Happy Halloween Everyone!

ONE OF LAST YEAR'S PUMPKINS

THIS YEAR'S PUMPKINS!

My family is not quite up to decorating plates, but every year the "kids" come over before Halloween and we carve pumpkins and roast the seeds together. Starting from the left, the first pumpkin was carved by my daughter Tessa; next my daughter-in-law Melissa; my son Zach and that's mine on the far right (don't ask me what it's supposed to be).

ANOTHER ONE OF LAST YEAR'S PUMPKINS

Bevy of Beauties

'Bevy of Beauties' circa 1980 - Grace, Mary, Peggy & Ellen

I am lucky enough to have three sisters very close in age - maybe my Mom didn't feel so lucky delivering four girls in five-and-a-half years, but she did call us her 'bevy of beauties'.

With four girls that close in age there were some very passionate likes and dislikes, with alliances changing daily. There was certainly a pecking order, but time and faulty memories has softened the hard edges, and our shared experiences have kept us close.

We all have busy lives, and I have to travel a bit to see them, but now that the car-pooling days are over we are trying to carve some time out to spend together, not related to the holidays or birthdays, just simple 'sister days'.

Our most recent get-togethers are usually a nice lunch, followed by sitting around a table, drinking some very civilized cups of tea, and painting plates!

Around the kitchen table - Grace, Peggy & Mary

I pack up some bisqued porcelain plates, colored slips, and brushes. It's a great way to settle in for quiet conversation, a bit of gossip, and lots of laughing. There is nothing serious going on here, just allowing ourselves this time to remember how much we love each other and enjoy each other's company. And there is the great excuse of delivering the fired plates, to get together again!

At left, Grace carefully composes, on the right, Peggy consults

Mary on left, her completed sunflower plate on right

Grace likes to work in themes

This last session we were joined by my nephew Harry, who painted a plate with the image of his current obsession, driving his car - he just got his license!        

After a few sessions of this, we are ready to try out small bowls. And I'm guessing the curved painting surface will be a bit challenging, so maybe I'll pack some plates!

-from my iPad

Location:Highfield Ln,Nutley,United States

My Friend 'KALO'

circa 1982

When I was an art major in college, back in the '70's, I made a life-long friend, Paul 'Kalo'. He is a wonderfully talented artist, with a way of looking at the world that is so happily peverse, so obsessive about the details of his work. Every day with him was fun, and I will always consider him one of my closest friends, although I never get to see him.

The photo strip on the left is 'KALO' as he appeared (sort of) in 1982 - on the back he calls himself 'Stan Koolski - Polish hipster'

For the last 25 years or so, my family has been lucky enough to receive his Holiday greetings. We get together on Christmas day, and it's always the first thing my sisters and I say to each other...'Merry Christmas! Did you get Paul's card?'

And the Halloween cards, some very special Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, the list goes on.

He recently designed a wonderful coloring book. As soon as I saw it, I thought of using the images as decals on cups, and we now have a great collaboration. I tried to keep the cups as simple as possible, because his artwork is the star of this production.

I am now selling these on etsy, and really encourage you to check them out, even just for the entertainment factor. I have a wonderful postcard that Paul sent me in 1981 that I modified to be a signature decal - me as Humpty Dumpty, from an antique German postcard, I think. Look for it on the back of the cups.

-from my iPad

Getting busy!

I know that my bisqued pots are happy that they are finally getting their coat of glaze:

spot left on table by my wet pot!

So hopefully the pots will all be ready to show off at Peters Valley! Hope to see you there...

First Show together as 'Tomo Potters'

Well, it's been a summer of earthquakes, hurricanes, power outages, and vacations. But we are now gearing up for our first fall show together as:

We have been accepted into the Peters Valley Fine Craft Show, and we are very excited about it. All four of us have participated in this show before with the Potters Guild of New Jersey, but we decided to do a booth of our own, and have had a wonderful time planning.

We hope you can stop by this wonderful craft fair, say 'hello', and enjoy all the beautiful work shown each year at this fair, my favorite.

Tomo Potters will be at the:

Peters Valley Fine Craft Fair

September 24th and 25th, 2011
Building 5, Booth 109

Almost Famous...

On the morning my new issue of Studio Potter Magazine arrived I was in the process of recovering from a bout of food poisoning or an evil virus (it didn’t matter which – the results were the same). My husband brought it upstairs to where I lay like a rag doll with no stuffing, as if to offer a cure for what ailed me. I spent the next 20 minutes fighting nausea, chills and a pounding headache as I sobbed over a submission by Vince Montague, “Every Pot is a Test Tile.” Granted I was feeling sort of vulnerable at the time, but his story about the loss of his wife and how the very thing she loved (being a potter) helped him with his grief was so touchingly poignant. Kudos to Editor Mary Barringer for this issue; if you don’t subscribe to Studio Potter Magazine now is the time!

http://www.studiopotter.org/pubs/?view=current

This issue is special to me for many reasons. It is entitled “The Uses of Failure,” a subject that I am not unfamiliar with and I imagine others feel the same way. I too submitted a story for this issue and, much to my amazement, was accepted. At the time I sat down to write it I remember thinking “Failure; now there’s something I can sink my teeth into!” Failure and I have been dancing in the dark since I was knee high to a dragonfly. I knew it was time to shed some light on this tedious Tango. I’ve heard it said that a writer’s voice is usually aimed at one person (an old friend or perhaps a ninth grade English Comp. teacher); well this piece was written for my younger self. Maybe she’s out there somewhere, ready to turn her back on something she’s unsure of when her Studio Potter arrives. As she flips through the pages it dawns on her “Hell, I can be good at failure too!”

This is one of the first pots I made after 25 years of not touching clay

Oh, and guess what else arrived the same morning as my Studio Potter Magazine? My rejection letter from the Strictly Functional Pottery National… I’m so proud of me!

My Haystack Adventure

photo by Nancy Merrifield

So, a dream for a long time, for me, was participating in a workshop at Haystack School in Deer Isle, Maine. I had heard for years about the beauty of the location, the wonderful, inspiring workshops, and the food!

I always hesitated, feeling I wasn't quite ready for it - honestly, I'm just not that serious a person, but I am passionate about ceramics. So I have been waiting, watching the workshop offerings, looking for a good fit. And, lo and behold, the year 2011 offered a perfect fit for me - 'When Animals Go Tactile' with Bernadette Curran, an artist I have admired for many years. Her work is so fresh and alive, it seemed like a perfect tonic for a potter who wanted to recharge and refresh. Lucky me, I applied, a place was reserved, and I just finished with two very inspiring weeks there.

Bernadette demonstrated some wonderful techniques - more, really, than I could keep up with. So it was a relief to get the assignment to design a 'setting'. I designed a breakfast set, for one, maybe two...salt&pepper on a tray with a jam pot, a plate, a cereal bowl with an egg cup for a knob...you get the idea - me going a little too far, but having a great time! I tried to bring the animal imagery into my setting, with the tray having a fence in the middle, the salt&pepper as chicken &egg,




the butter dish as a barn, which was a direct copy from Bernadette's demo (yellow birds courtesy of Nancy Merrifield!)...I made sure everything was labeled 'Haystack' so I will keep it as my workshop 'notes'.



                                                                                

I would recommend that anyone looking for a two-week immersion of studio time check out the current offerings for Haystack, and I think that next summer's offerings will be announced in January.

photo by Marsiella Catanoso

I'm totally a ceramics person, but I have to say that a visit to the fiber studio was magical! Each participant had built their own little kingdom, and produced some awesome work. And a highlight of the visits to other studios was the blacksmith's shop performance of 'inflating' their pieces.

And one more note - I think that the people who make the long trip up to the coast of Maine, to spend two weeks immersed in their personal passion, whether they are teachers, studio artists, or someone with a very serious 9-5 profession, are a charmed group. Everyone seemed totally delighted to be hanging out with each other. Everyone had an interesting story. Many were able to find someone with a very specialized expertise that could help them through a tricky technical problem. And the geographical diversity of the participants was amazing! It was all I thought it was going to be, plus more. I'm very glad I stepped outside my comfort zone to attend.

our wonderful group of potters!       photo from Terri Alexandra