Showing posts with label artisan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label artisan. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Me and Mud....A Survey

Trying a new trick here, seeing if I can do an online survey.

If you would like, please participate.

Thanks.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Being Humbled...


Being a humble person is something most of us aspire to, being humbled is good for the soul. Well, I am not sure if I am a humble person, but I have definitely been humbled a time or two in my life. Pottery offers a whole new arena in which to be humbled. Both by people who pass your work by, and by those who are almost groupies!

I had both experiences in the space of a few days last week and it was an interesting pendulum ride indeed! First the bad humbling....I spent 2 days at an Expo show and really did just awful. I felt bad for the amount of time I invested, and my family invested by supporting me and being there. But it was a learning experience, and I certainly learned the lesson. This show was not artisan oriented and although the demographics were perfect, people came out with other items in mind. I literally had 100 or more people stop, look very carefully at all my pieces, ask a few questions, and yes offer compliments, only to move on with a "I will have to keep this in mind for a gift" for so and so.

On the other end of the humbled spectrum, I happen to wander into a beautiful gallery is a lovely little town in the vicinity of my studio, and after the owner had looked at my website, she inquired if I might let her handle a few pieces. It was like a breath of fresh air had lifted my weary sails.

I had been quite discouraged, but thankfully this lovely gallery owner showed some interest and my spirits were lifted.

When I returned home the positive vibes continued, my email box had 4 invitations to attend events where I hope to be well received.

So, you just never know. I just keep plugging on, and am enjoying the interesting ride. It reminds me of that line from the children's movie Nemo..."just keep swimmin', just keep swimming'". And I do.

To help me along as I navigate through the cloudy waters of potteryville, I posted the fish platter along with this post. It was the first time I attempted this particular platter. It was originally done for a tennis friend of my husband who is from NYC and wanted it for a bagel/brunch server.

It was fun to make, and I will have another go at it later this summer.

Monday, January 11, 2010

A New Year, a beginning....


Well, what can I say, the last few months have been a roller coaster of shows, work, more work and more shows. The last show I did was in a quaint, very upscale town not far from my home. It was a juried show, and I had applied last year but was not accepted. I was accepted this year and was lucky enough to participate. It had such a wonderful write up by a number of artisans, I was really looking forward to being there.

Unfortunately, it was one of those Decembers when the snow came much too early! The day of the show we had almost 7 inches. I got there, got everything inside, set up and waited it out. All the artisans collectively decided at 3 pm to pack things in and hit the road. The show was supposed to go for another 2 hours, but the traffic had trailed off at 2pm, so we thought it was safe to call it a day.

For those of you who are craft show people, you KNOW what it means to pack out of a show in 7 inches of snow!!! YIKES!!! I was happy I only lost a few things in the process and didn't break any bones!

The holidays were very quiet. Fortunately, a wonderful friend was brave enough to clear my stock for me. She used the pieces for Christmas presents for family, friends, and teachers. I could not have been more pleased to help wrap it all up and send it home with her. Now my decks are clear, I don't have to worry about stock I may or may not have. I can start completely fresh. And I have to say that is an exciting prospect for me. It is like I have a clean slate, or a fresh canvas on which to create.

I have taken a true break from the studio. Some of it was wanted, some forced because of a health issue with one of my kids. But hopefully tomorrow will be my first full day back in the mud. I am looking forward to loosing myself in my music, some good sunlight, and the peace of creating.

By the way, apparently, we have a mountain lion on our little mountain. It has been spotted by 2 neighbors within 1/2 mile, and also a vet that lives close by also may have seen a deer that might have fallen victim to the lion. But we are not 100% sure on that one. Let me just tell you, I am definitely keeping track of all of my cats and they seem to want to be inside because of all the cold, so that has worked very well.

I will post some more pictures soon. I recently updated my website and added back in some more "spring time" pieces.

Well, I will be back blogging again soon. Thanks for stopping in and seeing what has been happening here.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Kiln Run...Happy :)




In the brief 2 years that I have been privileged enough to be there when the kiln opens, I have to say, this morning was the BEST so far. There were only one or two pieces that were "yuck", the rest came out as well as I thought, and the ones I was experimenting with actually came out WELL.

It is always a risk to experiment with glaze, but this time, I was fortunate to have a wonderful set of results. I am reviewing what my notes said I did and updating my "tried and true" glaze lists. I am trying to increase the number of glaze combinations that I can use and KNOW how things will turn out. Surprisingly, this is taking longer than I thought. 2 Years for a blue combination (using 4 glazes); and 1 1/2 years for a green combination (using 2 glazes). Now, on to yellow and orange.

I love color in pottery. I know a lot of potters LOVE the natural colors found on our beautiful planet and so a number of potters have a neutral palate that they work with. I think those colors are lovely, and I own a NUMBER of pieces that are glazed that way. I just really enjoy COLOR. Not always bright, but just varied and with the appearance of depth, and yes in other shades other than neutrals.

So, my quest goes on for more "wonderful" combinations. Any suggestions for combinations that you have tried, or have accidentally "found" would be wonderful. Pass them along.

My show schedule is busy for the next 4 weeks, and then the LONG break until March 2010. I was very pleased because I was admitted into a juried show in a very upscale area near my home. I had applied last year and denied, so I must say, I am so pleased to be given a chance this year. I have heard from other artisans that this is "the show" in this region to attend.

Not that I have anything against home businesses, but I am really hoping that this show will just have artisans, selling only what they have made. The traffic is supposed to be quite high, between 3,000-8,000. My proceeds from this show will be going to a local animal humane foundation, so wish me luck!