pot #22

By Robert Lugo. I met him at last years (2010) Art Westport (art fair). I saw this piece in his booth and just fell in love with it...had to have it. I *do* have a vice and it is pottery.

I call this the Alfred Hitchcock Tumbler...can you see Alfred's image there in the red? (My favorite Hitchcock movie is 'Rear Window'...can't tell you how mnay times I've seen it.)

This piece is 4.5 x 3.5". It's made of porcelain, with stains and glaze. This is a littel bit of sgrafitto work on the sides. The opposite side has something that looks like a decal of an angel...plus more red & blue stains and more sgrafitto.

April 29 and 30 and May 1...this weekend

I will be showing and selling artwork at the Brookside Art Annual in Brookside, KCMO.

I am in the center center....both 31.

See you there!

Holy Cow!...how do I say that in French?

She came out 'alive' and in one piece...MarieA, 2011. *sigh*

pot #21

This tile was made in Scotland. I got it on our Highland dance trip in 2003. Our group was on a bus trip to a highland games...or maybe it was an historical trip. Anyway, I bought it at a tourist trap. It is a commerical tile, made by H&R Johnson Tiles (made in England)...BUT it was "hand decorate in Scotland by Elspeth Gardner Ceramics".
I like to buy artwork wherever I go. We never went anywehre 'arty' so I was stuck buying something like this. It's cute for what it is.

pot #20

This pot was made by Maryville, Mo. artist, Andy Rogers. I met Andy at the Prairie Village Art Fair in 2005. We traded pots and this is what I chose. Love it!

It is 5.5 x 2.75 x 2.75" and made of what looks like B-Mix. I love the glaze...very soft...sprayed on (?)

I believe Andy has since given up making functional ware and concentrates on sculptural forms based on the natural world.
www.facebook.com/pages/AndyRogers-Ceramics205754003109

pot #19

This fabu piece is by Cathy Broski. She calls the 'Chicks on a Stick'. Originally from St. Louis, Cathy moved here to go to KCAI. I got this piece from Cathy when we traded work at my first (in a long time) Art Westport. She picked out a BoneGuy. I love it for it's texture.

With the stand this piece is 8.75 x 2.5 x 2". The piece is made of stoneware (it's hard to tell) , coverd in glaze (which was wiped off) and was fired in oxidaton.

She is in alot of outdoor fairs and teaches at KC Clay Guild.

Ooooooops, my camera was crooked.

pot #18

Hmmmm, what shall it be today?
How about this piece by Nancy Gardner?
Her work is so much fun...it cracks me up! This little guy is a jar. I feel so UN-clever. =O(

His hat is the lid.
With the hat/lid, this piece is 4.35 x 3 x 1.5". It is made of read earthenware...no grog. Underglazes and or colorful glazes...I can't find any information on her website. It's a well kept secret I suppose.
Because one can't see the back, I'll tell you all about it...the hat and shirt have the same coloration and form all the way 'round, the back of the head is lavender with a yellow ponytail.

I purchased another piece the same day...the day I call "The Panic Attack". I was dating someone (nameless) and we were at the Plaza Art Fair. We had a had a beer (a Falstaff) and yummy hotdog and were taking in the fair early in the weekend to avoid the crowds. We were shopping in Nancy's booth and couldn't make up my mind. The date excused himself. Unbeknowst to me he went to get some cigs, but the Diebel's was closed. He came back all anxious and for the next hour we were on a quest for cigs. We ended up going home early so he could have a smoke. Grrrrrr.
Anyway, later dropped him...but have some wonderful artwork!
"Sweeeeeet!"
See Nancy's work at: www.nancygardnerceramics.com

pot #17

This next little pot is also from Tara Dawley. This is the dinosaur whistle mentioned in the previous blog post.

It is made of unglazed stoneware...save for the horns on its head. It reminds of a Triceratops. )I love that you have to blow through its tail, too.) The whistle is about 2.5 x 2.5 x 2".

I bought another one from Tara and it will be reviewed in the future.

pot #16

An oldie, but a goodie. This is a pot I got in trade from Tara Dawley before she joined Red Star...before there was a Red Star. If I recall, she didn't have a kiln and needed a place to fire. So she heard I had a kiln and I let her fire here. She let me have a pot and this is what I chose. She also gave my daughter, Fiona, a dinosaur whistle. This pot is 17.25 x 7 x 7" It is thrown from a dark stoneware. It has a semi-matt glaze over all with another glaze brushed over the neck. It was obviously fired in oxidation (at my house). Tara has added spiral coils just under the neck. You can see her stamp near the foot...it is a capital 'D' with a lower case 't' inside it. I wonder if she still signs her pots like this. It sits atop my clay bookshelf. I love having pots from different times in a potters career. It is fun to see the changes.

Pot #15

I gotta love this one. My daughter Fiona made it. It is on my 'wall of fame' along with many other great pots from famous people. Fiona had just gone with me to the KC Clay Guild Holiday Tour and she had seen and visited with Tara Dawley. At the time Tara was using a chair forms in her work...in particular, as handles on lids. Fiona loved this idea, so she went home and began making chairs from slabs (with a little instruction from me). It is 6.5 x 3 x3". It is made of porcelain and glaze with some commercial glazes. Luv, luv luv it!

Pot #14

The piece you see in this photo was created by Jim Sandefur. He resides in Georgia. His web address is: www.jimsandefur.com/home.html.

I donated a purchase prize at the first KC Clay Guild Teabowl National last year and this is what I chose.

It comes in two pieces.

The base is 1.5 x 2 x 2". It is made of porcelain, unglazed, rough formed to hold the teabowl.

The 'teabowl' is 4.25 x 3.5 x 3.5". It is also made of porcelain. It is glazed inside onlyand it looks like a clear glaze. This piece was thrown. I queston whether it was thrown from widest pot to the tip (upside-down) or from the smallest point to the mouth. Jim's website states that after his 'sabbatical' he began firing in a friend's anagama kiln. Is this a wood fired piece???

Anyone? Jim?

Pot #13...Lucky No. 13

This is one of my cousin's pieces. Actually, she is my mom's cousins daughter. What does that make her to me? Yikes! I dunno, except some kind of cousin. Her name is Kelly Mulloy. Originally from KC, she has moved around a a little, but now lives back here in the KC area.

This fun piece is called a 'Pig-dog'. I have several. I love them. They are hand build and have open mouths and hollow bodies. It is made of a whilte clay. It appears to be stained, because the bottoms of the legs are colored. It is glazed with commerical glazes. Kelly has signed her work on the creature's tummy with the date, 1993 near that. This Pig-dog is 5 x 6 x 2.75".

Kelly also works in fibers...wool primarily. Here is a site where you can find her fiber work. www.designspongeonline.com/2005/04/kelly-mulloy.html

Pot # 12...whoops, I missed Sunday...

I got this plate on a trip to Washington DC in 2002. I took my mom and my daughter Fiona...she was 13. We went primarily to see the usual...the stuff everyone else wants to see in DC.

While we were there, there was an international fair going on in the Mall. Countries had huge booths, tents and display set up in the Mall. I happened into an Uzbekistan area and found some pottery. This was all I could afford. Most everything in any cultural area was quite pricey.

Here are the facts: the clay body is tan with a slip over it, then all the colorful glazes. I think it was fired upside down as there are drips from the lip pointing 'up'. There are bubbles in the clear glaze that have been popped and smoothed a bit. (I wonder if this is a LEAD glaze??)

It appears to be thrown as I can see some throw marks on the foot...unless that was how it was trimmed. There is a big capitol 'H', with a lower case 'f' through the crossbar of the 'H'.

The plate measures a little over 4. 75 x 1.25".

a day at Brackers

Today I spent part of my day at Bracker's Good Earth Clays watching Cindy Buehler's demo. She was demo-ing her slab building and sgrafitto techniques. It was fun and informative. I got to eat lunch at one of my favorite places in Lawrence (or elsewhere)...Esquina. I had a great fish taco...white fish, cabbage, plantains, cilantro and salsa...had chips and salsa as well and a Juaritos Pineapple soda pop.

Yum.

I forgot to bring my camera...so if you have pictures send them along!

Pot #11

This is the first Jenny Mendes piece I bought...pre 2004, I think. Just like the Friday's piece, it is a pinch pot made of Terra Cotta. It's measurements are 1.75 x 3 x 3". It is glazed only on the inside...with an opaque white glaze. The lip is detail with black dashes and hatched dashes. At the bottom are two black birds and a vine. All details are sgrafitto-ed into the black slip or glaze. Like Friday's piece, her potters mark is 'jM', with a horizontal slash through the top of the 'j'. Now that I look at it, the image might be upside down. I dunno, you decide. Look for Sunday's pot late in the day...

Pot #10...for Friday

It is only 10:45 pm on Thursday, but I will be busy with company tomorrow, Friday. So...I am going to write this early.

Darling little pot. Jenny Mendes made this. I bought it at the Plaza Art Fair...forget when. This piece cost me $50.oo, about all I could/can afford.

This piece is a pinch pot made from Terra Cotta. The dimensions are 1.75 x 3 x 3". I suspect she uses commercial glazes or slips with clear over them. I have never talked to her as she is always so busy selling. The exterior body of the pot is not glazed. The interior is glazed with e red glaze overall, with a white band around the lip. There are small black circles on the white band with even tinier dots inbetween the larger circles. A funny white bird is in the center and it is detailed in black.

Her potter's mark is 'jM', with an horizontal slash through the top of the 'j'.

Pot #9

This tasty little treat is a plate from Lisa Orr. She is from Austin, Texas. She was a demonstrator at the sam NCECA (2005) as Sam Chung. The funny part is that I went to the demo specifically to see Sam Chung work, but I was mesmerized by Lisa Orr's demo. (It's a good thing they were working at the same time and I could watch them both.) A few years later I bought her NCECA video. Lisa works with a Giffin Grip and one and two part molds. She throws in the molds...removes the piece...flips molds...adds feet or lips...alters the pot in the mold and add slips and sprigs. She uses a red-ware and I forgotten what she fires to. She uses several glazes and her glazing technique is loose...very loose.

Pot # 8

This pot was made by Sam Chung.

I occasionally go to the NCECA conference (the national clay conference). In 2005 I went to the one in Indianapolis. One of the demo-s that year was Sam Chung. I also got the chance to watch him demo again at Red Star a few years later. I bought this tumbler there.

It's height is a little over 5"...width is 3.25". It is made of thrown porcelain. The glazing is subtle...I have forgotten if Sam wood fires, but I do see evidence of some sort of reduction on the foot. Let's call it wood fired. The glaze is creamy, but has a dark blush moving towards the 'back'. There are green dots of glaze over the body and they have a darker blush around the edge of each.

POTS #8

I went to Scotland by way of Iceland in 1998. I like to get artwork from any place that I have visited. Even though I didn't step outside the Keflavic airport I considered myself to be in Iceland (I did walk on the tarmac from airport building to the plane.)

I walked into the gift shop at the airport. I wanted some Icelandic pottery, but everything was sooooo expensive. I settled on these little tiny houses. I am still not sure what I paid for them as the items were sold in Icelandic currency. (Maybe I should look that up.)

The shorter of the two houses is 1.5 x 1.25 x .5", the larger one is 1.75 x 1 x .5" There is decoration on the front and top...resembling a door, windows and roof tiles. There is a potters mark on the back...it resembles an 'H'.

meet Virginia

More pots from my long distance friend, Virginia Ostergren. Yummy!

Virginia

I talked yesterday with my *invisible* friend, Virginia Ostergren. She makes the most beautiful pots. She entered both the 2010 and 2011 KC Clay Guild Teabowl National. I happen to the be the Chair of this exhibition and get to see (and load) 300 slides each year.

Virginia's have been some of my favorites.

Over informational conversations about the TBN and KC Clay Guild, I learned that her daughter Tempe is dancing with the Kansas City Ballet and danced in the recent production of 'Giselle'. I wish I had known. I might have gone to the ballet!

Virginia even came to KC to see Tempe. I missed her visit. Anyway, here are Virginia's entries from last year. I hope she doesn't mind.

POT #7

Raku work by M3...that is what is scratched onto the bottom of the pot. I got this pot at a tiny gallery on the NCECA tour in Pittsburg, 2007. (This is where *I* forgot to go to the Andy Warhol Museum...duh!)

My friends and I loved this woman's work. I bought one piece and may have paid $35.oo. My friends bought several pieces and spent wads. I wish I could remember the artist's name or if I had her card somewhere.

Help!

The piece is 3 x 3 x 2.5". It is hand built with the pinch method. The surface was scraped with a rib as *I* can see scrape mark all over the surface. The piece is very round...perfectly balancing on its rounded bottom. That is why I love this pot.

The pot has been, as stated before, raku fired. There is no glaze on any surface, but obviously smoked/reduced with with ferns attached to the surface. Is this some sort of "naked raku"? Since the bottom is NOT reduced, I am guessing that the bottom was waxed and the ferns were attached with wax. I may go rifle through my cards so I can find the information on firing.

*I'll let you all know.

As with no glaze and being smoked, the surface color is greyed...dark to light. There is even a tiny bit of white (wax residue?) and of course the UN-reduced bottom is whitish.

Mystery pot.

April 3, 2011

Works in progress.

Cake plates...waddya think? Are the bases to wide? Lemme know.

I am out to make new cups and a new Shiva Diva bod...the last one broke.

POT #6...I missed Saturday

I bought this pot in the 1980's. I think I paid quite a bit for it in 1980's money...$25.oo. The date on the foot is 4/86 to be precise. I purchased this Crystalline glazed pot at the Brookside Art Annual.

(I will be in this show this April 29, 30 and May 1.)

The artist is Frank Neef. Read up on him at the following address:(www.potterybyfrank.com/crystalline.html)

This tiny piece is 3.5 x 3 x 3". It was thrown and trimmed on the wheel. The lip appears to be thrown and then folded over to create a rather ragged and uneven lower edge. Average crystal size is 3/4"...the smallest budding crystal is 1/8" and the largest being about 1 3/4 to 2". The base color of the glaze is green with crystals of various hues of geen, silver and a tiny bit of black or deark green. The is made or porcelain.

POT #5

This gem came all the way from Australia. It was in the 2008 Cone Box and was made by Greg Daly. I am going to challenge my students at Longview to research his work and tell me all about it. When that is done, I will fill in everyone else it about this piece. My students from Longview Community College were given the assignment to research and write about the artist and his work. This is from Malaina Harrington (LVCC student): Greg Daly- Born 1954 Melbourne, Australia. He started off making a variety of work ranging from thrown functional ware, moving to large sculptural forms and miniature slip cast bone china forms. More recently he has concentrated on the decoration of traditional vessel form. He uses lustrous glazes and incorporates abstract patterns. His work is known internationally and he is also the author of "Glazes and Glazing Techniques". www.ceramics-aberstwyth.com/greg-daly.html www.gregdaly.com.au/surfaces/s01/bowllstrgsen88.html thanks Maliana! Five pots down and ??? to go....