Letting Go...

I was going to write about cups... In fact, I thought I might wax philosophical about them! I just got a batch of small teabowls from the gas firing and all the mugs that I threw last months are glazed and ready to go out to a loving home.

But then I uploaded the photograph on the left and realized that, despite being one and half years into retirement, I still carry around with me the remnants of the economist I used to be. I was thrilled with the teabowls, they came out beautifully: the shapes are just right to cup in your hands and the glazes are delicious! But I went out to the deck to photograph them and, without even thinking, I laid them out in neat lines according to glaze. Take a look at the photo. What do you see? I see a bar graph! I guess I have much more work to do to shed my old self!

A Delightful Day!

Last Friday I joined Judith of ClayCrazy Pottery at Baltimore Clayworks to see the Teapots IV show. It will run through February 27 and I recommend it highly to anyone in the area. The show was juried by David MacDonalds who notes that the teapot "...is an aspiration to the novice, and a source of inspiration and consternation to the experienced clayworker... [making it] ... the quintessentail ceramic enterprise." MacDonalds created an exhibit that displays a diverse and experimental interpretation of teapots with the requirement that they all must pour. Forty artists from all over the country are represented in the show, working in porcelain, stoneware and earthenware.




Included in the show are two delightful carved porcelain teapots by Judi Tavill of New Jersey. A “crusty” anagama wood-fired teapot by Sherry Wells of Montana caught my attention, as did Abigail Jean Deneau’s (Missouri) dark stoneware with celadon glaze teapot, which looked like it was ready to dance off its pedestal. Hsian-Yi Huang’s (Oregon) whimsical “Devil’s Prada” teapot was also a sight! It is really difficult to name just these artists because I found the entire show inspirational indeed!




In addition, Baltimore Clayworks is also showing a solo exhibition by Deborah Bedwell entitled "An Abundance of Cups," which also runs through February 27. The exhibition is like “a garden of cups,” each one decorated with leaves, berries and grasses.