New SIte/New Blog

Just in case you haven't updated your feed for my new site...check it out:

• http://kreegerpottery.com/blog/

I've been blogging away as I've been working away in the studio.

And...I know you know that you can find me on The Facebook and The Twitter.

Enjoy!

New Site, New Blog, New Address

And, just like that the new site is live! I hope you'll check it out and keep following the blog which now exists within the new site. Click on over and let me know what you think!

You can always follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

Finally...

No, I haven’t disappeared from the internet completely. I have been reading and following the pottery world. I’ve just been hiding from Blogger by spending my computer time on the Kreeger Pottery Facebook page and Twitter. Over the past few weeks I’ve also been working on my new website with, gasp, a web designer. I also recently completed a photo shoot with an incredible photographer here in Austin, Raychel Deppe from Applebox Imaging. She took the photo on the right and a lot of the images on my new site were part of that shoot.

We also recently finished another successful year of the Art of the Pot Studio Tour and we are already onto planning the next one. This marked the culmination a lot of hard work while creating my new body of work. The move to Austin back in 2009 brought with it many challenges but mostly, it was working in a new studio, a new city, a new firing method and with new materials.

This year’s Art of the Pot felt like the official unveiling of my new work. I’ve been showing and selling work the past 2 years at some craft shows and other events throughout Texas. Images of the new work have also been floating around the internet on my Twitter feed and Facebook page. Unlike your traditional craft show or gallery exhibit, Art of the Pot brings a highly educated and eager crowd out to see only clay. In addition, the work is surrounded by 15 other top quality artists who have brought their newest wares to town. My friend and AotP partner Lisa Orr likes to say our guests are the rock stars of the ceramics world. Looking at our guests this year, it’s easy to see why she says that. With all that work in town, it is daunting to see how ones own work holds up among the crowd of beautiful objects.

I was very proud of my work and I truly felt as though it was the most solid body of work I’ve had since our move to Austin back in 2009. It’s close to where I want it to be...not quite there yet but very, very close. I’m in the editing stage in my creative process. I will start subtracting the elements that don’t work and will be left with only the objects that make sense, both on their own as well as with the work around it. This next step is a difficult one and I almost feel like it’s a break with how I’ve worked as a potter for the last 15 years.

I’ve always put my body of work together by creating a series of one form, leading to the next; a run of pitchers, then a run of vases, then some mugs and so on. At some point I realize I’m low on larger forms so I try to scale something up. Then I remember the small cups I wanted to make or that I’ve forgotten the small plates that I wanted to have at the show. I’m realizing that I’ve always approached a show or deadline as a potter trying to fill a kiln. It’s a noble approach and may work for some but with the direction my work has been heading, I’m not sure if it’s the right way for my work to keep evolving.

It’s time for me to change how I look at an object. I need to look more closely at it’s purpose, it’s design and how it relates to the other objects I want to make. I think this simplifying of my work even more will allow even more subtle complexities to be exposed. It’s another big change but I’m looking forward to seeing how it develops within my studio.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be filling orders, finishing the build-out on my new website, shipping work off to galleries and try to get a head start on some ideas that have been percolating for quite some time. In the meantime, I’ll let you know when the new website is ready...it’s going to be pretty amazing...and I’ll be back to blogging within the new site. And hey, for a final blog post on Blogger, this wasn’t too bad, right?

In the meantime, click over to the Kreeger Pottery Facebook page or my Twitter Feed to stay up to date....and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter to get news and promos for the new website.

Neglect

No more apologies for not writing.

I'm working on a new Wordpress website to replace my current one.

I started with this blog when I re-worked my website last time...which now seems like ages ago.

The new site will have a Wordpress based blog as part of it and one day I'll work on importing this one over there. Although, I'm not sure if that's even worth doing at this point.

So.....when the new site is ready for the intertubes I'll let you know.

E.A.S.T. Awesomeness Part 1

My studio complex is full of a variety of artists. I had no clue this wheel of awesomeness was being built.

Sorry for the iPhone quality video but it's all I had at the moment.

I'll report more on E.A.S.T. tomorrow but I'm beat and it's late. Short version is today was great and the Cobra Party was a huge success!

Party Time!

It's almost time for the East Austin Studio Tour!

My studio complex is having a big party...so big that we have a flyer with a snake on it!

Drinks, Music & Art are available so we'll see you there. Cobra Show info is here.

My studio is open only during the first weekend of E.A.S.T. so don't miss out!

And so you don't have an excuse...here's a google map to get you here:

View Larger Map

Mariachi Tuesday

This weekend was one of my favorite weekends of the year, Fun Fun Fun Fest. As expected, it was awesome. Austin is known for the ACL Festival and that is all well and good. FFF is on much smaller with a much broader mix of music that ranges from Hip Hop to Indie Rock to Hardcore Punk. I'm not nearly as punk as I used to be, and that was debatable at the time. I did have a skateboard, a wallet chain and pink hair but that only counts for so much.

What FFF offers is a great mix of bands that I never thought of seeing, never thought I'd see and was too scared to go see when I was a wee little one pretending to be punk. I kept trying to stay at the Orange Stage and check out the newest and coolest Indie buzz bands but the shreiks and noise from the Hardcore Black stage kept sucking me in. I did miss a few bands that I was dying to see and even missed the Air Sex World Championships...think Air Guitar but with..nevermind, you've got it. (I was going to provide a link but I'll let all interested parties search for it on their own....this is afterall, supposed to be a blog about pottery)

I didn't see Mariachi El Bronx, the side project of The Bronx but I wish I had. I did catch some of The Bronx set, albeit way in the back away from the pit.

So, here's some Mariachi and some Hardcore to end your Tuesday with. The Bronx hardcore set isn't my style but to point out the contrast, I thought I'd include it.

E.A.S.T. 2010

The E.A.S.T. Catalog is finally out! I'm on page 60 (older celadon ware image) and my studio is location #59. You can pick up the catalog around town and check it out online here.

Don't forget that the Cobra Studios is going to be full of awesomeness this weekend. I'll only be showing the first weekend but the rest of my studio complex will be open both weekends. More info on the Cobra Show & Party here.

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.

Musical (Every Other) Tuesday?

Last week was a little crazy in between Bayou City and The Texas Clayfest and even my little music post was a failure. To make up for it, here's Boy Lilikoi by Jónsi.

Jónsi is playing at the Austin Music Hall tonight but I think it's going to fall in the category of yet another show that I miss.

Musical Truth

I almost forgot what is supposed to be my easiest post of the week.

I'm glad that Bayou City went well because we missed the ACL Festival and a beautiful weekend here in Austin. If things hadn't gone as well in Houston I would be a little upset for having to sell my tickets. If all goes well, next year I'll get to do both since ACL is getting pushed up to late September like it used to be.(I say that as if I've been an Austinite for years.

Well...enjoy the Musical Tuesday:

Alex Ebert from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros has another project and here's his song "Truth". He can whistle pretty well...not quite like Andrew Bird but it's a pretty good song.

Alexander - Truth by the Good Badger

Bayou City Recap

Houston, I think I love you!

Thanks to all who came out to Bayou City Downtown during the beautiful weekend. The show was packed but even better was that people were leaving with some new pots. It was definitely one of the more successful shows that I've had in a while and am glad that so many pots found new homes in Houston.

I'd write more but I feel like I'm already behind schedule for the Texas Clay Festival in Gruene(pronounced "Green"). I've got some pots to catch up on so I can have a full booth for the festival. More on the Clay Fest later...it's a pretty cool event and I'm glad to be part of it this year.
One of the cool things about Bayou City was that they had these barcodes for each of us. With an App on your smartphone you could scan it and get right to my website. I'm glad my site is somewhat up-to-date....somewhat is the key word. That's on my list of things to do when I have a moment.

Skyscraper Preview

Here's one of my new decal pots. Skyscrapers on a new gray glaze.
4 of them will be in Houston.

See you there.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Buraka Som Sistema

It's a double-header musical start to Tuesday.

I caught some of the Buraka Som Sistema act at the FunFunFun Fest last November and it was fantastic. I had never heard of them which made it even better to discover something new and awesome at a live show.

I'm looking forward to the FFF Fest this year because it's a great sized festival (not too big) and it always has an amazing line-up of punk, hip-hop, indie-rock and more. It's also a great mix of bands you know, bands you knew and bands you're glad you found out about. Devo, Deerhunter, The Hold Steady, Slick Rick and Bad Religion are just a few bands I'll be catching at this year's festival.

As soon as my ridiculously busy October is done I'll be taking a weekend full of Fun Fun Fun.

Soup or Cappuccino? (Part 2)

It's been a long week but I wanted to get a quick post in. I didn't even get my ridiculously easy Musical Tuesday post together. Picture above are some of the new cups. They have a clear glaze but the line-deco has been waxed so it's just the raw porcelain. I wanted to see if the deco would be cleaner and brighter without the glaze on top. I like the results but I think I just re-complicated my glazing.

It was a week of making, bisqueing, glazing, firing, decalcomania-ing and today I'll load the decal firing. I'll put another post together soon once I find the brain-power.

Quick musical thoughts:

The Ratatat Show on Monday was one of the best shows I can remember. Music, video and lighting effects combined seamlessly.

Guided by Voices last night was slightly disappointing. best review I saw was on twitter, "It took 10 songs and a bottle of tequila but Guided by Voices finally kicked the shitty cover band off the stage." I know it's early in the reunion tour but it looked like the previous nights show was the first time the original group played together...I'm guess it was. Still, they had some good points and maybe they'll have it put together for the Matador Anniversary show in Vegas that they're getting ready for.

2 shows in one week made me feel old and tired but somehow I've also been able to get my work done...now back to that decal stuff.

Pixies, Snakes and Anniversaries

Well Evangelina and I made it to Number 9...Number 9....Number 9 and celebrated our anniversary last night. I had bought tickets to the Pixies as soon as I saw they were playing in Austin. Evangelina and I have slightly different taste in music. I'm an aging indie rocker who was skateboarded and playing punk rock in college...She likes Jimmy Buffett.

I was getting the feeling that she really didn't want to go to a show for our anniversary so I surprised her with a dinner at Hudson's on the Bend. They specialize in wild game and I'm not that adventurous of an eater but a good bottle of wine was enough magic snake oil (pun intended) to try their famous Rattlesnake Cake. Think Crab Cake but a little more cowboy. So, we had a fantastic meal with rattlesnake, smoked quail, seared duck, trout and a variety of other deliciousness.

I definitely got some good husband points for the surprise change of plans. And, at least one of our good friends was able to enjoy the show as I seem to be running a part-time ticket agency.

So now that we've had our wild game for the week we're off to Dallas tomorrow for a quick weekend without the kids. The Texas State Fair starts tomorrow so if we leave the poolside margaritas we may have to try some of this coronary inducing goodness.

Blurry Snake Photo from Maggie's Austin

And, since I forgot to post my Musical Tuesday here's a Pixies Classic that we listened to on the way to the restaurant last night...

Calatrava Cups

I'm getting ready for tomorrow's Art of the Pot Workshop at Eye of the Dog Art Center so I'm playing around with some decals to demonstrate with tomorrow. I'll print out some of my Old York decals but I also wanted to try out some new ones. I found images of some Calatrava bridges on the intertubes and I'm working some things out with regular paper before I print it on the decal paper.

I thought I'd put up two images, a cup with a sample decal image and another cup (cappuccino cup from the other day) with a similar incised line deco. I like the play between the two styles of decoration.

So I think next up it's time to bitmap and print.

Sneak Preview

Some fresh fall pots and I'm in that in strange place somewhere between expectations and results. Give me a couple of hours and I'll figure out what I think and where I'm going next. Still liking the cityscape design and I like the sharper lines.

I used some underglazes to get some color (gray and blue) on the insides of some pots. Not too many this time, just testing it out but I think I'll play around with it some more. (Does gray even count as a color?)



That's definitely blue.

Hopefully some real pics to follow.

Soup or Cappuccino?

Can I interest you in a cappuccino or perhaps a cup of soup? These are my newest (to me) multi-use pots.

I missed some of the how-to images but you'll have to use your imagination of how they magically got connected to the cups....sorry.

They'll set-up for a little while under the plastic and then will get some deco tomorrow morning before waiting for Friday's bisque.

I wanna...

...go to the AIA Austin Homes Tour. I'd also like a house with those sliding glass corner doors.

And I think I want to be an architect when I grow up.