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
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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!
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a large platter by David Eichelberger |