From Gruene to E.A.S.T.

I had a great time in Gruene, TX this past weekend for the Texas Clay Festival. I really can't say enough about how wonderful the TX Clay community is and how welcoming they've been. It was a great opportunity to meet many of the other potters that I had sort of known through blogging and facebook as well as put some faces and names together.

Now it's time to get ready for the East Austin Studio Tour. E.A.S.T. will be another good time and my studio complex is having a big party on Saturday night, 11/13. More details on that as I hear about it.

I'm working on a few new forms and will also be doing another series of Austin decalware. I just need to find the time to comb through some images and find the good ones.

Hi Earl

While we're sitting here in Austin enjoying the heat and humidity, our old stomping ground of the Cape is getting ready for a visit from Earl.

Right now, according to my friend Bruce's photo, all is normal. (I found a blog that has been updated less than mine)

I'll get some pics from my folks, who are still on Cape, as the storm rolls through and we'll see what happens.

Great Texas Clay Symposium

I'm excited to be part of the First Annual Great Texas Clay Symposium hosted by the great folks at the Eye of The Dog Art Center in San Marcos, TX.

They have a brand new building and I'll be there along with my fellow Art of the Pot hosts, Ryan McKerley, Claudia Reese, Chris Campbell and Lisa Orr. We'll each be demonstrating our varied techniques and having a lively discussion throughout the day.

It's a full day workshop, 10am-4pm, on September 18th. Check out the EotD Website for more info and to sign up. It's limited to 40 participants and there's still a few spaces left. Sign up before it's too late.

Musical Tuesday?

I began last Tuesday by posting a song. Maybe Tuesday becomes a music day here at the blog.

Ryan Takaba, who was one of our guest artists at Art of the Pot last May, posted this on his Facebook page. Since he grew up in Hawaii, I'll take his word for it that Ohta-San is the real deal.

I liked it anyways and I'm thinking the kids will like it to when I show it to them later.

Pots are being made in the studio...perhaps I'll blog about that soon.

2 Person Show at Blue Heron Gallery

First of all...Yes, I know it's been a while.

Clearly I should try to get back to writing again. I have big plans for the fall in the studio and I'd really like to make blogging an integral part of it. More on all of that later...no need to bore you all(someone still checks this place, right?).

The important news is that my Two-Person Show opens at the Blue Heron Gallery in Deer Isle, Maine today! Ryan McKerley, my fellow Art of the Pot host, and I are having a show titled, Contemporary Porcelain Surfaces at the gallery which is located just down the road from Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. I was hoping to swing by and check it out but I'm starting my drive back to Austin tomorrow and I just couldn't rationalize adding another 13 hours of driving to the trip.

Here's to hoping this is just the opening salvo in a return to the blogosphere.

Up top are some of my SkyLine Mugs that are up at the show and pictured below is one of Ryan's bowls.

Art of the Pot

The Art of the Pot studio tour is this weekend! I'm now officially going to be hosting this year and can't wait for the tour to begin. We're all busy getting ready for it and our friend and patron Judy Gordon went on the local CBS affiliate's afternoon show with our wares to let everyone know about the tour. Pretty cool to make the news. You can see the clip here.

I'll be at Domy Books on East Cesar Chavez along with fellow AOTP Host Chris Campbell. We'll have guest artists Charity Davis-Woodard and Amy Halko along with us. For more AOTP info check out the website.

Tomorrow I'm picking up my friend Mark Shapiro. Mark is here for the tour as a guest artist at Claudia Reese's studio. He'll also be one of the speakers at the Pottery Confidential Lecture at City Hall Thursday night. More info here.

I'll try to get some pics up throughout the weekend. It will be more likely done on Facebook or Twitter but I'll see if I can at least get a few up here too.

Art City Austin

We're back from an amazing trip to El Salvador. We went all over the country and had a blast doing so. We went from city to beach, from city to lake, from city to beach and back. The kids had a blast and this will probably be the first trip to El Salvador that they truly remember. Javi and Ale had been before but it had been almost 3 years so their memories were hazy. With all the fun they had this trip, it should be crystal clear for a long time.

Now that we're back it's time to focus on getting ready for Art City Austin. I don't know much about the show other than it's right here in town, put on by a wonderful local organization that works really hard to promote Art in Austin and that it's going to be in a wonderful location. The show stretches along the Lake on Cesar Chavez from Colorado Street to Lamar. I've only done one other outdoor show before so I'm hoping for good weather. I'll let you all know my exact location when I find out.

I'm also hoping that my good friends Abigail and Steven win the TOGS Competition so I can use their exhibition space rather than set up under a sorry EZ-UP Tent.

Holiday Open House

Our Holiday Open House is starts Sunday at 10.

Guest artists:

Chris Campbell

Michael Merritt

Ryan McKerley

Lisa Orr

&

Claudia Reese.

I'm very excited to be working in a city with such wonderful people.

I hope we'll see you then. Info and directions here. I'm psyched about the new decal work. I'll get some good pics of my decal work up soon. But...for now, I have to get back to setting up.

I'll try to get some blogging in tomorrow during the show.

Back Home

We're back in Austin after having a great week in NY and I'll post about it soon...plus I think I owe a follow-up post on E.A.S.T.

Today I'm getting settled back in and reclaiming my studio from it's tour set up as a gallery space. What I have left over from E.A.S.T. will be over at our house for a Holiday Open House that we're doing on Sunday 12/13. I'll announce the details soon and get some images up about it.

For now, I just want to thank my fellow Austin potters who have all been incredibly welcoming. Ryan McKerley came up with the idea of a group open house as a way of letting people know that I'm new in town making pots. Ryan is one of the founders of Art of The Pot and he's called in reinforcements with some of his Art of The Pot co-founders. So, I hope you'll save that Sunday to come by our house and check out all of the work. So far we have a great lineup including, Ryan, Lisa Orr, Michael Merritt, Chris Campbell and Claudia Reese. I'm printing up a card today so let me know your address if you'd like one. keith (at) kreegerpottery (dot)com. (sorry...trying to avoid spam by not writing out my full email address)

Static Bisqueware

I, like most potters, tend to complain about how boring/dry/static our bisqued pots look before their final firing. Perhaps I wouldn't complain if they looked this nice before they get fired. Michael Kline is busy firing his woodkiln today and I can't wait to see how they look afterwards.

For anybody reading...my birthday is coming up soon....just thinking out loud here.

Sugar Creamers

Been a while since I've made any of these but I'm at the end of my throwing cycle and that's when I usually don't know what to make. I was working out a few design ideas in these four as I was throwing. Sequoia Miller has a new blog and he addressed that idea nicely the other day:

A great thing about making as a practice is that design and fabrication are interwoven. Our culture separates them for specialization (and wealth) but one reason why craft rules is that we can make things and think about them at the same time.

check it out here.

These sets will get some deco and then they'll head into the space being saved for them in the bisque which I'm planning to fire off tomorrow.
Here's that bisque. Almost ready.

Coming up next weekend is the East Austin Studio Tour. I thought I had planned ahead well but it's almost here. I'll mix up a glaze or two tomorrow and hopefully fire a glaze kiln on Monday.

Off to Gruene

If you're in the area you should be to.

For more info check out their website.

A Visit From an Old Friend

Thanks to my good friend Bruce, my Soldner foot pedal has been rescued from a deserted studio on Cape Cod. I got my Soldner wheel when I first opened up my studio on the Cape and it quickly replaced my Brent as my main throwing wheel. Subsequently, my Brent became my trusty trimming wheel which gave me the luxury of not having to clean the wheel between throwing/trimming/throwing.

As I mentioned earlier, the Soldner Wheel made it onto the truck but the pedal missed the ride down. I figured, it's 12 years old and I might as well look into getting a new pedal. I quickly learned that a replacement pedal was $531 and I also quickly sent Bruce on a scavenger hunt to find the pedal wherever I had left it.

I returned home from taking Javi to a tennis lesson yesterday evening and found a box had arrived with my trusty pedal....I'm looking forward to getting some pottery made on my trusty old wheel. Thanks Bruce!

And as a bonus...that wasn't the only package that arrived yesterday. Abigail sent down a fantastic care package from Michigan full of pickles and jams made with her crop from her super-garden. Can't wait to try it all! I didn't have the camera with me this morning so the pics of the deliciousness are going to be posted shortly.

Mini-Sidewalk Sale!

There's a little sidewalk sale in town today that I decided to take part in at the last minute.

I'm not a member of the merchants group anymore since we're moving, but one of the other members was kind enough to call and let me know about it. Thanks Janet!

I set up a table out front with what I left of my older work and a few seconds....all at very good prices.

I'll be here from 10 until about 2. That's when, if all goes according to plan, I'll be heading off Cape to Chris Gustin's place for the Watershed Benefit.

From the Collection

I haven't seen these in ages.  When we renovated our house about 4 years ago we moved into my parent's house and what didn't got to storage went with us.  I just dropped the kids off for a sleepover and found these pour bottles still hanging out.  

Why don't we play a game of name that potter? 

Hey Abigail!

Appy Birthday!

photo from flickr, here

Off to Fenway

Bruce and I are on our way up to Fenway to catch the Sox play Tampa Bay.

I'll check in from Boston if my iPhone and it's typos let me.

image from redsox.com

I wish I was in Abilene...?

I'm not sure how close you are to Abilene but this will be worth checking out.  Don't forget to support your local potter.

The opening is coming up on Friday and you should check it out.  Google maps said it's about a 4 hour drive from Austin.  It's a bit too far from the Cape though.

I Wish I Was in DC

Looks like there's a lot going on in the pottery world this weekend.  

My friends Mark Shapiro & Sam Taylor are having a Home Show in DC this weekend.  They both make beautiful pots over in the hills of Western Massachusetts.  Enjoy and when you go...tell them I sent you!

I Wish I Was in Austin

This is definitely worth checking out....

I guess I'll be in town for the show next year.  If Minnesota is too far north for you this weekend, go check out The Art of the Pot.  It's going to be chock full of my future neighbors and fellow Austin potters as well as some folks from abroad....including the Artstream Nomadic Gallery.  

PS

Blogger somehow Bloggered the image....sorry.