This month’s guild meeting includes a slide presentation on “Traditional Pottery Making and Firing in Kenya, Somalia and Sri Lanka by guild co-president Laurie Childers.

In the 1980s Laurie worked as a consultant on improved wood and charcoal cookstove projects in Africa and Asia. She worked with traditional potters helping them make ceramic pieces to the right dimensions, prevent cracking during production, and prolong durability. Laurie learned the potters’ methods of making and firing pottery. In her presentation she will show images of the ancient pottery processes still in use in the mid-1980s, give a short overview of the purpose of cookstove development, and show follow-up images from more recent years. 

For our June meeting, before we take a summer break, let's enjoy each other's company! Come join us on June 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Crescent Valley High School pottery studio. We're going to have lots of good food, and if you want to mess around with some clay and squish the pieces at the end of the night, all the more fun. Feel free to invite anyone you want to come along. Bring a dish to share, and if you're able to chip in with plates, silverware etc., please email president@willametteceramicsguild.org.

Ceramic artist Barb Campbell will discuss and demonstrate her art of spontaneous construction on Sunday, May 18, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. at Deb Garley’s studio. Barb is well known for her ingenious texture development using found objects on porcelain. The demonstration will include hand building cups, pouring vessels and teapots. Cost is $25. If you’d like to participate, contact Deb at d2garley@comcast.net.

We're excited to have local artist and ceramic sculptor Toby Wayne as this month’s presenter. Toby has a wealth of sculpting knowledge. His "sawdust-fired ceramic busts encapsulate human emotion in forms fired in the most ancient of techniques. Carbon, ash and mineral deposits distributed through the firing process give an organic aura of artifact and wisdom. The loose treatment of facial representation allows the viewer to absorb and connect to emotional expressions.” (https://www.tobywayneart.com/about-me) 

Join us for an evening of ceramic learning on May 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the Crescent Valley High School pottery studio, 4444 NW Highland Dr., Corvallis.

This month’s guild meeting will be the community reception for and presentation by Oaxacan artists Inés Lara, Rufina Ruiz and César Felipe Martí, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Benton Center Library, 757 NW Polk Ave., Corvallis.

Dr. John Selker will talk about the physics and chemistry of clay. Come delve into the microscopic crystalline world of alumina-silica hydrate, learn why clay is plastic, why it shrinks, why it cracks, why it deforms, why and how it vitrifies, why it is such a unique and marvelous substance!

John is a professor of hydrology and teaches classes in soil science. He is an expert on how water moves through soil – or in the case of certain clays, doesn’t move through it because of its crystal structure.

WCG donations of ceramic bowls or other ceramic art for Oregon State University’s Empty Bowls Benefit must be received by Feb. 28. Ute Vergin will collect all WCG donations and coordinate transport to OSU. If you would like to contribute ceramic items, please contact Ute at news@willametteceramicsguild.org to set up a time to drop off your items at her studio. Please wrap your donations loosely, so they can be viewed but are safe.

With a live audience (that’s you), WCG Co-President Laurie Childers will interview Avie Meadows about her artistic journey.  See Avie’s cool new studio and lots of her pieces.  

The ceramics guild has been part of the local Empty Bowls initiatives throughout the years and is planning to be part of this effort again next year. Empty Bowls is a program that sells bowls donated by local potters and uses the funds to fight food insecurity in our community.

We will use our Nov. 11 guild meeting time to make bowls in the ceramics studio at Crescent Valley High School. Come join us that evening, share bowl making tips, and get your hands dirty!

To get to the CVHS pottery studio, pull into the parking lot behind CV next to the football field. There's a grey gate next to the building that will be open. Walk through the gate and around the far corner where there are kilns and doors to the studio.

At the October skillshare Rosie and Stephen Wren will demonstrate their talents of using different surface design techniques to decorate ceramics. Their skills in crafting whimsical pieces layered with rich texture and color have received attention from pottery crafters like Diamond Core Tools, Ceramic Transfers, Amaco and Mayco Colors.

The skillshare will be held on the 3rd Monday—Oct. 21, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Crescent Valley High School. To get to the CVHS pottery studio, pull into the parking lot behind CV next to the football field. There's a grey gate next to the building that will be open. Walk through the gate and around the far corner where there are kilns and doors to the studio.

Our first meeting of the season will be on Monday, Sept. 9, 6:30 p.m., at the Foundry, 257 SW Madison Avenue, Suite 210.

Laurie Childers will lead a discussion on glazing.

The annual Corvallis Art Guild Clothesline Sale will be held on Aug. 3 in Central Park in Corvallis. We're excited to partner with the Art Guild for this wonderful summer event of art and community. Come see us in our booth.

We look forward to seeing you at our annual summer potluck on June 9, 6 - 8 p.m. at the Townsend Shelter in Avery Park. Please bring a dish to share with your fellow clay folks.

On the 4th Friday of every month, guild members gather at Common Fields (SW 3rd & Western) at 6 p.m. for Clay Convos to talk about ‘all things pottery.’

Our next Clay Convos will be on Friday, May 24. Bring a pot you love (your own or someone else's) and an idea, question, problem or thought you'd like to share. Or bring a tool, pottery pondering, favorite transfer design, snazzy stamp or anything that has to do with clay. This is a time to share and talk and enjoy each other's company.

Anthony Gordon will demonstrate making animal forms at our May Skill Share night at Crescent Valley High School.

On the 4th Friday of every month, guild members gather at Common Fields (SW 3rd & Western) at 6 p.m. for Clay Convos to talk about ‘all things pottery.’

Bring a pot you love (your own or someone else's) and an idea, question, problem or thought you'd like to share. Or bring a tool, pottery pondering, favorite transfer design, snazzy stamp or anything that has to do with clay. This is a time to share and talk and enjoy each other's company.

Our next meeting will be in a new location: the Foundry at 275 SW Madison.

Rhoda Fleischman will give a demonstration on how to make a sab mug in the first half of the meeting; the second half will be guild business.

On the 4th Friday of every month, guild members gather at Common Fields (SW 3rd & Western) at 6 p.m. for Clay Convos to talk about ‘all things pottery.’

Bring a pot you love (your own or someone else's) and an idea, question, problem or thought you'd like to share. Or bring a tool, pottery pondering, favorite transfer design, snazzy stamp or anything that has to do with clay. This is a time to share and talk and enjoy each other's company.

This month’s Skillshare at Crescent Valley High School will be an opportunity to practice underglaze transfers onto greenware. The underglaze is commercially printed onto thin paper. Deb Garley will have small greenware trays available and many selections of transfer patterns. You may also bring your own greenware. Please bring a soft rib to aid the transfer process.

The second half of the evening will be clay trivia with Mag Ival. The Skillshare begins at 6:30 p.m. in the ceramics studio at Crescent Valley.

On the 4th Friday of every month, guild members gather at Common Fields (SW 3rd & Western) at 6 p.m. for Clay Convos to talk about ‘all things pottery.’

Bring a pot you love (your own or someone else's) and an idea, question, problem or thought you'd like to share. Or bring a tool, pottery pondering, favorite transfer design, snazzy stamp or anything that has to do with clay. This is a time to share and talk and enjoy each other's company.

Our speaker at the February guild meeting will be Mary Nolan. She and her husband visited two villages in Oaxaca, Mexico, last year where the main business is pottery. Mary is especially knowledgeable on this topic, not only as a potter but also as an anthropologist at OSU. I expect we will all learn much from her presentation.

On the 4th Friday of every month, guild members gather at Common Fields (SW 3rd & Western) at 6 p.m. for Clay Convos to talk about ‘all things pottery.’

Bring a pot you love (your own or someone else's) and an idea, question, problem or thought you'd like to share. Or bring a tool, pottery pondering, favorite transfer design, snazzy stamp or anything that has to do with clay. This is a time to share and talk and enjoy each other's company.

We will discuss our own work. Please bring a piece of your work from 2023 that really gives you joy. We will have an informal gathering to share our art with each other. You may also bring light snacks to share.

Our December meeting will be the annual holiday potluck on Dec. 4, 6 - 8 p.m.—one week earlier than our usual date. Vicki Wilson and her husband John have offered their home for our celebration.

Additional information will be sent via email later this month.

If you would like to help with preparations, please email Debra Garley or call 559-246-1794.

Our November meeting will be a skillshare in the ceramics studio at Crescent Valley High School.

Our main topic will be surface texture. Annelie Haberman will discuss carving and demonstrate the technique she uses on her cups. Susan Pachuta will demonstrate sprig mold application. Debra Garley will show examples of the many ways to add texture to clay with stamps, rollers and how to make your own stamps.

Feel free to bring snacks to share. We will have a break every 30 minutes to encourage discussion.

On the 4th Friday of every month, guild members gather at Common Fields (SW 3rd & Western) at 6:30 p.m. for ‘clay convos’ to talk about ‘all things pottery.’

Bring a pot you love (your own or someone else's) and an idea, question, problem or thought you'd like to share. You can also bring a tool, pottery pondering, favorite transfer design, snazzy stamp, or anything that has to do with clay. This is a time to share and talk and enjoy each other's company.

At our 10/9 meeting, Laurie Childers will present a show-and-tell about her three months in Kyoto, Japan. Kyoto is an ancient city with a wide variety of refined aesthetic expressions; handmade pottery is a fundamental part of the culture. Laurie was able to make pots at Asahi, a 400-year-old pottery with historical connections to the anagama kilns we fire today. Laurie has brought back pottery for you to see and touch. She will also bring some new tools and pottery books, watercolors painted there, and new work she is doing inspired by her time in Japan.