Good News and Bad News...wait, Good News again!

Well first, the good news is, with any luck, I'll be welcoming a baby girl into the world in a few months! I have finished up my studio work and will be taking maternity leave in September.

The bad news is that, shop hours and school hours are essentially opposite and in anticipation of the many years ahead with small kids in school, I have decided to leave the shop and move my studio home. I have had the shop for more than 11 years now! It's pretty sad to think of leaving my cute little spot on Highland Ave. I will continue to sell my work through my etsy store and who knows, maybe go back to doing a few shows here and there.

The other good news! I'm not so sad because I will be passing the shop on to my good friend and fellow potter, Liz Rodriguez. She will use the shop space as her studio and continue to sell my work along with hers. She'll be moving in August 1st and we'll have an opening party in September at some point. Here is a teaser- come by the shop- to say goodbye, say hello, see the new work!

Liz Rodriguez, Sugar and Creamer

Liz Rodriguez, Fleeting Heart Wall Tile
Liz Rodriguez, Chopstick Bowls

Liz Rodriguez, Candy Dish

2 Spring Tile Shows

The 2013 6 x 6 x 30 Invitational Handmade Tile Exhibition at the San Angelo Museum of Art, San Angelo, Texas features 150 Handmade Tiles by 30 artists, all 6x6 inches square. Since I was only sending 5 tiles, I decided to make them more three-dimensional so they would stand away from the wall. I really like the format so I've made another mold for a hexagonal shape. I'm hoping to have more ready for Somerville Open Studios.

I also sent off some tiles to artTILE 2013, at Indigenous in Cincinatti, OH, a great annual show featuring a vast array of tiles in a wide range of style and technique.

30x5: The Dessert Plate At AKAR


30 clay artists make 5 pieces each, which is actually, 10 plates because some are sets, so...300 dessert plates! The show is currently running at AKAR Gallery in Iowa City, but if you're not in the neighborhhood, all the work is online! I made some extras that I have for sale in the shop. The Holiday Open House is coming right up- Dec 9th, 11-4, so stop by to see the new plates and have some refreshments.




Sweethearts

My friend Zach, who is a slug mug fan, came in to the shop to buy a birthday present. He was thinking maybe it was weird to say "Happy Birthday Mom, here's a slug for you!" so he decided to go with a snail mug instead. I had one with a cute pair-" like your parents!" I said, and it gave me the idea to do the slug and snail "sweethearts" mugs. I"ll be featuring "New Work" at AKAR Gallery, opening Oct 19th so I sent them off to Iowa today.


I have been working on dessert plates for  30x5, The Dessert Plate Show, at AKAR in November, so I made a set. Stay tuned for more plates!


SEPTEMBER SALE!

The shop is feeling crowded so I've decided to have a September Etsy sale to make room for new work. I'll be adding things daily and it will run at least until the end of the month. It's not too early to start holiday shopping!


Boston Summer Arts- Pompanoosuc Mills, July 27-29

This coming Fri, Sat and Sun, July 27-29, I've been invited to show my work at the Pompanoosuc Mills showroom on Boylston Street in conjunction with Boston Summer Arts Weekend.

Pompanoosuc Mills is a Vermont company that makes beautifully crafted wood furniture- a great complement for some nice Massachusetts pottery! They will be having an artist's reception for me on Sunday 12-3. Come have some wine and cheese and say hello. The Arts festival features free performances of live music in Copley Square, ranging from classical and jazz to bluegrass and soul, dramatic theater and street performers, all weekend long.

Sawmill Pottery Workshop & Show

I currently have a show in conjunction with the workshop I taught at Sawmill Pottery in Putnam CT, July 7 & 8. The show runs through the end of the month, so there's still time to catch it if you're in the neighborhood. It's a great little studio run by some lovely people. Monthly shows open during the "First Friday" event in town and the artist gives a talk about the work. It's quite a lively scene, with live music and a lot of the local businesses participating. The weekend workshop was a lot of fun. We focused on plate and platter forms from molds and I introduced a lot of new surface techniques to try.


They did a great job of displaying my work
Dot Burnworth, founder  


artTile 2012

I just shipped my tiles to Ohio for the artTile 2012 show at indigenous in Cincinnati. Thirty-five artists send over 1000 tiles- wish I could be there to see them all. Makes me want to quit making everything else, I love tiles!

Craft Boston 2012

I'm glazing like mad to have work ready for Craft Boston in a couple weeks!

Continuing with my Homegrown series- bees, blossoms, beans- I've been experimenting with a new technique, oxide transfer, that allows me to make a decal of my own  drawings and apply it on top of the glaze. I love the color, a rich brown, and slightly scratchy texture of the line quality.

I'll have an octopus platter or two from the Coast of Maine, maybe even a sample from my next series, Domestic Arts.

The show is at the Seaport World Trade Center on Boston's Waterfront, March 23-25. Print out a postcard (On the right sidebar) for a discount at the door. Hope to see you there!

Back to Work, 2012!

Bee & Blossom Yunomi


My Yunomis have gone to AKAR, and the holidays have passed. I've had some time to mull over my next body of work and figure out where I'm going next. I've also been trying to work on my website and archive some of my best work from the past. I've created a portfolio of Tool Tiles that  that I made for an installation at The Society of Arts and Crafts a few years ago. My new assistant Meryl and I are making many more tiles than I could alone and I think I'm going to have to revisit this theme!


TOOL TILE- Hand Saw 4 x 8

Holiday Open House

The weather is making it seem like there is plenty of time for holiday shopping, but  it's already December! Erin and I are getting ready for the annual Holiday Open House at the Highland Ave studio. We plan to start early on Saturday, so stop by on your way back from the Winter Farmer's Market at the Armory. We plan to have coffee and tasty goodies from our new favorite cafe across the way, 3 Little Figs, so stop by and say hi, get in the holiday spirit and see our new work. If you can't make it to the shop I'm adding new items to my Etsy store every day!
birdies get ready!

Terrariums - Terraria?

Which is correct? Both, I think. I've been doing some product development for my family business, Achla Designs, which mainly manufactures garden products- outdoor furniture, arbors, trellises and a lot of ornaments and things for feeding and attracting wild birds. We also have a line of items inspired by Early American traditional items found at Colonial Williamsburg. These include glass cloches or bell jars, which were used in colonial times to protect delicate plants from cold and drought. Organic Gardening magazine recently did a feature that describes their use. 

planted with peperomia, two types of moss and tiny toadstools

I thought the bell jars would make great terrariums so I made some ceramic bases and planted up a few. I used a combination of plants I ordered, some bought locally at Pemberton, and some moss from my backyard. I'd like to try some orchids. These are not the production prototypes- those will be introduced in the new year- just an experiment, but I really think they are fun. I included a Pre-Colombian mushroom god figure and some painted wooden rabbits from Oaxaca, Mexico.

without the lid- croton, rabbit foot fern, mosses and oaxacan bunnies!
creeping charlie, rabbit foot fern, mosses with mushroom god icon
              .



So many possibilities to create miniature garden scenes! I plan to have some in the shop for the December Open House.

After Dark

Nightingale Sings, platter



I have been invited to participate in a group show titled  "Creatures of the Night" at MudFire in Georgia. They are booming down there! Every time I look they are offering more great workshops and exhibitions.



Slug in the Ferns, plate


I didn't have much trouble making some pieces to fit into this theme. I'm all too familiar with the slug festivities going on in my garden every night. We also have some birds in the neighborhood that enjoy a robust round of call-and-response each early morning from 3 until 4ish.





Bat in the Moonlight, plate
The show runs at MudFire Gallery in Decatur, Georgia, August 6th though September 10th. All of the work in the show will be featured on their website and available for purchase online.









Dreaming of Spring

I have been poring over seed catalogs and my gardening notes from last year to plan for this year. Starting some seedlings indoors always helps me make it through the last few dreary weeks of winter. It's hard to believe that my perennials, covered with filthy city snow and ice will ever re-emerge from their underground dreaming. 

Waiting for Sunshine, square plate, 9.5 x 9.5 x 1

Winter Doldrums...New Etsy Store!

The shop looked beautiful for the holidays, thanks to the facelift our building got in September, our new sign, and most of all, the new artist joining me at 259 Highland, Erin Croft Graves. If you haven't been in for a while, she is in the shop most Saturdays, working on her jewelery. Come and meet her and check out her forest floor display in the window.


Shop hours are limited, but now you can find my work 24/7 without struggling through the icebergs. I will keep a group of pieces for sale on Etsy- with frequent additions!