Student pottery - and a peek out the window

Things are moving along with the expansion and the gallery is close to being ready for us.  We now have a view of the water from our expanded area!  I took the picture below from the new area.

We're at the end of another 6-week session of pottery classes and I wanted to share some interesting pieces that Mark unloaded from the kiln today:

These two vases were hand built, using two slabs of clay.  The student added some fun texture, gave them a bit of a bend and then attached them together with slip and more clay. 

Cute house that could be a bird house or a candle holder.  I love the glaze in that small bowl.

A nice size colander - the two glaze colors work really nicely together.

LOVE the black and white decorations on these pieces - all 3 made by different students.

Nice decorations and glaze colors on these mugs and vases.

Annual Student Pottery Sale

If you read this blog or our Facebook Page, you have seen some of the pottery made by our talented students.  This weekend is YOUR opportunity to support these new potters and buy some pottery at fantastic prices!

You can preview the pottery during Tacoma 3rd Thursday Art Mingle, May 16 from 5 to 8 pm.  We will have an Opening Reception Friday, May 17 from 5:30 to 7:30, and pottery will be available for purchase through Saturday, May 18 or until it's gone.

 

A portion of the sales will be donated to the Empty Bowls fundraiser, which supports the Emergency Food Network.

Student Pottery

Thought it was time to share some pots that are fresh from the kiln this week!

All of the above pieces are built by hand starting with a slab of clay put through our slab roller.  We have several different texture mats, rollers, molds and other household items that we use to add interest to the pottery pieces.  The way the glazes work on the texture adds an additional interesting element.

Making goblets take some patience and experience.  The stem and the cup are made separately on the wheel and then added together.  The student used one of our new glazes, which came out beautifully!

Pots from Pottery Class

I would estimate that we probably fire an average of 5 kiln loads each week - some bisque and some glazed.  Mark unloaded a kiln on Saturday and I took pictures of a few of the pieces.

Two people made great casserole/serving dishes and the glaze combinations are wonderful!

This is one of our most popular glaze colors and this particular vase came out beautifully.

Sometimes we have students who want to go more into creating sculptures with clay rather than functional items.  Even though Mark is not a sculpture, he can teach the basic properties of clay, building techniques, and glazing. The rest is up to your own creativity.

Student Pottery

It's been awhile since I've shared some of the pieces recently unloaded from the kiln that were made by our students.

I know Mark is excited about a piece when I hear him say "wow - look at this!"  The interaction of these two glazes is just stunning.

These two bowls are so elegant in their simplicity.

Obviously, there's much more to pottery than bowls ....like jars with lids.

I love the garlic handle on this garlic jar!  People are so creative!

There are a few pottery students who have been making pumpkins for fall decoration.  This one came out really great!

We still have space in our evening classes that begin the week of October 29th.  You too could learn how to make beautiful things like this! Come by the studio and talk to us about it.  You can register online, but Mark really likes to meet you in person and show off the studio.

Of course we also have lots of pottery and other beautiful handcrafted items in the gallery that you can buy and take home today!

Empty Bowls Throw-a-Thon

We're at the studio tonight and Mark and several pottery students are making bowls for the Empty Bowls fundraiser for The Emergency Food Network.

So far we have over 60 bowls made just today.

Shopping Trip to Portland

Most of the art work that we have at Throwing Mud Gallery are from artists who live in Washington and Oregon, with a few outside of that area.  We had some pottery to pick up for the gallery, plus we had a rare week with no pottery classes scheduled, so we closed the store and headed south to Oregon.

We've gone to the Oregon Potters Association Ceramic Showcase in Portland the past couple of years, but they were quick trips...3-hour drive there, look at pottery and drive back home in one day.  This trip gave us a chance to do a little exploring, along with taking care of business.

We've known Charlie Piatt for many years and sell his pottery in our gallery, but we had never visited his studio, Stark Street Studios & Gallery. Charlie started the studio about 33 years ago and rents studio space to several other potters. One of those potters is Don Sprague, whose pottery we also sell. We were able to pick up a few pottery pieces from Don, including a new smaller version of his garden lanterns.

We've had Michael's wall fish in the store and were completely sold out, so we met up with him and got more fish for our walls. (I sold 4 of them already on Monday.)

Mike's mugs come in two different shapes.  The shorter rounder ones seem to me to be a perfect size for a cup of chowder.  He explained to us how he does his designs and it's a lot of work.  I think his prices are extremely reasonable, especially when you consider the time that goes into each item.

We picked up pottery from Rhoda in May when we went to the OPA Ceramic Showcase.  In planning for Christmas I decided it would be a good to get more of her pottery in the store while we were in Oregon.  We brought back some bowls, utensil cylinders (or you could use them as a vase - we won't check up on you), and creamers and small pitchers.

On Saturday we went to the Portland Saturday Market and brought back some new wood items for the gallery.  I'll post pics of them next time....

10 Reasons to Shop at Throwing Mud Gallery

 

 

 

 

 

More student pottery to share....

A couple of days ago, Mark unloaded another kiln full of student pottery.  We have some creative potters at Throwing Mud Gallery!