Dear Friends of Cedar Creek:

Spring has arrived and it’s time for our 41^st Annual Spring Pottery and Glass Festival.  Excitement is building.  Please join us as we open our studios and display our latest works.

The Friday Night Gala is Friday, April 3, 6 to 10pm. Throughout the gallery this is the time for the first look at the newest work from a plethora of artists, to swing with live music by Janet Stolp and Jay Cunningham, and enjoy refreshing beverages and light snacks. The first twenty-five people will receive a free blown glass ornament by Lisa Oakley.  At 6pm we unveil The Great Vase: Handmade of Pottery, Glass and Wood.  With over thirty-five artists showing their latest vase creations, this show is just in time for spring flowers. Four Winds Glass artists will demonstrate glass blowing in Lisa’s studio starting at 5pm.  Visiting artist Alan Bennett will raku fire a three foot long ceramic fish, the biggest one he has ever attempted to raku fire.  At 1800 degrees farenheit, the fish will glow in the darkness as Alan pulls it from the kiln and places it in combustible materials, engulfing it in flames.  Raku is amazing to watch anytime, but it’s especially mesmerizing at night.  As Alan’s fish heats up he will join Pringle Teetor for Throw and Blow, an amazing collaboration between wet clay and hot glass.  Alan will throw forms on the potters wheel and immediately Pringle will blow hot glass into the wet clay.  Pringle and Alan developed this collaboration in January and this will be the first time it has been shared with the public.  Please check the schedule of events for specific times.

The festivities continue the first two Saturdays and Sundays in April, April 4^th and 5^th, and April 11^th and 12^th, 10am to 6pm.  There will be glass blowing by Lisa Oakley and Four Winds Studio, wood turning by Bill Wallace and Butch Burroughs, and pottery demonstrations by Brad Tucker, Tim Turner, Jennifer Stas, Alan Bennett, Pat Oakley and Ronan Peterson.  John Martin and Jeff Bottoms will be on hand to introduce you to and advise you on plants from their nursery.  We’ll have live music by Janet Stolp and Jay Cunningham, Near Blind James and Harmonica Bob, Larry Hutcherson, and Kenny Shore.   The wood kiln will be fired and opened, the raku kiln will be fired numerous times.  Alan Bennett will sculpt your NC fish requests.   Pringle Teetor and Alan Bennett will collaborate in wet clay and hot glass.  And we will once again hold the famous Adult Egg Hunt where adults have the chance to hunt for eggs corresponding to great treasures in pottery, glass and more.  Please check the schedule of events for specific dates and times.

All work by Cedar Creek resident artists will be 20% off during the festival, April 3^rd – 12^th.  This includes all work by Lisa Oakley, Brad Tucker, John Martin, Tim Turner, Jennifer Stas, Pat Oakley and Four Winds Glass Studio.  And for those of you who love to cook, share your creations with us. Bring an appetizer or dessert during the festival and receive $10 off your purchase.

As our way of saying thank you for supporting us over the years, the first twenty-five people in the gallery for the Friday Night Gala and each Saturday and Sunday of the Festival will receive a free gift.  Friday night we will be giving away 25 ornaments made by Lisa Oakley, and the first Saturday it will be dipping dishes made by Jennifer Stas.  The Cedar Creek resident artists are busy making the other items, but I won’t name them specifically until they have come out of the kiln.

This winter there was an incredibly exciting interest in collaboration between artists at Cedar Creek.  Jennifer Stas and Tim Turner joined talents to begin creating birdbaths.  Alan Bennett and Pringle Teetor combined the processes of wet clay and hot glass for unique blown glass with pottery textures.  John Martin and Jennifer Stas are making porcelain tiles for crystalline glazes for the first time.  Lisa Oakley and Alan Bennett combined pottery and sandblasting for interesting effects.  The results of all of these collaborations will be seen for the first time at the spring festival. 

All this energy was felt by everyone in the studios and in the gallery.  It got us thinking in new and fresh ways about our work and that has translated into lots of new, really exciting pottery and glass.  It even got my mom, Pat Oakley back into the studio to make three stunning vases for The Great Vase.   I started making small bowls, candy dish size that I’ll show at the Friday Night Gala for the first time.   The excitement is palpable.      

The thing that makes Cedar Creek so special to me and I think to most who visit is the people:  the talented artists who work here and those who send work from other parts of the country; the great staff in the gallery who plan the shows, display the work and deal with the day to day happenings; and the wonderful people who come to Cedar Creek to admire and buy pottery, jewelry, glass, wood and more.  Each one of these groups is integral to the magic of Cedar Creek and to its ultimate success.  Thank you for being part of the magic.

We look forward to seeing you.

Lisa Oakley