POTTERS TRY TO BURN THEIR HANDS

The Cool

Clay Coyotes

Take a Shot At

HOT GLASS!

Where We Take a Field Trip To

FOCI GLASS in Minneapolis

www.fociglass.com

Merry Christmas! Betsy went really creative and gave the whole gang a trip to FOCI GLASS to try our hand at hot glass for Christmas. We all love all the handcrafted glass we carry in the Gallery, and had read about it, seen demos and watched videos, but this was a chance to actually try it. WOW! was it hard!

Foci Glass is a studio established by Michael Boyd to do his own glasswork. Now he also teaches other glass blowers, rents studio space, gives tours and, what we did, offers a hands-on experience to make a simple paperweight (I say 'simple' with tongue in cheek). Like making pots, this is a lot harder than it looks.

Tom and Ann doing their first gathers.

The glass is in a crucible in the chamber and held at about 2000 degF. Finding the surface of the glass was harder than it seems...you just kind of feel for it, twist, raise the rod (punty) and roll it up, all at once.



Then you take the gather to a metal table (marvar) and try to roll the molten glass into an oblong, supposedly round form. Again a seemingly simple operation....NOT!

As simple a motion as rolling the punty takes practice. The urge is to grab it and turn...which doesn't get you enough of a roll. Here Michele gets instruction from David Royce, Foci's Studio manager and a 7 year glass blower doing some fantastic things himself.

www.davidroyceglass.com

After you get the gather in somewhat the proper shape, you touch the hot glass to ground colored glass, reheat it, pick up more. This is where the colored patterns are built in. There can be multiple layers of colors and clear and many ways of adding color, shape and bubbles.

Here's Michele using a shears to grab the hot bullet of glass to twist it to move the color around. You can also use sticks to drag designs into the color.

Then you gather more clear over the surface and use a hot wet pad to start to shape the molten glass. Now it's more like throwing pots...just a lot harder. With pots, when you stop applying pressure, the clay stops moving. With glass, it keeps on slumping so it always has to be in motion. As you shape the glass you start to build a groove in the end where the punty is. This will become the cut off point. To do this a large tweezer like tool is used. (I'm sure there's a fancy name for it, but I missed that.)

Here, Michael is showing Ann how to do the shaping. And then it's Alysa's turn. Cool sunglasses, Alysa!

The final step, at the bench a drop of water was put in the groove which caused a shear line. At the table, Michael is helping betsy tap the punty which causes the shear line to break, freeing the piece of glass.

Michael then proceeded to give us a demonstration showing how thin you can blow glass (thinner than paper) and how thin you can pull it out (to a mere thread).

Next he made a large vase using the Swedish graal technique. You start blowing one vase, then start a second one, and fold the second over the first so there is a different pattern inside and out. Unfortunately we got so enthralled we forgot to take pictures. http://www.olafstevens.com/htm/graaluitleg_text.htm Bad potter.

After 4 hours of fascination with glass we had a wonderful late lunch at San Pedro's in Hudson, WI., http://www.sanpedrocafe.com/ and then headed over to bother the folks at our second favorite gallery Season's on the St. Croix. http://www.seasonsonstcroix.com/ ..

Now....don't you wish YOU worked at Clay Coyote Gallery?

Fun in Philly!

Betsy and Michelle flew out to Philadelphia for the Buyers' Market last weekend where they met up with Betsy's daughter Morgan. The three spent days walking around the show, meeting new artists and chatting with artists who we have carried in the gallery for a number of years. Here's a picture of Betsy and C.L. Whiting-the creator of Leaf Leather handbags. Betsy, Michelle and Morgan were searching for new work for the year and they did a great job. We are excited to start carrying clothing-they found four great designers that we will feature in the gallery later this year. They found some new jewelers (here's a picture of Morgan talking to one of them) and ordered new lines from some of our favorites like Desert Heart and Betsy Frost.

Many of the artists are full of life, like Raku artist Bruce Johnson. He is what Betsy would call, "a hoot." Here is a picture of him posing with Michelle. We've been carrying Johnson in the gallery for a year now and we're excited to get more of his work.

Every day "the gang" had lunch across the street at the Terminal Market-a huge market in the old Train Terminal. Here's a shot of Morgan and Betsy eating the famous turkey sandwich.

We'll be posting picture of some of the new work as it comes in throughout the year. We can hardly wait!

To butter or not to butter...that is the question

This month’s edition of Cooking Light talks about the last 20 years worth of butter evolution. Yes butter, no butter, yes margarine, no margarine, "I can’t believe it’s not butter", etc. Well now they are back to real butter.And in the magazine they tote this nifty way of storing it:

French Butter Dish (or the Butter Bell)

More from cassole lovers...

It is amazing what you can find on the internet! eGForums is the "eGullet Society for Culinary Arts and letters" here is one that I found interesting...
(Scroll to the bottom of the page for the photos and letters)
As for the question posed by "chrisamirault" no seasoning needed, just give it a rince and go for it!

Cranberry-Apple Crisp

A recipe from my daughter’s blog. She is always coming up with something fun to try in the kitchen. Growing up, she would say she had the best dishes for a college student and now for a 26 year old…The green bowl is her “popcorn bowl” from when she went to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and the two little ones are part of the set we designed epically for her last year.

Enjoy!

Morgan's Cranberry-Apple Crisp

1. First, put 1 cup of fresh cranberries, one cup of water and ¼ cup of sugar in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
2. While the cranberries are coming to a boil, peal and chop up 4-5 apples. I prefer Honeycrisp (they are Minnesotan) but any apple you like is fine.
3. The put the apples in a big baking bowl (preferably a Clay Coyote bowl – they are oven safe you know) and sprinkle with ¼ cup sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and a squirt of lime juice if you have it.
4. When the berries have boiled (they will look a bit like mush – that’s ok) drain off the juice and pour the berries in with the apple mixture. Fold the apples and the berries together.
5. Then in a separate bowl (I must confess on this one I used a Mel Jacobson bowl) combine together 1 ½ cup rolled oats, 2 table spoons flour, 1 table spoon cinnamon, ¼ cup sugar, and 3/4 stick of room temperature butter. Pour the mixture over the fruit and place in the oven at 350 for 50-60 minutes.

When you are all done, it should look like this:

(S)our Cherry Pottery

Sour Cherry Pottery

(J)ason Silverman Ceramics

Jason Silverman Ceramics

(I)dea: Cookin' with the Coyote

Cookin' with the Coyote

(H)ank Goodman

Hank Goodman

(E)asy: Clay Coyote Gift Certificates

Just go here and get the one you love a Clay Coyote Gift Certificate: it's easy!

(D)avy Pottery

Davy Pottery

(C)rystal Pottery

Crystal Pottery

(B)ill Campbell

Bill Campbell

Exclusively from the Clay Coyote Pottery: Chicken Baker

Our new Chicken Baker is an improvement on the recipe for "Beer Can Chicken" you may have heard of. This pot is an improvement since you simply put the liquid....beer, lemonade, herbed water....in the center cup, and then slip the chicken (a 3 to 4 lb. fryer) over the cup. Rub a bit of olive oil and seasoning on the skin and bake uncovered for about 1-1/2 hours at 350 deg F. Set on the table and carve off the most moist, succulent chicken you'll ever have...with just a hint of the flavoring of the liquid in the cup.
Now you're going to be famous for your chicken, too!

Make your own Vinegar

It is all the rage! Crafting your own vinegar from leftover wine will provide you with the finest vinegars you can use. Paula Wolfert approached us recently about making crocks for the home brewing of vinegar and wrote an article about it for ‘Food & Wine’ magazine. She found homemade vinegars made a huge difference in cooking, from subtle amounts that bring flavors alive, to dressings where the vinegar is the key player.

The Clay Coyote vinegar crock is designed to Paula's specifications, holding about a gallon, with the spigot a few inches above the bottom. Ultimately this space is for the residual 'mother' that forms. Of course, the crock could also be used for other liquids.

Our crocks hold about a gallon (don’t have to fill it to start out) and feature a wood spigot. The initial startup will take some 2-1/2 months, but from then on it can be used at any time. You’ll need a starter (we recommend Mark Larrow’s at www.beer-winemaking.com) although others are available on the internet or your local beer/wine home-brewing store may carry them.

Fall Open House: best ever!

We had more than 2,000 people come through the gallery adn studio for the annual fall open house. This year we had baskets from Claire Swanson the weaver; jewelry from Patty Conlin; leather from Sharon Cherney and the new artist: Jennifer Ionta who creates her own glass bead jewelry.

From Above

A customer came by recently in their helicopter, and they took Betsy up and she took these really awesome pictures….Mind you it IS the middle of winter so you are lucky you can see ground. The white building is the house. The big cluster of red buildings are the studio, gallery, kiln building, packing and shipping, the new garage (where Too keeps his Triumph) and the old garage. There is also the silo, the granary, and then the pump house (which used to be the self-service gallery back in the 90s before the new Gallery opened).

There are a few bodies of water in the pictures. The ponds near the house are the result of returning the 30 acres behind the Studio to their natural state about 10 years ago. A project we did with the Department of Natural Resources. The lake that is about a quarter mile behind the Studio is Todd. Durring the summer people often bring a picnic and set up out in the back by the lake.

Inside the Gallery

The gallery has more than 120 artists from all over the country and even a few from Canada (our neighbors from the North). Each and every piece is special, unique and handmade. We have pottery, blown glass, leather, jewelry, paper, metals, fibers, and more.

The Gallery at the Clay Coyote: Warm and Welcoming

Meet the potters