I used to make sake sets on a regular basis and just might start again, AND they are great for demonstrating the fun of throwing off the mound.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
teach to learn
Teaching, and giving demos, are great ways to explore and re-visit forms that may not get much attention when in the flurry of filling orders.
I used to make sake sets on a regular basis and just might start again, AND they are great for demonstrating the fun of throwing off the mound.
I used to make sake sets on a regular basis and just might start again, AND they are great for demonstrating the fun of throwing off the mound.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Taking a New Look
... at glazes I've been working with for years. They've been great for wax resist designs, but what about just the glazes? I had explored it several years ago when I made service ware for Roots Cafe. Their food was always delicious, fresh, local, seasonal - everything you want from a local cafe, and it looked spectacular in my bowls. The Cafe had to close as a growing pain of Roots Foods, which I understand and support, but oh how I still miss that Breakfast Salad! I lost some images a few hard drive crashes ago, so I won't torment you with pictures of mouth-watering foods from that time that are no longer available. Here are some quick shots of those glaze combinations, slightly updated in recipe and on a new clay out of the last kiln:
In the course of the last year or so of testing and adjusting my glazes with clay bodies and the new kiln, it's been a joy to rediscover the depths of the glazes I've been looking at for several years. I think it's finding that great fit of glaze and clay body that has me revisiting looks that worked so well in the past, if for no other reason than to see that they look even better now! So a new round of testing, with some motives for what I'll do with this line, but more on that another time.
I still love my trees and they're looking great on the new clay, but I'm also enjoying thinking about new forms and anticipating each firing with glee. yes, glee.
yes, homemade tastes better on handmade. :)
In the course of the last year or so of testing and adjusting my glazes with clay bodies and the new kiln, it's been a joy to rediscover the depths of the glazes I've been looking at for several years. I think it's finding that great fit of glaze and clay body that has me revisiting looks that worked so well in the past, if for no other reason than to see that they look even better now! So a new round of testing, with some motives for what I'll do with this line, but more on that another time.
I still love my trees and they're looking great on the new clay, but I'm also enjoying thinking about new forms and anticipating each firing with glee. yes, glee.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Winter Gallery Hours and Activities
We are finally feeling like winter here in the weather, and while things may feel like they're slowing down to accommodate a seasonal hibernation, it's actually time to get busy in studio!
The Village Potters Gallery is moving into winter hours: Monday - Saturday, 10am-4pm through March. If you're in the area, I hope you'll come by and say hello! I'm in the gallery two Wednesdays a month, and you'll find me back in the studio most other days.
Meanwhile, I'm in studio most days, shaking off the more leisurely holiday pace and working on stocking up for clients and preparing new work for galleries and the new year. I'm so grateful to have a busy list to start with, and I'm looking forward to developing new works for existing and new clients this year. Hopefully I'll do better at sharing glimpses of that here!
In addition to the 'making' aspect of the work, there's always work to be done in the business/administrative end as well. We had a stellar first year as The Village Potters, and we're looking ahead to another great year of growth individually for each of us as well as for the Collective that is The Village Potters. Crazy Green Studios continues its growth, and I continue to be grateful beyond words for the opportunities that have come to me in joining The Village Potters. New lines, updated wholesale offerings, and new associations all abound in the year ahead and it's an honor and pleasure to do it with this group!
Finally, I'll leave you with a link to a very thoughtfully written blog, on a subject that comes up often and in many forms for anyone who is an artisan of handmade products or services. I'm not sharing it as a 'rant', but more to say thank you to all who have supported my work and who support the idea and importance of handmade. You can read the blog HERE.
Happy New Year!
The Village Potters Gallery is moving into winter hours: Monday - Saturday, 10am-4pm through March. If you're in the area, I hope you'll come by and say hello! I'm in the gallery two Wednesdays a month, and you'll find me back in the studio most other days.
Meanwhile, I'm in studio most days, shaking off the more leisurely holiday pace and working on stocking up for clients and preparing new work for galleries and the new year. I'm so grateful to have a busy list to start with, and I'm looking forward to developing new works for existing and new clients this year. Hopefully I'll do better at sharing glimpses of that here!
In addition to the 'making' aspect of the work, there's always work to be done in the business/administrative end as well. We had a stellar first year as The Village Potters, and we're looking ahead to another great year of growth individually for each of us as well as for the Collective that is The Village Potters. Crazy Green Studios continues its growth, and I continue to be grateful beyond words for the opportunities that have come to me in joining The Village Potters. New lines, updated wholesale offerings, and new associations all abound in the year ahead and it's an honor and pleasure to do it with this group!
Finally, I'll leave you with a link to a very thoughtfully written blog, on a subject that comes up often and in many forms for anyone who is an artisan of handmade products or services. I'm not sharing it as a 'rant', but more to say thank you to all who have supported my work and who support the idea and importance of handmade. You can read the blog HERE.
Happy New Year!
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Cool Craft Market: December 14-16
Join me in downtown Asheville December 14-16 for some holiday fun and great handmade gifts at Handmade in America!
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Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Liebster Blog Award
Liebster Blog award
Thank you New Day Pottery for nominating me for the Liebster blog award.
The Liebster Blog award is given to bloggers who have less then 200 followers. "Liebster" is the German word for "favorite". Here's how it works:
Each blogger should post 11 facts random facts about themselves.
-Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, then create 11 new questions for the bloggers you pass the award on to.
-Choose 11 bloggers (less than 200 followers) to pass the award to and link them to your post.
-Go to their page and tell them about the award.
-No tag backs!
Random facts about me.
1. I am originally from Vermont
2. Random past job: I drove an ice cream truck.
3. I worked in theatre for over 10 years.
4. I was in a Freddie Mercury video while in London.
5. I collect vintage cookbooks.
6. I have six very cool studio-mates.
7. I just got a smart phone, and luckily my 14 year-old goddaughter is teaching me how to use it.
8. Random past job: talent agent.
9. One dog, one cat, lots of 'mo-hair' clothing.
10. My mom and stepdad are in the Coast Guard Auxiliary, and they look very sharp when in uniform.
11. Oddly, I love to travel almost as much as I love to nest.
New Day Pottery's Questions for me:
1. Where did you grow up.
Central Vermont, then moved to Georgia during high school.
2. What is your favorite place to visit?
Someplace I've never been.
3. How many pottery mugs do you own that are not made by you?
hmmm...not sure I've ever counted. At least 40, probably more.
hmmm...not sure I've ever counted. At least 40, probably more.
4.What is your favorite book?
Hopefully the one I'm reading.
Hopefully the one I'm reading.
5. How many art shows do you participate in every year?
Not as many over the past several years as I've been trying to 'nest' my studio, but still 4-6 locally/regionally.
Not as many over the past several years as I've been trying to 'nest' my studio, but still 4-6 locally/regionally.
6.What is your favorite pizza?
Thin crust, no cheese, spicy sauce, black olive, caramelized onion, baby bella mushrooms, roasted garlic. Sometimes a little julienned prosciutto too.
Thin crust, no cheese, spicy sauce, black olive, caramelized onion, baby bella mushrooms, roasted garlic. Sometimes a little julienned prosciutto too.
7. What kind of music do you listen to most?
Depends on what I'm doing - in the studio I may listen to 'All Songs Considered' when I want to hear new or off beat music, but then I'll also loop Springsteen albums on the ipod for 'comfort and joy'. One of my studio mates loves to blast Tom Waits, and another likes broadway soundtracks. It's all good.
Depends on what I'm doing - in the studio I may listen to 'All Songs Considered' when I want to hear new or off beat music, but then I'll also loop Springsteen albums on the ipod for 'comfort and joy'. One of my studio mates loves to blast Tom Waits, and another likes broadway soundtracks. It's all good.
8. Beach or Mountains?
Mountains.
9.Favorite TV show?
It used to be CBS Sunday Morning when I had a tv.
It used to be CBS Sunday Morning when I had a tv.
10. Last movie you saw?
Looking for Sugarman - HIGHLY recommend it.
Looking for Sugarman - HIGHLY recommend it.
11.Favorite child hood memory?
Riding the bus from Tampa to Atlanta with my bestie after a week at soccer camp, probably driving everyone else on the bus crazy with our constant laughter.
Riding the bus from Tampa to Atlanta with my bestie after a week at soccer camp, probably driving everyone else on the bus crazy with our constant laughter.
My nominations:
TPB/readyhezzie
Crazy Green Studios' questions for you.
1. Where did you travel last?
2. When did you know you wanted to do what you're doing now?
3. Who was your favorite teacher?
4. What's in your fridge?
5. Who was your first 'hero'?
6. Who was your first 'crush'?
7. If you could have a super power, what would it be?
8. Favorite board game?
9. Who would play you in a movie about your life?
10. Words to live by?
11. What advice do you have for the next generation?
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Shop Early. Shop Local.
Crazy Green Studios accepts the 2012 and 2013 Asheville Go Local Card. For all purchases over $100 of pottery by Lori Theriault at The Village Potters' Gallery, use your Go Local card to receive a 10% discount.
Use your card on December 2 at our Holiday Open House for an extra 10% off that!
Shop Early. Shop Local.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Studio La Chouffe: Community & Collaboration
It has indeed been a busy summer, and anyone who only follows me here can tell it from the lack of regular posts (something I'm always trying to improve). So thanks for following if you're still paying attention here, and if you didn't know, you can also keep up with the many doings of Crazy Green either on the facebooks, or on my webpage (linked on the right side bar) or via my endeavor as one of The Village Potters at our website or facebook page. Thanks again.
My first goal was just to highlight her wonderful slip-straw built studio where she makes her beautiful mosaics, and show how her unique approach of tumbling her clay and glass components makes her works beautiful to see and touch. Well, that's still my goal, but Holly was recently commissioned to make a large (over 30 feet long!) mosaic for the private 'Visiting Garden' at the Department of Social Services in downtown Asheville. Her "Appalachian Animal Parade Mosaic" will feature animals of the area along with tiles representing indigenous plants, and her approach to the project most definitely fits the description of a collaboration, and a true community collaboration at that. The mosaic, and the entire Visiting Garden project, is the brain-child of talented native plant specialist Sadie Adams of Growing Native Nursery.
I made a visit to Holly's studio to see the initial process involved in getting ready for this installation, which she will begin in the next week and will complete by the end of August. That seemed daunting itself to me, and after seeing what she's doing to prepare, it's no less daunting in my mind, but having seen Holly's work on other levels, I know she's just the person for the task!
Studio la Chouffe is, as I mentioned, of slip-straw construction, and I'm happy to say I helped there too! After the studio frame was built, we had several work parties to fill the walls with a mixture of clay slip and straw bale, packing in beautiful colored bottles that now bring beautiful light into the studio.
Holly's partner Basil has continued more studio construction, including a gorgeous back deck. Holly's work and esthetique add to the landscaping that they've done together to make the studio grounds a welcoming place for humans and critters alike.
Her little tumbler has been working 24/7 since she started preparing for this commission, making her what I like to call a "small batch" mosaic artist. Each time the tumbler completes a cycle, she has another box full of shards ready to go in, and as they come out, they get added to piles of other shards that she carefully sorts based on how they'll be used in the mosaic.
If you have been following me at all, you know that I've been happily immersing myself in the experience of being a part of the Collective at The Village Potters, and the collaborative atmosphere that is leading toactual collaborations with my studio mates. Collaboration is nothing new in the art world. Many gifted artists find alignments with others and I think it's very natural that they explore the 'what if' of working together. I'm happily experiencing that in my own studio, recently beginning a series of collaborations with Sarah Wells Rolland, the first of which is now showing in The Village Potters Gallery. One of the pots I'll be donating to the mosaic project is an early glaze test in preparation for that collaboration, and it makes me so happy to know those pieces will be a part of another piece of art!
*any Asheville-area potter with high fire (cone 10) shards to donate, please contact Holly deSaillan via her website. And if you're on the facebooks, you can follow Holly's progress in her Appalachian Animal Parade album on her page.
studio la chouffe
Something I've been wanting to do with this blog is to highlight other sources of my own inspiration. In this case it comes in the form of a visit to Studio la Chouffe, the home of Holly deSaillan clay & mosaic. Holly and I became friends when we both had studios at a community clay studio, and we have remained mutual fans, sources of inspiration and instigation for each other.
My first goal was just to highlight her wonderful slip-straw built studio where she makes her beautiful mosaics, and show how her unique approach of tumbling her clay and glass components makes her works beautiful to see and touch. Well, that's still my goal, but Holly was recently commissioned to make a large (over 30 feet long!) mosaic for the private 'Visiting Garden' at the Department of Social Services in downtown Asheville. Her "Appalachian Animal Parade Mosaic" will feature animals of the area along with tiles representing indigenous plants, and her approach to the project most definitely fits the description of a collaboration, and a true community collaboration at that. The mosaic, and the entire Visiting Garden project, is the brain-child of talented native plant specialist Sadie Adams of Growing Native Nursery.
Holly de Saillan, unloading more ceramic shards
To make a mosaic of this size, Holly will use a combination of glass and ceramic shards, along with ceramic tiles. For the tiles that depict indigenous plants, Holly had help from the kids attending the Asheville Community Design Lab through Roots & Wings School of Art (where she will teach this fall).
native plant tiles (even poison ivy!)
The tiles will line a portion of the wall, and ceramic and glass shards will make up the animals. For the ceramic shards, Holly has called upon Asheville potters to share their rejects and broken pieces*, and I'm very happy that my glaze tests and 'oops' pots will have a good home and a second life in a beautiful piece of art that will bring much happiness to children and their families visiting this garden.
array of donated pieces awaiting the hammer and tumbler.pieces shown donated by myself, Sarah Wells Rolland, and Kyle Carpenter
My studio mate Sarah at The Village Potters has also made some contributions, and I'm sure more members of The Village Potters will be donating by the end of the commission!
one of Holly's beautiful mosaics greets you on the path to studio la chouffe
I made a visit to Holly's studio to see the initial process involved in getting ready for this installation, which she will begin in the next week and will complete by the end of August. That seemed daunting itself to me, and after seeing what she's doing to prepare, it's no less daunting in my mind, but having seen Holly's work on other levels, I know she's just the person for the task!
the sweet little 'hula kiln' that will tirelessly fire all the tiles for the Appalachian Animal Parade
Studio la Chouffe is, as I mentioned, of slip-straw construction, and I'm happy to say I helped there too! After the studio frame was built, we had several work parties to fill the walls with a mixture of clay slip and straw bale, packing in beautiful colored bottles that now bring beautiful light into the studio.
inside the cool, clay walls of studio la chouffe, with beautiful, diffused dancing light of many colors!
another happy member of studio la chouffe
I also mentioned Holly's unique approach of tumbling her glass and shards. It's hard to describe the difference this makes. Tumbling of course takes the sharpness off the edges, and gives glass shards a soft hue and actually brings more depth to the tones in clay shards.
the tiny tumbler, hard at work!
chards, out of the tumbler
I've already made this into a much longer article than intended, and I've only scratched the surface! So this is just the introduction - you'll learn more about Holly as I continue to follow the progress on this project, and you'll get to see the mosaic wall develop before your eyes! Take note and follow closely, because this finished project will not be open to the public, but only to those families visiting the Social Services office.
If you have been following me at all, you know that I've been happily immersing myself in the experience of being a part of the Collective at The Village Potters, and the collaborative atmosphere that is leading toactual collaborations with my studio mates. Collaboration is nothing new in the art world. Many gifted artists find alignments with others and I think it's very natural that they explore the 'what if' of working together. I'm happily experiencing that in my own studio, recently beginning a series of collaborations with Sarah Wells Rolland, the first of which is now showing in The Village Potters Gallery. One of the pots I'll be donating to the mosaic project is an early glaze test in preparation for that collaboration, and it makes me so happy to know those pieces will be a part of another piece of art!
*any Asheville-area potter with high fire (cone 10) shards to donate, please contact Holly deSaillan via her website. And if you're on the facebooks, you can follow Holly's progress in her Appalachian Animal Parade album on her page.
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