Wildfire will be November 2-3 at Highland Elementary School in Bend featuring more than 25 premier ceramic artists with clay demonstrations throughout each day.
The show includes a children’s area with clay activities for kids and raffle tickets for $25 towards pottery purchase will be held every other hour on both Saturday and Sunday.
The Gallery Showcase features artwork from each artist.
Winners in the 2012 Best in Show were Linda Heisserman for the functional category and Michael Gwinup in the sculptural category. Wildfire Pottery Showcase donates to the Arts in Central Oregon through Arts Central and is sponsored by The Clay Guild of the Cascades, which is a non-profit organization, supporting local artists and education.
Linda Heisserman Spotlight
Linda works in porcelain clay because she says it reminds her of a canvas. The piece starts to come alive for her when she starts carving; sometimes straight and precise lines, sometimes curving and soft lines. Sometimes she creates openings/holes, so she can look through and around the pieces.
Linda uses a light green celadon or blue celadon glaze for her carved pieces because the glaze pools in the deeper grooves and pulls off from the higher parts which quietly accentuates the carvings. She strives for her pieces to be both functional and special enough to bring a smile to a person’s face and eyes.
linheiss@msn 541-419-1500
Michael Gwinup Spotlight
Michael Gwinup’s journey with clay started while attending Western Oregon University in 1974. Michael was an art major focusing mainly on painting and drawing, until one day when he was invited to visit a professional potter. Seeing the kiln at full temperature, with flames and black smoke pouring out the portholes, he was hooked and began taking pottery classes. Upon graduation in 1976, He and his wife, Michele, moved to Bend and opened their pottery business, Blue Spruce Pottery.
Michael is well known for his Raku fired, vases, lamps and wall plates. The pottery is hand-formed using a potter’s wheel or slab roller. It is glazed and decorated by hand and then fired in the Raku process.
Each piece is fired to a temperature of 1,800 degrees. It is then pulled out of the kiln and placed in a bed of sawdust, and after a few minutes, cooled rapidly with water. The sawdust brings out beautiful metallic lusters in the glaze, while the rapid colling creates the crackle patterns typical of Raku.
Throughout the years Michael has given workshops and taught the process of Raku. His work has been been displayed in invitational shows, northwest art galleries, and is in many private collections.
Wildfire Pottery Showcase 9th Annual Show & Sale
Saturday November 2, 10am-5pm
Sunday November 3, 10am-4pm
Free admission and parking
Highland Elementary School (Old Kenwood School)
701 NW Newport Ave., Bend
John Kinder- 541-279-0343 or johnkinderpottery@gmail.com
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