Friday, December 3, 2010

Sutton Chain of Lights

Tomorrow (Sat. Dec 4th.) is a busy day in our town. We have our annual Christmas town-wide event called The Sutton Chain of Lights (http://www.suttonma.org). I'm not quite ready this year to be an actual trolley stop but will have my door open and a cozy fire ready if anyone stops in. I did mean to post this earlier in the week so someone might actually see it before the day came but I'm writing at 10:30 PM the night before. Time and I have a funny relationship. So if you happen to be surfing the pottery blogs late friday night and live nearby please feel free to stop by saturday 10-4 for a cup of hot cider and something to nibble on. Thanks.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Open house success

  I wasn't sure how well attended my open house would be this year. I even had thoughts of postponing the event, but too many flyers had been handed out with no way of contacting everyone.
 We had a horrible tragedy in town where a young man died suddenly. Saturday held the services and all townsfolk had this on their minds whether attending or not.


 There were several people who came to the gallery whom I had never met before. Word is really spreading. But it was the people who showed up with the ties and pins on coming from services to gather and support me in my business that really made me understand I have a great group of friends in this town.
We shared some wine, and everyone had a chance to talk and it had such a warm feeling about it.



   The shelves were stocked pretty well before the open house, but I feel now I need to replenish. I will have my "open hours" on sat. Dec 4th and I hope to have some pieces to fill the holes....
My daughter and I did a mad dash to Sheffield today for more clay and raw materials. Almost missed getting the older kids off the bus..

   So now I hope to get some throwing in the next two days so I have more pieces for the 4th. WAIT hold the presses! Earlier tonight I emailed Irma Starr, a world renowned redware potter  (irmastarr.com) to ask a technical  question. Well she called me back!........I have been having some horrible glazing problems and she was able to give me many ideas. I am excited to get into my studio tomorrow and start anew.

 Hope to see folks on the 4th!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Open House prep

 
Painting the floor

   Pete has been working on getting the floor ready (last minute of course) but it really seems to make the space pop! I am excited for those who have been to the gallery before to see how much a simple thing like painting a diamond pattern can make.  

  With less then two weeks before my open house things are busy. I have experimented with some new glazes and shapes that can be tricky. The yarn bowls I have been working on continue to warp at every firing. I have finally decided to "warp" them myself in the opposite direction while wet, hoping that in the end they will come out even. We'll see....

  I had a get together the other night with my good friend Kathleen who will once again be by my side at my open house to help with things and keep everything running smoothly. I have learned help is definitely needed when pulling something like this off!
17th century pipkin (cook pot)

   I figure there will be room for 4 more bisque firings and  about 6 glaze firings. Just enough time to squeeze it all in. I am excited for my 2nd open house in the new gallery and getting more comfortable with organizing such an event.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Waters Farm Days

The weekend was a bit chilly for having my hands in water all day while demonstrating the art of throwing, but well worth the time.
 I had a lot of people stop and check out my latest stoneware glazes and shapes. I feel like I made a strong connection with folks from town and hopefully they will follow my pottery path further.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Just Starting Up

I have wanted to do this blog thing for a long time. I'm the potter at Bullard House Pottery (more on why I chose this name in later posts).  The business has been up a running for many years but this new gallery space (in the picture) is brand new so why not start a blog at the same time. This weekend I had a display and demonstrated at Waters Farm in Sutton, MA. I'll get some photos and put together a few thoughts on this in my next post. It's funny writing this knowing that no one my ever read these words, but what I hope to do with this blog is keep folks up to date on what I'm doing with the shop and maybe teach uninitiated a little bit about being a potter. Like anything else there are a lot of ups and downs. Thanks for checking in with me.