I love making pots. I make them so they will be used. I don’t want them to sit on a shelf- whether it’s in my studio, a shop or gallery. I want them to find homes. I hope to have one of my mugs be your favorite.  The one that you have to wash even though every other mug in the cupboard is clean because that’s the one you have to have your coffee from. To have one of my bowls be your morning oatmeal bowl. I would be honored if you had a slice of birthday cake off of one of my plates. Or if you washed your hands daily with soap from one of my soap dispensers.

Here are a few places that you can find my pots!

My brother, Jeff, and his wife, Eliza own an awesome coffee shop/ cafe on Main Street in Keene, New Hampshire (our hometown), Brewbakers. They roast their own coffee, have amazing soups, sandwiches and baked goods. They have live music, art exhibits and a great vibe. And now they have mugs for sale that I made! One side has the Brewbakers logo, and the other side has a word such as: percolate, energize, caffeine… No two are the same!

For the next month, my father, Jim Murphy, and I will be featured artists at Vermont Artisan Designs on Main Street in Brattleboro, Vermont. It’s a really wonderful gallery that I have frequented over the years and I am so happy to be part of. Tonight, Friday, Dec 7th, is their gallery walk.

I am really excited to be part of Lillstreet Art Center’s holiday show, Let There be Light, once again this year! Lillstreet was where my studio and where I taught for 10 years. I always feel like I’m sending my pots home when I ship them to Lillstreet. It’s always a wonderful place to shop during the holidays- in the artists’ studios on the 2nd and 3rd floors and in the gallery!

Last weekend’s studio sale was a great success! I really do love opening up my studio and spending the weekend seeing old friends and meeting new ones. I even got to meet quite a few folks who read my blog- but I hadn’t met before. That was such a treat! I will definitely be having a spring studio sale!

If you’re not in one of the places I listed above, you can get some great pots! Below are just a few of the pots that you’ll find in my Etsy shop! I’m having a $5 shipping sale right now! I’m stocked up with boxes and bubble wrap and ready to ship!

In between shipping pots this weekend and playing in the snow that is forecasted… I’m hoping to get my hands back in wet clay! Enjoy your weekend too!

Tags: Brattleboro, emilymurphy, Etsy, Keene, Vermont Artisan Designs

Ceramic Biennial 2008

Tags: Ceramic Biennial, Jim Koudelka, John Glick, New Hampshire Institute of Art, Our Cups Runneth Over, Salt Soda National, Simon Levin, Winterfest

What is a yunomi you ask? Yunomi is an informal Japanese teabowl that is taller than wide, with a trimmed foot.

Akar’s site was overwhelmed this morning, but the bottleneck seems to have opened up. I am having a lot fun meandering around the exhibition. Just click here (or on the screenshot above) if you want to see my tea bowls. Enjoy the show!

Tags: Teabowl

I have some fun blog posts in the works, but they’re a bit ambitious and it’s taking me longer to get them posted than I thought it would. Here is some other stuff that I’m up to (in no particular order).

Feb. 16th, 2008
I’m so excited to teach a workshop for Earlham Alums! I learned to make pots at Earlham where ceramics was highly supported by the students and faculty. Over the years of having a studio at Lillstreet, I’ve had a lot of EC alums visit me. Their support of clay as students at Earlham has transformed into a life long appreciation of handmade pots.
If you’re an Earlham alum in the mid-west, I hope you can make it to the workshop. Or if you know someone else who is… pass it on!

Join fellow Earlhamites, parents, and friends of the College at Lillstreet Art Center for a hands-on workshop with Emily Murphy ’99. Each participant will have the opportunity to learn hand building techniques and create his or her own mug or vase. Pieces will be fired and available for pickup approximately 2-3 weeks after the event. All work will be completely non-porous, food-safe, and microwave and dishwasher safe! We will gather at 11:30 for pizza and an opportunity to hear an update from campus!
 

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Another Cup? at Baltimore Clayworks curated by Deborah Bedwell.
Jan. 12 – Feb. 23, 2008

I was excited to be invited to be a part of this exhibition. See the pictures 0f the show here.

An invitational exhibition featuring cups from established and emerging ceramic artists. The curator, Baltimore Clayworks’ Executive Director Deborah Bedwell believes, “… that a beautifully made cup, which satisfies its utilitarian and/or artistic intention is exactly what our culture needs and answers the question “Does the world need another cup? 

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Yunomi Invitational at Akar
I have also been invited to be a part of the Yunomi Exhibition at Akar. I’ll keep you posted when the show is online. Right now the pots are in the mail, on their way to Akar.
They have the tea bowls from last year’s exhibition online. Take a look, there are some amazing vessels!
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My plan has been for a long time to redo my main website: sodafired.com
But everything else gets in the way (like making pots, my blog, etc…). But I am trying to at least keep some of the info updated.
Here’s the latest:

updated artist statement

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A new class session at Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago began a couple of weeks ago. Spring session starts mid-March. The classes I’m teaching will be the same next session, but with slightly different days & times.

Advanced Wheel – Throwing and Altering
Tuesdays, 6:30 – 9:30pm

This class is for the proficient thrower to take their wheel work to the next level. We will push, pull and cut the clay on and off the wheel to create new forms on and off the wheel. We will use the wheel to make the basic forms, and then incorporate hand-building techniques to build forms that are out of round. 

Advanced Topics in Soda: Investigating Materials
Wednesdays, 7 – 10pm

This class is for advanced students who have had some experience in soda and atmospheric firing, and are looking to investigate the process more deeply. We will be focused on exploring and understanding different clay bodies and dozens of slips. We will look at slides for inspiration and will identify particular finishes that are interesting and exciting. From there, we will study individual materials and how they react in the soda kiln. The end goal will be to create some new and unique finishes through the investigation of materials 

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The Conversation Continues…
You might remember the show that I was a part of last fall: Being to Being: Collective Conversations in Clay. Check out the website- there are new images of the show (installed) and the process. And it sounds like there will be another show this fall with a new twist. As always, I’ll keep you posted!

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Ask a Potter
I regularly get questions via email from other ceramic artists seeking my advice. There are certain questions that I get over and over again: new graduates asking advice on what to do after graduation; questions about kilns and soda; people coming to visit Chicago wondering what clay focused things there are to do an see when they’re in town, etc… I try to answer these questions as best I can within the limitations of my time and knowledge. Last week I got a bunch of emails, many of which are variations on common questions that I get. I thought to myself: “I should use each question and my answer as a blog post.” So that’s what I’m going to do. And I’m hoping that maybe a dialog can open up and the Pottery Blog readers can help fill in the gaps in my advice with their own knowledge and experiences.

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Europe, clay?
Ian and I are planning a trip to Europe in mid to late August. We have a wedding to go to in Germany, but other than that, we don’t have any specific plans. We’re in the VERY early stages of planning (I think we’re heading north, Denmark, etc…). Does anyone have any suggestions for clay related things that we should consider doing/ seeing and maybe take in account in our planning? Thanks in advance for the suggestions!

Those are all the updates for now. It’s nice to be back!

Tags: Earlham

I have been making these oval vases for a while in all different shapes and sizes. The idea for these pieces emerged out of a desire to make a vase that can sit in the middle of a table with flowers in it, yet it’s short enough to see your sweetie sitting across the table. Vases are a form that I’ve battled with. I have high standards for my pieces (vases and others). They must be able to stand on their own, without fulfilling their given purpose. And when they are doing their duty, like holding flowers, it must function flawlessly. My battle with the classic vase form is that I am not interested in it as a stand alone form. I know it’s a broad generalization, but it’s something that I tackle over and over again, and the form just isn’t “strong” enough for my taste. When I push and pull the classic vase form into something that I really like, it is more like a bottle and can’t hold more than 1 flower… So I seem to end up venturing into vase forms that are unconventional.

And since I like things that are unconventional, I am doing a show this much that is just that…unconventional. Haus (a wonderful ceramics gallery in Chicago) has coordinated this show for Chicago Artist’s Month (which is October). The tables at Anteprima, a fantastic Italian restaurant in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood have been filled with my oval vases. The vases have been filled by Sunburst Flowers, another Andersonville neighborhood business. I love all the collaboration!

The above image is of one of the beautiful arrangements for the show. The below image is of some of my platters at the restaurant. When Anteprima was opening, I was commissioned to make these platters.

Tags: Anteprima, Sunburst Flowers

Here is a virtual tour of the exhibition that I’m currently having at Haus in Chicago through May 6. It is a body of work that I have been working on for months, and had in my head for the last year or so. It is really excited to have the group of work finished and exhibited together. Click on any of the images to see them larger. I hope you enjoy your visit to the gallery…

This is the front of the gallery with my large bottle forms on display in the window. 

Here are some images of the installation of the show.

I have taken the idea of my surfaces being canvases one step further. I have made a series of wall pieces. These are forms that I have been playing with for a while, but this is the first time that I have exhibited them.

And here are some mugs that echo the grid of squares above…

Chicago artist Amy Lemaire designed floral arrangements in my low oval vases. These are pieces that stand alone as sculptural forms, but come to life with greens, branches and flowers in them. This is just a selection of the pieces. I took these photos on a white piece of paper so you could see them a little bit better.

 

The show will be up until May 6, 2007 if you’d like to see it in person. There is going to be a “Wine Walk” in the Andersonville neighborhood (where Haus is located) on May 6th. We’re going to take this opportunity to have a closing party. If you’d like to participate in the Wine Walk, you can purchase a special wine glass for $20 and you can wander the neighborhood and taste 40 different kinds of wine. For information on this event, visit In Fine Spirit’s website.

The previous post is my artist’s statement for this show.

Tags: Amy Lemaire, Andersonville, Bottles, In Fine Spirit's

A show of my new work is opening on Friday, April 6, at Haus in Chicago. All of the work is soda fired (surprise surprise!), with a vivid palate of colors. The show include some new wall pieces, oval centerpiece vase (like you see below), large square platters and more.
I have been wanting to do this work since last summer, and when the opportunity came up to have a show at Haus, I was really excited to have a place to exhibit the vision that was in my head. I’ve been working intensely on this new body of work through the coldest and darkest days of the winter- with a longing eye looking towards spring.
I’ll give you a little sneak peak of some of the work here on this entry and after the opening I will post some installation images of the show.

 

Due to what I can only explain as time passing more quickly than ever before, the holiday season is upon us. The opening night for various exhibitions and shows that I am participating in is this Friday, December 1st.

Visit my studio at Lillstreet Studios in Chicago throughout the month for our holiday extravaganza. Browse the wares in my studio while I continue to produce work. New work will be showing up throughout the month!

Opening Reception:
Friday, December 1, 6pm – 9pm
4401 N. Ravenswood
2nd floor- 205 west
Chicago, IL 60640

Saturdays, 10am – 6pm
Sundays, 10am – 5pm
Weekdays, 12 noon – 6pm

On weekends, 12 noon – 3pm, you can “drop and shop.” You can drop off your kids in the kids rooms on the 1st floor of Lillstreet Art Center while you shop the gallery and 35 artists studios.

You can travel a little ways from my studio to Haus, a beautiful gallery focusing on hand crafted items for the home from dinnerware to handmade furniture. They also have a great selection of jewelry. The work that I have there, of course, is the dinnerware and other pots.

Haus
5405 N. Clark
Chicago, IL 60640

Tues – Thurs, 11am – 7pm
Fri – Sat, 11am – 8pm
Sun, 12 noon – 5pm
Mon, closed

The Evanston Art Center’s Art + Craft Expo opens with a Preview Party on Friday, December 1, 6pm – 9pm, tickets are $25. I have a wide array of work there, from vases to mugs to soap dispensers. There are over 80 participating artists. An event not to be missed!

Evanston Art Center
2603 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60201
December 1 – December 16
Sat – Sun, 11am — 5 pm
Mon – Thur, 12 — 6 pm
Fri, 12 — 8 pm

Woman Made Gallery is hosting their Annual Holiday Bazaar Nov 24 – Dec 23. If you’ve never been to this space before, you should make sure to get there this month!

Woman Made Gallery
685 N Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622

Wed – Fri, 12 noon – 7pm
Sat – Sun, 12 noon – 4pm
Mon – Tue, closed

Opening Reception, Friday, Dec. 1, 6pm – 9pm.

Tags: Art + Craft Expo, Evanston Art Center, Holiday Sale, Woman Made Gallery