Local potters are selling mugs, bowls and other handmade ceramics at the Kenai Art Center this Saturday.
The pottery sale is put on by the Kenai Potters Guild every Christmas. Proceeds go into a general fund that the guild uses to buy supplies for its studio, like clays and glazes.
Debbie Adamson is president of the potters guild. She about 15-or-so potters are selling their work this year, including tables of what she calls “seconds.”
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Debbie Adamson: It’s pottery that’s perfectly useable, still looks pretty, in most cases. But maybe it didn’t turn out exactly the way we expected it to. Maybe it’s too small to fit the lid we were hoping to use with it. There’s a lot of different things that can happen.
And usually if a potter doesn’t think that it’s absolutely perfect, then it goes into the second sale.
KDLL: I imagine because you are using the seconds in the sale that it adds a little bit of a silver lining when someone’s pottery doesn’t necessarily go the way they planned.
DA: Right. And sometimes it’s just that maybe we’re trying to match a certain color, and it doesn't always work out. You just never know. Because each piece has to be fired twice and things happen in those kilns that you just can’t always count on.
KDLL: What excites you about this year’s show?
DA: We set it up Friday, always. And the doors open Saturday morning. And now we’re having the sale over in the other side of the building, which is the Kenai Art Center side, in their big gallery. And what I love when we get it set up, all the tables are full and beautiful. And they’ve also got over there in the gallery the murals, up on every wall. So they’re a gorgeous backdrop for all of that colorful pottery.
And most people love pottery. You’ve got to pick it up and feel it and make sure it feels good in your hand, it fits just right. Pottery is something you need to touch.
The prices are very affordable at this sale. And I think that’s nice. It makes it accessible to anybody’s budget.
The Potters Guild sale runs Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
