Morning Practice

I have been trying to get a little painting in when I first get up in the morning. I enjoy painting florals and later adding some ink.

The painting, above right, I almost abandoned. It took me a few days to get it finished, and I am still not happy with it. I decided I should keep it and learn from my mistakes. Perhaps I can cut it up and incorporate it into a collage.

This angled brush came in a set that I purchased last month. It's called a shading brush, but I had fun creating flowers with it.
While the painting continues, making pots is still happening. Last week we glazed, loaded, and fired the kiln. We were moving slowly due to the heat. We fell behind schedule, but we got it done and didn't suffer heat stroke! Jeff and I took a break on Independence Day. It felt good to hang with friends, grill some burgers, and generally eat too much. Now it's back to the making cycle.

I haven't given up!

I have neglected my blog for an entire month...  but I haven't given up on it!

April was a very busy month. Between both of us being sick (me once, Jeff twice), orders to be filled, and prepping for the Celebration of Spring Pottery Tour, there wasn't much time for blogging. We also had friends from New Hampshire fly down for the Celebration weekend. They are both ceramic artists, and this was their first visit to Seagrove. They had a great time and visited more potteries in two days than I have seen in nine years! They were totally amazed at the variety of work and the welcoming attitudes of all the potters. I have to say that this is my favorite weekend of the year. The event embodies what Seagrove, NC is all about.

Ruth and Kathy were good sports and let us take the obligatory, house guest, tire swing photo.

I am still trying to practice painting every spare second that I can. I will spend a few evenings on watercolors, then switch to few days of alcohol inks. I even sold a few alcohol ink painting during the Celebration weekend.

I will leave you with a peek at what I have done in the past month.

Jeff and hung these in the gallery at 11:00 pm the night before the pottery tour!

The Adventure Conitnues...

This week I discovered this pack of alcohol inks made by Jacquard. This pack of nine is like getting three free. I think it rounds out the colors I was looking for and I shouldn't have to purchase any more... at least for a while yet!

This week I worked on a another landscape. I am not crazy about all the trees on the right. The perspective on the rocks is a little off. I had a lot of fun creating the "purple mountain majesties".

This morning I felt inspired to create an old world street scene. I quickly realized that it was beyond my experience and decided to remove what I had done. Yupo paper is expensive, but you can sort of clean it up with alcohol. It isn't perfect, but the paper is salvageable enough to use for an abstract.

Last week I had what I thought was a great idea. Head to the store I really hate to give my business to, Hobby Lobby, and buy a pack of Yupo and use their 40% off coupon.  I was dismayed to find the the Yupo with this sticker on it:

Hobby Lobby makes it appear that the paper is on sale for $11.99, therefore you can't use the coupon. The coupon is only good for regularly priced items. This is a total joke because I have never seen this size pack for more than $11.99 anywhere else! I will order it online the next time.

I have been watching tutorials on youtube for both alcohol ink and watercolor painting. I have been experimenting with those as well. I was feeling a little discouraged the other day. I want to paint masterpieces and I have created a lot stuff I haven't been happy with. I soon came to the realization that when I first started to make pots, I made a lot of clunkers. You have to practice to get good at things. Like Jeff always says, you don't pick up an instrument and play a song, you have to practice scales.

So it's back to practicing scales for me. Maybe I will share some of my watercolors in the next post.

And by the way, there is still some pottery work getting done around here...

Workshop Day

Jeff presented his "Practice Makes Perfect" workshop here at our studio today... aka pottery calisthenics!

Most participants of this workshops say it's the most amount of clay they have every thrown in a day. It's not about having finished pieces, it's about exercising your throwing muscles and developing a fluidity of motion.  

Bill was eager to jump right in after taking a few months off from his weekly pottery class...

Amanda (below) had never thrown pots before and came with her Mom, Robin, who has been taking pottery lessons since last October...

 Look at those cylinders! Great job for her first lesson.

By the end of the day Robin was making taller, narrower cylinders...

We always invite participants to join us for lunch, often homemade soup with fresh baked bread... which was perfect for this raw and rainy day. The students often say that lunch in our cozy cabin is the highlight of the day! They love it's rustic charm and are usually in awe of all the pottery we have in every corner of the house (I wonder if I can convince them to come and dust them every so often?). Then of course there is enjoying a meal together served on handmade dishes. 

A day immersed in clay, learning to make pots, and discovering how using handmade pottery can enrich your everyday life.

Click here for a list of workshops that we are offering over the next few months.

Pottery Workshop Saturday February 23, 2013

"Practice Makes Perfect"

Working in a Series

Saturday February 23, 2013

10 am to 4 pm

Cost: $100

We had a request to repeat this workshop in February, so here it is! Once more this will be a small group workshop, held at our studio in Seagrove, NC. For more information, and to register online, click here: JEFF BROWN POTTERY

Whether you have been throwing pots for a number of years or just learning, this workshop will be sure to enhance your skills. It also provides me with a good arm workout, since there will LOTS of clay for me to pug when it's all over!

Here is the short version of Jeff's clay journey...

Jeff Brown learned to make pots in high school and started his professional career as a potter in 1981, making piggy banks in a Wilmington, NC pottery. After spending the next 7 years working for various studio and production potteries along the North Carolina coast and in Seagrove, he decided to take a job at a New Hampshire based, salt glazed, pottery factory. While in New Hampshire Jeff opened his own studio and also began teaching pottery classes at the NH Institute of Art. 

As many of you know... in 2010 Jeff and I left NH and have settled into our studio in Seagrove, NC.