ART MANCHESTER !!!

a pop up gallery for the guild of vermont furniture makers

and the mettowee valley artists/makers opens this weekend in the 

former covey & nye store directly across from the equinox hotel in manchester vermont .. 

there is a website for all the (other) participating galleries at this link. the guild gallery will be open

fridays, saturday and sunday, starting tomorrow, and through labor day weekend

click the photos to enlarge them

 a few of my pieces

  eric sprenger

 jim becker

lots to see there ... more photos and text to follow eventually .. 

open studio ... good to go !

ok, after a couple days of cleaning and organizing, we're good to go for open studio #23 ... we've got some things to see, some things for sale, and the cleanest shop since this time last year.  i whine and moan about how much time it takes, but it always feels good when we are really clean (for us), like now, and ready to open the doors.  come by if you can, saturday or sunday, 10 to 5.  lots to see, like the big slab of mahogany above.  click the photos to enlarge them.

 

 wood shop at about 4:00 ... everybody gone but will and kit .  a reclaimed chestnut king size bed, and a 12' white oak table ready to be finished next week...

 i've had pottery out in the past, but this time, for the first time, there will  be prices on the back.

 sam's metal shop is clean and the new lathe is ready to be wired up

 as usual, the banjo shop area is neat as a pin.

 and kit is setting up jer jewelry in the finish room .  the mahogany slab is in there as well as the claro walnut slab for sale on the wall, and there's an oak slab too that would make a small dining table 

or a nice coffee table.

 still waiting for the house to be finished to ship the pool table to long island

 the table from last year's statehojuse show is still looking for a home.
it's a little 'outside the box', but the right person may come by this weekend.

 ready to finish ... headed to marblehead

 our new temporary gallery over the metal shop is set up, and trevor has a few things for sale there too.

and the wild azaleas are blooming ...

the pawlet potter

        

 ahhh, the pawlet potter.  marion mcchesney ... kit and i have known her and her family for years.  she and lee moved out into the country from downtown pawlet a few years back, so i don't get to stop in and see her stuff quite so often as i used to ... click the photos to enlarge them ..

 

earlier this week though, jim and i were 'in the neighborhood' as they say.  it was a beautiful sunny day, and marion was in her sweet little studio, so we stopped by to pay her a visit.

you may have seen her on david letterman, (correct me if i'm wrong marion, but it was one of those famous 'tonight type' shows), with her 'roadkill pottery'.  dead stuff stamped into wet clay.  very clever.  kit and i have rescued a few flattened things for her in the past, and as a result we have acquired a little collection of 'roadkill' ourselves over the years .. bowls, plates, tiles ... very cool stuff.

roadkill tiles ..

a big roadkill bowl in a place of honor .. on a table from 1980, and a curved front, curved glass cabinet from 1981 .. with a pete millett horse from the early 70s ... the wire sculptor is unknown.  got it as a gift from a client ... interesting reflections in the windows ...

it's a pretty big one .. those are flys in the middle there ..

but 'bob's bowl' is the biggest marion piece we have.  in fact, i think she said it was one of her biggest ever.  bob's a big cat.  i'm guessing the bowl's about 22-24" in diameter and about 5" deep.  he just fits ..

marion does serious handbuilt and thrown stuff too.  there's an artist's eye there that, being a bit of a potter myself, i find humbling and inspirational ...

great space .. really great south light!

 

artistically arranged

stop in yourself if you are in rural pawlet ... a bit off the beaten path, but definitely worth the trip.
see it all here ...

pottery show

still fooling around with the pottery thing .. had a few new platters and plates

come out of the kiln lately ... got another batch in the works.

working with color is so different, (and quieter), than working with wood ...

neon orange + cobalt black

spring green, kentucky bluegrass, neon blue, cobalt back

neon orange + neon blue and teal blue

bottom side

teal blue and yellow

jasper johns target

 neon green + black

teal blue, red clay, hunter green, yellow orange

hunter green, marine blue, black, red clay

more to come ...

Doing Something Different

About 6 or 7 years ago, I decided to act on my urge to try something besides woodworking in my free time. I have a friend who takes my sawdust and scrap wood for a raku class he teaches every summer at Bennington College. In return, he sometimes leaves me a little bowl. Good deal for me ... So, I thought, wouldn't it be great if I could give my really good clients a piece of my pottery in appreciation for their patronage? There are a lot of crafty people in Vermont, some offering how-to courses. It took a couple classes before I had anything I wasn't too embarassed by, and I think I only gave away 4 or 5 pieces before the shop where I was working closed down. Three years later, I've got a new place to work and I'm back at it. It's not exactly like riding a bicycle .. I had to smush a few of my first efforts but now it's going much better. I was originally aiming for Christmas gifts, but I don't think my pots will be done in time ... we'll see.


The pottery process is different ... no drawings, no plans, no dust, almost no noise, nice colors ... it's very peaceful. It makes you think that sometimes maybe a plan isn't necessary to get a good result. I certainly couldn't make a pot that I drew at this point anyway, but I can see what they might look like as I'm working on them ...


These are the pots in the picture above, trimmed and ready for the slip


Today's job .. trim these


Previous efforts ... white clay, celadon and black


Red clay with various slips and clear glaze