By ROBIN CAUDELL
Potter Nancy Rendinaro was tired of craft shows, store commissions and lugging her wares here and there.
She was also at the empty-nest crossroads and trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her life after raising her three daughters with her husband, Jeff.
"Why don't you make pottery?" Jeff said.
"Where am I going to sell them?" Nancy said.
"Why don't you make the little house into a gallery and sell your stuff?" Jeff said.
Nancy hashed out the idea with her friend/artist Gail Kemp and the Stonybrook Pottery Artist Co-op Gallery was born.
The "little house" was the gathering place of the daughters Rendinaro and their friends. Originally, it was a granary that was moved to their property from Schuyler Falls in 1910.
"The building has such character and history in itself, which is really neat," said Nancy, who makes functional pottery such as bowls, cups, candle holders and lamps. "This has just enhanced it. It's very old and eclectic. It has a good feel to it."
CREATIVE PEOPLE
At the end of August, she contacted area artists. They thought her idea was great.
"I'm pretty much here. Everyone is chipping in for the insurance. It's been a really incredible experience to have all this beautiful artwork here and share the space with all these creative people."
The gallery shows the works of weaver Kerry Alexander, felter Karen Case, quilter Mary Sanger Dimock, painter/sculptor Jim Golovach, children's book author/painter Amy Guglielmo, painter Judy Guglielmo, metal sculptor Merrell Leavitt, chandlers Sue and Kim Laware, print maker June Levenson, knitter Hannah McCormick, photographer Ron Nolland, jewelry artisan Mark Stowe and painter Annette Yardan, who makes Adirondack-painted pins.
The gallery's November open house was huge.
"It was great," Nancy said. "We had a lot of people. It was a beautiful day. All the artists were there greeting people. Last weekend, we had a big craft fair. We had a lot of people stopping by to see what's going on."
She has had requests for pottery lessons.
"Which will be done in the summer. I will advertise this month and next month. We will be closed weekends from Dec. 25 to May 1 (2010). During the winter months if someone wants to come and look at something, they can contact the artist or me. Starting May 1, we will be open weekends again."
At the open house, Nancy sold a lot of her pottery. She finds the gallery is a motivator.
"I'm actually doing a firing tomorrow for Black Friday, for the holidays," Nancy said. "It's been really fun."
E-mail Robin Caudell at: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com
