News from Earth and Fire -- December 6, 2005
This I do for me...
When you drive around with these on your car:
... you'll do some things most people probably won't. Like drive 500 miles in 24 hours to spend 2 hours at a pottery show.
Last Friday was the opening evening of the 31'st Annual Pottery Show and Sale at the Old Church Cultural Center in Demarest, NJ. This is the third year I've driven up for it, and, as usual, it was a wonderful trip.
The doors open at 6:00 sharp. A policeman stops traffic on the street so potlovers can cross safely from where they have parked their cars. I got there at about 5:40, and by the time the doors opened, I estimate there were at least 60 or 70 people waiting to get in, most of them standing outside in the cold and wind. (Luckily, I had arrived in time to take one of the last few spots in a sheltered vestibule.) There were 28 potters in the show, each with a little section set aside for their pots.
Once the show opens, the place is instantly shoulder to shoulder. You move slowly from potter to potter. If you pick up a pot and walk away from the table with it, a volunteer will come up to you soon and ask to take the pot back to a holding area. They write your name on a little piece of paper to put with the pot, and ask you if you have other pots back there (so they can keep them together).
Right inside the door is Mark Shapiro's spot.
Yeah, I've probably got 10 or 12 of Mark's yunomi's already. Is there a problem with adding four more? I asked Mark to send me 10 of these for the gallery if he had any left. I'll let you know.
Across from Mark is Matt Long:
Last year I bought a mug and a cup from Matt and I have really enjoyed using them all year. His pots are porcelain and they are incredibly smooth to the touch. I picked up several until I found one that felt like it had been created just for my hand.
Moving on inside, Maren Kloppmann:
I told her I missed the pinkish blush that used to be on her pots, and she told me that she doubted she'd make any more like that; that the pots she's making now feel more "true" to her.
Sequoia Miller was there for the first time this year. I wanted to thank him for sending me such great pots last week (be sure to check them out!).
Look at that adorable little pot! I told him I just loved that greenish glaze he's been using the last year or so, and to please send me more of it. He said the color comes from the ash from some apple trees, and he only has a limited quantity of it left, and he's trying to stretch it out, by only putting a little bit of it on a lot of pots -- or by using it only on small pots (which this one is). I told him to plant more apple trees.
Back in the corner from Sequoia was Jody Johnstone.
I was actually only intending to buy one of these mugs. I picked several of them up to try to find the best one and then I got distracted and later when I came back, I forgot I had already picked one out (that's how fast the volunteers come around), and so I picked out another one when I made my final pass through the show before I left. When I saw both of them when I went to check out, I didn't want to cause any extra work for those nice volunteers by asking them to put one back. No. That just wouldn't have been right. It's just a mug, right? You can never have too many mugs. (Or bowls... or yunomi...)
In the same area as Sequoia and Jody was David Crane.
I had discovered David's work a couple of months ago while I was cruising around online, and I was anxious to see them in person. (Note to self: Find a more aesthetically pleasing "invisible" plate stand.)
I was also wanting to look more closely at Mary Barringer's work this year. I've seen it for a couple of years and thought it might be time to take one home. It was:
So, at this point, I was pretty much done. I thought. I had been around the show two or three times, looking at all the "familiar" pots. I decided to take one more pass and look at some of the pots that I had only glanced at before. Maybe I had missed something wonderful.
Indeed I had.
This is Rob Sutherland, who has very large hands, and extremely tiny print on his business card.
Look at those surfaces! And the colors! How does he get the glaze to "melt" like that from those lines?! A total departure from everything else I had purchased at the show.
What else might I have missed?
Julia Galloway! Another potter whose name I have known about for several years, but whose work I have basically never really paid much attention to.
I picked this little twin jar up:
... and found I could not put it down. The lids are like little "pillows" -- and there is a little small bead or something in each of them that makes a very sweet and gentle little rattle when shaken. How totally clever and creative!
Also from Julia, this wonderful little cup.
Sigh.
So there you have it. The latest additions to my personal collection.
It's only once a year.
And it benefits a charity.
And I find new potters for the gallery at this show.
But mostly because ... well... it makes me happy.
Have a good week.
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