Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Here's to even more creativity, artistic success, and (most hopefully) the recovery of the economy in 2009. I know many of you are feeling the effects, from the potters who are seeing sharp downturns in people buying art to those of you who make pottery as a hobby and are pinching pennies just to be able to afford to support your sanity-saving pottery habit.

I am getting a lot closer to getting the new website finished. I'm hoping that we can go live in the next month, as long as I can focus a lot of time getting the database with our products filled in. But I thought I'd give you a sneak peek at the home page for the site, just to whet your appetites. :-)

Bracker's New Website Sneak Peek

Finally, we had great success with the start of our Second Saturday Artist Series. When someone would call Bill Bracker (co-founder of Bracker's Good Earth Clays) an expert, he would always reply, “please don’t call me an expert. Think of it...when you break down the word, an ‘ex’ is a washed-up-has-been and a ‘spurt’ is a drip under pressure.” So we won’t call these artists “experts” but they are definitely very good and more than willing to share their experiences and techniques with you. Each Second Saturday will feature a different artist. We will be inviting artists who throw, handbuild, decorate, create, and innovate. No purchase necessary - just stop by and see the artist at work. Feel free to observe for a few minutes, ask a question or two, or stick around for a couple of hours. Some artists may choose to bring other examples, work in progress, or even finished work (which might be available for sale). We leave the details up to each individual artist. Danny Meisinger visited us on Saturday, December 13th. We had a steady stream of people visit to watch Danny throw some amazing pots and talk about his life as a full-time artist.

Our next artist visit is Saturday, January 10th. Larry Brow will be here from 10 am to 3 pm:

"I graduated with an MFA in ceramics from the University of Iowa and considered teaching, but found the job market in 1989 barren. I have since derived a great deal of satisfaction from teaching at the Lawrence Arts Center, and briefly, at William Jewell College. Lately, my inspiration for my artwork comes from the integration of throwing, handbuilding, architecture, tattoos, wood-firing, Dr. Seuss, and Frank Gehry, in an improvisational creative method. A certain portion of my production is on display at Diane’s Artisan Gallery, on the second floor at Eighth and Mass. I also sell purely functional ware at three fairs a year as Please Touch Pottery. I use both porcelains and stonewares, firing in electric, gas, or wood-fueled kilns as appropriate. My youngest son, Hunter Tilghman, has honored me by asserting that he, too, wants to be a potter when he grows up. Indeed, he has been helping me set up and take down at Fairs since the age of two."

"On my Second Saturday, I suspect I will divide my time between throwing double-walled vessels and building a functional armchair or sculpture using my characteristic paddle and anvil handbuilding techniques. My slip decorating techniques may also come into play. Questions are always welcome."