Ronee Looney hosts first annual open house Nov. 12-13 at Gray Barn Studio in Pontiac
Ceramic artist Ronee Looney, shown here with her kiln, first took a ceramics class as a favor to a friend when she and husband, Doug, lived in Castle Rock, Colorado. She enjoyed it so much, she took additional classes and eventually taught classes at the city’s rec center.
Ronee Looney will host the first annual open house at Gray Barn Studio in Pontiac on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 12-13, with the idea of bringing area residents together after several long, challenging months due to the current covid pandemic. Items to be offered for sale during the open house include her own and others’ ceramic items, photography, fabric art and handbags, and special art pieces by her Colorado cowgirl friends.
Among the items Ronee Looney will offer for sale at the Nov. 12-13 open house at Gray Barn Studio in Pontiac are these colorful ceramic Christmas ornaments.
Ronee Looney will host Gray Barn Studio’s first annual open house from noon until 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12, and from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 13, at her home in Pontiac. The open house features ceramics by Ronee, Lynne Akins, Shelly Cannon and Karen Eubank, fabric art and handbags by Lorraine Kroeker, photography by Karen Eubank, and Ronee’s Colorado cowgirl friends’ special works of art.
To Ronee, the open house is much more than a time for people to shop for handmade Christmas gifts and home decor items; it’s a time to celebrate life. It’s been a rough couple of years for lots of people, but especially for Ronee, who has made it through two cancer diagnoses, multiple surgeries and radiation therapy. “I just want the community to get together,” she said. “It seems like we’ve been so horribly disconnected because of covid. I want to be connected with everyone again.”
Bringing a ceramic studio to Pontiac
Several years ago, while Ronee and her husband, Doug, son of Marvin Looney of Pontiac, were living in Castle Rock, Colorado, a friend invited Ronee to attend a ceramics class. Ronee said she wasn’t at all interested but went along as a favor to her friend. “I loved it,” Ronee said. “I took more classes then decided to attend community college and take ceramics there and wound up teaching classes at the rec center in Castle Rock.”
She was surprised to learn the complexities of ceramics and all the steps that are involved in making one single piece by hand.
About three years ago, Doug and Ronee decided to make the move to Pontiac to live with Marv. “We moved here, and everything was great,” Ronee said.
Marv had a garage building worked over so that Ronee could have her ceramics studio. “Someone gave me an old wheel. I bought a kiln,” Ronee said. “My intention was to teach the local kids pottery in the summer. I did that one summer, and it was wonderful.”
Dreaded diagnosis
Then Ronee started not feeling well. “My leg hurt. I kept thinking, Well, we’ve moved, we’ve been cleaning and going up and down stairs and working hard,” Ronee said.
Doctors thought perhaps she had just pulled or strained a muscle, but the pain became severe. Early in 2019, she was diagnosed with cancer.
Aunts and cousins here suggested she see Dr. Charles Morgan, an oncologist in West Plains. He has treated her for more than two years, along with surgeons at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Ronee says she knows she wouldn’t be here if not for the excellent care of Dr. Morgan and the nurses at the Cancer Center at Ozarks Healthcare.
Time to celebrate
When she started feeling better, Ronee told Doug to get her some clay. “I was ready to be in the studio creating. I was ready to have other people in the studio with me creating, and now, we’re going to have a big party sale to celebrate,” she said.
“Things like this change you,” she said. “It makes even the tiniest things seem important, like being around good people. And that’s what this is all about.”
Her neighbor and ceramic student Karen Eubank agreed. “I have always been intrigued by the artistry and uniqueness of ceramics and have purchased many pieces over the years—including a couple of Ronee’s before I had even met her. Building my own pieces has been so much more time-consuming and challenging than I ever imagined—but also so much more rewarding,” Karen said. “It’s hard to describe the satisfaction that comes from taking a gray lump of clay and painstakingly turning it into something bright and beautiful. I still have so much to learn, but Ronee is such a positive, encouraging, energetic force, and the love and creativity she molds into each piece is inspiring. I’m excited for others to attend the open house and see all the lovely pieces we’ve created (and maybe take some of those lovely pieces home, too).”
Everyone is invited to come to Gray Barn Studios’ First Annual Open House, 136 Looney Lane, off W Highway via County Road 611 in Pontiac. Signs will be posted along area roads.