Briggs fiber art and pottery show Above right, Coal Creek resident Steve Briggs showed his pottery collection at an exhibition at the Gilpin County Arts Association’s Washington Hall in Central City. Above left, Ruth Briggs was invited to do a solo show at the gallery and exhibited her Fiber Arts. The show runs through January 8, 2022.[/caption]

Coal Creek residents Ruth and Steve Briggs are exhibiting their pottery and fiber art at the Gilpin County Arts Association’s Washington Hall in Central City across from the Opera House from November 27, 2021, until January 8, 2022. During a reception from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on November 7, those in attendance enjoyed wines and hors d’oeuvres.

Both Steve and Ruth Briggs grew up in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Ruth said she and Steve have been together for 50 years, since they both grew up in a small town. Ruth started out as a painter of portraits and landscapes in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Steve went to graduate school at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. They got jobs in Denver, and Ruth was invited to the University of Denver graduate school, but they required hard edge strike on the paintings, which was the new trend. She said she did not want to do that and transferred to pottery

The couple then started out in Golden, and both of them were in pottery. They built a gas kiln and those were the good years.

They have lived in Coal Creek since 1977. After that, she was a full-time potter in Coal Creek and shipped pottery all over the United States and Mexico. She used the Pinecliffe post office to ship out her pottery, so no one knew where she lived.

Ruth said she quit the ship order pottery business because her customers became nasty. She got a call from a Texas customer who asked why his dinner pottery is not ready, so she put him on the back of the list

All along, Ruth did fiber arts but didn’t consider it an art form. Now she is a member of the National Quilt show. She has exhibited mostly in Colorado and had a show at the Gilpin County Library. She said it was nice to be asked to have a solo show at Washington Hall.

The show will run until January 8, 2022. The Gilpin County Arts Association is located in Washington Hall at 117 Eureka Street in Central City. For more information go to www.gilpincountyartsassociation.org or call 303-582-5952.