Hearts.

I woke up this morning and went to check my Etsy, print out some invoices...shop a little. I decided to check my hearts. I've found this to be a great way to find gifts for *me* and for others. I figure if these people like my work, and I like my work, we probably have similar tastes and I might like what's for sale in their shop or things they might have purchased. Hearts are definitley one of my favorite features on Etsy. Anyway, I clicked to see 3500 hearts! I feel so warm and fuzzy inside.I also forgot to post this amazing treasury I was featured in. It's called "Modern and Masculine" and it might be on of my all time favorites. I'm glad Etsy decided that it's not spam to notify people when you put them in your treasury because I would have never seen this! Many thanks to decoratethediva!

Just working in the studio today, getting work piled up for the summer. I posted some new vases in my shop. I've been playing with layering the glaze over the colored slip in small amounts to add another layer of texture and more depth. I'm very happy with the results.

Studio Pottery.

Well, I guess everything I make is studio pottery. But I say that because this one really reminds me of all that wonderful mid-century studio pottery. The decoration is more varied and I played with the color a bit more than usual. I love how the green changes depending on it's application over the white or the gray porcelain. I'm really enjoying the white slip over the gray. I'm thinking I may not use the gray with black anymore, just white. It gives the work a softer, earthier feeling while still being very modern and clean.

And remember these?

My planters are finished! They all came out beautifully. Tomorrow they'll get packed up and ready to be shipped off to their new retail location.

Little me.

I was going though and scanning some old photos and came across this one. It was taken in the summer of 2000 when I was at Penland in NC. I was 21?...I guess that's not too little. I was about to start my last year of undergrad and received a nifty scholarship and didn't have to pay anything or get up at 5am to work in the kitchen, so that was pretty sweet. I took a 2 1/2 week workshop with Julia Galloway. Richard Notkin was teaching downstairs and they did a lot of combined talks and slide lectures. I don't really like workshops, the dynamic is always kind of weird, but it was fun and Penland is so nice and secluded from the outside world.

I spent the morning outside doing some gardening and playing with Dudley. Then I "refreshed" some of my glazes and started unloading the kiln. I guess it's dinner and then glazing for me tonight. I haven't had cable for about 7 years now. I was never really a TV person. Sure, I love my Seinfeld and Simpsons, but I have the DVDs. When we are at parties or out at one of Jon's shows and someone mentions just about anything pop culture it's a big "huh?" from us. So we don't know much about what's on TV but we borrowed the first season of Dexter from a friend and watched 4 episodes last night. Now all I want to do is NOT glaze and watch the DVDs all night...a big reason to NOT have cable.


At least I got some new work posted. Like the next bird dish...in pink!

Sciatica.

Yup, my sciatica is acting up and this time I know exactly why....These babies. They are big. I think next time someone wants a large order of anything bigger than 5 or 6 lbs of clay I'm going to have to decline. It just tears my body apart centering the clay on the wheel. I've been talking about raising my wheel and throwing standing up, but haven't done it....I think I need to get my butt off my stool and just do it. These are going to be planters. Something that I haven't made in a long time...well, I guess not since last spring/summer.

After packing and shipping all morning, I'm going to post this guy in my shop...My new green is on this one, although you can't really see what it really looks like on the gray porcelain. It's glossy like the rest of my glazes, which is a quality I was going for. My "old" green has a bit of a satiny, faintly bumpy texture which was fine when I had other glazes that had that finish, but now I don't. The green is in a similar family as my other green but it has a bit more lime and a little less avocado....but over my gray porcelain, the new green looks VERY retro avocado.

Okay, off to post and work.

Back to work.

So now that the sun is back and it's in the 70's I don't want to do any work...but we can't always do what we want. I *kind of* took a couple of days off...I still took photos, packed and shipped, did boring computer stuff...all part of having this kind of business and doing it all yourself. I have a few new fairly large orders to work on and a *ahem* wedding present to work on, not to mention work for a couple of shows I'll be doing in the next few months. Tomorrow it's wheel time. Unfortunately I'm getting low on clay and that means reclaiming and mixing...UGH. I should have enough to get me through this next kiln, but I really shouldn't wait that long.

I did post a few thing in my shop today. Some cute little pieces I made using a pale gray slip over my regular white porcelain. I also posted another bird dish.

I couldn't get a good shot of it for some reason...maybe my total lack of photography skills had something to do with that. Anyway, this is my new blue. I still don't know what to call it. It looks different on the gray porcelain than on the white, much richer. I still might lighten it up a bit. I think I want a paler version.

Okay, I'm off to relax. My upper body is killing me from my bench presses yesterday. I hope it's better tomorrow for all the throwing I'm going to do...

Here they are.

Gray porcelain, white slip, black eyes. On the inside we have some new colors, although they all look different over the gray clay. A pale, lime-y green, grayish-blue (or bluish-gray), candy pink, yellow (which looks kind of green on the gray), turquoise and periwinkle (which I am officially out of!). I posted the turquoise dish this morning.If you are interested in any of these and they aren't posted, just shoot me a message. I have a ton of work in the studio now and I can't post it all at once! Besides, there's gardening to be done...

Christmas.

Well, not really, but it always feels like it when I open a kiln. My camera battery died before I could take more pictures, but I am loving my glazes. Here are some new tripods in a new light pink and blue...I posted them in my shop today along with a few special orders...

This one is sold, but I will be posting more of these bird bowls this week so be on the lookout. My other bird bowls...dishes really...came out just like I had hoped. I'll post some pics tomorrow. I'm soooo happy with them.

I also got a lovely message from Sydnei, from SimplySentimental, this morning to inform me that she featured my green chick on her blog today. Thanks Sydnei! She also included something from Modern June, who's oilcloth aprons and tablecloths are perfectly practical and totally cute.

Hot. Hot. Hot.

The kiln is taking FOREVER to cool. I guess it was packed tighter than I realized. These tiny tripods are small, but they still take up space and I had A LOT of them. I had to use a lot of shelves and they love to soak up heat. Here's a bunch before they went in the glaze firing.UGH! I just want to see my new glazes!!

Otherwise, I've just been taking it easy today. Jon is always lecturing me on taking a day off now and then so I don't go crazy, so that's just what I'm doing. I watched The Great Escape (one of my all time favorites) and now it's The Magnificent Seven. Both with Steve McQueen (*sigh*) and James Coburn (who played a smallish part in each movie, but also my favorite character in each movie). And both have excellent scores by Elmer Bernstein.

Okay! I'm off to finish my movie. And remember, there's still time to buy a great gift for that mom in you life. And if you want it directly sent to her, I'll even gift wrap it and send a note free of charge!