PRESS RELEASE
ASPARAGUS VALLEY POTTERY TRAIL
SEVENTH ANNUAL STUDIO TOUR & SALE
April 30 and May 1, 2011
Contact: Tiffany Hilton (413) 772-3141 www.asparagusvalleypotterytrail.com.
Seventh Annual Pottery Tour celebrates local culture, local fare
On Saturday April 30 and Sunday May 1, ten western MA pottery studios will celebrate spring, local food, and the potter’s art, opening their doors to the public for the Asparagus Valley Pottery Trail from 10 to 5. This free event, now in its seventh year, allows visitors a glimpse of the workspaces, artwork, and techniques of thirteen nationally-known professional potters. The studios include country barns, small-town storefronts, and reclaimed factory spaces, and the pottery made in them ranges from early-American-inspired redware to Asian-influenced stoneware and contemporary decorated porcelain. Visitors will find tableware, garden sculpture, architectural tile, and decorative pieces in a range of styles and prices. All ten studios will have work for sale, and several of the potters will be demonstrating their techniques during the weekend. This year’s ten host potters will be joined by guest potters Victoria Crowell at Angela Fina’s Amherst studio, Nancy Magnusson at Molly Cantor’s in Shelburne Falls, and Jamie Guggina at the Pelham studio of Francine Ozereko.
Easily reached from Boston, Hartford, and the Albany area, the self-guided tour winds along the beautiful back roads and scenic historic towns of the so-called Asparagus Valley, a local name for the upper Connecticut River valley of western Massachusetts. In honoring the region’s agricultural bounty, the Pottery Trail celebrates the rich history and cultural vitality of the area, as well as the longstanding connection between pottery and food. Many local businesses are supporting the tour as sponsors and encourage visitors to eat, stay, and shop while they are in the area. The event is free of charge and welcomes families and visitors of all ages.
The studios are clustered in three areas: Amherst/Pelham, near the University of Massachusetts; Greenfield and the northern Valley; and the Mohawk Trail village of Shelburne Falls. Visitors can visit the studios in any sequence or combination that suits their interests and itinerary. Look for the distinctive yellow Pottery Trail signs when leaving the main highways on the weekend of the event. Maps of the tour are available at each studio, or can be downloaded at www.asparagusvalleypotterytrail.com.
www.apotterytrail.com
Potters on the 2011 Tour:
Donna McGee, Hadley www.donnamcgee.com Donna has been making earthenware pottery for 28 years, and her work is in many collections, including the American Museum of Ceramic Arts in Pomona CA. Her tiles and functional pottery are decorated with images of fields, farmlands, figures, and faces, expressively drawn with colorful slips and glazes. In addition to her pottery, Donna will have samples of tile installations at her studio.
Angela Fina, Amherst www.angelafina.com Angela has been a full-time potter in Amherst since 1979. She uses porcelain and beautiful colored glazes to make elegant, affordable pottery for the table and for flower arranging. This year she will have new vases and tea sets in addition to bowls, mugs, and serving dishes in a range of glaze colors.
Victoria Crowell’s colorfully painted porcelain is made to be used and enjoyed. Her traditional forms are a three-dimensional canvas for painting with colored slips. She will be showing bowls, platters, vases, and birdhouses as a guest at Angela Fina’s studio. www.victoriacrowell.com.
Francine T. Ozereko, Pelham www.ftostudio.com Francine has lived in the Valley since 1979. Her intricate black and white drawings on porcelain tiles, sculpture, and pottery use the sgraffito technique. In addition to her functional pottery, she translates her drawings into 3D wall pieces and sculpture. A portion of "On The Line," her collaborative installation from the Fuller Craft Museum, is now on view at Terminal A, Logan Airport, Boston.
Jamie Guggina’s porcelain pots feature both graphic carved designs and colorful glazes, made to please the eye and hand of the user. A potter for fifteen years, he has shown his work throughout the Northeast and will be a guest at the studio of Francine Ozereko in Pelham. www.coolpots.com
Michael Cohen, Pelham. www.michaelcohentiles.com A full-time potter since the 60s and one of the original “Asparagus Valley Potters,” Michael has been specializing in handmade tile for the past twelve years with the help of his son Josh. His distinctive tiles, with their stamped designs and vivid blue glaze, have been shown in galleries throughout the country and his work has appeared in many publications, which will be on view during the tour.
Lucy Fagella, Greenfield www.luciapottery.com Lucy has been a potter since 1985 and teaches in her studio as well as producing subtly-glazed porcelain for kitchen and table. She will have several new forms for food-lovers, including brie bakers and asparagus platters. In addition she produces a distinctive line of funerary ware, including biodegradable urns. Visitors to Lucy’s studio will be able to watch pottery being made on the potter’s wheel.
Tiffany Hilton, Greenfield www.tiffanyhilton.com Tiffany set up her home studio in 2005 and added a large gas fired kiln to her workshop in 2009. She creates wheel-thrown and hand-built stoneware intended for daily use, oven-safe casseroles, custom dinnerware, mugs and vases. This year she will have new, larger centerpieces and serving dishes.
Tom White, Northfield www.tomwhitepottery.com Tom has been creating functional pottery for over 30 years at his studio in historic Northfield. His wheel-thrown porcelain and stoneware forms are complemented by rich, colorful glazes and fired in various ways – in the gas-fired reduction kiln at his studio, or in collaborative wood or soda firings with other potters throughout the Northeast.
Molly Cantor, Shelburne Falls www.mollypots.com Molly’s decorated pottery features designs inspired by plants, animals, and stories, and she also makes one-of-a-kind animal figures. She will be showing both black-and-white work and wood-fired pottery and sculpture. Her downtown Shelburne Falls location, where she also offers classes, is part of the vibrant village street scene.
Nancy Magnusson’s warm and inviting pottery is made on the potter’s wheel and reflects the touch of the hands and fire that created it. Her functional pots are fired in a communal wood-burning kiln at her studio in Tolland, Mass. She will be featured as a guest potter at Molly Cantor’s Shelburne Falls studio.
Mary Barringer, Shelburne Falls www.studiopotter.org Mary began her career in the early 1970s, and makes both hand-built functional pottery and sculpture. Her work’s subtle layers of texture and color evoke ancient art and natural forms. In addition to her studio work she is the editor of The Studio Potter, an international ceramic journal.
Stephen Earp, Shelburne Falls www.stevenearp.com. Steve’s pottery is based on the forms and techniques of 19th-century American redware. It is made with local clays on a foot-powered treadle wheel and has earned recognition from Early American Life magazine’s National Directory of Traditional Art. Steve’s pottery journal ”On This Day in Ceramic History,” has been syndicated in the online magazine This is Diversity. He will be showing new tureens and water coolers as well as elaborate centerpieces.
|
