You got to get your turtles in a row......

I got judson to bed early so I went back down to the studio to finish off the very last turtle. And it"s a Big one!!! He is the largest alligator snapping turtle on the slab roller. The three on the slab roller are some of the biggest ones I have ever made they stand about 20-24 inches tall and over 36 inches wide!!! Wow!! They took about 100 pounds of clay to make each they were a bear to make and flip over, there al made upside down and then turned over when there dry enough. There is another picture of the smaller ones I'll have for the opening on the 10th and 11th I'm hoping to fit two of the big ones in the kiln one is for a collector thats been waiting a long time, the other is for the opening and the third is my back up!! Hope they all make it though when they get this big you never know... I love to see them all lined up I call them a flock of turtles!

Annual Fall Kiln Opening-mark your calendars!

This year Blaine Avery will be featuring salt glazed turtles and hand built animals. There will also be a large selection of new hand painted pots from the salt kiln so expect the unexpected. Blaine hasn't made his very popular turtles in some time and is working on some new creatures, so plan to get first glimpse of the new creations before they are gone.

Saturday, October 10, 2009 at 10:00am
Sunday, October 11, 2009 at 11:00am

Avery pottery and Tileworks
-Blaine Avery-
636 Potters Way Rd
Seagrove, NC 27341
336-873-7923
averypottery@embarqmail.com

Test Glazes..... And Turtles

Hare are some of the test glazes some promising results but the bummer is that the matte glaze I have been working on crawled and pealed..... very weird I think I may have messed something up when mixing up the base so I''ll have to start over! And I am working on some turtles for the kiln opening that is scheduled for October the 10th and 11th I haven't made them in a long time and they are so much fun! Also be on the lookout for some new animals sculptures for that weekend......... I'll tell you more about that latter but Im excited! .... I almost forgot to mention that I have donated one of my large turtles to the Zoo To Do Auction that is this saturday the 12th this if a fun event a great fundraser for the North Carolina Zoo and I'm looking forward to going. See you there.

TESTING!!! 1-2-3

OK so mixing test glazes is probably one of my least favorite things to do in ceramics, well besides book keeping but thats the business end that i would rather not talk about no fun at all!!! I love the results but the rather tedious process is what gets me. Weighing out .025 grams of this colorant and 1 or 2 grams of another one or two then mix paint on a tile and do this over and over again it makes my brain hurt!! So I did this today lets see about 100 times!!! So now I'm done and it feels good I always love the way I feel after I'm finished and can't wait to see the results. The tests are new glazes for a new line of tiles I'm working on I'm very exited about it but it will probably be next spring until they are in full swing. I'm looking for some funky fun colors that maybe even make your eyes hurt a little!!! Look out!! I had a great day lots of folks through the shop!! And nice people too!!! Thats always nice.... Here's is to laboring on labor day weekend hope you all have a good one!!!!!
Cheers
Blaine

More architecture......this one is amazing!!!

I hope y'all aren't getting board of this stuff, bear with me for one more post I cant help it!! I got my head stuck in a rut been thinking about some new designs for tiles. This is another of my favorite buildings its across the street from Grand Central at 122 east 42nd st. Its the Chanin building the Terra-Cotta was fabricated by Atlantic Terra-Cotta Company. To give you a idea of the scale the Terra -Cotta frieze is eighteen feet high. I couldn't get back far enough to get the whole building in but the detail is amazing. I love the snakes at the bottom. The next time your in new you look up everyone will know your a tourist but who cares!
Enjoy
Blaine

The Big Apple

I was In the Big Apple AKA... NYC the other week for my brothers wedding, Thought I would share some pictures of my trip. I had a great time met some great people saw some I haven't seen in years and went to see some great museums and some incredible architecture.
The first museum I went to was the American Folk Art Museum I love this place I couldn't take pictures but ome of my favorite things that I found was a plate by George Hubener redware potter in Limerick Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania,1757-1828 with an inscription that read...."Out of the earth with understanding the potter makes everything" very cool. The outside of the museum is amazing it is clad in brass plates about 4x8 ft. that are suspended off the building about 6 in.
The next place i went was the new Museum of Arts and Design its located on Columbus Circle its a great building with a Glazed white tile facade it is a nice museum and walking around the lower part of the park and Columbus Circle was fun.
One of my favorite things to see when I'm in the city is look at the Terra-cotta buildings I there are several i went to see but my two favorite are the Flat Iron building this is probably the most well known Terra-cotta skyscraper.
But a must see building when in NYC is the Bayard building at 65 Bleecker st. it is the designed by Henry Louis Sullivan he was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright and the most well know architect of the period. and surprisingly this is the only building that he designed in New York City.
If you want to know more about terra-Cotta building check out the Bible on the subject Terra-Cotta Skyline by Susan Tunick its an incredible book.