Carolina Clay Matters Pottery Festival - Charlotte, NC - October 8, 2016

I am really liking the ash glaze on my ginkgo leaf carved bowls. Jeff took this photo the other night and I thought I would share it. I should have a good selection of these at the Carolina Clay Matters Pottery festival on October 8th, in Charlotte.  I spent this afternoon spraying glaze on bowls and mugs. We will fire this weekend. All the info for the show is in the side bar on the right. If you are in the area, Jeff and I hope to see you there.

CCM Spring Pottery Festival

I am heading to Charlotte, NC tomorrow for the Carolina Clay Matters, Spring Pottery Festival. Last year Jeff did the show alone because I was in NH for my Mom's funeral. This year I will go it alone because he is in Mungyeong, S. Korea. I opted to simplify the booth to make set up and break down easier. I am leaving the Abstracta display system at home because it's such a pain to put together. I am sure someone will give me a hand with the EZ-UP tent that really isn't so easy!

CCM Spring Pottery Festival

Saturday May 9, 2015

10-4

McAlpine Business Park

8300 Monroe Rd, Charlotte, NC

I will be set up on the "Silo" side of the barn, booth #41

Our Seagrove gallery will be open on Saturday, thanks to my good friend Bonnie!

blogger brain freeze

I have had nothing to blog about these days. I guess I haven't wanted to bore you with the mundane. The CCM Pottery Festival in Charlotte was good... easy set up, short day (10am-4pm), and fabulous customers who love to buy pottery. When you figure in the time and dollars we put into this show we make more money per hour than any other show we do. This show also attracts a smart crowd that understands art and handmade. We sold lots of sponge holders and coasters (as usual) and things in the $50 to $95 range were selling as well.

The sponge holders are about gone and the good thing is, I can throw those forms without putting too much stress on my shoulder. They are a good exercise in getting back to work!

I think I have the warping issue pretty much solved. They need to be thrown fairly hefty. A few still warp slightly, but not enough to be called a second or get the hammer.

I am having some issues with peeling slip on these flared rim bowls. The slip peeled off the rim on a few of these. I have two thoughts on the issue. The first is that I should keep the slip off of the edge of the rim and second, I am at the bottom of my slip bucket and I think it's beyond it's shelf life. I have heard other potters say that slip doesn't keep. The last batch I made was large so it's been around a few months. I also had a couple of vases with some slip that popped off the sides. It's time to mix a new batch and I think I will make half as much. If anyone else has had this experience, I would be happy to hear your thoughts.

Back to work...

Saturday is the Carolina Claymatters Pottery Festival (info on the right sidebar) and I was worried that we wouldn't have a good selection of pots to bring to the show. After all, I lost more than a week nursing this painful shoulder. Once we started to glaze I realized I was worrying for nothing. That seems to be how it goes with most worries. Loading the kiln was a little slower than usual. I couldn't reach in and set the back stack of shelves. I placed the pots on the shef and called on Jeff to set the shelf. The front stack wasn't a problem. No reaching to stack those, and could manage it on my own. By 6:30 pm my shoulder told me to quit and I made the 12+ mile trip to the grocery store. When I returned and went out to take a photo of the kiln, Jeff had the door bricked half way. I think he moves a lot quicker than me these days!

If you are in the Charlotte, NC area, come on out to the CCM Pottery Festival. The weather is looking good, the location is great, and there will be 60 potters at this year's festival.

First Outdoor Show of the Year

The weather was great and the people came out to buy pottery!

This show is very easy to do, 10 am to 4 pm. The only downside for us is that it is a nearly two hour drive to Charlotte from Seagrove. The end of the day isn't bad, it's the leaving at 6 am that is a little painful. Once again we kept our booth very simple, two tables with a section of Abstracta shelving on top, and a couple of free standing pedestals. We sold lots of mugs and tumblers... it's still the under $50 items that are moving quickly. I didn't sell a single piggy bank, even though they were handled a lot. After a walk around, I know I won't bring them to this show again. There were quite a few potters with piggy banks, all priced significantly less than mine. I am okay with leaving them at home. The pigs sell really well on Etsy at $45.

The cool thing about the Carolina Clay Matters Pottery Festival is, that it's put together by a core group of volunteers (who work very hard) and EVERYONE who participates has to volunteer to do something to help with the show. It seemed to me like everyone knew what their job was and did it with a smile. We were two happy potters at the end of the day.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there, happy Sunday to everyone else.

CCM Spring Pottery Festival

We are packing up the trailer today and heading to Charlotte tomorrow for the Spring Pottery Festival. The fall show was very successful for us and we are going into this show thinking positively. I was excited that my oval baker was used in some of the advertising.

Jeff is slowly recovering from jet lag, and he hopefully will be completely back on track by 6 am tomorrow. The weather report says scattered thundershowers in the afternoon, they better mean LATE afternoon, like after 5 pm! Or maybe they are just wrong, it wouldn't be the first time.