While the temperatures nudge toward a numbing slumber, stay cozy with creative clay during the dark Winter with a visit to the Torpedo Factory Art Center's Scope Gallery.
Washington Ceramic Guild artists have come out of their caves to create vessels toasty and tasteful. More stylish than a Snuggie, "Hibernation: Getting Cozy with Clay," offers creature comforts in the form of mugs, soup bowls, teapots, casseroles and more.
Teapots, pitchers and punch bowls serve up cider, hot cocoa, coffee and tea. Covered casseroles go beautifully from oven to table, serving warmth and well-being. Handmade soup bowls and ladles provide an earthy amenity to a blustery day.
Artists have put their inspired paws to work, creating both sculptural and decorative pieces. Polar bears lumber and laze with their snowy crackle-glazed coats. A statuette bison appears stalwart and majestic despite the elements. Glowing panes of a window bowl can turn a heart heated with handmade wonder.
Horsehair pottery and raku decorative-ware contrast icy white with rich ebony patterns. Pitfired vessels invoke smokey drama with a sooty, marbleized finish. Rustic woodfire finishes kindle natural inspiration on forms dotted with ash and intense flame.
This pottery shop can light your fire before you retire.
The Ceramic Guild show runs January 6 to 29; hours are Monday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with Thursdays open until 9 p.m. The gallery is located at 105 North Union Street, ground floor Studio 19, Alexandria, VA. 22314. For further information, call Scope Gallery at 703-548-6288 or visit www.torpedofactory.org/galleries/scope.
The Ceramic Guild is an organization of over 40 juried Washington D.C. area artists working in the clay medium. Organization members exhibit themed shows every other month at the artist-run cooperative Scope Gallery in Alexandria's Torpedo Factory Art Center.
