Dispatches from the Potomac!

Great post from my new buddy Ed Felker!

Super Bowl Challenge 2012

Happy New Year! Just wanted to touch base and let you know about a fun project that my ArtSquare hand building class is taking part in. It is called The Super Bowl Challenge


The SBC 2012 was created by metalsmith Wendy Edsall-Kerwin. She makes amazing metal artwork: bowls, jewelry, wall pieces and more! Her work is beautiful and we used one of her bowls as our "inspiration" piece in our Tuesday morning class. The challenge was two part: 1. make a bowl for the SBC and 2. translating Wendy's inspiration piece into clay. I will keep you posted with photos of the finished products! Lots of fun and experimentation!

You can find more information about Wendy Edsall-Kerwin at
http://www.hammerstrokeandfire.com/

and more information about ArtSquare Ceramics Classes at:
http://www.loudounacademy.org/ceramics_new.html

Work Play Work

WORK WORK WORK! Getting ready for the Catoctin Holiday Art Tour and trying to replenish my inventory from a couple of great Fall Sales this season. I am so thankful for such wonderful supporters of my work and mostly I am thankful that I have the "privilege" to work at what I love! Ok...short but sweet, I must get back to the wheel! Pictures to follow!

Catoctin Holiday Art Tour

So jazzed! We had our first meeting to organize the Catoctin Holiday Art Tour. It is going to be November 12th & 13th and will feature wonderful artwork in multilpe mediums: Painting, pottery, jewelry, photography fiber, and much more! I will be back "North of 9" at Art At Garden Corner Studio. This area "North of 9" in the lovely rolling hills of the Catoctin Mountains is a hot bed of artist talent. The tour will be an excellent way to shop and buy local art for the holidays, but also to see the studios of the participating artists. Bring your camera and be ready to enjoy a day of touring, shopping, wine tasting and more!

The website is under construction, and you can find us on Facebook!



https://www.facebook.com/pages/Catoctin-Holiday-Art-Tour/255452404487998

Hand building Classes this Fall!!!

Alrighty! It is that time of year and I am getting really excited to teach my Handbuilding classes this Fall!

Most people have no idea what hand building with clay means. They think it's something reserved only for 'artist'. Or, they think it's limited to sculpture and anatomy.

All of the 'Paint your own pottery' shops have confused the public to what the word 'pottery' and 'ceramics' truly stand for. Paint your own pottery is nothing more than glazing a 'fired' piece of clay from a mold. It leaves little to the imagination other than choosing a color and painting someone else's idea. The joy discovered with creating your own ceramic work of art is so rewarding. Whether you're 6 or 85 years of age, IT'S FUN!

Hand building is one of the greatest pleasures in working with clay. You don't have the technical demands of the pottery wheel, which can be quite unforgiving to some who try it. We show you how to take a simple slab of clay, drape it over, under, or within a form, and instant success. The rest of the process is left up to each person's creative imagination. Supplied are multiple texturing tools, stencils, books, and other treats which assist you with a playful creative expression.

You can come and unwind, sit quietly or share laughs with other students while creating your art. The choices are endless. You will be assisted with working with multiple techniques such as coiling, slab roller, extruder, molds, and some serious glazing options.

Come play with me at Loudoun Academy of Art, ArtSquare this Fall on Tuesdays from 10-1pm...Starting September 6th!!!

http://www.loudounacademy.org/ceramics_new.html

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Amy-Manson-Pottery-at-ArtSquare.html?soid=1106246342636&aid=85gah9TPYbI

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Amy-Manson-Pottery-at-ArtSquare.html?soid=1106246342636&aid=85gah9TPYbI


So Excited to be the guest artist at ArtSquare in Leesburg for the month of July! Come on out, it is a great day trip to see all the resident artist studios and their great work!

2011 Western Loudoun Studio Tour

Well I am coming up short on words to describe this past weekend. It was absolutely amazing! I was a guest artist on the WLAST tour and my host was Art At Garden Corner Studio. Jill Evans-Kavaldjian is a talented print maker and painter and basically a really good bean! I had so much fun preparing and working with Jill and I cannot thank her enough!

The tour started Saturday AM and it was so wonderful to meet so many people and talk about and share my pottery with others. I had such great conversations and had fun seeing people get excited about all the amazing talent in this county! We had a steady stream of people all day and it just flew by! Art At Garden Corner is an idyllic setting and folks were so pleased to see the great art but also walk through the gardens and enjoy the beauty of the setting!

I actually had to come home and pack up some more work to bring on Sunday! Sunday started a little more slowly so we had a nice chance to ease into day 2. We needed it because we proceeded to get slammed with people early afternoon. We had such an interesting crowd and we met some great folks. We had a couple from Connecticut and another from New York. I met a ton of talented people actually from right there in Lovettsville. Chris Cooley, a Washington Redskin Player and potter dropped in and he was so nice.

It was truly just an outstanding day and I am so thankful to share my work and ideas and thoughts with so many people! I think Jill and I thought of a 100 new ideas to work on and I am so excited to get back to the studio and fill my orders and get cracking again!

But I have to admit, today I think I am going to rest!!!

Thank you all who came out on the tour and thank you for supporting local art. Last but not least, thank you to the WLAST committee for all of their hard work and support!