Underground Potters rise again!

 

We will be showing and selling our work, along with Susan Bogen, Allan Drossman and Ted Whittemore, who is joining his fellow Underground Potters after a bit of a break.

 

We all attended classes at The Art School at Old Church in Demarest, NJ for years.

While there we started the group 'Underground Potters' to learn together how to present our work, and learn from each other's experience. That first show was in 2003, and we get together every year to show and share our work again.
It has been a wonderful experience for all of us, and The Art School , has been very welcoming. It is a great place, home to the annual pottery show curated by Karen Karnes. That show will be held again, for the 39th time, this December 6-8th, and should NOT be missed.

But back to our show. Please stop by for our reception on Saturday, November 2nd. We will all be there. The pots will be there for sale from October 28-November 8.

 

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PETER'S VALLEY CRAFT FAIR

WE WILL BE AT THE PETER'S VALLEY CRAFT FAIR AGAIN THIS YEAR!

Saturday, September 28th (10am - 6pm) &  Sunday, September 29th (10am - 5pm)

Sussex County Fairgrounds,

37 Plains Road, Augusta, NJ 07851

Directions to Fairgrounds

Look for us in Building 5 Booth 109

Download the mobile guidebook here

Speaking of Plates...

Fresh from the kiln, my new service for 8 are now in my kitchen cabinets! Unlike my typical work - my "Danish Modern" tendencies are exposed. TIME FOR LUNCH! :D

A Delightful Day

So I spent a lovely day yesterday with my family, it's very special to have everyone over in the spring, with plenty of beautiful flowers and lots of pots to show them in:

two beautiful Steven Godfrey pots in the background, with a Bandana Pottery plate,  vase by E. Mulligan

lovely Elizabeth Kendall soft slab pitcher, perfect for tulips!

Dogwood blossoms from the front yard, in a folded box with a turtle 'frog' by E. Mulligan

Can you tell that I am starting to enjoy Instagram? those filters are great...

We had a nice meal, followed by some great desserts from Trader Joe's, on this year's plate:

Mother's Day plate 2013

The plates are available in my long-dormant etsy shop. Take a look, I will be adding more items...

And Mimi, this is info is for you - I use my hump molds for plates, the curve is gentle enough for a slab plate without a foot ring, but this year I opted to add one. Thanks for reading!

Mother's Day again!

Mother's Day is right around the corner -May 12th- and I have been planning the plate for this year's celebration.

Every year we have a family party, and I have been trying to include all the handmade ceramics that I have collected over the years. I have wonderful plates by Mark Shapiro, Richard Aerni, Linda Christianson, Ayumi Horie, Aysah Peltz, Todd Walhstrom, Jody Johnstone, Paul Heroux, Sam Taylor, Scott Goldberg, Bernadette Curran, and others....but I have a nice, big Irish family. We had no dessert plates - a total necessity! So back in 2009 I started making dessert plates, and everyone gets to take home their dirty, sticky plate...I wrote about it here.

I have been working on this year's plate, using the same size and glazes every year, varying the form and the decoration. This year the plates are square, formed on a hump mold, with a foot ring added.

When rolling the coil for the foot ring I mark the lenght in inches on my table...time saver!

On my template I mark the pounds I need for the slab, and that length for the coil footring.

I have finished the glazing, and just added the decals...soon, soon, soon!

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Sawdust & Dirt: In Praise of Liking Mistakes

Sawdust & Dirt: In Praise of Liking Mistakes: Chris Staley and Cody Goddard have made some incredibly compelling videos.  This is one of Michael Kline's favorites and we TOMO POTTERS really liked it too, so as he requested, we are posting the link in our blog as well. Enjoy!

COMING OUT OF THE CABINET

I've decided to come clean, literally. This is a difficult topic for anyone who calls themselves a potter but I have decided to do something about what’s behind my kitchen cabinet doors.  These are the dishes I live with every day.  They were purchased years ago (before I returned to my serious pursuit of clay) and apparently they haven’t fared as well as my marriage has.

DISHWASHER & MICROWAVE SAFE MY FOOT!

 So I have decided to do what any potter worth his/her salt would do – I am finally making myself a set of dishes. I thought about purchasing another set, most likely made in some outsourced factory, but then I realized nothing would be as durable as the dinnerware I make.  Being a functional potter makes me pretty fussy about my glazes. We potters think up all kinds of diabolical torture involving: freezing, heating, freezing, heating; soaking with lemon juice for days, etching with a key, more freezing and heating. All of this to insure our pots will serve their purpose and endure. If only every manufacturer of pottery did the same!

UGH!

Much thought has gone into this gift to myself. They are not typical of what I make and I thoroughly enjoyed the freedom of not worrying about it. I do love matte glazes, but concern about durability has me thinking of glazing the inner surfaces with my clear Chun (thank you Leah Leitson) and my buttery Shimmer on the outside. Unless one of you potters out there has a torture proof clear Satin Matte for cone 7/8 porcelain!

I LOVE NAKED PORCELAIN!
LAGUNA'S MILLER #550