Collaborations for Celebration

The Celebration of Seagrove Potters show is next weekend. Each year at the Friday night Gala Preview Party, there is a live auction of special collaborative pots and sculptures. Jeff and I have been collaborating on a couple of pieces with our friend Phil Pollet of Old Gap Pottery.

Phil created a large slab built square bowl and stamped his design in the center. He delivered it to our studio and Jeff applied white slip.

When the slip set up, I carved ginkgo leaves onto the rim. 

We all signed the back. One piece was lost in the bisque so we were glad that we made two! Jeff sprayed the bowl with ash glaze and we fired it in our gas kiln.

We are all really happy with the finished piece. Almost hate to donate it! You never know what price it will bring at an auction.

Celebration of Seagrove Potters 10th Anniversary Show

November 17-19th

Historics Luck's Cannery 

798 NC Hwy 705, Seagrove NC

"Treasures of the Earth"

Jeff and I are headed to Shelby, NC this afternoon. The annual "Treasures of the Earth" pottery show and sale opens tonight. If you are in the area stop in at Cleveland County Arts Council, see the show and buy some new pots for your collection. The exhibition runs through March 5, 2015.

It's been a super busy week for us. I have spent time traveling back and forth from the bank and attorney's office... which means we are getting closer to purchasing a new place! It is starting to seem a little more real. Keep sending good energy our way! Tuesday afternoon we drove to NC State in Raleigh to give a presentation and demo to the Triangle Potters Guild. Jeff demonstrated some of his throwing and altering techniques, while I did some sgraffito... which is sort of like watching grass grow. The guild has a great group of members and we really enjoyed the evening.

As soon as I can take a breath I will try and catch up on reading my fellow bloggers posts. I hope everyone is having a great week.

Garden art

This nice big pot of Jeff's came out of the kiln this week. Doesn't it look wood fired? The glaze is his ash glaze that was applied with a sprayer. Unfortunately the bottom is cracked, but it sure makes a pretty garden pot, and no need to worry about it collecting water!
We had an interesting phone call this week from the town of Carey. Back in the spring we applied for their Lazy Daze Arts and Crafts Festival in August. They were supposed to notify you by the first of June if you were accepted. We hadn't heard so we assumed we didn't get in. The gist of the call was, "Are you still coming? We haven't received your booth fee." Evidently they had sent our acceptance via e-mail but we never received it. They re-sent the contract right away and now we have another show to do next month!

After a good night of rain the weather is MUCH cooler today. It will be a good day to do some gallery dusting and cleaning and then we have a group coming for lessons this afternoon. The day is going to fly by!

Three (not so little) Pigs

It's crunch time around here. We had orders that needed to be done and the cold weather put us behind a few days. It isn't that we won't fire in cold weather, after all, I am from New Hampshire, and I am accustomed to firing in snow and frigid temps!  The cold here in the south kept us dealing with frozen pipes and all that jazz... this cabin that we live in was not designed for below freezing temperatures. 

Since I had escaped Seagrove to attend the workshop in Charlotte, Jeff was left to load the kiln and fire it on Sunday. I glazed most of my pots before I left. We had a really fun order that needed to be shipped this week....

Piggy Jars in graduated sizes!

The smallest is the standard salt pig and the other two are one and two quarts. I love it that someone is so fond of pigs that they want a litter of them sitting on their counter!

Tomorrow we are off to Shelby, NC to set up our display for the "Treasures of the Earth" exhibition and sale. The show runs for a month. If you are in the area be sure to stop in at the Cleveland County Arts Council. Reception is tomorrow evening, 5:30 to 7:30 pm.

the last show of the year

and I am so glad it's over! I have to say that this was our easiest indoor booth set up. We only brought two corner walls and used our EZ frame to secure them and hang the lights.

We have done each of the three booth sizes that have been offered at this show and we have always made the same amount of money after expenses. Last year we decided the 10'x10' booth was easier to set up so why go big if you are not going to make more money?

This year was a little more profitable than last, and the bonus was that Jeff stayed home and kept the gallery open and we had good sales there as well. Last year I stayed home and I only saw a handful of people. We sold a lot of piggy banks, a few big pots, and LOTs of sponge holders and coasters. The funny thing is, we didn't sell a single mug! I wasn't surprised. This is not a juried show and we are competing with mugs that sell for eight bucks. The $25-$35 dollar mug buyers are few and far between at this show.

Now our focus will turn to Etsy. Holiday orders are coming in early this year and we already have a lot of pots to ship out this week. I have a feeling the holiday season will be good for us. I hope that it's good for you too!

"Treasures of the Earth"

Jeff and I have been invited to participate in "Treasures of the Earth" pottery show and sale, happening next month. The show is at the Cleveland County Arts Council, 111 S. Washington St., Shelby, NC.
If you live in the area I hope you get the opportunity to get out and see the show. Jeff and I plan to attend the opening reception on February 7th.