Turtles!!

OK so I know they don't look like much now but they are in fact turtles. When I make them they are all up side down then after there bellies are on and they dry a little bit I can flip them and do the carving and sculpting of the faces. They are so much fun to make!! I feel connected to every one the make. They make me feel like a kid again. I think thats why I make them, Im smiling inside when Im working on them, that and I think in a past life I was a turtle....
I'l post some more pictures as the progress continues.

Settin' Up

I set up this evening for the celebration of seagrove potters it opens friday night the 20th at 6:00 and a special auction of collaborative works is set to start at 8:00. This year I collaborated with Carol Gentithes of Johnston and Gentithes ART Pottery. I made a hand built folk art Turtle sculpture and Carol did some magic with her story telling through decoration.
DESCRIPTION:
This zealous turtle was created by Blaine Avery and decorated by Carol Gentithes. Blaine admires the introspective, thoughtful nature of the turtle who is forever the independent, intrepid nomad carrying his home on his back through the journeys of life. Carol narrates one of the turtle's journeys as he wanders into the waters of a lake where he discovers traces of human interference from the land above. The turtle is hand built from stoneware and is salt glazed. The decorations are silkscreen emulsions that are fired onto the surface in a separate firing.

The images are of the setup, not quite done I'll finish up in the morning and of the Turtle It came out great I hope it finds a home that honers its greatness!!
And I also wore my new Vibram Five Fingers KSO shoeswhen setting up I get funny looks but I love them!!! Check them out there just fun!!

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.