Thru December 24
Thanks to everyone who came out to the opening reception on Friday! There are still lots of ornaments, bowls, plates, mugs, vases, and more, for sale in the gallery–all made by the potters at our studio. Stop by and get some holiday shopping done.
Mimi Young is the new Potter of the Month. Her work will be on display in the front window throughout November.
“I am new to clay and find the medium very exciting and challenging. Being a painter, my work has always been 2 dimensional, focusing on creating an engaging surface. I’ve found that working with clay has fit in very well with my visual sensibility.
“The line of canisters I am showing has developed over the summer and features bits of rocks, branches and found objects that I have accumulated over many years. The collection of these elements is really what the focus of these pieces is about, the canisters are their canvas.
“I studied hand building with Richard Stauffacher and am so inspired by his vision and talent. Those of you who know his work will no doubt see his influence in my pieces.”
Click on an image to enlarge:
Friday, October 16th, 6-9pm
Oktoberfest was a big success. Thanks to everyone who participated, and special thanks to d.b.a. in the East Village for supplying the delicious beer!!!
The work of Bob Pesce is on display in the front window and the gallery this month.
Bob Pesce is a display designer and native New Yorker who mastered the use of a potter’s wheel at age fourteen and hasn’t stopped yet. His undergraduate work at Pratt Institute and the art department at Brooklyn College has led to exhibitions of his pottery and wood sculpture at both institutions as well as a co-op gallery in Brooklyn.
His current series of ceramic pieces center on a fascination with the continuity of the cosmos as seen in the small everyday object . (Think the marbles at the end of “Men in Black”). Organic and sensuous, his pieces evoke whirlpools and flowers among other things. Think of yourself enveloped in a swirling mass of comforting energy and you’ll be right at home with his work.
Professional work includes the Holiday Décor Installations at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the residence of the Vice President (Al Gore), the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, as well as twenty rooms (each room themed in a different fairy tale) at the Lyndhurst Castle in Tarrytown. His work has been published in the book, The Heart of Christmas, as well as the Village Voice, Victorian Homes, The Journal News, Westchester Magazine, and numerous trade magazines and is the basis for the book A Fairy Tale Christmas (Stewart, Tabori and Chang, NYC, a subsidiary of Harry N. Abrams, Inc.).
Bob’s work will also be featured at the TOJ Gallery booth at The Modern Show: October 16-18, 2009, 7 W 34th Street at Fifth Avenue, New York City.
Our annual staff retreat took place in early August at the beautiful upstate New York home (endearingly referred to as La Mano North) of Peggy and Howie.
Peggy is one of the owning partners at La Mano. Along with Howie, her husband, their hospitality and facilities allowed for a fantastic weekend of ceramic gas and raku firing, processes we do not have access to at our Chelsea studio.
Here are some photos of the weekend. You can see more on Facebook.
Melissa Green is the current Potter of the Month. Her work, pictured below, will be featured in the front window at the studio for all of July.
Artist’s Statement
In addition to a fulfilling career in NYC banking and real estate, I began to study pottery in 1995, as a student with Anke Bosse at Ceramix studio in Manhattan. In 1998, along with several talented partners, I founded La Mano Pottery in Chelsea, NYC, and took part in growing that business into the successful and thriving gallery and teaching studio that it is today.
Although I no longer have an ownership interest in La Mano, I continue to work there as a studio potter. I also started the after-school pottery program for IS 89 middle school students, and worked closely with that group from post 9/11 pottery workshops through 2005.
I love playing with color and texture in clay. I focus on functional pottery, and have never concentrated on one particular style. I prefer to let each piece speak in its own voice, reflecting a feeling, mood, or attitude. My work ranges from carved pieces to altered jars and bowls to hand-sculpted ware, and I work both on and off the wheel.
Melissa E. Green — Greenwareceramics.com
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