What's New
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Silk swirl scarves
from
Kriska
Green Gecko silk
jewelry rolls
Crono Designs
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Turn, turn, my wheel! Turn round and round
Without a pause, without a sound:
So spins the flying world away!
This clay, well mixed with marl and sand,
Follows the motion of my hand;
For some must follow, and some command,
Though all are made of clay!
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Keramos (1807 - 1882)
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A Bit About Pottery
Pottery is one of the oldest art forms known to us. Some of the earliest surviving pieces of pottery are figurines dating to 29,000-25,000 BCE found in what is now the Czech Republic. The earliest vessels we know about were made in Japan around 10,500 BCE.
The pottery wheel was invented in Mesopotamia sometime between 6,000 and 4,000. This new technology allowed pottery production on a grand scale.
Throughout history pottery has sometimes been utilitarian and has sometimes been artistic. Often it has been both, giving us a window into other cultures and civilizations.
Both of the potters we are featuring this month draw from ancient techniques (Royce Yoder's functional wheel thrown pottery and Tim Garvin's use of ancient millefiore techniques) while creating modern works of art.
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Furry Friends
Meet Chessie, relaxing on the boat after a tough day.
Chessie belongs to
Dave and Patsy Bishop.
old friends of ours who found themselves heading south a bit late in the season due to weather and mechanical problems. Typical boating life, in other words.
Chessie joined the family after being abandoned at a convent. He is a six year old, 18 pound cat who simply loves everyone he meets. He's not much of a lap cat, but he loves to snuggle and have his belly rubbed. Who doesn't?
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| Greetings!
Spring is on the horizon, and we are thrilled to see it coming. We have two very different clay artists to profile this month. We also have exciting new work coming into the shop. |
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Royce Yoder
 Royce Yoder opened his pottery studio in 1983 in Lederach, Pennsylvania. Since that first year, Royce has made over a hundred thousand hand-thrown pottery pieces. His mission is to make work that functions both practically and visually. All of the pieces are microwave and dishwasher safe as well as lead free. Each piece is hand-thrown on a wheel and hand-glazed, making each piece unique.
Royce became interested in making pots while attending Hesston College in Kansas. He finished his formal education in 1976 at Goshen College in Indiana. He has taught workshops at Sawtooth Center for the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC, Messiah College in Grantham, PA, and Sertoma Arts Center in Raleigh, NC. Royce's work has also appeared in Ceramics monthly.
Royce's studio is a one man operation. He does cone 10 (approximately 2300 degrees) reduction firings in a 30' cubic car-kiln (the door and floor are on wheels on a track, so the entire interior rolls in and out of the kiln itself). Royce uses about 80 tons a year of a custom blend white stoneware clay and fires his kiln about 40 times a year to produce the beautiful pottery that he sells in over 75 galleries across the country.
Click here to see more of Royce's work. |
Blue Bus Studio
Millefiore porcelain jewelry by Tim Garvin
 Blue Bus Studio is a small group of jewelry makers led by Tim Garvin, an MFA trained artist with over 35 years experience in ceramics. In their woodland studio near Durham, NC, they create beautifully handcrafted porcelain jewelry.
"I look at the world in detail, noticing intricacies, contrasts, and rhythms of color to find and elaborate design. I then create my jewelry using numerous ceramic and metal techniques, among which are slip trailing and brushing, stenciling, forming, and etching. The extreme detail and intense color in my ceramic work results from the use of over 500 different colors of clay in an ancient technique known as millefiori.
In this technique, carefully designed loaves of clay are formed from colored porcelains. Next, cross-sections are sliced from the loaves, and these sections are shaped and finished into individual pieces, then glazed and fired-three times. A 23+ karat platinum edging is applied, and the piece receives its final fire. We make beauty from dust-a joy for us, and, we hope, a joy for you."
Tim Garvin
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Hours
Monday thru Saturday
10am to 6pm
Sunday 12pm to 5pm
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We hope you enjoyed our newsletter and hope you will come and see us....enjoy the view from our back porch.
All the best from
Alison, Jill, Kate, Linda, Sharon, Ann, and Betty |
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Handscapes Gallery, 410 Front Street, Beaufort, NC 28516
252 728 6805
www.handscapesgallery.com |
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