Interview.

Check out my interview on the So Cal Potter's blog. I know I'm not from or living in southern Cali, but hey, he asked and I answered. Anyway, check it out right here. There are a bunch of really great interviews like this one with my buddy Shane Keena or this one with the fabulous Ricky Moldonado...my fellow compulsive surface decorators.I've also posted more newness in my Etsy shop. This is one of my new tripod bowls. And upgrade from my old design.

This one sold shortly after I posted it, but I plan on adding another one similar to it.

OH! And I also made my 1111th sale...actually, I made my 1112th sale today also. But I was so excited to hit 1111. I really like that number. My next goal is 1234...

They're back.

Well, one is back...more on the way. I've been slacking on the tripod bowls. I hadn't made any in months and months. Then one of my galleries requested a few and of course, I had to make more than a few. So here's one in yellow.I've always been fond of this design. I do get a bit frustrated that they warp a bit. But, I've just come to accept that the fussiness of my porcelain and the fact that they are on 3 feet just means it's going to happen. I could let these dry all the way, lightly covered, a slow as possible, never standing them up on their feet until they are out of the bisque and they will still warp. Some more than others of course, but those are the few that end up on the seconds shelf. And don't worry, if the price for the up to par bowls is too steep, some of those seconds will end up in my sale section.

I'm still working like a madwoman in the studio. One more big load of work before my big 3-0 birthday weekend. I thought I was getting caught up and then *boom* more orders. Of course, who's complaining, but boy am I tired.

The kitchen is coming along. The walls are painted...after 2 colors and the floor has been ripped up. We decided on Pergo as an inexpensive fix that still looks nice. I didn't really want to spend all that much. I mean, we DID do a lot to the room 4 years ago when we bought the house...new appliances, hardware on the cabinets, the floating "peninsula", and yes, I did paint the walls only 4 years ago as well. BUT, I work at home and the only time I leave the house during the day is to go to the gym or to go food shopping...I need a change of scenery! So anyway, the floor is next...once this next load of work is in the bisque!!

Food. Water. Food.

Today I am totally in love with these bowls, a custom order I unloaded this morning.Dog food, cat food and shared water...feel the love. Dudley's dog bowls are 2 of my favorite things I've ever made...is that weird?

Time off.

So the show was a success. Beautiful weather and way more people than any other year I've done it. I don't do too many shows. Mostly because I can't stand the packing up and setting up and packing up...routine. And I'm never quite happy with my display. This year I was okay with everything. We had to use our small car because the Outback is out of commission. So whatever we took had to fit in the car with me, Jon and Dudley. 3 tables in the trunk along with a pair of chairs, a box, a few random things. 4 bins in the back seat along with the tent, 3 shelves, some planters that I used to put the shelves on, a couple of bags of random things...That little sports car held quite a bit. So this is what I ended up with...{I'm hiding out in the back}

I wasn't quite finished setting up. Not as many levels as I would have liked, but that would not have fit in the car. I tried my best to not overload the tables. Jon's always telling me less looks better, but if you've ever seen my pots...I kind of have a problem with that less is more thing. I do think it worked though. Apparently I was one of the few that was actually selling work. And I did go home with about half as much as I brought. :)

Since the show I've pretty much been doing nothing. Isn't that great?! I decided to take the week off. Now that only means not making work. That still means taking pictures, posting work, shipping work, cleaning, organizing, computer crap. I did make some time to visit a friend, go to the gym with Jon, do some gardening outside with Dudley, clean my stove...oh wait, that wasn't fun.

I also worked on a fun custom order for some puppy dog bowls. I decided to make a plain set to post in my shop. The first set I made was for Dudley last year when he was a puppy.

His bowls have his actual paw print on the bottom...his puppy paws were so little and left black underglaze prints all over my studio floor :). I got the idea for that when I was doing a workshop with high school kids. One of the girls brought in her new baby hedgehog and was making a bowl for it. He was hanging out on the table while we were working and walked on the black underglaze lid and made little foot prints. I told her to let him walk on the inside of the bowl...it was so ridiculously cute. I made a lino stamp for my new bowls. I'm willing to do custom colors and names on these. And I don't discriminate...I'll do bowls for kitties, ferrets, hedgehogs...you name it!

Fly away.

Well, I've still been super busy in the studio. I'm just about to fill another bisque and I'm feeling quite productive. I've been working on this "bird dish" design for a while. I kept drawing and re-drawing it until I realized I was just drawing the same thing and any technical problems would have to be solved in the making. I wanted to make them with my gray porcelain and also make them thicker so they are more substantial and more sculptural...as if they are carved out of stone. And, I used white slip on top. I'm still not sure how I want to glaze them so I made 6 to experiment with. I also made 75 (and I'm hoping for another 25 today) tiny tripods, most of them orders. And, a pair of fish bowls...

I guess that's it for me. I need to pack and ship and get my butt in the studio and make a few more things. I wanted to fire this kiln today, but I wasn't feeling so hot for the past couple of days, so I'm aiming for tomorrow. Hopefully unloading a glaze firing on Saturday...again, I was aiming for Friday, but it looks like I'm a day behind....hopefully not two!!!

I'm out.

☼ Spring.

I slacked a bit yesterday and spent some time cleaning up the yard and uncovering more flowers. I couldn't help it, it was sooooo nice out. I'm taking it easy today as well, although it is much cooler and I'm keeping inside. I'm firing a bisque and posting more new work in my shop. I keep posting chicks and they keep selling within a few hours. So, if you want one and missed it, just shoot me a message, I do have more in the studio...so much for my summer inventory. I did post this new bowl. It was my favorite thing that came out of the last firing.

Isn't it pretty? And it feels so nice.

I also got to hang out with my friend Jen on Friday. We were both in the BFA ceramics program at the same time. Fortunately she is also still living in the area and making work. She has an Etsy shop too. Go check her out! She has beautiful planters just waiting to be filled up with herbs or some pretty annuals. I'm totally in love with this one.

She's not using terracotta anymore so get a jump on what's left in her shop. And she's mixed up some beautiful glazes to use on her new stoneware work so be on the lookout...I know, she showed them to me on Friday! It's so nice to have someone around to geek about ceramics with.☺

Treasury mania.

Wow! So I made the front page on Etsy 2 times in 3 days. Not bad. And with the same orange tripods.

And I sold a ton of these little guys. None in orange. You need to be a certain type of person to want orange I think. Me and my husband are. Our kitchen is orange. Although, I think 4 years is enough. Time for turquoise. Especially since I decided to start collecting my Franciscan Starburst dishes. Yummy.

Now that's a salad plate!

February.

I can't believe it's February already. January went fast and that's fine by me. I used to love the winter, but now....not so much. December and January, fine, snow all you want. But February, March, I can't stand the wet, icy, melty snow, muddy everything weather.

And, the gray light. I HATE the gray light.

Well, enough of my venting. I've been trying to "think spring" in the studio. Making more chick bowls and I did finally get around to making some little Valentine's Day hearts. They'll be out of the kiln tomorrow. A little on the late side, but I'll still probably post them in my shop.

I did manage to take Dudley to down the road to Kingston Point Park the other day. It wasn't too terribly cold and I think we both needed to get out of the studio. It was rather soothing to watch the ice flow down the Hudson River. Dudley didn't understand why he couldn't go swimming. He did manage to get covered in mud. It's nice when our rolls are reversed. :)

(The icy inlet. The sounds from the cracking ice were pretty amazing)

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.)