Friday, August 12, 2011

Milwaukee Vacation

Bryan Becker Clay Werks Gallery and Studio
 Got back last week from a delivery vacation to the Milwaukee.  Daughter Claire, parrot Petey and I stayed with Bryan Becker at his converted dairy business Bryan Becker Clay Werks.
 
The throwing "room"
  It was quite educational to see how production potters work in other areas of the country, like bisque firing to cone 010 and glazing cone 10 oxidation, (not at all what I see here in NC).  From what I could tell, Bryan's main production items are wedding and housewarming bowls that he sells mostly through catalog sales.
Bryan and Mosely
  The gallery is nicely set up and he has extra studio space and a teaching studio that he rents out to other artists.  I got several good business tips while I was there for sure.
The gallery
Display of my work















Claire and I also visited 2 other accounts- Cedar Creek Pottery in historic Cedarburg, WI and Zig Zag Gallery in Dayton, Ohio.  Cedarburg  is a cool little historic spot on none other than Cedar Creek, duh.  There is a winery there in a converted woolen mill that also houses the pottery gallery and several other unique shops.  We thought it interesting that the public green way trail advertised that you were welcome to walk, cycle, roller blade, or ... cross country ski.

Cheetah and boy examine each other
 We also spent some time in Milwaukee site seeing: went to the zoo, bar hopped and went to the gallery crawl downtown, caught a drag show at the Brady Street Festival and went to a German Fest where we saw a "weiner dog" race.  The winner weiner needed a drug test for steroids!
Ruth the elephant throwing sand on Claire.  I was just reading about how unsafe this habitat is.  She could fall in that moat.
Downtown Milwaukee on the waterfront