Girl Power

Well, not really girl power of course - woman power. You've seen the photos of our beautiful work; now you get to see a little of the nitty gritty side of things. Our electric kilns are heated by coiled elements (like in a toaster but much bigger and tougher) to over 2000 degrees F. That's power. Over time the elements weaken and have to be replaced, so that's what we're doing here on two of our kilns.

The first photo shows the switch box opened; this is where the current enters and is fed to six elements.

In the second photo Diane R. and Joanna are putting the new elements into two of the sections of the kiln that have been set up on a work table for easier access.

The last photo shows Glenda finishing up the wiring on the other kiln. Here you can see the sections of this kiln have been stacked together again, before replacement of the switch box cover visible in the background. Looks like we were having fun. We were.

- Diane W. (who also helped)

Final Moments of Open Studio

Earthwork's members invite you to stop by this weekend for the final weekend of our Holiday Open Studio.  We are open Saturday & Sunday from 11-6pm and on Monday & Tuesday from 12-5pm.  Stop by for coffee, tea and beautiful local handmade ceramics!

-Earthworks Artists

Cover Girl

Earthworks' resident tile maker, Diane Winters, discovered her tiles included on the cover of the December issue of Old House Interiors magazine. This custom fireplace project for a home in Los Altos is a reproduction of a 1909 Greene and Greene fireplace. Here's a link to the magazine Old House Interiors, http://oldhouseinteriors.com/.

More typical of Diane's work are her individual molded tiles below. You can see more on our website, http://earthworksberkeley.com/ or in person at our studios.

Don't need an entire fireplace? - a single tile makes a dandy holiday gift.

Thanks for Shopping Local!

Thank you to all our wonderful fans that made this weekend's Berkeley Artisan's Holiday Open Studio at Earthworks our busiest weekend in years! We are grateful that so many of you decided to support local artists with your gift giving this year. If you did not have time to make it down this weekend, there is still plenty of time. We are open every weekend (Sat. & Sun.) through December 2st from 11-6pm and on Monday & Tuesday December 22nd and 23rd from 12-5pm. We are also open during the week a lot by chance and by appointment, feel free to call or stop by and ring the bell if you are in the area.

Some of the most popular items this weekend were:

Jiri's beautiful and affordable shino bowls $30

Glenda's stunning small dishes $22

Joanna Mendicino's playful and elegant vases $35

For a listing of all 100 artists that are participating in Berkeley Artisan's Holiday Open Studio and for a map of their studios, visit the website, http://www.berkeleyartisans.com/listing_page.html.

-Erin