Marian Williams, Author at Marian Williams Pottery

Tuscan Pottery

The pottery of Tuscany tends to be majolica, majolica, majolica!

Gorgeous, but seen in vast quantities it tends to all run together.

I did get to see one studio and loved that! So interesting to see the workspaces and equipment of other potters, especially in another country!

This article (click here) from Ceramics Daily gives a good outline of pottery in the Tuscan area.

Sounds like I’ve missed heaps! Guess I’ll have to go back someday!!

Tickets Made From Pottery Shards

Creation

Pottery shards, inscribed with seat numbers and designated entry door, were used in ancient Rome as entry tickets to the Colosseum!

However, entry was free! Interesting, eh?!

Cute idea for a party or raffle!!!

Pottery Camp! Italian Style!!!

Creation

La Meridiana International Ceramic School is in the Tuscany area of Italy near the town of Certaldo.

I convinced my husband, Ronnie, that we should try to find La Meridiana International Ceramic School.

It was “sort of” on our way to Cinque Terre! So off we went! I plugged the lat/long coordinates into the GPS and about an hour later- after driving “off-road vehicle roads” – !!! (oh well, it was a rental!) we arrived at the “back” door of La Meridiana.

It was a Sunday and I was soon to learn that it was a day off and not too many folks were around.

However, I was lucky to meet Annie Gutierrez (on the left), a student from southern California, USA, and one of the instructors, Donna Polseno, from Virginia and Italy. Donna was teaching a sculpting class- see projects here:

Her husband, Richard Hensley, was also teaching a throwing class there.

They were absolutely delightful and took time out to show us around.

The facilities are warm and inviting and the studios gloriously suited to doing lots of pottery!

Here is some of the work we saw in the gallery at La Meridiana!

It would be so great to take a class here! Adriana Christianson, Australian potter and blogger, has visited there as well, and raves about it!!!

So anyone game to go next year? But not in August! It’s been freakin HOT!!

Here’s their website: Click here!

And for the schedule click here.
Caoi, baby!!!!

Matthew Hyleck

Amazing Potters

Matthew Hyleck

My incessant searching of the web finds me some pretty cool stuff. Found this potter and am OBSESSED! Love his glaze work!

Matthew Hyleck’s Work

Matthew Hyleck!!! Check out his work here! Matthew is currently the Education Coordinator at the Baltimore Clayworks

A Brilliant Idea for Mixing Glazes

Glazes Studio and Equipment Tutorials

Ricks – Bricks Pottery

Well, this is such a good idea! Do you think I did this? No….!!!! Of course not!!! I just slung glaze all over the place! This is brilliant! My next glaze mixing day will be much less messy!!! Yeah!!!

My Latest Glaze Firing Results Video

Firing Firing a Gas Kiln Glazes Results Videos

Thought you might enjoy seeing how things are going in the kiln! Some good, some bad.
Still learning lots!

Louise Rosenfield

Amazing Potters Exhibitions

Louise and David Rosenfield

I became acquainted with Louise Rosenfield when I was a member at the Craft Guild of Dallas back in the 90’s-early 2000s. Louise was a lovely person – very friendly – and so artistic! I LOVED that she had dyed ends/streaks of her long black hair a vibrant cobalt blue! So HER!!!

At that time, Louise was an adamant, passionate potter, but recently, I discovered that she has been a very busy girl!

Not only has she become a very talented ceramic artist, as can be seen by the examples of her work below:

Work by Louise Rosenfield

but Louise has also done the most amazing thing! She and her husband, David, have created a collection of pottery that is in an online repository – available for the world to see!!! What a wonderful gift and legacy!

The Rosenfield Collection represents the work of 418 artists and is a wonderful source for inspiration, appreciation, and validation. Check it out! You won’t believe it!!!!

The Rosenfield Collection is a wonderful resource and gift to the public. To quote Kate Singleton, author of the site, Art Hound, “This is a really exciting idea for big collectors – giving the public access to your art during your lifetime via the internet.”

This video, entitled, “Let’s Make a Deal”, shows an amazing, poignant exhibit by Louise Rosenfield.

I’m not the first one to blog about Louise Rosenfield and the collection, so I’ll highlight a few of the other blogs as each one gives us further insight into her and her husband, David’s, wonderful contribution to ceramics.

A blog post at Hampton Court blog talks about Louise’s work in setting up the Rosenfield Collection – it is quite incredible!
TheBeatThatMyHeartSkipped Blog‘s author is also incredulous at such an amazing collection!

An article written by Louise Rosenfield, The Tei Tei Project, shows another side of her and details a great project!

All in all, I feel privileged to know her and am so proud of her for her selfless work in the world of ceramics.

Invasion Of The Pods!

Creation Glazes Handbuilding

We have Black Bean Tree Pods dropping all around my studio. I’ve been using them to entertain, Sam (our dog) by throwing the beans for her! She loves chasing them down!

But I had an inspiration the other day and decided to use them to create something…Something, not sure what!

So this is what has emerged so far! Pod Bowls!

I sprayed the back side of the pods with WD-40, then slump moulded the clay over the pods.
Much like the technique used in this video by LaPella Art

Back side -stamped

Some of my wooden and handmade stamps

They were super fun to make and let me use lots of my stamps – which I adore making!

I added little tripod feet.

Glazed pod bowls

I played with my glazes and here are some of the results!

I am still not sure about these – they will probably evolve!

Another Obsession of MIne! I’m Headed to the Olympics!

Musings

I absolutely LOVE the Olympics!!! There is nothing like being there, so after going to the Olympics in Atlanta, my daughter, Liz, and cousin, Sue Haile and I vowed to attend the Olympics in London. Little did I know that we would actually stick with that vow!

So it’s scheduled, booked, and organised! I’ll be at the Olympics and then traveling in Europe during the month of August! So some of my posts have been scheduled and written before my leaving. Other posts will be while I’m on the road!

I’ll try to post some about the great pottery that I encounter along the way! (And some other stuff too!)

Go Aussies!!!!

Go Team USA!!!