Many of you might remember Glynt Pottery from various craft and pottery shows and exhibits a few years ago, but haven’t heard from me in a long time. Because of the claims made on my time by a full-time job and family responsibilities, I stopped doing shows and only sold my work through the Manassas Clay gallery in Manassas, Virginia. Last year, I retired from my job as an economics editor and I am fortunate now to be able to devote myself to clay. In the past year, I created a website and blog (www.glyntpottery.blogspot.com) to make it easy for my customers and friends to stay up-to-date with my work and in contact with me. You can also find Glynt Pottery on Facebook!

In addition, in May of this year, I opened on online store on Etsy.com that currently carries over 60 items (www.glyntpottery.etsy.com). I am particularly proud of this achievement as it allows my customers and friends to browse through my items at their leisure and make their purchases from the comfort of their home. As many of you may know, Etsy.com is “Your place to buy and sell all things hand-made.”

Also, I am now able to accept credit card payments through PayPal to make your shopping experience much more convenient.  And, finally, I am also able to ship my pottery to you.

And, of course, I maintain my space at Manassas Clay! I am now sitting at the gallery once a month and hope to increase the number of days soon so that I can meet more of my customers. I am also changing the display every 3 weeks, so please visit often! And, remember, when you visit Manassas Clay you get to check out, not only my stuff, but also the work of over 20 other potters. In addition, the gallery is now carrying fused glass items, including earrings.

A word about Etsy.com

I hope that you will have lots of fun visiting Etsy.com! As the holidays approach, it’s the ideal place to purchase one-of-a-kind handmade items at very reasonable prices. You can be sure that the gift you buy at Etsy.com won’t be found any place else! The shops on Etsy.com sell only handmade or vintage goods.

I hope you won’t be intimidated by the need to register your own presence at Etsy.com in order to become a buyer. It really is no different from establishing a presence on Ebay or Amazon.com. And it gives you the opportunity, if you are so inclined, to post your own creations for sale!

New Work

During this past year, I have been experimenting with new forms and glaze combinations and I’m very excited with the results. I have also begun firing some of my pieces in a gas kiln, giving me a whole new range of colors and glaze effects.

One of my new forms involves taking my candle luminarias into the realm of electricity by adding a snap-in socket and 7w light bulb. The carved votives I used to make have become much larger and now have much more intricate and interesting motifs. They have evolved from cookie-cutter patterns to large leaves, bamboo, flowers, butterflies and abstract designs. Making these lamps is like a meditation because the carving process is very delicate and involved. I so enjoy making them!

You may wonder what I do with all the cut-outs from these pots. Well, they led to another type of pot: pitchers and wine-coolers with vines and leaves on relief on the side of the pots. These attachments provide a place for the glazes to pool producing very nice surprises. For example, in pieces where a yellow glaze sits on top of a green glaze I get beautiful pools of blue! (This is a chemical reaction and it’s just a coincidence that the colors work out the way you would expect them to.)

I am also experimenting with drawing on pots and have produced a variety of pieces with painted flower and plant designs. I am still working on these as the colors don’t always come out the way I expected them to, but I find that they are very pleasing nevertheless.

These are some examples of my new work. You can find more detailed descriptions of the process for making each piece on my Etsy.com store or on the Gallyer/Lamps page of this website.

Upcoming Events

You will always find a list of upcoming events on this website. All future events and exhibits are listed in the “Shows and Exhibits” page, while forthcoming events (within the month) are noted on the website’s front page, as well.

See my blog for a discussion of the recent Kiln Club sale at Marshall High School.

Currently, I am only scheduled to do the City of Falls Church 2008 Holiday Craft Fair at the Falls Church Community Center on December 6 and 7 from 10am to 4pm.

Finally…

I will only publish this newsletter twice a year in the Fall and the Spring. The next issue will come out in March 2009. Please visit my website and blog for updates and feel free to contact me if you don’t find what you’re looking for in my space at Manassas Clay or in my Etsy.com shop. I will gladly consider special orders.

Online Store: www.glyntpottery.etsy.com

Blog: www.glyntpottery.blogspot.com