Whistle Creek: Weekend Ramble

Monday, November 7, 2011

Weekend Ramble

I had a great trip to Tennessee and North Carolina this week. I loaded up the "short bus" as we old special ed teachers call the RV and headed south Thursday Morning. First stop was to see an old friends Sarah Culbreath and Jeff Enge at Tater Knob Pottery near Berea Ky. I had a very nice visit but even though I was taking the weekend off, I ended up throwing long enough to get clay all over my traveling pants! Here is a picture of Jeff at work.

I traveled from Berea to Racoon Valley Campground north of Knoxville. The main attraction there is a country music jam on Thursday nights. These folks at campgrounds are so starved for entertainment that even a no talent picker like me gets a warm welcome and a lot of that oh so addictive applause. I did four songs that actually involved singing in front of other adults and lived to tell about it! The rest of the night I just tried to keep upwith everyone else on songs that I did not know. Somehow, I always managed to at least finish with the others. It was great fun but time marches on and Friday morning found me heading for the Western North Carolina Pottery Festival in Dillsboro.

WNCPF is a wonderful show. All the potters are very talented and thousands of people show up with pockets full of money and leave with big bags of pottery. The show is on Saturday but the fun starts Friday with throwing competitions for tallest 5lb cylinder,widest 5lb bowl, and tallest 2lb with a blindfold. Jim Reinert from Wisconsin was grand champion but our own Sam Hitchins from Core Clay in Cincinnati made a very good showing.

I spent my time volunteering to help with show chores and helping friends Mike and Karen Baum set up and knock down their booth. I had a wonderful time and got to know some very good potters who are also very nice people. Some captioned pictures should fill in the gaps in the story. I shot up my battery with the Friday Fun but for more booth pictures here is a link to last years show posting.Thanks for stopping by.
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4 comments:

Tracey BroomeNovember 7, 2011 at 10:13 AM
What a fun day in NC! I have got to put that on my calendar for next year, great time to be in the mountains the weather was perfect around here!
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Dennis AllenNovember 7, 2011 at 5:04 PM
Tracey, There was not a corndog in sight. If you wanted to eat,there were restaurants you could walk to. The only beverage was Beer from a micro brewer who was one of the sponsors.I worked the gate and we had people leaving with bags full of pots who said they were just taking a load to the car and they were coming back to buy more.
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Carol OsborneNovember 7, 2011 at 5:51 PM
Looks like a fabulous time! The weather was perfect. One of these days I will get to go, too. Thanks for sharing the pictures!
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gzNovember 14, 2011 at 8:40 AM
That looks another great day you had there!
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Why Whistle Creek

Whistle Creek is near the area where my ancestors settled in East Tennessee. It is about 6 miles west of I-75 and 8 miles south of Jellico.At various times the land was claimed by England, France, Spain, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky,Tennessee, the Union,the Confederacy, and the Cherokee.My family was there around 1800 and possibly before.My brothers and I still own the top of the mountain and it is still very rough country. I named my studio Whistle Creek in memory of the Allens who scraped their living from the earth and managed to keep it for two hundred years.

Bricks,Bricks, Bricks

I have two loads of kiln brick at home and one more to go. Weather permitting I will get some help from my newly retired brother and haul the rest home next week. I'm still early in the planning stages for the kiln. I haven't decided yet whether to make the firebox perpendicular to the arch a la John Theis managama and groundhog kilns or to place it parallel to the axis of the arch. I do know that with #2 three inch arch brick It will be a 3"6" sprung arch on top of low walls with a sunken firebox. If i can find a saw that will cut 41/2" I can rip some of the arch brick to fill in the ends of the courses and use the arch brick on edge to make 9" thick walls. Any input appreciated.

The Pitcher and the Nun

Yesterday a couple of sweet elderly ladies came into my booth and fell in love with the pitcher from the last woodfiring. (See last Blog entry) They said they wanted to give it as a wedding gift, then they said the fatal words-" Do you take Mastercard? " I replied-" No, but I want this piece to go to a good home and I believe that if I send it home with you, you will send me a check." They agreed and we exchanged info. It turned out they were nuns.Instead of mailing me a check, they brought back a check and some homemade candy a couple of hours later.It was nice to make the sale, but even nicer to send out a little faith in mankind and have a good deed returned.

Ohio Slip

More Spring Fair Prep....

Today was spent loading a bisque kiln with pots I have been throwing the last few weeks.They are made with a really nice red clay that a friend sold me when I couldn't get earthen red at Highwater. I should be able to glaze Monday and fire the whole load again next week. This is the only clay that I fire in the electric kilns but it gives a look that a lot of people like and I can fire economically. This plus pots on hand and pots I have been glazing for the gas kiln should be plenty for spring fair so now I can concentrate on the booth.

Spring Fair

The main project of the week was to try to finish throwing a batch of red clay that I have been working on so I can get the pots fired and glazed for the big Spring Fair sale that the Clay Alliance is holding on May 2. This is the big annual sales event for the club and I am very happly to be included this year but I do feel a little pressure to up my game and have a booth that doesn't look like a yard sale. Once I get the pots fired, I will have to spend some time focusing on display space and building some nice shelving. The sale is 11 to 4 at the corner of Madison and Woodburn ( DeSales Corner) Just take 71 to Edwards rd., Edwards to Madison, Right on Madison and you will be there in a few minutes. You will have a great time and get to meet 40 of the best potters and ceramicists in the region. More info at http://www.clayalliance.org/.

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