Pigeon Road Pottery fall recap

I'm feeling guilty for ignoring my blog. I've had a busy fall and just haven't made the time to update it. But lots of thing were made and sold since my last post.

My friends and I had a great time at our annual Art in The Yard show in downtown Land O' Lakes. This show is a fall equinox celebration and is widely attended by fans of the Art Gypsies every year. Here are some photos from the show.


Louise Engelbrecht, weaver & painter.


Kathleen Kimball, collage & soap and Wendy Powalisz, watercolor & beaded jewelery


Jan Zindel, weaver & Toni Bergeon, Quilter


Artists and customers gather together for conversation by the fire.


Carol Miller, photographer chats with a customer.


Some new pots in my tent


I am happy to be a part of this great group of women artisans.

The following weekend I had a three day show at my studio in conjunction with the Northwoods Fall Art Tour. This is always a great time. We had about 150 people come through the studio. There were many returning faces mixed in with first time visitors. It is really nice to be able to take time explaining and demonstrating the work that goes into my pieces. I didn't take any photos during the weekend. I was too busy (which is a good problem to have.) Here is one nice shot my friend Tony took of me and new friend Anneleise...



and another taken outside with my long time friend Cher Keyes who brought Anneleise to my studio for the tour.



After the art tour I had about 5 weeks to turn out a new body of work for The Art Gypsy's 4th annual "In Season" show at the Salon & Spa on Railroad in downtown Eagle River. This show is in conjunction with the salon's open house on the opening day of the gun deer hunting season. We had a great turn out for the show. I was very happy with the new pieces debuting last weekend.
















Wendy Powalisz's pearl and sterling silver necklace.


Another of my favorites from Wendy's collection.


Debra Ketchum Jircik's Fence Femmes


More Fence Femmes

Now there is snow on the ground and it's time to think about the holidays. I am having a Studio Open House and Sale on Saturday, Dec. 5th from 10am to 4pm. "Hand Made for the Holidays" will be my last "live" show for 2009. I plan to post photos of pots for sale here on my blog on Sunday, the 6th. So if you are looking for a nice gift or piece for your own collection please check back in a few days.



I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. I am looking forward to exciting new pieces in 2010.

Glaze-orama

As I write I am firing my 2nd glaze kiln with pieces from the last post. My first firing was on Wednesday. I was doing double duty — working in the house and running out to my studio to monitor the kiln every couple of hours. When I realized I had been consumed with something on my computer and missed the end of the firing I panicked. Even though my Skutt kiln is fully automatic I still use cones inside the kiln. When the cone 6s go down I shut off the kiln and the vent fan. I had missed it by at least an hour. The cone 7s were F-L-A-T flat and the kiln was already cooling! I was worried the glazes would run off my pots.

The kiln was already cool enough in the morning to unload. I took that as a scary sign. Usually I need to wait until about 9pm to unload. Granted, it was a light load.

I couldn't unload it that morning. I had to make an emergency trip to Chicago for personal reasons. Torture! I finally unloaded it yesterday when I got back. It was fantastic. Some of the glazes did run slightly, but nothing drastic. The colors were richer and fluid and not a refire in the batch. Here are some photos with lots of close-ups. I think I will let the kiln I am firing today go off the same way. Cone 7. Who knew!

Bisque-orama

I have been cranking the last few weeks to get ready for two big shows at the end of the month. I unloaded my bisque kiln this morning. Here are some photos of pieces before they are glazed. It is a nice time to look at the forms and carving without color as a distraction. Perhaps someday I will do a series of white pots. Hmmmmm....

















All these new pieces (plus more) will be finished by September 22nd, just in time for Art in A New Yard on Sept. 26th at Fir Tree Cottage in Land O' Lakes and the Northwoods Fall Art Tour on Oct. 2,3,& 4 at my studio.

Northwoods Summer Art Tour Recap

This past weekend was the Northwoods Art Tour on July 24, 25 & 26. The tour is in it's 10th year and features 25 stops and over 30 artists.

This is my 7th year participating on the tour. I was at Riverrun Center in McNaughton, WI for the first 3 years. This past weekend marked the 4th year at my own studio in Lake Tomahawk. Here are some shots of my studio.













The purpose of the tour is to expose the participants to art, artists & the art making process. Demonstrations are a focal point of the tour experience. At my studio I like to involve the tour goers in my clay demonstrations. Two years ago during the summer and fall tours I had people make tiles to form a permanent clay guestbook for 2007. The first group of tiles were framed last year. This past weekend my friend Jeanne Debbink helped set up the remaining tiles, plus some Lake Superior stones, my own tile pieces and a cone pack into the 2nd framed grouping. Later it will be grouted and hung next to the other tile piece on the exterior of my studio.









Many people who made tiles have come back to the studio to see the completed project. Below is the Nowak family. Their daughter Emily made one of the tiles when she was 3 year old.



This year I had a guest artist with me at my studio. Katlyn Koester is getting her B.F.A. in ceramics at Viterbo in La Crosse. I met Katlyn when she was 15. She was a student apprentice at Riverrun while I was the Artist In Residence at the center. Katlyn will finish her degree next year. She plans to move back to our area and set up her own studio/gallery space.



Kate and I decided to do another group activity for this art tour. We encouraged tour participants to make mini clay heads. With only a handful of finished examples, a bag of clay and our open tool boxes, we managed to coax at least 30 people to make tiny sculptures. I am going to make a clay frame to house all the heads we collected over the last three days. They will be on display in time to entice another round of amateur artists during the Fall Art Tour.



















The weather during two of the three days was rough, but it didn't stop people from coming out. We had great groups come through each day. We each made some good sales and I'm sure made a playful impression on our guests. We were both touched by the kindness of friends AND strangers that took time to learn about our work. By nature, artists are a private bunch. The tour opens a window into our world and inspires us to shine.



The Northwoods Art Tour happens again in the fall on Oct. 2, 3 & 4. For more information please visit the website, post your question here, or visit Pigeon Road Pottery on Facebook.