Come to the holiday open house

The hands above belong to Laura Burns, a friend of this blog and a teacher in Queens, New York. Laura came over this past summer from Martha's Vineyard to pick up some pots after reading the blog for some months. I photographed her with one of the teabowls she bought and then used it on the postcard made for this weekend's Holiday Open Studio.

I just finished loading the kiln with glazed pots and have started cleaning up the studio for the opening. A dirty job. And it will be interesting if anyone at the kiln-opening Saturday morning notices that the place is a lot cleaner than it was earlier in the week. Well, at least I will know.

We open for business Saturday morning at 10, then open the newly-fired kiln at 11. That usually brings what passes for a crowd in Hatchville in December. And lots of cars parked on the side of the road, which annoys one particular neighbor. So this year I've hired a police officer to tend to the proper parking of cars during that one- or two-hour period. The neighbor would have called a cop anyway, so this way she can walk out of her house and just talk to him.

This year, five other craftspeople and artists will join us, setting up their tables in the new upstairs gallery space. Bookmaker and paper artist Ruth Bleakley, glassblower Bryan Randa, painter Jean Swann, potter Lois Hirshberg and jeweler Kim Collins will share space upstairs and laugh the weekend away. And sell stuff, too.

You can join us, too. Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 11 to 4. Chile dogs will be served to anyone interested around 1, after the kiln's been emptied.

Come on down.