Posts By: Dan Finnegan

One of the many pleasures of my studio in the woods is getting to watch the birds. This is the first studio I’ve had without a cat or three so I can feed the birds with impunity! My feeders are morphing into a bit of a sculpture right outside the window from my wheel.  I… Read more »

     Everyone needs a ‘Sentinal’ in their garden!     I have been way too busy lately, but not a lot of my time has been spent on the pottery biz. A couple of big events at Libertytown (including a yard sale of seconds) and a great wedding (congratulations, Anna and Jym!) have filled… Read more »

I am starting to change my mental gears as I prepare for my 30th(!) visit to Great Britain this summer. I have an exciting trip planned…I will fly into Edinburgh, Scotland and spend a couple of days there before touring in the countryside before visiting old friends. Then it’s on to new friends…Hannah and Paul… Read more »

I won’t fire again until the autumn, but I am trying to get a head start before I spend a good chunk of the summer with my British ‘cousins’. I’ve been doing lots of testing lately, and I love to sell my test tiles! You will notice that these are my classic ‘juice cup’ form…. Read more »

A couple of tiny films, sorry about the sideways viewing!

I wanted to share some photos before this event joins my line-up of sweet memories… Naomi and Michael’s pots Several week-ends ago I drove over to the home and studio of Warren Frederick and Catherine White. They were hosting an afternoon potluck/demonstration/sale with Michael Hunt and Naomi Dalglish for a group of pottery lovers from… Read more »

This piece will be available this month at LibertyTown’s annual Patrons Show. Tickets go on sale Friday (Thursday if you are a “Friend” of LibertyTown…and I ain’t talkin’ Facebook friend, either!). We have 50 wonderful pieces of art and craft donated and we then sell 50 tickets for $150.00 each. At the end of the… Read more »

before So, I figure that if I publish 8.3 photos a day I will be paying the low, low price of a penny per photograph. What else can you buy for a penny?…and what do kids do in place of penny candy? I used to love to go to Vick’s, the creaky old corner store… Read more »

Somehow I had one more photo left in my 1GB of free Picasa storage so here’s a little view of another glorious spring day in the Old Dominion! We unloaded the kiln today and it was full of excellent work. I made lots of changes, both to the kiln itself and to how I fired… Read more »

Thanks to everyone who took the time to help me keep at this blog writing thing-y.I’m heading out to light up the kiln for the 12th time today. As ever, expectations are high and I’m always eager to throw sticks on a fire.I hope to resume normal activity here next week when everything settles down…. Read more »

So, Blogger changed everything up (they never asked if I wanted them too) and now I am unable to upload photos…they say that my picasa site if full and I must pay for more space. I didn’t even know that I had a picasa site for my photos, let alone that there was a limit…. Read more »

Getting the proper fuel for my wood burning kiln has been a struggle over the past few years. Pine slabs are at the top of the list, but most of them end up in the chipper these days. But Mr Coleman has a yard full and he was happy to deliver it for a very… Read more »

I wrote last week about my attempt (and failure!) to capture a swarm of bees that showed up on the farm by Paul and Emily’s house. We were all a little sad that they got away, but it turns out that it was a perfect practice run for the my 2nd attempt in a week…. Read more »

I finished off this little sculpture today… …and I mowed the grass, slipped and decorated a dozen oval cream jugs and threw 45 small mugs. It was an excellent day.  I sometimes think that the “slow wheel/ soft clay” movement is a bit too precious. I’d love to teach a workshop one day with today’s… Read more »

This is a very big teapot. Perfect for your next garden party. Click on the box in the right corner for full screen wonderment. Ever since I built my big-ass wood kiln I’ve really cut back on the smaller pots that I used to make…bud vases, creamers, little cups and bowls…I used to make lots… Read more »

I spent a lot of time in the studio this week with little to distract or divert me except for the swarm of bees that I almost captured! Teapots and baking dishes, bud vases and creamers have been flying from my fingers! To day I finished making a mega teapot and then threw a dozen… Read more »

This first song is the Beatles, early on, and the casseroles are accompanied by Loggins and Messina. I can’t edit these little vignettes in any way, but I’m delighted that my cheap little Casio blogging cam can also record even quiet sounds along with video. Won’t wonders never cease!?

There’s one detail missing from each of these…first person to guess wins a prize! We’ve set a date for an April firing…#12 in a series… and now I’ve got to put my head down and get some serious mud slinging going. I’ll be teaching a one day ‘American’ tea party (you know what I mean…!)… Read more »

One more night’s sleep and I’ll be as good as new after a particularly busy and fruitful week. After a whirlwind visit (38 hours), Michael and Ron are now safely arrived in Cape Cod., no doubt eating disgusting things like clams and oysters etc.! I urge you to write Ron and ask him what he’s… Read more »

I’m working on a bunch of cruets and I threw dozens of these knobs.Now I’ve got a completely  different idea for how to make them… I love making bottles! I always think of Ray. creamy goodness, with regards to the real jug maker…the other DF

Just one week from today there will be an historic gathering  of brush wielders and slip carvers at LibertyTown Arts Workshop in Fredericksburg (our fair city) Virginia. In addition to the North Carolina travelers (that would be Michael Kline and Ron Philbeck) we will be joined by our very own Trista Chapman and her pots… Read more »

Atmospheric photography – 3 lb. bottles Tea jars Tea Jar lids 4 lb. bases 4 pounders ‘capped’ plus tea jars Sentinal I looked up from the wheel this afternoon…!