Loose Leaf Notes

The Sixteen Hands Studio Tour, whether taking it or hosting it, is a great way to meet interesting people.  As one of the stops on the tour, having our house open all weekend is kind of like having an all weekend party.

For tour-goers, it’s fun to see the potter’s studios in their country home settings.   People were sometimes as interested in the story behind our log cabin on the Parkway and our lifestyle as they were in the pots on display.  Some lingered at my flower gardens and asked questions about growing vegetables and others socialized.

My Asheville potter son Josh, the newest member of Sixteen Hands is the only member on the tour who doesn’t have a working studio to show out of, but he grew up here and his childhood home, transformed into a gallery, stood in for a studio.  My husband Joe and I tried our best to stand in for Josh, who happens to be at wood firing conference in Australia.

Sunday tour-goers traveled from as far as Greensboro, Grandfather Mountain, Charlottesville and even Asheville, where my son and his guest artist/potter are from.  We were happy to see a few folks from the neighborhood come out and some from the weekend planning gathering of the nearby Floyd Eco-village, an up-and-coming multi-generational intentional community focused on sustainability.

The most common story I heard over the studio tour weekend was ‘we do this ever year. We stay at a B&B, take the tour and visit the local wineries.’ We got a lot of representation from Roanoke tour-goers who had attended Roanoke’s open art studio tour on Saturday. Others came from Ferrum, Blacksburg and Radford.

The main draw to the studio tour is that people like to make a personal connection with the potters who make the work they see in galleries.  The tour always draws collectors and other potters, as well as art lovers in general.  You can watch a video of guest artist potter Joey Sheehan (pictured on the right writing up a sale) explaining to a customer how he creates the design and texture on his pots HERE. Read about Sixteen Hands Studio Tour: Day One HERE.

The next Sixteen Hands Studio Tour will be November 25-27 and  Josh will be back in the house. See you then!