We had a great time today at the festival. One of the best things about it is seeing everyone there. I had a few sales and even a couple of store owners asking about having my pots in their stores. Carly stayed and helped me all day. It was great having her there to help me.

Work by Rich Daniels, of Pollocksville

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Carol McCracken

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

More Carol M. she does a lot of cool handbuilding!

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Pollocksville Pottery Festival!

A brand new potter from the Sea Grove area, this gal has a lot of talent.
Pollocksville Pottery Festival!
Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Pollocksville Pottery Festival!

Me, standing behind my displays. I tried to make them colorful and interesting. Everyone commented most on my little plastic artichoke candles! I could have sold a dozen of them!
Pollocksville Pottery Festival!
Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Pollocksville Pottery Festival!

My new color combo was very well received. The most popular item were the wine glasses!

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Love this glaze!

I've been working like a production potter getting ready for the Pollocksville Pottery Festival. Mark your calendar for Sat, Nov 13, Bell Plantation, Hwy 58, towards Trenton. If you don't need pottery, buy a gift for someone else. This year, buy everything hand-crafted made in America and support the arts!

Love this glaze!

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

I've been busy this week

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Throwing a week away!

I spent this week throwing pottery for the up-coming pottery show in Pollocksville. I didn't get full eight hour days but I made the most of the hours I got. I sure can throw faster than I did last year, getting ready for the same show. It's very encouraging to see progress.

Wine Testing!

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Wine Testing!

Latest and greatest efforts at the wheel. I've been trying for sometime to get these wine stems to look right and I think I'm finally there. In these two photos you can see the first batch of stems drying and the test stems I threw and glazed. Every test stem is numbered and I have a list of the glazes I used on each stem. Remember to take notes when you try new things because it really pays off.

Wine Testing!

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

First batch of bowls for the Miles City MT soup kitchen are ready to ship.

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

My latest project has make it to bisque. I added iron oxide to the edges to bring out the details in the texture. Then I used a

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

My latest pottery project for my friend, Patty. She wanted this verse illustrated on clay and she wanted a pitcher in the act of pouring. I immediately could see this in my mind. This is still in the greenware stage and drying. Email me I'd you want directions on how to build this, although you can probably figure it out by looking at it. I did use two different clays: red stone and dessert buff from High Water.

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Advice From the Pros

I spent the weekend with Cynthia Bringle and Ben Owen III. Ben is from the Seagrove area and is from a long line of potters. His name is well-known in NC. Cynthia helped establish the ceramics program at Penland, a school for the arts here in NC. I definitely want to go to Penland for a summer class or something. Anyway, the workshop I attended was held at Jeffcoat pottery in Calabash NC. I picked up a lot of information and got to know two really interesting and encouraging
people.



Above is a photo of Ben assembling a large pot. To the right, Cynthia shows us how to make a wine decanter. She says that our fingers are the best tools. I also got some tips about throwing off the hump, trimming and not trimming, and how to use chucks.

Wheel Deal

My new old Brent CXC sounds awful. When Chris heard it he took it apart and found various and sundry items inside the dust cover and motor. There were dead insects, dried clay, some wasps nests and a lot of dirt. He took the motor into a shop for new bearings. Chris used to work on motors back in the day. As he explained brushes and bearings to me, I marveled again at how God uses everything in our lives. I thank the Lord that Chris is such a great handy-man and can fix all sorts of stuff.

My used Brent Wheel should be as good as new soon. Right now, we are busy in the store (Bear Hands Pottery) making bowls for New Bern's first empty-bowls fundraiser. Our goal is 100 bowls. About 70 or so are waiting to be bisqued or glazed at this point. I'm going to sit down this weekend and throw a few more. I've recently learned to throw bowls "off the hump." It sure is fast!