Ceramics in Philadelphia 2013

The Philadelphia Art Museum Craft Show at the Convention Center in center city is in an architecturally interesting area, with contrasts of era and style. Big city, big buildings, always a thrill for me.



I went with the intention to look and not buy, focusing on ceramics. There were 25 or so artists working in clay exhibiting and I checked out them ALL. With the artist's permission I photographed some of their work. For now, I'll just share the photos of my purchases, which I made despite my intention, but only because the prices of these were within my range AND I liked the artist's work.

All three pieces are white - I only realized it afterwards. On the left is a candle by Lisa Naples from Doylestown, PA. These were made with, and to financially support, her studio assistant. It's a wonderful lavender scent.

The tall mug is by Laurel and Paul Eshelman from Elizabeth, IL. I stopped at the booth a couple of times before choosing this mug. Paul was there each time and I thought he was the sole maker. The third stop at the booth was when I decided on the mug with the oval bottom and round lip and bought it from a woman I had not seen before. "Tell Paul I came back," I told her. Now, as I read their promo material I see that that must have been Laurel, one half of the artistic team of "Eshelman Pottery."

I loved all the forms in their booth, serenely simple yet original. Just a little different from other forms and colors  I see around.eshelmanpottery.com

More pieces by Laurel and Paul Eshelman

The cup on the right (I will say cup, not mug as it is more diminutive) is by David Eichelberger. This friendly fellow is an artist-in-residence at Penland Craft School in North Carolina. He uses his own drawings of some mundane and some poetic objects (a dead bird, kites, keys and here, a log and a hatchet) and uses a decal process to transfer to the clay. Some drawings were scratched into the clay and some pieces were plain, and all were white.

I realized that the camera has one eye, and I have two. I couldn't photograph the cup so as to see both images (the hatchet and the log) although I could see them both at the same time with my eyes. So here are photos of the cup that show the images close up. eichelbergerclay.com

How happy I am  that I brought a few things home from the event! How bereft I would have been had I not!

a large platter by David Eichelberger