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In 1976 a small group of potters in southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley got together to share ideas, experiences, and pot luck dinners. Today Clayfolk is organized as a non-profit educational organization and has a membership of over 135 potters mostly from southern Oregon, but including other parts of Oregon and northern California. The range of styles, artistic vision and experience is broad, ranging from hobbyist to professional and from sculptor to functional potter. All enjoy sharing their fascination with clay!
The major funding for the group’s educational endeavors comes from the annual Clayfolk Pottery Show and Sale (November 19 – 21, 2010). Clayfolk purchases books about ceramics for our local library system, offers a time and place for glaze study, sponsors workshops with knowledgeable ceramic artists, supports the Empty Bowls project to help local hunger programs and awards an annual Ellice T. Johnston Scholarship which honors one of Clayfolk’s founding members by assisting students of the ceramic arts.
The Pottery Show and Sale will feature ceramic works by over 60 artists, including dinnerware, jewelry, tiles, fountains, sculptures and more. Live pottery-making demonstrations and hands-on activities for the whole family. Check out the Clayfolk’s member gallery for a better idea of the high quality of these varied artists.
Live entertainment Friday night, November 19, 4 p.m. – 9 p.m. Saturday hours: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. Sunday hours: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Medford Armory, 1701 S Pacific Hwy, Medford, OR.
Photos copywrited by Clayfolk – Southern Oregon Potter’s Association, PO Box 274, Talent OR 97540
So many things to do and such a beautiful time in Oregon to do them! The Fall season in southern Oregon is a particularly stunning time of year. Here’s an October events guide that will give you the latest on 2010 pumpkin patches, haunted houses, harvest festivals–all the seasonal fun things to do with your family and friends.
And if you are thinking of adult entertainment, check out the “Viva la Vida: Synthesis of Cultures” exhibition at the Rogue Gallery. This exhibition is the centerpiece of a month-long series of cultural presentations and educational programs exploring the traditions of ‘Day of the Dead,’ an important Latin American holiday that remembers and celebrates the departed. Paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures by 30 prominent Latino artists from the Los Angeles area. Displayed at the Rogue Gallery and Art Center, Medford, Oregon. From October 22 thru November 27, 2010. The Rogue Gallery is located at: 40 South Barlett, Medford OR 97501 or call 541.772.8118 for more information on the exhibit.
About the Author: Joy Henkle owns and operates White Water Warehouse (WWW) with her husband, Bob Meister. Ever-interested in making their Oregon Rogue River rafting, kayaking, and hiking trips part of a very special Oregon vacation experience for their guests, Joy writes this blog to educate and inform WWW guests and readers about southern Oregon’s fascinating people, places, foods, and festivals. Questions? Joy can be reached at 1-800-214-0579 or fun@whitewaterwarehouse.com Or visit Whitewater Warehouse’s FaceBook page.
October 2 & 3 marks the eighth anniversary of “Art Along the Rogue.” This celebration of local, young artists’ talents is sure to capitalize on this weekend’s great Grants Pass weather! In its 8th year, Art Along the Rogue will feature dozens of national, regional, elementary and high school student artists creating huge pastel chalk drawings on “H” St in Downtown Grants Pass. The theme for this year’s event is “animals”.
New to Art Along the Rogue in 2010 is a Tap Walk. For $25, participants over 21 years can taste the regions best micro-brews in eleven locations in the downtown area. Restaurants and pubs will also feature delicious foods to accompany the micro-brews from 2:00 p.m to 5:00 p.m. Tap Walkers will receive a commemorative pint beer glass. Tickets will be available August 24, 2010 at Elegance, 321 SE 6th St in Grants Pass or by calling (541) 476-0570.
Another new addition to Art Along the Rogue this year is a “Doggy Art Walk”. Sponsored by the Rogue Valley Kennel Club. At 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, October 3, 2010 dogs of all shapes and sizes will be artistically costumed and paraded through the festival on “H” St. Prizes will be awarded to the most artistic doggy.
Very fun and it promises to be fantastic weather for outside activities this weekend!
About the Author: Joy Henkle owns and operates White Water Warehouse (WWW) with her husband, Bob Meister. Ever-interested in making their Oregon Rogue River rafting, kayaking, and hiking trips part of a very special Oregon vacation experience for their guests, Joy writes this blog to educate and inform WWW guests and readers about southern Oregon’s fascinating people, places, foods, and festivals. Questions? Joy can be reached at 1-800-214-0579 or fun@whitewaterwarehouse.com Or visit Whitewater Warehouse’s FaceBook page.
The talented folks at Gathering Glass Studios in Ashland, Oregon in conjunction with Mobility Unlimited are introducing a “first annual” event entitled The 2010 Glass Harvest Festival. The October 9th and 10th event will be located in Gathering Glass Studios at 322 N Pioneer St in Ashland.
The Festival promises southern Oregon browsers an endless array of “October eye candy” in the form of vibrant glass pumpkins, gourds, and leaves. The Studio is encouraging glass artists from all over the Northwest to showcase their unique works of art during the October event.
Organizers invite shoppers to come stroll through the glass harvest “fields” and gather your own fall bounty of glass. The Gathering Glass owners/artists will also be on hand doing demonstrations, custom designs and allowing you to become involved in the creative process of glass blowing.
Mark your calendars and make a stop at the Glass Harvest Festival your new annual holiday tradition.
About the Author: Joy Henkle owns and operates White Water Warehouse (WWW) with her husband, Bob Meister. Ever-interested in making their Oregon Rogue River rafting, kayaking, and hiking trips part of a very special Oregon vacation experience for their guests, Joy writes this blog to educate and inform WWW guests and readers about southern Oregon’s fascinating people, places, foods, and festivals. Questions? Joy can be reached at 1-800-214-0579 or fun@whitewaterwarehouse.com Or visit Whitewater Warehouse’s FaceBook page.
For years Rob Robinson has been Whitewater Warehouse’s webmaster. Because of our close working relationship, we are lucky enough to get to know Rob’s uber-creative sides. First, he is a painter who loves variety. He paints beautiful watercolor landscapes (like his Rogue River collection, see one example above) but he also enjoys painting abstracts. “Oregon’s natural beauty inspires me,” says Rob. “And because Oregon is so diverse, I think my outdoor experiences push me to experiment with many different types of media–both with the canvases I choose and the art mediums I choose to use. One day I could be painting watercolors on paper and the next acrylics on wooden boards. It seems that the subject matter often times dictates what art medium I use.”
Recently, Rob has also focused on photography, and, like everything Rob does, he is excelling in this medium as well. To showcase his photography, he just started a very interesting blog called Image Odysseys. Here is how Rob describes his emerging blog: “The Image Odysseys are trips through very scenic sections of Oregon. The first of the odysseys is along the southern Oregon coast. Others will include places like the incredible Columbia River Gorge with its plummeting waterfalls, the interesting and varied volcanic region of central Oregon and many others. Posts will include photos and paintings of these amazing locations.”
Rob’s newest “baby” is his Canon 7D, which he loves to use. “I like both painting and photography but with the newer digital camera I can take hundreds of photos–and erase those that I don’t like. Painting is very different in that you spend days, sometimes weeks, capturing a single image.”
Rob’s other interests include a 5-year stint as webmaster for the Watercolor Society of Oregon. He has also tackled carving wooden animals for a classic Merry-go-Round and is a gourmet cook.
About the Author: Joy Henkle owns and operates White Water Warehouse (WWW) with her husband, Bob Meister. Ever-interested in making their Oregon Rogue River rafting, kayaking, and hiking trips part of a very special Oregon vacation experience for their guests, Joy writes this blog to educate and inform guests and readers about southern Oregon’s fascinating people, places, foods, and festivals. Questions? Joy can be reached at 1-800-214-0579 or fun@whitewaterwarehouse.com Or visit Whitewater Warehouse’s FaceBook page.
An Oregon river songstress who’s voice will stop you in your tracks. Alice Di Micele. One of a kind woman, one of a kind voice. Bob Meister, owner of White Water Warehouse was listening to NPR one day when one of Alice’s songs was played. He came back to the WWW office haunted by her lyrics and her voice. Going to her website, he discovered that she also lived in southern Oregon. Well, once we realized that fact, we knew we HAD to interview Alice for our blog. No question, she is a special artist. Working non-stop for others and for the love of the environment, her musical schedule is a busy one.
“My goal is to touch people,” says Alice. “I need to give of myself.” And give she does. Born in a New Jersey industrial town, her father was a teacher who loved to spend vacation time with his family camping. That love of the outdoors rubbed off on Alice. “My grandfather called me his little flower girl, his little nature girl. I was a keen observer of nature and through my observations I began to write songs. ‘Celebrate the Rain’ is a song I wrote when I was only 11 years old but it still resonates with my musical audience.”
When we asked Alice how she comes up with her unique lyrical style, she answers in this way. “I kinda just catch ’em (the song lyrics). When I’m out backpacking or on the river I begin to feel a presence of a song. Often times I’ll come home, pick up my guitar and write the song from those experiences. I try never to make it complicated. It just comes out of me.”
Alice studied voice through a teacher who insisted that she know the classics and she feels that knowledge has been a real plus to advance her style. “Knowing how to sing classical music helps you develop a multi-level pallet–different colors of music, if you will. I don’t know how better to describe it but having studied classical music allows me to use reds, yellows, greens–the entire color spectrum to enhance the songs I sing.”
To learn more about Alice Di Micele or to order her CDs, check out her website.
About the Author: Joy Henkle owns and operates White Water Warehouse (WWW) with her husband, Bob Meister. Ever-interested in making their Oregon Rogue River rafting, kayaking, and hiking trips part of a very special Oregon vacation experience for their guests, Joy writes this blog to educate and inform WWW guests and readers about southern Oregon’s fascinating people, places, foods, and festivals. Questions? Joy can be reached at 1-800-214-0579 or fun@whitewaterwarehouse.com
“Art in Bloom” is Medford, Oregon’s gift to all moms. The weekend-long celebration will be held on May 8 and 9 this year….just in time to celebrate the most important woman in your life, your mom.
This is an event that some folks look forward to all winter. The two-day festival hones in on some of Southern Oregon’s best and most vibrant artists. During the weekend, downtown Medford will be transformed with visual arts, entertainment, and culture. This is Medford’s tenth year of celebrating its many local artists, local culture and cuisine.
The festival has grown to include musical performances, workshops and activities geared toward the kids. New to the festival this year are a children’s petting zoo and a drawing contest featuring some fun prizes.
Art in Bloom provides a wonderful opportunity to find unique and affordable Mother’s Day gifts while strolling along with your mom. Buyers can be feel good about supporting local, community artists as well as other well-known West Coast artisans. Aside from art vendors there will also be local foods and spirits.
The weather is normally very nice in early May and it is a perfect family outing, so mark your calender and visit the Art in Bloom Festival in and around Vogel Plaza as well as the blocks surrounding the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater and the Rogue Gallery and Art Center.
We received the most interesting email last week…and so began the mystery of the Rogue River painting. The writer of the email, who prefers to remain anonymous, inherited a watercolor by artist Percy Gray (see below). His question is a simple one but one that we can’t answer. Perhaps our readers can?!? What portion of the Rogue River was this painting drawn?
A little about this fine artist. Percy Gray was an American painter born in 1869 who died in 1952. Gray’s talent, which had been recognized and encouraged from childhood, had come to early fruition in the thorough, academic art instruction of his adolescent years. As he developed his craft, he became best known for the idiosyncratic way he painted in watercolor, building it up in layers. This combination of line and color added up to a vision that was artistically unique and also captured the very essence of the landscapes that he portrayed.
Known as the “Lyric Painter of California,” Gray spent most of his most prolific years in the San Francisco Bay area, Marin County, and Sonoma County. A description of this timeless artist shows a man of modest character. “He [Gray] remains one of the most satisfying of the representational artist of the first half of the twentieth century, both for his exceptional facility, notably in watercolors, and for his intuitive understanding of California’s seasons, climatic conditions, and changing moods. Far removed from the hurried pace of modern life, Gray’s paintings offer viewers an opportunity to reflect on timeless, elemental themes of nature and the land.”
According to an article in The San Francisco Examiner on November 7, 1926, Gray exhibited several paintings at the Gump Gallery in San Francisco. One of the most heralded was the painting above of the Rogue River which the article called, “One of his most striking themes is ‘Rogue River, Oregon’–a mighty stream running through a narrow canyon, holding the spectator gripped by the force of the majesty of a wonder of natures.” Readers, any ideas of the painting’s location on the Rogue River?
“My life really isn’t all that interesting,” starts out southern Oregon watercolor artist Betty Barss. We here at White Water Warehouse, politely disagree. Betty has established herself as an exceptional painter who works in the most unforgiving of venues: watercolor. “I taught art to fourth and sixth graders for 25 years and during that time had only Saturdays open to focus on devotion to my art. Now retired, I slowly moved from oils to transparent watercolors. The hardest part of making this transition was to work in reverse from oils…with watercolor painting, you ‘save your whites.’ I love painting in this style because it is a constant challenge. You must be flexible because there is a real spontaneity to this style. Some days it is truly the painting that tells ME where it wants to go…”
Betty and her husband still reside in southern Oregon but also have a home in eastern Oregon. And it is no surprise that you can see these two Oregon landscapes–southern and eastern– are represented in her paintings. Her gift is in her ability to reflect her sense of place through her paintings.
You can look at more of Betty’s artwork at her website. Or, if you are in the Ashland, Oregon area, stop in Art & Soul, a gallery that specializes in original, two-dimensional fine art. They carry many of Betty’s paintings.
All images displayed in this blog are copyrighted by artist Betty Barss.
Why does southern Oregon seem to birth genius? John Dodero’s ceramic creations glow with simple brilliance. Simply genius. Once you’ve seen one of his pieces, you will never forget its image. The vibrancy of the colors he uses. His novel incorporation of a raku-style firing technique. His clever fusion of Asian and southwest Native American influences.
You are immediately attracted to John’s art but it is his personality that’s the real show-stopper. John reveals, “If you are looking for a potter with a fancy pedigree or letters after their name, I am not your guy. I am mainly self-taught, flunked every art class I took in school and am probably unteachable.” Ah, John, you give the rest of us hope!
Since 1977, Dodero has evolved a ceramic style like no other. His working studio in Jacksonville, Oregon–a small township in southern Oregon–is sort of “east meets west” and his pottery reflects that synthesis. Successfully marrying these two styles creates art pieces that fit seamlessly into almost any decorating style.
Enter his website but be forewarned, you’re going to fall in love with his designs….Indulge yourself by ordering his creations on-line
All images are copyrighted by John Dodero and Dodero Studio Ceramics
Southern Oregon's Surprise Destinations 