Making Empty Bowls
Hunger is a huge issue in America. That seems strange when you also consider that we are the most obese people on the planet but it truly is a problem. I heard a statistic recently that about one in eight people in this country are struggling with not having enough food. It’s very sad but it’s a problem that has lots of people working on a remedy.
Of course potters are part of the solution. We are often involved in Empty Bowls Events.
The Empty Bowls Project is a grassroots movement dedicated to helping stop hunger. So when my friend, artists Micah Goguen of Visualeyes Create asked me to make some bowls I was more than happy to do so.
Here’s a sampling of the freshly trimmed bowls. There will be many more.
If you’re going to be anywhere near Kathleen, GA on November 2, 2014 you should make plans to head over to Bare Bulb Coffee for this event. You’ll get a homemade organic soup and fresh bread plus a hand crafted bowl all for $20.
Here’s a link with all the details: Empty Bowls Nov 2.
Check out the gallery page - Future Relics Gallery by Lori Buff
Of course potters are part of the solution. We are often involved in Empty Bowls Events.
The Empty Bowls Project is a grassroots movement dedicated to helping stop hunger. So when my friend, artists Micah Goguen of Visualeyes Create asked me to make some bowls I was more than happy to do so.
Here’s a sampling of the freshly trimmed bowls. There will be many more.
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| Empty Bowls |
Here’s a link with all the details: Empty Bowls Nov 2.
Check out the gallery page - Future Relics Gallery by Lori Buff
Love the bowl with the rim that style isn't often seen any longer; this is definitely a worth while project and organic soup sound delicious.
ReplyDeleteI like that style too Linda, I hope other people do. It does sound like it’s going to be a good time.
DeleteI always donate to empty bowls too. The NH Potters Guild organizes one in NH for a food pantry. The event was last weekend. Last year they raised $9,500!
ReplyDeleteVery nice. That’s a great amount of money which shows a great amount of support.
DeleteDo you always dry pots on terrycloth?
ReplyDeleteHi Christine, welcome to the blog and thanks for your question. I have wire shelves in my studio for drying pots. One of the shelves has that old terrycloth towel over it to help soften the wire. You know, explaining the towel may be a blog post in a day or two. Thanks.
DeleteMy 'thing' about hunger is literal and metaphor with church properties. Most have monoculture lawns that are pre-emerged & fertilized. Both toxic to groundwater and leaving a lawn barren to wildlife. How many could be fed if churches decided to plant fruit trees, berries?
ReplyDeleteXO T
That is brilliant Tara. I’d love to see that happen.
DeleteI also hate to be negative, but as well-intentioned as this event is: I gave 5 to my local event a few years ago and was rebuffed: they wanted 20-30! I responded that they were asking me to give up hundreds of dollars of my work during the Christmas retail season and I am flippin' BROKE. I earn less than the fry guy at McDonalds. I also suggested that instead of asking broke potters to shoulder the burden of donating they go to people with money. The next year, a different community hosted a different version of the event: they wanted 5 slightly fancier bowls, and sold a number of potters work to party goers for 135 dollars each! It made a HUGE amount of money for charity, I felt better about my donation, and it turned the whole thing into a classy gallery event. I wrote yesterday about 500 dollar fee for our art trail. i don't think others have any idea how slim our profit margins are in the art world, how hard we have to work just to buy groceries ourselves.
ReplyDeleteHi Gary, I’m sorry you had such a bad experience with the first group but glad it was a much better experience with the second. I’m quite certain that most people don’t know how slim our profit margins are, they most likely don’t think about anyone’s profit margins but their own. Of course since ours is so slim I also think about karma. Good points Gary.
DeleteI can see why Gary was irritated, asking one person for 20-30 bowls is too much. In NH the potters guild asks it's membership to donate what ever they can. We also have a bowl-a-thon at the NH Institute of Art. Members and students spend a day making bowls with recycled clay, donated by the institute. Volunteers come back to glaze and the school fires the pots.
ReplyDeleteOh yes Michèle, the first place he wrote about seems to have not communicated well and expected too much. Not good. The guy I’m working with has given me a bag of clay, asked how many bowls I can make from that bag and has offered to decorate and fire them so the only out of pocket for me is some time. Not that I have a lot of time right now but I also had the option to say no.
DeleteIt sounds like NH has it down.
Thank you Cheri.
ReplyDelete