(SOUTHERN BERKSHIRES, Mass.) – Six leading potters of the Southern Berkshires will open their studios the weekend of Saturday and Sunday, September 24-25, for the third annual Berkshire Pottery Tour.
Studios will be open from 10 to 5 each day. Admission is free and families are welcome.
The self-guided motor tour takes art lovers through the beautiful valleys of the Southern Berkshires to experience a diverse array of styles in functional and sculptural ceramics, from the Richmond studio of Ben Evans to Paula Shalan in Stockbridge, Lorimer Burns in Housatonic, Daniel Bellow in Great Barrington, and on to Ellen Grenadier in Monterey and Linda Skipper in New Marlborough. The tour runs in a rough circle and can be begun at any point.
Visitors to all six studios will be entered in a drawing to win a mug from each of the six artists on this year’s tour. Your map/brochure is your ticket: pick one up at any studio and submit it with all six signatures to any of the potters to be entered for the drawing.
Look for the distinctive orange and white Pottery Tour road signs at key turns on the weekend of the event. Maps are available at each studio as well as at Berkshire Pottery Tour.
Ceramics by Ben Evans
Ben Evans received his BFA in Ceramics from SUNY New Paltz. His recent work focuses on geometry and structure in architectural themes, reduced to a handheld scale. Ben formulates his glazes to highlight the clean lines of his porcelain work, focusing on the comfort and functionality of each piece. Recently married and now with a new baby, he also teaches at Berkshire Country Day school and IS183 Art School in Stockbridge.
Paula Shalan, the second in three generations of potters, hand polishes her coil, slab, and pinched vessels before smoke firing. She exhibits nationally at galleries and retail shows including Craft Boston and The Philadelphia Museum Show and this year exhibited at the prestigious Smithsonian Craft Show in Washington DC, where she won the Honoring the Future Sustainability Award for modeling a sustainable response to climate change in her making process.
Lorimer Burns teaches ceramics at IS183 Art School of the Berkshires and is a faculty dance artist with Community Access to the Arts’ Moving Company. Just returned from two workshops at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass, Colorado, she is eager to share some new ideas and techniques during the BPT weekend.
Ceramics by Daniel Bellow
Daniel Bellow has a new studio in downtown Great Barrington and a new style of thrown and altered porcelain he is very excited to show. He sells his work in fine stores and galleries nationwide, and teaches at the Great Barrington Waldorf High School.
Ellen Grenadier has made tableware, custom tiles, and murals for over 30 years, her work deeply influenced by the natural surroundings of her studio in Monterey; stoneware glazed with natural cobalt blues, copper greens and ambers made from iron.
Linda Skipper of New Marlborough is the newest participant in the Berkshire Pottery Tour, invited by acclamation to join the group impressed with her incised geometric designs on thrown pots. She sells her limited production in an exclusive circle of local galleries and small shows.