Classes are in full swing and we’re gearing up for a firing here as soon as we get a break in the intense summer heat.  Somehow, when it is already close to 100 degrees out, it’s hard to think about firing…

I am shifting gears for online selling.  Instead of the elaborate online store I’ve hosted for the past several years, I am going to post pictures of the pots currently on display in my studio showroom and include information about how to buy them.    I’ve also opened a “store” on Etsy, which will have examples of my pots for sale.  I’ll continue to host wedding and gift registries on my old online store.   With luck, this new arrangement will be less labor intensive and more flexible, leaving me with more time to make pots!

There are still a couple of spaces available in the Altering Thrown Forms Workshop here on August 14-15.  We’ll take wheel-thrown components and manipulate them into oval and squared forms, plus spend some time learning how to use wiggle wires.  More information here.

I’m looking for a couple of new students for my Monday evening group.  Classes meet once a week, 5:00 -8:00 pm.  The studio is open for practice Tuesday – Saturday, except when it is in use for other classes or events.  For more details about classes, look at the Classes Page.  Thanks for helping me spread the word!

We had a great weekend for the Scratch & Dent Sale.  Perfect weather, lots of friendly customers.  Next up — a joint show during June at the McGuffey Art Center in Charlottesville.   Painter Lindsay Eades and I will share the Main Gallery Space.  The show will run June 1 – 27, with the opening reception on Friday, June 4 — 5:30 – 7:30 pm. to preview Lindsay’s paintings, look at her website.

Since the wiggle wire lamp video posted on Ceramic Arts Daily, I have gotten a number of questions about wiring lamps.  Luckily, my friend and studio assistant Kathy, who wires lamps for me regularly, wrote a sheet of instructions to help remember the details.  Here are Kathy’s Wiring Instructions.  Hope they help!

If you are heading to NCECA this year in Philadelphia, drop by the AMACO booth in the Vendor’s Show on Thursday or Friday morning (April 1&2).  I’ll be there, demonstrating throwing and altering pots from 9:00 to 11:00 both mornings.  I’ll also be spending time in the ClayArt Room, and attending the opening reception for the Potters Council “Fill-Adelphia” show at Show of Hands Gallery in the evening of  Friday, April 2.

FYI — Look at my Current Schedule Page for details about the Annual Scratch & Dent Sale that Nancy Maxson and I will hold here on April 17 & 18.

Thanks for your comments on the video!  Several people have asked to see examples of fired lamps using the wiggle wire process.   As these photos show, results vary depending on the pattern of your wire, whether you saw back and forth as you move down the pot, whether the wheel is moving as you make the cut, and etc.  The wide pattern on the first lamp was made with a wire from Dirty Girls Pottery Tools.

I’ve been having a great time playing with their various wire sizes and patterns.

We’re snowed in! We’ve gotten over twenty inches and are warm and cozy as the storm has not taken out the electricity.  Bingley the dog has to leap in order to get through it — it’s over her head!  I have spent today posting new pots to my online store.  As happens every year by the end of my winter shows, I’m low on mugs, bowls and small pitchers.  So they’ll be the first things I make when I get back in the studio.  For now though, it is nice to read a book and watch the snow.  Happy Holidays!

We had great turnout for both the ACV Tour and my Holiday Open House with Nancy and Rachel.  The expanded showroom is still up and I’m getting used to the classroom looking so clean.  I have three shows coming up in the near future.  Two small home shows on the next two Friday evenings — the first at my friend Annie’s house in Charlottesville on 12/4, and the second at Richard and Joan’s house in DC on 12/11.  Then my last official show of the season will be at Mea Rhee’s pottery in Silver Spring, Maryland on 12/12 and 12/13.  For details on those shows, go to the schedule page of this site.

My expanded showroom will remain open Tuesday – Saturday through all of December.  You are welcome to come by and see the studio and kilns, browse the pots, and walk down to the river.  It’s a fun outing for visiting friends and family.   You can drop by without an appointment; the studio is never locked.  Or to be sure to catch me here, you can phone before coming — 434-263-4023 — or drop me a note.

Pottery classes are finished for 2009, and I’m clearing up the classroom for this weekend’s Studio Tour, sponsored by the Artisans Center of Virginia.  Mine will be one of fifteen open studios in the area, with a total of thirty crafters showing work.  Joining me here will be fiber artist Meredith Bennett, who will show her weaving, braids and felted work.  We’ll also have an exhibit of student work and some of my students will be on hand to demonstrate throwing and handbuilding.  Basic Necessities and Chirios Pizza of Nellysford will help provide refreshments.  There’s more about the Tour on the ACV Tour Page.

To see details on the rest of my fall show lineup, go to the Current Schedule page.

Got some nice news last week that a set of my pots got accepted into the Potters Council “Fill-adelphia” Show that will take place at A Show of Hands Gallery during NCECA 2010 in Philadelphia.  Below is a photo of the set — they are cone ten stoneware, glazed in Shaner Red, with wax resist leaf patterns and then an overspray of two glazes (Blue Ash and Ken’s Black).  The show will be up March 19-April 30, 2010.

To see the other work accepted in the show, go to this Potters Council Announcement.