The worst...

...blogger ever.

I'm back.

I've been the worst blogger ever. It's really not my fault. The husband has been on spring break and that makes it damn near impossible to get any work done. I have managed to get work made in the studio, but any extra computer work has been really hard to fit in.

The first few days he was off he was up in Buffalo for a teacher's union conference. And my few days alone with Dudley were very productive and lots of fun.

This cupcake sugar shaker is just one of the cutest things ever. I was going through old pictures and found these shakers I made over 2 years ago. I thought they kind of looked like cupcakes, so I just went a step further and made them REALLY look like cupcakes. S & P shakers didn't seem quite right, but sugar or cinnamon and sugar seems just perfect.

I've also been cranking out the mugs and other smaller items so I can restock a few of my shops and also start to stock pile for my 1 summer show and then for the fall. Of course, I've still been working on the bigger stuff...

This guy is REALLY fat. I think I'm going to tuck him away for my show at the end of May.

Other than work, we rearranged the ENTIRE living room area. It's a big open space and SO hard to work with. We've been wanting to get a new TV and knew we were getting something big and we'd have to rearrange the whole damn room. I know, why a new TV when you don't have cable or anything? Well, that doesn't mean we don't love movies. And we do LOVE movies. We decided on an LED HDTV...uses less power and has no mercury (2 really great things) and the picture is fan-freakin-tastic. It's like looking through a window and watching everything happening in real life. AMAZING. Well worth the extra cash. We really aren't into the whole consumerism thing...but I can't praise this TV enough.

Well, enough about that. I have a huge amount of work on the shelves waiting to be fired. I really want to pack this kiln solid. I've been having a great time with the standing and throwing and my hip/back issues have been lessening. One more batch of work to carve and that's it. I'm aiming for a Thursday bisque. Then it's going to be glazing, glazing, glazing...

Cute tray mania.

Well, after 2 trips to the Chiropractor this week and a diagnosis of a twisted pelvis and a bit of scoliosis {probably due to the muscles on my right side being WAY more overdeveloped than my left and pulling my spin over}...I'm rethinking the amount of throwing that I do. The past week has been going to the doctor, cleaning the studio, going to the doctor, reorganizing the studio... New shelves are going up, more lights have been hung, big heavy tables are being moved (don't worry, I have help!!) and I'm finally putting my wheel up so I can stand while throwing. The goal still is, throw less. Which is fine. I have already mentioned that I will not being making lots of bowls and small vases and other small pieces that just seem to suck away all my time and physical health. I've been committed to making more complex pieces. I've been throwing lots of parts and spending time cutting and "pasting" them back together.

But, making these cute trays was a nice, relaxing, no-body-stress activity. The blue one is already on it's way out with the mail today, but the green one was just posted in my shop. I have one more owl tray with a deep purple background that I really like...It's like he's hanging out at night. Unfortunately, the purple is SOOO hard to photograph and I don't have a good shot yet.

More work will be posted over the weekend. Wall pockets, other trays, and a new BIG fish bowl!

Salt & Pepper

Well, we'll see how this one goes. All the parts were made on the wheel and then altered. The owl shaker comes off. I really like holding her. She's such a great size. If all goes well, this will be off to a gallery. I may or may not make another set...we'll see...

Tomorrow I fire a bisque. I'm going to do 2 in a row and then a tightly packed glaze firing. Hopefully the new work will be finished by the end of next week.

Sore hand.

Yesterday I was a carving machine. This morning I woke up with a sore forearm...I made a ton...well, a bunch...of owl creamers, a few "stump" jars to match and a pair of TALL owl vases. I plan on making at LEAST 2 more of the owl vases. I need 2 to send out to a couple of galleries and I'd like to have some back-ups and maybe one for my Etsy shop. I also made one of these guys!

And the menagerie grows... I'm going to make a few more penguins in different sizes. They look cute all sitting together.

I tried to take the day off today. It's still really hard to make my mind shut everything out. I plan on doing a bit of drawing later. I guess that football game is on now. I'm so happy we don't have TV. I didn't even realize the super bowl was going on until I was at the gym on Friday. I've never watched one in my life, why start now. Hmm. Anyway. I have a really good idea for a salt and pepper set and I'd like to try it out tomorrow. I just need to draw it out a few more times...

And now I leave you with Dudley in the snow...eating a branch from our deceased Christmas tree. It's a little blurry. I took it from the porch.

Finished.

Everyone really seemed to like these, even before they even saw them finished. So, here is a finished set.Both sets are already sold and I don't have any more. I AM making more...I'm starting today after I write this. I'm still going to make just the solo owls because I prefer making them a little larger. People have also asked about different colors and I have pretty much decided that I will ONLY be making these with green. That color seems to suit them best. I'll also be making more owl vases. I have tons of requests for those as well. Again, as for color? Only blue interiors...Just give me some time. My last couple of kilns have been filled with orders for galleries and shops that carry my work and some special orders from Etsy. I didn't have a lot of time to play around with all the ideas I have drawn out in my sketchbook. I've been toying with the idea of really cutting out most of my "normal" work...like bowls and more simple vases. That will free up some time and some space in the kiln.

ALSO, I'm running a little Valentine's Day special in my Etsy shop. I've marked down everything with red, pink or purple, 10% off. Click here to see! And look at the new addition to the shop...can we say swans?

Stumped.

Actually, not stumped at all. I figured it out. I had wanted to design a sugar jar for my smaller owl pitchers and when a customer mentioned that she wanted one, it pushed me to finally do it. These are not something I will be making over and over again, so don't expect to see a lot of them. I only made 2 sets so far. One is already spoken for but if they both come out with no problems, the other set may pop up on Etsy...not sure about that though.

Everything is getting loaded and bisque fired tomorrow morning.

Finger cramp.

I'm quite happy with the amount of work I've produced in the past week. I had to "restock" all my tiny tripods, mod squares and gondolas. I've managed to make 60 tripods and about 25 each of the others...not too bad. I've also made a few special Valentine love bird sets. They have hearts instead of regular round eyes. I didn't match the carvings cause that's not what I wanted, but I plan on matching the eye colors. I'm only making a few sets. I don't really do seasonal things (the snowflakes don't count either cause I love snowflakes) and Valentine's Day stuff can be rather sickening, but I thought these would be sweet to make. You can also see some owls peaking out at the top.

I'm really loving the owls. I cut a strip of aluminum flashing that I use for mold making and made an owl cutter. I really, really like them. I decided that I would make the birds all year round since they go with all my other bird work.

I also made some swans. I had made the press mold for these a couple of months ago. I had only made one swan with it though. It went to Craftacular with me and sold immediately. So, I finally made some more. The bowl is press molded from a thin slab of porcelain and the necks are each hand rolled so no two are alike. I made quite a few fish bowls in between....not to mention, a bunch of custom orders, lots of vases, several owl pitchers, some owl cream and sugar sets----that's right, sets! Just wait until you see the sugar bowls!!

Oh, and as I mentioned before, I made myself take 2 weeks off from clay over the holidays. That didn't mean no creating. I did a lot of drawing and designing, a lot of knitting and sewing and A LOT of paper folding. This little guy took 300 pieces? to make. I can't remember. And once all the pieces were made it took a long time to put together. Thank goodness I have a good paper cutter, these are made with half squares.

I've been doing origami since I was about 10 or 11. I recieved a very good book when I was a kid that had actual photos instead of illustrations. It really helped me understand the folding a lot better than a bunch of dotted lines, dashes and arrows. Now I can read them all, but that book was the best. I got into 3-D origami around 4 years ago. I got a little obsessed and made 10 of these swans for the centerpieces at out wedding reception.

I made porcelain bases with built in vases in the middle to go up through the swans. Then I made TONS of origami lilies to fill them. Each swan was made of 297 (I think that was the number!) pieces of either red or white vellum. Yup, I'm crazy. This was the only pic I could find from the reception that even showed one of them! Terrible, huh? Keep in mind, we were married on the Empire State building and had the reception at our house a month later. No professional photos.

Anyway, more work tomorrow...made out of clay. Maybe I'll grab a shot of the cute sugar jars...

Oh! I've also been posting a bunch of sale stuff in my Etsy shop to clean up the studio shelves a bit. Some work is on SUPER SALE so go check it out!

Woo.

It's been a looooong week. I had an opening last Saturday in Catskill, NY. I really hate going to openings. It's mostly those group shows where I am the youngest by about 15 years and no one realizes I am one of the artists...it doesn't help that I don't look my age either...and I'm pretty anti-social... I think that's why I don't go out of my way to get shows within driving distance. Not that I don't like having gallery shows. If it's someplace I like or put on by someone I know, it's waaaay more enjoyable, even (dare I say) fun. I did actually sell one of the 2 pieces at the opening. I'm assuming this was after we left to go get sushi. Anyway, to promote holiday sales they are letting buyers take the work when they purchase it so I sent them another piece.

One of the pieces I'm showing is an owl vase. Similar to this one.

Unfortunately this one has a crack in the bottom. It's small and was completely filled in with glaze, so it's still water-tight. I'll probably be posting it on Etsy since it's not gallery worthy. I have another one that is much taller and has little feel at the bottom. That one also has a crack at the bottom but it goes all the way through. I may just keep that one for myself.

I'm not one for trends. I know owls have been big for a while now. I thought they would be "out" by now, but they are still going strong. I've really been on a bird kick and wanted to make a vase. Owls just seemed like a logical choice.

I've also made some small pitchers.

Again, the owls just seemed to work with this shape.

In other news, I just sent more work to Tilde in Portland, OR and to the Kohler One and Only show and The Clay Studio in Philadelphia now has some new snowflakes. Oh, and guess where I will be on SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2008 from 10:00 AM – 7:30 PM?

Yup! This will be my one and only craft show of the season. So if you happen to be in NYC area, come to the Metropolitan Pavilion at 125 West 18th Street and say hi! I'm really looking forward to meeting some of my Etsy friends in person.

That's all for now! I've got to go make lots and lots and lots of work...