and will be on view until the end of the month- August 26, 2012.

Green Hill Art Center is located in downtown Greensboro across from the Center City Park, on 200 North Davie Street (336-333-7460).

I made "Coleopatra"(beetles not the queen), a wall of 24 glazed beetles. The back ground is a whitish crystalline glaze and the beetles are glazed with a variety of crystalline glaze colors and textures. This is the second installation of beetles as a grouping. The first set was hung in the Gregg Museum on NC State's campus in Raleigh back in 2007, and the beetles were glazed on a gold background.  I was excited about having the opportunity to make another beetle wall installation, the Green Hill Art Center has wonderful space, with a great mix of natural light and gallery lighting.
     Along with the wall of beetles, I threw tall vases that measured 15"-18" in height with image and textural decoration, and crystalline glazes, as well as a series of seven 11"x11" porcelain box shapes with fantasy narrative "A Girl in Red Dress with Dung Beetle". You can see all of the pieces that I have in this exhibition on our Bulldog Pottery Flickr page.

My chosen mentor is Val Cushing. Val was my pottery teacher when I went to Alfred University back in the mid 90's.  He influenced my pottery work as well as is the bed rock for my knowledge and love glazes and understanding of the materials. During one of my first glaze calculation classes he encouraged us to go to the library, I took this to heart and went there whenever I had time. I wandered up and down the Scholes Library aisles, grabbing handfuls of books, and sitting down to look, read, and ponder.

There is a By Example Exhibition Catalog that was printed to go along with the show.  

Ronan Peterson filmed 8 minutes of a gallery walk through and he posted it on You Tube By Example Exhibition.

Val Cushing pottery in the "By Example" Exhibition

Samantha Henneke in front of her  Girl in Red Dress and Dung Beetle series

Decorated glaze vases and "Coleopatra"

Poster of Val Cushing, Samantha's mentor at the By Example show in Greensboro, Green Hill Art Center

"Cousins in Clay" Mountains at Michael Kline Pottery

"Cousins in Clay" Mountains 2012, August 25 and 26 - Saturday 10-5 and Sunday 10-4 at Michael Kline Pottery, Bakersville, North Carolina

Cousins in Clay
Next weekend on Saturday August 25 and Sunday August 26 we will be at Michael Kline Pottery in the beautiful cool scenic mountains of North Carolina.  Our guest clay cousins will be driving all the way down from Massachusetts. Mark Shapiro and Sam Taylor will bring their pottery for all of us to see and buy. This is a unique and special time to be able to meet Mark and Sam and pick out a piece of their work. We have spent a couple of weekends with Mark and Sam in recent years for Pot Hop and Jam home show in Washington D.C. and have enjoyed their pottery in our home for the past couple of years.

We hope to see you next weekend!
Follow Cousins in Clay on facebook

August 25 Saturday from 10am-5pm
August 26 Sunday from 10am-4pm with a special potters potluck lunch - join us and bring a dish from 12pm-3pm
Michael Kline Pottery 4062 Snow Creek Rd. Bakersville, NC 28705
828-675-4097

"Cousins in Clay" Mountains 2012, August 25 and 26 - Saturday 10-5 and Sunday 10-4 at Michael Kline Pottery, Bakersville, North Carolina

 

Pots At Rest - The Clay Studio, Philadelphia

Bruce Gholson - Fossil Fish Pitcher - Seagrove, North Carolina

Bruce has been invited to be in an exhibition titled "Pots at Rest" at the The Clay Studio in Philadelphia.  Eight ceramists were chosen to exhibit their work and in turn these eight potters were asked to invite potters to place their work into the show.  Brian Jones, a potter living in Portland, Oregon, invited Bruce to be included in the functional pottery exhibit. 

The show opens on August 17th and will be on display until September 30, 2012.

Pots At Rest is part of a multi project called Made by Hand.

137-139 North Second Street 

Philadelphia PA 19106 

215.925.3453

Tues.-Sat. 11am-6pm, Sun. 12p-6p 

Bruce Gholson - Fossil Fish Mug - Seagrove, North Carolina

Bruce Gholson - Fossil Fish Mug - Seagrove, North Carolina

Bruce Gholson - Fossil Fish Covered Jar - Seagrove, North Carolina

Bruce Gholson - Fossil Fish Covered Jar (other side) - Seagrove, North Carolina

By Example at the Green Hill Art Center

Coleoptera 1 of  24 in the Beetle Wall Painting Series, Samantha Henneke

   Tomorrow night, Friday, June 29th, 2012 the "By Example - NC Potters and their Mentors" exhibition opens at the Green Hill Art Center in downtown Greensboro, NC. This exhibition is made up of 20 young NC potters invited by Chapel Hill ceramic artist and guest curator Ronan Peterson.  Ronan selected 20 NC potters and in turn we selected our mentor. My mentor is Val Cushing, who was my teacher when I was at Alfred University during the mid 90's. 

   Green Hill has put together a facebook page called By Example, where they have listed the artist's bio's, their mentor of choice, and the mentor's bio. This is the link to my Artist Profile: Samantha Henneke and Val Cushing. 

 The Green Hill Art Center has a great space and beautiful gallery that is part of the Greensboro Cultural Center in downtown Greensboro. (Green Hill Center, 200 North Davie St. Greensboro, NC 27401, 336.333.7460 )

   I put the images of all of the ceramics works that I will have in the show on our Flickr site.  You can view them at the Samantha Henneke - June 2012 Flickr Set.  I worked on three different series for this show. The first is a series of 24 individual Beetles, glazed wall paintings (each piece is 12" x 7.75" 1.5"), these will be hung all together on one wall.  The second series I made is a group of vases between 17" - 22" tall with imagery and crystalline glazes. The third series that I designed are seven 11" x 11" x 2.25" glazed wall paintings of dung beetles and girls in lavender or red.  

Bat Vase- 17.5" x 4" x 4", Samantha Henneke

"Focal Point"- Samantha Henneke, 11" x 11" x 2.5"

Beetle Approval

Insect Jesse Vases by Samantha Henneke

 Focus.

 Close-up Insect Jesse Vases by Samantha Henneke

As we were loading the last of the Beetle wall glaze paintings we found this fellow inside the kiln on top of the shelf right where we were about to place the piece.  We took it as a good sign of approval.

Vases for ' By Example' Exhibition

Samantha and her thrown tall bottles back in the beginning of May

  I have been invited to be part of a group exhibition called "By Example" which will open at the end of the month at the Green Hill Center for NC Art in Greensboro, NC.  The show will include 20 ceramic artists from North Carolina and we each have selected a mentor to join us. That will make a total of 40 potters, and I am really excited to see all of their work together.  I have selected Val Cushing to participate as my mentor. I am very proud that he has agreed, and will be sending some of his work to North Carolina.   I threw around 15 tall vases in April and May. They have been patiently awaiting for me to decorate them.   It is wonderful to have an exhibition to give me an extra push to try out some new ideas.  I have decorated some cups like this and now I am trying the technique on my tall vases.  Bruce and I sometimes call getting ready for a show like this similar to an extreme sport.  I have everything made, now  I just have to glaze it all and cross my fingers that everything will work out.