Update

Last weekend I did my first three day sale at Old Clifton Village in Greene County. Friday we had rain, lots of rain so nothing was really happening except that I learned to appreciate my tent a little more and had time to work on a new arrangement for the woodfired pots that adds some height to the display.

Saturday was drippy but there were people downtown. I engaged the crowd and found a number of appreciative people but "atta boys" don't pay the bills and it was extremely difficult to close a sale.I ended the day with two sales and some "be backs". The crowd had come for the yard sales and concrete lawn angels, not for Art. This was very apparent. It was also clear that the economic recovery has not reached the hinterlands.It was not an upscale crowd and people just didn't have any extra money to get themselves something nice.

Sunday dawned a little brighter.One of my "be backs" had actually come back after I closed Saturday and left a phone number with a neighboring vendor. I called her and she wants three pots which I can deliver as she lives in my area. The crowd was a little more upscale Sunday and I sold better than I had Saturday, including a very large covered jar that really helped tip the balance. Three days like Sunday would have made a good weekend. I need to look for some better shows next year.

The good news is that things are progressing on the home studio. The back yard has been excavated and leveled, most bids are in for construction and I have agreed to buy a slightly used Bailey gas kiln at a great price. Hopefully, I'll be set up by the first of the year.

A Tale of Two Pots

Every woodfiring has pots that don't quite measure up. From our last firing, I really liked the form of the jar on the right but the surface looked like the cup on the left. My friend Mike Baum suggested that we refire it in his gas kiln to see what would happen. Wow , what a difference. The dry soda and ash fluxed and turned clear revealing the wonderful color beneath.It's good to have friends.

This week has been busy. I decided a couple of weeks ago that I wasn't getting any younger and pole barns weren't getting any cheaper. If I am ever going to build a studio, I might as well do it while I can enjoy it. I have a couple of bids that I might be able to live with if I can get the lot level at a reasonable cost. I have re-fenced the yard so I can push dirt around with the tractor without the dogs getting out and am waiting on a bid for fill dirt and /or professional excavation. I'll keep you posted.

Don't forget Art in the Park in Bellevue Ky. Saturday and Second Sunday Stroll in Waynesville on Sunday. This is the last Waynesville show of the season and I hope they can get a crowd into town. It is a lovely little village but it has been a slow summer up there. The end of the month, I am doing a three day show in Old Clifton Village in Greene county near Yellow Springs.( 25,25,27 of Sept.) Harvest Festival at Maplecreek on Oct 10 and then taking time to get ready for our Christmas sale the first Saturday in December.

Not About Pottery

I took a day off yesterday and went to Metamora Indiana with some old bicycling buddies to ride the steam train. The locomotive was built as a switch engine in 1930 and worked full time until 1950. It has now been restored and they truck it around the country on a flatbed trailer to pull various excursion trains.

Metamora is an old canal town and the canal is restored for a few miles. There is a canal boat that they pull with horses and an operating grist mill as well.The canal goes through a covered bridge that is a wooden aqueduct that runs across a creek that runs below it. Pretty cool.The highlight of the trip was that we saw a bald eagle flying up the Whitewater valley. Magnificent.

Xenia Rail and Art Festival

The picture at the left may look familiar( Same as last time) but the message is different. These were a big hit at the Xenia festival. I sold half the baking dishes and three fourths of the handled soup bowls that I got out of the kiln last week. It's nice to pick a winner sometimes.

There really wasn't a crowd but traffic was pretty steady and people seemed to really like my work. There were 35 tents that were a mix of community organizations, railroad and model train enthusiasts, and art. There were some painters, jewelers, and photographers as well as a woman who made slab built items from clay. (I'm sorry but I can't find polite words to describe it and refuse to call it pottery). I had a flurry of sales in the morning and they kept trickling in through the afternoon. Many people bought more than one piece and I ended up with my best day except for the big Clay Alliance Spring Fair.

New Pots

People have liked this color combination this summer so I made a kiln load of these "Market Pots" recently. Nothing fancy or elegant, just good serviceable ware that you can bake in, serve in , and throw in the dishwasher. I have a show in Xenia, Ohio this Saturday so I'll take a couple of cases of these along and see if I picked a winner or not.

On another note, I just received a booklet from Dan Finnegan " Eddie Hopkins A Potters Life". Eddie was one of Dan's mentors at Winchcombe Pottery and the booklet is a memorial retrospective on his life and career. It has plenty of wonderful pictures and gives a lot of insight into the life of a great production potter. Dan may still have a few copies @ $20 ea. ppd. Check his blog for details @ http://www.danfinneganpottery.blogspot.com/.