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Fine porcelain pieces by Dara Hartman of Utah on display at the Eclipse Mill Gallery.
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A selection of Stephanie Boyd's work at the gallery.
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Pieces by Phil and Gail Sellers.
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Eclipse Mill Pottery Exhibit Offers Art You Can Hold In Your Hand

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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Molly Cantor's work features animals and flowers. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — "I'll Drink to That" is a veritable wonderland of handcrafted vessels: delicate celadons, chunky tankards, prim porcelains, bowls with heft and inventive shapes.
 
The group exhibition at the Eclipse Mill curated by potters Gail and Phil Sellers and Arthur De Bow, gallery manager at MCLA Gallery 51, features more than two dozen artists who sculpt functional art out of clay. 
 
 "I think it's really cool when you have an exhibit of something that's as simple as a cup and then you get to see so many interpretations of what a drinking vessel is,  is just amazing," said Stephanie Boyd of Williamstown, who was exhibiting her work and also picking up pieces from other artists. "Every night I have a cup of tea and I go to my cupboard and I get to pick which friend am I going to have tea with tonight."
 
The Sellers run River Hill Pottery in the mill, where they also live. Gail Sellers said they had invited about 60 artists after looking through their work and about 25 participated, some local and some from as far as Washington and Utah. In all, the pieces on display represent artisans from nine states. 
 
Sellers said the mugs, cups and bowls are both functional and beautiful, a piece of handcrafted art that can be picked up and taken home. 
 
"It's gender neutral, you can buy as a gift and there's a lot of different things here," she said. Prices ranged from the $20 to the hundreds, often depending on the background, history and process required to make them. In fact pieces were flying off the shelves at the well-attended opening reception two weeks ago, 
 
The Sellers have made their name primarily in the woven clay baskets they make, but sifting through others' work and taking to fellow potters in preparation for the exhibit inspired them.
 
"This stuff is fairly new to us ... we've kind of played with it and enjoyed it," Sellers said. "Phil was very motivated. ... It almost feels like we came full circle. When we started out, we were both functional potters ... then we did our baskets, then we did wholesaling, we got into several books, and now we're back doing functional stuff."
 
Sellers said De Bow had been a great help in planning and curating the exhibition and she hoped that could become an annual event. 
 
"We have done so many things that aren't a fit for us, this is a fit for us," she said. 
 
Molly Cantor of Shelburne Falls finds her inspiration in nature, creating pottery that sports birds, wildlife, flora and homey scenes. The pieces have almost a wood block print look to them. 
 
"Sometimes people ask me to do something not native ... but usually I just go outside and see what's blooming or if I have an encounter with an animal, I'm like drawing a little story," she said. "They're just sort of elements of my life that I tell by putting stories in the pieces."
 
Cantor, the daughter of a printer and granddaughter of a painter, had always wanted to be an artist but didn't think it was practical. 
 
"But then when I discovered pottery, I put these things together and you can have artistry and function that seats all the sensibilities," she said. After doing it as a hobby for six or seven years, she made it her profession for the past 20. 
 
"I just discovered there was nothing I wanted to do more," Cantor said. 
 
While Cantor tries to create a connection with nature, Boyd likes likes the ability to say something. Some of the adult and political work she brought along at the last minute is for sale in the Sellers' shop, like the tall mugs inspired by Sen. Elizabeth Warren that say "nevertheless she persisted" and others that are pretty on one side with a sharp four-letter word on the other. 
 
Mugs are difficult to get right, she said, because the lip has to be just so and the handle has to work. 
 
"Many people have never had a tea or coffee or beverage out of a handmade mug  ... Occasionally I will give a mug to a friend and he will say, oh my God, it's changed the way I enjoy something. There's a real human connection you don't get with factory made. ...
 
"Somebody's hands were all over this, permanently, and it's kind of captured in that."
 
"I'll Drink to That" runs through Aug. 27 in the Eclipse Mill Gallery. The gallery is open Thursdays through Sundays from 10 to 5, and by appointment.

Tags: art exhibit,   art gallery,   

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Macksey Updates on Eagle Street Demo and Myriad City Projects

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

The back of Moderne Studio in late January. The mayor said the city had begun planning for its removal if the owner could not address the problems. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Moderne Studio building is coming down brick by brick on Eagle Street on the city's dime. 
 
Concerns over the failing structure's proximity to its neighbor — just a few feet — means the demolition underway is taking far longer than usual. It's also been delayed somewhat because of recent high winds and weather. 
 
The city had been making plans for the demolition a month ago because of the deterioration of the building, Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the City Council on Tuesday. The project was accelerated after the back of the 150-year-old structure collapsed on March 5
 
Initial estimates for demolition had been $190,000 to $210,000 and included asbestos removal. Those concerns have since been set aside after testing and the mayor believes that the demolition will be lower because it is not a hazardous site.
 
"We also had a lot of contractors who came to look at it for us to not want to touch it because of the proximity to the next building," she said. "Unfortunately time ran out on that property and we did have the building failure. 
 
"And it's an unfortunate situation. I think most of us who have lived here our whole lives and had our pictures taken there and remember being in the window so, you know, we were really hoping the building could be safe."
 
Macksey said the city had tried working with the owner, who could not find a contractor to demolish the building, "so we found one for him."
 
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