16 Hands: More Tour
I tend to be a homebody recluse, so I was shocked to look out my bathroom window and see a parking lot full of cars pulled up on the grass in my backyard. I’m also not used to locking the door when I’m in my own house using the bathroom, but that’s what I did on Saturday because my house was full of people who had come to see the work of my Asheville Potter son, Josh Copus, and his guest artist/potter Joey Sheehan for the 16 Hands Studio Tour.
The cars were in the front yard too. When I returned home after covering an event in town for the Floyd Press just after noon, I couldn’t get into my driveway. “Gangbusters” is how I described the turnout to a neighbor.
I call this pre-studio tour photo “Let the Pot Stop Shopping Begin.” “They’re big enough to fit a couple of grandsons in,” I commented when I posted it on Facebook. And that’s exactly what we did at the November Studio Tour when Bryce and Liam and their family came up the mountain to see the new pottery.
It’s an encore guest artist appearance for Joey Sheehan. He was here for last May’s 16 Hands Studio Tour and his work was very popular. He was a great help because Josh was in Tasmania and I was standing in for Josh, selling his pots with Joey’s help. Joey, who also lives in Asheville, got his BFA from VA Tech, which is in our neighborhood.
Classic is how I described Josh’s wild clay wood-fired pots to an admirer. Classic doesn’t go out of style. People were eating olives and sipping IPA. I think I saw some wine and Joey’s parents, who came from Richmond, before I had to head out again for another commitment. It was hard to pull myself away but I managed to do so, only because I know that Sunday is another Studio Tour Day.
Post Note: Sixteen Hands is a twice-yearly artisan studio tour that takes place throughout the countryside of Floyd, Virginia. My home along the Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the four tour locations and features the pottery of my son Josh Copus and a guest artist. You can read more about Josh and other nationally known Sixteen Hands members (like Donna Polseno and Ellen Shankin pictured above talking to Josh Friday night), along with directions to studios at their website HERE.
May 6th, 2012 5:21 am
So glad that he has a large group of customers and admirers and that he is doing what he loves!
May 6th, 2012 8:46 am
Your house again, looks like a retail store! I, too am glad to see so many people for Josh’s Pottery! Hope he gets lots of sales! The pots out front are amazing! xo
May 6th, 2012 11:15 am
I cannot imagine the preperation that takes place to put all the pots put in a lovely ‘artful’ way—just moving everything from Ashville to Floyd must be quite an undertaking. I LOVE the Big Pots lined up outside—and I remember you putting the boys in the pots in November…lol! So Very Cute!
I hope it is a very successful weekend, my dear!
June 25th, 2012 10:48 pm
[…] you look familiar! You probably came to my house because my son is one of the 16 Hands potters and my house is on the tour,” I said. They agreed they had been to my […]
June 28th, 2015 11:49 pm
[…] his wild clay excavations, ceramic exhibits, kiln building workdays and shed roof raisings, 16 Hands Tours and more – since 2005. THIS post, titled The House That Josh Unbuilt, marks the start of […]