Showing at Southdown Marketplace

It’s official. My paperwork came in and I’ll be showing my pottery at Southdown Marketplace on March 31st 2012. I'll have a mix of pieces that I've worked on for quite some time and hopefully including some very recent pieces with new surface designs. I'm working hard to get things finished for the deadline. My booth is #313. Hope to see you there. The show is held from 8:00 A.M. till 4:00 P.M. Rain or shine the show will go on so lets hope for a beautiful day.

For those not familiar with Southdown Marketplace, it’s our semi-Annual Arts and Crafts festival in Houma, La. It’s held at the Southdown Plantation  grounds and is located at 1208 Museum Dr. at the corner of Hwy. 311 and St. Charles St.

Ikebana Containers in Use

I made the arrangement above to showcase two of my pottery Ikebanas. The flowers for the arrangement only cost $4.00 at my local grocery and I already had the stones.


I love flowers and one day came across an Ikebana arrangement. It was love at first sight. It’s such an artistic way of arranging flowers that I was drawn like a magnet. Ikebana is the Japanese Art of Floral Arrangement where you use very few flowers arranged in an asymmetrical way.  It is now becoming popular all over the world.  Greenery and other materials such as branches are incorporated in the arrangement. Ikebana not only showcases the flower's bloom but also celebrates other parts of the plants like the stems and leaves. It is a minimalistic form and usually only consists of a few blooms in the arrangement. The materials in the arrangement are placed so that they are balanced which can be easily done once with little practice. The design is often made using a  triangular pattern. A triangular pattern is achieved by taking three flowers or foliage branches and arranging them so that when you draw an invisible line to each tip end it will form a triangle.

I enjoy the concept and I use the basic idea to make my own arrangements. I find it easy and inexpensive to pick a few flowers and some greenery from my yard, stick them in pin frog and I have a beautiful display. A small bunch of flowers at my local floral department can make a nice arrangement that is also very beautiful while still very inexpensive.
There are many types of containers and I offer some on my Ikebana page on my website, but you can also use many of the items on my "Open Vessels" page. All you need is a Kenzan (pin frog) which holds the stems in place. I send one along with pots listed on the Ikebana page. Please note that Ikebana containers that are tall and cylindrical do not use a Kenzan.

For more information go to this informative link: All About Ikebana

Stoneware Pottery–Curved Trays with Slip Trailed Fish Design

These curved tray type dishes have a free form slip trailed fish. This whimsical design would look great in a bathroom, bedroom or kitchen for placing bars of soap, sponges or for placing jewelry or keys. They can also merely be viewed as a decorative piece in the living room. The two above measure about 7 1/2” x 6.

To purchase Medium Curved Fish Tray click here 

The tray below is listed as a platter due to it’s size.
It measures about 10.5" x 5.75.

To purchase Curved Platter click here.

Mixed Stoneware Oil Bottles or Bud Vases

        To purchase these bottles click here.

Here are some new stoneware bottles made using satin glazes. The tall bottles I call "cylinder bottles" since they are tall and straight sided. They are versitile and can be fitted with a spout to be used as an oil bottle. (I include the spout upon request.) They can also be used as a vase and look great holding either a single flower or a few.


The bottle on the far right is an oil bottle that is made with several thrown parts. The cylinder bottles are hand built and made from several parts which are extruded, slabbed and thrown. After I complete each part they are carefully joined together to form the bottle that you see.

I also have a wide assortment of Sgraffito and Botanical Imprinted bottles available on the "Bottles" page of my website that can be fitted with a spout. Included is a swamp scene with egret and two abstract florals. See the link below.

To Purchase Sgraffito & Botanical imprinted bottles click here.
http://www.cnbpottery.com/

White Sgraffito Design on Dark Clay - Example of side view.

I started making sgraffito pottery using white over dark clay. I only show one frontal view on my website of each piece to save time and space but each piece really has a diminsion that can't be reveiled in one photo. Therefore I am showcasing one of my pots and giving two side views to give an idea of the artwork that can wrap around the side of the piece. I do offer to send more photos of any pottery to whoever is interested in purchasing a certain piece from my website. You only need to email a request with the item number.

After testing several glazes I came upon this one and I'm very pleased with the results. I have several new pieces listed on my website now. This glaze gives a nice toasty appearance across the whole piece and really brings out the darker clay with sort of a reddish tint. I also have listed some that have a clear glossy glaze and those are more of a pure white.

To Purchase click here.

Two Pottery Angels Now Available

These are two pottery angels that I recently completed. One is a Powder Blue glaze with a patina and the other is made with a dark clay and glaze also with a patina. The process in which I make them is described on my website.

To Purchase Angels Click Here.

Latest Platters from the Kiln.

SOLD Alligator Platter

These are probably the last of the sgraffito platters that I'll fire before Christmas and the holidays. One shrimp design and one alligator design. These are listed for purchase along with previus platters on my website. My platters have scenes made using my own drawings and photos. I always use a basic design for the outline of an element or two and then carve the rest free hand. It's a slow and laborious process but I love the results.

Go to: http://www.cnbpottery.com/

Stoneware Pottery Jar

This is another item done in a recent firing. It's a stoneware pottery jar with a wood fired look. It has an impression done with a hand made rose stamp. Available for sale on the "Pots with Lids" page on http://www.cnbpottery.com/. Go to my "Online Gallery" page to see everything listed for purchase.

My latest work

I'm taking this time to post an example of my latest work in stoneware clay. This is a wheel thrown and altered piece. It is made using speckled clay which is a clay that I love to use. I've impressed a small design on the lower right side. I have three similar to this that are added to my web site for sale.

My Pottery Website is Up and Running

I'm finally finished my pottery website so take it for a test run. Now I will be able to concentrate on pottery making and painting. I will soon be glazing my latest platters which are sgraffito designs of local pelicans, egrets and alligators in swamp scenes. I also have a cool image of a Gulf Shrimp done before he hit the pot. I also have a couple platters that will be glazed with multicolored glazes.

I plan on having at least a couple angels available for Christmas so I will be getting started on those soon too. I'm hoping to have those ready sometime in October.

As I take everything out of the kiln, images will be posted on my blog, so subscribe to it if you would like to get email updates on kiln openings. You can then refer back to my website for purchases at http://www.cnbpottery.com/.  You also have option to subscribe to RSS feed. Personally I find the email updates are more convienent but it's your choice.

Hope you enjoy my new website and my up and coming art works.

Crystal Nolfo~Brown
http://www.cnbpottery.com/

Photography First

Photography was one of the first art forms I was interested in and is a great resource for my works in clay and paint. I've been interested in photography since I was a teenager and refer to the multitudes of photographs I take locally.

My need to expose the beauty of South Louisiana's culture, wildlife and wetlands to the world is what inspires many of my designs. The people, food and culture here is interesting and unlike anything in the U.S. All this is what makes this place home. It's my life. It's what I'm about. It's a part of me.

Now I feel hurried. Documentation is needed more than ever to prove that it all was once here, because in the near future, it may no longer be. At the rate we are loosing wetland, this could happen in my children's lifetime. This is nothing new. The world should know.

My first posts will be of some local photographs. The beginnings of my designs.