News about handmade pottery, the potters, Clay Pot Users and Clay Pot Cooking
What’s wrong with these pictures, you ask?
And Betsy’s here canning the last of our kind neighbor Jerry Notch’s cucumbers, picked only a couple of days ago.
It’s friggin’ October 12th, that’s what’s wrong with these pictures! There are still leaves on the trees! Fall chores aren’t done. Wood isn’t cut and stacked.
That’s what’s wrong with these pictures!
AND A GREAT TIME WAS HAD BY ALL…
This was the 18th Annual Cambridge Pottery Festival and US Pottery Games…and what a great time. We’ve always had other shows conflicting and not gone. Shame on us! It’s a semi-unique kind of show – all pottery!
None of those pesky painters or glass blowers. The atmosphere was relaxed, only 40 booths so no one was in a rush.
Potters from all over the country, mostly mid-west but also North Carolina, Arizona, Nebraska, Florida. (That’s us, second on the left in the photo on the right.)
The big event is the Pottery Games, where potters, experienced and student, run timed throwing contests for a cylinder, large pot, plate, etc. These run from about noon on Saturday through the weekend.
There’s a raku pit, where you glaze a pot and watch it fired and an hour later take it with.
Kids events, you can try your hand at throwing a pot (with help).
We were so enthralled we came back wanting to start as similar festival here in Hutch! Two potter friends Joe Frank McKee and Travis Berning from North Carolina who were there told us about the Smoky Mountain Pottery Festival (June 6) and Western NC Pottery Festival (Nov 7) that run back east. (We carry Joe Frank’s work in the Gallery).
Anyone want to volunteer to help us pull this off in 2011?
This electronic thing is taking us over. First it was this blog…then our Constant Contact Newsletter, then Facebook, then LinkedIn, and now they want us to Tweet???? Who’s making the pots….for that matter, who’s doing the work anywhere?
But if you’re not getting the newsletter, sign up here. We keep up with the Gallery and some Pottery stuff, new products and usually have a special at the end.
If you want to be a fan on Facebook, here’s where.
We’ll be glad to be your friend. Incidentally, if anyone knows food magazine Food Editors, Test Kitchen folks, photographers or writers, we’re getting quite a base of knowledge in contemporary cooking with clay and would be glad to share. Let us know via an email claypot@hutchtel.net .
And now with the new Clay Coyote Ceramic Flameware, a whole new world is opening up.
We’re going to try to get a Facebook Group (Cooking with Clay) going to trade cooking tips, recipes, and uses for pots.
Oh yeah…then there’s YouTube. As soon as I can learn the editing software, I’ll get more videos up there including one on cassoulet, making homemade vinegar, throwing various pots, a tour of the studio and more.
Here we go for the next 6 months. This morning we woke up to a good 4″ of fresh new snow. Not too much shovelling thought as the ground’s still too warm.
The back porch (above)…the view from the kitchen below.
But looking north off the back porch, it’s really beautiful (in a masochistic way).
The jeep and plow are ready….the tractor isn’t.
The pond has almost gone dry this fall with the lack of rain, but strangely there’s still a lot of corn in the fields. Farmers are trying to get it to dry naturally rather than by using gas dryers.
HIDDEN ART GEM UNCOVERED!!! Travels with Tom & Betsy
On our way to Chicago for the Frankfort Fall Fest, we uncovered a hidden gem this year…Mineral Point, WI. It was an old mining town that had been pretty near shuttered in the 1950′s and 60′s. The a few artists discovered it and began to build studios. Shops followed. Now it’s an amazing array of galleries and artist studios.
Down towrds the bottom of the main street hill we were attracted by something on the ‘balcony’ of one shop. (You’re going to have to click on this to figure it out).
It’s the home of Howdle Gallery and Bruce Howdle. Bruce is most famous for his large ceramic wall sculptures (here he is working on one), but one of his fascinations is pigs.
He has done wonderful sculptures, mugs, wall pieces, you name it, with pig themes. Ask him how he came to have this old building and out comes the picture album. He’s done much of the work himself over more than 20 years. The character of the building is wonderful. We’d strongly recommend Clyde and Carolyn stop in….you too!
Mineral Pt. is about 1-1/2 hours SW of Madison…a bit out of the way, but well worth the trip. Look at their website for special celebrations during the year. For Chicagoans it’s an easy day trip. If you’re headed north or south along I-94, plan a few extra hours.
