Fire it up!

Holley Hill Pottery Studio and Gallery in Holley is gearing up to host the 2012 Gulf Coast Clay Conference this weekend for the second year.

The conference began Wednesday and Thursday at Pensacola State College and will be moving to Holley Hill on Saturday for the unloading of the kilns.

Brenda Stokes, co-owner of Holley Hill and president of the Gulf Coast Kiln Walk Society, said potters from all over the nation will be on site Saturday to see what surprises await them inside the two restored wood-firing kilns. The conference will feature Bill Van Gilder, a professional potter for 30 years who apprenticed in Ireland and established and managed two large teaching/training centers in Southern Africa and Bill Clover, the ceramic art director at PSC.

For more on this story, se the Feb. 2 issue of Navarre Press or subscribe online.