Michigan Finds... Pewabic Pottery Museum

After 8 years of not traveling out of state... I finally succumbed to my parents multiple requests and visited my family in Michigan last month...

Meet my parents ! Aren't they darling ?

The trip celebrated a number of exciting events... such as my father's birthday ("Happy Birthday to ewe")... the acquisition of my step-mom's first Apple computer ever (woohoo)... a visit to a known gallery which features incredible modern art glass sculptures (wow)... and a little tour of downtown Detroit to visit some Pewabic Pottery sites...

Pewabic Pottery Museum

The weather was un-seasonally beautiful and 'mild' - even tolerable for a Californian girl such as myself. It made the journey to the Pewabic Pottery museum, shop and studios, a better pleasure to enjoy.

Here I am... wearing my handmade fleece outfit, gloves made by my friend Valerie (KnitByValerie) and a fabulous pair of pants that really tied it all together (a superb find at a thrift shop down in Oakland last summer).



We entered and browsed through the museum shop... omg... such fabulous displays... who wouldn't want such a fireplace ?!



... Gorgeous tile art framed in a Frank Lloyd Wright / Art Nouveau inspired wood frame...



Beautiful nature themes: such as pine cones & in a variety of different colored glazes...



I absolutely LOVE the moody satin matt blue-green glazes and the lovely shaped vases and urns...



Then there was this lemon green glaze with a garden insect theme that was sooo delicious too... Lots of carved tiles with leaves, insects, numbers, celtic / art nouveau designs... what a delight !



And then moving into the second room... a whole new world opened up...



Nancy Cannon's art pottery... so awesome not only in color glazes but also in their bold flowing shapes and surface motifs. I found a miniature vase that was meant for me :)



Funnily enough, Nancy used to have a shop on Etsy but it is, with regret, empty at this time. Here are some highlights from her bio/profile tho...

"Nancy Cannon's work reflects a life long love affair with the earth. Having spent her early childhood torn between playing in the woods and devouring a new box of crayons, she has now resolved this conflict by making clay creations in her studio near Lake Huron. There she lives with her husband on eight wooded acres that supply endless inspiration.

"I am never more at home than when I am walking through the woods. It is there that I return to the deepest sense of myself, an awareness that I am part of a greater unity and divine mystery."

The earth is not only the object of her passion, but the medium through which it is expressed. To create the finished product, Nancy interacts with all the elements: earth, air, water and fire. After an initial firing, she fires each piece again using the Raku method. "I am especially drawn to the spontaneous and random effect of this method. It enables me to remain close to the process and at the same time requires me to surrender to the unexpected and unpredictable.""

You may have noticed a horse sculpture on her table... here's another one... it is quite extraordinary, i think...

My photos do not do her work justice- the indoor lighting made it difficult- but they give you a little flavor none the less. You can find her animal theme raku tiles on the web at one of her sites: http://www.allearthtiles.com/

Regretably, their gallery was in transition so we did not get to see their latest show. That's alright because their shop really was an entire feast of its own.

We concluded our visit there by wandering through the Pewabic Museum's working studio & workshop spaces and talked to some of the potters that work there - mold makers, carvers, glazers and... we also got to see one huge kiln in the process of being loaded up. It was a lot of fun. Highly recommended if you happen to be visiting the Detroit area !

I'll be posting more about Pewabic art tiles in a second installment... Keep your eyes peeled !