Come See the Show!

First of all, here’s the show I’ll be in on Sunday.

If the image is unclear, it's 12-5 on Sunday, May 6th, 2012, at Evalyn Dunn Gallery, 549 South Avenue West, Westfield, NJ.

 The invitation is misleading. I will only be there on Sunday, and the work will be at the gallery without me through May 11th. But while I’m there on Sunday, I hope 1) to have fun, and 2) sell some pottery!

 “Clay pots” is an un-descriptive term. What KIND of pottery? What will it do to enhance your life? Ah, these are questions that do have answers. You might want to chat with me at the show for the answers to these and other questions. Or you can ask me when you see me next.

This is a photo of part of my trial setup, which I do in my studio before each show to determine what work will fit in the allotted space:

 The new porcelain is REALLY nice. It throws beautifully on the wheel and is so easy to trim. Best of all, the clear glaze that crazes all over my usual stoneware, fits the porcelain like a smooth and glassy glove- no craze lines. This, in case you don’t get how great this is, is really, really great. Here’s a little number that has the clear on it, plus some soft and relatively unexciting green, but where the green goes over the clear and some nice blue ginkgo leaves go with it, oh my. I’m very happy about this! Too bad I don’t have any more of this lively motif to put in this show, but my next show is in November and I hope to have some then:

 Since nothing in my life is linear except the evident passage of time, I also have been watching pottery videos and looking at the work of contemporaries online, possibly when I should have been hard at work in the studio. But potter does not live by the wheel alone. The brain must be fed to keep the ideas going. I went to the Song Dynasty ceramics exhibit at the Morris Museum (NJ)and made a couple of quick sketches, which I refined afterward. Here is a sketch of a wonderful covered jar I saw:

(Qingbai is pronounced ching-pie, by the way.) It’s very cool to see beautiful pots from the 11th century, as lively looking as when they were made- because, except when it is broken, pottery lasts and lasts and lasts. The leaves are lotus, and although you can’t tell from my drawing, they are carved in two levels, with one layer of leaves appearing to lie over the other. I’m planning to make some pretty jars like this one- my carving senses are tingling.

 I also drew this small bottle with its flat rim, storage for wine maybe.

("Jun" is pronounced Chun.)

I had seen other pieces in the exhibit with two parts, let’s say a cup sitting on a water pot, so I thought of mayim acharonim and drew the transitional idea that stemmed from the Jun bottle. I changed the curve and size of the rim, and added a little cup that plugs into the mouth of the bottle like a stopper. Probably I will change the shape of the little cup so that it has a bit of neck instead of being so round, but we shall see once I start fooling with the prototype.

 Feel free to visit my website soon. I have someone looking it over again for holes and danger spots (remember the hack job?) but will update it before long.
Time to go box up the pottery for setup at the gallery tomorrow. See you on Sunday!