Summer Art Show Schedule

Hope you all are having a great summer. I am busy in my studio making new work and trying to catch the sun when I can.

After skipping last year, I will back at the Gig Harbor summer Arts Festival (Booth #32) this coming weekend. (July 21st-22nd)

Excited to be at the Bellevue Festival of Arts again this year (July 27th-29th). My name was also mentioned in the Bellevue Arts Week "Known for his unique sculptural work and Indian influences, local ceramic artist Charan Sachar also returns to the fair for his second year."

And for the first time I am going to be at the Anacortes Arts Festival Booth 406E(Aug 3rd-5th) So the next three weekends are packed and full of excitement. Would be great to meet you there and share my new work. Below is a sneak peek at what to expect

New Platters and Wall Pocket Vases

My Online shop is always open, so check it out

Best wishes Charan

Spokane Summer ArtFest

It is the start of the summer shows! First one down is the Artfest in Spokane. Three-day event with over 150 artisan booths, kid's Make-It-Art tent, food, music, fun! June 1 12PM – 8 PM Music & beer garden until 10 June 2 10 AM – 8 PM Music & beer garden until 10 June 3 10 AM - 5 PM This is going to be my second year here and looking forward to meeting the Spokane folks. It is held in beautiful Coeur d'Alene Park in Spokane's Browne's Addition - two blocks from the MAC and approximately 1 mile west of downtown Spokane See you there! For those you who cannot make it, my online shop is always open. And you can see my show schedule here.

Sabudana Vada : Fried Tapioca Dumplings

I have to admit, being in India, I have rarely had this dish. Sabudana Vada, which are these fried dumplings made from tapioca pearls and potatoes. They are very typical of Maharashtra, India where I come from, but my mom never made these. As for my wife, she loved this and it was one of her favorite things that her mom used to make. To celebrate Mother's day, we had friends get together and everyone made a dish that their mom made. My wife naturally chose this and I was amazed. Absolutely delicious and sinful. Tastes even better when double fried. hehehe. Here is where my wife got the recipe from. What is your favorite dish that your mom made?

New Patterns and New Bowls

My mind has been buzzing like always and I have some new work that I am very excited about. I never get tired of patterns, so made some new textured slabs.

New patterns calls for new forms. I wanted to make some unique elegant bowls. Check these out.

I love the curling handles and the simplistic design balanced with the intricate free flowing patterns

Perfect for serving strawberries this summer season. Buy them now at my Etsy shop.

Extruder Workshop at Tacoma Community College

I like to teach and it was a while since I was teaching in a large group. Last weekend I did a 2 day extruder and surface decoration workshop at Tacoma Community College organized by the Clay Club students at TCC.

A big thanks to Clay Art Center for letting us borrow the Scott Creek Super Duper clay extruder for the workshop. I LOVE this extruder because of its design and its ease of changing dies. With this hands-on workshop, everyone got to try it out and unleash the potential of extruded work. Here are some picture of the workshop.

Discussing Die design and making your own diesAlways fun working on butter dishes

Attaching spout to a teapot

Making a pillow bowl. Love the finishing sponge from Mudtools

Working with students making a butter dish

Some of the pieces in progress, oil bottle, butter dishes, pillow box, sugar creamer, etc...

A big Thanks to AMACO for sedning their velvet underglazes for the workshop.

Techniques for slip decoration

One of the oil bottles decorated.

Overall it was great fun with a great group of artists. Contact me at creativewithclay@yahoo.com if you would like to arrange a workshop.

Earth Day Giveaway and Mother's Day

I am few days late to wish everyone a Happy Earth day but everyday should be Earth day.
This year to celebrate Earth day, I am giving away reusuable foldable tote bags with your purchases in my Etsy shop

Even the small steps we take to reduce the number of plastic bags we use can make a huge impact on the plastic wastes. I know several plastic bags do get recycled, but that costs energy too. So why not walk around in a fashionable tote bag at your local farmer's market with a resusable bag?

Every purchase of $50 or more gets one of these tote bags for FREE

And every purchase of $100 or more gets an upgrade to these animal print bags.

And don't forget, Mother's day is just around the corner!

These lidded teacups are sure to make her happy.

HURRY UP! This offer is valid only till 30th April!

Besan Puda from Manjula's Kitchen

This is one of my favorite food that we enjoy for breakfast/brunch over weekends. It is Besan Puda, savory and can always be varied with the vegatables to add to it. Think of it as a vegetarian omlet without eggs.
The one I made is made with zuccinni and I got the recipe from Manjula's kitchen. I know I have a strong Indian accent, but she takes the cake. I love the way she talks and you feel you are really in her kitchen when she cooks. Lots of great indian vegetarian recipes on her website.
Here is the recipe I followed. I did add cilantro for extra flavor. I have made variations of this with bell pepper and that comes out good too.

What is your favorite brunch? Comment below.