We have had some really warm weather this fall and a lot of rain. Finally the leaves are starting to turn and it is getting colder. The corn harvest leaves behind fields that are filled with stubble, some old dried out stalks, and ears of corn. There are bright purple asters here and there and some flowers with little white blossoms. I always like the way the dried out grasses blow in the wind. This time of year is refreshing in its coolness but also brings a tinge of sadness as the days get shorter and winter approaches.
New Shelves
As a ceramic artist almost nothing makes me happier than another set of shelves! I rearranged my studio when the old wood stove left which made room for these. My husband, John, patiently designed what I wanted (a set that looks somewhat like Steven Hill’s from Ceramics Monthly years ago) and helped me build them. I made another set earlier that are perfect for the slabs of clay that I make. This set will be for holding work that has been bisqued and needs to be glazed or glazed work that has feet that need to be sanded smooth. Of course some other things will find their way on to the shelves such as work that I made in workshops on the very top shelf. They are really good working shelves.
Visit to the Keramik-Museum Berlin (KMB)
We made a trip to Berlin in July to visit our son who was doing an internship there for two months. The highlight of my trip was a visit to the Keramik Museum in Berlin. I am not a savvy traveler by any means so I was really proud to get us there. I downloaded a transportation app to my phone which allowed us to buy and download a ticket and gave us directions for the U-Bahn. Before the museum opened, we spent some time at the Berggruen Museum a couple of blocks down the street. We saw 120 works of Picasso's there as well as work by Klee, Matisse, and Giacometti. At the Keramik Museum we met some very nice people and saw a wide variety of interesting ceramic work. I love small, intimate museums where it is possible to really see all the work, let it soak in, and enjoy it. This museum was just perfect. There was even a small garden with ceramic creatures tucked in here and there. I hope you enjoy a glimpse of the work that was there in the slide show below.
Tony Clennell Workshop "Your Work is a Gift" March 9 -11, 2018 at Kevin Lehman's Pottery, Lancaster, PA
Thanks everyone for a terrific workshop! It was inspiring to see so much great work being made. Enjoy the slide show! Margaret
Making cups with undulating rims
Making baskets and casseroles with their attachments.
Making a Jug from thrown parts - a cylinder, neck, and false bottom. Then pulling a spout and adding a pulled handle.
Tony's work that he made in the workshop and fired work that he brought from North Carolina.
What do you think?
These plates and round bottom cups just seemed to go together. I had not planned it that way but when I was photographing my work it seemed like a natural pairing. Some new customers bought some plates and bowls together which gave me a new way of seeing my work.
ICAN ( International Ceramic Artists Network) Calendar
I am really proud to have my work in the 2018 ICAN calendar Pots With Flowers Collection. Some friends and I made pinch pots after reading Paulus Berensohn's book, Finding One's Way With Clay and watching a video about his life. This pinch pot is in his memory.
To see the other calendars in the collection visit ceramicartsnetwork.org/shop/
Snow Flake ornaments are now for sale on my web site!
Just in time for the holidays.
To save $1.50 use the code EARTH and I will use recycled materials to pack your order.
Look under Work For Sale to see the different designs available. Thanks!
Snow Flake ornaments are now for sale on my web site!
Just in time for the holidays.
To save $1.50 use the code EARTH and I will use recycled materials to pack your order.
Look under Work For Sale to see the different designs available. Thanks!
Snow Flake ornaments are now for sale on my web site!
Just in time for the holidays.
To save $1.50 use the code EARTH and I will use recycled materials to pack your order.
Look under Work For Sale to see the different designs available. Thanks!
New snowflake ornaments!
The inspiration for these ornaments comes from photographic images made by Snowflake Bentley (Wilson Bentley, born in 1865 in Jericho, Vermont). Each photograph is so beautiful it is hard to choose which ones to create a stencil from. This year I made three new stencils making a total of eight designs that I use directly or in reverse (showing up either as blue or white). You can find them at the Gallery at La Cigale in Mt. Gretna, at The Lebanon Picture Frame and Fine Art Gallery, in Lebanon, at the PA Guild Store in Lancaster, or by contacting me through my web site.
A little beauty along the way......
A nice warm day for bike riding is getting more rare as are the flowers blooming along the road. There are still some hardy asters, purple and white, as well as some beautiful grasses that have turned red. In a world with much sadness I am grateful for friends to pinch pots with, friends to fire with, and friends who invite me over for coffee :)
I am excited to have work at the PA Guild in Lancaster as part of the Lancaster Chapter Showcase. Some of my new work includes a set of dogwood plates, a large platter, and two bottles. Come visit!
Join us at the Guild for the opening reception of the Lancaster Designer Chapter Showcase this Friday, October 6, from 6-9 pm!
Demonstrators will include woodworker Ted Rasmussen, ceramicist Dianne Fox, and coppersmith and clockmaker Glen Detwiler.
Demonstrations will continue through the weekend for the Lancaster ArtWalk, featuring jeweler Wendy Edsall-Kerwin and weaver Linda Beiler on Saturday from 10 - 4 pm.
The exhibition by Lancaster Designer Craftsmen will be on view through the end of October and feature the work of Kevin Lehman, Linda Beiler, Alex Chuck, John Fugelso, Angelo Iafrate, Irinia Iakomi, Holly Kingman, Michael Michalechan, Greg Pencheff, Margaret Seidenberg, Jan Uzwiak, Amy Burk, Jessica Keemer, Brian Cunfer, Lisa Gallagher, Christine Spangler, and Ted Rassmussen.
Gift from the kiln and the garden.
I was so happy to discover this dish when I visited the Lancaster Creative Factory that Kevin Lehman had fired for me. It did not fit in the wood firing we did in the spring. It is made from a slab of porcelain clay that is decorated with multiple slips and then formed over a hump mold. It has three feet. This dish is glazed only on the bottom surface and then fired up side down with a ball of wadding and a brick holding it off the kiln shelf. I love the gentle curve that places it somewhere between a bowl and a plate and perfect for holding a stray flower or a scrumptious desert.
Four more days to see the show at LVC!
I am really happy to be a part of this juried show at Lebanon Valley College with many wonderful artists. I really enjoy this gallery. It is intimate and small enough that you can really soak the whole show in without being overwhelmed. My Wood fired Box with Orange Stripe got an honorable mention award.
I got in this year! To the 46th Annual Juried Art Exhibition at The Lebanon Valley College Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery.
Two of my wood fired pieces were accepted and one received an honorable mention.
The opening reception is June 1st from 5-7. I would love to see you there!
Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery, North White Oak and Church Streets, Annville, Pennsylvania 17003 717 867-6445 www.lvc.edu/gallery
Susquehanna Center for the Creative Arts
I am so excited to get a piece into the SCCA Susquehanna Center For the Creative Arts juried show. The show runs from June 23- July 29th. There are two receptions: June 23 from 5-9 and July 28 from 5-9. Hope to see you there! The address is:
Susquehanna Center For the Creative Arts
224 Locust Street
Columbia, PA 17512
Wood Fired Bottle with slip design.
Going on the Urban Pottery Tour in Philadelphia
This past weekend I visited The Clay Studio to see the Small Favors Inside the Box exhibition and went on the Urban Pottery Tour with my friend and fellow artist Joanne Cassaro. It was a wonderful experience to meet the artists who work in Philadelphia and their invited guests, some of whom I had met at workshops or shows and some of whom I felt like I knew because I had learned so much from them through ceramics publications or the internet. Equally wonderful was to see all the work in clay and the studios where it is made. Here is just a glimpse of what we saw:
Ceramics and Naps
I liked this handy tip that I found in an article called, The Art of Aging by Sparrow published in The Sun:
Napping is an art, like ceramics. A great nap can reinvent a day. You awake to clearer, fresher air - happier air. And old people are allowed to nap. In fact, it's considered a virtue.
I liked it because they mention ceramics. I have always hated naps - mostly the waking up part. Obviously I need to practice the art of napping!
Dog wood in Wood Fired Basket
Pots in the Wild
These two fern cups seem to be at home here!
