My dad and I drove around place to place (and mostly house to house) getting a tour of artist's studios and galleries. All of them were on lakes, which I thought was pretty weird! Looks like I'll be living on a lake I guess!
Our first stop was Bear Paw Pottery by John Langer. He works out of his home, and by far had the coolest set up ever! He had his work set out on his front yard, and down closer to the lake was his walk-out basement. He had an awesome little gallery set up in front of his work space, and everything was just so well put together! His work was my favorite of the day, and he was the nicest man. My dad and I spent an hour and a half talking to him, watched him throw a pitcher, showing us his pugg mill (A machine that basically wedges the clay for you and gets rid of most of the air for you - It looks like a larger version of something that would make sausages) He even gave me a tool to use in my ceramics class this fall, and was super helpful! I might be keeping in touch with him in the future.
From his studio I bought a really cute little pot:
At first it looks pretty random, but it's actually a little bud vase!
I love the way it holds up the flowers right in the center! I think I might use this idea for future pots of mine!
The next stop was Schneider Pottery, a father daughter duo with a very spacious studio set deep into the woods. It was about a mile and a half drive down their tiny driveway. It was dirt with grass growing up the middle, and had cute signs like "almost there", "halfway-point" and little "passing zones" where you would have to pull off to the side if you met anyone on the way because the road was so thin! They were trimming bowls when we got there, and I think Dad really enjoyed learning about how that all works. He was really a good sport! (I get all of my creative blood from him, so his artsy side definitely came out!) They had some very cool porcelain work as well as stoneware, and some different types of Raku and guilded work. Very cool stuff. All of their pottery was a bit heavy, and I don't know if I would want my grandma to use such heavy pieces! Their work was very robust and hearty, which I personally love. I bought a beautiful bowl from them! This one was made of porcelain, and has a gorgeous metallic shine with a robins egg blue in the middle. I liked that it was also signed on the bottom with their signature black slip and their name. (They told us that they don't sign all of their work, but the black slip underneath is a trademark instead, a pretty neat idea)
The third stop was an artist who works with glass. I've seen art glass before, but her work really stood out to me. She showed us how she does some stuff, and even with my knowledge, it still blew my mind. Her name was Heidi Coles, creater of "Hot Coles" glass. She was a mother who was interested in glass work after she saw it done one day. She bought a little "kit" with a torch and a few tools. Because her children were so young, she didn't find much time to work with it. Years later she decided that it was time to give it another try, and has been working side by side with her husband (a woodworker) to create one of a kind jewelry pieces that are BEAUTIFUL. There were so many things I loved in her store, but they were a little too pricey for me right now as a poor college student! In general, her pieces were well priced compared to other jewelry makers. At her shop, I bought this necklace, a key with one of her beautiful beads around it (it was more in my price range!!)
The bead was actually created around the key, not put on the key itself. You'd be surprised to feel how heavy this is! I love it.
We did stop at one more place, called The Natural Edge, a woodworker's studio. Dan Benecke creates one of a kind natural wood furniture and decorative pieces. His shop was the best part of the tour, which included a 400+ year old Spruce from Alaska that had about 15 huge knots in it. Dad, a logger, identified the wood for him and let him know that it is probably that old! Dan had no idea what it was, and was excited that we came in to help him with it! Go Dad :)
It was a great day of art, artists and bonding with my father of course. And the weather was beautiful! They are doing this same tour (with SO many more artists than we visited in Ocotober)
Visit www.northwoodsarttour.com for more information!
We did stop at one more place, called The Natural Edge, a woodworker's studio. Dan Benecke creates one of a kind natural wood furniture and decorative pieces. His shop was the best part of the tour, which included a 400+ year old Spruce from Alaska that had about 15 huge knots in it. Dad, a logger, identified the wood for him and let him know that it is probably that old! Dan had no idea what it was, and was excited that we came in to help him with it! Go Dad :)
It was a great day of art, artists and bonding with my father of course. And the weather was beautiful! They are doing this same tour (with SO many more artists than we visited in Ocotober)
Visit www.northwoodsarttour.com for more information!
No comments:
Post a Comment