ILWACO Smoke, fire, jewelry and mosaics all will be found in abundance at the third annual Peninsula Clay Artist show, from Aug. 9 until the unveiling of a community mosaic on Saturday, Aug. 20, at 6 p.m. at The Artisan, 114 Main Street, in Ilwaco. 

The event will showcase the work of nine clay artists who live and work on the Long Beach Peninsula. These professional clay artists work in a variety of wheel-thrown and hand-built styles, firing in kilns that produce a wide array of results. Guest artists will teach workshops in clay and metal jewelry, exotic saggar and raku techniques and will lead a group in creating the community mosaic. The potters will be opening a show and sale of their latest work at 5 p.m., Friday, Aug. 12. 

Workshops

Workshops are scattered throughout the two weeks with the unveiling of the community mosaic at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20, during the Ilwaco Art Walk. 

Mary Hindman, guest artist from Eugene, Ore., teaches jewelry fabrication using handmade clay parts, embellished with a variety of altered metals and found objects. An accomplished sculptor, Hindman has been working in clay for 30 years. During a two-day workshop, Aug. 9 and 10, participants will work with elements Hindman is providing and will learn a variety of metal-handling techniques as well as clay and glaze techniques appropriate to this project. There will be a $140 fee.

Ruth Allen is an internationally known potter, living and teaching in Wenatchee. She was an artistin-residence in Beijing, China. Her specialty is saggar firing and other methods of alternative firing. She has also developed unusual glazing methods which participants will be able to use on their own bisqued pottery during the workshop. Allen will also demonstrate techniques in wheel work. Her workshop will be Aug. 12 and 13. The fee is $140.

A large community free-form mosaic for the wall at Artisan will be produced by participants with the assistance of Heather Richardson and Renee OConnor. Heather has produced several large community mosaics in Florida and participated in several around the country. OConnor created the obelisks in Long Beach and is well known for her interior tile installations. Participants will create a mosaic to take home, and will work on the community piece. Richardsons and OConnors workshop is Aug. 16, 17 and 18 and the fee is $60 for one day, including supplies, $90 for two days and $120 for all three ($50, $80 and $110 for members of PAA, OPA or WCA). 

All guest artist workshops have limited class sizes and require registration. Full schedules and fee structure are available at Bay Avenue Gallery in Ocean Park, The Picture Attic in Long Beach and at Windy Meadows Pottery (665-2603) or email info@windymeadowspottery.com. Sign up for workshops by Aug. 1 is recommended.

Peninsula Clay Artists

Peninsula Clay Artists formed in 2009 to create a local clay community group and share their knowledge of the clay arts with the public. Exhibiting members include Jan Richardson of Windy Meadows Pottery, David Campiche, Renee OConnor of Willapa Bay Tile, Rodney Maxwell-Muir, Jean ONeil, Sue Raymond of Artists Roost Pottery, Danni Pederson, Karen Brownlee, Michael Barancik and Patricia Webber. 

Campiche is well known for his Anagama fired organic sculptural and functional work using locally found glaze materials. Beautifully executed tile installations are the forte of OConnor as are some very fine functional works. ONeils main interests are figurative sculptures fired in a raku kiln. Wildly colorful imaginative bird creatures are magical when they emerge from Raymonds kiln. Maxwell-Muir excels with beautifully thrown functional work. Richardson hand builds slab sculptural pieces, many in the form of old buildings. Brownlee creates consistent groups of hand thrown functional work. Pederson throws and then embellishes her pots with scraffito and applied designs. Barancik and Webber work with handbuilt and thrown pieces and collaborate on many pieces. 

Visit with this very diverse group of artists during the third annual Peninsula Clay Artists show at The Artisan, 114 Main Street in Ilwaco. The show and sale will open Aug. 12 from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., remain open Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 13 and 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Aug. 15 through Aug. 20 from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 21, will feature demonstrations and participation in the raku firings. The public will be encouraged to glaze small pots provided without charge by the potters and then help Raku fire these pots.