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Mark your calendars . . .

The Yourist Studio Gallery  
Annual Holiday Show and Sale
 
Friday, December 8, 5 to 8 pm
Festive Preview Sale and Artists' Reception

The sale continues on
Saturday, December 9, 10 am to 6 pm
Sunday, December 10, 11 am to 5 pm

Yourist Studio Gallery is the host of the Winter Art Tour
Yourist Studio Gallery Annual Holiday Show and Sale
Yourist Studio Gallery Annual Holiday Show and Sale

Sign up early for winter classes and save!
 
Student working in a Yourist Studio Gallery pottery class 
Winter term 2018 classes are open for registration, and our Early Bird Enrollment Discount is now in effect. Register by December 10 to receive $10.00 off the tuition price. This discount applies to all of our introductory and advanced classes of six weeks and longer.

Here's our winter 2018 lineup, with a class on our schedule for every student:



Advanced and Intermediate Clay
This 14-week class with Master Potter Alex Pratt features skill-building projects for intermediate and advanced throwers and hand builders.
Tuesdays, Jan 9 through Apr 10, 6:30-9:30 pm

Advanced / Intermediate Independent Study
If you've developed enough skill at the wheel or hand building, this 14-week independent study is your opportunity to work on your own and pursue your unique path with clay, while receiving advice and direction from instructor Kay Yourist.
Wednesdays, Jan 10 through Apr 11, 6:30-9:00 pm

Coffee and Clay
Whether you are a beginning or advanced student, make beautiful and useful ceramic vessels off the wheel in this 6-week Saturday morning hand building class under the direction of teacher Nancy Bulkley.
Saturdays, Jan 13 through Feb 17, 9:30-11:30 am
 
Introductory and Continuing Wheel
In this friendly 6-week introduction to wheel throwing, teachers Nancy Bulkley, Kevan O. Wilson, and Kay Yourist will get you started on the wheel or help you develop your skills.
Mondays, Jan 8 through Feb 12, 7:00-9:00 pm, with Kevan O. Wilson.
Thursdays, Jan 11 through Feb 15, 12:30 to 2:30 pm, with Nancy Bulkley.
Thursdays, Jan 11 through Feb 15, 6:30 to 8:30 pm, with Kay Yourist.

Note: These classes are designed for adult participation. Please call before registering students 13 and under.

Try It Once on the Wheel
If you're wondering what it's like to throw pottery on the wheel, join us on November 11 at 1:00 pm for our Try It Once class. We give you a demonstration, then help to guide you through this fun, relaxing, hands-on experience.    
 
Register today.
2017 Winter Art Tour kicks off December 8

Glass blown cups by Larry Nisson
What's fun, festive, and filled with holiday delights? The 2nd Annual Winter Art Tour (WAT), of course! Take the December 8-10 Winter Art Tour and pick up your Passport to the best handmade art the area has to offer.

WAT will take you to 10 art shows in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, featuring works by 300+ local artists. You'll also enjoy music, refreshments, creative activities, and artists' demonstrations at many of the shows.
"WAT is a chance for us all to escape mall madness and enjoy friends, live demos, great food, and find one of a kind gifts from local artists in the spirit of the holiday season."

Cara Rosaen, lead organizer of the Winter Art Tour
Handwoven hat by CarolFurtado
Stops on tour include the Ann Arbor Art Center, Art on Adare!, Baron Glass Works, Clay Work Studio, DIYpsi, Front Porch Textiles, Kate Tremel and Friends Art Studios Sale, Tiny Expo, Yourist Studio Gallery, and Ypsi Alloy Studios.

Almost all visual arts are represented, from glassblowers, ceramicists, painters, fiber artists, and metalsmiths to book artists, illustrators, and printmakers. At each stop you will be able to meet artists personally and learn more about their work.
Print by Paloma Nunez Reguerio
Visit at least four Tour venues and stamp your WAT Passport for an opportunity to win one of 10 art prizes from local artists. Pick up a WAT Passport at any participating art show or download it here.  
 
The accompanying photos show some of the prizes you might be lucky enough to win. See the full selection here.

Earrings by Erica Kane Fink
Special Tour events will include live music, classical and eclectic mix; glass blowing and weaving demonstrations; and an opportunity for visitors to make their own art. There will even be a wheel throwing demonstration by local potter Nancy Bulkley, who will throw a pot with her feet instead of her hands.
 
You'll find more information at the WAT web site and Facebook page.
Calendar icon
Studio calendar
 
Reminder to pick up your pots
Bisque ware or glazed pieces remaining on our shelves from October will be discarded on November 30. Please come and collect them now. 
 
Ready, load, fire: cone 10  
Don't miss this last chance in 2017 to get your pots fired in the gas kiln! Start glazing now. H ere is the tentative schedule for the November firing:

Loading:
Saturday, November 25
Firing: Tuesday, November 28
Unloading: Friday, December 1

Be aware that this schedule could change depending on the amount of work that's ready for firing. If we accumulate enough work to fire before these dates, we will, so be sure to check in with us from time to time on the current schedule.  
   
Tool time: off for the holidays       
Tool time has gone home to celebrate the holidays and will be back after the beginning of the new year. Check our December-January newsletter for the date and topic of the next tool time.

Got an idea for a demo you'd like to see Kay present? Let us know. We're interested in hearing from you.

Enrollment now open for winter classes
Our 2018 winter term classes begin the second week of January. Sign up by December 10 to save with our Early Bird Enrollment Discount.

Advanced and Intermediate Clay 
Tuesdays, Jan 9 through Apr 10, 6:30-9:30 pm, with Alex Pratt.
Early Bird Discount available through December 10.  
 
Advanced / Intermediate Independent Study
Wednesdays, Jan 10 through Apr 11, 6:30-9:00 pm, with Kay Yourist.
Early Bird Discount available through December 10.

Coffee and Clay

Saturdays, Jan 13 through Feb 17, 9:30-11:30 am, with Nancy Bulkley.
Early Bird Discount available through December 10.

Introductory and Continuing Wheel
Mondays, Jan 8 through Feb 12, 7:00-9:00 pm, with Kevan O. Wilson.
Thursdays, Jan 11 through Feb 15, 12:30 to 2:30 pm, with Nancy Bulkley.
Thursdays, Jan 11 through Feb 15, 6:30 to 8:30 pm, with Kay Yourist.
Early Bird Discount available through December 10.
 
Note: These classes are designed for adult participation. Please call before registering students 13 and under.

Try It Once on the Wheel
Saturday, Nov 11, 1:00-2:30 pm with Nancy Bulkley.

Find a good home for your imperfect pots

If you have pots on hand that are less than perfect, consider donating them to CUUB's 11th annual Care & Share Fair to help raise funds for  Teen Connection (aid for homeless teens) and Always Hope Animal Rescue (adoption services for rescued pets).

Please pack up your unloved pots and bring them to Yourist Studio Gallery by Friday, December 1, where our friend Joanne Daniels will pick them up for the fair. The Care & Share Fair will take place on Sunday, December 3, at the Community Unitarian Universalist church in Brighton.
Potter's pipeline
Potter's quick tip
How to sign your pots neatly 
 
 
Q.
I can't sign my pots without raising little crumbs of clay and making a mess. Is there any way to avoid this?
 
A. Cheap plastic bags to the rescue once more! Potter  Sonja Noskowiak shows how she makes a neat signature on the bottoms of her pots, a technique she learned from potter Nancy Gallagher. So keep those ubiquitous plastic bags out of the landfills. They have lots of great uses in the studio.
 
You can catch up with Noskowiak at Muditis Pottery.

Readers, if you have a burning pottery question for Kay, ask away . We'd like to know what you want to know.  

Events to know about 
Brief notices
Clay community digest
Bust by sculptor Clayton Keyesn 
The Figurative Condition
The Sisson Gallery, in the MacKenzie Fine Art Center at Henry Ford Community College, is showing a collection of figurative ceramics featuring the work of Benjamin Lambert (MI), Clayton Keyes (UT), and Luke Huling (IN). Their work is described as using "the medium of clay to address issues of the human psyche."  
 
  The bust at left is by sculptor Clayton Keyes. You will find more information about the sculptors, photos of their work, and details about the exhibit here.




Dates: Now-November 22
Sisson Art Gallery
MacKenzie Fine Art Center
Henry Ford Community College
5101 Evergreen Rd.
Dearborn, MI 48128
313-845-6485
Pot by Maija Grotell 
Finland 100: 
The Cranbrook Connection
This exhibition examines the "profound influence" Finland "has had on the development of the arts in America." Of particular interest to potters are the works of Maija Grotell, former visiting artist and head of ceramics at Cranbrook.

Visitors to this exhibition will also see treasures by Eliel Saarinen, his wife Loja, and his children, Eero and Pipsan, as well as other Finnish artists associated with Cranbrook. Get more information about the exhibition here.          



Dates: Now-January 14, 2018
Cranbrook Art Museum
deSalle Gallery
39221 Woodward Ave Box 801
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48303
248-645-3323
William Kidd pot Flint Institute of Arts exhibit 
The Art of Containment: Vessels From the Sidney Swidler Collection 
The Flint Institute of Arts is exhibiting more than 100 pieces of ceramics that architect and collector Sidney Swidler donated to the FIA this year from his sizeable collection. 
 
"The Swidler Collection of ceramics encompasses pieces by ceramicists working predominantly with the vessel form. Some consider the straightforward functionality of a bowl or pot while others consider the cultural or social implications of the vessel." The vessel at left is by ceramic artist William Kidd. See more of his astonishing pieces here. For details about the Swidler exhibition, visit the FIA.          

Dates: Now-March 31, 2018
Flint Institute of Arts
Ann K. Walch-Chan Gallery
1120 East Kearsley Street
Flint, Michigan 48503
810-234-1695
Ceramic piece by Tomoko Konno
Japan Cultural Days 
The Detroit Institute of Arts is marking the opening of the its new Japan Gallery with a weekend celebration focusing on the arts and culture of Japan, including theater, dance, film, cuisine, fine arts and crafts, and events of interest to potters.    
 
Ceramics Master Kinoshita will offer two hands-on pottery-making workshops, and his work will be on display at the Japanese Master Artist Booths.  
 
Ceramic artist Tomoko Konno will discuss her work, which is inspired by natural organism of all kinds, with Natsu Oyobe, curator of Asian Art at the University of Michigan Museum of Art. That's an example of Konno's work at left.   
 
You'll find a full calendar of Japan Cultural Days events here.          

Dates: November 4-5
Detroit Institute of Arts
5200 Woodward Avenue
Detroit , MI 48202
313-833-7900
Art As Business logo
The Business of Being an Artist: Pricing Your Work for Profits 
For artists pricing work can be a daunting challenge. In the third of The Entrepreneur Center's free speaker series on the business of being an artist, photographer and studio owner Michelle Massey Barnes of MMB Imagery "will help you evaluate pricing basics and the building blocks you need to get started or take it to the next level. You'll leave with actionable strategies to help you price for profit."   
 
Sign up for Barnes's presentation here.
 
Date: November 14, 2017, 6:00-8:00 pm
Great Lakes Regional Training Center, 
Room GL202
Washtenaw Community College
4800 E. Huron River Drive  
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
Potters Guild logo 
Ann Arbor Potters Guild Sale 
The next Ann Arbor Potters Guild sale is set for Saturday, December 2, and Sunday, December 3, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. The sale will be held in a large tent in front of the Guild space at 201 Hill Street, Ann Arbor.  
 
Visit the Guild web site here.


Dates: December 2-3,  10:00 am to 5:00 pm
The Potters Guild
201 Hill Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-663-4970

Yourist Studio Gallery Annual Holiday Show and Sale
Yourist Studio Gallery Holiday Sale 
Make the Yourist Studio Gallery Annual Holiday Show and Sale your first stop on the 2017 Winter Art Tour. The gala opening reception is on Friday, December 8, from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. You're invited to join us, browse new works of ceramic art by our Studio Resident Artists and selected students, and enjoy good company, festive food and drink, and seasonal conviviality. Yourist Studio Gallery is pleased to sponsor and host the December 8-10 Winter Art Tour. 
 
Dates: Friday, December 8, 5:00-8:00 pm (Opening reception)
Saturday, December 9, 10:00 am-6:00 pm
Sunday, December 10, 11:00 am-5:00 pm
Yourist Studio Gallery
1133 Broadway
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
734-662-4914

Winter Art Tour logo 
Passport to the 2017 Winter Art Tour  
Take the Winter Art Tour on December 8-10 and shop handmade products from 300+ different artists and craftspeople at 10 venues around Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, all at your own pace.
 
For an opportunity to win art pieces by local artists, pick up or print our the WAT Passport, visit four or more Tour stops, stamp your Passport at each stop, and then enter to win. It's that easy.  
 
You'll find photos and more information about the art prizes on the Tour web site, as well as a printable version of the Passport
 
Dates: December 8-10  
10 art shows in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor
Stop, look, listen . . . and learn
How to make a cut bowl

Making a cut bowl in clay requires speed, precision, and a really sharp knife. Calluses on your fingertips might also help. As well as nerves of steel.

See potter Sarah Wells Rolland demonstrate her technique for making cut bowls in this video posted by John Britt.

Learn more about Rolland here and see examples of her work, including a finished cut bowl, here.


ICYMI (In case you missed it)
Speaking of pricing your work  . . .

Chinese bowl that sold for $38 million.
Did you hear about the 900-year-old ceramic bowl, made in the Song dynasty, that recently sold for $38 million at auction in Hong Kong? Yes, your eyes do not deceive you--that's $38,000,000!

The bowl is a modest porcelain "brush washer," used for cleaning calligraphy and paint brushes. It was made in the now rare Ru "ice crackle" style. Read more about this treasure here.

So is it time to start rifling your cupboards for precious antique pottery?

If you don't discover any pottery from the Song dynasty in your china cabinet, then perhaps you'll be lucky enough to find some valuable Pewabic pottery instead.

Antiques Roadshow Pewabic appraisal
In a recent episode of Antiques Roadshow in Detroit, appraiser David Rago set a value of $36,500 to $52,000 on three pieces of early 20th century Pewabic pottery.

The most valuable piece was a uranium orange vase, made by Pewabic founder Mary Chase Perry, which Rago called "the best piece of Pewabic I've ever seen." If you don't want to watch the whole episode, this segment begins at the 14:55 mark.

Share what you know

Do you know of resources or upcoming events of interest to the clay community? We invite you to pass the information along to us so we can feature it here.

Now I've seen everything
Yum, it's just like cream cheese!
   
 
How many times have you heard someone say of B-mix or porcelain that "It's just like cream cheese"? No, wait, it is cream cheese.  
 
Watch as potter Sally Hammel throws a bowl with cream cheese, using heavy cream instead of water, then fills it with apricot chutney and serves it to her friends.
 
Refreshment for your next party? Or maybe a future challenge on The Great Pottery Throw Down?   
 
   
Meanwhile back at The Great Pottery Throw Down . . .

What fiendish tests have Kate and Keith dreamed up for the contestants in episode three?

No cream cheese is involved this time, but the potters are given two hours to make two complete saké sets of one bottle and six cups each. After the sets are bisque fired, the potters must choose which set they like the best, decorate it, and raku fire it.

The potters are also challenged to throw as many high-quality rice bowls as they can off the hump in 15 minutes and to do the "devil's work" of carving a Japanese lantern. Who will survive, who will fall by the wayside, and who will make the pot of the week?

Need to catch up? Here are links to the first two episodes:

Episode
, Episode 2  
 
Yourist Studio Gallery | 1133 Broadway, Ann Arbor, MI 48105
734-662-4914 | www.youristpottery.com

Inspiring classes and workshops for new and experienced students | Bright, modern, fully equipped community studio workspace | Comprehensive selection of pottery tools for sale | Gallery exhibiting the works of celebrated artists | Online gallery shop for the purchase of ceramic art