Featured.

Well, I got another lovely email informing me that one of my pieces was featured on a blog. So, thank you to April for featuring my mug on here lovely blog along with a bunch of my Etsy clay peeps. Check it out!Tomorrow morning I'm off to New Paltz to set up my show. I have 15 pieces to hang. 8 fish and 7 birds. I don't think I've ever made so many hanging things all at once. It should be interesting to see them all up.

Oh you beautiful blog...

My mug and pitcher were featured in a most lovely blog today, I Dreamed I Saw, with several of my clay friends...

Check it out!

Super Sale Time.

Yup, the old studio is getting crowded again. I've been busting my tush in the studio for the past month+ and I need more room on my shelves! I have a few gallery shows and my one big craft show of the summer (I only do 2 craft shows/year...not really my thing) coming up in the next couple of months. SOOOOO, that means it's time to clear out the older work and all those pesky seconds. So go visit my SALE section where you can find work 30-50% OFF!

The worst...

...blogger ever.

Be inspired.

That's the name of this wonderful treasury that's on the front page right now...

curated by Rachelaakmama. Thanks Rachel!

There's still time to buy that mug!

Brain freeze.

As I sit here awaiting the freezing rain and staring at the huge....no, ominous....Christmas tree in our living room, I am exhausted.

When I sit back and look at all the work my hands have created in the past few weeks.....it's really quite amazing. I certainly feel it. My hands feel tight. My back is sore. My brain is kind of numb.We did get the Christmas tree on Sunday and I managed to decorate it in between attaching handles and painting naked chicks. I'll have to take a picture of it. It's the second tree we've gotten that had a bird's nest hidden in it. I think that's supposed to be good luck.

My last load of work for the holidays is almost finished. Saturday, I pack it all up for Craftacular. I will be taking some listings down from my Etsy shop Saturday afternoon. If there is something you've been looking at, I suggest you get it before then. It may not come back with me. Any work not sold will be re-listed on Monday along with new work. Also, my last day to order for guaranteed delivery before Christmas is December 18th. Almost all items ship USPS Priority Mail (2-3 days). Pendants and ornaments ordered alone will ship USPS 1st class (2-5 days). I am willing to overnight any items, just contact me for shipping rates.

Oh, yeah. Does anyone have any good ideas for a gift for my mailman? Do people still do that??? I give all my packages to my mailman to take. Except when I have A LOT going out...then I feel too bad and bring them to the back loading dock of my post office. Anyway, I gave him a mug last year so I don't want to give him another piece. Any suggestions?

Gondolas?

That's what I'm calling them.

I made these 3 before I decided to use this mold for my new fish dish. I really like the shape and they look quite elegant. These may be the only dishes I make like this.

I still need to do some last minute things before I finish loading and start firing the kiln. It's full of mugs, creamers and vases. My hand is killing me.

I also have a pile of pieces I made for earrings. I guess I should get them finished. Oh, and I need to string up some more ornaments. Soooo many ornaments!

New.

Okay. I did actually manage to scrounge up some time to fill the kiln and fire a ▲10. I had forgotten how hard it was to work full-time and make work....yuck! Like I had mentioned I was going to make, there are lots and LOTS of new mugs. I also felt the urge to make a sugar and creamer set.I didn't know what color to glaze it, but I'm happy I decided on green. It is sooooo wonderful. The color is so vibrant and clean and the black slip is very BLACK...wonderful contrast. I'm also really happy with the forms. I wanted to make a set that matched my mugs and I've also been really into high domed lids...the shape of these really goes well with the bulging silhouettes. They also hold a deceptively large amount. Very pleased indeed.


One more week of camp...
Then it's vacation time starting Friday night. Camping then Mexico! The shop will be closed August 2-11. If you need something, get it now!

Pink loveliness.

Okay. I know I say it a lot, but this piece is so lovely. When I took it out of the kiln my heart was melting. I think I may need to make myself a mug version of this pitcher. And as someone who spent the first 25 years of her life hating the color pink, I've certainly had a change of heart. I guess it's the context that makes the difference and paired with black and white, almost any color can shine.

I've mentioned previously of my love/hate relationship with mugs. In the beginning I thought that I had to make them. Everyone loves mugs. They are an inexpensive, useful yet handmade and special gift for others and a present you can buy yourself and not feel so guilty. And for the ceramics collector, the are another relatively inexpensive way to purchase work by your favorite artist. BUT, they are a lot of work. At least the way I work. Throwing them exactly the same size, painting them, CARVING them(I don't think people appreciate how long that takes), pulling the handles, attaching the handles, firing, glazing, firing again... At first I kept them simple in form, simple carving. But they were still taking time and I felt bad charging a lot and definitely lost money on them. Now, I think I've found some peace...

I'm not going to worry about matching perfectly. They are all the same style. I'm using the same amount of clay for each so they are all similar in height, but not exact. And if someone really wants a matching set, I'll make sure they are the same height, but not exact in shape. They're more interesting that way anyway. And I don't feel bad charging more because more work, more consideration of form and definitely more love goes into these. There are still a few left in the shop from the last batch and I'm working on more.

new work.

I unloaded a kiln Friday night. Like I mentioned before, it was mostly special orders. Not much left to post on Etsy or to keep as back stock. Whenever I think I'm getting ahead, I see a boost in sales and then *poof* no more work left. I thought January and February were the "get ahead"months!

Anyway, mug mania was brutal. I had several mug orders to fill. I haven't been making many mugs because they are rather labor intensive and I don't want to have to charge a ton for them. I recently started to only take special orders for them and then I sell off the extras from the special orders. And however many times I say to myself "never make more than 8 at a time" I never listen. I inevitably end up with at least a dozen mugs that all need to be carved at the exact same time, have handle put on at the exact same time...ugh! 8 is manageable, more than that is not. And here are some of the fruits of my labor. (and with my new orange again!)

I also have my new lavender glaze. I guess I'd say it's more of a periwinkle, but it really depends on the light. It definitely looks more blue in my photos. Maybe I will call it periwinkle. It looks so nice with just about all of my colors. Especially green and yellow. I only made up a small batch. So once it's gone, it's gone!

I also forgot to mention that I was on the front page again a couple of nights ago. And yes, more tiny tripods. This time in red! And of course, another great treasury of items that I'm happy to have been included with.