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New look, same great content
If you think this issue of the newsletter looks different, you're right. We've adopted a new format that makes the newsletter easier to read on tablets and smart phones but still looks as good as ever on desktop devices. Of course, we will continue to bring you the latest news from the studio, pottery-making tips, events in the ceramics world, and informative videos.
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Off to a flying start!
Thank you, friends of Yourist Studio Gallery, for making our 2015 Holiday Sale the most successful one ever. We're already back at the drawing board, planning another exciting Holiday Sale for 2016. Momentum from the Holiday Sale has carried us strongly into the new year. The studio is humming with students in our popular wheel throwing, hand building, and advanced classes this winter. And our early spring classes are now open for registration. Sign up by February 18 to take advantage of our Early Bird Enrollment discount. With our facilities and our skilled and knowledgeable instructors, our program for students of ceramics can't be topped. |
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Studio calendar
Ready, load, fire
Here's the tentative schedule for our next gas kiln firing:
Loading: Wednesday, February 3. Firing: Friday, February 5.
Unloading: Tuesday, February 9.
This schedule could change depending on the amount of work that's ready for firing. Tool time demo
Cylinder confidential: making a simple cylinder on the wheel. Sunday, February 21, 4:30 p.m. This demonstration by Kay Yourist is free and open to the public. Just drop by the studio at demo time and brush up on your cylinder throwing skills. Upcoming classes
Spring is on its way, so why not greet it with a pottery class? Our early spring classes are now open for enrollment. Sign up by February 18 for our March-April Introductory and Continuing Wheel and Coffee and Clay classes to receive our $10 Early Bird Enrollment Discount. Register now.
Coffee and Clay
Saturdays, March 5 through April 9, 9:30-11:30 a.m., with Nancy Bulkley.
Introductory and Continuing Wheel
Mondays, March 7 through April 11, 7:00-9:00 p.m., with Kevan O. Wilson. Thursdays, March 10 through April 14, 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., with Nancy Bulkley. Thursdays, March 10 through April 14, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., with Kay Yourist.
Still time to register
Sundays, February 7 through March 13, 2:00-4:00 p.m., with Shannon Nelson
Try It Once on the Wheel
Saturday, February 13, from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. with Nancy Bulkley. Saturday, March 19, from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. with Shannon Nelson.
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Potter's quick tip
Help me save my pot
Q. I just made a pot that I'm so pleased with, but I trimmed it too enthusiastically and put a hole in the bottom. I worked so hard on this pot that I hate to simply abandon it. What I can do to save it?
A. Take a look at this Simon Leach video, "Throwing a new base in a pot when you trim through - oops!" Leach shows how he rescues pots with holes in the bottoms, a method he says doesn't work all the time but is worth a try for a pot you really value. Readers, if you have a pottery question for Kay, ask away. And if you want to revisit a past tip, you'll find earlier issues in our studio newsletter archive. |
Brief notices
Clay community digest
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Simple Forms, Stunning Glazes:
The Gerald W. McNeely Collection of Pewabic Pottery, now through August 28 at Cranbrook
The Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research and Cranbrook Art Museum is currently showing an exhibit of the Gerald W. McNeely Collection, one of the largest private collections of Pewabic Pottery. The collection was recently donated to Cranbrook Art Museum and has never before been seen in its entirety. The exhibit includes 117 works.
Cranbrook Art Museum
39221 Woodward Avenue, Box 801
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48303-0801
248.645.3323
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3 Days of Clay, March 4-6
3 Days of Clay is right around the corner, so register now. This is a special event for area potters, who gather to meet and greet each other, browse the vendor showcase, see new tool demos, shop for treasures in the book and tool show room, participate in a special make and take, and, best of all, learn from noted potters from around the country. The 2016 program features Robert "Boomer" Moore, ceramics instructor at West Virginia University, and Mark Nafziger, a full-time potter for 35 years. There will also be a special presentation by Anthony Schaller of Schaller Gallery on "E-Commerce: Cracking the Code." Visit the Jackson Pottery & Clay Guild web site for details and to register. If you've never been to 3 Days of Clay before, you owe it to yourself to attend. Work in photo by Mark Nafziger.
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Cutting Edge Texture: Using Die Cut Forms to Alter Surfaces on Wheel Thrown and Hand Built Pots
R NR Ceramics' two-day, hands-on workshop with ceramic artist Nancy Gallagher kicks off on Friday, April 15, with a reception and artist's talk at trustArt Studios in Ann Arbor. This event is open to the public. It continues with workshop sessions on Saturday, April 16, and Sunday, April 17, also at trustArt Studios. Registration is limited and this workshop is filling up fast, so enroll now to secure your place. For details and to register, visit the RNR Ceramics web site.
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On the web
The New York Times reports " Why Handmade Ceramics Are White Hot." When I started making pottery, I didn't know a pyrometric cone from an ice cream cone (one is definitely tastier than the other). Fortunately, AMACO is compiling a video glossary of pottery terms that not only tells you, but also shows you, what pottery terms of art like collaring, fettling knife, and oxidation and reduction mean. Best of all, you can suggest terms you'd like AMACO to add to its glossary. |
Can you solve it?
The mystery of the missing figurine
The Pilling figurines, eleven fragile unfired clay statuettes from the Fremont culture, survived in a Utah canyon rock shelter for 1,000 years. But during the 40 years after they were discovered, then shifted from academia to displays in museums, banks, courthouses, and motels, one of finest of the figurines disappeared from the collection. Would it ever be seen again? If recovered, would it still be intact? In 2012, the eleventh figurine turned up in the mail at the Utah State University Museum of Anthropology. Where had it been? And did it remain in one piece? Read the enthralling full story here (scroll down for the article) of this cultural treasure and how it was reunited with its companion pieces. |
Just for fun
Remember the day . . .
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. . . you took your first wheel class?
Here's a chance to relive that experience with sisters Meg and Ashley DeAngelis, who take their first wheel throwing lesson at Coyote Clay in Albuquerque , New Mexico. Follow their amusing adventure with clay in this video, "MayBaby's pottery fail."
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Yourist Studio Gallery | 1133 Broadway, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 734-662-4914 | www.youristpottery.comInspiring classes and workshops for new and experienced students | Bright, modern, fully equipped community studio workspace | Comprehensive selection of pottery tools for sale | Gallery exhibiting the works of celebrated artists | Online gallery shop for the purchase of ceramic art |
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