Julie Brooks in front of pallets of Gerstly

As some of you may recall, in February, Ingrid, Bob, & I were in SoCal visiting Laguna (& I made a pilgrimage to Disneyland). When we were there, I snapped this picture of Laguna’s Creative Director, Julie Brooks standing in front of *many* pallets of bagged Gerstly, all ready for Laguna to ship to their distributors.

Richard Arnfield of Spectrum Glazes, with Karen Wise of Shimpo Wheels, myself, & Sophia

My inaugural trip to NCECA was a fantastic one filled with artistic enlightenment, ideas, and inspiration. I came to Houston ready to learn, and meet all the manufacturers we do business with at Stone Leaf.

It was inspirational to see so many amazing artists in one place who love clay as much as I do. The first function I attended was Expo Night, this the kick off to NCECA events; organized by the wonderful Cindy Bracker, and features national galleries, showcasing artwork by many local and national artists.

My favorite part of the convention was the dual demonstrating artists. Kristin Keifer and Bede Clarke made for an entertaining pair with completely different approaches to making beautiful, functional pottery. Gerit Grimm and Walter McConnell also demonstrated their process of making sculptural clay work. I took vigorous notes and was extremely inspired by watching these veteran artist work and couldn’t get back to Denver fast enough to implement some of what I had learned.

Another highlight of the convention was getting to see the familiar faces of local  Denver artists Macy Dorf and Jonathan Kaplan. The pair, with Doug Casbeer of Anderson Ranch and Steven Branfman of Gorse Mill Studios in Massachusetts, discussed the necessity of community in the clay world. Dorf, Kaplan and Branfman have all created successful clay communities and have first hand knowledge of why community is so important in the continued education and appreciation of art. They discussed how their studios evolved and why the idea of reciprocity and camaraderie was such an integral part of building a studio. As Kaplan said, “The very essence of clay requires a team.”

NCECA: wow! Can’t wait to go back!

Our space initially only offered classes; quickly we started selling supplies.

We are highly involved in the Denver art scene, and love working with teachers, students, and potters from all over Colorado.

I started out my adult life in the U.S. Air Force in a communications technology field, which means I spent an entire career in technology before finding clay as an art medium. Before my first class, clay was just something you hose off your vehicles and scrape off your shoes. (I grew up in southwest Oklahoma with lots of sticky red clay.)

In August of 2008, I gave myself a birthday present and signed up for a six-week introductory pottery class at Stone Leaf. I think by the end of the first day, I was hooked.

One of the things Ingrid said during one the first sessions stuck with me. She told a little story about when she was in college, first studying ceramics, and she had been struggling with centering on the wheel. I remember her saying that it took her about seven years to learn to center acceptably. We had been talking about the importance of the process of centering to the final product. That was the turning point for me. If it could take up to seven years to master something so basic in the process, I wanted to learn everything there is to learn.

One thing led to another and here I am, four years later, starting on an art degree in college, working full time at Stone Leaf. I don’t even cast a wondering eye back to the world of technology (unless Sophia or my wife needs me to.)

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Kylle

It all goes back to my true love. Playing in the mud. My most joyful childhood memory is of mud pie and my best friend Dotty Dog. I use to play out in the front yard making mud pies to sell to the cars that where driving by. Fast forward to about eight years ago when I signed up for a pottery class here at Stone Leaf Pottery. I quickly rekindled my love for clay that goes back to a time without beginning. I started helping to pug the studio clay and have been able to work my way up to independently running all the clay recycling, to teaching on Tuesday nights and working part-time in the store. I am so appreciative to be here at Stone Leaf and feel great about the work we do.

I have these moments of amazement on what Stone Leaf has become. Since it’s Thanksgiving, I’m counting blessings.

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Here’s my big shout out for 2012.

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To my staff:
Gita, Kylle, Mark, Aaron, and Amy.

To my volunteers:
Tanja, Rita, MJ, Cherub, Carol, Josh, Sharon, Saundra, and Will

To my dogs:
Riley, Tobin, Aster, P’chunkins, Poe, Odie, and Lola.

To my pottery instructors:
Lori, Kelly, Rick, Peggy, and Beatrice.

To my family:
Dad, Blayne, and Loren

To my friends:
Daryl, Speter, Kate, Cindy, Dave, Michael, Tina, P, Aimee, Carol, Dean, Lori, Johanna, Janice.

And most of all, my Mum. It’s an amazing thing to come to work, enjoy seeing you, being with you, sharing, learning and laughing on this amazing journey.

You are the stars in my sky!

- Sophia

Stone Leaf Pottery is located smack in the middle of Jefferson County (Jeffco), Colorado. And as such, we figure the route of least confusion is to follow Jefferson County Schools snow plans. Jeffco always scrolls info on the bottom of television stations & alerts the radio stations etc. We do what they do.

Keeping that in mind, please note that on cold and snowy mornings, traffic may be slow, and while we STRIVE to open at 9am, we may get stuck in traffic or be outside shoveling when you call.

Just a couple other bits regarding snow:

• We’ll update our phone message (303-463-8081) & Facebook page as soon as possible
• If classes need to be cancelled for snow, decisions will be made:

- by 4pm on Tuesdays & Wednesdays
- by noon on Wednesdays
- by 9am on Sundays

Join Ingrid King for a Heavily Carved Tile workshop on Saturday, July 7th at Stone Leaf Pottery.

Class time: 9 am to 2 pm, with a lunch break.  Cost $60.

Last day to sign up:  Friday, June 29!

Carved Tiles are a wonderful way to achieve multi-textural depth & dimension to a tile. During this class, participants will be using WC 872 Los Altos, a beautiful Cone 10 clay body from Laguna to carve tiles. This clay fires to a warm golden color at Cone 5.Tiles will be approximately 4 x 6 in dimension, and we *strongly* recommend participants save valuable time during the workshop by planning ahead & bring project ideas, including photo copies of images of interest.

Stone Leaf will provide limited carving tools; bring your favorites as well.

Last day to sign up for this workshop is Friday, June 29. Clay for this workshop is prepared by tiles in advance, pressing them between dry-wall bats, and allowing the clay to become firm.

Fee for workshop does not include firing services; firing can be arranged for an additional fee. Non Stone Leaf Students: Don’t forget to bring packing materials to take your tile home with. Cost of class is for ONE tile ~ additional tiles may be available for purchase.

To register, call Stone Leaf Pottery at 303 463 8081. For more information about this workshop, email Ingrid at:  ingrid(at)stoneleafpottery(dot)com