Posts By: Dan Finnegan

I have been nominated and seconded for membership in The American Ceramic Circle, which is a non-profit educational organization committed to the study and appreciation  of post-medieval pottery and porcelain in Europe, Asian ceramics from all periods and anything ceramic in North America. The 400 strong membership is made up of museum curators, collectors, institutions… Read more »

The Food Show is our longest running competitive exhibition and continues to be a big hit with our visitors. The gallery show includes 45 entries and Ariel Freeman won first place for her fantastic watercolor full of apples. On opening night we also have a competition for the best artwork made from food which is… Read more »

Over the last few weeks I have been slowly revealing to the world that LibertyTown is for sale! I could write a million words about why, but for now I will just say that it is time for me to return to my studio full-time and time for me to figure out the best way… Read more »

I seldom make commissioned pots anymore, but ‘The Littlefield Project’ was impossible to refuse. While I was making it I was thinking of Edan Schwartz, a student of mine at Penland years ago, who made very expressive face mugs by pinching and folding thrown pot. Since taking this photo I’ve made a few changes…eliminating the… Read more »

A long time ago one of my art teachers suggested turning something I was working on upside down to look at it with fresh eyes. That lesson stuck and I often turn things this way and that to see if there is a new idea there. I attended a workshop with Paul Soldner way back… Read more »

A Littlefield Production….I’m using Michael’s drawing to guide me as I attempt to make a pot for his twin brother, Keith. One day if your extra good I’ll tell you the story.

With the gentle prompting of Pam Gallant I had a session with Steve Chin, a highly regarded practitioner of Chinese medicine. He gave me an intense acupressure treatment, focusing on my abdomen and the scar tissue that remain from my surgery (if your new to my blog, check back in November’s posts). It was a… Read more »

Once again, the skies opened up last night. The endless rain keeps falling. I hate to complain, but between feet of snow and inches of rain, I’m weary of the mud. As the water poured over the road a blue heron stood in the middle fishing a very shallow patch. I’ve seen this happen for… Read more »

A cool and rainy day…perfect for spending in the studio.  This is the scene out my kitchen window. Andrew asked about my sprigs, so here’s a photo. All but one are carved into bone dry, very fine, white stoneware and are then biscuit fired. The little seed pod, bottom left, is an impression of something… Read more »

    I spent the first half of the day at Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site) celebrating the life of Mrs. Mary (IB) Bridgewater, an extraordinary woman of 85 who touched a huge cross-section of our community. She led an amazing life of service to anyone that crossed her path. I feel fortunate to have known… Read more »

Some details from the exhibition. This next one really cracks me up. I love that the potter that applied this sprig had his/her thumb slip and ‘erase’ the top of the face. Better yet, they left it as it was and passed it on to be fired. It suggests a certain casualness to the processSorry… Read more »

I’m still digesting all the information packed into the wonderful conference on saltglaze at Colonial Williamsburg (Anna will say she told me so…). Most of the lectures were fascinating, a couple a bit dry, but it was a real pleasure altogether to be amidst such passionate and bright scholars and collectors. The exhibition is fantastic… Read more »

I’m off to Williamsburg tomorrow….you’re on your own for a few days!

  I spent some time torn between two very cool conferences coming up this March….NCECA is coming to Philadelphia, which is sort of local to me, and is the big annual celebration of contemporary ceramics with an emphasis on education. I visited the one in Kentucky a few years back and left with mixed feelings…… Read more »

I made a couple of bigger pots again today after finishing up all the slipping and glazing of porcelain. Ryan Olsen has been helping harvest some of the wood that came down in the heavy snows…I’m planning a firing in a year or more using all the pine and cedar branches that have come down…. Read more »

I’ve grown comfortable making pots this size, using a 4lb. piece as the base and 3lb. piece on top before adding the collar that you see here. I use a small soldering torch to firm things up, something I avoided for a long time for reasons inexplicable. The collar or ‘cap’ is made from a… Read more »

A week of mild weather and few outside distractions allowed me to get a lot done in the studio this week. I don’t make many jugs/pitchers these days… there was a time that I made 100’s of little individual creamers. It’s a form that I don’t always get right….the round bellied one in front pleases… Read more »

It only takes a couple of warmish days for these little guys to begin their mating calls…and today the chorus was in full throat. It’s a wonderful sound. According to the internet, they are from a group called chorus frogs and range from Florida to Canada along the east coast. They are called ‘pinkletinks’ on… Read more »

One of the best things about being in charge of LibertyTown is presenting artists from unlooked for corners of the community. Last September Lynn Ackerman introduced me to Kevin McKluskey and suggested that I should see the dolls he made. Well, some of my best ideas are other people’s, and this is no exception. Kevin… Read more »

Ron’s blog about one-piece boxes certainly stirred up a lot of interest a couple of weeks ago. I remember seeing a version of that idea in college (more than 30 years ago!) and not having the skill to pull it off at the time. These boxes here are made in two pieces, but they are… Read more »

While the idea that a blogger would have ‘followers’ makes it sound a bit too much like a cult, I am always flattered when someone else adds me to their own list. And now that magic number has crept over 100! and I wanted to say thanks for watching and reading and admitting it! So… Read more »

I’ve been thinking about rhythm today…a question in my morning crossword sparked it.  We potters talk about rhythm all the time.  Right now for me that means a series of steps as I progress through my day in the studio that includes: Turn on the heater  Take off any plastic that’s been covering pots. Fill… Read more »

It’s been a rare snow-free week and now the big melt is underway. In the city, everything is turning black and mushy, while out at the studio it is turning brown and slushy. We’ve all grown a bit tired of it. Just the same, I’m still grooving in the studio and really enjoying it. Bowls… Read more »

I still can’t get a pot made before noon, but just a few minutes after that I cranked up the satellite radio and turned on the Honda generator (or vice versa) and threw 40 bowls in less than 4 hours.  It’s a real good batch, made with 2 lbs. of clay and just a little… Read more »