Our first clayathon for Empty Bowls was a smashing success! Thank you to the many amazing potters who joined us to make almost 150 pieces in just four hours. Special shout out to Damion Blair Photography for making these wonderful images of our potters in action. Join us this Saturday, June 20th from 1:00-5:00 for our next clayathon. There will be music, laughter, pottery and a wonderful community of artists working together for two great causes: Marion Polk Foodshare and Willamette Art Center. #marionpolkfoodshare

Potters, we want YOU! Clay, glaze, and firing are on us — bring your hand-building or wheel-throwing skills and join us Saturday, June 20 to make pieces for our Empty Bowls sale. Pieces you make will find a home at our November 21 Empty Bowls event, where proceeds support Marion Polk Food Share and Willamette Art Center. Create something meaningful, not just with clay, but for our community. Join us at Willamette Art Center for our next CLAYATHON.

Making art in a welcoming, nurturing place like the Willamette Art Center can be healing and beautiful. WAC artist Karin Kayfes created this stunning jar as part of her own healing journey. “When the WAC reopened in January, I was recovering from hand surgery and grieving the loss of my mom,” Karin said. “I decided I wanted to throw an urn for her ashes. That was the beginning of a journey of learning to throw bigger while moving through the slow work of grief and healing.Talking to people at the studio about what I was working on took us from small talk to deeper conversations in one sentence. These connections and conversations nurtured me in my growth and in my processing of my grief.” Karin made this wonderful vessel on the wheel out of Oregon White clay. The bottom glaze is Amaco Obsidian, with bands of Amaco's Blue Rutile, Ancient Copper, and Seaweed above that, each overlapping the previous glaze. The white swooshes are Amaco Snow. The top third of the cookie jar is Mayco Norse Blue topped with zigzags and dots of Spectrum Running Hot Chowder and then covered with Amaco Mulberry. The lid has that same combo. All glazes were applied three layers thick. “This form was a failed urn- I had to learn how to keep the width from getting away from me-but I still liked it and turned it into a cookie jar. There's a lesson in there somewhere, but if it's about cookie jars and urns, failure and growth, or sweetness and sorrow, I'm not sure,” said Karin. No matter what Karin decides to call this piece, we think it’s breathtaking.

Calling all potters! We provide the clay, glaze and firing. You provide the hand-building or wheel-throwing pottery skills. Join us this Sunday, June 14 at Willamette Art Center for our first CLAYATHON of the year! Pieces made at our CLAYATHONS will be sold at our November 21 Empty Bowls event. Proceeds from Empty Bowls are split between Marion Polk Food Share and Willamette Art Center. Can't make it on Sunday? No problem. We'll also be hosting CLAYATHONS on: Saturday, June 20, 1:00-5:00 Thursday, June 25, 4:00-8:00 Saturday, June 27, 1:00-5:00