FALL CLASSES

Posted on October 1, 2012 by pincupottery

Fall 2012 Clay Classes

ADULT CLASSES! DON’T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY!

Bring your friends for a night out to make your own, handmade:

Wine Goblet / Martini Glass

In two hours you will be coached on making a pair of stemmed cups to enjoy your favorite beverage!

Friday, November 16 from 7-9 pm. Wine and snacks will be provided.

$35

House Plaque

Make a small plaque for your home – put your house number, initials, name or anything else on it!

Saturday, November 17 from 2-4 pm.

$30

Pieces will be ready for pick up 2 weeks after class.

Laura's Clay Angel

MAKE YOUR OWN ANGEL (all ages)

Bring the family so you each can make an angel in clay. Adults and children are welcome. Bring the whole family, invite your friends!

December 1, 2012 from 10-noon.

$30 per person

Angels will be ready to go home 2 weeks after class.

MAKE YOUR OWN CHRISTMAS GIFT (Children only)

Children will learn how to make clay cups or mugs, jewelry, keepsake boxes and more! We will create enough gifts to please family, friends and teachers!

3 Fridays after school: Nov. 30, December 7, & 14 from 3:30-5:30

$65 per child (3, 2-hour sessions)

Includes everything needed to make handmade gifts in clay!

Pieces will be ready to pick up December 19^th.

Students must pre-register

by calling 488-0480

Each class must have 4 students and no more than 10.

Podcast for Clay Peeps

Posted on February 27, 2012 by pincupottery

Being a studio artist can be pretty lonely. I teach, so I am not lonely (lacking interaction with people), but my creative/critical side is lonely. That is why I seek out other potters/artists online and in books and museums. I read blogs, search Google images, check in with online galleries, buy books, subscribe to magazines. Now, I can even listen to a podcast!

Brian R. Jones is a ceramic artist from Portland, Oregon. He makes functional and sculptural clay work. Last year he began recording conversations with other artists and posting them online via an iTunes podcast. The conversations are not interviews but a discussion about art. Listening to it, complete with airplanes flying overhead and interrupting children, makes me feel as though I am a fly on the wall listening to fellow potter/artists chit chat about what makes them tick. Lucky for me, Mr. Jones was able to attend the American Pottery Festival in Minneapolis last year and got to interview two of my favorite potters: Linda Arbuckle and Simon Levin. Recently he has posted a two-part discussion with Lisa Naples, another of my faves.

Visual influences abound in our current online culture to help me see the unlimited possibilities in pottery, but this can be overwhelming. Sitting in on a conversation, however, seems to pull me in from gawker to participant. It unleashes a more critical thought process to help focus my attention on what I need to consider when taking that next step to better pots.

I encourage all clay peeps, potters or sculptors, novices to professionals, to listen in on the Jonescast to be part of the conversation.

Cooking in Clay

Posted on February 5, 2012 by pincupottery

Casseroles are a winter food, I have decided. I never bake casseroles in the spring, summer or fall. I don’t know why exactly, though I can honestly say that winter veggis taste great baked and it doesn’t hurt to heat the house with an oven on a cold night.

The following is a recipe my friend Noreen Morley sent me (along with a cup of her veg stock) so I could try another fabulous winter casserole in one of my casseroles. My casseroles can go into a hot oven, as long as they are room temp when they go in. Once out and empty, these babies are a breeze to clean! Either hand wash or dishwash, my pots clean up easy.

By the way, Noreen is a wine maker, honey bee keeper, honey collector, shiitaki mushroom grower and mead maker… along with other fabulous things! Check out her Big Girl Winery, made from fruits grown on her property or pretty darn close! Visit her winery or find our where you can get some of her fab wines!

Winter Vegetable Cobbler

1 turnip. peeled and cut in bite-sized pieces

1 potato (russet or baking) peeled and diced

2 small parsnips, peeled and sliced

1 small onion, chopped

3 carrots, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup parsley

1 cup vegi broth

2 Tb cornstarch

1 tsp salt

pepper to taste

4 Tb butter

COBBLER DOUGH

1 1/4 cup flour

1 Tb baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

6 Tb butter, chilled and in small pieces

3/4 cup cream

Put the vegis in a large, 8-cup baking dish (preferable clay pot 2 inches deep). In a small bowl, blend the broth with the cornstarch and pour this over the veggis. Add salt and pepper to taste and mix well. Dot the top with butter. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and begin making the cobbler dough: mix flour, baking powder and salt in a food processor. Drop chilled butter in and mix, with short bursts, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Slowly add cream to mixture and blend until it just begins to ball up. Empty dough onto floured board, flatten out and place onto top of baking dish to cover veggis. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until lightly browned and veggis are tender.