PRESS RELEASE
ASPARAGUS VALLEY POTTERY TRAIL
SIXTH ANNUAL STUDIO TOUR & SALE
April 24 & 25 2010
Contact: Tiffany Hilton (413) 772-3141 www.asparagusvalleypotterytrail.com
Tour offers inside look at the studios and techniques of twelve area potters
Ten Western Massachusetts potters will host the sixth Asparagus Valley Pottery Trail on April 24 and 25, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The free event, open to visitors of all ages, features a self-guided tour of the studios of a diverse group of working potters. Visitors can see finished work as well as the techniques, tools, and sources of inspiration that underlie it. On view will be pots for cooking and serving food, garden vessels, architectural ceramics, and sculpture, in styles ranging from elegant wheel-thrown porcelain and earthenware inspired by early American redware, to sculptural forms and pottery with carved, drawn, or painted decoration. The group includes seasoned potters who have been selling their work for more than forty years and young entrants to the field, all trained professionals with national and local audiences. This year’s tour will add two guest potters: Jamie Guggina of Northampton, who will be at Francine Ozereko’s Pelham studio, and Nancy Magnusson of Tolland, who will be showing her work at Molly Cantor’s newly- relocated Shelburne Falls storefront.
Each studio will have work for sale, and many will also feature demonstrations of the ways pottery is made or decorated. Participating studios are clustered in three areas: Hadley-Pelham-Amherst, Greenfield-Northfield, and Shelburne Falls, allowing visitors to create their own itineraries and to visit nearby restaurants and other attractions. As in past years, the popular “pottery passports” will be available at each studio, and visitors who have theirs stamped at seven of the ten locations will be eligible to win a piece of pottery from one of the participating potters. The tour is open to visitors of all ages, and families are welcome.
Spring will be arriving in western Massachusetts and the Asparagus Valley, so named for its rich agricultural history, will be in bloom on this 40-mile driving tour. The Pottery Trail can be easily reached from eastern Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Albany area. 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.
Potters on the 2010 Tour:
Angela Fina, Amherst www.angelafina.com Angela Fina 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.
Francine T. Ozereko, Pelham www.ozeroko.com Francine has lived in the Valley since coming here for graduate school in 1979. Her intricate black and white drawings on porcelain tiles and pottery use the sgrafitto technique, which she will demonstrate during the weekend. Her 100-foot long collaborative installation is currently on view at the Fuller Craft Museum.
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.
Donna McGee, Hadley. www.donnamcgee.com Donna has been making her earthenware pottery for 25 years, and is listed in Who’s Who of American Artists. Her tiles and functional pottery are decorated with images of fields, farmlands, figures, and faces, drawn with colorful slips and glazes in an expressive manner. In 2009 she was featured in an exhibition of Hadley artists mounted in celebration of Hadley’s 350th anniversary. Donna will have samples of tile murals at her studio in addition to her pottery.
Lucy Fagella, Greenfield www.luciapottery.com Lucy has been a potter since 1985 and teaches in her studio as well as producing subtly-glazed wheel-thrown porcelain for kitchen and table. In addition she produces a distinctive line of funerary ware, including a new line of biodegradable urns. Visitors to Lucy’s newly expanded 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 recently installed a new gas-fired kiln. A regular at the Greenfield Farmers’ Market, she creates wheel-thrown and hand-built stoneware intended for daily use, oven-safe casseroles, serving pieces, custom dinnerware, and wedding registries.
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. In 2009 she moved her studio to a new downtown location, where she offers classes and contributes to the vibrant Shelburne Falls 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 evokes ancient and natural forms, with subtle layers of texture and color. 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 redware pottery is based on the forms and techniques of 19th-century American pottery. It is made with local clays on a foot-powered treadle wheel and has earned recognition from the Mass Cultural Council’s Traditional Arts Fellowship Program and 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.
For additional information please contact:
Tiffany Hilton at (413) 772-3141 or high_fired@hotmail.com.
For digital images please contact:
Francine Ozereko at (413) 253-2664 or ftostudio@comcast.net.
www.asparagusvalleypotterytrail.com
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