December Open Studio Schedule & Events

'Tis the season' has officially begun, and December is upon us filled with special events and studio schedule changes.

For members, please know that some 'closed' days may still have time available - if you're finishing up holiday gifts we'll work out the kiln timing to make sure you get as much through as possible.

For anyone just wanting to visit the studio, if you can't make it during the posted hours, feel free to contact me to make an appointment.

Some of our highlighted dates:

Friday, December 4, 6-9pm: Echo Gallery at Biltmore Park is having a Holiday Open House to celebrate the season and to welcome some new guest artists. I'll have a smattering of new work in the gallery, and in addition to member artists Genie Maples, Laurie McCarriar, Barbara Fisher, Susan Webb Lee, Anna Koloseike and Susan Finer, come check out the work of guest artists Heather Tinnaro, Becca Floyd, Cindy Walton, Tekla, Alex Stevens and Brian Fireman. Come for a nibble and a cuppa, and see some incredible work by some of our area's finest!

Sunday, December 6, 12-6pm: The Big Crafty is back! I'll be at a table downtown at Pack Place with other Big Crafty types, and I'll be featuring super-savings on some great holiday gift ideas that will directly benefit the recent vet bills for Lissa the Wonder Dog and Studio Mascot. Actually, just about ALL sales go directly to benefit that cause right now!

Saturday, December 12, 12-8pm: The 2nd Saturday Holiday Artist Market is happy to coincide with the 2nd East West Asheville Holiday Art Walk which is proudly joining forces with the FIRST annual Shop West Asheville event! All to say that there will be a whole lotta fun, sales and holiday festivities all through West Asheville! And at Crazy Green Studios, I'll be hosting an abbreviated 2nd Saturday Market. My guests include Gabriel Shaffer, Glasswear NC, Piece Blossom, Lady Di Creations and Renee Gaudet. We'll have a raffle, some light refreshments and general holiday cheer abounding!

All of December and a bit beyond: in Decatur, GA is having its annual Holiday Studio Sale, and if you've already gone, plan to go back as I'll be sending work down in December to join the show!

Mug*Shots opens at MudFire this weekend!

Back from Atlanta

Feeling much more alert now that I've caught up on sleep, and ready to hit the studio and start another frenzied production schedule for another firing in a few weeks, but first a recap of the weekend's events!

Friday I opened the kiln and shot a few pictures of the new work as I unloaded, sorted for orders and packed for the show.








(some of the new tile tests)

The firing overall was great, although I still want to work on the copper green glaze and/or the application of those we have. The glory of that glaze for me is the range it gives in firings, depending on the clay body, place in kiln, firing, etc., but I want to set the parameters of that range a bit more to my liking. The new brush work and glaze combos were good again in this kiln, and again I ran out of time and wish I had done more, but it just gives me a good starting place for what I'm throwing when I get in the studio today!

Once loaded and deliveries made, I finally hit the road around 5pm. A few traffic slow downs and my usual confused navigation through I-285 and missing my exit, and I was finally at my host destination around 9:45. I did a little car re-arranging and organizing, but realized that I might as well just wait and price when I unloaded at the show. I did go through my tent-mate's goods to make sure I found everything she left for me, and got that packed into the car.

I meant to take some pictures of the town square that hosted the event - as much as the continued build up all around Atlanta always confuses and confounds me when I try to make my way around areas I used to know so well, the development of this little Village Market in Smyrna has the opposite effect - it's really lovely, and I think it has the potential of really being an event destination for this area if they can let more people know it's here.

The set up went pretty well, considering I'd never dealt much with gallery set up construction. I need to tell my potter friends who make wall hanging pieces that they should look into this for shows - the cables holding Anne's pictures hold up to 40 pounds each, and it's so much easier than transporting fake walls and dealing with hardware and tools! Luckily, the set up time 'officially' ended about two hours before the show started, so I made sure everything was out by the end of set up, but then spent a more leisurely time pricing and organizing back stock.



Crazy Green Studios with tent-partner Bark Photography

So all the elements of the show were in place for a great result - the backdrop of the Village Market was beautiful, the weather was perfect, the booth looked great. Now just for the people! Ah well, that's where the road takes a turn. From what I could gather from the people who did come through, nobody seemed to know about the event, other than those I had invited on my own mailing list and a few others attached to the other artists. Nearby Dobbins Air Base was having an air show that rattled the ware every few minutes, but it ended in the early portion of our show - only it didn't seem to bring any of that crowd our way. Based on the number of people who did come through the booth, sales were great, which does make me think that if people actually knew about the show, they would come and it could be a good show worth traveling for. Otherwise, it was just a nice vehicle to see old friends, but I'd rather do that without the hassle and stress of filling a kiln, loading ware and setting up a booth!

But friends did come! I didn't have my head on to get pictures of everyone again, but here's one gang of high school and college friends:


Good friends Anne, Ginny, Lee & Edie


It was so great to see everyone, and next time maybe no show so I can take more pictures and just hang out more!

Sunday I took some ware over to MudFire Gallery for their upcoming holiday show, and got to visit a bit with Erik and Luba while they were on a workshop break (and then Luba kindly let me steal her to go rummage through my boxes of pots!). Sunday night my hosts Anne & Steve joined me in meeting my 'god-family' Nancy, Gordon, Anna Lori & Alex for dinner (again forgot the camera!!!!), and yet another friend was dining a few tables away.

Monday, I was able to have a lovely brunch with more gal pals then hit the road back to the mountains. The colors are starting to show, and it was a gorgeous day for the drive. Now everything is dumped in the studio and waiting for my organizing and cleaning, so it's back to the daily show!