Friday, October 30, 2009

November Studio Schedule and other goings on...

...going ons? hmmmm...anyway, here's November's schedule! As always, and most likely with apologies in advance, it's subject to change:


Some tweaks to accommodate my continuing inability to clone myself. A few days off for Thanksgiving, which means I'll probably be firing unless family decides to come, then there will be additional tweaks for a firing.

Other notables not necessarily noted:

Henry is a 14 month baby boy with a rare genetic condition that causes severe immune deficiencies & anemia. He is undergoing many procedures and must be away from home with his family at Duke Children's Hospital. Henry’s treatment will take many months as well as a large expense. On November 11, the businesses listed below will contribute 11% of sales to help cover expenses connected with Henry's treatment. In addition to my diffusers that are available at the downtown Sensibilities Day Spa, I'll have a few additional pieces that will be for sale with all proceeds going to the cause. Check out the list and see how much of what you need to do can also help Henry:

Lola Salon & Gallery : Laurey's Catering : Limone's : Burgermeister's : Beans & Berries : Scully's : Salon 6478 : Sensibilities Day Spa : Samsel Architects : the L.O.F.T. : Asheville Wine Market : City Bakery : Full Circle Salon : Tressa's Jazz Bar : the Cleaning Lady : Pattie Moore, CPA : Wink Heads and Threads : Double Exposure Art : the Mellow Mushroom : the Gardener's Cottage : the Old North State : Nest Organics : Mamacitas : Mo Daddy's : Ingrid Miller, massage : Marilyn Biggers, massage : Charlotte Street Computers


Crazy Green Studios will be joining a lovely group of artists in Riverside Station for a special sale during Studio Stroll. Special specials on some great stocking stuffers, Saturday and Sunday, November 14-15.

Oh I know there's more, but I'm off to the Spookyblogapaloozananny-doo-thingy to support AHOPE and see Genie Maples' gorgeous painting find a lucky winner!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Echo Gallery: images from the opening

Last night Biltmore Park threw Echo Gallery a grand opening celebration, and it was indeed a happy event! Roux restaurant (from the Hilton) catered, and wonderful Sarah from Biltmore Park made sure everything was perfect, right down to finding a coat rack/umbrella stand for the expected arrival of many umbrellas!

It was raining, and I think all of us at Echo had moments of 'deja-vu all over again!', as we had torrential downpours at the soft open that seemed to keep many people inside and away from the gallery. Well that certainly wasn't the case last night, as our gallery was filled with people and great energy throughout the reception! The new show looks great, and it was wonderful to share it with friends, old and new. I'm still a bit gob-smacked myself, and ever so grateful to be a part of this group.

I was also thrilled that my friend Anne drove up from Atlanta for the party and brought the camera with the BIG lens, and roamed the event capturing moments. Gallery member Laurie McCarriar (MC-Carry to those in the 'hood) also covered the party with her camera, so look forward to more pictures from her. Here are a few from Anne:


Echo Gallery members: me, Susan Webb Lee, Genie Maples,
Laurie McCarriar, Barbara Fisher & Anna Koloseike



the quiet before ...


Susan Webb Lee took one of my plates home,
and came back with this gorgeous table runner
that just transformed the display!



Barbara's husband sent beautiful flowers to wish us well


starting to get crowded...


Laurie talking about her photos...


Susan & guest artist Tekla


it was incredible to have trouble getting through the
crowd in this very generous space!



more crowd fun...


Barbara & I posing in front of
Laurie's very cool photo



pots were appropriately fondled...


Laurie, with Marty & Eileen, who happily
snapped up the two new pieces behind them



it was really a very happy crowd, and fun to be with!


the rain kept on, but so did the people!


admiring work by Barbara Fisher


sculpture by Anna looks on while more patrons
admire Genie Maple's beautiful paintings



Anna with friends


guest artist Heather Tinnaro (and Tekla in the back)
working the crowd



I don't remember the what, but I remember the laugh


Sarah from Biltmore, who helped make this a great party


Barbara, with guest artist Susan Finer


Guest Artist Alex Stevens, Anna & Heather
enjoying delish treats from Roux


Genie & one of her two beautiful daughters
(both were there)



got Anne out from behind her camera for one shot!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Echo Gallery Grand Opening this Friday!



This Friday, 6-9pm. Food & drink from Roux, new work from all core artists plus some new guest artists. Come and see us!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

full house at Crazy Green Studios!

It's funny to think it's only been about a week since my last post but it feels like a month has passed! Lots going on, lots to come, but I just had to stop and take a moment to celebrate the great energy my studio members bring to the studio. I'm officially 'full' at the moment, with four studio members and two special members working on their Senior Project.

Katie H. is the newest addition, but in fact she's also one of the oldest members. Katie was with me almost from the beginning of my open studio membership and was one of my former students in at Odyssey. When she's not here, she's doing incredible work with Mountin' Hopes therapeutic riding center. As a matter of fact, it was the intensity and passion she has for her work that had her staying round the clock with a sick horse last March, which turned into pneumonia, which turned into severe injuries from coughing and over SIX months off the pottery wheel! But she's back, and even back on the kick wheel, and we're so glad to welcome her back to the fold!


Katie H, back at the kick wheel!

Our other Katie also had to take a month or so off, but is now back working on mugs for the holiday season. Helen is starting to try teapot forms, and Matt has ventured into plates. They all bring great energy, good ideas and much needed balance to my crazy schedule, and I'm so grateful to have them here!


a lovely bowl and small plate by Matt


a fun mug Katie S did this summer -
her new forms are really cool and will be
featured in another post


Helen, selling her wares at 2nd Saturday Artist Market
teapots are drying in pieces on the shelf now...

My senior project students, Alex and Caris, are also doing great. Alex and I will be working with the colored porcelain soon, and Caris is showing a very natural touch on the wheel. I have no doubt they'll end up with beautiful work for the project, and I'll have learned just as much from them.


Caris, showing her stuff after just
two sessions on the wheel!


Alex's test piece - consider it the black & white
version - the project version will use colored porcelain

Rounding out the full house is studio assistant Brittany, who keeps us well stocked in pugged clay but still needs to find more time to do her own work - if she sees this perhaps we'll get her in on the wheel!


our goal: to get a shot of her at the wheel!

Very happy to have people and pots bursting at the seams at Crazy Green!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Empty Bowls



This weekend, Crazy Green Studios will be participating in two events for Empty Bowls, and if you're in the Asheville area I hope to see you at one or both!

Friday, October 16 is the annual Empty Bowls Luncheon to benefit MANNA FoodBank. This annual event brings together many facets of the Asheville creative and business community to support MANNA, who in turn supports people throughout western North Carolina.



The Doubletree Biltmore donates a great space for the event, which takes place from 11am - 2pm. Inside, you'll find bowls from potters near and far, adult and child, small and large! With your $20 ticket, you'll be able to select one of these beautiful, handmade bowls as your own. In addition, you'll find other donated pieces for sale in the "Collector's Corner", and this year the event will also feature a silent auction of other art work. All these pieces have been donated by the people who make them, and by students in area schools.

Some potters send a bowl or two, others, like David Voorhees, organize events to make and decorate over 100 bowls. And at Odyssey Center for Ceramic Art, a special class is offered where each week features a guest potter demonstrating various bowl making and decorating techniques. The students in that class, along with students from other classes and rental studio members, will send over 300 bowls to the event. And then there are potters from all over the area who are making bowls and sending them to the event, giving everyone who comes a wide range of hand made gorgeous-ness to choose from!

And if you always wondered how we get these beautiful bowls from a simple lump of clay, two brave, local potters will be throwing bowls for the crowds (and will take requests if given truffles).


demos will be done on this very wheel,
and you can try it out if you want
!

The collector's corner will feature small sets, larger pieces and art pieces, and some pieces come from beyond our region. In Viroqua, Wisconsin, the Empty Bowls event is a dinner that happens on Saturday, October 17.

poster for the Viroqua Empty Bowls dinner

Devorah Yahn is one of five potters who make the bowls for their event, and she dedicated herself to throwing 200 bowls for this year's dinner. She and I have traded pieces for our respective events (adding drama to the excitement by shipping as late as possible!), so be sure to look for her beautiful vases, either in the Collector's Corner or perhaps at the Silent Auction.


Heather Tinnaro & John Hartom at last year's event:
this year, Heather and I will be throwing bowls!

And then there's the food! Area restaurants (like 12 Bones, Corner Kitchen), bakeries (like West End Bakery) and confectioners (like the French Broad Chocolate Lounge) donate delicious soups, breads, cookies, truffles and beverages, often served up by the chef who made the dish.

All of this is done so that the entire ticket price of $20 can go to MANNA FoodBank. With each ticket sold, MANNA can provide food for 60 meals, so in addition to enjoying a delicious lunch and fondling your new handmade bowl, while you're there you can learn more about what MANNA does for our community. And more importantly, perhaps you can learn more about what YOU can do to help beyond the lunch!

But wait, there's more!

On Saturday, Biltmore Park hosts their Fall Festival, which will be great fun for the whole family. If you've been following along, you know that Biltmore Park is also home to Echo Gallery, where I am a coop member.

Echo Gallery will be hosting a tent during Fall Fest, and we'll have bisque-fired bowls and underglaze paints available for those who feel like letting their artistic freak fly a bit by decorating a bowl. The decorated bowls will be glazed and then sold in Echo Gallery to benefit MANNA FoodBank. It's going to be a great, chilly fall day - come out and enjoy the Festival and paint a bowl for MANNA!


In closing - while I was writing this, I was scanning my files and online for images, and just out of curiousity I 'googled' Empty Bowls and looked at the images view. I think this is just incredible - I'm only posting a small portion of what I found, and not all are for this year, but I couldn't resist sharing some. Hunger is not something that occurs in other places or to any specifically 'special' group of people. It's here, it's everywhere, and it happens to many, many people in all our communities. That's the bad news. The good news is this (to see more, google it!):

Friday, October 9, 2009

Fridays at Echo Gallery

If you've been following along, you know I've recently joined and helped open a new coop gallery in South Asheville: Echo Gallery at Biltmore Park. While we're open for business (2-8 Thu - Sat, 1-6 Sun and by appt), we're still putting things together, adding more work, adding new members, planning guest artists, etc. Biltmore Park, where we're located, will be throwing us a Grand Opening party on October 23 (more on that later!).

Friday is my day in the gallery, and while I have a quiet moment before the dinner crowd comes by, I thought I'd toss out a quick intro of my gallery-mates. If you haven't made it by yet, of course I'd love to see you when I'm there (come by for a rare chance to see me out of my clay-covered clothes!), but any time you come, you'll be greeted by a member artist, so come on by!


Genie Maples is a painter and has her studio in the River District:
works by Genie Maples, and admirers of the same, in her studio

Genie, working in her studio

Barbara Fisher also paints, and also has her studio in the River District:

one of Barbara's newer works

Barbara Fisher, at it...

Laurie McCarriar is an art photographer, who just got back from Ireland, by the way!

Laurie may have the nicest 'studio' of us all!

perhaps not Ireland - you'll have to check her site to see when she posts those pictures!


Susan Webb Lee is a textile artist who makes amazing quilts:

Susan, with her work

'No Direction Home'

Anna Koloseike is a ceramic sculptor who ALSO has a studio in the River District!

Anna

'Sleeping Stones'

And then of course there's me...

in my happy place...

part of the 'trees' series - hopefully some
decent pictures will be taken of the new work soon!