Getting to the Surface - Workshop at Pittsburgh Arts-Center for the Arts

Getting to the Surface http://pittsburgharts.org/ Location: Scaife Building Room: Ceramics Aug 25-29, 2014 Meets 10:00 AM-4:00 PM on Mon Tue Wed Th Fri Level: Intermediate/Advanced Work with Massachusetts-based master artist Adero Willard to learn how to create new and exciting surfaces on clay by layering color and pattern, and playing with principles of transparency and opacity. The goal of these explorations is to generate new ways to work with form and surface that bring out the personality of your clay forms. A basic understanding of how to work with clay is required. This workshop is part of PCA’s new Master Artist Workshop Series. Instructor -- Adero Willard Adero Willard currently lives in Northampton, Massachusetts where she is a studio potter and instructor of ceramics at Holyoke Community College. Previously, Adero taught at the Chautauqua Institute and Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, NY. Adero received a BFA from Alfred University in 1995 and an MFA at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 2006, where she studied with Walter Ostrom and Neil Forrest. In 2008 she completed a one-year residency at Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts in Maine. As a full-time artist, Adero has shown in a number of galleries and craft shows, including Ferrin Gallery, Craft Boston and the Smithsonian Craft Show in Washington, DC. Adero's decoration techniques are being featured in a book on glazes being released in August 2014 by Quarto Publishing. Her lifelong interest in surface decoration is fueled by a passion for textile design, painting, and collage. View her work at aderowillard.com. Required supplies for this class: The ceramics studio will be open until midnight for the duration of the class, for students who wish to work independently outside of class time.

Looking through windows of one kind and another

It has been a very cold and snowy winter here in western Massachusetts. Having a view of the river from my pottery studio is one of the things I always look forward too about coming in to work. However, this winter all that view has done is reinforce the conditions.

So while March is making me look forward to Spring's warmer temps, I am also looking forward to being one of the ceramic artists included in AKAR's annual Yunomi Invitational. The show has not yet been posted to their site, but I will send out a link once it is. I was in the show last year too, and every piece sold -- so get there early!

Yunomi (or Unomi, depending who you ask) are one of the ceramic forms I most enjoy making. I like the proportion; I like that since it lacks a handle there are new ways to think about how it is held; I like that AKAR is a venue that cultivates the internationality of pottery.

My designs on the pieces included in this year's show follow a theme similar to the this one. 

If you know my work, you might be surprised by the mono-chromatic nature of this design. Don't worry: I am not about to abandon color!

But I do enjoy how the positive/negative contrasts become more prominent with a pared down palette. I like the "windows" that the decoration moves through and around, and alterations to the form that invite the hand to hold it.

In some new pieces that I am in the process of making now, I am taking some of these ideas a step or two further. I want the geometry and the organic elements to interact more. (That light blue you see is the wax I use for resist techniques.)

The natural light helps take some sting out of the winter.

Besides yunomi as a drinking vessel, I am working on some pots that bring some of the same proportionality and design theme to different objects. There is something about the ceremonial quality that is making me excited to see how these will come out (they are waiting for their first firing).

So here's to March and new beginnings...and getting to summer.

New Cups for the holiday season on Etsy!!!

If you can't make it to Craft Boston this winter follow me at my Etsy Shop,  Pottery by Adero Willard . All work is available for purchase, and I will be updating Etsy with new work throughout November and December. 

ceramic mug, hand decorated, one of a kind, pottery, tea or coffee, all handmade

https://www.etsy.com/listing/170372378/ceramic-mug-hand-decorated-one-of-a-kind

ceramic teacup with one of a kind decoration, handmade in Massachusetts. Completely unique -- a lovely gift!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/170375762/ceramic-teacup-with-one-of-a-kind?ref=listing-shop-header-3
 

ceramic yunomi no handle teacup, handmade and unique with all hand-drawn decoration. Fits perfectly in your hand to enjoy tea or coffee

https://www.etsy.com/listing/170442359/ceramic-yunomi-no-handle-teacup-handmade?ref=listing-shop-header-1 

ceramic mug, all hand drawn designs, original handmade fine crafts. If you love blue this is for you!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/169922386/ceramic-mug-all-hand-drawn-designs?ref=related-3

handmade ceramic mug, coffee or tea, one of a kind pottery

 https://www.etsy.com/listing/169918984/handmade-ceramic-mug-coffee-or-tea-one?ref=shop_home_active

Arts (ceramic and otherwise) in season here in Western Mass

We have had a very sunny and mostly mild fall and the leaves and the light are so beautiful!

I am not such a big fan of the cooler temps but the natural beauty of New England autumn is always something to look forward to.

As far as this being a season for the arts, most people probably think of the Paradise City show that happens here in Northampton over the holiday weekend. I am not exhibiting this year, but am definitely planning to stop in.

So if you are coming out this weekend for that show, let me give you one more arts event that you should include in your trip (or make a trip for some other day): Art in the Orchard in Easthampton.

It's a beautiful setting and you walk through it at your own pace; there are around 20 pieces so you can see it all in about an hour or so. Some are by local artists and other artists are from across the country.

If you can get there on a non-weekend day you probably can have a lot of it to yourself. And you can also visit their pick-your-own orchards while you are there.

Art in the Orchard is open through October. If you are coming out to Western Mass for the Paradise City show, or if you are just looking for a reason to make a trip out here (or just for an outing if you are local) this is a fun way to feed the senses.

One last note -- this coming Friday is Arts Night Out in Northampton, and there is an opening reception for a show called Be Here Now at the Forbes Library. So if you were feeling really ambitious you could do an arts trifecta!

Castle hill workshop

I just finished teaching a workshop at Castle Hill center for the Arts this week. It was called "Layered Surfaces and Intuitive Form".  Who knew a week would go so quickly, we got through a lot of the surface techniques that I wanted to cover, but besides demonstrations students barely had time to get in to form. 

 

Pictures below are of  a demonstration that I gave for making my new flower arranging forms and the workshop attendees work. 

If you missed this week with me, come to this hands on workshop  and learn  about my surfaces at Odyssey Center for Craft in Ashville, North Carolina. 

Flower arrangement forms

New forms are exciting, but take a long time.
Teaching at Holyoke is over this week, so I'm looking forward to time in the studio and in the garden.

Bring along a friend and visit the Asparagus Valley Pottery Trail this spring!


9th Annual Asparagus Valley Pottery Trail

April 27 and 28, 2013

10 am - 5 pm
Check out the potters on the trail
Each potter will host a guest  potter.

Mary Barringer 

Molly Cantor 

Stephen Arp

Lucy Fagella

James Guggina 
Tiffany Hilton
Donna McGee
Francine Ozereko
Tom White

The Pottery Trail is a self-guided driving tour of clay studios in western Massachusetts.

This year, there will be 8 guests in addition to the 9 potters that will welcome visitors to their studios.

Work from Worcester Pottery Invitational