Monday, September 13, 2010

A fine Saturday in Charlestown






I got up at 6 a.m. Saturday, hopped into my loaded truck and headed for Boston's Charlestown neighborhood for the Artist Group of Charlestown's annual Art in the Park show in City Square Park. It was a beautiful and cool September day, quite different from a year ago, when the show was postponed a day because of a day-long Saturday downpour.
This year it was sunny, but cool enough for fleece in the morning. My friend Judy Miller, a Rhode Island painter of wooden bowls and other things of wood, was behind me and the people came out, looking and buying. It was a good show, I sold some pots and made some money, which is always a good thing. And, as always, there were lots of nice people, some of whom buy pots.
I like this show because it's run by artists who like to bring good craftspeople to their town. Most of the organizers also sell their own work at the show, so they care about what it looks like to the buyer and the kind of people who come to sell. And at the end of the one-day show, after we've all packed up, we each get a single drink ticket for the Ironside pub down the street. We retire there with our trucks re-packed and share a beer with friends we only see once or twice a year. A nice thing to do.
Here are some photos of my display and one or two of some 24-ounce ash- and shino-glazed tankards that came out of last week's firing.

9 comments:

cookingwithgas said...

as I said as blogger went out to lunch.... that is a great way to wrap up a show.
And the weather plus selling pots=good!

Dan Finnegan said...

So where's the 'grumpy potter behind the display' photo?

Hollis Engley said...

He's taking the @#@$%%%&&!!! picture!!!

Tracey Broome said...

hahahhaha! that was a pretty good answer!
Looks like a great day, my kind of arts event. That last tankard is sweeeet....

janet said...

That last tankard is, indeed, sweet. Even sweeter up close in the sunlight. Good show Hollis.

Hollis Engley said...

Thank you, Tracey and Janet. I appreciate the kind words. Janet, for those reading, helped unload that firing, so saw the unsuccessful pots as well as the good ones.

imagine said...

Sounds like the sort of event that I would enjoy.
Especially the drinking after part.
I love all the tankards, without a doubt the bottom one is a "potters pot" but the top one [my favourite] has the glaze I spent years trying to perfect, but never did.
Like Dan, I missed seeing the miserable bugger at the back of the stand.

Hollis Engley said...

Ha! Thanks, John. Believe me, I'm much better left out of the photo. Yes, it's a nice show. Heavy on the paintings, but fortunately there are a number of good painters who are part of that group. The glaze on the upper two pots is a slight adaptation of Phil Rogers's Standard Ash glaze. His basic recipe was a bit runny for me, but doubling the Grolleg content helped stiffen it a bit. I can send you the recipe, if you're interested. It's in his first ash glaze book.

Dorissa said...

shino....