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Artistry in clay: Tour highlights work of area potters

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BY CHERYL BENTLEY

THE SUNCOAST NEWS

Published: December 6, 2008

Updated: 12/09/2008 12:46 am

Florida West Coast Ceramic Society will have its first exhibition featuring the work of 13 area clay artists from Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough and Hernando counties next Saturday and Sunday.

People taking the "Tour de Clay of Tampa Bay" can visit four studios in Palm Harbor, Tampa and San Antonio from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Dec. 13 and 14.

Each will offer a wide variety of pottery, including ceramic bowls, cups, plates, vases and decorative pieces, for sale. Both days will feature pottery demonstrations. On Saturday, all four studios will offer kiln openings.

"Generally, people don't get to see kiln openings," said Glenn Woods, co-owner of Pottery Boys Clay Studios in Palm Harbor, one of the stops on the tour. "They will get to share in the joy or sadness as we open up in the kiln."
Clay artists never know exactly how a piece will turn out until they see the final product when the kilns are opened, he explained. This is particularly true with the crystalline glazes that will be fired at Pottery Boys studio.

These glazes form crystals during the cooling process. That involves putting the pottery through a variety of temperatures and holding times, all of which affect the crystals' colors and textures. The goal is to produce complete crystals with growth rings.

Along with Woods, Keith Herbrand, Harry Welsch and Kim Wellman will exhibit their work at this stop.

At the other Palm Harbor stop, Clay and Paper Studio, owner Ira Burhans uses themes from his hobby, windsurfing. "A lot of my patterns come from sand, waves, boats," he said. The work of Tampa artist Kimberli Cummings is also at this stop.

New Port Richey artist David Kastner will exhibit his work at San Antonio Pottery in San Antonio. Kastner's pottery features Eastern influences. A long-time student of Buddhism, Kastner regularly exhibits his art in Japan and China and currently has an exhibit in Ferrara, Italy. The work of Jack Boyle and McKenzie Smith is also featured here.

Rising Sun Pottery, in Tampa, is the fourth stop on the tour. One of the artists there is 7-year-old Joshua Streit, whose work draws fans to the Streit studio just to see Joshua's pottery. "If you set his pieces down with other work, there is no way you would know this is done by a 7-year-old," said his dad Peter Streit, owner of Rising Sun and another exhibitor. Other artists featured at the Rising Sun stop are Chuck McGee, Linda McGee, Mark Fehl and Kim Kirchman.

The lowdown

The pottery studios that will be featured during the "Tour de Clay of Tampa Bay" are:

•Pottery Boys Clay Studios, 30 Bogie Lane, Palm Harbor. Kiln opening Saturday, 10 a.m. For more information call 727-736-4870.

•Clay and Paper Studio, 110 Peterson Ave., Palm Harbor. Kiln opening Saturday, 12 p.m. For more information call 727-772-9570.

•San Antonio Pottery, 11903 Curley Road, San Antonio. Kiln opening Saturday, 4 p.m. For more information call 352-588-4228.

•Rising Sun Pottery, 1112 W. Carmen St., Tampa. Kiln opening Saturday, 2 p.m. For more information call 813-253-6055.

Cheryl Bentley can be reached at 727-815-1069 cbentley@suncoastnews.com.

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