Trunkt.

Well, I finally took the time to apply to Trunkt. I know I'm a bit late on this one, but better late than never. I haven't posted anymore pictures and I'm still deciding if I feel like upgrading my portfolio. But for now, you can find my meager portfolio here.

The kiln is cooling and I'll be glazing tomorrow. New work will be out this weekend. Lots and lots of vases. I've been on a kick lately. And about 7 or 8 of them were made with gray clay. You might ask what do I do with all those tiny black and white pieces that I carve away. Well, waste not! Mix it up, add a little more stain and I can make gray, black, blue...fun. It can be a bit unpredictable, every batch is a little different. Because I have no idea how gray the clay is when I start adding more color, it's always a bit of a surprise when I unload the work. This is not an exact science.
This is one of my favorite pieces made with my recycled gray porcelain. It was VERY hard to part with. Fortunately, I know the woman who now owns it, so I know she's safe.

Working.

I've been working like crazy the past few days and have slacked off a bit in the online world. Finally posted some more work in my shop. I posted a few 3 tripod sets. I thought I'd offer them this way because they are a bit off model from my others. I made these 12 just before I decided on a standard size for these little cuties. I'm also offering them at 3 for $25, so they are a pretty sweet deal. I think they'd be great for Valentine's day. Give one to a special someone with a super delicious dark chocolate truffle in it or maybe a pair of earrings or special ring.

(Oh, how I love my wedding rings)

I've also posted this little bird bowl. I've since worked out all the bugs in this design, but this one was the first, so it has a few issues. I still couldn't bear to smash it, it really came out quite lovely. So, it's a bit rocky on it's 4 little feet and the beak is more brown than I would like it to be. It will still look lovely displayed or used to hold some sweets. And it feels so nice when you hold in your hands.

Tomorrow is going to be a finishing day. I made about 15 vases that all need to be carved tomorrow.....boy, am I gonna have a sore hand.

Postcards.

I'm going to work on some postcard designs tonight. I LOVE my business cards and I've been thinking I need some postcards to send out every once in a while. I was going to make some up in the fall, to send out before the holidays, but I got WAY too busy. I was thinking of having a spring sale and these would be great to advertise or have a promotional code for free shipping or something like that. I've been using Overnight Prints for a while now and I've been very pleased with their prices, turnaround time and quality. It's also very easy to download templates from them if you have no idea what you're doing.

I'll be working on some new designs in the studio today. Tomorrow I'll post some "in-progress" pictures. In the meantime, I made the front page again!

hmmmm.

I posted this vase in my shop today.

I had originally intended for this design to have handles on either side. I tried about a dozed different handles and none of them seemed to work. So, I scrapped that idea and realized it was telling me it didn't want handles. Anyway, I'm so pleased with how it came out and the turquoise glaze suits it just perfectly. Yummy.

Tiny tripods.

Yesterday I unloaded about 50 tiny tripods. Orange, cobalt blue, yellow, red, green and a limited number of turquoise and pale blue. I now have a standard size for these little cuties, so I can make tons and not have matching problems when someone wants more a month later.

For those who don't know, I'm a bit obsessive compulsive. My hands need to constantly be busy. I can't even relax on the couch and watch a movie without doing one or two other things. Anyway, I made my hundreds of snowflakes over the fall/winter season and now I need something new. So these little guys are just perfect, and I haven't gotten tired of making them yet. I'll be posting them over the next few days in my shop.

Front page.

Yay! I made the front page again. And what a beautiful list curated by hhopper. A lady with great taste (thanks Heidi!) :)

I unfortunately chopped off a few fellow ceramicists, including
CircaCeramics, from whom I bought this fab mug.

And, I discovered marstinia. Gorgeous enamelware. I love her colors.

Waiting.

The kiln is on again. And Jon is home due to another unnecessary snow day. So, I'm left to take pictures and post work on Etsy.

In honor of no work, here's one of my favorite pictures of Dudley.

He's my loyal studio companion and total piglet.

She's hot.

I changed the bottom element and away she rose.

Unloading and more glazing tomorrow.

In the meantime, here's a photo of Mercury

taken 2 days ago by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft.

Hit a snag.

So the work never got fired.

I've been meaning to change the heating elements in the kiln for a month or so. It's been taking longer and longer to reach temperature and the floor element is definitely split. So.....My first firing back from the holidays, and it stalls out at about 270 degrees! Which really doesn't make any sense to me. I'm hoping it's just the elements and not a controller problem. I took the 2 mile trip over to Bailey's and unfortunately they only had 3 of the 6 elements I need. I'm going to change the floor tomorrow and try again. If it doesn't work, I'll start changing the rest. If that doesn't work, I'll wait until the back ordered elements are in. If that doesn't work...well...I won't be too happy.

Grrrr...

In the kiln.

Snow day! My husband (an elementary school math teacher by day, rock and roll drummer by night) is home today due to the 3 inches of snow (that was supposed to be 8-12) outside. I guess that's a good enough reason for me to take the day off too. Well, I would be taking the day off anyway because the kiln is on. I got to take a picture of the chicken jar just before it was loaded in. I hope there are no "issues" with it later on. It was fun to make, but I sure don't want to make another one. I usually make more than one for a custom order, but I just didn't have it in me this time.

I'll also be posting these little vases/candle holders on Etsy later. I just love them to pieces.

My Etsy.

I just posted more bowls on Etsy.

I have kiln load almost ready to be bisqued. It's mostly special orders, one of which is a chicken cookie jar which a customer requested after I had sold these two smaller jars.

It was a little weird making one of these "big". The beak need to be larger as well. I ended up making it on the wheel so it would be hollow. I'm not always keen on making certain forms larger or smaller upon a customer request, some things are just meant to be a certain sizes. Just like some things are meant to be certain colors. But, these chickens seem to work well, large or small. I'll try to post a picture of it tomorrow.

(There are also about 50 new mini tripods in the load. I think I'm addicted.)

Finally.

So this has been a long time in the running. I've been reading blogs by other artists and by all the great people who have found my work (and graciously featured it) for some time now. I guess it's my turn to put my studio life out here for everyone to see. So, expect to see new work, works in progress, new design ideas, and maybe some things that inspire me. This is also a way to keep people updated on shows, events and what's new in my Etsy shop.