Showing posts with label Weaverville. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weaverville. Show all posts

Friday, July 19, 2013

A Gem of a Find on an Art Day Trip!!!

Weaverville, North Carolina                     A Little Gem of a Small Town  


Miya Gallery(click)
There is nothing better than an open sign on a gallery door!

There is something one of my favorite art writers talks about in motivation one to do art and it is called the art date.  Julia Cameron (click)writes wonderful books on motivation for doing art and writing and how to move past the blocks that we all suffer in our quest to make our art.  One of the things she insists on is the art day trips.  She recommends you go alone mostly, but sometimes things done with friends can be very beneficial also.  On this day my friends wanted to check out Weaverville(click), a small community near Asheville.  It is a charming little down, of only a small bank of stores on the main street, but a friendly warm feel prevails in the community.  There is a wonderful baker and restaurant called Well Bread, the Magnum Pottery (click)and the Miya Gallery.  There is also a bank and library and stop light or two.  I highly recommend a trip there as there are many more places to visit on the outskirts of town and a wonderful nursery where one can by Japanese Maple Trees and Blueberry bushes!


Sondra Dorn discusses her intricate mixed media process
Stitching on silk, layers of Japanese thin papers, printing, and painting all lend to an almost encaustic look for this art work.  I absolutely loved it.
Sondra Dorn(click) explains her amazing mixed media process that she creates with stitching, sewing, printing, painting and layers and layer of Japanese thin translucent papers.  Sondra has taken courses and done residency work at Penland and Arrowmont Schools of art.  She has studied art in Washington D. C. and other areas.  Her passion for her art and process is wonderful, as she explains her work to you it is almost mesmerizing.  There is absolutely no way one could guess on their own how she achieved the results she had without an discussion of her process.  

Laying out pieces ready for hanging...I apologize for the poor photo work here. The pieces are much
more colorful and exquisite than they look in this photo



The overall feel is one of textural visualness, but tactile smoothness...stunning she can achieve this!






Friends in Art.  These are my art day trip buddies, Annie B., Ann, and Maureen.
I am the tall one on the left in the back. Great view of the rest of the
gallery.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

There is nothing Sexier than a Working Studio and Gallery

MAGNUM POTTERY(click)
A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE
There is nothing more sexy than the actual gritty down to Earth experience of clay....Remember the Scene from the movie  GHOSTS with Patrick Sweyze and Demi Moore?! Oh My!!!

The Absolute openness of this gallery and studio is its most special quality.  I have never met anyone who does not want to visit the artists studio!  It is like something magic happens there, and of course as artists, it does.  The very act of creativity is magic.  Rob and Beth are the owners and a husband and wife team. There is a third artists that works with them as well, and very often as on this day, an apprentice is at work learning the craft.  As you walk into the gallery you are immediately drawn back to the studio where the action is going on.  I have never been to Magnum that someone is not working away in the pottery area.  And what is even better you are invited to walk around, look. learn and ask questions! This is one friendly place, the studio dog even comes up and greets you. (and the studio dog is a rescue, what great people)

Magnum Pottery Studio, Weaverville, North Carolina  

 How to Make a 3D Heron

 First Step
Roll out slab of clay, draw image and cut






Second Step
Wet areas to be shaped

Rob wetting areas to be curved   
Step 3
Shape dampened edges
Rob demonstrating how to form the heron           photo by Elizabeth Gordon

Close up shots of shaping  head



STEP 4
Join the two sections, glaze and fire


Finished Product, Wonderful Shiny and New Herons Ready to Buy


Monday, July 15, 2013

Studio Dog on a Lazy Summer Day!O

Once a rescue boy he found a home in a potters studio.  Magnum Pottery in Weaverville, North Carolina is a wonderful working studio and gallery.  A husband and wife, a family pottery that turns out wonderful beautiful pottery. I highly recommend a visit, you will find a true friendly greeting and warm hospitality. And you will also meet the studio dog.

photo by Elizabeth Gordon

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