“Christa Assad: A life made from Mudd” by Molly Hatch

I am a big fan of American Craft magazine these days, it has become a pretty well designed and well put together magazine. I keep peeking into Longfellow Books in monument square every few weeks for the next issue, the last issue was great and I am digging Molly Hatch’s (one of my new favorite clay bloggers) interview with Christa Assad. It was a great read for someone, like me, who is aware of Christa’s work but doesn’t know that much about it. And more importantly, I enjoyed reading about how she came to ceramics, what shes accomplished and how she got there. You can also go on the ACM website and read extra interviews with Ayumi Horie, Sanam Emami, and Jeanne Quinn!

I love Uncle Henry’s

UNCLE HENRY’S IS THE SHIT. It is a cheap ($2.00) weekly publication serving ME, NH, VT, MA, and parts of Canada, and here in this treasure trove you can scour through pages used and new items that people all over New England are selling. I have often found Kilns, molds, paints, tools, cameras that are on the cheap side (and probably negotiable). You can also find anything from your local yard sale, to used cars and airplanes. There is also a sweet “free for the taking section” in the back section. Uncle Henry’s could also be a great alternative to selling crap on craigslist, and you can find it at any local general store or grocery store.

change your plans

for November 7th because Running with Scissors (blog/website will be up soon) is having its GRAND RE- OPENING!!! There will be a range of art showcased from ceramics to photography in our lovely gallery, and the rest of the studio will be open for all ya’ll folks who’ve been wondering what the heck happened to 34 Portland St. And I will have a bunch of new pots made (hopefully). Sorry, Weird Al will unfortunatly not be making an appearence. You should also go to the MECA Art Auction and bid on my snack station, mama needs some fresh china paints and some gold luster. The Art Auction will be held that saturday night (November 8th) at the ICA, and I believe that the pieces that will be in the show will go live on the MECA website sometime next week.

“The Amassador of Handmade”

If James was (tear) the hardest working man in show business, then Faythe Levine is the hardest working lady in craft business. I have already read a little bit about her, I remember seeing her on this show on HGTV “Thats clever” (which is usually super awesome BTW), the last I read of her she was making her own work, owned a gallery for crafts, started a now very popular Mid West craft fair called Art vs. Craft, and at the same time working part time at a local coffee shop – woah killer.TODAY she is in the Home & Garden section of the New York Times, She is also the creater of “Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY, Art, Craft and Design” (see trailer above) which was financed mostly on credit cards and being made into a book (commissioned by Princeton Architectural Press), she’s currently the co-owner of Paper Boat Boutique & Gallery, plays the musical saw in her band Wooden Robots, friggin loves sock monkeys and HEEEEELLO shes on Wikipedia. As a young maker straight out of my undergrad, I feel this craft/handmade movement is happening like Faythe does and I really think that it is such an exciting time to be a maker. Reading the New York times article about Faythe, reading craft/artists blogs (an blog entry about this further, to come soon) and craft magazines, going to craft/art centers, watching “Craft in America” (I totally own) all give me a sense of camaraderie, and keep the momentum to keep doing what I do. I used to think that I was going to be this “starving artist” because I’ve know , knowing what I know now I really think that there are a lot of opprotunities for us out there and that there is a market for everything. I may never make $100,000 a year or even $50,000, I just want to be happy and keep doing what I’m doing and thats cool with me.

oh crap its already first friday

You should probably make your way to munjoy hill to the Filament gallery to see Ian Anderson’s kick ass solo exhibition called “On My Mark” opening THIS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5th. Ian is currently the associate Dean at Maine College of Art, lives in Westbrook with his wife Kari and awesome dog Max, and is really tall and kind of looks like John Malcovich. He is also the co-founder of Neutrino designs, a funky and very affordable line of dinner ware and the creater of the meca ceramics blog! Hope to see you all there!!!

Lets go to the snug after for a pint or two!

Ginger Lukas

woah! I am so excited to see my pal’s super awesome wall tile finally displayed like it was meant to be! She was a resident at Watershed in session 3 (I swear this will be my last watershed-related post). Some pieces exploded a bit, but she left it up to Noelle Horsfield’s (also another resident from session 3, and has been there ever since) hubby, Scott, took the task of putting the piece together and finding a way and a place to mount it. Way to go!

Studio pics

Above are shots of my new studio with running with scissors. I am pretty much completely moved in, I’ve got my inspiration wall up and I am currently working on reclaiming my old clay. Arriette, one of the RWS owners, is going to show me how to make an easy table that I am going make into a shelf/wedging board!

New studio space!!!

I am super-duper excited about my new space at Running With Scissors in the east end! The space is perfect for me and I am currently getting comfortable in my new surroundings and meeting the other artists. The space is insane! Its really clean, there is this sweet woodshop, two kilns, a darkroom, printing press, kitchen area, and a gallery space in front. We are going to be having an open house soon, but not sure when. I’ll keep ya’ll posted, and have some pics of my set up studio.

hey-yo

check out my pal Ollie Percival’s sweet drawings on his etsy page! His fun, folklore-ish/satirical/mystical creatures are all one of a kind illustrations, and a drawn super-duper well. He ransacks every vintage-ish frame in every salvation army and thrift shop to house his images, and also does image transfer on wood (like image above). Locals may have seen his work hung up at Breaking New Grounds coffee shop on exchange street, or peddling his pieces in monument square. He is updating new drawings on his etsy all the time, look him up!

Amy Lemaire

Amy is a class/ceramics/painter/photographer/scotch lover originally from NH but was living in  Chicago for the last  12 years working for Lil Street Art Center as their glass tech, and is about to go back to school for painting in the fall at PRATT in Brooklyn.  She was had been at Watershed since session 1, and I am pretty sure she was going to try and stay for the rest of the summer.

She makes these clay pods, almost like seeds, will fire them in soda or salt and then fuse intricate glass dots on them. Far above, is an exhibition at Lil Street where she takes these beads and submerges them in these huge tanks, taking plant life from all different regions. Manipulating and contorting flowers with beads, she said she’d love to manipulate nature and she gets to with these pieces. She made a few for Salad days and they where spectacular! They just got a little greenish after a couple of days.