Blatant Self Promotion

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Six Clay Alliance Potters

HOLIDAY SALE 2010

Dennis Allen, Ben Clark, Trina Feldhake

Karen Herbert, Ruth Radin

 & Barb Terry

Saturday, November 27

11 AM - 4 PM

Anderson Center Station

7832 Five Mile Road

Anderson Township, 45230

 

 

Anderson Center Station is located

behind Anderson Town Center Shopping Mall

Lots of easy parking!!!

 

Let's Get Serious for a Minute

OK folks today's post is about a serious proposal.It won't have pictures of pottery or even a self promoting plug about the pottery extravaganza sale of the century I'm participating in Saturday (Anderson Towne Center Park and Ride Building) with Ben Clark, Ruth Radin, Trina Feldhake, Sandy Manteuful, Barb Terry and Karen Herbert. No mention either of the music, the treats, or diverse collection of fabulous pottery you can choose from to finish your Holiday shopping.

No, today's post is about TSA screenings.Have they gone too far? I say they haven't gone far enough !The new congress already says they are not going to fund Health Care. Why not combine health screenings with TSA checks at the airport? They can already feel those lumps and bumps. Why not add prostate and breast exams? If they feel something strange, they can put you in the full body scanner and crank it up to high to see what your problem is. How long would it take to say" turn your head and cough" when they already have their hand in your pants? We need to stop this wasteful duplication of service now!

Everyone knows that men put off health exams.Instead of having men examine men and vice versa, we could have the optional screening by someone of the opposite sex for a small extra fee. Your trip could have a happy ending at the beginning.

My niece Lisa has inherited the curse of the Allen family wit. Her suggestion is that we hire sex offenders to do the pat downs. Most of them have trouble finding a job so they are readily available. They would be dedicated and thorough, and we would know where they are. Everybody Wins. Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

Busy, Busy, Busy plus glaze notes

Everything has been going a little too fast since I got back from North Carolina. Laura Davis had asked if I would like to join her Holiday Sale. I said sure, then all of a sudden, I realized it was this week. I grabbed a few boxes of pots and hurried down there Tuesday to beat the drop off deadline not really knowing what I had brought.It turned out to be mugs, cereal bowls,some spongeware,and a few baking dishes. Not a bad mix but I did find that instead of sets of six bowls, I had some sets of three as the others were home in another box. Oh well stuff happens.

I went down Friday afternoon for final set up and discovered that Laura's staff had unpacked my boxes and put pots out on shelves. I had expected to use my own display but they chose to mix everyone's pots on the available shelves.That was fine, but I had not priced my pots yet so I had to scour the whole place to find my stuff to price it.

By the time that was done and I helped with the general chores it was time for the opening. The crowd showed up at six and kept coming through the evening. I sold some mugs and a bowl or two but the best part was spending the evening with a lot of nice people that I don't see often enough.This coming Saturday I am joining with some friends from Anderson Twp.for a repeat of our Holiday sale from last year.We had a great time and sold very well so I am planning to be a lot better prepared for this one. It is at the Anderson Towne Center Park and Ride near Beechmont and Five Mile.There will be five excellent potters, and me.

Dillsboro

Last Saturday was the Western North Carolina Pottery Festival in Dillsboro. My friends Mike and Karen Baum and Laura Davis had booths.Mike had been urging me to go for a while and I'm glad I did. I drove the little motorhome and was allowed to just stay in the parking lot all weekend. It was really nice to have my own little warming station to retreat to.

The day dawned cold with a dusting of snow. Pots has little snowy accents on their rims as I walked thru on my way to coffee.There were 40 booths and every one of them was very high quality.I took pictures as I went but the battery on my camera pooped out early so there are not as many pictures as I would like but you should get the feel of the showfrom them. When the show opened, the crowd surged past the barricades and the frenzy was on. Mike said the crowd was not as big as last year but people came to buy. Dillsboro is very small so most people were from out of town and did not want to go home empty handed.

There were demo's all day, including featured potter Stephen Hill. Where else can you get a Stephen Hill Workshop for a $3 admission? I met many potter's whose work I respect and really enjoyed myself. I particularly liked meeting John Bauman, Joy Tanner, Doc Welty, and Mark Sudlarek. Google them to see more of their work.

Everyone was very hospitable and after I helped Mike and Karen strike their tent and load up, I even got invited to the Potter's Dinner with everyone. My one screw up of the day was watching TV with the generator off. About 3 AM I woke up in a freezing cold camper because the battery for the fan on the furnace ran down and shut down the system.Luckily, the engine has a separate electrical system. I was able to start the bus and head down the road for a couple of hours. This recharged the system so I pulled into a rest area and took a long nap with heat.

I spent Sunday with our daughter Kate in Charlotte and threw clay for 5 hours straight on Monday to demo for her art classes at West Mecklinburg H.S. I needed to get home so after school it was a 9 hr drive to get home by midnight. It was a great trip but as I always say, "No matter where I ramble, No matter where I roam, There is no chair that fits my ass ,Like the one I have at home".A couple of captions did not come through. The picture at the top is Doc Welty, the Crystaline vase is Phil Morgan and the ash bowl is Michael Lalone from the John C. Campbell school. Enjoy the pictures.

P.S. Empty bowls Cincinnati made $32K Sunday. A new record. Wish I could have been in two places at once.

North Carolina

Last Thursday, I loaded up the little motorhome and headed south on a pottery junket. First stop was Tater Knob Pottery near Berea Ky. My friends Sarah Culbreath and Jeff Inge were both in the studio so I had a very nice visit with them and shared what has been going on in our respective parts of the world.Sarah continues to make some of the finest pottery in Ky while Jeff has branched out into doing woodcuts as well.You can see their work at Taterknob.com.

Next was a stop at the Ky Music Hall of Fame for the quick tour, then on to Racoon Valley Campground for the evening. Thursday is Jam night at he campground and anyone is welcome to join their regulars for Old Time and Bluegrass Music.I got my courage up enough to play and actually sing in front of 30 or so people.(Like I said, they let anyone play.) I had a great time but needed to head down the road Friday to the Western North Carolina Pottery Festival in Dillsboro.

Friday I was disappointed to arrive too late for the clay olympics that are held to open the show but ended up having such a fine evening that the heart of the show will have to come in another post later this week.I hooked up with friends Mike and Karen Baum and Bev. O'Daniel from Cincinnati and we headed over to Sylva. Bev and I toured Sylva while the Baums went to check in at their motel.

We found one of the nicest displays of pottery I had ever seen in an antique store. The owner is a pottery collector and had brought in pieces from his stash for the weekend.Beautiful pots, all in great condition.Enough talk. Here are the pictures.Tune back in the end of this week for more from the festival itself.