The Yourist Studio Gallery is offering a week of fun at our new clay camps for kids aged 7-11 and teens aged 12-16.

The kids' camp will run from 9:00 to 10:30 am, June 18 through 22, at the studio. Campers will spend five mornings

Nancy Bulkley

together making sushi plates, mugs, small sculptures, and other objects. They will also have the opportunity to try their hand at the wheel.

Campers will be led by instructor Nancy Bulkley, who has taught clay classes for kids and adults for 20 years. Nancy studied ceramics at University of Michigan and at Alfred University in New York. She "loves making functional as well as sculptural work."


The teen camp will meet from 9 to 11:00 am, June 18 through 22, at the studio. Campers will immerse themselves

Jeremy Andersen

in wheel throwing every morning for the week. They will learn basic wheel throwing techniques so they can make cups and bowls.

Teen camp instructor Jeremy Andersen is a graduate of Bowling Green State University with a degree in 3-D Art, focusing on ceramics. Jeremy likes to make "functional wheel-thrown objects and decorative serving platters."

Can you believe it's almost Art Fair time again?

In 2012 the Art Fair will run from Wednesday through Saturday, July 18-21, and Yourist Studio Gallery will be there at the juried South University Art Fair.

Our booth will feature fresh works by talented Gallery artists Jeremy Andersen, Marilyn Edington, Centurium Frost, Kevan Wilson, and Kay Yourist.

Be sure to put the Yourist Studio Gallery booth on your itinerary when you visit the Art Fair. You'll find us on South University near Church, with Middle Earth behind our booth and Starbucks in front.

Meet you at the fair!

You'll find more information about the South University Art Fair here.

Xiem Studio Tools now in stock

Have you been longing for one of those fabulous Xiem Art Rollers for texturing your pottery? Yourist Studio Gallery now has a selection of both the wide Art Rollers and narrow Art Roller Mini sets available for purchase. Each Mini roller set has three different textures, plus a handle specially angled to make it easy to roll the tool in any direction. Handles for the wide rollers are available for separate purchase.

Other new Xiem products at the studio include

• the sturdy canvas Studio Art Bag for your tools and supplies
• Precision Applicators for slip trailing and other decorating
• the X-Bevel for quick and precise cutting of clay at 30, 45, and 60-degree angles
• the telescoping X-Sponge for removing water from the bottoms of pots of various heights.

Come get your new Xiem tools today. 

The Yourist Studio Gallery First sunday Video for June 3 will present two half-hour films about celebrated Pueblo potters Maria Martinez (1887-1980) and Lucy M. Lewis (189/8-1992).

Maria and Lucy were instrumental in preserving native pottery traditions, and their work, with its incomparable artistry, has influenced generations of modern potters, both native and non-native.

Maria, of San Ildefonso Pueblo, is renown for her exquisite "matte on black" pottery, which she and her husband Julian revived using ancient examples of the pottery. In the award-winning national Part Service video, Maria Martinez, Indian Pottery Maker of San Ildefonso, Maria demonstrates her traditional pottery-making methods, beginning with the spreading of sacred corn before clay is gathered and ending with the building of the firing mound. You can find more information about Maria and her work here and here.

Lucy, of Acoma Pueblo, drew her inspiration from the pottery of her Anasazi and Mimbres ancestors. Daughters of the Anasazi documents Lucy's entire process from grinding raw clay and old shards to outdoor firing. Lucy and her daughters Delores and Emma, highly respected potters in their own right, show how they pinch and coil their traditional vessels, then decorate and fire them. Learn more about Lucy and her work here and here.

Cone 10 firing scheduled for June 8

Community studio members and students, come lend a hand with firing the gas kiln on Friday, June 8. In the process, you'll get educated on how the gas fired kiln works and experience a reduction firing in action. Please let Kay know if you can help out. Wares for the firing will be loaded on Thursday, June 7.

Skutt kiln in good condition for sale for $400. Call the studio at 734-662-4914 or email Kay for details.