Purple-black Storm, 9298B

9298B - Purple-black Storm, cone 8, fired for four days, cooled for four days, $600, 20"

More Than A River

9298C - More Than A River, cone 7, fired for four days, cooled for three days.

9298C - More Than A River, detail

9298C - More Than A River, detail

9298C - More Than A River, detail

9298C - More Than A River, detail

I am always somewhat reluctant to post images from these platters... not because I don't love them, but because I feel like I have so little to say about them. I guess for folks wanting to know more about them, I am open to questions. Unless mentioned otherwise, they are for sale. Shipping isn't as bad as I thought it would be, considering that most of these platters weigh upwards of 50# and are in most cases 18-22" across. BIG is an understatement.

So, fire away with questions and comments.

Cold Springs Studio is now Closed

The sign on the road has come down.
The signs in the yard have been taken down.
The pots are (mostly) sold.
The last orders have been boxed.
The lights in the gallery are off.
The music has been turned off.
What else can I say?

Saying Good-Bye

62098H - ©1998 Alex Solla - Glaze Tectonics, untitled, 17" diameter

62098H - ©1998 Alex Solla - detail

This week, another beautiful platter sold and will be heading to Maine as soon as we get it boxed up. It is always a bittersweet separation when one of these massive platters sells. On one hand, I am thrilled that someone wants one in their home or office. The sudden cash influx certainly doesn't hurt either. But there is always some part of me that looks at the piece, one last time and realizes that I will likely never see this platter ever again.

In the case of this particular platter, it has some interesting differences that separate it from the rest of the series. For one thing, I was experimenting with a brown slip glaze around the rim. Later in the course of making these, I would only use the dark black slip for the rims. Another thing that makes this platter different from so many of the platters is that there is a rippled texture under the glaze, and due to the transparency of the fluid glaze, you can see what look almost like wave washed shoreline, under the glaze. Since I felt that this effect was so successful in this platter, I made similar efforts on quite a few platters which followed this one. None were anywhere near as successful.

And with that said, I say good-bye and good luck.

Second to Last Firing is OUT and on the Shelves

We have one more firing cooling down today, which will be on the shelves first thing tomorrow morning. Then we're out. What you're seeing is what we have left. Great colors, and fantastic pots. Our aim was to go out with a bang and I think we nailed it with this last firing!

There's a lot of lime, matte purple and other great colors!

Down to the Wire

This morning we unloaded an armful of gorgeous oval trays, more salad and dessert plates (and a few special things for those waiting for orders!)
Alas, the driveway was quiet today. Not nearly the onslaught that Tuesday and Wednesday gave us. Tomorrow and Saturday are it.

Saturday at Noon we take down our sign. Anyone who shows up in the driveway after high-noon had better be bringing pizza, ice cream or something chocolate-ish.... 'cause we'll be celebrating and grieving and lamenting and reveling. It's the end of an era.

We're BACK

Only five days left to go.....

Wednesday's Pots - Straight from the kiln

Apprentice's teapot in Pear $120, 1 matte purple sorbet bowls (Sold)

Blue teabowl $36, small pear mixing bowl $60

Small mixing bowls in Matte Purple and Pear (SOLD), $60 each.

Matte purple salad plates ( 2 SOLD), $30

Small serving bowl in Matte purple $48

Small serving bowl in Matte purple $48, Blue canister $50, pear salad plate $30

Tiny teabowl in Turquoise $36 (SOLD)

Ordering Depression with a side of Self Pity (or Sabra comes the rescue!)

Sabra's AWESOME silverware (and kick-ass container!)

Yawp. That would be me tonight. Between my slowly fading headache, my gnawing back pain and my overtired eyes.... you'd think that would be enough. But no. I had to go and try to build a wardrobe tonight. You heard right. After thinking about the fact that my photography clients are going to be less than inclined to have me show up at their special events or place of work, looking like I just stumbled out of a pottery studio, clay stains and all... I figured that it was time to change into something new. Something stylish. (Stop laughing!) Something comfortable. Black.

The hard part was coming to grips with the fact that my body is no longer the shape it was a year ago, or even a month ago. I've been heavy most of my life and by and large, I fall under the larger than large size. Post-surgery though, I have zilch in the way of abdominal muscles. With the onset of the latest incisional hernia, there is even less holding my innards in... so the resultant bulge in my front really looks weird. Not cool. So, I am trying to find ways to pull it all together somehow. Doing so though, forces me to stare at this girth and it depresses the living shit out of me.

I still imagine that I look like I did when Nancy and I got married. Ha. I wish. That was seventy pounds ago. Trying to work my mind around this new shape is more than difficult. But somehow, in the midst of this self-deprecating morass, I realized that no matter what I looked like, I needed to feel better about my appearance

On Friday we were visiting with our wicked cool friend Sabra up in Rochester. There's something so awesome about friends who'll be thrilled when you just drop in out of the blue. That would be us. Dropping in while we were in the neighborhood picking up enormous bags of styrofoam packing peanuts.

A year ago, I was helping Sabra with some glaze calculation stuff. We'd never met in person, but were introduced by a fellow potter, and we worked together online. Fast forward to my coma and Art Trail in October... Nancy needed to be in the hospital with me, but she was determined to keep the gallery open as best she could. Sabra came to the rescue! She showed up with bells on! To this day, we continue to hear great stories about how awesome she handled sales. Apparently some folks were simply cut out to sell other people's pots! God bless em.

So, while visiting with Sabra on Friday, Nancy asked if she knew of a shoe store she would recommend... to find shoes for me. I needed something more snazzy than Crocs. Go figure. I don't argue about shoes with Nancy. If you dont know why, read her blog: http://coldspringsstudio.blogspot.com/. Sabra recommended (and we do too!) a place in Fairport Ny called 123 Shoes. Great little store. We walked in and twenty minutes later, left with a pair of shoes that were perfect for what I needed. Stylish, semi-formal, decent support... and the fit is outta this world! Nice touch: they come with a 30-day, walk-around guarantee. Wear them outdoors for a month. If you dont love them, they'll take them back. Gotta love that!

Thank you Sabra!! You definitely sent us in the right direction. Now if only we had found Dog Town ... a hot dog joint she was trying to help us find. Next time!

Ferro showing off his mug for the camera. He really liked Sabra when she came to visit last month!

Another Week, Fewer Pots, Newer Pots

the tangerine and both turq bowls are sold

the blue plate has sold

the tangerine oval tray has sold

the turq teabowl has sold

I wont go through the trouble of posting prices. Suffice to say, they're the same on our website. This will be our last weekend home before we're gone for a brief vacation the following weekend. For folks out there keeping score... that means we have less than two weeks left of the studio being open. Pots are still coming, but some things we are totally out of... like: soup mugs, footed mugs, ruffled vases, oval vases, pitchers, lg/med mixing bowls.... too many things really. BUT we have a mountain of plates, and more coming!